Busy, Busy

Well, I have to say that Karma was quite kind to me yesterday. Shortly after schooling wrapped and I started wondering what to do with myself, someone bought a nice big necklace. That gave me something to begin remaking. Then, just as I finished that, I received another small order giving me something else to remake. In fact the whole day was like that. One task completed, one more task added. It was wonderful.

I spent some time drilling holes in all the elytra I had one hand because I had a pair of earrings to remake. I ordered all the supplies I had been stalling on. My supply of clasps, hooks, and jump rings was getting dangerously thin. I also ordered more stickers for my packages. I felt like I was really getting business things done for the first time in a long time.

Right after dinner, I got one last order for the day and it was a custom pair of barefoot sandals. That gave me something to start the day with today. I'm still feeling a bit uneasy about sales, but this time it's because I spent so much money on supplies yesterday. Here's hoping that everything stays this busy or busier for the rest of the season. I much prefer overworked and tired to bored and stressed.

Scallops

As usual, once the idea for a new piece was in my head, little could keep me from playing at it. First I did remake the bracelet for the shop. I even further modified it to a size I liked a bit better than the one custom made. It's still a little big for me, but I have stick wrists, so it should fit an average wrist just fine.

Once that was done, I got to thinking about the idea I had had while writing yesterday morning. I thought that perhaps the necklace would have more presence if I gave it a three motif arch instead of a single pendant like the custom order. It still needed to be adjusted though. The bracelet has three, but it's meant to lay mostly flat. I wanted the ones on the necklace to curve and that meant more join changes and more stitch count changes as well. These are the sort of things I should have mucked with when I first played with the original antique pattern. I must have been feeling particularly lazy then.

As you can see, no hardware on the necklace, so I'll get to that today. Then I suppose I could get back to the mask that needs remaking. It's far too late for it to see Halloween, but I actually tend to sell more masks in late winter for Masquerade balls. Nothing too interesting came along yesterday, so that's all I've got for you.  I'll just keep working and hopefully something new and interesting will pop up this weekend.

New

It was another lovely, busy day and oh, so filled with routine. I did schooling followed by some tatting, lunch followed by some more tatting. I watched shows on the dvr and just kept right on tatting. I did eventually get a little tired of tatting, probably because it's been awhile since I had so much time for it in a row. So the last bit of the evening was mindless computer and game time. I feel quite rested.

One of the things I was working on yesterday was the matching jewelry set I mentioned yesterday. The necklace there is meant to match a pair of earrings. As you can see, I never got around to getting the hardware on the pieces, so that's today's task. The bracelet was meant to be an existing design, but since the customer needed it longer, I took the opportunity to redesign it from the ground up. Sometimes I just get so stubborn about a design and I keep making it the same way even though I know I could probably make it better.

When that happens I eventually get frustrated and let the piece expire out of the store and generally it stays that way. Since someone actually asked for a matching piece, it was my excuse to bring it back from the dead and make it better. I changed the join locations as well as some stitch counts and now it's longer and I think better looking. In fact I should really make another and get it listed in the shop. I'm not sure about the necklace though. While it matches exactly like the customer requested, I probably wouldn't have made it otherwise, it's just...I don't know, not me, but I did just get an idea I might try out.

So today, it's finishing up this order and apparently making another bracelet to list. Then I still have one last mask I want to remake. That should keep me busy for at least one more day. So hopefully something interesting will come along to take care of tomorrow.

Eureka

I don't know if I got the kick in the pants that I needed, but I did manage to get some things done yesterday. In fact right after breakfast I looked over at the bracelet from yesterday and had a eureka moment. I realized exactly what it was missing, cohesiveness. The original was simply the motif joined to two more modified versions of the same. It has so many picots that the join was perfectly solid and sturdy, but it still felt pieced together as an afterthought. So all I did was add some chains between the sections, effectively creating a border that hopefully makes the piece look more finished.

