Barn Sale this weekend

Well, I haven't written for a few days because we've been in barn sale hell. You can see why if you look at the pictures. Part of being a military family is that you have to "unload" every so often because we are only allowed a certain amount of weight per move. Well, when we moved here we thought we might be here to stay. But, since my husband was recently promoted we have now stay in for at least another three years and that means another move. So, it all has to go.
Now, I know what your thinking. We could be on the show hoarders and I don't think I can disagree with you. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. The only redeeming thing to come out of this is that we have put together one of the most organized sales I've ever done. Everything is marked and labeled and cleaned. It feels so good to have it all ready to go. So, barn salers, if you are reading this and are local, come on over, Friday and Saturday from 8-3.

I don't usually post really personal photos because...........well, I just don't, but it is senior photo time and we had a wonderful photographer named Lori Hickman come over the other day to take photos of my son. Here are a couple of the more humorous ones she snapped that I just had to share. My son is.............a ham.....to say the least and we have very few serious photos of him. Lori did manage to get some though. If you are local and want a very reasonable photographer who will come right to your house, look her up on facebook.

Until next time.........

A couple things to share....

I was just sitting here waiting until 4:00 to go to the mall. Have to finish getting a couple things for my son before school on Tuesday...............YAY!!!! He's bored and I'm ready to go crazy with him sleeping in and basically being a slacker. Love you Jeremy, but it's time for school to start. Anyway, thought I'd add a couple more pictures. We had planted some Hydrangea bushes in the front of the house and they really have produced this year. We usually pick a bunch to dry for bouquets, but Mom wanted to try to make a wreath. So she did! As they dry she will have to fill in but it looks gorgeous. When it's all dried, I'll take a photo of it. For hydrangeas you don't have to do anything special, just pick them and either put them in a basket, vase, grapevine wreath, or you an hang them in bunches and they dry nicely on their own. And, how beautiful they are!! Don't you love the picture of the dogs watching Mom. She is their pack leader!!
Until next time.....

NY State Fair Photos

I just wanted to share some neat photos from the State Fair.
First, that apple is a painting. I just had to take a picture of it. It looks like a photograph, it was just beautiful.
Next, I just love the animals at the fair. Our state fair is huge and we have to walk around each year and look at every single breed of animal. I'm partial to the horses and sheep, but these goats just cracked me up. Honestly, the goat with no ear!! Every year they just make me laugh.
Next, looks like mom got her hands on those chicks and dyed them!!! Of course anything that had to do with those colors we were drawn to. The ladies in the wool building dye their wool roving with kool aid and they get the most beautiful colors. We are going to give that a try!!
We had a great time!!
Until next time.......

Wedding Rug.....

Mom asked me to design a rug for a wedding she is attending in October. I had some ideas floating around but wanted to use pennsylvania dutch frakturs as my inspiration. Well, I drew out about 4 different ideas and this is the one she chose. I was secretly hoping she would as it was also my favorite. I don't really design with color in mind, I leave that to Mom and although she does ask my opinion, she kind of has her own ideas. Well, this is just beautiful!!! When she is hooking and it takes my breath away, I know "we done good". This is a big one at 24 x 30 inches and I'm sure the bride and groom will be thrilled. More stuff to come in the next few days so keep checking back.
Until next time..........

We are our own worst critics, but we thought we'd enter three rugs in the NY State Fair in hopes of being "accepted". We knew we could enter up to five rugs but when we got there we found that they had to be in different sections throughout the "Rug" class. So we entered in "commercial design", "by the Artist" and "traditional" hooking. Well, we were pleasantly suprised to not only be accepted but to win three Blue ribbons. In fact, the "Goin to the Fair" rug was the overall rug class, sponsered by the Pearl McGown Rug Guild. The rug was front and center as you walked in the building with all the "best in show" items. We were very honored. I had designed it specially for the fair and worried a bit that it was too cheesy, but it was very folky and pretty and they loved it.
The fair folks also asked Mom to demonstrate rug hooking, so as she sat and hooked for four hours I explained the three mediums we deal with: rug hooking, punch needle and wool applique. I had a tri fold board and had three finished items done up from my Ezzies Hat pattern. It was very well received and we met alot of nice people.
After our demonstration, we proceeded to eat our way through the fair......no point counting. The one thing we stopped short of was the big kahuna burger, a burger on a glazed donut. Mom wanted to give it a try but I just couldn't do it. Gross! So, we made up for it with a bloomin' onion, dont you just love the look on her face....pure joy!!
I have alot of neat pictures from the fair, so keep checking back and if you get a chance to go to the NY State Fair be sure to go in the Arts and Home building and see our Rugs.
Until next time....

Phew......

Oh my goodness, there are so many things to share, I justt don't know where to start. I think I better spread it out over a few blogs or you'll be reading alot. First, I was suppose to share a picture of the floss I tried dyeing. So, those are the pics you see. Thanks to several of you I tried RIT, and used a spray bottle as I wanted a variegated look. I layed a bunch of skeins out, sprayed them, rinsed them, hung them up, let them dry and them wound them around the floss cards you see. As I mentioned before, I really did not want to like this, because it is very labor intensive, but, alas, oh my god, the look is just fabulous and oh so primitive. Click on the close up of Ezzies hat to see how wonderful the "dirty linen" floss looks. So, I have decided to hand dye floss for my kits and only for my website. I'm a glutton for punishment, but the look is just too great not to share.
Mom and I have had a very busy few days and I only now am able to sit and catch up on computer time. Check back tomorrow for our news about the NY State Fair and then the Craft fair we did this weekend.
Until next time......

More new things...

Busy, busy, busy, trying to get ready for the Clayton Craft show next week and our demo at the NY State Fair on Thursday. (we may have exciting news about this, but I'll hold off on that for now).
I wanted to thank some of you for your suggestions regarding dyeing thread and tell you I have had outstanding results. I have about 140 skeins drying right now on an old drying rack and will show you the results tomorrow. I am loving the result of it punched and truthfully, was hoping I woudln't love it, because man is it painstaking. It's very tedious. But, sadly, I am punching my "Ezzies Hat" pattern right now and "OMG" it's fabulous. I overdyed Ecru with tan RIT, which I am calling "dirty linen" and using it for my background. It's so grungy. So, now I am trying to decided if I want to dye my own thread for my punch kits. Hmmm!
Above you can see three of our hooked rug patterns that I turned into penny rug or wool applique patterns. They are fun to make and will be available on ebay and my website in the next couple days. I am writing them up right now. You can also see my "Ezzies Hat" hooked rug pattern all finished. Very primitive and drab!!
Also, that gorgeous rug at the top is the most recent rug Mom just finished. She's a hooking machine, but has been working on this one for some time on and off as she did it with a four, six and eight cuts. It is based on a Charles Wysocki print. Absolutely stunning!!
Better get back to work........Until next time.......