The First Friday

I guess I'm on a bit of a roll over here. When I listed the new burgundy and garnet necklace  I was quite encouraged by the reaction to it. I posted it on facebook and there were many compliments it garnered quite a few hearts on etsy as well. I'm also enjoying the way my pictures turned out. I've been playing with using a black background and I think it really makes the images pop. Of course with the black proper lighting is the key and when I used it for my last mask and the tikka, there was no light so they were a bit of a blurred mess. Of course I just decided that I was going for that look and went with it, but well lighted is much better.

After I posted this one, I suggested that I might do a few more in this embellished style, in black and green maybe. All it took was one person saying that they can't wait to see the green one to get me to make that first. For this one I used mountain jade beads and I have no idea what large stone is in the center as it was part of a grab bag mix, but it matches perfectly. I did finish it, but that light issue I shared earlier was in full effect when I did, so good pictures and listing will have to wait until today.

The mailman also brought me my silver hooks for use in the creation of tikkas, so I made a black and silver version. Again, I'm using bits from the grab bags so I think these will all be slightly different from each other. At some point I will probably try an entirely different pattern for them, but for now I'll stick with making it a line with different colors and embellishments.

So, what's on tap for today and the rest of the weekend? Yeah, I really don't know. I might go ahead and make a black embellished necklace or my fabric stiffener might finally arrive and I might have to start playing with that using my scraps of rejected tatting. I've also had the though to add to the trailing scrolls necklace design for an even more complex piece. I guess you'll just have to wait until Monday to see what direction I flew in.

Trailing Scrolls

In case you were wondering about my eye, it's fine now. Turns out it was basically a fur-ball Venus fly trapped into my eye. Once it was extricated, all returned to normal quite quickly. I apologize for over sharing, wait, no I don't. You all know how many cats I have, these things are just going to keep happening.

Anyway, yesterday turned out to be quite a busy day. I was granted a couple more sales so I had things to remake on top of the new ideas whirling around in my brain. First I got the new necklace design finished up, photographed and listed. Also I got a fun new photo collage app for my phone, so guess what my pictures are going to look like around here for awhile. Blame twitter, that's where I heard about it.

After this one was up and listed I dug out some garnet beads and burgundy thread for a one off version. The beads all look nice, but since they are lower quality natural stones the holes are not always perfect in them making stringing them onto the thread a pain in the neck. One will slide right on, the next will break the beading needle. I broke two getting all the beads strung. Lucky for me I do this enough that I bought a lot of the needles.

This one is still not quite finished as all that bead nonsense added quite some time to the creation of the piece. I should be able to finish it up this morning and get it listed as well. I also added another ring to the center of the design for this version to hep with the added weight of the beads. It always puzzles me when I see a heavily beaded tatted piece, or just one with heavy beads. I have no faith in the lace to hold those things and keep its shape long term. I suppose that's why I use beads sparingly.

So today the tasks include a little more schooling, finishing and listing the new piece and perhaps designing up another should time allow. It's actually been a rather productive week. I think I deserve a cookie...or a new pair of boots.

New

Huzzah to the giver! The first sale of the year has finally been recorded in the etsy shop and it brings with it a sense of relief. Every year things get incredibly busy for the holidays and then stop cold turkey sending me through withdrawals. After a few years you'd think the knowledge that this happens every year would temper my reaction to the event, but it hasn't yet. I go through a bit of a panic where I fear I've become suddenly invisible, but that's over for now. I know things will remain relatively slow, but now that my visibility has been confirmed I can deal with it...better anyway.

The spare time is something I can work with though. The newest mask and tikka are now listed in the shop though I fear my excessive makeup wearing for the photos has annoyed my eye, it's all red and irritated this morning. Once that was done I set into another of those, 'what's next?' funks. Then after I made that sale, I had an idea. The sale was of this necklace. It's been selling quite well lately which is kind of odd to me since it was one of my first original creations that I retired from the shop for quite some time before bringing it back this summer. But I digress, I decided to use my newest necklace design and morph it into a similar necklace.

This is just the prototype and it's different on each side as I tried to work out some design details. I figure I make up a plain version first and get that listed and then I'll go and do a second embellished version with some seed beads on the joining picots and perhaps something shiny hanging in the center portions like I did on the tikka. It finishes with a tatted chain too which means less work after I finish tatting. So, that's the plan for today and hopefully the inspiration with this design will keep coming and I can create a whole line with the basic construction. I already have a bracelet idea percolating, so that's a good start. I love it when the new year finally kicks in.

