Earrings

More walking and reading yesterday. I seem to have gotten a wee bit addicted to moving more during the day. I hope that I can keep it up, well maybe toned down a bit, but still moving. I'm feeling pretty good as I go about my day. I did manage to steal a little sitting time while catching up with my DVR, so I got a pair of earrings made up and listed in my etsy shop.

I didn't stiffen them after all. The outer rim is stiff enough that they hold their shape just fine.  I also made up one more in this same cream shade that I'll likely get listed as a pendant today. I was also contemplating stringing a few together for a bracelet, but I haven't yet done any measurements to see if they would be a good size for it. I guess that's on tap for today. I am still hoping for a little more inspiration with the technique, but nothing has sparked yet. I'm sure I'll eventually think of something.

Linen

Luckily on Friday I got a couple of sales. This gave me a couple of projects over the weekend and kept me from keeping my nose buried in my kindle all weekend. I mean, I still read a lot, but I came up for air and thread. The first one I remade was this small rose pendant in linen thread. I both love and hate linen thread. I love the way it looks. It has more character than something made with perfectly smooth cotton thread. On the other hand it's difficult to work with. The varying thickness can get difficult to pull through and I occasionally have to adjust the stitch count in order to maintain the shape of the pattern since sometimes the knots are larger and sometimes smaller.

On Saturday I was remaking medallion earrings also in linen thread. This time I actually remade three pairs in all the shades of linen I have. This is partly because I wear a pair of these in black that I may have taken from my stock. I figured I'd just make a new pair if they ever sold so I could keep them, but since I was doing the one, I decided to do them all. The earrings are a much larger design than the rose and with 6 of them to make and stiffen, I was happily busy much of Saturday.

I actually still have one more piece I was suppose to remake, but I forgot all about it until this morning. I guess that gives me something to start my day with. We still have a few more days off from schooling, so I'm sure I'll read too much again today. Here's hoping for another sale or two to keep me tatting.

Done

As I had guessed in the morning, my purchasing of supplies did seem to jinx the day for sales. No matter though, I still had tasks on hand and I got both of them mostly finished. Instead of starting with the barefoot sandal I went ahead and got the linen earrings tatted. They spent the night getting stiffened and will be ready for their ear-wires this morning. I should have them in the shop today. The black linen thread is slightly more uniform than the gray shades, so these ones seemed to work up faster, albeit with the same padded look.

After that was done and in between news of escaping llamas and a dress whose color is apparently witchcraft, I also got the other barefoot sandal made and up and back into the shop. I'm hoping to get some sales in today because I got really used to being busy and all I have left to make is maybe the linen earrings in the last color I have, dark gray. After that I'm twisting in the wind. I'm sure I'll think of something.

Busy

I had a blissfully busy day yesterday. For some inexplicable reason I received more than one order of actual tatting yesterday. So I busied myself much of the day remaking the pieces that sold, but I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. Right after schooling. I put together the new motif in linen with its ear wires. They are definitely bigger earrings than I would usually wear, but they do have that whole lightweight thing going for them. I fully intended to get them made in the black linen thread as well, but as I already mentioned I was kept rather busy with remaking what sold.

The first one I remade was a necklace that had actually sold the day before and then after that I tatted up this cuff bracelet in my version of the classic Hen and Chicks pattern. I add Victorian sets where the thread spaces usually live, and I like to double the pattern over on itself so it's less of an edging and more of a standalone piece. I wasn't even done there though I was dealing with an aggravated shoulder. I must've wrenched it the day before, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is that I did. Anyway, I made up one last necklace after this and that was the end of my day.

I'm all caught up on the pieces that sold now, so unless I'm blessed with the same sort of day I had yesterday(crossing fingers), I'll get the earrings made in the black linen and possibly the dark gray as well. Since the linen thread isn't my favorite to work with, it's best to get it knocked out all at once and then got back to smooth, soft cotton thread again. Though honestly, as long as I'm busy, I'm not going to complain...at least not too much.

