Hector Tatting Seminar

Its an exciting time of year with all the Spring Tatting Seminars being posted.  The seminar closest to me (relative term since its a 4-5 hour drive) is the Hector Tatting Seminar.  The drive is sooo worth it!  Its fun to get together with other tatters and hang out, take a few classes, eat great food and get a few tatting supplies. 

If you're in the area the seminar is on April 2-3/2011 for more information you can email Karey Solomon at threads@empacc.net.  There's some great classes being taught including one taught by me called Garden Critters!  Its hard to pick what classes to take from the description so I thought I would help by posting a picture of the snail and butterfly I'm teaching.   The fun part is that you should be able to finish the butterfly in class then start same pattern again with a few twists to create the snail and a more slightly more blinged butterfly.  So you get a chance to add a little complexity to the pattern.  If you haven't done 2 shuttle work this is an easy start.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to everyone!  I know I'm a little late in my New Year's wishes but I've been in mood of quiet contemplation.  Okay...not really. I've been reading instead of tatting.  At least once a year I spend a week or 2 in a glut of reading.  Not that I'm reading anything too impressive, just a bunch of trashy novels (but only the best trashy novels). 

The funniest thing happened the other morning.  I came downstairs and my 2nd cat couldn't be found.  For a second I thought she had died because she's always at the bottom of the stairs 1st thing in the morning.  After looking around for her I finally found her.  You can't tell from the photo but she's sitting on top of my satellite receiver.  It puts out more heat than you realise and when I left it on over night she discovered a nice, warm perch! 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!!

This morning I'm hanging out with family, opening presents and eating waffles.  I wanted to take a moment and wish all of you a Merry Christmas.  I hope its a day filled with love, laughter and lots of food.

Christmas Stars

I got so many compliments on the stars I decided to share the pattern.  The only down side is that I don't know where you'll find the plastic crystals but any bead around the same size will do.  They work really well as Christmas Tree ornaments as well as sun catchers.

Christmas Stars by Vicki Clarke

Supplies
Thread- size 10 red or green wound CTM with ball
2 paperclips
Crochet hook
Beads as used in picture-
Center- 15mm hexagon plastic crystal
15 4x4 Miyuki cubes
15 Size 10 seed beads added onto the ball thread
Comment:  This is a pretty forgiving pattern. You can change thread size or beads without much problem. For example, you can also use size 20 thread with a 13mm center and 6/0 Miyuki beads.  I have also added beads to some of the lock joins to add more bling.

Short Terms
Ls- lock stitch, 1st half unflipped 2nd half flipped
Lj- lock join, use shuttle thread to pull up loop and put shuttle through loop
3b- pull up three beads from the ball thread to make a beaded picot

Start: pull loop through crystal and hold using paperclip ls

Round 1
*Pull loop of shuttle thread through cube and hold with paperclip
Ch 8 lj to space held by paper clip* repeat 4X
Once you’ve added 5 beads then lj to space held by 1st paperclip (loop through crystal)
Repeat from * to * 5 X lj to space below 1st ls

Round 2
* Ch 8
pull loop of shuttle thread through cube and hold with paperclip
Ch 4 3b 4 lj to space held by paperclip
Ch 8 lj to space between 2nd and 3rd cubes on round 1* (make this lock join around both threads, not just the ball thread)
Repeat 4x, each joining to the space between every other cube i.e. 4&5, 6&7, 8 & 9, 10 & 1 to give you 5 points.  Tie and cut

Like a little Christmas elf


















The last few weeks I've been working away like a little elf making Christmas themed sun catchers for my sister and mom to give their co-workers for Christmas. I'm done and that's off my plate. If I finish a couple of bookmarks then I've got tatting time to waste! I'm going to waste it with the gingerbread thread I ordered from Tatskool. No idea what to do. But I guess I'll be going with the theme of the thread!
  
 

 The last thread I ordered was from was from Krystledawn.  I have rarely used up a whole skein up hand dyed thread but I used up all of her love potion #9!  It was a fun mixture of greys and purples which became the center of a doily and butterflies...lots of butterflies.  You can't see in the picture but I used grey delica beads that match the grey in the thread.  I was really inspired by this thread and grey is my current favorite color. 

Love Potion # 9 thread by Krystledawne, pattern by me!



Chocolate mmmmm....

I almost missed the deadline for Ambitatterous's contest!  I thought that tomorrow was the last day of November Gasp!   Fortunately I realised that today was in fact the last day to enter.

In order to decorate a box of chocolates I had to think of a story.  I went through a few scenarios in my head but this is the one that stuck.The chocolates in this box are crafted in a secret laboratory somewhere in Belgium.  Special ingredients are compiled from mystical plantations deep in the Americas and carried under armed guard across the ocean.  Specially trained monks mix the chocolate in silence to create the richest chocolate in the world.  Rich and creamy chocolate deserves a rich exterior so these chocolates come sealed by a Sapphire pendant that protects the chocolates from contamination.  The pendant is embedded in a flower found only in the depths of the rain forest.   This flower helps to preserve the natural flavors of the chocolates and brings good luck to all that hold it.  No need for any labels because anyone who receives the box knows what's inside.

The Sapphire

One Last Look

Its in the air

I can smell the turkey cooking from up here!  Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! 

 In case you've hit a roadblock on thankful things here's a 101 things to be thankful for: 
(list by Craig Jones and published on Ezine articles)

1. A beautiful song
2. A comfortable chair
3. A cool breeze
4. A drink of cool water
5. A full moon
6. A gentle rain
7. A glass of cold milk
8. A good book to read
9. A good coat
10. A good husband
11. A good pillow
12. A good wife
13. A scenic drive
14. Air conditioning
15. Banana splits
16. Beaches in the morning
17. Beautiful women
18. Birds singing
19. Blue jeans
20. Brothers
21. Butterflies
22. Butterfly kisses
23. Ceiling fans
24. Children laughing
25. Christmas morning
26. Clothes that fit well
27. Comfortable shoes
28. Compliments
29. Computers that work
30. Cooing Babies
31. Cream Brule
32. Dark Chocolate
33. Dishwashers
34. Diversity
35. Dried pineapple slices
36. Fairness
37. Crackling fire in a fireplace
38. Flowers
39. Freedom of religion
40. Freedom of speech
41. Fresh ideas
42. Friendly dogs
43. Good conversation
44. Good eyesight
45. Good friends
46. Good health
47. Good movies
48. Good teachers
49. Good tires
50. Grace
51. Grandchildren
52. Grandma
53. Grandpa
54. Hair spray
55. High-speed Internet access
56. Holding hands
57. Homemade ice cream
58. Honest people
59. Hugs
60. Ice cubes
61. Indoor plumbing
62. Kind men
63. Kittens
64. Laughter
65. Live Christmas trees
66. Morning coffee
67. Parking spaces near the front
68. Peanut butter
69. Plenty of closet space
70. Polyester
71. Polite drivers
72. Porch swings
73. Pregnant women
74. Puppies
75. Quiet mornings
76. Rainbows
77. Remote Controls
78. Roasted peanuts
79. Shade trees
80. Silk pajamas
81. Sisters
82. Smiles
83. Snow covered mountains
84. Snowflakes
85. Soft toilet paper
86. Sunrises
87. Sunsets
88. Thanksgiving dinner
89. That I wasn't in the obituaries today
90. The color of autumn leaves
91. The ocean
92. The smell of a Sunday roast cooking
93. The smell of homemade bread
94. The words "I love you"
95. Tire swings
96. True friends
97. Uninterrupted dinners
98. Warm kisses
99. Warm showers
100. Whipped cream
101. White puffy clouds
102. Wrinkle-free clothes
103. Tatting