Wednesday, July 31, 2013

{ Changing Seasons...}

I'm switching gears for the moment...
to work on a project that will be in the upcoming Christmas Issue of
magazine ~
 
I was asked by friend/publisher Tess Rosch to submit a punch needle pattern project
 for the issue's readers
...so here it is in a somewhat obscure sneak-preview:
 
get those Punch Needles ready folks!!!
 
close up of front of project
 
 
... who says Christmas has to be all red & green and sparkly?
I like a more subdued palette and Old World designs
but with my folky twist on things ~


view of back of project
 the project is
 'A Quaker's Stocking'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kind of my take on those beautiful Quaker motifs we find on the antique cross stitch samplers,
but in this case done in thousands of tiny loops of thread instead of x's...
 
 
another view of the back, or working side ~

I'm having fun working on this ~
I've been cross stitching for months now and to punch is a welcomed diversion :)
 
 

view of front again, love those tiny loops ~ can't wait to fill it all in.
 
visit my Youtube channel to watch my punch needle tutorial
by clicking on the little 'youtube' button on my sidebar ~
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
back view again

I love those colors ~ soot, moss, bone....certainly not traditional red & green ~
 I will share more snaps when finished.
 
Look for the Christmas Issue of
on newsstands in another month or so,
or better yet,
gift yourself with a subscription to this beautifully published magazine ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
AND
speaking of Christmas,
here are a few snaps of our Nandina bushes ~
they are bursting with berries this year due to the heavy rains and high temps:
 
 
loverly little berries
 these will turn a brilliant copper-red as the temps cool
and are perfect for decorating the farmhouse when dried...
 
 
>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<


hundreds of them ~ can't wait till they turn!



 
we have two of these bushes next tot he farmhouse front porch,
where I can watch their progress from my porch swing....
and keep an eye on them so no one eats the berries!!
(danged Guinea Hens!)
 
