~*A Few Finishes & Photos*~

Hello Dear Friends! Well, I have finally gotten the pictures moved from my camera to the computer... and I can finally show you a few things. Hummm.... what to show you first? Guess I'll just start! :)

These are a few dollies I've made to donate to a wonderful project called Comfort Doll. My dear friend, Jo, found this project & offered it to the girls in the Ebay group An American Primitive Gathering. Several of us have made dolls to donate and are delighted that we could bring a lil' comfort to someone in need.



A few weeks ago, my good buddy Sher and her hubby came to town for a visit. We had lunch together (they treated me ~ thank you again guys!) and then visited some garage sales & thrift shops. Here is a photo of all the junque I drug home...



Cheap baskets, a box of wooden spools with thread, a neat old tomato pincushion, a milking stool, a plain ol' jar, a washboard, a school board slate, and an ugly~crafty thingy ~that I'm sure was cute at the time~ (I do actually have plans for it). When Sher and I went in the thrift shop, we immediately noticed two washboards for only $6.99 each. She asked which one I wanted and then said she was glad because she wanted the other one. I liked this one because of the red in the old advertising. Nope, I don't know what I'll do with it... but it will be displayed somewhere around here. Right now it is just tucked in a corner of the kitchen awaiting its time to be displayed.

Cool, isn't it?



I've tucked the pincushion in amidst my other vintage ones and put the box of spools on the shelf in my work area. As for the items I'm re~doing... I've began painting the baskets & stool... none of them are ready to show again just yet. The ugly~crafty thing (I hope that doesn't offend anyone... it was popular & cute at the time ~I'm sure of it!) is also a work~in~progress... but can't be shown just yet either. Well... of all of it... this is the only one that is finished. This jar was only .89 at the thrift store. I washed it, painted & distressed the lid, and added this GREAT label (that I also distressed). I just LOVE how it turned out!



A few months back, I purchased a collection or two of these awesome labels from Susie at Yankee Lane Primitives. (In my opinion, she has some excellent offerings.) It took me awhile, but I finally put one of them to use. It worked out perfectly on my thrift store jar ~ dont' ya think?

Also in the pile of pictures pulled from my camera... birthday photos of the kiddo! He is showing me how proud he is to be 7 ~




We celebrated his birthday with the entire family during our August Birthday Party... but being Mom... I thought we still needed to do something special for him on his birthday. Unfortunately, Tony had to work, Grandmas & Grandpas were all out of town, and it seemed everyone else had plans too... so Trinity and I had a special, date together... just the two of us. We started with a fancy dinner at Applebee's (not just a fast food joint), went to the local family fun center for a round of Putt Putt & some video games, and then stopped by the local Sonic so he could climb on the jungle gym. It was really a nice, memorable time... one I'm sure the both of us will never forget.

He was glowing when the waitstaff sang to him...



He did kind of confuse Putt Putt with baseball... even knocked the ball out of the fence once! LOL



He is in his element here though...



Okay... looks like I've gotten caught up on my posting... sorry for having such a long post! YIKES! I'll try to be more on top of things in the future. Please keep watchin' for those trash~to~treasure finishes and other things coming soon.

Warm smiles to you...

Betty

~*Another Week of JUST KEEPING UP*~

With a 6yr old that is!

Hello Dear Friends! This is only part of our week ~ I didn't have the camera with me everyday.

This past Tuesday evening was the finale for our library's summer reading program. They provided the kids with a really fun concert ~ Monty Harper. It was held at our historic, Granada Theatre. We started by sitting in the balcony... what we thought would be the BEST seats in the house ~


We quickly had to move to the main floor though ~ Trinity had to DANCE!


He was tickled to have a chance to thank Mr. Harper for the fun & to pose for a picture with him ~


Trinity's preferred lunch meal (daily by his choice!)... PB&J!


It warmed up enough for a little swimming ~


Uncle Jimmy gave him a ride on the tractor. Life just doesn't get any better than this!


Of course, watching Uncle Jimmy is fun too!


