This cabinet is ALMOST organized....there is the bottom shelf that just has gobs of papers and STUFF...I will work on that this week.
Trying to decide if I want to leave my sewing machine out and use up this corner space or if I'd rather store it somewhere and put some sort of nice comfy hooking chair in that spot...it's a great spot with the windows....lots of that great natural light.
This is my new work table! I'm so excited! I sewed the fabric panels to go around it and now I can store more items like my overhead projector underneath. I can also pull it away from the wall if I have more people over to hook. Getting the panels attached was a real bear. I ended up using velcro.....sewing it onto the panels was easy enough, but getting the other side to stick to metal was a different issue....lots of cursing involved on that end. Tried different glues to no avail.....ended up using duck tape to adhere the velcro to the metal.
Go forth and be creative,
Gift giving is a good thing!! This little robin that I call the "Spring Messenger" has hung on my cupboard door for a few years now.....such a happy fellow.
He now has a new home! At my husband's prompting I gave him as a birthday gift today to a great friend's mom.
She was tickled...which tickled me!
Go forth and give,
Tammy
My trip to the bead store was quite an experience....oh my gosh....all the stuff they had to pick from......I dropped about $35 for the items pictured below.....can't wait to start attaching things!!!
Here are some close-up pictures....I did go kind of WILD with this purse....wild colors.....
beading.....
and a sparkly crocheted handle
Go forth and be creative,
It's turned cool again here....had to put on the coat and glove to walk the dogs tonight....at least the rain has stopped....the dogs have been cooped up without a walk for the past 2 nights and they just really needed to get outside and walk around the block and sniff. Now they are so much more relaxed!!!
These are my two current "works in progress". This first one is called "Flower Girl and was inspired by the art of Bella Pilar http://www.bellapilar.com/html/illustration_frame.htm . She does artwork that is inspired by fashion and this is my take on one of her pictures. I just love the bright colors in this one.....so NOT primitive....just very girly. I just need to get with it and hook the rest of the background and then I plan on adding beading embellishments to the rug to give it an even more girly feel.
This is the "Big Truvy" rug that I started with teacher Abby Vakay www.artnfiber.com at Mt. Magazine, Arkansas. I actually have hooked more on this rug, but just need to take a picture of it, but this gives you an idea of what I'm currently working on. On this rug I started with her big sad eyes. As it progresses I will keep you updated.
This is a little purse that I made from a Karen Kahle design. She has such a wonderful color sense and I love the way she mixes little bits and bobs of wools to make her rugs sing!!! I loved making this purse and she has finishing instructions that are SO easy to understand....even for me...a person who is horrible at sewing. I have since sold this purse, but it was so delightful to make. I love the little prodded bits of flower petals ...and the color combinations in this purse just make me smile.
This was the next rug that I made....the design came from the cover of a vintage gardening book. I just love the way the roots of the tree entertwine at the base of the rug. Talk about a PAIN to transfer to the backing....all of those little leaves to draw out over, and over, and OVER!!! I was still a pretty new hooker at this time and didn't have a lot of money to spend on resources, so this was hooked on burlap and so far it is holding up very well. 
Here is a picture of the repaired area.
Oh yeah, as for the saying on the rug...it comes from the book "The Little Prince" and says...."And the fox said to the little prince...Men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed". 
Here's my tip of the week for you:
When trying to decide how much wool that you will need for a rug hooking project...figure you will need 4-6 times the area that you are wanting to hook. If you have an area that is 4" x 4" then you will need 64-96 square inches of wool to hook that area or a piece or pieces that add up to be 16"x16" up to 24" x 24" or something that makes that equivalent.
When I'm hooking a rug I figure on 6 times the area...I tend to hook a bit higher than most...if you are a high hooker you will need closer to 6 times the amount....if you are a "packer"....same thing. Better to have a little bit too much than to run out with a few rows to go!!!
Have you ever had a rug design that had lots of leaves around the border....those things that are hard to "figure" how much wool you will need.....here's an idea....get a piece of tracing paper or computer paper and lay it over the leaves...trace ALL of the leaves onto your sheet of paper and then use the size of the paper to decide how much you wool you will need.....trace all of the leaves close together....NOT the way they appear on your pattern.
