VAT, really?

According to the Etsy blog, the New European Union Rules on the Sale of Digital Items threatens to make small businesses like mine international law breakers starting January 1, 2015, unless we collect Value Added Tax (VAT) based on the VAT rates of the country where the customer is located, not on the rates of the country where the business is located. Etsy does not yet have a system in place for accomplishing this. All this hassle coming at a time when my family is really depending on my Etsy sales to put food on the table.

I may have to put my digital patterns "on vacation" starting January 1, until there is more guidance about this in terms that are practical enough to understand. I really don't know what to do about my digital patterns for sale on Craftsy, either.

I'm hoping all the "hoopla" will blow over soon. Meanwhile, I've started tatting around a cabochon, a very pretty blue Druzy. I'm sort of following CM-Handmade's instructions, but not exactly. I guess I'm already an International Law breaker as far as following tatting rules are concerned (grin). The tatting police will be coming for me! I already met one at a Tollway Tatters gathering earlier this year :) She was very, very nice!

Mixing it up

Music from "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky kept echoing through my head whenever I found time to tat this past week. Well, one reason is because I actually played some of that music on my cello in 2 concerts with the community recreation department orchestra this month. The other is that I was attempting to study some of the secrets of the Russian Ankars style of tatting from Corina's blog. Corina explains it very well.

My goal in learning ideas and techniques is to have more options to explore creatively. The brown earrings in the photo above are loosely based on the simple "Giddy" pattern from my Tatted Jewelry book, but I added more beads on picots and on the core thread, and wire-wrapped a charm to dangle from the bottom. The thread is 4 strands of polyester machine embroidery thread. So, I am mixing it up! I like the result, but controlling multiple strands of slippery thread is very challenging. I like working with my own hand dyed cotton best.


This week I also finished the blue necklace that features the dichroic glass pendant. It's the "Newcastle" pattern, also found in Tatted Jewelry. I used my own hand dyed thread combined with Lizbeth Wedgewood Dark. 

Craftsy has their classes on sale through December 25, so you might want to have a look using this link.

Hope your holiday season is safe and happy!

Bead&Button show, Stardate, Newcastle

 Still needing finishing, the blue necklace with dichroic glass pendant is tatted in my own hand dyed thread Blue Streak with Lizbeth Wedgewood Dk in the outer round. The pattern is my original "Newcastle" from my book "Tatted Jewelry". The dichroic glass pendant is one I purchased from a local glass artist. To add a finishing touch to the necklace chain, I happily used my new wire wrapping skill to form a matching beaded spiral dangle, thanks to 2 Craftsy courses I've watched recently: Wire-Wrapped Stones, Crystals, and Clusters by Aga Kruk, and Make Your Own Wirework Findings by Lisa Niven Kelly.

 Big item received in the mail this week is the Bead&Button Show class catalog, and guess who has a tatting class listed in it? Yep, that's my name under "Shuttle Tatting Basics"! My beading friends encouraged me this past summer to fill out an application and submit a class, so I did. My class got accepted! It's quite an honor since the Bead&Button Show is the largest consumer bead show in the world. Online registration opens January 6, 2015.

New hand dyed thread batch just added to my Etsy shop is "Stardate". People have asked how I came up with that name; well, the colors just don't resemble anything natural to planet Earth, and I'm a Star Trek fan, so there you are :)

About the heart bracelet

The Belle Armoire Jewelry winter 2015 issue shows my original tatted jewelry set including necklace, earrings, and bracelet, but since the bracelet is modeled the sides aren't shown. So here's a photo of the complete bracelet.

I've done some experimenting with clasps. I like toggle clasps because they're easy to close. I know that a lobster claw clasp allows for more adjusting, but personally I have a terrible time trying to fasten a lobster claw clasp on a bracelet. So, I look for easier solutions.

On the white bracelet I discovered that the t-bar fits perfectly into the lace. So, the bracelet can be snugged up tighter by pulling the t-bar through the toggle loop, then hooked into the lace.

By the way, the wire wrapped toggle clasp on the white bracelet I made myself! I'm enjoying learning some basic wire wrapping skills from 2 Craftsy classes that I signed up for:
"Wire-Wrapped Stones, Crystals, and Clusters" by Aga Kruk
"Make Your Own Wirework Findings" by Lisa Niven Kelly

Coming soon in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry

Spilling the beans a few days early: a new, original pattern by me will appear in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine! It will be on sale beginning December 1st. But, I'm so excited I couldn't wait anymore to tell you all!

There is a bracelet to match the necklace and earrings that is modeled in the magazine. I put a chain on the necklace for the magazine article. The ones pictured here have ribbon attached to wire connectors for a different look, using the same pattern.

The tatting pattern with in-progress photos and a diagram will be in the magazine, I realize that some of my blog readers are not familiar with Belle Armoire Jewelry, but it is a popular jewelry craft magazine here in the USA, and I'm hoping the article will get more people interested in tatting.

Photos from Tatting Days at the Tatting Corner

One of the classes in session, with me guiding the students through making the "Rotation" pendant

My dear husband Jan, ready to sell hand dyed thread and books

Lunch time! Delicious meals were provided on site, each day!

Show and Tell had several challenge categories for Tatting Days. Amazing work was on display! These photos only glimpse at a sampling, there was a lot more. So much talent!

I think we all had a wonderful time! The Tatting Corner is a tatter's dream store!