Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Bee Haven Acres!

Maddie is up to her usual tricks...hoping to get a treat or two.For those of you who are new to my blogs, Maddie is my 140 lb. Newfoundland. She and her sister Sadie are my constant companions. Sadie, however, would never tolerate the costume. Maddie was quite excited when I told her she could dress up for Halloween. You can just see the excitement on her face....typical Newfie expression....however, usually the tongue is hanging out. Off we go to do a little Trick-or-Treating.

Fall Decorating

One of my favorite things is to decorate the house for the seasons. Autumn and Halloween are my favorite, second only to Christmas. It seems though that this year I have less enthusiasm than other years. I suppose it is because most of my creativity is directed toward the new house. I have pulled a few of my favorite decorations out of storage for a short while and when the holiday is over, will neatly pack them back up and take them up to the farm to await their new home. Watch out, next year.....I have so many plans for creating a haunted log cabin! For now, I will just enjoy a few items.....

I have been working on this cute little felty over the past few weeks. Finally, last night I sat with hubbs, watched a movie, and finished this handwork project. It was easy and lots of fun.
Wool felt projects like this and penny rugs are quick and easy and great for taking on trips. They are small and very portable and require a minimum of supplies. This particular piece is a candle mat. And on it are one of our Bee Haven Acres beeswax candles. By the way, the movie we watched was called "Smart People" with Dennis Quaid and the Sex and the City star who's name has just escaped me...............it will come to me as soon as I post this, I'm sure. Anyways, I liked the movie.

Pink Saturday Blog Giveaway

It's Pink Saturday Again!

I thought this week I would hold a Pink Saturday Give-away.

This is a child's apron that would fit a child age 4 thru 8.

Leave me a comment to have your name placed in the drawing.

I will pick a random name on Friday, October 31st and notify the winner.

Have a wonderfully Pink week!!

For more wonderful Pink blog enthusiasts visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

for a complete list of participants.

A Sign for the Farm

One of the curses (and sometimes blessings) of Menopause is insomnia. Luckily it is not a nightly thing, but seems to run in cycles. Last night was one of those nights. Wide awake at 3 AM, I decided to get up and start a project that I have been putting off for some time.

It has always sort of been my mantra that I can do just about anything I put my mind to. With this as my motto, I have never been afraid to do much of anything. I always reason that the worse thing that can happen is that I can fail. And if that is the case, well, I am no further behind than if I had not even tried. And so it has been with crafting and sewing....I forge boldly ahead. I celebrate my successes and trash my failures.

About a year ago Hubbs and I decided that we needed a sign for our farm. Since neither of us are particularly great with drawing, we enlisted the help of a local art teacher. She drew a sample sign and I set off with her drawings to find someone who could make a wooden sign for us. I had no idea that a simple sign could end up so expensive. And once again my motto kicked into gear....why pay someone else to do something that I could at least attempt to do myself.

I headed to Lowes and bought a $2 piece of wood, cut out a circle with Hubbs' jig saw....using the technique of finding the center of the board and then nailing a string to the center with a pencil tied on the opposite end to fashion a simple compass. A few minutes of sanding and I had a perfectly round, smooth canvas on which to start. I resurrected my old tole paints and brushes and got to work.

By noontime, today I had finished the sign.....and here it is. All in all I am quite happy with it. I believe I like it much better than the original artwork given me by the art teacher. At some point in the near future I will proudly hang it by the entrance to our farm. If you happen to pass this sign....stop in for a visit!

Vintage Treasures

I thought I would show you one of my most prized possessions. This Victorian doll house stands about 18" tall and is about 18" wide. It is 70+ years old and is carved entirely out of old wooden cigar boxes. One of my Mother's uncles carved it for her when she was very young. During her childhood and mine it occupied a place underneath the Christmas tree where my Grandmother would set up a Christmas village. It's inhabitants are porcelain figurines that were popular after the War. I have enjoyed displaying this beautiful piece of craftsmanship year-round for all of my adult years. It truly is one of my treasures. A light burns inside always...a reminder that home is always a warm, cozy safe haven.

Taaaaa Daaaaa!

Vintage lace, doilies, buttons, key and the sweetest vintage print all help to gussie-up this little holiday apron...hot off the sewing table. Now, I had better get some work done around this house!!

Sneak Peak!!

Here is a sneak peek of today's project....

Yummy Fabric Bag

Here is the finished bag....I just love this wonderful fabric!

Christmas in October

I had the wonderful fortune of receiving 3 shopping bags full of fabric last week. A woman that I have known for a long time (from working with Hubbs) gave them to me. Her husband sells very expensive fabrics and this huge pile is from his old samples. The wonderful thing is....each piece is at least a yard of fabric. Oh the projects I will be able to make with them. I thought I would give you a sneak peak at the first project. I have this one cut out and ready to start to assemble this week. The fabric is absolutely gorgeous...it feels like silk and is embroidered. It is earmarked to become an Amy Butler Frenchy shoulder bag for winter.Here is a close up view....

This is the pattern I am using.....

hopefully I will have it finished

tonight or tomorrow morning.

Finished Table Runner

Here is the completed table runner...in use!

Pink Saturday Project

Finally, a little time to sew!

And just in time for another

Pink Saturday

I truly thought that when Autumn came around this year, life would slow down a bit....

not so.

Still, I did manage to eek a little "me" time behind the sewing machine.

