Hankies, One With Tatting...

Finally, here are the hankies I bought and brought home this past Thursday!  The wind has died down and I could take them outside for some photos to share with all of you...so here you are:

Three to adorn with tatting someday...

I never can seem to resist violets!

May actually do a white edging on this one...or white and silver.  Love the silver roses!

Love this one, the silver fountain in the background is so pretty and there are roses, so of course I love it.  Not at all sure which way I'll go with an edging on this one.

These will have to be set aside for a while though, I have 3 edgings in progress that need to be finished before I start another.

Finally...here is the one with the tatting.  However, the tatting is not all that makes this hankie special...

Beautifully hand appliqued...

...and a hand rolled hem.

To which the simple, but perfect, tatted edging is beautifully attached.

The details on this are just gorgeous...

So much time and attention to detail and skill went into creating this beautiful hankie.  It is a lovely treasure to have found!  I hope you have enjoyed seeing it as well...

Now, I am off to play in the yard with the girls, the wind is supposed to be back this afternoon...so I had better take advantage of it's absence while I can!!!  Until later...

Suncatchers on a Sunny Day...

The girls and I made suncatchers today, these were fun to make and both girls had a great time making them!  Take a look...

These are made from plastic beads...pony beads, cheap plastic crystals beads, etc.  There are quite a few tutorials for this type of things out there.  I ran across this version on Pinterest, of course I didn't Pin it and now can't find it again to share with you all...but here are a couple of other versions with good instructions and great ideas:  star suncatchers from craftster and a wire wrapped suncatcher version from One Crafty Mama.

These first two are the ones that I made.  You simply lay a single layer of beads in a pie tin or small loaf pan or other dish of choice and bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until everything is melted.

Here is little Rosie Posie's version (She had some help).  After they come out of the oven, you let them cool (they will snap, crackle, and pop a bit).  They pop out of the tins very easily once cool.  Then drill holes for hanging.

Here is my older daughter's version (She did this one on her own and helped with the others).  These are so pretty...and what a great way to use up some of the plastic beads we have accumulated.

Here they are all together.  Some of the photos are a little blurry...it is so windy today, it's hard to get a picture at all!  I need to find my tart molds, then we could make some smaller ornaments or suncatchers that would be nice in the windows...these are fairly large as we used pie tins and mini loaf pans.  They have become garden ornaments, they are so pretty out in the yard!

I have some lace to photograph, but if I take it outside it will be in the next county before I can reach to catch it!!!  Perhaps it will calm down before dark...we shall see!

Flowers for Friday...

Or perhaps, Friday for Flowers...as I think I would like to share a few of my photographs of flowers on Fridays!  God's blooms are so much more beautiful than anything I create, and I simply love flowers...I love creating their likeness in threads and drawings, growing them, and photographing them.  I believe sharing my photos of them here on a more regular basis is something I would like to do, so here you are...

Today, my family and I spent some time at our local zoo.  I love the animals, but the zoo's gardens are my favorite part of a trip to the zoo.  I am always more excited to see the next thing blooming than what the animals are doing!  Here are some of my favorite shots from today...

Wild Rose

Mock Orange



Perennial Alyssum

Mamma Duck and Ducklings...They were so sweet!

Yellow Iris

Columbine

Yellow Columbines

Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bush, close up!

American Kestrel, He is a Gorgeous Creature!!!

Honeysuckle

"Cheyenne" Mock Orange

We had Mock Orange in our arrangements at our wedding...the whole church smelled wonderfully of their scent, so they will always be a favorite of mine!  I wish I could share the smell of the honeysuckle too...just glorious!  And truely, one should always take time to smell the roses!

The flowers are so spectacular this spring, I am though roughly enjoying them!  I hope they inspire you to create something beautiful, as they do me. 

I'll photograph that lovely hankie with tatting that I bought and brought home tomorrow...today I was busy enjoying the flowers, the animals, and my daughters' & husband's company.  Until tomorrow then...may you find time to enjoy the flowers you see and pause to take in their scent!

A Wander through the Antique Stores...

Today was my Birthday...and so I was able to convince the masses that antiqueing was the thing to do today.  Always a favorite of mine, but typically not something I can convince the rest of the family to accompany me on...I did think that all of you might like to come with though!  I snapped some photos of the tatting I saw as I went. 

Now, I did not have tremendous luck with finding tatting today...it was limited and not of such quality that much of it came home with me...however, there was some, and I thought I would share those with all of you...I'll let the pictures speak...

...and one book, but I think I already have a copy of this one.  I am not positive though, the bag was stapled shut and I couldn't look at the book inside to see the patterns (that was rather disapointing)...I'll have to look through my tatting books later and make sure.  I could run back tomorrow if I don't have it...

I hope you've enjoyed the tatting snippets from my wander today, there was one other piece with tatting adorning it that I actually purchased and I found a few pretty hankies that came home as well.  I will take photos in the morning, when the light is better, and share those with you tomorrow.  

It was a very pretty day to spend wandering in and out of shops searching for treasures, which made it a fun and lovely Birthday. 

Now, I'm going to do some tatting of my own and enjoy my glass of wine my dear husband poured for me before it's time to go to bed, the little one is asleep and I have some time!!!

What's in the basket...

Were you wondering what was in that basket...

This is something else I make a lot of for gifts for loved ones.  I really enjoy adding beautiful lace details to purchased sets of kitchen towels...it makes them so much more beautiful and fun to use...

This is a winter set that I have been working on for a while...I'm pretty sure my Sister will love this set!  These are two dish cloths, edged all around.

Here is everything I have done in this set, two each of the kitchen towels and the dish cloths as well as three sets of pot holders...one kind of tucked in behind in the photo above, from the set, that I did not embellish...

...and the other two from a "magic potholder" pattern.  I used this video from Crochet Geek to figure this out as the process struck me as odd at first and I needed to "see" it in order to be able to understand how to put one together.

One set is miniature, for my Nephew that loves to help cook in his little kitchen while his Mom cooks in hers...I love these potholders and have several sets in my own kitchen.  They are nice and thick, which I love...no burns!  The cotton is also a good fiber to use for things like this as it will not melt like some synthetic fibers can.

I did another set for her in summer colors like this one.  Most of that set is already at her home...this is one towel that I hadn't yet finished up.

The edging pattern is my own creation...I love the lacy look of it.  I use cotton yarn for these, usually Lily's Sugar and Cream yarn.  It washes well and stands up to a lot of use in the kitchen.  The next towel I do, I'll have to write up the pattern to share...

Well, my Rosie Posie wants me to read her a story and then I want to make some tea and tat for a while...hopefully I will have more to share later today!

More Crocheted Baskets...

Here are more of the baskets I have crocheted using the same patterns I linked in my last post...they have finally been boxed up and shipped off to their new homes, except for the couple that will stay in mine!

Here is the one for my Mother, in shades of brown, reds, peach, and corals...very pretty.  One of my favorites, save the one I made for myself!

For my Step-Mother-In-Law...in a dusty blue that I hope she will love.

This one is mine...I love the oranges, corals, and browns in this one!  I love these late Summer or Autumn colors...so warm and happy!!!

The basket on the left is the one I had mentioned I was still working on in my last post, for my Sister.  The one on the right, well, little Miss Rosie Posie decided she needed a basket too...

I finished her's up today, a periwinkle blue and a lovely soft rose pink...her choice in colors.  She loves blue and lavendar...that periwinkle blue has a bit of a lavender tint to it.  She's been telling me that yarn was for her for a while now. 

...and here is a better photo of my Sister's basket, also in blue.  She has a lot of this shade in her home.  I would call it a country blue, I have paired it with a cream color in this basket. 

My beautiful older daughter wants one too...and has yarn picked out, so one more of these to come, then I think I am done with this pattern for a while at least!

There are other pretty things I've made inside my Sister's basket, I will share those with you tomorrow...really need to get off to bed now!

Crocheted Baskets...

I had planned to tat another cross today, but my Mother-In-Law was coming into town and I wanted to finish this up to give to her today...so this is how I spent my morning...

This crochet basket pattern is from Crochet in Color and the pattern for this "Chunky Crocheted Basket" is one of several great patterns she offers for free on her blog.  This is the fourth one I have completed and I really enjoy working this pattern.

I have added a rose to the baskets for embellishement, I used this pattern for the rose from Pom Pom Emporium.  It makes a nice large bloom and is quick to work up. 

On this bloom, I added a row of single crochet in the oatmeal colored yarn on the last 6 petals or so, to accent the flower.  I like the effect of that a lot...really makes the flower pop.

This is the larger of the two basket sizes given in the pattern.  When crocheted with 4 strands of yarn, as I have done here, it is large enough to hold a stack of magazines...so it is an ample basket. 

The yarn I used today was 3 strands of worsted weight and 1 strand of sport weight yarn.  The type of yarn you select really makes a difference in the size of the basket...I have simply been creating these from yarns I have in my stash, so the sizes of my baskets vary quite a bit.  It's also been fun to select colors to blend together, the effect is lovely and really different depending on what you choose to use.  Here I've used an oatmeal, forest green, and olive green yarn in varying combinations.

Each basket uses up a good 4 skeins of yarn...it's been a great way to use up some of the acrylic yarns in my stash.  I really like the washability and durability of that fiber for this purpose...and I find that I use acrylic yarns less and less for other things as there are so many nice cotton, bamboo, wool blend, and other lovely yarns available these days.

This was what I chose to make each of the mothers on my list this year (as well as one for myself)...I think it makes a nice gift and is not only beautiful but a functional item, and they can be thrown in the wash if needed as well.  Hopefully they will all enjoy these baskets!  My Mother-In-Law seemed to like hers today...so I am hopeful that they will be appreciated, one does wonder sometimes.

I'll try to photograph and show the other baskets to you all before I mail them off in the next day or so.  Still finishing up one for my sister, about half done on that one.  It takes me just over 3 hours to complete a basket with the rose embellishement.  I'm off to work on that last basket now...