I do love weathervanes ... some more fabric designs...and wonderful finishes...

I love weathervanes...everyone in my family knows that..the picture in the heading is of a weathervane that sits perched atop a tall birdhouse in what is supposed to be a flower bed, but I haven't done anything with this year yet....lol
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Well, knowing how much I love these rusted old metal wind directionals, my sons Joshua and Trevor and my lovely daughter in law Hannah knew exactly where this rusty ol' tin beauty belonged ....WITH ME !!!
When Hannah and Josh moved in to their new home, while walking in the field behind their house, Trevor and Josh found this weathervane laying in the weeds...I don't think it is really old, the curly metal close to the bottom isn't something that looks antique. It's missing the S and W , and hubby said he might know of someone at work that can cut some on a plasma cutter out of sheet metal, but even if he doesn't I love it ...lol....I was so happy when they gave it to me at their housewarming Memorial Day Picnic Saturday !!They jokingly said it was a belated Mother's Day gift ( which they all pitched in a got me allready)....but hey, I'll take it whatever you wanna call it ...lol

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So, now that everyone knows that I love weathervanes, you can understand why I chose to do my whale drawing from my Americana FolkThyme Doodle Booklet into a weathervane.
In fact, I used that image to make up a new fabric design ....

and here are a few more I have on Spoonflower....I should be getting my swatches tommorow maybe ?? they were sent out Monday, so I'm hoping and sooo excited to see them.
I did up the log cabin doodle in red and blue background and tan for the line drawing to go with design with the tan background I allready had.

And then there are these :

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Now...

I have pictures of some wonderful rugs by more talented ladies using some of my designs...

first off is a rug by

Cammie of Primitive Junky

primitivegrrl on Ebay

she used my Freebie  " Freedom" Doodle

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Here is a rug by Karin (primitivespirits) on Ebay

Isn't it wonderful ?? she used my whale weathervane from the Americana Folk Thyme Doodle Booklet...
hope you enjoyed this post of many pictures....lol
Have a good evening !!
Robin

               

Finished Punch Needle and a few more fabric designs...

Good Sunday Morning to you all.
I was up early to take my daughter to work, so I decided to add this short post.
As my title says, and you can see the picture, I finished up the "We The People " Punch Needle piece  that is going to be a new pattern. I actually had a lady contact me before it was finished and wanted to buy it... So it is sold allready. I wasn't sure how I was going to finish it, but she did say she would prefer a hanging pillow, so that's what I did.
Well, I sewed it and stuffed it nice and full and got it all packed up ready to go...It's a good thing I didn't get to the post office right away, because I had forgotten to take a picture for the pattern cover...So I tried to carefully undo the bubble envelope it was in , but there was no having it...Those darn things, the adhesive is like cement, so I  ripped it open and got the pics before packaging it all back up in a new envelope.
Problem is, I should have taken the pic before stuffing ... It's so full, I can't get both sides to show up real well in the photo, should have taken the picture while it was still flat.....Oh well, live and learn...
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I've been playing around on Spoonflower some more, and have a few more designs up for viewing...I have some swatches coming in the mail of the first 3 I did up and then those will be available for sale to the public.
Here are a few of the newest designs:

Have a great day everyone ! Enjoy your Holiday !!
Robin

Feeling patriotic ..

Hello everyone ! I am enjoying my day here working on everything and not much...lol...I do joke about it, but in all seriousness, I think I have ADHD...I have 3 children who have been diagnosed with it, and 4 grandchildren who sadly have it also, and guess what ?? I'm thinking it came from me...I get teased all the time by my family how I jump from one subject to the next when talking, have 4 projects started all at once when creating and several rooms in disarray and started when cleaning...what I usually end up doing is working in small circles till I come to the middle and tie up loose ends...It is more exhausting than necessary, but I've always been like this.....
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I have been working on some new designs for my fabric line at  Spoonflower .
With Memorial Day only a few days away, and the start of Summer, 4th of July isn't too far away either, so I have been feeling Patriotic , actually I have been for awhile now.
My newest design for fabric is Americana :

I have been having alot of fun drawing and painting. I have several unfinished projects laying around here in my studio, but what's new ?...lol
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I made a collage banner out of a few pics from my bedroom, it's the only room in my home that has an Americana theme.I've been thinking of changing it around but maybe I should leave well enough alone for now. I don't have alot of super primitive americana decor, but I've saved some neat things over the years and my favorites are the Man and Woman printed fabric dolls. They are actually collector pieces from Hallmark and are dated from 1984 ..SOMEday in the far future they may be worth something for a Grandchild who may end up with them ....
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Awhile back now , I posted the progress on the Antique Challenge Rug from AAPG.... I had to stop,as I ran out of the right browns I was using for the trees. Well, in conversations with my friend Margie from Hungry Hook Primitives  , she offered to do a swp, some of her browns for some of my Doodle Booklets... YAY, the browns she showed me looked pretty darn close, and when I got them I was so happy, because they were a perfect match !( they look different in my pic) She sent along a few extra pieces of her hand dyed wools because she is a sweety like that !!

 Go check out her wool on her blog, she is really getting ready to make it a full time business selling her hand dyed wools, and you won't be disappointed !
Well, I am hoping and praying for a fun and safe Holiday weekend for one and all !!
Remember loved ones and all those that lost their lives in the line of duty to our great nation !!
Robin

Now, you got me started.....and my birthday boy !

A few weeks ago, Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm posted her wonderful new fabric designs through Spoonflower... Here are her wonderful fabrics Well, guess I got pretty excited over this...I drew up a familiar design and uploaded it to see what it would look like. Here it is. I entered it into the weekly contest which this week happened to be "Hand Drawn" (instead of digitized) I am realistic enough to know I'm probably going to just get a few views. My "style" isn't really popular on this site, which is filled with thousands of beautiful artful designs, that seem mostly to lean towards vintage and contemporary....and the ones that aren't are way more artistic than mine ! Anyways, Lori has her one designs entered in the weekly contest also so if you have a chance go vote...I LOVE hers...and remember, I'm not playing the martyr here, I just did this for the heck of it, not expecting any votes or anything... But, Lori did email me after a comment I had left on her blog about her fabrics and she encouraged me to go for it,and offered answers to questions, or help..I did ask how she got that soft look to her designs and she told me she uses water colors or pigma pens , whatever tickles her fancy....lol.. Well, I had to give it another try. I usually do all of my doodles as sketches in pencil first then I trace with fine point micron pens and then scan and color in using an ancient program that came with one of my first scanners I ever owned. It's familiar for me, but not very " high tech " or involved and I can never really acheive the look I want, and the design I did up for the fisrt fabric pic I uploaded just didn't have the look I wanted . I did get some watercolors and a really neat sketch book made from all handmade paper...I love the look and feel of the paper !

So, I got my paper, my sketchbook and my paints out and started doodling. I did up a few colonial or fraktur looking flowers and played around with the water colors.I didn't buy a good set and not much selection for colors, so I tried playing around with mixing and still couldn't quite get the colors I liked.( you can even see I HATED the color of one flower so much, I actually CUT IT OUT and tossed it !)

I like most of the shades of the craft paints I have so why couldn't I just try those with alot of the paint extender mixed in to water down ?? so I re-drew a few of the flowers and used the watered down craft paints to color in. I loved it !! I used a wash over the whole thing to age the paper.In real life it looks like an old stained piece of antique wallpaper... So here is the end result of that:

Here it is scanned and shaded a little more :

And HERE is what it looks like in a repeat pattern for the fabric... I used the color combo I really love in fabrics that I see in alot of primitive /early style doll dresses. so, I'm thinking that I am going to play around with some more designs and see what else I can come up with.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today is my little man's ( youngest Grandson, Keegan Rory Michael Heise ) 1st Birthday. We celebrated on Saturday with a fun picnic party at the Zoo Picnic Area...all the Grandkids had fun and the best thing was seeing Keegan with his First Birthday "Smash" Cake...Too cute !!

Have a nice rest of the evening everyone ! Robin

Primitive Handmades Mercantile May Update....

Wowsa...what a crazy couple of weeks I've been having...not bad, mind you, but hectic and busy. My youngest daughter got a job and they have just juggled her hours all over the place...she has her permit, but hasn't taken her driving exam yet, so Mom is her " taxi driver". I'm lucky to have managed to make a few items for the Primitive Handmades Mercantile May Update but... I am working on a punch needle that will also be a new pattern... I have more completed than what is in the sneak peek pic, but if I can work on it more tonight ( yes I am a night owl) I may have it finished in time to put it on the update ??

Hop on over and check out all the new goodies !! Robin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a New Freebie...A wonderful gift, a new project, and a cute baby ....

Who can resist that title, eh ?...lol Well, I had a great weekend ... I had seen this super cute little cabinet on a trip to Hobby Lobby with my daughter..I put the word out and soon, all my kids decided to get together and each pitch in, along with hubby , to get it for a Mother's Day gift for me...I am so happy with it !! It is perfect in my studio for my papers such as drawings, some newer magazines and other supplies. The two bottom drawers are deeper for some craft supplies. Isn't it nice ?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am adding a new patriotic freebie doodle for you. It is the new blog banner of mine. Here it is, and a pic of it colored in !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I also started a new punch needle project that will be a new patriotic pattern. Here is just a sneak peak at my very early start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now, here is Grandson Keegan being spoiled by his Poppa ( Hubby), waiting for his next spoonful of hot fudge sundae. What a little stinker he is, we enjoy him sooo much !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you all had a fun weekend and got to do something fun , now it's Monday , Yay !! I love Mondays ! Fresh start and I am going to be bust getting ready for the update on Primitive Handmades Mercantile, which is this Friday. Be on the lookout for another giveaway this month and and a CHALLENGE for all of the newsletter followers !! Sign up to participate in either one or both. Details will be available in this months newsletter ....

Challenge Rug Progress...

I have been working on the antique challenge rug here and there...I made a mistake first of all, I didn't have a piece of linen left that was actually big enough for this design, but i am going to be keeping this rug, so I am just going to have to do a super thin type binding on the rug, or just sew binding fabric around the very edges and fold under, and there is still only going to be a row for the background in the very top portion of the rug where the quilt type star is. Secondly, because I knew I didn't have a large enough piece of linen left, I didn't enlarge the pattern quite as big as I should have, and i had to re-draw a few things, which i should of spaced further apart before drawing on the linen...Oh well, live and learn and keep learnin'.....lol And...I am just so duhhhh..i didn't even make sure I had enough of the browns I started the tree on the left with, so I am really Mickey mousing the colors on this....How do you figure the amount of wool you need for a rug? As far as the individual elements in the design go ?? There has to be a better way than mine...I just eyeball it, look at the little bit of wool I have and say, yep that should be enough.....lol It's been a weird week last week and so far this week, as my 18 year old just started a job at a McDonald's right down the road not too far, but they have her doing all weird hours, so I've been running back and forth alot, dropping off and picking up... For me it's weird as I've gone from hermit and never behind the wheel to in and out almost every day since last Monday..It's good for me, yes, but I get so involved in projects or house cleaning and forget when it gets really close to the time to pick her up, but she does text me to remind me, cause she KNOWS how I am....lol

Wonderful new Blog AND New Artist on Primitive Handmades Mercantile !!

Hi and hope everyone is having a great Friday !! I had to tell you about a SUPER new Blogger....Her name is Rebecca Lindquist ...I first got to know her on AAPG group and what talent !! Now, I am a little partial to some of her work, as she uses my designs quite a bit, but what Rebecca does with my designs is more like "divinely touched" work !! she has a way with colors and she adds her own little "spark" of creativity to her work, that when I see one of her punched pieces or hooked rugs using one of my patterns, I can't help but think, " why didn't I do it like that ??"....lol ...but really, every punched piece, or hooked rug that she creates is absolutely wonderful !! It doesn't matter who the designer is...oh, and she has done some of her own amazing designs also !! Well, Rebecca has a new blog ...Oh please stop by and visit, and be sure to leave a comment and encourage her to keep it up EVERYDAY so we can see her amazing work in progress ! she has a new post on dyeing wool ... AND ...Guess what ??? Rebecca is a new Artist on Primitive Handmades Mercantile also !!!! Her shop name is "The Simple Quiet".. She will be updating with the rest of us and posting her goods on the 18th of this month...I am actually giddy with excitement to see what she creates... here are a few of her creations;

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, I haven't done a whole lot of anything lately... my creativity or desire to do anything has kind of " flatlined -----------" lately...if you don't mind, may I ask for some prayers .... ?? Nothing tragic, but I have an issue with depression...it's been pretty good lately since I found out alot of it was caused by my thyroid problems and I was put on a high dose of Synthroid ...but i still slip in and out of " funks" now and then and I HATE feeling like this !! so, just a little prayer if you think of me.... I managed to get myself to start on this Antique rug, that is a challenge rug on AAPG group .... I am a little worried I ma not have enough brown for the other tree....gosh, i may have to wing it ...lol

hugs, Robin