Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Out of my gourd!





Just one more crafty post for the ladies who are interested ! ( Both of you :) )

I am 'Out of my Gourd' bird houses but I want to make one for my own back yard soon!
( I DO still have the one with pink flowers!)

Here are some designs that I have made in the past !


...And an interesting
website I found...


http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/bronii/


Junie

21 comments:

  1. These are GREAT! What a beautiful job you did Junie. I can see how you could sell them...heck, you're an artist. I can imagine ALL the wonderful things you still have hidden away in your house...what fun.

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  2. Thanks!


    :) but will I ever be able to pull myself away from this computer to do anything else?... We'll see!

    Junie

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  3. Kyle,

    Lol! I'm not so sure...You know what- I have been online, I think, about 5 years now.

    I started out with Ebay-then went on to some message forums...Stephen King...Dean Koontz...Rock-on-Line...Political forum... Poetry forums and more!!
    I discovered IM with friends which at times can go into HOURS!!

    Last but not least I have discovered blogging! And from the looks of things it is shaping up to be the most addictive of all!

    PLUS- have most of the other things STILL going too!

    Junie

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  4. Those are some great looking gourds, don't think I have seen any quite that big. ec

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  5. I got my gourds for the birdhouses from a man in Priceville Alabama. Average ht. was probably 14 inches!

    I have grown a few here too, but they don't do so well!

    Gourds are so interesting to me! There's so many different kinds and so much you can do with them!

    June

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  6. Kyle,

    Tyops-Be-Frun :) Some of us live by the tyop and occasionanl grammar twister thingie, and then never look backwards to the past. Even the once in a while infrequent redundancye is almost as often in the long run a sight to behold.

    In summary, there must be something in the water .... ** chuckle ** :)

    MM

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  7. Junie,

    Man, thems Gourds are fantastic !!! You are truly an Artist'e with 'em :) And the Cypress Knees too. Who'd ever thunk that some weird looking stalagmite type thingie growing out of the swamp could be turned into one of the "Three ol' Wise Men", and so beautifully as you've done with 'em too!

    Hats off to your Artiste'ivness :)

    MM

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  8. :)

    Thank you, MM, for your visit and your nice comments!

    Juniper

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  9. OK, but please answwer ths for us city slickers: What da heck is a Gourd anyways? Where does it come from? What does it do in its life? Is it dangerous when cornered? Lastly, is it a vegatable or a friut? And can it core a apple?

    MM

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  10. lol--Look it up in yer FUNK N Wagnal!!

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  11. Look it up in yer FUNK N Wagnal!!

    Hay, no profanity ... please(!) .. this is a family blog, ain't it? :)

    MM

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  12. Hi June ~~ The gourds look great/ There
    is no end to the talent of our blogger friends.
    I have only ever posted the one link, and like you could not find the color palette. But if you write your post and then go to blogger- there is a palette there and a button next to it Link. So see if you can do it from there.Merle.

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  13. Hay, no profanity ... please(!) .. this is a family blog, ain't it? :)

    MM<<

    MM.

    Yer right- sorry 'bout that! !! :)

    Just got carried away when faced with the task of describing what gourds are!

    Gourds are inedible,
    however- melons, cucumbers and squash are of the gourd family and we do eat those!! Yummy!!

    When gourds mature they form a hard, woody shell that's perfect for doing crafts!! They have to be dried for several months before they can be used!

    A woodburning tool can be used to make designs of whatever you want and you can easily apply paper mache accents (santa beards!!) or whatever strikes your fancy! Also, the smooth surface, after being scraped and prepared properly, presents you with the perfect surface for painting!

    In the past, of course, the gourd had many practical uses, such as bowls and drinking utensils.

    In fact, I remember gourds being used for drinking- in my early childhood! (Lol-YES!! I go back that far!!) The long necked gourd was used as a dipper in the water bucket - everyone using the same dipper too- the water having to be drawn from a well!

    ...and , amazingly, here am I BLOGGING about it, all these years later!! :)

    Lol- probably more info than you bargained for here!

    For now...all I know is they make dang good bird houses and Santas, bowls and vases! ;)


    Thanks for your visits and interest in my gourds!

    Junie

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  14. Thanks Merle,

    Happy you enjoyed viewing my gourds!

    As for linking- had Alli working with it last night and even she was unable to work it out- but I will give it one more try- next time I want to link something!

    June

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  15. Those are beautiful, Junie! You're very talented. :) I like those Santas too. I'd never heard of Cypress Knees... they sure are weird-looking things, aren't they?! At least, until you paint them!

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  16. Are the outlines actually etched into the gourd, or just painted on? With those palm tree ones, especially, it looks like they are etched. It's really cool-looking!

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  17. Skye,

    I'm glad you like my craft work!

    I first sketch a free-hand drawing of whatever I decide to do-( for both gourds and cypress knees) then I use a burning tool, which has several different tips for the effect I want. Next I paint the whole thing and finally spray varnish it for a final touch!

    ...Of course there's a lot of work before getting to this point ,too...getting it ready to begin your creating!! It's a lot of work but FUN!

    Junie

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  18. June, you should get outta your gourd more often, lol! Those are fantastic. Lucky birds!

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  19. ;) Thanks , Carolyn.
    Actually, the only one I still have is the one with pink flowers. It hangs in my bathroom!

    I like the sunflower design best, so if I make me a new one it will be that one!
    !
    Junie

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  20. your gourds are lovely. I have painted a few gourds of my own but I no longer have a place to get them and can't afford to spend more money on craft items... my house is overflowing I need to get crafting and selling in order to make room for more.

    thanks for sharing your beautiful works.

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  21. Thanks!

    I'd love to see your gourds too!

    Junie

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