Bird In The Hand Primitives

Primitive Folk Art Designs and Finished Items
By: Robin Leuschen

" Who you are is God's gift to you........ What you do, is your gift to God !"

Friday, December 30, 2011

Awesome Giveaway Prize !!


How blessed am I ?? I won WoolenSails (Debbie)giveaway on her blog....I love everything and canot wait to display it all !! I take my Christmas decorations down the day after New Year's Day...so, I am chomping at the bit now !
Thank you so much Debbie !!
I am working on a new Valentine's Day Wool Applique Mat,..the wool that I just won will go perfectly....
I hope evryone has a happy and SAFE New Year's Eve !!
Hugs to one and all,
Robin

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

*New* Valentine Doodle Booklet, a **FREEBIE** doodle and an Announcement !!


I am so bad ! I never even wished everyone a Merry and Blessed Christmas...Well it's still officially the Holiday Season...so "Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year "..
How many of you have stripped the house of Christmas decorations already ? I'm waiting till the day after New Years Day....I am always a little melancholy on that day...But....I've started new projects to keep me moving forward, so it shouldn't be too bad this year...My first completed project is the " Thyme for Valentine's Doodle Booklet" ...I think you'll like the doodles inside and the cover doodles are perfect for little stitched pillows or small punch needle mats....


Thyme For Valentines Doodle Booklet

Thyme For Valentines Doodle Booklet


There are plenty of cute, primitive Valentine's Day doodles in here. I've included a blank front ...

Price: US$5.00

Click for details

Here is a little Freebie doodle, and I'm sure I'll have some more Valentine themed freebies as the days go by:





Now for my announcement ... I've teamed up with Teresa Miller of " Teresa's Primitive Treasures" ( I'm really just helping out here and there, she is the brains behind the project and does all the work...lol) to start up a new primitive selling group / blog called "Primitive Handmades Mercantile".
So far we've got quite a few artists signed on and folks, there is going to be some wonderful primitive goodies for sale on it ! We've got primitive doll makers,rug hookers,punch needle artists and pattern designers. Every month there will be a theme related to a season coming up in the next month.
The Grand Opening will be January 20th..so mark your calendars and bookmark us !!
Hope everyone is happy, healthy and blessed!
Robin

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

More decorations....


Just have a few more pics of some rooms....It doesn't seem like I did much, until it's time to take it all down and pack it away....
Here's a Belsnickle I made from a "All Through The Night" Pattern:

A little Christmas cheer in the small bathroom:



My craft room at night:



A very small, awkward wall in my living room ( guess I smeared the mirror when I cleaned it...oooops, lol)

And.....Last but not at all least...gotta have a pic of Keegan Rory ( youngest grandson...my little man)Look who else is ready for Christmas...


Goodnight all !! Who knows...I might have some more pics???
Hugs,
Robin

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Enjoying the results....now a little cleaning....


I finished baking Sunday, and took my own advice...I sat and watched a few Hallmark Christmas movies...I am so blessed to have a hubby who actually LOVES the Hallmark Christmas movies...He will sit and watch one after the other ...without me....lol...
Here are a few pics of a little decorating here and there...I would love to have all antiquey or old timey Christmas decor, but the budget doesn't always allow for replacing the old with something older.....lol..or different....I gave a TON of my decorations away to my DIL last year and my daughter this year, so maybe I need to start thinking ahead next year and checking out Ebay and other primitivs sites to get some new ( older looking...lol) decorations before the holiday is upon us...
The first pic is just a look out my front door...notice the dent in te door ?? Moving does that sometimes...lol...We never did anything aout i, I've wantedto paint my door red for awhile, so I was going to have hubby try to fix it when I do paint it....
so...now here is a pic of a wall in my kitchen:



My gingerbread tree...it was a bushy old fake tree that I gave a haircut....lol...I trimmed all of the branches and trimmed a few off of the bottom...I figured if I spent that much time doing it, I was going to use it !


