Calling all facebook friends....

Hey!  If you are a facebook user, I could really use your help with something....  I've entered an earring design in a contest and I could win $200 worth of beads if I get the most votes.  I'm only a few votes behind, and it ends soon... so, if you find it in your heart to help a girl out, click here:

https://www.facebook.com/BeadShows/app_381115221953426

you'll need to "like" the page to access the voting.  You can unlike it on September 1st if you want :-)


Thanks for your time!


Krystle

The countdown

 

 A week worth of stocking up on necklaces.

One final week of Farmers Market craziness, and then the Homeschooling craziness begins...actually we start schooling tomorrow, so today will be spent sorting the school room and running to Walmart to restock any basic supplies. 

One other project on my list is to add my other finished patterns to the Etsy shop.  Now that they offer immediate download capabilities, I'm going to list my Sweetpea earrings, Petal Perfect Necklace, as well as the swirl rhinestone crystal bracelet patterns.  These should be listed and ready for purchase sometime next week.  I'll let you know when.

Once the market is over, I will also need to buckle down and file my income taxes..... my extension will be due in October sometime, and I just want to get it done and over.  The good news is that I took much better records over the summer as far as sales, and January won't be so nuts when it comes to paying my state sales tax. 

Components

 Since I have a list of custom orders to finish by Friday, and a whole heap of necklaces to get made and back in stock by Friday as well, I did the smart thing this week by playing at the workbench and doing completely unrelated work. (I swear I'm never more inspired than when I'm under the gun for something else!)  This pair of earrings I made for myself, with some really great cathedral beads, and some copper frames that I soldered.  The patina is Liver of sulphur.  It's stinky to work with, but gives such a beautiful finish.

 Eventually I did steer a little closer to getting some tatting work done, the earrings above are in brass, and below in silver.  I'm fiddling around with the proportions still, but I think it's a really nice way to incorporate my little rosettes into a more substantial feeling piece. 

I make the little rosettes reversible, so the earring will look good no matter how it hangs.  A lot of my work has been in this vein-- using the tatting as a component of the jewelry design...  there is definitely a certain "customer" who will gravitate more toward the more sturdy feel imparted by the use of beads and metals.  Metalsmithing has really become my friend in that respect, as I am able to ready make findings to the size and color I need.  I think I am attracted to the juxtaposition of the metal and the lace.  I love contrasts!  Colors, flavors (I can't get enough sweet and sour!).

 Ok.  It's not an earth shakingly innovative design or anything, but I'm really enjoying how they turned out.  Especially since I did the metalsmithing on those big hammered silver loops!

All my big talk about wanting a torch quickly turned into a full blown workstation dedicated to the metal arts in the garage.  

My facebook friend have seen pieces popping up here and there over the last few weeks.  They will make their way over to ETSY this Autumn, as I am currently focused on finishing strong at the Farmer's Market.  I have a sketchbook of ideas and gobs of wire and sheet metal to incorporate in with my tatted work, and I'm super excited to get out of my busy season to have time to focus purely on the creative stuff.  It's funny, because I've been having this inner argument with myself after attending a leadership conference.  There was a professor talking about how to create and fuel innovation, and his schpeal was that you needed to build a whole new department or team focused on innovation, so you don't tax the main engine or processes of your business....  I'm still working out how to split myself in two and keep the production work going while creating new work.  I tend to only be able to focus on one box at a time.  But.  During the summer when I am working week to week to stock up, I've got regular patrons who come down just to see what's "new".  Oh the joys of wrestling balance into your life!  

At the end of the day, I'm just thankful that I get to be creative and call it "work". 

How I survive

Two posts in two days?  It's like Christmas, I know!!!

One of the more difficult things for me when it comes to being a production tatter, is when I end up having to make the same things over and over and over.  And Over.  You get my drift.  Certain designs in certain colors just fly off my displays and it's hard to not get bored at times.  My strategy to combat the tatting doldrums has been to add some new aspect to what I do every now and then, something to re-spark my interest and creativity.  This year, I took myself up to Fusion Beads in Seattle, and purchase the tools and materials to start doing some wire work, and also make my own custom findings.  So far, I've been playing around with brass, copper, and bronze.  Eventually I will add some precious metals into the mix.  It's been fun, and here is one of my experiments-

 Kinda hard to see, but the bead hangs forward of the flower. It looks better worn I think.

 Terrible Iphone pictures, I apologize.  Below is me playing with some patina solution on brass.  More fun.  Still learning.

  One good thing has come from all this metal work... I'm just a terrible snarly beast once every 28 days...ehem, and beating on the bench block has become a very theraputic solution for me hahah!

