My Heart In Progress

I am a work in progress (and so is my heart).

We're all a "work in progress", aren't we? We're all learning and growing and hopefully our hearts learn and grow with us in all the experiences life has to offer.

Not only is my heart growing as I go on in life, but I literally have a heart in progress that is growing as I tat it.

Let me show you what I have tatted so far!

~*~

Here it is!

This heart is from Martha Ess'

book of tatted heart patterns called

"Tat's Amore'".

This particular pattern is a two shuttle pattern.

The second shuttle that I used was this

green ceramic tatting shuttle from

Lady ShuttleMaker.

I thought I'd show a close up of it here.

It's so pretty! I think it looks like an abstract work of art!

The next works of art that I'm using to make this heart

are some HDT and a beautiful wood-burned thread winder.

I am using Yarnplayer's HDT (hand dyed thread) called "Pizzazz".

It's crochet cotton size 20. When I ran out of thread on the

second (ceramic) shuttle I went ahead and attached

to the "ball thread" because the rest of the pattern

calls for only chains in the last few rounds.

I wound this beautiful HDT around one of Tattycat's

beautiful thread winders that she made me.

I posted about the thread winders last year!

I'm thinking of tatting friends today as I tat this heart.

It's such a pretty pattern I thought I'd show you

another photo of it close up.

My heart in progress:

It's the "Scallop Shell Heart" pattern

on pgs 8-9 of the book that I mentioned above.

~*~

Speaking of tatting friends...

...the girl who tats from "Your Crowning Glory"

has kindly tagged me with a photo tag.

This is the 5th photo from my 5th photo folder:

I took this photo in April of last year.

I actually used the same photo in

an earlier post! It was one of the first posts I had that

had an actual photo in it! LOL!

***

I think I'll tag...

1. Fox from "Tat-ology"

2. Laura from "Laura's Lace"

3. Imoshen from "Two Shuttles"

4. Bonnie from "Bonnie's Tatting Blog"

5. Krystledawne from "Krystledawne Tats"

Here is your mission should you choose to accept it:

The rules are:
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.

If you choose to do it, have fun ladies! :)

~*~

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having a lovely weekend (what's left of it) and I'm glad you took the time to come on over for a visit! I'd love to hear from you so be sure to leave a comment if you'd like. Comments are always welcome!
Come again, anytime!

~TattingChic

xoxo

P.S. If WIP = Work in Progress, then surely a Heart In Progress is a HIP, right?! Hee Hee! ;)

Cry Me A River

By now most of you have seen this video of Susan Boyle on "Britain's Got Talent". It's simply awe-inspiring. It's not just that she has the singing voice of an Angel, but also that she came out on top when everyone was being so cynical! Many are saying that she already has a singing career ahead of her from the sounds of that one performance! This is the stuff that dreams are made of! I have watched that video more than once and each and everytime the tears start to roll down my face; I'm so touched by the beauty of her voice! I about cry myself a river each time I see it.

~*~

Did you know that she made a recording in 1999?

It was for a CD for charity recorded in her hometown.

If you'd like to hear it just click on the video below:

Thanks, Leonreaction!

Wow!

It just warms my heart.

~*~

Speaking of heart-warming things

here's a tatted blue heart. This is the same blue heart

that I won in Umintsuru's giveaway when

her kitty Tsuru picked my name as the winner!

I mentioned it a few blog posts ago.

It just arrived from Singapore.

See?

***

Wendy also slipped in a couple of surprises!

Lucky me!

The first surprise was this little tatted

dragonfly charm is from her other kitty Umi! Thanks, Umi! Can't forget Umi!

***

Secondly, this is a lovely bookmark

(this type is called a book-thong)

designed and tatted by Wendy. Isn't it pretty?

***

She included a little note on the back of the card.

Sweet!

I thought it was very nice how she attached the tatting

to the paper! It makes for a lovely presentation!

~*~

Thanks for visiting today! What heart-warming things have you encountered lately? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! If you just want to say hello, that's okay, too! Hope you are all having a fabulous day! It's Hump-day! Whoo Hoo! Hope the rest of your week goes well.

