Motif #3 - TIAS - Tat It and See by Diane Saunders



Looks like the TIAS is a big hit. Diane Saunders started the second TIAS. This was a lot of fun tatting. She put little bits of the pattern up on her website every couple of days. The finished piece turned out to be a Tulip, so the color I chose to tat with, a varigated peach, worked out just fine. I added a tassle on my Tulip, for a bookmark, that I will give as a gift. If you want to seee all of the Tulips, Diane has them on her blog here.

Motif #2 - TIAS - Tat It and See - by Jane Eborall

This certainly was a fun project. Thanks to Jane for coming up with this idea. Giving us directions to tat something that we had no idea what we were making, until the project was almost finished. It was like making a jigsaw puzzle without the picture. I enjoyed tatting this project.

Jane had more than 100 people tatting this mystery motif. Check out all the Hippos on Jane's TIAS Blog.

I have been doing a lot of tatting lately and will eventually upload my next tatted piece to add to my 25 Motif Challenge.

Bead Tatted Butterfly Earrings Motif #1



I finally did it. I joined the 25 Motif Challenge. This is my first motif in the challenge. I made these earrings as a gift for a friend. This is such a pretty butterfly. The pattern is by Teri Dusenbury. I used Coats and Clark Button Craft thread, which is like a size 30, this is a light peach colored thread.

I am looking for a supplier for these heart beads I used at the top of the butterfly. They are a 6mm Mother of Pearl flat heart bead. If you know where I can find some, let me know. I only have a few of these left and I like to use them with this earrings.

I just starting tatting a bookmark by Jean N. Faeih, Tatted Thistle Bookmark. I love this bookmark and have made many of them. Usually I use Manuella thread, but this time I am going to use the Altin Basak thread, so the finished size will be slightly smaller this time. I'll post a picture of the bookmark when I am done.

I found this really interesting looking shuttle at Morning Glory Antiques. It has a gothic face on the sterling silver shuttle. They have some unique lookng shuttles listed. Its fun just to look at what is available. I like the shuttle that has the Dogwood blossom on it.

Tatted Butterfly Earrings





I have been tatting these lovely Teri Dusenbury Beaded Butterfly Earrings. I need to find a supplier for the flat 6mm Mother of Pearl Heart Bead. I don't have many left. If anyone knows of a supplier, let me know. I love to tat these earrings and give as gifts. These earrings always get lots of comments. I use Coats & Clark Button Craft Thread, which is like a size 30. This color is like a peach color. I think I'll use a tan colored thread next, but I'm not sure on the bead colors yet. I also have started tatting a Thistle Bookmark. This is one of my favorite bookmarks to make. It was designed by Jean N. Faeth. I'll post a picture of that when I am done.

Pam Palmer Designs


I am working my way through Pam Palmer's designs. I really like tatting from her patterns. As you saw in my last post, I am tatting from her "Twelve Days of Christmas" book. I have already tatted the Partridge in a Pear and next comes Two Turtle Doves. But in the mean time I will post pictures of some other Pam Palmer designs that I have tatted. First is her Festive Elephant. I enjoyed tatting this one so much. I used vibrant colors for the blanket on the elephants back and shiny gold beads on almost every picot on the blanket, including all the picot joins. The picture doesn't show how truly shiny this piece looks. It still needs framed, I really need to do that so I can get him up on my wall.



I also enjoyed tatting her Peacocks. Again, the picture doesn't do the piece justice. I used a gold metallic thread with the greens and blue colors of the peacock's tail.

Secret Santa Exchange

It has been so long since I updated my blog. I have been tatting, I just haven't uploaded any of my finished pieces. One thing I want to post is a piece I tatted for the Secret Santa Exchange I was in. My exchange partner was Jane Eborall. I tatted a piece by Pam Palmer, from her book "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I tatted the Partridge in a Pear. I framed it using some scrapbook paper and a fancy corner punch. I loved this piece so much that I made an exact duplicate for myself. : )



I also tatted a heart and put it in a keychain, tatted a name tag, and sent a few other goodies like M&M's, Dark Chocolate Cinamon Altoids, notecards with tatting on them and some different flavored teas.





I received some wonderful gifts from my exchange partner, Pamela Myers from Ireland. She sent me a beautiful handmade cloth tree with tatting on it. I still have it hanging in my livingroom. There is room on the back for me to add 6 motifs. It can be reversed and hung with either side showing as there will be tatting on both sides.





Pamela spoiled me with so many nice things. She tatted a beautiful red and white snowflake and made me a Leprechaun with a piece of gold in his hand and he has a tatted sash. He is adorable. There is also a lovely hand made card with a tatted pointsette, and music to my ears, some irish music on cd's. The cute little Ireland Teddy Bear will get some tatting added to him soon, a little coin purse that I can use to put a little ball of size 70 thread and a shuttle to put in my purse, some silver metallic thread and last but not least, some yummy chocolate. Thank you Pamela for all the goodies you sent me!!!

