Friday, August 31, 2012

Loose Caboose Festival 2012



It's that time again for the Loose Caboose Festival located at downtown Purcell, Ok. Come enjoy a day of fun if your in the area. There will be rides for the kiddos, crafts and more crafts, and of course tempting foods. The festival will begin at 9 am and end around 4 pm.

After that enjoy the rodeo going on at the Expo center!

Pati Jane and I will be setting up with our handmade goods and we hope you can stop by. The antique shops will be staying open later in the day just in case you want to stop by and pick up a few goodies!

Happy Trails.....Ginger

Work Your Fingers to the Bone!



Sometimes you just need a little therapy to get you through the day! That is where my crafting time comes in or as I say therapy time.
Happy little snowmen and little pumpkins have been popping up around here :)



If you do needle punch then you probably have a lot of scraps from previous projects I know I do. So I sewed them together and there is plenty of room for some small projects!



These will all be made into pins so I painted some good ole' Elmers glue on the back around the edges. Next I cut them out close to the last punched row.



After that I trim out a piece of wool to back each one and then add some wool yarn around the edge of some of them and securely sew on a pin back and there you go....a small make do project!



We have been working our fingers to the bone on the flooring....we are all walking a little slower and I'm making good use of the arthritis creme. We have about half of the tile laid down but still like catching up on the grout. Thank goodness we had some help over the weekend....got to love family :)



My great aunt and uncle have an apple tree and I had stopped by to give my Aunt a few pieces of wool for a quilt she is making and she gave me these lovely apples.



Well our stove has been moved out for the tiling of the floor so I pulled out the crock pot and filled it with the diced apples. I added sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a bit of vanilla and wouldn't you know it.....



It made the most delicious cooked apples....just add a little ice cream and you will soon forget about those achy fingers!

Happy Trails.....Ginger

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Holiday Punch Needle Pins



Must be the the bit of cool breezes we have been having....I've been punching and FINISHING projects. It is so nice not to have the 100+ degree days. I'm looking forward to the fall days that lay ahead. I listed some of the holiday pins in our etsy shoppe if your interested.

A lil' boy is requesting a scary green pumpkin to put on his backpack so guess I better get back to the punch needle.

Happy Trails....Ginger

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Claw!



The devil's claw that is and I totally agree with the name. I do NOT like these things. We have been pulling them out of a portion of our pasture. How they got there who knows. They are evil yes evil....they bring blood. I had a glove on but I should have worn leather ones. I looked up the silly things and wouldn't you know it they make it into medicine, use it for flower arranging and making baskets.

Let me just say they are a nightmare for livestock and deer. They catch around their hooves and dig in.



By the time we were done we had a truckload.
Wouldn't you know it they sell on ebay at about $1.00 each....We probably have a fortune in those EVIL things. Yes after being snagged about 4 times I think they are destined to doom.

On a much brighter note....had these two busy kiddos yesterday for awhile. Sloan just thinks his lil' cousin is top~notch. He can hardly wait for her to start crawling and talking to him.




This weekend we will begin laying down the tile on the floor. It's going to be a big job but we have some family that has volunteered to help and boy am I thankful for that.

They say rains are on the way....could it mean the dog days of summer are almost over...we can only hope!

Happy Trails....Ginger



Monday, August 13, 2012

Needle Punch Christmas Ornaments




Lots of things going on around here. Pati and I have been working on lots of new patterns and making samples. Here are some of the new Christmas ones I have made kits for.

We are using hand dyed wool thread and they are turning out so nice. They look like tiny hand hooked pieces but they have been needle punched.



Kits with cameo medium needles with instruction booklets, weavers cloth, a lip lock embroidery hoop, reusuable pattern with color photo and wool thread to complete 3 ornaments are included in this pack. We have them listed over at our Etsy shop with FREE SHIPPING.



If you are already a "puncher" we also have kits available with weavers cloth, pattern, and wool thread.

This is just a sample of some of the kits and patterns we will be making for our adventure next year!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are enjoying your week....they say cooler days are on the way this week for Oklahoma it's a time to celebrate :)

Happy Trails....Ginger

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Learning to Use A Punch Needle!



Yesterday the kiddo and I did a little painting and I was able to finish a few projects.



Little lightweight wooden boxes to hold simple little treasures.



A little pinkeep on top of this little box and maybe keep a few threads inside.

Someone is always wanting to try crafty things and well you will never learn unless you try!




Happy Trails...Ginger

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Angel and Pumpkin Patterns




Slowly but surely I'm getting things to come together. I have two of the many patterns ready and we are offering them as paper patterns with a color photo. The patterns may be reduced or enlarged to fit your projects.





If your interested in purchasing one of our patterns you can find them in our Etsy shoppe
or on our selling blog Prairie Moon Primitives.

