This & That

I got a bunch of things into the mail yesterday and found myself at that 'everything is done' phase again. After running errands in the morning I opted to get another of the charm necklaces finished and listed. As you might imagine, the tatting time needed on these is quite minimal, but the assembly does take some time. Toward the end of the day I managed another as well, but that one is not listed. I acquired 5 of the key charms so I stop at 5 of them for the time being anyway. I should actually wait and see if any of them sell before I keep making more, but they really are the perfect sized downtime project.

I spent much of the rest of the day at cleaning and doing some jewelry assembly. I had been getting quite lazy at the finishing as I was working on remaking the last dozen or so pieces. Most of the them were lacking clasps, but that's taken care of now.

Even with all the little tasks I manage to get done, I was still bored for something of substance to do, so I played with some patterns again. This one is another from an Italian magazine that I can't read. I took the basic motif and intertwined three of them. Even though I think it looks neat, I have no idea what to do with them. It might make a cuff it I add some hooks, but it would be a small one. I even thought about joining another set of three long ways, but again I think the diameter would be too small around. I hesitate to adjust the stitch count because that would just make the center space too unwieldy. So here's something to look at that I'm unlikely to use....well, maybe.

Today I have a meeting with my daughter's new home school teacher contact. We had the same one for the last two years so meeting someone new has me a tad nervous, here's hoping that things stay about the same. I really have no idea what I'll be up to with the tatting over the weekend. There are no big plans and I have no projects lined up despite a record number of custom inquiries recently. I answer them, they never return, I get annoyed, but what can you do. Have a great weekend all and I'll talk at you again Monday.

On Chains And Crystals

Everything was neatly done in order of importance as it was scheduled. My, but that sounds like it was a horribly dull day....it was, mostly. I had other tasks to get on with as well, there was laundry and a bit of cleaning, but most of the morning was devoted to completion of a pair of barefoot sandals made ever so slightly larger.

Once those were done it was back to staring at the new cuff and deciding that a crisscross of chain would do the trick. I still think that a nice square piece of metal would look awesome there, but since I'm not a metal worker and I don't currently have any links like that on hand, this remains the current version. Perhaps it will gain a cousin in the future with the imagined bits.

I also took the time to out together a second charm necklace. I haven't photographed or listed this one yet. That will be on tap for today. I know I mentioned a slave bracelet a few times, but I still haven't gotten properly motivated to work out the significant adjustments needed to make the design work on a wrist. I'm sure I'll get around to it sometime.

The only other fun thing I did yesterday was play with my new hot fox crystal applicator. I recently acquired a ...we'll call it a unique t-shirt that I already modified to fit my small frame. Since it was crying out for bling, I decided to add this little goody and some crystals to my last supply order. It is oddly addictive and I kept searching for something else to add crystals too. I might try adding them to a bit of scrap lace just to see how they hold up as it is way easier than sewing on montees. Of course the montees are way nicer looking, so it likely won't replace them at all. Most likely my daughters will end up with sparkly skulls or other such nonsense on their belongings. Hey, at least its not a bedazzler...this is a grown ups toy, I mean tool.

So today I have the charm necklace to get listed and after that I find myself again without direction. Sure, the house could use some cleaning, but it's hard to look forward to that. Hopefully today will see an order or two that gives me something to tat. Well that or perhaps some unexpected inspiration.

The Charm Necklace

A morning of tatting and I'm all caught up on remaking for the shop. Around lunch time my last bit of supplies for the new necklace arrived. I got that put together as quickly as possible and listed the first one. I did get rid of the filigree bit I tatted around and instead went with a simple black stone. The whole idea is to list a few of these with all of them being slightly different. The charms on the bottom two chains will likely remain the same, but the top will be different and the chains will have different finishes. Of course this is the only one I've made so far, well aside from the one I wear anyway. I had been wary of making something like this for the shop in the past for fear that the tatting couldn't stand up to all the abuse of daily wear with chains rubbing against it. I can happily report after wearing mine daily for quite some time, the lace shows no damage. Maybe next I'll wear a charm bracelet and see if it can handle that kind of absurd abuse.

After that was done I started playing with another antique pattern. I liked the picture better than the actual instructions so I ended up writing my own stitch counts and worked up a sample to see if it would work as a cuff bracelet. This is just that sample piece here. I was seeing if adding a bit of chain in the middle would add that little bit of fancy that I like. Since I did decided that I liked it, I went ahead and worked up a final piece though I'm still playing with the chain idea. On one hand I think it needs something, but I'm not totally in love with the look at this point. I may play with suspending something else in the open spaces before I finalize the design.