Linen Thread

I was surprisingly productive yesterday. As soon as schooling was over I was making sure the laundry was going, taking photos of the medallions turned into pendants and getting them listed in the shop along with a bunch of other small tasks. It was like a mini whirlwind until around noon.

After lunch, I worked on remaking a small pair of earrings that sold and then I was bored for a minute. I decided to get out a giant ball of organic linen thread and just play for awhile. When I first bought the linen thread I had high hopes of using it all the time, but it's just fiddly to work with. It's rough and can be quite uneven with occasional lumps. If I work it with the smaller, more appropriately sized needle, those bumps are impossible barriers to finishing a piece. I choose to work it with a needle a bit too large which leaves me with that padded looking lace that seems to be the reason folks find needle tatting inferior to the shuttle. All that aside though, I have tons of it so I decided to experiment a bit.

I worked up the new medallion and then added another round. I think initially, I was going to keep going and work it up into a doily of sorts, but I kind of liked it at this size even though it took away the hexagon shape of the original design. I thought maybe it would make a nice pair of big earrings. I made another and got them stiffened last night since the larger needle makes them floppier than I like for earrings. They should be ready for hardware this morning and I should get them in the shop. I also have this same linen thread in black and a darker gray, so maybe I'll do a couple more pairs if nothing else has presented itself to be done.

Last One

The last thing I made for the last order I got was a custom pair of dream catcher earrings. It seems only fitting that since a spider spun the first dream catcher, that one day I would be asked to add a spider to the web. I first tried to find some spider charms to add, but I'm glad that I didn't find any. The small tatted spider is just right for it.

I finished these and got everything in this last order in the mail on Saturday morning and then the shop went dark again. Instead of tatting I spent the weekend on small craft projects. I got small laser cut frames for some Halloween cross stitches I made last year. I painted the frames black and got them all put together, but not on the walls yet.

Then when that was done, I dug through the bag of old craft kits I was gifted and pulled out a really simple cross stitch from the 1980's to work on. I'm going to rewrite the statement in the center of it, but otherwise, it's keeping me busy as is.

Oh, one more thing before I go, we went and saw The Boxtrolls over the weekend and it was brilliant. It's got nice, quirky, awkward British humor, but the most amazing part is during the credits where they show you just how much work goes into stop motion animation. Anyway, I just thought I'd recommend it, since we were so impressed.

Again, I start the week with no tatting projects in queue, so here's looking forward to some surprises and tasks to keep me busy.

Repeat

You know what I absolutely love? Repeat customers. I have just a handful of wonderful people who come back time and time again to have me make something for them. It is especially lovely when I'm in that, 'the shop is dead' mood and one of them pops by to get a few things. Really it just turns my mood right around as I get to work and I start to feel useful again. I think that that is the worst part about the slow shop really, the feeling of uselessness. That somehow your work is no longer needed in the world, so why bother. It's a good thing that I have an otherwise happy and stable life or that could really mess with my psyche.

So as you no doubt guessed, I got an order in yesterday with some pieces that needed making. This not only gave me something to do yesterday and likely today as well, it gave me things to take pictures of to share with you. This first one is a pair of my chanmaille earrings that I call The Twenty. I was asked to do a slightly different colorway for the ombré effect. I honestly like this one better than the golden orange one I had already made.

The second one here are my Pinwheel Swirl post earrings. I initially made these up in colors I thought would sell as is, but every pair I've sold since has been a unique combination that I would not have thought of making. These color choices are clearly Halloween hues and though I have no intention of adding them to the shop like this, the listing is already set up for customers to choose their own colors, but I might change the listing photos to include them.

I still have more work to do on this order and that makes me very happy. I should have it all done today since I have no other tasks to work on though. So here's to a lovely day with lots of tatting in it.