After that was complete it was more errands with the family, this time in preparation for next week. We have four family members staying with us for various time frames over the next week. The first set arrives on Sunday and the rest on Wednesday. They'll all be here through the end of the week. Now you see why I've been cleaning things I'd rather avoid. Speaking of which you'll be happy to know I found a solution to the toilet cleaning, let the much stronger husband use the pumice stone. Though this method did come with taunting afterwards about that being much easier than I let on. Still worth it. Of course I still had plenty left to do myself. I cleaned one room worth of carpets yesterday, but I still have a few more rooms I'd like to at least vacuum. I think I might save the bulk of that for the weekend though, just so that it can't be undone before the guests arrive.

Today we have another teacher meeting, this time for the oldest child. It's early this morning which means school will likely run long so I'm not going to plan any tatting. I'm sure I'll get round to some, but sometimes its best to focus on the tasks at hand and not think past them too far. The worst part about this time of the year is that just when you've finished one task, event, dinner, there is another one just waiting for you. It's a seemingly endless string of stuff to do with very little time to breathe.So we just take big breaths when we can and get to work.

The Weekend

You know that there was something wrong with your weekend when you sit down to write about it and you can't remember accomplishing much of anything. I know I managed to remake a couple of things for the shop...oh, and I made this jewelry set for my niece whose 10th birthday was Saturday. I used Ocean Teal for it, but yet again my camera fails to capture the actual shade and instead it looks just blue. I'm fairly certain that the set will be abused or lost, but what kind of jewelry making Aunt would I be if I didn't attempt to provide the girls in my life with such things.

So, much of Saturday was errand running and a birthday party. Well that and some more cleaning. We have hard water issues around here and that coupled with my desire to not clean certain things like toilets resulted in those nasty rings that can only be removed with pumice. I tell you this only because after that cleaning my hands, specifically my thumbs were ridiculously sore. They were so sore in fact that when I sat down to do a little tatting, they objected, loudly. They're still sore this morning and my tatting speed has slowed to accommodate this. I will of course be more proactive with cleaning from now on to avoid this in the future, but who knew cleaning would affect my ability to tat.

Sunday brought more errands as the temperature around these parts dropped dramatically in the last few days and it became apparent that the children were in need of warmer clothing. The youngest sports an impressive wardrobe of hand me down shirts, but pants are needed because her sister is a knee destroyer and the oldest needs everything having grown quite a lot. Shopping like this, while necessary, makes me painfully aware of the slowness of the shop. Aside from the the one off pieces, I've sold about as much as I would in February when no one is shopping and I still have my own holiday shopping to tackle. Sorry to whine, but the stress level is rising and this is, after all, my place to vent. I did sit down to make this out of the motif I shared before. I don't know if I'm going to bother listing it though. It doesn't seem quite right yet. Or maybe it's just good old self doubt settling in. Aren't the holidays the funnest emotional roller coaster?

There's no school today and the husband is off work, but there are no real plans for the day. I still have a couple of pieces waiting to be remade and maybe I'll work on whatever is bothering me about this bracelet. Or maybe I'll try and make another one off piece in the hopes of drawing more attention to the shop. There's also still cleaning that needs doing. Of course it's just as likely that I'll let my general malaise drag me down into a lazy ball and nothing will be done. Here's hoping for a kick in the pants.

One Of A Kind Giveaway

Well I did nothing interesting yesterday, at least tatting wise. The family time was lovely though. Swimming, food, fireworks, cursing at the no fewer than three huge groups of college kids in the neighborhood surrounding us in a cocoon of bad decisions and fire. I said there might be a giveaway today and there shall be one.

I have an increasing number of one of a kind pieces that I have been letting expire from my etsy shop, so the deal is this: The more people who enter the more pieces I give away. After the first 25 people(not entries) I add a new prize, after the next 25 a new prize and that will keep going until Monday morning when I pull the winners with a maximum of six prizes.

What are the prizes? Let's see...I think we'll start with the earrings:










 After that it will be this necklace:

Edited to add: The third prize, this bracelet has been unlocked!

I will edit this post to add pictures of the other pieces which include a bracelet and a few more necklaces as they are unlocked.

