Twitter Giveaway!

Twitter Giveaway

I've started my first giveaway over on Twitter for this tatted Gothic necklace (available on Etsy):

This beauty is worth $44 and will come in a gift box with care instructions. To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is go over to my twitter page here and retweet this message:

WIN THIS NECKLACE http://bit.ly/cgo63u 499th RT wins, max 1 RT per hour

Make sure you include @TataniaRosa in this tweet so I can count your entry. As it says above, you can retweet once per hour. Once I get 499 RTs I shall announce the winner. Happy tweeting!

Ever been to Ightham Mote?

Have you been to Ightham Mote in Kent? If not I thoroughly recommend it.

I've been wanting to go to this place for quite a while now (my parents keep telling me we went when I was very small, but I don't remember it!), so on Monday my family and I started our journey across Kent. When we have a family day-out we usually end up on the Kent and East Sussex Railway (steam trains), stop off at Bodiam Castle and come back the same way. This time we thought about doing something different.

Our first stop was Old Soar Manor near Sevenoaks. It took a while to find this place as the signposts were very unhelpful. Here it is:

It was built in 1290 as a knight's dwelling. As you can see it's rather small compared to other Medieval properties and beautifully preserved. Below shows the large room at the top of the spiral staircase:

I'd love to live in a place like this! It just needs a few tapestries and some furniture. Anyway I digress.

We then got back in the car just as it started chucking it down and headed off to Ightham Mote. On the way we past loads of Oast Houses, as you'd expect in Kent, and when we finally got there it was packed. After a spot of lunch we headed off down the path and suddenly through the trees appeared this beautiful Medieval moated manor house. Ightham Mote is spectacular! It was started around 1330 and has been added to over the centuries.

This is the east side:

The top half of this side was added in the 15th Century. As you can see the moat is quite small. There are small streams around the grounds that supply the water it needs.

Once through the side door you are greeted with a charming courtyard that boasts the only Grade I listed dog kennel in the country.

We spent the next hour wandering through the house and then went to have a look at the lake past the lawn. It's so peaceful in this place and is a great place to visit.

I did have a reason for wanting to come to this place. I'm in the process of reading Green Darkness by Anya Seton and part of it takes place here. There is a story of a Lady or servant who was walled up somewhere in the house and this is the central theme of the novel. It's a terrific read. I must admit I did feel something as I was walking through the Great Hall. Who knows!

If you ever find yourself in Kent, go and visit Ightham Mote. It's well worth it.

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

Tatting Treasury and Secret Projects

Hello. How was your weekend? I had a relaxing time eating chocolate and watching films. We ended the extended weekend with the first Die Hard movie last night. I'm tempted to watch films 2 - 4 in the next few days.

I found out last night that my Lillian set has been included in a beautiful tatting treasury here. Check it out.

I'm so close to finishing my custom order. Once I've completed that I'll get on with some other projects. I think I've got about 5 bracelets and cuffs on the go. I thought of a great idea for some earrings today. There's also a super secret project that I'm thinking about starting soon. I really hope it works. It looks wonderful in my head but the question is will it work in practice? Watch this space!   

More tomorrow,

Heather

Happy Easter!

Good morning and Happy Easter everyone!

Loads of things have been happening over here. At present I'm working on a large custom order that I'm aiming to finish sometime today. I'll speak more about this later, suffice to say that this is very exciting order for me.

I've added a few more items to my Etsy shop. One of which is my second lace-up cuff. I decided to use my Elizabeth pattern and then add a second layer. It's in variegated lilac but I can tat it in different colours.

This is my most expensive item so far as it took quite a few hours to create. This would look so beautiful at a Renaissance Faire.

If you would like this as a pair, I'm happy to tat the two up for you. Here's the back.

I've just bought some gold crochet cotton so I'm thinking about tatting a cuff in that soon. I think it might have to be a limited edition run as I'm not sure how much more of that colour I can get. 

