Nothing

I'm afraid I don't have much this morning. With no tatting in queue, I worked on fixing one child's costume, did a little cleaning and I mean a very little and then I sat down and cross stitched. I didn't even remember to take a progress picture to share.

Today is bound to be just as unproductive. Right after schooling, I'll have to get the kids all made up in their costumes and makeup. Then we have a trip to the husbands work for early trick or treating. After that it's cousins coming over to brave the rain for real trick or treating. I assume that second trip will be short, but unless the skies open up in a torrent, the kids will still want to go out. I can't image that I'll get either time nor inspiration today to create anything, but perhaps the weekend will bring some of those ingredients. Here's hoping!

Listed and Remade

It's always a much longer day when we have to have a teacher meeting. Not because the meeting itself is long or stressful, but just because it breaks up the routine a bit. That means when we get back, it takes additional prodding to get the kids back to work. Then it takes additional motivation for me to get to work after schooling is wrapped.

All that being said, I did get the new necklace listed in the shop fairly early in the afternoon. I was having one of those running about afternoons with laundry and other such nonsense, so I really had to force myself to stop and take pictures, but since I knew I wasn't going to get to sit until it was done, I did it.

Right after I listed this I heard a sale notification and I thought this piece sold, but no, it was another necklace. That gave me something that needed tatting just as I needed a fresh task to keep me from cross stitching. This one is one of the simplest choker necklaces I make. It was modified slightly from a very common vine like pattern. I love it because it curves perfectly into a nice rounded necklace. Well that and because I can make it while paying little attention to what I'm doing. It's all muscle memory at this point.

I don't really have any tasks in queue for today, but with Halloween tomorrow, there's some last minute costume stuff to work out with the kids. Of course we have a 100% chance of rain predicted here for Friday evening, so I'm not even certain we'll get to go out at all. It's a shame, but we do desperately need rain. Hopefully a solution will present itself.

New

I didn't get too terribly much done yesterday, but what I did do was make something new. Sure, it's a pretty simple piece and it didn't take too long to create, but it's new right? I went looking for bits to do a one off piece and was lucky to find some that I had already put in a baggy together when I was apparently in a more creative mood. I've used this round bit before, but I tried for a slightly different usage this go around. I also wanted it to be really one off, so I used the only Twirlz thread I have, still in size 20 because I haven't been making enough in the shop to justify whimsical thread purchases.

It's not in the shop quite yet, hopefully it will make it there today. We have teacher meetings this morning and I've got a couple other tasks to complete along with schooling, so don't be too surprised if it doesn't make it though. I've been getting supremely lazy about photographing pieces, like I just can't be bothered to do it right anymore. Hopefully I'll get a nice bit of motivation again today and something more interesting will happen. I can always hope, right?

On Task

It's amazing how much better I stay on task when I have a piece to remake for the shop that I know should be there. I actually wanted to get tatting and I wanted to finish the piece, so I did. It wasn't anything new, but it sells eventually, so I was happy to make it. This is one of my Grand Daisy pieces, I think I have three choker using the same basic beginning and then they progressively get more complex. They do take a while to make since they are essentially pieced together with many daisy motifs, but I was glad for the work.

I also got another nice sale yesterday, but it was for one of my one of a kind pieces, so that doesn't really give me anything to remake today. Though if I can manage some inspiration, it does give me an excuse to make another one off piece. I guess we'll just have to see if the Muses visit, if not, it's back to the cross stitch which is still managing to keep my hands busy when they would otherwise be idle.

Well it sounds like I have at least the initial rumblings of a plan for the day. Here's to inspiration, motivation, and a spot of old fashioned luck.

Weekend Recap

Well I had a nice long weekend, but I fear not much tatting was even thought about. We had our pumpkin patch outing on Friday morning and then I was coerced into attending my nephew's high school football game that evening. While I love the child and want to support him, let's just say, football game, not my idea of a good time. Mostly it just induced flashbacks of my high school days. Between the two events of the day, all my free time was occupied.

Saturday was errand running and catching up on television with the husband. So there was plenty ofsitting on the couch that could have been used for tatting, but with the shop a ghost town, I'm barely motivated. Sunday we cleaned the house because the in-laws where coming over for dinner. They don't really care if it's clean, but it was a good excuse to do some anyway. It had been awhile and just like tatting lately, I need the motivation in order to get anything done.

So that's the weekend in a nutshell. I know, not particularly exciting. I did wake up this morning to the sale of a necklace that I can and should remake, so there is tatting on the schedule today. Since I apparently couldn't be bothered to create anything to share with you, I hoped a cat picture would fill the space up instead.

Eclipse

Yesterday was generally a much better day, mostly because, at no point in the day, did I lose my ability to see. I spent most of my time on cross stitch and catching up on the television that I couldn't watch the day before. I know terribly exciting.

We did take quite a few trips outside to watch the partial solar eclipse. I feel bad sometimes that the
kids haven't seen many astrological events because you know, they're late at night. So any chance to get them out to see something like this is worth it. Luckily we bought some eclipse glasses years ago, so we were all set.

Yes, I did play with a photo filter program to make this picture, but the oddest part is that unfiltered, there was an image of the eclipse in the top right and in the center, that ball of light. I'm sure it's some sort of common photo effect when dealing with an eclipse, but I thought it looked neat, so I'm sharing it.

Today is the kids annual outing to a pumpkin patch. It is of course also going to be the hottest day we've seen for a couple of weeks. So I'm fairly certain that exhaustion afterwards will prevent me from doing anything too taxing, but man do I hope that the weekend offers up some sort of change in the shop or my creative outlook, so I can once again, fill this blog with tatted lace and complain about being too busy.

Headache

You know how I was worried that my doctor's appointment was going to put me off the rest of the day, well it didn't. Nope, the Migraine I got after lunch did that. I've only gotten a handful of these crazy things, but man I can't imagine what it must be like for chronic sufferers of them. This one's aura started as little shimmery dots that made me stop cross stitching because I couldn't count stitches. Then it got bigger until it encompassed my whole filed of vision making it nearly impossible to do anything. The aura faded about maybe and hour or two later and left me with the headache.

Once I could see again, I went back to cross stitching. It was honestly the quietest activity I could think of doing. The oldest child asked why I didn't just lay down and mostly it's because I would have felt useless and bored.The headache stayed with me, dulled by some generic aleve, until I went to bed last night. I seem okay this morning, so here's hoping its another six months before I experience all that again.

I think I'll have to get some cat ears made today to make up for the lack of any tatting yesterday. I think I just move too fast when I tat for it to be okay to do with my head pounding. The cross stitch is much slower and steady. So I suppose after the sidelining events of yesterday, I can probably look forward to today being at least a little better...I hope.

Nothing Interesting

Honestly I could have simply copy and pasted yesterday's blog post and it would have been a completely accurate description of yesterday as well as the day before. There was schooling followed by hours of tatting cat ears and sewing them to headbands. That was interrupted on occasion by some cross stitching and video game playing. I didn't even bother to take a photo of any cross stitch progress. Of course that's because with this sort of cross stitch progress is ridiculously slow and it still looks like nothing much.

Today will probably be only slightly different as I have a doctor's appointment in the morning. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't put me off for the rest of the day. Even if it doesn't, I really have nothing better to do than more cat ears and some cross stitching. That is unless something more interesting comes up, which I sincerely hope happens. I am getting dangerously close to a rut here and that's no good for anyone. So here's to something interesting happening.

Not Much

The day is always a bit more boring when I have a plan to remake things all day. You really can't have any interest in seeing more pictures of my cat ear headbands. I checked the other day and since I first designed and made them I've sold over 75 sets of them. I find that to be absolutely nuts, but then again you never know what will be popular. Some of my more favorite and complex designs have never sold a single piece and some of the most simple have.

I did manage to take one photo yesterday to liven up this text heavy post. I took a few cross stitch breaks throughout the day. I also took a few video game breaks as well, but that's not really picture worthy. It's one of those really complex designs with mixed colors. I've done them before and they take forever, luckily that was just what I needed when I started it, a side project to work on when I needed a break that would be around for a while.

So today's plan is the same as yesterday's. More cat ears tatted with cross stitch breaks and probably those video game breaks as well. So I guess that means another boring blog post for you. I apologize in advance.

Weekend Recap

I tried to do something original on Friday, but that was about it. I doodled this for no particular reason and I'm not sure that it really has any purpose. It is an odd shape and it definitely reminded people of different things, but I'm not sure it stands on its own. I might play with it a bit to see if I can add a way to extend the design, or I might just let it be an odd little doodle that gave me something to do on a Friday afternoon.

The rest of the weekend, I cross stitched and hung out with the family. We mostly watched movies both at home and on Sunday in the theater. We went and saw Book of Life, which was beautiful and fun and I recommend it. Not that my opinion carries any weight.

The only thing I sold in the shop over the weekend was a pair of cat ears. I'm down to just one pair  left so I guess I will need to spend some time making those again today. Their time is almost up for the year, though I do sell a few year round, Halloween is the only time any one thing flies off my virtual shelves. So today, it's tatting ears and sewing them to headband. At least it's a plan.

Argh

If I was bad earlier in the week, I was much worse yesterday. I did nothing of consequence, not a damn thing. Well that's not entirely true, I did spend the morning homeschooling the kids, so I suppose that counts as something worth doing, but after that, nothing. I didn't pick up a tatting needle at all and while I tried to start an embroidery project, I stopped and undid it after just a few stitches as I quickly realized that it was not going to work like I hoped and would be an utter mess instead.

So what did I do with my day? Not much else and it put me in a bad mood which was only exacerbated by an uncharacteristically clingy child who wouldn't leave my side all day. Don't get me wrong I love my kids and being around them all day, but sometimes I need a just little space in order to create. Having every step watched so closely kills my creativity dead.

So here's to a turnaround today and over the weekend. Here's to sales in my shop, ideas in my head and just enough time and space to bring them to life. Here's to something, anything interesting and surprising.

A Little Something

I spent the time after schooling engaged in household tasks, my favorite. All the time I was racking my brain about what to create next. When I finally sat down, I still couldn't quite decide on anything. As luck would have it, that was the moment someone purchased a bracelet from my shop. This meant I had something that needed remaking.

It had actually been quite a while since I had made up this pattern and I couldn't initially remember how I did it. I had a little time to figure it out before I needed to put the order in the mail, so I sat down, counted stitches and slowly remembered how to recreate it. Yes, I realize this is a strong argument for writing down my patterns when I first create them, but you know that's about as likely as tatting making me rich and famous.

I got the bracelet finished and back in the store along with the new bracelet that I showed you yesterday. So I start another day with nothing much to do, unless of course I want to clean the house, which I don't. I'll think of something eventually because I just can't abide idle hands.

Oops

I was bad yesterday. Not only did I forget to list the new bracelet in the shop, I spent the rest of the day embroidering. That in itself it's particularly bad, but I was embroidering a gift and I failed to take a picture when it was finished. Nope, I just wrapped the sucker up and gave it to its intended recipient. So aside from a picture of the bracelet that is made, but not listed, I have nothing to show to you today.

I don't even really have anything else to tell you today either. I was determined to get the embroidery present done so it could be gifted, so I really did little else at all.  I should be able to list the bracelet in the shop sometime today, but then I have no more projects in queue. I'm kind of feeling stuck in this cycle of rushing to get one or two things done and then having nothing to do for days on end. Nothing for it I guess, I'm sure to find something that needs or at least wants doing.

Done, Done, Done

Well I felt fairly productive yesterday. Since we had the day off I started straight away on my  framing project. So here's the new wall. All the frames are the ones I painted black, the newest one is the big one on the altered cross stitch. The rest of the wall is still blank, much to the husband's chagrin. I think he thinks decorating any wall is an all or nothing prospect, but I'm happy with my little corner of odd cross stitch for now.


Once that was done I finished up the embroidery project I was working on as well. I think I'm really getting the hang of consistent stitching. I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing with this now, but I think there may be more laser cut wood frames in my future, because I do have plenty more wall to fill.







I also got the tatted necklace finished and listed. I was apparently much closer to finished than I had thought when I put it aside due to tatting fatigue. I only had one more motif section to add and then it was just pressing, getting the hardware on and photographing. I am getting progressively more lazy about that last point though. I did also get the matching bracelet photographed, but I was saving it to list today. That way it'll look like I accomplished things two days in a row and I can spread out the feeling of productivity even if it's a lie.

All I have on tap for today besides schooling, is another embroidery design. I can really hardly wait until the shop gets a little more consistently busy for the holidays. At least I really hope that that is coming soon, because I think I really would rather be tatting with purpose.

Embroidery Again

Things went in a decidedly different direction than I had planned over the weekend. I thought that I would get the new necklace finished up, but the sheer size of the thing found me too bored to keep going with several motifs needed to finish it. I needed a diversion, so I found a bunch of them. First there were video games, damn husband bought me Animal Crossing...I curse him forever, then there was a frame project. I finally found one for my last cross stitch, but it was turquoise, so I made it black. Hopefully I'll like how it turns out and I'll take a picture of it. Lastly I turned to embroidery again.

I keep being tempted by the designs on Urban Threads. I don't have an embroidery machine and clearly couldn't afford to get one right now even if I wanted one, so hand embroidery is it. They released a new collection of designs on sale and when I got the email I downloaded them straight away. Then I had to find a better way to transfer the design to fabric than last time. An internet search and one trip to Michaels later, I was stitching this. No, there is no real reason for this diversion other than I wanted to see if I had skills enough to do it justice.