Oh, right, how to enter. Just leave a comment here for one entry. You can get additional entries by following me on twitter, liking my facebook page and if you already do those things you can get an additional entry for posting about the giveaway either place. Please leave all your entries in one comment so they're easier for me to count and make certain I can contact you. If there is no easily found email on your blogger account, leave a twitter handle, etsy name or email in your comment. If you don't, you can't win. Remember the prize count is contingent on the number of people who enter, not the number of entries. The giveaway is open to everyone and the winners will be posted in Monday mornings blog post so you have the weekend to enter.

Also anyone who enters and then makes a purchase from my etsy shop during the giveaway time period will be treated to a free gift with their order. Just mention the giveaway at checkout.

Good luck and get lots of people over here to enter!

So Many Chains

I think I did it again. You know, went overboard making a piece that I really like, but I might be the only one. I do this often especially if the piece is easy to make. I'll whip up a bunch in different colors and they'll just sit in the shop, relatively unloved and definitely unsold. The last time was when I made a bunch of bracelets in comic book character colors. I made like seven of them and I still haven't sold one. It also looks like seven is my number too because I made seven of these pieces as well. Though at least this time it's necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I know it's really way too early for me to start all this negativity, but when I listed them all yesterday, they weren't praised. I know, I know, it's ridiculous for me to expect people to fawn over everything I make, but if you've been around a while you know I have an ego that likes to be fed. Luckily, I am bigger than that ego and I still like the pieces...though I have promised myself that I will make no more of them until they start selling or they are requested.

I had another of those weird, 'something's off' days again too. I don't know if it's the weather, the impending tax season or some mysterious entity that's got me all weird, but I think that was a contributing factor in the sentiment I just wrote. I must, however, keep moving on even if I have no clue where I'm going today. There are still pieces that need remaking that I haven't gotten to yet, so that's likely what I'll get up to today. I am really fiending to make more chains, but at this point I've accepted that that is counterproductive, so remaking it is. I'm hoping today is one of those pleasant surprises sort of days...yeah, that would be nice.

Deconstructing Doilies

So, let's see...I finished up the new cuff design. It was not a well received as the first, but I like it. This of course means that if it manages to remain unsold for four months, it is mine. I like the way it comes over my hand a bit and it's comfy.

I managed to also get a couple of snowflakes made for the coffers. I meant to take a picture of them so you'd have an idea what I was yammering on about, but I didn't. I guess I save those for when I am ready to start giving them away. Then I got an idea in my head regarding the first doily bracelet design...start the deconstructing.

First I went with a simple center piece that should make a lovely dense pendant. That was of course simple, but then I started to deconstruct for a potential pair of earrings and that took several iterations, including these two to get what felt right. One was too wide, one too narrow. In the end I settled for four outer rings. This in interesting only because I fought it. I hate round numbers in jewelry...I have no idea why, but they turned out great with the blasphemous four.

Then I wanted to add something to them and asked the internet, coins or bells? Apparently there is no easy answer to this question. The answers were very mixed and so in the end I decided to make it both ways. One pair with coins, one pair with bells. I'm, not quite finished with the last pair, so that's what I'll get done today. Then I'll get the lot of them all listed and I was thinking about making the same pieces in color, though what color, I don't know yet. I will certainly take opinions on that matter. What other colors look good with tribal, bell dance type outfits? Well, I guess that's it for me, have a great weekend all.

Tatted and Chained Shoulder Jewelry

Here's what's sad about yesterday morning. I had put in a request for a tech to fix my TV online the evening before. I assumed after the horrible reviews of their service I'd read everywhere that I wouldn't get said tech, but I did. He was on time, fast, friendly and efficient. Our problem was fixed in about an hour and I was horrifyingly shocked by this. What's sad is that the state of customer service is so bad that him just showing up impressed me. I think some of the problem may just be the that the loudest voices are usually those complaining which skews the available information their way. If you're happy, you don't blog about it or post in forums...you do that when you're mad. So for the record, AT&T Uverse customer service was wonderful here and I am still glad to be their customer.