For this apron, I mixed the usual cottage style fabric, vintage lace and buttons,

but this time added some printed vintage graphics. The "sisters" picture forms a pocket

on top of a pocket....perfect place to stash a little something special....like a vintage hankie!

I wish I had a sister to give this apron to.

Hopefully it will sell to someone sweet who does have a sister.

You can join in more Pink Saturday fun at Beverly's How Sweet the Sound.Check out her blog for a complete list of Pink Saturday participants.

I hope your week is a wonderful one!

Progress....

Here is today's project....coming along....but not done yet. I have added sashing, leaves, a crow and some acorns. It still need some stitching and quilting. Charlie loves it....as he does all my sewing projects. He is always my company when sewing. "Charlie Marlie Fat Cat" I call him.

Fall Table Runner

I have been wanting to work on this for a while now. A bunch of my friends at MJF had a quilt block swap using this pattern. I could not participate, although I would have liked to. It just seems there is not enough time to commit to these group projects. This morning I had an extra hour and thought I would make a few pumpkin blocks. I have assembled them to make a Fall table runner. I will applique leaves and sew a border around the blocks and then quilt it. Here is what I have done so far.....
For those of you who are beginner quilters, this is quite an easy quilt block. I will post directions for this when I get a moment.....after I have completed the runner. More to come.......

Sneak Peek

Another busy week seems to be slipping by. Wednesdays are my day off from work with Hubbs, so they are usually spent catching up with housework and farmwork. Since we seem to be coming to the end of a particularly mild streak of fabulous weather, I will spend today mowing goat pens and weeding the asparagas patch. However, until the dew dries I plan to finish up this apron that I started in the wee early morning hours yesterday......I will post the finished product for my Pink Saturday post.

Exciting News for Me

Sadly, I am still not sewing....but I did receive a very exciting e-mail on that subject today.


I had submitted this apron to Somerset Studios for possible inclusion in their upcoming Apronology magazine that is due out in February. Today they contacted me to tell me that it was chosen!!! Woo HOOOOOO! I am so excited. I had to pack that apron up and send it to them, so I have no idea how they are going to present it. They will be photographing it themselves. I can hardly wait to see it!

This was the very first of my Touch of the Past Aprons....now I wish I had sent in one of my later versions, as I like them better.....oh well.

Happy Pink Saturday

Yet another Pink Saturday comes along, and alas, I have not had a chance to sew this week!

I am back to work with hubbs for a few weeks, so my posting is at a minimum...my creativity put on hold for now.

I could not resist, however, joining in the fun of Pink Saturday.

And so I set out on my quest to find pink in my belongings.

A peek into my sewing room shows lots of pink....

just waiting for a project to put it all to good use!

My question is this.....Can a girl ever have too many Pink shoes??

Yes, these were in my closet!

(And I just gave 3 pink pairs to the local thrift, oh my!)

If you would like to enjoy more Pink posts....

Check out Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for a complete list!

Have a Perfectly Pink week!

Hugs to you,

Bev

Sadly, No Sewing This Week...

Lately I have had no time to sew, sadly. But all the same, I am having a great time. I have returned to work with Hubbs as his office assistant has moved to greener pastures. I love the work (keeping my nursing skills honed)...although it is actually "volunteering". It is just for the time being, until another assistant can be hired and trained. When I am not at work, it seems I am spending most of my time on "home-building" tasks. We are currently in the process of tearing down our farmhouse and building a log home. Presently we are in the midst of tearing down the existing house. Here is what it looks like today......

Yikes!!!

Excavation for the new house begins on November 1st. The foundation should be in by Dec. 1st and then the log walls go up. It should be quite an exciting Winter.

I am presently drawing plans for closets, electrical placement and kitchen and bath layouts. Once those things are complete, I should be able to eek out a little time for sewing. We can't let that sewing machine get lazy, now can we?

Pink Houses on Pink Saturday

It is Pink Saturday again! I am joining my friends at Beverly's How Sweet the Sound and posting something pink. There are several pink houses in our little town and I thought I would share them with you! Hope you are "in the Pink" and having a wonderful weekend! I wish I had something homemade to share with you this week, but it has been a busy week of farm chores with no time or place to sew! But, next week I promise something yummy! Hope this finds you in the PINK!!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Autumn always puts me in the mood for baking and the things I like to bake best in Autumn have apples or pumpkin as their main ingredient. I recently found a pumpkin bread recipe on one of my favorite blogs. My friend Maryjane, in California, has a wonderfully creative and delicious blog called The Beehive Cottage. She featured this recipe last week and I thought I would try it. Now I made a few changes to make it my own. For instance, I added pecans and a little extra cinnamon. I also added a Streusel/Pecan topping. It turned out heavenly....thank-you Maryjane!

I found this little porcelain tea service in a local shop called "The English Lady". She features beautiful teapots, teacups and other gift items. I thought this would be the perfect addition to my guest room. If you come for a visit...I will serve you afternoon tea and homemade bread of the season.

Mushroom Study

I thought I would take you on a fairy tour of Bee Haven Acres. I am without a sewing room for the week, so my camera will be my means of self-expression. Have you ever seen so many mushrooms? These pictures were taken as I walked back from the barn this morning. I have not even explored the woods yet to look for these.

I love the color of this one!

Aren't they amazing?

We have had a very moist year here....perfect for mushrooms!