Felted

So yesterday I made a mistake I had surprisingly never made before. We ran some errands in the morning and I dropped an order off at the post office heading to Canada. When we got home I pulled up the order on the computer to mark it shipped when I realized that I had packed the wrong pair of bobby pins. Yikes. In my defense the order came in Christmas day and you know I wasn't in the proper frame of mind to distinguish a white pair from a white and ivory pair. I sighed and thought and came to the conclusion that I best just remake the accidentally shipped pair and get the right pair ready to ship. I suppose it could have been worse. I could have not noticed at all and then the customer would have contacted me all upset in a week. At least this way I was able to email the customer and let them know what had happened and that I would be shipping the right pair today. I also figured letting them keep the wrong pair would be much easier than asking then to ship it back.

Since that was all the tatting I got done I thought I'd show you the needle felting project I did on Christmas eve. Go ahead and mock if you must, it was my first ever attempt and wings in articular leave much to be desired. After I worked this up I used some of the left over roving to practice the concept some more and I believe I have it down now. Sure, I should have done that first, but hindsight and all that, right?

I tried to find more roving locally so I could play some more. I know I probably won't have much time for it, but I'd still like to have some around. Shockingly I could find none anywhere. I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and order some online if I ever want any. There are lots of kits on etsy and I might even try to trade for some.

In other news, we had all the nieces and nephews over for a sleepover last night. They still slumber upstairs. That's eight children between the ages of four and twelve so as you might imagine it took hours for them to finally fall asleep, chatting and laughing just loud enough to keep us from sleep as well. We'll cook them a big breakfast and then they play all morning while I get nothing done. I still have one kid's neck warmer to finish and that's the end of the family projects. I'll probably stall for a while trying to figure out the next side craft to tackle. I might get a couple of pieces remade for the shop or maybe I'll start plotting my new year projects. I feel so adrift without my schedule and no one was around to comment on my mask yesterday...uh oh, the whine is starting, I'm off.

Secret Project 2

We started off yesterday with a shopping trip to take advantage of some holiday clearance racks. We ended up going far more places than our original intent, but we returned home with awesome wrapping paper, new lights and more importantly yarn and buttons so I could crochet up some neck warmers for the girls. I spent the rest of yesterday making one for the youngest and today I will likely spend much of the day making the one for the oldest. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I swear it's almost like a vacation for me. You, however have other things to see today.

Here it is, the last secret gift project. I'm particularly proud of this one, so a few oohs and awws would be much appreciated. The wonderful friend who was the recipient of this one had expressed an interest in the first Day Of The Dead mask I made which was not surprising given the collection of them she possesses. I thought about giving her the existing one, but since I had the thought early enough I had plenty of time to make it a side project and she really did deserve her own one of a kind piece.

The first thing that is unique to this piece is the eye shape. These ones are patterned after actual eye sockets, not the almond shape I use on all the other masks. This did present an interesting challenge as it changed the dimensions of the face dramatically. I couldn't work off the other masks, but rather had to make it up as I went. This meant more than one session of cutting out and starting over.

The other change is the center motif on the forehead. Changing that also caused a ripple effect on the rest of the design. I went a little lighter on the embellishments this time, concentrating on a few key areas rather than all over. I embroidered the entire edge of the piece and found some interesting filigree pieces to use. The triangles or hearts on the sides there are actually from one piece that I cut in half which was less fun than it sounds, but I knew I wanted them. Of course there are plenty of Swarovski crystals in black and red and then some black and silver embroidery to finish. All in all it was a few weeks worth of work after store tasks were done.

The next time I make one of these it will definitely be with the new eye shape as I think it really enhances the skull effect. When I might do that is a complete mystery though. As I mentioned I think I want to do something completely new first and all that is after my week of nothing much here at the end of the year. So to recap, more crochet for me today and the day ends with a sleep over of nieces and nephews so forgive any insanity I might spout tomorrow as a result of that.

Holy Bats

Morning world...unless you're reading this at another time of the day, then I suppose hello would be sufficient. I am pretty happy to be seeing the backside of Christmas today. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my family, I adore giving gifts, but the seemingly endless cleaning that begins at Thanksgiving, well, it's a pain I can do without.

As you can imagine there was little, if any tatting over the weekend, but I do have something to show you anyway. When we came back from Monterey, we almost immediately headed to a friends house for the evening and since my secret gift projects were amongst those exchanged, you may finally see them starting today. I'm showing you one today and the other tomorrow, you know to spread it out a bit. Today's was created for a fellow who may well be the single most talented artist we've ever met. You might be thinking, is that a bat? Why, yes, but not just any bat, it is the Batwoman symbol. I could go into why I felt this was a good thing to tat up for him, but instead I will go into who I have to thank for the design.

When I got the idea to make this, I immediately knew where to look for the structure needed for the wings. I think it was last Christmas I received a dragon form Anne for the Intatters exchange and I knew I could use the lessons taught there to make my bat. Sure, there was math to adjust angles and stitch counts. I dropped entire rows and I spent much longer than I care to admit on the head, but thanks must go to Anne for the perfect wings. Still I was afraid I had not captured the image I was going for, that is until it was opened and immediately recognized and I was very much relieved.

The husband and the oldest are both on vacation this week, so expect less progress from me in every regard...see this is why I'm doing two days of secret project reveals. I've also been trying my hand at a few other crafts, you know, as a vacation. So far, you've seen the crochet project and over the weekend I tried out needle felting. That still needs work, but it was pretty fun, so I might do some more. I might show that off too, just to be more entertaining and of course I need to start thinking on my year end thoughts and goals for the coming year since it's become something of a tradition on the blog for me. Maybe this week won't be a bore for you after all.

Monterey

Well, this is my first attempt using my phone to blog and I'm certain it will be a short one. My thumb typing skills still leave much to be desired, but I promised that I would write.

We got to the coast a little later that I personally like, but it was a gorgeous day. The sun was out, all the kids had fun and we ended the day sufficiently exhausted. We'll be spending much of today here as well and then once we're back home it's onto cleaning and the holiday adventures.

I did actually tat in the car on the way to the coast, but just to pass the time and I'm sure to do so again on the way back. Sure, I could just sit in the car, but the sheer boredom. So I guess that's it for me today. I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful Christmas and that everyone else has a nice weekend. I talk at you again Monday.

Thanks

I was about to wish you a happy Friday when I realized that today is in fact Thursday. Weird...I go from thinking the week is creeping along to jumping it forward a whole day. So, happy Thursday then. The family is heading off later this morning to the coast to spend a couple of days by the ocean with my husbands side of the family. I'll still post tomorrow as I have the fancy blogger app on my phone, though I haven't actually tested it out yet, so it may be a complete disaster, but I'll try.

I wanted to thank those of you who threw a few ideas at me for my next project. I spent hours thinking about making tikka after I saw this video posted by Crazy Mom Tats. While it wouldn't be the huge art project I want to do, it's definitely something new I could try out. I've done circlets before, but after a bit more research on the tikka's basic construction, I think I've got a few ideas brewing. I'll just have to save them up until after next week.

I also thought about the half mask idea though I have made a one eye mask, it was smaller and I haven't remade it since it sold. I designed it with an eye hook like the arm of a pair of glasses and it's a bloody pain in the neck to construct. A larger version, more like my Masquerade mask, but halved and perhaps further down the face may prove more structurally sound, but I do really want to make something altogether new.

The last suggestion I received was to make a scarf. Honestly I've already made a few of those and they take forever, look lovely and unique, but don't offer the wow factor I want to go for. Basically the idea of the art piece is to make something truly over the top. I generally strive to make things that are wearable by most people, but the art piece can be ridiculous and couture and I must accept that when I make one, it may never sell. I think I have another idea forming now and I'll revisit it when I have time to sit down and work out some potential details, then I'll share. Please, though do share some more ideas if you have them. There can never be too many of them!