Your favorite color

What is your favorite color?

Here lately I find that I've been a bit obsessed with these red/orange colors....perhaps it's the season that we are in.

Colors like:

CLEMENTINE

This is one of my favorite treats!!! I love how they are such a snacky orange....that skins just peels right off and NO SEEDS!!! Love them!!!

BRILLIANT MAPLE

The leaves here in Missouri hit their peak last week and now are falling off the trees by the thousands. We are supposed to have warm weather this weekend, so I'm hoping to spend the day outside raking and playing in the sunshine.

Brilliant maple leaf
swirling in a gust of wind
waves goodbye to fall.
~ haiku by Tammy Burks~

BITTERSWEET

Bittersweet is harder and harder to find these days around here. We have a bittersweet vine in our yard, but it doesn't have the "companion" to make it produce berries.....we really need to work on finding it a mate don't you think?

Oranges are such a fun color, but at the same time they are very earthy and organic.

So what does your favorite color say about you?

What Your Favorite Color Orange Says About You:

Joyful --- Enthusiastic --- Optimistic Outgoing --- Accepting --- Confident Loud --- Unruly --- Impulsive

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Truly blessed

Designed and hooked by Debe McGuire

Today I'm feeling truly blessed.......

I received two sympathy cards for Truvy....yes, things are getting easier, but I still have a hard time walking Cleopatra with my husband......I was always the one who walked Truvy and when we all walk together I feel especially lonely whether I'm the one walking Cleo or not.

For those of you who sent cards that I received today...thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping us in your thoughts. You know who you are and I'm so touched that you have reached out to me and my family.

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Blessed by my friend Patti who has been so wonderful to walk Lily and Belle with Cleo and me every afternoon and the wonderful friends that we've made in her neighborhood. A girl (okay...everyone is a girl to me even if they are a mom!) Jennifer, and her daughter Tatum who is not quite 2 years old but always comes out to the front yard to give the dogs a pet and a hug. Tatum calls Cleo "Chloe" but I think that is very good for an adorable little girl who is not even 2. She is like a total cherub and I hope to have a picture of her with the dogs on here one of these days. She looks a lot like this little cupid.

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Blessed by Sarah who sent me the nicest note about how much she loved the custom wool that I dyed for her quilt that she is making.

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Blessed by the girls in my hooking group who really make me smile.

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Blessed to have met Debe that hooked the rug at the top of my page...just to hear her wonderful southern voice is a joy unto itself.

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Blessed to have so many of you tuning in to hear what is going on in my life.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

What's on eBay this Monday night

Tonight I've put my FLIRTY SNOWGIRL pillow on eBay.......if I could be a snowgirl this is how I'd be.....soft fuzzy polka dot hat with a glittery brim on it....oh yeah, don't forget the red lipstick!

To get to the auction just click here.

Last night a few of us got together to hook at Renee's house....yummy stuffed shell pasta, Searsport cole slaw, shrimp dip, cranberry bliss and chocolate martinis.......YUM!!! What's not to love?!!

Here is a little preview of a new piece I started last night.....

.....and here is a picture of Cleopatra with her walking buddies, Lily and Belle. Lily is the smallest blonde (Yorki-Chon) and Belle is the black and white girl (Shih Tzu-Chon).....I wish I had a video of them giving Cleopatra kisses....it is absolutely a hoot!!!
Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Creative co-workers

I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by creative people!

My co-worker and eBay store partner, Renee, taught one of our co-workers to hook about a year or so ago and she took to it like a duck to water. She was wanting to make a rug for her sister, but her sister is not into primitive or country decorating so she found a modern painting on the internet and turned it into a rug.

Isn't this just the coolest?!
This was hooked by Joni Hudgings of Fair Grove, Missouri using scraps of hand-dyed wools from myself and Renee.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Thanksgiving crafts

make this wreath here



I don't know if I've said on here just how much I love Thanksgiving. It really is the perfect holiday....no buying....no stress....just some cooking and sitting around with family and friends being thankful.






That being said, I kind of have a thing for turkeys.






The other day while perusing the net I found this knitted turkey dishcloth that I've started knitting with the help of my friend Patti.
Patti has shown me how to do continental knitting and I must say that it is sooooo wonderful!!
I wish I was one of those psycho knitters who could knit up one for everyone who was going to be at Thanksgiving with me, but I know that is not going to happen....perhaps I could possibly make 2....one for me and then maybe have a drawing for one of my guests....that would be kind of fun!!


If you want the free instructions for this project click here.

I'm also working on another knitted project using left-over wool worms from my hooking....I REALLY hope to have it finished this weekend and have pictures to share with you.

