Punch Needle Finishes

I finished a few punch needles this week, so I thought you might like to see them.
The first is a punch that I did using my friend Kelley's designs from her new book. I used the fall cat and changed the pumpkin into a snowball head. I added the tree too, not sure if it looks right.
I used strands of wool for designs in a higher height and the background is done with dmc floss.



The next piece is a design by Brenda of Country Stitches. A friend has given me several of her patterns and I love doing them. Of course it was a present and I love this design, so this one is for me;) It looks so much better in person than a picture can show. It looks great on my new rack. I did this one with 3 strands using DMC floss, but for the background, I used valdani antique black.



This last piece I did from an old rug design. I had planned on doing the entire design in wool, but it was really hard to do, so I got lazy and made it into just a deer pillow. This is all wool yarn, real yarn that I pulled strands off into smaller pieces. I love how it looks though, really nice texture. I will be spending the day tomorrow cleaning and cooking, so I may not be back for a few days. I hope everyone who visits has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and love.

Contest Winners!

Well it is my Birthday, or was and I think one present isn't enough, so I decided to pick two winners.
Winner Number One is.......I Play Outside the Box
Winner Number Two is......Quilt Hollow

You can go to my ecrater site, link on the left and pick out any pattern or booklet that you would like.
Congratulations to the winners.

I didn't take any pictures of my new items today so I decided to put up a rug I made and not liking, as is.
The angel is pulling a cat on the sled, so I think I need to change the cat, so you can see it and also a bird on the tree which is too hard to see. Also, maybe too many snowflakes? What do you think? It is finished and bound, but I can still unhook and rehook without the frame, so it is doable and I really liked the idea, just wish I had changed it earlier.

Gifts, goodies and a contest!

I belong to a wonderful ebay group with fellow primitive crafters called USAPRIM. You can find hand crafted items make in the USA by using our intials in the search. One of the things we do is Rak each other, which means random acts of kindness. This week I received some wonderful goodies for my birthday, which is tomorrow and no I don't want any hooplah or reminders that I am one year older;)

This set of items was made by Chris Moore, she does wonderful work with punch needles and rugs and she even made me a beautiful theorem painting. I think the new painting will be perfect for my guest room, over the cherry desk. I collect red glass and I think the dish she sent me would look nice with prim fabric candies.



Another gift was sent by Ginger. She made me wonderful penny ornies and a beautiful stocking. I really need soft ornies for my small trees and these will be perfect. I love the small grubby candles, I plan on tying a piece of homespun to make ornies with them. The sheep will go perfect with my new wood house. All wonderful and thoughtful presents.



I also found some goodies this week, some smalls to decorate with. Still looking for larger pieces or we might build some.
I love wall baskets, they fit anywhere and I can fill them with pine and dried items for Christmas. This was a rare find, an older wood basket, even the lady at the counter remarked on how nice this one was. I don't think they know what they have half of the time;)



I found this unique chalk board too. I think a prim punch or maybe a stitched piece, would look nice over the cork section.



And I promised to have a give away for my birthday, so starting tonight, any comments will be entered into a drawing on Sunday night. The winner will receive their choice of an ebooklet or pattern from my store. If you already have all of my books and happen to win, you can request any future pattern.

Primitive Peg Rack

My husband had a few days off, so he repainted the hallway, where I had painted a mural, years ago.
Then he made me my peg rack, just like I wanted, I love how it came out. I did the painting and antiquing.
I think we make a good team;) I threw a few things on it for now. With Christmas decorating around the corner, I am just doing a bit for now with the new items, then I can start getting my holiday things out to hang on the walls and shelves. I did get head start with some pine boughs and berries that I got in the back yard.

I didn't put any spray on the rack, I wanted a dull, old look. But, the flash glossed everything up, so the items look shiny instead of prim. I am still thinking on my bday giveaway, so stay tuned for that, later in the week. The wonderful black basket is the one, I won, from Pam at BasketnPrims. Be sure to check out Pam's blog, her baskets are beautiful.



