Getting Ready For Christmas

Seems that these two months are just preparations for impending holidays that they both hold. My days are spent in starvation and constant cleaning. Happily these months contain relatives that have not been seen and laughter and wine and cheese. With all of this Jim and I have found a wonderful little house in the Florida area that was built in the 1920's we are currently looking it over and evaluating the estimated repairs to try and renovate it. I will be blogging about our adventure in that area if indeed we are able to purchase it and start. We should know in Feb. So fingers crossed we could be in for some interesting blogging. In the mean while here is a little pic so you can see our project.

On the art front of my life I am currently trying to master the art of Tatting. Not Tattoo but Tatting a form of lace making. Lets say I have now deep respect for lace makers! I have been working these past 4 days and I can start to see some progress out of what appeared to be a tangled mess. I wanted to take this task on to provide another layer to my sewing skills. I love making baby items due to the smallness in size and this would add a great touch.
Here are some fantastic "How to sites" :
How to Tat
Shuttle Tatting Instructions
Reverse Work
Tatting Lesson one
Tatting Lesson Two

Looking these web sites will give you some idea of what I am up to. It looks complicated but in reality it is not. Getting your hands to preform the holding of the shuttle and the tension and making the picots are the most difficult. I have found that the interpretation of the directions is the most trying. I would suggest using a fine crochet thread in order to get used to creating the stitches and then graduate on to the use of a more expensive thread for that soft look. This is great to do for wedding garters and for embellishments for infant wear. Hankies or dollies are great also. Now for those who are just not into obsessiveness then there are some great artist that tat and sell their wonderful art. Here are a few of those web sites:
Bella's Tatting Designs
Your Crowning Glory
These are a very small few of talented artist that sell their works to see more just go to Etsy. and type in tatting in search. You can spend hours there just marveling on the lace work.
Another great web site for these fantastic handmade things is ArtFire

Ahhh now you asked well dear where are your Christmas photos what are you doing and where have you been this season? Well to tell the truth I have struggled with the season. Some how some way these holidays take more and more out of me each year! But I have managed to click a few pics this season and continue to up load them to my Photo blog a day so stop on by and check it out! Don't forget to subscribe to the feed. And happy holidays to you!
JeweledFrog