Now back to stuff you care about, tatting. and my newest piece of shoulder jewelry. Yesterday I just needed to get some chain lengths right and I though I might add some crystals to the piece, but decided against it after much staring and stalling. Without embellishment, the piece is fully reversible to either shoulder saving me from asking which they'd like and changing the chains to clasp in the right place. I also got much help from twitter working out a name for the piece. There was some suggestion that I call it an epaulet, but I'm not really fond of that work and it just makes me thing of gold fringed shoulder pads, so I went with shoulder adornment instead.

The piece clasps around the neck and it's just the weight of the chains that holds it in place. I wouldn't jump about or run with it on and expect it to stay, but it behaved fairly well as I just walked around the house and did the photo shoot with it. It can also be worn as a long and over the top necklace. My husband says it looks very 'final fantasy', like magic shoulder armor which makes me want to do one with more coverage, like a cup over the shoulder. If I get around to that one, it will likely be the one to get all the embellishments, but who knows when that will happen. I promised myself I would actually get a few pieces remade this morning and as you might guess this weekend is already a bit booked with family activities so tatting is on the back burner.

Thanks again for all the giveaway entries I will be choosing the winner later this morning and I will post another blog entry with that info as soon as I have it. It's quite a list to work through so I definitely wasn't going to get it done at 5 in the morning. I guess that's it for now.

Assumptions

It occurred to me on Friday that I may have made some incorrect assumptions regarding the timeline for my secret project. Aside from one short conversation with my contact, I've heard nothing since I delivered my pieces and I have been merely tracking news of it online. Yes, it is big enough that I can do that. Anyway I assumed based on some information I found that things would be revealed this week, but have since learned that may not be the case. The last bit of semi-reliable information came in the form of 'sometime late this month'. It's likely that you and I both will discover at the same time whether or not my pieces were actually used with any prominence. So again, sorry for all the teasing, but we've waited this long, what's another couple of weeks, right?

I did get some work done over the weekend. The necklace I showed you on Friday was finished and listed. I enjoyed the look of the silver beads dotting the edge so much that I made a second necklace with the same effect. It also gave me a chance to successfully use the frilled node stitch that has been eating at my brain since Marliee's teardrop set. I started with a bit of a vintage edging. I had to really redo the stitch counts to make it lay well and I changed all the chains to the node stitch or Victorian sets adding in the silver beads.

Once that one was done I had one of my sepia pieces to remake and that sent me down the path of doing both of the newest necklace in browns. I had to pop by Michael's for some brassy seed beads to make them, but I should have both of them done and listed later today. I also have one small custom order to work on today and of course the rest of the week is wholly uncertain due to jury duty that starts tomorrow. I am really crossing my fingers that it's only a few days as I really don't want it to affect my daughter's schooling, nor my business. I had postponed my service to this week because it's her vacation so hopefully that works out okay.

Ah, Wednesday

I'm up at an even more ridiculous hour than usual today, I had to 'help out' the tooth fairy since the husband has been out of town since Sunday and the oldest child had her loose tooth knocked out by one of the kittens yesterday. Yes, I am aware that sounds odd. She was holding said kitten and as he struggled to get away, he head butted her in the mouth and tooth gone. We're now calling her toothless as see is currently missing both top front teeth...it's a classic. Yes, I could have 'helped' in the middle of the night, but I have a horrible time getting back to sleep once awake. I also cannot nap, so I'm up at four and I'm staying up.

Yesterday had a bit of an odd feeling as well. I took my mask to the post office and said goodbye to it for the last time. It was actually sort of anticlimactic as I just returned home and started back to work on remaking things. Then when I had a bit of light, I got the pictures taken of the brown ring piece. The large center ring makes this one huge. I did also try to mimic more of a gear teeth look with a few of them. The effect seems to be best from a distance as the floweriness seems to take over closeup. Either way, these are fun to make and I think I might have to acquire more rings.

