Garden Tour GIVEAWAY

Well I have decided to present the pictures of my gardens in a different format this year. They are in a slide show and it is about 4 1/2 minutes long and presents some interesting shots that will make you have to guess as to what they are. Now for the fun part. The GIVEAWAY. There are pictures of two plants that where on the planet or are a direct descendant of a plant that was on the planet when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The first person to guess which plant it is and give the correct common name for it will win a bookmark tatted in HDT by yours truly. Good luck and I hope you have fun. Please leave a way to contact you.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

UPDATE: The 2 bookmarks have been won but to keep people interested in viewing the Garden Tour I have added a THIRD PRIZE, another bookmark. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment about the Garden Tour and your name will be entered in a draw to be held September 3, 2009. One entry per person.

Rainbow Test

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

I usually do not put much interest in these quizzes but this one hit it right on the head. It described me very well and was a pleasant surprise. You might want to give it a try you may be surprised.

I Am So Happy

Oh it feels so good to finally be able to get some tatting done. I cannot believe how much I have missed being able to pick up the shuttles and escape into the creative world of tatting. To watch as delicate lace magically appears from my moving hands and to feel like I am accomplishing something even when I am relaxing in front of the TV.

This is the start of the second panel for Robert's heirloom piece. It is a bit tedious but I know he is going to love it when it is finished.

Getting Better Thank You

My body is telling me it is getting older and some parts of it are wearing down. I suffer from a joint deterioration problem that is really effecting my knees and causes them to pop out of joint when ever they please thus causing me to fall flat on my face. Not fun. It also causes the knees to be a constant source of considerable pain. I am also "blessed" with chronic migraines that happen on a constant basis and I have not had a day with out a migraine in 14 years. Yes I said 14 years. I have been anemic for the past two years with an iron level of 11, the hospital here will not give you an infusion until your level reaches 10. I have 2 bleeding ulcers and must sleep sitting up because of the heartburn. Now my body has decided to be real funny and make me feel real old by giving me severe osteoporosis. To make matters worse my bone density scan shows severe damage and I have vertebrae fractures. Now I have been dealing with a lot of pain but these past few months it has been unbearable and the reason you have not been seeing many pictures of tatting on my blog is I have been in to much pain to do anything.
Now for the positive news. I now walk using a cane or walker and it has reduced my falls and made walking much safer. I have come to accept that I will always be with some degree of migraine and that I am doing all I can medically and non-medically to deal with it. I accept it for what it is and live with it. I got a second opinion on my iron and a referral to a new hospital and it is there policy to give transfusions if your iron is 25 or below and I am receiving my 4th of 10 weekly infusions this week after waiting 2 years. Finally I will feel like I have some energy and to do the least little thing in life will not be a major effort. I have medication for the bleeding ulcers and have bought a Lazy-boy recliner for the bedroom. My Family doctor has approved a dramatic increase in my pain medications and now the pain level is a 10 on a scale of 10 instead of a 14. I am in the process of appealing the government's decision to deny funding for my osteoporosis treatment. I will do my best to deal with it and it is a big improvement over what it was.
As I am getting used to this new balance in my life I am finally able to start back at tatting so I hope to be posting some pictures soon. Yes things are getting a bit better Thank You.

Happy Birthday Clyde

Look at what arrived in the mail today just in time for my birthday. It is the snowflake that I won from Diane's blog and along with it she sent one of the wonderful braided cords she is making. I wish everyone could see it in person so you could see just how beautiful it is. Thank you very much Diane.

I had a very enjoyable birthday and to top it off my best friend cooked supper for my partner and I which I really appreciate because I do not think anyone should have to cook on there birthday. Many thanks to all who sent birthday greetings my way they are greatly appreciated.

Number 100

This is my 100th post on this blog and to celebrate I am going to show you two things that made me happy today. The first was the arrival of two shuttles from The Shuttle Shop one decorated with a tiger and one with a Celtic knot. They are both made from Tulip-wood and are going to be wonderful to tat with.

The second is this plant we bought the other day it is a gerbera daisy and I just can't believe the number of blooms it has and how wonderfully colourful they are.

I would like to thank everyone who follows my blog and a special Thank You to those that leave comments. I appreciate each and every one of them.

Ali Is Getting Better

Good News. Ali is recovering and starting to use her injured leg. It is going to take her a little while to recover but she is going to recover. Thank you everyone for your positive thoughts and kind words of support.

What I Am Up Too

Well you are probably wondering what is happening in my wonderful little tatting world. I am afraid it is not to exciting but it brings me joy because I am going to be sharing the joy of tatting. I have been busy tatting little motifs to give away at the seniors center today when I am doing a presentation on tatting. I am going to have some of my tatting on display. My tatting photos playing on a power point display and I will be tatting and answering any questions people may have. All this is to promote lessons I will be offering there come September.

The tatting demonstration went well and was enjoyed by all. People really appreciated the gift of a small piece of tatting. There where a few who knew how to tat but have not done it in many years so if there is enough interest not only will there be a beginners class there will be a refresher course.

On a sad note. When I got home today my little dog Ali could not use her one back leg. I took her to the vet and there is nothing broken or displaced so she thinks it may have something to do with the spinal cord. If she gets any worse I will have to have her put down as I will not allow her to suffer in any way. She has been to kind not to be treated with great love. Please keep Ali in your thoughts.

Two Latest Bloomers

These two orchids are our latest to bloom. What makes these two so special is that the plant is less than two inches tall and we only paid $5 each for these two at a going out of business sale. All the orchids that we bought at this sale are doing well and most have bloomed for us. This one has seven blooms coming.






The bloom is a blend of so many colours yellow, brown, purple, pink, white just to name a few.

This last one has a funny bloom that has never opened fully even though it has been in flower for two months.

Heirloom Center Piece

Well it is finally finished the first square of what will be the heirloom centerpiece. I think the finished piece will be four squares, more if I have the thread, possibly some kind of fancy border. We will have to see how it goes. I hope to have more tatting time in the next couple of weeks as the past few weeks have been busy doing samples for classes I am going to be teaching and testing some new thread, which have been fun to do but your big projects fall behind. I am going to be teaching a tatting at a local seniors center in July and am booked again to teach in October. It is always nice to see more people learning to tat. It is even more fun to teach seniors who have always wanted to learn what there Mother or Grandmother did not get a chance to teach them. Happy tatting everyone.

Honestly The Dog Ate It.

Remember when back in school when somebody used the excuse that the dog ate their homework and everyone in the class went "sure he did". Well I now believe that person. This week I tatted a bunch of simple butterflies for a events coordinator to hand out when people signed up for tatting lessons that I am going to be teaching. I set them down on the coffee table and when I went to get them as I was leaving they where gone. I looked around and there was Ali my dog eating the last ones. YES my dog ate my homework and to make matters worse when I got home she had decided that after 2 1/2 years she would eat her first shuttle. Ali is in the dog house for a while but I must say she has been having some pretty poops.

Redecorating Revealed

Well it is time for the big reveal. We have finally gotten around to redecorating our bedroom and we decided to go with bold and dramatic. The colour scheme is Port Plum, Cloud Cream and your basic white ceiling.




I was really happy with the bedspread set that I found as the burgundy stripe in it was a perfect match for the walls. I don't know about others but I like a bedspread that goes to the floor and with having a water-bed you have no use for a bed skirt so I used it to make a large bolster pillow for the foot of the bed.

At the foot of the bed is my favorite blanket chest of the many that we own. It is an antique, hand carved Chinese, camphor lined blanket chest and I love how the red tones of the wood blend with the room.

Stained glass figures decorate the window that is dressed with wooden blinds and curtain panels of linen and lace in cream.

The picture over the bed was painted by a friend and the frame was made by my neighbor and I finished it by painting it with the trim paint and then dry brushing it with a dark green stain. I am very happy with how it turned out as I have been looking for a frame for this picture for 13 years.

