Christmas 2010

I have got so far behind with everything tatting,

I do apologise for not keeping up with my blog reading or writing about the things that I have promised to.

My resolution for 2011 is to do better and get back to normal...whatever that is.

Thanks so much for everyone who enjoyed my Gingerbread post, I will have more pictures to show next year!

We have had the most outrageous weather ever known, we are not used to -5 deg C and that's much rmer than most of the country.

But at the moment we have to turn our water off until after the thaw..whenever that is..so I must get this posted NOW.

To every one that I couldn't send a hand made card to I

love you all, hope you all have a great Christmas,talk to you in the New Year.

The two of us and the two of them!

This is a card I made for hubby for our 43rd wedding anniversary in June.

I thought this image was beautiful.

So here we are..the two of us trudging strolling along, on our way to our son's wedding.

I hope that they will be as happy as we have been.

Hubby thought this was even cuter that I realised because the two hedgehogs look like two Tenrecs. 

He has a pair of Tenrecs...you will have to google Tenrec if you are interested...long story.

Enough to say that they are not related to hedgehogs but to elephants and hyraxes!

And a card for them.

Pause for a birthday and a party!

Not related tho!

Daughter's birthday yesterday, this is the card I made for her.....3D Decoupage.

She texted...."Took my son for an ice cream",
First time I have heard her call him that. he is 21 months now.

Sent a tingle down my spine.

The party......my summer tat party......tat, talk, tat then eat.....preferably outside. Showed them all the things that I have made for the wedding and they advised on alterations to my outfit.

The new display stand for my little trees is finished at last and it's like little friends have returned to their home.....more about this after the wedding when I promise you a blow by blow account....If you think you can stand it.

The whole area in front of the stand has been 'done up' and it's BEAUTIFUL.

I set up a table and chairs there with the umbrella into the washing line hole and WOW.

Then it started to drizzle.... I had booked this good weather weeks ago so finally the weatherman remembered and the sun shone fit to crack the stones.

How I love my party with my tatting friends ..they are the best.

Wish you all could have come....they brought such goodies.The house elf made yummy Broccoli and Stilton soup. Someone even brought a mackerel smoker to have hot smoked mackerel.....but it didn't work. Well can't have everything.

I am on cloud nine.....

Have to get back to earth and concentrate on the last lap....getting to the fun stuff!

Wedding Stuff Part 4.The Invitation!

This time last year we were staying with son and DIL to be....avid readers with long term memory (anybody out there??) will remember that we went to help sonny boy build a deck.

What you don't know is what DIL to be and I got up to!

Well! we didn't waste our time while the lads were busy in the summer sun!

Sun HUH!

We are now still having our typical July weather.... that is rain, rain and more rain, coupled with wind and temperatures of 16degC....that's about 66 deg F. 

It's 21deg C where they live in UK today......it's just not fair!!

It's the North Atlantic Drift that affects us....but then we do have lovely green grass!!

OK back to last year.

DIL to be wanted to make her invitations and had asked me for some ideas.

I would have liked to put tatting on all of the cards but that's just not realistic!

Last year our nephew's invites had a strip of bobbin lace which looked real to me...especially as his sister could have made them.

So I looked for some pretty lace...and found some lengths of machine made lace in a chunky cotton which looks a lot like bobbin lace to me.....so made up some sample cards.

DIL to be liked them a lot, so off we went to SHOP!

She had never made a card before but she threw herself into the task 100%, and we came back armed with card blanks, pretty pearlised paper, paper cutter, a fancy punch, some metallic embroidery thread and lots of peel offs and some bling....oh and some spray adhesive.

I must add that of course this all took more than one shopping expedition, we even had to go to The Lowry Center....near Manchester.

As well as the outlet mall, also on the quays is the Lowry Gallery with a superb exhibition of the paintings of L.S Lowry.

Back at base we soon had a bunch of cards made up to her liking.

 Let's take a closer look...

The theme of the wedding is teal....for the bridesmaids dresses and music (and lace of course!).

I did the lace which is frayed at the ends and threaded with teal metallic thread...while she did the paper cutting and punching.

We attached the lace to the card with spray adhesive which worked really well.

A heart peel off,a gemstone and a Wedding Invitation peel off and we were almost there.

