Fall Mix and Sticky Canes

While the family was away this weekend attempting to land a nice salmon at the river, I spent the quiet time decorating for fall.  Thought I'd share a tiny section of my growing collection.  Of course, you've seen Harvest Annie (from a Homespun from the Heart pattern), as her cute face is sometimes my blog avatar.  She rests on a beautiful table mat I made from a Lakeview Primitives pattern.  Behind her is the chaise, adorned with my favorite rag pumpkin flannel quilt (from Love of Quilting magazine), and a little cross stitch pilgrim and turkey (from a Leisure Arts cross stitch book).  As you can see, I enjoy creating diverse stitched items to adorn my home, and I LOVE the fact that there are so many talented designers out there who have put together such awesome patterns!  Thank you!!!

I spent last night creating a large collection of primmed up candy canes all glistening with mica flakes and glass glitter, and they're just about dry.  Adorned with a cute vintage tag, these will be available in my shop today in sets of three.  I also plan to add a larger version this year.  Hope you'll take a peek!  Have a great day!

Bloomin' Confusion

September is feeling more like fall now; that bright star in the sky is playing hide 'n seek.  I snapped this confusion amongst our corn/sunflower patch.  Those bright yellow beauties are perplexed and don't know which way to turn!

Have I ever mentioned just how much the pup loves green beans?  As I was clicking away on this brisk morn, the pup finally discovered the solar fence line that surrounds the garden.  In the 2 seasons we've had this up to keep the deer out, he always manages to skirt under the lower line, or miss the intermittent surge of shock that flows through.

Not today though.  After a slight little zip, he yelped loudly and SPRINTED all the way around the house to the front door.  Gosh, I felt so bad, but could hardly contain my laughter as I saw to it that he was okay.  And, of course, the next trip outside resulted in success for him...into the bean patch once again!

Yep, you really can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Witchy Stitchin'

How did September blur by so quickly that it's now more than half over?  My first show is less than 2 weeks away, and I'm feeling like I don't have enough made up.  We're expecting 80 degree weather through next weekend, so just how many people will be thinking about scarves and hats this early?  Hmm...time to get creative and produce something new!

Last night I finished up this cute witch penny rug.  The background is on the most beautiful marbled wool felt color that is no longer available.  I have a piece that has deep purple into pink and another piece that is more light blue into purple.  Wish I could find more, because I've never seen such a diverse tone in hand dyed wool.  I constructed this piece a bit differently than usual, cutting a solid black backing which included the penny flaps already attached.  I just love how the witch's profile turned out, hair blowing in the wind, teetering just so on that crooked ol' broomstick!

Meet Bling...My latest Epattern Release!

Whoohoo...it's the first day of school, and Matt has returned back to work from vacation.  It's QUIET around here!  Even the pup is taking in all the peace with a morning nap.

Today I'm releasing my latest epattern design, Bling the Penguin!  Bling is a very quick to make stand alone design that can also be made into an ornament.  Resize the pattern and make a family of these little dudes marching across a window sill for winter.  So cute!  I made several of these for my craft shows, and they were such a hit!  Supplies are easy to find, and I may even put together a few kits for sale soon.  Find Bling here on my blog or in my Etsy shop.

Check out this beautiful bowl of red rose hips I picked over the weekend after taming back a very unruly beast of a bush.  I'm going to dry and then scent them with a wonderful cinnamon bun or pumpkin spice scent.  I love having bowls of these scented fixins around the house.  With that cool, crisp morning air already here, fall is rapidly approaching.  There will be nothing like the wonderful aroma of these once the windows are shut up tight for our nine months of rain... Oh, I'm not complaining; that justifies more time for stitchin'!!

The cycle of life...an awesome sight!

Awww...one last camping trip, a little stitching and oh, so much fun!  Last week, we ventured up to Baker Lake and then over to the Cascade River.  As the family attempted to fish the lake, I was busy stitching away this piece.  Yep, it's beginning to look like that time of year again already!

Well, the fish proved sneaky, weaving the lines through stumps and snags, so we didn't catch anything more than a nice suntan.  Next up was river time, which proved to be an awesome experience, as the salmon were moving up stream to spawn.

For two days, we watched these two sockeye salmon exhaustively lay eggs, fertilize, and bury them in the sand right in front of our campsite.  The male (brighter red) was actively chasing away other males ready to step in on him, and even a steelhead salmon tried to invade.


Alas, fishing on the river was closed until today, so all my two cohorts could due was watch and be amazed at the cycle of life...for there's always next time.  Yea, right.  I think I saw this little hatchling smile at that thought.  Catch me if you can...

Family Time

Yikes!  It's been so long since I've posted.  This summer has been a whirlwind of both happy and sad events.  Nic spent nearly a month at her Grammy and Grandpa's ranch, riding Scooter and just plain living the farm life.  A great trip for her at her home-away-from-home!

Meanwhile, we worked on some landscaping projects here...which certainly instigated that feeling of rapidly aging.  Arrggh!  It sure takes longer to get things done as we creep out of our 4th decade.  The garden is producing, so we're canning something every few days.  We have over 53 pints of beans and at least 2 more pickings before those are done...wow!  Blackberry jam and applesauce are on the agenda, along with lots of ears of corn to process and Matt's famous dill pickles!  Can't seem to get the tomato production flowing, so once again, we'll only have a few just to eat fresh.

As the days creeped into my birthday weekend, I found myself with a very sick dog at the emergency hospital.  Lhasos can be known for kidney issues, and my little guy was stricken with more than his share now.  A surgeon removed the stones that were posing the most threat to his life; however, he has a kidney that is starting to fail along with a stone that is blocked between the kidney and bladder...a very expensive and delicate surgery that only a handful of specialists in the state will perform.  He is feeling better now, but it is only a matter of time before he has total kidney failure.  Maybe we'll be lucky and have another year or two together, but for now, we are savoring every moment and learning a lot about accepting loss together.

September will bring the start of middle school for Nic, so we'll enjoy a bit more camping before she's back to the books and I'm back to sewing.  Lots of shows lined up for this fall, and watch for my new pattern release at the beginning of the month!

One hot July day, many years ago...

Where were you on this day in 1987?  I know exactly where I was...Today is our 25th wedding anniversary!  Ah, yes; that very hot July day dressed to the nines, with the most handsome guy in the world at my side!  A little more grey, a few beautiful wrinkles, and a whole lotta wonderful memories later, and we still have that special spark of Endless Love.  And yes, that was our wedding's theme song!

Happy 25th, my sweety!

Morning has spoken

An early morning jaunt with just me and the pup found this majestic beauty perched high above one of our fir trees.  A reminder that we live in such a beautiful part of the world!  After snapping up a few shots, he/she grew weary of my paparazzi style of stalking and flew on.  Maybe the thought of this hairy creature near me was just too much to choke down...

I'm off to sew up more hats for my fall shows, and who knows, maybe this little guy will return.  With the neighbor's cats now moved, we need as many mouse hunters as possible.  Hope you find a nice surprize in your day!

From a Child's Voice

There are a lot of times when the start of a conversation with a child can turn into a time to teach one of life's valuable lessons.  Yesterday proved to be one of those between Nic and me.  She began with the exciting news of being amongst a team of 3 kids that were named as having the most spirit in a school competition.  Participating in her team was a classmate who has been repeatedly shunned by the other students, as kids will unfortunately do when they don't understand another individual's learning difficulties.  Especially with autism, since it can facilitate so many different characteristics from one child to another.

I certainly don't know enough to become the teacher in this area, but yesterday I found out that I was really more of the student.  Nic expressed her amazement at the artistic aptitude of this child and was very put off by the other students behavior toward him..."he's a great artist, Mom; why can't they see that?"  We talked about taking the stance, being the one voice that can maybe get the other students to consider that we are all different, but we all deserve respect.  Then, we spoke about how standing up for someone doesn't always make you the popular kid; sometimes others with turn away.  Sometimes you will lose friendships over these types of issues, but then, maybe they weren't really your true friend.

Then it happened.  Call it the light bulb burning brightly, but Nic just amazed me with her determination to put together an award honoring this student for the next assembly.  She sat down and wrote out a very passionate tribute to all students in compassion, understanding and overall, respect.  She is utilizing her last days as Student Body President to attach a message of hope to everyone; after all, as she points out, "you voted me as your president because I truely care about our students."

Eleven years old, and I couldn't be prouder.

Prim Up That Modern Home

Do you have a modern, contemporary home and a love for primitive style decor?  The two sometimes clash like oil and water, but they can also work together quite well.  Today I thought I'd share how I decorated a few areas of my home with a bit of a primitive touch.