The last special feature is for night time and that is the copper lanterns and picture with a light. The copper lanterns have pillar candles in them that are lit with LED lights and run of rechargeable batteries. They actually flicker like real candles and you cannot tell them from the real thing. The picture is lit with a battery powered LED so there are no hanging cords.

I hope you enjoyed your tour and please leave feedback as I would be interested in your thoughts on the redecorating.

Clyde

Change in the World

Heather The Tarnished Tatter has tagged me. Now normally I am not crazy about these things but this one could be fun. Here are the rules.


1. go to your documents/pictures.


2. go to your 5th file.


3. go to your 5th picture.


4. blog about it.


5. tag 5 people …...


Okay so here it goes. I am going to my pictures and the fifth file is labeled Christmas 2008 and the fifth picture is.....

This is a plaque that was given to me by a special neighbour who I helped for 6 months. There cat was borderline kidney failure so I would go to there house every two to three nights and give there cat an IV treatment. They where amazed that I would do something so kind and not accept payment and I told them that I wanted to see people be nice and caring to each other and the way to help get that going was to set the example. The words on the plaque are a quote from Gandhi who amazed me with how he tried to change things for the better in the world, but did it in a meek and mild way and by setting an example. I truly believe these words that if we want change it has to begin with ourselves because we can only control ourselves and hopefully others will follow our example and make the change in there lives. If others do not change at least you can feel good about yourself and what you are doing and that is what is important.

I am not going to tag anyone but instead leave it open to anyone who would like to participate to tag themselves and have some fun with it.

Life Is Full Of Bumps And Bruises

Well I am working on Robert's heirloom doily/runner. It is the Pattern called the Grid from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. It is tatted in YarnPlayers Fern HDT size 80. As you can tell I have not made a lot of progress since my last post but with good reason. Since Gregg and I have been decorating our bedroom a lot of odd jobs where put on hold and I have been trying to get them caught up. In the middle of this I had two falls and I managed to cause a hairline fracture in my foot. I am now hobbling around in an air-cast and although this gives me time for tatting, with the pain I am in I just do not feel like concentrating on it. Hopefully this week will be better and I will be in a tatting mood as I would hate to see all the time go to waste.

Laura Update

I am pleased to let everyone know that Laura is home from the hospital and her recovery is progressing well. She has received fantastic news and that is that the biopsies that they took show NO cancer. Laura would like to thank everyone for there prayers and positive thoughts which have helped and continue to help her as she deals with her health issues. It is wonderful news to celebrate.

How Is Laura Doing?

Just a quick note to let everyone know, who knows Laura Blanton. Her surgery went well yesterday and she is resting well and hoping to come home from the hospital tomorrow. She would like to thank everyone for there prayers and positive thoughts. Your support means a lot to her.

The Start of Roberts' Heirloom Piece

Well we have finally finished the work of redecorating our master bedroom. I must say it looks very rich now that it is decorated in Royal purple, cream, gold. When we get all the artwork in place I will have to post some pictures to give you all an idea of how you can paint your walls a very dark colour and still have a room that looks very elegant. The best part was the bedspread we got for the bed was on sale for $212.00 when it regularly costs $720.00.

This is the start of the Heirloom tatted piece I am making for my son Robert. It is the Pattern called the Grid from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. It is tatted in YarnPlayers Fern HDT size 80. If you have not had the opportunity to tat with some of YarnPlayers HDT yet I would highly recommend that you treat yourself to some as I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. It adds a whole new flavour to your tatting. I am making one small change in the pattern and that is I am rotating the center of the motif one picot as I like the way it lines up better. Let me know what you think if you are familiar with the pattern. I would be interested in your feedback.

Matching Dolies and Heirlooms

This cute little Party-Time doily is a match to the larger one I made and posted about a little while a go. It is the second in a set of doilies I am making for our front sitting room furniture. It is made following the pattern, Party-Time Doilies from the book Traditional Tatting Patterns edited by Rita Weiss. The thread is YarnPlayer's Tourmaline HDT size 80 which is my all time favorite thread.

