October Desktop Background

October is finally here.  My favorite month of the year!  Let's enjoy it.

Click on the links below to download the calendar of your choice (choose the size you need for the desktop & iPad/iPhone versions):

Click here to download the October Desktop Calendar

Click here to download the October Desktop background (with no calendar)

Click here to download the October iPhone/iPad Background

Click here to download the October Printable Calendar

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

September Desktop Calendar & Printable Calendar

Yowser...it's almost September!  You know what that means...?!  October is only a month away.

October, glorious, glowing month of the year.  Fall in full flush, knitting high season and my absolute favorite month of the year!
Oh, whoops...not quite here yet.   Here's September's calendars....

Click here to download the September Desktop Calendar

Click here to download the September Desktop background (with no calendar)

Click here to download the September iPhone/iPad Background

Click here to download the September Printable Calendar

August Desktop & Printable Calendars

August is definitely the month of sunshine in the south.  I always associate August with the colors yellow and orange...I'm not sure why.  But it all fits into my color assignments of different things, seasons and even months, as I mentioned here.

Click on the links below to download the calendar of your choice (choose the size you need for the desktop & iPad/iPhone versions):

August Desktop Calendar

August Desktop (without Calendar)

August iPhone/iPad Background

August Printable Calendar

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

July Desktop & Printable Calendars

Wow, it's July!  Of course, it's hot enough around here to believe it.  High 90's and low 100's are making me wish we were back in Maine!  

I added a "plain" version of the desktop background this month.  So you can choose with or without a calendar.

Click here to download the Desktop Background with Calendar (choose the size you need)

Click here to download the Desktop Background without a calendar (choose the size you need)

Click here to download the Printable Calendar

Click here to download the iPhone/iPad Background (choose the size you need)

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

June Desktop & Printable Calendars

June is usually pretty hot and humid around here, so I thought some cool and refreshing colors would be just what the doctor ordered this month.

Click here to download the Desktop Calendar (choose the size you need).

Click here to download the Printable Calendar.

And, I don't want to forget the little iPhone/iPad background:

Click here to download the iPhone/iPad Background (choose the size you need).

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

Happy Mother's Day

I've always loved this quote.  My mother died before I was married, so I used this quote on our wedding program.  I like it because it's not about sadness or regret, but about celebration and sweet memories!

Which is what I have.

I may a little printable notecard, because I thought there might be someone else whose mother isn't around anymore that you could give this card to.  

Click here to download the notecard printable.

Happy Mother's Day!

Free May Desktop Calendar & Printable Calendar

May always seems like a riot of color to me, as opposed to April which always makes me think of white.  Don't ask me why.  I tend to "assign" colors to lots of things.  Anybody else do that?

Back to May...a warm jumble of spring and summer colors :

   

Enjoy!

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If you share (and I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

April Calendars - Free Downloads!

I decided to do a printable calendar and a desktop calendar this month.

The printable version :

Download the printable version here.

The desktop version :  

Click here to download the size you need for your desktop, or

iPhone version :

Click here to download the iPhone background.

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

March Free Cross Stitch : Faded Rainbow

I've got a wee little rainbow for this month!  This would make a great key ring, pinkeep, or thread tag.
Who doesn't enjoy a little rainbow now and then?  Especially when those cold March winds keep blowing!

Download here.

Printable March Calendar - Free!

Since I began planning my blog posts ahead of time, I've been using a printed monthly calendar page.  It's always sitting on or beside my desk where I can see it, work on it, edit it and generally be aware of it.

So, I thought maybe I should do something a little prettier than this :

That is my February page.  Not real pretty.  Functional, yes.  Inspiring, lovely, charming...no.  Since all I wanna do these days is draw, why not draw a better calendar?  Yep!

So, here's my little version of a March calendar.  Simple, but effective.

And since I like to share, you can download it here.

February Free Cross Stitch Pattern : HeartFlowers

February...month of valentines and hearts, red and pink.  Why fight it?
Of course, the good thing about these "heartflowers" is they can change color with the seasons.
Red for February, yellow for May, brown for October.  Stitch one or three, or ten!

Download the free pattern here.

January Cross Stitch Freebie : Winter Bird

I'm enjoying these little cross stitch smalls...I hope you are too!  I'm probably going to keep this up for the rest of the year.  I've got several ideas perking around in my head, and they're fun and easy to stitch.

This little bird is a super quick stitch and very cheerful for your soul.  Really.

