The WINNING~EST January Ever!

January can be such a boring, dismal month. Does anyone else agree? It seems like it's kind of a let down after the holiday hiatus of decor and fabulous festivities. It's back to the grinding wheel, back to the dreary everyday stuff...

...except for this January!

THIS January I won some cool stuff! I'm about to show you!

~*~

This is the January snowflake

from Fairiebee!!!

Her blog makes for a nice visit.

It came packaged with the

"manufacturer's label" and everything!
You can read here the pattern,

thread size and everything!

Shall we have a closer look at this little confection?
Awww...isn't it cute!?

~*~

Next, on the Winning Ticket
is this lovely
Blue Coat Girl
that I won from Pat Winter!!!

Let's look at her, shall we?
Isn't she adorable?

Rumor has it she is on her way to me right now!
Thank you, Pat!
I am so honored to win something that you made.

I am a great admirer of Pat's work.

If you haven't seen her work it's worth the time

to visit her blog.

She is a gifted needle artist!

~*~

Last, but not least,

I won an avalanche of awards from

Bella Sinclair!

Since I always right click on awards and

click on "Save Picture as..."

(on the giving blog's award post)

This is what I got, LOL!
Ummmmm...Thanks Bella!
This is certainly worth a mention because if you haven't

taken the time to see Bella's Blog with her

wonderfully whimsical artwork,

then I'd like to suggest you consider

going to visit her blog!

You just might fall in love with her drawings.
She's also a great bloggy friend.

~*~

Thank you for coming by to visit and letting me share my winning January with you! I'd love it if you let said "Hi" by leaving a comment! It's getting late and January is almost over! February is just around the corner. For some of you it has already arrived! By the time most of you have read this it will be here for sure! Here's to a winning February for all of us!
Love,

TattingChic

:)

P.S. Don't forget, there's still time to sign up for the One World One Heart giveaway! You have until February 11, 2009 to sign up by posting a comment on the giveaway post!

Thank You Mr. Postman

There was a knock at the door today. I wasn't expecting any visitors so I didn't hasten my way to the door. When I finally got to the door the unexpected visitor had left the doorstep. I suddenly remembering ordering a package, but wasn't expecting it so soon so I opened the door a crack and I heard footsteps running my way. It was the Postman with a package for ME!!! YIPPEEE!!!

Do ya wanna see what was inside? Well, do ya?

~*~

It was this fabulous altered journal.

I saw it on this blog post at

River Bend Ranch.

The Tuscan Rose makes fabulous altered art.

I fell in love with THIS immediately!

Need you ask why?
Isn't that tatting lovely?
Yes, she cut up a doily,

but she did fabulous things with it!

Edited 1/27/09: This just in:
No lace was harmed in the

making of this journal!

Patty, the creator writes

in her comment below,

"...I should have put a disclaimer in that no lace was in any way harmed in the making this journal. The lace I used on the cover was a "rescued fragment" from a tattered beyond use doily. I find it's a great way to put such lovely tatting back into use."

Whew! Thank you Patty! :)

Double ((hugs)) to you!

***
Shall we take a peek inside the pages of
this wonderful altered journal?
I can only show you a very small sampling for the sake of time.
Here's a tag and a pocket page.

Here's another page with a photo and a label.

The photo is bound into the spine and like

a little page leaf all by itself.

I have no idea who this person is...

...but there she sits inside my journal pages like she belongs!

The NERVE!!! ;)

***

It's also filled with vintage images and ephemera!

Like this vintage rose

Isn't it lovely?

***

Here's what the first page looks like

when you open it up.

What shall I put in it, you ask?

***

Why, TATTING, of course!

See?

I'll start with a heart!

***

Here's another page.

A Closer look at another heart

from the same vintage workbasket design.

(Workbasket, August 1985)

I've only tatted it a few hundred jillion times, LOL!

Look at this bit of edging I never did anything with.

It's in Flora brand thread size 50.

What do you think?

I now have a place to put all my little bits,

motifs, "mistakes", and "doodles" of tatting.

I plan on using it for a keeper and after I get my old

bits that I can't bring myself to throw away, then I

will add more current pieces along with the date and thread info.

***

Wouldn't you like to keep a tatting journal, too?

It's a great way to record progress or make notes on

techniques or "tricks" you've learned along the way!

~*~

Thank you for letting me show you my new "toy"! If you are thinking of learning to tat or even if you have tatted for a while I'd like to suggest the thought of keeping a tatting journal. It doesn't have to be pretty or expensive, just a notebook will do! Well, I'll leave that thought and tell you I'm so glad you stopped by my blog today! Please come again and, oh, feel free to leave a comment if you feel so inclined! Comments are always welcomed on my blog and I cherish every ONE!

Don't forget to sign up for the tatting giveaway for One World~One Heart on the GIVEAWAY POST!!! You have until February 11, 2009 to comment on that post in order to be entered!

Thank you for stopping by,

TattingChic

:)

I'm So Touched!

Currently, a wonderful event is taking place called One World~One Heart. It's a giveaway event where participating bloggers from all over the world each have a giveaway on their blogs. This is my first year particpating in this event. If you'd like to read more about this event and my giveaway please refer to the previous post here. Feel free to comment and enter on that blog post if you haven't already and if you would like to win some tatting supplies to learn how to tat, not to mention a hand tatted lace heart.

~*~

So, what's all this about being so touched?

I had no idea so many people were interested in learning to tat!

At the time of this post I've had 264 comments on

my blog as entries into the giveaway.

I'm so touched!

I'm honored!
Thank you!

So many of you have shared stories of a foremother

or relative who tatted and the story behind it.

Many of you yearn to learn how to tat.

So sweet, thank you.

I wish I had the funds to give all 264

(or more by now) of you

the supplies to learn how to tat!

One of the most touching stories has come from

Carolyn of Draffin Bears.

She told me of her Aunt Ruth who tatted.

Aunt Ruth had tatted her some beautiful pieces.

She cherishes them to this day.

She was kind enough to share some

photos with me of these pieces.

Here they are!!

This is a triangular piece of tatting by her Aunt Ruth.

Here's a hexagonal tatted piece by her Aunt Ruth.

Aren't they lovely??
If you would like to read more of
Carolyn's story click here.

Please stop by and pay her a visit!
It's also her 23rd Wedding Anniversary.
One of these pieces was given to her by
her Aunt Ruth for their wedding.
Isn't that precious!?

Thank you, for sharing this, Carolyn.
~*~

I hope you stop and say hello before you run over to Carolyn's to wish her a happy Anniversary and drool over her cherished vintage tatting! I'd love to hear what you think! I know this is corny, but I have tears welling up in my eyes as I type this. I just find it so sweet and serendipitous that Carolyn commented on my tatting giveaway TODAY and TODAY is her wedding anniversary and she received one of the pieces for her wedding! It's just all too sweet! Thank you for stopping by! I cherish my blog friendships so very much! :)

Sincerely,

TattingChic

((HUGS))

P.S. Dont forget to stop by the giveaway post (click here) if you would like a chance to win some hand tatted lace and tatting supplies.

One World~One Heart Giveaway

I am honored and oh, so excited to participate in the One World~One Heart Giveaway hosted by Lisa over at A Whimsical Bohemian is hosting the One World-One Heart event! Thank you, Lisa! I have heard from other bloggers that this is an amazing opportunity to meet other bloggers in the blogging community and share in the joy of blogging and....well....sharing! You see, each blogger participating is having a giveaway on their own blog as well! Hop on over to the One World-One Heart blog and look under the "Gypsy Caravan" list for the participants! There are hundreds!

~*~

BUT WAIT!!!

Before you run off to see what all the fabulous prizes are

don't you want to see what I'm giving away?

Why, what else?

ONE HEART!

...a tatted heart, that is!

Is that all, you say?

***********

Okay, well, what if I toss in a shuttle?

Will that do?

Just in case you want to learn to tat.

If you already know how to tat

something tells me that you probably wouldn't mind another shuttle,

would you? ;)

This one is a plastic "Aero" style bobbin tatting shuttle.

Does that sound too complicated?

Aero is just a brand of shuttle.

This is an Aero-knock-off! LOL!

It's a bobbin shuttle because it has a little bobbin

that pops out of the middle of it and you wind the thread on that.

And just to sweeten the pot a little
I'll toss in a little book about learning how to tat.

Oh, You have no thread, you say?
Okay, well how about I throw in some thread?

How's that?

This is Manuela brand cotton crochet thread size 20.

It's multicolor green.

I learned it's only called variegated when you have

a color changing with white otherwise it's

called "multicolor" even if it's the same color, just different shades of it. That should be enough to get you started

until you can get to a store to get some

thread you really like, LOL!
It even comes on a woodburned thread holder shaped like a daisy!

***

Here are all the goodies togeether!

What a happy family!

To give you an idea of the size

the book is the size of an 8&1/2" X 11"

piece of paper folded in half through the width.

~*~

To be considered a contestant for the giveaway you need to leave a comment on THIS VERY post! You need to have an active blog in which I can leave a comment to notify you of winning. When I let you know of your winning I will then need an email address so that we can communicate to get your snail mail addy! Yippeeee!!!! Hey, if this giveaway "inspires" you to get blogging again or for your first time that is totally okay with me! I will ship worldwide so international friends are welcome, too! I just want to share the gift of tatting with whoever I can!

Happy Blog~hopping through the One World One Heart giveaway blogs!

THE WINNER WILL ANNOUNCED FEB 12th! You have until February 11th at 11:59pm PST to leave a comment! Aren't ya just excited? I am!!!

Feel free to join the follower's list on the top of the right sidebar! That is in no way a requirement, just a friendly invitation to come back and visit often!

Good luck, dear bloggy friends!

TattingChic

xoxo

P.S. I will not be doing my usual "commenting back" because I'll be using a random number generator to pick the winner!!!

******

While you're at it go check out

Yarnplayer's OWOH Giveaway.

She has got a tatting opporuntiy you

won't want to miss out on!

******

Jennypilgrim asked the source for this shuttle.
I got it at a lace day event in
L.A., California one year where
various lace vendors came so
I cannot recall exactly who I bought it from.
I believe you might be able to purchase one
from Handy Hands Tatting.

***************

Thank you for all the fabulous comments!!!

The comment section for this post is officially

closed as of 2/12/09 at 12:00am (midnight)

I will pick the winner later after I catch

some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's!

***************
Please go to this link

to find out the lucky winner!

WIP It Good!!!

Does anybody remember "Devo"? LOL! Oh, I am sooooo an 80's girl and I'm okay with that. So what does tatting have to do with "Devo"? They had a song back in the 80's call "Whip it". One of the lines was "Whip it good!". Well, that's what I've been up to..."WIP"-ing it good! I've made some progress on my WIP (Work In Progress).

~*~

Here, I'll show you what I mean...

See?

I'm almost done with my "secret" WIP!

Now, I'm sure some of my tatting friends can
guess what pattern I've been up to, right?

Right, Jon? ;)

Do you like the shuttles?
They are from Georgia Seitz.

~*~

For those of you totally stumped by my 80's flashback reference,
here's a hint.

(The rest of you can just reminisce in the insanity that was the 80's.)

Don't ya just love those red hats?
What was up with those things, anyway?

Ahhhhhh... memories

~*~

Thank you for letting me take you on a trip, yet again, down memory lane! You've been a fabulous passenger on this trip, LOL! Comments are welcome...as are any updates on any WIPs you might be working on!

WIP it! WIP it good!!!

Toodles,

TattingChic

xoxo

Confessions of a Tat-o-holic...

I learned a lot about you all from the humorous comments from my last 2 posts! From Anne B's comment I learned a few NEW Acronyms to add to the acronym insanity around here...

***
...such as:

UPP's = UnPredicted Projects

MFP's = More Fun Projects

NTBDNP's = Need To Be Done Now Projects

***

These are the sorts of things that one would cast aside a UFO for. We all remember what UFO mean's, Right? If you are new to this blog...and new to blogging and crafty blogger's acronyms you may click on this link in order to brush up on your acronym vocabulary. Otherwise we shall commence with the confessions, shall we? The other thing that I learned is that many of you were surprised that I took a break from tatting to even EAT!!! LOL!!!

Okay, now for the confessions. Are you sitting down??? If you are not sitting down I recommend that you do. Find a comfortable chair or stool or something and plant your laurels on it because I think I'm going to burst a few bubbles here. Brace yourselves...

~*~

CONFESSION #1

I have not tatted since October of 2008.

It is now January of 2009.

That means I haven't tatted for 2 months and 1 week.

~*~

BREATH!!!

~*~

CONFESSION #2

I cast aside my many UFO's for a MFP/NTBDNP.

~*~

Okay, it's over. The confessions are over. Are you all okay? Now, I never purposely meant to deceive anyone. After all, during the last 2 months of posts did I ever say "I am currently working on this" or "I recently made that"? No, I did not. Most of the stuff I've showed you is either stuff from wayyyyyy back when that I've been dying to show you or it's stuff from exchanges, etc.

BUT, yes, there it is, the BIG BUT...not to be confused with my own big "butt"...I have broken the tatting drought today. Yes, TODAY I started an MFP! Would you like to see?

~*~

Tah-dah!

There it is!

It's being tatted in Opera brand white thread (size 20).

The shuttle is from Georgia Seitz!
(Merry Christmas 2008 to me!)

What is it, you ask?

I'm not gonna tell you.

Wanna guess? I'll let you!

You'll find out more on this later!

~*~

Whew, now that the confessions are over

I have something a little less intense to share with you.

It's an award!

Kathy, from Kathy's Crazy Moment's

gave me this award.

Thank you, Kathy!

I am honored that you would share an award with me!

Here are the guidelines for this award:

This blog invests and believes in the

PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships.

These blogs are exceedingly charming.

These kind bloggers' aim to find and be friends.

They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement!

Our hope is that when the ribbons

of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Please give more attention to these writers!

These are some very wonderful gals to visit.

They are thoughtful, friendly and have so many wonderful ideas.

The rules don't say how many to list,

so for right now I pass the award to the following people:

***

Melissa from Honey Bee's Bliss

Becky from Wonders Never Cease

Anna from Thimbleanna

***

Thank you for being sweet bloggy friends to me and many more bloggers.

Actually, I could've given this gift of an award to all of you.

I guess this leads me to

CONFESSION #3!
I am too tired to post ALL of you! LOL! :O

It's true!!!

~*~

Thank you for stopping by to indulge in the sordid life of a tatting blogger. SCANDALOUS! I know. It'll be our little secret, okay?

**WINK** ;)

**WINK** ;)
**WINK** ;)

Okay. Have a fabulous time in your touring around blogland and don't forget to leave a comment before you go! That is, if you feel like it! They are welcomed with open arms and I read each and everyone of them.

Have a fabulous day!
~TattingChic

Charming Utensils

A tatter's gotta eat, right? What better way to dine in style than with these charming utensils from Laurie's Charming Designs! I got them in the mail today and they are MINE!!! ALL MINE!!!

~*~

MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA

(rubbing hands together)

Wanna see?

They arrived in a package with the most

adorable artwork on it.

Just look at this hand drawn bird's nest right on the package!

Here's the pretty fork.

It's really an easel for a tiny

wire bird's nest charm!

Here's the beautiful Spoon! It's also an easel for another bird's nest!



She threw in a BONUS Charm! Bird's nest on the front...




...and...... Birdhouse on the back!

Okay, ONE more photo just for fun!

Aren't they cuuuuuuuuute!?!

Laurie is a talented artist, as you can see!
Her blog is worth a visit if you've ever got a minute!

She has an Etsy shop, too!

~*~

Ahhhh...thank you for indulging me with my whimsies! Leave a comment if you feel so inclined! I love 'em, in fact I eat 'em up! ...pun intended...
Your friend,
TattingChic

Spreading the LOVE for UFO's and WIP's! ;)

Sounds like someone is wanting for zyprexa and xanax, doesn't it? ROFLOL! I'm not sure the ROFLOL part helps me plead my case for the fact that I haven't gone COMPLETELY bonkers, just a little bonkers.

Perhaps a look at the crafting and blogging glossary will be of some help for you (and me, LOL!)

ROFLOL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing Out Loud
We all knew that, right?
UFO = UnFinished Object
WIP = Work In Progress
which leads us to
my own acronym
LIP = Lace In Progress

Okay, back to business... AHEM... (clearing throat as this is going to get serious, folks) With the arrival of the new year being thrust upon us whether we wanted it or not, whether we were banging the doors down for it to get here, or not; it is here. There is something about the arrival of a new year that causes us to reflect upon...

...wh...what's that?...
Who was making the comments from the peanut gallery?

...was that YOU!?!...

....oh, sorry... Is that TOO serious for you? Do you want me to just say it without getting all flowery on you? Okay, so don't ya just love the feeling of a clean slate? You know, like a chance to get it right this time. Or perhaps the new year causes you to reflect on the unfinished...like the pile of UFO's (we all know what UFO means in this instance, right?) floating around in your craft box, corner, closet, or (for those of you fortunate enough to have one) ROOM! The funny thing about UFO's is that if left unattended long enough; they really do turn into some sort of UFO (Unidentifiable Floating Object)! Let me share with you some of mine. Mind you, it's only some of them. It's mostly tatting. Although there is some knitted poncho still waiting for me to get the fringe installed on it. Remember when ponchos were really "IN" a few years ago? At least they were here in So. Cal. Yeah, but that's a WHOLE 'NOTHER BLOG POST, folks! ;)

~*~

Here are the
Tatting UFO's!!!

Make way for the
Tatting UFO's!!!

