Double Double Giveaway!

I have enjoyed the comments and new visitors and noticed quite a few who live outside the states.
One thing I love about epatterns is no matter where you live, shipping is free.
So, I decided that I will draw two names, one in the US and one outside the states.
I will close the drawing on friday night and announce the winner on saturday, Jan 1.
Make sure you leave your message in the original contest post.

Also, this contest is for any of my patterns, it does not have to be the sheep, you get to choose.
You do not need to be a follower, but it is a great way to keep up with my newest patterns and freebies.
I will be doing my Go review after the contest, so watch for that, coming soon.

Moki has decided to help me clean the house. He loves to beat out the dirt in the rugs;)



He also likes to redecorate and rearrange the trees. Have you ever see a the new bent trees? Well Moki decided to make me one.

Double Giveaway!

With the new year coming, we all want to start a new project.
So, I will be giving one winner, a choice of one of my epatterns and a chance to give to someone else.
The winner gets one and the winner gets to give one away, to anyone they would like.

Just leave me a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on friday, December 31st. Just in time for some weekend crafting.
And for this weeks special, you can buy one get one free. Just leave your free choice in the comment section.

Merry Christmas!

Opening presents is fun, I knew there would be a ball in there.



Now this present looks interesting, wish they wouldn't tape it so much.



Hey, there's no present, this critter ate it.



I'll show you, oh it squeaks, happy happy, joy joy, I really really love my toy.



I think Mom has lost it, I think I will go hide my toy before she starts playing with it.



Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Blessings!

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
Roy L. Smith

I was planning on doing a review, but it is almost Christmas and I thought it might be best to wait until after the holiday;)
Last week I won a wonderful giveaway by Lark Crafts. I was expecting to get it next week, but it arrived at my house today. What a wonderful surprise for Christmas. I have been wanting this book and tried winning it for months, so imagine my surprise when I won it, this time. Not only that, but I also got tons of felt to work with. Plus a calendar that has a pattern each month, and it comes with a full sized pattern set. I was totally amazed at what I received, really made my day.



Here is one of the patterns in the book. The patterns are all simple and great to add your own touches to. I love the different bird patterns, they will be fun to make for any season. Check out LarkCrafts, they have a lot of tutorials and patterns for visitors.



And to all of my visitors, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a wish that Blessings follow you into the new year! I feel truly blessed by the friends I have made by blogging and the generosity of those who have giveaways and friends who have sent me gifts to cheer me up.

Moki and Me!

Today I received a wonderful package from my friend Kelley.
She knows how much I love fabric and she sent me bundles of wonderful textile fabrics.
And, plenty of velvet to create with, so I will have fun with some art quilts and maybe some nice runners.
She also made me the beautiful cross stitch, I love the linen and floss she used, she does such beautiful primitive work.



And for the Moki lovers, here is Moki doing what he loves most, playing ball.



And for those of you who are thinking about getting a Go cutter, I finally broke down and got one this week. This is what I decided to try today. I just wanted something to keep my hands busy and try the new cutter. Tomorrow I will give you my review and photos and It is not all positive;)

A little bit of Christmas!

I haven't done much this week, but got a few things done.
I found a this drawing on a site with stamping art. I thought it would be fun to stitch up.
I want to put in a better frame, but I need to rework it and I may enlarge it and add some words and a background fabric, so I just put it in this frame for now and I can decide what to do with it, for next year.



I found this feather tree in a thrift store. It needed something on it. So, I took my bag of spools and antiqued them, then wound floss around them. Then I made up some yarn balls and a piece of homespun. I couldn't get it done without moki helping, he really likes this tree;)

Christmas in the 80's!

I am still laid up, my brain is still foggy, so haven't been able to do too much, but rest.
I have been visiting everyone's blog, but it is hard for me to write and think at the same time, lol.
I haven't gone shopping and my cards will never get done, but I still have the spirit of Christmas and will enjoy being with my family.

I found an old photo when we lived in a townhouse. I am not sure what possessed me to wear a black varsity jacket;) My son is in the red and white sweater and my daughter is sitting on my older sister's lap. And the goof at the end is my husband. It sure brings back memories. I am working on a small project and hopefully I will have it finished tomorrow.

Christmas Pillows!

I finally finished off the pillows I have been working on.
I am stuck on the couch most of the time. My coughing killed my ribs, then the ribs being so painful, I don't breath well, so I got sick again, so back on meds. Hoping this time it will go away, I have had enough. Since I have to sit on the couch, hand stitching is a great way to keep my hands busy. I am hoping I can get the binding done on my angel quilt and finish that next. The patterns I used for the pillows are from Primitive Blessings. If you are looking for something fun and quick to do, Tiffany has a lot of wonderful free christmas patterns.

