I'm looking ahead to October and the ATHA Biennal. Are you attending? It will be my first one and I am so excited to be around all the vendors, participants and teachers. Sounds like there are alot of hookers attending as 4 hotels have sold out of rooms. Isn't that cool?
I'll be teaching a one day class on Saturday, October 22, 2011 and am very excited about it. Here is a picture of my rug for my class at ATHA.

You'll learn several different techniques in this class including, beading, quilling, and making wool tongues. Oh, and you can't see it in this picture but there is sparkly black yarn in the pumpkin's mouth. If interested in signing up for my class or any of the classes, you can do so by sending in the registration form postmarked no earlier than January 31, 2011. I have my registration form ready to mail on the 31st of January.

You can read about all the classes and schedules here. The registration form is also available from this link so you can print it.

http://www.atharugs.com/images/Biennial2011/overview2.html

Just happened upon this great giveaway on Johanna Parker's blog

Johanna Parker is giving away these sweet little cherubs on her blog. Aren't they adorable?
You can click on the link below to learn more about the giveaway. The giveaway ends tomorrow January 28, 2011. Goodluck!



http://johannaparkerdesign.blogspot.com/

What I'm working on Wednesday.......

Halloween stuff! Can you believe it? I was asked to participate in Ghoultide Gathering again this year and am very excited about the show. More details to follow......but it got me in the mood to start creating fall items. This cat is for the show. Of course, I need to doll him up a bit...add some arms and accouterments. The picture below is what he looks like now.



I was playing with the photo editing program and these are a few finishes I came up with for this little guy.








The picture below is my favorite!



My attempt at collaging the photos.

I wish I could do some of these finishes on my rug hooking. Wouldn't that be fun? Til next Wednesday. Maria

BLOG CHALLENGE PROJECT REVEALED

Evening,

I finished my blog challenge in a nick of time. LOL. It is still January 20, right? When I received the package in the mail from Ali, my first thought was LACE? Seriously, what am I going to do with lace. The sari ribbon and BRIGHT pink nylon also through me for a loop... What would I do with these item? The felt heart and beads were not so intimidating as the lace.

SO.....I decided to embrace the challenge and have some fun with it. Because much of the items Ali sent us were pink, I decided to play up the pink and really glam up my project. I added glitter to the background, red tinsel and more hearts.
Here is a full view of my Sweet little Valentine Angel



This photos shows the sari yarn, red beads and the piece of pink nylon. I hooked the sari ribbon into her coat and hooked some pink wool in with it. The pink nylon was really bright and I decided to add it to her body as a scarf. I will say that nylon hooks up very interestingly. The loops almost take on a pattern. This a material that I will explore hooking with in the future.


Here you can see how I used the felted heart. I threaded it through a piece of wire, added a few felted red balls and attached the wire to her hand. Whimsical don't you think?



You can see how the sari ribbon in the jacket in this picture. See how bright the pink nylon is? It makes a nice little scarf!



The lace was so white that I definitely needed to tone down it down some....Ali tea dyed her lace. I opted to attached a piece of red glitter scrapbook border to it to quiet all the white. A little tag that I made is attached over the lace.



To finish the project, I added glitter to the background, attached red tinsel hearts and made a halo out of a pipe cleaner.



Check out Ali Kris and Alice's blogs to see what they did with their items.
Kris is sending out the next items and I look forward to more creative hooking. Thanks for stopping by. Maria

Oops...I'm a little late

With my "What I'm work on Wednesday" segment. Sorry about that. Before I show you my rugs for the week, I want to share this picture with you.



Dave laid down to give Josie (dog)some attention and Iggy {black cat} couldn't stand it. He is obsessed with Dave and wants his attention constantly. SO...he crawled on Dave's back. Isn't that a hoot? See Maggie on the chair as well. All three animals love the fire and they are usually all curled up around the fire every night.

I finished my hit or miss rug for my SIL. {Lynne, if you are reading this, it is in the mail}.



This rug was a great way to use up all those excess worms. Plus, I learned alot about color combination while hooking in the "hit or miss" style. Because I was not particular about colors for the background, I just picked up a worm and hooked it without being concerned about color. As a result there were some pretty neat and interesting color combinations that I would have never used if I were color planning.

I've also started two other rugs as well. One is for my EAL entry so I can't share too much of that....only one little bit. When I motifs like this star, I hook with many different wools in the same color family. This star, it is finished now, was hooked with 5 to 6 different colors of red. By hooking with a variety of red wools, the motif has more depth and interest.



Are any of you submitting items for the EAL 2011 Directory of Traditional American Crafts? I haven't submitted anything in years but thought I would put myself out there and see what happens.

The deadline is fast approaching, so I have to hook like a mad woman this weekend. I'm really excited about this rug....with both the colors and subject matter. Something a little different for me. I don't mean to keep you in suspense and will share with you when I can.

The other rug was the rug that I was going to enter for EAL but wasn't happy with it....so I started the other one. It was supposed to look like a braided rug but the colors didn't quite work as planned. Although looking at it through the lens of a camera, it doesn't look that bad.



Do you ever take photos of your rugs in progress? It is a great way to help you see if the colors are working in the rug. Enjoy the weekend....I'll be hooking away. Maria