I just added a new enameled tatting shuttle to my Etsy store.  It features multi-colored polka dots on a rich, dark blue base color

www.etsy.com/shop/TheShuttleSmith

I was striving to having this book published by Easter in regards to its subject matter.  But I realized that Easter is early this year.  In addition, I am still creating 3 more what I call ‘just one more cross’ for the book.  I have decided that once I get these 3 designs done, I’m going to call it ‘DONE’!!!!

Now I need a new deadline.   Any suggestions?

What I did today INSTEAD of what I should have been doing today!!!

What I did today:  I went into my Etsy Store site and added in some information about me and my shop items.

First of all, I chose one of my glass/enamel tatting shuttles to be my shop’s ‘logo’ image.  I chose the one I named “The Shuttle of Many (Primary) Colors”.

Then I added a photo of myself.  Another Etsy store owner/tatter (thanks Marilee Rockley) had critiqued my store and had given me some pointers.  She had told me to add a photo of myself.  I have been avoiding this task for quite some time….I usually dislike photos of me.  I enede up choosing a photo of me torch-firing, working in my enameling studio. Inserting a photo of myself wasn’t as painful as it could have been after I  realized that the photo ends up quite small on the Etsy site.  Thus you can’t see as many of my wrinkles/imperfections/lack of makeup/etc. as could be possible.

Then I filled in some information in the ‘Shop Info‘ section of my Etsy Shop under the link titled ‘About‘.

If you go to my Etsy Store ‘Shop Info’/’About’  you will see what I typed in about myself and my journey to get to having an Etsy store.  Also in this page you will see at least one photo of my enameling/tatting studio.

What I should have been been doing today instead!!!!!!

I have a deadline of March 6th to get this project done because I am hosting book club.  I need a deadline to get things like this done!

I knew my The ShuttleSmith Glass/Enamel Copper Tatting Shuttles were unique….I just didn’t realize HOW unique until I just recently did a Google search for ‘enamel tatting shuttles’ and ‘glass tatting shuttles’. I was surprised by what I found (or should I say what I did NOT find!).

In my Google search, it was no surprise to me that Heidi Nakayama’s name, photos, and website came up….she is the ‘Queen of Tatting Shuttles’. Heidi wrote the book on tatting shuttles, literally and physically: Tatting Shuttles of American Collectors is a must-have book any tatter interested in the beautiful tools that have been a part of tatting’s history. Check out her website at: Tatting Shuttles of American Collectors Website . It is full of eye-candy and great articles on contemporary tatters and shuttle collectors. Heidi has Dora Young’s shuttle & tatting collection as well as rights to Dora’s very unique book, which she is planning to republish.

A chapter about my The ShuttleSmith Sterling Silver Tatting Shuttles (I used to make) is included in Heidi’s book. I had the good fortune to meet Heidi at the 1998 IOLI Convention in San Diego, California. It was at this time she was still actively researching and writing her book and had taken photos of my handmade sterling silver shuttles. It was there that Heidi asked me if I had ever considered enameling my silver shuttles. At that point in time, the answer was ‘No’–I had a full-time job, two small children, an active family lifestyle, and active ‘in my spare time’ teaching needlework and lacemaking techniques, teaching weekend motorcycle safety classes and creating silver tatting shuttles….there simply was no time for another hobby!

Now flash-forward to a year or so ago—I stumbled into a class on enameling and was hooked! Of course, my first thought was applying the artform to tatting shuttles (everything is TATTING related!). I don’t want to know how much money I dumped into this new artform….but I have had alot of fun in the process. And just now after doing a search on enamel/glass tatting shuttles I have realized how very unique my shuttles are.

What I did find on the internet was a couple of photos of old/historical enameled shuttles. Most have a thin layer of glass/enamel over silver. Many times, the underlying silver is patterned. This is an enameling technique/style called ‘quilloche’ or ‘basse taille’. I have seen a few enameled shuttles in other peoples collections but have never found one myself in antique stores. I believe old enameled shuttles to be fairly rare. Now that I am an ‘enamelist’ I know that enameling does not work well with ‘sterling silver’. The base needs to be ‘fine/pure silver’. The impurities (the 7.5% of non-silver metal) in ‘sterling silver’ will not allow the glass particles of enameling to fuse to the metal base.

Beyond the historical enamel shuttles, probably from the early part of the 20th century, I could not find any reference to Enamel Tatting Shuttles until I created mine. Now if you Google search ‘Enamel Tatting Shuttle’, my The ShuttleSmith Glass/Enamel Copper Tatting Shuttles come up in big numbers. I use copper as the base metal for my tatting shuttles–A. it’s alot cheaper to buy, B. it’s easier to use, & C. why use a precious/expensive metal when you are going to cover it up with something like glass?

ShuttleSmith Glass/Enamel Copper Tatting Shuttles are a layer of copper metal upon which glass particles are fused/melted to the base metal using high heat (ca 1300C) from a hand-held torch. Both sides are coated in glass, though the backside is quite plain due to enameling process limitations. The result is a flat, hoare-style tatting shuttle that IS glass. It ‘tinks’/sounds like glass. And it can/will break like anything glass if it is dropped (usually from a distance to a hard surface such as concrete).

Check out ShuttleSmith Glass/Enamel Copper Tatting Shuttles for sale on Etsy: The ShuttleSmith Etsy Store

While updating/cleaning up my website recently, I realized that I had only posted two of the variations of patterns that I had done for my ‘Tatting Embellished Denim Shirt’.  So, in several postings, I will continue to share my variations of a classic pattern (seen in the bottom photo) that I used to embellish a denim shirt.

Not counting the original pattern (used along the button placket) I created 5 different variations.  Look for them in upcoming blog posts!

I do know that my website is ‘messy’.  The theme that I chose to start creating my website probably wasn’t the best choice.  But all this web/computer stuff is not my thing!  I’m a tatter-first, a designer & shuttle maker-second, then the computer/web stuff comes after that so that I can communicate with other tatters.

So in an attempt to clean-up my website, I spent a few tense moments with my husband trying to figure out something  and I have persevered!!!!   I actually want to sing the song “I have survived…” here now.  Anyway, I worked on the OLD BLOG POSTINGS pages and instead of having a drop-down submenu item, I only have one page in which I have all the pages listed and linked to open in a new tab/window.  I’m not sure if opening the page in a new window is the right thing to do or not, but that would involve another (probably tense) conversation with my husband to figure out.  I choose my battles –I mean conversations–regarding technology very carefully.  The problem with him is that he doesn’t realize everyone is as technically savvy or as smart as he is.  (Do keep in mind that he is a Vice President for an IT section at a Fortune 500 company.)So talking ‘technical talk’ to this ‘tatter’ can be very painful to him too.

So take a look at my OLD BLOG POSTINGS section.  It is here you will find information that I had posted in the past to another blog site in the past.  In an attempt to keep what may be the good stuff (not just ramblings/dribble) I decided to move certain things to this website and this menu.

I’d be interested in hearing what you think of this format.   Email me direct at:  k.bovard@yahoo.com  or leave a comment on the page.  BTW, does the ‘Comment’ section work?????  Again, my lack of web knowledge is showing.

I’m not sure if it is vanity or not that I want people to come to my website, find information they can use, and possibly give me feedback on what they may or may not have found to be interesting/informative/worthwhile.  I guess the bottom line is that I am a slight bit of an extrovert and because of this, I crave social interaction.

Regardless of my motive, I have a large amount of information related to tatting (& some other lacemaking/needlework techniques) on my website that I want utilized.  So I thought I would use my blog posts as a way to gently point to the content on my website:  www.TheShuttleSmith.com

My website main page features two main items:

1. the menu bar in which I have all my information in ‘pages’ archived permanently.
2. My blog posts….which are uploaded periodically.

Since I like to read and learn about other people (especially tatters!) I thought I would share things about myself.  That is why I have an ABOUT THE SHUTTLESMITH  page on my menu bar.  I just updated it by adding a picture of my tatted motorcycle and a photo of my ‘real’ motorcycle (also red–just don’t relate my choice of motorcycle color & me to the state football team that most Nebraskans are fanatical about!) and how I enjoy traveling to tatting events.

Here’s a direct link to that page:   ABOUT THE SHUTTLESMITH 

I am happy to announce that I have successfully traversed a new computer frontier and have created an Etsy store for my tatting books and shuttle.

My store name is: theshuttlesmith

A direct link is:  www.etsy.com/shop/theshuttlesmith

I have my five tatting books and over 20 glass/enamel tatting shuttles there. I have many different colors to choose from (tatting shuttles that is).

A little while ago, I came across a box of ‘stuff’ in my studio and found my Tatting Shuttle Winder collection.  I use center-post tatting shuttles and these shuttle winders are made for them.  I had gobs of Boye plastic ones & have recently discovered the joys of the Handy Hands Moonlit shuttles (they holds lots of thread).  I occasionally use one of my shuttle winders when I’m at home and tatting in my favorite spot.  Usually my tatting is done is small spurts of time while I’m at work (breaks) or waiting for something to happern—I don’t carry a shuttle winder with me.

In future posts I’ll give you close ups of these shuttle winders and what I know about them.  The one on the left is handmade by a local tatter.  I’m ashamed that I don’t know her name.  But what I intend to do is find out more info to share with you all, possibly find out if she is still selling these beauties so that you all may purchase and enjoy one too.

If anyone has any information on the second one from the left (the dark brown wood one) please email me at k.bovard@yahoo.com so that I can share with everyone in the future.

I’m actually kinda embarrassed that I have 2 of the same shuttle winders (the right 2).  That’s from a bygone era in which I had the expendable cash to buy almost anything I wanted and didn’t even realize I was buying duplicates!