More random pictures

Just as the title suggests - these are random photos including some of the origami lesson which was great too.

After Tat Days

A trip to Lake Junaleska with some very good friends was the next 'happening' on the trip.  Naturally they were all tatters except one who used to tat but now makes amazing baskets.

I would have shown you some pictures of the beautiful landscape we saw but the pictures are all on my camera so you'll have to wait for those!!  Below are some of the flowers we saw and a picture of the deck.

Lots of tatting talk happened, of course!!!

A few quiet moments

There is a pretty lake at Tat Days which is well worth taking a stroll down to.  Pictures below.  I got down there when thunder was rolling around in the distance so didn't stay long before scooting back up the hill!!!!!

The last picture is a view of the building where it all happens.

Tat Days - part 3

Sorry for missing a day or two but having the bestest time of your life in wonderful company and the most beautiful places tends to distract the aged brain.

So, the second lesson on my agenda was the gingerbread man.  To those who asked - there are no plans for a gingerbread woman!!!  I'll leave that to others to design although I didn't know there was such a person as a gingerbread woman!!!!

The only 'problem' I had was with one student who decided to skip the second part of the class to go and play corn hole.  I won't mention your name, Jerry.

Here are some pictures.

Tat Days - part 2

So this is my first class in which the students fought their way through the Palmetto pig!

As you can probably tell they worked really hard with intervals of fun too!  I'm not quite sure why Sandra is covering her eyes but I can assure you it's NOT because I was naked!!!  I did find room in my suitcase for clothes.  

More tomorrow if I have time.  It's really hard work being on holiday but SOOOOOO much fun.

Tat Days part 1

I'm going to start at almost the end of Tat Days as these are pictures I've been sent already.  I'm hoping for more BUT not of meeeeee as that would make the aged head swell.  I've got a few that I took when I was teaching so will get those out over the next few days.  

To explain these pictures first.  There was a white elephant game going on on the Saturday evening and I won these 'Freudian slippers'.  Well they were soooooo funny but I wondered how I was going to get them home when Marie stole them off me - the STINKER!   Seriously I was actually begging for people to take them off me.  See the bracelets that look like teeth?  

Jane (yes, another one who is even more bonkers than I am) was not helping matters as she was egging me on.

Well later on Karrieann stole MY slippers off Marie and that was the end as they could only be taken three times.  Good result and time for bed.  I ended up with a lovely pair of earrings.  

This is NOT the end of the story, sadly as that other and from now on newly nominated stinker called Karrieann GAVE THE DARN THINGS back to me!   Sheeeeesh, does nobody like me?

On the way!

Now I HOPE to be on my way to America when you read this. 

This is a post to let you see what I'm taking to Tat Days. It's a LOT of smilies. I've enough (I hope) to give to everybody who gives ME a smile at Tat Days - that's the sort you put on your face that I'd like!!!

Please, if you're there then ask me for one - I've got to give them all away as I'll need the room in my suitcase for threads etc after I've visited the vending room!!!

This pattern will, I believe, be on the Tat Days CD.  Well, that's if I remembered to send it to them, of course!!!!

I've 'smallerised' the pictures to stop the copytatters from taking it.  Dreadful that an OG has to resort to these measures in her old age!!!!

Another!!!!

Now I know where this one came from - here. 

I'm now hoping that the Icelandic volcano behaves itself until after Monday - when I fly!!!! If it erupts then all flights will be cancelled so please all keep your fingers crossed that the little stinker behaves itself til after then. 

Oh, if it misbehaves and delays my trip home then who cares!!!!!!

Now this is my penultimate post before the trip as there will be another on Monday.  This will go out automatically and is IMPORTANT for those attending Tat Days.  Please read and do as asked!!!!!

Another motif

Thought I'd show you another of the small motifs I've been working on today.

This time I used the middle of one of my motifs (can't remember which, though) as a 'starter' for this design and then did another chain round that after finishing  the centre with a split chain and a shoe lace trick. 

To do the whole thing in one 'hit' without cutting and tying I used the good old SSSR (hiding the darker thread in it) - like this.    

It's not honestly worth writing down (that's my excuse for being lazy!!) as it's something anybody could 'design'. What I'd call 'generic' especially if you replaced the outer lock chains with regular chains!!!!

Wish I could remember which of my patterns I stole it from!!!!!

What I'm taking to Tat Days

Just thought I'd blog about what I'm taking to Tat Days for the vending room. 

Before I give you the list I'm going to HAVE to reassure you that I have now found room in the suitcase for clothes!!! At one point I was going to have to be the first ever naked teacher to appear there but I've now found room for a few garments to clothe the ancient torso!!!  What a relief for all!!!  

Here's my list!!!

11 Roly Poly Tat Bags

20 Squared Away Tat Bags (my favourites - shown below)!!!

6 Pendants

3 Bracelets

9 Wrap It, Flip It and Mark It Bookmarks

12 Pop A Bobbin Shuttles

All items will be at reduced prices (no Etsy or Paypal charges) and, of course, no postage to pay!!!!  The Pop A Bobbins will be their regular price.

I hope to sell as much as possible to help towards the cost of the flights - been an expensive time this year with more expensive insurance (over 70 now) and a new passport to be paid for.

Whooopppeeeee!

Well it seems my jokey tongue in cheek idea of an Exclusive Tatting Club has really taken off!!!! I never ever imagined it would but it certainly seems to have done so!!!

Today I present a mouse from Bev who is 'down under' in Oz!!!!

She says:-

"Hallo Jane

Here is my membership application. Do you need a character check as well??

Regards

Bev"
No, Bev, you don't!!!!!  You're a tatter so you've got a great character!!!

Another addition to the Exclusive Club

I honestly thought when I started this club that it was just a bit of fun for myself but I'm DELIGHTED to see that people (like Martha) are taking it seriously.

Just LOOK at this fish she's made. This isn't in the book but it's SOOOOO 'Martha', isn't it? I can see it in her other work which you can find here. For anybody who loves whimsical tatting Martha is the expert. Links to her free patterns and her books can be found on the pages tabs at the top of her page. 

Meanwhile I leave you with a fishy story!!!

A little heart

Just feeling in the mood for small projects as I'm at that 'can't settle' stage before the trip over the pond!!!!

I thought I'd try the Flurry Heartache out to see if I could improve on it or even follow it myself!!!! This time I didn't use beads as it's for another project - perhaps and maybe that wouldn't work with beads. I MISS my beads. 

Purple green bauble

Time for another bauble. Oh, yes, I'm still making them!!! I've not put the Houtz book away since I got it. It sits by the side of my chair in Tat Corner!!!!

Not sure I really like the orange beads with the purple and green but they really make a statement - even if it's a bad statement!!!! 

I know what went 'wrong' here - I was too lazy to get off my backside to go and find more beads!!!!  Oh well, I suppose the answer is to make another bauble!!!!!  Any excuse!!!

Nathan bracelet

Having made this bracelet for Abbi I had to make a boy's one for Nathan too!!!

Of course being a boy it had to be fairly plain but strong too. This is the solution I came up with - a simple interwoven split ring one rather like the centre of this bracelet.

He was delighted with it, thank goodness, and he's a real 'boy's boy' and heavily into 'men things' already.  

Another new offering for the Exclusive club.

Jacee is back once more with another offering for the Exclusive club. I've a feeling that she's even more addicted to the Houtz book than I am.

Can you see the bauble/bobble head on her angel? Isn't it great? This is what she said:-

"Made this last night when I found something suitable for the halo above the angel's head - a gift wrapper wire in gold tone, twisted into a circle and secured on top of her head. The ends were too fiddly to finish off so I fizzed and tied them into plaits. As Faceless angel scares me to death, beads are added to make her eyes glint and her face warm with smile! Hmm...What do you think, does she look ok?"

River tatting!

As some of you will know, I walk round the riverside most days. I usually post pictures of things I see which I find interesting on Facebook.  Not that I go to Facebook a lot as I'm not that comfortable there.  I post from my phone.

On Saturday I saw this boat which had rows of beads for sale hanging along the side. Well, Sue (the boat owner) was sitting there and we started talking about beads. Unfortunately there was nothing there that I needed (well, there's a thing, eh?) but we continued talking - as you do!!!!

After a few minutes she notice the tatted earrings I was wearing and we got talking about tatting. We landed up sitting on her boat with me trying to show her the basics of the knot. She was a very fast learner.

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'!!!!!

Another member has joined the club!

I'm so surprised and very, very pleased that my 'tongue in cheek' silliness has paid off and that new people are joining the Exclusive Tatting Club which can be found here.

The newest associate member is Melanie who sent in her bumble bee from the Houtz brother's book which you can find here.  Thanks, Melanie - he (or is it she?) is great.  I must have a go at this critter sometime - once I can find the right wire.

Somebody I was talking to a few days ago commented on the price of the book which they thought was a lot. 

I did explain that the techniques in the book are very unusual (unique, actually) and that it had taken the guys ten years to get the idea to print. The price doesn't actually reflect the amount of work that's gone into it or the cost of the yards and yards of thread they must've used refining the patterns too.

A new mouse!!!

Well the new exclusive club is beginning to grow well!!! This is a mouse from Jaycee who said:-

"Hello Jane,

Here's my submission - bauble mouse for the application of Exclusive Tatting Club membership. This is my second attempt making it, the first one didn't turn out like a mouse should be - No, I don't know what it looked like.. Lol

Hugs,

Jacee"

Thanks SOOO much, Jaycee - I'll add your mouse to the  Exclusive Club page and you have now become a real mouse member!!!!! There's a challenge for you Martha and the rest of you in Tat Land!!!!

First new member!!!

Look what arrived yesterday - a bauble bee!!! This was done by Martha Ess from the book by Randy and Gary. Isn't it cute?  Now I'm going to have to do one of those too.  This is what Martha said.

"Here is my bee to qualify for an associate membership in your exclusive club. The poor thing has been languishing lacking one pair of legs for ever so long, but this gave me the incentive to finish. I want to do the mouse, but who knows when I will get to it."

Thanks, Martha. I'm just going to add your bee to the page right now.

Another way to join

I've been using this alternative method of joining to clasps and findings for some time now but I hadn't thought to do a technique page until Sally asked me how I did it a few weeks ago. She then reminded me a couple of evening's ago that she might get stuck on it when I'm in America!!!

So, this page is really not for the rest of you but for Sally!!!!! Well, I suppose somebody else may be interested in it somewhere!!! Here's the link.

It's all about how to join to a clasp or finding but also having the option to add beads (or not, as you wish!!!) too.

Below is a pair of earrings that I did ages ago using this idea. You'll see the beads at the top of the earrings. In fact I think this pair is still in my Etsy shop which I'll be putting on vacation in a couple of week's time.

I'll be taking a lot of the items to Tat Days with me so if you want something  please let me know and I'll put it by for you in the vending room. Prices will be lower at Tat Days as there'll be no postage, Etsy charges or Paypal. So, let me know!!!

Back to baubling!!!

I'm still hooked on these baubles. This one is done in Lizbeth GirlyGirl which is a thread I love. 

I followed the pattern in the book adding beads to the rib threads but started with a split ring metal finding at the top.  I'm hoping/thinking that if I did a few of these they'd make a lovely dangly brooch for my rather dull black winter coat.  The coat needs replacing but I'd be very sorry to part with a good coat which, although looking a tad slightly the 'worse for wear' has nothing wrong with it.

So, I need to work more of these.