What's in YOUR WorkBasket?

The title reminds me of that commercial that became popularized by the comedian, David Spade, for the Capitol One credit card commercials! You know, the one where he works for the credit card company that answers "no" to any question, no matter what it is, LOL! The tag line that became famous from that was

"What's in YOUR wallet?"

You can (if you want to) watch the video of that commercial that launched a thousand "What's in YOUR wallet"(s)!

Thank you, Elven6

So, what's in MY wallet?

Well, not much. You see, I tend to spend any extra change that I happen to have on hand on tatting thread, tatting shuttles, and tatting books to fill my work basket, LOL! I think a more appropriate question for me would be

"What's in YOUR Work Basket?"

Do you have a Work Basket? You know, a sewing basket, trunk, fishing tackle box, or any other container full of odds and ends for your favorite craft? What do you keep in it? You may have noticed that my favorite craft is tatting. I happen to have an actual basket FULL of thread just for tatting!

~*~

See?

It's full of LOTS and LOTS of thread!
This is not even the half of it.

***

Can you spell:
"T-H-R-E-A-D A-D-D-I-C-T-I-O-N"?
LOL!I have just a little one (thread addiction, that is)!

***

Speaking of Work Baskets, this treasure box
actually contains WorkBaskets!
You see, it was custom built by my Grandfather
specifically to house the WorkBasket Magazines
that my Grandmother collected!
She was an avid needleworker. She loved to
knit, crochet, and even tat!
*
WorkBasket Magazine was a needlework
magazine that published tatting, knitting, crochet
and other patterns. It is no longer in print.
*
Just look at those beautiful joints on
the corners of the box! This was handmade!
I love it!
(And, NO, I did not put those water rings
on the top of the box! LOL!)

Fortunately, my Mother gave me this fabulous
collection of WorkBaskets after she taught me to tat.

I now have a wonderful vintage WorkBasket
Magazine collection ranging from
the 1950's to 1969 when my dear
Grandmother passed away.
I think they are fabulous!
Just look at these vintage covers!
They even have fun vintage
tatting patterns in them!
I have even added to it whenever I
find one at an antique store!


***

What is interesting about this is that I
haven't shown my WorkBasket collection
on my blog until now!
Yet, somehow, my bloggy friends have
picked up on the fact that
I LOVE vintage WorkBasket mags!


***

For instance, recently, I went over
to support a new scrapbook blog
put on by Lindsey of Two Crazy Crafters.

Lindsey is a very talented scrapper!
Her new blog is called
Lindsey's Paper Scraps.

In a gesture of bloggy pal support I went
over to her new blog and it just so happened
that I was the very first to comment on
her first blog post there!

Just look what she and Twyla sent me
as a thank you for being the first commenter!
Isn't this the cutest card EVER!?!
I just love how she used a vintage image
over some cute scrap papers!

Oh, NO!
It didn't stop there!

They also sent me some
vintage WorkBasket Magazines!
Can you believe it?

It's so cool because I do not
have these in my collection yet!

I was most excited about this
particular issue!

It has this pattern in it!
I've seen my friend, Jenni, from Australia do
this one and the photograph of her doily is
very beautiful!

Thank you so much, Lindsey and Twyla!
I LOVE the gifts you sent me!

***

Another blogger who surprised me
was Angela from The Country Cellar.

She sent me this apron that I won.
I mentioned it before here.
When it arrived she surprised me with some
goodies tucked in that pocket you see there!

One of them was this little treasure!
It's a WorkBasket Magazine
that had tatting on the cover!

Thank you, Angela!

It just so happens that I didn't have this one, either!

***

Let's not forget the WorkBasket sent to
me by Deborah of The Painted Nest!

~*~

Well, whatever it is that you're doing this weekend, whether it's filling your work basket or using up your stash, thanks for stopping by! I love your visits! Speaking of visitors, my visitor counter made it to the 50,000 mark today! Woo Hoo! I captured a screen shot of the special moment to share with all of you!
Ha ha! Okay, so if you haven't had a chance to enter the giveaway I'm having to celebrate the momentous occasion you can click on the button below and comment on that blog post to enter and if you have an active blog connected to your commenting profile...then, you'll be entered! You have until Midnight PST on July 31, 2009 to do so!
Have fun during the rest of your weekend! I'd love to hear from you! Comments are always welcome here on TattingChic!

Thanks again,

XOXO

Tat Like An Egyptian!

