~*Happily Ever After*~

That is how the fairy tale goes!

 

 

Hello Dear Friends!  I just have to share!

Yesterday was the big day!  My beautiful, lil' Sister had her fairy tale wedding... and she married the man of her dreams.  Angie and James are sure to live happily ever after!

They are have not only joined together themselves... but three lovely, little girls are now officially sisters... Emma, Madison, and Carter.

I couldn't be more happy for them all!

My love and best wishes for... Angie, James, and the girls! 

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty

~*Early Work Mercantile Updated!*~

Hello Dear Friends! My offering page on Early Work Mercantile has been updated for June 1st. Here are my wares for this month... 

My finished Farmhouse Locker Hooked Rug... I'm calling it ~*A Bit of Summer Cheer*~...

and ~*Ellie's Pocket & Dolly*~...

You can pop over to see more photos... and while you are there... be sure to take a gander at the prim wares the other artists have to offer too.  I'm always in awe at the works created!  I'm sure you are too!

I would like to remind you of the contest Primitive Handmades Mercantile is having this month.  If you haven't participated and signed up yet, there is still time.  One of the giveaway prize offerings is my ~*In the Garden*~ hanging pillow tuck.

~*Cat with Flowers*~ pillow tuck... my offering, is still available if you are interested.  I should take more photos of it... this picture does not do it justice.  The background is much  more muted than it is showing.  

You can visit my offering page on Primitive Handmades Mercantile... HERE.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tomorrow will be a day spent in the kitchen... baking lots of wedding cake!  My beautiful, little sister is getting married on Saturday.  She asked me to bake her cake.  Oh my goodness... what have I agreed to?  I'm not a baker.  Wish me luck!

 

Wishing you all warm smiles...

 

Betty

 

~*Busy Busy Busy... as usual*~

Hello Dear Friends! Yes... I'm like a broken record... always saying how busy I am. I'm sorry, but it is true. However, tonight before I close my eyes for the day... Early Work Mercantile will be updated with two new offerings. More on that later. Here is some of what has kept me so busy this past week...

ball games and ball practice... this is on top of tae kwon do class... and even more fun...

Our weekly craft project... God's Eye making.  I'm trying to do something creative & crafty each week during Summer Break with him.  Last week we made bird-feeders from milk jugs.  I have yet to see a bird visit them... but the squirrels sure are happy!

Tony and I spent Saturday together visiting several antique/thrift shop/flea markets.  I found a few small trinkets and he found a few more vintage Rock albums for his collection.  This guitar was a HOOT!  We didn't bring it home, but we did have fun playing with it at the shop.  How funny!

I have a few errands to run today... and lots of things to with the kiddo... Summer Reading at the library kick-off, tae kwon do class, ball practice, and probably supper at McDonald's... but I will get my pictures taken of my wares and have my update done tonight.  Stay tuned...

Wishing you warm smiles and a beautiful day!

Betty

~*Friday Finishes*`

Hello Dear Friends and Happy Friday!  I wish you all a Happy Memorial Day.  May you celebrate and be thankful for our brave with family, friends, and lots of love.

 

Of course, I hope you have lots of crafty time this weekend too.  I apologize for sparking the inspirational crafty goodness with my latest locker hooking project.  ***smile!***  My table rug is almost finished and I will share it with you very soon.  It looks like I still have a pretty full bowl of ripped threads too... which means there just might be another rug.  ***wink***

 

There is a beauty of a ~*Friday Finish*~ to share with you.  This one comes from dear Cathi... she stitched up my latest freebie ~*In My Garden*~...

 

Cathi's stitches are just wonderful!  Thank you for stitching and sharing!

 

I still need to get all my freebie charts and doodles transferred to another site.  Hopefully I can find some quiet time this weekend to finalize it all.  I'll share with you soon.  I lowered the storage rate on my Picturetrail account.  They were billing me at a higher rate each year (like everything else, rates going up).  I'm pretty sure I can store them in an online album on Flickr or Photobucket for free... just need to decide which is the best for sharing with all of you.

 

Wishing you all warm smiles...