Toodles!

~TattingChic

xoxo

"Tea, Marie?"

I finished tatting the Antique Rose teapot pattern from Martha Ess' "Tea is for Tatting" I was working on in my last post. I thought I'd share it with you here in blog-land.

~*~

Tah~Dah!

It's done in size 20 DMC brand

cebelia thread; color #818.

***

I realized in my last post I shared my

Marie Antoinette charm from Cupids Charm, as well,

but I did not show you the back of it. It is lovely, too!

It has a vintage script in French on the back.

Have a look~see!

I thought Marie might be thirsty.
So I offered her some tea!

She liked it very much, thank you!

Only lacy teapots will do for Marie Antoinette! ;)

~*~

Thanks for stopping by for tea with Marie and me! I enjoyed making this lovely tatted teapot. There were split chains, Split Rings, and SCMR's (Self Closing Mock Rings) included in this pattern. If you would like to know more of what those terms mean you are welcome to look for links about them under my "tatting techniques" link list on my sidebar on the right.

I played around with my free Adobe photo shop and did the bottom photo in the "colored pencil" artistic filter.

Be sure to say a little hello in the comments section before you go! I'd LOVE to hear from you!

Happy Monday to all!

Tah-tah,

~TattingChic

xoxo

This teapot counts as Motif #1 in my second round of the 25 Motif Challenge.

By Jove, I Think I've GOT It!!!

Don't you love it when you "get" things? I do! I mean it in both the literal and figurative sense of the verb. I "got" some things today. Let me show you!

~*~

Today I was tatting this rosette from

Martha's new "Tea is for Tatting" book

that I got earlier this week.

It's from the "Antique Rose" teapot on pg 14.

It calls for split chains! I am not fond of split chains.

*

You see, normally a chain is tatted from left to right and

the whole motif is tatted that way - left to right!

In a split chain you tat a portion of the chain and

stop

then you join to where the ending point would be.

You leave a portion of bare thread about the

length of what the rest of the chain would be and

tat wierdo stitches (fake double-stitches) back to the

stop

point from right to left. It is a challenge for even

experienced tatters!

*

This motif has two split chains in it so far.

I've done them before and would've been perfectly

content to never have to do them again...

...but THIS TIME I think I got it!!!

Here's a close up of the second split chain.

*

Can you see the arch that has the two threads sticking

out of it? 4 double-stitches (2-2) to the left of those threads

are normal double-stitches in a chain.

The 4 double-stitches (2-2) to the right of the

threads are split chain double-stitches.

*

I'm showing a close up because these are the best

I've ever done in the 4 times I've tried it.

I think I've finally GOT it!!!

I found 3 online sources for split chains that I found helpful.

I'll share those with you in no particular order:

1) Jon's Split Chain Pictorial

2) Marie Smith's Split Chain Method PDF

3) Marie Smith's method as explained by Georgia Seitz

They are also located on my sidebar under "Tatting Techniques"

Have fun!

~*~

I also got something "charm"~ing!

I was so excited to see that I received my

charm that I had told you about from

Joy at Cupid's Charm!

It was a little tissue wrapped box that

came in the mail today!

It was sealed with a vintage cherub.

Isn't that cute?

Inside was a JOY~ful note!
Thanks, Joy!

That is the prettiest post-it note I have ever seen! LOL!

Just look at this sweet little cherubic detail.

What was it that lay inside the beautiful golden box?

You see, Joy never revealed what the charm would
look like, only that it would have a Marie Antoinette theme!
She makes these charms herself!

Oh, and she did not disappoint!

Look at this beautiful charm dangling from the pink blossoms!

I think that even my garden cherubs are charmed by her beauty!


Look at the way her gown sparkles in the sunlight!

I am wearing her as I write this!

Thank you, Joy!!! I love her!

~*~

Thank you for stopping by to see what it was that I got today! I enjoyed showing you! Be sure and share your thoughts before you leave or just say hello! Comments are always welcome here!

Gotta run,

TattingChic

xoxo

Too Much Fun!!!

After reading this post you may think this post would be more appropriately titled "Too Much Time On My Hands". This post is proof positive of that.

~*~

I took a photo from this post

and cartoonized it!

Click on the photo above to go to www.befunky.com.

Cool, huh?

Have YOU ever seen cartoonized tatting before?

Neither have I!

Thank you, Becky, for showing me

this total time-waster! ;)

It was TOO much fun!

~*~

Next, I won an award

from Val's Simple Passions: Thank you, Valerie!

Here's what Valerie had to say,

"TattingChic's blog is often complete

with poems, songs and even little video clips,

not to mention the photos that illustrates

her tatting and other experiences. So interesting!"

Gosh, Val, thanks! I'm honored!

It comes with some rules:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2.Put a link to the person who sent you the award

3. Nominate 10 blogs.

4. Put a link to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees

*****

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

I just checked my Google Reader.

I have 396 blogs that I've subscribed to.

I have 396 favorite blogs!!!

I'm not following the rules. Yup, I feel rebellious

today toward award rules.

I am following the first two rules on this one and then that's it;

I'm sharing it with everyone! Yes, I'm doing the "cop-out".

Is that wrong? LOL! ;)

Are the "blog-award-police" going to come

after me? What will happen if they do?

I'll keep you posted if that happens!

*****

Honestly, I just don't want anyone to feel left out.

*****

Once, again, thank you, Valerie!

This is a very cute award and Valerie was very sweet

to think of me. It also means a lot!

It's also a fun fact that Heart's Desire Jewelry

that awarded it to Valerie is someone that I won

a giveaway gift from during OWOH.

It IS a small world, after all!

~*~

Does this post seem like I have a little too much time on my hands to you? Maybe I'm feeling better? I will be going back to work today, thank heavens! I am so bored from Daytime TV! I have this blog post scheduled to publish while I'm at work. Why? Because it's TOO MUCH FUN to pre-schedule a blog post! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I'd love to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment, s'il vous plait!

Bye~for now,

TattingChic

xoxo

Some Treats In The Mail Today

The mail just got here about an hour ago! I got some tatting treats that I'd love to share with you!

~*~

First, it's the April Snowflake

from Fairiebee!

What a nice surprise!

Here's a close-up.

Isn't it pretty!?

Thanks, Fairiebee!

~*~

Next, was a larger package that I have

been waiting for all week!

I ordered Martha's lovely new tatting book called

"Tea is for Tatting"

Yes, I jumped on the Tea-is-for-tatting-bandwagon

and ordered one just like everyone else

in tatting blogland. It was autographed by

Martha herself. Thanks, Martha!

It has some beautiful teapot patterns in it.

No, I haven't had time to tat up a pattern for you,

BUT

I do have some links to blog posts of tatters

who have already been at it!

Here ya go!

***

Here's a bunch of them on

Celtic's Lacing and Whimsical Thoughts.

*

Gina has done 2 posts on the teapot book:

Tea For Everybody and

an untitled post with a very pretty tatted teapot.

*

Laura posted the Celtic Teapot by Martha Ess.

*

Steph also had to show her

excitement about receiving the book!

*

Tatskool tatted up a few in different

colors and had herself a Teapot Time!

*

On The Space Between (her "old" site)

there is another lovely teapot!

*

Wally has also shared about the book here.

~*~

Have fun blog-hopping! Before you go on your whirlwind tour of tatted teapots be sure and say a quick hello! I'd love to hear from you! Hope you are having a wonderful week! I am feeling better and looking forward to going to work tomorrow...if they'll have me back...hee hee! Okay, not hee hee. I dread calling off work and wish I didn't have health issues, but I do so that's what happens. Enough of that! Did I mention I'd love to hear from you!? I would...let's talk about you, now!
Tah-tah for now,

~TattingChic

xoxo

Gifts From The Heart

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my bloggy friends? Oh, I probably mention it EVERY single blog post, don't I!? Aside from your comments (which I cherish - each one) I have also received some other kinds of gifts from bloggy friends!

