Oh baby, it's cold outside!

Brrr...the thermometer reads 23 degrees on this chilly Sunday morning!  Frost has saturated the grass; the roads are a bit tricky, and so my Prius will stay warm nestled in the garage...at least for the day!  So, that must mean that it's time to pull out the winter wardrobe and grab that toasty scarf to snuggle in.  Did you know that Happy Valley Primitives also carries a line of luxuriously soft scarves with the most elegant beaded fringe out there?  I have a small sampling listed in my Etsy shop now with FREE US shipping for a limited time, so if you're in need of a new fresh look, with a little bling...come check me out!

Walking through a Winter Wonderland!

Songs of the season have been dancing through my head!  Walk through your winter wonderland with the incredibly talented primitive artists of PAFA!  The celebration is on...now through December 9th!  Type PAFAWW on Etsy.com to see all of the wonderful offerings!

Tagging away!

It's hard to believe that in only two weeks, the Christmas season will be in full swing.  Wow!  Where did the time go?  Just after Thanksgiving marks the opening of one of the biggest holiday draws here in the northwest corner of Washington...The Lights of Christmas (http://www.warmbeach.com/lights-of-christmas.html)!  This spectacular event draws over 50,000 people and boasts over a million twinkling lights on display, along with festivities, theatre, food, and of course, several gift shops!  Once again, I will have a table full of creations for sale there.  So, while nearly all of my projects are ready, I have taken it upon myself to create new pricing tags this year.  I just love to showcase a beautiful piece of art in my price tags; however, I also want to personalize them.  And, since I'm, ahem...thrifty, I've researched on the net to find printable tags at little or no cost.  There is a large assortment out there!  A couple of my favorite sites are:  http://alenkasprintables.com/free_printables.shtml; http://www.instantprintables.com/; and http://www.senecapondcrafts.com/store/.  Check out these awesome sites for free to low cost printable tags, ornaments, and so much more!

Welcome to the first ORP Christmas Craft Fair Shop Hop!

It's here!  It's here!  The ORP Christmas Craft Show Shop Hop has begun!  All of those one of a kind handmade holiday items are now showcased in the participating shops.  Will you find that treasure that you've been hunting for?  Happy Valley Primitives is very honored to be a part of this celebration, and I have several wonderfully cute primitive decor items for your consideration to the right of this blog post.  Find Santa, his reindeer, THE "elf" penquin, Bling, Raggedy Annie, Mice and Snowmen galore to celebrate the season!  I even have a few newly released epatterns if you'd like to make your own creations!  Best of all, all of my items include US shipping AND they are priced at special "Shop Hop" savings!

Most of all, I hope that you enjoy discovering these truely talented artisans as you travel through their blogs.  I'm amazed at all of the beautiful creations!  Have fun shop hopping!

Another Great Giveaway from OFG!

The Old Farmhouse Gathering Team on Etsy has put together another great giveaway that you can win!  Check out this treasury full of items to trim up your tree in style, and be sure to leave a comment to enter!  Good luck!!!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTYwOTAxN3w5ODMwMzIxODU/win-half-this-treasury-trim-your-tree?ref=pr_treasury

Etsy Scavenger Hunt

Ready for some fun?  A team of Etsy sellers have put together an awesome scavenger hunt within their individual shops.  Check out this blog for more information:  http://etsyscavengerhunt.blogspot.com/.  Happy Valley Primitives is participating too, and the hunt starts November 1, so get ready to scour through lots of very nice shops to find the all important scavenger hunt photo, and while you're looking, maybe you'll find something wonderful for someone on your gift list! 

Fall Fun for that Necessary Room

The rain is here, so it must be time to decorate for fall!  Well, summer was short-lived here in the Northwest, and now we're on to autumn...my favorite time of year!  Here's a quick little decorating idea for that special place we all have...the necessary room! 

How many times have you been the lucky one to find that the roll of T.P. is empty?  Well, try this out, and only you will know where it's hidden!

You will need:  one roll of T.P. (toilet paper), a fat quarter of orange fabric, a fat 1/8th of green fabric, a 10x10 scrap of gold tulle.  Lay out the fat quarter, wrong side up, and place the T.P. in the center. Start on one side and begin tucking the raw edges of the fabric into the center of the T.P. roll until the entire piece of orange fabric surrounds the T.P.  Tuck the center part only of the gold tulle into the center of the T.P.  Fold and roll up the green fabric to about 4" tall tight roll.  Push the cut edge of the fat 1/8th into the center of the T.P., making sure to not push through all of the tulle.  There, now you have a cute pumpkin for your bathroom decor that, in a pinch, is ready for those 'necessary' moments!

Jump into Winter with this new Celebration!

SPLAT!  Ready for a snowball fight?  Today begins a new OFG Team Celebration for all things Winter!  It's not too soon to think about something new for your home decor as the weather begins to cool down.  Type WWHOFG in your search on www.etsy.com and find over 100 brand new items!  Since snowmen are one of my favorite decorating items, I've been busy drooling over so many unique finds here...hope you'll check out!

Harvest?...sigh...

There's a scene in "Finding Nemo" that keeps running through my head these days.  It's the part where Nemo is encouraging the Tuna, who are about to be captured and reeled up in a gigantic net by a fishing boat to keep swimming down, in an effort to break the mast holding the net and setting them all free.  "Keep swimming...keep swimming..." they all chant together.

I feel the need to chant to the sun as we venture towards fall to "keep shining...keep shining!" since our 'better late than never' garden is making so much effort to produce in the short time we have left.  We have plenty of zucchini, cabbage, onions and potatoes, but the tomatoes are just stuck...green as grass.  And I so desperately want to get some canned and oven dried this season! 

If you have never oven dried tomatoes, it is very easy.  To prepare the tomatoes, wash and dry.  Use tomatoes that are relatively the same size.  For smaller sizes, cut in half (like small romas or even cherry); larger sizes can be quartered, but will take longer.  Place, cut side up, on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle tops with italian seasoning and a bit of kosher sea salt.  Place in oven at 200-250 degrees for several hours, checking about every hour for doneness.  Tomatoes are dried when gently pressed and no juices appear (they should still be pliable).  Place in airtight container and refrigerate (or freeze).  These are amazingly awesome on pizzas, italian dishes, salads, or just snacking (my daughter loves them after school).  They have a very concentrated, intense flavor when dried.  Hope you'll give it a try...and hopefully, that will be what I am doing soon too!

Strolling through the pumpkin patch with PAFA!

I'm so excited to participate in my first celebration as a team member of PAFA!  These talented artisans have put together a colossal sized promotion of autumn inspired items!  Check out this link for all of great finds:  http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=sttpp.  Here at Happy Valley, I have several new table mats, an incredible needle felted wall hanging, lots of great prim dolls and more! 

But wait, that's not all!!!  Enter for your chance to win some wonderful creations by several members of this team!  Check out the PAFA blog at:  http://primitiveandfolkartists.blogspot.com/2011/08/strolling-through-pumpkin-patch.html to enter!

Win this Treasury full of Handcrafted Items!

Win this treasury!!! Stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win this great Thanksgiving treasury by some of my friends at the Old Farmhouse Gathering team!  One winner will be chosen amongst all who leave a comment, so be sure to enter!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjIxMTI3NHw1NzMxNzA3Nzc/win-this-treasuryturkey-trot-with-the

24 years and counting!

Today marks a wonderful memory...24 years of marriage with my husband, Matt!  Of course, it seems like many more, since we dated for over 4 years first.  But I feel like it is so incredible in this day to be able to commit to one another for so long, through good times and bad, and still share such an amazing love for one another.  It's sad, but I sometimes feel like some couples could benefit more by what Matt and I share, the ability to communicate and support one another so well.