And for your amusement, this is drinking time at our house. When one wants water, I turn the faucet on and the other comes running. As usual Dora barged in and took first place, while Izzi had to wait her turn.

Sunday Shopping

Today we headed down to Mystic Seaport to check out another of my favorite prim stores.
No pictures, but I can tell you, it was a prim lovers dream. Unfortunately, most of the items were real antiques and items that were above my budget, so I left with two black grubby candles.

It is a village set up, so you can walk to different types of stores and they have a mill pond where you can see the ducks who have made their home there.



We made a few more stops, but nothing great today. We went for a nice walk at one of the sanctuaries to enjoy the beautiful day.
We could hear the surf pound at the ocean, but of course the photos I got at the beach were too dark, by the time I took those.

So, we ended up at the home store and I found a wooden house in the sale rack, so that made me happy. I want to make a display with it for the holidays and then I can change it out with the seasons. It was dark and I was tired when I got home, so tomorrow I will stain my new peg rack and when I get it on the wall, you can see how it looks.

Primitive Shopping Day

Today I got to go to my favorite store; Things Made Wonderful Country Store. The first thing I saw on the porch was a halloween sale. Now for those who know me, I am a cat nut and halloween means cats. So, I found two fun cats to add to my collection and at half price!

This guy is so fun and he will go into my hooking room. That is where I display my halloween items, rugs and some fun cats, all year round. That is the room I will be moving my office into and using as a creative space this winter.



Then I found a black kitty, that I can redo to fit the seasons since he is simple. Also, more ornaments to add to my collection. I will be doing smaller table top trees this year, so adding to my light and small cat ornaments. I also got some small goods that will go into gift boxes, so you can't see those;)



I had to get permission to take these next shots, so I hope you enjoy seeing how they decorate some of the rooms for the holidays. I wish I could have gotten better shots, each room is filled with prim furniture and goodies and it is just so warm and inviting. I want to make all my rooms look like these.

I love the deacons bench and coffee table in this room, on my wish list.



The living room is so warm and inviting, it is filled with wonderful goodies and a great way to envision how things look in a home.


For those of you who love farm tables, this is a dream room. Behind that is a bedroom with a four poster bed and then there are rooms with linens, candles, smalls, and the list goes on. At the end of the tour, there is a large room with a fireplace and more furniture and smalls. Mixed in with the newer wares are antique items that are also for sale. They also carry a nice selection of prim trees, for those of you who are looking for them. And if that is not enough, upstairs is filled with booths from different vendors, carrying antiques and handmade primitive items. If you are in the Rhode Island area, it is a must see store and if you visit their Online Site, you can check out their events, which has an upcoming holiday weekend.

New Primitive Shelf

I saw a shelf I liked, so I asked my husband to make me one and being the sweetheart that he is, he made me one.
Today I finally aged it and got it up on the wall. The problem is, he put hang hooks on the back, so it is tilted, will have to fix that problem and he will put the antique nails in tomorrow. Those will go on the bottom piece, so I can hang things on that too.

I grunged up my old candle holders too, but not sure if I like the shape of them, maybe some cast iron long candle holders instead? It is a pain with that wall, as you can see they made a hole in it to get light into the kitchen, I hate the hole, so we will either fill it in or redo the whole kitchen when I win the lottery, haha. I think a nice sign would be a good backdrop in that area, guess I need to make one of those too. I even cleaned off the dining table for the picture;)



Here is a closer look, he used some of our wainscoting to make the backing. Once it sits straight, I can put some of my red glass bottles on it.



And for the cute of the day, here is Dora. I was vacuuming and she likes to watch. She has such pretty eyes, but she must see the blink on my flash and gets those eyes closed before I hit the button, lol.



I took this shot looking up, so it cast a shadow on the ceiling with the flash.