More Colors

This teaching the kids crafts business is taking up quite a lot of my morning. Yes, I suppose that was the intent, but man I feel like I'm getting nothing done between that and cleaning. I know, what's up with all the cleaning? Well, we will likely have house guests next week and there is a big difference between house clean enough to pass a brief visit and clean enough to let someone sleep here. I know it really doesn't matter, but I suppose I use it as a motivation to 'need' to clean things that I don't really ever want to.

I did get some more ombré earrings made up. I'm not overly keen on the yellow/orange ones, but I had the colors, so I figured I'd make them up anyway. I didn't get any of them listed partly because I got an afternoon headache. In fact I woke up with it this morning as well.

I will try to get these listed in the shop and then I think I need to come up with another new idea to get some attention in my etsy shop. If the general quiet wasn't bad enough, this is the second day in a row that I've had to send a 'please don't sell pieces with my patterns online' message. I hate sending them, but I need to make sure people know that I'm serious when I add that information to my patterns. It's hard enough getting customers without competing with my own designs especially when they haven't even bothered to mention that they were using someone else's design. So to wrap up, if you're new here, please do tat the patterns I have posted for free or am selling at my shop. Please do not sell the finished works online. Make them for yourself, as gifts, or sell them locally, and always remember to credit designers.

Alright, rant over. Here's to a productive day ahead. If nothing else I'm sure the child will make some tatting progress and that's a success I can claim.

Teaching

Well, what an interesting day I had. You might think that as a homeschooling parent, summer would pose no additional challenge for me. This of course, is not true. After months of having a morning prepared for me, I am dangling over the edge with two increasingly bored children. So we've taken up yoga and tai chi in the mornings and they asked me to teach them to tat. That last thing I attempted yesterday.

The oldest child took to it just fine, after a few false starts, but the youngest ended up in a ball of frustration. So I tried a couple of different crafts with her until something made her happy. She landed on loom knitting. I think that the movements of tatting were just too complex for her to get right away and like me, if she isn't immediately good at something she's likely to give up on it forever. I figured shifting gears quickly lets her come back to it when she's ready.

So as you can imagine with all this teaching and some cleaning, it took me some time to get back to the tatted chain earrings. I did get four pairs photographed and listed and I managed to get one more pair in blues made. I still have some threads set aside for a brown version, so I'll make that up today. I also sold one pair! Yes, I'm excited about that. It means I have a purple pair to remake as well and even better, they were sold with a necklace, so I have that in queue to remake as well. Of course I'll have to fit that around the girls crafting and more cleaning, but it's great that they've got something else to do with their summer.

Ombré

Yesterday started out one of my favorite ways, with a sale in my etsy shop. It wasn't anything huge, but it gave me a purpose for the day. It was a pair of my tatted chain earrings that I call The Twenty. So I spent some of my morning remaking a pair for the shop. Of course that was in between the cleaning, laundry and dishes of the morning. When I was done I had an idea that solved my 'tatting without running out of thread' problem that I mentioned yesterday.

I decided to make colored chain earrings. In fact I made three pairs because I was having a good time.  I originally used this technique to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets with them back in early 2012. I think I made them after I played with chainmaille tatting and managed a scarf with it, but I digress.

I still have a couple of colorways I want to do, blues, pinks and browns. I'm not a huge fan of the ombré trend, but I love how these turned out and it lets me use my stash of colors without too much black. So  that's what I'll get up to today. I'll do the other colorways I can find and then get them listed in the shop and hope that other people like it enough to buy them. Now I'm wondering if I should do the bracelets or necklaces this way as well? At least I have something in the queue to get up to right?

Weekend Recap

It was another weekend of no tatting I'm afraid, but I did manage a little on Friday that I can share. When I say little, what I really mean is, just more of the same. I made up some matching earrings for the Woven Rose necklace. Though I did actually get them photographed and listed as well and I suppose that means I was really working on Friday. That's when it all stopped though.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much just family adventuring. With things like grocery runs on Saturday and of course with Father's Day on Sunday, there was movie going and a family get together. My own father is...well, a long story that's less than happy that no one really wants to hear, so it was all about the husband and father-in-law. Luckily, the husband is a good father and we had a nice day.

I am getting a bit worried about the lack of sales in the shop again, though I'm trying not to complain about it too much. Instead we are seriously readjusting our spending to accommodate my much lower income. Hopefully I'll come up with a 'best selling' sort of piece soon or something equally as awesome will happen because I can't afford to buy new supplies without selling more pieces and no new supplies means that I have to stop tatting things for fear of running out of thread. Or at least the thread I most often use. The less used colors will probably be part of the stash forever. Sorry, I'm bordering on being whiny, so I'll stop for now, cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Grays

I managed to do almost nothing yesterday save for the ongoing battle with the ants for ownership of the house. Their numbers appear to be dwindling so I'm hoping I did find their point of ingress and the ones left are merely those left in the walls. With such a long, hot summer ahead, this won't be the last war though.

Well, I did get a few tatting things done during the day. I had an order of earrings that needed to be made in a medium charcoal gray, one of my favorite colors that isn't black. Every time I share these, someone asks for the pattern. The problem with that is, I don't want to share patterns that are worked around certain hardware like ear posts or ring bases because size matters with the design. Plus these contain my somewhat strange method of attachment that is kinda hard to explain through writing and pictures.I guess what I'm trying to say is, it is terribly unlikely that I will be doing so anytime soon.

The only other things I tatted were a couple of Woven Rose motifs in a couple of different thread configurations. This one was done in the Lizbeth Twirlz thread that is currently only available in size 20 so it's smaller than my usual work. Threading this stuff after working with it for awhile is also a little fiddly, but I do love the way it looks. I also made one with a yellow and salmon center and an azalea pink outer layer in n attempt at making it into a flower. Of course I did forget to get a picture of that one. I was starting to get a case of the malaise at this point in the day. I think it might have been a combination of the heat, something I ate and the generally lack of anything exciting to make. I really miss the shop being even a little busy. I'm afraid today will be even more malaise inducing unless something unexpected happens, so here's to the unexpected.

That's Better

It really was a Monday. I felt like I was getting back to work in a 'real' job. There was schooling and every other spare moment I was tatting. I finished up the black necklace early, but the weather was not well suited to taking photos for listing it in the shop. So the necklace, matching earrings and pendant will have to wait until the sun reappears long enough for decent pictures, which may not be today. Next I finished up a pair of navy blue earrings that were ordered late on Sunday. They'll be in the post today.

Most of the day I spent working on snowflakes in various variegated threads. I think I got three and a half worked up before dinner. That's when I got my first sizable order in months. It was just one piece, a pair of my spats/ankle corsets, but it was just what I needed to cheer up a bit. They are already packed and ready to go our this morning, but the order also gives me something large that needs remaking.

So today starts on a great note for me, order in the mail, tatting tasks in queue and new pieces just waiting for the sun. I'm crossing my fingers that this is just the beginning of a great week or better yet, a great month. I thought I'd leave you with what the oldest child did to all the cats yesterday. I think she managed this same torture on four of them, but these two stayed close enough to get photos. They kept these on for hours, though I am fairly certain that they were plotting their revenge the whole time. In fact I better inspect the house closely this morning for surprises.

Sorry

I don't know if you noticed or not, but I was an absent blogger yesterday. We had to go out of town on a day long excursion that involved Silicon Valley traffic and that meant leaving ridiculously early in the morning. So early, that I just couldn't spare the time to blather on about not much. If you did notice, sorry. It was a little uncomfortable for me to skip the task as well.

The day before, however, I did get the new earrings I made listed in the shop. I didn't need to change anything about them from the prototype, expect that I was a little more precise with the picots and tighter with my tension so they'd be a bit stiffer naturally.

I haven't sold anything that I need to make or remake in quite a few days, so I'm really starting to get antsy. I think it won't be long before I just buckle down and work on a big project or remake something that I've been ignoring just to keep busy.

So as you've likely guessed I don't have any plans prepared for today, other than a child's doctor appointment, and the weekend is just as unplanned. Hopefully something will shake loose soon and I can focus on that, whatever it may be.