This corner counter is in my kitchen, a thoroughly modern design, with clear maple cabinets, granite tiles and stainless appliances.  Not too much old style here!  I took a red/gold/ cream round penny rug that I made and layered up a wooden paddle (found at a thrift store) filled with rosehips and orange peels.  Three small styrofoam balls have a variety of seed pods from the farm store thoroughly glued in place (plus a brushed on coating of glue to seal them).  The seeds are deep purple, yellow gold and dark red, which brings together my rather modern attachment to the color purple (which I've blogged here before).  The three chicks are resin pieces I picked up a few years ago, along with a tin gold star.  The rusty scale adorns a pip berry and star candle ring along with a gorgeous local handcrafted candle with dried fruit imbedded in the wax.  Remember these important guidelines as you create your centerpiece:  use odd numbers of items when grouping like things together; layer up the height to bring the eyes to the focal point; and be sure that the colors work together (watch to make sure that your bright colors don't put everything else off); and offset your design...if it's too symmetrically perfect, it won't look primitive.

Next is something I love to decorate with...candle rings!  I have a formal six light chandelier in my dining room which is brushed nickel.  Not exactly primitive or country!  So I purchased multi colored pip berry candle rings (enough for each light), removed the light's cover and bulb, and threaded the candle ring to rest just below the frosted glass shade.  These stay up until fall, at which time I change them out for fall covered candle rings, and then again at Christmas for some bright red berry candle rings.  It adds a bit of texture and color to an otherwise ordinary place.  And I really like being able to change up the look quickly and easily.

And, though I didn't plan to photograph this, behind the light you can just make out a very high window sill that we have in a couple of rooms.  The windows are a good eight feet wide by only two feet tall.  Impossible to decorate with a window covering, so I gave up and just decorate the sill itself!  I have small bird houses, prim candlesticks, even some old books up there!  The look is cozy, yet not cluttered, since the pieces are way above eye level.  Plus it frees up more space at the lower levels to make and buy (!) new prim pieces.  And who doesn't love that!

Happy Mother's Day

I remember my first Mother's Day.  Nic was barely 3 months old, and I was unfortunately dealing with the medications and side effects of a blood clot, post pardom depression, and lack of ability to produce breast milk thanks to the steroids I had to take.

But through it all, the very precious life that Matt and I brought into this world bonded together with me so readily.   Nic was the ultimate gift even when the situation seemed less than a happy time.  Even though those days are a part of me, the wonderful child that we're raising is proof that life is always moving along to another chapter full of experiences and reflections.  In other words, a chapter in one's life simply does not tell their whole story.

Today I found myself face to face with another new mom.  It was just such a beautiful sight to see this soon-to-be new momma deer peering up at me from the pasture.  She moved slowly, with deliberate attempt to evade my presence, but there was no leaping away from my picture snapping frenzy by this doe.  Ah yes, those uncomfortable last few days.  I wonder if that little one will arrive before the day we celebrate our Moms.  A new life; a new chapter; a new day.

Happy Mother's Day!

A Lace-y Dilemma

Look at this lovely stash of lace that I just received from a friend who is in the process of doing some spring purging!  There's eyelets, trims, sheers and even a very unusually large panel of lace depicting a holiday scene.

Wow, what shall I create?  I don't work with lace a whole lot and have really only used it to embellish a dress (for a doll, of course...since I can't stitch a garment for the life of me!).


I did use a pretty eyelet trim on the top border of this shabby chic quilt, and it turned out real cute.  So, that got me to thinking...

Some of the larger pieces would look great overlaying a dark solid tone quilt block and then made into a pretty tote bag.  That would sure show of the delicate design in the lace's pattern!

Since lace is so easy to dye, why not color a few lengths of the trim pieces and create flower pins by rolling up the trim and stitching together the ends and then fanning out the 'petals'.  These are always so popular to attach to jackets, purses, etc.

And what a cool texture lace would provide to a needle felted design on a small candle mat.  Hmmm...guess I'd better get busy!

If you have any great ideas that you'd like to share, I'm all ears!  Have a wonderful day!

X-ing off that UFO

You may be wondering why I haven't much of anything new to show off these days.  Well, I'll admit that each year, one of my goals is always to finish up as many partially done projects as I can stand to do before the desire wears out.  Usually that means finishing up an enormous stash of cross stitching.  And after completing several small ones, I attacked this one with full force and determination.  It's one of those kits I bought back when Nic was born or thereabouts, so it's at least a dozen years old!  Nothing like taking my time, huh?  I get so incredibly bored doing these, as there's no real feeling of accomplishment until you've finally got the whole piece completed.  And we're talking a good 1000 hours on this one for sure!

