Addicted to Gemstones

Last Wednesday, my Doctor at the wound care clinic discovered that my leg wound had doubled in size over the past month. We have already killed off the Staph infection with IV antibiotics, and still it's getting larger. He decided to take a biopsy, because there was a possibility it might be malignant. Six days and five sleepless nights later, the biopsy came back negative! Praise The Lord! While waiting for the test results, I had a lot of people praying and did my best to not feed the stress (no binge eating, no potato chips, no buffets, etc.). But I did spend an unusual amount of time on ebay. I discovered that if you have enough time to waste, you can get some amazing deals on gemstone beads. I won 2 strand of Lapis Lazuli beads, a strand of faceted amethyst beads, a strand of red jade beads, a stand of red garnet, and a strand of emerald beads (all 6-8mm). The total cost is under $20.00 dollars. I've even bought a large black onyx cabochon to try to set into my tatting. I figure if people who crochet with wire can create settings why not tat one? So stay tuned for some silver wire and gemstone work.















Here are some Silver wire earrings with 6mm onyx beads and some with 2mm amethyst beads. Both designs are courtesy of the antique pattern library.

P.S. Still no sales on Etsy. Anybody have some advice?

I Found a Loophole

I found a loophole in my promise. My wife made promise her several years ago to stop buying her jewelry, not because she didn't like my choices, but because with all my medical bills we couldn't afford for me to buy her anymore jewelry.
The promise I made doesn't include not making her jewelry. So since she loves pearls I played around with some simple designs and ended up with a pearl bracelet and earrings tatted in silver wire, I even made the clasp and findings. She can't wait to wear them to Church on Sunday.
On the down side the staph infection in my leg has grown significantly this week and is weeping like crazy. I would appreciate everyone's prayers. Staph is a dangerous thing to play with.

Life is Hard - Tatting is Good

Staph is one of the most aggravating and scariest problems I've ever had. I've been fighting this infection since before Christmas. I am currently doing IV antibiotics, this is week three 0f this round. They had to change the antibiotics I was on because it was breaking done my muscle tissue. The new one makes me extremely ill but it seems to be working. Oh well, enough whining...

I've managed to get the nurses to avoid putting the IV in my hands so that it doesn't interfere with my tatting. I now have my work in the Mississippi Museum of Art Gift Shop, and two jewelry stores here in Jackson. I've tatted up a storm but have hardly anything here at home to show for it. My wife keeps reminding me that its a good thing, all my tatting is out there luring in customers. My work gets tons of oohs and ahhhs but few sales so far, its hard to be patient.

My newest design in silver wire is based on Yarnplayer's "Joyful Bell" pattern incorporating 2 different size pearls into the pattern, giving it a lot of movement (the center pearl hangs in the center opening) and bling. Big thanks to all the designers who graciously share their patterns. Thanks Marilee (yarnplayer).

Finally A Winner!!!

Sorry for taking so long to announce the winner of my give a way. My internet went done Friday before Easter and after many, many hours on hold and arguing with customer service and tech support, I'm up and running again. Its amazing how out of touch it feels to not have internet.

Well, back to the give a way... according to the magical random number generator the winner is DaleMarie. Your earrings will be heading your way. I hope you enjoy them.

Time For My First Giveaway

I have been going through my tatting and found one of the first pair of earrings I'd made in metal, I realized they needed to be adopted by a tatter with a good home. They are tatted in silver wire with a copper core and have a swarovski crystal teardrop tatted into the design.
If you have a good home to offer them and can name the designer of the pattern, leave your name and the designer's name as a comment on my blog before 12 midnight est, April 4th, 2010.
Good luck!!! (Hint: The original design did not use the teardrop)

News, News and More News

Its been an exciting week so far, I've been nominated by the Mississippi Arts Commission to participate in Southern Artistry.org, a national resource which promotes southern artists. It's a big honor because to be listed you have to be juried and nominated by the state Arts Commission. They will have photos as well as a mini bio and artist resume' on the site.

I've also been e-mailed a copy of the ad for the up coming trunk show and all I can think to say is WOW! I can't believe it's really happening.

Stay tuned for a give away of one of my pieces. I hope to post it later this week.

Preparing For Easter motif #9

With my trunk show coming up, I'm trying to tat a few things that are appropriate for the season. I realized very quickly that there is no way to make a shamrock out of silver and make it look green, so I began preparing for the Easter season. I already had several Cross pendants made so I figured what I was missing was Cross earrings. So, with the help of "Mini-Tats" by Patti Duff, I have tatted some cool Cross earrings in silver. I know they look good because my wife felt compelled to test out a pair on Sunday for Church. They received a lot of great comments and I managed with some difficulty to get them back from my wife so I could take pictures. I don't know if Patti Duff is on the web but I'd like to tell her how great her book has been as a resource for small motifs for Silver earrings.