Spring

Nature had a much busier day yesterday than I did. We had a rather hot day for April and I think it set off a few phenomenon. The most obvious, at least to us, was the hatching of mantis ootheca, or egg cases. Dozens of little baby mantids squirming into the world in a display that would be horrifying if any larger.

We watched this outside and a half dozen extra large carpenter bees that had apparently fallen in love with our Purple Robe Locust tree's blossoms. The part of the morning that wasn't devoted to schooling was spent outside looking at these and other Spring events, then it got warmer and I retreated into the house.

After lunch I got the new necklace listed in the shop. Then it was on to the earrings. I was still debating the thread size, so I hung a prototype from my hoop earring and asked the folk over on Facebook if the size was okay. The generally consensus was that it was a good size. So I went ahead and made two final pieces and after schooling today, they'll get their hardware and get listed as well.

The shop is getting really quiet again, so I don't really have any more tasks in queue. There are still a couple of larger pieces that should be remade, but I'm stalling on those. So here's to something interesting happening today to keep me busy and creative.

SALE Time

Much of the weekend was planned out for us. There was the Doctor Who thing on Saturday that me and the oldest daughter just couldn't miss. That was followed by dinner out of town for my father-in-law's 75th birthday. Sunday was errands in the morning, but by the afternoon, I had a little free time to get tatting.

While I was out in the morning, I promised my nieces that I would make them earrings. The youngest has a Christmas recital and needed earrings to match. Since she's wearing black and white, that's what she requested. Then I offered her sister some as well. I'm always afraid I'm forcing my pieces on relatives as I rarely get an enthusiastic response to them. It's as if they think because I made them myself, it might as well be plastic and yarn hot glued together at camp or something, but I digress.The blue and white ones didn't photograph well, they're actually an ocean teal that she asked for. When I shared these online, someone suggested they'd make a nice broach. It occurred to me that I do have a baggie of pin backs, so no supplies need to be bought to try which means I might give it go later.

After the earrings, I decided to use up some glass beads I had bagged up and made another, metal free, split ring necklace. I actually had just enough beads to make two similar ones. The beads are all a slight bit different so they have that nice random feel and I used some hand dyed thread I've had around for some time. I have some beads in green and I think some blues as well, so if I've nothing else to do, I might get some more variations of this made as well.

The shop still hasn't picked up and honestly, I'm really starting to really stress out about it. The only thing I can think of to do is keep making things. I'm just not good at aggressive marketing, probably because I find it annoying myself. I think I'm going to go ahead and offer up a coupon for the week as well because I can't shop unless other people do. So, for one week only, get 25% off any purchase of $40 or more with the code 'Holiday2013'. The code will expire on the 1st, so use it or lose it. It also occurs to me that many of you tat yourselves, so you might appreciate a coupon good for smaller purchases like patterns, so for that you can have 10% any purchase with the code 'Holiday10'. Again it's only good until the 1st. Please do shop or share the coupons with others who might be so inclined. I really appreciate it!

Earrings

It was another busy day of weaving webs. Seriously, they are tough on my hands, but they look so neat when they're done. I sold one more yesterday morning, so after schooling I got to making again. Then I figured while I was at it, I would go ahead and turn a pair of them into earrings. I'm not certain that I would wear them, mostly because I catch large earrings on my own clothing and everything else I come close too, but they definitely make a statement. I put these ones on some black earwires I had laying around, but I think I only have two more sets of those.

Sales are still really weak, so I don't have any pieces in queue to make. I might make some more dream catchers, just because, but that's about as much of a plan as I have for the day. I though about making them for holiday gifts, but the husband wasn't too enthusiastic about that idea, so I probably won't do that. I was just trying to come up with a less expensive way to gift people for the holidays given that lack of extra cash round these parts. I guess I'll just keep brainstorming until something sounds good. I really don't like forcing my work on people when they're not that interested in it.

