Catching up!

I haven't been on here for...it seems like....DAYS!!!

However, today I've got GOBS of pictures to share with you.

Fair entries are due for the Ozark Empire Fair and here are some of the pieces I'm entering this year. (I think if you click on the pictures they might enlarge for you) "Big Truvy" is finally finished......this is one of the reasons I haven't blogged in a while. I've been feverishly sewing on the binding to her rug....NOT my favorite part of rug hooking! As a matter of fact, I got it completely finished this morning at about 10am....nothing like a little procrastination now is there?

This "Santa and Friend" rug is probably my largest rug that I'm entering. I hooked it in a class this past winter with Anita White as my teacher. The pattern is available from Rhonda Manley of Black Sheep Wool Designs. If you look at the background of the rug you can see that there are holly leaves hooked into the background. This was one of those synergistic things that happen at rug hooking camps. I don't like hooking "plain" backgrounds and was trying to think of something that would make it more fun to hook, but knew I needed something "simple" that wouldn't detract from the subject. I honestly think I was making Renee and Vicki crazy just yacking and yacking and yacking (oh yeah...did I mention they came up with this at 11pm....maybe TILT is not the best thing for me to drink in the evenings.....not to mention that I found it has 384 calories!!!)
This is a rug called "Flint Hills Sheep" from Judy Cripps of Rustic Rugs. The sheep is prodded. (Have I mentioned how much I love to prod?!) I like to enter a few items that are not completely hooked....just to give others an idea of options within rug hooking.
And lastly is this snowgirl pillow that has sparkles and needle felted nose and lips.....one of my experimental pieces.

I had a few other pieces I wanted to enter, but they are hanging at Simply Fibers, so I think I'll just save those to enter next year.

One of the other things that has been keeping me busy is Pilates after work. My instructor is my husband's good friend and I helped him with his studio logo.

It's a beautiful place to work out....from the outside.....

...to the inside.

I hooked the rug that is on the back of the bench where we sit to take off our shoes and the vase coneflowers are from our garden.very colorful This is Ricky....the beta fish. I guess he's the studio mascot.

Oh yeah....and some of the equipment that we use to do Pilates.

The machines on the left are called "reformers" and the one on the right is the "cadillac".

On a sadder note....

Wednesay we attended a funeral for Kenny's aunt Joyce who was killed in a car accident last Friday, she was only 58. Kind of odd because she had been in poor health and they had only given her 2 months to live......in the end she was taken from us in an instant.....mixed blessing?

Kenny has been re-working some of the beds in the front yard and planting these wonderful caladiums.

While things in the back yard continue to grow and grow.....we've been so fortunate to have lots of rain this summer.....it really looks like April rather than the middle of July.

As always, the girls are always happy to have any visitors who might stop by. Wish you could have seen how fast their tails were wagging when I took this picture!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Process of creativity

Creativity.....what sparks our imagination? It's funny, really, the things you see that make you go.......YEAH BABY!!!

And under the search of PRHG on eBay....yes, I'm a member and this is a shameless plug for our group

I found this wonderful trivet made by Cathy of My Heartfelt Designs.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what Cathy makes!! So don't hesitate to visit her eBay store and take a look at the darling flowers she makes as well!

That got me thinking.....hey, I've got GOBS of those there worms just lying around in a big old bucket in my rug hooking room! Now, I've got big plans for you worms!!! A bag of you are going with me to work today and we'll see what I can dream up!!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Hungry!

Earlier this summer...or perhaps in the spring I posted this picture of my husband's Dutchman's Pipe vine. It grows up over a trellis and makes a beautiful arbor entry into our side yard.

However.....he came in a couple of days ago holding one of these......

who has been eating like this......

that's a hungry little caterpillar....okay...there are GOBS of them....a hungry group!!! They must think they are at a Las Vegas buffet the way they are gorging themselves!!!

But, I guess it takes a lot of energy to go from a little black caterpillar to a pipevine swallowtail butterfly.

We had a discussion about whether to spray the vine and get rid of the caterpillars and save the vine, but decided to just let them chow down and pray that we have gobs of beautiful butterflies later on in the season. Score one for beauty!
Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Where I've been lately

Hey,

Just checking in!!! Sorry I've been absent the past few days....I've been trying to spend more time here

at the Meyer Fitness Center

on this

so that when I go here

I can hopefully be looking fit and trim in my bikini

I hope to be back soon to talk more about rug hooking, dyeing wool and other creative pursuits.....however, for now I'm working on ME.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Hand-stitched ponytail holders

I've talked on here about doing things "other" than rug hooking.

Well, here is one of the things I've been making.

These little wool penny ponytail holders.

They are fun and easy to make and came from the Heartfelt book that I purchased a while back.

You can find a couple them in my eBay store and I hope to have some in my Etsy store in the near future.

Here are some pictures from this mornings garden and I've switched my music to Tina Turner....a strong woman!

Texas Star hibiscus.....it's hardy and should come back every year.

Globe thistlesCanna leafDaylilyCandy lilies
Daylily Slapstick

Big Truvy....why are you guys bugging me? I'm trying to rest!


Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

More wools being added at Etsy

Here's a little tip for you.....I've been dyeing for years and just thought about this the other day......can you say "Duh"!!!

If you'll cover your dye pots with lids or aluminum foil your house won't heat up nearly as much.....like I said "Duh"....don't know why it took me years to think of that! These wools below came out of the dye PANS rather than pots....yes, more spot dyed wools....available only at my Etsy store!!!

Click HERE to get to my new Etsy store! Or up in the left hand corner here on my blog site click on the Etsy store link. I hope to be adding more items in the near future. I love the Etsy store because it really promotes hand-made items!!

The colors above are: FOREST BLEND, ASH BLUE, MOULIN ROUGE & GREAT GRAPES.

Here is a picture of another wool I dyed to use on the background of the Truvy rug.

Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

Yes, I'm still hooking...

.....in case any of you were wondering.

Big Truvy has been on the back burner for a while now.....I have a problem with hooking things like this.....I love, love, loved working on her eyes and face, but once that was done, the rest is just not very challenging. Last night I got her back hooked in....YAY! I was going to then move on to her hind leg and her other front paw, but didn't have those wools with me last night at the store. (click on pictures to enlarge if you wish)

Here is a close up of her nose....I've hooked this with wool as well as some wool from a paisley scarf and a little touch of sparkle (from a little girls leotards) to make her nose look wet. How fun!


Here is a close up of one of her eyes....when working on animals....I always hook the eyes first....then they seem to speak to you as you work on the rest of the rug.

Can't you just see those sad eyes pleading me to finish her up?

Her feet have been a challenge and I've included many odd colors of dusty purple and a pale turquoise.


So, since I didn't have the wools to work on the rest of the Truvy rug, I started this adorable pattern from Maria Barton, called "Lazy Sheep". A nice restful rug to work on....not nearly as much thinking on this one...now that I've picked out my color palette, it should be just hook, hook, hook!!! I like that break every now and then.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Hurray for the Red, White and Blue!

Just got a call from my husband, Kenny: "oh man, I sooooo wish I had the camera with me!"

me: "why?"

him: "I'm on my way to the gym and on Bennett street they are getting ready to have a 4th of July parade and it is soooooo totally blogworthy! Little kids with their bicycles decorated, older people in red, white and blue top hats....a little girl with sparkles on her baton! It's sooo cool!"

Hmmmmm.....I see another digital camera in our future.

Funny, since I've started this blog we've had a new word added to our language.....BLOGWORTHY....it makes us look at things in a whole new light....little things that maybe we didn't always notice....things of beauty...we are always on the lookout for them now!

This is such a beautiful thing!

Speaking of beautiful things...here are few "4th of July" related pictures that I found this morning that I think are wonderful.

Celebrating our nation

our state

our community

Go forth and celebrate,

Tammy

A Sunday full of good things!

This has really been a Sunday full of good things!!!

Sleeping in late and listening to the rain.

Doing a bit of wool dyeing.

Hanging out at Borders Bookstore with my husband......

...and finding cool books like

...and....

.....and having a delicious cafe mocha.

Driving out to the xeriscape garden....

...and seeing baby bunnies munching on leaves.
Having dinner at Panera downtown.
Walking the dogs and chasing rabbits on the Galloway Trail until they come home and pass out.

Yes, it truly has been a day chock full of GOOD THINGS!!!