Darn Scanner

My old scanner never had any problems with objects that weren't quite flat.  I just laid a nice piece of paper over them and didn't close the lid.  They turned out really nice.  Not so with the new scanner.  Flat things are OK but if I have too many large or thick beads, I seem to get a funny halo effect around the thick area.  I have played with the resolution, the brightness, the backgrounds.   Finally I turned off all the lights in the room and tried to scan.  That met with interesting results.  And a clear view of just how dusty my scanner bed was.  So I turned on the dust removal tool which removed the dust but now I see a fingerprint!  Oops.  I'll have to take care of that before the next scan.  This piece still needs to be washed and blocked and have a clasp added.

Integral to this necklace is the central polymer clay piece I mentioned in an earlier post.  I saw the artist's work online and went to go see her in person back in August.  What incredible detail exists in each of her pieces.  I love tiny work myself but this just boggles my mind - I mean, look at the clay around the edge that looks like a little ribbon woven in and out of the piece. 

This is a vintage pattern (circa 1924) from Priscilla Tatting Book No. 3 - one of my favorite old books. 

Back to the scanner issue - I really do not know what I am going to do about this because I'm not really crazy about the black background.  It's not terrible, and the detail is good, but I'd much rather have my pretty papers. I'm not even sure if there is a way of resolving the issue.  I know my old scanner didn't give me the halo effect unless I closed the lid, so I'm not even sure where to start trying to correct the problem.  I'm pretty bummed at the moment.  Anyone have any ideas?

Not Quite the Way I Planned It.

Some ideas just do not turn out like you envisioned them.  This is one of those projects.  Over the weekend I visited the Eagle's Mere, PA Art and Craft Show to contact a particular artist who's work I was interested in combining with my own.  I'll share more about that in a later blog post when I actually get something put together.  Anyway, I bought a pair of her earrings and since I was planning on using only her handmade beads in my work, thought I might experiment a little with the really cool ear wires the beads were originally attached to.

I got out Jon Yusoff's "Tatting with Rings" to remind myself how to tat onto the wire and away I went.  I had a great time designing these and I love the way they look but unfortunately they are not practical.  In order to get them in your ears you have to be really, really careful that you don't squash the tatting as you manipulate the wire into your earlobe and as you are trying to fasten the ear wire as well (you end up having to hold your fingers right on the tatting itself as you put them on). So, while I don't mind and know how to take the kind of care necessary to wear these and enjoy them, the design won't work  for most customers.  For now, I'll just keep going and do some more designing with rings and wire.  These go in my own jewelry box to enjoy (yay)!

Another One Down

I didn't do much blogging these past few weeks as I was finishing up another course in pursuit of my CPA license - Intermediate Accounting I.  Well, today I finally took my final exam.  I'm glad this class is over.  I had a much more difficult time with this course than the three that came before it - did fine on the homework, thought I knew what I was doing and then I'd get to the tests and it would all go downhill.  I still got a A in the class and managed to maintain my 4.0 average - but it was much more of a struggle this time.  Here's hoping Intermediate Accounting II is not quite so hard (along with Business Law II, it starts in a week).

I've had this thread, called "Magnolia", in my stash for a while without using it.  [Yes, I have entirely too much hand-dyed thread.]  This one is from LadyShuttleMaker.  It is a beautiful combination of a light lilac, creamy pale yellow, and ecru. Very subtle and just lovely.  She uses a high quality cotton thread which tats up nicely as well.  The pattern is from Occhi: Schiffchenspitze, a German book which has very clear diagrams and some unusual patterns.

I've wanted to try this pattern for several months and finally found some time.  I mark pages in books with paperclips to remind me to revisit certain patterns when I get a chance.  This is one round of a larger doily in the book.  The most fun was deciding how I wanted to add beads.  You see where the long bugle beads are - that's the kind of thing I find picot gauges to be very handy for.  

You can get the picots to be exactly the right length for these bugle beads so that the beads fit perfectly over the picots with no extra thread sticking out.  So far, I am very pleased with the way this project is going.

I ♥ My Mailman, #4

I thank God for Handy Hands Tatting.  They are one of my favorite suppliers for all things tatting, both shuttle and needle...books, threads, and tools.  Usually when a tatter who meets me at a show asks me where I get my supplies, I send them to Handy Hands.  They cater specifically to tatters, which makes them very valuable and fairly rare - especially with the extensive line of supplies they offer.

DMC has been discontinuing thread colors right and left, especially in tatting thread and Cebelia, which are two of the most common threads I use in my work - they have discontinued most of the colors that are my staple colors.  That's why I am so thankful Handy Hands is around - they have developed their own line of thread, Lizbeth, which comes in lots of sizes and colors, including lovely variegated shades.  My favorites (so far) are a nice deep orange, a lovely silver - seen here:

...and my newest aquisition, Spring Garden.  I played with it for quite a few days this week. I also did some bead weaving to match my heart pattern - little hearts made of beads!  

