Dragon #2 "Spring"

Ann Bruwold's dragon again, this time tatted in green Flora size 20 with size 11 pink, glass beads. This maybe a little "girlie" for a dragon, but I want her for my room. I think she will have her own little frame.

I tried to think of a particularly clever name for her as she was inspired by a favorite outfit from my senior year of high school. I had an a-line skirt and sleeveless blouse made from green and pink material that was a kind of plaid I guess. The background was green with tiny pink stripes in both directions, to the best of my memory. I loved that outfit. It also had a canvas belt that was cream colored. My mother and grandmother made most of my clothes, but this one was "store bought" and very special. I don't know where Mother found the money to buy it, but I loved it and must have worn it out. I don't remember what happened to it. If only we realized how special our memories would be, we might hang onto some of the things at the root of these memories......

Prices reduced in Laura's Attic

I have reduced the price of each item in the attic. Please have another look here Laura's Attic

Slideshow

Well, with our Jane's help I finally got my slideshow to work. Thanks Jane!

Isaac and Macy on the dolphin cruise

I'm not even going to try to caption these photos. They speak from themselves. We met this little girl and her family on the boat and you can they had a good time.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Green Leaf Dragon

Despite Dragon Lore which says that Green Leaf Dragons are seldom spotted in the summertime, I have captured this one and I'm not letting it go!

I tatted this dragon using Yarnplayer's Fern hand dyed thread in size 20. He was a bit troublesome as he knew he wasn't supposed to be out this time of year. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! He really was not trouble and I enjoyed tatting him, except I kept getting backwards in the wings for some reason. In any case, it is sorted out. I don't think mine looks as good as the others I've seen. Guess I'll have to try again.

The dragon pattern is by anne Bruvold and she was kind enough to share it with us
here.

Thank you Anne!

New items from the attic

I have listed several new items from the attic this morning. Check it out!

New Blog!

Please help me clean out my house! I have started a new blog to try and sell some of the things my family has collected over the years. One day we will be ready to move and there is no way I could pack up this house. HELP!

I will price things as reasonably as possible. If there is something that you like but don't like the price, make me an offer. There will be a few things of greater value listed. If I can't get what I want for these items, I will keep them or try to sell them in another venue.

When everything is gone, I will close the blog. That will probably take a while!

There will be some jewelry, statues, glassware, ceramics, David Winter Cottages, most of which are signed by the artist, and other assorted items. There might even be some of my dad's woodwork.

Please keep checking at Laura's Attic

Elizabeth's starfish from my pattern

My friend Elizabeth in Mobile tatted this starfish in Olympus thread and sent me the picture today. She only got the pattern from me yesterday! I think she did a beautiful job, as usual. She graciously allowed me to post the picture here for you to see. It is a good feeling for others to tat something you come up with.

Thanks Elizabeth! This has been a good day!

Easter Egg Snowflake in white

I am very honored that Tara has chosen my Easter Egg Snowflake for her yearly snowflake. Please go to her blog and check it out in white. It is so lacey and pretty. I'll have to retat it! Here is the link to her blog.
Tara

It's very different from the original. I love it!

On the Beach with Isaac

A picture is worth a thousand words, huh?

Do you have Lyn Morton's books?

Gina found a motif in one of Lyn Morton's books that is similar to our unidentified snowflake. She said maybe some of you have more of her books and time to look through them. Maybe she did a variation like this one. Let me know!

Still unidentified snowflake

We've yet to identify the designer of this snowflake. I am really enjoying tatting it, as you can tell. If no one objects and anyone wants it, let me know and I will post it here or email it to you. I don't know what else to do.

I tatted this one with the last of the blue/green size 50 hand dyed thread from New Zealand that Clyde so generously shared with me. You will notice red spots in a few places where I joined on the outer chains. The only other size 50 in this thread is a variegated with red in it. I had to use it for the shuttle thread and switch the left over blue/green shuttle thread to the ball thread. Phew! I was afraid I wouldn't make it. As it was, I still had to leave out the last regular round of chains before I started the outer round with the long picots.

I think these little snowflakes will be perfect to fill in between the big ones on my Rainbow Christmas Tree this year.

Thank you again to our phantom designer!

A Perfect "Purplicious" Day!

I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling of purplicious, but you get the idea. We had such fun. The lunch at Jesse's in Magnolia Springs was so nice and the food was good too!

Diana really loaded me up with purple goodies. The white bag with the purple button is one that Diane crocheted and posted on her blog that she made it for a friend. It was me! I was so surprised. I'll wear it with pride first time I have the chance. The ball of thread is Coats and Clarks Tatting Cotton. The three floss minders are Perle cotton weaving thread from Nancy. I have never tatted with either of those and I'm excited to use them. The cross Diane gave me is tatted with the weaving thread and it is the softest, sweetest little thing. The bag is an Oktak and just right for tatting. There is a purple Lacis shuttle, one of my favorites, to tat up all this thread! She also gave me one of her bookmarks in her favorite pattern. I have two new books from the library that will be in high fashion with this bookmark. All of these goodies were wrapped in white tissue paper in a purple bag with tulips on it.

I am so glad we got the chance to meet in person and share some time together. It is good to be with another tatter, but even better to be with someone you've grown to love but never met.

Thank you to Nancy for sharing some of your precious time with your daughter. I am glad that you were both able to join me for the afternoon.

Happy tatting to both of you!

Visit with Diane and her mom Nancy

We had a wonderful time! I don't have the pictures downloaded yet, but the ones on Diane's blog pretty much say it all. We were instantly comfortable and giggled like school girls, which is totally unlike me.
Per Sherry's directions, I helped Diane learn a split ring and a single shuttle split ring. She was a natural.
Diane had me the most wonderful "Purpleicious" bag of goodies. I have made pictures and will post later. She was much too generous, but I'm glad! You will be sooo jealous.
I wish we could have visited longer. Maybe she will be back again soon.
More later.
Thank you again Diane and Nancy for a wonderful day I won't soon forget. Thank you also for sharing your time with me. Have a safe trip home Diane.

Oncidium Orchid "Dancing Lady"

No new tatting to show so I thought I would share my currently blooming orchid. I bought this one last July when I was visiting my brother in New Smyrna Beach, Fl. He got one too and his had already rebloomed. I didn't think mine was going to. As you can see, I was wrong. Clever Clyde says, "she is putting her best foot forward." I haven't even tried to count the blooms. It is like several chorus lines with all the dancers in the same costumes. Makes a "mother" proud, it does!

Jon's bookmark in Rhubarb Pie size 80

I love this bookmark of Jon's, especially in Yarnplayer's size 80 Rhubarb Pie. This was a breeze to tat and I think it looks very rich and elegant. Your design is so nice Jon and I appreciate so much you sharing it with us!

As promised, I have kept up with the thread requirement. I used a total of 19 1/2 yards plus 4 yards for the tassle.

Row 1: 2 yards on shuttle and 2 for ball thread for EACH side of the bookmark. On mine that is the light pink and medium pink which are entwined. (8 yards)

Row 2: 4 yards on shuttle and 2 1/2 for ball thread. (6 1/2 yards)

Row 3: 1 yard on shuttle and 4 for ball thread. (5 yards)

I had loaded 5 yards on the shuttle so I used the 4 left over to do the tassle.

I hopes this helps anyone wanting to tat this bookmark. Remember this is with size 80 thread.

Have fun!

New Iris Neibach Books!

These are my three beautiful, new Iris Neibach books! They can be found here.Lacis Online Catalog

I don't know which one to dive into first. After I finish tatting Beatrice, of course. I can tell you the brand new "Just For Fun" is very exciting if you haven't seen it. There seems to be quite a Iris Fan Club growing. You can definitely add me in there! Her work is amazing. I hope I can do justice to some of the designs.

