This really gives a feeling of their size and variety. I wonder where they are heading so purposefully. Perhaps they heard that Jane has nearly finished the tatted gecko and are off for a peak!
Showing posts with label tatting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tatting. Show all posts
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Geckos on the move!
I was sitting having my lunch today when I suddenly noticed that the geckos that I had casually put down on the sideboard after I had photographed them had suddenly become organised and were on the move!
This really gives a feeling of their size and variety. I wonder where they are heading so purposefully. Perhaps they heard that Jane has nearly finished the tatted gecko and are off for a peak!
This really gives a feeling of their size and variety. I wonder where they are heading so purposefully. Perhaps they heard that Jane has nearly finished the tatted gecko and are off for a peak!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
A Celebration of 'Gecko-ness'
I am sure you know by now that hubby and I are nuts about geckos.
My friend Jane Eborall is designing a gecko in tatting for me and was asking me should her design have skinnier legs, longer legs or what.
Well geckos come in the most extraordinary shapes and sizes so hers is going to be a sort of generic gecko that can be tweaked in to a number of different specific geckos.
When you are gecko mad you begin to see geckos everywhere you go and I don't mean living ones. It seems that the whole world has a love affair with the cuteness of the gecko and so it is easy to find a gecko momento wherever you go.
Not that we actively go out looking for them they seem to find us!! as well as family and friends finding them the perfect gift.
So this article is a celebration of some of our Gecko collection.
The smallest is a tiny beaded gecko I made, just under 4cm he would make a lovely earring. the pattern is in 'Beadlings How to Make Beaded Creatures and Creations' a Klutz book.
Another beaded gecko is a key ring that I came across in Germany, here he is together with the little one to show the size (about 10cm). A very clever design of beads and wire.
The largest ones I have are a pair of cast iron geckos at 30cm which looked great in the garden until they showed signs of rust and had to take up residence on a windowsill.
They came from the gecko meeting in Germany that we go to every year along with is my latest aquisition, another large metal one with an eyelet underneath so he can be hung on a wall.
Almost every market stall wherever we go has paperweight geckos, brightly coloured materials filled with sand. We have these too but they seem to have gone walkabout.
A variation on this theme was given to me by a friend and is a stuffed gecko sewn onto a zipped purse.
Of course I know you all will want to know what is so special about geckos apart from their cuteness. The answer lies in their feet.
A gecko can run up a vertical sheet of glass holding on by means of it's 'sticky' foot pads. But they aren't really sticky at all, the underside is covered in millions of tiny hairs, down to molecular level and they interact with the walking surface, kind of like 'velcro' except that they can release a lot easier.
There is a lot of research ongoing to try to find out exactly how this works and if it can be of use to mankind.
Geckos are the only vertebrates that can bend their toes upwards as well as downwards.
This is a great advantage if they are walking over a dusty surface and don't want to get dust between the tiny hairs they can curl their toes upwards as they walk to keep the pads of the ground.
The ability to walk up a shiny surface enables them to walk along shiny leaves or up a tree with very smooth bark. A great help in running away from predators.
For realism it's hard to beat the rubberised gecko here, you can almost see those toes curling up.
Now for something unique, this is a handpainted gecko mug commissioned in England by my son for his dad, geckos solve a lot of birthday problems.
Here is my gecko plate that I painted at my daughters hen party last year, it looked wonderful until it had an accident in the firing, still you can't win them all!
Cute! yes we do cute too. Here is my favorite fridge magnet, a little gecko with magnets in his feet, he is a real poser and lives on the cooker hood at the moment, tho we never know where he will turn up next.
This tiny little resin gecko is sitting on a real nut and I think was made in South America.
Finally some more unusual hand made geckos, staring with a hand carved painted gecko from Mauritius This is characteristic of the brightly coloured 'day geckos' found on the island.
A beautifully carved specimen, 21 cm long, look at his lovely eyes.
Saving the best 'til last, here is a recent gift from an Australian friend.
12 cm long and made from 'Fimo'clay isn't he exquisite. he is the work of Jon Anderson of Fimocreations, go and have a look at his work.
