Keeping in Touch

Copyright Deanne Fizpatrick

What a perfect way to keep in touch with friends and family. I know we are all hitech with e-mail etc. I won't even list the ways because I can't keep up with it all. Sometimes it is nice to just write a card in your handwriting and send it off to someone dear. I love receiving mail - I always ask "anything in the mail" when I call from my day job. So I have a stash of different notecards tucked away in the antique desk. Seems appropriate.

copyright Deanne Fitzpatrick

These are blank notecards that are listed on my website - FullyWooly Primitives. I just love them! Beautiful quality prints of Deanne Fitzpatrick's gorgeous rugs.  

Off to do some cookie making. Have a cookie exchange on Friday evening - wine, gabbing and eating. Going to make my Clementine Cookies dipped in semisweet chocolate. I'll get a pic and recipe on here in the next few days.

Have a great evening... Joni

Santa Rug Giveaway by Star Rug Company

Maria is giving this rug away so head over to her blog Star Rug Company Blog and sign up for a chance to win. Though I plan on having it hang on my wall :) She is also having a Cyber Monday sale on her website which I plan on heading over to right now.

Today was a good day for the mail. I received my custom drawn Deanna Fitzgerald rug. It is huge and daunting, Peter's comment was - that's a big one you better get to it. This is one that I am carefully gathering wool for and it will have roving and fabric too. She even drew a border which I absolutely love. So i will probably be posting to my blog as I get it done  - like a work in progress :)

Oh by the way Gail Wilson is having a Christmas sale and you have to check out her website. I have to admit that I did treat  myself to a Hitty doll. Even if you are not into doll making I can guarantee you will drool over her creations!

Have a great evening - off to do some shopping.

copyright Gail Wilson Designs

 

Scrappy Star

I used all my left over wools from Market Day to do this scrappy star chair rug. I love chair rugs. Nothing more homey looking on a rocking chair!

Some little mats I  just finished -

The Pear

The Leaf

And a larger doodle purse....

It has been a creative two weeks.. off to dye some wool threads. Have a great evening.

Perfect Fall Weekend

Saturday was glorious. Crisp air, leaves filled with colour and the scent of wood smoke in the air. I just love this time of the year. I get all these creative urges that just have to be put to fabric and they drift through my mind at all times  - when I can be doing the most mundane things. Helps to carry a notepad in your purse and more recently an IPhone (yes, I of no cell phone for 4 years have caved in). I call it my security blanket for winter driving up here. It definitely came in handy when I was in PEI as I had no internet access and did you know that you can use it as a server for the internet. OK I am not the most computer adept person but hey that just boggled my mind! The biggest plus - the pictures I can take!

A perfect fall day

So Roby and I made our monthly trek to the vet along with some errands that had to be done and we then treated ourselves to a walk by the lake. It was so beautiful. We met some other furries and it was a big social gab. What is it about animals and kids - it brings out the best in people.




My furry beast!

 

This weekend was "Let's get this show on the road for the November Artisan Show". You always think you have enough time and you prepare a year in advance and yet it is always the last month that is a frenzy of activity with new ideas and do I have enough time to fit it in. I'll be posting some of my pieces over the next couple of weeks. Here is one of several clutch purses that I purchased from Nepal (fair trade) and did some doodling with wool over the weekend. I had so much fun with these. I call them my doodle purses. Have a great evening!

Wool Doodle Purse

Island Storm



Thunder Cove Beach

Hard to believe it is already the middle of October. Seems like it has been ages since we got back from our island holiday (and no that is not a tropical island) but the gentle island cradled in the ocean's embrace - Prince Edward Island. The weather was nothing to write home about but who cares with the awe inspiring view we had - mother nature at her full force. Best of all we are back on the island in the spring. Winter will breeze by :)

Thunder Cove Beach



Lots of changes, decisions and planning happening in this little life of  mine. All very good though! The focus this month is getting ready for the Artisan Craft show in Hudson, Quebec on November 13/14th. If you are in the area drop by as it is a great opportunity to see what the local artisan community is up to and most important show support for hand made items. 



Hudson Show 2009

I am busy creating and doing. I always plan on what I am going to have at my booth but inevitably I get really creative with new ideas and end up trying to do too much. Fall happens to be my favourite time of year and very inspiring. So I have learned to pace myself time wise and not be superwoman. Save some of those ideas for later on.  

I'll be posting some of the new creations on my blog and I did get two rugs finished while I was on holidays. Hmm the island is definitely an inspirational place for me.

Off to get ready for work.. have a great day ..........





Just a relaxing week!

 So made it through my first hurricane on the Island – lots of wind and rain but thank God did not lose any power. The house shook quite a bit, but there are no trees around so didn’t have to worry about that. Everything outdoors was secured and the car parked in a sheltered place. Supplies laid in and I think I was well prepared. The ocean was wild with lots of white caps. Earl came through pretty fast and so did not last long – the brunt of it was felt in Nova Scotia.

Mama Meow copyright Warren Kimble/WoolleyDesigns

Raining right now so a perfect day to finish my Mama Meow rug. This was a fun rug to do and I can’t wait to get it bound up. I have to tweak a couple of places because they are bothering me but otherwise I am pretty happy with it. I can’t say it was my biggest at 21x30 but definitely one of them. Wait until I start on my custom pattern from Deanne Fitzpatrick – that will probably be my largest – that will definitely be a keeper. Have a spot for it all picked out.

Stopped by Deanne’s studio in Amherst, NS where I saw some of her glorious rugs. The pictures do not do them justice. Was so happy to have the opportunity to visit the shop and if you are in the area it is definitely a must! Just drool over the wool yardage selection and the wool yarn is beautiful – had to restrain myself but did pick up a kit – I am just itching to hook it. But it has to wait it’s turn.

Market Day 1809 - copyright Joni Black

Right now I’m hooking one of my original patterns called Market Day 1809. It was originally a punch needle design but a customer approached me to have it done as a rug hooking kit and I was only too happy to have her do it. So happy in fact, that I bought one of the kits from her. If interested you can contact her at hookedonthelake@kingston.net

If you are looking for the pattern you can find it on my website under Punch Needle Patterns.

Off to do some more hooking – it’s a gray day with a bit of a cool nip in the air. Just a perfectly relaxing day!
Have a great day....

Mama Meow copyright Warren Kimble/Woolley Designs

Meeting Earl

I can't believe it is September. Where did the summer go??

Well finally off to our holidays tomorrow. Going to bask in the sun, eat lobster and stroll the beaches. In between that I am going to try to finish a rug and start another one. Also have some knitting and cross stitch to do. Then again I may not do anything but eat, sleep and read.

Unfortunately there is Earl waiting to give me a rough start to the holiday. I'll either be on the Island Saturday morning before they close down the bridge (if they close it down) or I will be hunkered down in Moncton waiting for the storm to roll through. We'll see what happens as no one is quite sure 100% where it will hit.

Anyway I am prepared and bought myself a pair of authentic British wellies! One of my favourite candies Bassets All Sorts (has to be Bassets). So I am going to sit in a hotel -  in front of the TV - order in and hunker down for the storm with my pretty wellies on my feet. As soon as the car shakes I head for the hills..or in this case a hotel.

G'nite Joni

More Dyed Wool #2!

So this is my next lot of dyed fabrics that I put together. I love picking colours and trying to get a theme going - that is always a lot of fun for me. Hopefully customers will like the selections I have made. These are fantastic stash builders!. I made sure to set some aside for my stash. Oh if only I had kept a piece of each fabric I dyed - oh wait I would have to have another room set aside for wool/crafts - two is the limit - next I will be sleeping in a tent outside. Thank God for the shed we bought for storage!

Pumpkin Fields

That Special Blue

Primitive Plum

Tomorrow is a busy day. There are a couple of cross stitch designs to finalize and then I want to finish a rug and start a new punch needle and oh yes start designing some wool applique kits - did I say I only have the weekend? Maybe I will have some time to do a bit of reading. It really should be 3 days of work and 4 days of playing with crafts, hobbies and stuff we all love to do, don't you think? Now that makes more sense :) Ok from this list I see I will have to organize my time but will probably end up just doing what I feel like doing as usual :) Off to finish a cross stitch model. g'nite..Joni

Now this is a beach!

I love travelling vicariously through someone else's photos.
So I could not fit myself in my brother's suitcase but my sister-in-law's brother (Manny) was kind enough to post these pics of Crete, Greece. The beach is in Elafonissi. I am sure he will not mind that I have used them here. The water looks unbelievable and it is probably too hot for me but what can I say - I think I could bear the heat if I was presented with such gorgeous surroundings. Manny I will be there next year LOL... My nephew enjoying a swim. Can you  believe the blue of this water.

Now this is what you call switchbacks - I had to look twice to see that indeed they were roads. Not something I would drive in the dark.

What a view - I did not realize it was so mountainous.

And this little pup is having his afternoon siesta which is basically what the whole country does - it being so hot.

Hmmmm one can only dream...........

More dyed wool!

It was a wild evening yesterday - weatherwise! Sheets of rain - local flooding, downed trees, lightning and thunder with the promise of relief from the extremely high humidity we have been experiencing. Well that relief lasted a few hours and now climbing back up.
Since I have AC (absolutely necessary for doing dye runs) I decided to dye another batch of wools... love all these colours! They are going to be bundled with some Rebecca Erb wools and sold on my website.

The hibiscus is in full bloom and looking gorgeous. I am usually partial to red flowers but these yellow ones are so pretty. I thought I would expand my palette :)

 Ok I have to admit I am not much of a gardener. I prefer to be sitting down hooking a rug or doing some other needlework. I always said if I won a million dollars - a gardener would be on the top of the list. It just takes away from my sewing time. Maybe if I was not working out of the home I'd feel different, but I do love to have pretty flowers around me. Having said all that and admitting to not having much of  a green thumb I have to say my orchids are a feather in my cap. They seem to be the only things I can grown indoors. They seem to survive my winter care and as soon as the weather gets warmer out they go.  What I love about them is they bloom for months! My kind of flower :) Have a great summery day!

