Beading stuff and more.....

I have been beading a lot lately when I'm not tatting. I am really enjoying getting back to beading. I am finally using some of those beads I have. My problem is that while I am using some of my stash, I am finding that I need more beads to accomplish what I want to do. I am trying to keep costs down, so I have been shopping on eBay. That's a dangerous thing. I am finding a lot of things I want and can use. I am also finding things I just want. My imagination is going crazy. I can't wait for the things I bought to come in.

My local bead store has a wonderful bead artist that comes in to teach loom classes. She is an amazing designer and I am so inspired by her. Today was an advanced class that I am so not ready for, but I did pop over there to check out what everyone was doing. The designer encouraged me to take her next few classes. As a matter of fact, she told me that she WANTS me in the next few. They are quite pricy, but I can see so much potential from what she teaches. I bought a second loom from her today. It's a longer one and I can make necklaces with it. That's one of the reasons why I needed to go shopping on eBay for beads today.

I just need to write down my ideas while I am waiting for the beads to get here.

I can feel the creative juices flowing.

On another note, my son's wedding is only 3 weeks away. I can't believe it's almost here. I only have a few more things to make and then my part will be finished. My dress will be finished on Tuesday. Shawn has gotten fitted for his tux and we have our house sitters ready. I'm going up to PA on the Wednesday before the wedding so I can help get last minute things done. Shawn will come on Friday. The rehearsal will be on Saturday at 11 am and then a luncheon. After that the bridal party and family are going on a river cruise of Pittsburgh. Then we relax at the hotel until the wedding Sunday morning. Naina is getting my hair done just before the wedding. She wants me to color out the grey. I think I will get it cut as well. It's kind of long and I need at least a trim to freshen it up.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get. My son is marrying a wonderful person and we couldn't be happier.

So until then, I will keep myself busy getting things made and working on gifts.

Today is my birthday and I don't really feel up to celebrating. Shawn is working midnights and it kind of stinks that I am home alone and then he will sleep half the day tomorrow. I guess I should be grateful that he's working. It's been hit or miss lately. His company is reorganizing and he's not working regularly. It's a source of stress for me with all that is going on. But I trust that God will bring us through this just fine.

I am working on more shuttles and thread to sell. I also have a few pair of earrings that I want to put in my Etsy store when I get them tatted up. Also some beaded bracelets. I am going to have so much fun with all of the ideas I have.

Random stuff

So, I am just rambling today.

I got my dress for Nate's wedding this past weekend. I have to get it altered a little. It's a little large in a few areas and I want to add some sleeves to it. It's not exactly the color I anticipated getting, but I love it. It's a soft green color. I am going to remove the rhinestone thingy at the waist and tat a motif and add a brooch to mine and make the same one for Naina's mom, so our dresses kind of match.

Then today, I sent some HDT and shuttles to a friend in New York who will take them with her to Canada to sell at a tatting conference there. This is so nice of her to offer. I sent her a gift as a thank you.

Now, one of my favorite shows is on TV. The season premier of the Big Bang Theory is on.

My Etsy store and more...

I listed about 25 new skeins of size 20 hand dyed thread in my Etsy store today. I still have size 40 to list and more shuttles. Plus jewelry that a friend made. Here are a couple colors that I am very fond of.

 

 



 

 

I also listed some tote bags that I designed and sewed myself. There are 3 different sizes. The smallest one has a center section and 4 pockets.

 

The medium one has 2 sections and 8 pockets. They hold a lot of stuff.

And the large one has 3 sections and 12 pockets. I used one while at a tatting conference and held a LOT more than my supplies for 4 classes.

 

The bags aren't that large. They are about 5 inches tall, 5 inches wide and 2 inches per section. The one above is about 6 inches deep. They also have a really strong set of magnets holding the flap closed.

They are in my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NAGStudio

I have been trying to decide what to make for Christmas presents and finally came up with an idea. I'm going to make rice heating pad bags. I just have to find the supplies for what I want to make. I don't want to just use cotton fabric. I want them to be a little more durable.

I have one that I use on my shoulders and I just love it. A few minutes in the microwave and I have relief for at least 2 hours. And the smell is wonderful.

So that's about it right now. Not much else going on.

 

Need to start thinking about what to make for Christmas

It's that time of year again. What to make for Christmas. I still have my son's wedding coming up and have some things to make for that, but Christmas won't wait.

I really need to plan and figure out what to make. Most of the people I make things for are women, so I have more possibilities than if it were mostly men. Women are easier to make for. Men are easier to buy for.

