Rabid Hedgehogs & Christmas Whimsies...

*Mr. Pipps Goes Courting...*

Mr. Thelonius Pipps has been courting Miss Selma Hoganswarter for 42 years this Christmas Day~~and, he may just finally get lucky (when he asks her to marry him--dirty!!) And why may his luck improve? Because 42 is a multiple of 7...everyone knows that.

(Sevens are especially important to gnomes...)

Mr. Pipps is on his way to Selma's mushroom cottage~~he's wending his way through the winding, frosty, paths of Christmas Forest. Granted, he does this every Christmas day~~at least for the last 41 Christmases~~but this year...THIS year...he's bringing Miss Selma a nutmeg latte (along with the berry bouquet, candy canes, mushroom, and pine cones...). I have high hopes for Mr. Pipps! ~~and for the coffee shops as well.

But what will Miss Selma say??? What will she do?!

The first Christmas Mr. Pipps approached the topic of gnomish nuptials, Miss Selma dumped a pot of oatmeal upon his noggin (but we can all agree he deserved it--courting for only one year before a proposal?! That would be an engagement entered into with haste and ill breeding. Miss Selma made an extremely wise choice in her declining...) The fourth Christmas involved a snowbank--the 13th a rabid hedgehog (13 is unlucky, after all...thus, the extreme response on our young lady's part.) There are 36 other unfortunate tales of Christmas Proposals and their ensuing heartbreak~~but I'll spare you Mr. Pipps' annual misery. His leg has healed just fine~~barely a limp~~and the scar on his...well. It simply adds to his roguish charm.

And so, Mr. Pipps wends his way along...softly singing a tune from "Cabaret"...

"Maybe this time,
I'll be lucky....
...Not a loser anymore

Like the last time

And the time before..."

Ah, the winsome hope of Sally & Mr. Pipps!

***************************************************

PS~~I really must cite the "Cabaret" reference...
Musical Play by Joe Masteroff.Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Music by John Kander.Based on I Am A Camera by John van Druten and Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood.Original Production directed by Harold Prince and Choreographed by Ron Fields
**************************************************

Mr. Pipps is available on eBay...as well as the rest of this week's offerings!

*Lucinda Stars*

A tiny star pixie to flit about your tree~~but beware!...*Lucinda* has been known to turn harmless candy canes into deadly sharp holiday weapons...
...no frisky Santa for this pixie!
(and is it just me or is she somehow reminiscent of Lori Petty in "Tank Girl"???)**************************************************************Happy Christmas Forest*...a wonderful 10" Doll Wreath...my favorite figure in the wreath is the wee owl at the top~~***************************************************************And let's see...what else?? *Winter's Queen*, *The Frost Moon*, and a tiny winter owl... ....allllllllll on eBay*****************************************************************

Thank you all so much for your consideration of my work~~

blessings,

meg

In Christmas Forest...

.....you might find a wee gnome~~or, perhaps, a tiny mushroom pixie! A woodland frosted with whimsy can hold many a wonder indeed! Aloysius Gnome and sweet Winifred Owl are just two of the many small stewards of Christmas Forest~~

Together, they live amongst the sparkling pine cones and spotted mushrooms...and the spotted mushroom pixies (which are not very well behaved, to be dead honest).

...softly floating above the snowy Christmas Forest trees~~a tiny star pixie...bright and aloft, just below the winter moon (he's for next week!!!).....

Well, it was just time to make some dollies...and the EHAG Artist's Challenge for November was absolutely inspirational!! Please click the banner (below) to visit all of the Eclectic Halloween Artist's Groups' auctions...you may visit our blog as well!

I'd already been dreaming of little gnomes...and with an owl! Oh my! (and did you know, there actually is such a thing as an "elf owl"~~it's true!)

*Aloysius & Winifred* are my offering for the EHAG challenge...*Wintry and Spooky Owls*.

All are on eBay this week~~and many more to follow!

Thank you for your consideration,

and,

blessings~~

meg

*Jolly Holly Snowman*

...and Christmas Muzak!! Yippeee!!!!

I'm so excited to show you my latest primitive style hooked rug...a folky snowfella:

*Jolly Holly Snowman*... he's on eBay this week.I've also been dabbling a bit in wool applique~~ these little *Sewing Trees* are a brand new design for Christmas 2008~~whimsical, functional, art...my very favorite!

All on eBay this week...click here to visit the auctions.

And, be sure to visit Blestb's Christmas launch,

Old Tyme Christmas

(just click our banner to visit Blestb's listings...)

And now, to address an urgent "current event" here in the nest~~no, really, I simply cannot make another snow pixie!! By the time all of the orders were shipped last Christmas I was having p.t.s.d. nightmares about mean little pixies whacking things with candy canes...as well as an astounding amount of glitter on and around my personage. I just can't, I'm so sorry! but...here's what I'm thinking...maybe a "woodland collection", all from wool felt with wee embroidery details? Mushrooms and acorns, pine cones and birds...tiny nests all frosted with---DARN! there we go with the glitter again...(sigh) I'll start this eve' and post the collection within the next few days...

I'm off to the winter forest--

until next time,

blessings,

meg

PS--if my pictures are "twacked", i do apologize--they weren't when i hit "publish post"...does this happen to you????

hope won

"...in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope...."

Barack Obama

blogs are buzzing...there's celebration...there's hope...when General Colin Powell endorsed President-elect Barack Obama, I began to get excited!!! and lo and behold, hope won....

tuesday night, joe had to work an over-night...i sat up, alone, eating wayyyyy too much halloween candy--i was a bundle of nerves...the first few electoral wins were Kerry alllll over again. i knew i shouldn't get crazy-mad-excited....finally, i put in season one of the x-files. then joe called--Obama won! we won...chloe woke up the next morning and the first thing she said:

"mom! did Rock Obama win????" (maggie "voted" for Bush...sigh.)

this was a shoe-leather, $5 donation campaign--somehow, we combated the non-sense in our inbox (snopes is a beautiful, beautiful, thing!)...somehow, we spoke truth...even to angry family members & friends...somehow, we stayed the course and ducked the "spin"--somehow, hope won!

i am 33 years old--this is the first President I've voted for who won. this is the first election that, when it was allll over, i feel it's only just begun! instead of "oh well..." (that's the delicate way of putting it!) i am asking....

what next? how can i help? what can i do? what's the first thing we are going to change??? and to allll of you naysayers who think that's just an idealistic, naive, "young" hope---YES WE CAN! because we did.

blessings,
meg
ps--i may need an invite to holiday dinner. :)

VOTE!!

This has been circulating, around the web, for a bit now...the author is Connie Schultz of "The Plain Dealer", Cleveland. It's true ladies and gents...all true.
snopes.com: Why Women Should Vote
(And, there's an excellent article from About.com, on the "Brutal Treatment of Women Suffragists at Occoquan Workhouse".)

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE.
"This is the story of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of “obstructing sidewalk traffic.”
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed, and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting, and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the “Night of Terror” on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson’s White House for the right to vote.
For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail. Their food — all of it colorless slop — was infested with worms.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat, and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.
So, refresh my memory. Some women won’t vote this year because — why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn’t matter? It’s raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO’s new movie Iron Jawed Angels. It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women’s history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was — with herself. “One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,” she said. “What would those women think of the way I use, or don’t use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.” The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her “all over again.”
HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies, and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn’t our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn’t make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.”
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. "

Connie Schultz

(hopefully i have quoted intact, etc. ...this is what i dug up from other blogs and snopes--my apologies if anything is incorrect, mis-quoted, etc.)

I confess, my voting habits were a titch whimsical until the infamous Bush/Gore election. And even after 9-11, when our leaders were "deliberating" the Iraq invasion (though we were already in Afghanistan, where Osama oft' resides...)--even after all of the spin and all of the tragedy, as a working mama, and then a pregnant work-at-home-mom, life grew very busy and the wonderful chaos of children and family drowned out the tremendous action the United States was taking. I can't remember when I "woke up"--I know I had "Inspections Work" posters in my admin. assist. office...but at some point my concern and passion faded. I'm a mom. That's my very first job--but I have to remember that being informed and voting my conscience, sorting through the spin and carefully harvesting the facts, VOTING, is one of the most important things I can do for my girls. There's a dialogue in our home, and Chloe asks questions now--and not just Joe and I...she asks her grandparents too. And that's a wonderful thing--though she was a bit miffed that, at 7 years old, she will not be able to vote!

Since 2000, there's been only one state election I did not vote in--my mom and i went through the ballot, and knew we would precisely cancel each other out on every candidate, and every issue! Though i did torment her with "i voted" calls the rest of the evening... :)

Anywho. Get out there. Go do it. If your willing to sacrifice your own "voice", please consider the kiddos...our decisions now will impact them forever, on every issue, every front. And, if you must write Ron Paul in, I do understand--it's too bad that fella didn't go farther.

"Snopes" your inbox, watch both news channels, go to wiki (you can read a TON of speeches there!!!...it's always interesting to see what the candidates have to say when it's NOT an election year!)...you've got allll weekend to research. Be informed and GO VOTE!!

See ya at the polls~~
and blessings,
meg

Home again, home again....

*October Cottage*

We are home from Illinois!! The little rug above was hooked some weeks ago and posted on eBay...I had resigned myself--happily--to it's not selling...this little "October Cottage" looks just like our wee nest, scarlet mums and all. The color "planning" was completely fun--I'd received a beautiful piece of wool from Lisa, a fellow PRHG member, in our "Great Pumpkin Swap"~~I began cutting the wool that very day. (the little cottage and the roof were hooked with Lisa's wool.) Then I just tossed "worms" together (worms are the strips of wool), checking my values and contrast as I went along. The crocheted binding was complete serendipity~~some old yarn from my crochet stash that was perfect!
But then at the last there was a bid! The sweetest customer...this is what she wrote when she received the rug...
"hello meg,
just a quick note to say how much i love the rug. i hook rugs and very seldom buy them but when i saw this i knew i had to have it, the colors are so gorgeous. thank you for a beautiful rug that i will enjoy for years to come....you have a true talent for colors. i simply adore the colors in the rug i purchased, it's whimsical and beautiful. it sits right on my living table for everyone to enjoy. thanks again for a lovely, lovely rug!..."
Wasn't that so kind?! I am so happy that my little cottage went to a good home... :)

And speaking of home--we are home! We have been to visit Papa 'Nois and all of our friends and family who live in beautiful, rural, Southern Illinois...we had a wonderful time--and I have just a few--well, quite a few!--pictures to share with you...

Ashley and Chloe

Ashley is my cousin's daughter...it was so cool, such a blessing, to have our families all together--happy and full of gratitude... I confess, I had a few "tears of joy", a couple of times.
We were in Pinckneyville Illinois...that's where I'm "from". Pinckneyville has the fabulous Mardi Gras celebration, the last weekend in October. Candy, costumes, a parade, rides...and funnel cake, of course!! These are the kiddos (and Jenny!) waiting for the parade to start....my girls came home with 3 bags of candy and we've a week to go before trick or treating!!! YIKES!

Ashley marched in the parade...she's in the Color Guard for her school in DuQuoin Illinois...isn't that a cool picture? Jayden is the little boy mouse next to Maggie-mouse (above). He must have had a close call, because whenever the color guards approached he'd yell:

WATCH OUT--HERE COME THE FLAGS!!!

The OLD guy below is my Uncle Frank & his wife, Aunt Diane...he restored that car himself--it's the same make and model of the car he courted my Aunt Judy in so many, many, years ago...(snicker). Judy passed away in 1997--she was my aunt and my friend, and sometimes,

...my mom when I was visiting in Illinois and away from my own mom...I'm always a bit nervous to visit IL. because she's not there anymore...it just seems like we should "go in to Judy's"--but she isn't there. This visit was the first time I've visited with Uncle Frank and Diane since they were married--and it was so good to see them so happy and so perfect together. I know Aunt Judy would approve....I do. :) And too, there's new faces...our family fills in with more blessings, and though people have passed away, we still have a full and wonderful bunch of people. Doug and his wife Jenny (she's so sweet), her little boy Jayden and his Big Sis. Reece (so cute!) and the baby every one's waiting for...Scott, Laura, and Kirsten, Grandma Darlene, and of course, Papa 'Nois--he cut a rug right there on the street during the parade. (And no, I will not show you a picture.) Papa Great and Grandma Reca Lee, Great Aunt Gege, Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary...Julie and her wonderful family...Grandpa Harold and Grandma Ina, Gramma and Pa...Debbie and Verlin...Uncle Jerry, Aunt Sharon, Heather and her beautiful girls...so many of us. A quilt of blessings sewn up with gratitude and remembrance.

I was very lucky to come home with a box of old pictures (with Grandma's blessing)...I poured through old photos of people and houses and horses and cows...! And now and then, a snapshot that I remember, or people that I do know. I think there's always a tug, from deep inside, when you "go home"--and yes, you can go home again...just down the road from my Dad's place is an old barn that was converted into a house. This is the road it's on:
Barely one lane, and canopied in oak trees...definitely a "road less travelled by"--and yes, I would love to live there. My Dad lives 7 miles out from town--they are surrounded by forest and fields of corn and soybeans...that land itself seems to nestle into my heart...to make a place of memory and reverence for such beauty. This was taken right outside the back door at my dad's house:

No matter where we were this past week, we were home.

Blessings,

Meg

Primitive Halloween...

Look what I found on eBay!!~~available from my buddy Sherry, of From Sherry's Heart...I LOVE this jackity lantern!!!--

...and just look at that rug!!!!
You can click any of Sherry's pictures to visit her auctions....

Just yesterday morning we were talking about the WORK involved with just getting ready to hook a rug...Sherry had blogged about it. And I think, gentle reader, she cursed me! Because yesterday was one loooonnng day, getting ready to hook a rug--in a nutshell: the bathtub leaked because I was absorbed in cutting my wool and forgot I was running a bath (our tub is 1941 like the rest of the house, and you can only run it so high or it leaks into our basement. We've tried to fix it of course. It's a mystery.) Thankfully, it just leaked onto 3 boxes of incredibly ugly pots from my unfortunate (for the viewer) sojourn into ceramics and pottery... So anywho. That's what happened while I was cutting my wools...now, onto dyeing!

A 9"X13" glass Pyrex dish blew up all over our tiny kitchen. I don't really think that should have happened, do you? Thankfully, I had just turned my back to the stove a second before it blew--an explosion of dye water, wool, glass, hot burners...the mess was absolutely horrid (and just between you and I, I'm not sure if the stove still works--it's 1941 too!!) Then there was this whole saga with trying to transfer my design--I don't have any red-dot paper which is what hooker's use to get those designs on the thick, opaque, backing fabric...I wrestled with some old locker hooking backing, a window screen, the living room window (sigh). I've actually never transferred anything as I usually just draw right onto my linen, but as this is a sample for my next book, I wanted it to be "true"...

So. At 7:30am I woke up motivated to hook a rug as sample for my new Christmas pattern book--at 6 o'clock in the evening, I finally sat down to hook. Keep an eye out for my this new rug!! It will be $500, buy it now. (I know that's high, but I have to buy a stove!--LOL)

Be sure to visit *Timothy Jack III (is NOT a fop!)*~~he's on eBay right now...

A changeable fellow~~he's quite prepared for Christmas AND Halloween with his dapper little costume...you'll just have to go see!)

Have a blessed Sunday,

and while you're at it--

have a sundae too!!

Meg

Crafty Christmas Challenge...

What, pray-tell, is that nutty little song playing on your blog Nutmeg??? Wellllll....it's off the Juno soundtrack. Juno is one of thee best movies I have seen in a very, very, long time. A few months ago Joe and I watched some of the Oscar Winning/Nominated movies. Whatever. I was heartily un-impressed. Then my mother-in-law told me to check out Juno--mostly for the weird music factor. Anywho. You should watch it. Now.

You're back?? Super!! :)

The main point of this post is the Crafty Christmas Challenge--but I've been meaning to tell you all about that little indie flick. So what's the challenge? Well, I'd blogged on the 12th about making my gifts this year, and asking other artists and crafters to play along...it's not super-structured or anything, not especially organized...I just thought it would be fun, for all of us who would like, to maybe share our pics. and progress with the blog community. Most importantly, I wanted to share with everyone why it's so darn important to buy handmade and to make things your very own self! You can read more here ...but one of the "finer points", imho:

Buying handmade is better for people.
"The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect...."

Hear, hear!! Just over the past few months, I have acquired some new convictions--this "stuff" is so important...to grow your own, make your own, and teach others (especially kiddos!) along the way. I have three quilt-tops from the 1930s--they belonged to my great grandmother, Ida Rice.

I have no idea how to quilt them! And oh, if I could only grow tomatoes the way Mom Chapman did!--I know full well she didn't pop down to the local big-box store and pick up a box of strange, neon, grainy, "fertilizer". These traditions, crafts, homesteading skills...they've simply disappeared for so many of us. The recovery of our loss is GREEN and it's a revolution! And of course, with those two words, I've lost a few of you...crazy Nutmeg rides again. :) Ah well...we'll be back to simple look-at-my-auction entries soon...

Anywho. Now that both girls are in some sort of school, I'll have a few hours each week to work on their gifts--in secret, un-interrupted. This vintage dollie is definitely on the list:

(You can get this pattern at Cloth Doll Supply.)

I also found a TON of freebie patterns at Lion Brand's website, for those of you who knit or crochet...

So. Spread the word!! And then, as you wish to, you can email me pics. of your Christmas goodies, and at some point in December I'll upload them to this blog, or, of course, you can load your own and link to everyone's lovely creations!! :) And do let me know if you'd like to play...and I'll add links and names to this blog entry...

I found this pic. this am and wanted to share it with you...that's my husband's Grandma and Grandpa--her name was Dollie, and I do all of my sewing on her sewing table...cool huh? I also have a treadle machine from Grandma Francie--not brave enough to try that out yet, but it's definitely on my "someday..." list!

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Blessings,

Meg

Wicked Talent...

I am sooooo thrilled to officially be a part of EHAG!

Eclectic Halloween Artists Group...do check out the loads of fabulous art that's up right now, on eBay--there's presently an artist's challenge underway:

Halloween Carnival

Just click (above banner) to visit all of the auctions!!

Mine own offering is a ne're-do-well cat named Charlie--he's actually banned from the carnival...and you'll just have to click (below) to find out why!! :)

Should you be unfamiliar with EHAG, this is what the artists' blog has to say:

We are a group of professional artists and enthusiasts who share a love for art that celebrates the magic of All Hallow's Eve. Halloween painters, sculptors, doll artists, miniaturists, fiber artists and collectors alike gather here to share, inspire, encourage, support and discuss our latest creations!

Do go take a peek!!

Pin Cushions & An Award!!

Life isn't easy

for the Pin Cushion Queen.

When she sits alone on her throne,
Pins push through her spleen.

Tim Burton

One of my favoritest Tim Burton Poems-- yes, he writes poetry too! All charmingly illustrated...

But, I digress--what's all the hullabaloo about Pin Cushions?? I was so excited to realize there is some folklore associated with pin cushions (or pinkeeps, as you will...), according to Martha Stewart. And we won't question her, now will we?! This is a sweet little freebie project on her site (click picture at right):
Martha writes:

"Pincushions were once set on mantels in new homes to bring occupants prosperity..."

What a loverly gift for newlyweds or a housewarming...!

I have to tell you, the sweetest thing happened--after a long, long, day, I checked my email to find that Trudy of Bits of Wool has given me an award...

"Primitive Excellence Award"

And, as blog awards go, I am will pay it forward and share the sweetness...!

Here are my picks:

• Sherry Kristoff, From Sherry's Heart
• Lori Brechlin, Notforgotten Farm
• & of course, Joee, of Cart Before the Horse
• & always, always, always, Rochelle Fugate

These four gals define Primitive Folk Art, for me, as a folk artist...

Sherry's exquisite hooked rugs and whimsies...I own one of Sherry's hooked pieces, and I can tell you that her craftsmanship is incomparable! And, she is so willing to share her years of experience--I've lost count of how many of us girls she's taught to hook, over the phone (yes, that does sound a bit racey doesn't it?!)

Lori's fabulous work--her scherenschnitte (papercuttings) are timeless--a rare quality in the modern folk art world...

Joee & Dylan never cease to amaze us all with their innovative and beautiful designs--I have long admired the "honest" quality of their work! And every week, rain or shine, there's something new to enchant and amaze!!

Rochelle's dollies are simply wonderful in every way--muslin folk figures that demand you fall in love with them...and it's quite easy, believe me. Each is their very own little personage--Rochelle takes traditional "techniques" and then sprinkles each figure with a sense of humor, happiness, and a sweet spirit. Dollie Goodness personified! :)

Now, I really must fly from the nest...my husband & I are headed to The Inn of Glenhaven to celebrate our 9th anniversary! I am soooo excited! I am taking my sketchbook, of course, and my camera to take pictures to share with you...the Estus area is one of Colorado's most beautiful spots...stay tuned!

Until next time,

Blessings,

Meg