Monday Mini-Project. Pocket Kitties.

When it comes to needlework, I'm not all that creative (painting is my gift). That's probably why one of my favorite searches on Pinterest is free patterns. And let's face it, who doesn't love FREE?

This project comes from artisan Stephanie Woodson at SwoodsonSays and is called a Pocket Kitty.  She's so creative! If you have little ones or like quick projects, check out the other projects and patterns she has available. There's a real cute tutorial for DIY Jeans Patches that's worth a look -- especially if you have children or grandchildren and like to save money.

I think they'd make a great child's birthday party favor. Grandmas and Grandpas might want to keep one on hand as a little something special for that special little one(s) in their lives.

I'm glad Pinterest pointed me to this -- I've actually added her blog to my reading list. Very well put together! Simply a great find all around.

Anyway, I liked this little felt kitty so much I decided to make several. You can click on the link above for the instructions and free pattern.

I made two copies of the pattern so I could have a good reference for the embroidery placement. For durability, the paper pattern was stabilized by gluing it to some cardboard before cutting it out.

Here you see the famous, fearless Tigger-Tiger on top of the morning worktable. Getting ready to lend me a hand sewing these little ones together.

He's been with me for almost five years now and is very precious.

Here's a photo of the kitties I've made so far. Until next time, y'all have a fabulous day!

A rare sight...

A rare sight in the boro is an apple tree that has apples. Most of those that made it through the late frost are located along steams leading up to and including the Tunungwant Creek.

We are using this rainy weekend for a much needed down time. Y'all have a pleasant weekend.

We'll catch up with you again on Monday.

Blessed be.

Sunrise - 25 April 2015.

This was the view from the kitchen window glimpsed at 6:15 a.m. today while scooping coffee into the pot. Simply gorgeous. Sets a positive tone for the whole day.

Like many others with a Monday through Friday job, Saturday is 'Catch up on Chores' day. Only today the chores are doubled due to the imminent arrival of company. Deep cleaning. *sigh* 

Yet here I sit sipping a cuppa coffee. Watching a cardinal at the backyard feeder. Thinking about this blog. When all I really want to do today is paint. Here is a watercolor in progress. Same scene. Different day and angle. 

Perhaps the chores will go quickly and the creator in me can be appeased.

Y'all enjoy your Saturday. Remember to take some time to enjoy the beauty around you.

Sunday: A traditional day of rest. March 15, 2015

This week brought a thaw of sorts to the area. Above freezing. Snow melting. Sun shining. Yet this gray, dreary rain-filled sky has dampened resolve envisioned earlier in the week. Although the "boil advisory" has been lifted for this area, we prefer to drink spring water over town water with all its chemical additives. Yesterday we gathered our empty bottles and headed up the hill to the closest spring.

Doesn't the water coming out of the pipe look cool in this photo? Water is one of the things I struggle with when I paint. Yet I keep trying in hope that one day the method will "click" and I'll be able to paint my masterpiece. [it's been in my head since the 70s, but i don't have the skill to complete it yet]

A dozen gallons of water later, we headed over to Kinzua Bridge to see if we could see anything besides the fog. Visibility wasn't too bad. We'd be driving along through pea-soupy fog and pop over a rise to an open area then back down into the thick of it.

The shoulder of the road is very soft this time of year so we had to stop almost in the middle of the road to get this photo. Perhaps one day our timing will be good enough that we'll be able to capture a train crossing over. Passing underneath always gives me claustrophobic thoughts (it's not very wide).

It's funny how little things can make you happy or sad. Someone has put up "posted" signs on either side of the road leading to the park. Yellow signs on the left (the newer signs) and white signs on the right of the road. No hunting, fishing or trespassing. Quite a contrast to the wooden "Hunt Safely" signs of the state game lands that surround Kinzua Bridge.

There are also a few log-truck signs beside the road that I don't remember from years past. The memory is  the first thing to go, right? I wonder how many city folks who visit the area every summer know how important the logging industry is to the local economy.

Not many folks were out on the roads in the fog. When we reached the park a few cars were about even though the construction begun last fall is surrounded by chain-link fence prohibiting access to the bridge area. We went round the circle and parked along the shoulder by entry to the RV parking area thinking we could hike a bit in the back. The trail was traveled, but rough going so we didn't stay long.

