Basket weaving!

I attended a class at Praire Moon Primatives down in Wayne, OK this past week.  This is the new place...The awesome new place that Ginger and Danny have created that is a crafting haven for retreats and classes. The facility can handle 20 overnight guests and Ginger and family take care off all the work providing a comfortable environment and meals with snacks.  I have attended classes there before when she was doing the classes in her house and it was called Happy Trails.  A couple classes were with Frank Bielec (DIY Frank from Trading Spaces) doing Oxford Punch Rug Making.  First class we covered the ends of a wooden crate basket that Frank had made with hooked/punched pieces.  Second class we made a rug punch Snowman and Santa Claus.    Click the links and look them over!

The class I attended we made a woven basket and were given a choice of what style of basket we wanted to make!  I always said I wanted to learn how to do basket weaving when I retired and I don't think I will get much more retired then I am now!  Anyway…I attend a class with 14 others learning how to create these baskets from Pauline Asbury.  Pauline's  business is called Habasketry where she sells,teaches and exhibits at craft fairs, markets, libraries, galleries etc.  Pauline is what is known as a free style weaver and is part of a Basket Weaver's Guild.

My desk/table in the class.  Can you believe that the baskets start out a bunch reeds and wood pieces!  

Super glue of basket weavers!  A drop of this and a spray of that and it dries instantly and won't come apart!  I am going to have to find out where I can find some of this stuff!

After the rings are glued together they wrapped making a God's eye…the foundation of the piece.  

 Me working on my basket!  And yes it is purple…you would never know how much I like the color would you! ©Ginger Jackson

 Thought I would post several pictures on my basket for future reference when I make my next one.  I think I would like to make a larger maybe 12-14in Melon basket.

The done deal!  looking at the God's Eye inside and out!

Inside of the basket…same as the outside!

The braided basket handle really gives a finished look to the basket.  I was surprised at how easy it was to complete.  

A happy me with my finished basket!  I love taking classes where you go home with a finished project!  I seem to never get them done otherwise! ©Ginger Jackson

Ginger has a store for Oxford Punch and Hooking on site.  She carries just about any and every color of wool and yarn you could ever want and all the hoops, patterns etc that you could need to make your primitive projects.  Ginger and her Mother have made up samples of just about all the patterns they are carrying in the store.  

the check out counter in the Prairie Moon Primitives store!

Walls and walls of wools and fun patterns and books are to be had in this happy store!

See what I mean about every color of wool and yarn you could ever possibly want to make your hooked projects.  I love all the patterns that they have available in the store but decided to hold off buying any right now because I am still in the throes of trying to get my craft room organized!

Ginger and her Mother…two happy hookers! ©Ginger Jackson

Little picture heavy on this post but I had a fun time and wanted to share some pictures.

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WOYWW #372

Another week gone by and not a lot accomplished around the hacienda!  Welcome back to Julia!  I am glad to see you getting back on your feet and walking the road to recovery.  If you are wondering who Julia is and what WOYWW is click the link to Stamping Ground and check it out!  I have started rearranging my craft room and OMG!  It is not an easy tasks.  I keep pulling things out and playing with them, stroking them, and acting like Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

True story…

My desk this week….both of them!

This is my close up work desk and computer desk.  I normally keep it fair free of debris!  I have to have my computer for all my on line rants!  I keep collecting stuff on the sewing cabinet!  Need to get at that tonight!

my desk that I usually do most of my work on…kinda piled up higher and deeper the past few days.  Trying to find a horizontal surface to sit something on to is a major feat around here.  As you can see the floor fell victim first! 

The new shelving units I put in to hold my stash of stamps.  I have a lot of stamps.  It used to be a small book shelf then a bigger one and as I started diversifying my interests cutsey, floral, steampunk, grunge etc I started collecting more and more!  Of course I can't get rid of any of it.  "we wants it, we needs it, MUST have the Precious!!"
See my helper in the top picture?  Ghost always works with me….;-)

Well I guess I will get back to work.  I have an appointment this after noon then I will start back in rearranging and trying to get a few things done around here.

Think I will leave you with a great recipe that I made a couple weeks ago and plan on making again this evening….very tasty!  Enjoy!

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WOYWW and Wednesday musings...

OMG!  How fast an a week fly by?  Seems like it was just Wednesday yesterday!  I have not got much done this week…health has been an issue with a lot of pain preventing me from getting things done I want to do!

My desk today….yes I know!  It is even worse then it was last week!  I was looking for some paint and pencils…I found them!  Join in the fun and check out other desks at WOYWW.  This week Lunch Lady Jan is hosting one last WOYWW on her blog because Julia will be back next week!

 Couple double page layouts I have been working on from the Penelope Scrapbook kit from Close to My Heart.  My daughter sells CTMH and has been getting kits for me to do since my mojo is gone.  Keeps me going.

I love these kits they have such bright colors and beautiful patterns!  Everything is in the package so all I have to do is pull it out of the stash and follow the directions.  I need to print out the photos and stick them down and these pages will be done!  If you enlarge you can see I have the print size and position written down on the page!  

The corn last week was so tall and green and here it is in less then a week after me picking all the corn the stalks withered and turned brown…We had a storm come through and the lighting was perfect to make the stalks shine!

Chuck picked okra and tomatoes again this morning.  I love okra in soups and stews but especially fried with a corn meal coating.  Last Saturday I canned 8 pints of okra, tomatoes, and onions to have this winter when the weather is cold and a good hearty pot of soup is called for!

Thought that I would add a couple pictures of the bunny rabbit that has been hanging around in my back yard!  He is such a sweetie and will come within a few feet and sit and watch what I am doing.  And no Chuck he will not end up in the stew pot!

I will leave you with one last photo of my pinup girl Ghost.  She is the youngest of our three cats and came to us just about 2 years ago.  I am allowed to pet her and love on her now and she will actually come up demanding attention!  

Ghost 2 years old

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WOYWW and My World

It has been quite sometime since I have posted anything here…it has been quite sometime since I have done any arts and craft stuff too.  I keep buying the products and making the plans but somehow it never gets done.

Here is a picture of my crafty stash and desk today!

 Definitely a mess!  I keep piling stuff up and it keeps getting taller and taller till it finally slides over.  I am planning on doing a major toss out soon…just have to get the energy to do it.  I have stuff that I have never used from years gone by that I know I need to donate!   ...but what if I need it?  It can be overwhelming and then I just sit and stare!  Same story different day.  It will be done by the end of the summer…I promise.

My daughter gave me four of these awesome 2x4 Expedites from Ikea and a 2x2 when she moved to California last month.    Heather said she just wouldn't have enough room in her new craft spot and I gratefully snapped them up.  I have a lot of storage in my room right now but as you can see I can use some more.  I think I want to do something with those Clip It's and store the bling and flowers by color in binders so they stay less dusty.  Any one have any ideas how I could do that?





As you can tell by the desk picture I have my 12"x12" card stock stored in the Expedite at the back.  The 3 drawer lateral file cabinet on the wall is literally full of 12"x 8 1/2" card stock from Stampin Up!  I have way too much colored card stock but try to keep it organized and out of the light…It won't spoil so it will keep till I need it.   I also have a lot of print paper that I keep in plastic 12"x12" storage containers.  I am going to have to try and organize that also…I think I will go with the designations of  girlie, boy, rustic, steampunk, floral etc…so much stuff.

Okay that was my desk!  Drop by Lunch Lady Jan's blog and visit other folks desks for some interesting ideas and insights for WOYWW.  I am going to show some photos from around the yard now…

Corn harvest is over this year…this is an 8'x8' bed and it yielded 60 ears of corn…I picked it all and blanched them in the husks and put them in the freezer with the husks intact.  It turns out it keeps it fresher and less freezer burn.

Pulled up the last of the onions last week.  There are a lot of medium size red and yellow onions and several good-sized ones.  I laid them out on the deck and washed them and let them dry.

Chuck dug up all the Yukon yellow gold potatoes before he left for Austria in June.

My little place of peace out on my deck…now it is a place of peace!  Last week I was chasing people out of my yard and responding to fence walkers demanding I unlock the gate to the 'community pool'  I have since put up signs stating it is private property and no trespassing allowed.  I don't know where people come up with the idea that just because it borders a park it is part of the park.  I actually had one guy argue that he had received a notification from the homeowners association that there was a pool available.  Oh well I said…go take it up with the homeowners association.  

We had to have a new pool liner put in the pool this year due to wear and tear on the old one.  Happens just about every 8 years or so.  It always gets discolored and last year it started wrinkling and floating up!

I love tropical flowers…Hibicus is a favorite!

walk to the pool...

 I really like this new pool liner.  I have been in a couple times now and the water feels like silk! 

view from my deck chair!

looking back from the diving board.  

looking along the fence line to the garden.

I guess I could see why they would think it was an open pool…but does that look like a community center? 

I will leave you with a couple pictures of produce from my garden!

a rose... 

 I canned  7 pt and 4 quarts of green beans in the past couple weeks off my small patch of green beans.  I am very pleased.  Also pulled up the rest of the beets and managed to get a quart and a pint of pickled beet!  Fun times in the garden!

Okay I am off to see what kind of trouble I can get into around town.  Have a doctors appointment in an hour so better get to it.  Have a great week!