Dragonfly Afternoon~ beginning of a record breaking series of fingertip ...

A wonderful June afternoon for lazing away in the pool. After the 45 th landing my dh went in to get our Flip Cam to capture what was to become a fantastic series of fingertip landings. We got to 101 in just a little over an hour. We even had them landing on the camera, and his fingertip as well. I uploaded 4 videos at You Tube that show us on the way to 101!   A friend asked me just yesterday if I was trying to say this is mystical.  The "magic" we have in our lives are mostly explainable in simpler ways. We are a part of these dragonflies environment, and we never try to capture them. So we don't pose a threat. Still looking directly at them is likely to cause them to liftoff.  Do you consider it mystical? After 101 landings in one afternoon, I'll just say whatever it is~ I feel blessed by this miracle.

Orange or Purple? What will you see the next time I post?

April ordered wool from Dorr Mills so I got some directly from her. Waiting for it to arrive has been a challenge!
I came home with 7 yards of wool today, so after the supper dishes are cleared away, I'll be getting out the dye pots and jars. Secondary colors have to be created before tertiary ones. Now in all honesty, the formulas are written for all of them, but the wonder of what will emerge is strong! The green was so muted considering the colors for blue and  yellow. Will orange and purple be muted wonderful tones that I'll love to use? Truthfully, never met a tone of purple that wasn't grand, but  oranges are a whole different story.

One of the things that palette dyeing is revealing to me is my preference for the cool side of the color wheel where luscious blues, greens, and purples reside. Yet, if you had asked, my guess might have been that the warm colors were what I used...reds, pumpkins, delightful tones of yellow. Life is full of surprises.  If I get some wool finished tonight, my  question to you will be answered at the next posting. I already know what color will be coming from the dye pot, but not the shades. So until later... will it be orange or purple?

A wonderful day with friends ~ Kirby First Annual Hookin :)

I'll post some pictures later, and add some to this post, others for an online rug show. It was a great day with lots of participants, super vendors, lunch from Jason's deli delivered to us, and a double rug show. Loved the rugs that won viewers' choice, and got a lot of whipping done on the edge of my latest rug to finish hooking. It is a new design by Maria Barton, Star Rugs, and she did the color planning for it. A great place to practice some special "stitches" beading, chicken eye, and herringbone. This one will be a keeper for the family. :)  Whipping is never one of my favorite parts of completing a rug, but with a day of conversation the needle just about seemed to be working on its own. This was my first rug to finish using verigated yarn, but certainly won't be the last.

Lurie, April, Jan and lots of other folks worked hard to make this day a success. It didn't seem like a "first" as everything rolled smoothly through the day. I was lucky enough to win a potted plant and had no trouble choosing...a pot with a dragonfly was waiting there for me! Thanks to everyone who put their hand to making this such a great day. Can't wait until the next one. :)

Excited to have created a treasury! at Etsy

I just created a treasury at Etsy which shares some of the work from teametsyfolk. The team shops are listed on http://team.etsy.com/profilest/folk.shtml    Our team has lots of other artists, both inside and outside the US.   Hope you will check out the treasury at: 

http://team.etsy.com/profilest/folk.shtml

Grateful for a new version of Robin Hood

We don't all love new novel things, but I certainly do. Dh and I went to see Robin Hood yesterday. It was a prequel to the story he and I remembered watching with Richard Greene and the merry men of  Sherwood Forest. In fact, it ends right there at the beginning of the Sherwood Forest part...except for the Richard Greene part.(Actor who portrayed Robin in the tv series that aired during the 50s.)

Anyway, this movie was exciting, funny in the right places, great battle scenes, and well I cried real tears at least 3 times during the movie. These were the heart stirring tears of a warrior princess filled with the joy of battle. Valkyrie riding... Eowyn slaying the Nazgul.." to fight to the death for that which we love ~ in a cause surely hopeless ~ for that which you love" tears. But I don't want to spoil a bit of the excitement, even accidently.

We also loved "Robin and Marian" a wonderful movie about an aging Sheriff, Robin and Marian. The ending of that movie brought tears as well. Robin and Marian were buried where the arrow he shot into the air landed. It was so romantic... much more so than the portion of their daily inneractions. :) If you get a chance to see either of these fine films I hope you find them just as enjoyable!

Witch Rug "October" currently Ebay Auction with no reserve.

October rug is currently available in an auction on Ebay. It is listed without a reserve. This rug has been featured several times in Treasuries at Etsy. It is pictured as a hooked sample on the website where the pattern is available. It includes several features that might make it attractive to Wiccan or Pagan buyers. The witch is shown "drawing down the moon" and there is a camouflage art triple moon in the shadow she casts. If you are familiar with the folk art of Lori Brechlin, Notforgotten Farm, you may have viewed this rug already in my Etsy Shop or on the sidebar of this blog.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200480499521&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Click on the Link under the photo to go directly to the Ebay Auction.

An Early Morning Brought Extra Time :)

These days my nights sometimes end before the alarm is set to wake me. Might as well get up and do something, cause sleep usually is finished for the night. So after giving my body a chance to fall back asleep, I got up to do the photo editing I'd planned to do yesterday.

I'll start off with our last photo - taken of the class by our neighbor from Kris Miller's class, Sally. She patiently took a couple of photos with each camera passed her direction, so that was impressive.  Patijane and Ginger are in the backrow at the left. I didn't learn everyone's face/name so I'll just say there were some extremely talented ladies. Marsh in blue floral top was working on an exquisite rug with bird and flowers. It was filled with light and color unlike so many of the rest of us who work primitively. It will be a beauty when it is finished.

By the end of camp we felt like we had friends for a lifetime. That friendship had started online, because Kelley gathered all of us into an online group called An American Primitive Gathering. :) We wished she could be there with us too. We've visited online for nearly 2 years now, our anniversary is coming in August, and so we knew each other before we met face to face. In fact, as I was walking to the front door of the hotel to register, Ginger called me by name! She and Patijane helped me bring my things in(how embarassing yet delightful) my car was packed in its usual can't live without this, this, and this fashion. Had even brought a sewing machine along to finish some small items. :) Did actually use it, and get them done, but ever so much of the rest could have stayed home!

I'll begin sharing some of our adventures at camp in the next few posts. If you read Patijane's or Ginger's blogs they did a great job already. But as I said earlier, my camera didn't even get unpacked for a few days after returning. Funny how the drive home always seems shorter, but I was tired by the time I arrived and looking forward to seeing my dh. I did have one last dipped cone at Dairy Queen on the way home. Shhhh don't tell my doctor! ;)

Grateful every day for our family!

One of our greatest blessings is that our daughter and her family live within minutes of us. This weekend has been hot and muggy. So they came to swim and relax in the pool, yesterday and again today. Little twirly girls spend lots of time on tippy toes, and this picture is just too dear not to share!

I still need to upload pictures of Star of TX rug camp at Tyler and tell about the great time I shared with Maria, Patijane and Ginger. They are all great gals and we had a ball! Had thought to work on them this afternoon, hope you'll understand why I chose the pool instead.

Green for TX Palette - Hill Country Herb Garden :)

The green dye was quite a surprise to me. You make the dye formula by combining halves of the yellow and blue dye formulas. Both of them were fairly vibrant color swatches, so the sage like quality of this set was a delightful surprise. I love mottled wool, as to me, it hooks into a more organic meaning living rather than mechanical rug. These dyes contain acids, I wear gloves and a respirator while processing the strips, so definitely not organic as in pure and unchemical. But the final product is no different from that in a blazer, just that getting it there is a rather time consuming process.
The pale tones will be great for a slight green highlight or for new leaves.