Coleraine Blacksmith's Cottage

Here is the same photo in colour and B&W. I never thought of changing it to greyscale, but I think because of the age of the building the B&W is more appealing.

TIAS Pt 7 and Pt 8

Completed parts 7 and 8 - only two more parts to go. I have no idea what this will be (although I think I may have scanned it upside down??)

Family Jewels Pt3

Phew! Finished clue 3 just in time! I found this one took quite a while to knit but at least I'm up to date, ready for clue 4.

TIAS Pt 5 and Pt 6

Two more finished clues - day 5 and 6. I still have no idea what this will be therefore have no idea which way to place the tatting to take an image...

Family Jewels Part 2

I completed the second clue for my Knitters Brewing sock knit-along. I must say this is such a lovely, and simple, pattern and I am really enjoying it. This is not the first Knitters Brewing KAL I have done and it certainly won't be the last.

Portland

At our recent trip to Portland I took some photos (naturally). I am also trying to teach myself Photoshop - what a big task - and have "tweaked" these photos slightly.

I think this is the first time I have been so close to a waterfall called Wannon Falls. Whilst there was a viewing platform, I did feel a little nervy taking this photo, although I didn't want to leave but rather keep on shooting for the sake of capturing so much water!!!
Portland has many jetties and nice areas to photograph. This jetty was one of those; in particular I found the jetty rather unusual because cars are allowed to drive down it which makes it handy for those fishing.

TIAS Pt 4

What I like about the TIAS is Jane releases the clues every few days and they are of manageable content (i.e. I am keeping up-to-date with them - LOL). The lock join was not as complicated as I had thought and made it - DOH. I am also really also enjoying split rings - I think they make tatting rings a little less tedious (if that is the right word).

It's certainly not too late for anyone to join this tat-along. I'm sure you can catch up with the four clues within a couple of hours. http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/

Peace

As a participant of Creative Every Day and The Sketchbook Challenge I am not a very regular participant. I have all the materials necessary - water crayons, watercolours, textas, pencils, cartridge - just the inspiration is a little lacking.

Here is my contribution from one week ago, which I am only sharing now. The saying is from the Dalai Lama.

TIAS Pt 2 and 3

Here is day 2 and 3 complete; lock joins were introduced on day three and I certainly hope I got it right as I could find no diagrams on this technique when googled. Hopefully a Tatter will tell me if this is incorrect before day 4 instructions are released.

I still have no clue as to what the finished item will be????

Day 2 -

Day 3 -

Alveoles Lace Mat

I am currently working on Alveoles - Patron mat using Bockens Linen 60/2 and over 76 bobbins. This definitely isn't a complicated pattern so I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, ready to start another lace project.

Tat It and See

Here is another A-long I am participating in this year, a tatting challenge run by Jane. Here is part 1 of the "secret" challenge.

Family Jewels Part 1

Here is my first KAL for 2011 - Family Jewels socks by Knitters Brewing. http://www.knittersbrewing.com/. Whilst it was a difficult decision choosing colours, I couldn't go past my fave colour purple(aka Plum Wine). I completed the first clue - hence here are my toes.......

Button Necklace

Confined to a motel room because of torrential rain, I had crafty supplies with me (was this a coincidence, I think not!) so made a button necklace. Basically is it a set of complementary buttons threaded on a wire/elastic thread.

Sketchbook Challenge - Highly Prized

Here is my contribution to the Sketchbook monthly theme "Highly Prized" http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/. All wildlife comes under that category and unless we take care of them and stop the unnecessary slaughtering, we will see them only in books and photos.

Tat It and See

..Supplies are ready for my second year of Jane's TIAS challenge. My colours are a plain green and variegated LizBeth thread (Springtime), both #20, with some dark multicolours beads as a contrast (and no I do not know what we are making, all is revealed as we get further along with the challenge. Details on TIAS can be found here http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-new-tat-it-and-see-to-all.html.

Last year, when all the pieces fell in to place, it resulted in a lovely Rooster.
..

Cosmos

As a participant of the Creative Every Day Challenge http://creativeeveryday.com/ I wanted something rather "freeform" for my first challenge "Cosmos". Lots of yummy ink mess too (I am new to this type of style).

Gingerbread Man

Here is my first completed craft item for the year - as part of a Ravelry monthly Christmas decoration group I knitted the Gingerbread Man. I think he is rather cute, and am actually looking forward to making more Christmas decorations for our tree at the end of the year.

Craft FO's 2010

Please disregard the previous post, I decided to do a collage on my crafty FOs - I tallied up the projects and they were around 23, so I averaged it out over the year and didn't think the quantity was too bad.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here is a collage of all the photos I took in 2010. Unfortunately there was no need to make a collage for my craft work because my FO were only a few. This year will change though...................