...What is Jimmy doing with the tractor you might be thinking? Well, with the busy summer we have all had, there just hasn't been time for any go kart racing or track keep-up. So Jimmy is prepping the track. The first 'race' is scheduled for mid August... with our August Birthday party...

Yesterday, Trinity and I were in Topeka. I had promised him a reward of Chuck E. Cheese if he worked really hard on his reading practice all summer. I really think he has made an improvement and gained confidence with his ability. Hopefully his teachers will see that too. School starts in just a few short weeks!

He takes his video games seriously!


And proved that it is possible to ride a jet ski inside!


I've been very tired by the end of each day ~ understandable huh? BUT, have managed to stitch almost every night for a couple of hours. I've actually been stitching so much that I have (what I call) 'Stitcher's Finger'. OUCH! The middle finger on my right hand has a small slit on the tip of it... from turning my needle. I really should train myself to wear a thimble huh?

Wishing you all warm smiles...
Betty

~*Entertainment While Crafting*~

Hello Dear Friends! I've heard from many a crafter about what they do while they are crafting ~ watch TV or a movie or two, listen to music, listen to a book on tape, or just enjoy some silence (whatever that is!). Well, here is what I enjoy while crafting.

Today has been an absolutely beautiful day! The temperature was around 80 degrees, sunny, with no humidity... and just a gently, cool breeze. I sat under one of the large oak tress in the backyard working on some cross stitch.

Looking up from my comfy spot ~


My entertainment...

Trinity and Brownie love to play with each other.




This was very entertaining!
(Note the change of clothes, Trinity took a dip in the pool today too.)

Shortly after the sword fight ~


Tony had to take a few spins on the kart too!


Trinity is Dad's shadow 100%!


I caught up with them for a stroll around the yard. Here is what I found ~

Lots of walnuts...


and grapes...


Trinity and I are always interested by the crawdad homes that pop up around the yard ~ weird, huh?


And more entertainment ~


We spent most of the day outside. I stitched for several hours and have gotten about half of this one finished. Although, I took this picture early in the day ~


OH... don't be mad at me! I can't show it until it is ready for release.

I hope you too had a beautiful day!

Many warm smiles...
Betty

~*Slippin' By*~

Hello Dear Friends! Time is just slippin' by! There is so much I wanna tell ya & share with ya... goodness, where to begin?

Well, I'll just start and see how far of an update I can give you all. This past Friday were the annual Worm Races at our library. This was the first year Trinity has taken part in them. He came in 3rd! Or should I say? ~ his worm came in 3rd! My Grandma came for a visit and joined the fun. It was so nice to have her here and to share time with her!

Grandma and Trinity before the races ~


See the long, fat worm? That is 'Johnny' ~


The prize for the top three winning worms was a shiny trophy and a bag of gummie worms ~


Grandma guarded the worm between races. She had to be on-her-toes 'cause Johnny is FAST!


The temperatures here last week were in the upper 90s and sometimes hit 100+. We still enjoyed time outside playing with the worms.

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A Boy and His Dog


Meet Brownie ~ our newly adopted, rescue dog ~


We adopted this lovable guy this past Monday. He has suffered from neglect and malnutrition, but is one happy-guy now! We took him to the vet for shots and heart worm testing his first day with us. The vet gave him a clean bill of health. He is eating good & loves to be brushed, petted, played with, and hugged. He has been spending time in the garage when we aren't able to be with him in the yard & has been very good about NOT having any 'accidents'. We have plans to build him a pen that will allow him to go in/out of one of our out buildings when he chooses ~ through a doggie door.

Now, if only all our feline, family members felt the same love we do for Brownie... all would be well ~



At least, Mr. Bean and Tommy can still play in the yard while Brownie is near ~


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Before I finish this post, here is another fabulous freebie finish to share with you ~


This wonderful ditty was punched by Charlene (no blog). She did a very sweet job ~ don't ya think? The color choices are very cheerful & just make me smile! She has it listed on Ebay right now if you would like to see more. Her Ebay id is redlockscreations. CLICK HERE to go directly to her offering.

