A little girl's bracelet

Now this is not to my taste at all but I have an 'I love pink' granddaughter!!!! 

This is simply a chain of interwoven split rings with loom band cats attached. 

I found the cat accessories and decided they were 'just the thing'. When I got them home I realised they'd got jump rings which obviously are no use with tatting as the thread would slip through. Thus followed an hour and a half of sheer bloody mindedness with two pairs of pliers putting on split ring findings. What I hadn't taken into consideration was the thickness of the plastic the cat faces were made of. Finally I managed it and a little girl was very pleased with the result.

A black beaded bauble

Another bauble that I did the other day.  This one has beads on the chain thread which made it quite different.  Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen black as they don't show up too well!!!!

I've found it's easier to start with a finding to hold onto when 'baubling' if you're doing an earring.  So that's what I did here.   HOWEVER once I'd finished the pair I decided to cover the rather small split ring findings with tatting!!!! 

See the beads at the bottom? Another new idea that occurred to BC3. I've added the beads to the ribs and each rib is taken through eight beads and back through seven - thus being easier to hide the ends in the bauble. One of the joys of this technique is it's easy to 'lose the ends' (after tying) in the work!!!

However, when I did the last lot of beads on the fourth rib I took the thread through the eighth bead on the other ribs and THEN back down through seven beads on the final one. This brought each rib close to the others which I quite like. Did that make sense or should I do a page about it?!?!?!?

WOW - MORE mice!!!

I've found another soul mate - another person who is addicted to making these little critters!!!!

This message is from Sue Hunt who says:-

"I am very excited to be considered for membership in your EXCLUSIVE Tatting Club. I love doing these mice...the largest one is done in size 10 thread (King Rat) and he was my first try in Randy's workshop in Salt Lake City. The brown one was next, then the olive green one, who went to Shuttlebirds Conference in Spokane to be in the Three Dimensional tatting category; and finally I am working on a "proper mouse" grey, with pink ears and feet...only about half done. Thanks for letting us have a place to share this fun project!"

Thanks for joining the fun, Sue - I've added these little guys to the to the Exclusive Club which can be found at the top of this page.

Number 97!!!

Look what arrived yesterday from Claire. Another sailing boat.

I had to smile when I read her comment - I'm wondering what I'd find if I delved to the bottom of the pile of 'things' on my desk too!!!!

I've added it to the TIAS blog but here's her comment here too - just hoping it'll jiggle a few more of you who haven't sent theirs in yet. Nearly at 100 now!!!

"I just recently found my completed sailboat "buried" on this desk. A friend in Kennewick, WA also completed it, but never scanned it to send it to you. I live in Richland, WA. It is always fun to do your TIAS each year. Thank you for taking the time to entertain us each year."

Double and FULL member

That's what I'm calling Martha - a double and FULL member of the Exclusive Tatting Club!!!

Not only a bee but now a mouse!!!  I'll add this to the page at the top - just to make it 'official'.

I'd like to also add here a comment from Martha who points out that:-

"The book is 60 pages, and if you order it directly from Gary and Randy, shipping to the US is included, making it a very reasonable price."

I'm glad that Martha has pointed this out as some people have remarked on the price being high.  I'd like to point out again that it took them ten years to get the book written and it's full of inspiring things - not just bobbles and baubles either.  Here's the link again - just so you can check it out!!

Back to baubling - AGAIN!!

Here I am back on the same theme once more!!! Back to the Houtz book and having fun, fun, fun!!!

I made this pair directly on to the split ring finding - that's the one closest to the top of the bauble. 

Once finished I realised it needed a bit more depth so I covered that finding with tatting and then added another split ring halfway round. Really pleased with it too.

The other thing I did differently was the string of beads at the bottom. I put beads onto the ribs and then - well, perhaps I ought to make a page about this as it's certainly 'new to me'!!!!!