 

Betty

~*Making a Crafty Re~Visit*~

Hello Dear Friends!  There are more times than I would like to admit... where I get inspired/side~tracked/kidnapped/diverted or just plain lost in my creative muse.  I know that I have deadlines and 'need to do' items... but then I get bitten by the desire to pick up another medium.  Happen to you?

Well, here is the latest diversion... a bowl of cotton fabric ~ ripped into one inch wide strips...    

A big ol' skein of cotton yarn...

and my locker hook.

Shortly before Tony and I were married... he bought me a locker hooking kit from a local gift shop.  (He has always encouraged me to follow my creative dreams!)  At the time, I didn't know anything about rug hooking... with cotton or wool.  I had always had a fondness for hooked rugs... but was clueless about the process.  That gift was the re~start of my crafty life!  You see, years ago, I did sew dolls and other 'country crafty' things... and sold them at local craft shows.  Years before that, I studied various art forms in high school and college.  I have always felt a need to create something... some way or another.

I made a few locker hooked items... and purchased this book too... which I highly recommend if you are interested in learning this form of rug hooking.

Well, just as my creative wants sway from one thing to another... my locker hook was set aside and has been untouched for a few years.  However, I had the urge to pick it back up yesterday... and have started this farmhouse table rug...(you can see a close~up of it in the picture above with my hook)...

I'm using scraps of brights that were mostly from re~claimed items of clothing, sheets, or curtains.  I'm thrilled with the progress... and have lots more hooked now than when I took the picture.  It is a fairly speedy form of hooking...

My sweet SIL, Robin, is partly responsible for this recent craft diversion.  This beautiful red, white, and blue mat was made by her and gifted to me.  She has made several other mats in days of late.  Some have also been gifts, but some are for sale in our booth too... and are selling rather well.

I'm not sure what the plans are for the table rug I'm making just yet... but I'll keep you posted.

Wishing you warm smiles...

Betty

~*Before Noon Today*~

Hello Dear Friends!  Summer has begun... and we have been busy already.  I just know it won't be long before I hear those dreaded words... "I'm bored."  But for now, I'm not giving him a chance to say them!

All before noon today...

We started the day by checking the bird~feeders we made yesterday from milk jugs...

 Then weeded our veggie garden...

 He tries to use the hoe, but is much better pulling the weeds from inside the buckets (used to protect against hungry rabbits that are over~populating our yard)...

 He didn't work alone... I did my share...

 We took some time to be goofy too.  You can barely see it, but he was trying to give me rabbit ears too...

 We admired our veggies... grape tomatoes...

 Roma tomatoes...

 We played some more.  I don't know who loves the other more...

 We walked around the yard so I could 'oh' and 'ah' my flowers...

 This is a tiny fairy garden I put together the other day... in an old enameled bathtub... with various seedums from the yard...

 Some of my Morning Glories are starting to bloom (but seem to have been stricken by the extremely high winds we were having today)...

 This it the hanging flower basket Trinity gave me for my birthday... aaaahhhh.... I love it!

 After we were finished outside... we escaped into the studio.  He worked on his artwork and I on mine.  Notice the cartoons... they seem to be a requirement for him to create... or mandatory if you ask him.

 Brownie had to join us too.  He really loves plopping down on the cool floor...

 While I had the camera out today... I remember I hadn't shared this with you yet.  This is the gift my husband gave me as a combined Birthday/Mother's Day gift.  Oh... I love it too!  I missed one at an auction a few weeks early... and almost cried!  But, that one was too much over anything I could ever pay for.  We spotted this one at one of our favorite antique shops at a much more reasonable price...

 I didn't put it next door in the studio.  Instead, I put it on my favorite cabinet in the living room so I could see it every time I walk past it.  And it is filled with all my floss...

 I'll share this with you too.  Atop the spool cabinet sits a lovely apothecary jar that I recently purchased at a garage sale for only $2.  What a great find!  It is made of such thick glass.  I'm not an expert, but I do think it is pretty old.  I haven't decided what to fill it with yet.  Sooner or later, it will be full of something though.

I'm working on dolls and punches... and many other things that didn't get in the photo shoot today, but will be shared soon.

Wishing you warm smiles... and fun Summer days...

Betty