Another bag!

My sign at the craft show

The show was fun but disappointing in sales.  There also didn't seem to be as many people as I was expecting.  We saw people making purchases but few walking around with many packages so I would say I wasn't the only one that didn't do well.  I do like how my sign turned out :-)  One of the other venders came over at the end of the show just to check us out because she liked the sign.

I decorated another bag (are you tired of them yet?), this time with a snowman.  I like how the scarf came out. I realized after I had cut out the material for the snowman it was too busy to add face and buttons but it still came out rather cute.

I guess I'm farther along on Christmas gifts now than I thought I would be - as long as I give bags anyway. 

☺

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else."

Erma Bombeck

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Getting ready

One day when I felt I should be tatting but couldn't get myself organized to tat something on my list, I tatted this motif.  Nothing fancy or hard, just tatting and hoping something worth keeping would come out of it.

Lizbeth #651 size 20
The center is pretty much the center from last years (?) snowflake with a little something more on the outside.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I like it. 

Mostly I've been very busy tatting planned items, getting ready for the craft show this weekend.  I've decorated a few more bags, made a few ornaments and put together a few odds and ends.  I always think I have more time before a show than I really do so I don't really get busy until the last few weeks - way later than I should.

Then I stress about what I don't have done, and how I'm going to get it done.

This week I have taken a couple of days vacation just to get ready.  I have a plan, a list of things that still need to be accomplished.  If I don't have a plan I wonder around in circles (it seems) and get very little done, but with a plan the most important things usually end up getting finished. Sometimes late the night before but finished.  With a few days off this week to get ready could this be the show that I'm ready for early?

Hahahahaha! Probably not.

But I still enjoy doing craft shows whether I get everything done or not, or even if I sell much or not.  Tatting is put out there for people to see, and sometimes I get to talk to a few about it, too. Who knows, maybe someone will be intrigued enough about it to want to learn how.  And I stretch my imagination coming up with new things to make and get to see what other people have come up with.  

A win all around.

"The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we're ready for it."

Arnold H. Glasow

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Travel tatting

We went to visit one of our daughters this weekend to celebrate one of the grandson's birthday.  Our other daughter and her son were also able to come up, which made for a great weekend!  All the grandkids together equals not much time for tatting, at least while we were there (I don't plan on it, either!).  We left on Friday evening, which meant in the dark as the sun now sets so early.  Almost five hours of driving time - in the dark.

I have a booklight, one of those that clip onto a book so you can read in bed or wherever in low light.

And the battery was dead.

But I did have a small, regular flashlight that worked just fine.  I just tucked it behind the seat belt across my chest. I had to re-aim it every little bit, but it put light where I needed it.

I didn't want to try following a pattern in those conditions so my best bet was something that I could do without a pattern.  What better than a bookmark?  A very basic cross bookmark is the result of our drive. 

I also emptied a few shuttles by making birds, butterflies and flowers.

We left earlier in the day Sunday to come home so I had light to tat by for a while and I still did simple things.  I got several snowflakes done, which I'll be putting on some items for the craft show that's coming up in a couple of weeks.  I might have pictures of those next week.

We had such fun this weekend. As our daughters live so far apart the cousins don't get to see each other often, but they got along great.  We'll have another chance to get all together in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to it!

More bags

I have so enjoyed decorating bags that I have embellished a few more.

I think this one is finished.  Stepping back to look at it I find it pleasing just as it is.

This bird is out of different material than the first one I did.  I'm trying to add some white to the tree branches to make it look like touches of snow, but it hasn't quite worked out yet. We'll see.

I thought this one was done, but looking at the picture I think it needs just a little more work. 

This one needs a little more something.  I haven't quite decided what yet.

All of these bags are about 6 inches square not counting the handles (which I will iron to have them look nice). I'm planning on taking these to a local craft show later this month where my sister and I have a booth. It would be great if they sell but I can think of several people I could gift these to this Christmas.  And they have just been a lot of fun working on!

Seeing the trees in their fall colors this year has been enjoyable, too. The tree colors have been pretty spectacular around here.  The trees had water when they needed it and cool temperatures without severe weather which makes for pretty leaves. 

Some of the trees on First Street in Newton, Kansas October 30, 2013.

This is looking toward the library from the courthouse in Newton, Kansas, October 30.  Quite the range of colors isn't it?.  I had my camera with me that day and couldn't resist taking a few pictures.  The drive to work this week has given me time to enjoy the gorgeous colors of the trees. 

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." 

George Eliot

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