MFT Sketch Challenge #287

MFT Sketch Challenge #287

Using the challenge outline, Lucky Dog Stamps from MFT & Blueprints #24 I created a simple shaker card. The banner portion was embossed using a Stampin Up embossing folder from Sizzix.

MFT Color Challenge #48

MFT Color Challenge Submission

I have recently played with making little occasions card collections. I thought they would make such

nice gift for friends or family. I have the Accucut die for the large stationary box and recently purchased the Note card collection from Papertrey Ink. I love their dies and this was a sweet set that had a variety of dies and stamps that made small square note cards. They also had a larger size add on set that cut the pretty scalloped 3.5" x 4" card. 

Being a big fan of MFT (My Favorite Things) I also have several Pure Innocence Stamp sets, but to be honest I am all about their dies. My friend Terri (TerrisBloomingIdeas) and I came across this color challenge, and we both loved the color combination for the challenge and I decided to play.

I used Spellbinders dies for the cover, and to be honest am not sure where the flower dies were from, the solid paper is Papertrey Ink. 

I used Prismacolor pencils to color the images and gamesol to blend. I used seam binding for the bow.

It happened that I had an old paper stack from K & Company called Floral Dreams in those colors. The stack has both satin and metallic finishes on portions of the prints. I used one of the prints to make a divider and line the inside the bottom of the box.

 My inks are from Stampin Up, and Versafine black.  Ice Stickles have been added for a bit of sparkle.

 The plain and scalloped ovals were cut using Spellbinders dies. These were added using some mounting foam to add a little dimension. The inside of the cards are blank, so a personal message can be added.....

 I made the envelopes using We R Memory Keepers envelope board (although I had to tweak the measurements - 7" paper scored on the 3" and 4" marks) using plain white copy paper, then I stamped swirls in coordinating colors on the front and back tab of each envelope.

Sentiments have been mixed and matched to the images to reflect a card for several occasions.I tried to include one for congratulations, sympathy, get well, missing someone, hello, etc. I added some of the smaller flowers and leaves die-cut for the box cover.

Card Making.......

I sat her last night staring at all the stamps, trying hard to motivate myself to make a card. Normally not that difficult but lately, a real effort. You see I was recently let go from my job of 18 and half years. My boss it seems sold the business (after assuring us he was not going to do this). At 60, with only two years from our retirement I was both shocked and upset. After all he had told me I had nothing to worry about. 

So I have had to really push myself to create, as i have been in a fog of "what do I do now?" for the last three weeks. Well after watching countless you tube videos, hemming and hawing, taking sets out and putting them back, I chose to play with the Ranunculus set from Simon Says Stamp.

I have been in love with the whole watercolor play for years. I enjoy it even more that coloring. Of course it allows me brush time which I haven't been able to enjoy for some time. I am hoping to get my kiln hooked up so I can start painting china again soon.

I used inexpensive watercolor paper, embossed the flowers and cut them out. I mounted them on a piece of paper from paper studio and added some glitter (love glitter) and a few sequin flowers. What a nice way to say to someone how much you admire them.

Mojo Monday 433

Mojo Monday 433

Here is this weeks template......

My submission....

Paper was made up of scraps, but the stamps and dies are from Papertrey Ink.  I am sending thei as a Valentine, but it could easily be a birthday or celebration card.

Mojo Monday Challenge 432

Mojo Monday Challenge

So here is my submission:

Stamp is from Lilly of the Valley, baby die, little tag stamps and die from Papertrey Ink, 

This was a fun card, like the layout, a good way to use scraps!

Swap with Carollyn

I had just [posted my swap with Virginia Retro. I had a couple comments and one was from Carollyn (Carollyns Tatting Blog). She had thought I was posting to join a swap, and I messaged her to say that no I had just received my part of the swap. Well after a few messages we decided to swap, She really seemed to like my Mouse "Spoolie" I had made. We decided to do a casual swap.

No real deadlines, although I believe the end of the month (February) was what we had agreed upon, not sure maybe March? Needless to say I have a lot going on. I am going to be a "Grand-Mother" for the first time This year and I had to get this done and out. Need to start the plans for baby shower, and such.

I decorated a large cigar box to place the mouse/pincushion in. Carollyn didn't specify a particular color but mentioned she liked Victorian. Well so do I, which for me meant I could embellish to my hearts content. Break out the dark red glitter, the velvet, the sparkles...

