Saturday, December 22, 2007

Motif Thirteen

Just for a switch I decided to post something other than jewelry - I don't get to make other kinds of tatted items very often. Here is an ornament I made for an exchange. It is made with one strand of DMC metallic floss in copper (same as the earrings in a previous post), and one strand of Anchor, size 80, in a similar copper color. The metallic floss is soooooo much easier to work with when combined with another thread. The pattern is from a small Japanese book that is not translated at all - so I have no idea of the title - but it looks like the author is T. Fujito and it is (c) 2001, in case that helps anyone locate the book/pattern.


I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy the time with friends and family!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Motif Twelve

My life is way too busy. I need to take that "stop and smell the roses" saying more seriously. My life is passing me by and I have no time to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong - I love my life. My family is wonderful, I love both my jobs, most of the time I would be hard pressed to find something to whine about - but some days it seems like I am on the outside looking in and watching my life go by at the speed of light. How is it Christmas 2007 is only two weeks away? When did my kids get to be 15 and looking and acting more like men every day? When I tell customers I have been creating tatted jewelry for 14 years I think to myself - it seems like just yesterday I went to my first craft show and how could it possibly be 14 years ago?!

Well, enough rambling. Another original pattern here - but one I have been using for just about as long as I have been in business - a cross. Here are two versions, one with a rose and a beaded one.

The beaded version is relatively recent - I like placing the beads the way they are - dangling like that, but it is a pain in the neck and really doesn't work well because of the design of the cross to use that particular technique. I have to come up with something better. I would also like to do some beadweaving in the center of the cross but haven't had time to play with that yet - in January. (Of course, if you knew all the things I am going to get to "in January" you would realize I have way too large of an agenda for the alloted number of days in that month. Especially with tax season starting.)

It's been three weeks since I posted - I must do better at keeping up!