Now I am going to take a break from the doilies and set to work on a heirloom project. I made the following heirloom doily for my daughter a while a go.

At that time I promised my son I would make a heirloom piece for him. Well he has picked his pattern and when I showed him today that I had started it he got excited and now he can't wait to see what the finished project is going to look like because I am taking a small pattern and adapting it into a large piece of tatting. It is going to be tatted in YarnPlayers' HDT Fern in size 80. It is really nice to have children that appreciate the tatting that I do. I know that they value it as much as I do. Well time to tat. 

New Tatters

Well yesterday was the last day of tatting lessons for my three students and I am proud to say there are three new tatters in the world today.I had a lot of fun teaching these ladies the basics of tatting and it reminded me on more than one occasion what it was like when I learned to tat. According to the exit questionnaires my students where pleased with the lessons and the instructor and would recommend the lessons to their friends. It was so much fun to be able to show them the double stitch and see the look on their faces when they realized they had gotten the flip. Although they where not 100% confident in themselves and there new found knowledge they can do it. Now it is just a matter of practice. Congratulations ladies.

International Tatting Day

Oh what could be better than International Tatting Day. I think I like it better than Christmas. What a wonderful thing to have an excuse to spend a day tatting and eating chocolate. This years challenge is to see how many kinds of chocolate I can eat in one day. The only problem is it is a bit tricky not getting chocolate on your tatting. That would never do or I would have to eat my tatting, can't waste good chocolate. Maybe for next year I will invent chocolate thread. What a way to end the day, by eating one's tatting.

The Joy of Tatting

It is amazing the growth that tatting has has gone through over the years. When you think of how tatting started out as trim and doilies it has sure evolved into an art form that I think has more uses than was ever thought of just 50 years ago. Just take a look at some fellow tatters blogs. We have people creating jewelry, 3 dimension objects like a ginger bread house or chess set, Christmas ornaments just to name a few. Unlike the threads of old we have threads with amazing shades of colour and unique Hand Dyed Threads which blend colours in an amazing way, making sure that the item you are tatting is truly one of a kind. With the wonderful invention of the Internet we now have access to online classes with tatters from around the world and new tatting methods spread across the world in a matter of hours instead of weeks or months. We are also able to share our tatting with an audience that we would not have had access to 20 years ago. Is tatting a dying art? NO WAY it is a growing art and I am very happy to be a tatter at this time when it is progressing so fast. So pick up your shuttles or needles and take part of the tatting revolution. We are growing and we are having a blast. Well I am at least.

All is Well

A special thank you to all who sent prayers and best wishes for Robert as he was going for heart surgery. With great relief and a glad heart I am happy to announce that Robert had his surgery today and it was a success. It amazes me that you can have heart surgery in the morning and by the afternoon feel fine with no pain. I am truly grateful.

Thoughts and Prayers

To everyone who follows my blog I would really appreciate it if you could include my son Robert in your thoughts and your prayers Monday as he under goes heart surgery.I will be sure to let everyone know how he is doing as soon as I am able. Thank you.

My Favorite HDT

I finally managed to get a piece of tatting completed. I have realized that I just cannot put a piece of tatting aside to work on another project. I am the type of person that needs to finish one project before starting another or it drives me crazy. Here is my latest project, a doily, the pattern comes from Traditional Tatting Patterns by Rita Weiss and is called Party Time Doily. It is tatted in Marilee's (YarnPlayers) Tourmaline HDT size 80. This colourway of HDT is my favorite of Marilee's. This is what the thread looks like when it arrives in the skein form. ( Note your skeins will be thinner. These ones are extra big as it was a large order )

This is how it looks when it has been tatted into a doily. Isn't it beautiful.

Here is the new home for the doily. I think it looks perfect under the antique cranberry glass lamp. What a fitting home for a piece of fine lace and it is just that much more special knowing that I was the one who made it. Yes I am proud.

Orchids, Orchids Everywhere

Well I must begin by saying that Gregg and I are big orchid fans among other things. Yesterday was the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada annual Orchid Show.

The funny thing about orchids is that the foliage is usually boring and in some cases down right ugly but they produce flowers whose beauty defies description.

There are two special parts to the show the sale of orchids of every description and displays of orchids whose beauty takes your breath away.

Imagine walking into a room with over 100,000 orchids in bloom ranging in size from 1/4 of an inch to 5 feet tall.

There where so many different types of orchids and they where in every colour

RED

YELLOW

ORANGE

PURPLE

GREEN

PINK

WHITE

I was so taken by the wonderful sights that I took about 100 photographs if you would like to see them the link is here. It made me think it was summer for a couple of hours which was very nice but when we left and the cold wind hit our faces the reality of winter came rushing back.

3 New Tatters

Well today was the big day. It was the first class for my three new tatting students. I present each student with a written history of tatting and a sheet of short forms that are used in patterns. After giving them a brief oral history on tatting and a discussion on types of shuttles and thread we made our way to the dreaded double stitch. I always love the reaction from students when they finally get the flip and realize what it is. It always gives them such a feeling of accomplishment. All three students succeeded and were sent home to practice making chains until next week. It is going to be a lot of fun teaching this group.

I Am Tatting, Honest

Those who follow my blog have probably been thinking that I have not been doing a lot of tatting lately and there is one thing that is really missing from my blog and that is doilies. Well I have been doing a lot of tatting and in fact it has been a doily it is just that for a change instead of showing progress pictures, this time I decided I would wait till it was done before I posted about it and for the first time in my tatting life I have a work in progress that I keep having to put aside to do other projects for. Now this may be normal for most other tatters but for me it is causing great stress. I like to finish one project before starting another and I thought it was bad enough when I had to put aside the doily the first time, at which point I told myself I would get right back to it and finish it, but this is the third time. To make matters worse I am one third of the way done the last row and have had to stop this time to make a baby bonnet and booties. Not a project that will really wait. Well for my own sanity I have decided to change how I am looking at the situation and just think that after doing the baby items I am going to make a large doily really fast.

Tatmom's Cross

This is my favorite cross pattern and one I am always happy to tat for special people as a token of my caring in there hour of need.

This is Rebecca's Colossians 2:14 Cross (she is also known as Tatmom). I always find that the gift of this cross offers some hope to those who receive it and that someone has taken the time to make something so special by hand means a lot. Thank you Rebecca for sharing this pattern with the tatting community. I am sure it has brought a lot of hope into many lives.

It's Christmas Time Again

For the past two years a special friend of mine has given to me for my gift the money to purchase two of David Reed Smith's hand made shuttles. It is an exciting gift in many ways as you get to pick the size of the shuttle. What wood it is made from. If you want a hook or pick or neither. Then there is the wait for the shuttles to arrive. Each day the mail-lady comes to the door you wonder to yourself is this the day i get to see my new babies. They arrive wrapped with tender care and there they are all shiny and bright just waiting for you to wind some thread on them so they can work there magic. If you have never used a David Reed Smith shuttle I would highly recommend one. Not only are they beautiful to look at but they are a dream to tat with. Light as air, they float through your hands producing the finest of lace. Now the moment you have been waiting for the two shuttles.




The lighter of the two is made from Birds Eye Maple and the second is made from a wood called Pommele Sapele and it glows with highlights of gold. The pictures give you an idea of how they look but there is nothing like seeing them in person. I recommend that you visit his website to see what he makes if you can take the temptation. Well it's off to initiate my new shuttles. Happy tatting.

Better In 3's

I find great joy in tatting and even greater joy in gifting tatting to those who truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into a piece of tatting and the beauty of the finished piece. That brings me to this posting. What could possibly be nicer than Jon Yusoff's "Quantiesque" Snowflake?

Give up?

I think three of them is nicer.

This pattern is getting addictive and I really like the way it looks using Marilee's (YarnPlayers) HDT Fern size 50. The really fun part is that these three snowflakes are on there way to a regular viewer of this blog who loves tatting but who has none and has never been gifted any. Now you all just have to sit by your mailboxes and wait if this description fits you. Good luck.