Do you recall that song "Walk Like an Egyptian"? It was really BIG in the 80's! Oh, the 80's!!! I was such an 80's girl...and if you've read this blog before you may already know that. This song was so much fun to dance to, sing about, and mimic while walking down the halls at school with my friends! This song has been going through my head ever since I got my order from Wally of Needles~N~Shuttles blog who spends part of her year living in Egypt!

Actually, Wally is from Puerto Rico. She is married to an Egyptian man and so she is "Egyptian" by marriage! When she lives in Egypt she goes to Cairo to purchase perle cotton threads for tatting and sells them in her shop, also called "Needles~N~Shuttles". She summers in Puerto Rico where it is quite a bit cooler than the Sahara Desert heat of Egypt! Wally met her husband while living in Egypt about three years ago. She has Lupus and works to spread awareness about Lupus and the effect it has on those affected by it. She spends her time tatting and making lots of designs. When I say "lots" I mean LOTS! She comes out with new designs CONSTANTLY! I've called her a "Tatting Machine" a few times because she seems to produce a voluminous amount of tatting...more than I've seen anyone else online produce! It's amazing!

~*~

So, after all that talk about Egypt

can you see how I had that song running

through my head!?!

I'd love to "Tat like an Egyptian"! She's amazing!

For those of you that need a little

refresher on that song, here it is:

Walk like an egyptian

Thanks, Steve!

Ah, doesn't that make you think of

Egyptian pyramids and the like?

I've got a photo right here of one.
Wh....what???

Okay, okay, it's an Egyptian Thread Pyramid,

but it still counts, right?

***

No?

***

Well, what if I showed you a close up on the

label of the thread?

Would you believe me then?

It still doesn't count as an Egyptian Pyramid?

***

Alrighty then, I'll show you a postcard

she sent me that is from Egypt that has a

picture of an Egyptian pyramid on it!
Is this better?

***

Welcome PFF'ers!

(I know, I know....it's Saturday....Shhhhh!)

***

Here's the back of the postcard along with some

goodies she sent along with my order as a surprise!

Thank you, Wally!

***

Inside the baggy of sequins was this beautiful

Mother of Pearl disc! Oh, the potential!!!

I could make a cool tatted pendant with

that disc attached!

***

Next is a sampling of her books.

I ordered these from her shop.

So, if you were wondering how do you

"tat like an Egyptian"?

Here's how!

This heart is from her book

"From My Heart".

*

It will count as

MOTIF # 7

in my 2nd round of the 25 Motif Challenge.

*

I made it with the pink perle cotton

thread pictured above.

This special heart pattern is named

after her husband "Hussein".

Awww....isn't that sweet!?

***

Now, if you are still in the mood for

some "Egyptian-ality"

Here is a very cool

Michael Jackson video I found!

Thank you JAYTONYNJ

~*~
Thank you for your art and talent,
Michael!
May you Rest In Peace.

~*~

Well, thank you for joining me in my Egyptian adventures in tatting today! I tatted that heart up just for this post because I thought you might wonder what "Egyptian Tatting" looked like, LOL! It pretty much looks like "Irish Tatting", or "Scottish Tatting", "Danish Tatting", and even "German Tatting" doesn't it? LOL!

Where ever it is that you hail from I'd love to hear from you. Be sure to say hello before you go off on your travels through the wonderful land of Blog! Oh, and Wally says that if you want to see some real Egyptian dancing watch this video! It's cool!

Love,

XOXO

Be sure to sign up for the giveaway

if you haven't already!

You have until 7/31/09 at MN PST!

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! ;)

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

Jury Duty Tatting

Didn't I just say in a comment back to someone in my last post that it would be a dream to spend the day tatting and get paid for it? Well, it happened today! LOL! I had jury duty and didn't get called to serve on a jury so I spent the most of the entire 8 hour day tatting at the "Hall of Justice"! Woo Hoo! My work pays for it so that is awesome! I actually look forward to jury duty if I can remember to take my tatting along! I even got to share with a couple of interested gals who wanted to know more about what it was that I was doing! Very cool!!!

~*~

Here is the result of nearly six hours of tatting!

I am trying out the Finca brand thread

I recently bought. It's size 16 Perle Cotton.

I am using the pink and green thread from

the "Mardi Gras Sampler" pack.

Pink is C/2240 (T-491) and

Green is C/4350 (T-1115).

I am very impressed with how well Finca tats

for a perle cotton thread! It is very smooth

and strong and not nearly as "fuzzy" as many

other perle cottons!

I found Finca's size 16 to be similar to

size 40 or 50 in other cotton crochet threads.

The pattern I am working on is called

"Dahlia"

"Dahlia" is on pages 48-49 of Mary Konior's
"A Pattern Book of Tatting"

One of my new "toys"! Hee hee!

I got to take my new book out for a "spin"!
Thank YOU, Jury Duty! LOL!

~*~

I have to say that besides being able to tat it is a privilege to be able to do my "civic duty" and go do jury duty! I am very grateful to be an American Citizen and I do NOT take the blessing of that citizenship for granted! Our great country may be having a very challenging time right now, but it is a great place to live and I am grateful for the opportunities and blessings I have been given from being born here. I am grateful for the hardships my ancestors endured to make sure that their posterity would be born on American soil. Jury duty is a very small price to pay for that privilege and blessing!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my tatting and heartfelt feelings about civic duties with you! Hope you stop by again! Feel free to leave a comment and share with me what you think of my tatting (or jury duty, for that matter! LOL!).

OMGoodness! This is my 99th post! My next post will be my 100th! Shall I wait a WHOLE week and a half for my blogoversary so I can have them all in one BIG SHABANG!?! What to do. What to do.

Stay tuned...

TattingChic

xoxo

My Tatting Library Is Now Complete!

Yes, my tatting library is complete now that I have acquired some tatting books that I have searched high and low for that are out of print! I was fortunate enough to find them on a used book seller's site. I was appalled at some of the prices some people were asking for these babies! Did you know that some people actually had the gall to ask $109.00 for one of these books below?

HELLO!!!

Anyway, I just want to warn you that there are some unreasonable prices out there and if you are shopping for these books please don't pay more than $45.00 for them. I found each of them for that amount or less, so if you see a seller asking for an unreasonable price just pass on by until you find something better. That is too much to ask!
So, now that I'm done with my soap box I'd like to commence with the show and tell!

I ordered these books back in February and the last of them finally arrived yesterday!

~*~

Here is a fun classic

called, "Tatting"

by Cathy Bryant

Okay, the next 3 books are ones I have

waited so long to find and I finally did!
I am SOOOOOO excited to show you!
They are all by the beloved tatting designer

Mary Konior!

This is "Tatting Patterns"

Next is "A Pattern Book of Tatting"


Last is "Tatting in Lace"

To my knowledge Mary Konior

wrote 4 books. The 3 pictured above

are now out of print and that is why they

are so hard to find which would explain why

I am sooooooo excited about acquiring them!

The 4th book she wrote I already own and it is called

"Tatting With Visual Patterns"

It is my favorite tatting book!

If you click on the title it will take you to

Handy Hands which still has it for sale for

a very reasonable $19.95 USD.

The reason I mention this is that

some of these used book sellers are trying

to sell the same soft copy (used, and yes,

I said soft copy) for $60+ USD.

Handy Hands Tatting will sell it for a lot

less and it's brand new!

No, I do not get paid for mentioning

Handy Hands Tatting, I just know they

are a dependable tatting goods source.

Ironically, I cannot find my copy of

"Tatting With Visual Patterns" right now,

but I do have a photo of a bookmark that

I tatted a few years ago from my favorite pattern

from this book. The pattern is called

"Black Magic". I like it because

I find the pattern visually appealing.

Here's a photo of a bookmark I tatted

from that pattern.

Click on photo to enlarge



The motif on the end I added by improvising on

the pattern a little and adding a Josephine chain.

I use this bookmark in my scriptures.

It is tatted in DMC size 80 tatting thread.

Did I say that my tatting library is now complete!

LOL... and you believed me???

I think it will NEVER be complete!
There is always another tatting book I want,

but this is about as complete as it will get for a while

as I am so excited to finally have these books!
I have been looking for them for years!

~*~

Thanks for stopping by! I always appreciate visits from my bloggy friends! I've had severe back pain over the last week and had no relief until yesterday when I got a new muscle relaxant. This is the first day that I've been able to sit for a period of time! Thank you Doctor and muscle relaxants! What a relief! I will finally be able to go back to work tomorrow! I am so excited! TV can get sooo boring! I've been in too much pain to even tat! Hence, the photos of projects from years ago that I've been sharing with you! For those of you following the TIAS I hope to finish that this next weekend so stay tuned!!!

As far as the blogoversary/100 post countdown goes this make blog post # 97!!! We're getting closer! Woo Hoooooo!

Toodles!

~TattingChic

xoxo

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

:)