The box slides open and she can use it later to store some treasures.....

Here is her most royal majesty, the Queen. Upon her velvet throne/pincushion.

 Next to little gift boxes that hold some tatting treasures...

I made her a "Tat-alaine", a take on a Victorian Chatelaine. Her instead of sewing items I made her one that will hold one of the picot gauges (I made those from allan wrenches that I soldered onto rings), a crochet hook pendant (I made by adding it to a lovely natural stone), and a large clasp on one end for a pair of small scissors.

I soldered a charm with her name on one side and a small tatted motif on the other. She just drapes it across her neck and it will keep her tatting tools right at her fingertips.

Here you see what I mean. I am sure she isn't as fumble-fingered as I can be. I am forever dropping my gauges, or looking for my hook. Look no more they will all be there at your fingertips (even when you have to get up in a hurry to answer the phone, LOL). I hope she likes these gifts as much as I enjoyed making them.

 P.S.This is a "beaded" Shuttle bag I tatted. I had seen one made by Joelle' on her Youtube channel. I decided to try it. It was my first attempt using beads in tatting.

Yummy Goodness Swap!!!!!

Okay so Sandy @ 521 Lake St Blog hosted a Valentine box swap. My partner was Lynne at http://www.cottagegalstyle.com/. Let me start off with WOW! You blew me away Lynne.  First the box arrived late Thursday night late. Steven found it on the porch at 4 am as he was leaving for work. I was concerned as well we have not had nice weather and it was cold out here.

I was so surprised to see it was filled to the brim.....

 Look at this...

 Here are the Yummy goodies...I adore junior mints, and the tea :)

My "box" was this lovely tin (this will be so handy to place my tatting thread in :)!!

 Chuck full of crafty goodness in all the shabby colors I love.

 So much fun to be had.....

  Two pieces of jewelry a necklace and a bracelet!

 It just kept coming, bits of handmade goodness and vintage fun

 Okay this is by far one of my fav's. A vintage baby planter (we are expecting out first grand baby this year!!!)

 Gorgeous seam binding, ribbons glitter a  "crown stamp" and more...

 Look at this lovely Tea cup!

 Lynne you made my week! It was better than Christmas. Thank You!

Wonderful, Wonderful!!!!!

Valentine Spoolie Swap

Here it is my "Spoolie" from Pam (Virginia Retro). Wow what a generous package. So many things, it was like Christmas (and we have the snow and ice to prove it, here in Michigan).The Spoolie is bright and quite tall,just look at all the flowers......

 This was what I opened....

A sweet little box of goodness....

 Trims and teas....

Yummy candy, a candle,  and handmade tags....

Here is the card she made for me....

Thank you Pam for the thought and care you took. Thank you Sue (Its A Very Cherry World) for hosting!

Secret Shuttle Exchange Arrived!

Okay not the best photo, but I could not wait to share my package from Maria in Portugal. I participated in http://wickedtatsshroomfield.blogspot.com/  Secret Shuttle exchange. Believe it or not that was on October 21 almost a month ago to the day. I honestly though the post office walked it here from there.

Still I was so happy to get it and my how generous and clever Maria was. The shuttle which she decorated was in the cute little case she made from plastic shopping bags. Wow it is very nice and a nice way to carry my shuttles (I am a bit envious, they have "gold" shopping bags LOL). They sweet key chain was made from coffee or creamer containers and manipulated to make a star or flower pattern, a very Eco-friendly gift. A nice bookmark that tells of a Portuguese legend of a rooster, and a whole ball of the prettiest lavender thread. I have not used it yet but am searching for a pattern to try.

You were very generous Maria and a very talented lady. I was truly lucky to have you as my secret partner. Thank you again. (Also thank you Aileen for hosting)

Still at It

Yes, I am still tatting. I have completed the bag and even a few doilies. I have no teacher. Just a lot of You-tube and books. Although there have been some very nice ladies and blogs that have shared a lot of info. As always I was a bit surprised to find so many. Some very talented people both men and women, and all the beautiful tatting. I just wish I knew someone near me that taught it. For the time being I will plug along learning on my own. Hoping I am doing it right. I am trying my hand at an edging. This pattern from Jan Stawasz' book Tatted Treasures. It is the edging for a cap. The book has some fabulous work in it. Too bad for me it's all in Polish. Although the diagrams are there it isn't always clear,  I might have to guess on some of the repeats for a couple of the project. The photos of his work though are worth the price of the book alone.

I purchased some thread at a flea market to use for practice. Love this beige-tan thread, I think its a 20 thickness, nice and firm, not fuzzy like the white, very nice to use. The white however is thicker (maybe a 10) and although it is pretty next to the tan thread it's like using yarn. I doubt I will use it again (for tatting that is).

See my little snowflake in the box? That was done with size 80 thread. It was quite a difference, but I find I really prefer the thinner thread. So far I favor size 40 and 20 (20 being thicker, the larger the number the thinner the thread)

I have had to stop though and get crack-a-lackin on some soldering. So this will only get my attention when I get to watch my television (Friday night - Grimm and Dracula, yeah!). It has been hard though because once I start I do not want to stop until I see it complete.

Customizing Shuttles

As I mentioned below I purchased a couple shuttles from La Cossette on Etsy. She alters the areo-type shuttles for tatting. They are so pretty and of course I had to have more than one. They are a bit pricey though and for me at least, just having two wasn't quite enough.

Soooo, I thought perhaps I would take a stab at altering a few of my own. There are lots of "how to" posts. One on Decoromana's blog, and again on Knitpick's blog . They were a good place to start.

What do you think? Frankly I think I almost nailed it, that is all except the area at the top. that's where I can do better. that area was tricky I didn't go quite as tapered. As with all new things there is a bit of trial and error, but overall I am pleased with the results.

Okay lets see what you think, In the photo above the La Cossette shuttle is on top, mine below.......

In the above photo my shuttle on top, the La Cossette shuttle is below.....(I added a swarovski crystal to the center). Not to shabby, if I must say so myself. Although being a little OCD I will still want to fine tune it a bit. I think I can do better. I did the clover (post type) for my swap partner (post below), and I think I want to decorate a couple of my post shuttles next.

I am enjoying tatting and now have these pretty shuttles to tat with.

Tatting along

Yes, finished the bag, although it is small and needs to be pressed (I will post then). Decided to try a doily. The one here is now done and I have actually completed two other small coaster size doilies, and the one above, and a yellow variegated one for my sister. This one and the variegated are 8" doilies.

I am currently working on a variegated fall colored one for another sister. The pattern is from Marilee Rockley called Arches. Starting the final row.

I am also doing a shuttle exchange and just sent out the package. It is on its way to Russia. Since no one really reads my blog I thought I might post the picture here of what I sent:

I have purchased a couple bobbin shuttled from La Cossette on Etsy. They are so pretty. I have been trying my hand at decorating shuttles and even did a few of my own (will post another time). I made one for the exchange but the person I am sending to wanted a post shuttle not a bobbin, and nothing bright or "acid" colored (her words). Soooo off to find a shuttle. Luckily I found the tortoise shuttles and applied a vintage image. A little holographic bling and wa-la. We only had a week to prepare and it was dicey, I would have preferred a few more days for the finish to completely dry to the hard stage, still it turned out quite pretty. Now I am thinking, I may need to do one for myself :)

We were also to send something from where we lived? This was too difficult and I had no time to search out something. Instead I opted to send one of the charm necklaces I make. I also was to send 10 meters of thread (any weight). My swap partner wanted 80w thread, which is very thin so I sent the entire reel. I picked a golden variegated to match the shuttle. I wish I could have found a variegated thread that had gold, mossy green, and rust. That would have been a good match to the shuttle.

Can you believe this? Well why am I not surprised. You see here the spoolie I made for a swap with Donna a.k.a. Tea Loving Lady. Oh she was "going" to swap, until the very day the swap was to go out she emailed me to bail. I had sent her a few emails updating her, and again when I mailed it. She did not respond.

Now let me start with she knew at the time we decided to exchange that her father was ill, yes things happen,we had over a month to make our project, so she had plenty of opportunity (this started the end of Jan and went out March 21, 2013) to say "hey its too much, can't do this right now, etc". No, she insisted this would not be an issue. I was perfectly clear about how strongly I felt about keeping my word, fulfilling my promises. I never led her to believe I was one of those who would be "okay" with mediocre work, flaking, or poor communication. I shared with her my disappointment with other swaps (having been flaked on a couple times). I wanted her to know what she could, and what I would expect.