I have read on other blogs and in forums that some people do not like Lizbeth thread, but I have not had any problems so far.  I like it much better than soft threads like Caron Wildflowers and embroidery floss.  I also like it better than Manuala (too stiff) probably a little better than DMC Cebelia.  I still prefer DMC Cordonnet but of course you are limited to black, white, and ecru unless you find someone hand-dying it.

I also ordered a Japanese book, one of my weaknesses, I confess.  I love foreign books, but I especially love the Japanese books with all their glorious photographs and wonderful diagrammed patterns.  I just drool over the photographs especially - such wonderful staging!  ;-)  This book is called."Tatting Lace" (actually, that's the name of several of my Japanese books, I think) and it contains mainly beaded necklaces.  They are a bit too beaded for my taste, I really prefer that my tatting looks more like tatting than like bead work - that's a personal preference.  There are two lovely scarves which I cannot imagine myself making because they would take forever and be too monotonous - I have difficulty with repeating patterns and pieces that take more than 10 hours.  But the pictures give me different ideas about displaying my work at shows so I did get something out of the purchase.

Thank you, Mr. Mailman (and Handy Hands Tatting)!

♥

I ♥ My Mailman, #2

There are some tatters I am in absolute awe of, and Yarnplayer is one of them.  Not only does she create the most beautiful hand-dyed threads (of which I have many), but she creates lovely tatted jewelry AND she is a fantastic, and prolific, designer.  So far she has written numerous small patterns and TWO BOOKS!  Where does she find the time? I often wonder.  I have a hard time getting my original patterns written down anywhere, and I can't even imagine the descriptions, and the diagrams, and the tips & techniques, and the pictures (you know the problem I have with pictures) that would be necessary for a book.  

Oh, I imagine myself writing a book.  I have lots of ideas for a book.  Just not a lot of  time. Or motivation. Or a good camera for all those pictures.

Anyway, the second present my wonderful mailman brought me was Yarnplayer's new book "Up and Tat 'Em".  While my favorite pattern is her "Beguile Set," that particular pattern is going to require a little more concentration and time to make.  In fact, I need to obtain some nice rings to use in that pattern first anyway.  So instead, I started out with her "Five Petal Pendant."

 The piece on the right is tatted in a black DMC Cebelia, size 20, with round copper beads.  Can I say I LOVE her technique of adding a bead in the middle of a ring?  The book was worth it for that technique alone!  The piece on the left was tatted with Yarnplayer's own Watermelon Tourmaline thread (still probably my all-time favorite hand-dyed thread color), size 20, with her coordinating plum thread on the outer round.  Olive green Swarovski crystals compliment this thread beautifully.  This pattern was a pleasure to tat and I love the results.  I was having so much fun I decided to try "Belle" as well.

This one is tatted in size 20 olive green DMC Cebelia with navy blue/olive delicas, a Swarovski pearl in the center and crystal at the bottom.  Another lovely pattern with easy to follow instructions, great pictures, and a fabulous result. 

I highly recommend the book "Up and Tat 'Em", as I do all of Yarnplayer's patterns and threads.  Add this book to your tatting library - you will not be disappointed.

Thank you, Mr. Mailman (and Yarnplayer)! 

♥

Celebrate!

I'm still swamped by life.  Trying to find time to do everything - and not managing very well.  But today I had a little "yay!" moment when I made my 100th sale on etsy, and I thought I'd celebrate and share my  excitement by doing ... a giveaway!  So, for anyone interested, I am going to give away a pair of my Tatted Pumpkin Earrings.  They may look slightly different than this picture, as I use slightly different colors of threads and various ear-wires here and there, but this is a pretty close representation.

So, having never done a giveaway on my blog before, I'm just winging it here.  Ummmm - you'll have to comment to enter, and make sure, if you don't have a blog, that I have a way to contact you.(leave me your e-mail address in your comment). If you mention my giveaway on your blog to help get the word out, leave a comment here saying you did so, and that will get you entered a second time for another chance to win.  I will ship anywhere and everywhere, so please, all feel free to enter.  I'll be announcing the winner this coming weekend, probably on Sunday evening, so check back then.

Good luck to everyone!

Coincidence

I was cruising around the tatting blogs tonight and came across the exact same doily as the one I just fixed for my friend, except this one was tatted very recently, while the one I worked on was probably tatted about fifty years ago. It was tatted by Kelly Dunn and is posted as Motif #16 on her blog. I was so surprised to see it! She mentions it is from "The Tatter's Treasure Chest," which is of course a compilation of older tatting books from the 40's. I guess the doily I fixed was probably tatted from the original tatting book. :-)

Small piece of eye candy! This was a special order and is my own pattern, which I call "snowflake". I love these two colors together - sage & lavender.