New Project Part 1: The Sneak Peek

~Sneak peek~

For Part 2 click here.
 

Last week I had a fun new idea involving fabric and tatting. I'm not going to reveal all quite yet but here are a few pictures to whet your appetite.

I started by tatting a 'branch' motif. This was my first time using three threads together and I was very happy when I'd worked out a method for this. After finishing the design I then pulled out my long neglected embroidery hoop and started sewing the lace to some fabric. Next up - butterflies:

I now have some cutting and gluing to do.

I'm so excited to show you the finished item and I hope you love it. I aim to have it finished by the end of this week.

Heather x

By Jove, I think I've got it!

My many hours of trying to design a choker have ended. I think I've finally got it!

Ta da! One gothic choker:

This piece has practically taken forever to get right. You may remember a prototype I showed you some time ago. Well I realised that the satin ribbon wasn't working well with the sewing machine; it kept shifting. This got me thinking about other types of ribbon. I needed something stiffer. I decided on velvet for the front and satin for the back, which creates a nice soft feel for the neck. This pattern was my first attempt at Celtic tatting. I weaved together two lots of tatting as I went. I do have an idea for a bracelet but whether it will work is a different matter. I think I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! As you can see I've sewn in beads at the base to add to the gothic feeling of the piece.

Due to it's length I may have to create something to store it in, as the jewellery boxes I have are too small. At the moment I'm thinking of sewing up a long thin pouch with a flap and ribbon to tie it up. I had thought about bending it into a circle and therefore store it like that in a lage square box but I think the beads at the base need to be flat. I can't seem to find anything that would do so I'm back to making it. I'd love to know if any of you out there have any suggestions.

Once the pouch is made I can list this!

Have a great Tuesday,

Heather x

More Tatting!

Hello. How is everyone on this beautifully sunny day? Well it's been a very busy couple of days for me. I have quite a few new pieces in the pipeline, most of these are earrings. I recently bought some more balls of crochet cotton. I now have a dusky pink, a mid blue and a brown. I've also bought my first skein of hand dyed thread from a fellow tatter. I'll probably tat a one of a kind item in this. At the moment I'm just trying to think of a suitable desgin. I'll keep you posted.

Remember the fantasy cuff from the previous blog post? Well I finished it off and listed it (and on Folksy too).

I added quite a few Swarovski Crystals to give it a nice sparkle. This would look so beautiful at a wedding or at a prom! I'm working on the gothic version at the moment.

I've also listed a bridal necklace on Etsy:

Yesterday I thought up a pattern that might work. The picture below shows how it is at the moment. What do you think? I'm trying it out as a bracelet but I think this design also has potential as other pieces of jewellery. Oh and yes that is one of the shuttles I like to use.

I hope this idea works!

More items coming soon,

Heather xxx

Updates!

Good morning. I've been adding some items to my shops. These are a few pairs of earrings using the same pattern. It's quite a simple design but effective nonetheless. The first pair was tatted in lilac cotton thread and featured clear Swarovski Crystals. Find it on Etsy and Folksy.

The next is in black with amethyst crystals:

Find it here and in pounds here. The final pair is in white with light rose crystals:

Check it out here and here. I've decided to call this design Fleur as they remind me of flowers. These would make a nice inclusion to any outfit. I'm thinking of doing an all black pair and maybe black with red crystals.

At the moment I'm working on a fantasy cuff in lilac and white cotton thread. Here it is at the moment:

Today I shall be adding crystals to some of the rings to give it more of a magical, mystical feeling. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

x

A great day for high fantasy!

Hello. I'm on cloud nine at the moment and I may be on it for some time. This is all to do with my passion for Geroge R.R. Martin's medieval fantasy epic that is A Song Of Ice And Fire. Think Lord of the Rings but with no orcs or elves and little magic. I mentioned some time ago that they were filming the pilot for HBO. Well HBO decided to wait until March to say if they would commission the rest of the series or not. After a nervous wait they finally made their decision last night. They've said yes and we are now guaranteed at least one series. The title 'Game Of Thrones' is the name of the first novel. Look out for this TV adaptation next Spring. I'm so hyper!

On to craft matters: I was included in this lovely UK treasury. You can click the picture to see the details of the other sellers. Thank you artangel.

I also made a treasury 'Gorgeous Golds' but neglected to put it up on here so here it is:

Yesterday I had a lovely convo saying I had been included on Cuteable.com . Thank you very much for this!

Today has been spent tatting two projects full of seed beads. I'm not going to say too much but here is a sneak peek of one of them.

Don't forget The Mad March SALE happening in my Etsy shop. 15% off all items (excluding shipping). The prices have already been ajdusted. Hurry this will only last until next Monday morning (UK time)!

x

A few updates

Hello. How are we all on this cold morning? I've listed the gothic version of my Elaine pendant on Etsy. I decided to add several red seed beads to make it stand out. Click here to see the item.

I've started on the necklace that matches my Lillian earrings and bracelet. I shall hopefully be able to show you soon. I'm also working on large project that involves lots of ribbon and beads. It may or may not work but we shall see.

Right back to the tatting for me. I may be listing a pair of gothic earrings later so I shall blog again later today.

x

One step closer to earrings at TataniaRosa

Good evening. It's not getting any warmer out there! Anyway I thought I'd update you as to where I am with my tatting projects.

Earrings

We are now a few days away from earrings at my Etsy shop. The earring components have been ordered. I've got a few designs all ready and more will be tatted soon. Most of these will have matching necklaces / pendants and bracelets. I can't wait to show you the results!

Choker

We've found some of that material we were searching for. I'm going to try it out tomorrow and see what happens! If this does work I will try to list some chokers by the end of next week, and maybe something else which uses a similar design. You'll have to wait and see!

