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Olde West Inspiration

Good morning, dear readers!

Sometimes a girl just needs to play in the woods with her Jeep & pup.  At least, it seems to have done the trick for me.  I awoke very early this morning and have been tatting away.  Made some progress on the prototypes and have another project in the queue.  These are the materials to what I'm going to be working with next:

 

 

I'll be creating another OOAK piece using an antique pierced MOP button, a carved brown cow-lip shell button and Valdani Pearl Cotton (size 8) in colors O538 & O196.  Of course, Swarovskis and pearls will also be used.

 

Rosie Fey is ready for a bit of a romp.  Think I'll play with her before getting back to work in the Atelier.  May you have a wonderful day full of creativity.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

 

 



Staycation Day Four

Celtic Faire

Good afternoon, dear readers!

 

We have had an absolute ball today!!!  After a lazy morning, we headed out to Corney Lake.  The picnic lunch Jocie & I packed was delicious.  We lazed around in our lawn chairs for a bit, then proceeded to play off road in the Jeep.

 

 

Here's Jocie behind the wheel of the Jeep- ripping through a trail.

 

Rosie Fey was riding shotgun and did very well.  She was securely buckled into the backseat via her harness.  At the lakeside, Rosie was most interested in the coots that were feeding nearby.  She would cock her head and listen to their noises, but could not work up the courage to go charging in after them.

 

Rosie is ready to get back in the Jeep and go again!

 

We will be heading out on a little jaunt tomorrow, so I probably will not be able to post until much later.  Hope you are having as wonderful a week as we are.  I am still slowly working on the Easter pendant and will have it finished soon.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

 

 

 

 

 



Labor Day at Corney Lake

Good morning & happy Labor Day!

 

We are heading out to spend the day at Corney Lake- again.  We went up there for a while yesterday and it was so pleasant.  Today we are taking hot links and chicken breasts to cook out on the portable grill.  Jim will be in charge of cooking while I will be sitting in the shade- tatting away.  After a nice lunch we plan to play off-road in the woods.  What are your plans for the holiday?

 

This is the motif I began work on yesterday:

 

 

I'm using 12 wt. Sulky Blendables in the "Parchment" colorway with satin silk Delica seed beads.  Perhaps I should expand this motif a bit- fluffing it up, then add a couple smaller similar motifs to form a tatting ornament for my brown wool cloche.  What do you think?

 

Well, I've got to pack the Jeep for our day out.  Hope you have a fabulous day & until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

 

 



Corney Lake Adventure

Good morning, dear readers!

 

I had a fantastic weekend.  Jim took Friday off just for us to have some special time together.  We took Jocelin to school, then headed out on a Jeep adventure.

 

Tucked into the gently rolling, Piney Woods of North Louisiana is a state wildlife area called Corney Lake.  Horrible name, yes, but it is an absolutely gorgeous area.  The lake is surrounded by cypress trees that butt up to the Piney Woods I so adore.  We saw several whitetail deer, a huge swamp rabbit, several cranes and herons. 

 

 

This is the quiet spot close to the fishing dock where I tatted a while.

 

The logging roads around the wildlife preserve are great for playing in my little Jeep.  We meandered along these roads all morning. 

 

 

About lunchtime, we happened upon a clearing and had our picnic.  It was so relaxing!  After lunch our adventure continued.  There were loads of wildflowers blooming and along some of the trails there were these interesting puffy flowers:

 

 

I haven't had any luck identifying it in my Louisiana wildflowers book.  Any ideas?

 

Jim and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the Jeep, then headed home.  We did get caught in a shower- not exactly something you want to do when the top is off your Jeep!  After wrestling the hardtop back on, the rain quit.  Typical. 

 

Jim had another surprise planned for me.  We cleaned up and went out for dinner at our favorite restaurant.  Yes, Friday was AMAZING!

 

Saturday, the bead order finally arrived.  I was up to my eyeballs in Swarovskis, cultured pearls, Czech and Japanese seed beads, and jewelry findings.  The remainder of the weekend was spent organizing and laying out my work for the week ahead.

 

 

Well, I had better get busy.  The Atelier is very well stocked and work is waiting.  Have a marvelous day and remember:

 

Leave a comment on the Blogversary Celebration Giveaway post indicating which prize package you prefer before August 29th!  The winners will be announced on the blog that morning.

 

Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

 

 

 

 



Motif & Jeep Play Date

Good morning, dear readers!

 

It is a glorious day in the Piney Woods and I plan to tat, go topless and play in the Jeep!

 

For those who aren't "Jeep Freaks"- that means you take the top off your Jeep & go 4 wheelin' in the woods.  Yep, Big Daddy has today off and we are dropping the kid off at school then heading to the woods for a day of off road fun.  Of course, I'll have my tatting with me to work on after our picnic lunch.

 

Here is the next step in the acorn inspired motif:

 

 

What do you think of it so far?  More layered tatting will be added today and over the weekend.  Check out Monday's post for the finished piece!

 

Have you commented on the Blogversary Celebration Giveaway post yet?  Be sure to let me know which prize you prefer.  Winners will be announced on the August 29th blogpost.  Good luck!

 

Guess I had better go help Jim take the top off the Jeep and finish packing our picnic lunch.  Have a wonderful day & weekend!  Until next week~

Happy Tatting!

 

 



Weekend Off Roading

Good morning, dear readers!  I hope you all had as fantastic a weekend as I had!

Early Saturday morning, I packed a picnic lunch and the ice chest with plenty of A&W rootbeer, ice & Gatorade.  After throwing a quilt, paper towels and handwipes in the back of the Jeep, we headed out to the Jackson-Bienville Wildlife Management Area for a bit of off roading.  The new all-terrain tires are wonderful!  I had no problems going anywhere and they performed beautifully.  Yes, I am one happy Jeep freak!

This will give you an idea of some of the trails I played on.  It was fairly thick in a few areas, but "Rubeline" (my little red Jeep Wrangler) wasn't phased at all.  She is ready for more agressive trails!  Or at least some muddy ones.

Jim worked on our home computer network this weekend.  My upload problem is probably not related to the photo apps/editing software, as I had thought, but rather the security settings/encryption programs Jim had put on our system.  He is working on a solution so I can upload more images to the website and still maintain a high security level on our home network.  MANY thanks for your patience, everyone!!!

I have managed to get a couple more Romance of the Piney Woods pieces up on the Atelier.  In case there is some unforeseen snafu, here are the images:

This is the finished eternity pendant I've been trying to upload. 

And here is a better image of the cultured pearl brooch.

Oh! I almost forgot to include the big tease!!!  Stay tuned later this week for a FREE pattern from my Romance of the Piney Woods collection AND a new giveaway event with a piece from said collection!

Well, I've got to get busy on a special tatting project.  I'll be sharing it with you next week.  May you have a beautiful day full of creativity.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!