A Little Busy

Yesterday went about as expected. In fact the only real disappointment came when I wanted to remake a certain mask and couldn't because I didn't have the beads I needed. I'm still trying to decide whether it is important enough to order said beads so I can make it. I probably won't though. Since sales are slow, I really can't be ordering supplies I don't strictly "need". I did that when I wanted to make more of the key in the teardrop necklace and I have yet to sell a single one of those, so I clearly got ahead of myself there.

I did manage to remake a pair of barefoot sandals I hadn't gotten back to as well as a necklace that hasn't been in the shop for two years. Then I was granted the best thing ever, a custom order. It wasn't a huge order or anything, but it was custom sized and colored, so I had a task that needed doing and you know how much I thrive on that. I've almost finished with that project though, so once it's wrapped today, it'll be back to delving through those "sold out" pieces for more things to add back to the shop. My item number currently sits at 350 and I'm starting to think that is way too many pieces though. I guess we'll see where that number sits after the holidays. I'd hate to cull the list now. I also have a terrible time letting go of anything I designed ever. I guess I'll probably just keep making and listing until my brain literally runs out of ideas or people stop caring.

That's Better

Well, I didn't get any amazing ideas, but I did decide that I wasn't going to be wasting any more time waiting. The shops out in the real world are already getting in Halloween goods, so I thought I'd just remake some masks that I haven't bothered with in quite some time. I'm not sure why I let Halloween be my excuse since I rarely sell masks for the holiday, too much cheap competition around, but it gave me something to do and that's what I did. By the time evening rolled around I'd finished and relisted two masks.

For my trouble I was rewarded with a sale. It was nothing that needed to be remade after it sold, but it did give the 13 year old me a giggle as it was sold to the 90210 zip code. So unless I'm blindsided by custom orders or something, I'm going to continue to did back into my 'sold out' listings and remake things that I let pass by in busier times. They may not be new, but enough time has passed since I made them that it doesn't feel like production work.

Time is running out for me to get anything extra done. I got in the last of the kid's school books and supplies yesterday. There are just two weeks and some change before my day is given over to the educational process. If the stack of books is any indication, it's going to be quite a long school day as well. Not quite yet though...I still have these last two weeks to work and work I shall.

Too Quiet

Well, unfortunately the Universe did not stay with me after Thursday's sale. It was just a cosmic tease. The shop went right back into silent mode. I kept trying though. On Friday I made two more pieces. The first one here is similar to the one I did a couple of years ago for the Japan tsunami relief. I've still got a few more of these dragons and the matching sized rings, so I figured this can stay in the shop as a repeatable piece. I used organic linen thread for it so it was more of a pain to make than usual. The linen is sort of the thread equivalent of hand spun yarn with occasional lumps and this spots, but the result is kind of a natural, softer look.

The next one I made was  built around something from the stash of findings. It's a dyed shell of some sort and it looked lovely with Ocean Teal thread. I made it in a similar method to the pendant one I did on Thursday, all tatted together. It's definitely a one off necklace.

After both of those were done and listed, I waited. The ghost town had returned though and I was out of ideas again. The rest of the weekend was just family errands and cleaning out closets. You could feel the lazy in the air.

Wait, I did do, or rather read something amazing. Fabulously wonderful friends brought us back a signed copy of Neil Gaiman's new book from San Diego and I spent Saturday afternoon reading it. I'm so glad that I waited until I could read it straight through because it was most assuredly one of those, 'can't put it down' sort of reads. So thank you wonderful friends for book and the diversion it created!

Now back at Monday, I'm not sure what I should try and accomplish. The weight of the quiet shop is clearly starting to get to me, but I can't let it pull me under. I'll get up to something and hopefully it will be enough.

Broken

I was bound and determined yesterday to not fall into the same trappings as the last few days. I didn't want to spend my day worrying about day 8 with no sales, so I got up and took a nice morning walk with the kids. I did laundry and dishes and as soon as I was moving enough to consider myself to be possessing momentum, I tatted. Now it was nothing requiring too much creativity, just the same old 'tat around' something, but it worked. I had put together these pendants a few says ago from findings and onyx cabochons that I had in my stash.

