Polyfil alert!

If you use or used to use Morning Glory polyfil and can no longer find it, well head off to your local Christmas Tree Shop. 
They have 1 lb. bags of Buffalo Snow, it's pretty much the same as MG.  It is now on clearance for $1.34 per bag!!!
I got 25 bags, could have gotten more but I use the "other stuff" and supplement with the MG or Buff. snow, and I have several 5 lb. boxes of that.

Now, where to put it all............................?

A Self Cleaning Bathroom

Sounds good, eh?
WHERE ARE YOU INVENTORS??
I think this is a wonderful idea, you press the button and the doors lock.
They won't open again until the bathroom is cleaned!
Of course we'd have to remove curtains, accessories, etc. first,  but wouldn't it be worth it?!
I hate cleaning the bathrooms.....
Self cleaning, not likely.
But one can dream, right?!!!

A beautiful song.

This is such a beautiful song, it's as if this one comes straight from Heaven..
Caution, get the tissues ready!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBaSLH_3sAw

Contemplation....

.........spent alot of time in contemplation, reflection, etc. 
Losing my Mom as a horrible hit.  Earlier in the year, my Grandmother also went to her heavenly home.  We went from 5 generations to 3 generations in less than a year.
I felt a HUGE hole, loss, in my life.  I spent most waking hours of my days crying.
At times the pain seemed unbearable and I felt alone.
My Mother was more to me than my Mom, she was my best friend, my confidant, my prayer partner, my ROCK.  Together, we upheld every member or this big family in prayer.
I prayed to God for days asking for the comfort and peace I so desparately needed.

The purpose of this post is not to bring us down again, but to share.
After days and days of pleading with God, I finally got my peace.  I came to the realization that I now would carry on the prayer for my family, I sure can do that.
God let me know that he is here and I could "feel" his loving arms around me in comfort.
The week of Christmas, everyone in my home came down with a flu.  It was bad as all of us were down sick at the same time and pretty much on our own.  By Christmas Eve, however, we could finally stand on shaky legs and felt like eating a bit again.  So, Christmas Eve day, we quickly brought in the Christmas tree and hastily decorated it.  Then we prepared food and gathered together and we had a very nice time.
Christmas day, more of the same.
You see, the Lord brought this to my attention, my Mother was whole and in the company of the very one who's birthday we were celebrating here on earth!!  Our saviour Jesus!
I would not call her back here ever.

I just want to  let you all know, no matter how badly you feel, you need only to call upon the Lord, he loves us all.  ALL OF US.

I'll be glad when this year ends, looking forward to new beginnings.  For me, sewing is therapy and I'm really itching to get back into it again.
Have a safe and healthy New Year, I'm sure you'll hear from me again before then!!

My heart is broken....

......into a million tiny pieces.
Last night my sisters and I surrounded my Mother as she left this earth for her new home in Heaven.
My Mother was my rock, my best friend, my comfort....everything.
My Mother is the reason I am the woman I am today.
When I was 13, my mother patiently sat me at her precious sewing machine time and again until she had taught me to properly sew.  "No short cuts Maureen, no unfinished edges or seams"....keep it neat.  She made me a perfectionist, made me pay attention to detail whenever I sewed anything.    She is the reason I am the artist that I have become.
I'm SO PROUD to have called her Mom, our family was SO BLESSED to have been able to share part of her 79 years on this earth. 
She was so strong in her faith in God and became my prayer partner.  But God needed her more.......
We rest assured that she is with her Heavenly Father and our family members that have gone before her and rejoice in knowing that we WILL one day have a reunion with her in Heaven.


Fly Mom with the Angels,
I'm sure you are wearing the biggest set of wings.......

If you could...

.....keep my Mother in your prayers.
She's facing open heart surgery for the second time and  it's extremely serious.  This came out of nowhere and has pretty much knocked the wind out of our family.

An ebay auction....or two.

Can't hardly believe it but I did list two dolls on ebay tonight.  I always sell patterns but cannot remember the last time I listed an actual doll.  There are two separate auctions for the actual dolls in the pattern below.  Had so much trouble doing the listing it took 45 minutes to do both of them.  I don't know if it was me or ebay but I'll blame ebay! HAHAHAHAHA!
Here they are, take a look if you like:  http://www.ebay.com/sch/sweetmeadowsfarm/m.html?hash=item519c2b75b3&item=350512444851&pt=Folk_Art&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Have a good evening!
Maureen

HoHOHo, Let it Snow!

Nope.

We are not getting snow, thank the Lord!

In case you haven't determined this yet, I hate winter.