I had to move my whole living room around to make room for the teeny tiny tree, cause my house is kind of teeny tiny....lol...so I took a pic of the changed up Santa bench..oh and a snowman...



Here is my tree all decked out with so many sweet ornies from swaps in the past, and of course a few ditties of my own...one pic is with lights on, one without :





Sooooo...hope everyone is having a great Tuesday !! Bless you all !
Robin

Friday, December 16, 2011

A message.....and Swap Goodies !!!


Merry 8 Days Before Christmas !!! Wow, time is moving so quickly , and just like a snowball that builds up speed and momentum as it rolls along down a snow covered hill, the closer we get the more intense our feelings of being overwhelmed become !! DON'T DO IT !!! Christmas will come no matter what..Just like the profound message in the much loved, but highly under-rated cartoon by Dr. Suess.... " It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"
Sadly, I am guilty of letting mysef fall prey to these feelings just as much as the next person. So I say this not as a scolding from a superior person to a lowly inferior thinker..but from a fellow distracted, want all things to be just so, run around doing everything and nothing person.
Let's just stop and sit down ( if you are reading this ,chances are you are in a sitting position allready...lol), and switch your brain to a different train of thought if even for just a moment. Christmas will come,,,, without that extra strand of lights on the tree, it will come ...even if the last batch of cookies cooked just a little too much...it will come..... Whether you get the chance to touch up the coloring in your hair, or fill in your nails...it will come.

Did you sit and watch a favorite Holiday show ? Did you pause and take the time to stick a little change or more in the red kettle outside of your local grocery or department store ?? Did you spend just a little extra time to enjoy the festively decorated homes in your neighborhood, even if one house only has a small lighted plastic candle on a window ledge, or aluminum tinsel garland wrapped around a porch post ?
If not...Do it !!
More of tis little message to come later......
On a different note .....
I have to show a pic of the wonderful swap goodies I received to day.. belong to a group called " An American Primitive Gathering " We did a secret santa swap and I am so glad I joined..See the sweet gifts ? Ahhh...I am so blessed !! Thank you Mimi !!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas cookie baking, fun with Grandson and other stuff....


Well, my oldest daughter and I have officially finished the SECOND traditional Christmas cookies that we bake each year...Folks, you would think I'm sending a dozen to every serviceman and woman overseas...We make sooooo many of each type ....today was sugar cookie cut outs...The pic is horrible....all of the pics were taken with my phone...I love my Blackberry but it takes HORRIBLE pictures....
anyways, in the pic, it doesn't look like alot of cookies, but trust me...it's alot of cookies....lol...we usually take another whole day to frost them all, so at least the really messy part is done...I love the cut-outs but I hate the flour-ey mess......!!!
My daughter had little man Keegan Rory with her and he was just so cute...He is at that age where he is really doing silly things and he had me laughing so hard a few times today, I had to use my inhaler....lol
He looked so cute with his food all over his face today, of course I had to get a pic..he had baby lasagna...my little Garfield...lol



I used a cute idea from a gal on the boards over at PrimMart..she had strung her red plastic cookie cutters and added lights...So I decided I would string up a few of my vintage red handled metal cookie cutters ( and one donut cutter) and hang them on a small piece of garland and lights over my kitchen window.....like I said my phone takes horrible pics, so I plan on taking some more photos with my camera sometime
soon...



I was playing around the other day wanting to try my hand at painting...I drew up the words wool and some penny circles...I made it all the primary colors just because ?? then started doing shading ...it is kinda cute sitting in my craft room...I may try to paint one of my designs...some folks have done that, but they knew what they were doing....lol





I hope everyone is happy, and healthy this day !!
Hugs,
Robin

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas Giveaway Winners !! some decorating also ....




Well hello folks...I've been super busy trying to get through my decorations and do a little Christmas Primping around my house...I have purposely taken my time, to just enjoy the process rather than rush to just " get it up"...I spent a few days re-doing some of my handmade goodies...with time, comes a little change in tastes shall we say ?? Above is a pic of my 'Santa ( and one snowman) wall... And here is a Snowman re-do:
BEFORE
AFTER


This is a pic of my "All Is Calm" wool runner hanging on the back of a cupboard separating my living room from my kitchen...some lighted garland and wool stars I made....




Ok....on with the drawing for the winners.... I woke up this morning and immediately began choosing the winners for my Christmas giveaway,,,As you can see, I used a scientifically accurate, high tech formula for calculating my winners.......

See how complicated that was...phew....Here are the winners ....

Congratulations Pippi, Janet and Monique...
Thank you so much for the huge response and I hope to have more giveaways in the near future....
enjoy today !!
Robin
Big P.S. I'm having some troubles with my outgoing default mail, so I'm not sure if you gals who won received my emails...hopefull you will be reading this and you will contact me....

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Time For a .........Christmas Give Away !!!!


Yes...it is finally that time !! No...those aren't the items for the giveaway, it's just an old pic of Christmas stuff, but it had a clock in the pic...get it...it's Time for a giveaway ?.....lol...I have had so many other things going, and put this on the back burner...But I wanted ,....no I MUST do this to show my appreciation for all of you...I know this is a "virtual" world...But you, are all very real people, and some of the sweetest, kindest, most faithful gals ( and guys ?) I know ....
I've been through some really dark spots this year, and when I prayed for healing and light it came, God is good !! And.......I found a soothing balm in the kindness and encouragement from all of you ...Please know, that in my heart of hearts, I love you all....( sorry for the mushiness ....lol)...
Now, on to the LOOT !!
Here are the rules, and what you need to do.
!.---------I will be giving away 3 items...All you need to do is put a comment under this post and yes...you must choose which item you would like if you were to win !!!
2.---------If you do not have a blogger account, or google account, please make sure you leave an email , so that if your name is chosen, I can get ahold of you via Email, and get your address, etc.
3.------------ If you cannot leave a comment, you may Email me through blogger, give me your name and email that is best to get ahold of you with.
4.-----Giveaway will end Friday December 9th and the 3 winners will be chosen that morning !!!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item number 1# ... My pattern prototype "Primitive Skating Snowman " * This the finished doll*





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Item number #2 is my pattern prototype "Old Father Christmas Doll" * this is the finished doll*





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And last but not least...for all of you Cat Lovers ....# 3 Ornies ..."Kitties In Stockings"





I wish you all could win, but alas, I don't have enough goodies to give away...But I may be having FUN GAME for a Christmas Yard Sale...I am thinning my herd of ornies....lol...So be on the watch out for that ...
Hugs to you all !!!
Robin

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Beautiful job on hooked rug !!!


I cannot believe how quickly Maggie got his rug hooked. She used my "Twas The Night" Wool Applique pattern. I am in awe of the talent of these ladies who do hooked rugs !! You can visit Maggie's ebay here and maybe bid on the rug and make it your own !!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

*New* Old Father Christmas Pattern


Hello...Take a peek at my newest and maybe the last new pattern of the year, my version of the French "Pere Noel", Old Father Christmas.
Now...I'm off to start cleaning and preparing for the 'Roast Beast Feast' ...lol..
Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to all my friends !!
Robin


Old  Father Christmas

Old Father Christmas


This is my version of Pere Noel ( Father Christmas in French).
Father Christmas is holding a small ...

Price: US$6.50

Click for details

Monday, November 21, 2011

Weekend Antique Store and Thrift Store finds and more...



Hello one and all !! It's been a grand Monday so far, with lots of things going on and workin away... I woke up feeling a little overwhelmed with Thanksgiving approaching so fast, but then I remembered,..I am thankful for every day, and I am going to just do what I can, enlist the help of others to do what I can't do and then enjoy Thanksgiving and be grateful just like the Holiday is meant for....
So with that said...
I had a good time going to a few antique stores Saturday and Sunday and a Thrift store or two.One of the places I went to yesterday, has a few wonderful handmade primitive goodies by a fellow Blogger, Kris of Kountry Porch Primitives...I keep forgetting she lives so close to me....lol
I found some neat goodies to make some things out of and even a nice wool jacket that once cut up and washed and dried , gave me some beautiful light tan wool that I can use just as is or over dye....can't wait to try it...

***** See the tiny red oil can in the pic above ??? It is going to be a part of a goodie I am making for a swap ....It was painted a horrible color turquoise and had gold trim and tole painted with ugly flowers...I barely had my purse off of my shoulder when I got home Saturday, and started sanding it down and I painted it red and went over it with a black wash..it still needs to be sealed, but I like how it turned out...

Working on a new Santa Doll Pattern....The bodies both look slightly different as I like to experiment with my prototypes and see which shape works best, if I stitch here or there do the bodies or arms bend more easily....etc...etc,....
Working on the trim for the jackets now...Probably will have the pattern finished either tonight or first thing tomorrow.....



Oh, and I did make my list of grocery items for Thanksgiving, but I did get my frozen turkey Saturday evening and have that thawing in the fridge allready...
Hope you are all doing something you love or are relaxing ....or being super busy, but enjoying it!!!...
Hugs my friends...
Robin

Friday, November 18, 2011

Freebie Doodle and painting some boxes.....




I drew this guy up and thought, "gee, I know how much everyone LOVES Snowmen ! I have to offer another freebie !!".,,,,well, it went something like that ! hahah....
So here ya go...And of course I had to play around in the paint program so I colored him in too...



I used to have these boxes in my Bathroom, cause they kind of matched my decor and colors in there, well, I FOUND my shower curtain I hunted high and low for, so I'm going to re-do the bathroom sometime soon here...Most everything in there with the exception of my wall box and mini cupboard, is going to my Daughter and DIL for their bathroom as they have the same theme and colors.But I love stacking boxes, so I decided to paint them. I printed out labels ( goofed up on the coffee...lol) for them to go in the kitchen for now, but i will just orint different labels and put them in my newly re-decorated bathroom when that happens.I am adding a before and after pic....





Working on a Santa Pattern..should be finished by tomorrow evening sometime...staying busy and creative is oh so good for my soul !! Thank you Lord for your goodness !!!
Night night,
Robin

Thursday, November 17, 2011

**New** Wool Applique Pattern Available !


i'm very happy how this runner came out and I do think that it could easily be used to create a hooked rug, or punch needle piece or even a stitchery piece.The instructions are pretty detailed so it should be alot of fun to create.
Hope you like it !
Robin

Twas The Night Before Christmas Wool Applique Runner

Twas The Night Before Christmas Wool Applique Runner


Perfect to adorn your table or as a wall hanging for the holidays.Measures 8 1/2" x 21 3/4" . ...

Price: US$5.00

Click for details

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Working on Wool Applique runner pattern and more....













I've been working since Sunday on a wool applique pattern for a runner..It's called "Twas The Night Before Christmas " ( not very original ,I know ). Now, I added the year 1822 because that is when the story(poem actually) was first written, it was published in a New York newspaper under the title "A Visit from St. Nicholas" It wasn't until 1844 that it was credited publicly to Clement C. Moore , when it was included in an anthology of his works.... So...learn something new everyday huh?...lol
I snapped some pics while I was arranging the pieces for placement, and still need to stitch it together then, finish writing out the pattern. It can easily be done up as a hooked rug, punch needle piece or a stitchery also.
and...Yesterday I recruited my 18 year old daughter to paint a bench that hubby had made me years ago. The Hunter Green and natural wood was just soooo country 80's and 90's ....lol...I still have to sand down, distress and go over with a stain....
Now....I am having a Christmas Giveaway !!! I'll post pics tomorrow of the goodies and rules to be entered.....For now, have a super dee duperty great evening !!
Robin