Thank you, Charlene, for playing with my doodle & sharing!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One more thing, dear friends... I'm thinking it is about time for another freebie. Please keep an eye out for another coming soon. I'm not sure yet if it will be a doodle or a chart... but something should be posted by the end of the week.

Warm smiles to you all...

Betty

~* Rug Hooking Critique *~

Hello Dear Friends! Well, I finished hooking the lil' log cabin mat last night. I must admit, I'm not 'thrilled' with it... but I did learn a lot. Let me critique this one as I see it...



Simple, primitive thoughts went into the designing of the mat. I had a scraps of linen and stray, woolly worms that I wanted to use up. (believe me when I say... I still have TONS of those stray, woolly worms here to use in the future...how do they multiply so quickly?!) Olde~looking, naive rugs are my favorite & I try very hard to get my finished pieces to look like those of days~gone~by. A simple, log home with patchwork type of border was the plan.

The finished result, as I see it though, seems kind of boring. The design could use a little more of something ~ whether it be a path to the door, smoke from the chimney, some numbers to make a year, an oversized animal sitting on the roof... something, but not too much to take away from the simple design.



Remember I used scraps... well, I should have thought about cutting the 'dirty, whites' down into thinner strips. The mortar between the logs should not be the first thing you see in the house, huh?

As for color... even using scraps, there were light and dark variations of the same hue. It would have made the door and roof line POP if I would have used the lighter wools to outline these areas.



Something I do really like though ~ are the borders on each side of the rug. The scrappy, jewel tones did finish off as I had wished.



The 'golden yarrow' color of the background gives me mixed feelings. Part of me says it is too bright... the other part of me says it adds some nice poison & naivete to the mat.

Maybe I should have done some reverse hooking... BUT someone asked me if he could have it. How could I say "No" to these eyes?



He absolutely GLOWED when I gave it to him & is so proud to have it hanging on the wall in his room. (one of these days we will paint & decorate his room... then I can show you how it looks there)



So, although I'm not thrilled with the finish of this little ditty, I have learned a lot from it and have given a smile to someone I love.

Warm smiles to you...

Betty

~*He Just Couldn't Wait!*~

Hello Friends! Trinity was so excited about getting the new pool... he just couldn't wait any longer! He HAD to get in while it was getting filled.



He soon found out that water ~ especially from the well ~ is kinda cold!


(Those are temporary tattoos on his arms... so he can look like a rock star!)

But it didn't take long for him to get in the swimming mood... silly kid...



We leveled out the ground & set up the pool Sunday afternoon. It is now full of water & the sun is warming it up. Trinity did hop in it again yesterday and said it wasn't bad once you got use to it. Ummmm.... I think I'll wait a few more days for the sun to do its work!

Warm smiles to you...

Betty

~*While Waiting For The Bus Today*~

Hello Dear Friends! While waiting for the school bus today... Trinity did a little bouncing...



This is the last week of the 2008-2009 school year! Gosh it went FAST!



After the bus left, I decided to take stroll around the yard. We have several blooms...

a few old~fashioned iris




Our small goldfish pond has a puncture in it ~ so no fish right now until we figure out what to do with it... however, the water iris that my SIL, Robin, gave me last year popped today!



A few peonies ~ just in time for Memorial Day!


The roses my Mom gave me last year have started to bloom too! So pretty!


Crafting? Yes, I have been crafting... quite a bit really. BUT... after mowing yesterday ~ with Tony on the rider and me with the push mower ~ I set out with the trimmers and hit the trees. This is the row of trees (or would it be rows?) we have along the front of our home. They WERE so over~grown and such a nuisance when it came to mowing. I'm really not sure Tony was ready for me to do this... but once I started trimming I just couldn't stop. The whole escapade took about 6 hours ~ pruning and clean up! Nice & neat now! Mowing next time won't take so long & won't interfere with my crafting as much.


Oh... and crafting... well, these are just a FEW of the UFOs (unfinished objects) going right now. This is just my needle punch pile. I also have a LARGE cross stitch pile and several rug hooking piles! BUT... no mowing today... just CRAFTING!


Wishing you all many warm smiles,
Betty