Don't worry....I haven't stopped hooking....I have new pictures that I will share with you tomorrow!

Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

New Look & New Items

Yes, I know.... I have a new look here at the old blog!

Just thought I needed to make my page look a little more fall-ish and also help celebrate the colors of Thanksgiving.

I've even changed my banner to feature a close-up of my vintage turkey rug that I hooked a few years back.

This week on eBay I'm selling off a few of my smaller pieces to make room for all of my new creations....hey, a girl can't keep EVERYTHING!

Okay...exception (fabulous shoes)!

Not to mention there is the much anticipated kitchen remodeling project that I'm squirreling away my pennies for!!

I hooked both of these rugs a few years ago and they have brought me much joy, but now it is time to release them to bring joy to someone else....that is the great thing about eBay!

If you are interested in them just click on the picture and it will take you right to the auction.

Also, Here is one of those eBay widgets with things that I think are pretty neato!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Monday night auctions

I'm going to try and get in the habit of listing new items for my eBay store on Monday nights.

Take a look and see what is ending this evening.

This tombstone shaped kitty cat rug....perfect for a chair.....

Also this vintage kitten sewing/jewelry box.

My theme for the items I'm listing tonight will be Christmas....yes, I know it will be here before we know it!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

That "extra" hour

"Quarter after Twelve" from Eggman Studios

That "extra" hour......what are you going to do with it?

It's "Only Time" so do something beautiful with it.

Stuff with a twist

For some reason....maybe it's the crisp fall air or the fact that it gets dark earlier or maybe it's because I've been on vacation from work.....not sure.....okay, I digress.

I feel like dabbling......

hooking a bit,

knitting a bit,

drawing a bit,

sewing a bit,

cooking a bit,

decorating a bit.

I picked up a book last night at the bookstore on altered art....no, not the paper kind that I've seen so much of and love, but taking bits and pieces of different things and repurposing them.

Things that end up like this espresso family from Cat Bishop

or this Sieve Doll from Suzanna Scott at SushiPot Art Objects

And get a load of this Watch Dog from the Junkyard GypsyWhat makes me drawn to these things? I have no idea....they are odd and weird and just make you say "hmmmmmm"

I guess that's what I like....the hmmmmmmm part. It just makes me look at things around me differently and I like that new awareness.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Bits of goodness

Last night I was FINALLY able to get up to and hook with some of the girls.

For all of you who have been e-mailing me about "where is Dulcy".....well, she's been hooking and knitting up a storm! She's been having computer troubles so that's why she hasn't updated her blog recently.....she said a new computer is coming soon, so I'm sure she'll have lots to talk about once she's up and running again.

Here are some of the things she's been making....

A darling hooked purse.....

This wonderful hit and miss pumpkin rug.....(I just love that shot of turquoise in with the fall colors.....in the rug hooking world that is what we call "spark" or "poison"!!).....AND she's also started on this sweet rug of pennies from Anita White....

Rita was starting a new project last night.....she started hooking on Maria's "Little Drummer Boy".....I love the colors she's using and maybe next week I'll have some pictures of it to share with you.

Kelly was sewing binding onto this wonderful turkey rug that she has hooked as well as color planning for her next rug....."Magdelina's Crows" from Maria.

Patti had to leave early, but here is a picture of one of Maria's patterns that she has hooked and turned into a pillow....

And this is the rug that she started with teacher Pat Cross when she was at Searsport Rug Hooking in Maine. It's based on the painting that you see above the rug....a painting by her grandfather that was painted on a slate tile......so cool!!!

And what was I doing.....yes, actually hooking! I'm working on this rug called "Gentle Friends" from Briarwood Folk Art. I generally hook in the faces first, but I'm saving his face for last I think.

By the way, Kelly brought me the beautiful flowers that you see at the top and we all shared pet stories and a few tears were shed....what a great bunch of women that I am blessed to be surrounded by.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

The simple things

Hint....this is better read with today's music from Madonna on the left...click on it and you can hear music while you read.

I've realized that it's the simple things in life that make me happy.......

...an early morning game of ball with Cleopatra.....sometimes she brings the ball back to be thrown again and sometimes she just likes to be chased.....this morning she wanted to play chase!!!

Finishing up an experimental knitting project that I started months ago....

Just tooling around town with a friend and running across Halloween sights such as this....

So now I started thinking....these are not THINGS....these are moments.....

Go forth and cherish simple moments,

Tammy

Works in progress

I've been keeping busy....a few things in the works that will be on eBay in the upcoming weeks.

Of course these are just the teaser photos :)

I've been knitting.....

...prodding.....

....and hooking.....

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy