Here we are again with another month gone by. The leaves will begin to change and there will be a nip in the air.  This is a very busy time of the year, but also lots of fun. I hope you will enjoy the free pattern and use it on many items.  I'm really excited about the up coming N C Gourd Society's festival and hope to see some of you there.

WHAT'S NEW Getting ready for the upcoming holidays, I'm working on some new santa designs. You can check a few of them out here. Also a couple of new ornaments on the ornament page to check out. Click here. Also some new items on the fall page, click here to see.

For success, attitude is as important as ability.

FREE PATTERN With fall fast approaching, what better way to think ahead and offer a quick and easy design that can be applied not only to a gourd, but lots of different surfaces. Click here for pattern and directions. Click on photo to enlarge

For those who aren't aware, working with gourds is a popular interest. There are many state's that have their own Gourd Societies, and there is even an group called the American Gourd Society where you can finds lots of information. Check out their website here.

HELPFUL TIPS Lots of times when I paint the inside of a gourd I use black laytex house paint that I buy at Lowe's in quarts. It works great and last longer. If you're using a pattern from a book you can use a typing stand to hold your book. Just make sure it has a ridge at the bottom so the book won't slide off, and it will keep your book open for you to refer to. Another great tip from Hellen Martin in TX.

SPECIAL OF THE MONTH This month's special is a grouping of raw egg gourds. You can purchase 5 cleaned and ready to go for $10 which will include the shipping. These are bigger than a chicken egg, but I still use them for ornaments and they work great. No longer valid

CLEANING THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR GOURD Okay I know this probably isn't our favorite part of working with gourds, and most of us have our own way of completing this step. But for anyone who is new to gourds or just would like to know another way of doing it here's my version and a few suggestions I've been given over the years. Be sure the gourd is completely dry or cured from the vine. The only way that I know to clean a green gourd is by "green peeling." Which is normally done with a sharp knife and scrape the skin off, and should be repeated as the gourd continues to dry. It does give a very nice finish when completed. I place my dried, moldy and sometime very dirty gourds in a hot tub (or sink) of dish liquid water mixed with about 1/4 cup of bleach. I wet a rag or rags with the same solution and lay over the gourds since they float around. It helps to keep them moist all the way around and loosen the grim. I allow them to soak 10-15 minutes and then use a scouring pad to scrub them clean. There are some gourds that will get a white/cream looking hard skin on them that should be removed. Makes me shiver to think of it, but it sometimes requires persistence in getting off and a knife is very helpful.  When cleaning your gourds, don't forget to CLEAN THE STEM if you plan on leaving it on the gourd. I learned this early when working with gourds. The stem also has mold and dirt and should be scraped gently with a knife. I've been told of many different techniques to cleaning a gourd, but one I find not too practical, at least for me, was a man who soaked his gourds, then took to his bench grinder with a steel brush attached and rotated the gourd all around it until clean. Can you imagine the mess it would cause? I have sprayed oven cleaner on the gourd, let sit 30 minutes,  then scrub clean. It works well too.  But sure does stink.