Doctor Who love..

Have I mentioned I am a great Doctor Who fan! I love this show. I have watched it for over 25 years, yep, it has been on for nearly 50 years now! Wow. It is a British show and at first, in the 80's, we could only see it on PBS. Now, of course, there is BBC America.
In the last incarnation of the Doctor, we met the Face of Boe. A giant face... that had lived for centuries and was supposed to live forever. I thought this Doctor Who 'creature' was very unique.
While looking on Ravelry one day, I found a crocheted Face of Boe. Those of you on Rav can go see it, it is still there.
I was so excited, until I found I couldn't get a pattern because she was restricted from selling them...copywright infringements and all. But, hey, I thought if you made up a pattern, you could sell it. IDK. Anyway..sadly I just put it in my favs and there it stayed.
Recently though, the Face of Boe had been showing up in my minds eye.. alot. This means, at least to me, that I have to make it. (I have done my best work this way) So, off to my craft room to find yarn just the right color. Found. Crochet hook, found. Start to crochet. It was so weird, as I went along, I would stop and look at the photo, and think, 'how do I make a chin?'.. then I'd try something, and it would work. "How do I make lips?".. it would work.  I didn't have to tear out any of the stitches I made for the whole face. It was weird.  I really love how he turned out.

So, finally, I present...

                                                              The Face of Boe

It's a Leprechaun Christmas!!

Hello and Merry Christmas all. Hope you had a great holiday. Little Feargal and my boys did!
Guess what? Santa came and brought them all presents! Woo hoo!

See the little boxes in the front? Oh the lads were excited!

And what did Feargal receive???? Can you guess?

Why, his own little bat! I guess Santa wanted him to remember his time

here with battatter!

And what did the other lads receive?

Since the name Rori means Red King.. he received a Red Crown!

And what of Conor... he 'hound lover'?

Why, he received his very own pup!

As you can see the lads had a very nice Christmas!

They sang songs and ate to much, and had a grand old time.

Santa was very good to them all. And he knew them so well, hmmm.

Could it be??????

Christmas surprise visitor

Happy Christmas Eve, all! My Christmas surprise visitor is none other than the world traveller, Feargal!
He has come to stay with Conor, Rori, Rebel, and me, for the holidays!  Here he is whispering to Rebel what he wants for Christmas. He must have thought Rebel was an elf! But, Rebel will make sure Feargal gets his Christmas wish just the same! Make sure to check out the  A Leprechaun's Life page to see his adventures!

New addition to Misfit Toy collection

Here he is..
the Gun that shoots Jelly!
Poor sad little Gun..but hey, I would love a gun that shoots jelly. Especially raspberry jelly! Yum!

I will have a surprise to post in a day or so.. so... stay tuned!

Anyone else's blogger messed up?

First it says I am logged in, then it won't let me post to other blogs. Won't accept my login thru Google.. what's up!

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree...

I finished decorating my Tatting Tree! Lots of my designs, lots of gifts from friends, I love this tree!

Oh, I just added this..the shuttle I won at Lafayette Lacers! I can't believe I never thought to hang shuttles on my tree! I have a bunch of pretty ones, too!

Ho Ho Ho... Merry Christmas!!

New Addition...Candy Reindeer

This year's new addition to my big Tatted Gingerbread house is...

Candy Reindeer!

 He is made from tatted versions of the following..

Head-Chocolate covered Cherry

Antlers-Candy canes

Ears- Non pareils

Body-Chocolate Nuggat with icing decor

tail- Chocolate Chip

Legs-Good and Plenty(s)

Hooves-half M&Ms.

I had such fun making him, and as you can see, he is fitting right in at his new home.

Now what to make

I am just about finished with my last swap of the year on Ravelry, so, it is time to hunker down and make some Christmas gifts.
I have decided to make some decorative dishcloths for some, a hat (if I can figure out the pattern) for one, scarf for one, and... don't know what else yet.
Here is something I made my spoilee for the Dr. Seuss swap. Since I don't think any of my Rav friends ever look here, it should be safe to post.
I saw a figurine something like this either on ebay or etsy. Since the price was way too high to buy one for my spoilee, I made her, and myself, one.
What do you think?