Hope you enjoyed seeing these, you should see the T-shirt collection!!!!!!!!!!
My friend Jane Eborall is designing a gecko in tatting for me and was asking me should her design have skinnier legs, longer legs or what.
Well geckos come in the most extraordinary shapes and sizes so hers is going to be a sort of generic gecko that can be tweaked in to a number of different specific geckos.
When you are gecko mad you begin to see geckos everywhere you go and I don't mean living ones. It seems that the whole world has a love affair with the cuteness of the gecko and so it is easy to find a gecko momento wherever you go.
Not that we actively go out looking for them they seem to find us!! as well as family and friends finding them the perfect gift.
So this article is a celebration of some of our Gecko collection.
The smallest is a tiny beaded gecko I made, just under 4cm he would make a lovely earring. the pattern is in 'Beadlings How to Make Beaded Creatures and Creations' a Klutz book.
Another beaded gecko is a key ring that I came across in Germany, here he is together with the little one to show the size (about 10cm). A very clever design of beads and wire.
The largest ones I have are a pair of cast iron geckos at 30cm which looked great in the garden until they showed signs of rust and had to take up residence on a windowsill.
They came from the gecko meeting in Germany that we go to every year along with is my latest aquisition, another large metal one with an eyelet underneath so he can be hung on a wall.
Almost every market stall wherever we go has paperweight geckos, brightly coloured materials filled with sand. We have these too but they seem to have gone walkabout.
A variation on this theme was given to me by a friend and is a stuffed gecko sewn onto a zipped purse.
Of course I know you all will want to know what is so special about geckos apart from their cuteness. The answer lies in their feet.
A gecko can run up a vertical sheet of glass holding on by means of it's 'sticky' foot pads. But they aren't really sticky at all, the underside is covered in millions of tiny hairs, down to molecular level and they interact with the walking surface, kind of like 'velcro' except that they can release a lot easier.
There is a lot of research ongoing to try to find out exactly how this works and if it can be of use to mankind.
Geckos are the only vertebrates that can bend their toes upwards as well as downwards.
This is a great advantage if they are walking over a dusty surface and don't want to get dust between the tiny hairs they can curl their toes upwards as they walk to keep the pads of the ground.
The ability to walk up a shiny surface enables them to walk along shiny leaves or up a tree with very smooth bark. A great help in running away from predators.
For realism it's hard to beat the rubberised gecko here, you can almost see those toes curling up.
Now for something unique, this is a handpainted gecko mug commissioned in England by my son for his dad, geckos solve a lot of birthday problems.
Here is my gecko plate that I painted at my daughters hen party last year, it looked wonderful until it had an accident in the firing, still you can't win them all!
Cute! yes we do cute too. Here is my favorite fridge magnet, a little gecko with magnets in his feet, he is a real poser and lives on the cooker hood at the moment, tho we never know where he will turn up next.
This tiny little resin gecko is sitting on a real nut and I think was made in South America.
Finally some more unusual hand made geckos, staring with a hand carved painted gecko from Mauritius This is characteristic of the brightly coloured 'day geckos' found on the island.
A beautifully carved specimen, 21 cm long, look at his lovely eyes.
Saving the best 'til last, here is a recent gift from an Australian friend.
12 cm long and made from 'Fimo'clay isn't he exquisite. he is the work of Jon Anderson of Fimocreations, go and have a look at his work.
Hope you enjoyed seeing these, you should see the T-shirt collection!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Festival of Lace
This Easter weekend my lace guild 'The Traditional Lacemakers of Ireland' are having an exhibition of lace made by the guild members and also some antique lace.
Guild members were asked to put two pieces each into the exhibition.
Although I am learning Carrickmacross, Bandon and Bobbin lace I wanted to exhibit some tatting.
My first piece was a framed bonsai tree from a pattern by Lindsay Rodgers in 'Tatting Collage'.
The second piece I have been working on this year is a collage of tatted animals.
I think I will have to explain the reason for this one.
The exhibition is being held in Fota House a beautiful Regency style 18th century house, restored and reopened to the public in 2002. A perfect setting for a lace exhibition.
Fota is a small island in Cork harbour connected to the mainland by a causeway. The estate, former home of the Smith-Barry family is also the home not only of a beautiful arboretum but also Fota Wildlife Park, and this is the reason for my tatted animal display. All of the animals with the exception of the Meerkat are to be found in the park. They do have Meerkats in the Dublin Zoo though.
We have two black swans in the park that swim in their own pond together with a rescued seal so they had to have their own little pond in my display.
The lace exhibition was superb. What a talented lot!
Unfortunately Easter Saturday the day that I went to work at the exhibition, was so sunny that few visitors to the estate came indoors to look around the house. They don't know what they missed. We did also have to compete with the Easter Bunny who was having an egg hunt outside the window of the room we were working in!
During the afternoon we had a lecture on The History of The Limerick Lace School given by Veronica Rowe a lace historian. Her Grandmother started the Limerick Lace School in the 1890's. At the time there were many lace schools throughout the country as lace was very much in demand. The Limerick School continued until 1923 when hand made lace was no longer in great demand.
Her slides and display of antique Limerick lace was superb.
Guild members were asked to put two pieces each into the exhibition.
Although I am learning Carrickmacross, Bandon and Bobbin lace I wanted to exhibit some tatting.
My first piece was a framed bonsai tree from a pattern by Lindsay Rodgers in 'Tatting Collage'.
The second piece I have been working on this year is a collage of tatted animals.
I think I will have to explain the reason for this one.
The exhibition is being held in Fota House a beautiful Regency style 18th century house, restored and reopened to the public in 2002. A perfect setting for a lace exhibition.
Fota is a small island in Cork harbour connected to the mainland by a causeway. The estate, former home of the Smith-Barry family is also the home not only of a beautiful arboretum but also Fota Wildlife Park, and this is the reason for my tatted animal display. All of the animals with the exception of the Meerkat are to be found in the park. They do have Meerkats in the Dublin Zoo though.
We have two black swans in the park that swim in their own pond together with a rescued seal so they had to have their own little pond in my display.
The lace exhibition was superb. What a talented lot!
Unfortunately Easter Saturday the day that I went to work at the exhibition, was so sunny that few visitors to the estate came indoors to look around the house. They don't know what they missed. We did also have to compete with the Easter Bunny who was having an egg hunt outside the window of the room we were working in!
During the afternoon we had a lecture on The History of The Limerick Lace School given by Veronica Rowe a lace historian. Her Grandmother started the Limerick Lace School in the 1890's. At the time there were many lace schools throughout the country as lace was very much in demand. The Limerick School continued until 1923 when hand made lace was no longer in great demand.
Her slides and display of antique Limerick lace was superb.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Carnevale
Venetian Carnevale came to Galway, Ireland last Thursday night Feb 15th.
Carnevale meaning 'farewell to meat' is traditionally celebrated before the beginning of the Lenten season culminating on Shrove Tuesday and dates back to the middle ages.
Mardi Gras...french for Fat Tuesday is celebrated in the America's coming up to fever pitch on the last tuesday before lent begins.
Venetian Carnevale began to be popular in the eighteenth century. It began the day after Christmas and lasted for six weeks. Everyone wore brightly coloured costumes and masks and because they were disguised the social class system was turned upside down during Carnivale time. Nobility could mingle with the lower social classes undetected and vice versa... they had a ball!!
The festival would begin with a series of balls and was be followed by many smaller parties. Partying went on until midnight on Shrove Tuesday, when the bells of San Francesco dell Vigna tolled to announce the beginning of Lent, the end of Carnevale, and a return to the rigid socal restrictions.
The Venetian government encouraged the street theatre, juggling, acrobatics and organised games.
Lindsay and Dermot, together with The Italian Society at The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway) decided to organise a Masked Venetian Carnevale Ball to benefit the Hospice Foundation and twisted our arms into going!
My Carnivale mask began it's life several years ago in 2002 when an art teacher helping with our Brownie Pack made masks with the Brownies using plaster bandage.
