Life in the Ozarks

Yesterday I spent part of my morning and afternoon at our wonderful "Ozark Empire Fair". Full of rides and carnival games.I went to join our group..."The Ozark Rug Hookers"...to demonstrate rug hooking. This is a rug that Kathy Donaldson is working on of her two cats. Truly incredible! She has drawn this herself and I think she started this project with teacher Elizabeth Black.My friend Patti and I took time to walk around and look at the animals that people have brought to show and compete against one another.

There were lots of poultry......Patti and I decided that if we were chickens this one below would be her....totally classy!

And this one would be me now......and this one would be me when I'm older....We loved the color and design of the feathers of this one.
....and also the color of the feathers of this one....So many chickens and all so unique!
For those of you who have never been to a county fair I do want to stress that the people who bring their animals to show and compete take VERY good care of their animals.

They groom them for competition..........and even sleep with them in the cattle barns.Now that is dedication.....it was probably 93 degrees outside yesterday when I took these pictures. A lot of the cattle had fans with misters blowing cool misty air on them.

The cows are always my favorites and during my childhood my cousins showed Guernsey dairy cattle and I spent a lot days hanging out in the cattle barn at the fair.

Here are some Guernsey cows....known for their rich cream!!!Can you see the big fans blowing air on them?What cute little calves....I think the girl we talked to said the one up towards the front of the picture was just 2 weeks old.There were other cows as well.....can you tell I kind of have a thing for them....they have those sweet big eyes!!!There were also lots of goats there yesterday as well. Funny little creatures who would bleat at us to be petted.We also saw a horse or mule.....not sure.....Sandy...if you happen to be reading this maybe you can clear up the mystery for us! (Sandy and her husband raise mules)Of course.....what rug hooker could not get a few pictures of sheep! Not many to take pictures of...the sheep were shown earlier in the week, but there were a couple of them in the "birthing" barn (air-conditioned) waiting to give birth.Here's one pretty mama to be...And this one had the prettiest fleece....so many colors in it!

I even had to get a close-up of it....so beautiful!

At the fair there are other competitions as well......produce, flowers, quilting, rug hooking and on and on.

There were beekeepers there.....one of those things I think I'd like to do someday. Very fascinating. Finally, the fair "experience" would not be the same for me without one of these!!! The famous "slawdog"....a wonderful concoction of hotdog topped with chili, onions and coleslaw....there is nothing tastier to this Ozarks girl. I've really been trying to eat healthy these past few weeks to get ready to lay by the pools in Las Vegas, but I did allow myself this one guilty pleasure yesterday....life is too short to miss out on these!!! Foot long no less!!!!I hope you've enjoyed my trip to the Ozark Empire Fair and I'll see you next week when I return from Vegas!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

P.S. My "Big Truvy" rug won grand champion!!!!

Why Oh Why......

......did I open that e-mail from "Anthropologie"?!

I love getting their e-mail catalog.....it's one of those things that makes me say to myself....."I think I could make something like that"!

I know this blog is "mainly" supposed to be about rug hooking, but it's really turned out to be just more of a peep into what makes me tick.

Go to the picture of this "Pigment Stitched Sweater Coat" and keep "zooming" in on it until you can see how the embellishing is done.....yeah, I think I have a red sweater coat that I could do this on!

Or this "Wildflower Cardigan".....I don't know how to crochet very well, but how cute is that? Almost makes me want to apply myself and learn how to do those crocheted flowers like Toni has been making! You could put this on a sweater, a felted bag....the possibilities are endless and just make my head spin!

My other favorite that has umpteen possibilities for re-creation is this "Hickory and Oak Cardigan". Felting, stitching, embroidery....WOW!

And this one is DARLING!!!! The "Good Bird Hat"....it's simply a bird stitched onto a hat...okay, I admit...that would be a stretch for me to be able to do something like that, but you could stitch flowers or something like that onto a straw hat or tote that you already had to give it an update!

Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

Just rambling

Wow! So many things to get done before vacation....but not so many that I can't spend a little bit of time having fun and finding quizzes like this.

I'd say mine is fairly accurate.....once I leave work and get out of my "scrubs".

Your Fashion Style is Urban

You've got a style all your own... and it works Not too trendy, not too freaky - you've got streetwear down to a science You always look cute and put together, but keep it comfortable too You're the type of girl that creates trends and inspires others to be funky

What Kind of Fashionable Woman Are You?

I got into a big discussion with Trisha the other day on e-mail about shoes. She was asking about Crocs....wanting to know if I wore them at work and if they were comfortable.

In case you've been living in a cave....these are what Crocs look like.

Yes, I know....they are comfortable ...I get it.....but I just can't get past how "ugly" they are. Girls are supposed to "love" shoes......eh hem....beautiful shoes....not these icky plastic things!

Oh well.....some things remain a mystery.

Go forth in beautiful shoes,

Tammy

YAY! It's the weekend!!!

Just 1 week and 1 day until I leave for Viva Las Vegas....can't wait!!!!

Going to go shopping for a few things (clothes) to take with me.....something totally club worthy.

I have my eye on this little number...how fun!

And since we're going to be spending a lot of time at the pool how BLING are these flip flops?!

Especially if I get a cool bracelet like this?!

Alright.....enough with the wishing!!! Here is the rug I've been working on.

It's called "Lazy Sheep" from Maria Barton at www.starrugcompany.com/ . I just love how it's turning out!

Yeah, I know....shocked ya!! You thought I was going to show you something wild and Vegas-y didn't you?!

It's a little warmer this morning than it has been, but still cool enough to get outside and take a few pictures of what is going on in the garden. Kenny has still been just gardening away as usual!