Tatted Tikka

And it's all over. The husband returns to work today and though the child is technically on vacation for more than two more weeks, I'm putting her back to work today as well. Not full time or anything, but the routine must be reestablished before chaos becomes the new routine and I lose complete control. So, what did I work on yesterday? Well, I did a little cleaning and I took down Christmas early due to escalating cat related incidents. We usually leave it up until the 6th for Little Christmas, but I began to fear the worst so I erred on the side of caution, but I did also tat.

I know I am going to have to wait until I get in the last stiffener before I really start to work on that idea, so in the meantime I thought I'd tackle another of your ideas, a simpler one. I decided to have at the Indian hair jewelry that I've since learned is called tikka, or at least the pendant portion is. I'm still a little fuzzy on it, but it seems the pendant is suspended from a short chain that ends in a hook that is attached to the hair, either to a braid or bobby pinned in. This is the prototype pendant I tatted up based on the last necklace design I came up with.

Next up I dug though my findings feeling pretty confident I had a hook or two on hand to make the first one with. Well, I did, but they were gold toned. I figured the best way to utilize what I had on hand was to make the piece up in brass. I made the final piece up with brass bits and dark brown thread. I think that the basic design could work with different embellishment options as well. I could hand bits from the bottom as well as bead the outside edge. So if this one is well received, I'll try to source some silver hooks and get a few more versions made up. I'm also thinking I should treat the back of the lace so that spirit gum can be applied to it. I read that is often done to keep the pendant in place while belly dancing. Luckily I've already run across just the product for that purpose.

Hopefully I'll get this and my newest mask listed today after I get some photos. Of course that depends on the sun and my ability to remember how to get good photos. I's been quite some time since I had to do ones that featured my face so predominately. I was enjoying all the simple pieces that I didn't have to get dolled up to photograph. So, that will likely be the whole of the day, unless of course inspiration strikes or someone actually makes the first purchase of the year...I'm still waiting for that one.

2012

Happy Monday 2012. So far, it's been a slow crawl to the New Year. The etsy shop got real quiet, real fast and with the husband home and the child off school, absolutely nothing is as normally scheduled and that means nothing much gets accomplished. We have one last quiet day around here before the husband returns to work and then I shall have to institute routine again or risk my sanity as the children rage against boredom. Speaking of raging against boredom, I got my order of roving in the mail from asherjasper on etsy. It is a box of painfully sharp joy. It came in on Saturday and the requests for small colorful items started coming in immediately from the children.

Here's a small pile of odds and ends I've managed to create. I'm definitely getting better. The felting process is time consuming and I really must work on my posture while I work it because my back is killing me, but it's fun. The husband remarked that I wouldn't be making any money from these creations should I decided to sell them. Worry not people, this one is just a pastime. Until I achieve the skill level to make skulls or dragons, you probably won't even see this stuff again. On a side note, I received a book for Christmas about crafting with cat fur. I know it was mostly a joke and the book recommends a wet felting process for most of the projects, but there was a cat right next to me, so I brushed her and needle felted up a ball...when the summer shedding starts, it might get weird around here.

In other news, I think I've been steered in the right direction for an project. As I kept asking for ideas, I honestly had no idea what I was looking for, but I knew when I heard it, it would stick. Over on the facebook fan page, I received some great inspiration links and ideas, but here's the one that set my gears in motion. No, I'm not going to make a chair, but formed lace beyond a simple bowl or small 3-d shape intrigued me. The one major drawback is that this sort of thing requires much planning and I'm a fly by my seat kind of creator. 


Already, I am asking for advice on stiffening lace. This chair here by Marcel Wanders is described as being draped over a form and stiffened with resin which means it's rock hard, not lightly stiffened like we usually do with lace. So I've got a few different products on order as per lovely twitter advice and I will be experimenting to find the right one to use even before I settle on my object and pattern. It's going to be a slow process I imagine and that's going to drive me up a wall, but hopefully all my patience will pay off and I'll end up with a jaw dropping piece of art too. I will of course accept any suggestions or advice in this, as I am, as always flying blind. So, here's to a great and creative 2012.