Prayers for a Very Special Friend!

Deena is in need of our prayers, friends! Diagnosed with breast cancer, she was operated on a while back and went yesterday for her first round of treatments yesterday. Due to an infection and the news that the cancer has spread, they did not do her treatments, as they want the infection to clear first. Deena is such a brave, special woman! Please remember her in your prayers, go to her blog, get to know her, and leave her a word of encouragement! It would mean to world to her.
http://deenasstory.blogspot.com/

Deena, this is for you:

Safe With Angels

Sometimes it seems
what used to be
Our fondest hopes and dreams,
Disappear like falling stars,
Forever gone -- it seems.
But somehow God,
who knows what's best
Finds all our falling stars,
And keeps them safe
with angels dear,
And stores our tears in jars.
And someday when
the time is right,
As only God can do,
He'll give us back
our dreams and stars,
His best for me and you.
--Cora Eelman

Another stitchery!!

I just couldn't help but post another favorite of mine! I just love this Scripture verse. I can remember as a child being so afraid of the dark when I went to bed. But it wasn't until I was an adult that I found this verse. Perfect for me!!!!

This 11x14 stitchery is also listed on my Ebay auctions! You can find it here:

God is already there!

These are such troubling times for so many! Some of my dearest friends have husbands who have lost their jobs and can't find work Others have lost benefits, insurance, etc. Some have lost their homes. Sometimes, we want to question God and wonder if He even sees or if He is there. Believe me, God knows where you are and He is there with you, every steip of the way. He knows all about your tomorrows and will lead you through them, too.

This stitchery was done on an old vintage doily that had been hand embroidered. It also has a hand crocheted edging. Just wonderful! I stitched the saying in a child like, primitive style, stained the doily, and mounted it on a backing and framed it.

A perfect reminder for anyone who tends to worry about what tomorrow might hold for them.

These stitcheries are available in my Ebay Store. Please take a look!

A Wonderful Blogger Friend!

If you haven't met Dani yet, you are in for a treat! I've known Dani for a few years now through some Ebay groups, and have always enjoyed reading her posts and her contributions. Since she started blogging, I head for her site a few times a day, hoping to read yet another chapter about her life, see her new crafts, or hear about how the Lord is working in her life.

I just LOVE these Journal Jars that she is making -- and from what I hear, so does everyone else! They contain about 100 questions for you to answer -- stuff your family would want to know about you. Theese jars are decorated different ways -- perfect for any style or decor!

Please check out Dani's shop and stock up! One for you, and one for a gift!

http://www.ezshoppes.com/shoppe/default.asp?sid=ChinaLakeShoppe

Very Prim Angels

Today I decided to lay aside my usual hankie and linen angels and make some very prim angels instead. After all, the primitive style is my first love. I enjoyed using my stain bucket, a really old quilt and some neat rubber stamps. I felt like a little kid with all my "toys" around me, making a big mess ripping, staining, stamping, stitching, and gluing!

I made three sets of these angels -- each set just a little different. You can find them for sale on my Ebay auctions at the following link:



Can't wait to make more of these gals. . .!!!!!

Pieces of the Heart!

I always love to work with old quilts, especially those that have been tossed aside because they are stained, torn, frayed, and thought to be useless. So many hours of loving work went into these quilts, and I've always believed that they can be reused in new ways. By cutting away the worst places and making something new, the memories of these quilts can go on living in new and cherished items.

Crazy quilts are my favorites! The embroidery stitches, the different fabrices, the array of colors --- so abstract, but full of vibrant life and love.

I've made so many things out of these old quilts, but whenever I make a heart pillow, or cut a heart shape for a framed item, I think of how many hearts out there have been torn apart by loss, sorrow, and pain. If you are one of those people whose heart is aching today, this is for you!

Pieces of The Heart

It isn't the fancy, pretty heart
God uses --
It's not the one kept tucked away,
Protected from the hurts
And dirt and bruises of the world.
How can a person give away
A piece of a heart
That is still whole?
How can they know how to mend
And stitch the patches
If they themselves
Know not the pain
Of being ripped apart?
Somehow, somewhere,
Deep within the broken, mended heart,
God keeps a little drawer
Full of extra patches, threads, and needles,
And they know,
As no unbroken heart can know,
How to give the pieces of their heart
And patch and stitch and mend
The heart of a broken friend.
--Cora Eelman

Valentines Already????

I can't believe it! I can hardly get Christmas out of my thinking and I'm already working on Valentine's Day Angels! It's been worderful to see how fast they are selling and I wonder already if I have enough fabric to make all I need. The bright reds, pinks and whites are a little out of my usual primmy look, but they are cheerful, clean, and happy looking for a change.



Our group, Glad Tidings Primitives and Folk Art, have started a group Picture Trail, and this has an album for each of our 14 members. If you are ready for some "eye candy", just take a peek at each album and the wonderful creations each of these talented ladies has to offer. I love these gals! Each one is so precious and loves the Lord so much! They have lifted me up and I count them as my best friends! It's been exciting to see this site come together. Take a peek!

Click Here To Visit Our Glad Tidings Picture Albums

A Brand New Year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!!! I can hardly believe another year has passed by! My sister and I were looking at old family photos, and this one just stood out to me. I'm the one on the far left side. Can you believe that this picture was taken about 55 years ago????? Yet, I still remember those dresses that my Mom and Grandmother made for us. We were always dressed alike! I guess it was easier to make three of a kind.

I love that picture! It just speaks to me of childhood with all the hopes, dreams, and yes, even fears, of the future. So much fills the pages between then . . . . and now. Lots of New Years celebrations, resolutions, broken promises, smashed dreams, happy surprises, and saddened hearts. The five of us (yes, there was another brother to come after this picture) grew up, went our separate ways, and all have different stories to tell.

