Getting Started...

My intents in setting up this blog were originally rather selfish- I wanted a way to document with pictures my tatting projects since I expect to give or sell most of them away.  That's still the case, but in doing so much internet research to find my own inspiration, I hope that maybe my selfish blog will inspire someone else to take up an art form of their own and (pardon the sappy notion...) make the world a prettier place.

Where to begin....

I took up tatting about 2 months ago.  I was invited to go to a masquerade ball for New Year's Eve, and I'm not the type of person to go with the traditional...  (Besides- masks purchased online, while pretty, tend to have an abundance of glitter.  I like glitter, I really do!  But not when the majority of it will probably end up in my eyes.)  So I did some searching for lace masks.  I'm not entirely sure what I had in mind, but when I saw the mask online by TotusMel (http://totusmel.blogspot.com/), I was hooked.  Armed with some questionable how-to videos, new shuttles, old thread, and a load of determination, I taught myself how to tat.  At least enough to make a passable mask in time for the Ball. 

At the time, I thought I'd just created the Mona Lisa.  Now.....  I see so much room for improvement.  But thankfully, I haven't given up on the learning process. :)  And yes, I know the camera on my phone sucks.  I'll have to take better pictures down the road...

I got the mask done with a whopping 2 hours to spare before the party started.  And in case you're curious, I used eyelash glue to hold it in place.  An odd sensation, but it beats getting glitter in your eyes!

Enter 2011, with all the possibilities a new year tends to bring.  And I've added NEW thread to my amory, plus piggy-backing on a neighbor's internet connection, so I spent much of January looking at more how-to vids, pictures, blogs, etc.  Here are some of the projects I started/completed during January:

 Sad news: toward the end of January, my grandpa passed away.  On the road to the funeral with my sister, I completed this little heart to be part of a memorial box to give to my mom along with the inserts from both my grandparents' funerals:

I also finished this little gem in the car ride and wore it to the funeral:

My best friend is also in the SCA, and she'd been came back from an event with a great idea for a new project for me:  tatted garters.  You know- those cute things that keep yer stockings up? Well, adapt that for SCA, and you have cute things that keep your stripey socks up.  And, as an added bonus, they can easily double for a favor, if you see a guy you fancy on the list field. :)  This first set is done in purple with gold ribbon (Calontir colors):

These turned out so well, I decided to try a few more sets for some other friends in various colors.  I haven't taken pictures of them all, but here's another set- red and black this time:

So, those are my completed projects so far.  I have one more set of garters to make, and a necklace I want to get started for a friend of mine at work.  Then, I got what might be a fantastic opportunity to go in on an etsy shop with my college roomate- the woman who has more artsy wiles in her little pinky than I do in my whole body.  So I'm trying to think creatively on what might be appealing to sell in an etsy shop that 18 million other people aren't already selling. :)