Thank you for being you Iris!

More Woodcarvings

I was afraid you would all think I had died or something! I've been working on a "secret project" that is now finished! (Still a secret!)

Here are some more pictures of my woodcarving days. The one of the shore birds is just woodburning, but I like the way it looks. The bulldog cane is my husband's. He got his master's degree from Samford University and they are the bulldogs. The crepe myrtle is carved from wood cut from my yard. We trimmed the crepe myrtles back and saved every piece of wood that we could carve or turn on the wood lathe. We coated each piece with sand and sealer, (can and brush, not spray.) Let them sit for a couple of days and then started carving. They had to be carved green as they are so hard when they dry that a knife won't cut them.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Maybe some tatting soon.

"Beatrice" designed by Iris Niebach

Here is my first progress photo of my first doily from my first Iris Niebach book. How's that for firstsssss? Tatting this is a challenge for me. I am having to be very careful and remember to count twice and close once!

This is size 20 Flora thread in a very soft, variegated green/white. I will tat it again in HDT after I see how it goes.

More of Nancy Tracy's Loopy Earrings

This is what I have been doing for several days. Tatting and beading more of Nancy's earrings. Didn't you wonder why I was so quiet? LOL I thought I would just show you one photo of them together instead of each pair by themselves.

No telling where they might show up!

Two Early Woodcarvings

I wanted to share these woodcarvings with you. The little bird is especially early in my carving career. He was in the image of our first little rescued bird. We named "him" Valentino because Bill got him for me for Valentine's Day. He turned out to be a she and we just called her Tino. She would sit right under my chin on my chest and sleep with her beak tucked into her wing feathers. It was the sweetest thing. That's how I got the idea to carve her like this. Oh, nobody but nobody bothered Tino while she was sitting with "Mommy!" That like beak has about 200 lbs of pressure and was like a vise!

The other one is a spoon, of course. Dad and I did several of these with differnt flowers and or animals on them. I really enjoyed them. I painted very few of my carvings but this one seemed to call for it.

Now that I can no longer be outside in my workshop, the carving has stopped. Carving is not an "inside friendly" art. Especially if you are the one who has to do the sweeping up! Tatting was already at war with carving anyway. So now, we tat!

Thread Requirements

No pictures this time. I am going to try and start giving thread requirements for items I tat, whether my design or someone else's. I get very frustrated, as I am sure all of you do, with leftover thread on the shuttle. Worse yet, running out of thread before I finish.

Clyde has given me permission to tell you how much thread I used on his Ray of Hope doily that I test tatted for him. I used approximately 78 yards of hand dyed thread in size 80 for this 9" diameter doily.

This was Yarnplayer's Rhubarb Pie hand dyed thread. I had one skein of the Rhubarb Pie, one skein each of solid dark pink and solid medium pink. I also had a set of six solids that were 12 yards each. Of course, I used all of some of it and had some left of the others.

Now, to the earrings by Nancy Tracy. In Flora with medium picots, I used 1 1/2 yards for each earring. In DMC it only took 1 yard, I guess because it is softer. I perfer the Flora as it has more body. Well really I prefer hand dyed thread all the time, but wouldn't we all? I will get around to making some in HDT. I might add that this is a great way to use up those bits of thread from previous projects. I have a zip lock bag full of "bits." I have made all of these earrings from the leftover bits.

I hope this helps.

Tatted Loopy Earrings Part Two

Two more pair of Nancy's earrings from the Be-stitched newsletter. The purple ones are for MIL to match the little beaded amulet bag I gave her for her birthday. Still working on improving the scans.

If you haven't tatted these yet, you will enjoy them when you do.

Be-stitched Newsletter pattern

Nancy Tracy's Be-stitched newsletter brought this pattern for "Tatted Loopy Earrings." There is a link to Be-stitched on the side of this blog under links. I love this pattern! It was super fast and easy. I couldn't believe it. You can literally decide what color you are going to wear for the day and sit down and make a pair of earrings to match.

