The first pattern I’ve made available and for sale is my beloved Majestic Dragonfly. This is one of the very first original patterns that I’ve made. I’ve made it dozens of times. And I’ve mailed it all over the United States. I’ve turned it into jewelry, mainly pendants. I’ve adorned small metal boxes with its loveliness. You could even make it as an ornament for a window or add it to a birthday card for a special surprise. I have been asked for this pattern for years but I’ve kept it close to me because my source of income was tatting. Now that I am no longer tatting as we are traveling full time… I decided to make my patterns available to help fund a new venture. And I thought what better one to start with than the Majestic Dragonfly! AND it’s on sale! You can find the pattern on my Etsy site. www.snappytatter.etsy.com
The Majestic Dragonfly is a pattern for intermediate to advanced shuttle tatters. I have always diagrammed my patterns and so I have made them available in that manner. But I understand a lot of people like to read them. I began tatting that way too. So I have written out the patterns in a shorthand version as well. I have provided the dragonfly in a plain version as well as fully beaded. The fully beaded one is very popular.
I would love to see your creations in the review section of my shop. Since this is new, I welcome feedback from anyone that makes a purchase. Please send the message through Etsy directly to me so I can improve upon what I’ve created if necessary.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my tatting journey. I hope you enjoy working my patterns as much as you have enjoyed purchasing and having my work.
It has been yet another busy month for us, here in Snappy Tatter-land. I have not been making new lace lately, but my closing sale is going well. In the month of August alone, I sold over 45 pieces from my online Etsy store! A new sale is starting today, September 1st, for the remaining ready to ship pieces in my shop. Buy 3 items and get 40% off the entire order. I ship within 1-3 business days! You’ll find handmade lace jewelry, fiber art, and tatted ornaments are still available. Buy more and get that discount! And as always if you are interested in something custom, let me know. I will be happy to pick up my shuttles again. I can create something just for you.
What I am up to…
I have not been tatting lately. I have been drawing instead, and I find it very soothing. I think that is the next direction I will be going in with my creativity. I also want to explore painting more. And as always, I manicure my own nails on a regular basis. All of this has to be taken into consideration for the move to the motorhome. I need to decide how and what to pack for life on the road. I am a packrat. I must have every type of pencil, paint, or manicure implement out there. It is hard to pare everything down after years of collecting.
It is all a bit disorganized and chaotic right now in our West Virginia home. My husband, Jay, is scheduled for back surgery at the beginning of October. We have to be out of our house so our tenant can move in on November 1st. I am finding it is crazy all the things you collect after decades of living on your own. We have been selling our furniture, my Polish pottery dishes, jewelry, handbags, teacups and on and on. We even sold our 4wd truck. Then we bought a dolly to tow the car with. Now we need a truck to tow the dolly home. Chaos! Thank God for friends.
Excitement in Pennsylvania…
We recently took a weeklong trip back up to Pennsylvania to make plans to clear the property we purchased. We are members of a lovely, gated community called Treasure Lake.
There are actually two lakes with Treasure Lake being the largest one. Next summer we hope to take our kayaks out on the Lake and putter around. First, we need to have our small lot cleared, which we have arranged. Then we need a gravel pad put down that will hold our motorhome when we are there. It will match all our neighbor’s gravel nicely. Our water is connected, and we are ready to get electricity. Eventually, we will bring in a shed. Then, hopefully, we will be able to store some things on our property up there instead of in the basement of our home in West Virginia. These are views from our property lines.
We had a fun time. We were excited to see our land all green and a little overgrown. We were happy to meet the HOA people that were very helpful and kind. We felt relieved to be away from the chaos of home. And we felt thrilled with the dream of no strings and the ultimate freedom. We can go where we want when we want.
Here’s a photo of a little wildlife in Treasure Lake. We saw several of these adorable guys, groundhogs, squirrels, deer and chipmunks.
And back to homebase…
We have been spending nights in our Forest River Georgetown motorhome with the dog. We are getting used to the small space. I am figuring out what we need to organize and decorate the interior. Jay is working on some upgrades. This is the view from the sofa in the Georgetown. That is me with my laptop writing this. Jay is watching one of our two TVs and our Border Collie is lounging at my feet.
ALL we have to do now is clear out our house, move all we need into the motorhome, get the furbabies used to living in a new home, get through Jay’s surgery, buy a 4wd SUV, and put a lot of stuff up for sale on Marketplace! WHEW!!!
