Flights of Fantasy

Dear friends, Since so many of you have asked, I will start taking pre-orders for my new fantasy book now.
 
It is fun to debut a book at the Palmetto TatDays and then I will start mailing copies afterward as I have done before.

I will gladly autograph books if you ask me. To ask, you can put in a "note to seller" on the PayPal order or send me an email.  I frequently personalize them "Dear Name, ..." so if you need it made out for someone else please say so!

Thank you to my wonderful test tatters, Jane Eborall, Erin Holloway, Sherry Townsend, and Stephanie Wilson.  They have put in a lot of work as well, and been a great help.

And thank you to all my friends online who have been so supportive of this project.

My website is http://www.home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-tatsamore

A direct link to the book page is here 

There are Paypal buttons to order a single copy, with different buttons for the US, Canada, and Overseas to provide the proper amount for shipping.  If you want more than one book, email me and I can provide a discounted combined shipping price.  You can snail mail checks and money orders too.


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The header on the Tatdays page says 6 days to go.  I've got so much to do! I've got to get my beads in the bead spinner, and my shuttles wound.  Where did I put my big beading shuttles?  I'd better start packing.  I'll need some extra shuttles, and threads, beads, sequins, buttons, my list of the Lizbeth colors I already have.  Must remember to recharge the camera battery.  And the homework for Vickie's class, must remember to do that.  I'd better go now.

Back to the Challenge with Cintamani

My current personal challenge for the 25 Motif Challenge was to count only motifs worked from books.  I have a bad tendency to get tatting books and never actually work any of their patterns despite my best intentions, so I was trying to work on that.  I'm not doing a very good job.  I've lost count of when I started, and how many I have done, but I suspect the number is embarrassingly low.  I'll go back and count later.

Anyway, periodically, I pick myself back up and try again.  Jon generously gave me a copy of her book, Elegant Tatting Gems, and I have been admiring the motifs on other blogs.  Here is "Cintamani"  which I admired for its curves and being worked all in one pass.  I used a size 80 thread by Anchor, which is a gentle mixture of blue and white.  I recommend the book, with many 6 sided motifs.  Each pattern has both written instructions and a diagram.  Depending on your thread choice, they can be snowflakes or small doilies.  Mine is just over 2 inches across at the widest point.

Soon...

Dear friends, thank you all for showing so much support for the upcoming book.  I will let you know when I am ready to start taking pre-orders.  There will be plenty of copies to go around!

I like to be closer to ready to mail before I start taking money.  And just as well, they asked me to put in extra time at work this week, which has put me days behind in dealing with my email etc.  This may continue into next week, so I think I will wait until that crisis has passed.

I Actually Tatted Something

I feel like it's been ever so long since I have simply tatted something to relax, and not related to design work. Here is Karey's 1919 Square Medallion from the May issue of Tatting Times.  Several others featured it on their blogs months ago, but I just got around to it.  I enjoy pretty, old fashioned tatting motifs, don't you?

This is the sight that greeted me several days recently.  I seem to have a tomato-eating squirrel.  At least, it's not as bad as the deer that ate them all in one night last year.  It hasn't happened the last few days. I wonder if the squirrel went away, or got better at hiding the evidence.

Progress on the upcoming fantasy book continues.  I've had a few last minute glitches, like finding the cover stock I wanted to use was discontinued, but nothing I can't handle.  I have every hope of being able to bring a box full for my consignment table at Palmetto Tat Days.

Celtic Button Teapot Pattern

Do you remember this teapot I showed you once?

The pattern appeared in the Feb 2011 issue of Tatting Times.  Apparently, a lot of folks don't have a subscription (why not? you should!), because I get a lot of requests for it.

I have taken the original pattern and added diagrams and in-progress pictures.  Thank you to Jane, Sherry, and Stephanie for thoroughly test tatting.

I will put it for sale in my Etsy shop as an instant digital download of a pdf file to print. (Yes, that poor neglected shop that went on vacation mode when I moved and stayed that way until now.)

I haven't used Etsy in sooo long, and I haven't tried the digital download feature before, so I'm a little afraid of messing it up.  So here's the game plan:  I will start with listing one copy.  Will whoever buys that let me know if it worked OK, and then I will list more copies.

Update: Margaret assured me I was worrying for nothing, since she has sold with this service with no problems.  Isdihara bought the trial copy and says it worked fine.  Yay! I am open for business.