Beginning Embroidery with Bead Embellishment with Christen Brown

Beginning Embroidery with Bead Embellishment with Christen Brown

an online class I plan on taking with http://www.joggles.com/. I love beads, embroidery and little scraps of silk - perfect for honing my embroidery embellishment skills. I am always on the lookout for something new to learn :)

Hand Dyed Threads

Oh joy! in the mail today I received a surprise - hand dyed 3 strand cotton threads from Weeks Dye Works. I can't wait to try this on my newest punch needle design. I think this will be a kit with the newest threads in some real prim colours! Nothing like new colours to inspire you.

As you know we have been hit with a heat wave - the worse we have seen in years. So hot that it is even difficult to breathe and the air quality is not the best. On those days I go from my AC car to my AC office back to my AC car and into my AC house where I hibernate until it is over. I figure if the pup does not go out and he oves the outdoors then it makes sense for me to stay in too. Gives me time to do my most favourite thing - crafting.

The heaviness of the air calls for a light refreshing dessert while I watch the Blindside. I whipped this one together - sometimes the most simple is the most gratifying - of fresh plump blueberries layed with devon custard and sprinkled with Giradelli unsweetened cocoa. Having said that I am not giving up my decadent 4 layer chocolate truffle cake that I splurge on occasionally. A girl's got to have her vices. :)

No reading in the breezeway tonight - it will have to be indoors tonight. Have a great evening...g'nite.Joni

Dyed Wool

It's 11:30 pm - a gorgeous evening with a wonderful breeze. The door is wide open to the outside screened in deck where I will be sitting after I write this. Got my Kindle ready, my cup of tea and a great book to immerse myself in. I am into thrillers these days - pure summer escapism!

This weekend I got the dye pots out and started dyeing fabric. I love the process of  wool fibers becoming saturated with colour. I have been doing it for years now so the steps are pretty automatic. It is the excitement of a new colour emerging that is the wow factor for me.  Tried some new colours and combined the hand dyes with the new Rebecca Erb fabric that arrived in Maine for some pretty unique bundles. This time I am keeping some of the wool for my own stash and in preparation for a new rug I am planning.

These bundles will be in the new on-line shop next week.
Here are a couple of the new offerings...

Caramel Apple

Green Tea & Raspberries

Have to mention that last week I finished a great great book called "The Passage".

I loved it and couldn't have enjoyed it more. It is an end of the world genre with some vampires thrown in but not your typical vampire fare. Much more complex and I read that it is the first of a trilogy so that was good news.

Update on my cat rug - I am just now doing the border so hopefully will have that finished in a couple of weeks. Publishing deadlines are a priority right now. :)

Off to read my book in the stillness of late evening. G'nite - Joni

Happy Confederation Day!

I am a day early but tomorrow is a busy day - July 1st. Driving my brother and his family to the airport as they are winging away to Crete, Greece for a month. Lucky devils!

It's been busy here in the Black household..besides planning some reno jobs for the house I have a show in November that I have to prepare for now in order to have everything ready for then. I am almost finished my cat rug and that has turned out quite nice - hmmmm I may have to keep that one. Also working on some cross stitch patterns that need to be ready and published under my other name "Island Cottage Needlearts" which are available wholesale from Kelmscott Designs.

Finally got the shed all built and what do you know it is already stacked with boxes of supplies. I need a warehouse - just kidding. I just need to seriously divest myself of STUFF I will never use.

Fully Wooly has some new pattern books available from Notforgotten Farm. You can see them on my Facebook page and I have ordered some new cross stitch patterns that will be available mid July on the new website.

You know how you have a great plan and have everything set out and then something just happens to whack it out of place. I was hoping to have the newly redesigned website up and running last weekend but unfortunately my mom took a serious tumble and the priority has been her care. I am happy to say that she is pretty resilient for an 81 year old woman and has strong European stock that has allowed her to bounce back quicker than I thought. So it will get launched, I promise, sometime within the next couple of weeks with some new wool bundles using my hand dyes and some wonderful Rebecca Erb AS IS wools.

So I am off to get the dye pots going and we'll be talking. thanks Joni 

Cat & Dog

Today I took up my hook again - it's been awhile. Sorted the wool again - cut some more strips and started pulling wool strips. It is so relaxing!

Here is a work in progress.. A design by Warren Kimble, which I love. There are lots of different shades in this one and there will be some eye-popping colour in the braided rug. I have decided that in order to move on to other rug hooking adventures I need to finish what I have in the basket. The intention is there and whether I follow through - we'll see. There are wools that are calling my name that may just have to be worked into another project that can't wait its turn.

So I have my prim cat I am working on and my pup by my feet making sure that he is included in all I do. LOL

 A new item up for sale on Pfatt Marketplace tomorrow - June 10th.

This is a design by Stacy Nash which I love. You can find some of her patterns on my website. This one is an exclusive design. Love those teeny tiny stitches!

Off to do some more hooking :) g'nite..Joni