I hope you have enjoyed my latest post. I can’t wait to show you the photos of our property all finished and ready to be lived on. I’ll keep you all posted as we work through all the chaos and craziness. Stop by my shop…it’s always open and the sale starts today.
Sometimes life is bittersweet. I have spent a lot of time and effort on building a small business from scratch. And as I sit here in my studio where all my work is done, I feel unsettled. Like I want to crawl into my bins of threads and notions and hide. I still feel like I have so much left to do.
I’m saving my paints, pencils, charcoal, pastels and oil pastels. I’ll save my favorite beads. I’ll save things that I can see going into collages or different types of decorative artwork.
I’ve had this business since 2009. And I’ve been tatting and embroidering since as early as 1993 when I was in my twenties. I think it’s become part of my identity. I am disabled. I became disabled right after I graduated college. I had my disability for a long time, but I finally got a proper diagnosis. I could no longer work as things had progressed and gotten worse. So, this job here at home has been a part of who I am. I love owning a small business. And I’m proud when I say that I work as an artist. Not everybody gets this opportunity in their lifetime.
Today I packed up a large order for a customer who has been with me for a while. She has purchased a lot of my work over the years and is a valued patron. She ordered some of the things that I am going to miss most, my Couture designs. And she plans to come back for more. My heart always aches a little bit whenever some of my most extensive work goes out the door. But my goal was to create something for someone else to enjoy. And that I did. So, mission accomplished. Here are some of the favorites I have had to say good-bye too:
I’m a little Melancholy today but I wanted to share with you what’s happening around here. I’m looking around my room for things I can sell and things I want to keep for Creative reasons. Then I’m going to sell my beloved dream box. The armoire that has housed my abundance of supplies for the last year or so. There’s no room and it’s heavy and I think it’ll make someone else happy. Isn’t it magnificent though?
I feel strongly that God directs my life. I am just here to do his will whatever that may be at the time. With that in mind it seems that our motoring around the country has been put on hold. My husband has had some serious health problems lately and now is looking at possible surgery. So, I may be learning how to drive the motor home quicker than I wanted to. We also had an inspector come and take a look at some problems that we were having. He found some things that just grounded us right now. Jay is as busy with repairs as he can be.
Basically, we buy this motorhome and a little land. We start making plans and I’m buying stuff left and right to decorate. And I am consolidating things that we have and are going to put in the new motorhome. Then all that screeches to a halt when the slide won’t come in and the stabilizers won’t come up. Then my husband took a fall and slipped a disc in his back and now has excruciating pain. So, he is only able to work on the motorhome for short periods of time. He spent two days in the hospital in so much pain and with such high blood pressure they couldn’t let him go home. That was two weeks ago. It just seems to me like God has got a plan for us and I don’t know what it is. I do know he doesn’t plan on us going anywhere for a while. Such is life. And after I got done fussing about it, I realized I’m not ready to go anywhere at this moment anyhow! Honestly, I have so much work to do right now I’m just avoiding it by writing this post…which is kind of funny. I thought I’d say a final goodbye to some of my favorite work. I want to keep my readers posted on what’s going on in snappy tatter land.
The Clearance sale is still happening in my Etsy shop. It will keep going until I get as much work sold as possible. Stop by and pick up whatever fancies you at 50% off.
Sometimes change is good and also necessary for personal growth. With that being said, it is time for me to close my Etsy shop, Snappy Tatter. I am not, however, quitting creating. I plan to still design and create shuttle-tatted lace. I may finally get around to painting like I have wanted to. Part of the reason for me closing shop is financial as Etsy has been digging deeper and deeper into small business’ pockets over the years. My ability to make a profit is seriously impacted by this. And it has been this way since the beginning of covid. Sales for many small Etsy businesses have dropped significantly and it is frequently talked about in forums and Facebook groups. So at least I am not alone on that matter.
The other reason for this change is one that I spoke about in my last post. We are going to rent out our house and travel around the US in a motorhome. After careful consideration, I decided that running a business that is not that substantially profitable from a limited mobile space will be difficult and time consuming. I believe that will steal the joy out of running a small business. I enjoy creating and there is no reason for me to stop. In fact, I will be able to do whatever I fancy with no deadlines or limitations. I have even thought of publishing my patterns!
