Saturday, March 29, 2008

Show and Tell....

I love crayons! I remember the excitement as a young girl when I would get a fresh new box - the one with the sharpener. The only problem - I never wanted to use them, because once you did, they were never the same again. Even if you sharpened them to a new point, they were no longer new and pristine. This is a box of crayons that I found in an antique shop years ago. The shop keeper didn't know what year they were actually made. The box says "No. 336 Crayola Drawing Crayon - Sixteen Colors". Then it says - Gold Medal and Made in U.S.A. Binney & Smith Inc., New York. I would love to know more about them. As soon as I saw them, I knew they HAD to come home with me. O.K., I just googled Binney & Smith and this is part of what I read: The first Crayola crayons were made in 16 colors; the eight-stick box sold for five cents and the 16-stick box sold for ten cents. Crayola Rubens crayons for art students and Perma Pressed fine-art crayons that could be sharpened were added to the product line. A new Crayola 48-stick box introduced in 1949 featured new colors, such as bittersweet, burnt sienna, periwinkle, and prussian blue. Nine years later, prussian blue was renamed midnight blue in response to teachers' observations that students were no longer familiar with Prussian history. (Note: The small p was an intentional grammatical error to keep the word consistent with the way all Crayola crayon names appeared on labels. Tests had shown that words written in lowercase letters were easiest for elementary school children to read.) By 1955 B&S had placed some 464 different items on the market.

I can't remember what I paid for these at the antique shop, but it was much more than 10 cents - LOL!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Heidi - my blog

Heidi,

I'll respond to your comments in a post to make it easier for you to see my answers! Thanks for looking at my blog. I mentioned it at CHL awhile back.

I would love to have a book I saw yesterday at my LNS - it is Quaker School Girl Samplers by Ackworth - but it was $65.00. I couldn't get it then, but hope to soon! I'm currently working on the Rebecca Ackworth sampler and the Quaker Christmas one by Bygone Stitches. I'm also doing one with the last name of Scholl on it. And I have several others going. I adore them! The one I started yesterday - the Ackworth one - is 34 by 29 (the fabric)! I work on 28 count. I have never ever worked on a piece this big - it is very clutzy!

The "quilt" piece on the chair is actually a pillow sham! I put it on the chair to sort of dress up an ugly office chair.

I have two Ohio samplers so far - the one I've started on - the other one I need fabric for. It is actually the one you got from the lady. Jan from Maryland got me one and sent it to me as a RAOK. Wasn't that sweet of her! She also sent me all the threads for it.

I only have the one cat right now. Plus I take care of an outside one. I've always taken care of outside cats for years. No idea who they belong to, or if they belong to anyone.... We've even taken some of them to the vet from time to time if they got in a fight or were sick in some way.

Linda

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Ahhhh - some heat!


My Mommie keeps the house too cold, so I depend on her to turn my light on so I can get warm in my favorite spot! This used to be a spot that my sissy and I used to fight over, but now that little vixen is gone to kittie heaven, it is all mine!! Mine I tell ya!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Quaker Samplers....


I adore Quaker samplers. They touch my heart and soul , and calm me while I'm stitching them. I have 4 of them started already (this one in the picture is yet to be in my collection, but one day...). And I have several more in my "stash" to stitch in the future. And I know I will be buying many more to come. I love them!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Show and Tell....

This is just a small portion of my button collection. I found all of them in three antique stores - two of which I know for sure are no longer around - much to my sadness. The other place may still be there - I haven't gone over in awhile, but need to rectify that. I love to sit and look through all my tins and jars of buttons of all types - and just imagine what their history is - whose hands buttoned them each day - year after year - on their way to make breakfast, or to soothe a baby's cry - or to go off to work. I use them in some of my crafting items - I love to use them on my cross-stitch items. But for the most part, I like just having them in my tins and jars - just waiting for me to look at again and wonder....





