The Winner Is.....and a Consolation Give~Away

A big thank you to all who dropped by my blog for the give~away. I wish each and everyone of you could have won! Thanks also to all my followers ~ old and new ~ and for all your kind comments.

I had 28 people leave a comment and 4 others who emailed me.
My DSO Fritz was chosen to pick the winner. (This picture was his idea!)

And the winner is.......

Congratulations, Sheila. Please email me (lauren@centurytel.net) with your name and address and I will mail the rug ASAP.

Just for fun, I thought I would have a consolation give~away, this time a punch needle piece. I don't have enough done to post a picture, so stop back tomorrow to have a look and sign up.

Thank you again to all my blogland buddies!!!

Pug hugs :)

Lauren

Still time to enter the GIVE ~ AWAY ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ WELCOME FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

There is still time to enter my give~away. Check out my January 31st post for the details. I hope these pictures more accurately represent the true colors of the hooked mat. The colors are very subdued and "olde" looking.

(This close-up, taken without a flash, is still to bright.)
I hope everyone has had a great, productive week.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Punxutawney Phil & Mom's 90th ~

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2010 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:
Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, "If you want to know next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Mom celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday. We really hadn't planned anything much because she was doing so poorly, but since returning home she is doing better. We are going to try to have more of a party in a couple of weeks.

(When she turned 80, we threw a huge party at my house. I had just moved to a smaller home 6 weeks before the party. It was alot of work but a great incentive to get my house in order!)

My niece could not find a 90th birthday card, so she sent her a 75 + 10 + 5 year old cards. (A clever idea that my DSO used for my last birthday ~ I think she stole the idea from him...lol!).
That's my "much" older brother Bill (2 years and 11 days!), son J, Mom with Eema and yours truly.

I just had to post this darling picture of Eema. She was basking in the sun coming in through the front window.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and entered my give~away. There's still plenty of time to tell your family and friends. I do appreciate each and every comment that is left for me.

Pug hugs :)

Lauren

100th post GIVE~AWAY ~ ~ ~

Okay, I'm a few posts late. This was meant to be for my 100th post.

I still have not come up with those wonderful pictures...

or the witty repartee,

but I have managed to hook this little mat for a give~away.

It's not as little as I thought it was going to be.

I am forgetting that hooking with an 8.5 and a 9.5 cut,

things tend to be a bit larger.

This mat is about 12 3/4" x 13 3/4" in diameter out of round.

The background is a wonderful as-is wool

and the heart and hit-and-miss border are an assortment

of many different shades of reds and pinks.

{{I will bind it before I send it to you...honest! }}

And now the fine print.....

You must leave a comment on this post...

OR if you are having trouble leaving me a comment,

send me an email ~ lauren@centurytel.net.

Please put "give~away" in the subject line

so I won't miss it.

If you don't have a blog, be sure to leave me an email address.

You don't need to be a follower ~ ~ ~

but I would appreciate it if you were ;-)

Feel free to post this on your blog...

but only one entry per person.

Please, only residents of the United States and Canada

due to the cost of shipping.

Oh, by the way.....

this will come complete with a few pug hairs.

(The downside of loving a pug!)

I will draw a winner on Saturday the 6th at 5 pm.

Thank you for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Rugs I did not hook ~ ~ ~

Today I thought I would share with you rugs I own but did not hook. All were purchased on eBay, about 2005 - 2007.

These are 2 small mats hooked by Bonnie Stahl. Her hooking style is rather low loops that are tightly packed.
This is also by Bonnie. The true colors are much more muted.
A small rug by Jane Augenstein of Liberty Homestead Rugs...

...and a closeup view. The first picture shows the truer colors (but still not totally accurate).

I believe this is by eBay seller primitiveglory, though I did not buy it from her. It is unsigned.

Another unsigned rug that I adore. It's 11 1/2 x 16 and so primitive. Its only fault is that it was not hooked on the straight of the grain and doesn't lay quite flat.

Another unsigned rug that is 23 x 37. It was hooked by the seller (I have no recollection of who that was). Her loops are very low but very even. It is a wonderful rug that I got for very little money. Lucky for me but not for the seller. That's all for today. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs (to keep you warm) :)
Lauren

Hookin' at the Library ~ ~ ~

Friday I finally got the chance to head to the library to hook. It's been ages since I have been able to make it and this is the first time I was able to go during the day. I showed up with my little weenie rug that I have been whining about for so long. Let me tell you, I was embarrassed to take it out of my bag. These ladies can hook and they hook BIG, BIG projects. I didn't get pictures of everyone's rugs, but here are a few.

Take a look at this rug. This is Sylvia's and she probably started it less than a month ago. It must be at least 3 x 5 feet if not bigger. The first picture shows how big it really is....

...and the close up gives you a better idea of the colors being used.

Here's Karin's antique adaptation.

Doesn't Carol's rug just make you smile? Carol is the go-to woman for color planning!

Here's an Edyth O'Neill adaptation very close to completion. The colors are so rich.

Jane started this rug in a class. These are her two dogs Sadie and Haley. Look closely and you can see the names hooked in the bodies. This is another HUGE rug. I bet it is at least 4 x 5 feet.

Last but not least is Kaye's rug. BEAUTIFUL!!!

I did finish my little weenie rug and after I get it mailed off (belated Christmas gift, remember?), I will post a picture of it.

Thank you all for stopping by. I hope you've had a great weekend!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Can a rug hate me?

Thank you to each and everyone who left me a comment on my last post wishing me a speedy recovery. I know it is only a cold, but it has knocked the wind out of my sails for over a week now. I've heard it said that if you take meds for a cold, it lasts seven days and if you do nothing, it takes a week...lol! I just want to feel human again!

OK. Can a rug have a personal vendetta against me? This belated Christmas gift I have been working on since November shouldn't be so difficult. It's only about 14x19 and a very simple design, but it has been giving me fits from the get-go. I started it on this linen I hate working with and finally started over on the primitive linen I love. Things were going ok, and then came the holidays and the decorating and all that goes with it, so the rug got set aside. I apologized profusely to the recipients when I didn't have a gift to give them and figured I'd get the rug done in no time. Here it is going in to the third week in January (is that possible?) and it's still not done. The lettering gave me fits ~ one letter too big and the next too small. Okay, I think that is finally resolved and I'm STILL NOT done. I've only used a few colors of wool in the entire rug and I'm not sure if I'm happy with the choices. I think I just have this mental block that I need to overcome. Hopefully I'll be a little happier with the rug when it is all done, bound and shipped to Alaska!

Tonight I've got both the girls. I was hoping to get a picture of the two of them together, but they insist on being on opposite ends of the couch. Here's Eema ~ still with me. (I think that is my finger in the top of the picture ~ sorry.)

This is Loocie. She was a bit "under the weather" and Daddy didn't want to leave his little princess home alone while he taught this evening. Isn't she just the cutest little thing?
Here's a Mom update. We (my brother and I) brought her home from the nursing home on Monday and not only will she have caregivers 24/7, hospice is now coming in, too. I met the hospice nurse and social worker today and they were just the most caring ladies, and the social worker also has a pug so she has to be a special person...lol!
I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren