~*The Many Faces of Jack*~

Hello Dear Friends!

I've continued working on ditties to take to the two events I have scheduled... and have now added a 3rd event to my calender!

October 12th Cabin Antiques at Lake Wabaunsee

October 25th Eskridge Fall Festival

November 7th 1st Friday Art Walk at Fairlawn Plaza Mall

I'm so excited for all of these!  Hopefully I can continue to 'work' hard creating... and be very well prepared! 

In my pile of finished wares... are Jacks of many faces...

 Happy, Sad, and kinda Scary...

pillows, boxes, basket ties, and some added to odd, old things...

I've had the rusty spoons for a long time... auction or garage sale finds.  They are large & not usable for food... so I punched some Jacks to decorate them.  The coal scoop is my favorite!

This jar is from the thrift store.  The cork is still good... so I decorated the top!  A great place for some candy corn!!!

My Mister told me today that the squirrels are getting to the buckeyes.  So, I went out with my basket to gather a few for ME!  My Grandpa Milliken would find them and share with all us grand kids.  He would give us each one... then tell us they were for good luck.  *SMILE*  I've never had a Buckeye Tree before.  Now we have two at our home.  They make me happy!

So, how many Jacks are enough?  Hmmm... maybe I better do some more plain pumpkins and move on to more Snowmen, Santa, Gingerbread... and???

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty

~*Lotsa Punching!*~

Oxford Punches and Needlepunches!

Hello Dear Friends!

Sharing some of my recent finishes... and a little work in progress...

before...

Old stool...

Paper mache' and wood boxes with paint drying...

And after...

Several Needlepunch pieces...

The Hand & Heart piece is made with inspiration from Lori Brechlin's design in HeartFelt from Notforgotten Farm.  I had posted in an early post that I needed the design larger and wasn't near the tools to enlarge her pattern directly... so I traced my own fat, hand and drew the rest freehand.  *Wink* 

I used wool yarn and wool strips to make the Oxford punched, top for this old stool.  The stool was found at an auction or garage sale long ago.  I added a little glue to the stool itself to tighten it up and some paste wax to liven up the wool... and then... I wanted the finished top look just as old as the stool.  It seems to be old looking!

 Lots of scraps for a nice Hit n' Miss piece!

 I tacked a 'roughly' cut piece of cutter quilt to the underside... again just trying to make the stool finish look good and old!

The white spots you can see are from the camera flash.  The actual punched top, in person, doesn't show any 'bald' spots.

 

As for the work in progress... I have this old frame to fill...

 with another Oxford punch.  My hope is that this Santa will be old and prim looking when he is finished!

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty

~*My Shopping Cart*~

Hello Dear Friends!

We spent yesterday at a fun auction.  This auction was full of a bunch of 'former mechanic's stuff'.  However, I did find several new treasures in the mix!  We went because my Mister spotted some dirt bike stuff on the sale bill.  There were lots of tools, semi~trailers and cabs, tractors, lawn movers, metal pieces and parts... and a bunch of junk.

My Mister didn't win the dirt bike, but did get some dirt bike parts and pieces (and many other things)... the kiddo found a few things and was tickled to score a hatchet.  He says he is going to play Survivor Man in the woods today.  (Yes, I have warned him to be careful!)  And I found many vintage, fun things.

We filled the bed of the pick up...

My FAVORITE win was this shopping cart!  I love the vintage, rustiness of it!

 It is funny to say, but it rolls better than any I have used recently at the stores!

 And I love this little, blue washtub!

Of course, I am suppose to go to auctions to find cool inventory for the booth I share with my SIL, Robin, at ReRun Consignments in historic Council Grove, Kansas... but sometimes it is REALLY HARD to part with things.  

See this mess?  This was all piled on the floor in my studio... aka the basement.  Tubs of fabrics... also purchased at an auction long ago.  This fabric is mostly solids, but there are several vintage 1970's prints... you know, with mushrooms and bright stripes.  I bought it to weave with. 

Much of the fabric in those totes is on rolls.  I'm not sure why... but it fits great in my new shopping cart!

I ripped some of the fabric in strips to wrap the handle.  Personally... I think it is just super~cute!

