Horse and Purse Build Along Part 2

Today I worked on my horse gourd vase again. I touched up the ink dyes, then I used the heat activated glue to put on the metal leafing over the sun. Looks pretty snazzy. I cut some sisal to go around the brim. I need to sew on a Buffalo Head Nickle button. But then I realized that I need to paint the interior black first. I bought spray paint for that very purpose a week ago and I can't find it today. ARGH.

I also dyed the exterior of the gourd purse. I used butterscotch and berry ink dyes blended together with a white felt square. Then I dribbled rubbing alcohol on it. That came out pretty interesting so I went ahead and heat set it with the heat gun. The next thing I have to do on that is add a leather hinge.

I want to make a cowgirl gourd too. That was is still being working on by my subconscious mind. It's for the Zombie Nanner Gang theme 'Lonesome Cowgirl'. But I haven't had time to sketch it out yet so it will have to wait until later. So much to do, so little time.

Gourd Artist

Youtube has a wealth of videos about gourd art. Here is one I found tonight.

Gourd Purse Build Along Part 1

I just started a gourd purse. I was about ready to clean a canteen gourd when my boyfriend handed me one he'd already cleaned inside and out and painted the interior. So I was able to decoupage the insides before it got dark. I'll let that dry overnight and then give it 2 more coats.

One photo is of the decorative paper I added to the interior, plus the clear medium, and the pre-painted gourd.

The others are of the interior as I was adding the collage with a foam brush.

Pyrography on Gourds

I just wrote an article on pyrography on gourds here: Gourd It has lots of photos.

Wild Horse Trotting Around a Gourd Vase

Last night my boyfriend was making a paleo style bowl and had just woodburned a curly horned ram on it. I said it sure would be neat to do a horse, so I sketched up some horses. They weren't really the style he needed, so I slept on it, and this morning I just couldn't bear to waste those horse sketches. So I got some of the new pyrography paper we just got and traced the best of the horses onto it. I selected a gourd that would make a good vase and set out to work sawing off the top and cleaning it for woodburning. It was very satisfying seeing my drawings come to life on the gourd. Then I got to experiment with the new ink dyes we got. The Gourdmaster ones were so much better than the other brand we bought. In fact the other brand left streaks and dried so quickly I could barely get in onto the gourd before it dried. The Gourdmaster inks stayed wet a long time and covered up the streaks from the first inks. Unfortunately we spent $30.00 on the other inks. If my boyfriend hadn't already opened all three packages (each with three bottles) I would have returned them the next chance I got. Maybe they work great on some things, but not on gourds.



I already drilled holes around the rim of the gourd because I either want to sew on pine needles or raffia around the brim. And I think I have a buffalo head nickle button around here that I can sew on to the front. But tomorrow is another day and it's time to wind down now.