I also listed a gothic necklace using my Katherine design. Here's the listing. 

I used red glass beads up the ribbon to bring out the colour of the red seed beads on the motif. Look out for more like this!

The final listing is my Elaine set. Hurry! This is in my SALE section for a limited time only!

New listings

Evening. First of all I'd like to say thank you to the two people who have given me blog awards in the past week. I shall pass these awards on in the next few days.

I've photographed lots of items today and have done quite a bit of tatting. I'll be gradually listing these over the coming days.

I'd like to show you the items I've listed today. The first is a tatted bracelet in a variegated lilac cotton thread. This thread creates a wonderful pattern of colour. At the moment I'm working on a cuff that uses this and I hope to have this listed by the end of the week.

The next item is Elaine but this time as a necklace.

I've also set up a SALE section in my Etsy shop. Check it out! You may find one of your favourites in there.

More to come tomorrow.

x

Find me on Folksy

Evening everyone. First of all you may have noticed that I've haven't blogged recently. A week and a bit ago a member of my family fell seriously ill so we've been pretty much focused on his recovery. He seems to be on the mend now and hopefully soon they will decide if he can go home. It's been a tiring week.

So apart from this, here's what's been happening. I've been creating lots of items that I hope to list in the next few days. A few cuffs are in the pipeline as well as some more small earrings. Yesterday I did my first craft fair of the year. We didn't get that many people coming through the doors but I got lots of lovely comments about my tatted jewellery.

That's not all. I've listed a new item on Etsy. This gothic bracelet uses the same pattern as my Alexandra earrings (I shall tat the black pair soon). This looks very victorian to me.

It was fun to see it all come together, especially when the Swarovski Crystals were sewn into the base of each section. What do you think?

This leads nicely on to my final point. You can now find me on the UK site Folksy.

I've been thinking about selling on here for quite a while but I've finally taken the plunge. It's so nice to be able to list things in my own currency! Don't worry, I won't be running away from Etsy. I'll update you all tomorrow with some more listings. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

x

New listing on Etsy

Good evening. I've just listed a pair of white bridal earrings on Etsy. Click here for the listing. What do you think?

I had this idea a few weeks ago but it took a while to get the right number of knots so it would lie flat. I included silver coloured seed beads and a Swarovski Crystal pendant drop at the base of each earring. I'm very happy with the result. As I type this I'm working on the matching bracelet so expect to see that soon!

x

Look what came in the post!

Look what came in the post ... my prize from Sandra Darling! She recently had a giveaway of 6 of her art cards. Being a great fan of her work I immediately entered and to my surprise I won! Thank you Sandra. Aren't they beautiful! Check out her Etsy shop here.

I've been tatting a lot recently and am working through a few different projects. The sneak peek I showed you last week has been put on hold for a bit. I'll get back to that soon. I'm now working on a cuff that seems to be taking forever! When I finally finish it I'll take few photos and show you on here. There are some other things I'm trying out too.

In a few hours time I aim to list a pair of dainty earrings. Keep up to date with this on twitter, my Facebook fan page and also my shop RSS feed. You can also find a link to this on the left of this blog.

x

Treasuries

Good evening. I've been continuing on with my latest projects. I will say more soon but other than what I've shown you I'd like to keep them under wraps for now. I'll hopefully be able to list one of them by Monday!

My red Lillian bracelet has been included in a lovely treasury entitled 'Made in Britain'. Please check it out here. Thank you very much to LifeCovers. It's great to see so many UKers in one place.

I've created one too. This one is full of wonderful items that remind me of A Song Of Ice and Fire (that I spoke about last time). I've tried to include the red of the Lannisters and their sigil: the lion, the Stark colours, a castle, a wintry forest scene and other things. Click here to see it (ends Sunday). 

I shall blog again on Monday. Have a lovely weekend. Oh and my sale ends Monday morning (UK time).  

x