Looped Gourd

One way to embellish a gourd is by looping it with wire or thread. So here is a gourd I just started working on.  I've never tried embroidery thread and it seems to be going a lot slower than when I used linen or hemp. I'll have to keep you posted on how it's coming along.

Making a Gourd Scoop

When I flipped this warty gourd over it had a crack running horizontally through it.

So I decided to cut it in half and keep the good half to make a scoop.

Since the warts make it look interesting, I'm leaving it as it is.

When you purchase gourds, clean them well, make sure they are dry, and store them indoors in a cool dry place.  This gourd was left outside in the weather and when I flipped it over it had a long vertical crack.  I was able to cut it in half and use the good part for a scoop.

Even though many cultures have used gourds for centuries to eat from I think I'll just use this for non-food uses, like scooping lavender into sachets or scooping birdseed into juggling balls. Some people are allergic to gourd dust, so I'd hate to sell it to someone and have them use it to scoop their oatmeal or flour and then have an allergic reaction. But that's a whole 'nother subject.

Turning a Gourd Into a Pouch

My friend Sal gets the credit for this next project.  It's based on a gourd he brought back from Mexico. See the photo of it at the top of the page.

For this project I needed a gourd that could be turned into a little bowl. The first one I picked up had a good shape, but when I flipped it over it had a long lengthwise crack.  Rats.  But I figured I could save half of it and make a scooper for birdseed or lavender or something.

But I'm glad I kept looking because then I found a gourd in my stash that was a twofer. I was able to cut it in half and make 2 bowls.  I used my gourd saw, but a hand saw would have worked.

After I cleaned it inside and out, and sanded it, I drilled holes around the rim with a Dremel drill. Then I did pyrography petroglyphs. In other words, I used a wood burning tool to draw 2 lizards in a petroglyph style. And on the other bowl I put a cat line drawing.  I thought part of the appeal was to keep it really basic and primitive looking.  My boyfriend looked at them and said, "The art is too basic." Sigh. We always have different visions for things.  Simplistic was my goal. I feel like the crochet is going to add yet another element, so I wanted to keep the art basic. 

Next I will apply a clear finish over the art, because when I do the crochet part, I don't want the overspray to go on the string. If you look at the photos this will make a lot more sense. I think I am done with this project for today so stay tuned.

Cleaned bottle gourd.

The top and the bottom of the gourd.  I saved the middle part for another project.

I used a drill to put the holes for the thread to go through.

lizard and cat in pyrograpyhy

Freyja Gourd Pyrography

Tonight I find myself doing some research on the Norse Goddess Freyja http://www.valkyrietower.com/freyja.html.  First True Thomas was telling a story at Angel's Melee and chose me to be Freyja (that's what I get for sitting in the front row). Then my boyfriend tells me he needs to do a Freyja gourd and wants my help.  Then he told me he didn't want my help. So now I'm so fascinated with the potential of it, that tomorrow I'm going to try it myself. Let's hope my drawing skills are up to it.

I think the universe wants me to study up on Freyja. That's twice in recent days someone has involved me in a Freyja project.

Gourds and Reciept Confusion

We had a wonderful time at the gourd farm. This time we took a different route through Fallbrook because of some road damage on the usual route. We only saw one place the road was still a bit flooded but it was no big deal. But you could see the high water line had flooded out the road a few days ago.

Mostly we got bottle gourds because they were 70% off.  Even the mini gourds and the jewelry gourds were still $70 off as long as they were bottle shaped (big on top and bottom, with a smaller waist). I couldn't resist getting 3 warty gourds as well.
After the talley we went inside the shop to get everything rung up. I about had a heart attack when the cashier said the price of my gourds with the discount was almost $200. But my boyfriend kept saying she knew her job and if she said that was the total, then that was the total. So I wandered around the shop while he rang up his gourds.  A bit later when the cashier went to put it on the credit card, she saw she'd rung up the 3 warty gourds as 54 warty gourds, so when she fixed that the total dropped down to about $70. Thank goodness I was right and they caught the error before I was halfway home. But how come neither one of them believed me when I said the price she first rang up couldn't possibly be right?

We also asked her to subtotal mine, and his, so I'd know how much I owed him, but when all was said and done she put the sale gourds on one receipt and everything else on the other, so I still don't know how much I owe him. We are going to have to recount and re-lable everything so I can find out whose gourds are whose. I probably got 100 gourds.

Gourd Sale At Welburn Gourd Farm

According to my boyfriend, Welburn Gourd Farm is having a 70% off sale on bottle gourds. I'm sure these are the very end of last year's crop. And since we use them to make canteens, vases, and water jugs, we always need some.  I use the bottle gourds for dolls, birdhouses and vases. So with any luck we'll drive out there first thing in the morning.

I hope to get some more little gourds to make gourd necklaces.  I really need to show some restraint or I end up buying way too many.

Gourds and Rain

I just wrote an article on crafts here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Crafts-I-Love It features some gourd art so I thought I'd mention it in this blog. I'm looking forward to exploring more pyrography. 

Fish Gourd Bowl by Guy Taylor

We've been getting a lot of rain. One of the bins of gourds on the patio that is sealed against the weather was really heavy when my boyfriend tried to move it. As you know, gourds are super light, so there is no reason this should have been heavy. So he opens it and stink-o. Somehow it was filled with water. So we dumped everything on the dirt to dry again.  That was before this rainstorm that's been going for four days already, so they are all wet again. I sure hope we can save most of them.

Gourds and Hubpages

I've been reviewing and updating all my gourd articles on Hubpages. Hubpages has made so many improvements in the way things are catergorized and linked together, that I had to edit things to catch up with the newer features. If you don't know about Hubpages, come say hi. Hubpages . The link will take you to my gourd santa page and you can maneuver from there.