Pagan Gourd Group

I just joined a pagan gourd group on yahoo. Nice bunch of people. Maybe you can join too. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pagan_Gourd/

This type of cup is called a noggin.  

The star and the ears. 

Use a kneaded eraser to clean up stray pencil lines. 

Celtic knotwork hare and woodburning tool. 

The finished piggy after a few coats of clear acrylic finish. 

Her curly tail is made with raffia cordage that I got wet and then curled like a pin curl with a bobby pin. When it dried, it was plenty curly. 

Side view. 

Piggy bank before the spray finish. 

Almost a piggy. Check out this piggy bank I am about halfway done with. I still have to add the ears and eyes and figure out whether I want to paint it or not.
 

A gourd birdhouse waiting to be painted. 

The finished gourd rattle. 

Other artists

A charming photo story about another gourd artist and white gourds. http://english.people.com.cn/200403/26/eng20040326_138623.shtml

Felt beaded doll pin. 

A noggin is a small dipper style drinking cup. The light weight makes it ideal for carrying on your belt while hiking, at Renaissance faires, historical re-inactments, or anywhere you want a handy drinking cup. A noggin is a good first project for boy scout troupes, brownies, summer camps etc. The outside can be decorated with woodburning, paints, leather dyes, carvings or beadwork. 

Gourd rattle with wood filler where I cut it to add gravel. I stuffed the handle with polyester fiberfill first, and then glued it back on before using the wood filler. 

This is a gourd mask I'm making. It looks pretty bizarre at this point. 

Weekend update

Reading:
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams

Archery:
The Mile Square Park archery range was still pretty marshy from yesterday's rains. The good side of that is there was ample parking and I had the entire range to myself. I broke one arrow beyond repair, so I cut it off short to use as a hat ornament. I shot 100 arrows from the 20, 30 and 40 yard markers. I didn't even hit the paper plate from 40. Definately have to try that before my hand gets fatigued.

Gourds:
I've been staring at this one large canteen gourd all day, trying to figure out how to paint a band of horses around it's girth.

Giraffes:
I watched a PBS special on giraffes today. Learned some facts I didn't know, like when a baby is born, his soft horns are plastered to his head, so as to make delivery easier. And the hooves have a soft gelatin all around them. Baby giraffes have to stand within the first 20 minutes of birth to protect them from predators. Giraffes communicate with a series of sounds so low we cannot hear them with human ears. The sounds carry over great distance to other giraffes. A giraffe's heart is 2 feet long.

Well, that's how my weekend went. Hope you all had a good one.

Freshly scrubbed gourd. 

I love all the rich patterns on the surface of each gourd.