Speaking of acquiring things, I think I should take some time to do some more supply orders. I am getting dangerously close to the end of my massive black thread box. I am also running low on my package stickers and business cards. Those are the things I always stall on. I wonder if I should change them, then decide it's okay, then I worry because if I don't change them I won't be able to until I'm running out again as I buy in bulk. Of course all this back and forth merely results in me actually running out before supplies are replenished and me mentally kicking myself yet again. So yes, that is what I will do today. I will make some decisions and get things ordered and if I don't tell you I did these things tomorrow, feel free to give me what for.

The Purple Cabochon

From a pure productivity stance, I had a near perfect day yesterday. I got most of a mask remade before I even started schooling. Then after I finished that, the sun had burned off enough fog to get pictures of the two new pieces. I got one of those listed, saved the second for today and then started to work on another one. My grandfather went out a couple of times during the day to adventure which allowed me time to run around and get a few other things done unencumbered. I even managed to get the dishes and laundry done and by the time I had wrapped up the new piece and my house tasks I received an order that needed making, keeping me busy the rest of the day.

So back to the new tatting. I had received these filigree settings for cabochons in a previous grab bag, so I bought some cabs to go in them. I initially intended to make a repeatable design, but I found some more copper filigree bits in the grab bag and another one of a kind piece was born. The stone was called 'mountain jade' which I have a feeling translates to, dyed piece of rock, but it's a pretty purple. I got some in green and red as well, but I have used up all the filigree pieces that match as well as all the copper chain I had, so the next cab piece will likely be pretty different. I also used some flora thread I had bought on a color searching whim. It's not my favorite thread to work with, but again the color was perfect.

While I was working on the new piece, I also managed to break a size 9 steel crochet hook. The hook tip just snapped right off and shot into my lap. So that makes a crochet hook and a tatting needle that I have managed to snap in twain. Either I am much stronger than I look or I have used these things to their literal breaking point. I guess I need to shop for some stronger tools...or work less. Yeah, I'm shopping. I'm using the size 8 now, but if that one goes, I will have a seriously bad day.

Tonight I'm hosting the family dinner for everyone to spend time with Grandpa, so I might try to get some cleaning done, though I have really let go of the illusion that the house stays clean for family. I mean really, these are the people who lived through all the messes of my childhood. I can't really be fooling anyone with a temporarily clean floor so do I really need to bother. I already got all the listing pictures taken for the new purple piece, so that one and the other one from the day before should get listed today and I will be working on the order I got yesterday evening for the rest of the day. Maybe I'll get to play with another cab, but who really knows?

900

Yeah, you knew it was coming. Yesterday, late in the afternoon I received my 900th sale. Then as evening worn on two more graced me. So, I'm well on my way to my next goal, the illusive and coveted 1000 sales. When I set up my last group of unrealistic goals that was a larger than life one. With the end of the holiday shopping season looming it is unlikely to be achieved by the end of the year as I had set forth, but I'm still very pleased at how far I've come in recent months. My other goal was reached not too long ago too. That one was to hit 5000 hearts on my etsy store by the end of the year and I'm close to getting 5200 at this point. In fact the only goal that I placed upon myself that has yet to manifest, is the big celebrity client that gets my pieces photographed or on the big screen. So we'll just shift that one to next year and cross our fingers shall we.

I did get photos of the purple set I went on about yesterday, though the weather and my enormous cold sore precluded me from getting modeled shots at least they are done and listed. They were a frustrating set to create mostly because of the amethyst pieces. They are side drilled at seemingly random spots at the tip, so I had to get more creative with the wire wrapping than I actually possess the skills for. Seriously, there were teeth involved and one amethyst did not survive the process. Apparently they are more fragile than I thought when I started. So as you can imagine I will not be making any more just like these, though I think I might make some more sets in other colors with other bits I've not used yet.

