High Tea at the Windsor

A couple of us decided to do spend a lovely day together. We started by visiting Southbank market and after some shopping and snack, we wandered the streets of Melbourne, past some lovely old and odd laneways. Then we did something unusual by having "High Tea at the Windsor".

What a glorious experience. We were greated by a waiter and shown to our table. We started with some lovely pink bubbly and then a three tiered platter arrived. Once we finished with this we could help ourselves to the dessert smorgasboard; the food was neverending, the desserts/cakes were just so yummy. There was even icecream and freshly made crepes. I must admit I did give up fairly early; a case of my eyes definitely being bigger than my stomach. The only disappointment, to me, was the tea was not served in fine china as I expected but just your typical cafe thick cups. All-in-all, I would love to do this again.

Lace Wedding Horseshoe

I just finished a lucky horseshoe for a lady at work who is getting married in March. I have made many of these horseshoes - they are so quick and easy - yet each one is different.

I must admit, this is the second attempt at this horseshoe, when the diluted PVA hardened it clogged a lot of the holes so I remade it and used a stiff bristle brush to clear all the holes.

Happy Valentine's Day

Not that I am a traditionalist, but a "theme" always motivates me. And what better a theme, than Love.......
Firstly a wonderful Pattern from Jon, which can be found at this site http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/. This is my first attempt at a dimpled ring. I used Lizbeth thread which is definitely my favourite tatting thread at the moment.


Motif number 9 for 25 Motif Challenge.

Secondly, I remember these lollies from my childhood. They are called "Sweethearts" and I thought it appropriate to take a photo to recognise the day of love.

Lastly, a little play on words - well, scrabble letters actually. I love my 50mm prime lens for my Nikon and use it every chance I get.

Tardis

Thanks to Anne B's gorgeous TARDIS tatting pattern, here is my Tardis. I'm very pleased with it and will get it laminated next week so my youngest daughter (diehard Dr Who fanatic) can use it as a bookmark.



I had my first exposure to split chains with the Tardis; whilst they are not difficult, it is awkward (thank goodness for You-Tube; it has helped me many a time when learning new techniques whether it be for tatting, or some other type of art/craft). My SC is far from perfect, but hey, it's my first attempt.

Motif number 8 for 25 Motif Challenge.

ThreeSixFive Challenge February pt 2

Today I travelled to Warrnambool for work commitments and of course I took my camera (I even found a camera shop and bought some "old" film for my SLR). Anyhow, I took numerous photos; today at Warrambool and at Geelong on the way home. I have definitely met my February quota with all the photos I took. Warrnambool is such a lovely place, the beach is superb. Geelong is also lovely, particularly along the foreshore where I took most of the photos.

ThreeSixFive Challenge February pt1

Here are some photos for the first part of February's daily challenge. I experimented a little in my digital darkroom (i.e. Photoshop) using different techniques on a few photos.

Tatting Motifs

Here is some tatting I recently finished. First is a snowflake based on heart doily by Kelly Luljak. I used Perle 8 in a blood red colour.

Motif number 4 for 25 motif challenge.

Next is Acacia by Judith Conners. I used Caotes 20 in a blue with some dark blue/purple beads as accent.

Motif number 5 for 25 motif challenge.

Thirdly is Sally Magill's MHC Snowflake in Lizbeth's 20. Whilst I love Lizbeth, it is just divine, the variation doesn't do the pattern any justice at all.

Motif number 6 for 25 motif challenge.

.... and lastly is my completed Rooster from Jane's TIAS challenge. It was the first time I have participated in a tatting challenge, and now I understand what "challenge" actually means! I really enjoyed doing this however and will certainly do another one.

Motif number 7 for 25 motif challenge.

Golding Spindles

I received some lovely goodies in today's mail - two gorgeous Golding spindles. Anyone who spins knows the quality of these spindles.

The first one is a silver lace spindle (0.83 oz) which I couldn't resist because of the lace-related nature. The second one is a purple heart spindle (2.1oz) which I also couldn't resist, but this time because purple is my favourite colour. And... to top it off the gorgeous Emma who organised the purchase sent me some lovely hand dyed Tussah silk in my all time favourite colour combo. Thank you Emma for organising this purchase and for my extra treat.