 


~~~~::~~~~::~~~::~~~~
 
Have a beautiful day my friends!
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

{ Announcement: ...and other things **EDITED** }

 
each Summer we close the FARM SHOP down for the extremely hot month of
AUGUST ~
it's a nice break for me to get caught up on things here in the farmhouse,
do our yearly inventory
 and get to work on creating new items for our upcoming:
 
 ...here on September 21st
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
in the meanwhile...
Our
 ETSY Shop is OPEN
so you can still place orders with me from there, or by email/telephone
.
.. I will continue to blog (as I'm obsessed)
so you'll still be able to enjoy a little bit of Notforgotten Farm right here :)

&
So many folks have inquired about the new cross stitch designs,
I am hoping to have the last two in hand by week's end, so I can release them for the weekend.
I will post as soon as they're available :)
 
Also,
 to Folks who haven't received their kits for the July
 
I have received emails that some of you have gotten their kits and some have not.
If you have not received yours, please let me know ~
 
Have a beautiful day my Friends!
 
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Saturday, July 27, 2013

{ Oldwick Burying Ground }

 
Just a couple snaps
 to show you the stitched finish of my
 
~ Oldwick Burying Ground ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A sampler reminiscent of the ancient graveyards
I would visit as a child growing up in Connecticut ~
The old oak trees and crows were my companions
...and the rusty iron fences were my playground boundaries.
I can close my eyes and smell the leaves and crisp Autumn air....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Model Stitched by the Nimble Fingers of Felicia (Flea) Martin.
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Model stitched onto 30ct. Old Farmhouse Linen
stitched one strand of floss over 2 threads of linen ~


entire sampler shown above

stitch count: 148w x 149h
finished size stitched on 30ct = 9.87" x  9.93"
 
 

i tried to replicate an old gnarled oak with it's deep bark colors...


little bird high above holds the key to the rusty gate....


simple, muted colors lend a faded aged look ~
 
 floss colors used are DMC:
422
611
831
3021
645
310
 
remember me....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
I will be framing this one.
Miss Flea is working on the 'Widow's Weeds' sampler
 
and I, well...
I am still working on the OWL O'ween design.
 
I know...
get on with it already, right?
~
 
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Thursday, July 25, 2013

{ Weep Not }

...here is the finished stitch for my design:
 
weep not for me...
 
~ "Weep Not" ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three sweet sisters mourning the loss of their departed one.
each brings a gift in remembrance of her ~
... a basket, a wreath and a beloved book.
her favorite blooms accompany her in her journey in a nearby urn
...as an empty ladderback chair awaits another mourner...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Model Stitched onto 30ct Old Farmhouse Linen
available from Notforgotten Farm
using 1 strand of DMC floss over two threads of linen.
model stitched by Felicia Martin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stitch count is 176w x 73h
finished size on 30ct Old Farmhouse Linen = 11.73" x 4.87"
stitched one strand of floss over two threads of linen
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R I P


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

floss colors used: DMC
310
645
832
400
ecru
422
611
782
3033
3852


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not sure how I'll finish this one...
I have an antique frame that I might use,
...or I may just make a sawdust pillow out of it and back it with some crewel fabric ~
we'll see!!!
 
almost finished with 'OWL O'ween' ....
so then that will make three finished.
 
I will begin stitching
'Widows Weeds'
and
Miss Flea (Felicia) is finishing up 'Oldwick Burying Ground'...
 
Thanks for all of your input (emails & comments here) re: my hand dyed linen in darker colors...
I have a perfect WINTER design in mind that I think you'll like ~
and speaking of winter designs, the NOV/DEC issue of Country Sampler Magazine
will include a free cross stitch ornament pattern for you to download from their website along with
the article on our farmhouse....
 
ahhhh ~ refreshing to think about winter isn't it?
 
Have a beautiful day my Friends!!
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

{ L I N E N }

 
I've been receiving such nice emails from folks that are stitching
on my Old Farmhouse linen...
I am so happy that you are happy with it!
 
I have alot of messy fun dyeing it ~ and every yard comes out different than the next...
it's always a suprise for me when it dries and I get to see the mottled colors and stains appear ~
 
I just added some 28ct Old Farmhouse Linen
in our Etsy shop for those that want to stitch on a little larger count than the 30 or 32ct ~
 
I'll be adding some 32ct in the etsy shop today too
...for those that want to stitch on something a little smaller.
 
 
Old Farmhouse Linen from Notforgotten Farm©
I wanted to run this by you all ~
what are your thoughts on me dyeing up some black, dark brown, or charcoal-colored linen?
 
I have a design in my head
( one among thousands! )
 that I want to stitch in
Shades of White
and think it would look great on a really dark background...
 
...post a comment and let me know your thoughts on this!!
 
I'm off to finish stitching the 'OWL O'ween' design ~
I should have a sneak peek of it soon and of the
'Weep Not' design that Miss Flea is finishing up.
 
Have a beautiful day my Friends!!
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Monday, July 22, 2013

{ speaking of feathered friends...}

the swelling on my hand has gone down,
now it is just a loverly shade of blackened-crimson with hints of eggplant.
hence the lack of photos of it today for it is a bit gruesome...
 
but,
it still works, so there's another blessing for ya!
 
working away on the OWL O' ween design ~
here is the progress thusfar:
 
finally...a face!

working on his tophat

love his little green bibs!
 and as you know,
I'm nuts about birds and keep my binoculars at-the-ready for backyard visitors.
 
...this beautiful little boy and his wife graced the broom corn
growing by the window this morning...
and I had to capture him for you.
 
 
male Indigo Bunting



\
handsome little man




have you ever seen one yourself?
 
...between these and the Goldfinch, our backyard is full of color & commotion...
the Goldfinch are quick though, so I couldn't capture any ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The heat has broken here a bit in VA...
but, we are expecting heavy thunderstorms this week.
 
Humidity is still here though ~
...how I would love to fly open the windows and breathe in some cool clean air!
 
~AND~
 
I've received a couple of email from members of the LSHC regarding their kits ~
and you should all have received yours by the end of this week.
:)
 
Have a beautiful day my Friends & Blessed be!
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Sunday, July 21, 2013

{ Counting my Blessings }

 
I count them everyday ~
my blessings...
 
 
time to spend in my gardens....



friends of the feathered kind


friends of the fur-kind
 
handwork


a gentle and loving husband


a beautiful intellegent daughter
I have so many more blessings to be thankful for ~
mostly for the time you all take to read my postings here...
 
I will be offering a beautiful giveaway soon here on this blog
for you all to partake in ~
in the meantime, I am linking this post to a beautiful blog,
 
 
...go take a look at all of the beautiful, inspiring blogs there...
*warning*
there are hundreds!!!!
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

Saturday, July 20, 2013

{ Plunder & Pain }

Soooooo I was cleaning the house yesterday
to get it nice for our out-of-state inlaws' visit...
 
I was innocently walking through Hannah's bedroom when
 I whacked my right hand on her bathroom doorknob.
 
here is a shot of my normal left hand:
 

and
here is a shot of my abnormaly large right hand:
 
 
yowza!
uh YEAH...OUCH!
and of course I am right handed,
 but somewhat ambidextrous so I can maneuver ok....
lots of ice, advil, tylenol and elevation.
that's gonna leave a mark, huh?
 
Oh well...
 
here are a few snaps of the goodies
I brought home with me
from our trip to Kathy's ~
 
ironstone compote



ironstone pitcher on the far right ~ love the discoloration

tin shoe pincushion


beautiful white wood and wire birdcage


cream colored flower gathering basket

another little white basket

a beautiful bottle with birdcage-stopper

close-up of soldered birdcage-stopper

wire paper racks for my desk organization

a shot of my desk/worktable
I hope you are all staying cool in this miserable heat!!!
and remembering to offer constant,
fresh cool water to our outside fur and feathered friends ~
 
I'm off to get more ice for that hand now,
and maybe slip
a few cubes
down into
my
bra.
 
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm