Just a Quick Question for all those in Tat land...

So, as you know, I've been dyeing thread to potentially sell on Etsy.  As far as I can see a 50 yd skein for about $7 is standard.  50 yds is quite a lot of thread though.  If you have ever been hindered to buy HDT because of the $7, would you be more likely to buy a smaller skein, say 25 yds, at $3.50?

25 yds still seems like quite a bit of thread.  Of course, you wouldn't get it for a big project or anything.  But this is one thing I'm thinking about, but if I get too many negative responses to it, then I'll just scrap it. :o)

Thank you all for any and all input.

I'm glad to be out of school and all but,

I really wish that the mail ran today.  Well, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day everyone.  So, I am awaiting 4 packages in the mail... I really dislike the waiting for mail thing.  Most of the items I am waiting for are coming from the United Kingdom, and I know the whole overseas thing takes a while so I'm not holding my breath on those, trying not anyway.  I mean we are talking about 3 tatting books and two shuttles from Jane... so it's kind of hard not to be a little excited. :o)  The other though is a cone of size 40 from Handy Hands.  That should be here tomorrow.  So excited!
And speaking of the cone from Handy Hands...
The dyes I had been working with were from Dharma Trading.  I think I am going to stick with them.  I went to a local art store and got some new procion dyes by Jacquard there and so far have been not happy with them.  It may be that I tried black, and just was not happy with it.  Also, I bought a jar of "chocolate brown" which when I mixed it up... is black with a purple tint. The powder itself is brown though.  I get it though. I can understand how brown would be a hard color to obtain.  THEN the "hot pink" I got was more baby pinkish... and at higher concentrations was red.
My dyes that I have from Dharma are wonderful though.  The give nice bright colors.  I currently only have three: Fuschia red, robins egg blue, and citrus yellow... but with those I can get all kinds of colors.
I guess it's really one of those things that just takes a lot of trial and error, ya know?
ALSO! Something I think is kind of funny.  Sometimes I'll have an idea for something to dye... and when I'm actually dyeing it looks awful.  But when I go back and wash of the excess and dry it... the colors kind of grow on me and I like it more than something that I thought was brilliantly spectacular when I was dyeing.  Go figure.  Life is funny that way.
As far as tatting goes... I've got a couple of big projects going on and once I'm finished I'll have pics. :o)

Well, I'm back from class.... so that means....

After figuring out how to print screen on random.org, we have our winners.....

So looking back at the other post, that means the winners for the first ever Tat-ilicious giveaway are Fox, Jane, and Michelle!!

Congrats!

And since none of you had listed a preference I will just let Livi put the labels on the envelopes  (That is of course... after I receive your addresses of course) :o) Which means I won't know what you got either. lol.

I hope to have more giveaways in the future.  They are just plain fun for everyone :o)

some catching up to do

So, I've been tatting, but for whatever reason, I never posted about any of these.

They are all from Jon's Elegant Tatting Gems.  The top right is done in Lizbeth size 40 Charcoal and Medium Purple I believe.  Then the middle one is done in some size 60 that I dyed.  These are brighter than some of the ones I dyed recently for a couple of different reasons.  One of which is I used freshly prepared dye for it and another, I did most of the curing under an electric blanket instead of in the cold garage.  Lesson learned :o).  The bottom, is Lizbeth size 40 Azalea Md. and Seagreen Light.  Aren't they pretty??

And here are some more pictures of the threads I'm giving away on my other post....  This time done on the scanner.  My camera is being sent back to Fuji for repair. :o)

I think it's funny that the pictures really capture the beauty of the yellow and green but the blue and purple just looks dull.  In person though, the blue and pink/purple looks very nice.

 And here... I've decided to try Jane's TIAS... so here's my day 1... I'm doing it in the size 60 yellow green mix, same as the two skeins I'm giving away.  :o)  As for that extra picot at the beginning... that's just habit I guess.  I always leave a small picot at the beginning of every project.

The very first Tat-ilicious Give-away!