Since I don't have the energy to do a lot or lift, I have been throwing things together to put some holiday in the house. I put some greens in a basket, put a cardinal in and instant decoration, along with one of my old kitties, that I made.

It's Starting to Look like Christmas!

I was able to finish some things today, so I I have been able to put some things up and finish one project today.
I am keeping simple, since we know how tempting large trees, tinsels and jingle noises to certain furry kitties. I moved the three trees and put them in a corner with some furkins and things that could sit around the tree without getting ruined. It looked nice with the lights on, so I had to go with no flash. I like the dark look though, nice warm feeling. It is hard see, but yes, the toppers are all cats;)



I finished a piece that I found in the Quiltmania magazine. It is a design from Sandy Gervais. Love the issue and the special winter issue is another I want, hope I can find one in our area. I changed a few things on mine, of course. I used an old chenille blanket for the snow and added words to mine. Not sure if I should leave it, like this, or put something on the snow area? I wanted to hang it at the stairs, but I forgot wool doesn't stick to my sticky tape, so need to find a new place. I still have to finish my angel piece, so that can go on the stairs instead.

Christmas Kitties!

I haven't been able to put much up for christmas, but I wanted to put a few things up and I had found three alpine trees that I could decorate and put on my chest. Doesn't Dora look so sweet.



I don't even want to think what is going in her mind, right now. Actually Dora helped me decorate, try putting on homespun garland with a cat;)



It didn't take long for Moki to notice the trees and he saw just what he wanted.



Yup, he is a candy cane thief. For the last few days, I find them all down the hallway.



And it didn't take long to come crashing down. I decided I needed a new place for the trees, now they are in a corner, on the floor.



And I decided a new, simpler Christmas display would be better, but they found a way to entertain themselves with that.



Nothing is sacred from kitties, it is all fun and games;)

Online Friendships!

I and I am sure a lot of you, have made some wonderful friends on the internet and through blogging.
Friends who we would never have known without online access and are blessed to know them.

This week, being rough with my rib pain, was a bit better by the generosity and thoughtfulness of my friends and the wonderful contests that they do. I have entered contests for the prizes like we all do, but have enjoyed the blogs so much, that I visit often and have made friends with many of them.

I wanted to show you some of the wonderful things that they have given me and some I have won.

This pilgrim doll was made by Jane, of Nothing Plain by Jane. It was part of a contest run by TDIPT and I was the lucky winner of Janes pilgrim doll. Is she not the most beautiful thing and the face details are wonderful. TDIPT has a group of wonderful artists if you are looking for finished primitive goodies.



Another prize I won, was from Madalynne of Pineapple Primitives. She generously gave away 12 handpainted ornaments and I was the lucky winner of this beautiful santa ornament. I love hand painted items and it looks wonderful on my tree.



Then this week, out of the blue, I received a package from Mary of Quilt Hollow. She sent me a card and a beautiful pin cushion that I will treasure and use. It sure made my day when I was feeling blue.



And to top it off, Carole of Quilting Adventures sent me a surprise package. I had chosen Carole's name in our group swap and
she went and sent me a little something to say thank you. She wasn't supposed to do that;) But it sure was nice of her and so much appreciated to get something to perk me up. She wrapped the present in this beautiful piece of homespun, I love homespun. I really needed those tissues, too, lol.



Inside was a beautiful wood, spool holder that her husband made. I should have taken side pictures, his work is so beautifully done, I just love it. It might just be the thing I need to hold my thin wool skeins when I machine couch. I just feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends, who seem to send me something, just when I need them. And also blessed by my friends and visitors who leave me such wonderful comments.

Christmas Freebie: Cross Stitch Deer

I finished my piece and now you can make one for yourself or as a gift if you would like.
I love looking at antique samplers and the naive forms of the animals. I redid some antique motifs and added my own touches and design, to make this pillow. It is great as a bowl filler or you can add a hanger for a prim cupboard.



I made mine on 18 count aida, but I think this would look nice on primitive linen. I just don't have the eyes for the tiny holes.
I hope you enjoy my new pattern and have fun making one for yourself. Please only use this pattern for yourself or as gifts.
I try to make the designs so that you can expand on them to make them more detailed, or leave things out if you prefer primitive. I wanted to thank all of my visitors and new followers with a little gift, to say thank you for visiting.

One More Day!

I finished the cross stitch piece, but I want to make it into a pillow first.
Plus I need to redo the pattern to match my changes.
I will definitely have the free pattern up tomorrow night.