That's it for today. I'll keep you informed of how these projects progress. Untill then, stay warm.

x

My choker idea

Good evening. You remember I mentioned yesterday about some ideas I was working on? Well today I decided to focus on the second idea - a choker. I can't say too much at the moment as I want it to be a surprise!

This morning I tatted a length of one of my patterns and then started sewing. I don't usually do much of this. I think the last time I did a sewing project was in about Year 9 at school!

This choker has a few layers to it. I've finished the second layer and soon I shall start on the third. I hope to show you some pictures tomorrow. This is very much a work in progress at the moment so it may not work but I won't know unless I try. I can't wait to finish it. This choker idea might mean I can kill two birds with one stone but more on that later!

If this does work it may mean a trip to our local haberdashery for more colours.

On another note, I'm so close to 500 followers at my Facebook fan page. Thank you very much to those who are fans. It is greatly appreciated. To those of you who haven't yet, come and join the fun!

Have a lovely day / evening.

Heather x

First treasury of 2010 and a few updates

I've created my first treasury of 2010. I decided to go all blue (which just happens to be one of my favourite colours!) and went for 'Royal Blue' as the title. Please click the link and enjoy.

I'm in the process of getting some new items ready for my Etsy shop. I shall start listing them this coming Friday! I'm really excited about these new pieces of jewellery and I can't wait for you to see them. I hope you like them.

I had a great idea today for some earrings. This is the first time I've thought about this and I hope it works. I shall try tomorrow and may even be able to give you a sneak peek!

On another note, have you heard about 'Link Love' on Facebook? Artisans have started discussions on their Facebook fan pages where people can post links to Etsy shops, twitter etc. It's a great way to find other creative people and the idea has really taken off. I too have these discussions going on in my own fan page. Please click and have a look. You may find some truly great people through this. 

I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow of my new idea.

Heather x

Happy New Year!

I've decided to do a little update this week. My top films and albums of this year will be up by next week.

This evening I reached 201 shop hearts in my Etsy shop. Thank you very much to those who have hearted my work. It means a lot!

I've been hard at work on some new designs for 2010. I created about four pages of doodles the other day so I've been going through them to see what works. Most of them are large motifs so I may be able to make them into chokers. I've already given you a glimpse of one of my new ideas (the tudor tatting prototype from two posts back). I hope to create others similar to this. Watch this space!

Lastly I've been included in a fantastic treasury. It ends Thursday so you'll have to be quick if you want a look. Here's the link  

Happy New Year!

Heather x

Tudor Tatting: A Work In Progress Part 3

I've finished it! Something as big as this takes a lot of concentration. I did make a mistake earlier on but thankfully I was able to rectify it without having to go back too far. I love the final piece and I hope you will too. Here it is:

What do you think? I've attached it to a sheer organza black ribbon. I'm tempted to tat an extra ring at the top right and left to make the sides more rigid but I'll have to think about that. The great thing about tatting is that it is so light, so even though this motif is quite large, it still weights next to nothing.

I'm trying some new thread out at the moment and if it works I might even do this in that colour. This is another thing to think about.

I'll continue creating things tomorrow. Enjoy the snow if you have it.

Heather x

Tudor Tatting: A Work in Progress Part 2

Good evening. Brrr it's cold. We are hopefully getting some snow soon but who knows. I shall now continue with my work in progress.

The outer motif 

I've decided to use claret and black for the outer motif. Here is the start of it. The black really gives it a nice border. As you can see, I've used the same motif as in the middle.

Here is where I am up to at the moment. I decided to add glass teardrop beads to give it a truly Tudor feel. This motif is quite large so it will definitely have to be a choker rather than a necklace.

What do you think so far? This would also look great in black. Once I've finished the prototype I shall do it in other colours. 

Have a great day.

Heather x

A lovely treasury and more tatting

Good evening. First of all I'd like to say a big thank you to Sandra Darling for including me in her new treasury. It really means a lot to me. Check out her shop. She mostly does fine art and potography. I found her shop a few days ago and I love all of it. Her prints have an elegant and ethereal touch to them. My favourite has to be Sub Rosa III . It is looks so delicate and makes me think of medieval and gothic stories. They really are beautiful.

Today I've been working on my seed beads project. I've finished the motif and now need to work on the beads up the necklace. This process does take quite a long time but it is incredibly fun to do and the finished product is so elegant. I shall try to put up some sneaky peek pictures tomorrow.

I've also been tatting a prototype today for a Medieval/Renaissance-style necklace / choker. At the moment I can't decide whch period it fits into as it seems to go across several eras. This motif is quite large so it may take a white to tat up. I shall keep you updated on my progress.

That's all for today, more tomorrow.

x

A little update

Hello. Just a little blog today. I've been working on some items to list in my Etsy shop. I have tatted a white version of my Christina pendant and have also done a new design. Expect to see these items in my shop in the next two days. I'm also working on a bracelet. Once this is done I can also list a custom fit bracelet of the same design (for people with a different size wrist to the one already made up).

We didn't catch any more mice today which is good but we will keep baiting the trap just incase there are more.

I shall blog again tomorrow.

x

New prototype and what I'm reading

Hello. I finished my prototype off today. It  has no name at the moment but I'm sure I shall think of something. The photo below shows most of it. I used sixteen Swarovski Crystals in the design. I really like how it has turned out, I just need to adjust it slightliy. I'm thinking of putting this in an evening wear collection. It took quite a long time to make but it was worth it.

On another note I have been rearranging some bits on my blog. I've added a few flickr links and just done a bit of general tidying up. I hope to include more buttons and the like in the next few days.

This evening I found some time to pick up a book. I've decided to start reading The Princess Bride. I first saw the film last Easter and immediately loved it but i've only recently been able to buy it. I hope it's as good as the film. I shall blog again tomorrow.

x