God saw us then, sitting on that couch in our "Sunday Best" posing for that picture.
He knew the way we would each take, what was in store for us, the people we would meet, and those that we would lose. He saw us as a family, but He saw us as an individual, each with our own need of Him! Looking back, I can truly say that the ways that I took, though sometimes dark and lonely, only led me to the Cross and into the arms of my Savior.

Damaris Carbough sings a song called, He's Been Faithful. Every time I hear it, I cry! He has been faithful --- this past year, the past ten years, and all the years of my life.

Through Every Pain Every Tear
There's A God Who's Been Faithful To Me

When My Strength Was All Gone
When My Heart Had No Song
Still In Love He's Proved Faithful To Me

Every Word He's Promised Is True
What I Thought Was Impossible
I've Seen My God Do

He's Been Faithful
Faithful To Me
Looking Back He's Love And Mercy I See
Though In My Heart I Have Questioned
And Failed To Believe
He's Been Faithful, Faithful To Me

When My Heart Looked Away
The Many Times I Could Not Pray
Still My God Was Faithful To Me

The Days Are Spent So Selfishly
Reaching Out For What Pleased Me
Even Then God Was Faithful To Me

Every Time I Come Back To Him
He Is Waiting For Open Arms
And I See Once Again

He's Been Faithful
Faithful To Me
Looking Back He's Love And Mercy I See
Though In My Heart I Have Questioned
Even Failed To Believe
Yet He's Been Faithful, Faithful To Me



Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to me, for your love, and for yet another year. "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths."

My First Love!

When I was little, I can remember asking my Mother and Grandmother to teach me how to embroider. They took an old raggedy dresser scarf that was stained and torn, wrote my name on it in simple letters, and gave me a threaded needle and showed me how to make a simple back stitch. I finished my name, and I thought I was just the greatest because I now knew how to embroider!

I wish I still had that little scrap I completed that day. I would frame it and give it a special place in my home -- only because of the special memories it gave me to hold on to forever and always.

I guess that is why I just love the simple stitcheries with sayings on them. I can just envision children living during the turn of the century times learning to make their stitches even and perfect on all kinds of old linens -- dish cloths, doilies, dresser scarves, etc. Over the past few years, I have stitched literally hundreds of these myself. I think I became obsessed with them! And most are done on dresser scarves, doilies, etc., that already have some type of vintage embroidery already done on them.

The Lord told the parents of the Isrealite homes to be sure that they taught their children the ways and words of God. They were to "Write it upon their hearts" and "Write it upon their walls" so they would not be forgotten. Well, I have taken Scripture verses, hymns, little poems and rhymes and have made these stitcheries so He would never be forgotten.

In the next few weeks, I plan on listing many of these stitcheries on Ebay. I really hate to part with any of them. They became a part of me as I was stitching them!

Never Give Up!

I had some errands to run today, so I thought I would take Buster with me for the ride. He's been so good lately, a little more settled, and listening more intently to me when I speak to him.

I had to go and pick up a new Gentle Leader collar for him that I had ordered when attending the obedience classes several weeks ago. When I told Buster we were "going to school," he was soooo excited. He hasn't forgotten, believe me!

As we drove, Buster laid his head on my chest, and I began to pet his face as I talked to him. It all sounds so stupid now, as I'm sure he knew nothing of what I was talking about. But I told Buster how I went to look at the puppies, and this was the only chocolate one there. The man wanted to "get rid of" this lively little boy as he was getting older. I kissed Buster's head as I explained to him how much I loved that little happy boy and paid a lot of money just so he could come home with me. And then. . .he got a name all his own! And now he was special because he belonged to someone and had a name! Buster! I whispered in his ear about how bad he became, but Mommie never gave up on him, even when others told me to get rid of him. Buster gave me little kisses, as if he knew what I was saying, and I was sooooo glad at that moment that I had stuck it out through all those horrible days of puppyhood.

I just couldn't help but think of myself, leaning on my Savior, and Him telling ME how He chose me, paid a great price for me, had a name for me, and made me a member of His family. And even through the days of my rebellious times, He loved me, held on to me, and never let me go.

Somehow, I just knew how Buster felt at that moment -- loved, secure, safe, thankful, and blessed. Now, when I look at him, and he looks at me with those big brown eyes, I know we are friends forever, just as the Lord is to me.

Buster may never be the best at all the commands he was supposed to learn, but he has taught me how to love again, has given me something to wrap my arms around and hug, and those big wet kisses mean all the world to me.

Thank you, Buster, for filling my life with sunshine, bones and balls, and for teaching me that every moment of every day can be filled with exitement and fun. We made it, didn't we?

A Great Day!

It's days like these -- and they don't come very often -- that you just know that God has sent a group of people into your life for a very special reason. The women of "Glad Tidings Primitives and Folk Art are just that! Even more than special!
We are a group of ladies who joined together on Ebay - first, because of our love for our Savior, and second, because of our love for everything primitive. A day never goes by when I don't thank the Lord for these wonderful, talented people who have walked into my life and taken over my heart!

Many of us have our own blogs, our own websites, and we all sell and buy on Ebay and other places. But we have come together and formed our own Blog -- a place where you can meet us ALL AT ONCE and IN ONE PLACE!

Please click the link below and check out this great group of ladies, go to their blogs and websites and ebay pages and I'm sure you will agree that these are just great crafters and artists. You will be glad you did!

A free Pattern!

Here is a free primitive stitchery pattern for all my blog readers. You can enlarge this pattern to fit an 8x10 or even an 11x14 frame opening size. This comes from a set of of 7 patterns available in my ebay store: Pattern Collection #26.

Right click on the pattern, click on "save picture as" and name it. Then, you can edit the size in your picture editing software, print it out and use as a pattern.
Enjoy!