Ringing in the New Year

Wishing you all a year full of joy, happiness and good health!

We were looking ahead on the calendar and there are a few fun dates

tomorrow will be 1/1/11

and in a few weeks 1/11/11

and in November 11/1/11

and later that month 11/11/11

Lots of ones...maybe one should be my new lucky number!

Cheers,

Leanne

Sharing Some Christmas Decorating Pictures

Now that Christmas is over I have a little time to share some pictures of my decorated house.

I love decorating for Christmas!

Bringing out all the decorations that I have collected over the years and adding some new finds.

This is the top of the refrigerator.

The little elf was made by me about 15 years ago and the polka dot present cookie jar is new this year. I love polka dots!The top of the hutch in the kitchen. The cookie jar that the tree is in was my grandmas it didn't have a cover when I got it so it makes a perfect pot for the mini tree to go in.
Nutcrackers that were painted by my mom. She painted them for Jack.... what a wonderful gift.
The Santa sign behind the nutcrackers was painted by me.

The top of the hutch in the dining room.

On Christmas Eve before our guests were about to arrive I needed some kind of decoration for the kitchen island. I cut the cedar from the tree outside and placed it on the bottom of a plate. Then I took the tangerines that were in a fruit basket and sprinkled them with cranberries...the perfect decoration. It took me about 5 minutes to put together and I got so many compliments on it. See I do work best under pressure.

The dining room table before dishes.

The Christmas tree after Santa came.

The dining room table all set and ready for guests. I had the kitchen table set too but didn't take any pictures. Notice the color of the walls and the new drapes. If you look back to some of my earlier posts you can see the room with wallpaper.

That's all I have for now. I'm keeping everything up until January 6th when I have Bunco. I'm not sure we'll play Bunco...maybe we'll have game night. We played Tabu, Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples over the holidays and had so much fun I though it would be fun for the Bunco girls too.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

Leanne

Dining Room Makeover

Dining room with wallpaper....

I have to say I loved this wallpaper but it was time for a change.

Below the chair rail was a burgundy sponge painted looking wallpaper.

Burgundy valances cover the top part of the windows.

What was under the wallpaper...

Pink Walls!

and more pink walls...

not a good color for the dining room.

Bring in the painters...yaaa right!

Did I mention I started this project December 1st.

I will post pictures of the after soon.

I will also share Christmas pictures too.

Wishing You All A Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy your time with family and friends!

Leanne

More Stitching...

I just love to stitch!The colder the weather the more I like to stitch!
I just had to share this table runner with you.
I didn't like putting this piece down...I just couldn't wait to finish it.
This runner is so long I couldn't get it all in one picture.
I have a few finishing touches but I couldn't wait to show you.
I want to offer this runner to you before I list it on ebay.

This "We Can Build" table runner is all hand stitched by me.
The size is about 32 inches long by 11 inches wide and
is made of solid navy blue wool.
The writing and snowflakes are hand stitched.
The snowman and his scarf are wool and blanket stitched on.
I added button eyes, stitched eyebrows and mouth with buttons down his front.
I blanket stitched all around the runner in black.
The back of the runner is grey plaid wool.

The cost is $29 plus priority shipping of $5

If you are interested in this "We Can Built" table runner please contact me.
You can pay thru paypal or personal check.
If paying with paypal I will send you an invoice.


When I'm not stitching I've been ripping the wallpaper down from our dining room.
Why did I start this project in the middle of craft season?
I don't know! Maybe because I'm a little crazy!
You wouldn't believe the color it is now...it's primer that I put on before the wallpaper.
I'm not going to tell you because I will take pictures and show you in another post.
Until then.....
Have a Happy Day,
Leanne

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Green Bay Packer Fans were the hottest costume this year!

I hope your bags are full of good candy!!!

Enjoy the night,

Leanne

Warm Woolen Mittens

It's dark, it's raining, the wind is blowing, the leaves are falling off the trees and the temperature is dropping....yes, I think winter will soon be here!

What comes with winter?

Snow!

What do you wear in the snow?

Mittens!

I made these penny rugs on the way home from our long weekend trip up north.

It's a 6 1/2 hour drive so I had LOTS of time to stitch.

I was stitching a penny rug with circles when I thought I should make something new.

Mittens! I love Mittens! What goes on mittens but stitched snowflakes and of course they need a string to keep the pair together.

Do you remember when our mittens had strings attached?

The string would go up one sleeve of your jacket around the back and down the other sleeve.
We never lost our mittens.

The penny rug looked a little bare so I stitched the words "Warm Woolen Mittens" and sprinkled a few stitched snowflakes around.

I love it!

The penny rug turned out just like I wanted.

Get your warm woolen mittens ready....

Winter is near!

Making Dolls

I just love making dolls!I have 3 boys and this is how I get my girly fix!
Did I tell you I love shopping for fabric?
And I love, love polka dots!
I had so much fun painting the faces of these dolls!
They seem to come alive when you put the sparkle in her eyes.

The above dolls are made from a pattern by Sweet Meadows Farms...I love her patterns!
If you would like to purchase any one of these dolls I have them for sale on ebay.
You will find more pictures and their descriptions.
If you would like to purchase one from my blog just email me at
harvestmoon at wi dot rr dot com.

This is my raggedy witch! I just love her hair and her little trick or treat bag.

Look at all those smiley faces!

Have a great day,
Leanne

A Rainy Day and Stitching Go Together

It's a rainy day so I can't work out in the yard...

and boy does our yard need work...

but with a little care it's starting to look real nice.