The price of each pattern is $7.95 with Free Shipping.


With the hot and dry days we have been staying in much of the day. The heat just takes any energy right out of you. Sloan and I have been playing card and board games while Eva Mae sleeps.



He thought he might be big enough to help feed her and he insisted on helping to make her bottle. One of these days a long time from now he will make a great dad! Until then he will just help take care of his little cousin!

Happy Trails....Ginger

Monday, August 6, 2012

A Simple Needle Case Book


Last night I finished punching on this piece and decided it might make a nice little needle case.




So here is what I did....drew out a rectangle. Divided it in half and then left a quarter of an inch open with no punching.



Trimmed the backing down to about 1/4 inch all around. Gave it a good steaming.



Basted back the weavers cloth.



Cut out some wool to cover the back of the needle punch.



Added some wool yarn around the edge with my needle and thread.



I did NOT cut the two pieces apart remember that 1/4 inch between the two punches it will be my folding area.



Cut two more pieces of wool slightly smaller than my needle punch design for the inside of the book.



Divided the two wool pages in half and marked it with a pin and then sewed it to the center of the needle punch back. Then with the yarn I went right down the center of that 1/4 to cover up the weavers cloth that wasn't punched.




Next you could add a little button and a string to hold the case closed. I actually crocheted a little round ball directly on one side then added a wool string with beads to fasten it. Here is the front....



and here is the back. Just a simple little needle case to hold a few pins and needles while traveling!

Happy Trails.....Ginger

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Silent Angel



This weekend Danny and I took a little trip to pick up a few supplies and as most always I brought along something to do. It's been oh so hot here in Oklahoma and we have been having some terrible fires in some of the nearby communities. We are in desperate need of some rain. Praying that we find relief soon.

AS I set in the truck while Danny was in the tool stores I began this needle punch piece of a tombstone angel. Years ago we wondered through the historic graveyards of Boston and we would often see the tombstone angels. I will be offering it as a pattern at our etsy shop soon.





Today after church I had a little time to begin this new piece while watching lil' Eva Mae. Her dad and mom along with PaPa went to try and move back some of the debris from the fires that came so dangerously close to an empty house they have.

One more full week of having Sloan here during the day then he is off to school. I'll probably be the one boo hooing when he goes....Don't they grow up fast?????

Well I'm off to punch, punch, punch!

Happy Trails....Ginger

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Dream Come True!



What started long time ago as a crazy dream is on it's way of becoming true. Back in the early 80's my Mom and Dad invited our lil' family of 4 to go on a trip with them and my sisters to Branson, Missouri. They had been the year before and came back telling us how exciting it was. We loaded up the kids, packed the tents and headed out with them. We camped out at Shepherd of the Hills campground and attended some shows, Shepherd of The Hills play and then went to Silver Dollar City!

Now let me explain Silver Dollar City just in case you have never been. It is an amusement park that is set back in the 1800's. Of course they have all the rides and attractions but they also have craftsmen demonstrating olde time crafts. Even from my first experience there I thought wouldn't it be great to work here :)

Well let's just say I'm going to get my chance in October 2013 along with my friend Pati Jane. We will be demonstrating rug hooking, oxford punch and needle punch. So Pati Jane and I have been busy with lots of new designs, gathering supplies, beginning on our adventure of dying wool yarns and trying to figure out just what all we will need!

My mind hasn't slowed down much once I heard we will be a part of the National Harvest Festival next October. In the mean time we will be making kits of all kinds and lots of patterns. We already have a pretty good start!

Of all the jobs I've had in my lifetime with the exception of keeping the grandkiddo's this has to be one I'm absolutely thrilled with! So you'll just have to put up with me as everyone else close by is having to do until I settle down!

The "All In the Family" pumpkins at the top is one of my newest punches....Not sure what I'll make it into just yet!



Happy Trails....Ginger

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Kool~Aid Anyone?



I grew up drinking my share of kool~aid mostly grape and cherry....my kids had kool~aid, too. The grandkiddo's will I'm sure have their fair share, too. It comes in all kinds of flavors today.

Well I have been doing a LOT of punching lately and decided it was time to try dyeing wool yarn. So out with the crockpot and the kool~aid!





Wool waiting in a hot crock~pot.


Add a little wild berry and some citrac acid crystals to hold the color.



Let it dry on a HOT summer day in the shade...doesn't take long!




Wind into pretty yarn cakes....who doesn't like cake?????



Punch into a bright little house with flowers :)
Kool~Aid it's more than just a refreshing drink!




My niece Megan spent the day and I asked if she would like to learn to oxford punch and it took all of maybe 5 minutes and she had the punching down like a pro. She is now the proud owner of her very own handmade Spongebob Square Pants pillow made by her own hands!

Happy Trails....Ginger