Garden Afternoon

Here's a new batch of thread that I hand dyed myself, in the ever-popular colorway that I call "Garden Afternoon". The great outdoors is bursting with so much color this time of year, and I find it really inspiring.

The tatted bit in the photo is yet another experiment that may or may not lead to an interesting design, we'll see. 

The big mystery project revealed

That's me in the Craftsy studio!

 Earlier this month, in a previous post I told you that I was working on a big project. Now, at last, I can reveal what it is! I have been preparing an Online video course for shuttle tatting to be offered at Craftsy.com!

I spent 3 exciting days (May 21-23) at the Craftsy studio in Denver, Colorado, where their professional crew shot the course in HD-quality video. They've told me that I did a good job of teaching, even though I was a bit nervous when the cameras were rolling. The course will be ready to offer after the editing, which may take several weeks. I really enjoyed working with the friendly folks at Craftsy, and everyone was super nice! I'm thrilled to bits that they wanted to include tatting in their course offerings, and asked me to teach it!

If you're not familiar with how Craftsy courses work, here's a quick summary:

Craftsy courses are much more than just video! While taking a Craftsy course, you can:

•     Ask your instructor questions, upload photos, and get personalized responses
•     Participate in discussions with your classmates
•     Access supporting course materials – including patterns and helpful tips & tricks
•     Bookmark your favorite moments in the video so that you can easily re-watch them and take notes that you can refer back to anytime

 There are a lot of courses on many subjects at Craftsy, including knitting, crocheting, quilting, jewelry making, gardening, couture sewing, cake decorating, and so much more.

The trip itself contained a lot of "firsts" for me: my first time traveling by airplane, the first time having makeup applied by a professional make-up artist, the first time I saw real mountains - the Rocky Mountains, seen in the distance in the photo at bottom, taken just outside the Craftsy studio.

The busy, busy month of May

I may be quiet for a bit - busy tatting for a big project with a deadline. I'm not at liberty to reveal what it is just yet, but everyone will find out soon enough. Sorry for all the mystery but that's how it has to be for now. I am focusing my energies on the big project so there won't be much added to my Etsy shop for a while.