In My Absence
The next leg of Operation Rescue Hannah begins tomorrow. I'll make the 12-hour round-trip drive from my folks house in Pennsylvania to Granville, Ohio to bring her home for the holidays. I left Maine a few days early so I could spend time helping...
Susan’s Joyful Owl Winter Wreath
While I've been designing trees and wreaths for our Christmas Tree Festival, it occurred to me that I've never made a wreath for myself - I always seem to give my completed pieces away. I love my Joyful Wreath Owl but wanted to make a wreath that...
A Christmas Sleigh
Paul is my resident engineer, maker and fabricator. He's a handy guy to have around. As a result, he was roped into more than one of my Christmas Tree Festival projects. After spying a little sleigh with trees on Pinterest, I challenged him to make...
A Milbridge Christmas
I always enjoy our Christmas Tree Festival and Auction here in town. Community members and businesses adopt Charlie Brown style live table top trees or wreaths and decorate them for auction. You've likely seen some of my submissions in the past....
A Birthday Angel
Today is mom's birthday. What does one get Granny Gadget? Everything she does revolves around her family and taking care of them. She has little space for anything and she can purchase all the gadgets she wants. That's where my Christmas Angel...
Joyful Owl Christmas Wreath
It's my favorite time of year - WHRL Christmas Tree Festival time. I've got a few trees and wreaths planned for the event, but this is my favorite. I've updated my Barred Owl pattern and created her in grays for this wreath. Truth be told it's a...
A Morning Buck
While lingering over my coffee this morning, this young whitetail buck came to visit. Ten feet outside the living room widow he nibbled at berries. Hannah and I watched him for at least five minutes before he realized he wasn't alone. And then he...
Vintage Red Truck with Christmas Tree
The vintage pickup truck carrying a tree is such a popular theme right now that I'm creating a Christmas wreath around this wood version I designed. It was only after I had it cut out and painted that it occurred to me I could have made it out of...
The Magic of Freezer Paper
Have you tried cutting out those tiny pattern pieces, like eyes? My circles usually look like ovals and get smaller and smaller as I keep trimming, trying to get them just right. I tested a technique that calls for fusing freezer paper to your...
New to the SHOP: Re-imagined Blue Jay
First designed in 2017, I've never been happy with the Bold Blue Jay. He was one of my earlier patterns and quite elementary. I've started and stopped a new design more times than I can count, trying to figure out how to do him justice. This time,...
Sticky Notes
Hannah has a habit of leaving me sticky notes here and there. Happy little notes that make me smile. Sometimes I find them on my computer. Other times they're stuck in my planner. Sometimes they're written to music or rhyme. Sometimes they...
Autumn’s Gold
Only when glorious maple reds are bare, and the oaks have faded to brown, does the unsung Tamarack begin to shine. Incognito for much of the year, this tree turns brilliant gold, creating a beautiful contrast against the firs. Another week or two...
Christmas Angel
I prefer creating life-like wildlife patterns, but with the WHRL Christmas Tree Festival a little over a month away, this angel will the be the centerpiece on one of the wreaths I'm designing for the event. It's available here as a free download....
Our Custom Cornhole Boards
Last weekend was the grand opening of Milbridge Commons – a wellness park and garden I’ve been working on with a group of others for more than three years. In anticipation of this event, I asked Paul to make a cornhole game. Before building the...
Inundated with Grackles
A flock of Grackles arrived on Monday contrasting beautifully with the birch tree outside the living room window. They are so much more than just black. When the sun hits them, they shine. They worked their way through a feeder full of seed. As...
New to the SHOP: Fawn and Spotted Owl Kits
This week two kits join the other birds and critters in the SHOP. The Fawn is one of my personal favorites. And the Spotted Owl helps to round out my North American owl series. I've also added a Needle Threader to the SHOP that you can add to your...
Peak Color
This last week has been one of peak color Downeast. On these gray, overcast days the colors seem to pop taking center stage. The Pleasant River peaceful at high tide. The turbulent white bubbles at the Falls - a perfect foil for the color. On old...
The Delightful Spotted Owl – Free Pattern
I'm working through my list of North American Owls trying to create them all out of felt. The Spotted Owl brings me a bit closer to the finish line. Hope you enjoy him! Purchase a complete kit with...
New to the SHOP: Polar Bear and Reindeer Kits
It's Paul who encouraged me to begin creating and selling kits for my patterns, and he helps with fulfillment when I'm away to keep things moving. However, without Hannah, this project would still be sitting on my computer. This summer was one of...
A Gift of an Evening
What a beautiful evening. A week ago I broke down and turned on the heat. Today - a whopping high of 71 degrees - it was warmer outside than in when I arrived home and I threw open the windows. One of the things I miss the most with the fading of...
New to the SHOP: Moose and Dove Ornament Kits
This week a moose and dove join the Downeast Thunder Farm SHOP. The Moose is one of my favorites. Spruced up with a wreath of holly, he makes a great Christmas ornament or gift. I've also added a Dove Kit that include metallic floss to make what...
Reflections of Autumn
It's ten days past summer and it's looking a lot like autumn here in Downeast Maine. The blueberry barrens, once seas of blue, are turning crimson in tune with the trees. When the reflection is more true than reality. We're not in high color yet,...
New to the SHOP: St. Nicholas and Christmas Penguin
I know. I KNOW! It's not even Halloween. Yet, if I'm thinking about designs for the WHRL's Christmas Tree Festival, you're likely starting to think about holiday crafts too. It seems in my world I begin thinking about holiday crafts when the...
First Frost
We had our first light frost on Tuesday. The car thermometer read 34 degrees as I scraped ice off the windshield. On my drive to work, I noticed the folks at Lynch Hill Farm had been busy overnight flooding the cranberry bogs to keep the berries...
New to the SHOP: Snowy and Boreal Owls
My pattern work all started with my owls and this week two more have been updated and join the SHOP - the Snowy Owl and the Boreal Owl. Hope you enjoy! I'm starting to think towards the holidays and would love to hear which patterns you'd most like...