Okay, so if you've been reading lately, you already know that I've been trying my hand at dyeing thread.  The first reason for my dyeing threads would be to sell the threads to justify my buying and acquiring more thread for myself (naturally, right?)  Since I am currently jobless, a self supporting hobby is justifiable, in my eyes :o)

So these first few skeins I had intended to start an etsy shop with... but alas... I had been working hard at getting some skeins wound up and ready for dyeing.  All was well they were sitting nice and pretty on the couch, and then my lovely artistic daughter placed her freshly painted picture right on top of my beautiful pile of freshly wound skeins.  LUCKILY, not very much paint got on the thread, but some paint did get on them.   I tried to clean them and get all the paint off, but there is still the mark from where the paint was.  I really do not think that this little bit of paint will make the threads un-usable, but in my eyes, they do make them un-sale-able.  (( I did not tell Livi that her paint got on the thread, as this would made her extremely upset.  She's very sensitive and gets very upset when she thinks she has messed anything up))

So I feel bad that my first giveaway is essentially "damaged goods" but they are still pretty.  I have three total.  One skein is size 40 with colors of pink-purple-blue (it kind of looks like something Barbie would wear really) The picture doesn't do it justice but, oh well.

The other two are size 60 and the color is pale yellow to green:

I really think that they are both very pretty.  In fact, I have a skein of both that I have decided to keep for myself despite their flaw.  And if you are wondering about the flaw, here's an example:

Do you see that tiny blue speck... that's how small we are talking.  All the strands separate from one another and they still fell pretty smooth.  But like I mentioned before, I just don't feel right selling them, in this condition.  Plus, I'm still working out making the skeins.  So, this will be a good start I think.

So... the giveaway:  Because I have three skeins, there will be three winners.  To enter, all you need to is comment on this post and make sure that I can contact you.  Because I have 2 different kinds of skeins, if the first comment that is selected randomly has mentioned a preference then they will be granted their preference. If the first winner had not made a preference known, and the second winner does give preference, then the 2nd will be granted their preference... and so on.  If no winners give their preference, then, I will just randomly divvy them up.  How does that sound?

This is post is going up on Tuesday morning (for me) at 1:08 am, so I will randomly draw names for the winners sometime Thursday afternoon when I get back from Biochemistry!  I realize that makes this kind of a quick giveaway... but there will be more in the future, that hopefully will not include small bits of acrylic paint

how sweet...

So, I would like to preface by saying that a few weeks ago after reading that Fox mentioned running out of pink in size 80, I mentioned that I had loads of pink in size 80 and offered her some.  So we did a little swap, which she sent me some very lovely items.  As I was putting together the package together for her, Livi of course needed to help me with everything.  She was very fascinated that I had a friend that she had never heard of and that I talked to this friend on the computer.  So, now anytime I get on the computer, she just assumes I'm talking to Fox.  (She's so sweet!)

So tonight, I was on the computer and she wanted to get on and tat.... so I took her video.  So, as you watch, you'll see her talk about "my friend Fox" lol

Enjoy!

Don't you love how she's been tatting since she was a little girl, or did she say since she was a baby.  It's always one of the two.  :o)  

And here's just the two of us:

Isn't she precious???

Trying my luck again...

with the camera that is.  The camera is a Fujifilm Finepix HS20 EXR.  Other than that, I don't know much about the camera other than my mom found it on One Sale a Day.  The main screen on the back doesn't actually work,  something's wrong it.  It shows lines and is discolored, but it's okay because the digital screen that you can find in the viewfinder works fine.  I've never seen a digital screen like this one in a viewfinder before but since the main one doesn't work, I like that there is another one.
So, anyway, I took my lime green piece outside today (it was a nice sunny day) and took some pics.  Natural light always looks better than artificial.  Even if you have a crappy camera, it probably takes good pictures outside.  But here are some of the pictures from today:

This was outside, with the piece sitting on a brownish black piece of wood.  I think this piece of wood was once supposed to be a shelf for one of the bookcases inside, but I have since confiscated it for moments such as this :o)

Here I hung the motif on one of the many bare branches of my rose bush.  Poor rose bush.

This clover patch sits right beside the bare rose bush, and may be part of the reason my rose bush stays so bare. lol

Ahh... chilling out on the chair on the front porch :o)

Same chair, just macro

Now, this, is the same board from picture number 1.  Except this time I scooted Layla out of her sun bathing spot right inside the door.  Amazing that this was actually taken inside.  

This was taken inside in one of the more shaded spots but with the blinds open on a near window.  Also, I'm pretty sure I used the flash on this one.

Looking at them all together, I think I like the second one best.  Next favorite would be one of the last two pictures.  Looks so much better than the pictures taken in my bedroom last night :o)