The results were so good and the technique so fascinating that when my children were both at home we decide we would have a go.
Three of us volunteered to have our faces smeared with Vaseline and trust our greasy faces to the skills of another. Their dad was non so keen!
The technique was to apply small pieces of plaster bandage that had been soaked in warm water, over the Vaseline. I really can't remember if we put cling film on top of the Vaseline. Plaster bandage used to make plaster casts on broken legs etc was readily available in our art shop.
Layers are built up evenly until the mask is about three layers thick, making sure not to go too close to the eyes and leaving spaces for the nose and mouth.
The plaster quickly begins to harden and the mask can be removed from the face. All in all a very strange experience especially releasing the suction hold to the face.
Then leave the plaster to dry completely.
The results were excellent if a little grim. This is Criss's mask.
The really funny thing about the three masks we made was...if she put on his mask it was like she was wearing his face!!! Even now as I still have them it is easy to recognise the owner!
They were decidedly ghoulish so we decided to have another go and make Venetian style half masks as we had done with the Brownies.
She styled my mask with a longer more pert nose more like a Carnivale mask, much nicer that my nose!!
Twas only when the masked ball come up that I remembered out efforts.
First job was to cut them to a more refined shape, tidy up all the rough edges and add more ordinary plaster of Paris to make them smooth.
Here is my mask ready for decoration.
Then I painted it with two coats of gold paint, real gold I think. Judson's Gold Paint consists of gold dust which is mixed in with a kind of varnish. The results are always stunning, it looked like something from King Tut's tomb!!
Since feathers are a part of many masks, it was suggested that my tatting and feather headdress that I made for her wedding (see my posts of Aug 2006) would go well with the mask, I chose to decorate it in gold and aubergine. The outfit that I wore for her wedding could have another airing too. I always thought that it was more suited to a fancy dress occasion, but I guess thats what a wedding is anyway!
Traditional masks often have rick rack round the edges and sequins surrounding the eyes.
Decided that it was to have a row of tatted split rings round the eyes finished off with an amethyst swarovski crystal.
The thread I used is Kreinik's very fine braid in light gold. This is a lovely thread to work with and really looks like spun gold.
Along the top edge I used the same thread to make arched chains with long aubergine (Flora 20)trefoils falling from them studded with beads and AB swarovskis to give a bit of sparkle.
I think it looks pretty good with the tatted orchids and feathers.
So you want to know about the ball.
Lindsay and Dermot are masters of fancy dress, look at my Halloween post Oct 2006 to see that.
They looked stunning!
Dermot had made his traditional mask in papier mache. It was such a good fit to his face that he didn't need to tie it on at all. The tricorn hat did give him a better sense of security tho.
Masks made on your face are so comfortable as it is like wearing a second face!
Lindsay didn't have time to finish her hand made mask and fell for this beautiful genuine traditional mask from Venice. It was stunning and even looked good on me.
Better than my own I thought but it was a lot of fun as always making one and I think it turned out well and quite authentic.
Hubby looked pretty cool too in his mask and evening outfit even tho he did get covered in silver sparkle.
The NUI Galway Juggling Society brought a real touch of carnivale to the event. At the beginning of the evening the juggled outside the hotel with flaming brands, and dabolo's. Later inside it was with streamers, and clubs added. The carnivale costumes and masks were super.
About 165 revellers attended the event and most were masked and made it a great success. The meal, dancing and spot prizes with a carnivale twist were all great.
I really should have taken more photos, but there is always next year...
Oooo I shall have to think up another mask!
Here are just a few photos to give you a taste of the atmosphere.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Brownie Tatbead and more
If you haven't seen Jane Eborall's Tatbead family, then you must. They are delight, she constantly comes up with something new and these are a wow.
Jane designed Brownie Tatbead especially for me, and she is so cool that I just had to stop everything I was doing and make her. She is very fiddly bit of tatting but then I love fiddly things and she was well worth the effort.
It's the detail on her that makes her so cool. I wish all of my Brownie Guides turned up dressed so smartly in their full uniform every week!! there are always missing/lost neckerchiefs,woggles and sashes.
