Tag: hat pin

Experimenting with lapel pins

Funny how things happen when you get in a hurry. 
Today I was in such a hurry to get the pictures uploaded that I posted instead of saving. 
So, here are a couple of my experiments with lapel pins. 
The pins seemed very long so the first one I tried I bent a bit and added beads. 
Not too bad for a hat/lapel pin. 

The next one I left straight and made it a bit more simple. It is pretty long.

I think it looks nice but I think I need to do a little more experimenting. 
“The only source of knowledge is experience.”
Albert Einstein 
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Flea market finds

My husband and I stopped at a local flea market/antique shop the other day.  We didn’t find what we stopped in looking for, but I found a few things that I ended up bringing home.
Check out these buttons!  Someone took the time to cut them off of the clothes they were on and saved them.  There are some interesting buttons in here.  I’m already thinking of where and how to use them.
I can see either a family picture or tatting in this pretty little heart-shaped frame. It looks to have never been used – the picture is the one that came with it when it was new.
I found two packages of hat/lapel pins.  I snatched them up as I have been looking for this item for quite a while.  I have several relatives that like hats and wearing these in lapels as well.  And if they turn out well maybe I’ll try selling a few of these at a craft show.
I do have to keep a tight reign on my purse at flea markets so I don’t take home everything that strikes my fancy!
“Is it strange that I enjoy going to flea markets more than going to the mall?”

Mother’s Day Tatting

Did everyone have a nice Mother’s Day?
I did. We visited with my mother, my husband’s mother and a couple of special aunts. They were very nice visits.  We gave my MIL and aunts flowers but my mother got a hat pin.
This is made with a large button, Lizbeth #670 Victorian Red thread size 20, and gold beads.  It measures almost three inches across. 
For all this is just simple chains I had quite the time with it, making mistakes in counts, cutting a picot, getting the shuttle threads tangled.  You can see at the bottom where things just didn’t go quite right.  But overall it didn’t turn out too bad.  In person, stepping back a bit, the boo boo isn’t all that noticeable.  I also had such trouble with it I didn’t want to chance trying to fix it :-p.  I thought about trying to put a ribbon or flower or something over it to hide it but decided it was just going to have to be good enough. 
Mom liked it, so all is good.
After all the visits we went home and I spent most the afternoon and evening tatting *smile*. 
I had recently come across the bookmark I had made when I was in Branson, Missouri a few years ago and was inspired to tat it again. 
This is made with Lizbeth Twirlz #404 Mermaid Lagoon size 20.
This is the first time I’ve tried the Twirlz thread.  It tatted up very nicely and held up well when I was retro tatting.  I hadn’t been sure I was going to like it, and I might not like it for every pattern, but I do like it for this. 
I’ve added this pattern to My Patterns tab as Branson Bookmark.
The weatherman predicted there would be severe weather Sunday night and there was, but it missed us by a few miles.  We spent a lot of the evening keeping an eye on the weather and worrying about family and people we know in areas that were getting it worse than we did. We did get over an inch of rain out the storms, so it wasn’t all bad.
It was a good day, imperfections and all.
“Yes, Mother.  I can see you are flawed.  You have not hidden it.  That is your greatest gift to me.”
Alice Walker
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