Sooooo like I say she emailed me on the DUE date with her reason. Could she mail it back to me? Could she have more time (although she did add she didn't know when or "if" she would get it to me). This left me in an awkward place, after all I had already done all the work and mailed it out. At first I was just a bit shocked.

Yes I was understandably sympathetic, but after I read it again, all I could think of was "really? now you want to bail now?" So yeah, I told her to send it back, so what if it cost me $15.00 to mail it, spent hours doing my best to fulfill my end of the swap. Yes I was a bit miffed. Frankly I do understand, things happen, but really does this give people and excuse to "blow" off an agreement so flippantly? I let her know I was not happy about it. I was not rude, I did not swear, I let her know I was not happy that she waited, and then left it "up to me" with no real solution other than, too bad, so sad. I didn't get it she knew what was going on, she knew the date was right around the corner. Yet now tell me  that it has been getting bad for the last couple weeks? Now you decide to email me? Perhaps I am supposed to pleased that I wasn't left hanging for days thinking it was on it's way. (keep in mind I had emailed her earlier in the week to say I was sending mine out. I mailed it early, like 5 days ago)

Sure there will be those who will say its only a swap, well to them I say, no its more than just a swap, it is also about your word, your integrity. Maybe for those who have the funds to "give-away" things, it isn't a big deal. Perhaps you place no value on your time or work, I do. For me it is a breach of faith and trust. I do not lack sympathy for those struggling with illness, or adversity, but when is it acceptable to "void" an agreement or promise without taking the other party into consideration.   This was the part that really got my dander up, so to speak. She was angry with me, called me rude and inconsiderate. Yeah, apparently I had not right to get upset with her. It was all about her. No she didn't feel bad after all her father was dying (yes he went from ill to dying in one email), and wasn't I a terrible person for expecting her to consider my feelings. Is this a sign of our times? Yeah it's okay, "they" should understand after all it's about "me". Well let me be the first to say no, if (I feel can say if because I have never done this to anyone, regardless of what is going on in my life) you are the "offending" party you do not maintain the right to be offended when the person you are "screwing" over calls you out on it.

Shame, Shame, Shame on her for not only bailing but emailing me, in response and trying to make me feel guilty for "not understanding her situation". Yeah, made a half-hearted apology and "kept" the items, and that should be good enough. Now she is out there signing up for swaps again. I have not heard from her once, nor did she return of fulfill her part of the swap.

This post for is for those who wish to swap with her, be warned!

Mignonette?

Hmm, where to start... I guess at the beginning. A couple years ago, oh I want to say 2010, I participated in the OWOH giveaway. I won a tatting shuttle, with a book and an invitation to learn to "Tat". As I was busy doing other things I set it aside thinking I would start "later". Well here is is almost three or four years later, and while unpacking (we moved last year) I found the book, along with some crochet curtains I had started (15 years ago, yikes).
I finished up the curtains first. That was something of a trial as I didn't keep the hook with them so I had to try and figure out which size I had used. So this meant "several" rows where I would crochet then tear apart and start over. Well at least now they are done! I finished them up while working at a friends shop on Friday.
Now to try "tatting".  It was learning how to hold the thread in my hands, coordinating my fingers to move the correct way, which turned out was for me the most difficult, that and maybe learning to read the patterns (Still working on that).
So after several practice butterflies, and four bookmarks, I of course felt taking on a "mignonette bag" was what I wanted to do next. WARNING!  I'm just stating here that this may or may not have been a wise (probably not) move. I have had to, and still need to learn a lot, and no I probably (probably? no definitely) should have tackled something a little less daunting, but after seeing them on Gina Butlers YouTube channel I wanted to try.
There are many good videos on how to tat. The book I had was good, but for me seeing someone in action can be so much more helpful. Gina is one of these gifted and talented people who offer many videos explaining stitches, techniques,  It was seeing the mignonette bags she made that really made me push myself to learn.
Of course here is where I tell you that I contacted her for help, and I could not ask for a kinder more sharing person. She has been just an email away anytime I am not sure, have a question, or need to learn more about this art.
So here is the bottom of my bag. I was stuck here, had to bother Gina as I could not for the life of me figure out where to go from this point. Like I said reading patterns can be tricky. There may be portions that a more experienced "tatter"would know. In this case there was a part missing from the pattern I had.  She was great, and I am getting to the second round of this band on my bag.
I will update the photos later. I know I have not posted in a while. So much going on with work, family and the house. But that's another post....