I was gifted and keeping the winter "blahs" away.........

Every day I am reminded in one way or another how blessed I am to be a part of our wonderful blogging community. With that said, let me explain one of the many reasons I feel that way . Carmen of Prim Cats did a very informative tutorial a fews days ago on the making of pantry cakes. If you happened to miss it and have the desire to learn, you will be wanting to check it out HERE

I have always loved the look of the pantry cakes but have never tried to work with hot wax. In fact, I am a little intimidated by it. Well, I left a comment to Carmen thanking her for the great "tut" and how much I loved the look of her prim pantry cakes. And guess what.......! those of you who already know Carman can probably guess....I just got a box in the mail filled with the most wonderful scented pantry cakes. Not 1, 2, 3 or even 4 but 5 of the most beautiful, perfectly prim cakes that smell good enough to eat!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH sweet Carmen for taking pity on this prim collector's pantry needs or lack thereof. Your generous gift is so completely appreciated and will be cherished for years to come. Hugs to you sweet friend!

It is the end of February and here we are blanketed by another snowstorm. But I am managing to chase those wintertime blues away. My orchid plant is starting to bloom again. WOO HOO!! This awesome plant was a gift three years ago from my son and his family. I am content to wait all year long just to be blessed for a few short weeks with its beauty.

Hugs to you dear friends!
Wishing for Spring.......

I wanted to let you know that I was surprised to receive the Versatile Blogger Award from Donna of Countryside Cottage.

Along with this award I was supposed to list 7 things that you probably don't know about me, so here goes:

1. I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona

2. I never saw snow until I moved to the State of Michigan in 1974.

3. Carrot cake is my absolute most favorite dessert.

4. I have my own greenhouse and I love to garden during the summertime.

5. I am allergic to wasp stings. (Kind of goes hand in hand with the greenhouse as they like to build their nests inside.

6. I am afraid of heights, therefore I hate to fly.

7. I am a Leo.

Thanks, Donna for the award!

hugs!
Carol

~~MERRY SPRINGTIME MOUSER~~

I am so excited that you have stopped by for a visit. Up for your consideration today is Granny Gert and Lil' Dilly. Now in the Land of Nod, everyone knows that Granny is a very gentle ole soul and that she has a very special fondness for little strays.

Granny Gert is an original BCF design. She is approximately 7" tall and is made of walnut-aged osnaburg. Her facial features are needle-sculpted. Her hair, which peaks out of her cheesecloth scarf, is aged flax and her glasses are of rusty wire.

Her dress is available in three colors ~~

carmel brown with tiny tan daisies cotton print
black/tan mini check homespun
drab gree/tan mini check homespun

Her apron is made from an antique Bemis feedsack I acquired from our local grain silo. I have reproduced the "Bemis" logo on the front. +++A very special "thank you" goes out to my dear friend, Mary, who worked up the logo for me.+++

Her basket has been painted and aged giving it a sweet, old age patina. The dainty flowers have been attached to rusty wire stems and are securely anchored in the basket.

And last, but not least, is Lil' Dilly. The lucky little duckie who has found Granny. She is made of painted and aged muslin. Her top-knot and wings are aged flax and her feet are made of rusty wire. Her all-too-big- for-her-body feet, that is...heehee!

As with all my offerings, I use only quilt shop quality fabrics with special attention given to detail.

if you should feel "needful" of ole Gert and Dilly, please kindly email me at grams1garden@yahoo.com with your color choice. Special orders are ALWAYS welcome. Cost is a mere $34.50 plus air fare. She will come signed and dated along with a special little "thank you" from my home to yours.

SIMPLE SPRINGTIME BLESSINGS

hugs,
Carol

HAPPY VALENTINES!!!

Good morning, everyone. I wanted to stop in today and share what Mr. derful brought home from work this morning. He is a 3rd shifter at our local paper plant so he is going to bed when the rest of the world is waking up. I love carnations! They are among my favorite flowers. Isn't he just a romantic kind of guy!

We are celebrating valentines today as he has to put in some overtime tomorrow and we will not get a chance to do anything special. So tonight we are going to take in a little Chinese food...yum!

Hope your Valentines Day is filled with LOVE, lots of HUGS and SWEET TREATS.

Valentine hugs!
Carol

SURPRISE!!!! I AM STILL HERE.......

I know I have been slow to post any new happenings here on the farm. For that, I apologize, and will try to do better. Today I want to share some wonderful goodes that I received a couple of days ago from some very sweet bloggers. If you don't already know these ladies, it would be my pleasure to introduce you!

