Christmas Open House At Country Freckles

Things have been very busy at Country Freckles lately. Joni had been closed for a week getting ready for her Christmas Open House which started Thursday night, but now it's full steam ahead for Christmas. While Joni was closed tearing down Fall and putting up Christmas, I stopped in her store to see her and the tearing down process. I was STOCKED at how much work it is to get ready for something like this. There was Christmas stuff EVERYWHERE waiting to be place in that special spot, Joni, Marilyn and Joni's Mom were busy just trying to make sense of it all, I was overwhelmed...my head was spinning. Just getting all those trees placed and lite up is a job in itself!!!!!! But when I came back a few days later....I was AMAZED!!!!! The smells, sights and sounds were incredible!!!!! This is the most beautiful shop I have ever seen!!!!!!! Great job girls!!!!!!!!

I will start by showing pictures of the the creations I brought into the store for the Christmas Open House. Here is an adorable snowman door doll. He was fun to make and went together pretty fast. This pattern is the "Let It Snow" pattern from Moonchild's primitives.

Close up of his cute little face

And here we have a snowman that fits great on a shelf or tucked away in a cupboard....I also think he is adorable. This pattern is "Mr. Frosty" from Veena's Mercantile.

Close up of his cute little face

And here is one of my favorites...Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. This pattern is from The Primitive Nook. I put them in the cheese box with the light, I thought it added a great touch.

Here are some grungy cat's for sale in an old flour sifter....aren't they cute!!!!!!

Here is the "Let It Snow" door doll wearing a blue/green scarf, he looks very vintage.

I LOVE the red bed spread in the back ground.

Here is Frosty's hat with mice...again the mice look so real!!!!!!

Another view

Ok, now it's time for the Country Freckles ready for Christmas pictures

These lite up trees are located in the middle of the first room you walk into. It is such a dramatic entry....love it!!!!!!

Christmas goodies

A tree full of snowmen

I LOVE this lantern!!!!!!!

A lite up wreath with one of my santa ornies in the middle

A lite Christmas tree always brings such a warm inviting glow to a room

I love this picture

A lot of trees

Joni has some awesome linens available and they look so nice stacked and displayed here.

I love the popcorn balls and string of popcorn and cranberries on these trees

Amazing!!!!!!

I LOVE this sign, my girlfriend Lisa hand makes these. She does such a wonderful job!!!!! She is such a perfectionist and it shows in her creating!!!!!! I will have some of her signs in Spooner at the show if anyone is interested. Joni also has many of Lisa's signs in her shop. You do such a great job Lisa.

I was in the store yesterday and Joni was very busy...shopping ladies everywhere. Everyone is out enjoying the Christmas atmosphere and trying to get a jump start on decoating. I always enjoy this time of year it has so many memories attached to it for me!!!!!

I am still working very hard on my items for our show in Spooner November 21 and November 28th. I am making progress and am very happy with what I have done so far....2 weeks left....I better get busy, busy, busy!!!!

Enjoy your weekend everyone....please say a prayer for my nephew Shane who is in the Marines boot camp right now in California. Blessings....Rhonda

Monster Marathon In Minneapolis, MN

What a weekend!!!!! I enjoyed being with family so much!!!!! Alyssa and I arrived at my sister's house Friday night around 7 pm. She planned a going away party for my nephew Shane who is heading to boot camp in California, today actually. She made the best homemade spaghetti ever!!!! My Mom and Ray made the trip also to say theirs goodbye's. After we ate, we sat around together reminiscing about old times and just enjoyed being together as a family. I don't think I have laughed that hard for a long time...we really are a bunch of nuts!!!!!

Saturday morning we were up at 5am...the kids had a race to run. My daughters Alyssa and Kara signed up for the Monster dash marathon a couple months ago. This is Kara's first race ever. Her sister, Alyssa the marathon runner, talked her into it. Kara didn't really know what to expect...I thought this will be the race that will determine if she HATES running or LOVES it!!!! And guess what....SHE LOVES IT!!!! My daughters both have had their preferred sports. Kara's has always been riding and showing horses. Alyssa did show horses for about 5 years but learned that running was her passion. Well, Alyssa finally got Kara to join her in running....good going Alyssa...you are persistent. At the party, Kara talked Shane into running the race with them. So his signed up and ran his little heart out......he is such a good sport.

Alyssa, Shane, and Kara...we arrived at the race at the crack of dawn as you can see :)

My sister and Shane....Sheilda's dressed like an Eskimo...it was sooo cold

Kara and Alyssa before the race....Alyssa's a goof ball!!!!!

Sisters Forever!!!!!

