by Susan | May 10, 2022 | Backyard Birds, On the Farm
Hopeful, I first put the hummingbird feeder up on May 1st. I’m not sure when they arrived, but I spotted my first hummer on Sunday – May 8th. At first, it was a lone male. Today the aerial shows began with the arrival of another male. I spent the morning...
by Susan | May 8, 2022 | Family, On My Mind
Hannah arrived this morning with plans to spend the day doing whatever I wanted and cook dinner for me. She brought this beautiful bouquet. I think she was as excited to give it to me as I was to receive it. It was spectacular – created by our friend Christina...
by Susan | May 1, 2022 | Out and About in Maine
Hannah lured me away from the lethargic rut I found myself in this weekend. We hoped in the car, destination unknown, and ended up at the beach in Addison. While the outing wasn’t the hike I knew my body needed, the stroll in the brisk air felt good. The tide...
by Susan | Apr 30, 2022 | Critter Patterns, Felt Patterns, Woodland Patterns
The Prickly Porcupine represents the many porcupines that live in the Maine woods. I opted to use washed wool-poly blend felt for this guy to give him more texture. He’s a simple pattern from my punch list of critters for the critter pattern book that I hope to...
by Susan | Apr 28, 2022 | Birds and Wildlife, Out and About in Maine
Bald Eagles have been out in large numbers by the river this week. I spotted at least eight adult and juvenile eagles dancing about in the sky. Watching them, I was reminded that I need a bigger lens! I understand the acrobatics are part of their courtship, but there...
by Susan | Apr 26, 2022 | Out and About in Maine
In my wanderings today, I was happy to see the Canada Geese pairing up and nesting. I love the new marsh grass sprouting all around this fellow. It seems that every patch of water had a pair of geese. Check out the beaver dam – a goose nesting in the front,...
by Susan | Apr 12, 2022 | Cricut SVG Patterns
Here’s the SVG file for my original wood veneer Cardinal from December 2021 in SVG format. I hope you enjoy this Cardinal! I’ve had many requests to share the SVG files for these birds. I’ve opted to do so with the understanding that I’m a...
by Susan | Apr 11, 2022 | Cricut SVG Patterns
This Bluebird was a favorite gift last Christmas. Create him from wood veneer or paper with your Cricut machine. I’ve had many requests to share the SVG files for these birds. I’ve opted to do so with the understanding that I’m a Cricut user novice....
by Susan | Apr 10, 2022 | Cricut SVG Patterns
The Chickadee is my favorite of the wood veneer birds I created in December 2021. I hope you can create something fun with this Chickadee SVG file. I’ve had many requests to share the SVG files for these birds. I’ve opted to do so with the understanding...
by Susan | Apr 10, 2022 | Cricut SVG Patterns
I’ve played a bit more with wood birds on my Cricut Maker 3. This Song Sparrow is designed more like a puzzle than my other wood birds. On this one, I used scraps, so I didn’t put much thought into the direction of the wood grain. The result would have...
by Susan | Apr 9, 2022 | On My Mind
I was home from my 12-day Pennsylvania trip for just two nights before I was on the road again. This time to Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta, Maine, with Paul, where he had surgery to remove a tumor from his neck. His surgery went as well as it possibly could....
by Susan | Apr 4, 2022 | On the Farm
A river otter (I think) briefly caught on the bear cam this morning. We’re .3 of a mile from the river. I can’t imagine the duck pond holds that much appeal, but who knows. This is a...
by Susan | Mar 30, 2022 | Felt Patterns, Insect Patterns
My recent trip home to my parent’s home was supposed to be purely fun. What was unanticipated was mom spending a week in the hospital and undergoing emergency surgery. I sewed this little butterfly while sitting in the OR waiting room, trying to keep my mind...
by Susan | Mar 26, 2022 | Felt Patterns, Insect Patterns
.I found this ladybug pattern languishing on my iPad. I designed it some time ago but never made it. I’m not very good at cutting nice even circles so I used a paper hole bunch for these. I hope you enjoy this little weekend project! If you are reading this via...
by Susan | Mar 20, 2022 | Felt Patterns, Insect Patterns
The next installment in the butterfly theme is the American Copper. Once again, the limitations of felt colors challenged me. But an endless supply of felt colors could be a problem for me! Rather than tiny pieces of felt for the spots, I used beads, but you can also...
by Susan | Mar 14, 2022 | Felt Patterns, Insect Patterns
Hannah has a vision for a butterfly tree for this year’s WHRL Christmas Tree Festival. She gave me a punch list of butterflies to work my way through. The Black Swallowtail is the first of a few to come. Enjoy! If you’re reading this from your email, click...
by Susan | Mar 6, 2022 | Critter Patterns, Felt Patterns
Having been born in Punxsutawney, PA, my father’s hometown, groundhogs (aka woodchucks and marmots) have long been part of our family culture. Gobbler’s Knob (where Punxsutawney Phil emerges every February 2nd) was just a walk up the road from my...
by Susan | Mar 5, 2022 | Out and About in Maine
I finally made my first trip to the beach this year. Granted, I drive by the ocean almost every day, but this is the first day I’ve taken time for a walk with my girl. We both needed the fresh air and the sound of the waves. Bundled as we were the cold...
by Susan | Feb 27, 2022 | Critter Patterns, Felt Patterns
The American Bison (or Buffalo) has been an often-requested pattern. For me, getting this felt critter right has been all about texture since they are shaggy beasts. I used Light Brown for the body and Safari Brown (a heathered felt) for the upper body. To give them...
by Susan | Feb 23, 2022 | Out and About in Maine
Sunny and 60 degrees – in February. Ten hours and 47 minutes of glorious daylight. The momentum toward spring is eclipsed only by Friday’s forecast of 19 degrees and 7 inches of...