Valerie of YORKIES PRIMITIVES sent me some of her beautiful handmade goodes. I opened the box to find three adorable fabric hearts with wings. Each heart has its own sweet saying attached to the front with rusty hearts and safety pins. She also included some wooden blocks that she decorated with beautiful scrapbooking paper and letters that she cut out using her new cricut. I am so tickled to display these in my home for the valentine holiday. Please stop by and visit Valerie's blog and while you are there, also stop by and see what wonderful goodies she has in her ETSY shoppe.

On the same day, I received another package from Nancy of VICTORIAN MOTTO SAMPLER SHOPPE Nancy has some of the most beautiful hand-dyed floss available for all of your stitchery needs. I apologize that my picture-taking skills do not show the true beauty of the colors I received from her. They are much prettier in person. If you get a chance, it would be well worth your time to check out all of the patterns, kits and hand-dyed floss that Nancy has available. I know you will find something you will be just dying to stitch.

Thank you sweet ladies for your generous gifts. I love them all.

Things are starting to pick up here on the farm. Our weather has been very "spring" like which is most unusual for this time of year. Anywho....I have been busy in the sewing room making some new spring mousers that I am excited to share with you in just a few days. Until then....think Spring:-)

hugs and smiles,
Carol

~VALENTINE MOUSER VIGNETTE

WOW....guess I have been away from blogger for a while and I apologize for that! I have been spending some quality time with family and also finishing up a few personal projects from my "to do" list. Do you have one of those?....ha! But...I am happy to say that things are beginning to happen again here at the farm and I have my first new mouser offering up for your consideration.

This is Miss Maisy Mouser and she is surrounded by all her favorite vintage valentine treasures. This one-of-a-kind vignette was inspired by a pattern from one of my favorites...OLD ROAD PRIMITIVES.

This vignette measures 14 x 9 1/2 x 4 1/2. The mailbox is made of sturdy paper mache. It has been painted white over black, heavily sanded and then aged and sealed with my own special blend of paste wax giving it a wonderful old patina.

The "Be My Valentine" hangtag is hand embroidered osnaburg that has been aged and stiffened to hold its shape for years to come.

Miss Maisy stands 5 1/2 inches tall and is made of aged osnaburg. She is wearing her best red flannel dress and aged muslin apron. She is proudly showing off her valentine heart/sweet annie bouquet given to her by none other than her own "Mr. Wonderful." The mailbox is finished off with sweet vintage valentines from years gone by and muslin painted hearts lightly dusted with mica flakes.

This piece is not intended for small children but for the serious adult collector. As with all my offerings, special attention and care is given to each detail. If you should feel "needful" of this one-of-a-kind vignette, please contact me at grams1garden@yahoo.com.

Cost is $45.00 with FREE priority airfare to your home ~~~ my valentine gift to you.

Thank you for stopping by to peek at Miss Maisy.

MAISY HAS BEEN SPOKEN FOR. THANK YOU, TAMARA!

valentine hugs and smiles,
Carol

WISHING YOU AND YOURS A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

This is going to be my last post until after New Years so that I can spend all of my time with family and friends. But before I go, I wanted to do one last picture post of some wonderful goodies that I received from my friend Mary of Marmmies Mammy's on Wednesday....WOW...a huge box of goodies, to be more specific....

This pic is of some adorable (and great smelling) gingers that Mary made for me. I LOVE them!! I decided to display them in an old colander with my ginger candle and some wonderful fixins that Mary also sent to me that were made by Traci of York Mountain Primitives. There is an assortment of little goodies in the fixins but I especially love the little wax gingers. The fixins smell divine!! Thanks for giving me the idea of how to use the fixins and gingers, Mary. I love the way it turned out :-)

And, as if that wasn't enough, Mary's generosity continues with this adorable Santa that has definitely won my heart. Mary is a very talented prim artist with a real keen eye for detail! My picture does not do him justice, but check this out....

She also sent me a tin of these delicious Chocolate Cherry cookies that she baked. The tin was full....heehee....that is before Mr. Wonderful spied them. Needless to say, he loves them and so do I...heehee!

Is that all, you ask? No...Mary's generous nature continues.....

I bought a faux feather tree this fall at Hobby Lobby with every intention of making some wool penny ornies for it but ran out of time before the holiday. What else is new, right? Well, Mary knew my intentions and sent me this BEAUTIFUL bundle of hand dyed wool from Margie of Hungry Hook Primitives. For once, I am glad that I am lagging behind...this wool will make some beautiful ornies, don't you think?

And last, Mary sent me this Paula Dean recipe journal that is just awesome! Now I love Paula Dean but won't confess to being in her league when it comes to cooking but now I have a great place to keep some of my cooking stories and favorite recipes.

Thank you so much, Mary, for your very generous gifting. I truly love all of the wonderful gifts you sent. The one I value the most...our special friendship.

And thank you to all of my customers and friends I have made since I started blogging in March of this year. Each one of you are very special to me and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

hugs!
Carol