Happy 1st Birthday, Mina!!!

Our youngest, Mina, celebrated her first birthday today. Isn't she adorable in her little tutu? It's been a while since I've had a little girl to dress up. She shares a birthday with Abraham Lincoln; just one of many indications she is destined for great things. She was born during the biggest blizzard our county had seen in twenty years. She is adored by her two big brothers who call her Queen Mina and occassionally bow to her (which always makes her giggle). She is spoiled by her big sister who often whisks her off to her room upstairs for "girl time" and refers to her baby sister as her best friend. There isn't a minute of the day she isn't being loved on by someone around here and she deserves every bit of it.

Happy Birthday, Miss Mina, we love you.

Decorative Sewing Pins

I had some unexpected quiet time this afternoon and felt like playing so I took out some of my little treasures. I've been wanting to make decorative sewing pins for awhile now. Basic sewing pins, silver jewelry findings, cream colored fabric flowers . . . if I had known it would be this easy I would have done it ages ago. Of course now I have to find the perfect pincushion for them to grace. I'm considering putting some sets up on etsy since I think I may have gone a little overboard and made too many. How do you ladies think they turned out?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Butterfly

Present sorrows wings are taking . . .

Pleasant memories are waking . . .

The first of two butterflies . . . a recent interest of mine and a small nod to the aniticpated arrival of Spring.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

St. Valentine's Day Finish

Thanks to Terri at Dixie Sampler Designs there's a finish of my St. Valentine's Day Freebie to share. The one on the left is something she designed herself. Isn't the variegation in the thread beautiful? I believe she said she used CC Old Brick. The finish is lovely too; it makes the tiny design so much grander. What a sweet little Valentine's treat.

I still haven't gotten around to stitching mine. Inspired by the new butterfly theme of my blog I'm stitching a little butterfly design (or two). As soon as I'm done I'll post pictures.

I hope everyone is making plans for St. Valentine's Day. My husband considers it a "Hallmark Holiday" and therefore doesn't give it as much credence as I think he should. It may very well be a "made up", highly commercialized holiday, but to me that doesn't matter. You don't have to support the commercialism and for me the opportunity to celebrate anything (especially something as worthy as love) is to be embraced. Sometimes there aren't enough reasons in life to celebrate and if you have "make some up" from time to time, so be it. Finding something (no matter how small) to celebrate every day is certainly a worthwhile endeavor and an excuse to get a box of chocolates is always welcome.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

My Lost Weekend

I have spent way too much time this weekend mucking about with digital collages and working on my blog and little time doing anything else. But it was a lot of fun . . . . For those of you who have been checking the blog it probably hasn't looked the same way twice. I think I finally have it looking the way I want it to, although that is liable to change.

I think I'm finally sorted, feeling more like myself this past weekend. The house has kind of fallen to the wayside the past few days so I'm spending today putting it back to order. I'm anxious to get back to stitching, though I may have to revise my schedule a little. I still hope to get something out next week but I'd forgotten my husband's parents are coming to visit. I have no idea how I managed to misplace that little tidbit of information. My husband reminded me yesterday, hence my fervor of cleaning today.

I have decided, after the last few days, that sometimes doing nothing is exactly what I need to do. But thankfully that never lasts very long.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Not Myself

Do you ever have a day (or several days all in a row) where you don't quite feel like yourself? I've been out of sorts for two days now. I'm not sure how to describe it. I just feel . . . uncomfortable in my own skin. Just plain wonky. Of course my monthly visit (tmi?) is due any day now so I suppose its to be expected. I did nothing today but muck around with my blog. BTW, what do you think? The picture in the header is of a work in progress, a Quaker Motif I'll offer as a freebie as soon as I finish stitching it. Of course instead of actually working on it today I took pictures of it in it's sad unfinished state. Keeping Joy is also waiting to be finished. Usually when I'm so close to finishing a design I stitch like mad to get it done. Again, I just don't feel like "me" right now.

*Sigh*

On a good note, however, I've decided I have the best husband in the world. For two days now he's helped with the kids and done virtually all the cleaning in the house. Yesterday he even came home from the store with cheesecake for me. The day before that he came home with more tulips. I love my husband. Really what more could I ask for than a man who loves me even when I'm bonkers.

I haven't decided if tonight I'll stitch or simply curl up on the sofa with the rest of my cheesecake. I promise to have Keeping Joy finished sometime next week and the next free pattern should be up by then too. Hopefully I'll be feeling more like myself by then.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

The Country House

I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with The Country House. They have an online store as well as a physical location that I happen to be fortunate enough to live within fifteen minutes of. They boast being the largest country store in the east and there are two seperate buildings each the size of a small warehouse. One building is comprised of a bunch of smaller rooms each decorated in a different primitive or country style. There are bedrooms, keeping rooms, dining rooms, etc and everything on display is for sale. It's wonderful to walk through: you feel as though you're taking a tour of a colonial home.

Their stuff can be a little pricey, but beautiful. Even if I have no intention of buying anything the store is absolutely lovely and simply spending an hour of so there can be such a source of inspiration. I can literally do several "laps" through both buildings and still not have explored every nook and cranny. Of course whatever my intention I rarely make it out of the store without buying something.

Today, however, I had a specific purpose in mind. Most all of my needlework, finished or in progress, lays about the house. It's either hung here, or draped there . . . I enjoy looking at it and if it's unfinished keeping it in sight increases the likelihood I'll get around to finishing it. In an attempt to curb our heating bill we've had quite a few fires this winter. I adore them, personally, but I've noticed most of my needlework is starting to smell slightly of woodsmoke. It's the one downside of having a fire going virtually every day and I can't abide it. Of course the moment I realized it I had to do something about it. I took a quick trip to The Country House (meaning I stayed less than two hours) and picked up some prim fixins, spiced cake scented. I tossed it in a mesh bag and now have it "steeping" in a small box with some of my needlework. Winter isn't over yet and I don't want to forego those cozy fires in the evenings so I'm hoping this helps.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm open to any and all ideas and of course if it requires another trip to The Country House I wouldn't mind.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

https://www.thecountryhouse.com/Default.asp