UFO #1 A glove design I had been working on 12-15 yrs ago until

I saw some italian magazine came out with

THE SAME GLOVE DESIGN!!!

What IS UP with that, folks???

UFO #2 Some doily thingy I was working on.

Don't even ask me the thread size or the

pattern because I just don't know, LOL!

Here's a close-up of the LIP.

UFO #3

Can you tell I abhor finishing ends??

Am I alone in this, LOL!

;)


UFO #4

A future pin cushion cover.

UFO #5

A future fan ornament...no, really, it is!

UFO #6

These are going to be coasters...

...that will one day look like this,
only all in ecru thread (monochromatic).

UFO #7

A future mat.

BWAH-ha-HA-ha-ha-ha!!!

I know, I know,

Isn't it funny?
I've got a ways to go.

That's probably why it's still only 2 squares.

UFO #8

A Victorian era edging pattern that I was trying to make

evolve into a snowflake.


UFO #9

This is going to be attached to a

linen "round".

Only I'm going to have to MAKE the

"round" because it's not very

user friendly with the pre-made

"rounds" available today.

***

Here's a close-up of the edging.

It has needle-lace that I sewed

into the centers of the medallions.

See?

UFO #10 This one was started in the current millenium because

I've got my "magic thread" already tatted

inside of the double stitches.

I only learned magic thread in the last 5-6 yrs.

See, the magic thread near the top of the doily?

It's in rose-pink colored thread for contrast

with the working threads.

UFO #'s 11, 12, & 13

Some experiments with 3-shuttle tatting.

These are over 15 years old.

These eventually evolved into FO's (finished objects).

I'll show you that FO later!



UFO #'s 14, 15, 16, & 17

These insertions were my fabulous

brainstorm for choker-style necklaces

a few years ago.

They are still waiting for their thread ends

to be taken care of and their clasps to be attached.

***

And then there's THIS ONE.

I'm not EVEN going to show a photo of it

because it has stalled. It is at the exact same spot

of progression. And didn't I say I'd have it done by

Christmas? Well, I think I meant next Christmas, LOL!

~*~

And now for the award.

No, this is NOT an award for

having the MOST UFO's!

Although, I would be

a close runner-up to be sure.

Some of you could have me beat

by a long shot, couldn't you?

This is an actual blogging award.

Laurie from Laurie's Charming Designs

gave me this fabulous

Spreader of Love Award!

Thank you Laurie,

for giving me this award.

I want to share it with just a few people

that have been loving bloggy pals.

Just a few, mind you,

because I couldn't

possibly list ALL of you!

1) Laura from Laura's Tatting Muse

2) Bella from Bella Sinclair Doodlespot

3) Kathy from Kathy's Crazy Moments

Gosh, I want to list every single person who has made my day a little brighter and I don't think blogger would even have the capacity list all of you. I have loved each and every giveaway, comment, award, exchange, tatting supply purchase~!!!

Goodness, thank you ALL~! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!

I seriously couldn't have made it through 2008 without YOU!!!

~*~

Thank you for stopping to see what all the fuss was about. I appreciate any help or advice you'd like to leave me...LOL! Just kidding, cuz NOBODY really wants advice do they? Even when they ask for it they REALLY don't want it. Okay, maybe sometimes they do. In case it wasn't clear, that was a joke about the advice. However, if you would like to leave a comment, feel free~ Perhaps we could turn this into a UFO-aholics Anonymous support group. A "UFOA", if you will. So any comments of support and encouragement are, well, ENCOURAGED! Enjoy working on whatever UFO's you may have. If you have none, what are you doing with them; throwing them away??? LOL! Oh, you're one of those remarkably organized peeps who gets EVERYTHING done? Oh, yeah, people like that don't exist, LOL! Unless you are Martha Stewart, in which case, we all know that Martha Stewart has teams of peeps working for her, right? Hopefully there is no one engaging themselves in the delusion that Martha Stewart is perfect and gets it ALL done. God bless her, but she sure is pretty dang ambitious, though! Isn't she? How did I get off writing about Martha Stewart, now? I love you, Martha! Okay, I don't LOVE you, that would be kinda wierd/awkward, but I do admire your work!

Now, I'm talking to Martha Stewart and she isn't even HERE!!! On second thought, maybe I do need that Zyprexa!

Oh, nonetheless, your comments are welcomed and each and everyone of them are read and enjoyed! Hope to see you all again soon in the blogosphere...if we haven't lost our minds with all those UFO sightings!!!

Love,

TattingChic

xoxo