The first one was much simpler, just a small pendant on mini ball chain. The second was a little more interesting as it was just a pendant with nothing to tat around, but I wanted to use it so I found a metal ring big enough to surround it and put the two pieces together, sealing the ring. Then I tatted around the ring, which was fiddly with the fairly heavy pendant hanging on. Then it got the tatted chains, followed by the chain petals. These are definitely one of a kind pieces, but I might try the same method as the second one to utilize some more pendants I have in the stash that I thought I'd never be able to use.

The day just got better from there as I finally got a small sale to break the streak. Of course I'm crossing my fingers as I type that I don't just fall into another lull after that, but I am truly grateful for the change. Unfortunately the order left me only one small piece to remake and I already did that because I was fiending for more tatting. So today I'll just have to try to repeat yesterday and try to keep moving forward. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the Universe on my side.

Blah

Man did I have a blah day. I was going to say a bad day, but that would have really oversold it. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't...anything. Seriously, I do not do good with too much free time when I'm in a creative slump. I literally laid on the couch and did nothing for much of the day after I had run errands with the kids. Cat picture is for emotional illustration purposes.

I got so stir crazy with idle hands that I spent the afternoon finishing up a page in one of these fancy coloring books we recently acquired from the Costco. That's right I spent the afternoon coloring. When I finished that my stomach started feeling a bit upset, so I spent the evening in a whiny mood. I don't think I can handle another day like that one. I have got to snap out of this slump. I need a sale, an idea, an epiphany, anything to focus myself elsewhere.

So today, I stall try to do something worth doing. I only have a few weeks before the home schooling starts up again and I'd hate to waste any time just feeling sorry for myself. Hopefully the Universe is listening this time and today will be the day for something interesting to happen even if I have to make it happen all by myself.

That's It Then

I started the day exactly on task. I got the new necklace photographed and listed first thing in the morning. I posted the links around and then I waited. I waited for quite some time for something, anything to happen, but nothing did, nothing at all. So I took the time to notate the stitch counts for the piece on a picture, which I think is going to be my new go to move for remembering patterns. This doesn't mean I'll go back and do it for existing patterns, I'm too lazy for that, but in future I have a plan.

Once that was completed, I waited some more and still nothing interesting or even anything at all was going on. I got so desperate waiting for something that I decided to clean to get my mind off all the the nothing that was happening. I vacuumed, picked up and finally opted for the most terrible of tasks. I started sorting the kids clothes, boxing up the completely grown out of stuff, putting away the ones too small for one child and too big for the other and finally cleaning out their drawers until things were actually locatable.

It was a long day and rather disappointing day followed by a horrible nights sleep. I have absolutely nothing planned for today. Still no sales in the shop, so there's nothing to remake. I've got no good ideas stirring in my head for new pieces and I have no desire to clean or tidy anything else in the house. There's nothing quite like starting the day unplanned and with no motivation. I suppose it's time to call upon the Universe again to turn things around so I can get out of this funk. How about it, Universe, just a little something fun to do, huh?

Cracked The Code

Sorry, still feeling off today and we're entering day six without a sale in the shop. Of course I had to look that up this morning, I hadn't actually been keeping track. I've been far too busy with the new designs to dwell, but I knew it had been a while. The weather was a bit confusing yesterday, filled with heat and the threat of rain, so we didn't go on a morning walk. Instead I just got to work, finished up the barefoot sandals and got them and the slave bracelet listed.

Then there was lots of staring at the necklace prototype and the other ones as well trying to piece together the changes needed to create the right shape. The piece was always meant to have a handkerchief shape, but initially it was too small and looked a bit more like a bib. Mostly it just didn't look like it was meant to be a necklace and I was unhappy. Then finally I had that 'aha' moment and it was all clear. I added a couple more four leafed flowers to the sides and extended the edging out further. Then there were a few random chains and connecting pieces to be added. Normally I like my work to be made in as few pieces as possible. I really do aim to make them in one round, but this one can't be made in fewer than eleven sections. I still like it a lot though, especially after all the mental strain I went through to get it to this point.

I did finish the necklace save for hardware yesterday, so I should get it listed today. I also managed to notate the stitch counts for the slave bracelet and barefoot sandals for posterity. I'm hoping I'm up to doing the same with the necklace because it was a stitch count nightmare as well. After that I have no tatting plans. I'm crossing my fingers for one of those surprisingly wonderful days that rains new and interesting tasks down upon me. I don't think I'm capable of any more independent creativity for the time being.

It Is Becoming

I'm feeling a bit off as of late. I'm not certain as to why, but it's definitely put a cramp in my creative mood. The entire weekend was sale free in the shop, which is likely to have contributed to the oddness, but it's something more than that and it's driving me batty. I shan't dwell on it though. I didn't do much tatting over the weekend because we decided to do a culling of the children's toys. That task took hours and it isn't even close to done yet. I also got in the school supplies for the youngest child and she has so many more books than last year that I decided I best get a new bookshelf before her sister's things arrive as well. It looks like the school year is going to be a time consuming one.

Late Sunday afternoon sore and tired from all those physical labors, I did finally pull out my tatting and get back to modifying the new pattern into things. I got one barefoot sandal done and then moved onto the slave bracelet design. I had wanted to start with the necklace, but the prototype taught me that there would be many more significant changes with that design. The feet and hands were much closer to right, though I did have to do many more changes. More joins to strengthen chains, a new ring toward the bottom for stability and several more stitch changes to make the piece lay right on rounded body parts.

Today I have the second barefoot sandal to finish and if all goes as planned, I'll get both new pieces listed. Then I'll get back to designing the necklace version. I think I know what I need to do to get it into the shape I want, but I already have an immense pile of prototypes and I just hate having all that wasted lace. I'll probably do a heck of a lot of thinking about the pattern changes before I put them to the needle. I'm also going to need to write up the stitch counts for this thing because they are all over the place. Usually I try for similar counts throughout a piece, but this needed so many changes that I fear even I won't remember if I don't note them.

I'm also hoping that the oddness works itself out today. Maybe I need to sell something or maybe I just need to get out of my head a little bit. Whatever I actually need, here's to it happening for me today so I can get back to what passes for my normal.

New Work

Yesterday took on a whole different vibe from the day the preceded it. There were no orders to distract me so once the last piece in the remake queue was done it was up to me to find something to make. I knew I was done making small things for now. Don't get me wrong, I love little pendants and medallions because I love instant gratification. I quite enjoy knowing I can knock out multiple pieces in a day, but sometimes I want something bigger.

This time I started with a handkerchief edging, one of the many vintage patterns that would have required you cut the cloth to fit the lace. Now usually I work them as written before I make any changes, but I was already mucking with the pattern from the beginning. Ignoring many directions and adding joins where many didn't exist. I think I assumed from the beginning that I would turn it into a nice choker necklace, but as I worked it showed me a few more things it might become.

The necklace is certain, but I think it will become barefoot sandals and if I can make enough adjustments, it would be a stunning slave bracelet. Speaking of adjustments, it still needs quite a few before I even like it as a necklace. The shape around the sides comes up too quickly and with my new joins, there are a few chains that are superfluous now. So basically I still have quite a bit of work to do before it becomes what I want it too. Most of that work is simply staring at what I've done so far and imagining changes until one makes the perfect sense. I always hesitate with the second prototype, partly because I don't want to do much more that will be tossed in the scrap box and there are a lot of separate pieces in this one. I may tat fast, but I still don't like to waste too many efforts on designing.

So unless I am pleasantly distracted by sales, this is today's project. I will continue mucking with this vintage pattern until it is unmistakably mine. It's possible that I have control issues, okay, probable. Well, off to it then. Cross your fingers that it turns out.

Custom

Well, I didn't get anything new and interesting made. I have a good excuse though, I got distracted. No, it is a good excuse because I was distracted by custom orders. I got one in while I was making breakfast and I worked dutifully on a custom pair of barefoot sandals much of the day. When I finished with them quicker than I thought I started straight away thinking of a new design, but just as I pulled out my drawer of inspiration patterns, I got another custom order. So the books got put away and I got back to work.

