Made a Pillow, Gave it Away
November 19, 2011
I made a pillow the other day. One side has a screen-printed shape of the great state of OKLAHOMA, in state-flag blue.
The other side has Seminole patchwork that my former mother-in-law gave me to use in a project, and so I did.
I gave it to my ex-husband/ the father-of-my-child/ friend for his birthday. He liked it. I’m glad.
Spring
Pretty New Jewelry!
May 1, 2011
I’m really not much of a jewelry person, but lately I’ve been experimenting with finding jewelry that suits me. Most of the time when I try to wear jewelry, I feel like I just look like a little girl playing in her mommy’s costume jewelry. But I have two new favorite pieces of jewelry that I just recently acquired, and I think they both have just the right amounts of pretty and bad-ass. See:
I got the new earrings from the boy I’m dating (cue awe). They were made by a lovely artist named Rachel who lives here in Tulsa. And I think they are beeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful! That color green?! And the long, straight plume over the smaller feather?! Oh my goodness, I want to kiss them. I got the new bracelet, thanks to my friend Amanda. I love the gold and toughness, and I wear it almost every day now. Also, yes I do sit so contemplative in my kitchen all the time ♥
Xoxoxo,
Spring
She-Wears-Her-Heart-on-Her-Sleeve Sweater
December 10, 2010
Do good, Day 8.
What: Made this for a friend who wears her heart on her sleeve.
Why: I love her real deep.
♥ Spring
Dear Tulsa Knit Graffiti-er…
May 23, 2010
A big, fat THANK YOU for putting up this pink & purple piece near my house:
15th & Lewis, Tulsa.
My love for knit graffiti knows no bounds, as you knitters impress me and utterly warm my heart. To me, knit graffiti is brilliant and revolutionary, and I love how artists use the medium as a way to play within the laws and also to bend and stretch the term “graffiti”. I think it is a challenge to authority that authority can’t even see! It’s a challenge to the traditional organization of public space and municipal design that people sluff (slough) off or excuse or altogether overlook because it has such a “PG” reputation.
So thanks again for bringing this so close to my home. Also, THANK YOU for brightening a day that was otherwise one giant hungover blur!
Spring
I Desire Patriotic Jewelry
March 26, 2010
Just in case you are one of the few individuals left on Earth who thought I was cool (hi Mom!), I’m here today to let you know that I am not. I’m a big ole nerd, and I totally want this:
It’s a bracelet crated by metalsmith Tinahdee and engraved with the entire Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America!!! OMG!!!
Even though some of the authors of the Preamble to the Constitution mainly thought of white, land-owning men as “the people,” I’m glad to know that words evolve and societies evolve, and now we live in an America where we are all “the people!” Aren’t you? We are all people, even those of us who are new to this country, like immigrants who aren’t yet citizens. I don’t know why, but I was a bit surprised to see these words by George Washington:
The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respectable Stranger,
but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions;
whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights & previleges.
That was part of his address to Irish Immigrants on December 2, 1783. Eh, so he (or the guy who wrote it) spelt privileges incorrectly? Who among us is perfect? Anyway, I’m totally saving up to buy this bracelet, and I think it’s gonna catch on in the fashion world. Patriotism’s so hot right now.
Yours in patriotism, fashion trends and person-hood,
Spring
Oklahoma Food Co-op Impresses at International Conference in D.C.
February 18, 2010
Hat tips all around to the Oklahoma Food Cooperative! Two representatives, April Harrington and Kara Joy McKee, attended an international conference in Washington, D.C., in January 2010 to present information about the Oklahoma Food Co-op (OKF). Harrington owns Earth Elements Market and Bakery in Lexington, OK, and McKee is the new General Operations Manager of OKF. Here are some highlights from McKee’s article at Voices of Oklahoma, which I encourage you to check out in full (just follow the link in the sentence)…
***The OKF had been chosen to participate in the Wallace Foundation’s 2009 Community Food Enterprise study, which sought to identify the most promising and innovative local food projects going on today. They were impressed enough to invite us to be one of only three presenters out of twelve U.S. enterprises in the study.
***As the Wallace Foundation describes us, “The Oklahoma Food Cooperative is a new concept in food distribution. It brings together regional food producers and consumers through an easy-to-navigate website. With a statewide network of volunteers, the enterprise pumps nearly $1 million into the pockets of local food producers each year. The model is so simple, so inexpensive, and so effective that it has spread to Idaho, Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and two locations in Ontario, Canada.”
***The participants were mightily impressed that we managed to distribute nearly $700,000 worth of local food and other products in 2009 without a single full time employee. They cheered us on for our community involvement, accessible leadership structure, and our 7 percent rate of growth during the hard economic times of 2009.
***Study author Michael Schuman said that local food enterprises are becoming competitive through strategies such as marketing a higher quality product, working together with local partners, integrating vertically, doing outreach to low income neighbors, and developing new strategies for distribution, “such as the Oklahoma Food Coop who has brought the cost of distribution including transport, packaging and marketing down from 73 to18 cents on the dollar.”
Way to go, Okies!
Beamish
And the winner of the Okie scarf is…
February 1, 2010
Jodie! Yay Jodie!
I hope the scarf makes you feel lucky and fabulous and wonderful in every way! You can wear it like a scarf (of course) or like a Miss America sash or as a tie belt à la the very first Miss America from 1921, Margaret Gorman (so cute!):
Enjoy! And, don’t forget to send me your email address so I can get the goods to ya 
Spring
Handmade Giveaway
January 25, 2010
I want to thank everyone who takes time to read this blog and any other crazy $#!% I write. I have so enjoyed the discussions, the passion, the beauty, the perspectives, the opportunities, and the collaboration that has come from Progress on the Prairie. Many of you regular readers and commenters have become dear, dear friends with whom I am now comfortable engaging, thinking, disagreeing, etc. Many of you have always been dear, dear friends. Some of you are just stuck with me because we are related Anyway, in order to show my appreciation, I am going to start doing a giveaway every now and then. I figure if you take time to read and share with me, you should get something more than my half-witted opinion in return, right? The inaugural prize is a cozy, fun scarf I made as a tribute to proud Okies and those who love them!
Love handmade stuff? Love Okies? Love this scarf? Love Progress on the Prairie? Love children or puppies or beer or rock ‘n roll? Then you should enter the first ever Progress on the Prairie giveaway!!! How do I enter?, you may ask. It’s easy- just leave a comment in the comment section of this blog post, and be sure to include an email address where I can reach you. I will randomly select a winner on Monday, February 1st, 2010.
Thanks again, my friends; you really and truly make my life better!
Stay warm,
Spring