She finished them off later with a double insert. First of more pearlised teal paper, and inside that a smaller sheet of white paper with the written stuff!

They looked very classy.

Her mum is making the place cards and the table names an seating chart all in marching teal....should look stunning. the tables are all to named after composers.

Her mum has also made the teal cravats and hankies for the lads, so she hasn't been idle either!!

A Procession of Flautists!

I had always wanted intended to tat a Kokopelli since I first saw it on Jane's pattern pages.

It was on my to 'do list' waiting for it's moment............until I received Nancy Tracy's (of Be-Stitched)

May Newsletter. She had been on a visit to New Mexico and had fallen in love with the Kokopelli, and decided to design one.

You can find the pattern here.

No excuses now......I thought it would be fun to try to tat all three versions of the Kokopelli.

Now I must explain why there are three versions......

After a discussion with Debbie Flork about designing a Kokopelli, Jane suggested that they both try to design one. Jane says that with very little help Debbie came up with a design.

You can read about the Kokopelli here, but here is a brief summary.

Kokopelli is an ancient North American Indian legendary Flute player. He is featured in rock art in deserts and mountains in many sites....many over a thousand years old.

He is shown as a humpbacked flute player.

He is harbinger of Spring, bringing warmth and joy. He was often thought of as a fertility symbol and a trickster, visiting villages, playing his flute carrying his songs on his back, together with seeds and blankets. He would leave the village, leaving behind abundant crops and pregnant females!

The first Kokopelli that I tried was Jane's design.

The rings on his head twisted a lot so I cut and fringed them...looks quite cool!

Next up...here he is In my Coral Reef.....made a mistake with his hair..made the picots in the wrong order...another variation!

Then I wondered what he would look like in metallic thread...the One that I showed you here.

 

He was so lovely that I tried one in my favourite metallic gold, Coats Ophir.

They were soon marching along in a procession.

I think you can tell how much I like this design!

It really showcases Jane's skill and experience. Tatted in two sections..the flute and hands are tatted  last.

Next to try out was Debbie's design.

In Flora 20 and again in the Bronze Altin Basak Nakis Simi.

Here you can see the size comparison.

This Kokopelli is tatted in several sections resulting in lots of ends! If you can face all these ends tho the result is brilliant! He is so jaunty.

The final one to tat was Nancy's one.

In Flora 20 and in the metallic bronze.

A very different equally cute design. The hair was to be pulled straight but of course this was impossible in the metallic. A clever design made in one part...yippee only one lot of ends!

Thread amounts in Flora 20

Jane...body..Sh1...1.3m, Sh2..1.5m

flute....Sh1... 55cm,  Sh2 ...25cm

Debbie...body...Sh1..75cm ,Sh2..2.55.

for all the other little bits 1m is enough!

Nancy .... metallic...Sh1...1.85m, Sh2...1.35.

Here is a size comparison of the three designs in Flora 20.

Which do I like the best, which looks most like a Kokopelli... I can't say...they are soooh very different.

I hope this has been some use and interest to you, blogging takes such a long time that I often wonder if it is worth it.

Last week was my son's birthday ...never know what to get.. so along with his' dosh' I made him a Kokopelli in a coaster....with an explanation set into the back.

When he first saw it he thought that it was an 'amphipod'.....Jane you still haven't designed an amphipod for me!!!

His card was a footballer....in 3D Decoupage.

Oh but...

I had to tat some more Kokopelli just to see what they would look like......in...

my Flame Lantana and Oren Bayen .

Love 'em all....but it is so hard to stop those long picots twisting. It depends on the direction of the twist on the thread.  When it comes off a ball of Flora then I load shuttle 2 first. With HDT it's hard to know...and with Oren Bayen I should have loaded Shuttle 1 first.

That's all for today...see you when I have some free time!

Apple Blossom time!

My little bonsai Apple tree survived the rough and tumble of the collapse of my display are last Autumn and is flowering it's socks off.

An ugly tree as bonsai go, but the blossom is beautiful.....

...and it reminds me of one of my very first dyeing endeavours to capture the lovely greens and pinks of the flowers before they open.

My stash has long since been depleted, so this is a sign to me to dye it again.