This is not an end-all choice. I can always open my business back up. Right now, this decision is in my best interest as we take on a new way of living. We have limited space for my tatting and supplies so I will be selling off what is left of my tatting inventory as well as much of my beads, crystals, pearls, stones, and findings.
I will pop in here when I am ready for the shopping to begin. My plans are to deeply discount what I have on hand in jewelry and art. I want people to enjoy my work. That is one of the biggest reasons for my opening Snappy Tatter in 2009. Sometime in the next few days I hope to be announcing the clearance of my work. Between cleaning up my current house, loading up my motorhome, and helping others around me I am one busy tatter. Oh, and I will be documenting our travels here so Snappy Tatter-land will be full of new adventures, creations and special moments.
I thank each and every one of you that have followed me through the years. It is time for me to close a door, so I have space to open the next.
I have big news in Snappy Tatter-land. We are about to be mobile. We have had a rough year with health issues and my cluster headaches have returned. But that’s not going to stop us from carrying out a dream. We bought a 33′ Forest River Georgetown motorhome and are going to travel the United States and I will be tatting along the way. This is all very exciting to us. We found a beautiful spacious home on wheels.
We will travel North during the summer and travel South during the winter. We even bought a small plot of land in my home state of Pennsylvania, so we have a place to land if we want to stop traveling and stay put for a while. Our land is in a motorhome park in Treasure Lake, Pennsylvania. It is a gated community with lots of amenities including two swimming pools, an indoor pool, tennis courts, two golf courses, a couple of restaurants, a gym, and a beauty salon. It even has its own Postal Service so I will be able to mail out any product that you would like. I will have everything with me along with supplies to ship so I can continue my business on the road.
This is all very exciting to us. It’s something my husband and I have wanted to do all our lives. We will keep the house and are going to rent it out. Our new motorhome will eventually be our full-time home after we get some doctor’s visit sorted out and get our lot ready in Pennsylvania. It is undeveloped so we need to take down a couple of small trees and have the lot leveled. We also need to have electricity hooked up. We bought the land, so we will only owe homeowner’s fees once a year. And I’m forgetting to mention the huge lake called Treasure Lake that is available for us. Jay can go fishing. I can lounge by the pool. And I can spend time tatting and designing. Here are photos of the interior of our new home. I will get outside pictures when I have the chance. But it is 97° out right now and I’m not going out there. Lol.
On another note, not only am I a fan of traveling I am also a fan of fans. And I just created another one in Shell pink with Czech glass beads, a large Crystal, and silver necklace. I am really fond of this design and will be making more in other colors. If you would like a custom color, you’re always welcome to get a hold of me and I can send you a pic of the 47 different colors that I have. You can reach me here through the comment section or through my email which is [email protected] and you can reach me on Facebook all the time
Do you have a motorhome? I would love to hear about life on the road! I look forward to chronicling our adventures in getting prepared to move, our traveling excursions, and new tatting designs. Stay tuned for more photos and new tatted designs.
I decided I wanted to design some shuttle-tatted hearts for earrings and pendants. This was right after I designed my latest bracelet pattern that I call Galaxy, which is made using an onion ring technique. I made 3 Galaxy bracelets all in various variegated cordonnet. They are available in black and white, a pink to berry variation and a variegated brown to terra cotta, called spice cake. Of course, I am always happy to create any of my bracelet designs in your favorite color. And I have many variegated threads that I need to share a photo of here and in my listings.
I think my variegated threads are perfect for this design! From there I decided to design a heart with an onion ring center that I call Sweetheart. Shuttle tatted in Victorian red, they have Swarovski crystal centers.
I already have a heart design called Valentine that I created to go with a JJ Chic Couture necklace called Heart String.
Both the earrings and the necklace are available in my Etsy shop in the JJ Chic Couture section. I created two more pairs of Valentine earrings in pink and red. The pink earrings are embellished with Swarovski bicone crystals, and the red have Swarovski crystal pearls. I like them without the edge beading because they come to more of a point.
Lastly, I made a design using trefoil centers in burgundy cordonnet. These Trefoil Hearts have gorgeous garnet red colored Cubic Zirconia in the center and dangling matching beads.
This concludes my study of the heart. Simple designs with elegance and minimal embellishments, I love them all. Follow all the links to my Etsy shop to see more Snappy Tatter designs.
I will be back soon with some exciting news, so stay tuned!