My weaving loom has not been used much... but it too sits in my studio... just waiting for me to pay it some attention...

 

Oh... and this great, green Hoosier table... with the enamel top was one of my other great wins yesterday!  Yes, it too was won with the idea of taking it to our booth.  But as you can see... it also sits in my studio now...

 

While I'm sharing studio pictures... here are more long ago auction (and garage sale) pieces.  I put this old metal tub on top a rusty, sewing machine base.  The tub is FILLED with bunches of wool worms for hooking and punching... (ignore the extension cord... there isn't much for power outlets in this area of the house)

 

This wood table was only $1 at a flea market last year!

 

And atop my main work table... many projects that are calling for my attention right now.  The rest of today will be crafty!

 

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

~*Freebie Doodle!*~

Hello Dear Friends!

Here is a little gift for you!  Punch, hook, stitch... have fun!!!

~*Halloween Kitty*~  Freebie Doodle

I've been doing A LOT of punching... needlepunch and Oxford... preparing for the two events I have coming up.  All day today, photos have been snapped so a post could be written up to share with you... because I am trying to stay super in~touch on my blog!  However, a post didn't feel ready.  So... I stopped what I was doing and grabbed my marker and some paper... and drew up a little doodle to share. 

Please enjoy this simple little sketch!  Have fun with it!  And please... share finishes with me so I can share them with all!!!

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

~*Apples!*~

Hello Dear Friends!

Apples took a very BIG part of my day today!  We have two apples trees that were chock full of ripe fruits.  After getting home from my job at the bait shop today, I decided to get the ladder and pick them... ALL!  I didn't count, but I did fill up several plastic grocery bags.  

Some bags were sent with my husband to work to give away to co~workers... I took a bag to a friend... and some... 

were peeled and cored... to make 12 quarts of Freezer Apple Pie Filling!

My chickens were given all the scraps as a treat!

12 Quarts!  That means 12 pies!!!  Or... because I can't eat regular pie crust, I like to make Pork Chops and Apples!  YUM!

I just found the Apple Pie Filling recipe online.  Hopefully I did it right... and hopefully it tastes yummy!  Could it really be anything but good?

I've also crafted today.  My needlepunch went to work with me this morning.  The 4 smaller pieces will be lids on small boxes.  The hand/heart will be going on a hornbook.  It is a pattern adapted from one of Lori Brechlin's awesome pattern books.  It needed to be larger than in the book for attaching to the board, so I free hand drew it.  I just love Lori's patterns!

I spend most of my time alone when at the bait shop.  My mind wanders... and I end up making notes on the excess cloth.  Anyone else do that too?  

We are suppose to get rain tomorrow... and I don't have to go anywhere.  Hopefully these punched pieces... and a bunch of other ditties get finished!

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty

~*More Oxford Punching... How To Part 2*~

Hello again Dear Friends!

To finish the boxes... this is what I did...

After the glue has dried, cut away the excess Monk's Cloth right next to the outer punched row... carefully.  Because the piece is glued, it won't unravel.

 Now, there are probably snags on the right side of your piece... I told you they were unavoidable.  Simply snip them off even with the loops.  Next, press your piece with a hot iron and a damp towel.  This will even out the surface even more.  I press the piece face down and again face up.

 See all the snags I had on mine?  They will be gone soon.

 This is a blurry picture... but next I grabbed my hot glue gun.  I put a generous spot of glue in the center of my box and placed my punched piece in place.  This is just to hold it for the next step.

 Next, I threaded my sewing needle with my favorite linen thread and stitched a strand of the same wool yarn to the very edge of my punched piece.  This hides the cut edge of the Monk's Cloth and gives a very nice finished edge.  I stitched with a button hole... or blanket stitch.  You could probably stitch this on without the spot of hot glue to hold it to the lid... but this is how I prefer to do it.

 Then, generously coat the lid of the box with Tacky Glue.  Smooth out the punched piece on the box.  I then stack a few books on top while the glue dries.

 See how smooth the tops are now?

 All done!

And that is how I did it!

I'm not a pro-puncher... but I do enjoy it.  If you have any questions, I will be happy to try to answer them.  Just drop me a note or comment on this post.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty