And now for something different...

Hot off the shuttles--

I'm back in Jewelry mode. I hadn't listed much on ETSY lately, and the catch with Etsy is that you tend to get buried in the lists if you are not adding things.....so I went on a mad spree.

I just listed this set this morning. I was totally inspired by Bina's class at shuttlebirds, so this neclkace is made with two shuttles, but each rolled chain is done with one shuttle so they could intertwine as I went along.

I've also used some of my precious supply of vintage swarovski crystal pieces in the set. I love me some sparkly bling!

Here is a closeup of the chain,

And a self-portrait. I'm quite pleased with the pieces. I may have to make another set for myself.

Here is a simple flower on a chain.





This is probably my best selling desing. I've done it in pink and orange before. Thought purple would be nice.



This pattern finally got refined and named, I call the "Festival" earrings.




More lace on rhinestones! A bracelet.



Last, one more pair of earrings. I was trying to make an interesting photo with this little box as a prop, until I noticed that you can see my pink and black striped shirt in the reflection....as well as the camera! I will have to try that again.....

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. Still working on some bigger WIPs, I'll have to show you the doily I'm doing for the fair sometime. It's gonna take awhile, so it might be next year's fair with my track record of finishing things!

May your day be Gotatsic! ( I think it makes an excellent salutation.....read the post below for the whole story )

For dear Sis

Just a quick postie to show some earrings I made for my sister for Christmas. I let her choose the thread as well as the swarovski pieces they are built on. This is the best picture I got before she had to head back out and finish her visiting other family members before going home to Texas.

I did get this scan that better shows the crystal component, but of course it's blurry because it wasn't flat on the scanner. These were made with Lizbeth.

Anyway, we did have a great time with her and her hubby while they were here, and now that the kids are more familiar with them, we can keep in touch via video on Skype.

So what have I been up to?

A short while ago I hinted that I had something new in the works. After waiting on supplies I have finally had time (after almost two weeks) to put it all together.

Taa-daa! Resin! Now, I haven't been able to photograph it as well as I'd like, but here are my first pieces of resin encapsulated tatting. these earrings above have tiny little flowers, only a half inch or so. The largest piece I was able to encapsulate is below, maybe you'll recognize the thread Marilee,

It's the lovely garden party hand dyed from Yarnplayer! Thread tends to look "wet" once in the resin, but I still think the colors are amazing. The resin was a fairly simple process. The hardest part has been finding bezels large enough to be able to put something larger in. It's a ton of fun though, and is a way to give the tatted pieces some structure. They are safe and sound in there for sure! I'll be posting them on etsy if you want to see more pictures.

Well, the girls are set to wake from naps soon. So tatting time must come to a close! Ta ta!

What happens when you put Mary Konior in the dryer?

This!

Just kidding! It's just a scaled down version of the ever famous Spinning wheel pattern. Shown above next to one done in sz 20 Lizbeth (which happens to smell specially nice rignt now, hubby spilled a bottle of home fragrance oil on it.) The little one is about two inches, I dropped the stitch count as well as the repeats to get it to pendant size. It's on it's way for a quick blocking and then it will join the other pretty things on etsy.

Done in a varigated oren bayan.

Getting ready

Well, things are still good here :-) Meirah is sleeping well at night, so that gives me time during the day when my brain is mostly functional to think through the process of setting something up on etsy. I have maybe 14 things so far to list for sale, I just need to pick up some packing materials and figure out shipping costs and then I will announce my grand opening! Below are some teaser photos, I was messing around today getting pictures of the items ready.

I guess the only delimma left is what to name some of the designs. Some of them got names as they were being worked, others I am still at a loss for. It would be much too boring to just call them "red earrings with beads" or something sad like that. They all have personality.

This might be the last post for awhile...

I'm having contractions on and off all day today, but that's not going to stop me from showing some more tatting pics!

The first two pair are repeats, just much better pictures. I took advantage of the daylight! The others below I did last night and this morning. Tell me what you all think of the green thread with purple coin pearls. You all are my design testers :-)

The pink ones are a repeat of an orange pair, this time with beads.

All but the last pink ones are done in Lizbeth, the pink is Oren Bayan.

Tired of these yet?

I think it's time to start giving some of these away......

My tatting bag is quickly filling with earrings! There is a baby shower being held for me this week, so I think the ladies who are planning it should each have a pair.

Both are my own design, done in some of the fabulous Altin Basak (edit-whoopse I keep saying altin Basak, but it's Oren Bayan actually!)I recently aquired. The first pair I was going for a new shape, and is the pair that is making me crave a strawberry smoothie. The second is done on a wire shape I made. Oddly enough, during an early "nesting" period I organized ALL of my craft supplies, and both my wire Jig and all my pliers are gone! So I improvised with a bottle of beads. I do have half a mind to open an etsy, but the other half is fully occupied with the impending special delivery :-) Today I just need to survive another day of what I affectionately refer to as my husband's "nesting period".

Awwww. Thanks Steph!

I have been blessed in tatting land by a new friend Steph. She has bestowed upon me my first ever blog award! I don't yet know about the porsons behind this award, I plan on following up and learning about them, but until then, here is the info about the award.





The following is Bella's story of why and how she created this award:
This one is meaningful to me in three profound ways.
Firstly, it was created in honor of Renee, one human being who has made such a difference in the lives of many just by being. Her honestly, wit, intelligence, and grit are a tremendous source of inspiration. She can elicit raucous laughter and guffaws in her banter, and then turn right around and offer the most heartfelt, gentle words of wisdom and emotional support. She is a spreader of love, simple and true. And her love is infectious.
Secondly, this award was created in collaboration with one of my best friends, Ces. She is, in Renee's own words, truly original. She is an incredible artist, both in pen and ink and paint. She is fiery passion with a gentle hand. She is laughter, fun, joy, intellectual stimulation, a sister. The concept and design of the award belong to Ces.
Thirdly, this is a brand new award, and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds its way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns…

And so, in honor of the Steph who gave me the award, and also inspired me to tackle size 80 thread, I post the following:

It's a teeney tiny doily, barely covers the palm of my hand! Done in HH/Majestic thread. I tell you I'm about to throw the last of the thread out the window! It's so frustrating to work with for me, near impossible to get the rings even. But I made it through, and I'm about to dig out some DMC 80 that I know I have lying around.....it's ecru (SO boring!) but it's all I could find locally. If I get the chance next month I'll get some of those lovely vareigated colors that Steph has. I swear I need to stay away from your blog Steph, cause now I want that Ben Fikkert book too!

Last up for the day is another pair of Marilee's earrings. This time I got out the beads, and did two threads to see the effect, and I like it! The blue is a little deeper in person, Lizbeth thread again of course! I have a whole box of it, there are still a few other colors I would like however. I made a comment on Tattingchic's blog about how Lizbeth is like Icecream.....you just can't get enough. I dunno, I'm nine months pregnant and a lot of things remind me of food right now. I was working with some vareigated Altin Basak this morning that made me want to go to Jamba Juice for a big juicy tropical smoothie.......MMmmmmmmm.