Welcome to Snappy Tatter-land, where I post new works and talk about the things that make me happy. Today I want to introduce you to my latest JJ Chic Couture Garden Watch X (Roman numeral 10). I created the base of the band with tatted rings in charcoal cordonnet edged with silver. An olive-green vine with medium green leaves weaves its way along the band. It crosses the watch face with wavy half hitch knots securing the face to the band. I hand shuttle tatted many flowers for this band. I wanted the appearance of a full and glittery garden of teeny blossoms. I used a variegated pink to lavender thread for the flowers. They are simple rings with Czech glass beads in all the picots. Perfect Swarovski crystal pearls in white and lavender embellish the centers of the flowers. There is one tiny pink Swarovski crystal butterfly among the flowers. The entire tatted lace design is handsewn to olive green organdy ribbon that is finished with Sterling plated jewelry components. The entire watchband measures 6.75″ long x 0.75″ wide. It will come in an elegant watch box. Also-the battery is accessible by moving the leaf off the watch knob and then pulling the lace slightly away from the back to remove the back plate.
You can find all available watches in my JJ Chic Couturecollection. Past watches I have made can be found in the Tatted Garden Watches gallery on this site.
Snappy Tatter watches are one-of-a-kind, meticulously hand crafted, and only found in my Etsy shop or in person at local show.
It’s that time of year again. Time for me to start tatting snowflakes and ornaments for everyone’s holiday season. Now until 10/15, you can find the listings shown below for 20% off with no minimum order or order limits. Also-my Etsy Shop always has FREE shipping in the US on all orders over $35. Shop the sale section here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SnappyTatter?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=1
Sometimes the simplest designs are the most elegant. Understated Minimalist style is my design preference at times. I like to provide a wide variety of styles from simple to ornate at every price point so there is something for everyone in my shop. These latest simple designs are now available and ready to ship!
~The Halo bracelet variations~
Made with simple split rings the Halo design has been made into chokers, necklaces, and bracelets. Here are 3 of my latest designs and a link to the listing in my shop, Snappy Tatter.
~Halo Steps~
simple silver metallic asymmetrical rings with a hook and eye clasp.
my simple Flash Drip pendant and earrings set in black with pewter fringe beads, leather necklace, pewter bail, spring ring clasp, and French wire earrings
pendant and earrings set in white cordonnet with teardrop shell accents, white satin necklace, flower bail, spring ring clasp, and French wire earrings.
All of these simple designs are priced between $14-19 and $36.50 for the Shamrock set. Feel free to use COUPON CODE “LOVELACE” for FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the US. Enter code during checkout for the discount.
Snappy Tatter is having a sale till 9/6/21! FREE SHIPPING on all domestic US orders. Minimum order of 3 items. The discount will be applied at checkout in my Etsy shop!
Thought I would take a moment to showcase my latest J Kohr Couture design, Garden Watch IX. It sold within a day of being listed but there will be more coming soon.
I have made 10 watches so far. This one was a real treat to design. The watch face is extra large at 2″ wide. It is an antique Betsy Johnson watch I found at a garage sale. I love the rose gold flowers on the face and the bright pink embellishments of the second hand and side button. I tried to coordinate my design with these features.
The base tatting is a split ring design attached directly to the face. It is edged on both sides with a variegated cordonnet that transitions from brown to green to blue. The edging also has matte olive colored seed beads. The vine of small leaves that weaves its way along the band and side of the face also has matte seed beads. It is permanently attached to the side of the face as well. The flowers in dark pink, purple and lavender, are embellished with clear and Aurora Borealis Swarovski Crystals that are 2mm and 3mm in size. The purple flowers also have pink bugle beads tatted into their design. A final little surprise on this band is the bright red PIXIE Butterfly with a yellow Swarovski Crystal center. She is permanently affixed to the watch face.
All of the tatting is mounted on a light leaf green cotton band and secured with hand sewing and an industrial resin. All flowers are stiffened and waterproofed. Metal jewelry components that match the band and face are added along with an extension chain and lobster clasp for a secure fit. A new battery was added before I packaged it in a white box and shipped the watch. There is access to the back of the watch face to change the battery.
I hope you love it! I will make new Garden Watches soon. They are very labor intensive and the perfect one-of-a-kind accessory. This is something you won’t find anywhere but Snappy Tatter!
Come shop the sale! Buy whatever you like and forget the shipping costs. Sale will end at the end of the day on 9/6.
Snappy Tatter 