One of the things that I like to do to use up all my little bits of thread.....(anything longer than 5cm in will be used for something, anything less goes into the rubbish bin!).....is to make little flowers. Picot size will depend on how much thread there is...... just under a meter will make a butterfly.......

Then the flowers will go onto cards.

If you read tat-ology then you will have seen he card that I sent to celebrate the arrival of Mini Boss......someone we have all been waiting for....particularly Maebh who regards her as the Leprechaun version of a God Daughter!!

The flowers on the card were made with Apple Blossom thread.

The gorgeous looking card behind the baby and flowers is my absolute favourite...holographic.

Every time I look at it from a different angle is a whole new card!

Very difficult to photograph. What is the true colour!

The bonsai area is a sorry site.....just a pile of wood........which I am trying to cut up......the bonsai are all huddled together elsewhere hoping that it won't take too long.....

.... the wood has been ordered for the rebuilding, which the two of us will do. The whole area is getting a revamp,( the men 'that do' have brought their wheel barrows and cement already ) to make it a place worthy of a seat in the sun.....and yup that is the door to the dye studio....in all it's glory!!

Don't hold your breath!

Grandbaby's First Birthday and nearing Halloween!

It was grandbaby's first birthday on friday and his party on saturday. I can't believe that a whole year has gone by since we were eagerly awaiting news.

We drove up on thursday with his big bag of presents...mainly clothes..including a gorgeous winter coat with fur trimmed hood...for the weather he is expecting!

I got the brightest...baby appealing wrapping paper that I could find..in the hope that a baby would be tempted to look inside...how wrong can you be!

A sudden inspiration led me to make some of it into a huge birthday card...that must surely appeal to a baby...and a couple of hours later it was finished.



Lets have a closer look....



...part of the design mounted on holographic card.....more copies of the little people were glued on top to create a 3D decoupage effect. Googley eyes on them and on the tiny critters....lots of glitter...and some pompoms to make it a touchy feelie card. Some tatted flowers and butterflies sneaked in there too....can't have a card for him without tatting. If only you could see how it sparkled.

His mum was most impressed...and he......LOVED it!




His little fingers went straight for the green pompom and he tried his hardest to pull it off.....but it held fast!! until he managed to separate the bit it was glued on to from the next layer in the decoupage underneath!! Little blighter...never underestimate a baby!

The other parcels he had no time for, he brushed them aside on to the floor!! But he did like what was inside when his mum helped him. He even like his new t shirt especially the stripes.



His mum had knitted him a cat...can't help but like what mum makes for you.





His happiness was as usual overflowing. I have yet to see him in bad form.



He is walking round the furniture and crawling like a racing car!

His birthday outing was to here. He is a budding botanist and was as keen on the leaves as I was....



...I did tell him that these huge Oak Leaves were grandmas Rusty Red but he wasn't impressed!

Even the people were made of leaves...




Inside the Crannog they were preparing for their Halloween event...when a visiting witch would be telling stories. The decor was lovely.



The pumpkin lights were gorgeous.



His birthday party was great, he loved his hedgehog cake that his mum made....probably his first piece of sweet cake. His favourite finger foods include avocado and asparagas!



Now I am trying to get back to reality...before my Halloween treat at the weekend!!
I will show you what I have been tatting for Halloween....not a lot really!!

Mustn't overtax you yet tho.

Something different today.

Just have to show you a couple of Birthday cards that I made today.

For my BIL..always difficult to make a card for a fella.



This was the card on the scanner and this what it looks like in real life.



I wanted to show you that the wellingtons and watering can are mounted on holographic card and catch the light in so many different colours depending on the angle.

This is for SIL... i just got a new Forever Friends rubber stamp and have been dying (not dyeing)to try it!!



This out of the scanner again shows the holographic card.

Bet you cant recognise my favorite thread in there, oops I promised my self that I wouldn't mention it today.



Hope they will like them.

Number 21. Ginger Toms!

Another cat post!.....(this may be a long post so better sit down with a cuppa!)
Well cats are soooh variable they almost count as different species ( except that they can interbreed!), different enough to blog seperately anyway!
Siamese cats with their blue eyes, Burmese cats, Persian, even Manx cats with no tails. Just read that there are 36 recognised breeds of pedigree cats around the world. Most common tho are the Moggies found in almost every household, Tortoiseshell ones, Scary/Lucky Black ones, Tabby ones, Black and white ones and my favorite the Ginger cat.
So this time I am tatting Ginger cats, are they the same as Marmalade cats I wonder, or do they have more brown in them.