Eynesbury - ThreeSixFive Challenge (Dec pt1)

I love visiting the "breakaway" town of Melton called Eynesbury. It is so picturesque with old buildings, shacks and lots of blue stone to photograph. I particularly like the little shed (? butchers) with hanging hooks.

Advent scarf

I'm busily participating in an Advent Scarf KAL through Ravelry. We receive a new clue/ instruction every day up to Day 24. To date I am around 15 days behind - I didn't realise I had so many activities on in December that keeping up would be so difficult. I will finish the project, but not before Christmas, perhaps in the New Year.

Shuttles

I recently bought some tatting shuttles from an estate, and to my surprise they arrived today and there was a lot more than expected! There are metal ones, bone ones and plastic shuttles. Now I just need to get motivated and do some more tatting.

Floods - ThreeSixFive Challenge

Melbourne's 10+ year drought is almost over. It's almost summer and we are experiencing some of the heaviest rainfall. This makes not only news (particularly for kids who haven't seen creeks, rivers or dams flowing with water in the past) but also a photo worthy experience.

Roads are closed because they are now rivers, spillways are overflowing and dry water beds are full.

Spun Merino

Today is the first time I have spun in months (and first time I have done any craft for two weeks). I am currently spinning some lovely First Editions merino (which is more green IRL). It is a first for a few things; it is also the first time I am seriously spinning on my Majacraft Little Gem and I am certainly enjoying using her.

Flowers - ThreeSixFive Challenge November

As someone who NEVER receives flowers I was overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and family who wished me well following an operation, and bombarded me with stunning flowers. Never to pass up a photo opportunity here is a sample of some of the gorgeous blooms I received - hugs and kisses to all.

Three Six Five Challenge - October

Here are a few of the 31 photos I took this month for the challenge. Some of the photos were taken on a lovely summery day in Carlton; so glad I took my camera on that day.

Crochet Ripple Blanket

Here is another project I have started (surprise, surprise). It's a crochet ripple blanket in acrylic yarn. Whilst I can't remember the last time I used acrylic, I'm enjoying it the experience and the colours are really lovely (not quite so bright as the photo shows).

Details on the pattern can be found at this wonderful site http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Urban Graffiti

Graffiti always amazes me. The time, effort, and expense creative artists put in to work, often unrecognised and (at times) unrewarded. A while ago I discovered this artwork in Richmond Victoria but it was only this weekend when I had the foresight to photography it, fear of one day it being vandelised. Unfortunately I do not know who the artist is, I only hope his/her talent does not go unrewarded.

High Tea - ThreeSixFive Challenge (October)

A couple of weekends ago a few of us had a great day in the city. We went to a Craft Expo, out for a quick snack for lunch and then to High Tea (and between all this two of us took lots of photos). This was second High Tea, this time at the Westin Hotel. We ate some scrumptious food, and some not to spectacular. All in all, it was a lovely day however I must say when comparing the two venues I prefer The Windsor.

Resin Bracelet

I went to a craft expo last week and finally made something I have been waiting to make for a long time - a resin bracelet. BQueen ran the workshop http://www.bqueen.com.au/ The whole process was much easier than I thought, and I really like how it turned out, so much so that I purchased a kit and hope to visit the store to buy more supplies. My next project will be a resin ring and a resin bangle.



BTW, the colour of the bracelet isn't entirely accurate in the photo - it is ore purple in real life with dark blue streaks.

Steam Trains - ThreeSixFive Challenge (Sept)

A few weeks ago we went on a steam train journey from Southern Cross Melbourne to Geelong and return, organised by http://www.steamrail.com.au/. What a lovely way to travel, the smell of the burning coal was actually quite nice. What we noticed was the attention to detail in the making of the carriages (from last century); you certainly wouldn't find this craftsmanship in today's public transport system.

Naturally I used the trip as a photography opportunity, and contribution to my 365 challenge.

1001 journals

I get so much enjoyment from participating in the 1000/1001 journal project. Unfortunately it is a bit of a gamble whether the journal returns to the originator or not (I guess it's rather like an old-fashioned chain letter), but I think there would be so much excitment if it did make it home.

Here are two entries I recently completed for a journal on the theme "Things We Love".

Crochet Hexagon Quilt

My latest, and long term, project is a hexagon crochet quilt. Inspiration for the quilt came from the fabulous http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/. Because crochet is so portable, I thought this is the perfect project to take with me when I am a passenger in a car, watching sport, or whatever. The yarn is pure wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills - just can't get better value for money.

Completed some more tatting motifs for the 25 Tatting Motif Challenge. A couple of patterns are by Mary Konior. Motifs number 13-17 now complete....