Jumbled mind

Good morning!

Today is going to be a BUSY day. I leave for camp in Tyler, Tx on sunday morning. It just dawned on me last night - that means i am going to miss church and our dancing lesson on monday night!! :( This actually bummed me out. It is the first lesson of class 2... where things are sped up, more difficult and intricate. And we're not giong to be there?? Where is that giong to leave us the week after?? LOL I'm encouraging my husband to go without me.. who knows if he actually will? But then he could learn and in turn teach me and we could stay caught up! By the way... the end of the last class... WE WERE ACTUALLY DANCING!!! It was thrilling actually. Especially since i ran into so many challenges!! LOL I'm sooo glad we signed up to do this!! :) A little piece of fun, laughter, no responsibilities (ie children) and a weekly "date night". Yup. Totally worth it!!

Anyway.. i have to gather up my wools for camp.. keeping in mind the weight limit of the suitcases... gotta find the suitcases!!.. gotta run some errands and do laundry, and get all these great prizes packaged up and ready to go to the post office, get some antibiotics from my doctor... oh yes... great timing... have come down with strep right before leaving!! oy!!...need to visit the verizon store and have them look at my phone thats acting all wonky... plant the tomato plants we just bought, and OH! I need to pull a winner for the "in the pink give away" !! How could I forget that?!

Ok.. just asked my third random number generator and ........

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the winner is......

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MARY!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS MARY!!! :D

Shoot me an email, and I'll get these goodies packaged up for you!!

Yay!!

OK... so... here's the deal.

I have two (maybe even three) more even funner things to give away! BUT because of timing and my trip, they are going to have to wait until I get back! So yes... you're going to have to wait a week, and check back occasionally! I will be bringing my laptop with me to camp and posting from there... if i'm not all caught up with those fun hookers!! But in the meantime my girlfriend Jacque is having her blogaversary givaway starting tomorrow!! So hop on over there for some fun!! See... we wouldn't leave you hanging! (and honest... we didnt plan the timing to work out this way - it just DID!!)

Hope you have a wonderful week! I hope you had fun with these small little giveaways!

And CHRIS - I need you to contact me with your information for the charm necklace! You had an anonymous post, and I have no way of getting ahold of you!! :(

blessings,

Bren :)

In the Pink give away

In the pink? What does that MEAN anyway??? Wonder where it originated from?

Oh well... no idea! LOL

Today however, I am giving away some extra pinks that I dyed up for my majolica rug. These are soft DIRTY pinks... although the ones on the left hand side are much lighter in value and not quite as dirty. They look fantastic next to dark browns!!! mmm mmm good!

Now for you hookers that think you don't like pink... remember i'm a true primitive girl.... you just haven't found the right pink!! There is such a thing as a BROWN pink - did you know that? And I'm here to testify that these are a primitive girl's best friend!! :D

Anyhow... today's goodies include all these pieces of dirty pink, and a piece of as is purple (w/gold flecks) .. i didn't measure them out, but i think it's over a half a yard... and these little wooden fraktur eggs to fill one of your bowls. I'm thinkin' SPRING here people!!!

Here they are on my boring beige carpet, so you can see them more accurately.....

Now.. i dyed these FOR ME. And i did it in the late evening after camp ... and i raced outa here the next morning and forgot them in the dryer. So they came out a bit wrinkled. And since they were for me (wool in any form is GOOD me thinks) it didn't bother me! But now that I am passing them onto someone else, I have a little case of the guilts... they are not all pristine and perfect. gulp. Do you mind? I suppose i could iron them for you... but somehow i just don't like how wool looks and feels when it's been ironed.. so i'll leave that to you, if you must have wrinkle free wool!

To enter to win this little batch of goodies, leave me a comment (it's getting a little harder now) telling me how you see God working in your life. Do you SEE His handprints? I know I do!

Take a few minutes to glorify Him!! And you might just be the lucky winner of this give-away!! (Oh... did I mention I frequently put extra goodies in my packages?? :D )

Ok, that's it for today... I will pull the winner for this prize Friday morning! And maybe by then I will have my two other hand made goodies finished and ready to put up for some lucky winner! (hints... one is round, and one is not, but both are made of wool...)

And last but not least... i am mostly finished with my majolica rug. I still need to run one or two outer rows around the whole thing, steam it and bind it. And i,m really trying to like that odd ball leaf... but so far... not so much. :( So that will probably be getting replaced before i totally finish it off.

Hope you have a tasty fun day today - and see God eveyrwhere you look today!!

Bright blessings, Bren :) I read this today, and love how this man writes! Thought it might lift you up to a different level of thought, like it did me... http://dougapple.blogspot.com/2009/05/lets-lift-name-of-jesus-just-as-high-as.html

So Charming WinnerS !!

Hi!

I hope you had a wonderful 3 day weekend!!

No, I haven't gotten todays new give away up yet... I'm not totally slackin, I promise! I was at work all day, and just haven't had the time to get it together... so how bout tomorrow morning for the new one? :D

But TODAY we have a winner for the charm necklace!! Yay!

Actuallly..... we have 2 winners! :D

I asked my daughter to pick a number from 2 to 20. She picked 12.

I went and counted it down... and realized i too had posted! Ack! Hadn't accounted for that!! Soooo.... the only right thing to do, is give the actual #12 the prize AND the person who would have been #12 had i not posted! LOL! That's fair, right??

So

CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS

AND LORI R. !!!!!!!!!!!!

You girls can look and see if there's one in the pictures that you like... you can ask to see the back of any in the pictures... i'll be happy to send you a pic of both sides so you can choose your priiiizzzee!! OR, I would be more than happy to make you one, special just for you!

Just let me know! :)

email me at heydiddlewool@aol.com with your choices and addresses and I'll get on them first thing in the morning after posting the new give away!

WOOHOOO!!! THIS IS FUUUNNN!!!

:D LOL

Ya.. i know... total dork. lol But that's ok if i live in my own little dorkdom kingdom, right??

I was soo moved by what each of you were thankful for! Thank you so much for being so open and sharing!

I am thankful for all you guys !

Congratulations again Lori and Chris!

xo

Bren :)

Today's winner is....

Hi! I know you are all waiting to hear who the winner of the basket of wool is... and here I'm running late! Sorry!! Had a good friend stop by, and we were chatting.. i didn't even realize what time it was!

So without further ado... the winner of day 1's give away is....

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SHER! From Old Crow Farm! Congratulations!!!

Sher, please email me at Heydiddlewool@aol.com with your address and I'll get this little goody basket sent off to you! Hope it brings you smiles and joy! :D

Blessings,

Bren :)

Ps.. i should be putting the next give away up either tonight or tomorrow morning! Stay tuned - same bat time... same bat channel! LOL

You can STILL ENTER the charm give away until 7pm Tuesday evening!

#200...such a charming give away!

200th post!! WOOHOO!!!

Give away WEEK!! :)

Welcome! I hope you stay and poke around a bit... this blog is mostly about my chaotic life, the funnies of kids, rug hooking, and just my dorky posts. LOL

I can't believe I've actually posted 200 times! Granted it's taken me two years! LOL

And to celebrate....

Today's give away ......

Either a "Hooker Charm" necklace..... Here's a few more in the works.... OR... if you "ain't no hooker"... you can send me a picture of your kids, or your pets... or?? and I will make you a charm personalized just for you!

Just leave me a comment in today's comment section... telling me something you are THANKFUL for! And ladies... get creative! LOL We are all soo very thankful for our kids... (most days anyway! lol)

so let's nix that one and dig a little! :)

A few little disclaimers... i am NOT a perfect soldering artist. I just really enjoy making these! Some look more handmade than others. LOL Hopefully you can deal with that :)

If you win, and you choose a personalized charm made for you, i will try like the dickens to get it made before leaving for Texas on the 31st. But if i don't manage to get it done in time, I will get it made as soon as I get back! Top of my priority list!

(that's what all these are for... busting my butt to get a bunch made to take to camp with me and put in the camp store.. hopefully offset my camp costs a little!)

K, that's it!

Time for some more FUNNER!!!! :)

Looking forward to hearing what you all are thankful for!

And... there's still time to enter yesterday's give away!!

This drawing will be held Tuesday evening when I get home from work... around 7ish MST.

Keep your eyes peeled for more goodies coming your way!

Bright blessings, Bren :)

199th post ... give aways

So i have ants in my pants.

Soo we're going to start the give-aways. :)

Sooo instead of grouping it all into one big give-away, where one person wins, I thought it would be "funner" (yes Jacque i know that's not a word! lol) to do several smaller ones, and more people win stuff :)

Soooo today we are starting with a gift basket of "Little Diddles" ... several different colors and types of wools... a great little stash builder for beginner hookers, or for those of you that do applique! The little wicker basket is soo handy for keeping your snippets, or tools in... there is over a yard of wool shoved into this little guy.

This is an ultra easy give away! Just leave me a comment in today's post. Future ones might be a little more involved.. but definitely not hard... just FUNNER!! lol :)

I'll give you 48 hours to sign up, and then draw a random name for the winner. (my kids are wonderful random number generators!) Winner announced Monday at noon. :)

And I might just put up another giveaway tomorrow... so they overlap!