This time I am going to start with the most complicated pattern I tatted. This one is by Inga Madsen from her book of Tatted Animals.



When I first tatted this cat in 2005 I came across T.S.Eliot's poem the 'Old Gumbie Cat' and for me Inga's cat will always be a Gumbie cat even tho' my cat is not quite the colouring described in the poem.
I hope that is is ok to quote a few lines from the poem

THE OLD GUMBIE CAT by T.S.Elliot

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.
All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat;
She sits and sits and sits and sits—and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.
And when the family’s in bed and asleep.
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep.
She is deeply concerned about the mice
Their behaviour’s not good and their manners not nice;
So when she has got them lined up on the matting,
She teaches them music, crocheting and tatting.

Tatted in variegated Flora 10 he is 9cm wide and 12cm tall. It is a lovely pattern to tat especially if you enlarge the diagram (it's a diagram only pattern) and colour in each ring and chain as you tat them so that you know exactly where you are.

Jane has also designed some Ginger cats,standing , sitting,and sleeping but I just haven't got around to tatting them yet.

I did try Mark's scary Halloween cat (see last post in this blog) in ginger threads and boy does it look as if it is about to spit!



Jane gave me a tip to leaving the scanner lid up to get a black background and it works a treat.
The big cat is in Coats Floretta 20 variegated and measures 5.5cm from toe to highest part of arched back the little cat is in vintage J&P Coats tatting thread 70/80 and stands at 4cm tall.

Next up are my favorite cute cats by Martha Ess from New critters on the block. These cats are so cute that I couldn't stop making them.


This one is made in Flora 10 variegated and is 5cm tall.

Next a smaller one in variegated Oren Bayen 50 (tats like a 30) he is 3.8cm tall.



This is such a rich colour mixture and I am getting to like the Turkish threads for tatting animals. I would just love to have thread like this that had some darkish brown in it too, as lots of animals have that sort of colour range.

Getting smaller still a teeny weeny kitty in vintage J.P.Coats tatting thread a 70/80.
Again a super colour combination.



He is 2.6cm tall and has a bead for his nose.

Here you can see the relative sizes.



When ever anyone sees my work they always ask me what I am going to do with it and I usually answer nothing, I just make them and look at them. But this time I actually made a card with a cat on it. It's for my SIL's (son in law/son in love) birthday.






Second photo gives you a better feel for the materials, the T shirt is origami made with black crepe paper and it is mounted on gold holographic paper which really makes it 'zing'.
Why the black T shirt...his favorite colour.
Why the cat.....well. My daughter and SIL moved into a new house in the summer and with the house they inherited a cat...as you do!
There are 3 gorgeous ginger toms living near us and there is almost always one draped on my car or flat out on our deck..think one of them particularly likes to get away from grandchildren!
Sorry I digress...back to their cat, Mrs Norris (Harry Potter fans will recognise this name!) Mrs Norris is a stray, fed by several households!

............'Dogs have owners, Cats have staff' ..Anon... Now how true is that!

She (probably a he!) was NOT a house cat,NEVER came into the house but had a smart little house of 'her' own outside. 'She' seemed to be the perfect pet especially as my DD has allergies to animal fur. She loves cats but this one was not a lover of people, HATED to be stroked or fussed over, not that they could get near enough to 'her' to try.

I had expected 'her' to be a scraggy, grumpy old cat but when we went to visit found that 'she' is a very pretty cat indeed.



'Twas true that whenever anyone went near 'her' she would always turn 'her' back and walk away.



"For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat."
- Anon

'She' was quite happy to eat 'her' meal just on the other side of the patio door, in fact 'she' would wait there in hope but never ever ventured inside.



Within a short time my husband who has a certain love of all animals remarked that Mrs Norris DID like to be stroked, in fact purred with contentment. Had he found a way through 'her' shell of indifference!!

Imagine our surprise when the next time we went to visit there was Mrs Norris as happy as only a cat can be, on her own blanket in an armchair, admittedly near enough to the door for a quick escape if necessary.






I wonder what will happen next!