Mittens!

Today the forecast was for 15 - 20 cm of snow. We got about 6cm and then it turned to rain. I'm good with that as I am not a winter person. Give me warm weather. Anyway, my sister sent me a couple pairs of her knitted mittens and asked me to build her a snowman (she's in Tennessee) wearing a pair of the mitts. Didn't happen!! Sorry Joan. But here are the mittens:

The last time she was here, we went to Annapolis Royal to the summer market. One of the vendors was selling the pattern for mitts with the pointed tops. We tried on a pair and were surprised at how comfortable they were as we always had the rounded top ones that our mother made. 

Here are mittens she made for my granddaughter, her great niece. Aren't they gorgeous!

• 36 Free Knit Mitten patterns at All Free Knitting   
• Mitten Patterns from Interweave    
• Herringbone Mittens (free pattern) from Knitting Patterns Galore
• Mitten Ornaments pattern   
• Mittens and Snowflakes Wall Hanging from American Patchwork & Quilting   
• Hanging Mittens to Crochet from Highland Hickory Designs 
  

Enjoy!

New Shimmer Ornaments

I'm still around!!! Blogging has been put on a back burner the last little while. Summer was a bit late arriving but when it did, it was with a vengeance! HOT, HOT, HOT!!! We've also had family visiting  from Calgary, Alberta; Kingsport, Tennessee; and Newfoundland.

In spit of all that, we did manage to get some new Shimmer Ornaments started. Have a look:

The Trainyard General Store

Yesterday, I delivered my first order of Shimmer Ornaments to The Trainyard General Store, downtown Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. My ornaments were viewed by Kimberley, co-owner, on my Instagram page and she thought they would be a good fit for the store. Thank you Kimberley!

I had been looking at the store for awhile and thought that it would be a nice place to have my Shimmers. So, if you are in the area, pop down to the store and have a look around! There is something for everyone.

Three Churches and a Lobster

Two new shimmers have finally made it into stitch!! These make lovely window catchers and great Christmas Ornaments.
I was asked to design a shimmer of the Three Churches of Mahone Bay and a lobster. Thanks to my husband, who does all the technical drawings for the embroidery machines.

These lobsters are drying outside on the clothes line. This could never have happened in our old home in St. John's, NL as it was way too windy.  Did you know that according to a documentary by CBC Radio a few years ago, St. John's is the third windiest city on the planet? Not what I would want to be famous for, that's for sure.  I actually bought my first out door garment without a hood, when I moved here to Nova Scotia.

Hanging on the clothes line.

Gifts

Here's a peek at a few interesting gifts I received this year.

Isn't this a unique gift for an embroiderer! I have seen yarn bowls before but never one for a ball of embroidery floss. This particular thread bowl (my name for it) was gifted by a friend who attended last summer's EAC Conference in PEI. The bowl was made by an artist from that province.

Gale, my granddaughter, decided that I needed a real plant for my studio. She chose this one because she liked the bowl the best. I think she did a great job of selecting the perfect combination!

This ornament is the Signal Hill Star. It was created by Darrel Pike, Saltwater Pewter, NL. Each Christmas season, a large star like this one, is hung on Cabot Tower, St. John's. It's light can be seen from all over the city.

My brother, Don Eady, Sandy Point Stained Glass, made these for our tree.I have quite a few of his gorgeous stained glass pieces.

I was entertained by humming birds on my patio, last summer. My daughter found this delightful beaded humming bird for my tree. She usually gives me an ornament on Christmas. Many of them have been from her past travel destinations.

I treated myself to one of Anne Lucas's needle felted Gnomes when I was in Newfoundland in early December. This is a 'cute' one!!

Did you get a chance to check out the links on the previous post? Well, here's more:

• Interesting felt ornaments HERE (scroll down)
• Stained Glass Ornaments HERE  
• Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments HERE 
• Yarn Bowls HERE 

 Enjoy!!  

Shimmer Ornaments at the the Kitchen Witch

Lots of Shimmers are now for sale at the Kitchen Witch, Bridgewater. When I saw the sign on the store a couple of years ago, I thought it was a place to purchase everything for the kitchen. However, that's not the case. They have gift items for everyone! This includes: a selection of leather purses and wallets, pottery, lots of different jewellery from artisans across the country, wall art, fancy umbrellas hung around the ceiling, framed prints, stained glass, clocks, tartan shawls, knitted children's sweaters, a year round Christmas display as well as much more.

I was impressed with the store and also pleased that the owner, Ann Jabalee, loved my Shimmers. I dropped down today with the rest of her order. Ann was in the process of hanging them on one of her trees in the window.

Shimmer display just started

View from one corner

My blue car outside

 

Dragonfly Shimmer

Hot off the embroidery machine! Yes, the Janome decided to behave. Actually, it was a needle problem. Anyway, here's the dragonfly shimmer:

I love this one with the silver wings. The next stitch out, will have a different body colour.

• Dragonfly Art
• Dragonfly Tutorial (hand embroidery)
• Breath of Spring, Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread  
• Pinterest HERE,  HERE, HERE & HERE  
• Dragonfly Craft

Enjoy!!   

New Shimmer Ornaments

Working, working, working! I have just finished a large Shimmer's Ornament order that's headed to St. John's, NL.

Here's a couple of new ornaments that just got stitched out. Thankfully, the 4 needle machine is working but is beginning to complain. I think a service call is in its future. It hasn't worked as well as it should in awhile even though it had been sent back to the factory for repairs twice.

Cabot Tower, St. John's, NL

Map outline of Nova Scotia

Sperm Whale

Still working out some kinks on a killer whale shimmer. The dragon fly design is gorgeous but hasn't been stitched out on the transparent fabric yet.

Enjoy!

Ornaments

I have two new stained glass Christmas ornaments for my tree. These are Newfoundland Mummers. For those of you unfamiliar with mummering, check the link above.

My brother, Don, made these, as well as the cat with the Christmas Ball. The cat was made many years ago and is meant to hang in a window.

Happy is Hand Made!!!

The only tree we have up yet is the small tree I use at shows. It's covered in Shimmers! The main tree will be put up later this week.

There's still time to make a few Christmas Ornaments. Check these out:

• Felted Christmas Ornament  (Try out other shapes using this method)
• Woven Hexie Ornament 
• Felt and Pine Cone Elves 
• Easy Ornaments (lots there)
• Interesting Tree Mobile  
• Hand Made Ornaments (scroll down)   
• Fabric Origami Ornament Tutorial 
• Reindeer Ornament         

Happy Crafting! There's still time.
Enjoy . . .

        

Temari Ornaments

Here are a few more of Verna's gorgeous Temari ornaments! Aren't they stunning . . .

Finally Finished

I finally finished the two scissors fobs I blogged about HERE. However, on second thought, they are a bit big for fobs so I think they will be much better as ornaments. Fobs need to be a tad smaller in my opinion. There are clear glass seed beads on the surfaces but are very hard to see. Guess I need to redo the photos to show them. The stitch used is Smyrna Cross and beads were added with cross stitch. This was a very easy piece to embroider. A You Tube video of the Smyrna Stitch is HERE.  Other names for this stitch is double cross stitch or snowflake stitch.

Back view

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!!