So I suppose that gives me two things to work on this week. I can finish the tatted necklace and I can work on the embroidery. I guess that's a start.

A Little Progress

I had a pretty listless day yesterday. This was partly because the husband went out of town for the day and won't be back until late today. It was also partly because I had a bunch of shows on my DVR that needed watching and I wanted to actually pay attention to them, so I tatted less than I usually would. Ah, the start of the new television season, how you suck my time away.

When I did get to some tatting I worked on the necklace version of the new motif. It is becoming perfectly clear that it will have a very interesting line and that it will take much longer to make than I like. With the shape that's forming it will need to be long enough to sit low on the collarbone, so I still have quite a ways to go on it. Hopefully I'll get the rest of it done today and I'm crossing my fingers that it does sit like I plan once all the pieces are in place.

That's is about all I have to share unless you want opinions on television shows, which I'm fairly certain you don't. This necklace is the only plan for today, so here's to some productivity for the day.

The Motif Grows

Since I wasn't rescued from creating by any orders or any other tasks at all, save for cleaning off the dvr, I did play with the new motif a bit. This was the first direction I went. It was long enough to be a bracelet, but it only works if worn over your hand. Don't get me wrong, I think it look neat like that, but it does severely limit who can wear it, since the size really can't be adjusted. That doesn't mean it won't become one though.




The second try was about the same really, except I changed the order of the motifs and added an element between them. This one sits low on the wrist as well, but kind of sideways if that makes any sense. It's definitely a unique look.

Aside from the these bits as bracelets I though about turning the first version into a bit of a forehead piece...if that's what you'd call it. Add a chain and it sits a bit like a circlet, or maybe pins or clips so it just attached under you hair in front. Not sure if I can make it work logistically, but it looks neat like that. I'm also fairly certain that the first version can also be extended into a necklace, though it will certainly be a time consuming one to make.

So if I have another day with no sales interruptions I might again have something new to show you with this motif tomorrow. If not, I'll just be pleased as punch to have had some sales.

Designing

I've already been up for an hour this morning as we woke up the kids to see the lunar eclipse that's still occurring as I write. They went right back to bed, but the cats knew I was awake, so I had to feed them. I thought about trying to sleep after that, but I realized that I was too awake and it was pretty much futile. So here I am awake and the rest of the day I shall be tired.

I did do some remaking yesterday, but not as much as I should have. Instead I got a little creative. I put together this small motif with no real purpose in mind. If you're wondering why it's got my name on it, it's because I was informed on the facebook yesterday of the sharing of my pieces there without credit. I don't really mind too much as long as they're not actually claiming the work belongs to them or copying the pieces themselves, but if I slap my website on there I can worry less about that. Of course I'm likely to get lazy and stop doing it anytime.

Back to the tatting, this is the first thing I tried with the piece. I was going to grow it a different way and I'm still not sure this way will work, but I think I might have a bracelet in there at the very least. I even saw the potential for an interesting doily shape, but you know how unlikely it is that I pursue that design area unless I get really bored. Someone also asked after the single motif, if it might be a mask and that's certainly a possibility. It has been quite some time since I designed a new one of those. I guess we'll just have to see what it grows into as I play with it some more. It's either that or remaking today, so it's likely this will grow into something.

Busy Again

Yesterday was another blissfully busy day. Schooling took then entire morning and with art a little bit of the afternoon as well. During lunch, I got another order in the shop. Again, not going to get used to it yet, but it certainly is nice to have plenty of pieces in queue to be remade. I should get that order and the one before it in the mail today, but they leave me with a few more pieces that I can remake for the shop.

I got this one done yesterday, but I'm not sure I can list it quite yet. I am getting dangerously close to running out of more than a few supplies. I'm still too nervous about the state of my sales to spend the amount of money I'd need to to get them all though. I guess that means I'll be sitting on a few tatted pieces without their hardware until it feels safe to order again.

So today, I have plenty of things that need making and maybe, if I get brave I'll start making a list of supplies to order once I feel secure doing so. I guess we'll just have to see how I feel once the sun is up.

Busy Weekend

I definitely had what I would call a long weekend. It started Friday when I took the husband to the doctor and while waiting I started the long assembly line task of making more cat ear headbands. Then once we were home and I had begun assembly, I got the dreaded 'lost package' message from a customer in Spain. It was about, you guessed it, a pair of cat ear headbands, that never arrived. So I added yet another pair to the assembly line and kept at it all day.