I guess that's it then, nothing more to share, or plan. So, here's hoping the day brings something to keep my momentum going because the rainy weather certainly does nothing for my motivation.

Aftermath

Well, it was a pretty low key birthday, mostly no key actually. Just a normal school day, peppered with happy birthday messages at random moments throughout the day, thank you for those. We had a large science experiment set for yesterday and that took up a lot of extra time, but at least it was interesting. By the time that was done I had received one order that needed making and so I spent much of the afternoon tatting up some custom colored earrings. I only wish the color were better on the photo so you could see how much these remind me of peppermint candies.

In all, I got just a few orders and half of them were patterns, which would have been fine with me except etsy recently launched a new toy, Shop Dashboard. It shows you at a glance, real time stats compared to the day before and last year on the same day. I had forgotten what an amazing sale day I had last year. So once compared to a ridiculously successful day, yesterday was a disappointment. I am going to have to be careful with that dashboard, or it's going to depress me something awful.

The evening was capped with Indian takeout and fancy cider. I was filled with joy when the children liked the choices we made for them and delighted when they tried my spicy dish and liked it. Their reactions to the spice were classic, amusing and basically made my day. It may not have been an exciting birthday filled with gifts and grandness, but it was good.

So here we are at the last day of the first week of school and think we're going to make it. I've got a couple of small things to remake today after schooling and then I guess I'll spend the rest of the day playing the video games I got for my birthday, that is of course, unless I get something fresh to make.

Friday Was Good

Friday was nice and productive. I worked up the final version of the bracelet and got it listed. Then went straight to work on the other pieces to match. The pendant was fairly straight forward. I didn't change it anymore than I had already done for the bracelet really. It is pretty large, but I generally don't shy away from large pendants.

The earrings were slightly more difficult. I tried making them exactly the same as the corner bit there, but it really looked ridiculous and not at all jewelry like. So I spent some time playing with stitch counts and moving elements around until they both matched and looked like earring ought to. I think I managed it.

As you probably guessed, I got these and the bracelet all listed on Friday. Then I got a custom order request, that was promptly purchased and I worked on that the rest of the day and into the weekend. I say promptly purchased, because I'm having another one of those bouts of people asking for things, conversing back and forth and measurements and whatnot for days even and then disappearing. It's fine, really, just kind of frustrating.

The rest of the weekend was family adventuring once the last order was done. Now I have just this last week of freedom before I become a teacher to my children for most of the day. I still don't know how I'm going to use my last week, but hopefully there will be something interesting to make it nice.

7th Etsyversary

Yesterday did not really go my way at all. In fact I completely forgot that I wanted to look at my thread inventory. I did look at what I should remake and then proceeded to do none of it. There wasn't much really, except some masks that have remained unmade for quite some time. So then I decided to go ahead and play with the flourishes.

I tried a few other things with them, but most of my 'interesting' ideas failed miserably. In the end there are just this version and then a second where I substitute a zig zag chain on the outside. I haven't decided which I like better as the difference is fairly subtle. I do like how zig zag/Victorians sets break up the uniformity of the chain so I might go with that version. Either way I'll get them turned into earrings today and listed as well as a pendant version...I think.

The only other news today is that it's my 7th anniversary selling my wares on etsy. Anniversaries always make me nostalgic, so I went looking at my first sold pieces and promptly hung my head in shame and wondered a bit how I managed to stick it out so long. Etsy was a different place back then, I would have never been able to sell that stuff if I started with it now. In fact the tatting world is a lot different than it was back then too. I was the only tatter on etsy for one and it was a couple of years before I virtually met another one. My, how times change. So here's to progress and 7 years.

I know I kind of gave up on doing something big for the anniversary, but I can't let it pass without a little something. So today through Sunday evening get 17% off (because 7% would be silly) with the code ANNIVERSARY7 at my etsy shop. I'll also include a FREE flourish pendant as a gift with all orders over $20 as well. You don't need to mention anything to get the free gift, but don't forget the code for the discount.