The Grinch

He is about 8" tall. The original was just on a wooden base, but I added snow and snowballs to mine.

HAIER air conditioners are crap

Just to let everyone know, as a service to my friends.
If you are considering buying a Haier Air conditioner (I got mine at Walmart) DON'T. I had mine less than one year (which was actually about 4 months of use) and it stopped cooling. Walmart only has a TWO WEEK return policy, and the Haier company said I would need a repair man. Ok, anyone need a junk air conditioner?

Bowl full of Lemons ...another great give-away

Hey, over at a bowl full of lemons, they are having another give-away! This time it is for a cool $31 gift certificate to Thirty-One organizing products
http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/10/thirty-one-gift-certificate-giveaway.html!
Go check it out!

Spider in frame

For those of you who don't follow my knitting blog. I framed my knitted spider this morning! Easy peasy! I put up a command hanger, hung a frame(no glass) on it, and also hung the spider from the hanger, too. I think she looks awesome!

Tatted Halloween Spider

Here she is! Finally finished. My homemade Halloween decoration for this year is my 3D Tatted Halloween Spider! She is tatted in DMC black with a purple dmc shiny floss added. Her legs are memory thread (thread with wire in it) wrapped in a chain stitch. (That took a while!). Beaded eyes... all  6 of them.
First, I found the branch. I tried to stain it.. looked awful. Paint it brown.. awful...finally black..ok.
 I cut out the web shaped stand on my scroll saw, and wood burned the web onto it, and stained it. I attached the branch to the stand with a wood screw.
I then tied the tatted web, I had already made, onto the branch. The spider is just hanging on by her feet! I really love how that shiny floss (one strand added) looks like she is totally beaded! It is a great affect.

I haven't named her yet, but she will have a name soon.  All total, web and stand are about 14" high or so.

Happy October!

Ok, so, you may have guessed my 'theme' for this Halloween is spiders. I have the large knitted one on my dog-goneknit page,  I am knitting a purse with one, and I have created this little guy. He is about 2½" long, legs and all. He is 3D tatting, of course. He is made from some thread I got at the Lace day, which just screamed "Halloween"!
His legs are memory thread, which I also got at the Lace day. I am thinking of making them to sell on Etsy. We shall see.
I also have finished his big Sister, who will have her own web and stand.. but she will be revealed later when all completed. (I have to finish the stand). Until then...enjoy this little taste of Halloween!

Tatting you say..

I haven't done much lately. But, my projects I am working on are as follows.
Remember Bella? Well, I decided I wanted something similar to her, on a branch, large..only a Spider. I have the perfect branch I found while cutting my hedge. It is already a 'stand'. I tatted a large spider web to go in it. Now, all I need do is make the 3D spider to go inside! I can almost see her.. so... soon.
I also want to make the Christmas Spider ornament.  It is a little spider on top of an ornament ball with a web attached. On my to do list.
If you haven't guessed by now, I am making spiders this Halloween. Check out my knitting blog in the near future to see the knitted orb weaver I am making. No pictures yet, but soon. There are new photos of swaps I have done and received lately.. that is fun to look at.(And more fun to receive!!)
So, if you have a spider pattern that is unique or rare or just want to share with me, I'd love to get them!!

Battatter's Boots

First, let me thank my sister for buying me these! I fell in love with them, and they were 'really' pricey. She had already given me money for helping her with a chore, .. but also gave me the rest of the $$ to make up the difference in the boot price. She said, you have to have those.
The perfect boot for the Battatter...

And since they are in men's sizes.. they fit great! I am doing a happy dance in my bat boots!

State Fair fun

Went to the State Fair with my two BFFs and we had a great time. It was a beautiful sunny day, but cool, about 80 degrees. Breezy. I hadn't entered anything in the fair as it is very pricy. But I did see the winners. I was surprised and happy that a gal from my hometown, Jan Mullens, won 1st prize with her beautiful cross stitch. Way to go Jan!
I told my friends I was going to eat whatever I wanted... they thought I might get sick! haha.
I had fried veggies, (so good) a deep fried twinkie, (also good, but needed better batter) London broil, yum, cherry limeade,(yuck. I love cherry limeade but this had hardly any flavor, boo) Another cherry lime slushy, ok, I also had strawberry shortcake. I bought, but did not eat there,... choc. praline fudge for me and pumpkin for my sister, honey straws, candied pecans, cotton candy. We pet goats, horses, sheep, saw the cows,.. elephants for elephant ride. I took Bellaluna to show to Mary, the lady who tats in the pioneer days building. She isn't online, and I think has limited access to patterns, so mostly does doilies, crosses and such. She was a little scared by Bella, but very interested in her.We had a nice chat. My friends and I had a long but fun day.

Harry Potter shoes... DONE!

Ok.. I have to stop! I keep wanting to put more on..but.. I ...must... stop.

Here is the finished product. I love 'em and can't wait to wear them!

Ta Dah! Fair Entries 2011!!

I just got back from the fair, and oh, I am a happy girl!
I was hoping on the way out there..if I could just get one sweepstakes I would be so happy. (I know, that is alot to hope, but I can hope, can't I?)
I got there, and what to my wondering eyes should appear?
Oh, my sweet Dolcé had won Sweepstakes, Judges Choice AND a blue ribbon! Wow! She is a chip off the old block, as that is exactly what her mother, Bellaluna, won last year! So proud. Then I looked and baby brother Danté had won 1st prize! Yeah. Well, that is the highest he could possibly win, as they were in the same 'class' category.
I then started looking for my Gryffindory Owl purse. So named because it is Gryffindor colors from Harry Potter, and knitted with many owls. It was the first knitting I have ever entered into the fair. I was hoping for any ribbon, of course. But, when I saw it, I was flabbergasted! It had won Sweepstakes and a blue ribbon!  It was all I could do not to jump up and down by this point. Whew~
I also saw the little crocheted Halloween Cat I had entered had won a red ribbon. I am so happy with that, as the first prize in that category when to the cutest crocheted peas in a pod amigurumi.
On to my Halloween bat.. where was he?.. oh, he is over there sitting on a shelf... with a 3rd place ribbon. Nice.  There were a lot of nice 'other season' entries, and he is very lucky to win.
Oh, where is my tatted Charlie in the box ornament?.. oh, my.. oh my.. he is there, with a what?
Sweepstakes and blue ribbon! Wow again. It strikes me as amazing that such a little ornament can win sweepstakes.
Now on to my photographs. You must know, it has been really hard for me to win in this Department. Seems the same people win.. alot. I got to looking. Oh, my little dragonfly not only didn't win, he was displayed sideways! ...umm ok.
Then I found my digitally enhanced photo of Rebel... oooh 3rd! I thought he might do better, as he is made up of hundreds of tiny photos of himself, but, he at least got a ribbon. Then to find the one I really wanted to win. It is a photo of a drop of water hanging off of a calla lily. In the drop of water you can see Rebel in the reflection. I reallllly love this picture. I finally found it, with a 1st place ribbon. YES! I was very very happy it won. Funny, when I was looking at it, a lady and her husband came up and she was admiring it out loud. I said.. thank you. She turned and said, you took that? Yep, I said. See the reflection of my dog? Her husband said, yeah, it does look like a dog. I said, it IS,  and explained how it was done. THEN, he was really loving in. He just kept staring at it. Made me feel good.  I am so so happy with my fair wins. Thanks to everyone who encourage me and keep me going!
Also, a big congrats to my friend, Molly, who also won a 2nd place and third place in Photography!

Harry Potter shoes coming along

I started painting last evening, and so far so good!
Thanks for the comments! I did have many, not all, of the ideas listed. The hard part was 'seeing' where things should go.
The plan is, icons from each movie...4 movies on each shoe. Last night I finished side one of one shoe and began side one of the other. (We must have paint drying time)  I love the way the HP logo came out. It is on the back of one of the shoes. The Dumbledore's Army logo is on the back of the other.
I will work on them today, too, and update you with my Fair results when I get them later this afternoon.
Ciao!

