New Adventure in Tatting

Its been an extremely creative day.  I'm always trying to come up with new and creative ways of using my tatting, first it was tatting in silver wire, which was a big hit.  Then I combined tatting with chainmail and my finished pieces got me to the finals in an international Jewelry competition.  Today, I finally figured out a way to combine my silver tatting with wire wrap jewelry designs.  I tatted Tatman's shuttle pattern in silver wire, added a swarovski crystal to the center and then set it into a sterling silver bracelet (which I made from 20 gauge square wire).  Next project is designing a pendant combining tatting and wire wrap.

Final results from Fire Mountain and some new creations

After months and months of waiting, I finally heard back from Fire Mountain. I made it as a Finalist and made it on their website. But unfortunately that's as far as I got in the competition. They were amazed at the detail work but my work was lacking any color. Oh well, there is always next year.

Now that I am no longer on the 25 motif challenge, I decided to share some of my other projects. My tatting, especially in silver, is still my main addiction but I've started to expand into other areas of making jewelry. My side interests include chainmail jewelry and more recently, I've started to make wire wrapped jewelry. I hope y'all like the pictures.

I'm a Finalist!!!

I finally heard back from Fire Mountain Gems about my contest entries. The wait was driving me up the wall (patience is not one of my strong suits), so I called the person in charge of the competition and was told that 2 of my 3 pieces made it into the finals. And wouldn't you know it that when my wife checked the mail later that day, the letter was waiting for me in the box.
The next step is sending my pieces (the two chainmail and tatting pieces shown in my previous post) in to be professionally photographed by Fire Mountain and then I should hear back within a month about where I end up in the final judging. All finalists' work will be shown on their website and the best will be featured in the different magazines they advertise in.

Keeping my fingers crossed and praying a lot. Also, floating about two feet off the ground with excitement, the next wait may be worst than the last.

Entering My First Jewelry Contest

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just busy, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I know I had an interesting one. The week before Christmas the water heater in the apartment above ours burst flooding our apartment, shorting out our water heater and heat for a week, We still had a great if rather chilly holiday.
To catch everyone up on my health, my liver disease is still stable and we're approaching the six year mark since they told my wife and I to plan my funeral, I had two months to live. Fortunately, God knows better than doctors. My leg wound is finally almost healed after 13 months (PTL). And most importantly I am still married to the love of my life, something I am grateful for each and every day.
As far as my tatting goes I've bitten the bullet and entered Fire Mountain Gems contest in the wire and metal category. Two of my pieces combine a chain mail center with a silver wire tatted edging, the third piece is pure tatting. I should hear some feedback in about a month and the winners will be announced officially in about three months. The winners will be awarded a gift certificate from the Fire Mountain site and will be featured in several publications. Wish me luck and say a prayer, its going to be a long wait.
Here are some of the pictures: