Friday, August 31, 2007

I have been TAGGED!!!!!

Shocked and excited..... I need to complete my blogger duty! Angie of lovetheprimlook tagged me for this fun Middle Name Game. To play the game...... you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. Ok so here it goes: My middle name is Ann.... (ya, real cute huh? Betty Ann :) I was named after both my Grandmas ~ one is Betty the other Anna)

A ~ Artistic..... or, at least, wanna be ~ there has always been a strong desire to make something creative with my hands

N ~ Nurturing...... my love for my son & stepsons guides me through every day of my life

N ~ Nice..... I asked my hubby for help on another 'n' word & this was his idea. What do you think? Am I nice? LOL

So, I suppose at this time I have to tag three of my dear friends.... and they are.....

Deena of Nestled in the Singing Woods.... aka sweetanne

and

Kelley of With Hook and Needle....kanknchester

and

Tammy of Skip to my Ewe

Yup.... these three friends have been tagged before - many times - but never by me! ;0

Smiles to you all my sweet friends!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

As promised..... finally :)

As promised, here are some moments from our Birthday Bash last weekend. I meant to post yesterday, but had to have a day to recover! I think everyone had a great time. Trinity was speechless when he was given his go kart..... that is VERY uncommon for this 5-year-old! He is normally full of words! He took to the kart instantly..... like a little Tony Stewart!

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He was given the helmet first..... but didn't know why!

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You can't see his face.... but you can tell he was amazed as he looked it over!

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Look at how he kicks up the dirt!

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I wonder where he gets it from - Dad?!?

My Mom loved her pinkeep & already has a spot in her entry way to display it. This is xstitched on linen that is probably something like a 40 count.... just dinky! :) The design is my creation, but the birds are from a book of Lori Brechlin's, called 'Stitches in Tyme'. (She is so GREAT!) I wanted it to have the look of olde blackwork.

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This is about 3 1/5 by 4 inches ~ filled lightly with crushed walnut shells ~ backed with an old looking quilt cotton print.

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One more photo that I just have to share! This is my beautiful niece Emma! She is 19 months & just the sweetest!!!! She took a few minutes from the party to snuggle up to Grandpa....

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*~*~* On Sunday, September 1st I am putting up some new offerings on Ebay. They will be part of the BLESTB and AB4B Fall launches. Also, I may sneak one up during the week for PGKS too. Please try to stop by for a peek! *~*~*

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Have you been worried about me?

Well, don't be. I survived the spiders the other day. I found that if I wait to mow around the trees until the heat of the day.... about 95 degrees with extra high humidity ~ that the spiders are hiding somewhere else. I only happened upon one creepy-crawly while on the mower.... and good for me, I kept my spider-be-gone stick with me the whole time. The monster didn't see what hit him!

Tomorrow we are having the big August birthday party bash at our home. We are celebrating Trinity's 5th birthday, Tyler's 2nd birthday (a great-nephew), Annie's 17th (one of our older son's girlfriend), Russell's 30 something birthday (a brother-in-law), and my Mom's 'I had better now say' birthday. There will be 30+ people here for hamburgers, hot dogs & all the fixin's.... along with a Spiderman Cake & homemade ice cream. We will have 8 go karts running.... one of them is Trinity's present from us ~ and our pool is cleaned & ready for splashing.... it is a small above ground & splashing is about all you can do in it ~ but it is all good!

Look for pictures of the fun Monday! I can't wait to see Trinity's eyes when he sees his new kart. Tony built it from the frame up! (he is my wonderfully, handsome, talented husband) I also can't wait to give my Mom her present.... but I still can't tell you what it is because she might read this too!!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

It is time for me to whine.........

You must all know to begin with that I really LOVE my husband. He is a loving & hard working man. He often works too much taking on more so I can do what I enjoy..... hooking, punching, stitching, auctions ~ you get the idea. :) He works 40 hours a week with an hour commute each way - each day...... working nights too. He then feels that many of the chores around the house are his responsibility ~ mainly yard work & car upkeep. On top of that..... he is building a shop for his remote control hobby, working on my studio, fixing the pump in the pump house (for our well), putting in a new heat pump in our home, and finishing off our basement...... plus so much more! Meanwhile, I am a stay-at-home Mom. I keep the house fairly clean, cook a few meals, do the shopping & make sure the bills are paid on time. I am not saying I don't do work.... but I don't feel that I do as much as my wonderful husband. This is not why I am whining today!

I am whining because I told my hubby that I was going to mow the yard this week.... and I am! We have just over 5 acres..... that is all mowed. It is a chore, but that is still not why I am whining. We have a bunch of trees ~ and it is a pain in the wazoo going around each one..... but that is still now why I am whining! The grass is long & our old mower will probably be a booger and get bogged down.... but that is still not why I am whining!

I am whining because of all the creep crawly SPIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are everywhere ~ casing webs of wire cables from tree to tree! Can ya tell? I hate spiders! Sure, they keep the flies down..... but they give me the heebie geebies! There are too many out there to count! I tried to get a few pics to share with you.... not very good ones, but you can get the idea! These spiders are about an inch in diameter ~ just for their bodies! You know they are even bigger with their creepy legs expanded! I got goose bumps just taking the pics.... and I was using the zoom to the max so I didn't have to get very close to them! So, you know that as I am mowing the yard I am going to get entangled in their webs and the monsters are going to crawl on me! (I am getting goose bumps just writing this!)

My hubby told me to just take a stick and walk around the yard weaving between the trees to knock down the webs. I am sure that I will look like a wanna-be witch with a wand to the passer-bys. Can you see it now? Cast away your webs & be gone for the day my dearies..... you are not needed to be seen in the daylight as the good witch trims the lawn. LOL

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Wish me luck! Hopefully I won't finish with a hair-do of webs & spiders! (still have goose bumps!)

Friday, August 17, 2007

My mind is twirling with creative thoughts....

Where to begin??? Hummm, what fun it is to ponder and oodle of hooking, punching, and stitching.... and wool dyeing. I have all this free time during the day and a million and one directions I want to take. As many of you know, I am in some wonderful Ebay groups. Two of them have a launch set for September 1st (BLESTB and AB4B). My Mom has a birthday soon too. Now, I have the joy of coming up with some things to offer with the groups and something special to make my dear ol' Mom. (that was ol' not old..... just in case she sees this! LOL) So, for the next few weeks I will get to play with threads and wool....... what will come of it? Only time will tell. Here is a rug that I did manage to finish yesterday. It might make its way to Ebay soon, but it will be nice to live with it ~ for just a few days anyway.

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I am proud of myself.... most of the wool used for this one I dyed myself. :)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

What do I do??????

Today is my little boys first day of school. Now, I am finding myself sitting here wondering what to do ~ where to start ~ what needs to be done ~ what do I want??????

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Surprisingly, I am not in tears about Trinity growing up & entering into his 'scholastic' years ~ I thought for sure a box of tissues would be with me all day. So I guess it could be worse. LOL I dropped him off and took pictures (probably too many). He is so excited. Because we live in the country, he doesn't get many chances to play with others his size. He is really looking forward to making new friends and seeing them everyday. I can't wait for the bus to drop him off and for him to tell me everything that happened today. Do you think he will remember?

Ok..... maybe I will start with some house cleaning, move on to some rug hooking, and maybe even take a nap. :)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Trinity's 1st Dentist visit!

Today Trinity went to the dentist for the very first time! This is my little boy.... who is growing up too fast! He is 4 almost 5 and about to start kindergarten. (school starts this Thursday!) He was so good for his visit today ~ and luckily no cavities!! He was all smiles for the rest of the day.... well, truth be told, he is usually all smiles anyway. Here he is showing off his pearly whites.....

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I did have a chance to dye some of the wool from the auction today. Now, don't laugh at my results! :) I am still learning about this whole dye thing. The books I have read discuss dyeing all these different swatches with different quantities of dye. Well, I am very unorganized and more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal. I know that I could never get the same color twice if I tried.... but I do love to see what stirs up in the dye pot! Two of the batches I did today, I had forgotten to add the vinegar until the dye bath had been dumped out. Oops! I put the wool back in the pot with more water & the vinegar to simmer some more. What came out was this really cool sort of tie-dyed type of wool. Of course, I don't know what rug any of this wool will be used in ~ but it is great fun to see what happens!

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In the next few days I will have a rug & some other hand-dids to show off....... just have to get a little extra time to do some finishing on them. :) Until next time..... many smiles to you!!!!!!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

You just gotta love a good ol' auction!

I hit the jackpot yesterday at a local auction. The sale bid advertised some handmade wool rugs..... so, of course, I had to go see. They turned out to be large, latch hooked area rugs..... not exactly what I had in mind. BUT, to my delight.... there were two boxes of wool yardage grouped in the bed linen area. I stayed at the auction for hours waiting for my chance to nab these! I just knew I had to have them. The colors might not be perfect ~ but that is what dye if for! I was able to grab these boxes for pennies on the dollar ~ where wool is involved anyway. I was so stoked about it too. So, I ran home & threw them in the wash & hung them on the line to dry. Afterwards, I weighed them.... these is almost 10 pounds of wool here. Yes, I am just tickled-pink about my find!!!

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You know, while waiting for these two boxes of woolly delights ~ I had to bid on a few other things too. I came home with a hand crocheted table cloth & some darling cross-stitched ornies (one for every month). I am looking forward to next weekend for another auction!!! :)

Friday, August 10, 2007

'primitivebettys' Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog! This will be a great way for me to share with you all about my folk art, hand-dids & update you on my studio progress. From time to time, you will probably hear about my wonderful family too & all the fun happenings we have here at our country home.

We moved into our country home just over a year ago. We love it!! The home we live in is just an ordinary, comfy ranch home. There are no bells & whistles with it.... but that is just how we want it. Across the driveway is my future studio. This is the original farmhouse for the previous owners..... but it will become my playhouse & studio ~ once we get some electricity & other work done to it. So far, I have only been able to start the exterior painting. My 5 yr old will be starting kindergarten next week ~ I hope to find more time to work on the studio and my folk art then.

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I do LOVE rug hooking, needle punch, 'prim' stitchery, and prairie dolls...... it is in my blood to work with my hands. You can find my wares on Ebay with seller name 'primitivebettys' or primitiveandfolkartfolks.com. I also hope to update my picturetrail to have offerings there soon too. Till next time..... many smiles to you!! Betty