I'm on a steady diet of remaking sold pieces trying to alternate between larger ones and smaller ones to get them listed as quickly as I can. I know I could just list them all as customs and then work on them, but at this time of year having customs listed is almost useless for sales as people haven't much time to wait for things. So, I'll just keep plugging along hoping I pick the best pieces to remake first before the magic window of online holiday shopping closes for the season and I have to get used to a sale every other day...or so. I'm just prepping myself now for the downturn so I don't totally freak out and oh crap...is this another cold sore? I hate winter.

Spider

It's going to get really real over at my place soon. My 5 year old in now officially enrolled in the virtual academy. I've received a call from her assigned teacher, whom I get to meet next week and her materials should arrive early next week. This means my lackadaisical approach to homeschooling will now be overseen by an actual public school entity. Part of me dreads the attention and another part of me welcomes the support. At least if I fail, it's only kindergarten and I won't have caused and irreparable scars to my child. I know I can put in the hours for her, but I'm fairly certain they will now be in a nice little scheduled block. Just having the two year old to look after will take care of that. I guess the only thing for it, is to give it a go.

The children went off with their grandparents yesterday for lunch and visiting. This left me all by my lonesome and aside from freaking out a bit over the schooling thing all I did was catch up on television I'd been dvr'ing for weeks. I did work on the ankle corsets some more, but decided to take a break to make something new. Well, now to be honest, it the worlds second easiest tatting pattern, the first being the flower doodle and well everyone has made one I'm sure, so new it's not. All I did was add a small ring to the other side of the web to attach the spider to metal necklace and there you have it, a spider necklace. Simple as a dimple. If you haven't made one of these doodles yet, give it a try. All you need to do is make a ring of whatever amount of double stitches you like with 4 really long picots, close with a long tail, then cut the picots to make the legs. Perfect little Halloween decoration. Of course you could add a second ring for a more elaborate spider, which is what I plan to do for the next necklace.

Metal & Lace

Another day, another long day. Started education for the 5 year old. Though that's not entirely accurate as I've been teaching her informally, you know like a mom should, since she cared to learn anything. This was a bit different and the challenges tot he process began to reveal themselves. First, her sister...who would like to do everything her sister does. No, that's not a bad thing really, but means I need to get two of everything so she can have the same stuff as sissy. Other challenges include, the household chores that still need to be done, sorry kids, I have to change the litter now, keep writing. You get the idea. Then there's the simple issue of keeping both myself and her motivated for such a large chunk of time. I'm sure we'll ease into it, but I don't get how it's possible with one adult and 30 of these small kids...what brave people kindergarten teachers must be.

During nap time, I got to again work on my challenge piece for the steam team. I guess I was particularly excited because I actually finished the piece already. I ended up choosing to modify the same pattern as the "chain" for the center section. I then decided it needed something to hand from the bottom. This meant a search through my bin of supplies. After much digging, I opted for a couple of gray swarovski rounds for the sides and did my best impression of a wire wrapper to add them. It still needed something at this point, so i dug some more and found a large clear crystal drop. I did an awful, but utilitarian impression of a wire wrapper and added it to the center flower.

I was going to stop there, but decided to go ahead, iron up the sucker, get a clasp on it and get a few real pictures. It might sound weird given the huge and elaborate collars I make, but I was afraid this one was a bit much. It's bold, long and a bit heavy, but I really do like the way it turned out. My husband still thinks I ought to add crystals to the divots in the filigree piece, but that's another skill set, like wire wrapping, that I don't yet really possess. I think it looks fine the way it is honestly.

The necklace has put me in a pricing quandary, which is why it's not listed for sale yet. I rarely make pieces with so many components. Hell, I don't even remember where I got that crystal let alone how much the thing cost me. It took a couple of days to make, but that was more design time than actual tatting. So, I have no idea when I'll work that out and get it in the etsy store. There are a couple more pictures of the piece on my flickr if you'd like to see more of the piece until it gets to etsy.

Not sure what I'll work on today. I sold a mask that need remaking, but I also need to run a few errands. I can't remember how long it took for me to settle after I moved the last time, but I'm ready for all this address changing and home improvement store tripping to fade away. Yeah, I know, it's gonna be a while.

What's In A Name?

