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.