Stocking Stuffer Winner

Congratulations to Sheila Miller More, the winner of the Piney Woods Stocking Stuffer Giveaway!

Sheila left a comment on one of the Facebook postings and was selected via random number generator.  Thanks for commenting, Sheila!  Please message me on Facebook or contact me using the button to the right of the blog.  I'll be happy to ship your goodies as soon as I have your info.

Thank you to everyone who follows the blog and encourages me in my creative endeavors.  The kind words you bestow upon me truly make my days!  I dearly love tatting and hope to instill in others the wonders & joys of needle & thread (or shuttle/hook & thread).  It has been an interesting experience, this blogging thing.  I quite enjoy it! 

Special thank yous go to Barbara Gordon, Nancy Dugas Gilmore, Jean Krieger, and others who have encouraged me to blog and share more of my work.  I always knew there were lots of wonderful folks in our tatting community, but I never imagined the amount of kindness and encouragement that has been lavished upon me as I embarked upon this latest journey. 

As you may know, I am in the process of slowly cleaning out my in-house atelier.  That is one of the reasons I have hosted so many giveaways.  Jim (my husband) says I must get rid of some "stuff" so there is room for the new additions to my working spaces.  After I get the in-house atelier renovated, Jim & I are going to build a "tatting shanty" in the Piney Woods.  The building process will be chronicled on the blog and I am sure I will be asking for ideas and suggestions for many things concerning the shanty.  Please feel free to comment and contact me with your input.

Not much tatting has gone on in the Piney Woods today as I have been washing our sleeping bags and other stuff that is needed for an upcoming family adventure.  Next week will bring more tatting goodies and perhaps a little "something" for the New Year.  Have a marvelous weekend doing whatever it is that makes your soul sing!  Until next week~

Happy Tatting!



Frosty!

It was so nice and frosty in the Piney Woods this morning!  I awoke to a cool temperature of 26F and a beautiful frost covered everything- even the chicken coops.  For the first time this Fall, I had to scrape the windshield of the Jeep and warm it up before taking off.  I LOVE this time of year- Christmas music on the radio, cool temps, hot cocoa and busy tatting needles!  Yes, dear readers, I am in a great mood today.

I played with the Violet Meadows thread this morning and tatted this:

Here is the completed foundation with a simple chain round tatted after the ICRs.  When you tat more than 8 interlocking chain-rings, it really wants to twist on you.  There are 12 in this foundation, but I managed.  A little helpful hint is to block the ICRs and spritz with Mary Ellen's Best Press before proceeding to the additional tatting.

Believe me, this is really helps!

I was digging in the atelier and came across my box of Czech art glass buttons.  This green one looks nice on the Violet Meadows foundation.  I know it covers up the ICRs, but what do you think?  Should I include the button in the design of this piece?

The ICRs provide a good base for the button as it is quite heavy.  I had originally planned to make this a larger doily-like piece, but am now considering making it an accent for my grey wool cloche and doing another larger piece with the other balls I have of the Violet Meadows.  Comments???

By the way, I am still looking for those tiny mother-of-pearl buttons and can't find them for anything.  I wonder if the kid has been plundering in my atelier again...hmmm.

Don't forget to leave a comment on Tuesday's post or the Facebook post for your chance to win the Piney Woods Stocking Stuffer Event!

It's time for me to take Lily Fey for her run in the woods, so until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Puppy Dog Tails

I had planned to tat peacefully all day, but ended up untangling LOTS of thread and saying very unladylike things about my puppy dog's tail.  Lily Fey usually lays at the side of my tatting chair and only moves to give a warning bark to intruders or have her large head petted.  Well, I made the mistake of talking sweet to my daughter's dog, Harry. Lily Fey had to jump up, wiggle and vigorously wag her whiplike tail to show me how cute she is, when disaster struck...  her tail hit and knocked off my tray of bobbins (which are wound with Valdani 35 wt. and Sulky Blendables 12 wt. quilting cottons).  They crashed to the floor and bobbins came out of their little slots and unwound themselves all over the place.  I have spent the morning untangling said bobbins and wishing I had a couple more of the Clover bobbin towers (which are the most nifty-neato way to store your bobbins- I have 2 already).

As you can imgaine, my tatting mojo is almost non-existant today!  Lily Fey is sulking on her pillow, giving me her most pitiful "I'm sorry, Mama" look.  She is forgiven, of course, but she sure did put a huge kink in my plans.  Oh, well... at least my dog loves me.

I leave you today with an image of a work-in-progress:

Not much progress, but I did start the foundation of interlocking chain-rings before our "mishap".  This piece will be made using Valdani size 12 pearl cotton in M40 "Violet Meadows" and the planned accent pieces include 4mm Swarovski bicones in "Purple Velvet", Czech seed beads in "Matte Olive" and a selection of olive green dyed freshwater pearls.  Updates will soon follow.

SPECIAL NOTE:  Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post or on the facebook post about the Stocking Stuffer Giveaway for your chance to win some nice tatting goodies!

Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Stocking Stuffer Giveaway

Merry Christmas from the Piney Woods!!!

How would you like to win the "Stocking Stuffer Giveaway"?

This is what is up for grabs this time around:

A lovely little hinged-lid tin box filled with:

1 ball of size 20 Lizbeth

1 ball size 8 DMC perle cotton

1 ball size 16 Finca perle cotton

1 ball size 12 Finca perle cotton

6 balls of Majestic tatting cotton

3 vintage spools of Lily sewing thread

1 spool of Kreinik metallic braid

1 box (40g) of Dynamite green seed beads

and who knows what else I may find to include in this one!

This giveaway will be different from the others.  To enter you must leave a comment on this post OR on my Facebook posting of this specific event.  This Friday, December 9th, a winner will be selected by a random number generator and notified via email or facebook.

There will be one more giveaway event BEFORE the end of the year, but this is the last Christmas one.  Good luck and please let me know how you like the blog & what you'd do with the loot!

Well, I have a bunch of Christmas tatting to get done, so I'd better hop to it- as soon as I get the Facebook post up.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Xmas Thread Giveaway Winner

We have a winner!

Congratulations, Barbara Gordon, you are the winner of the Piney Woods Xmas Thread Giveaway!!!

To claim your goodies, give me an email & I'll get them out asap.

I had a weekend full of wedding anniversary celebrations with my wonderful husband.  As you can imagine, I got precious little tatting done.  Hopefully, this week will bring more in the way of tatting projects and Christmas goodies- HINT!  HINT!  I may have another giveaway up my sleeve.  You'll have to check out the blog posts later in the week for details.

Congrats, again to Barbara Gordon!  Hope you'll enjoy the thread.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

Little Ideas, Part Two

Dollar Store Finds & Ideas

Given the worldwide economic climate, I thought I would share with you some of my dollar store finds.  All of the items featured were found at a local dollar store and cost no more than $1.00.

These two ornaments on a card can be jazzed up with a simple tatted ring festooned with picots.  This is a great way to use up your thread remnants and it makes a nice gift.

This box is one of a set of two and makes a great place to add my gift topper that was featured in an earlier post.  Both boxes were only a dollar.

A couple of other goodies I found were the plastic tray in the background and the plastic Christmas tree decorated container.  These trays are great for holding your work-in-progress and accoutrements.  The container is just right for holding a ball of thread.  I punched a small hole in the top and sanded the hole's edges with a bead reamer to remove the roughness.  It makes a perfect ball holder and was very inexpensive- one dollar for 3 of them! 

 Have you checked out your local dollar store lately?

  I'd love to see what you find.

The Piney Woods Xmas Thread Giveaway deadline is December 4th!  Click the google "Join this Site" button to follow the blog & be entered for your chance to win some fantastic thread.  Good luck!

Well, tatting friends, I must be off.  This weekend is my wedding anniversary and I still have to come up with something for my husband!  Have a wonderful weekend doing whatever it is that makes your soul sing.  Until next week~

Happy Tatting!



Cause & Effect

Thanks to a fabulous shipment of fiber goodies courtesy of Valdani yesterday, there was only one thing for me to do today...

 go shopping!

I purchased some beautiful, sparkly Swarovskis, cute little seed beads, and a few strands of elegant fresh water pearls.

The local bead shop, which is actually a few towns over, had a great holiday theme going!  Who can resist Christmas music, hot cocoa and a shop full of all kinds of beads???  I certainly spent a relaxing, yet stimulating morning browsing their selection.

The day was made even better thanks to a lunch date with my husband.  We seldom have the luxury of lunch together as he works out-of-town, but since I had shopping to do, I took advantage of the opportunity.

After my lunch with Jim, I headed to the quilt shop and had to buy just a few lengths of fabric.

The Fig Tree & Co. fabric designed by Joanna Figueroa is among my favorite fabric because she uses many of the same colors I prefer to use in my own work.  The little 5" squares in the charm pack pictured above are soon to be added to one of my inspiration boards!  I also found a couple of other lengths of fabric that have some pretty peaches and roses- they just couldn't be left behind.

Before I knew it, it was time to head back towards home & pick the kid up from school.  Jocie has been sticking her nose in all my bags- oohing & aahing over the beads & fabric.  I wonder what she'll try to sneak into her stash first...

Don't forget that this Sunday, December 4th, is the deadline for clicking the google "Join this Site" button to follow the blog & be entered to win the Piney Woods Xmas Thread Giveaway!!!

Sorry for the lack of tatting, but this is all a part of my world.  I love tatting, but I also love shopping for accents and other fiber art goodies.  The artistic stimulation I get from the drive over, the atmosphere of the shops, and their displays fuels my tatting obsessed mind to create new works.  Guess it's time for me to get busy putting my loot away and organizing it before I have to get even busier cooking supper. 

Dear readers, I hope you all have had as wonderful a day as I have!  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!