Saturday morning we ran out normal errands and when we got back from the first round of them, I got my first big order in a while. Not only did it contain a mask that needed to be made, but a few other pieces that I want to get remade as well. So now you know what I did with the rest of my weekend sitting time. I got the mask nearly finished as well as one bracelet remade. That's what the image here is, my Cathedral bracelet.

Today I need to get the order completed and out in the mail. Then there's one more necklace to remake. I think if I have time I'll be back to more cat ear headbands though, because I sold yet another pair yesterday. I don't want to get too excited about being busy again though, this still feel a bit like an aberration that's likely to disappear as quickly as it came. I'll just keep working hard and hoping it's more permanent.

Done and Done

I certainly was busy yesterday, but it was mostly with decorating for Halloween. To be honest most of our decor could already pass for a holiday decoration, but we have so much more hidden away that is a bit much for everyday, unless you mean every day of October. I did manage to complete a few other tasks though.

This is the final pendant for a friend. I had to change the stitch count a bit from the prototype because as you might know, each color of thread is ever so slightly different in size, I assume it's because of the different dyes used. This means that sometimes the thread I use for prototyping doesn't translate perfectly to the finished piece. Usually that makes little difference, but this piece needs to be fairly exact in proportions to work. I'm thinking about offering it in the shop as well, as either a piece or pattern, or both, but I haven't decided. I'd love to hear your thoughts. It seems a bit simple for a sale pattern, well the weaving's not simple, but still, it's small.

In other news I finished the altered cross stitch. It too could be a Halloween decor, but no. Once I find a proper frame it'll go up on the wall. The bloody spiderwebs were harder than I thought they would be. Of course in the end it was me over thinking it and trying to graph them out. Eventually I just started stitching and they came out fine. I kind of wish I actually had more of these old sampler kits to muck with, but this was the last one I was gifted and I can't spend money on silliness.

I did have one sale yesterday, my cat ear headband. That leaves me down to only one left on hand, so it's time for some more assembly line creation of them. They seem to sell in little bursts, so it's wise for me to have more than one made up. I guess that's what I'll work on this weekend and hopefully the sales based distractions continue.

Knotting

I managed to stay pretty busy yesterday with the my cross stitch, for the most part. I finished the saying in the center, then started looking for some small designs to add to it. I settled on this quirky looking skull and a simple spider. I added them to both sides, you know, for symmetry. I also added a bit of black, after this photo, to the border to help tie the black in. I thought I was finished, but the husband has suggested that I add some spider webs next to the spiders, so I'm going to play with that idea today. It's been really fun to turn something so 80's classic cross stitch into something I can hang on a wall.

Later in the afternoon I got a request for a design from a friend. This so rarely happens, that I went straight to work on it. She sent me a picture of a Celtic motherhood knot and I tried to make it happen. The first go, I clearly miscalculated the stitch counts needed to maintain the proper shape. Though I got the weaving part down making it, so it's wasn't a complete waste of time.

Next up I increased the stitch counts dramatically and I really started to worry about the integrity of the longer chains, but once weaved together, they seemed to behave properly. This version was approved and today I'm making the final piece in her chosen colors. So all in all pretty good, creative day. I got to make new things in two different crafts and I received a sale in the shop, so I also have something I can remake today. Here's hoping today is a repeat of yesterday.

This and That

I had quite a lovely day yesterday. It started out pretty bad though. I got a sale in the shop from Italy that I had to immediately cancel. If you were unaware, shipping things from the US to Italy is problematic because they have some of the strictest customs regulations I've ever seen. Primary among them for me is the prohibitions of "Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind". This means I can't ship anything I make, so order canceled, customer disappointed, and day started on wrong foot.

I tried to turn things around by finishing the pair of dream catcher earrings with spiders I was working on, then after schooling we went to an open house at the husbands work. They moved into a new facility some time ago, but this is the first time we've had cause to visit. When we got back from that I started graphing out the new saying for the cross stitch I'm working on. I got so busy doing that that I hadn't yet checked my phone or email. Turns out I had received not one, but two orders while I was distracted! So I went to work remaking one of the pieces I sold, a bracelet I call rickrack. It's been awhile since I had cause to make this one. It's one of my simpler designs, but I love the shape it makes.

The other piece I sold I couldn't remake because I am completely out of the beads that I used to make, yet another reason I tend to use few beads in my work.  I went back to the cross stitch and with the new saying fully graphed, I got most of it stitched. I still have a bit more writing and then it's onto the additional elements, to make it more appropriate to my household. I am truly hoping there will be more tatting distractions for me today, but if not the end of the cross stitch should stretch my creative muscles a bit and that's always a good thing.