I can't wait to plant some flowers but...

they are talking snow tonight...

yes I said SNOW!

Now I know inpatients don't like snow!

I've been planting the same flowers in the same color for about 10 years...

hot pinks and white.

This year I'm changing my color pallet to...

red and purple with yellow and white.

I already bought some flowers...

red geraniums and little purple wave petunias

but I'm keeping them inside until we get some better weather.

Meanwhile...

I just can't stop stitching...I think it's the perfect craft to do when waiting for Jack to finish up baseball practice or lacrosse practice or piano lesson...yes, our spring is full of activities.
I thought I would try something new...
all the stitching is in soft white...
I like it...
it gives the penny rug a fresh more summery look.

I'm always getting ready for fall...I can't believe I just said the "f" word when we haven't even seen summer yet.

But I love sunflowers and fall is my favorite season...

I thought I would make a larger penny rug in my favorite penny rug color...

lime green...

I think it needs something in the middle...

or maybe not when you put something on top it will look perfect.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

So I'm on this diet...

but I haven't lost any weight. Enjoy the laugh!

Leanne

Olympic Rings Penny Rugs

I've been stitching while watching the Olympics. I wanted to put some of my new penny rugs on ebay and when I was taking pictures I thought... Hey! I have all the colors of the Olympic Rings!
I've been watching the Olympics almost every night so I'm getting a lot of stitching done.

Enjoy your day,
Leanne

Still Hand Stitching Penny Rugs

I'm still stitching penny rugs.I really like sitting at night and stitching but to tell you the truth...
my fingers are a little tender from not wearing a thimble.

I would really love to be sewing on my machine but it's in the shop...for 3 weeks. I have some dolls all ready to be sewn and I bought a few new doll patterns that I can't wait to try out.

So as my machine sits in the shop I will look at all the fabric sitting, waiting, longing the be sewn into some cute little dress for a raggedy doll.
Back to my stitching...
or maybe knitting...
or maybe I'll rip the wallpaper down from my kitchen...
Leanne

Happy Super Bowl Day!

The Super Bowl of Snacks and Pizza that is...I know I showed this picture before but it's the perfect "Snack Bowl" for the Super Bowl.

Enjoy the game

and

the snacks!

Leanne

You know this would be a better Super Bowl if the Green Bay Packers were in it...

they'll be there next year!

What You Looking At?

Isn't that the perfect title for this picture?

We have a small patch of woods in the back of our yard and the deer come to visit once in a while. I think they come all year long but I only notice them when there is snow on the ground.

Yesterday morning we had a fresh inch of snow with on and off snow all day long. I'm thinking of spring but the snow was so beautiful I couldn't stop looking out the windows.

What's that? We had 6 deer in the yard yesterday but only three came up on top of the hill.
I love watching the deer.

I hope they're eating the weeds...I really need help with the weeds.

By the time the school bus came they were gone.

Have a peaceful day,

Leanne

February Giveaway at C&PLG

I'm the hostess for the February Giveaway at C&PLGStop by the C&PLG Blog to see how to enter.

Good luck!!!

Leanne

Cold Winter Stitching

Wind chills here are below zero but it's sunny.

My sewing machine is in the shop and I really miss it.

I thought I would do some hand stitching...more penny rugs.

First I needed some different wool...I love, love, love fabric shopping.

It's not easy finding 80-100 percent wool and when I do find it the price is up there. I hit the jackpot! I found some beautiful plaids and nice thick solids. I came home and felted it right away. Felting is the process of bonding the fibers of wool together or you could say I shrunk my fabric. I like the word felting better it just sounds so creative not like it was a mistake. Don't you just love the look and feeling of felted wool? It's so soft and aged looking like it has a history.

I made this penny rug for Valentine's Day.

I'm waiting for a vase of flowers to set right on top.

I made this little mitten penny rug out of a sweater that I shrunk, yes shrunk. It was my son's and I think it was worn once or twice before it was snuck in the wash and in the dryer with a several pair of jeans.

When life gives you a little sweater make a penny rug!

Keep warm,

Leanne

CPLG will soon be C&PLG

It has taken a bit of discussion and prodding but it looks like as of February 1st the ebay group I belong to, Country and Primitive Ladies Group will be using C&PLG as the new initials you type in the search box to find our listings.

Here's our story as written by Maureen. You see, for a very long time we have used cplg and it worked like a charm...until ebay made some changes in the search process. At first we noticed a few plumbing accessories mixed in with our handmade items. It seems cplg is also the abbreviation for coupling as in pipes. We wondered if "Garage Guy" (as we nicknamed him) noticed his pipe fittings were nestled among raggedy dolls, stitcheries, candle mats and painted goodies. We joked that perhaps he would shop with us for his wife or girlfriend as he looked over his listings. Then we noticed he had more listings than we did and it really cramped our advertising style. Our group's pretty handmade items were scattered over a couple pages of nuts, tubes, PVC pipes in all assorted sizes, pipe fittings, hose couplings and none of them cute or primitive! lol This was not the shopping experience we wanted for our wonderful customers and so we have decided on this little change.

A few gals have already started using the new initials in their listing titles and we all plan on being on board by February 1st. So remember, when you are searching for wonderful handmade pretties type C&PLG in the search box on any ebay page and prepare to be delighted! I have added a C&PLG link in the sidebar of my blog.

Enjoy your day...I'm off to stitch some penny rugs.

Leanne

Pancakes Anyone?

Chocolate chip or plain?Don't you just love it when someone takes over your kitchen and makes a wonderful meal?
Thanks Jack!