Jewelry is always a good one. I have a few ideas for jewelry, but that was something I gave last year. Scarves are always a good idea as well. I've taken a few classes this year so I could use some of the techniques I learned to make something. I also designed a tote bag that could work for practically any items, so that's an idea as well.

I will figure it all out.

Home from Palmetto part 2

Where did I leave off? Oh, I remember -

People started showing up at the venue about 1:45. We got to chat and visit for a while, then Linda and I set up my vending table.

 
 



 

Here are pictures of the table with all of the things I brought. I have a lot of things there. Maybe too much.

 

 

We got to go to our rooms and then the fun began.

 

Dinner and then an evening class with Jane Eborall. We made a key. What a fun night.

 

The rest of the weekend was tatting classes and meeting new people. I got to take a class from Jane and we had a wonderfully fun time. Jane told us stories of Tat Days past. Friday was a very long day. We had a banquet, an auction, and the quilt drawings. I won a tote bag with some tea bags.

 

There was another class on Friday evening but I didn't attend because I was too exhausted. We had such a great evening.

Saturday dawned and I was excited to get my day started. I overslept a little but got ready in a few minutes to run down to breakfast. Each meal, I tried to sit with a different person or group of people. I wanted to meet as many people as possible.

After breakfast I ran back to my room to grab my rollie cart, to the vending room to straighten my table and then to my class with Vicki Clarke. We made sun catchers but I haven't finished mine yet so no pix.

Lunch happened next and then off to my class with Nina Libin. I am blessed to have been able to attend the last class she plans on teaching. Her method of tatting is wonderful. If you don't know what she does, visit her web site www.beanile.com

I packed up my vending table and got all of the items I didn't sell into my car. Phew. That was done.

After dinner we had our final events. We took an origami class where we made folded boxes. It was my first time doing it and did pretty well. I even helped the teacher assist others. I guess I'm a natural at it. HAHAHA

After the class, we did the white elephant exchange. Oh my what fun we had. Jane Eborall got a pair of slippers that looked like Sigmund Freud. I got a pair of napkin rings that were gawd awful ugly. Sumiko thought they were dentures. Well that got us going. We made all kinds of jokes and used them as teeth. We laughed so loud and jokes so much, we missed half of the exchange.

 
 

Even Freud got in on the teeth joke

 

Jane Anderson laughed so much that we thought she was going to wet her pants. Oh we laughed so much our sides hurt. I think the people around us wanted to jump into the conversation but we were having such a good time that they didn't want to interrupt.

 

 

Afterwards, we all went to bed and I packed my suitcase and gathered all of my belongings that I didn't need into my bags. I reluctantly went to bed with the dread that I was going to have to leave in the morning.

 

Sunday came way too fast. We loaded up the car and went to breakfast. Lots of conversation happened because we wanted to make sure we said everything we wanted to. I went around to every person I could find and said good bye. Some people cried when they parted with good friends they only see a few times a year.

 

Linda and I got into my car after hugs and kisses to everyone we could find.

 

Our ride home was great. More than 9 hours of talking with no lull in the conversation. We relived the events of Tat Days and talked about everything we could.

 

I have made some new friends and gotten to know some people a lot better.

 

I am already waiting for next year. 

 



Home from Palmetto Tat Days .... first part of the story

I am home from Palmetto Tat Days 2014.

I had such a wonderful time. Here is the adventure kind of play by play.

On Tuesday evening, I traveled to Northern Virginia to stay at my friend Linda's house so we could get a better start on Wednesday morning. We got up and started out about 7:30 am. OMG, I was up that early. ((Yawn)). We drove a good portion of the day and cleared 6+ hours off of our trip.  We didn't want to do the whole trip in one day.

Thurs morning, we got up and, after breakfast, hit the road again. 3 hours from our destination. The closer we got, the more excited we got. Finally we got there about noon. Much to our surprise, no one was there to greet us.

We finally found someone to tell us where we needed to be. We ran into Jennifer and Jerry Titus from ZigZag corner/Tatting corner. Since no one was around yet, we helped them unload their trailer and get their merchandise to the vending area. Bonus - we got to see the goodies first and spend time with them uninterrupted.

Finally about 1:45 some people started showing up. Hugs and chatting started. One of the first people I got to meet was Riet from the Netherlands. She is amazing. Telling stories and accounts of growing up there. I was captivated. I've "known" her online for many years and here she was - in front of me.

Others started showing up gradually.

I want to continue the story, but I'm exhausted and will continue tomorrow, complete with pix.