Both customs were existing designs in different colors, but I took one picture just so I could have some tatting on the blog today.  Actually this gives me something else to talk about. When the order contained a custom pair of bobby pins, I pulled out my supplies to get some black bobby pins out, that I could not find. I mean I looked for like fifteen minutes before that little baggy finally slid out from a mass of baggies. My organizational skills are seriously lacking. Well actually it's more like I just need to get more bins so I can divide things better. Then again I keep thinking I should get rid of things I don't need or haven't yet used, but I fear the inevitable desire to have those things back as soon as they've gone. Pack rat syndrome is strong in our house.

Today I have a couple new things in the remake queue and then I'm kind of hoping I get distracted by sales again. If I don't I was almost onto something new yesterday, so maybe I can recreate that feeling and get something interesting done. If I can't perhaps I'll attempt to apply some more organization to my supplies. I guess that gives me plenty of tasks to choose from, now I just have to wait and see where the day takes me.

Sorry

Another day hard at work is another blog post without anything interesting in it I'm afraid. We've been having nice cool mornings, so we've been going on walks to take advantage of them, but after that, it's just more hiding in the house and working on what needs to be done which is a lot of tatting things you've already seen. I even acquiesced to the need to clean yesterday. There was laundry, dishes and vacuuming. With six cats you can only put it off for so long before you are living in a fur covered nightmare.

I still haven't finished all the pieces that needed remaking, but I should have them wrapped up early today unless something interesting distracts me. Then I might get to something creative or I might sit around being lazy again. Wait, I really don't want to keep blogging about nothing and then adding aquarium photos all week, so I will make an effort to do something worth sharing. In the meantime, here's some more jellyfish photos to hold you over until I get some new lace to share, sorry.

Working

I definitely had a hard time getting back into the swing of things yesterday. It really is a good thing I had a custom order that needed immediate doing. There is nothing like a deadline to keep one on point. Of course it also makes for a pretty dull blog post. After taking the kids on a morning walk, all I did was work on that order followed by working on one of the necklaces that needed remaking. Well that and occasionally wandering aimlessly around the house. I think a vacation of walking all day confused my normally sedentary body. Now it wants exercise or something. I'm sure the effect is temporary.

Since I didn't do anything else worth noting I thought I'd just give you a couple more pictures form the vacation. The kids in front of a neat fountain at one of the beaches and who can go to the Aquarium without taking dozens of jellyfish pictures.

Today I still have a large necklace that needs remaking as well as a mask that sold overnight. So, yes it's going to be another boring work day around here. Though truth be told I absolutely need all the sales I can get right after vacation. Not literally, mostly psychologically. They are so bloody expensive that even though I budgeted for it, I feel poor afterwards. Having lots of work to do afterwards helps minimize the effect and reduce the self inflicted stress. So with a needle and thread, off to work I go.

I'm Back

Happy Monday all! I know, I know, I said I would write while I was on vacation. I said it would be easy and I had every intention of doing so and then I woke up in the hotel, pulled up the blogger app and realized that I was logged out and I couldn't remember my password. Yes, I am 'that' person. The one who allows the computer to remember all the passwords for me. It becomes such a long time between needing to remember them myself that I forget them. Of course I can just look them up on my computer, but I didn't bring my computer. Please don't scold me, the husband already did that for you.

We did have a lovely 15th anniversary at the coast. It was cool, not too busy and we managed some fresh adventures. We saw the Peacock Mantis Shrimp they just put on exhibit. If you are unfamiliar with this creature, I humbly suggest you watch this hilarious and true video, True Facts About the Mantis Shrimp. We had to crawl in a tunnel in the kids area to see him and it was so worth it...though I am sporting some great knee bruises.

We also finally got a look at the baby octopus that had been there for quite some time, but we'd never been able to see in it's tank. It had sneaked into the aquarium in some live rock and was discovered only after it had attempted to escape across the floor. We'd been trying to see it for maybe a year, but  he was always hiding. This time he was right there, in front, performing.

When we got home, I did in fact have the new chain I ordered in the mail, so I got the key necklace listed straight away. It didn't fly right off the shelf like I thought, but I still like it enough to make it a permanent part of the shop. That may not have sold, but I did have a few sales while I was off and when I was back home, pretending to be off. I got so little done over the weekend, I feel like a right lazy bum. This morning I have a custom order to get to as well as two large necklaces that need remaking. Those each take a day by themselves so I guess the first part of the week is all booked. Now I just need to get my rear out of vacation mode and get to work.

Distracted

I was mostly distracted by preparing for our little vacation yesterday. I finished up the necklace I was making and I got the green pendant properly photographed and listed. I still think the color is a little off from what it is in person, but it's close enough now I suppose.

I got a nice order in the afternoon which gave me a necklace to remake when I wasn't focused on packing. I know I say this every year, but sometimes I miss taking a trips without the responsibility of taking care of three other people. Okay, mostly it's the kids I need to worry about, but you know what I mean.

So we'll be off in a few hours to a place where the temperatures are 40º cooler. I'll be blogging while I'm away because there are great apps for that now and it takes so little effort. By the time I get back I should have the chain I ordered, so I'll get the key pendant listed on Saturday, if anyone was waiting for that. I guess that's it for now, I've got more packing to do.

A Little How To For You

I opted to turn yesterday's tasks around. I knew I should be remaking the necklace, but instead I chose to make some new one off necklaces. I did this partly because I had decided a few days ago to bite the bullet and use some gold toned findings and partly because I knew the end of the week would be creativity free, so I needed to get some out of my system. I started with this one in burgundy and it's the only one I got listed yesterday.

The next one I did was this one with lizbeth in medium fern. My phone camera has a devil of a time capturing greens and blues properly, so you'll just have to trust me that the colors looks better than it is shown here. I was so frustrated with this picture yesterday that I didn't even bother to share it about, not frustrated enough to get out the good camera, but still.

I was asked and answered a question about these yesterday that I'll repeat here. Can you do this with any charm? Of course you can, you just need a properly sized hoop finding to tat around. I was also asked for the pattern and I must confess that there never is one for these, but I can tell you how to do it yourself. You just tat around the wire adding picots at intervals of 3 or 4 double stitches. Make sure to count your picots when you finish the hoop to determine how many picots to skip to make a nice symmetrical design. Then chain whatever number will get you a nice curve skipping one or two picots depending on the look you want. Occasionally I add a second round that weaves over and under the chains joining to the skipped picots or a thrown ring off a chain. It's all experimenting and it will be different with each ring. If you don't already know how to tat around a ring, a quick internet search for 'tatting around a ring' will result in a good amount of graphic tutorials and videos of the technique. 

Right after the green piece, I went to the mail and found my key charms and new teardrop hoops. The hoops are smaller than the ones in the grab bag that I've used before, so I had to muck about with them a bit to get the new key pendant enough like the last one. It's still not exact, but I can repeat this same one over and over again, so I think we're good. I didn't get my chain in for them though, in fact I just got a shipped notice on it, so I won't be able to list them again until I get back from the coast.

I did work a bit in the evening on the necklace I was suppose to be working on, but I'll need to finish that today and I might get creative again, just to get it all out of my system, or more likely I will get distracted preparing to vacation. Only time will tell.

Not Much

I did so very little over the weekend worth mentioning. I was lucky enough to receive one sale which required me to make something for it and another that gave me a few things that needed remaking. I managed to get everything but one piece remade over the weekend while doing little else.

Saturday we had our normal adventuring followed by the unusual occurrence of company. We had some friends over for pizza and a late night of chatting, our version of late anyhow. It had been a while and it was much needed. Of course I was done in the next morning by cats who refuse to let me sleep past their designated breakfast hour of 4 and weren't afraid to use claws for enforcement. This coupled with my inability to go back to sleep in the morning or even take a nap means I am still tired this morning. It was worth it though. Sunday was normal adventuring followed by failed attempts to successfully recuperate masquerading as bad movies on television.