I have been a Brownie Guide leader for 26 years and still love the kids.They really keep me young and there is nothing better to boost my ego than 24 adoring!!! little girls who notice when I have had my hair done, got new spectacles, jewellery etc.
This is me being presented with my silver 25 year service badge, that's the highest accolade. They mustn't expect us to last much longer that that!!
Not that it's always complimentary of course. I recently told them that I was too old to join in a raucous game. Later when we were in our Brownie ring, a little lassie holding may hand asked if I was a grandma. "No" I replied, "Phew!!!" she said in relief. Must be very uncool to have a grandma as your Brownie leader!!!
The uniform that Brownie Tatbead is wearing is relatively new and much more child friendly... sweatshirt top and tracksuit bottoms, scarf and sash to hold all the badges so they don't have to be washed regularly as on the old uniforms. How the kids used to hate those scratchy woollie hats!
When I first became a leader we had just got a new uniform which looked so smart.
I made this doll as part of a test for a Dollmakers craft badge. The brief was for a standing character doll with a moulded face. the face is felt stretched over stuffed balls of felt and she stands with the help of copper rivets in her shoes.
She was so much fun to make to get all the details right. From the side views you can see that she has earned a few badges. Two stripes above the wrist mean that she is a sixer in charge of her six.
People always ask why she is dressed in blue if she is a Brownie. The origin of the name comes from a story about the little fairy people, the brownies who helped out with chores round the house when no one was looking, just like our little lassies should be doing today.
When the little sisters of the first Girl Guides wanted to join in they were given the name 'Rosebuds'!! not very apt for these mischievous little imps.
Jane designed Brownie Tatbead especially for me, and she is so cool that I just had to stop everything I was doing and make her. She is very fiddly bit of tatting but then I love fiddly things and she was well worth the effort.
It's the detail on her that makes her so cool. I wish all of my Brownie Guides turned up dressed so smartly in their full uniform every week!! there are always missing/lost neckerchiefs,woggles and sashes.
I have been a Brownie Guide leader for 26 years and still love the kids.They really keep me young and there is nothing better to boost my ego than 24 adoring!!! little girls who notice when I have had my hair done, got new spectacles, jewellery etc.
This is me being presented with my silver 25 year service badge, that's the highest accolade. They mustn't expect us to last much longer that that!!
Not that it's always complimentary of course. I recently told them that I was too old to join in a raucous game. Later when we were in our Brownie ring, a little lassie holding may hand asked if I was a grandma. "No" I replied, "Phew!!!" she said in relief. Must be very uncool to have a grandma as your Brownie leader!!!
The uniform that Brownie Tatbead is wearing is relatively new and much more child friendly... sweatshirt top and tracksuit bottoms, scarf and sash to hold all the badges so they don't have to be washed regularly as on the old uniforms. How the kids used to hate those scratchy woollie hats!
When I first became a leader we had just got a new uniform which looked so smart.
I made this doll as part of a test for a Dollmakers craft badge. The brief was for a standing character doll with a moulded face. the face is felt stretched over stuffed balls of felt and she stands with the help of copper rivets in her shoes.
She was so much fun to make to get all the details right. From the side views you can see that she has earned a few badges. Two stripes above the wrist mean that she is a sixer in charge of her six.
People always ask why she is dressed in blue if she is a Brownie. The origin of the name comes from a story about the little fairy people, the brownies who helped out with chores round the house when no one was looking, just like our little lassies should be doing today.
When the little sisters of the first Girl Guides wanted to join in they were given the name 'Rosebuds'!! not very apt for these mischievous little imps.
Friday, December 22, 2006
More about my little Tatting Tree
Thank you so much for all the nice things said about my little tree.
Would you believe that I was just watching Gardener's World on the BBC tonight, and they were talking about the history of the Christmas tree, real and artificial.
What did I see but my tree! It was one of the early artificial trees, made in the 1930's from dyed Goose feathers. I always thought they were Chicken feathers. So now I know.
Confirmation of it's age makes me feel even worse as it loses more of it's feathers and becomes even more 'tatty'!