Have an incredibly blessed day!

xo Bren :)

Catching up...

So i've been a slacker posting about calli's party!! Part of the reason is i have a video that i desperately want to share - but cant seem to make it work on my little computer!! I just had Danny upload it to his computer... so maybe there will be a way!? Calli's party was a success! In more ways than one :) Several of her friends weren't able to make it... more the bummer!! But the ones that did come had a great time! We set them up with a plain flower pot and paintbrushes with lots of different colors of paint, and set them loose to paint however they wanted. ADD set in after about an hour, and they were running around hog wild... lol... and our secret surprise guest wasnt due for another half hour!!! ruh roh!! (I have to admit, a little panic set in right about then! LOL The natives were restless!!!) I cant seem to upload these pics in the right order... so they're a bit scattered... this is calli being a goofball... Our "secret surprise guest" was a magician. Almost a MASTER magician, at get this... AGE 14!!! He was incredible!! He studies under many of the masters across the world... practices 5-6 hours a day... and holy cow - IT SHOWS!! This kid was GOOD!!!! And he BLEW THE KIDS' MINDS!!!!!!! Muwahahahaha!!! :D It was awesome!! Now.. being the mean mom that i am.. this was double fold... because we have a 12 and 13 year old... (they know everything donchya know) and a 12 year old best friend that is a constant sidekick. Sooooo when Derek (the magician) started his act, the little kids were just enthralled!!! But you guessed it... the older kids were making snide comments under their breath... i know how he did that.... oh.. that was sooo obvious!... i coulda done thaaaatt...... LOL i let them know that wasnt cool.... and to discuss it AFTER the show how they think it was done! The little ones were WOWED... and i do mean WOWED!!! LOL Well... about ten minutes into his show, he called one of the bigger kids (best friend) up to help. You can imagine the eye rolling, and attitude of oh yah.. this should be good.... lol.... welllll.... Derek had put a little sponge ball in best friend's hand. Did a few jokes... yep... still there... still one ball.... called bailey up... put a ball in his hand.... whammy bammy... tapped both hands, and voila... bailey's ball was gone out of his hand, and connor had 3 in his hand!! THE LOOK ON THE BOYS' FACES OF ABSOLUTE DUMBFOUNDED CONFUSION was worth EVERY PENNY we paid this young man!!!! LOLOL They were blown away, and trying desperately to figure it out!! They KNEW what was in THEIR OWN hands!!! LOL It was priceless!!! And yes... it just got BETTER from there on out!! The little kids were throwing invisible coins into the air, and Derek was catching them in a metal can... clink, clink, clinkclinkclink.... kids couldn't throw them fast enough! Then Derek did his amazing slight of hand card routine... that would blow YOUR minds! All the kids were in total amazement!!!! INCLUDING the knowitall 12 year olds!! LOL They kept saying HOWWWWW DID HE DOOO THAT??!?!? He pulled them out of thin air! they just dissapeared!!! whaaaaaatttt????? It was VERY COOL !!! And.... muwahahahaha.... mom had the last laugh!! :D

Painting away... and noo... the tape was NOT my idea - LOL it was theirs!!

Took pics of each of the kids after derek's show... so they would each have a memory shot...

I think Calli's look says it all! LOL

I am going to TRY to get that video up, so you can see!! And a quick progress update on the majolica rug... haven't touched it since mother's day... but next chance i get to actually SIT and relax a bit, I hope to make some progress!

I left the multicolored one in... as promised... until the end... lol

And do you see that second leaf in from the left? HEY LAURIE.... Do you see the TEAL vein?? Mission accomplished!!! LOLOLOL As much as it stands out - it's stayin!!

I was given a 2" strip of BRIGHT TEAL from a friend, and challenged to put it in my rug... somehow, someway.... oy... its sooo much brighter/higher intensity than ANY of the other wools!! LOL but it's in there now! :)

And last but not least... my friend Kelley issued a quilted wool throw project out there a while back. This weekend, I actually made it down to my sewing room and got this top done. I like it... but it's definitely a folkart quilt! LOL I want to do one more.... with just browns, golds and blacks and muuuch more primitive!!! But might not get to that anytime soon!

I leave for texas at the end of the month... going to rug camp... so trying to get geared up for that. Finally decided on a design to hook... gonna be doing neutrals... and hooking the comstock rug. Should be fun!! And Jayne is a great teacher!!! Reallllyyyy looking forward to it!!! :D

K... thats all for today!

Hope ya'll are staying cool, and enjoying the gorgeous spring/beginning of summer!!!!

bright blessings,

Bren :)

EYE CANDY

here is some awesome eye candy for you hookers :) From the Denver hookin.