Alyssa lined up and ready to run!!!!! Alyssa ran the 13 mile

Alyssa finishing her race...run liddy run, we are so proud of you!!!!!

Shane and Kara lined up and ready to run their race. They ran the 3 mile

Shane finishing his race....he did awesome!!!!!

Kara finishing her race...she is all smiles...great job sweetie!!!!!!

Here is the gang after our awesome day together. I am not in the picture..I was the photographer.

My girls were pooped!!!! But what an accomplishment and they did it together!!!!!!

Shane was ready to roll...that's why he is a Marine :)

After we got home, my sister gave Shane a jump start on his Military hair cut. This is the last picture of the cousins being together for awhile. But what a FUN and memorable day we had!!!!!!

Cousins saying goodbye....We love you Shane and will be praying for you..can't wait til you come back home!!!!!!

Well, that's about it....now I'm back home and priming...I will have pictures to share later. Have a great day everyone....and if you would please say a prayer for my nephew Shane...I would greatly appreciate it!!!!! God Bless....Rhonda

Making Some Progress and Whatcha Workin On Wednesday

Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

Hello everyone....I have been able to make some sense of all the doll bodies I have laying around my living room and work area. Here are a few of my finished results. I am pretty happy so far with them and am only hoping to keep the momentum going, I have a lot of work ahead of me.

This Friday, I am going to pick my daughter up from college and we are heading to Minneapolis, MN for a marathon her and her sister are running in on Saturday. As bad as Kara and Alyssa would like me to join them in the run, I am the cheerleader and photographer. I told them I have a lot of training to do before I could ever think of trying a marathon....maybe someday :)

Also while we are in the cities this weekend, our family will be sending off my sisters only child, Shane. He enlisted in the Marines last Spring and is leaving for California to go through boot camp. I am very proud of him and pray God will keep him safe and protected. Please say a prayer for Shane as he serves our Country with a willing heart. We LOVE you Shane!!!

My nephew Shane and my sister Sheilda..and melodies dog butt...sorry

Back to the prims......

Here is another items finished....I really like this and hope it is a good seller.

This little guy just needs a hat....maybe today he will get one :)

I LOVE this Frosty hat with mice, I need to give it a good dusting of cinnamon to finish the look. I made witch hats like these for Fall and they were a real hit. I am hoping for the same results with Frosty.

More work in progress....the cat still needs a face. In the background, horses painted black waiting for legs, faces, mane and tails.

I know this looks like a mess but it is really my work for today. Go to Leslie's blog and fill us in on what your working on today. God Bless...Rhonda

A Busy But Fun Week

We closed on our 40 acres of land in Spooner, Wisconin (our home town) purchase last Saturday!!!!! We are thinking of building our house on it next summer....I can't wait!!!!!!!

Hello everyone, I am sure you all have been wondering where the heck I have been so I thought I better get updating my blog...been a very busy girl.

On Thursday, I worked for Joni in her shop Country Freckles. She had an appointment and asked if I would fill in for her that day. I LOVED it!!!!! Her mom was there also marking new Christmas product, she is so nice and I enjoyed visiting with her through out the day. Before I went to work, I baked up some 7 layers bars. Joni always has coffee and goodies for her customers so I told her I would bake something to bring. They turned out really good and I ate my share...that's the problem...that's why it's dangerous for me to bake. I asked Joni if she minded if I brought some of my stitching and when time permitted if I could stitch. She said I could so I also got some projects done while I was there.

I have been working on this flag on and off for a year. I was SOOOOO close to finishing it so I thought this would be a good project to bring and finished it up...and I DID!!!!!! All I have to do is coffee stain it and get it framed. I LOVE IT!!!!! It was a lot of work but so worth it!!!!!!

I also put faces on a few snowmen....cute!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of Joni's shop all decked out for Fall.

I also been busy learning to quilt. I went to my quilt class on Wednesday night and our teacher had a few more projects for us to complete. Pictured above is a block we cut out during class. Our homework for the week is to sew this block together and also to machine quilt the piece we have been working on during class. Between working on my prims and completing my homework for the class, I spend a lot of time with my sewing machine which I love. We are going to be putting binding on next week. That is what I really wanted to learn because I have never done that before.

My quilt class busy working on their assignments.

Patty is busy sewing on her Baby Lock sewing machine. She is a girl after my own heart...she owns a Baby Lock. I am going to buy a new sewing machine soon but have been trying to decide which brand to buy. I have a Baby Lock serger and LOVE IT!!!!! I have been leaning towards a Baby Lock sewing machine and think I have made the final decision after talking to Patty. Thanks Patty for your help and also sorry it took so long to post pictures of the block we worked on.

My husband and I went to a Casting Crowns concert in GreenBay, Wisconsin on Thursday night. I was SOOOOO good. It is amazing to see so many people worshiping God through music!!!! The concert reminded me of how important it is to spend time with God. Walking with Him daily, praying and reading His Word. In these strange times, God is STILL IN CONTROL!!!! We must not let the cares of this world squeeze out the time we spend with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ......He is our Strong Tower, He is our Salvation!!!!!!!!!

Casting Crowns singing their hearts out!!!!!

I was able to get a pretty close up picture.....what an amazing concert!!!!! These guys are just real people with an amazing God given talent!!!!

Well, that is what I have been up to. I also have quite a few items finished up for the show and will post pictures of them hopefully tomorrow. Have a blessed day everyone!!!! Rhonda

Whatcha Workin On Wednesday

Work in progress

My daughter Alyssa came to spend the weekend with us and I truly enjoyed it!!!! We really didn't do much, just relaxed most of the weekend. She did have some homework to do, so while she did that I cleaned my closet. I put my summer clothes away for the season seeing winter seems to have begun already. We made homemade pizza and pumpkin pie on Saturday, college students ALWAYS enjoy home cookin!!!!! I also made her some veggie soup and sent it back to college with her. She was thrilled!!!!!!

Our homemade pizza

Homemade Pumpkin Pie...mmmmmmmmmmm

Alyssa waiting for the pizza to get done...never a dull moment with her around!!!!!


Whatcha Workin On Wednesday

After a relaxing weekend with my beautiful daugher, it was back to work for me on Monday. I have SO many ideas running around in my head, sometimes I can't think straight. I have started a notebook listing all my ideas just to get them out of my head...it has helped some. As you can see from the picture below, I have a lot of irons in the fire right now. My sister and I are doing 2 craft shows in November so we both have been very busy, busy, busy.

This is just the start of the creating that is going to be going on the rest of this month and most of November.

As you can see, I have a lot of staining and painting to do.

Here is a sneak peak of what these bird pinkeeps will kinda look like when I get them done. I will post pictures of all these items when they are finished.

This snowman is in his early stage of being put together...so far, I think he is adorable!!!!!!

As if I don't have enough to do right now, I enrolled in a quilting class. The class is held on Wednesday nights and it is a beginner class. Tonight was the 2nd class and so far, I really am enjoying it. I have made quilt tops before but have NEVER finished any of them. I think I have been really intimidated by the binding so I decided I needed to learn the right way to do the bindings. And seeing I am new to this town, I also thought it would be a good way to meet people also.

Here is the table topper I have been working on in the class. She started us out with a small project which I am thankful for. Last week, she had us make the blocks and put them together. Tonight, she had us sew on the boarders. Next week, we put the batting and backs on and then machine quilt. I am really looking forward to machine quilting.

I LOVE making my dolls but it was kinda nice to work on something else besides dolls for a change. When I learn to do this quilting thing, I am anxious to finish up the quilt tops I put on ice years ago. My Mom rescued one of my quilt tops a few years ago thinking she was going to finish it but she didn't finish it either. She just gave it back to my last winter. Won't she be surprised when she finally sees that quilt finished....I will make you proud mom :)

A close up of my quilt top.

Well that's about it for now. If you would like to share what you have been working on, stop by Leslie's blog and post your day with us. Until next time....God Bless, Rhonda

Thought I Was All Done With Fall Creating But I Was Wrong

I know I said I was done working on Fall but Joni has been very busy selling my Fall primitives in her shop so that meant that I had to put a hold on Christmas creating for today and slam out a few more Fall items. I had a few items started but put them on the back burner a couple weeks ago to get started on Christmas and also because I got a little frustrated with them. I don't know about you gals, but sometimes when I get stuck on a project or overwhelmed I find myself making every excuse in the book why I am avoiding the project. I think this is a very DUMB habit because when I finally get back to the "on hold project", it goes together fast and I wonder why I was making such a big deal about it earlier. I NEED to work on this problem I have....it bothers me!!!!!

