Tatting Demonstration

I did a tatting demonstration/ class at Watson's Mill in Manotick on Monday.  Watson's Mill is a local historical site. I've never done a demonstration and Cam at Watson's Mill wasn't sure about what the turnout would be but we had 88 people come through the door!  There was an exhibit about Mr. Eaton (founded Eaton's Department Store) and different children's activities as well as some neat historical children's crafts.   I was surprised at how excited some people were to try to tat and one man actually thanked me for finding a new hobby for his wife!  I told him that if they had any questions to call/email me.  I made sure to tell them about all the awesome You-tube demos and websites on the Internet.  I have to confess that I sent a lot of people to Sharon Brigg's website.  I love her demos and the practice patterns she gives. 
I hadn't really prepared very much because Cam wasn't sure if anyone would come.  Next time I will have a sheet to hand out of tatting resources.  On Monday I was just scribbling names on scrap pieces of paper.

On a side note, the big box of nothing is now being used as a chalk board!



Obligatory photo:  This reminds me of an old lady with big thick rimmed glasses.

Sharon's website can be found at:  http://www.rsbriggs.com/slb/index.html

A big box of nothing...

It turns out that the major consumers of the bubble gum tree was adults.  The kids just wanted to look at it.  There's nothing funnier than someone's grandma trying to sneak the jube jube hearts out of the vase without anyone noticing.  
Ayan was very happy with his big box of nothing. His cousin Alim kept crawling inside which made it a big box of Alim.  Ayan was a little too wired to unwrap everything so he doesn't know that his Aunt Pat brought him a beautifully wrapped small box of nothing.  I can't wait to hear what he does when he unwraps it.

Birthday boy was playing with my camera and this is one of his pictures.  We spent a few minutes twisting the branches in different directions.  It was actually his uncle Rahim that started to take stuff off the tree.  Rahim's asked me to make a chocolate tree for his son Noah to get at Easter. 

Big box of nothing

more of nothing.  I was successful in the dumpster diving at startbucks and pulled out a really great box.  I told Ayan that I had to wrestle it from the dumpster troll.  

I used chalkboard paint last night to cover the outside.  Its supposed to cure for 24 hours but it was okay this morning when I wrote all over it.  You can't see but I wrote on the other side 100% something free.

Birthday boy taking pictures.  I have alot of really blurry photos but this one unfortunately turned out.

In the lower right corner is the candy theiving Grandma.  She came all the way from Toronto.  This is the first time she's been in Canada for Ayan's birthday.  It was a great day. 

A Bubble Gum Tree and a Big Box of Nothing

Ayan (my friend's son) turned 4 on February 14th and his party is tomorrow. This kid has lots of everything so Ayan's mom (my friend Sal) told him to say nothing whenever anyone asked him what him wanted for his birthday. When asked Ayan did what his mom told him but figured he didn't need to be happy about it.

When I asked him last week what he wanted for his birthday he looked at his Mom for a second and then answered "nothing" in a very sad voice. 
So I asked "really all you want is nothing?"
Ayan looked at his mom again
sighed
then said "nothing" 
Clearly he didn't want nothing and I asked him again:
"You want nothing?  A big box of nothing?"
Ayan got really excited about the big box of nothing
"Yes I big box of nothing!"  and he laughed.
So that's what he wants....and a bubble gum tree.  You really have to watch out how literal kids are when you're talking to them.  Sarcasm really doesn't mean much when you're 4.

The big box of nothing is harder than you think.  In about 10 minutes I'm going dumpster diving at the Starbucks in Carleton Place (best servers/barista's always).  They warned me that there might be a man living in there but otherwise I'm welcome to try to find a box.

Ayan already has scripted out what he wants to happen when he opens the box. 

The bubble gum tree is another challenge.  I've managed to make one but can't get a good photo.  Here's pictures of the process.

I have a clear flower pot that I put jube-jube hearts in and a  wire tree frame.  Later I ended up cutting the base down a bit because the tree was tilting

I wrapped saran wrap around the tree to add bulk.  I'm not sure I needed to do this.  I then started to add the bark (Gummy Belts but I thing fruit roll ups would work too).  I used icing sugar and water as the glue to hold the ends and used a small piece of wrap to hold the gummy belt until the icing sugar and water mix dried.

Tree with most of the bark.  I also twisted the branches to make them more realistic

I twisted and tucked in the ends.  I put the gum into saran wrap and used fish line to tie them to the tree.  I also helped to hold the bark in place.

Finished tree.  It was hard to get a good picture.

Wrapping is really important since it makes it look special.   He's going to be one wired up kid...I'm not responsible for the sugar induced mayhem that may ensue.

In memory- Narcissus

Narcissus by Gina Brummett and published in Flowers of Lace put a Smile on Your Face.

  When my sister-in-law passed last February my brother had daffodils on her coffin.  Linda wasn't a roses kinda girl.  Since then this has been one of my favorite patterns.  The flower reminds me of Linda- now it is a reminder of Gina as well.

Lasting Impressions

Thank-you Gina for sharing your thoughts and mind. Since 2003 your insights into life and tatting have brighten my day and fed my thirst for tatting.   I will miss you.

Safe journey.

Thread arrived- so happy

I skipped across to Ogdensburg yesterday to pick up my package from handy hands.  It only took a few days for the package to arrive.  It was fun to track the order through UPS.   It only took a few minutes to pop across the border and get back so I was happy.   Of course, I had no time for extra shopping but that's okay.  I spent all my money on thread anyways.

What I did on the weekend



I couldn't get a good picture but this heart has the
most amazing mix of colors.



Since I was in town on Saturday (by town I mean Ottawa) I stopped by the Canadian Beading Supply http://canbead.com.  They have a huge selection of precious and semi-precious beads and they do a great job of displaying the beads.  So I love to go and just look.  Of course there's no just looking and I ended up making a few purchases and spent Saturday night making them into necklaces.  I finally got the opportunity to use some pearls that I bought there a few years ago and used up a few other left over beads.  

On Sunday I started to make a few of the heart patterns that I've collected over the years. This one is from Karey Solomon's Hearts were made for Tatting. The out line around the flower is fantastic. I'm not sure if I wasn't reading the pattern right or if there is a line missing but I had to improvise a section based on the picture. I used a variegated Lizbeth thread and really love the color combinations.  The depth of the colors really aren't showing up in the picture.  The thread is really much nicer than this picture.



Roses are red

   The 3rd doily from the last post is a pattern I'm working on.  I want to make it look like bouquet of roses but its harder than you would think. I've just been pinning roses together on a pining board to try different combinations.  It may be a little while before there's pattern coming.  Last year I wrote out the pattern for one of the roses and Kelly Dunn proofed it for me so I'm adding it to the side panel.   There's just enough time to make a few for Valentine's Day.

I don't know if you remember my post in the fall about the Prince concert.  Basically I spent my money for thread on concert tickets.   Good news, I have saved up more money and put in an order for thread yesterday.  With the Lizbeth thread there's so much selection it took me awhile to choose.  I'm sure I'm missing something but it just means I get to do another order. Smile.

I've been tatting...

I haven't been posting alot but I've been tatting. Since Valentine's day is so close I'm going to take a break to make hearts. I don't have pictures of hearts yet so I'm randomly sharing pictures of stuff I've been working on for the last couple weeks.