So, what is it, you ask?

It's these two.  Made the snowman for my open house.  Sold it repeatedly.

Completely sold out....of many.  That's how many I made! hehe

So I thought I'd put it in a pattern because it's WAYYY easy.

Are you seeing a pattern here lately, I've been making some stuff that is fast and easy.

I decided he needed more.  So I then made Santa.

I call this pattern, "HoHOHo, Let it Snow"

Seems to fit.......

They are 14" tall and pattern includes both dolls and their clothing.  Even has a source for making

those little round tags or if you don't wanna make them, you can purchase them ready made to

go with your pattern.

$10.00 + shipping gets you this pattern, ready to ship now.

I don't have the epattern for this one.  I'm shopping for a new scanner tomorrow!!!!

Hope your day is a good one, without snow and warm and sunny to boot!!!!!

Open House, Thanksgiving, a whole week....

....gone in a blur.  We had to take our Mother to the hospital early last week, she was in for a few days and decided she wanted to come home for Thanksgiving.  The Dr., however, did not agree but reluctantly let her go.  "You'll be back tomorrow", he said.  He was right.  This time though, she was so ill she had to be taken by ambulance.  I do have regrets as I pushed for her to be home for the holiday.  I just felt she would know if she was well enough and she DID seem much better.  So the week was a swirl of sleepless nights, worry, migraines (of course) and I squeezed in the open house somewhere as well!

A BIG THANK YOU to all that came, and I'm sorry for those I missed while at the hospital.  We are literally picked clean of Christmas items and handmades....not a bad thing :)  We are planning to be bigger and better next year.

We have started to plan our Spring Open House, date will be announced soon.  We will do 4 Open  Houses a year now that we are no longer doing shows.  I wish I had gotten around to taking pictures but there just was no time.  I did get a great pic of three friendly faces in front of the shop, maybe you know them!!!

They came with their festive handmade Christmas hats, you can't tell in the photo but these hats had Christmas lights and they were lit!!!  Such fun!
I did get this picture to share, I love the way this shutter turned out with the candy cane.  I made this so the candy cane is removable, I was thinking some spring flowers would surely look nice!
(Can you tell I'm ignoring winter??!!)

There's no biz like "Sno Biz"!

As I've made things for my Christmas Open House, I put a few aside to share in pattern form.  I've selected the easy and fast ones to make. 
I never feel as if I have enough to offer for my open house and with all the craziness here this past week, I've just decided to accept things for what they are.
As they say, "It is what it is"!  That's really a silly saying, like the alternative would be, "It is what it Isn't"??!! lol

Anyhow, before I lose my train of thought, I offer for sale this most EASY and I mean EASY, and fast to make pattern.
Pattern will include the fat snowmen, they are about 14" give or take an inch depending on their hat length.  It includes the hats, the mittens, and those twig-like arms that bend....I'm loving these arms!

 Also in the pattern is that cute 3-D tree!

This one is $9.50 + shipping and I do not yet have an epattern, sorry. 
Did I tell you they are easy to make? HAHA!
Have a good weekend and God Bless you all,
Maureen

UH OH.....Christmas Open House date change.

I'm sorry to have to do this but something totally unexpected has come up and needs our immediate attention.  Our Christmas Open House planned for next week will be postponed until the following weekend. 
Our shop is now closed but we will be back to  reopen on 11/23.   We are closed on Thanksgiving Day but our Christmas Open House will run from Fri, Nov. 25 thru Sun. Nov. 27.
After that we will be open Saturdays and Sundays until Christmas.

I'm sorry if this is causing anyone an inconvenience but sometimes life gets in the way of even best laid plans :(

Hope to see you as I do have some nice handmades to choose from as well as the antiques and primitives as well as sweets and treats to sample while you browse.  I will also be doing a couple raffle/giveaways over the weekend.

If you would like directions or need to phone, email here:  sweetmeadowsfarm@yahoo.com

Oh boy, A Few Good Men!

Still in the creatin' mood.

Meet A Few Good Men.

These soooo prim guys are one of my easiest and quickest patterns.
The pattern includes all three men.  These are NOT ornies, no sirreeeee, they are at least 17" tall and that doesn't include hats!
Pattern includes directions to make all three men, as well as hats, the little snowman pocket that Santa has too.  You can purchase little craft mittens for them but WAIT!!!!  You won't have to!  Get out those old sweaters, 'cus there's also instructions for making your own little mittens!  Probably could use old socks too...LOL!
Did  I mention these were easy?!?  I made all three in a day!
My fave is the gingerbread but my family likes Santa....wonder why......?!