Anyway, the 3 pumpkins above are one of the projects I had on hold and was just going to wait until next year to finish (I know, how DUMB!!!). I made these pumpkins out of a vintage chenille bedspread. I painted them pumpkin orange and dusted them with cinnamon. I used a tree branch stick for the steam and sweet annie for the leaves. I am SO GLAD I finished them. I think they turned out nice....not sure why I made such a big deal out of these very simple pumpkins...maybe I was PMS'in :)

These witch hats are another project I was going to put off til next Fall. I made one early in the season and it sold pretty much right away which I was happy about. I wanted to get these to Joni's but was busy making other FUN creations (I think I got bored with these hats) and also, I had put the seam in the front of these hats instead of on the side by mistake and didn't want to rip them out. I had went ahead and painted them black hoping that would help the seam disaster but it didn't so they got put on the back burner also. Well, Today when I drug them out of hiding to make their trip to Joni's finished I had to deal with the seam problem. At first I was just going to leave it and shut my eyes and just finish them....but.....being the perfectionist that I am (which can also be annoying) I HAD to fix them. I didn't want to rip...so I cut. I cut the hats from the brims and hot glued them on the right way. To my surprise....it worked perfect and you could not even tell I made the seam snafu. I am VERY happy I finished them...I think they turned out even better then the first one I made :)

It is such a GREAT feeling when you MAKE yourself face things that you have been avoiding, it's such freedom to finish what you start.

From this picture you can tell how much the cinnamon grudging adds to the finished look. The back 2 have been grudged, the front one is waiting to be grudged....big difference!!!!

I LOVE the bats...I hadn't put bats on the first one I made.

Last but not least....these little guys have really been a good seller. He is the last one I am doing for sure this year. I do not have any more pumpkins made up to make more so that's all folks :)

My sisters salsa recipe simmering on the stove.

I did manage to make salsa yesterday even after hunting and hunting for canning jars in this town. My salsa journey started when I went home last week. My daughter Kara gave me some tomatoes out of her garden so I decided I wanted to try my sisters awesome salsa recipe. She is going to sell her homemade salsa at the craft show we are doing in Spooner in November. Anyway, everyone was out of jars here and they would not be ordering anymore. I told my husband I am going to make this salsa no matter what. I finally did find some 1/2 gallon jars (which are HUGE) at Ace Hardware and snatched them up just because they were the only chance I had at canning this salsa, I thought I was home free. Well, when I got home I realized that my kettle was NOT big enough for these big jars to fit in and all my big stock pots for canning of course are packed away in a storage building somewhere.....the joys of being in transition.....I always go to find something and think to myself...I know I have one of those...then I remember...IT'S PACKED!!!!!! Anyway, At one point I thought I could freeze the salsa, but didn't think it would be as good that way. Yesterday morning I went to Piggly Wiggly and YES!!! they had pint size canning jars....it was salsa time :)

The salsa turned out really good I ended up getting 9 pints. I even have enough tomatoes for a second batch when the tomatoes ripen a bit more. My husband and daughter LOVE the salsa...life is good!!!!

Alyssa is home from college for the weekend so I will be enjoying cooking her favorite meals taking care of her. She just got over the flu and was a very sick girl last week at college. She had the swine flu test and it WAS NOT the swine....just the old regular flu...but still not fun AT ALL. Her first request for supper was veggie beef soup without meat and fresh baked bread. So when she hit the door tonight that's what she enjoyed. Tomorrow...it's pumpkin pie and homemade pizza mmmmmm.

I have been working on Christmas primitives and will post pictures of that work in progress next post....have a BLESSED weekend.....Rhonda

Photos From Home

Look at that precious little boy!!!!!!

I went home to Spooner last week and enjoyed spending time with my friends and family. I stopped at my son Kasey's house and had a nice visit with him and enjoyed my adorable grandson Carson. Carson LOVED playing with his train set and I LOVED watching him at play. He is SOOOO precious and I LOVE him with all my heart!!!!!!!

Carson in FULL play mode.

My brother Derrick hard at work

I spent almost everyday I was home showing up in the morning at the meat department where I used to work before we moved here to Wisconsin Rapids. I worked there for 7 years and loved my job and the people I worked with and was NOT very happy when I had to quit to move. I offered to work on Wednesday and would have LOVED to but......my position has been filled and now I just go there to visit and enjoy my former co-workers. I worked with my brother, he is one of the butchers. We had so many fun times working together. Most people probably could not work that close with family but my brother and I worked good together and I love and miss him very very much!!!!!!!!

Here is my boss Gary grinding the first grind of burger of the day. Gary was a wonderful boss and I miss him very much too!!!!!!

And last but not least...here is my good friend Kimmi (who I also miss) and my brother Derrick busy with the morning duties. Kim is a meat wrapper and that is what I used to do when I worked there. I spent many many hours standing wrapping meat where Kimmi is standing in the picture. It is not a glamorous job by any means but it is a good job with wonderful people to work with. Thanks guys for all the happy memories and for always making me laugh!!!!!!!
Miss and love you guys.....Rhonda