Greetings Friends, on this Monday morning. I have a happy little piece to share with you today. Be strong and safe and joyful.

Hello Friends. It is Friday, which was always cleaning day at my mom’s house. I had a little talk with Mitsy the Cat and she decided to move to higher ground as I took out the vacuum. My house is as clean as it has been EVER, and nobody gets to see it. Oh well, I’m sure Mom is looking down and smiling.

Julie Thomas from The Old Tattered Flag offered a freebie doodle. Thanks Julie. I enjoyed working on this. I made a few changes, which is allowed with doodles and this is what I came up with. I stayed pretty much with pastels and used ecru for the background. I’m not crazy about bright, so when I was done I antiqued the piece with walnut crystals. This is us, staying together while staying apart. Peace to you all, my friends.

This little guy sends a whale of a welcome.  He is hand-drawn by me and done completely with Valdani #12 perle cotton. The first picture shows how I finished the punch needle before attaching it to the plaque. Some people like to fold over the raw edge and glue it down. I find it just as easy to sew a fabric backing. I left a small opening to invert the piece and then hand stitched the opening shut. Sometimes I’ll sew it completely around and then cut a slit in the middle of the backing.  You just need to be certain you are going to mount it on something if you do it that way.

Hello Everyone. Today is Tuesday, April 14, in case you wondered. No big rush for your taxes if they aren’t already completed. In keeping with my hope to post on a more regular basis, I have one photo for you today. This is my own drawing. I’ve had this frame for a long time. I really like it and have wanted to use it for a punched piece.  I did the painting/antiquing. The back of frame gave me a bit of trouble because it doesn’t have a flat edge next to the opening and it also slants forward towards the front of the frame.  So, even though my bunny has been finished for weeks, he is a little late for Easter.  But we both still say welcome to spring. Better days are coming.

Here in Michigan we are bounding like a herd of turtles towards fifty degrees.  I happily turned the calendar to April this morning indicating nice weather is getting closer and closer.

Last week I posted a picture of a work in progress on an unfinished hornbook. I was debating whether to stain or paint it. Decisions these days are influenced by the stay at home measures we are all taking.  Engaging in the 6 foot distance, my neighbor offered me a gel stain called Antique Maple. I was hoping to get a stain to pick up the color of the blankets on the ewe. This was my first time using a gel stain.  It has the consistency of pudding. The directions say to apply heavily with a cloth and let sit for 3 minutes before wiping off the excess stain. I didn’t like working with the gel, however, the color turned out well. I then used Briwax to seal the hornbook, which darkened the stain slightly.  This pattern is from Doreen Frost. Doreen creates such lovely things. The little red berries are French knots added once the punching is complete. I got the hornbook from Tara Guernsey at Perfect Prim. Well, that’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by.