Good Ol' Santa with snowman pocket

Gotta love those oversized mittens.

Pattern is $10.50 + shipping.
Email to order.
Have a nice day, I'm off to see what else I can come up with, wish me luck!

Santa Bear

Santa Bear Pattern.  I made up a couple of these guys for my shop's Christmas Open House and now I'm offering the pattern.  As I make things up, I might have more patterns to offer, ya just never know!
I have about 1-1/2 weeks to get stuff done.....ugh!
Anyhoo, this pattern will allow  you to make this 15" tall standing bear as shown. Pattern includes directions to make the bear, his santa hat as well as the dirty candy cane ornie. Complete instructions for making your bear old and grungy looking if you so desire! Also includes pattern and instructions for the wood base. Fairly easy pattern here!

$9.50 + shipping.....email if you'd like to order.
Have a great day!
Maureen

O Christmas Tree....

Yeah!
I'm creatin' again!
Must have been all that snow that was dumped on us last weekend, thank God it warmed up and it's just about gone.
I had this idea in my head, to make the tree.  But sometimes what is in your head does not always translate
to paper as you wish.  In this case, I don't care, I am pleased!
This is a new design, and it's in pattern form.  The full tree pictured is about 36" long.  Yep, it's a biggie.
But guess what, you can make it any size you want!  Woohoo!
Pattern includes complete instructions to make the tree, AND the crows.

You don't have to put crows on it, you can decorate it any way you choose or not!

It's oh so primitive and stained, I love it.

You can also opt to make the tree in a smaller version, pictured below is the tree at 17" tall.

You can pretty much make it any size you want to. 

There are also dimensions for the wood base

for the big tree to stand.

I also include directions for making the the can look rusty and there will be a copy of my

label that I used for you to stain as well.

Let's not forget the crows!  You will get instructions for making the

crow into ornies to hang with tiny santa hats!

All of this in one pattern for just $10.50 + shipping.

Imagine this tree frosted with Mica, or in a nice print fabric,

or done up in a different color...like pink!  HAHAHA!

I just had to share this!

This is reposted from Facebook, I found it so important that I want to be sure that everyone sees this.  Thank you to George Houghtby for enlightening us all!

George Houghtby's Photos

‎(ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE B...OX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!

With all the food and pet products now coming from China , it is best to make sure you read label at the grocery store and especially Walmart when buying food products.

Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located.

It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin.

How to read Bar Codes .... interesting!

This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.

GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA " AND NOT FROM CHINA!!



The whole world is concerned about China-made "black hearted goods".

Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?



If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA.

471 is Made in Taiwan .

This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the

public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.



Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made.



However, you may now refer to the barcode - remember if the first 3 digits are:



690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA

00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA

30 - 37 FRANCE

40 - 44 GERMANY

471 .... Taiwan

49 ... JAPAN

50 ... UK



BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number.

We need every boost we can get! Pass this on to everybody on your E-Mail Contact List!! )

It's quiet in here....

....yeah.  I have no excuses, only reasons not to blog, or why I have not.  The past 2 months have been a bit stressful.  We've had to deal with some unpleasant happenings that have ultimately been resolved.  Praise be to God!
But that's not all.  Nope.
Once again, I'm dealing with health issues.  There are times when I am in bed for a 3 or 4 day stretch. 
I long to create and by golly I will.
I'm off to the Doctor today,  keep my in your prayers.
I'll be back in a few days, I promise.
I have something "cool" up my sleeves.........!

Sweet Annie...PART TWO!

I've had many emails asking about preserving sweet annie as well as making the walnut ink.
  I do have ALOT of sweet annie in the varying stages of preserving. 

Cut your sweet annie.  Mix hot water with glycerine.  I do 1/2 cup glycerine to 1-1/2 cups water + 1/4 teaspoon of green food coloring. Mix WELL, this is important.   Cut your sweet annie and put the stems in the solution - be sure to use a glass container.  I just used old canning jars.  You will want to be sure not to pack alot of stems in the jar, you need the air to be able to circulate around the stems and branches.  Allow the stems to stay in the solution until it is absorbed into the plants.  Usually 3 days, you can tell because the color of the sweet annie turns a darker green color.  I then spread the stems out on paper to dry.  Then I bundle the stems with elastics and hang them upside down to further dry, about a week or so depending on humidity.

I purchased my Glycerine from a local pharmacy.  Walmart does have it but it is a little bottle and more pricey than my local supplier (Go Figure!)
You could buy it online but the shipping would kill you for sure!
It looks like we may have frost this weekend so I REALLY have to step up my harvest to get it all in.