It's a nice piece that Nic wants me to frame, entitled Mother's Prayer Quilt.  It reads:  "I pray when this quilt you see, you will know my wishes and dreams for thee.  I pray these things I've taught you true, because my child I love you." Each 'block' is a traditional "quilt" block done in cross stitch with the written sentiment: faith, hope, charity, love; health, wealth, happiness, peace; unselfishness, courage, honesty, thankfulness; independence, knowledge, friendship, success.  Such a beautiful verse!

It's so nice to have this huge project completed!  The old eyes are glad for the break, and I'm already working on new sewing projects that can be whipped up quickly.  So much more satisfaction there!

Finding my sunny place

It helps a soul to heal through pain if you can talk about it.  So much so lately as I reflect upon a personal ache in my heart for my grandma as I see the changes evident from a desire to give up.  We spent the earlier part of spring break with a visit to see her, and now that she's about 4 hours closer, I hope it won't be the last.  You may have seen me blog about her before...Grandma with the Red Lips, as she's known now.  My daughter distinguishes her that way, since she has a wonderful multitude of grandmas to keep straight.

At just shy of her 89th birthday, she is now dealing more with a failing heart, and unfortunately, a feeling of the hourglass emptying.  It saddens me so to see her have no desire to get out of bed; she's definitely capable, just won't.  And so, she peers out the window of her room to any activity that captures her keen eyes.  Her mind is still pretty sharp, but her soul is slowly resting away.  There will be no more letters, written in her beautiful longhand to me about the steady family she grew so plentifully; no words of the flowers that bloom by her hand; no more conversations over hand stitching an heirloom embroidery piece together.

Thankfully, what is still there are lots of the wonderful stories she enjoys sharing about specific incidents with each of us from the past.  Some will stay with me forever.  Like the very first visit that my husband made over dinner at her house, nearly 30 years ago.  Fried chicken overflowed the platter, and my burly sweety placed a mere wing on his plate.  Grandma, the ever gracious host, turned the platter around and offered a more meaty selection to which Matt reached again for another wing.  She had thought he was afraid to take too much, when in fact, the wing is his absolute favorite piece.  And, of course, after devouring the wings, he did enjoy visiting that platter again and again.  We laughed again this week about that and many other simple stories that brought us together.  Her incredible meals are always a fun topic.

This visit also brought together my Dad and I in a way that we haven't been.  As he has taken the full responsibility of caring for Grandma, he visits her daily at her new assisted living home and tends to her every need.  All this along with that of his wife who is continually battling bone cancer and his own heart problems.  It's a daunting job, but one that he does with as much love and compassion as I've ever witnessed.  It is a side that, I guess I knew was there, but have never really been 'grown up' enough to understand.

And so I ask you to think today about those that you love and remember a memory of something that will make you smile.  The memories are there for all of that if you dig deep, and there is always one to reflect on that can lighten your load, at least for a moment.

Lost in Remodel Land, and A Great New Giveaway!

I know, it's been pretty quiet here at Happy Valley.  I've been working on so many projects here at home and sadly neglecting my blog.  We are now into the third month of a bathroom makeover, and it should be done this next week.  I hope!  From decisions on how much to remodel, what tile to pick out, who will do the work, and finally, YIKES,  how will we pay for all of this, it's been an interesting time.

This all began in December, when I noticed our flooring near the shower area starting to buckle from water damage.  We have learned an expensive lesson in that you should not caulk those 'weep' holes where the tiles hang over the shower pan area.  Doing so allows the water that does penetrate through the tiles to not have any way to drain out.

After tearing out the damage, we decided to put in a completely tiled shower floor rather than replacing the fiberglass pan and to tile the floor of the entire room too.  This room already had extensive tile in the shower, soaking tub, half way up the walls and the counter area, so I wasn't real keen on redoing the whole thing.  That would have ran the cost and time in this project way out of control, and none of these areas were damaged.  And so now, we're waiting on the new shower glass doors to arrive and be installed next week.  Whew, it will be sooo nice to take a shower here again!

On another note, my friend Kim, of Old Road Primitives, is having a spectacular cash giveaway on her blog!  Stop on over and enter for your chance to win $50!  http://oldroadprimitives.blogspot.com/