Happy Halloween

I hope your Halloween is filled with many treats!!!!

Here are a few treats from the Wednesday night hooking group........

This is "Matilda" hooked by Mary.....so sweet!Can you see the wooly yarn sheep that Marsha is working on? And then there are those chain-stitched stems....too cool! This week Belva got to join our hooking group. We don't get to see her near often enough....such beautiful colors in this runner that she designed and hooked!
This runner is great because you can see it from either side and it's not upside down.
Do you know what a beauty line is?.....That's that red line around the perimeter of the design...it helps pull those central colors out to the edge of the rug.....beautiful!

Here is another one of Belva's hookings....this one is attached to a tote bag....super cute!


And here is what Belva is currently working on.....what a great primitive cat!!!

Here is Sheri's house that she has designed and is almost finished with......can this girl whip things out or what?! If you want to follow along as she hooks it be sure to visit her blog HERE.

I'm telling you, I am so fortunate to have such a great group to hook with!! I think we all inspire each other....now if I could just find/make more time to hook. I'm still plugging away at the "going in circles" rug, but I really want to be doing something a bit more creative.

On my "to do" list...

• a set of 5 rugs that will go along my dining room wall...designed by Kenny
• a rug of Cleopatra....just trying to find the perfect picture to work from
• a rug of Lonnie

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

A little prayer

Please keep my father-in-law in your thoughts this morning. He's having a heart catheterization and possibly a stent.

Thanks!

Scared to post?

I'm kind of scared to post this for fear that what I believe in will turn some of you off.

However, this is my blog and I really believe in this man.

He speaks to me,

he makes me want to be a better person.

He inspires me.

Fall frolicking

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day.....windy, but beautiful! I just love it when the air gets crisp and you can hear the leaves rustling underneath your feet!

I love being able to put on sweatshirts and jackets and scarves and all of that cool weather gear. We took the dogs out for a walk earlier in the morning and they were so giddy to be out in cooler weather.....in case you don't know this....basset hounds DETEST the heat, but they can walk and walk and walk when it cools off.

Once their walk was finished we headed out to eat a little Mexican food and have a margarita. Much to our surprise the library was having their annual "Friends of the Libraries" booksale at Remingtons. If you are a local this is going on through Sunday. On Saturday the books will be half price and I think they said on Sunday it was a bag of books for $1....how awesome is that?! Nothing like a cocktail to make you loosen up your purse strings......I think we spent about $50 yesterday and we weren't even planning on going.....go figure!

I'm still plugging away on the "going in circles" rug that I started back here. It's been so much fun to work on. The hooking is easy and mindless once I figure out what colors to put where. I was hoping to do this all from scraps, but I realized I really didn't have any bright colored scraps and I want it to be a bright and happy rug, so I have had to dye some of the bright colors that I've been hooking in recently.

Yesterday I also received this award

What a nice surprise! Thanks Kathy!

I'll try to post even more fall pictures in the days to come!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Random photos

I don't have much to say today......other than I have some random photos to share that make me smile.

I love this bright fall leaf on top of the more dead leaves....it gives me hope. These jubulient berries!
A nice cozy walk at Sequiota park

Ferns growing out of rock...another picture of hope.

Trickling waters

Funky leaves....I love the veining on these....some come out from the center of the leaf like we expect them to, but a lot of them don't.

Things that need my attention....projects to finish. We have a wonderful dutch door that is between our kitchen and utility room. When we moved into the house the people who were here before us painted latex paint over oil paint....now I'm in the process of having to STRIP the paint......for the past 10 years I've just touched it up and touched it up, but now with the kitchen finished I've decided I'm going to DO IT RIGHT.....it's such a pain. I have the door and all of the cabinets in the utility room to work on.....I'm thinking I should be finished in a month?

A cute little Halloween design from Betty.....hooked and bound...just needs to be made into a pillow. I love oranges and purples together.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Craft Show road trip

Sunday I went with some of my friends to War Eagle, Arkansas to a few craft shows.

We left EARLY in the morning so we wouldn't have to wait in a long line to get into the craft show and this is the parking lot when we got there. It was a crisp 40-ish degrees when we arrived and you could see fog settled into the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

War Eagle is a really large craft show......juried artisans on one side of the bridge and then an assortment of artisans, craftsmen and a lot of made in China crap-ola on the other side of the bridge. You have to be more careful once you cross the bridge to the non-juried side.

Here are a few pictures taken when I was standing on the bridge...it's a really beautiful setting.

I bought a darling Christmas tree necklace for someone on the juried side of the bridge and that was my only purchase the entire day.....I even surprised myself.

We did get a chance to see Vicki Hardcastle in her booth. Lots of wonderful needlefelted pins, rug hooking patterns and funky stuffed pumpkins and creatures.

Here she is with one of her mixed media pieces....the sun's face is needle felted and the rest is hooked. Such TALENT!!!