Bandit posed nicely for this photo, my favorite from the day. I thought it was cool how the leaves show on the trail.

This morning we woke to a light dusting of snow on the stairs. Currently it's snowing sideways. Good day to be snug and warm inside.

In the current project queue are a scarf, baby booties, baby toys, uploading photos and descriptions to the shop, planting vegetable seeds and hiking with the dog.

Button Inspired Mobile Phone Covers. A Personal Note: Winter in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

As can be expected after a couple dozen pair, I got bored with crocheting baby booties and turned my hand to other projects.

One current project is cell phone covers inspired by my button jar. I LOVE collecting buttons and these are a few from the button stash.

The mobile phone cover pattern is from Lily® Sugar’n Cream® and is very simple. As usual, changing the size of the hook or yarn or tension will change the size of the finished product.

Work In Progress.

You've probably seen this photo on various social media. Absolutely darling hats with a link that takes you over to "whoot" or wherever to download a free pattern which in turn takes you to another link which in turn takes you to another link.... Well, you get the idea.

It took literally HOURS to locate the pattern and although the pictures don't match these the pattern is the same. I found one version of the free pattern without flowers and a pattern-to-purchase with the flowers for $8.99 (OUCH).

Doesn't sound like much, but right now $8.99 for a pattern isn't in the budget. So... I downloaded the free pattern and set to work.

On the Assembly Line

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween.

Guess I'm getting old 'cause I miss the kids trick-or-treating from door-to-door. Now-a-days most children go to events organized by local fire departments and schools. Perhaps it's for the best. I remember walking from house to house in the neighborhood freezing as the sleet/snow fell around us all. The loot we'd bring home was well worth it -- even if it was confiscated and doled out a little at a a time. I remember the joy of dumping a full shopping bag out on the floor and sorting through it for favorite stuff. The first night sister and I were always allowed to eat until we pretty much fell into a sugar coma. Great memories!


Several projects are underway at the Petunia Magpie factory in anticipation of the forthcoming holidays. For example, this trio of googlie-eyed ponies await final assembly. When completed they'll look very similar to the ones below.

Am trying to decide on a color for their mane and tails. Should I stick with the color of their bodies or mix it up a bit? Any suggestions?

These are child-safe. Crocheted by hand using Morning Glory fiberfill and Red Heart yarn (both products made in USA). Machine wash and dry.

Happy "Snow-vember"!

Petunia Magpie: The shop.

#CY365 Prompt: For Sale

Let me first say: A big thank you to all the friends and family and strangers who have supported my artistic endeavors for the past several years both in-person and online. I couldn't keep going were it not for y'all. The compliments and suggestions are always most appreciated. It's a humbling experience to see the joy on a child's face when they listen to a toy's story and hug a crochet elephant for the first time. [Y'all know all animals I sell tell a story. It's part of their charm.] I am especially grateful to those who have directly encouraged my painting. Thank you all for your kindness.

Putting items online for the first time is a daunting task. There's all those pictures to take/edit/upload, descriptions to write, measurements to note (height, width, weight), shipping costs to assign.

With me there's always the added "Man, I wanna keep this - it really turned out nice." conversation going on in the back of my mind. As a matter of fact, there are two gourds with what I call a "crazy quilt" design that have become part of my private collection. Well.... perhaps only one will be mine.

Some of these gourds took days to paint and selling them for about $20 each is heartbreaking, but a must. Like a long lost friend (Kim) would say "Christmas is coming. Mama needs a new pair of shoes."

With that said, the majority of the birdhouse gourds have been listed in my Etsy shop. Am reviewing inventory and putting the products I pulled from the shop to go to Festivals and Markets back in the shop.

Y'all will be happy to know that after a road trip to Amish country this summer, I DRASTICALLY REDUCED the price of the quilts to the price others in the area are selling comparable products for.

IN THE WORKS: gourd ornaments.... Stay tuned for more info.

Meatless Monday. 6 October 2014 Photo Challenge: Whole.

I must admit to being a bit let down with the food vendors at Alumni Weekend. Not that their food was bad or anything. I had some delicious vegetarian chili and brought home a cinnamon bun that when heated in the microwave was quite good.

I was let down simply because they didn't have any food that was pumpkin flavored. The very next time I hopped on Facebook a friend had posted a link to Pumpkin Pie Overnight Slow Cooker Oatmeal.

With those two prompts, I decided that today's post is going to be all about the Pumpkin! Er... the eating thereof.

Besides thinking of "Uncle Harry" and pumpkin pie, I got to thinking about the delicious pumpkin muffins served at the Country Cupboard downstate in Lewisburg. In all our years of traveling through there on our way to Coudersport from northern New Jersey, I don't think anyone in our family ever had a bad meal. There and back again. Aunts, Uncles, Grandma, Grampa, Mom and Dad. We've all stopped in there a time or three.

What's so great about it? Courteous staff. Rarely a wait for a table. Very reasonably priced. More than ample sized servings. Nope, they're not paying me to say any of this. Simply stating what me and mine have experienced as a guests. If you want to find them on Facebook, they're listed as Country Cupboard Restaurant and Shops.

But to get back to the pumpkin,

Sunday: A Traditional Day of Rest.

Being a vendor yesterday at the University of Pittsburgh's Alumni and Family Weekend was a lot of fun. Was nice to see some familiar faces and speak with some of the students. What a great bunch of students from UPB! Got to see the Pitt Panther (mascot) and lots of little ones getting their faces painted and painting pumpkins. Isn't it great how children brighten our days?

While it was fun, it was also tiring. Loading. Unloading. Not to mention all the prep work that goes into being a vendor.

Today truly is a day of rest for this tired old lady. Right now I'm sipping a cuppa coffee and watching the wood fire flicker and dance.


 As to the #CY365 photo challenges...

Photo Challenge Prompt: Out of Focus

Wasn't quite sure what to do for the "out of focus" prompt. Usually my camera is set to "AUTO" and it takes care of the heavy lifting.  Sometimes the "LIVE" setting takes a better picture. Those are my "go-to" settings. Never had any formal training even though biological-Dad is a professional photographer so all this talk of aperture settings and f*stops never made any sense to me. I guess you could say that until today I was a point-and-click kind of photographer.

Today that all changed.

The other buttons on the camera were experimented with. AFTER - mind you - I couldn't get any of my shots to be out of focus. Isn't that a riot? Even the close-up's I was attempting were crisp and clear as a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook on a cloudless, low-humidity day. lol

Buttons were played with.  More on that when it's not the day before festival (and two cords of wood are on their way here for me to stack).

The picture above was taken using the "fisheye" effect. Turned out rather cool, eh?

October 2, 2014 Photo Challenge. Prompt: Line.

Thought about this photo prompt while running errands this morning.

Considered lines on a parking lot, white "X" lines on a shed, cars lined up at a red traffic light and lines at the grocery store.

Even considered taking a photo of the lines on my face as the 'lines' from that old Eagles song "Life in the Fast Lane" played in my head. You know the one:

There were lines on the mirror.
Lines on her face.
She pretended not to notice she was caught up in the race...

Then during the last 1/2 mile homeward lo and behold: turkeys. A whole line of hens walking across a neighbor's yard headed into the shelter provided by a stand of trees. Luckily the camera was ready and there were no other cars on the road.

Bradford Farmer's Market.

It was a rather pleasant day at the Farmer's Market this morning. Gray clouds threatened overhead, but the crowd didn't seem deterred. Lots of folks were out and about looking at all the lovely fresh produce and baked goods. The sun finally made an appearance right around noon and traffic picked up a bit.

Truly a great selection and competitive prices too! (I can't resist Mary's baked goods. mmmm... chocolate and peanut butter. Pistachio bread too!)

Most of the vendors are local. They make and sell things as a hobby or to earn a few extra dollars that our grandma's would have called "pin money".  Many have been there for years, although this is it's first year in the present location. I'm told that in years past the Bradford Farmer's Market was downtown in the historic district. Nice location, but not much room for growth.

This week I met a couple new vendors with great ideas.

Hurry Up and Wait (Prep Work)

Having spent the last three days playing with paint and the gourds shown here, it was time to break the morning routine and prep some future projects.

