Blizzard and Birds!

Well...we got a total of 7 inches of snow and now the wind is blowing like crazy. I spent a good part of the morning photographing the birds that come to the feeders that I have on my sewing room windows. There's been a ton of activity all day. I think I will have to refill the feeders before dark so they are ready for tomorrow morning. I think it going to get below 0 with the wind chill factor of 20 mph winds. I feel so sorry for the birds this time of the year. enjoy the pics!
Male Cardinal


Tufted Titmouse


Female House Finch


Male Cardinal


Young Female Cardinal


Tufted Titmouse


Junco


Female Cardinal


Male House Finch


Black Capped Chickadee

Snow and More to Come!

Woke up this morning to it snowing. There was about 3 inches on the ground. It's been snowing off and on all day. But the big snow is headed our way starting tonight and into tomorrow morning. There were a few school closing this morning and more cancellations are popping up as the day goes by. We are expecting 6" to 10". There is blizzard warnings for tomorrow. I guess the winds are expected to kick up tonight. Not looking forward to that. Hate being cold. So anyway...here are a few pics that I took today. Some of my friends on facebook, that used to live in my area wanted to see some pics.Cute little Junco bird that visits us here in the winter.
Bird Feeders out on my deck. They sure were busy all day with the birds!
Backyard Pics

Old birdhouse that a squirrel lives in.

My Holiday Home Pics!

Finally have all my decorating done. So here are a few pics I have taken. I wish my home were more prim then what it is. Some day we may get around to pulling up the carpet and redo the hardwood floors. And get some new furniture, now that the kids are grown and gone.







These pictures are of the front door area. On the back of our front door I have a quilted wall hanging that my mom made about 10 years ago. The tree is made up of individual pieces of fabric that are folded into a triangle. And each little present under the tree is made separately. It's truly a work of art. It's one of my favorite pieces from my mom.




And here are pics of my hallway and up the stairs. I just love the mirror, which we got about 20 years ago at an auction. It's beveled with a wide oak trim.

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Here are a couple of vintage stockings! LOL Mine and my hubbies from when we were kids. My mom made mine and hubbies grandma made his. My stocking is a little ragged. A couple of years ago Bonsai, my kitty, decided to attack it. He has a thing for anything made of felt. Don't know why. He has even gotten ornaments off the tree made of felt and chews them up.

Primitive Folk Art Santa's

Got our tree up yesterday and got a good start on the decorating. It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to get everything up. Hubby got all the outside lights up yesterday too. I'll try to get some pics of inside and outside posted on here soon. I was able to finish up a couple Santa's today that I had half finished last week. The one in the blue stocking cap is in my etsy shop now and I will list the other one tomorrow night. I've been thinking of making a pattern for him. What do you think?

Primitive Santa Make Do

Finally getting on a roll with my Christmas creations. Finished up this Santa Make Do today. I like him so well that I may make one for myself. He is listed in my etsy shop now, along with another Snowman which I just listed too.



Today sure did feel like winter. Only hit a high of 45º. I think most of the leaves have fallen from the trees so hubby was out raking up the leaves for like the 6th time this fall. He made a big pile for our little granddaughter to jump in. I captured the most precious picture of her. Love those little teeth!

Primitive Snowman Head Make Do!

Here is something new I finished today. I made 3 of them, but just have one listed in my etsy shop right now. I think he turned out fantastic if I do say myself. :) Also working on more gingerbread ornies to make and sell. Had a request to make some and I will be selling them for $1.00 a piece or 12 for $10.00.

Ornamental Gingerbread Cookies

I've been waiting a long time to make these gingerbread cookies since I saw the recipe posted on Linda's blog, Behind My Red Door. Love reading her blog. I've been searching for the perfect cookie cutter and found one at a really old hardware store in Iowa. They had a huge kitchen section with lots of neat kitchen gadgets. Here is the recipe courtesy of Linda. These ornaments smell so good while baking!

Ornamental Gingerbread Cookies

3 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon each: ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg
peppercorns for the eyes and buttons

Beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in molasses. Mix dry ingredients together. Stir them into the sugar mixture and gradually add water. Dough will be very stiff. Refrigerate overnight. Heat oven to 350º. Cut dough into three pieces. Roll one piece at a time (between two sheets of waxed paper) to a thickness of about 1/4". I sprinkled a little flour on the dough while rolling out as its a little sticky. Cut out desired shapes and patterns. ***If you are planning to hang these ornaments, poke holes in the shapes now with a straw or toothpick.*** Bake for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool and harden for several hours or overnight.

