Wednesday, November 30, 2011

~*Early Work Mercantile*~

Hello Dear Friends! I made it! Oh goodness... I was begging to stress out ~ worried I wouldn't meet my deadline... but I made it! My December update on Early Work Mercantile has been posted.

These are what I came up with...
~*Allspice Flatties*~

They are punched with cotton flosses & threads... and lightly filled with whole Allspice berries. They smell so yummy!

Yup... you guessed it! They are flatties because they are just that... kinda flat. I think they are uniquely prim!

Please swing by my update... CLICK HERE... to see more.

Thank you for letting me share!

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Monday, November 28, 2011

~*I Just May Run Out...*~

... of floss that is!
Hello Dear Friends! Yesterday morning I was delighted to sleep in until 7:30 (yes, that is late for me now that I have a job)... and then extra delighted to wake up with creative inspirations spinning in my head. To make things even better... it was a day off from work and there wasn't anything pressing at home that needed to be tended to. So... I punched the day away!
And, it gets even better! Today is another day off from work... so I am going to continue punching! Ahhhh.... bliss!

Wednesday night, by midnight, is the update for Early Work Mercantile. These are just a couple of the ditties I'm working on for it.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Friday, November 25, 2011

~*Friday Finishes*~

Hello Dear Friends! Happy Friday! Did any of you go out for Black Friday shopping? You are so brave if you did! It was a work day for me... but I did have to stop at Walmart to pick up some cat food before coming home. Thankfully most of the crowd was gone. I'm not one for hanging out in large crowds... they make me nervous.

Sadly, I don't have any ~*Friday Finishes*~ to share... but here is my progress on the latest freebie ~*Young Girl Sampler*~...
Because it is a gift... I won't be able to share the completed finish for a bit longer... but I have the house to myself this evening and am headed to the living room to stitch the night away!

Wishing you warm smiles...
Betty

Thursday, November 24, 2011

~*Happy Thanksgiving*~


May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with family & friends. Be safe, be merry, and love & be loved!

Warm smiles to you all...
Betty

Monday, November 21, 2011

~*There Is Still Time...*~

... to enter Ginger's Thanksgiving Giveaway! I dropped my name in for a chance... but know you too won't want to miss a chance! Be sure to go sign up to win this...

This is a darling rug she hooked from a pattern by Maria of Star Rug Company. It is such a charming design... and I know Ginger's work is always wonderful... just a perfect rug to display this holiday! So go over & enter for a chance to win!!! (but wish me luck on winning too! wink!!!)

Another busy week is ahead of me... starting at 6am tomorrow for work. Thanksgiving will be a day with family, but I'm working all the others. Hopefully my time schedule and my life schedule will even each other out soon. I miss browsing your blogs and I miss crafting like I use to... but I do seem to gradually be getting more and more done each day and not feeling quite as tired as I was in the beginning. So... hopefully... right?

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Friday, November 18, 2011

~*Friday Finishes*~

Hello Dear Friends! I'm sorry to be so late in the day to post ~*Friday Finishes*~... but it has been one FULL day! Most of the day was filled with work, and then I was out of town & back this evening. It is getting close to my bedtime now... but I couldn't let you down.

Here are some very fine, primitively perfect... ~*Friday Finishes*~...

From Carole..

~*Sunflowers N' Crows*~ Freebie pattern

~*Olde Hallow's Eve*~ Freebie pattern
Carole did a lovely job stitching and finishing both pieces... as she always does.

From Connie...

~*Olde Pewter Letters*~... a pattern available for purchase from my Etsy shoppe or your local needlework shop...
Connie used two of her favorite floss colors... GAST Toasted Barley and Wood Trail. It was stitched on 28 ct Vintage Pearled Barley (Lakeside). Oh goodness... another truly charming!

and from Denise...

~*Olde Hallow's Eve*~ Freebie pattern and ~*Wicked*~ Freebie pattern

All the finishes are so very lovely! Thank you, Ladies, for stitching and sharing. Keep up the great stitches!

Well... bedtime has arrive. I'll update again soon. Until then...

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Monday, November 14, 2011

~*Freebie Gift*~


~*Young Girl Sampler*~ Freebie

© primitivebettys 2011

68 by 96 stitches

Hello Dear Friends! It has been awhile since I've given a freebie. I'm at home enjoying the second day of my two days off. The house was cleaned yesterday and I want to do some crafting yet today... but I was thinking of you... and wanted to give a gift.

This is a very simple sampler... and my thoughts were that you could PERSONALIZE it with your own name or that of a dear friend. Use the letters provided to stitch your desired name. I know that many names are more than five letters... but the joy of primitive style is that it may not always 'fit'. I would suggest that you stitch all but the name from the pattern, then go back and add the name by starting with the last letter close to the flower blooms. Then add the other letters working from right to left until each letter of the name is stitched. Stagger the letters higher or lower as you work. If the name stretches out further than the pattern, that is alright... it is primitive and not always perfect. I'm sure it will be beautiful anyway!

