Tag: heart

TIAS and ATC

TIAS – Tat It And See – Jane Eborall’s annual fun-fest of teasing those of us in tat-land that choose to join with small snippets of a pattern every few days.  There have been some pretty fun guesses made by participants but is anyone right?  Only Jane knows!

TIAS Day 9

My TIAS through Day 11
What is it?
It started snowing here last night about midnight.  They are predicting that we could get upwards of 9 inches of snow today with blowing snow and frigid weather tonight and tomorrow. I didn’t even open the door to take this picture.
 The view from my front door about 12:00 PM
Just got news that work has been cancelled for today – yeah!!

 ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards.  These are supposed to be no larger than 3½ inches by 2 ½ inches (the size of most any trading card, like baseball, hockey, etc, as well as most playing cards) and can be made of and with almost anything you want.  It’s a small piece of art to be traded or given away, not sold, to other artists. Originally this was done at face-to-face events but a lot of people now organize swaps on the Internet and through the mail.  They are also sometimes used by artists to try a technique or idea on a small scale, kept instead of traded.

I have been admiring Singtatter’s ATCs for sometime, but never tried any.  She and her friends do all sorts of different media and I haven’t seen myself being that ambitious.  But I got to thinking the other day that I’ve enjoyed decorating the photo album covers and I had a lot of fun decorating the little bags.   And I have quite a lot of flowers, butterflies and birdies and such from emptying shuttles.  Hmm, it could be fun to decorate something small like ATCs.

So I attempted a few.

Tatting and colored pencils

Paper, thread and heart button – oops, no tatting!

Tatting, paper and ribbon
Dove pattern by JoAnn Stearns, ‘Joy’s Heart’ pattern by Wanda Salmans

Originally I wasn’t going to put that butterfly on this last one, I was going to write a few words.  And I messed up the few words.  So I had to cover them up.  Oh, well, this is just for me anyway, and I had fun doing it, so all is good.

These are very simple ATCs compared to many I’ve seen on the Internet, but now I have a lot more ideas to try.  What’s funny is for some of these ideas I will have to do some tatting made special for them *hehehe*.  I suppose as fun is the main reason to do these that’s not a bad thing.

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
Pablo Picasso
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More bags

I have so enjoyed decorating bags that I have embellished a few more.

I think this one is finished.  Stepping back to look at it I find it pleasing just as it is.

This bird is out of different material than the first one I did.  I’m trying to add some white to the tree branches to make it look like touches of snow, but it hasn’t quite worked out yet. We’ll see.
I thought this one was done, but looking at the picture I think it needs just a little more work. 
This one needs a little more something.  I haven’t quite decided what yet.
All of these bags are about 6 inches square not counting the handles (which I will iron to have them look nice). I’m planning on taking these to a local craft show later this month where my sister and I have a booth. It would be great if they sell but I can think of several people I could gift these to this Christmas.  And they have just been a lot of fun working on!
Seeing the trees in their fall colors this year has been enjoyable, too. The tree colors have been pretty spectacular around here.  The trees had water when they needed it and cool temperatures without severe weather which makes for pretty leaves. 

Some of the trees on First Street in Newton, Kansas October 30, 2013.
This is looking toward the library from the courthouse in Newton, Kansas, October 30.  Quite the range of colors isn’t it?.  I had my camera with me that day and couldn’t resist taking a few pictures.  The drive to work this week has given me time to enjoy the gorgeous colors of the trees. 
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” 
George Eliot
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I changed my mind

Back in July I made several motifs that I planned to put on my denim purse.

I changed my mind. 

I decided to put them on a heart instead.

Lizbeth #662 Turquoise Light size 20
This wooden heart is about 3 inches across.  I have a frame I want to put it in but I haven’t found just the right background to put it on. I’m calling this #11 of this round of my 25 Motif Challenge (I finally remembered to count it!)
So why did I change my mind?
Because I could 🙂
I’m playing with my new threads now, but I don’t have anything to show just yet.  So far I’m enjoying them a lot, which kind of surprises me as I’ve never really liked tatting with this small of thread.  Thanks Fox and IsDihara for introducing me to them!
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
Winston Churchill
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Shuttlebirds’ challenges

I finally got the heart right for the Shuttlebird’s Weekly Challenge #12.
Nancy Tracy’s ‘Clover Drop Heart’ pattern. 
I still had the shuttles wound with Lizbeth #117 Country Side size 20 so I went ahead and made it with this – again.  This time I got the chains right!
It’s a very pretty heart. 

