Thursday, January 23, 2014

Cross-stitched wedding gift

This is a little pillow tuck that I cross-stitched for a friend's upcoming wedding. Attached on the top are two faux silver wedding bands, tied with a string of faux pearls and black lace. The aida cloth is 14 ct white. DMC floss #310 black was used for the family's surname initial, "D". There is another gift, but it is not pictured because it was not hand-made. The bag in the photo will hold both gifts. To see the back of the pillow tuck, follow the link below my signature.

Cross stitch initial: Pattern Maker Charts

Thursday, January 16, 2014

~Thrifty Thursday...boxes!~

Good morning friends. Happy Thrifty Thursday to you all. Above are several holidays-themed boxes that were found at a dollar store, on clearance three days after Christmas 2013. One of my loves, yes, 'gotta have some decorated boxes! They were from $1.00 to $2.00 each, and one is even my favorite color: green. The ones with the ribbon bow are kinda my favorite, as far as style goes. The green one with the holidays wording is the favorite for color-wise. Do you bargain-hunt at dollar stores or collect any boxes?

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

We're Pre-Antique today!

Yes friends, today my twin sister Janice and I are officially "pre-antique"! Well, that is if we were automobiles. 50 year old furniture is labeled as "retro", and we like that label much better, lol! We were born on a Tuesday evening, just 5 minutes' time from each other. Pictured above is the cake that mother had made for us. The black and white framed photo is of Janice and me way back in 1965. A fun time was had by all. We had agreed to spend a set limit on each other, as it's really about the together times isn't it? The gifts were great, but the day included many special moments that will outlast any material gift. Daddy passed back in 1989, and mother's second husband passed in 2004. My how time flies. My name rhymes with "Janice", as was common practice in the 1960's of rhyming twins' names. Mother had a close friend named Danice, so she actually had that name chosen first. She always wanted twin daughters, and at age 30-something she got us. Janice and I both suffered broken bones in 2013, and she is still recovering. Hopefully 2014 won't bring any more injuries or illnesses. We anticipate many more good memories of times together as a family. Prim blessings from your now "retro" blog buddy!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

~Tips for faster blog loading~

image: Jess Bailey Designs | pexels/com

Hello dear friends. Someone asked me on a recent post for tips on helping blogs to load faster. So, here is a re-posting of a post I did a while ago:

Does your blog/site seem to take forever to load? Some browsers tend to load slower than others. IE (Internet Explorer) tends to load slower than Firefox and Google Chrome. That we cannot help. One thing that slows down load time that we can help is the pixel size and weight of images. To help your blog load faster, consider optimizing your images. It is very easy to do this. Some images that should be optimized include:

● blog background image and header
● post images
● post signature and divider
● sidebar images

Simply go to Website Planet.com and follow the easy instructions. There are no programs to download, no registering, no fees, and the site is https secure. It meets McAfee® Security as a Safe Site. This will not reduce the dimensions of your images, only their "weight". We all tend to love and have many images on blogs, so this is one way to solve the issue without removing some of our images. Please continue reading.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Goodness it is cold!

Goodness, the temp is currently 4° here in Alabama. We are not accustomed to such low temps. Some of you are having even colder weather. Let's all stay warm and be well covered in layers of clothing when we must venture outdoors, OK? Layers of clothing are excellent insulators. A lot of body heat is actually lost via our extremities: the head and feet. Good shoes or boots with warm socks, and a hood or some other type of head covering would be great. Ear muffs or flaps would also be very wise. 'Wouldn't want anyone to get sick. If you have ice and/or snow, please be careful in that also. Prim blessings.
graphic: Twin Creek Primitives

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Wagon wheel chandelier

Good morning friends. Pictured above is a wooden wagon wheel chandelier. It was placed in mother's house way back in 1963, and recently stopped working. It is in the part of the house that I rent from mother, and blends so well with my frontier themed room. We were so sad that it stopped working, but thought of a way to still keep it: move it (to make room for a new fixture) and just have it mounted into the ceiling as a "dummy", for looks only. So even though it no longer works, it still looks great in my living room, doesn't it? We priced some new wagon wheel chandeliers, and soon learned that they are way above our price range. The four lamps are glass, and their shades are metal. The new fixture is just a simple pendant style and has a rubbed bronze finish to blend well in the room. The cherry wood walls look good with both fixtures. Do you all remember or have a wagon wheel chandelier?

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Lookie what was in the mail!

Isn't the ball ornament in the photo above so pretty! I was one of the lucky winners in Laura's giveaway from: Laura's Little House Blog. Her Etsy shoppe is at: Rhodes Creations Etsy. I chose this green and red plaid homespun ornament, as green is my favorite color. Laura also sent the darling craft paper hang tag (in the photo), along with a Joy To The World CD of Christmas songs. Thank you so much, Laura. All of your creations are so lovely.

'Guess you noticed that this blog has been re-designed. After many hours of attempting to fix the Simple template, I changed over to the Ethereal. That's a new word for me. It means delicate and elegant in a sense that is nearly too great for this world. Synonyms include: elegant, exquisite, and graceful. So, now things are all better again, lol. 'Also changed this blog's favicon to a green spool of thread. We are about to eat supper. It is very cold in Alabama today, with temps forecast to drop down to around 18° tonight. Brrr! How is your local weather?

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

*Cross-stitched Wynter tuck*

Hello friends. Happy New Year! Above is another pillow tuck with a cross-stitched Wynter design. The back is a scrap of burgundy 100% cotton flannel. It has been aged with coffee-staining and cooking. The hang tag ornie is from the kit that I won from Aunt Dee Dee's Designs in April 2013. It has an embroidered little prim Christmas tree, and is also coffee-stained and cooked for an aged look. The hang tag design is from Rustic Threads. Both items were included in my Woodlands Holiday Giveaway 2013. It's now officially Winter, and these two items seem so appropriate, don't they?