Late yesterday I received an order for a custom size pair of barefoot sandals, so that's the task on tap for today. If it gets done in a timely fashion, then I'll work on the cuff some more. Then there's always another multi-chain charm necklace that can be made. It's nice to have tasks all lined up and ready to go without a sense of urgency.

Almost

The online school I use with my daughter did indeed load in the new year's lessons yesterday, so that was my first task for the day. We only managed to do two classes mostly due to the child's persistent protests. Honestly though that's all I was hoping for, just a nice easing back into the routine. It is already obvious that schooling will take more time this year, so I need the easing as well to get used to the lack of time I'll have for tatting and other business related nonsense.

Once that was wrapped for the day I fetched the mail only to be surprised by some goodies I hadn't yet expected to receive, including one of the supplies I needed for the necklace I've been yammering on about. So I went ahead and started assembling the bits I was going to use. I still have to wait for one more thing that will be in today to finish it and I'm not entirely certain about the filigree bit I tatted around either. I'll just wait until I get that last supply and then make some real decisions about it.

I spent the remainder of the day working on remaking things. Today I find myself down to just two on that list. I should get those and the new necklace finished up today and then...well, I'm not sure what then, but I'll think of something. I was thinking about making the slave bracelet cousin of the last ankle corset. It needs some serious modifications to work, but when it's just wrapped around my wrist, it looks pretty neat. I am however running incredibly low on the brown thread I used for the center parts. I ordered some more yesterday, but that means it won't be here until the end of the week at the earliest. It might be moot anyway since the addition of schooling to the schedule, just the remaking and the new necklace may eat up my whole day. Can you imagine there are still people out there who think I just sit on my bum all day? I know, right...well I do tat while sitting, but the point is I'm busy. I am now going to get on with it then.

Lizzy's Diamonds

Well here we are again at Monday. Let's see what did I manage to accomplish over the last few days? On Friday I asked the twitterverse what I should make and I was asked to make a pair of barefoot sandals in a shade of brown. Usually that sort of request would have been met with a literal response of me making an existing design in the new color. This time it inspired a new one entirely. This one is a barefoot sandal that has some of the same aspects as the ankle corsets. Much of the design is higher and it ties closed with a ribbon. The first pair also immediately sold to the lovely customer that suggested working with brown in the first place. I did get another pair made, but that represents the whole of my Friday.

I was initially terribly excited to have my book review post on Saturday morning. Then I was disappointed with the lack of obvious attention. I don't know why I expected many comments on the review since I don't get all that many comments in the first place, but I suppose I can blame the Internet. It has created a culture where we need feedback on everything and if we don't get it we doubt the worth of whatever we wrote or created. Though I think the Internet has another lesson on this point as well. Bad things get a hell of a lot more obvious attention that anything that doesn't rise to the level of amazing. So I choose to believe that the lack of response is a general, 'it was okay'. If you didn't get a chance to read it and you care to, it's here.

Saturday also brought a sale I had all but given up on. I had received a request for wholesale a couple weeks ago I think. Since I don't do wholesale, I responded with an offer of a coupon code for a discount if they bought a certain quantity and they accepted. Then nothing until yesterday when the purchase was made. It wasn't horrible huge, but big enough that I have well over a dozen pieces that will need remaking. Which is what I mostly spent Sunday doing. I did also pull out the sewing machine to mod a couple of t-shirts and maul my thumb with said machine while I was explaining it's use to my four year old. Ooh, and I also dyed my hair and dropped the base of my hooded hair dyer on my foot just almost breaking a toe this time. I know, you're wondering how I haven't killed myself with a tatting needle or something yet. I really have no idea how I survive.

So today I have a level ton of tatting to get on with. There's the remaking from the bulk order and I also sold one of the newest masks, the unembellished one, so that's in the pile to be done as well. There is also the chance that the online school has loaded in it's new lessons for the year today. Even though school doesn't start until the 15th, I still like to get a jump on things and at least see what silly supplies they want me to buy. I'd even like to actually get started on some of it so we can ease back into it and get a bit of a cushion built up. I also expect a bunch of things in the post tomorrow including some of the supplies I ordered so I might be able to get the new necklace idea I mentioned last week worked up then. I'm already tired just thinking about the next few days.