Busy, Busy, Busy.....

I've been very busy the last few weeks. This post will be VERY photo heavy! Working hard to get some Christmas presents completed.  My DIL asked me to tat some bracelets for her to give to co-workers, my youngest granddaughter has a birthday coming up in November, and I'm getting ready for a luncheon I'll be having for the widow's group from my church.

I've had a difficult time getting involved in things during the past year and a half.  I finally started attending the widow's group that meets at my church once a month and have become friends with a couple of the ladies.

It's nice to have someone to call when you just need to get out of the house for a while!So...first I'll show you a few of the bracelets I've made for my DIL. (If you click on the photos you can see them a little bigger)

I also made the boxes for the bracelets and decorated each of them.  The boxes fold like a pizza box, but they're not as heavy duty.  It takes one sheet of  letter size card stock for each box. Here's a sample of some of the boxes:

I ended up making 10 bracelets and 10 boxes to put them in.  It was a lot of work, but the end result was kinda cool!

I've also had requests for tatted crosses....so I've made about 6 of these:

The crosses are about 3" x 4.5" and really turned out nice. The pattern is by Grace Tan and can be found here. I learned how to tat using shuttles, but these were done with needle tatting. I think for me, the needle tatting is much faster.

I have so many crafts I enjoy, sometimes I just get snowed under with it all! LOL!




I know this was a photo heavy post....but thanks for taking the time to visit!

Thanks so much for stopping by! As always, your visits and your comments are greatly appreciated!  Until next time....

Where has the time GONE!!!

I can't believe I haven't posted since the end of July!! Life has been hectic and crazy around here it seems. I'm industriously working on getting some Christmas presents made and I guess time has just passed me by!

WARNING!!! THIS POST WILL BE VERY PHOTO HEAVY!

I mentioned back in July that I have picked my tatting up again.  Haven't tatted in years, but I discovered needle tatting...and it is SO much easier to do than shuttle tatting (at least it is for me!) I have also made a few cards, but put some of them in the mail before photographing them.  I did make a card today to share with you.  My youngest grandson will be turning 3 soon, so I made a card specially for him.

I cut this card out with my Cameo and flattened off the bottom of the card so that it would stand up.  I ran the front side of the card through with a Spellbinder embossing folder, then inked the edges with distress ink. The little robot is a stamp from My Mind's Eye.  I colored him with Copics, then added a touch of glossy accents to his shoes and "claws".  I cut him out and used foam tape to adhere him to the card.  The banner is one that I just cut out after I stamped the sentiment.  I added it to a little pole for the robot to hold and used some pop dots to hold it on the card.  I think it turned out really cute...not to sure he'll care at all, but I do like it! LOL!

Now...the following photos are just a few of the 24 ornaments that I have completed thus far.  Some of the designs are patterns I found online and quite a few of them are patterns that I just made up as I went along.  I love how they all turned out.

This first ornament is tatted with one of my own designs (since I didn't write it down, I probably can't duplicate it!) The ornaments are about 3 inches in diameter.  This is two shots of the same ornament so that you could see the top and bottom of the ornament.

This next one is also a pattern that I designed.  This ornament and the one above are rich purple even though it's difficult to tell from the photos.

The next ornament (top and bottom both pictured) were tatted using a pattern from Robin Perfetti for the top of the ornament.  It tats up very quickly and fits perfectly over the top of the ornament.  For the bottom of the ornament, I used a pattern found here which is a pattern by Orsi.

        

This next ornament is another of my own designs...I really should have written the directions down for these!

 This next ornament is also one of my designs...and I think perhaps it might be my favorite!

The last one I have to share with you was made using the same two designs I used in the blue ornaments above except that this time I used blue thread and put the designs on silver ornaments

As you can see, I've really been quite busy...so forgive me for not posting more often.  I'll REALLY try to post more often (and get my cards photographed before I mail them out!)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments and your visits are always appreciated!! Until next time...

Tat...Tat...Tat....

After getting all the dust and cobwebs removed from my blog, I finally got around to taking a few photos of some of the tatting I've been doing recently.

I learned to tat many (many) years ago!  I learned how to tat using a shuttle (or 2 shuttles depending on the pattern).  My sister showed me some of the tatting she had been doing with needles, so I knew I had to give it a try.  After figuring out how to use the needles for tatting (can I say LOTS of YouTube videos!), here are a few of the things I've been working on.  None of them are perfect, but I'm getting a little better each time!

I've made a few bracelets...with beads and without beads.  Putting beads on is a real pain!  I think my favorite of these five bracelets is the red one (4th). Which is your favorite?

I also tried my hand at some snowflakes.  I've done these with 2 shuttles before, so it took a few tries before I grasped what I was trying to do.  I'm not sure how to stiffen them, but I'm thinking I'll use a glue/water solution.  Seems like that's what I used years ago.  We'll see how it works.  I've made about 5 of them now, but they are basically the same.  Need to find a new pattern and try something different.

That's it for today.  I'll be back a little later with a card or two...and maybe a scrapbook layout. I've also been working on a few Zentangle pieces but haven't taken any photos yet. Just trying to stay busy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments and your visits are always appreciated!! Until next time...