20 Years in the Making...

As I was putting away my Christmas things I had to take pictures of some of the new things I made this year.

 

See this cute Santa on wheels? 

He was a little painting project I started 20 years ago...yes 20 years.

My girlfriend Barb and I took painting classes when our children were in grade school and continued to paint together for many years.

We had this Santa that was almost done but needed a little something here and there.

Every holiday we would talk about finishing them but never did.

This year we finished them!

 As we were painting we wondered how long it had been since we started.  Looking at the pattern packet it was copyrighted in 1993. Back then we painted new patterns that would come out so I know we started them in 1993, It's amazing that we still had the pieces and knew where they were.

I even moved since we stared Santa.

The paints were dried up but we found replacements...can't believe they still had the colors.

I'd like to share with you 20 Years in the Making Santa on Wheels.

Another thing I finished this holiday was this cross stitch Santa pocket. I haven't cross stitched in about 25 years.  My eyes aren't as good as back then but I found a light with a magnifying glass on it.  It works great! I started this last year and love how it turned out.

 I also made this cross stitch snowman...love him too!

 

 

 Both patterns are from Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.

St Noel is the Santa pocket and Oh Christmas Tree is the snowman.

 I also added some penny rugs on ebay

 Wool Snowman Penny Rug

Wool Mitten Penny Rug

 

Stay warm and healthy,

Leanne

 

Just a little Christmas....

Decorating.

Wow, has time been flying by.

I've been busy finishing up my craft fairs and decorating the house for Christmas.

I love looking at every one's blog and how they decorate for the Holidays.

So, today I thought I would show you a few of the decorations I have up.

I'll take more pictures in the next few days.

 

 I saw this Santa tree on Sew Many Ways blog and I had to try it.

Last year this was my snowman tree but after seeing Karen's tree it was Santa all the way...ho, ho, ho. I even made the Santa ornaments. I also found red ornaments with white reindeer on them...I have eight of them...just like Santa.

My Santa tree fits perfectly in our three seasons porch.

You can see Karen's tree here.

This is the living room tree. 

Many, many, many years of collecting ornaments.

I just love how each ornament has a story.

Many were collected while on vacations. I like to get an ornament from everywhere we go.

 

Last week I hosted Bunco. I wanted to take pictures of the kitchen island with all the food and my decorations....well I forgot.  So I took pictures after I cleaned up. 

 Little Christmas Tree...I bought this at the grocery store...just perfect to go with the silver reindeer.

 I added a red ribbon to the deer and tree.

 And floating candles with cranberries.

 The mantel with all my Santa's.

A few of the Santa's were ones that I painted.

 

Happy Decorating!

 

Leanne

I Just Can't Get Enough....

Wool Applique!

 

 

 I have been stitching like crazy. I do all hand stitching.

 Before I finish one piece

 I have the next one all cut out and ready to go.

 I have so many ideas

 and so little time.

 Now I can't use all of these myself and I've given so many away as gifts.

That I started selling on ebay and at craft fairs.

 I had to show you this little raggedy...her face makes me laugh every time I look at her.

 Yes, I started Christmas already.

 I can't wait for Christmas. I just love entertaining for the Holidays.

I started watching the Hallmark Channel's Holiday movies...yes they are showing Christmas movies already....I love it! 

I can picture it now... stitching on a Santa, watching a Christmas movie, sipping on some warm apple cider on this cold evening. Now I just have to convince my family to watch Christmas movies in November :)

 

I just listed all these goodies on ebay.  If you're interested in seeing all my listings Click here to see them.

 

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

 



I Love Fall and.....

Craft Fairs!!!!

 

I'd like to share some pictures of my booth from the Holy Hill craft fair two weeks ago.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, no wind and plenty of shoppers.

 

See my handpainted crocks?  I bet you didn't know I painted on crocks.

See my dolls...I love picking out fabrics for their dresses and fixing their hair.



 See my wool applique?  I've been stitching like crazy.

 Grandma's suitcase full of penny rugs.

 When I get tired of stitching, I start painting, when I get tired of that I start sewing on the machine or start cutting out a new project or make a new doll. 

I had just enough time to take these pictures before the fair started.

 

Here's a list on my next fairs. Come say Hi!

 

Fall Fair to Remember

October 19th and 20th

Friday 4-8 and Saturday 9-4

 Washington County Fair Park in West Bend Wisconsin 

Booth #33

 

Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair

November 11

10-4

Brookfield East High School in Brookfield Wisconsin

 

Holiday Marketplace

November 17

9-4

Washington County Fair Park in West Bend Wisconsin

Booth #98

 

Enjoy your day,

Leanne



A trip to a new quilt shop....

well, the Quilt Shop was new to me.

We wanted to do something fun the other day so we took a day trip to Green Bay 

where we visited the hallowed grounds of

 Lambeau Field and the Packer Hall of Fame...saw all Four Super Bowl Trophies...very fun!

No, Lambeau Field doesn't have a quilt shop....

but there is a really nice quilt shop on the way.

Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop

in Menasha, Wisconsin.

When we go on these male pilgrimages I try to find something girly I would enjoy.

My husband and son were so generous with their time...not once did they say let's go or that's enough shopping.  They sat in the car for 45 minutes while I was in quilt shop heaven....thank you!

Now don't get me wrong, I could have spent the whole afternoon there but I know their limits.

The shop is cute and cozy with lots of  wool, patterns, fabrics and anything else you would want in a quilt shop.  There were plenty of samples made up and the employes were just a joy. I will be back it's not too far away only an hour and a half drive.

I have a few penny rug patterns from Primitive Gatherings...now I have more.

I'll share pictures of my goodies.

Christmas patterns were on sale.

 Beautiful wools... I've been looking for some off whites...

 golds for sunflowers...

 and perfect oranges for pumpkins.

 Antiquing spray

I'm going to use this on some of the counted cross stitch item I've been doing.

 Finished up some Warm Woolen Mittens penny rugs. 

I'm getting ready for my craft fair season in fall...since I hand stitch everythng if I don't start now I will never have enough. 

 I'll put a few of these on ebay...click here to see them.

 My first attempt at counted cross stitch in about 30 years.

I have to say this was a really fun piece to stitch.

 Look close... no mistakes...lol. 

I need to finish it into a ditty bag might be awhile but I'll get it done before Christmas.

Today I'll be stitching...I want to make the gingerbread penny rug.

Enjoy your day,

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

3 Seasons Porch

Snowmen, snowmen and more snowmen. This is what I see when I sit at the kitchen table and look out the window.

See the large snowman with the red coat...he is catching snowflakes with his tongue.

My little snowman tree.

You can see some of my CPLG ornie exchange ornaments.

You can never have too many ornaments!!!!