Finished ornaments can be painted, sealed, or dipped in melted wax. The possibilities are endless!

New Christmas Reindeer Pattern

It's been awhile since I've made up a new pattern. Have my new reindeer pattern listed on Pattern Mart right now and will get it listed in my etsy shop and website later. I have a link for it over to the right for a instant download from Pattern Mart.

As promised, I have pics of my little granddaughter in her Halloween costume as a little grey mouse. My daughter made the costume for her. I guess she is carrying on the tradition of making Halloween costumes like I did, every year for her and her sister. I loved doing it every year.

New Primitive Christmas Hobby Horse Reindeer Ornies

Wow...its been over a week since my last post. Can hardly believe that another month has gone by and November is almost here. Haven't really had much time to make anything new as my Daughter,Son in law and Granddaughter have moved in with us for a month until they move to NC. But I did manage to make up these adorable reindeer ornies, and have them listed in my etsy shop now. Will be working on a pattern for them, to have for sale in a few days. Will try to get some pictures of my granddaughter dressed up for Halloween posted tomorrow night.

Awesome Fall Color!!

I think I picked the perfect day to visit Blackhawk State Park. I'm pretty sure the trees are at their peak this week. It's gorgeous just driving around the Quad Cities. It was a beautiful sunny 71º day! It was the warmest day we have had in month. Blackhawk Park has some of the biggest oak trees you have ever seen. I am so lucky that this park is only 5 mintues away from me. Enjoy the pics!

Primitive Snowman Star Ornies

Finally got something made and listed in my etsy tonight. It's been a while. I've been in kind of a funk lately. Might be the weather getting me down. It seems like it always cloudy, rainy and cold like today was. But these snowman guys do put a smile on my face.

Our 2009 Fall Trip

Monday morning we left for a short little trip up north to see the fall leaves. We ran into some light rain then it turned into snow flurries. We got to La Crosse Wisconsin and stayed the night. We went with our best friends/neighbors, who were so nice to let my hubby drive one of his corvettes! We drove his silver car and they drove the red one. It was so fun!! Boy those cars are hard to get in and out of! LOL Then Tuesday morning we got up and headed back down towards Illinois on the Iowa side of the Mississippi river. They have a scenic route called the Great River Road which was so pretty! We stopped at a park in McGregor Iowa and walked on some of the trails and got some great pics. McGregor is a great little town with lots of little shops. I did find one primitive shop there called Navy Rose Co and a bunch of antique shops which we visited, but didn't get anything. Next year we are going to plan a longer then 2 day trip. Enjoy the pics!

Pikes Peak State Park had some great trails to walk on!

The corvettes we drove! Fun! Can you see me sitting in the silver one?

Some Great Fall Color!

The Mississippi River between Iowa and Wisconsin

Brown Paper Bag Recipe Card

Here's a clever way to recycle those brown paper bags into recipe cards! Open the bag at the seams and lay flat. Trace a sheet of printer paper to fit in your printer. It's OK if your brown paper is a little wrinkled, it adds character. If your paper bag has printing on one side, make sure you put the printed side up into your printer. Then print out your cards! You can cut another card the same size and glue them together to make your card more sturdy. I didn't with mine. You can google free recipe card templates and come up with lots of places. I got mine from the hp Creative Studio site. http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/cards-recipe_cards.html

Boy was it a crisp cool day today. It only got up to 60º. At least it was sunny. We've had rain the last two days. Got out and did a little cleanup work in my yard and took some pics of my mums that are blooming. I have some white ones and purple that are just getting ready to bloom. Can hardly believe that it's October already! Where did summer go??? Didn't seem like we had one this year. Going to get out and plant some tulip bulbs this week that I got yesterday.

A Day at the Zoo!

What a perfect day! Took our granddaughter for her first trip to the zoo. She just loved it. And of course everything she saw was with a outburst of "Ba" We are trying to teach her words and she wants to call everything "Ba". Cora loved the petting zoo with all goats that you could feed and pet. I especially loved seeing my all time favorite, the giraffes. They are so beautiful. Enjoy the pics.


Tara my daughter, with my granddaughter Cora

Cora and the baby goats


Cora's first ride on the Merry Go Round. Tara, Cora and my Hubby

A Couple New Birds

We've been having some beautiful weather around here in NW Illinois, in the 70's everyday. A little on the dry side, 19 days and counting without any rain. Been having fun working on my new birds. Here are a couple new ones which I just listed on etsy tonight. I have more to come with some new fabric which is on its way.