In the not too distant future, I plan on showing you several different ways of finishing these little stitcheries.
If you've got any good ideas, please share!

Download the Winter Bird Free Cross Stitch Pattern here.

Cross Stitch Free Pattern : Winter Wool Socks

I whipped up a new little cross stitch over Thanksgiving weekend :

Wool socks just make you feel better, especially if they are hand knit!  But, even if you don't have time to knit socks, you can stitch up a few quick as a wink.

I have a basket for our non-superwash socks in the laundry room.  I pile them in there until I'm ready to hand wash a batch of them.  I think this new little piece will make a great label for the front of the basket.
And the little one would make a great tree ornament, don't you think?

Download the free pattern here.  

The large sample was stitched on some unknown linen (probably about 24 count).  The threads I used are :  Dungarees, Buckeye Scarlet, Shutter Green, Oatmeal and Maple Syrup, all by Gentle Art Sampler Threads.
And the small was on Lakeside Linen 32 count Pearled Barley with Buckeye Scarlet & Banker's Grey threads.  But pick your favorite colors and stitch one up!

Cross Stitch Freebie : A Fall Leaf

Before Fall fades completely...here's a little reminder of the season.  Needless to say, it's my favorite season of the year.

So, to get us all in the mood and ready for the glorious-ness that is Thanksgiving, I've stitched up a little fall leaf.  And you can stitch it up, too.  My little sample is stitched with Weeks Dye Works Sweet Potato, but use any color you like!

This little leaf is a gift from me to you.

Download the free leaf pattern here.

Fall Leaf Free Cross Stitch Pattern 

Kitchener Stitch : Simple Steps Card

Since I am a die-hard cuff-down sock knitter, I do a fair amount of grafting for my sock toes.  I've gotten pretty nimble at kitchener stitch, but it always makes me feel more confident to have a little reminder/cheat sheet card by me as I work the stitches.

I used to have just a plain typewritten note on a folded scrap of paper.  But then I thought, "Hey, I could make something cuter and better looking (and less shabby) than this.  And while I'm at it, why not make it a little more durable by laminating it?"  So I did.  And I want you to have some too, because really, it's a nifty little tool.  Bonus: it takes up almost no extra room in your knitting bag/kit/tin what-have-you.

Download your free copy of the Kitchener Stitch Simple Steps Card here.  It's a PDF file. And if you have access to a laminator, you can laminate a few of them and put one in every knitting bag, basket, pouch, tin, table, etc. you might ever use.  But even if you don't laminate it, you can simply print it out, fold it in half and stick it with your knitting notions, in your knitting bag, in your wallet.  Heck, you can even wallpaper your room.

Kitchener Stitch : Simple Steps Printable Card  (Download PDF File Here)

If you need full instructions on how to do the kitchener stitch- I've linked to a wonderful tutorial by The Purl Bee.

Go forth and kitchener without fear.

Key Fob

This is a quick and sweet little key fob I made for my keys.

I have two sets of keys, my regular set and a set for work.  The work set has gotten smaller lately, so I didn't need such a big clunky key ring.  I like having a soft key fob since I usually carry these around in my pocket. They don't clank and clunk as much.

Left key in WDW Grenadine, right key in WDW Hibiscus

This is a tiny little key, so it only takes about 10 minutes to stitch.  I put one on each side of the fob, added a little batting in the middle and sewed it all up with a quick blanket stitch.  Easy peasy!

I used one of my favorite colors (at the moment):  Weeks Dye Works in Grenadine.  A happy color!  Fair warning though, it does bleed a bit.  So if you wet it to get rid of your water soluble marker, just spritz and don't touch!  It's the jostling and fingering that will draw the color onto the fabric.

Pinch bail & key fob; Blanket stitch in GA Harvest Moon

I added a "pinch bail" to the top to be able to add a keyring.  Just add and squeeze shut.  We'll see how durable it is:)

Download the pattern here.

Free Mason Jar Embroidery Pattern

I love mason jars, that's no secret.  And I've been enjoying the combination of peach & purple lately.  So I stitched this little jar just for fun.  As you can tell, I haven't even given it a good pressing yet.  It's just been hanging on my design wall making me happy.  It seems to be attracting yo-yos :)

I love using over-dyed flosses for simple things like this:  I used Gentle Arts Sampler Threads in Sweet Pea and Melon Patch for this little jar.

Click HERE to download the pdf file  

Download a copy if you want to stitch it too!  (And I'd love to see your version.)