The Bead&Button Show class catalog

 In yesterday's mail I received the Bead&Button Show 2017 class catalog, and you betcha I eagerly paged through it to see how my own classes looked! :) No kidding, I'll be teaching 2 tatting classes at this prestigious event, which is quite an honor, seeing as how it's promoted as a gathering of, in their own words, "the best in the biz" of jewelry teachers. Well, as far as I know, I'm the only jewelry maker specializing in tatting who applied, therefore providing the only reason I'm promoted as "best" ;)

To wax philosophical, I believe that tatting should be showcased alongside other art and craft forms, otherwise how will more people become inspired to see its potential?  Oh yeah, and the show is in my town, so no travel expense for me :)

Also on the calendar for 2017 is teaching a beginning shuttle tatting workshop at Shake Rag Alley.

In my life outside of tatting, I'm playing my cello again and singing soprano in the choir. We are preparing a lot of Christmas music. It's nice to be part of a group effort. As tatters/crafters/designers, we spend a lot of time in solitary activity, don't we? Be sure to take time to get out for doing something meaningful with a group. We are all multi-gifted people, and we never know how many people we inspire by sharing our talents.

Steampunk Gear Tatted Earrings

The Winner!

The winner of the giveaway is JB! Congrats, JB, I've sent you an email.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my giveaway post. I enjoyed reading all those wonderful comments!

To answer Michelle's question about the handsome guy next to me in the photo on that post, it's Weihnachtsmann - a German "Father Christmas" or "Santa Claus". It was taken during a visit to the Mitchell Park "Domes" in Milwaukee in a previous year. There was a large display at that time of how cultures around the world pictured their symbol of Christmastime gift-giving.

Etsy Gift Card Giveaway

Comment below for a chance to win a $25 USD Etsy gift card, which can be spent at any Etsy shop that accepts Etsy gift cards! The winner will be chosen with a random number calculator on Friday, December 2. I need a way to contact you if you win. The gift card will be emailed.

If you need more information about Etsy gift cards, the legal details are all on the Etsy Terms of Use page.

Using Single Shuttle Split Ring to hide tails in final ring

I didn't invent this idea. I learned it from smarter tatters!

I like it for tatted earrings and pendants that end with a ring on top. No sewing in ends!


I used my smartphone to make this little video. Here's the finished earrings that I was working on:

Daisy Picot Key Earrings in hand dyed "Peace" and "Celery" size 20

My original pattern for these earrings is in my Next Steps In Shuttle Tatting Craftsy class (my affiliate link may give you a discount). The crystal in the center ring is my added embellishment that's not in the pattern, but a similar demo is shown in another project.

"Grayscale" is back, some UFO's finished

 A new batch of hand dyed "Grayscale" thread has been added to my Etsy shop. I put brightly colored flowers in the picture to show that it's not a black and white photo.

This week I also managed to finish a few "UFO's" (unfinished objects) that I found stashed in bags! This "Cool Circles" necklace in hand dyed "Pond" thread with size 8/0 glass seed beads in aqua with Swarovski pearls is now done, and I'm pleased with the result.

Of course I don't have the pattern memorized :)  So I followed the directions in my book that Annie's published (Tatting With Beads Jewelry) but noticed that under "First Upper Side" although they put in "repeat from * to * " correctly, they didn't make the second * all that obvious to find. It's my own pattern, and even I had to look carefully to figure out where to stop! Ah well, just letting y'all know, the second * is found on the upper right of page 13, just after "LJ to vsp". Then, go back to where you were under "First Upper Side" to continue.

 I also finished a pair of earrings in size 20, same color thread, slightly different beads, although they do coordinate very nicely with the necklace should anyone want the set.

Some beads in my stash

Here's a comparison of some types of beads I often use. 

Bead size is written at the left, with 3 examples of that size in each row (round, faceted, and bicone shapes). 

Seed beads are between the lines at the bottom of the picture.

Size 20 thread and finer can fit through the hole of any of these beads. 

Size 10 Lizbeth thread is thicker, so the 3 mm beads and some 11/0 seed beads won't fit. I've taken to using Toho Takumi large hole beads when I want an 11/0 seed bead with size 10 thread, since they fit easily. Delicas (a brand of Japanese cylinder beads) will also fit on size 10 thread. They really are shaped like tiny cylinders.

Not on the list are a new arrival called "demi" seed beads. They're half the width of regular seed beads. I tried them on some dainty snowflake earrings in size 40 thread, and liked the delicate effect in the picots combined with a regular 11/0 seed bead on the core thread.

In hand dyed "Candy Mint" size 40.

Lizbeth size 40 in white.

The snowflake pattern is mine, "tweaked" and "upgraded" from a simpler original I blogged about in 2008, Quickie Snowflake Earrings.