Well, although its been a super busy week I did have some down time to finish my bunny rug. Well, I guess I shouldn't really say "finished" since I still need to press it and bind it, but the hooking is all done. Well unless I decide to make some last minute changes...Here's what it looks like...
I think like the way it came out...but I might want to switch out the swirlies to a different color...what do you think ? Is the white too stark ? Maybe one of the tans would look better or one fo the flower colors ??? I would love to hear some opinions on this before I bind it.

So for the quick hooking tip...When you miscalculate the amount of wool you need (yep, I didnt have quite enough of the olive wools for the background ). I simply took out the flower stems and the outside border loops (all op which were the same light olivey color) and rehooked those with a darker olive. I know you cant really tell in the picture, but the darker olive wouldnt look great IN the background but worked great AROUND the background, but it still looked a little lost so that's when I decided to add that darker color IN the rug as the stems. Have I totally confused you ? Well, I had just enough of the light olivey wools once I took them out of the border and stems to finish the background of my rug. So, if you are hooking along and find that you dont have enough of a particular color look and see where you can "steal" some wool  from places you already hooked and "exchange" it for a different color and then be sure to add it in somewhere else too so it doesn't look out of place. The original pattern also didnt have any pennies in the corners...I added those too so I would need less of the background color. Remember you can always add something to your rug...you can make them even more personal that way. Sometimes you can add a date, or some ABC's or some flowers and squigglies...be creative !

I also just finished hooking a set of coasters/candle mats using up a bunch of left over wools. I cant seem to get the color to show up right in the picture...they are softer than they look on my computer. I will be backing these with wools that coordinate with the outside border of each mat. As many of you know I LOVE to hook but am not so wild about binding them, but I will force myself. If anyone is interested in purchasing either the bunny mat or the coasters, let me know. The bunny mat measures 9.5 x 15.5 and the coasters are 4.5".

As I said I had lots of time to work on these because I spent time waiting at the hospital with my husband and his family. His dad was diagnosed with colon cancer just a few weeks ago and went in for surgery this past Monday. Good news was they got all the colon cancer but the bad news was it had spread to his liver and they said he now has Stage 4 Secondary Liver Cancer. None of us were really prepared for that and it's hitting us hard. Not real sure what the future will be but I know God will bring us through. I would appreciate your prayers though not only for my father in law, but for my mother in law as well...she was just devastated.

I would also like to ask for prayers for my son, Kyler, who will be home this coming Monday for his last military leave before he ships out for deployment. (Yes, I have been crying my eyes out lately and not sleeping much). It's hard to believe it's been a year since he joined the Marines. We are so proud of him but, given the state of the world right now, we are nervous too, obviously. I will post pictures before he leaves.

Just a reminder that I will be announcing all the details for my "Big Blog Anniversary Giveaway" on March 11 which is the anniversary of my very first blog post.  I am planning lots of yummy prizes. I have a couple picked out already and I might even tell you a prize or two over the next couple weeks. You will just have to stay tuned. I will post as time allows with my son being home and driving back & forth to see the inlaws. I have several projects packed into my travel bag so I can get some solid hooking time in during the hour long drive to and from their house, waiting at the airport etc. I am sorry that I wont be able to comment on everyone's pages right now. I am just too overwhelmed, but please know that I think of you all, pray for you all and read your blogs (even when I dont comment). I get so inspired by all of you and am so grateful for the terrific friends I have made here in the prim blogosphere...you gals all rock !

Ok, before I start bawling, I will go finish my taxes...then I can cry for a completely different reason, hahahaha.

Grace to you,
Margie

Hello there my prim pals. Just a quick post today since I am still sooooooo far behind from my little escapade with those dreaded hives. Being out of comission for a week can really throw a wrench in a good plan.

I did want to let you know that the selling group to which I belong is updating all the new goodies for sale today. I got a sneak peek at what the other gals are selling and OOOOOOOOOH are the sweet...you just have to stop by and check out them out  at www.primitivehandmadesmercantile.com.

Here are the ruglets I made ...

I love how my little chickadees came out. If anyone wants to purchase them as a kit to hook yourself just let me know. I guess I should add them to my "Rug Hooking Kits For Sale" tab...It will have to wait till tomorrow since its already after 2 am and I SHOULD get to bed.

I am working on items for my 1 year anniversary giveaway in March...More details to follow.

Grace to you,
Margie

I just LOVE thrift stores...where else can you get such terrific deals ? My first stop of the day was the Salvation Army where I got 12 wool skirts for a little less than $30....HOORAY !!! I also scored a Woolrich stadium blanket for $3.00...I am debating on selling it on eBay since it should fetch a decent amount and then I can roll that moeny into more wool for my rugs.

Then I was off to my local Goodwill store and look what I got... My very first firkin for $2.00...Sure it's missing its lid (and believe me, I searched those shelves for the lid with  no luck), but I figure I can maybe make one...any advice on that ? I cant wait to paint and distress this gem ! I hope it's the first of many. I know they are pretty expensive and you all kow how frugal I am so I was doing  the happy dance when I spotted this one !

I also picked up some vintage kitchen tools ...total cost at Habitat ? $8.00 AWESOME DEAL

Then once I came home and was trying to find new places to store all my goodies  I found something I had completely forgotten about. This child's easel style chalk board was my grandmothers and I had forgotten that my mom had given it to me last year....it got put in the corner of the basement with some other projects that need a little work and I completely forgotten about it.
It has a place for paper at the top...I can remember playing "school" with this as a kid. I need to fix the chain on the one side and I am debating on painting it. I think this is the original red paint, but I am not wild about the shade. Guess I shouldve waited till the chalkboard dried before I snapped my pics, but you all know I am not a patient person, haha. I am thinking of putting it outside on the porch once the weather warms up.

Speaking of weather....we finally got SNOW in western Pa. Hooray !!!! I absolutely LOVE winter, well I actually LOVE all the seasons and having 4 distinct seasons, so I am a happy girl even if the snow put a little dent in my plan to do more thrifting today (I dont like to drive in the snow folks...its a great day to stay indoors and work on projects). I had almost decided to put away all my snowmen the other day since it has been unseasonably warm here.

I picked up some pieces of linoleum awhile back and i am thinking of trying my hand at a few floor cloths...I will let you guys know how they turn out.

Well, I am off to start a few projects. Have a blessed day.

Until next time...
Grace to you,
Margie

Well, it looks like this week is going to be better than last week. Yesterday was my first HIVE FREE day and you wont believe what we found out....Well Saturday night shortly after the hubs got home from work I started itching again and I was having a hard time breathing. Now, at this point  over the last 8 days I had already been to the doc, Urgent Care and 2x to the ER, so I was very hesitant to rush out to the ER again...I think the docs there think I am a hypochondriac. But I have had 3 pulmonary embolisms and I get scared when I cant breathe. It kept getting worse and worse until it literally felt like someone was sitting on my chest...I made sure I was not hyperventilating etc and off we went. So, they hooked me up to all the machines, got an IV, gave me some steroids and ran more tests...I have had a CT, a nuclear scan, an EKG and many others...Everything's clear...After a few hours I am able to breathe perfectly, so we figure I needed that shot of Prednisone. When I first got the hives we made sure I hadnt eaten anything different, used any new products etc...I hadnt changed ANYTHING.

OK, so we leave and I kid you not, we are not out of the parking lot and it starts happening again. The hubs and I are dumbfounded, but it's the EXACT same feeling. I jokingly said maybe I was allergic to the hubs but I said that wouldnt work since he was with me at the hospital, but the hubs, brilliant man that he is, says, yes, but they have a super duty air filtration system and much of the time I was away getting tested. I said it was impossible to be allergic to a person for pete's sake. Well then we started thinking about it...My initial hives happened once the hubs came home and it got way worse every night when he got home. It never dawned on us that maybe something HE was using could cause me to break out in hives...The hubs had run out of shower gel and used my sons AXE he had left when he was home. Now this crapused to give mea terrible headaches when my son used to use their cologne spray.

Well, it turns out it coincided perfectly timewise...he had used it a little over a week. All the way home we are thinking, "no way", but hello, I was itching like crazy by the time we got home and my chest was heavy and couldnt get a full breath. So, the hubs put all his clothes in the laundry and took a shower and grabbed a bottle of Old Spice shower gel from the cabinet...I have been itch free and hive free ever since. I may have a heart attack when I get the bill for all those unnecessary tests, but at least I wont be itchy. I do know my lungs, heart and head all checked out ok, so I guess I have some piece of mind for my thousands of dollars. It literally never dawned on him that HIS shower gel could effect me. It hadn't dawned on me because I use a different body wash than him...I am grateful we figured it out, but I am overwhelmed at how much its going to cost us. I am a very frugal shopper, but that has to be the MOST expensive shower gel on the planet !!! Can you believe it ? I am still in shock over it. We both feel sooo stupid...how could we have missed it ?

Well, now that that's out of the way I can show you the before and after pictures of my chandelier...Remember several months ago when I bought this tacky brass chandelier at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $20 ?

Well, my father in law rewired it for me and after a can of spray paint and some glue and stain on the candle part, I think I have a winner...I had seen one in a shop in Volant Mills that was the same size for almost $300...Of course I could NEVER afford that, but look how great it looks now...I am sooooo happy with how it turned out.



I am so super psyched about it...I love it when a plan comes together so nicely. So, if you see a cheap chandelier, think makeover !!! I do still want to makeover the actual bulbs so that they look more like a candle, but I need to run to Home Depot and get some caulking..maybe I will do a step  by step of how to make those kind of lights !

Well, like I said, this week is starting out sooooo much better than last week. I am also working on a couple new ruglets....here's what I have done so far...
I like having 2 projects on my frame at a time because when working on a smaller project theres no waste this way. I am trying to decide the color scheme for the other one...Maybe really , really pale yellow for the chicks and a watery blue for the background ???? Not sure...still piling up different wools and trying to figure out what I want to do !!!

I do want to take a minute and thank all of you who prayed for me and encouraged me through all this mess with the hives. You are so precious to me and I am so thankful to have such wonderful, caring people in my life. You guys are the best.

Okie doke...I am going to go get busy finishing up some more projects and get some bread baking.

Grace to you,
Margie

Just a quick post today...ended up in the ER again yesterday, so I apologize for being away from my emails...All of you who have ordered wool, I am on it and your invoices should be waiting in your inboxes. I have added some gorgeous hand dyed mustards and dirty brick reds that are just lovely, so please check them out if you get a chance ! I am here today, finishing up my chandelier and hopefully will have pics to put up later. It hasnt turned out exactly like I planned, but its ok. Maybe once I get the pics up some of you could advise as to what I could do to make it better.

OK...still itchy, still grouchy, still sleepy...someone, please make me laugh today. I am taking life WAY too seriously.

Hugs to all my prim pals,
Margie