First of all, my treat for the day was a phone call from my very dear bloggy buddy, Laura, from Laura's Tatting Muse! Laura, you absolutely made my day! Thank you so much. Those of you who aren't familiar with Laura's beautiful talent, please click on her blog link above. I've mentioned her before when we did a swap. She is a very talented tatter. Not only is she talented in tatting and other arts; she has a heart of gold, too! She's proven that she's not a "fair-weather friend", too! She's there during the rough patches and I am so appreciative of that. Today was the first time I got to hear her sweet southern accent on the phone! What a comforting treat! Thank you, Laura! What a comfort it was to chat with you today and you really cheered me up when I was feeling down from not feeling well. You can read Laura's post about our chat here.

I'd like to share some other gifts from bloggy friends, too, if I may!

~*~

Judy B is a very talented stitcher that I met

on Stitchin' Fingers.

(For those of you that are familiar with

the Ning social networks this is one for needlework

of all kinds. They even have a group for lace-work

that some tatters have joined.)

Judy has a blog called Virtual Quilter.

WOW! Can this lady put out the

quilt patterns! Just check it out! You will

be blown away with ALL the quilt patterns

she has posted! She's a quilt pattern making

MACHINE! She generously sent me

some of her pattern books all the way

from Australia! Isn't that sweet!?

Here are the books she sent:

As you can see one is for a quilted centerpiece for

a double wedding ring "beaded necklace" pattern.

I have always wanted to learn quilting

The other book is for making tassels. It calls for

cotton crochet thread...hmmmmm...let me

see if might be able to drum up some of that

around here! LOL! ;)

I've also always wanted to learn how to make tassels!

This is awesome!

She also sent this lovely card with lavendar on it!

She had the sweetest note inside:
She sent it - "just because"!
Thank you, Judy B!


Psssstttt...

...fellow tatters...

...Judy has mentioned
wanting to learn to tat so

any support we can give her
would be awesome!

Tee hee!!!

~*~

Speaking of gifts from blogging friends, Denise,
from Couture de Papier has kindly awarded
me with this lovely friends award!

Thank you, Denise!

Denise is a very talented paper artist!

You will love her whimsical paper art pieces if

you like whimsy and shabby chic!

I think I'll share this award with a few tatting bloggers:

Bonnie from Bonnie's Tatting Blog

Steph from Steph's (Tat) Stuff

Mona from Love For Art

Copy and save the award and enjoy, ladies!

You can pass it on if you would like!

~*~

With all this sharing going on I thought I'd share a

few things with all of you!

First, here's some food for thought:

Did you know that NOTHING rhymes with orange!?!

It's true.

These are the kinds of deep thoughts I have while

on muscle relaxants and being left alone for long periods

of time whilst not feeling well, LOL!

~*~

And now, my "real" gift to you...

...a free tatting decorating tip!

Fill your apothecary jar with tatting thread you

happen to have lying around!

I used DMC size 80 balls of thread.

Just look!

The Spring colors make for a cheery sight!

It's a great accent with that ceramic

egg carton that you may already

have filled with thread, LOL!

;)

Hee Hee!

**wink**wink**

~*~

Thanks again, for letting me share my silly self with all of you here in blogger land! I appreciate your friendship and look forward to hearing what you have to say. I also look forward to visiting your blogs, as well! Hope that you are having a fabulous week. I may not be feeling so well, but I am counting my blessings and doing my best to stay positive because I know that negativity tends to worsen pain. I'm grateful for my job and wonderful co-workers, my God-given talents, friends and people who are like family to me. I'm also very grateful for my faith in God! I do not know what I would do with out it!

Bye for now,

~TattingChic

xoxo

Now That Easter Has Passed...

...we get on with life-as-usual fairly quickly.

~*~

The Easter lights have all burned low.

The bunny that was solid chocolate...

(Notice the past tense)

...is long gone.

Please forgive the choclatey macabre;

those of you with sensitive minds.

I just wanted to show the luxurious solid cholatey-ness.

~*~

On a lighter note;

I worked a little bit on this project:

...well, okay, I just thought about working on it.

I ended up just eating more chocolate, tee hee!


~*~

I also got an award I'd like to share with you.
Earlier, I got this from Summer Sadie. Thank you, Summer Sadie!

Then, back in March Lynn B

from Happiness is Cross Stitching

gave me this fabulous award:

(secretly, I have been coveting this award

because it's, well, FABulous! Thanks, Lynn!)

I think I'll share these awards with:

Rue of Rue's Peanut Butter & Jelly Life

(Have you SEEN how many comments this girl gets on EACH post?)
Carolyn from Draffin Bears

Kathy of Kathy's Victorian Tatted Lace

Diane from Lace-Lovin' Librarian

Actually, ALL of you leave fabulous comments

and have fabulous blogs so it's hard to just pick a few.

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

BLOG FLASH!

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

Right when I was clicking on "publish"

for this post Elyse left the sweetest comment on

my Easter (previous) post!

She offered me her "Treasured Blogger" award!

Thank you, Elyse! What an honor!

I will put this in a place of honor on my sidebar!

~*~

Thank you for stopping by. I haven't been feeling well today. I had to stay home from work due to another migraine (maybe it was all that chocolate, LOL!) and other health issues that I deal with on occasion. I am grateful for my bloggy friends to keep me company on days like this. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without all of you! Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how you are doing, how your Easter was or just say hello! I always love a "hello". Your comments mean a lot to me! :)

Thanks,

TattingChic

xoxo

Happy Easter!

I'm wishing you all a very Happy Easter! Let me share with you some very important elements of the Easter celebrations around my house!

Shall we commence with the Easter Celebrating!?!

~*~

First of all, the eggs have to be colored: Wait! Those aren't all eggs!!!

How'd they get in there???

That silly Easter bunny.

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

I have to show you a photo my bloggy

friend, Polly from Counting Your Blessings gave me:

Isn't that sweet! Thanks, Polly!

It inspired my thread-a-licious Easter decor.

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

Let's take a look at those "eggs"

one more time, shall we? I think they look good enough to eat!

***

Here's another important part of Easter.

The chocolate bunny!!!

The chocolate bunny is so important that

he even has a "shrine" built for him.

Around here, he kind of gets put up

on a "pedestal", if ya know what I mean.
Maybe it's just so there's a better view of these:They always seem to go first, LOL!
What goes first on your chocolate bunnies?

***

Now, here's a tribute to my grandmother.
She loved jordan almonds at Easter-time.

So, Grandma, if there are blogs up in heaven...
this is for you!!! Now, I just have one question for you all,
Is the apothecary jar half-full or half-empty???

***

Well, that's enough of the indoor goodies,
let's go outside for a minute and get some fresh air.

Let me show you some pretty blossoms in my garden.

Here's my vining geranium's pink blossoms. Isn't that a pretty shade of pink?

Oh, and the HDT plant is growing a lovely

silk fuschia HDT blossom!

Okay, now, it's time to go back inside.

***

Let me show you what I got in my

Easter Basket this year!

Now, these are MY kind of Easter treats!!!

Look at all that Lizbeth thread!

(You can click on the photo to enlarge it,

if you'd like to see it better.)

There's also beads and pretty shuttles and other

tatting goodies! I'm in heaven!

Thank you, Easter Bunny!!!

~*~

For my tatting friends I've compiled

a little list of some free Easter Tatting Pattern links

on the internet. It's my Easter gift to you!

Blue Pearl Egg by Heather Johnston

Bunny Edging by Gina Brummet

Bunny by Mark Myers

Celtic Egg by Helen Bailey

Easter Patterns on the Tatting Pattern Calendar

Little Bunny Motif by Lisa Trumble

~*~

Happy Easter to all of you! I hope you're all having a wonderful Easter-time with your families. If you are not with your family, then I hope you find a lovely way to celebrate the meaning of Easter and God's love for us. I'm so glad you took the time to visit with me for a minute! Comments are always welcome so be sure to say hello before you say good-bye!

Love,

*

*

TattingChic

xoxo