I tatted them in size 20 DMC Cebelia lavender with those same OLD irridescent beads I've been using forever. I wish the scans were better. That's why I put two on here. No matter what I did, I just couldn't get a clear scan.

Thanks Tracy.

One more

Being Lala

Allright, so sue me. I just couldn't resist showing off my grandbaby. It's been a while, so I don't feel bad about it. I know he is mine and I'm prejudiced, but if anyone has a cuter, sweeter baby than this, I want to see them!

He has brought so much joy to my life. Joy I thought never to experience. Thank you God for this child!

Floral Snowflake in HDT "Tulips"

This snowflake is still unidentified. Sorry. I tatted it this time in Lady Shuttle Maker's hand dyed thread named Tulips. It is size 80 and a scant 1 3/4" in diameter like the one in Winter Blend.

I see now that I should have taken more time to straighten out the chains before I scanned it, but I'm too tired to go back and do it over!

I have started tatting Iris Niebach's Beatrice in Flora size 20. Progress picture soon. I just had to join the crowd.

They've Been Framed!

This is a big deal as I sometimes never get around to framing important things - more important than this!

I think they will look even prettier when I get the walls painted a soft green.

I am pleased with my Rhubarb Pie/Crisp doilies and cross. Tatting them was very pleasant and now looking at them will please me for many years.

My last birthday surprise!

INTRODUCING - Our newest hand dyed thread artisan - Pamela! (Will the full blessings of Yarnplayer and Lady Shuttle Maker I understand.)

I am so happy to be among the first to receive these beautiful hand dyed threads. I knew when I saw her post about the coral reefs and that magnificent doily that she tatted to represent them, that I had to have it. Then the apple blossom - oh so sweet.


Coral Reef


Apple Blossom


I wish the scans were better. I tried and tried. Maybe I need to use the camera. If I manage to do better, I will repost them.

I hope lots of you will have the opportunity to try Pamela's threads. We now have three very talented ladies painting threads for us.

Birthdays are the best!

Floral Snowflake in Winter Blend HDT

I am posting this not knowing who the designer is. A friend shared it with me and we are hoping someone will recognize it so we can give them credit. I would also like to pay for the pattern if necessary. She said it was originally in German text. Please help if you can.

I tatted this in Yarnplayer's Winter Blend hand dyed thread, size 80. It is 1 3/4" in diameter and so delicate and lacey. I love the 3d look with the picoted chains.

I know it may not be a traditional looking snowflake, but it is going on my rainbow snowflake tree!

Milky Way Snowflake #3 HDT

This time I tatted Jon's Milky Way snowflake in size 50 hand dyed thread from New Zealand. This was a gift from Clyde several months ago as well as the blue/green colorway I used on another snowflake previously. This thread is very shiny and smooth. It tats easily and "untats" easily! It is 3" in diameter tatted with
size 50.

Thanks again to Clyde for the thread and to Jon for her lovely patterns.

Birthday Shopping!

I've had fun with my birthday money as you can see! I've got my first Iris Niebach book, as recommended by Dianne. Can't wait to get into it.

I have my first silk hand dyed thread from Lady Shuttle Maker in size 100. The colors are Pensacola Beach, Weeping Cherry and Royalty. (I hope I got them in order of the picture.) She has already told me to unwind gently and that they are like tatting with "Angel Hair."

Then, you see Yarnplayer's Purple Punch hand dyed thread size 80 and a pair of her earrings that you tat onto. There is a link to a pattern to use. Yumm!

Last, but certainly not least, one of Jane's Roly Poly Bags! I love the color and the paisley. It came yesterday and I think it is so pretty. It has the nicest personalized tag inside that says it was handmade in England by Jane Eborall.

There is one more surprise to come.......

I love it when hubby and my girls give me shopping money for my birthday!