Tatting Seahorses and Dolphins

I've been busy tatting Seahorses. I just love Jane Eborall's patterns. She has three fantastic Seahorse patterns on her site. First there is the little Seahorse earrings. These are so quick and easy to make up for a little gift. I like to display them on pretty scrapbook paper or print off a background from American Greetings Creata card program that I have, to present them when giving as a gift. This background was perfect for the earrings.

I also made some of Jane's medium size Seahorses and put them in bangle bracelets like she was doing. I am having fun doing that. I also did her dolphin in a bangle bracelet too.

Tatted Horse



It has been a long time since I have added anything new. I have been having trouble with tendinitis in my elbow and ended up needing surgery because the tendons ripped off from the elbow and the tendons had to be re-attached. I was off work for three months and not aloud to tat either. That was so hard, being off work for all that time and not being able to tat. I was in a cast and sling for 2 months and couldn't use it for anything. So I am slowly getting back into tatting.

I tatted this horse from Inga Madsen's "Tatted Animals" book. I think the animal patterns in this book are so realistic. I used scrapbook paper for the background and bought some scrapbook 3d stickers to accent the picture. I think it turned out so cute. It is for my niece, Sarah, for her 10th birthday. She loves horses.

KOKOPELLI

I finished another project and I really enjoyed planning out the design of the mat for this project. Once again, I used my scrapbook supplies to do this. The Kokopelli on the left is designed by Debbie Flork and the pattern on the right is by Jane Eborall, both patterns can be found be found on Jane's site. We have two pictures that were given to us by friends that at one time lived in Taos, New Mexico. So the pictures have that Southwest flavor. I am going to hang the tatted Kokopelli with the two other picutres that I have. I think the pictures look good together.

Framed Tatted Heart

I posted this heart below when I finished tatting it, but I just recently finished framing it. Once again, I used my Creative Memories Scrapbook paper, punches and cutters to create the mat. The heart pattern is from Pam Palmer's Tatting Treats book. I painted the frame to coordinate with the colors of mat I made.

I have been teaching my friend, Rayanna, to tat and she picked it up very quickly. I went over to her house last night to tat some. She is working on a Awareness Ribbon, in pink. I was working a little cross from Patti Duff's Mini Tats book. I want to put the cross in the scrapbook I am doing. I will use it on the pages that have pictures of when my children were baptized.

Then I need to figure out what to tat next. I have so many things I want to tat, it is hard to choose what to do next.

Katrina Ballerina

I finally got around to framing the pair of ballerinas I tatted. This is a pattern by the very talented Jane Eborall.
You can get to all her wonderful patterns by clicking on her name. I tatted these ballerina's for my daughter, Katrina. She painted the frame to match the colors in her room. My friend, Rayanna, got me into scrapbooking and I used these tools to make the mats for framing the ballerinas. I am very pleased how this turned out. I like the punch I used for the border, it has a look of lace to it. I showed my friends daughter, April, who is 7 years old, the ballerina's and she liked them. She is taking ballet and tap. So I just finished making a pair of ballerinas for April and will give them to her after her recital.
I hope to post another picture tomorrow. In an earlier entry, I show a picture of a heart that I tatted for myself. I finished framing it and I used my scrapbooking punches and cutters and card stock too.

Next I will be tatting a little teddy bear from Patti Duff''s Mini Tat's Book.

UNDER THE SEA
I have wanted to post a new picture of my Sea Scene for some time now. I had to split it into two pictures because it is getting so big and I still have a few things I want to add to it. Will this picture ever stop growing? Most of the patterns can be found on Jane Eborall's site.



A few patterns I bought from Debbie Arnold at DS9 Design. I want to add some seaweed, Jane's Lobster and Crab. Then hopefully I will feel like I am done adding to the pictures. I still need to find some material to mount all this tatting onto. I'm not sure what kind of material or what color to use. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Tatted Swan Bookmark


I finished the swan bookmark I was making. It is from Dianna Stevens book "ANIMAL BOOKMARKS, A Tatted Zoo" I think this is my favorite so far. The swan is so delicate. I am making a second one right now, I just have a few more rings to go. Then I will start tatting Jane Eborall's Ballerina. It is for my daughter, Katrina. I know she will like these. I'll make the pair and frame it for her. Then I will make one for my niece, who just started dance and another ballerina for my neighbor's little girl.

I wish I had more time to tat. I only get a couple hours in the evening. So it takes awhile to finish anything.

TATTED BOOKMARKS

I am really enjoying tatting from Dianna Stevens book "ANIMAL BOOKMARKS, A Tatted Zoo" The tatted Owl Bookmark & tatted snake were fun to make. The snake was very easy, the body is worked using one shuttle. Only the head requires a shuttle and ball. The patterns are all too cute. I am working on a swan bookmark right now. This is the second one. I will scan and post a pictures when I am done. I think the swan bookmark is very pretty. I am looking forward to her next book "More Animal Bookmarks, A Zooquel" I'm sure it will be as fantastic as the first.

I wish I could go to Palmetto's Tatting Event. It looks like it will be such a fun time. Look how
cute these tatted block animals by Martha Ess are: BLOCK ANIMALS. I love the Flamingo best, and the Cat, Frog, Penguin, oh heck, I love them all. Great Job Martha! Well it is off to work. I'll finish up my swan bookmark and post the picture when I am done. I have a few other pictures I can post. I took another picture of my sea scene. It has grown a lot since the last picture I took and I still have more tatted pieces to tat and add to it. It is the never ending project. LOL! Happy Tatting !

Making Bookmarks



I finally got some time to add more pictures. I've been busy tatting bookmarks to give as gifts. The first one is a present for my son Cameron. He will be turning 11. Cameron is into football right now and we were all happy when our Pittsburgh Steelers won the Superbowl. So I made him a football bookmark. The pattern is by Mark Myers and can be found here at Tat-man. net The tail of the football is made in black and gold, Steelers colors, and I made five rings, one for each superbowl the Steelers have won. I used Pearl Cotton size 5. The football measures 3", but with the tail is 7" long.
I have made more bookmarks to add to my blog, but I have run out of time. I have to get ready for work. I'll try to add more pictures tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day


This is the heart I choose to tat for Valentine's Day. The colors are not your usual reds and pinks. I was reading the January/February issue of Family Circle Magazine and saw an article "A Valentine's Day Card-Making Party. It showed some really nice home-made Valentine Cards. It looked like paper you would use when scrapbooking. I really liked the colors they were using to make these Valentine Cards. They used paper in chocolate brown, cream, pink and cranberry. The colors just look lovely together. That is what inspired me to make this heart. The pattern is by Pam Palmer in her Tatting Treats book. I need to find a frame for this heart. I have a deeper color, like a cranberry with swirls on it to use as a mat around the pink paper. I'll take another picture when it is framed. Here is a picture from the Family Circle that inspired me.

Tatting and Scrapbooking


I haven't posted in sometime, I wasn't tatting much either. My wrist has been hurting lately. So I just started tatting again and I made this cute penguin. The pattern is by Pam Palmer. I wasn't sure how to frame it, but had an idea. I was invited to a friends house to scrapbook, Creative Memories, and I found some pretty paper that would look perfect with the penguin. So I layed it all out and used this really nice oval cutter and on the light blue paper. I'm really pleased at how this turned out. I want to get a medium blue colored 5 x 7 frame and it will be done. I didn't glue the penguin down, but used a photo split (double sided tape) to hold the penguin in place. It worked well and I'm very happy with the finished piece.

More Lace & Glass

This is a glass frame with a clasp so you can open it and put the lace inside. This snowflake was tatted by one of my tatting friends, Estefania from Chili. It is so lovely! I have another frame like this one, it is an oval shape. My Mom found these frames for me in Houston, Texas at a show called the NutCracker Market.The frame size is 3" x 4"I tatted more on my Valentine Heart tonight. It is coming along nicely. I really like how the colors are going to look together.

Lace & Glass


I thought I'd post a picture of something I got for Christmas. My Mom had a lady put a piece of my tatting between glass. It is so pretty and will last forever. This one can be worn as a pendant or used as a tree ornament. It is 2-1/4" in size. I haven't tatted in a week, I've been busy reading Jude Deveraux book, First Impressions. I thought it was pretty good. I didn't like her last few books. I've been thinking about what I will tat next and have been going through all my books looking for just the right heart to make. I saw a picture in magazine of homade valentine cards using colored paper, like you would use in scrap booking. I really liked the colors they were combining on the hearts on the cards. So I finally found a heart to make, it is by Pam Palmer. Now to go pull out the thread to use and I'll get started. I'm really excited to tat this heart, because I would not have thought about combining these colors. I'll post a picture when I am done.

Tatting Harry Potter & Hedwig


Everyone at my house is anxiously awaiting the new Harry Potter Movie. I was thinking of how I could tat something to represent Harry Potter and this is what I came up with. I used Jane Eborall's Bridegroom pattern for Harry and her small owl pattern for Hedwig. You can find these patterns here: http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/

The wizard hat pattern can be found on
Gillian Buchanan's BellaOnline's Tatting Site: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13836.asp
I also tatted a bookmark, it is Harry's scarf in Gryffindor colors and Harry's Firebolt broomstick for his Quidditch games.
Until next time....Bye