I had never tried making him before and I very much enjoyed the experience.  He’s quick and easy to make and looks so darn cute!  He also doesn’t take a lot of thread so I believe I’ll be making quite a few more as I need to empty shuttles.  This flight of Microdragons are made in Lizbeth #679 Lime Green, #614 Lemon Light and #695 Bright Orange, all in size 20. 
Oh, yeah, I’m adding these Microdragons to my 25 Motif challenge.  I think this is #10 in this go-round.
Water, water every where…
There has been more rain here and more is expected.  We’ve had water standing in our yard for several days now because of it. We also have to be very careful when we leave or come home due to water over the roads.  It is hard to believe it’s August. Everything is sooo green! Usually this time of year things are pretty brown and dry.  As we don’t water our lawn we usually only have to mow every couple of weeks this time of year.  This year the grass (and weeds!) have kept growing, begging for us to mow much more frequently.  The problem is the water standing in the yard.
At least the lakes, ponds and aquifers are filling back up.
“Weather is a great metaphor for life – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.”
Terri Guilemets

Heart Earrings

Flower Heart from Kelly at Tatfully Yours
I saw some cute heart earrings at West Pine Creations and followed her link to Tatfully Yours for the pattern.  I must admit I didn’t follow her pattern but just followed her lead but she did post the pattern if anyone would like to give them a try.  They make really nice earrings that tat up quickly.  Kelly also put them together to make a wonderful snowflake.  
These are made of Lizbeth size 20 in Christmas Red #671 with silver beads.  My daughters really like them. (Me, too!)  Thanks, Kelly, for these wonderful little hearts. 
I didn’t get a lot of tatting done this week as our daughter and family came to visit for the weekend.  We just had too much to do to have much time to tat.  And it is somewhat hard to tat with little ones sharing your lap:-)
My attempt at TIAS 2013 in Lizbeth #131 Vineyard Harvest in size 20
What can it be?
Are you doing Jane’s TIAS this year?  She’s still keeping us guessing as we haven’t even reached the halfway point yet.  She’s also got a lot of us trying new techniques such as split chains and Catherine Wheel Joins.  I’ve made a few mistakes as I’ve gone on but that’s because I didn’t practice those techniques before starting – my own fault as she warned us!  But I’ve been trying them where I hadn’t tried them before.  It’s lots of fun to see the colors everyone is using and what their guesses might be.  There are people from all over the world tatting along with her, bringing Tat Land together with this game.  Isn’t Jane just the greatest? 
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your heart.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10

Of teapots and hearts

For Tatting Tea Tuesday today I’m enjoying my very first Tea-for-One teapot.  My oldest daughter and her family gave it to me for my birthday along with a tin of Tazo Refresh Mint tea, which she knows I like. 

She’s seen that I’ve started drinking more tea in the last few years and supports it by furnishing me tea once in awhile.  This time it was with the whole teapot as well.  She is so sweet!  It’s it pretty?  (I’m going to have to have a slightly larger space to place my tea cup by my tatting chair though – it’s a bit wider than the mugs I usually use.)

Speaking of sweet, Michelle over at Tela Magistrae has recently tatted a couple of my patterns, Christmas Snowflake 2010, which is on my pattern page, and then the heart  that I posted about last week.  She likes the pattern but not the result she got due to the colors she used (it looks white on my computer).  Check it out, I think she did a great job.  Thanks, Michelle!

As the pattern seems to be workable I’m sharing that with everyone now. Check it out on the Patterns page.

Joy’s Heart © Wanda Salmans 2012

There are a couple other hearts that I have made over the last several years that I’m working on the patterns for.  I hope to have them done very soon.  
I invite you to have a cup of tea today for Tatting Tea Tuesday, it will warm your heart. 
I’m a little teapot,
Short and stout,
Here is my handle, 
Here is my spout,
When I get all steamed up, 
Hear me shout,
Tip me up and pour me out!

By George Harold Sanders and Clarence Z. Kelley

Heart and Earrings

Lizbeth Christmas Red #671 size 20

  I told my husband that he should come up with what he wanted to give his mother for Christmas this year;  he asked if I couldn’t come up with “a pin or something”.  This is the pin that I came up with. The tatted heart is a clover surrounded by two rounds of chains, then glued to a wooden heart.  I added the angel charm to the front and a pin clip to the back so it can be worn as a pin/brooch.  I just noticed in the picture that when I glued the heart down one side didn’t lay quite right.  Oh, well, too late now.  It still looks pretty nice.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the heart is similar to someone else’s pattern, but I came up with it without referring to a pattern. In fact, the evening I started on it I had tried one idea and pitched it before starting on the clover and the first round.  At that point I thought it looked pretty ugly, too, but went to bed before starting again.  The next morning when I looked at it again it was still ugly but I thought I’d try one more thing before giving up on this version.  Once I put the second round on it looked a lot better!  I also just realized I don’t have a picture of the heart without the charm in front of it.  I guess that will be for another post. 

Lizbeth Seagreen Dark #688 size 20 and pink seed beads
Both of my daughters were enthusiastic about getting earrings for Christmas.  I made both sets in the same pattern but in different colors.  The other set is in pink thread with black beads (her favorite color combination).
Lizbeth Western Sunset #102 size 20 and silver seed beads
These are my first tatting of the new year.  I made these in the car on January 1 while coming back from a visit to our daughter in Omaha.  I started with the piece on the left, just doodling.  I thought it looked too big for earrings so I made two others a little bit smaller for earrings to go with the pendant.  The pendant is somewhat small and the earrings are somewhat large (for me) but wearable.  I’m definitely going to change the bale on the pendant but it was the only one I could find at home.
Now that Christmas is over I feel the need to start on the list of tatting that I’ve put off for one reason or another.  It’s also possible that I could be giving some tatting lessons soon, so I need to figure out what I need for that. And IsDihara over at Ambitatterous  has me thinking about what techniques I might want to learn this year.  Looks like I’m already busy, busy.
Welcome to 2013!
“Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” 
Denis Waitley
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