Go forth and be creative,
Tammy
WOW! I had a blast dyeing wool on Saturday....10 yards!!! That's not a gob for me to do in a day, but all of these were spot dyes or painterly dyes, so they took a bit longer to bake in the oven rather than dyeing in pots on the stovetop.
As for the three above...I was going for a chartreusy green with some dark green thrown in.....looking at it now that it is dry, I wish I would have splotched on a darker green color to have a bit more contrast, but it's still pretty....very spring-ish The second piece is a "painterly" type of wool that has cool colors and warm colors in the same piece of wool....I learned this technique from Abby Vakay when I was at rug hooking camp. Really a fun way to dye. The third piece I was going for a blue spruce look, but it's a little too blue....guess I should have put in some sort of sage color.....this dyeing by eye is a total learning experience for me. However, I think it would make great water!!
Thse last four are my favorites of the day! The first is a painterly piece using golds and purples. The second goes from red to orange to gold....I'm thinking PUMPKINS!!! The third piece reminds me of rhubarb with the reds and the greens....this was my husband's favorite piece of the day. The last piece has the cool spectrum of colors from purple to blue to green. 
A bit chilly this morning....I think it was about 48 degrees while I was out walking about in my bare feet through the dewy grass. The peonies are almost past their prime, but hopefully as the sun comes out more today they will open up a bit more and put on one more big show. What a wonderful flower....so voluptuous yet delicate....just like women!!
While I was out around 7:30 am the squirrels were already up and about starting their day....running back and forth along the ivy covered fence chattering to each other. Lots of people don't like squirrels, but they are very entertaining to watch.....my bassoon, "Big Truvy", is especially fond of making sure they keep their wits about them and will bark at them and chase them along the fence....if it's not too hot outside and she's in the mood to give them a go!
I also need to dye some browns and oranges and just thought this big urn would be a great color to try to get out of the dye pots today....perhaps a spot dye with a coppery brown and mossy greens together. Also the lambs ear in the foreground is such a pretty soft blue sage green...another great color to work towards today. My husband made the fountain....if you look really close you can see that the water runs off the side of the urn and down into a grate covered hole....when it's really hot outside the dogs love to lick the side of the urn to get their water....kind of a garden dog water fountain of sorts.
This is one of my favorite trees in the yard....at least so far this year....I believe my husband said it was called a Golden Himalayan cedar ....a kind of weeping cedar tree....it's so beautiful this year and I just love the colors in it! So much that I even took a close up picture.
Just look at those chartreuse greens, dark greens and lime greens...all on the same tree....just inspiring!!!
This is another one of my favorite trees....in case you haven't noticed I like trees with character....weeping and irregularly shaped....odd colors....I can't remember what this tree is called....we call it a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree....it is growing really tall and kind of has limbs that stick out with no rhyme or reason....I just love this tree! It is the most magnificent shade of blue!! We planted it about 10 years ago and it was about 6 foot tall at that time...now it's waaaay taller than our house!!!!
Enjoy your day and don't forget to go outside...even if just for a little bit,
Tammy
"Some men throw their gifts away on a life of mediocrity, great men throw everything they have into their gifts and achieve a life of success."Greg Werner
"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun."Mary Lou Cook
"There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish."Warren G. Bennis
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. Edward De Bono
This is the bed area.....can't say that myself or anyone else has ever slept here, but I love the sheets on this bed...they just have that yummy cottagy feel to them and I just LOVE them! The big cabbage roses....from one of my favorite places to shop....Target!!! I might as well tell you I have an affinity for old stuffed animals that just look like they have been overly loved and I just can't seem to part with them....I know....I'm 39....what's the deal?! So, on the bed I have a big old patchwork teddy bear who is wearing my Las Vegas sun hat and a big old carnival dog.
This is the inside of the bottom cupboard...it is houseing my "neutral" wools from the lightest on top to the darkest on the bottom.....LOTS of recycled wools which are just so hard to store neatly....I hope to work through them all one day and have them in rugs!!!
This is the bookcase beside my bed....it houses scads of rug hooking books, books on fashion and cookbooks....a few buckets of wool worms on the bottom shelf. I'm pretty happy with the bed and the bookshelf!!! As far as my favorite books....for rug hooking it would be "Hooked Rug Treasury" by Jessie Turbayne...if you love primitives this is a great resource to help you color plan rugs and make them have that OLD look...here's a link to it at Amazon