And for those of you that are following this... lol... dancing... chacha last night...all was REALLY good... until i needed to WALK a stutter step. oh geez. Went from doing just fine, and turned into a TOTAL MR!!!! :( needed another little individual one on one with the teacher. sheesh. can you say problem child??? :( lolol i'm FINE unless they need me to walk like a righty!! LOLOL

This is post 196.. i think? tick tock :)

KK Camp

Wow, soo much going on right now, lots to share!! It seems I have to pick and choose what to share and what not to! Calli's party is tomorrow... Karen Kahle camp was the beginning of this week, and this awesome special rug, and what feels like ten bazillion other things! LOL So... trying to keep it limited :)

But I did promise you pictures of the rug I started at camp. I havent had a chance to hook since leaving camp... but i am really excited about hooking on this and getting it done!

OK.. first things first.... this was my first attempt .... i wanted to use chocolate browns for the background, and pinks, with hints of golds and soft greens. LOL Small little problem... did bring mostly all medium values... BUT the wrong intensities of each color! She said this is fine... pointed some out and said go to it. GULP.

I KNEW when i was hooking this wasnt going to look good!!! LOL!! But i kept going. Thinking STRETCH BRENIS!!!!! And the further I got, the more i KNEW this wasnt working for me!! It was soooooo NOT ME !!! Finished the leaf and thought, oh dear... it looked like Joseph's Coat!! A veritable rainbow... the Rainbow Connection... could hear Kermit singing in the back of my head!! LOL And then COULDN'T shake him out after that point!!

Donchya just hate it when that happens?!?!?!?

Oh yah... i was ready to start rippin!! LOLOL

Karen said "nooooo i really like this first leaf! Dont take it out! Do another! But use more purple!"

I gotta admit, i thought she was nuts at that point! But thought... ok... i'll put in some background and try ONE more. That's why i'm here.... right?

Welllllll that second one sucked worse than the first one!! ROFL!!! At which point i was looking soulfully at my drab ole' tans and golds, thinking "now if i could do them in THOSE ... I could rock this thing!!" hahaha... but my hooking buddy next to me wasn't about to enable me and let me jump back into my comfort zone! No. course not. LOL She was having way too much fun watching me struggle in the rainbow connection!! :D

Soo... on the way home that night i'm turning it over and inside out in my mind. If only... tans.. drabs... golds... maybe soft soft hints or suggestions of pink... but not TRUE pink... ohhhhh heart be still!! By the time I made it home, I knew I HAD to give that a go! It had such great potential!! Where asTHIS did not!

So, after woofin down some dinner, I put a couple dye pots on the stove and pulled out the rug and started cutting some neutrals. I hooked up one leaf on the other end of the pattern .... and did a big WHOOP!!! Now THAT'S what i wanted!!! Started on another leaf and then some background.... yeee hawww!!! Now we're rollin in the right direction!!

I would have stayed up all night hooking had I not been so exhausted already! LOL

Took it with me the next day, and Karen asked me if i had hooked that night... i said.. yesss.... but.... tried something else instead.... that other just made my heart cry!! and this... this makes my heart SING!! (thinking oh no... hope shes not offended!!) she sucked in her breath when she saw it, and said ooooohhhh! Then asked me if I liked it? hahaha.... i told her i liked it a heck of a lot more than that other one! Then she said she did too! LOL But still wanted me to leave in that first rainbow connection leaf! Leave it till last... let it be the odd man out, a little unexpected surprise she said. OK!! I can do that! But if it looks horrible in the end, it's joining it's brothers and sisters!! LOL :D

We worked on the hit or miss the rest of the day, and another leaf. Pulling the purple and pink undertoned wools into the hit or miss... to give the whole rug a more "rosey" feel. Really neat how it did just that! And I'm REALLYYY liking it now! I think it will have a wonderful high contrast, and will be stunning - and yet soft and older looking! Just what I had hoped to acheive! So YAY!!!!

I really liked Karen. You can tell she loves to teach, and focuses on that much more than just telling students where to put certain colors. But tried to help her students understand WHY something works or doesn't work - something that in my opinion is VERY important!! If you don't learn WHY it works, how can you make it work again?? Gut is great... it really does lead you!! But, when your gut fails, and you don't know why you dont like something.... how will you know how to fix it, if you don't understand how color and value play together??

All in all it was a GOOD camp! It's always sooo much fun to see your friends, and all be gathered around, creating our own little masterpieces, laughing till your sides hurt and just being together! I learned several things, and a couple really neat tricks - my only complaint is that is was TOO SHORT!! 2 days is never enough for a rug camp!! :D

Ok, i have rambled long enough for today! Giveaways coming very very soooonnn!!!! :D

Bright blessings,

Bren :)