Thank you, Jeff R.T.!

This is a public thank you to Jeff R. T.  He does numbers like nobody's business.  I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I work for an oil and gas law firm.  We do mineral title opinions.  I'm pretty good with tract numbers, but get really confused doing unit numbers (doesn't matter).  I have a history degree for a reason!  Jeff has twice in the last few months sat down with me to go through weighted royalty rates and other parts of the unit calculations.  He is a genius.  When we get through everything adds up to 1.  One is a good number. 

These two pendants are in the way of a more substantive thank you than the fervent one I blessed him with when we finished the last round of numbers.  His lady friend likes blue.  Isn't it nice of him to think of her?  I didn't know which he would like so I made both with the same thread and beads.  The thread is Oren Bayan variegated gold metallic and the beads are size 15 glass seed beads.  My thanks don't go as far as chains. 
The patterns are from Jon Yusoff's Tatting with Rings.  The first is Kerosang, but I adapted the top to make a ring for the chain to go through.  The second is Permata -- it still needs a jump ring for the chain.

More Covered Ring Jewelry

The absence of tatting on this blog doesn't mean I haven't been tatting. I've just been tatting things some people who read this blog shouldn't be seeing until after the holidays. This jewelry set (two earrings and a pendant) is for someone I don't know. My sister's co-worker loved her "mom earrings" (the ones with the nylon hooks). She requested earrings and a pendant for her sister-in-law who's just had a baby. She wanted earrings just like the ones I made for her (except in blue), so I had to come up with something pendant-looking that matched. I'm not too certain this is it. My sister's going to take them in and see what she thinks.
I made a draft without beads and it worked, so I added the beads, now some of the rings overlap a bit. If the pendant is too weird, I'll make something smaller. This pendant is about 2.5 inches long and 1.25 inches wide. The earrings are about an inch wide. These are all made with Oren Bayan multi-colored metallic thread and sizes 15 and 10 seed beads -- there are 94 size 15 beads and 12 size 10 beads on each earring. The pendant has 206 size 15 beads and 8 size 10.

This picture is from the scanner, that's why the six ring flower in the center of the lower ring of the pendant is blurred. I might get better results with my camera, but it's such a hassle.

Ribbons from the Fair - part 15

Back in early May I made this pendant (using ideas from Jon Yusoff) which I gave to my sister for her birthday. She never really nagged about matching earrings, but she did mention it ...oh... about forty-'leven times! There was a category for jewelry sets (two or more pieces and a pair of earrings counts as one piece) at the Fair. Good excuse to make those matching earrings. They are also made with the Oren Bayan multi-colored metallic thread and size 15 seed beads. They're supposed to look like leaves.

I don't know if the judges saw leaves, liked the color or exactly what -- but these got a sweepstakes ribbon. (wheeeee -- one of the Big Ribbons!) They're going to the State Fair, where they will compete against other multi-media jewelry, not with the tatting. It'll be interesting to see how they "fair" in that venue.

Ribbons from the Fair - part 7

Another bit of Bonnie's jewelry I borrowed back. I made these for her birthday last year. They are made from the thread she dyed for me and were adapted from my original pattern (for a center-ring snowflake). They didn't fit into the rings as well as they should have, but they were well-done enough to garner another red ribbon.

Who out there is snoring? Wake up! I'm not done yet.

See that gold thing on the red square over there? It got put in the case upside down. This was an experiment and I really didn't like it very well, but my niece did. I entered it for her -- and now she can have it. I don't think she will wear it, though. It really looks rather like this: The pattern is Jane Eborall's butterfly with too many beads holding it in the ring. The big mistake was the loop of size 10 beads at the bottom. I would have used the size 15 beads, but couldn't fit two strands of the thread through them! Then, too, it is yellow. It's made with Oren Bayan gold metallic thread, but it just looks yellow. So, why did I enter it in the Fair? Because it doesn't cost anything to enter stuff in the County Fair, that's why!

Another Pendant

I've worn my fingers out -- two of them have a couple of severe thread dents, the kind from which a couple of layers of skin peel back. Working with size 20 thread always does this to my fingers. I think it's because I want the stuff to be as small as size 80 so I pull it tighter. My tension is very tense. *sigh*

I made this a couple of weeks ago. It was going to replace my exchange partner's pendant, because I was convinced the purple and silver one had gone missing. Nope, it got there safe and sound. This one I thought looked like a leaf. Some nice leafy earrings would look good with it -- but I've been babying my fingers, so those are still in the planning stage.

The thread is Oren Bayan multi-colored metallic. It matches any and all of the beads I have.

That's a pretty funny picture (lots of empty space), but I thought y'all might like to see the necklace, too. It's a very thin metal cable covered in see-through green plastic of some kind. The fastener screws together, so it's easy to put on. I think these things are perfect for pendants -- then you never have to worry about making the necklace part and whether or not it is going to be scratchy.

June 10:

I gave this one to my sister for her birthday. She claimed to have been coveting it since it was finished. Good! Green is her favorite color. Now she's waiting for those matching earrings!

Rings 'n' things

I've been tatting -- really I have. I just didn't seem to have anything I could show. My InTatters exchange partner has informed me that she received the pendant I sent, though. I thought sure the poor thing had disappeared behind some monster machine in the Post office or something. Nope, it made it safely. It's made with Oren Bayan silver thread and purple mini-seed beads (a whole pot-load of 'em). The necklace part is a twisted metal cable inside a purple protective casing. Really, it matches better than this picture makes it appear.
The other things I've been doing I'll trot out when they're finished. I'm still emptying bobbins, too. I've been making more butterflies -- the little four ring ones. But, I've also made a couple of Jane Eborall's Butterfly Bookmarks without the bookmark tails, and one tiny one with a tail for really tiny books! I've got a few more bobbins with enough thread to make Butterfly Bookmarks, if I mix the colors. That should be interesting. I might very well end up with a Christmas Butterfly, because I've got a bobbin each of red and green that are about evenly matched in amounts.

As for the ornament challenge...it has foundered. *sigh* It will get back on track pretty soon though. I ordered covered styrofoam ornaments and they've been received! I think the plastic ones are going to end up with my nieces. They can decorate them by gluing or sticking things on 'em. My patience with them (the ornaments, not the nieces -- hmmmmm, wait, some days it's them too!) has been exhausted.

Jewelry Break

Very simple earrings on a ring and a pendant to match. The pendant would have matched better -- but I ran out of thread on both shuttles. The loop for the chain is a lock chain with a bead at every lock stitch. It looks quite nice up close and personal. I couldn't get a better picture (because I'm not a photographer).

These are made of a multi-colored metallic Oren Bayan thread and over 300 mini-seed beads. The beads are so tiny I couldn't even get my size 16 crochet hook through them so I could put them on the joining picots. That's right -- there are naked picots right there in that picture.

Just as soon as I get a padded envelope for the pasteboard jewelry box they're in, I'm shipping these off to a friend. She gifted me with a signed copy of her first novel and I'm doing my best to reciprocate!

Well -- back to the ornament covers. I've got another done, but am struggling with getting it on the ornament. After covering 25 of these slick plastic ornaments, I might be certifiable.