Unfortunately this means I have nothing of interest to show you and since I shall be working on remaking a back drop necklace most of the day, tomorrow is not looking to interesting either. That is of course unless something unexpected comes up. The tail end of this week is our anniversary trip to the coast, so unless the bits I ordered for the key pendants arrive today, those will have to wait until next week as well. It's not looking good that I'll get anything interesting done before I leave, but I'll try. I do dislike being overly boring though you know I'll just go ahead and write anyway.

That Sold Fast

I had the most awful nights sleep. I'm not even certain I got any real sleep, fireworks going off at all hours sounding like they're right at the window and whatnot, so forgive me if I'm grumpy and/or unreadable this morning.

Much of the day was as expected. I got nothing much of anything done save for getting the new pieces listed first thing in the morning. Almost the very minute I got the pendant with the key listed it sold. Well not quite the very minute, but I listed it, then the heart one and then it sold right after I posted the links to both online. Unlike many of the one off pieces I've been making I actually knew where to get more of those keys, so once it sold I went ahead and ordered more along with a hopefully very similar teardrop hoop finding and some more of the mini ball chain I hung it on. Surprisingly two of the three sellers are in California, so there's a good chance you'll see the key pendant, or a cousin of it as early as next week.

The rest of the day was spent watching a Twilight Zone marathon on television with the family and cross stitching another hummingbird. I just couldn't get focused on tatting anything or getting too creative. Cross stitch is just busy work for my hands really and my hands need to stay busy.

So today I have no idea what I'll get up to. I have nothing to remake for the shop, no good, new ideas and I'm feeling adverse to the idea of cleaning. Luckily there is suppose to be a slight break in the heatwave today. We're finally back down out of the triple digits, not far down, but every little bit counts, right? Hopefully something fantastic will happen today to get me back to work. I really don't want to waste any of summer's free time if I can help it.

More

Model:Charline Sauriol, Fannie Lora:Artistic concept

,hair,nails

Before I get around to what I got around to yesterday, I have a story to tell. I meant to share this on Monday, but I completely forgot, probably because I'm never quite all here when I start writing. Anyway, some time ago I had a customer from Canada looking for a mask for a photo shoot. She bought one and I promptly forgot all about it. Then over the weekend I was sent this picture over on Facebook where she found me in the first place. I immediately asked if I could share it with you and since permission was granted, here it is.

So now back to yesterday. I did things a bit backwards from what I had planned. I ended up starting with some one off piece and finished the day with some cat ears. In the middle there I attempted to tat around some interesting looking filigree pieces and cut them apart with no mercy as I have apparently lost the plot on those and they turned out horribly.

The two pieces I did get done will both get listed today. When I shared them on Facebook and twitter, it was clear that the key piece was the most popular. In fact, I'm looking at acquiring some more of those same keys and getting some teardrop hoops on purpose so that I can make it a permanent part of my, I don't know, collection I guess. I'm not sure whatever I end up getting will look exactly the same, so I'm still going to call this a one of a kind piece with the disclaimer that similar, but not identical pieces may be made in the future.

Other than getting those listed, there's not much on tap for today. The husband is home for the holiday, but the temperatures are still suppose to be pretty high, so I doubt we'll adventure too much. That doesn't mean I'll get anything done either. I'm starting to feel the creativity wane a bit, so we might be at the end of the new pieces for a while. I'll try to stay a little interesting though.

Just As I Hoped

Sometimes, despite things like the heat, or my innate laziness, the day does exactly as I would have wanted it too. I managed not only to get housework done in the relative cool of the morning, but did several other small tasks that I have been avoiding as well. After all that I still had the motivation to get all the new necklaces photographed and listed. As a reward for my efforts two of the four new pieces are off this morning to a wonderful new home.

I didn't get around to showing you the salmon colored piece yesterday and it's one of the ones heading away today, so I thought a quick peek was still in order. It is going off with matching petals earrings and I'm quite happy about that. Also leaving me is the burgundy fleur necklace. The evergreen and charcoal gray are still in the shop.