Also, all this metal makes me want butane torch to do some more damage with.  Perhaps a metalsmithing class is in order before I go that far.  Or not. :-P

A booming season

Hello Tatters! Summer is here which means I'm eyeball deep in tatting thread of course :-) July and August are my busiest months down at the Farmers Market. I'm making jewelry in every spare moment... In fact, this weekend we are going camping, and a good portion of my supplies will be coming with me.
  One thing that has been happening at the market, (and elsewhere), is that more and more people know what tatting is! I love it when someone from my generation recognizes it, because that means our almost lost art is not going to be lost after all. 
  Well, I'm off to take care of some things around the house.  If I manage to get enough done today, I have half a mind to do a batch of hand dyed thread (gasp!).  It would be good to get back into it.  I still have one of Dr. Vonthreadmore's contest winners that I haven't done yet, and I am all out of some of my favorites as well.  I have been itching for some more Getaway because it has been such a good summer color. 

Well, I'm off now.  Here's to me blogging more. And updating a bit around here perhaps?  Sheesh, that profile picture is probably three years old.  I've got long hair now!

Bye!

Where has all the time gone!!!

Well. Look who decided to drop in and post on her blog! Thank you to the kind friend who sent an "are you still ok?" email this past week :-). It has indeed spurred me on to update. I can't tell you how out of the loop I feel at this point, I haven't been involved in any of the online tatting communities in the better part of a year, and I am even taking a year off Shuttlebirds. I am still tatting, and plan to do the Farmers Market again this year. I haven't designed anything new in quite awhile though. I don't really have time to just sit and doodle with thread like I used to. We have started homeschooling this year, and that takes a serious chunk of time out of our day. I really love the time I get to spend with our girls, and I wouldn't have it any other way. If I could wave a magic wand and make myself more organized in other areas, I'd be thrilled. As is, I take it one day at a time. It is definitely the priority around here, so some things had to be shuffled to the side... this blog, even my band for the time being have fallen to the wayside for the time being. Dr. Vonthreadmore doesn't speak to me anymore. She says I don't deserve her. I hope to be back in the dye studio this summer when school lets out for us, I actually need to do some thread for myself soon. Until next time, Happy tatting! I can't promise regular updates, I have many projects that take priority. Such as getting the Etsy shop back in order as well. I know this was just another quick update, and I do miss the tatting community as a whole. Life comes in seasons! Best wishes! Krystle

In summary........

Just a succinct post to let you all know that I am still alive and tatting :-)

This picture actually sums up the life of a production tatter. I am doing quite well at the Farmers market this summer, which in turn generates quite the display of sewn in and trimmed ends. This pile is from just the past three days.

Cheers!

The Studio

Big things are happening here at our house this month as we prepare for the onset of Kindergarten!  In evaluating our use of space, we made a major change by moving our dining room to the room on the other side of the kitchen (it's the back half of the garage that was built out before we bought the house).  It used to be the "play room", and will now serve dual duty as the School room/ Dining room. Our former dining room is now my studio!  The change is still in progress as I sort out storage solutions for toys, school and art supplies, and business/office type stuff....but I plan on having a whole lot of fun doing it!  I'm going to make giant fabric covered cork boards for the school room and studio.
  Right now the studio consists of my big orange Ikea futon with my trusty Ott light, an awesome lift-top coffee table for my workspace, and an office area with a desk and chair for my laptop and other home office type stuff.  My tatting corner chair has remained in the living room (which now looks like a living room and not an overflowed bead and thread pile...).
  All of this moving around requires me to go through all the toys, all the craft stuff, and even all of my little hidey-holes full of things I didn't want to deal with, so I will be working this out for the better part of the rest of the summer. Better now than two days before our school year starts though, right?

The picture is a little snapshot peek into my new studio.  Having dedicated space that does not interfere with the regular workings of the home has been monumental.  I'm able to lay out work on my table and work assembly line style.  I've gotten some nifty velvet trays to keep work sorted on my table.  All my bead boxes are under the coffee table, within reach.  I should say that I've done some serious damage in the bead aquisition department lately.  I'm officially on a bead diet.

Anyway, Dr. Von Threadmore  is of course plotting to see how she can manage a takeover of the new workspace.  She knows I won't allow it, but she also knows that if she kicks loud and long enough about it, I'll probably break down and let her do some thread.  She is chomping to do another batch of Getaway, as well as start her formulations for the second of her contest winners, Aurora Borealis.

Summer!

Hey everyone. Just dropping in for a quick update! I'm in market mode, and it is keeping me busy. I plan on doing a little photo tour of my booth soon, but until then, here is a little sneak peek of the new designs I have been working on!