Friday, March 14, 2008


Here is my latest finish. It says Salem 1692. I loved the fabric I chose - Crossed Wings linen called "Sand". I decided to coffee dye the orange lettering in order to tone the orange down a bit. However, in the process, for various reasons, (one being I'm an idiot) - I had to coffee stain the whole piece - and therefore anniliated the fabric that I liked so much! LOL! Oh well, it still looks nice and I know the recipient will enjoy it!

My Six-Word Memoir

This is another "meme" that is going around. You are supposed to write your memoir in six words....

"She pines for Ohio and family"

Thursday, March 6, 2008

From house to "HOUSE"


this house! Sixty miles round trip, but an enjoyable time. I played hookie from work today and drove over to Woodlawn Plantation for the yearly needlework show. They hold it there the entire month of March. It went from being a huge needlework show, for years, with lots of entries from all over the world, to "not so much"over the past 5 or 6 years. I did enjoy the samplers that were in the main room, and I saw some other things that drew my attention. But I was basically done with looking and shopping in the gift shop within 15 minutes. I spent some time talking with a lady upstairs that was doing a quilting demonstration. I wandered around the front of the house - the grounds around the entire place are so beautiful and quiet. You can almost hear the ghosts of carriage wheels creaking and ladies big dresses rustling. It overlooks Mount Vernon. When I was upstairs, I looked out the front windows and saw the top of it, and the Potomac River beyond. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera - oh well, I'll go back another day. After leaving there, I went a block down the road and went into a needlework shop and caused my wallet some more destruction - ha! I ran into a woman I had talked to while looking at the needlework show - she had come over to the needlework shop also - and we stood there chatting for quite awhile. Then I got some french fries and coke at MacDonalds to refresh me and then took off for the drive home! All in all, a nice day off!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Seven Things About Me....

1. I have one older sister and two younger brothers. The youngest brother and I were born two days apart - well, and eleven years in between. He used to call me La La when he was little - he couldn't pronounce Linda....

2. I usually have 12 or more books started at the same time....

3. Besides reading, I love to cross-stitch and I also enjoy knitting. And of course, yes, I usually have many cross-stitch projects started.... well, only about 20 or so....

4. I moved from Ohio to Virginia in 1974. I've basically been homesick ever since....

5. When I was in high school, I used to work at Kresges. I think I only stayed there a year or so - part-time of course. I had to always make sure my schoolwork was done. That was a condition of working there (per my parents). When I first started, I worked behind the candy counter. And then I was promoted to work on the cash register - taking care of the customers who were buying items... I actually had a customer teach me how to "count back the money". Remember when they used to do that - not anymore these days - it just gets plopped right into your hand!

6. I once hugged a total stranger (his girlfriend was not too pleased). The reason - - I was at a haunted house and a mummy was trying to "get me". So I wanted this total stranger to save me! And he did - LOL!

7. One year, while driving over 500 miles to Ohio - to visit with my family, I was stung by a bee that flew in my window....I was out in the middle of the mountains - 80 miles from a town....

Monday, March 3, 2008

The Years Go So Quickly.....


Happy 80th birthday to my Mommy!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Book Spotlight....


I'm on Page 85 of this book and am really really liking it. I read this author's non-fiction book years ago. It is called "The Victoria's Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming: And Other Lessons I Learned from Breast Cancer. This book "The Last Beach Bungalow" is her first fiction book. She has written two other non-fiction ones.
First line: There's something oddly comforting about doctors' waiting rooms.
After five years cancer-free, April Newton should be celebrating, but instead she's restless. She feels her husband slipping away, and though the spectacular, stylish house he's building for her should be a fresh start, April finds herself wanting something more. As their move-in date approaches, she becomes obsessed with winning the right to buy the last bungalow in Redondo Beach, convinced that the quirky, lived-in little house represents everything she is missing in her life - comfort, completeness, survival. And though her quest for the bungalow wll take some surprising twists, it may put back together the pieces of her heart....