A while back some vintage, wooden-handled hand saws became available and have since been languishing the year away in the "workroom".

Two hand saws and a bare-wood occasional table were pulled and moved to the glass-top table on the back deck. Fine steel wool gently removed all remaining surface rust and debris.

2014 Mt. Jewett Swedish Festival

The weekend blew Summer into being as temperatures soared into the lower 80s. Hoards of rain-weary people flooded the streets of downtown Mt. Jewett, PA for the 44th Annual Swedish Festival with the motto "Let's Swede It Up".


It's so nice when a community comes together to welcome strangers into their homes and businesses for a few days. What a great job the festival committee did making sure the activities were continuous. We came away with so many wonderful memories of the festival, community, other vendors and most important: YOU our customers!

A big thank you to everyone who came out and showed their support. Until we see you next we thought we'd share some photos of the festival with you.  Enjoy!

Monday Morning Meandering - November 4, 2013

The weatherman predicted a low of 29 degrees F and a high of 39 degrees F for the day. It was a mere 22 degrees Fahrenheit when we went for a walk first thing this morning. You can see the fancy frost edging Mother Nature has decorated these leaves with.

Was grateful for having the presence of mind to take the time to don some long underwear prior to departure and for the wood stove to warm the ol' backside upon returning.


Looks like it's going to be a chilly start to the week. Hope y'all are keeping warm.

This week brings work on a "to-do" calendar of tasks so that the two Etsy shops, blogs and Facebook page can be managed more efficiently. Tasks for the calendar include editing or re-photographing product pictures for a more consistent look and feel to the site. Currently Petunia Magpie has at least three different backgrounds: 1) plain white, 2) Battenburg lace and 3) open filet stitch. While all three are white, backgrounds two and three are distracting and do nothing to enhance the look of the products.

What do you do to keep yourself on task?

As always - comments are welcome.

Thankful Thoughts - October 29, 2013

The wood stove was down to a few coals this morning when we rose to greet the day. We threw a few pieces of kindling on the coals plus some small pieces of cherry and left the door slightly ajar. By the time we had retrieved the newspaper and walked the perimeter it was a raging inferno. perhaps inferno is stretching it a bit, but a fire is a fire none-the-less.

No frost this morning to scrape off the windshield. Which means there are a few extra minutes I get to spend with you, dear reader.

Yesterday I received an email response from Ella Elephant's Auntie.

Sunday - A traditional day of rest

Pictured here is Bandit at just a few months old. What I often refer to as his teen-age years. Look at those ears. How could you not love that silly little face?

Today was officially 'old movie' Sunday. Saw Steven King's IT and John Carter. Horror and quasi- sci-fi (Edgar Rice Burroughs would be offended).

Now the only sound is the crackle and spit of the fire as it works its way through some sweet smelling cherry. Well, that and

The Re-Branding Petunia Magpie

Confession time:
I've been known to take on too much. A common action for overachievers. Unfortunately - time and ability only stretch so far before burn-out occurs. Since June, I have been:

• Making hex signs and other painted objects.
• Making crochet animals and other fabric items.
• Updating two Etsy shops, two blogger blogs (although badly).
• Learning several new skills (C-Print Captioning, Marketing via Coursera, etc.)
• Working on Christmas projects.
• Living and playing.
• Working at a part-time job (yeah! gainful employment!)

With many items on my "to-do" list, some tasks inevitably fall through the cracks. That is exactly what has happened with the Petunia Magpie and Tole You So blogs.

Lots of new items!

Petunia Magpie now has 69 items online!

Newly added are Donald the Debonair Dragon, Gandolf Giraffe,  and Horace Hedgehog. Check all the new listings here.

Been busy making items. Hope to hit the 100 item mark by the 1 month anniversary date. [I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. LOL]


The photo shown above is a new marketing stream I'm trying. It was titled "Pincushions, Purses and Pachyderms". Made for Local Arts and Crafts category of a free online classified site. In the last 2 days the ad has been viewed 27 times and garnered an invitation to a local craft show (which I will be attending).

Still no sales. Am not giving up yet.

Published a treasury today for the Etsylvanians Team. Hoping it gets the shop a little more visibility.

Petunia Magpie is up to ten (10) followers.