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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!

 

 



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!

 

 



Weekend Recap

I am still recovering from the weekend!  Saturday was my birthday and I spent it with my darlins off-roading.  It was very hot- like about 103F, but the AC in the Jeep works great.  We meandered through the woods for the majority of the day.  There were even a few mudholes to plow through!  Jocelin plucked up her courage and got behind the wheel and drove off-road for the first time.  I am SO proud of her.  She did very well.

Here she is after we splashed through a little mudhole giving the famous two-finger "Jeep wave".  Shortly after this she hopped in the driver seat and took off like a natural!

Jim & Jocie later treated me to dinner at my favorite restaurant and showered me with hugs.

This was the best birthday I've had in years!  Many thanks to all of my tatting friends who kindly sent b-day wishes.  You all helped make my day beyond fantastic.

Sunday was supposed to be a day to kick back & relax, but after a walk in the Piney Woods, my fingers were absolutely itching to tat a couple of ideas that had been bouncing around in my head.  I did this in the morning:

It is a foundation of ICRs with floating rings.  Think I'll expand this into a pendant/brooch.

After a nice lunch, I settled into my chair and tackled the other idea.

Interlocking chain rings with interlocking floating rings!  The above is a prototype ONLY.  It is NOT up to my usual standards concerning execution.  It was a pain to do, but I have a few other ideas on how I can improve and expand this idea.

Whew!  Just thinking about the weekend makes me feel like I need to rest & recover.  But I can't- there is so much I have on my to-do list.  That cameo is still waiting to be dressed.  And there are a number of other projects percolating in the back of my mind.  I need to do some sketching and annotations.  Hope you have a wonderful day doing whatever brings you joy!  Until tomorrow~

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!