Walnut Ink:  Go to this link and scroll down for the directions to make walnut ink, OR just do a search using google, yahoo, etc:  http://www.phancypages.com/newsletter/ZNewsletter538.htm


I hope this helps. 
I plan to dry apple and orange slices in the next few days so I shall report back on my results with pictures....if all goes well!

Sweet Annie Harvest, etc.

I've been harvesting my Sweet Annie daily now.  I decided to preserve all of it because drying it just ruins it....it becomes brittle and shatters and just makes a mess, not to mention it loses it's green color.

This is much more time consuming and involves a couple steps but worth it.    The plants are quite large this year and they are growing, intertwined with zinnias and cosmos.  My cosmos this year is about 7 feet tall!!
Here are some of the bunches in the dye/preserving solution.

I also cut alot of Tansy and that I'm just bundling and hanging upside

down to dry. 

Our black Walnut tree has lost almost all of it's leaves already, revealing the abundance of walnuts.  These will be dryed and I'll use the hulls for stains and dyes.

There are also plenty on the ground to be gathered.  Here you can see the difference between a dried and not so dried hull.

I hope to have sweet annie and tansy for my fall open house in our shop, October 8 - 10.

The ScareBear pattern is now ready to ship.  If you would like to purchase, simply send an email.  It is $10.50 + shipping.  You can make it plain also or sitting as the pics below show! He's only 15" standing and he's got short legs and is on the chubby side!!

Children of the Corn...

Corn Maze, that is!

We all assembled at my house and left in a caravan of 7 cars.  All family members, 4 generations in place!!My Mom, my sisters, spouses, children, grandchildren....The weather was perfect, even a bit warm for late September.Here's the farm, if you happen to venture to the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, you will have to visit this maze.

Across the road they have a little farmstand with produce, pumpkins, etc.
Enter with caution!  My hubby seems a bit wary!

We all started out in a pack, with my Mom sitting it out in a nice shady spot outside the maze.

That corn sure is tall, my guess is at least 10 feet.

There are clues planted throughout the maze.  You have a sheet of paper

and you are to fill in the clues as you go to complet the word at the bottom

of your paper.

There are really pretty views....when you can get a glimpse thru the corn!

Wow, these are some cute lil girls in the corn!  My grand daughter and my sis's grand daughter.

It seems we all went different ways in the maze and were broken up into several groups.

After about an hour or so of "wandering", we kinda, sorta cheated and left the maze.....and not exactly following the path!  We just wanted out!  HAHA

Just outside the exit in the field were some beautiful horses.

Hello Friend!

There was also a nice town playground for the kids, a place to kill time while waiting

for the others to find their way out.

Chubby babies, playing in the shade!

This is my other sis's grandson and my newest grand baby, Gabriella - 5 months old!

If you visit the maze, it is only $5.00 per person.  If you have  a group of 10 or more, it is $4.00 per person.

Not a bad way to spend a nice afternoon!

Afterward, the caravan went for apples and we spent the better part of the rest of the day,

lazing in my back yard and chatting the day away!

 

Flood!

Truly unbelievable, the amount of rain and flooding in northeast PA and upstate NY.  Roadways are flooded or damaged, bridges flooded or ruined, business destroyed....schools closed everywhere and all areas declared states of emergency.

Our home is on high ground, we are one of the luckier ones.  When the rain finally stopped and we could get out a bit, we took some pictures about our small community.  The Susquehanna river is a small river in this area but it became a roaring demon overnight.  Below are some pictures we were able to take as far as we could go...which wasn't very far at all.  I don't know how long it will take or even HOW this area will be able to recover.

The river has yet to crest many miles south of us in the Wilkes Barre area, keep this entire area in your prayers please.
This is looking down Main Street in Lanesboro, PA.

This is Lanesboro Main Str. from the other end.

More Lanesboro, how ironic that boat is parked in flood waters.

Up the hill from Lanesboro, looking down across the river to Oakland.

Down in Oakland, you can get only so far on the road before the river overtakes it.

You will see far in the picture is the tree line where the bank of the river actually is under normal circumstances in Oakland.

Here's the Susquehanna River.  When things get back to normal, I will come back and post a picture of how it really looks.

Side of this road is washed away and you cannot see from the picture but there is actually a waterfall.....

This is the nice quiet stream that runs thru Lanesboro......not so today.

More random shots in Lanesboro.  As I stated, we could not go very far due to flooding and road conditions.

Just before dusk, my son snapped a photo of a rainbow with his phone.  Sorry, I don't have that shot but we did have some clearing skies....Tomorrow HAS to be better.