Christmas Jams

It's that time of year and our jam space is pretty much complete...now we just need the jammers! On Monday, December 15th (7-8:30) we'll be hosting a uke jam for all you ukers out there. Our crack team of highly accredited musicologistas have worked day and night for months creating the 2014 Ukulele Christmas Tunebook! It's hot off the presses, so get yours while supplies last - oh yeah, it's free.


We'll also be holding a Christmas Fiddle jam for all the fiddlers out there. Other acoustic players are also welcome! The Christmas Fiddle jam will take place on Saturday, December 20 (7-8:30).

Check out the "Schedule of Events" and "Location" menu above for more details. 

Hope to see you there!

The 2014 cnyUke Christmas Tunebook  - more jingle - more merry - more figgy pudding!

doing the craft fair thing

I hadn't done a craft fair in a while, so I decided to do a local one last weekend. Here are some pics I took of my table.

I've been into making a line of party bags lately... for proms, weddings, parties, etc!

Along with my standards little bags, I did a series of American Girl hats with matching backpacks.

A close up of a tatted bag, lined in felt.

A bunch o' little bags and crunchies!

Merry Crunchy Christmas!

It's the time of year when my crafting slows down a bit to focus on other activities. What will the new year bring? You never really know, and for better or worse.... that's the adventure.

May you all have a Blessed Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

More Jingle

Just a few pics of our tree... an eclectic combination of handmade ornaments, store-bought, and sometimes just a bit odd. We love it!

Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Year to all!

 

Jingled Up!

As I was going through our trunk of Christmas decorations I came across some tatted ornaments I had made years ago and decided to use them on a little tree, creating a centerpiece for our dining room table this season.

On this side of the tree are some of the first tatted ornaments I ever made. Seems like years ago, now, but at the time I was new to tatting and could not get the flip of shuttle tatting, so I started with needle tatting. I must have made what seemed like hundreds of this motif (a variation of Kersti Anear's Stumpy bookmark). I can remember including one in every Christmas card I sent that year. I needle tattted them in variations shades of #5 pearl cotton - who can resist the great colors and shine of perl cotton!

The other motif that figures greatly on this side of the tree is the 6 ring snowflake, another one of my beginner motifs I picked up somewhere and made oodles of.

Not to be intimidated, I did finally learn to shuttle tat and have been doing so for about 9 years now. You'll also notice a bit of shuttle tatted garland on the tree.

Here's a close up.

On the other side of the tree I put various shuttle tatted ornaments. Although I can't remember where all the designs came from anymore, I do know that the more prominent one you see came from Rozella Linden's book Easy Tatting... and it's easy to adjust into a 4- 5- or 6-pointed motif.

Another close up of the motifs used. (You might also spy a bit of garland made out of a crocheted Solomon's knot.)

I like to try tatting with various kinds of fibers (you'll notice the orange star on the top of the tree is made from rattail (satin cord). I came upon some hand dyed hemp some time back and created these rainbow motifs.

Our bigger tree in the living room is decked out with some of the larger tatted snowflakes I've made and some older crocheted snowflakes created by my mother, along with old and new treasured family ornnaments.

As my son told me the other day. "our place is all jingled up!"

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to one and all!