As for floss colors... I'm sure you know what will be best. When stitching the letters, thread two needles ~ one with a light thread and one with a darker thread. Change needles after each letter or two... working at random to fill in the alphabet.

What will you make of the pattern? A pillow? A pinkeep? Frame it? A sewing roll? Small pocket pouch? Needle keep? Oh... I can hardly wait to see! Please share your finishes with me so I can post them on ~*Friday Finishes*~! A link to my email is on the left sidebar.

Another work weeks starts for me tomorrow. My weekend has been wonderful... and relaxing. I pray yours has been too.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Friday, November 11, 2011

~*Friday Finishes*~

Hello Dear Friends! Oh my... this week has flown by! It has been hectic with work, home, and family... but all is good!

I do hope you have enjoyed Veteran's Day! Normally, I take Trinity to the parade... but today was a work day for me and we weren't able to go. At work I now sooner made the comment that we would be busy because of the parade... when BOOM we were swamped with customers. It was a beautiful day and a great day for the parade. I heard on the radio that there were 65 entries... so sounds like a goodie.

My heartfelt thank you to all the Vets... those that have served and those still doing so. We wouldn't have this beautiful country and our freedom without your hard work and sacrifices.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm thrilled to share this stunning ~*Friday Finish*~ with you! This one was made by Denice... from the freebie ~*Thankful*~...

She stitched with DMC 3781 on 28 ct antique-white even-weave, heavily aged with tea, cinnamon and vanilla. She then added blanket-stitched brown wool tongues on a background of dark tobacco-brown wool. The penny rug measures 9x10.5in. How beautiful is that?! Great work Denice!

She has it currently listed on Ebay... CLICK HERE to see her listing.

Thank you, Denice, for stitching and sharing your lovely work.

Please remember crafters...I LOVE to see & share your finishes. Email them to me so I can post them on ~*Friday Finishes*~.

Well... I feel I have recovered from a busy day... so I may just go relax on the sofa for the evening to work on that blackwork sampler that was started not too long ago.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Sunday, November 6, 2011

~*Sunday Stitches*~

Happy Day Dear Friends! Today has been so relaxing... and I am lovin' it!

I slept for 12 hours last night! Truly shocking! Guess I was tired! I slept so well that I didn't even budge when the earthquake/aftershock struck. It was about 11pm when it struck, but I was happily snoozing away. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't feel it though... it is such a rare thing to occur in our part of the country.

I am planning on cooking a nice Sunday Supper tonight... it has been requested that we have meatloaf and all the fixin's. That meant I needed to hit the grocery store. I also needed to swing by work to check out the new menu. The menu isn't finished yet, but they did ask me to work on Tuesday... to open. It was scheduled as a day off for me, but I will gladly work it. While I was there, I sat to visit with a few of the regulars. They are always so sweet to chat with.

Laundry is going... and I probably should run the vacuum... but I will spend the rest of my spare time today and tomorrow doing some stitching. The third school girl sampler is on my mind, but I wanted to work up a small black work piece before working on another large piece...

You really can't tell yet, but this one will be 'winter' inspired. I'm going to work in a deer or two... or three.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Saturday, November 5, 2011

~*Saturday Slow~Down*~

Hello Dear Friends! It looks like I plum missed ~*Friday Finishes*~... and I am so sorry. Actually, I didn't have any new finishes to share with you until about 11:30 last night... when I finished getting ready for the craft show. So... I can share those with you now...
I made five of these little snowmen pillows for the show. One sold... to my sweet SIL, Robin. (Thank you, Robin!)
They aren't very big, but I wanted to have a few more finishes to offer. They measure about 6 inches ~ or so, off~square. I filled them with rags... and sewed some small, rusty jingle bells to the corners.

The craft show was nice today, but very slow. It was wonderful to visit with family, friends, and even some of my customers from the diner... while we passed the time.

I even did some hooking. This was a blank piece of linen at 10am today... and this is how it looked when we packed things up at 4pm... just scraps. I gotta use 'em up!
We set up three tables... with goods made by my SIL Robin, niece Tamara, and myself. Here is one of the tables...
Now... I mentioned this is ~*Saturday Slow~Down*~... that is because I have 3 more days off work and not a whole lot of anything that HAS to be done. So I am going to take these days to rest, relax, and CRAFT!

I'll update with you with more as the weekend progresses.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

~*Last Minute!*~


That is what I do... wait until the last minute! YIKES! This Saturday is the craft show at our small town, local shopping mall... that I have known about for several months. And what do I do? Wait until the last minute to get ready! Of course!!


Well, I do have the excuse that I have been very busy at home and with my new job... but still... I should have gotten more done! There are only a few days between now and the show... and I am trying to make some small snowmen pillows to add to my tiny amount of handmades.

I have been having fun with these little guys... if I move their eyes further apart, they have a totally different expression. If you have made faces on your handmades, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. If not... try it! You will be delighted with the images & expressions.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty