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.

Stepping Outside my Primitive Comfort Zone

Ok...Going to try something a little different then what I am used to making. I don't know exactly what you would call this style, maybe shabby chic? You tell me. I made these birds with vintage tablecloths. A while back, I had a special order from a lady that wanted me to make her 20 birds with fabric that she mailed to me. Some of the fabric was old vintage tablecloth fabric. I liked the look of the way the birds turned out. So I sought out some vintage tablecloths on ebay and made up these birds. Just trying something a little new to see what happens. I'm not going to leave my primitive world behind by no means. Let me know what you think. I tried using the plain white background like so many use on etsy. Do you think they would look better with the background that I always use, the rustic wood? Will be listing these birds on etsy tonight.

New Halloween Crow Pumpkin Make Do!

What a busy day for me today. This morning finished up this whimsical Halloween Make Do. It's now listed in my etsy shop.


Also got another new pattern made up, my Owl Moon Door Hanger. It's already for sale in my etsy shop and for instant download at Pattern Mart.

Then I have 4 orders for some of my snowman items to keep me working for awhile. Whew...it's that time of the year!!

Primitive Owl Moon Door Hanger

The weather has been just gorgeous around here lately. Sure does get me thinking about fall. Can hardly believe that summer is almost over. Kind of makes me sad. Seems we never really had a summer with much cooler weather then usual around here.

My kitty is doing ok. The blood work results showed everything was pretty normal and she has hypertension. He said she could take medication for it but advised against it because it wouldn't do much help. He said just to make her as comfortable as possible. I've heard from a friend on Facebook that said her cat lived to 18 years old with being blind and deaf. So far she is doing great.

I finished up this adorable owl moon door hanger today and have him listed in my Etsy shop. I had made a few of these several years ago and sold them on ebay and even kept one for myself, which I still have hanging in my sewing room. Will be working on a pattern to be for sale soon.

My Macro Textures

I know it's been awhile since my last post. Just not a whole lot going on. I took one of my kitties to the vet today because I've been noticing her pacing around when she walks like she's not sure where she is going. And the last week or so have noticed that her eyes are dilated all the time. Turns out she is almost totally blind. They are doing some blood work on her to see if it's her kidneys or heart failure. They said there isn't a whole lot you can do. She is 16 years old. I've had many cats in my life and never one that has gone blind. It's amazing how well she does get around our house. So they will be calling me tomorrow with the blood work results.


I've noticed a lot of gals have been posting pics using their macro setting on their cameras. So....here is my collection.

Another Productive Day!

Today didn't have to babysit and got a ton done! Made up these cute little Halloween pumpkin gourd ornies and have them listed in my etsy shop.


Getting dark and cloudy again as I type this. Another storm coming. We had one rain storm early today that flooded the street out in front of our house. Since they redid the whole street in our neighborhood last year it floods all the time. Then the city has to come out and unplug the storm drains. Very irritating for how much we had to pay for the new street!

Had fun yesterday with my granddaughter. She likes to spend time in my sewing room. Most of the time she likes to look at Sesame Street videos on youtube. She has her favorites that I play all the time. She had fun playing in a box that I get fiberfill in and thought it made for a cute picture. Try not to look very close at my messy sewing room. LOL

I'm in the Sunday paper for my Etsy shop!!

I'm so excitied! It's finally in the paper after they did a photo shoot a month ago. They did an awesome job on a story of my mom's etsy shop and mine. I had no idea that it was in the paper until my mother in law called. I hadn't gotten around to reading the paper yet today. Lately I've had a bad habit of storing up the papers and then reading them all at once. Here is a link to the article online. http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=453380

Primitive Mini Witch Pumpkin Ornies & Crow Doll

I cannot believe how much I've gotten done in the last 2 days and even had to take time out to take my mom to the doctors. And I've been living with a sore throat and feeling kind of crappie. When you are on a roll, you are on a roll. Maybe I'll put up my legs tonight and watch a movie. So I just listed these cute mini pumpkins that are now in my etsy shop.




And yesterday finished up another crow doll and have her listed in my etsy as well. I just love the fabric for her dress. Saw it in Ben Frankin Crafts and just had to buy some. They just got in their Halloween fabric.

Oh...and also working on another set of bat ornies. The ones I listed a few days ago sold already. Me is busy as a bee and loving it! :)

Primitive Halloween Brown Bat Ornies

I first made these cute little guys a couple of years ago and they were a big hit when I sold them on ebay. They are now listed in my etsy shop waiting to find a new home. I beginning to wish it was fall with the way the weather has been the last couple of days. We had to turn on the air on Friday. The humidity has been terrible along with temps in the 80's. We've hardly had to use air conditioning this year with the cooler then normal temps. I guess I can't complain, I'm sure it's going to save us a bunch on the electric bill this summer.

Caught in the Act!

Today I walk into my sewing/computer room and what do I find!? A squirrel all cozy in one of my bird feeders eating up all the sunflower seeds! I guess it's time to trim the tree branches. I've been noticing that they are almost touching the house now. Bonsai sure did have fun watching him. I had to open and close the window a couple of times to get him to get out! LOL