Today was Moki's day to be obnoxious and he is still at it.
Since Dora won't play with him, he picks on Izzy. When he is not upstairs running around, I can hear things falling in the basement as they run and chase each other. Moki has also discovered toilet paper, so I found a few piles on the floor today and then noticed my tissues were pulled out of the box. He sure is making up for lost play.

Giveaway Winner!

Still resting, which is not fun, but I spent half the day working on a new cross stitch and the rest, working on the piece.
I could not finish it tonight, so tomorrow I will finish the piece and tomorrow, I will have a new freebie pattern that you can make up for the holidays. Since I have no photos tonight, I stole this one from facebook. This is how santa arrives in our town. In place of reindeer, kayakers lead the boat into the harbor.



I want to thank CSN for sponsoring the contest and hope you will visit their site to see all of the wonderful things that they sell.
And now onto the winner, The generator picked number 31, which is Kelley Belfast! Congratulations to Kelley, who has told me that she is using her prize to make someone else very happy this Christmas.

Christmas is Coming! Last Day of Giveaway!

Is it just me, or does Christmas come faster each year;)
I was all set to make some new wall hangings for myself and ended up throwing out my ribs again.
So, I am stuck on the couch most of the time, waiting for the pain to stop and making little stitched pillows.
I can't wait till l can get up and decorate and finish off my pieces with on the sewing machine.

This is something I made for our swap on our ebay group, USAPRIM. We were giving two designs and could hook or punch the piece. I got a kitty lover, so I made the kitty and some matching pillows. This was a fun one to do.



"Now what was I supposed to remind you about"? "Tomorrow is the last day of the giveaway and my mom is going to pick a name, tomorrow night. So, if you haven't left a comment, you have until 10pm, tomorrow night to get a chance at winning a CSN gift certificate. The contest is below."

Fridays Felines! Giveaway Continues

I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts while I get through this wretched cold.
Today I took a break and started a wall hanging from the free pattern on Jan Pateks blog. I want it for the entryway, so plan on adding some words to mine.

I have also enjoyed the wonderful posts for the giveaway and the ideas of how we can all help out this season.
There is still time to enter the giveaway and hopefully I will have something new for everyone else who visits.

One of the ideas I had was to bring mini trees to nursing home residents. I have seen so many empty rooms and it is sad that they have no decorations or things to remind them of home. I go to the thrift stores a lot. You would be surprised at how many cheap mini trees they have and some are already decorated. If you sew, walker bags are a great idea to make and give to residents. Mini quilts are another quick and homey idea that they can use to warm up those cold sterile rooms. Or a lap quilt for those in wheel chairs. This year I am planning on spending more time quilting and making lap quilts for the residents.

On the home front, the kitties are being pretty good, at least by their standards, haha.
On some days the girls band together and before Moki, they never slept in the same area.



Izzy loves helping me unpack christmas items and this wreath, I need to decide what to do with. Izzy decided it made a nice nest and had lots of little things to bite off.



And Moki is still fascinated by water.




He just can't get enough, sometimes he uses his foot, sometimes he sticks his whole face in and sometimes he just sits and watches the water run. I think the kitties need santa to bring them a water fountain.

The Spirit of Giving Giveaway!

CSN online stores, an online superstore, offering Briefcases, Household goods, electronics and more, has made me an offer, to either review a product or offer a gift certificate to my followers. In keeping with the Spirit of Giving, I will be hosting a giveaway for a $55.00 certificate, good to use at any one of their 200 plus stores.

With the economy the way it is, many families are having hard times this year.
Many parents are out of work and looking for new jobs. What better gift to give than a new Briefcase, to carry their portfolio, giving them that professional appearance, to make an impression at their interview. The photo below is one of many, that you can buy with your certificate.



To enter, leave a comment, telling us a way in which you help others during the holiday. Or a quick and easy craft idea that would make a great gift for residents in a nursing home, shelters, etc. If you are not a crafter, then tell me, what you would buy with your CSN gift certificate.

This contest is open to all followers, new followers are welcome.
The winner can use the gift code to buy something for their family or use it as a gift for someone in need. If the winner would like to pass the gift onto someone in need, you can send them the gift code, or email me their address and I will send them the gift code with a note that it is a gift from a special santa or your name, whichever you prefer. So.... don't forgo this wonderful giveaway. If you are like most families, this is a great way to help out this Christmas and if you are doing well, you can enter and help someone else.

Contest is open until December 7'th, just in time for the holidays!
Winners will be chosen by a Random Number Generator.
Shipping for this prize is only available in the USA and Canada.
If you have any questions, please free free to email me.
If you are looking for an Easy way to shop, check out the CSN Stores for your holiday shopping.

