AND THE WINNER IS...

I can't believe how fast the month of October is flying away with the falling leaves. It's already the 15th  and time for the lucky winner to be announced.

Thanks to all those who participated in this giveaway and joined my followers. I look forward to your return visit.

As promised I asked my husband George to pick the winning name but first I had to have him do a job for me. He installed some hooks and framing wire on a large mirror I bought for over the mantle and he used a cement screw on the brick to hold the mirror secure,  so it wasn't a job for me. It took about half an hour to get the job done from start to finish and tomorrow I'll clean the mirror and will take a picture of it. He hung it a wee bit higher than I wanted but I can adjust the wire maybe later.

The little basket was shaken vigorously and not stirred... and my husband looked the other way and put his hand in... like he was supposed to, lol...

Now I wish everyone was a winner but we are all grown up and I know that you understand that there can only be one and the lucky winner is ..... Orange Sink.

Congratulations to Cathy G from Orange Sink. Just email me with your mailing address Cathy so that I can mail this little gift to you as soon as possible. m.julia.bourque@gmail.com.       JB

JAN,2,2011 UPDATE ON CHILDHOOD MEMORIES RUG

I guess that I'm turning a new leaf but it's not my Hooking Bible yet. I actually worked on my rug today and got a small progress to show. I didn't removed the lint but you will see what I've been up to.

I managed to hook the swimmers after I had the flesh colored wool ready.


 I always keep a small burlap bag of onion skins with zippers that my basmati rice comes in. I used some vinegar as mordant this time because when I used salt last time, the color was a dirty grayish tinge and not suitable for flesh. I did this before going to work and hung the wool swatch up on a plastic hanger on the ceiling near a ceiling fan and the wood heat dried the swatch by the time I was ready to hook this evening.

Here is the swatch of flesh color dyed with onion skins.

Here is how much onion skin I needed to get this beautiful flesh color.

This photo was taken after the color was reabsorbed in the wool after the vinegar was added and simmered for 30 minutes.

Here is the girl (me) on a blanket looking at the cloud formation. This was hooked a few days ago. It was one of my favorite pass time as a young girl. I could see so many objects in the clouds.  Things are really getting crowded here on my rug. I may have to redraw the school house in red Sharpie. I'll think about it. I need to buy a red Sharpie.

Thanks for your visit. JB

TURNING A NEW PAGE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE AND I'M SO BLESSED TO HAVE YOU AS BLOGGER FRIENDS. MY LIFE HAS BEEN ENRICHED BY YOUR BEAUTIFUL AND POSITIVE COMMENTS. THANKS YOU ALL.

Because our lives are so filled with busyness everyday an the fact that we have to work early in the morning, our New Year Eve is always low key. We usually sit together with a bowl of chips and some dip and a bottle of good wine and watch a movie . We used to watch the satire show Air Farce on New Year's Eve every year but now the show has been cancelled.  Boo-Hoo-Hoo. It was so funny.

It's time to turn a new page on the calendar to begin a new year and today I just received one of the two Hooking book that I ordered from Amazon .com, with still one more to come.  The Rug Hooker's BIBLE. So, I'll be turning those pages as well.

The envelop was torn open at one end, no doubt with the sheer volume of Christmas mail at this time of year, it's understandable that it got rough treatment. The book was in perfect condition though. The other book I purchased which has been shipped is Hooked Rug Landscapes. I had also ordered Pictorials but it was not available to be shipped to Canada from the seller.  Another time perhaps.

Today I signed in for Sunnie's, Grandmother's Treasure Trunk Creative Challenge on Rug Hooking Daily. The challenge is to design and hook a rug with this theme, within a time frame and it is also subject to a wide array of interpretations. The rug can be any size or shape and it has to have two shades of brown and one or more words in it. It's always fun to see the wide variety of interpretation to this challenge.  Just what we need to chase those hookers blocks away.  Now I'm racking my brain to come up with  a treasure that my grandmother could have had in her treasure trunk.

It's a great way to stretch beyond what we normally would hook. Do you think that I perhaps should have my head examined.  JB