From tattoos to actual tatting. I was in a surly mood yesterday from lack of a good night sleep. I had suffered from what I like to call busy brain. You know, when you've got a dozen different things to think about so your brain decides to get it all out of the way at once. Yeah, yesterday was not my finest hour. I worked on my newest goal, which is to get everything in the shop made and get rid of those pesky 'custom order' listings. I was rounding the finish line with just one mask left to make when I began stalling.

I even went so far as to bust out my vintage tatting books to find something new to make, something simple. So I made a new pendant from a square motif I found. Then I decided to create a bracelet design using the motif in a different way. Setting the center one as a diamond and the two side ones as squares I added another clover on each side to attach the hook and here we have a new unnamed design.

Since I was feeling so very meh, my creativity level was way down. Sure I managed the design, but it's got no name. I have the single motif pendant and the bracelet finished and awaiting listing save for that tiny detail. So, my friends, please pitch me some name ideas so I can get this sucker listed. I'll do my part and get some pictures done and then it's back to making some sold pieces while I await your creative input.

A Win For The Day

I had quite a productive Monday, well for me anyway. I was determined to get a few things done and now that all this birthday nonsense is over I had no excuse. The sun was shining and I got pictures of my newest Steampunk creation. I really do like the way it looks, but I shall endeavour to save it for the Maker Faire. Then I sat down determined to figure out the best way to attach a flower and feathers to a hair comb. I had just about settled on the hot glue after a few failed attempts, then I turned to my old friend, the google search. Low and behold it resulted in a very explicit tutorial on making a feather fascinator, perfect.

The process was touchy, but had a great result. Using a sewing needle and heavy duty black thread, I wrapped a few feathers together piercing through the stalks for security. Once I had a nice bundle I wrapped the whole thing onto the comb. Taking the thread back to the end, I sewed on the flower. I had used some metallic embroidery thread in a deep brown for the flower, so it has it's own sparkle without adding any crystals. The whole thing seems rather sturdy and I'm fairly confident that I can repeat the procedure. This one is going to the Maker Faire as well, but I might be able to make up some to list soon.

I kept stalling, but I have started making masks again. I'm starting with As The World Falls Down, then I think I'll get a Babe With The Power done before moving on to the beaded ones. I really don't like working with beads. It might enhance the tatting, but it's just one more step to every section that slows me down and offers another opportunity for mistakes. I also got some scary paperwork done and I'm calling this a win for the day.

I'm No Expert

I have a confession, I was a geek. Well, that's not quite true, I was actually a nerd. A stringy haired, thick glasses wearing, too smart for my own good nerd. While I eventually grew into a, shall we say, freak, I spent most of my youth firmly planted in Nerdland. I was mocked, tortured and teased, but none of that kept me from being a know-it-all. I had no problem sharing knowledge with anyone no matter how inappropriate the situation or how much I actually knew. As I grew, I learned to qualify my statements so that it was clear that I knew there was a chance that I was wrong. I now try my hardest to not talk down to people and to never mislead people into thinking that I know more than I actually do.

I believe giving you this background will help you understand why it is that I am so confused. You see, people keep thinking that I am an expert or authority on both tatting and jewelry. Etsy is full of people with amazing resumes, they've attended fashion and art schools, been published and taught, they've gone through apprenticeships and earned their knowledge through years of hard work. I am not one of them. I taught myself tatting just a few years ago with the help of a book and the Internet. I have zero education in the jewelry field. It took my months just to figure out what a headpin was for and I know nothing of color theory or design fundamentals. I am just simply muddling through.

I continue to get questions and comments that infer that I know much more than I really do. I find myself wondering how it is that I have given the impression that I have all the answers. I really have tried to be upfront about my qualifications, yet they keep asking. Oh, I do answer the questions, but not without a thorough Google search. I do have the skill necessary to find the answers, but I am still perplexed. What is it that I do or say that inspires this faith in my knowledge? I suppose I should be happy that people trust me and look to me for answers, it is certainly better than being called four eyes every time I answer a question.