Crafts from the past

Dear Shayne,

As I mentioned in this post, I participated in a craft supply swap this week. There were half a dozen people and I think it went pretty well. Almost everyone was looking to get rid of stuff (rather than acquire more), so there was a lot left over for donation. But that's okay by me -- it motivated me to get 2 large bags (trash bag sized!) of stuff out of my craft closet. Yay! Success!

Plus, I did not bring too much stuff home with me. Not too much. Would you like to see what I did bring home? Of course you would!

One person had a little ziplock bag containing various abandoned supplies from the past: crochet thread, tiny knitting needles, tatting shuttles, and a hand-written knitting pattern. None of that was particularly interesting to me, but there was also some lovely handmade tatting in there. It's so beautiful, I just had to take it:


Tatting is not something I'd ever do myself (these pieces must have taken hours and hours to make), but I can appreciate the loveliness. Each of those long pieces is at least 12 inches long. The top one is closer to 18 inches.

Here are some closer photos of some of the items:


This medallion is so impressive:


And here are some pretty little pink daisies:


Now I have to decide what to do with them -- I think they'll be great for collage. Oooh! Perhaps using photos from the collage sheets that you sent me for Christmas!

I also got some scraps of topographic maps, fabric to make a skirt, and a couple of picture frames. I'll show you the other stuff later.

Final "stuff" tally: 2 full trash bags out, 1 half-full grocery bag in. Progress!

love,
kelly