Harry Potter shoes

Ok, since I can't take my HP owl purse with me to the movie, I have decided to paint myself some HP shoes.(like the Doctor Who shoes in a previous post).
 But what to put on them? I have several things in mind, but, what are YOUR favorite icons from the films. I am thinking/hoping to put one item from each movie. Let's hear it..

The Fair is here again!

I went to enter 11 items for the fair last night. There is an entry sheet you must fill out for each department and then the tags for each item.  A couple of years ago, I took the entry sheet I had used, brought it home, scanned it, and digitally erased all the previous info on it. So now, when I go to the fair, I already have my entry sheets filled out.. so all I have to do is the tags. The fair coordinators are always so happy when I do this. I wish someone would get the idea to have them available for everyone to fill out. Maybe next year I will post a pdf of it. It may help out some people. Anyway.....

Danté (Free Choice)

Dolcé(Tatting)

Here are some photos of what I entered. Of course, I forgot to take photos of the new stands for my Dolcé and Danté bats. Oh well, I'll show them later. One lady asked if it was tatted. I said yes, She said, even the little 'veins' (as she called the fingers in the wings). I said yes. She said I have never seen that stitch, I thought it was crocheted. I explained it was tatted, and that I was the only person I know of that does it. She looked at me oddly. Sometimes I don't know how to take that odd look. haha.
Also, there was another girl there. She asked me if I could have the pattern. I explained, I don't have a pattern, I just make it up as I go. She said, "then I will be taking lots and lots of photos"!  I laughed and said no problem. She had made an adorable crocheted three peas in a pod amigurumi. Oh, now my poor kitty or Danté won't win. It was really well done and very cute.

This little Halloween bat also has a candycorn bowtie.He is entered in the Seasonal(not Christmas) category.

Halloween Kitty (Toy)

Gryffindor owl bag. It pains me to enter it into the fair, but it was the only really good knitted item I made all year. I really wanted to take it to the HP movie when I went, but I am going Friday, and can't pick up the bag until Saturday. waaaa.

Charlie in the box Christmas ornament.

Fairy Garden. This isn't mine, this is one I made for someone else. Mine is much larger, and has all of this and a peacock, fairy garden gate door, and more in it.

I also entered three photos. I would have entered more,  but they changed the rules this year and everything had to be mounted on 16x20 foam core board. Too pricey to enter too many if  you have to buy all the foam core.

I also entered in the recycle category a tote I made from a birdseed bag. They are quite pretty, because the bags usually have lovely birds on them. And, they are sturdy, because they are meant to hold so many pounds of birdseed. The fair coordinators didn't seemed to thrilled with it, so I probably won't win anything, but I do love them for grocery totes, project bags, or just a place to throw junk when you are cleaning.

Ok, that is 11.  I will go Sunday afternoon to see if I won anything.

Wish me luck.

Swappy goodness and more

Hello there. Yes, it has been a while. I have been busy doing swaps and getting ready for the local Fair. As a teaser to the swaps, and quite appropriate for this blog.. I made my Zoo swap partner this awesome notepad.

I bought the notepad, covered it with fabric  to hide the printing on it. Then I tatted this SO CUTE little koala and glued him on. Sweet! I had never tried this pattern before, though I have had it for YEARS!. It is one from Christel Weidemann's collections .. and so in German. I had a little problem with the head and ear section, but I 'made it work'.. the rest was a piece of German chocolate cake. haha.. Check out the other things I have made my swap partners on my other blog, dog-gone knit.

I love her patterns, now I guess I will have to make some more of them!

The Fair..I think I am ready. I am entering Dolcé in the 'tatting' section, Danté in the free choice, and my Charlie in the box ornament in the Christmas ornaments. In other categories, a crocheted item in the Seasonal, Crocheted item in the toys, Knitted bag in the purse section, a fairy garden(made with all handcrafted from fimo flowers, fairy, mandrake.. etc, in the crafts,  and three photos.  I would have entered more photos, but they have a new rule this year that photos must be mounted on a  16x20" foam core board! Wow. I wasn't going to spend much $$$ to enter photos, plus have to lug the huge things everywhere.  

I have to go enter my items this Thurs or Fri...and then find out how they did on Sunday afternoon. Wish me luck!

Swaps!

I know, it isn't tatting, but please check out my swapping fun on my other site,
dog-gone knit. See it on the sidebar?..over there......------>
I made some cool stuff, and got even cooler stuff!
here's a sneak peak..

I made this dumpling bag from space fabric.. and hand painted the TARDIS on it.

A Giveaway from A Bow Full of Lemons

There is a very cool giveaway going on. They are giving away a Silhouette machine. Find the details here,
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Another Ravelry swap!

Here is a preview of what I received in the Fantasy Creature swap..
go to my other blog Dog-gone knit to see all the goodies!

Lace Day!

Here is a little video I made of the fun I had at Lafayette Lacer's Lace Day yesterday. It is about 3minutes.  I will add more details later... until then..Enjoy!

Ok, as promised, more about Lace Day!

When I arrived,  it was gloomy and raining.  But I walked in the doors, and was met by two very bright smiles.. LaceLovinLibrarian and her friend LaceRN! They came from Illinois for the day and had brought things for the raffles... and gifts! LLLibrarian let me choose a shuttle from her pile of blinged out shuttles. It was a difficult choice but I finally settled on this one. Pretty,  glittery one with Lilies of the valley. Thank you, Diane!

  I had taken my tatted bat family and my Haunted house...and was immediately deluged with compliments!  Such a proud momma am I!

I went to put them on the show and tell table. Well! wow! There were so many beautiful things there already! Excellent!

A little later on...who sneaks up behind me?

Laura Bobay from Columbia City! We meet here everytime to spend this great day together. She brought me this super cool Maranka gourd! hmmm what will I make this into?

I saw old friends, like Tatting Goddess, and Mary Harris, and made some new ones, like Connie, Kelly and Mindy. You can see them in the video, well, except for Tatting Goddess. I don't know how I missed getting her photo, but I did get photos of her tatting! The rocks were a hoot!

Then, there were the raffles! Oh, I love the raffles! I bought $20 (30tickets) worth

of tickets. And, silly me, forgot to use 10 of them!

But.. I won!

Here is the first (yes, I said first, as I had a really lucky day), one I won.

I really really wanted to win this one for several reasons. One, it had a shuttle bling box from LacelovinLibrarian, it also had this awesome embroidered tatting bag, and a Peter Cua etched shuttle! The wow factor of this one was incredible.  When they called my name.. I was ecstatic!

This first raffle prize was more than enough for the price of the tickets! But wait, there was more.

Then I won the stack of magazines in the first picture. With this lovely dog pattern in one of them. I will have to make one of these.

Then there was shopping, chatting, laughing, lunch (yummy strombolli at the Pizza Hut), more shopping and fun.. then, more raffles.

 I won this. Beautiful quilted bag full of magazines and patterns! Did I mention, I love magazines?

The last raffle was a different one. You were supposed to guess how many spools of thread were in the large tub, and write it on the ticket and put it in the raffle container.

They said two people were the closest.. they called a name.. no one came to claim it. As it was pretty much the end of the day, many people had gone home.  So, the next closest person got it.. me!

Wow, am I lucky or what? Really, not usually, in any other circumstance, but today was my lucky day!

There are all types of great threads in there... Carolyn Regnier told me I had to make something great with them.. I will!

Here is a panorama I made of the rec room as I call it. It is where the refreshments and raffles were held.  By the way, I still want the lemon cookie recipe.. I am craving them NOW!

Can you name these people.. I am sure you can some of them, at least. Sorry, though. The lady on the right sort of got 'ghosted' when the panorama program got finished!

I had such a great day...

Happy Anniversary Lafayette Lacers!!

Here's to another 30... and more