Today's mail

...included my shuttle exchange from TypsTatting! I love the thread colors, and I'm amazed that anyone can decorate shuttles with such tiny little bits. I LOVE it. Thank you TypsTatting!

At last!

My dry spell appears to be over! I've managed to tat two snowflakes without any major snafus! These are Motif #11 from DMC Festive Tatting. I used size 20 Lizbeth, color #670 and #685.

I've probably thrown away 5 or 6 snowflakes in the past couple of weeks. I messed them up so badly that I didn't want to even try to fix them. It's really very discouraging to mess up simple patterns over and over again!

Now, to work on my very soothing Spinning Wheel glass mat... it's halfway done with no mistakes!

Mad about plaid!

I LOVE plaid! I believe my first pair of glasses were plaid... it's hard to remember... I was 3 1/2 at the time. In high school, pastel plaid skirts were very popular, and although I never owned one, I thought they were beautiful! My senior year in high school, I made myself a plaid jumper to wear to church for Christmas Eve services... one of my mother's friends made the same jumper pattern out of the same fabric... Mom said it showed that we both had good taste! When I was in college, my mom made a long plaid skirt for me to wear to a Christmas party. When my first granddaughter was born, I made plaid receiving blankets for her. My favorite wool throw is plaid. Need I go on?

So, when I saw this plaid Christmas fabric, I thought it would be perfect for decoupaged shuttles. These were going to be Christmas presents, but I like them so much, I think I may keep them for myself... I know that's extremely selfish, but that's how I feel!


I chose to align the plaid differently on each side. I am so pleased with the way these turned out!


Now I think I can stop bidding on those plaid shuttles that I can't really afford! : )

A shuttle swap thank-you!

I had so much fun swapping my decoupaged shuttles! Thank you to everyone who chose to swap with me!

Tattabugg sent this beautiful pink shuttle, a thread sample, and a gorgeous butterfly. To top it all off, she made the gorgeous card with tatted leaves.


I am honored that Bonnie sent me her very first blinged shuttles. Didn't she do a great job? I love the colors!


Val blinged this little beauty with tiny decorations. I don't know how she does it! I've tried adding nail art decorations, and I feel like I'm all fumble fingers.


Zarina sent me some of her beautiful hand-dyed thread. I asked for one skein in exchange, and she surprised me with two!


I was also pleasantly surprised with two colors of HDT from Marty. Now I get to try out her sister's thread that she's been bragging about!


...and can you believe this card? Marty even composed a poem just for me!


Thank you everyone! This has been so much fun! I now have a new addiction... swapping!

Mod Podge Crazy!

Yes, I have been tatting, but I haven't completed anything. I have three almost finished projects, but I'll save them for another day. When I take a break from tatting, I knit or decoupage! Here are my latest pieces...


Pastel Clover shuttles decoupaged with origami paper.


Side one of Sew Mate shuttles with no point, decoupaged with origami paper.


Side two of Sew Mate shuttles with no point, decoupaged with origami paper.


Sew Mate shuttles decoupaged with decorative napkins and bejeweled.


Side one of Tatsy shuttles decoupaged with origami paper.


Side two of Tatsy shuttles decoupaged with origami paper.

I'm looking forward to trying the Tatsy shuttles. I like that I can wind a full skein of HDT on one shuttle, but I don't like the fact that the thread catches on the raised letters. Looks like that problem might be solved!

Ready for another swap

With the last swap, I was open to anything tatting related. This time I'd like to swap for decorated shuttles. Are you interested?


I think this pink shuttle is my favorite in this batch. Marty asked if the thread caught on the "jewels." I couldn't honestly answer, because I hadn't tried the shuttles out. So, last night I tatted a Stumpy motif. There are three coats of Mod Podge and a coat of sealer. I had no problem with the thread catching, so I think all those coats are doing their job! ~ swap with tattabugg


It's hard to tell with the sun shining on this amber colored shuttle, but I used a wine theme napkin. I think it's really pretty! ~ for Lace Rn


Maybe the purple one's my favorite! This is the one that caught Marty's eye! ~ swap with TypsTatting


Lily said she was "green with envy" over this one. It is pretty! ~ swap with Lily


Although I love the teal shuttle, this is my least favorite of the group. The napkins become translucent with the Mod Podge. It's hard to tell, but this side has coffee beans. Since you can see through the Sew Mate shuttles, I should have decoupaged only one side.


I love the back side... coffee shows up so clearly! This should have been the top. ~ for Val

Anyway, if you're interested in swapping one of these shuttles for one of your decorated shuttles, please leave a comment. As before, I'll swap with the first person to leave a comment for each color.

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...