Lilac Sea and B&B

I finished a new batch of "Lilac Sea" hand dyed thread and added it to my Etsy shop. I also finished a pair of earrings from it, using my "Devotion" pattern. Amazing how combining different thread colors and bead colors can change the look of a design!

The Milwaukee Bead&Button Show is approaching quickly and I have to admit I'm feeling stressed over it, what with all the reminder emails coming from the organizers with lists and charts and times and places and rules and what-have-you. I still have to pack the kits, but will finish that shortly. B&B is much different than teaching at a tatting event, a local shop, or at a nice arts and crafts school like Shake Rag Alley. There is so much going on at the B&B show and it's so expensive that expectations run very high. Not really a relaxing event in which to learn a new skill, in my humble opinion. Oh well. Here's the photo of the pendant I'm teaching in the advanced class, done up in 2 different color ways:

I call this design Dazzling Debut. The pattern will be printed in a new book that is expected to come out later this year.

I'm also teaching a beginner class, Shuttle Tatting Basics. Every class at B&B requires a project, so here it is, though most likely beginners won't finish it in class:

They do get the kits, though, and learn the basic skills that will last them a lifetime, if they continue practicing at home! As the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!"

More mixed media experiments

 Way out there, I know, but I enjoy the results so far. I do the tatting first, then wire wrap it onto the metal frame which I make myself. Those Craftsy wire wrapping teachers whose lessons I watched probably never expected somebody would use those skills to add structure onto tatting :)

 Actually, I like designing unique things that others aren't likely to do or copy. It frees me up from pattern writing and seems more like "real art" - one of a kind, original, and all that.

My tatting class schedule is getting really full now that spring/summer activities are gearing up. I enjoy teaching but the advanced tatting classes are especially a lot of work to prepare and we're expected to promote them on social media as well. Bead&Button Show and IOLI are coming up fast now, and I need to package kits and prepare in-progress samples. The patterns are all done and test-tatted, though.

I'm also teaching a beginners tatting class at Midwest Beads on May 14.

Wire wrapping the tatting onto the frame.