Giveaway Tomorrow!

Hi, this is Moki. Mom asked me to do her blog since she is siCk.
She is stuck on the couch, so I am entertaining Dora and Izzy for her and have been enjoying, reArranging the rugs.
Thought she could use a laugh, what do you think of my panther impression?
Stay tuned, tomorrow their will be a giveaway for followers, new followers arT welcome to join in too!



She also wanted to show everyone her new goodies that she got from Ginger, for theiR ebay group, AAPG. I think they are winderful, and what fun we will have, when she hangs them:)



Forgive the typos, try tYping with these!

New Mini Santa Freebie!

I decided to make a smaller version of the santa, which I showed below.
Today I redid the original to match, as best as I could, so you can make a smaller version for your mini trees or as a gift for a friend.

Look for a new company sponsored giveaway, coming soon. Perfect timing for christmas.

Enjoy the new version of my pattern. Please, only use this for yourself or as gifts.
I could not get the stitch maker to do the stitches, like I did, but it is just straight stitches going out from the top of the hat, in different directions. I will need to get the upgrade to pro, to do better stitches, I think. My piece was done on 18 count aida.

New Christmas Stitcheries!

I am not having one of my better days. I went to antique a few pieces and one came out with dark, just in the middle.
So, I washed it out and then redried it, but the red from the wool had soaked through and turned the design into red blotches.
I rewashed it and letting it dry, so will see what happens. It was one that I put more work into, so hope I can fix it.

I decided to redo my santa into a smaller ornament and changed his arms to simplify it.
I was going to make two, but it took me three days to make him, I am a really slow cross stitcher. That and I cannot see what I am doing, as it is;) The other looks off to me and now I know why. It is a design by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings and there are supposed to be stars, stitched on the bucket. But I had another idea, to add two small jingle bells with jute. So, that will go on next.

Tomorrow I will be stuffing my face and sitting in a chair afterwards, lol.
My kids will be coming and we cook the main foods and they bring some side dishes, so that helps me out.
My wishes, for all of my visitors, have a Blessed Thanksgiving, filled with family, love and good food.

Doll Makers Wanted!

I was visiting Edyth O'neill's blog and found a truly touching request and wanted to pass it along to my readers.
I know a lot of you make dolls and this is such a sweet cause and would truly make a wonderful woman happy.
Edyth has known this woman for years and she has helped Edyth when her house burnt down and now she is at a point in her life, where a sharing of our gifts, would truly bring happiness to her life.

So, if you like to make dolls or would love to do something special for the holiday season, please visit Edyth's site and you can get details there.

If you do not have black doll patterns, you can easily modify any pattern by using dark fabrics.
Here are a few sites for free patterns, to make dolls, if you would like to join in. Many of these dolls would be wonderful gifts for little girls too, maybe for a local shelter.

Annie's Cupboard

Cloth Doll Collection

Doll Maker's Journey

Free Cloth Doll Patterns

For epatterns, there are some wonderful ladies who make patterns for dolls and often have specials on their patterns.



Threadbare Primitives has some wonderful doll patterns, and some are on special. I love the Tabitha doll, that is one I would love to make and it is only 4.99 for an epattern.

Another wonderful designer is Jackie Schmidt. She has some wonderful primitive black angel dolls that would be fun to make.

Kim Koehler has some wonderful black doll patterns, that are primitive and simple to make.

Winner and Free Christmas Cross Stitch!

As always, I hate having one winner, so I made up a new cross stitch, so everyone can have something tonight.
I decided to make a cross stitch out of the design I punched. I like how the cross stitch came out and I did change mine a bit.
This is for a gift and I wanted it more prim, so as I stitched I changed things, I tend to do that with my designs. I antiqued it and then wet it a bit, so you can see a bit more dark where it is damp still.



Here is the cross stitch version I made up for my visitors. You can use this for yourselves or as a gift, but please do not make prints to share or to sell. If you want to change it up to make it more prim, you can do that if you like. I added a border from my program for those who like fancier borders. If you have problems seeing the squares or printing, please let me know. I ran out of some colors in my printer, so I couldn't test it. The colors I use in the graphic are not what I use for stitching, I just like to use colors that are easy to see, for printing out.



And now onto the winner of my Birthday Contest! The winner of the prize package is....... Cat Haven Crafts!
Please email me with your snail mail, so I can send your prizes to you.
Look for more contests and freebies in the future.
And I want to thank everyone who left such wonderful comments and made me laugh, as well.