While we were at War Eagle, the 4 of us shared a bloomin' onion. If we were low on grease when we got there, we weren't after having that!
We left War Eagle and headed out to another craft show in Bella Vista. When we got there, Reba said it didn't look the same as last time. After shopping for a bit we thought it was different too.....not many crafts....mainly lots of knock-off bags/purses and sunglasses.....LOTS of IMPORTS.....blech! But, on the way out we were able to get someone to snap a picture of us.
Did you notice how happy we all look? Well, that was before THIS happened......

.....yup.....flat tire.....on the interstate.....3 women.....1 teenager.....1 blessed teenager who carries her parent's AARP roadside assistance card.....thank goodness for that and the nice man who came out and fixed the flat, put on a donut and got us on our way.

We then found our way to this wonderful Mexican restaurant and all had a margarita (Haylee had a virgin strawberry daquiri) and some really wonderful food.....why can't we have one of these in Springfield?

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Wednesday night hooking

Is your bag of worms as big as you are?.........Kelly's is getting pretty close!!!! However, she's putting them to good use in this little rug...Wednesday night was such huge fun......so many hookers....so many projects.....so many ideas!!!

This is the rug that Janette is working on......it's her VERY FIRST piece....I think she is doing an awesome job!!!

Katie is working on this little pumpkin guy from Maria Barton. I love her whimsical colors that she chooses for her pieces. Janette's rug above is from Maria as well.

This is a rug that another one of our newer hookers, Debbie, is working on. The pattern is from Rhonda Manley. Debbie is a color chooser FEE-NOM!!!! You'd never know that this was just her 3rd piece that she's hooked.....she HAS IT!
I love the eyes on her cat!Speaking of cats.....here is one that Marsha is working on. She went to a mini-workshop at Nola's this past week....can't wait to see this finished into the little hanger that it will be!
And speaking of Nola....here is a ladybug purse that either Lauren or Caroline is working on....I can't remember which one was working on this one. It hs the funkiest wools and fabrics in it!

Here is a close up of one of the leaves in progress....the veining looks like chenille yarn.This is a cat rug that Rita D. is hooking on.....yummy and old. I think the pattern is from Rhonda. We are so blessed in this area to have access to so many wonderful designers!
Here is a close up....A great little acorn mat....I think Joan hooked this?
Vicki just started a Santa stocking.....How cute!


Here is a Santa that Sheri is hooking.....this is the one that is going to get the tea bag treatment that she has been talking about on Wool Snippets.

This is Rita P.'s cat that she hooked at Nola's mini-workshop.....love the green eyes!
Yes,,,,,another project from Nola's. JoLynn is working on this one.....the crows are hooked with different things like chenille and yarn I believe.
Rita P. did this one at Nola's mini-workshop as well. Crocheted trim made from eyelash yarn and the crow and pumpkin are chenille yarn....see the crow's little button eye? CUTE!

Gobs of fun, gobs of food and gobs of inspiration!!!

Oh yeah....last but not least....here is the recipe for Sheri's

Prosciutto Wagon Wheels
1 box (2sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed
2/3 C. Dijon mustard divided ( I didn’t measure, I just spooned it on with the back of a spoon)
3/4 pound prosciutto, very thinly sliced, divided (Wal Mart carries it: need 5-6 pkgs.) But you could just use thin deli sliced ham also!
2 C. shredded provolone, divided (I used Seargento Mozzarella and provolone blend already shredded in bag)
As you can see from above, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly…
Preheat oven to 425. Grease lg. Baking sheet. I sprayed w/Pam. Working with 1 sheet of the puff pastry, keeping remaining sheet wrapped and cold, roll out on lightly floured surface to 14" square. Brush with thin layer of mustard. This is where I just used the back of a spoon!
Cover with half of the ham slices, slightly overlapping and leaving ½ inch border around edges.
Sprinkle with 1C. cheese. Roll pastry tightly. Pinch seams to seal. (I wet the edges before pinching together). Repeat with remaining pastry sheet. Place closed side down and cut with a serrated knife into ½ inch pieces, placing 1 inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 min. or until golden brown.
From the book "Colorado Collage" from the Junior League of Denver 1995

New Poll

Some of the girls here in Springfield, Missouri are trying to organize our ideas for a hook-in for the future.
We are curious as to why people go to hook-ins............or perhaps a better way to ask is "what are you looking for" in a hook-in?
Do you go to hook, socialize, get ideas, shop for wool, shop for patterns......I know that it is all of these, but what is your PRIMARY goal when you go to a hook-in?

Also, what about the venue? I like a venue with good lighting, clean, inspiring....we have plenty of time to plan....now we just need your input.

Also, what about food and admission price. Would you rather forgo food and keep the admission price low or would you rather pay a bit more and have lunch included.....I know....so many questions.

Thanks for taking time to leave comments and take the poll as well.