Long before that sale though, I got to work on another piece using the same teardrop shape. I didn't want to do the same design so I opted for a bit of a Celtic weave with this one. I was also completely out of tear shaped stones so I fished out a flat silver piece in the perfect shape to finish it. I actually have one more of each finding I used here, but if I use them it will be either with entirely different thread or a completely different pattern.

In addition to the one of a kind pieces being sold, I also got another order for my cat ear headband. That thing sells so much better than I ever imagined. So today I'll be making up as many of those as I can handle. I need to get some inventory on it so I can stop rushing to remake it every time it sells. I also pulled out a few more filigree pieces yesterday so I might get to some more one off pieces. I may hate the extreme heat, but it is affording me the opportunity to get a lot of things made.

Three Pieces

I was determined to spend the day making and that's what I did. Hidden away from the heat, I tatted the day away. I do really hope this heat wave is the only one this summer though because I do actually hate the feeling of being trapped inside. I mean, it's not like I have places to be and things to do, I just like having the option if I want to leave.

So onto the tatting then. I've used findings like these before, but these ones were domed in the center instead of flat. I only had one in each shade, gunmetal, silver and antiqued copper. I actually have one more domed one in bright copper and a few flat versions lying about in brass, but I am seriously running low on the other findings in copper and brass. I still have tons in silver and tons more in gold tone, but since I personally dislike gold tone, you'll probably never see anything made with those.

I wanted to used size 20 thread for a finer look again, but I have way fewer colors in that size since generally I only use it for rings and earrings. I used charcoal gray with the gunmetal findings and burgundy with the bright silver. I was trying to step outside the black box for the day.

Next up I went with the evergreen and copper because that's seems to be a very popular color combination. I'm not sure what the stone is hanging at the bottom. That's one of the drawbacks to buying grab bags for findings and beads. I can tell it is a natural stone, but not which one.  I made each one of the pieces slightly different, though it's probably hard to tell since it was mostly stitch count changes. I didn't list any of them yesterday, so that's on tap for this morning. I also made up another pendant that I will probably throw on a metal chain and get listed as well, but I didn't photograph it. That one has a large stone and a teardrop shaped finding covered in salmon tatting...the color, not the fish.

The only bad thing about being so productive is when you don't sell anything the day you work so hard. Don't get me wrong sales have been pretty good lately, but all that work and no sales makes me feel like I worked all day for free. I know that's not how it actually works, but I'm hot and tired, so I guess I'm feeling a little whiny. Okay, now that that is out of my system, here's to another day of new creations, no whining and lots of sales.

Busy, Busy

I actually had a much busier weekend than I had anticipated. Sure there was still the cleaning and the family adventuring, but since it was hotter than it had any right to be we spent a great deal of time at home, in our air conditioned cave. More time at home, meant more time for tatting.

Friday in particular was very productive. I started with another one off sort of piece this time around entirely different filigree pieces. Well I can't really call it a one off since I do have one more of the half moon pieces. All the bead I have are different though, so it's sort of a one off. I've even done this basic design before in different colors and with different beads.

I wasn't finished after this though. There's a vintage pattern for a
handkerchief edging with a great corner that I've adapted before, but I was never in love with the way it turned out. So this time I decided to throw out much more of the original design and work up the sides myself. I changed all the stitch counts, added new elements and this is the prototype I came up with on Friday.

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the piece so on Saturday I made more adjustments and added some swaorvski rounds because apparently I'm in the mood for a little bling with my tatting. I even managed to actually get both these pieces listed in the shop.

Aside from all the new tatting, I was lucky to get a few sales over the weekend, though I did just wake up to one of them cancelled, so that's a bummer. Remaking the sold pieces kept me busy for the rest of my cave time. Well that and forcing the children to watch all the Back To The Future movies. They'll tell you they didn't like them, but they didn't leave the room.

So today I really don't have anything on the schedule that needs doing.  The predicted temp for today is 111º so leaving the house is definitely not on the list. I'm sure I'll think of something to make as my brain has been working pretty good lately. I feel creative and productive and like I'm not wasting the summer. Here's to more days like these.