October 31st~

It's a blustery Autumn day here!

Hold onto your hats & treat bags~

Hope your day is filled with sweet-treats, Friends!

Harvest Moon~

'Harvest Moon' Copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

We have been enjoying several weeks of mild weather.

Beautiful sunny days & clear starry nights...

Walking the pup without a flashlight when the night sky lights the way~

That is what inspired this friendly moon~

Walking past pumpkin fields as the sun is setting.

Harvest beauties silhouetted against the sherbet orange sky.

Moon shining down on roadside pumpkins for sale~

Hope your Autumn days are filled with beauty, Friends!

Punch needle patterns~

'Rooster Rising' Copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

'Rooster Rising' my dad would always say,

"Never let the sunshine catch you sleeping!" "Up an at 'em!"

Days with him were always filled with adventure~ and love!

Hello, Friends!

It has been too long since my last post~

Summer seemed to dash by us and Autumn has arrived with 

unseasonably warm and beautiful days!

The gardens continue to call to me and

somehow I find myself spending too much time away from my desk~

'Scarecrow in the Pumpkin Patch' copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

When the moon is so bright you don't need a flashlight~ 
That's when I imagine new friends are made!

'Apple a Day' copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

Apple a Day' ~ The orchards smell so, so good right now!

We have been enjoying several warm days.

Driving past the rows of apple trees with our window down~ 

Sure to make an apple pie as soon at the 80 degree days go back down to the 60's.
(I think punch needle each day is great medicine, too!)

'Love You, Fraktur Bird' copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

My dad would sit on the edge of my light blue

sand box (that he had built) and look up to the moon and say,

"I love you all the way up there, to that big white moon~ and back"

He used the moon to keep me awake on the way home

from Christmas Eve parties,

"Where's that moon, Boo? Did you see Santa fly around it yet?"

Something about the moon~

'Sunny Perch' copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

Perfect place for our little crow friend to rest his wings~

Pumpkins can get heavy!

I remember walking through the pumpkin patch with little ones.

They would find the biggest one they could wrap their little

arms around & claim it as their own.

It would grow heavy in their arms after a few steps~

'Pumpkin in the Window' copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

Mom always put a ceramic pumpkin (that my sister made)

in our front picture window.

I loved the soft glow of the smiling jack o lantern's face

as it reflected in the window.

The pumpkin sat on a very thick encyclopedia,

wrapped in tin foil, for perfect height. I put my little friend on a pedestal~

Hope your Autumn days are filled with happiness, Friends!

Hope your Friday is off to a sunny start, Sweet Friends!

This project was great fun... my third wool hooking project~

I was humming, "Here we go loopty loo~ here we loopty li"

the whole time I was hooking this...

Do hope a new tune comes in for the next projects planned!

(giggle)

I always find a favorite part in my art pieces~

Favorite wash in one area of my watercolors paintings.

Favorite 'happy accident' in my thumbnail sketch/illustration...

(So often becoming the main design!)

Favorite color combination in a punch needle piece...

How flowers cascade in one of our gardens~

The pumpkin is my favorite part of this hooked piece.

It has new wool that I dyed with a friend.

It has wool gathered from my favorite craft thrift.

Wool from an old skirt...

Wool from my mother in law that was hers & her mothers hooking wool.

Wool from my mother in law that she had procured from 

an estate sale of an elderly woman who had hooked rugs~

Loop by loop woven together!

Just like us!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Friends!

Sunflower in the pumpkin patch hooked rug~

I often spend weekends trying to catch up on special orders~

A fever decided to grab on to me so I gathered some

wool worms and passed some time with a harvest project!

I love painting, drawing, photographing, stitching, sketching... pumpkin tendrils!

Painting with wool...

I had such a great time working on the pumpkin...

Choosing my palette & adding some plaids for texture!

One of my favorite color pairs~

Yellow and blue

Hope your Monday is filled with blue skies, Friends!

Pen & Ink Pincushions

 

Bees, feathered friends, harvest perches and patriotic themes~

Pinkeeps!

Pincushions!

If you remove the pins they are fun to hang on a cupboard pull~

Teddy bears love to hold hearts in their laps, too!

Chickadee and bee are discussing their sewing project~

This bee stopped by the firework daisy!

How I love bee skeps~

Hives of all shapes & sizes!

I love to draw bees in straight lines, too~

They are flying off to work together!

I bet these little friends sing, "Whistle while you work!"

They each have their yellow-topped pin...

They're off to help in the studio~

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Friends!

Carved pumpkins~

My carved pumpkin~

Hope you're having a fun day, Friends!

Be safe as you're gathering tricks & treats!

Snowmen, sheep and a squirrel!

 "Brown Sheep Meadow" copyright 2016 Michelle L. Palmer

We have been enjoying beautiful Autumn days!

Very little frost...

The vegetable garden continues to share.

We were warned that our fall foliage colors would be minimal.

Not as full, could be dull, muted.

NOT AT ALL!

The most beautiful, vibrant and stunning colors in years!

Wish I could share the setting with you~

 "Starry Night Squirrel" copyright 2016 Michelle L. Palmer

Came across a row of young oak trees the other day~

There were acorns everywhere!!

Not sure how squirrels & other gatherers have not discovered the nuts!

I could have scooped them up with a shovel & buckets~

I filled my pocket and brought them home for our little gray & red friends.

Gathered some leaves so we can purchase the same oak varieties for

our back yard!

 "Snowman and Bluebird" copyright 2016 Michelle L. Palmer

I used Instant Antique spray for this snow friend~

Pure white is beautiful...

I love the textural results of the antiqued floss on my more

primitive snowmen friends!

(Instant Antique is available from Primitive Gatherings)

Most of my punch needle designs are interpretations from

my original watercolor paintings~

The top image is a color printout of my original watercolor painting.

I painted this little meadow scene in 1996.

I originally punched the sheep with white & taupe colors~

They didn't stand out enough to me... the whole design was too cold.

Painting with threads is a little different than painting with watercolor!

Now I want to paint the scene with brown sheep!

Our snowman looks sad that my sheep lost their coats of white!

Soon to have their coats of brown, gray & black~

The one color I just love in this piece is the scarf~ DMC 4130!

It is variegated... rich harvest colors!

She has her November scarf on~

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Friends! 

Hello, September punch needle designs!

'Jack O Lantern Hill" copyright 2016 Michelle L. Palmer

No matter the shape of my fall pumpkin...

Tall and narrow,

Short and flat...

Smooth or bumpy...

No matter how much planning I did to carve a really neat face~

The eyes always ended up as triangles.

The nose was always long and narrow.

It always had a smile~

"Bushel and a Peck" copyright 2016 Michelle L. Palmer

The orchards are full~

We have been very short on rain this summer. Drought conditions.

The limbs are heavy but holding onto all of that precious fruit!

Little road-trips in the country... smells so good!

Hope your September is filled with harvest goodies & creative projects!

Thank you for stopping by, Friends~

Punch needle ~ Crow with the Velvet Hat

  

From one of my original watercolor paintings...

A new punch needle project!

"Crow with the Velvet Hat"

Copyright Michelle L. Palmer

I decided to set him in the same orientation as my original 

painting so that you could compare the shading & colors~

I think this little fella is just begging to be made from paper mache, too!

Black is never really black... 

Our iridescent friend is thrilled to have so many colors & values!

A peek at the finished side~

I chose to make the punch needle a bit larger so I could work details easier.

Time to start the background!

Wishing you a wonderful week, Sweet Friends!

Punch needle, Pumpkin & Crow!

Cool August nights~

Corn fields changing colors...

Colorful leaves beginning to spot the lawns!

Fall colors are so delicious!

Started my 'Pumpkin & Crow' punch needle last night.

Now I want to make a pumpkin pie!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Sweet Friends!

Harvest perch~

On these warm nights I imagine our feathered friends

perched in the pumpkin patch...

Sharing stories of their day...

Wishing on falling stars~

No hats & scarves are needed this week!

Dancing in the moonlight?

Hope you're having a wonderful week, Friends!

Giveaway Time!

THANK YOU to over 1,000+ followers on my blog!

I'm so glad you're here to visit~ Thank you for so many wonderful comments, too.

The needle felted pumpkin in the above photograph is our

latest giveaway treasure! Simply leave a comment on this post &

your name will be put in the 'bucket' for a chance to win!

Name will be pulled on Monday, October 14th, Columbus Day~

Getting ready to list these needle felted beauties in my Etsy Shop...

We have not had frost on our living pumpkins yet~

I'm sure it is just around the corner!

Colors are beginning to pop!

Pumpkin seems to be a main ingredient in most of our desserts...

Yum!

I had Christmas music on the other day... (I know, too soon!)

'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire~' was playing over and over in my mind~

I think it is because I was gathering walnuts to cook & reduce down to make ink!!

I've shared that songs pop into my mind when I working... that do/don't relate,

BUT SOMEHOW TRIGGER & stick with me until I play something new!

Once I heard a few different songs AND 'Chestnuts roasting...' I was all good again~

(Giggle)

Do hope you like my little needle felted treasures~

Thank you~

Thank you~

Thank you~

It is a JOY to meet each of you here!

Hope you have a wonderful day~

Needle Felted Frost on the Pumpkins

I know that pumpkins do not grow where our little Polar friends roam...

This little guys has picked the perfect pumpkin for himself!

Please meet "Frost!"

I have been sketching little owls for my needle felted patch~

Blackbirds & a wee little mouse will find their way, too!

We have not had our first frost of the season...

I am still enjoying the Zinnias & Sweet Peas!

Our Goldfinch visitors have been enjoying the Echinacea seeds...

They will have full tummies with this years yield!

Hope your Monday is off to a great start!