Shuttle swapping

For those of you who have been reading my blog, you may recall that I decided to swap some decoupaged shuttles. I received my first swap package this week from A Happy Bluebird!


Not only did I receive a beautiful shuttle, I also received some napkins for experimentation!

I discovered that decoupaging with napkins requires a much lighter hand than with scrapbooking paper. This time I decided to use Sew Mate shuttles. I also decided that some "jewels" would add just the right touch of sparkle! I found that the napkin wrinkled more readily than the scrapbooking paper, but I'm pretty pleased with the results of my first experiment with napkins.


Now, maybe I should try some fabric...

Another snowflake

This one's in Heather's Summer Brights, size 40... much smaller than the DMC size 12 perle cotton!

I'm trying to get on a roll with snowflakes, but it's just not happening. Instead, I've started another Spinning Wheel glass mat... I just can't help myself!

Back to basics... again!

For the last few weeks, I just haven't been able to follow a pattern. There's been a lot of start, stop, snip, rip, mumble, grumble... and very little completed tatting! So, I went back to basics... basics for me any way. There's something about Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel glass mat that just soothes my tatting soul. I think I might be ready to try reading a pattern again!

Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting With Visual Patterns by Mary Konior
Lizbeth thread, size 40, color #128
Finished size - 4 3/4"

I hadn't planned on this!

I never expected that my decoupaged shuttles would be swapped so quickly! I'll make some more soon... promise!

Wanna swap?

I finally took some pictures that are decent enough to show off what Denise and I accomplished on Columbus Day... yea! Some have been given away, and we kept the ones we just couldn't part with. I guess you could call these our leftovers! Anyway, if you're interested in a shuttle swap, let me know which one you're interested in. The first to respond for each of these four shuttles will be the one I swap with.



Green floral - swap with H J Hess



Orange floral - swap with Happy Bluebird



Stripes - swap with Zarina



Pink floral - swap with Marty

October snowflake

After several false starts, I finally completed my October snowflake for the One Snowflake A Month challenge over at The Tatting Forums. I think I'll make my picots smaller the next time. It looks like I have little ladders for my chains! This pattern is from DMC Festive Tatting, Motif #11. I used DMC perle cotton, size 12, and it measures 3" across.

For some reason, I've been having a difficult time reading patterns for the past couple of weeks. I tried four or five different snowflake patterns before finally tatting one correctly! Maybe this will be my snowflake pattern for the year, and I'll tat the same pattern in different threads instead of tatting different patterns!

I received an email this morning about an article called "40 iPad Apps That Librarians Love." What a great article! I think some of these apps would be great for anyone. If there are any teachers reading my blog, you may want to check it out as well. Now I want to run out and buy an iPad! Unfortunately, it's not in the budge right now, but it sure is fun to dream about!

It's the little things that count!

Like an unexpected gift from a friend...


Thank you, Fox! I now have a beautiful new shuttle to add to my collection... and, no, I did not have one of these! I love the motif with clunies... inspiration is now close at hand. The buttons are adorable! I'm sure I'll find the perfect use for them!

Or indulging in luxuries!


Thank you for providing such wonderful, inspirational hand-dyed threads, Marilee!



Shirl, I love these up-cycled vinyl record shuttles, and now I'm the lucky owner of a matched pair!

And then, there's always that special eBay purchase!


I know I read about this book online, but I don't remember where or when. The price was right, so I bought it... just because it's blue, and because the little girl on the front reminds me of how little girls looked when I was that age. Today (and most days) I'm feeling like life is pretty good!