Would you believe that I was just watching Gardener's World on the BBC tonight, and they were talking about the history of the Christmas tree, real and artificial.
What did I see but my tree! It was one of the early artificial trees, made in the 1930's from dyed Goose feathers. I always thought they were Chicken feathers. So now I know.
Confirmation of it's age makes me feel even worse as it loses more of it's feathers and becomes even more 'tatty'!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Christmas Wishes
November and December have gone by so quickly, filled up with Christmas preparations.
One of the things I like to do is to make my own Christmas cards (I love rubber stamping! This one has layered Christmas trees in silver and gold). It's my way of saying to each person on our Christmas list, that maybe we are only in contact with just once a year that they are special to us.
This year I manage to make 65 before energy and enthusiasm really did run out.
I would have liked to have made a card for each and every friend but that's just not possible. So here is my Christmas Card to all of you to wish you a Happy and Peaceful Christmas.
Every year on Christmas day morning we head to the sea to watch the sponsored Christmas swim. It is always a delight to watch all those hardy people plunge into the icy cold sea and be thankful that we dont have to!!
My idea of a Christmas plunge is a few lengths of the swimming pool followed by an extended soak in a hot jacuzzi!
Last year was such a lovely bright day, the year before it snowed on Christmas day the first time that I can remember...this year the forecast is for very chilly fog, hope they are wrong. After all the rain and gales we have had, dry and calm would be good.
A teeny little tatted snowflake snuck into the Christmas card but here is my Totally Tatting Heirloom tree, it gets better each year.
All the tatting will hopefully end up as heirlooms and the tree already is, all the way up to the glass spire on the top.
This tree has been around for as long as I can remember, it may go back as far as the 1930's when my parents got married. It is certainly pre-christmas tree lights 'cos can remember it having little metal candle holders at the tip of each branch with pretty spiral red candles. Not sure if they were ever lit in my time or when they were removed to make way for electric lighting.
When it came to me it was in a pretty bad way, and had to be carefully reformed. The foliage is made of dyed feathers now rather brittle and getting thinner each year. Each little shard of broken feather falling off it at the end of the holiday season reduces it's time left to shine...
Click on it to see the tatting, maybe you will see something you designed, treasured by me. To all tatting designers, I owe you a big thank you.
One of the things I like to do is to make my own Christmas cards (I love rubber stamping! This one has layered Christmas trees in silver and gold). It's my way of saying to each person on our Christmas list, that maybe we are only in contact with just once a year that they are special to us.
This year I manage to make 65 before energy and enthusiasm really did run out.
I would have liked to have made a card for each and every friend but that's just not possible. So here is my Christmas Card to all of you to wish you a Happy and Peaceful Christmas.
Every year on Christmas day morning we head to the sea to watch the sponsored Christmas swim. It is always a delight to watch all those hardy people plunge into the icy cold sea and be thankful that we dont have to!!
My idea of a Christmas plunge is a few lengths of the swimming pool followed by an extended soak in a hot jacuzzi!
Last year was such a lovely bright day, the year before it snowed on Christmas day the first time that I can remember...this year the forecast is for very chilly fog, hope they are wrong. After all the rain and gales we have had, dry and calm would be good.
A teeny little tatted snowflake snuck into the Christmas card but here is my Totally Tatting Heirloom tree, it gets better each year.
All the tatting will hopefully end up as heirlooms and the tree already is, all the way up to the glass spire on the top.
This tree has been around for as long as I can remember, it may go back as far as the 1930's when my parents got married. It is certainly pre-christmas tree lights 'cos can remember it having little metal candle holders at the tip of each branch with pretty spiral red candles. Not sure if they were ever lit in my time or when they were removed to make way for electric lighting.
When it came to me it was in a pretty bad way, and had to be carefully reformed. The foliage is made of dyed feathers now rather brittle and getting thinner each year. Each little shard of broken feather falling off it at the end of the holiday season reduces it's time left to shine...
Click on it to see the tatting, maybe you will see something you designed, treasured by me. To all tatting designers, I owe you a big thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