I tried to snap lots of pictures of all the wonderful colors. When I get back from vacation I hope to use these pictures as inspiration for colorful wools.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Today's featured hooker!

As most of you know I'm just one gal trying to do as much as I can with the time I'm given. Luckily I have some great customers who are always willing to share what they are doing, while I'm creating more things to share with you.

Today I'm featuring Karen Barbera of Sparks, Nevada.

Looks like a pretty place to live!

She has graciously sent me pictures of a trout rug that she is creating for her father as a Christmas gift. She is using some of my "Forest Blend" wool below the fish's eye as well as some of the "Blue Angel Plaid" in the gills. I asked her to give me a little info on her rug inspiration and here is what she had to say.

"I am making it for my dad for Christmas. He is an avid fisherman, we used to fish every summer out near Mammoth Lakes, CA at a place called Benton Crossing--some of my fondest memories when I was growing up. Now, Dad and my Uncle Larry go to a place out in the CO Rockies called Red Feather Lakes and fish there, and sometimes my cousin Jeff meets them there for some 'male bonding' for a week or so--while my mom, aunt and Jeff's wife go to Denver to shop! LOL. I try and make my gifts each year, and while I have done fairly well for the ladies in the family, not so easy for the guys. Then, it dawned on me one day, I could do a trout rug for my dad. One of the ladies in my hooking group had made one for her granddaughter, and I started thinking about doing one for Dad. And what I wanted to do was one of the 'classic' shots of a trout leaping out of the water. I was talking to one of the workers at the shop where my hooking group meets and she said she had seen something simular to that in an applique pattern. It was very close to what I wanted to do for Dad! So I picked it up and started playing with the pieces until I was happy with how it looked, taped all the pieces down (since I had traced the pieces onto tissue paper and pushed them around till I was happy with the comp.) and traced it over onto red dot. I like the way it came together with the cattails and the dragonflies. I can just see the trout jumping out of the lake where my dad stays." This is going to be a large rug that measures 26" x 30" when it is finished!
Hopefully all you blog readers can encourage her to share more pictures as she continues on her journey.

Karen is fortunate to belong to a rug hooking group that meets on Tuesday mornings at Workman's Nursery in Fallon, NV. She says, "It is an eclectic little place, half nursery, half quilting/hooking/craft/herb shop, with a workroom in the back where we meet for about 2-3 hours between 9 and noon. It is a fun group of ladies and we just get together and chit-chat while we work on our rugs."

I think it sounds divine!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

A day to DYE for!!!

I know I'm always saying this but.........

Wednesday was just the PERFECT day!!!

I got up early (5am) .....okay, not that early for me because that is the time I get up just about every day when I have to go to work, but on my DAY OFF ......it's early!!!

It was cool outside which is NOT typical for the end of July here in the Ozarks......it's usually so hot and muggy that you don't even want to move around. I got out my dye pans and just play, play, played!!! Here are my results. From left to right: Abalone Shell spot dyed, Spring Lettuce transitional dyed, Popsicle transitional dyed

OKAY. Some of you might be saying "what is transitional dyed"....it's a word I made up for when you move from one color to the next and they kind of blend together or transition into one another.
From left to right: Garden Fox transitional dyed, Evening Fox fantasy dyed(SOLD), Bailey Blue abrash dyed(SOLD)

From left to right: Peacock Feathers transitional dyed, Old Onions transitional dyed (SOLD), Scarlett O'Hara spot dyed

From left to right: Winding Road transitional dyed, Rambling Rose transitional dyed, Shadows transitional dyed (somehow this one has a big blotch of blue on one part of it...go figure)

Since I'm getting ready to go on vacation these will be headed to Simply Fibers tonight for the girls that show up for hooking tonight. If you see something you just "have to have" just drop me a line at

skiptomyewe@hotmail.com

These are $8 per quarter yard and are shown in 1 yard pieces. If you need close up pictures just drop me a line and I'll be happy to send better close up pictures for you.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

A relaxing day!

Good morning!

We had a great day yesterday!! The weather was PERFECT!!!

We headed to Ozark, Missouri to have lunch at "La Fiesta" on the square.

To celebrate the great weather and another perfect day we had margaritas....one of my favorites....this is what they call the MONSTER margarita......see why?

We then spent a good part of our day furniture shopping for our friend who is buying a house.....after much searching here are the final decisions. Did I mention it's a home from the 50's? I love the retro "Rat Pack" feel that this sofa invokes!Makes me think of Frank Sinatra and swilling martinis!

Then there is this chair....which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I love the shape and I love the fabric.

This sofa table.

Once we made it back home we took the girls for a nice long walk. Here they are hanging their heads out on the ride to the park.

Above is Cleopatra....below is Big Truvy.

Can you tell in the next picture that they are looking forward to getting out of the Blazer and going for their walk?
The park and all of the squirrels, children and other dogs are beckoning!!

Big Truvy likes to chase squirrels up their trees and then bark at them.....

and chase them from one tree to the next.

I was noticing how pretty some of the bark on the older trees is. The color and texture is just really superb!
It made me think of this reversible wool that I have in my Etsy store. It's a wonderful wool from the Rebecca Erb collection.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

A few good wools!

Today I also took a little time to dye some wools. Most of them are headed to Simply Fibers, but these three are making it to my eBay store.

The first one is OAK LEAVES, then COUNTRY GREEN PLAID, and MOULIN ROUGE. The COUNTRY GREEN PLAID is an as-is wool.

I also found a little bit more of a wool that I call CANDY APPLE STRIPE while I was re-organizing. Click on the candied apples to see what it looks like.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy