Busy As A Bee

Well, this past month has just flown by! We've been so busy. At the beginning of the month, I watched our four grandchildren while their parents went on a Hawaiian cruise. Everyone had a good time. This was their first cruise together and they really enjoyed it. It was also the longest time they had been away from the kids since the first one was born six years ago. All the grandchildren were fantastic and I really enjoyed being with them.

My husband has been remodeling a house and finished it just a week ago. He must be exhausted because even though he was up early and gone all day while he was working, now that it's done, it's hard to get him out of the house. LOL

We just got home from a four day motorcycle trip with a bunch of friends. Most people wonder if I ride on the back or ride my own. I ride my own motorcycle. It's a very shiny white Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail and I love it.

But even with all the stuff that has been going on, I've still been able to get some tatting done. One of the things I love most about tatting is how portable it is. I pack it in my motorcycle bag and take it with me everywhere I go. I made two bookmarks for the friends who put this four-day trip together and while we were gone I was able to make a third one just to have as an extra.

One last thing. I just bought an embroidery machine! I've never had one before so I'm very excited about it. I love to sew all kinds of things and I know this will be a lot of fun to use. I can embroider on clothing or pillowcases or quilts and with all the grandchildren (8 plus 2 more on the way), I'm sure it will be well worth the investment.

Well, I have lots to do so enough writing for now. I'll post more pictures later - some tatting, some embroidery, and maybe even some motorcycle pictures if anyone is interested in seeing them.

The Tatting Player's Earrings

If you haven't seen her post yet, check out The Tatting Player's earrings that Iris is going to help us create beginning on Monday.

I just finished my very first piece of tatted jewelry which was a pendant for the InTatter's exchange, so I'm excited about learning how to make earrings.

Pendant for Valerie (InTatter's April Exchange)

Pendant plus extra motifs attached to bookmarks

Because I loved this motif so much, I also made a couple extra and attached them to lightweight metal bookmarks called shepherd's hooks. It only takes about an hour or so to tat these motifs up so they're very fun and fast to do. In the pictures the bookmarks look a little like earrings but they're about 5" long and flattened to fit between the pages of a book.

I used a simple clover leaf and chain and attached a small charm at the bottom of one of the clovers. All of these motifs are done in #20 Lizbeth thread. The colors are Western Sunset and Springtime.