And so, I am remembering that special day with this bouquet of flowers table mat that I created.  The center area is hand needle felted and includes a variety of color tones for the flowers, with pink as the base.  The leaves feature four different green shades which details the shading, veins and subtle effects of leaves, just like in nature.  The inside of the scallops each have a pearl flower button with a teeny pastel pink button on top.  The whole piece was blanket stitched to a wool backing with a pink crochet thread.  It's a beautiful piece that only took a couple of hours to design and make.  Making these types of table mats is really fun and easy to accomplish.  Just keep in mind the delicate beauty of a flower in bloom and watch it grow from there!

Hope you have a very enjoyable day!

 

Whaahoo! The worse day fishing is better than any day washing dishes.

We're back from a fun week of vacationing in Oregon!  After several days visiting with family, we ventured over to Diamond Lake, a favorite fishing spot from my hubby's childhood.  Snow still packed in the banks, we were just sure that the mosquitos wouldn't be out this early in the year, but, alas, there were there to greet us in massive form.  Now I know what a swarm of these little buggers is, as they lurk above in formation with the wind casting their carnivorous shadows, and timing the dive to exposed skin just right.  Itch, itch...

Thank goodness for Nic, who blessed us with her plump 17" trout for dinner one night, and as I'm told, a hearty "whaahoo" shout out once she knew this beauty was on her line.  Cuz, if we were to rely on Matt to catch dinner, well, that tiny minnow would've surely left us with noisy tummies.  Overall, they caught several and I happily snapped up pictures from shore, that is, while spraying repellant.  I multi task well when necessary.
 
And, yep, our new "boat", an inflatable giant at 10.5' long really did well.  We took some razzing, cause those die hard fishing dudes just couldn't take that little boat seriously, but it's kinda funny how we had the stringer of fish to prove that size just doesn't matter!

I didn't get too much stitchin' accomplished, as it appears that dish duty only fell to those who stay landlocked.  It was so worth it though, to see many beautiful memories created between a father and his daughter and a new vessel, christened the S.S. Tolly.  May she have many more watery adventures ahead!

A new chapter at Happy Valley...My designs published!

I'm so excited to announce that I have been asked to design needle felting projects for Clover Needlecraft, Inc.!!!  The past few days have been very busy, as I have just completed several designs for Clover's project sheets.  It's an awesome opportunity to publish some of my work with a wonderful company.  Ahhh, yes, and on top of all that, I was provided with an ample supply of Clover's outstanding felting tools and roving to work with.  I'm like a kid in a candy store!  To think, before working with Clover, I did all of my needle felting projects with a single non replacable barbed needle!  Clover's tools utilize several needles, or you can use just one if you like...the point is, there are options.  This was also my first experience working with Clover's felting brush pad, which, again was SO much better than my foam cushion (the needles don't get stuck in the felting pad!). 

So if you haven't tried needle felting, I encourage you to give it a go.  The few tools needed to get started aren't very expensive; it's a very portable craft, and the design ideas are really limitless.  See a flower and you can re-create it's beauty.  That's what I did in this pink hydrangea.

Stay tuned here, and I'll announce when my projects, complete with how-to instructions, are available at your local craft stores and to download online.  And, let me know what magical creation you make...I'd love to see it!

Flag Day Challenge Fun

It's time for a challenge, and my friends at the Old Farmhouse Gathering have put together a wonderfully fun little competition for Flag Day!  Many artisans have put together a patriotic display for you to vote on!  Go to:  http://www.etsy.com/, type in FDOFG and see all of these creations.  Click on the button to the right of this post to be taken to the OFG blog, where you can cast a vote for your favorite.  Be sure to follow the directions and enter your email address, as you could win a prize just for voting!

Of course, Happy Valley Primitives was up for this challenge...here's a peek at my entry, a large wool table runner depicting a proud flag as the foundation for our beautiful country:

Voting starts June 4th, so be sure to cast one for your favorite!  Happy Flag Day!