Tat's Heaven

I really should go on a 'time management course' because I don't seem to use the time I have very sensibly and jump from one job to another instead of concentrating on one thing and getting it done.  I am like that with tatting.  After I had made the earring I got bored so instead of completing the pair I started an edging,  but I do have a purpose for this particular piece so may actually get it finished in the next day or two! And today is a special day because in 1859 the famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high St. Stephen’s Tower, rang out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time  "Time and tide wait for no man"

I am still making bags and trying to find time to also tat.  The main aim is of course to try to use up thread and beads, and I am doing quite well in that respect, having reached the end of three balls and the delight of throwing the cardboard inners away!  These little sea horses are one of my latest projects and I am hoping to attach them to cards. And  more tote bags for the seaside, the right hand side one I attached mother of pearl buttons on the end of the straps,  although you cannot see them very well on this photograph.   Off to find some more material to make bags out of and to use up my stash of tatting thread and beads!

I have been given some lovely material, most of which has a nautical theme, so beach bags seem to be the obvious items to make from it.    I really don't get much time to spend on them so it is something I pick up every now and then but really enjoying making something that is big and bold! And of course I made some more bracelets

Did you know that Mahonias got their name from an Irish nurseryman, Bernard McMahon, who settled in Philadelphia in the 18th century?  Apparently his business became a centre for American gardeners, where everyone, from Thomas Jefferson downwards, met to mull over the horticultural topics of the day.  McMahon wrote the first book about gardening on American soil, The American Gardener's Calendar, which was a best seller for 50 years. 'Im in the garage' really likes the colour of the Mahonia wood as you can see from these  shuttles,  it is a lovely yellow colour and contrasts well with the ebony and a purple heart shuttles sitting beside it. This is a Mahonia bush next to one of the churches and this week it got drastically pruned and guess who brought the wood back with them? You can see the lovely yellow colour already, but of course these pieces need seasoning. Oh and by the way my spell check wants Mahonia to be Madonna!

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of packets of alphabet beads from a supermarket  because they were reduced in price, not by much as they were quite cheap anyway.  Somehow though I could not see them looking so rejected as there were many packets.  Resisting buying too many, mainly because at the time they were just going to be put into my stash, I only came home with two packets.    Amazingly though I have started using them. The top bracelet I am going to give to my hairdresser and the bottom one is for someone whose birthday I completely forgot in April!   Managed to forget another persons birthday also last month and as her name is June, feel that another one will have to be made before we say goodbye to May, although perhaps I should wait until June! The main reason for forgetting these birthdays was they were just after Easter and somehow with all the busyness of the season I forgot about them, especially as the people concerned do not live near...