Ais gets Crafty

Blog Moved

2011-06-05T16:42:00.002+03:00

This blog has moved to a new location. It was very difficult keeping up with a different blog for each hobby and each thought. :) I have clubbed it all up and I am now at Words N Needles. Hope to see you there. :)

She is OK and... a crochet project.

2010-06-26T16:46:00.003+03:00

She is Okay! We had the appointment with her ENT today and she is Ok. It seems like it was just some minor thing due to the cold. Most probably it was the wax ( The pediatrician was sure that it was but still refered us to the ENT) and the ENT thinks it could have been some fluid in the middle ear which he believes is draining out already on its own. Whatever but Alhamdulillah (i.e, Thank GOD!), she is Ok. Thank you for remembering us in your prayers ladies. Thank you so much. :)

On the crafty side of my life, I have managed to finish my Rambler Rose Center. It is one of those mistakes that came out 'not that bad'. :)

I started it almost a month ago but then, I wanted it to be oval but... I made some stupid mistakes and ended up with a very dense ruffle! It was supposed to be a five petal flower in the middle but I made ten petals and I was to make some extra chains to make it come out oval but... I forgot. It was double the work and it took me two whole weeks to just do that last row. The result is that due to the extra ruffles, it doesn't stay flat and it takes too long to get it to stay the way it is supposed to. I still havent pressed it or blocked it or anything. Will come around to doing it... someday. Fo now, it will be in my crochet box. :)

Oh, I placed a coin in the center to give an idea of how big it is. :)

I haven't done a tatting project in months now. The last one I finished was in Novemeber...just before my daughter was born. I didn't come around to posting my tatting projects either! OH!! I have so much to catch up with....

Anyway, as I was saying I want to do a tatting next and I am on the look out for new ideas. I have seen some stuff I like but... I think I want to try with beads and rings again. I'll be off on my vacation for a month. We are going to India.:) I'll be going hunting for beads and threads there...ideas too. Let us see what I find.

Okay my little girl is climbing out of her rocker now... I gotta go. :)

Take care... bye.

Prayers needed

2010-06-22T15:56:00.003+03:00

I should club all my blogs together!!
There'll be more to read for my anyone who cares to some reading and... no blog will feel left out. Also, silly reason but I guess this blog will get a 'personality'!:)

InshaAllah (i.e.,God Willing), I'll get around to doing it but...for the real reason I am online today: Something is really bothering me. My kids have been sick...a lot sick. They were sick the whole month of May and when I thought June could be healthier, my little girl catches a cold. It wasn't that bad but yesterday, I left the kids at my mum's to attend to an appointment and when I come back... she tells me that my girl seems to have a hearing difficulty. It is so so so scary! We have been keeping an eye on her and testing her in every possible way since we came home yesterday and... it seems like my mum is right. She is hearing us but not quite well. She only hears the loudest sound that we make. It is very difficult because little girl is only 6months old! How do I test her?!

Anyway, hubby has booked an appointment with her pediatrician and we go today but... GOD! It is so scary. Please remember us in your prayers....please pray she is fine.

I have heard and read so many scary things that it is making me crazy.... babies her age are so fragile. Anything can happen. *Sigh* I'll update as soon as I can... :(

Road to rediscovery... again.

2010-04-27T15:50:00.003+03:00

Last night, as I lay in bed, very tired from all the running around through the day, once again I felt that there was something missing in my life. After few minutes of pondering and a word or two to my hubby later, I knew... Passion. I have always had a muse or interest or hobby of some sort at all stages of my life. But... at the moment, sadly, I haven't any.

When I was growing up, I loved music like crazy and I had my own piano; then there was a time when I painted all the time. In college, all I cared about was competitions and participating in every literary or cultural event... won a prize almost evertime too... then there was university when all I did was study and research... strangely, I was crazy about my research project! I was addicted to blogging and designing blogger templates. I wonder why I don't design my own templates anymore? (Hmm... note to self: should try one of these days!)After marriage there was crochet, hair pin loops and glass painting. After my son was born, I spend most of my free time learning to Tat. But now... there is nothing.I do bake once in a while but... can I say I am really passionate about it?

Life is so empty with out a hobby. There should be something that makes me get up each morning with that glint in my eye and that drive to finish everything up real fast so that I can find some time to do the things I love the most. I am not saying I don't like playing with my kids... I love them and I love the time I spend with them but I need to find my ownself too. Sometimes, I think that the reason I feel that way is because I am afraid that years down the line, I may end up blaming my kids for my failures. I have heard of too many women who do that. They enjoyed their kids when they were growing up and then when the kids grew up and got busy in their own lives, they said, "I sacrificed myself for you!" I really, really dont wntn that to happen to me. I chose to have my kids... I chose to leave my job... I chose to be a stay at home mum and I can still choose to live the way I want to live.

I guess I am just scared of myself... of what I may become... if I am not mindful of my life.

Yes, now, about that 'passion' thing... I guess I need to find myself once again. Rediscover life all over again.It's funny, how I keep rediscovering myself every few years... but, I love it! Isn't it so much better than just existing?

I am living my life! Yep! Okay... back to going about my routine.

I know I have very few readers left..If you do come around to reading my blog, do comment and say something. I love hearing from you. :)

It doesn't work to plan ahead...

2010-04-25T16:22:00.003+03:00

I sometimes wonder how people go on to have 7-9 kids? My mum has five and when I ask her how she managed us, her classic reply is always 'I don't know... you guys managed yourself!'
Why can't my kids play on their own? I know that most people will say, how can they ... they are so young! But.. They can fight each other quite well! These days, I am solving their fights almost all day! My little girl turned 5months just a few days ago and I can't believe how much she beats up her brother! She wants his puzzles, his toys, his food... even his feeder bottle but when it comes to her own...she hates taking her feeding! My son, on the other hand, is so meek and gentle that he just giggles and laughs when she pulls his hair or climbs on to his tummy to snatch his bottle! They are wonderful but ...naughty!

Oh! She is up! I was hoping to do some painting after I blogged! OH!!! There goes the screaming...off now.

Officially back!

2010-04-22T15:59:00.002+03:00

And... this blog is officially back on!

Now... if I can just remember what I wanted to post... hmm... hmm hmm... I forgot.

We've been blessed with a baby girl... Zaara was born in December and I am so excited about her... We had thought we'd have a boy again and hence I hadnt prepared for her birth...the day she was born I was so excited that ... I made a baby cap for her even though I had an IV syringe on my hand!

Will try and update everyday...take care...Oh it is so GOOD to be back!!

Wondering where I disappeared?

2009-10-07T16:04:00.002+03:00

I have been wanting to update for so long that I cant even remember how long! Okay here are some of the news that I wanted to share. Hopefully I'll come back to load the pics. I have been tatting, crocheting and baking. And I have some good news to share with you all too... We are expecting again! The baby is due in December and that is what keeps me offline. I have a very active toddler to run after and a very bad aching back that drains my energy.:) Anyway,...I hope, I can come back again to update you guys. :)

The updates...

2009-03-28T10:09:00.006+03:00

I have been up to a lot of things the past week or so. Here is the list:
1. Hardager The new craze is hardager! I am teaching myself to embroider Hardanger. The progress is slow, dotted by lots of wrong moves... I keep cutting the wrong threads, I get entangled ... but I am determined.

2. I was on stichinfingers and Take stitch tuesday is really inspiring me to try making samplers. So far I have only tried the Half Cheveron stitch and Wow was it fun!

3. I almost blew up our building and killed myself and the residents of the 50 apartments of our building by my absent mindedness. My brother is a hero. I am not going to blog in detail about it 'cause I am trying hard to get on with my life.

4. I tatted a pattern from the antique pattern library. I am still working on it. It is from the DMC pattern library, I don't remember.

Ok...my 15minutes are up... I have loads to do... Gotta go... please remember me in your prayers... I am really goofing up and having things blowing up in my face!

TIAS

2009-03-13T15:47:00.003+03:00

And... Finally I have something to post. I have done Iris' TIAS DAY 1-4. My intention was to complete all of it and include it as the 25th motif for the 25 motif challenge but alas! I run out of thread on the 5th day. The problem is that I had got the thread from india and I will have to hunting for it here. Anyway for now, this is it. This is how much i could do. This is the last motif for the 25 motif challenge unless i can think up and make something in the next 15 days.
I really enjoyed the TIAS and have already bookmarked it to remind myself to complete it someday.

TIAS day 1
TIAS DAY 2
TIAS day 3
TIAS day 4

power failure

2009-03-07T16:42:00.002+03:00

I am so excited because we had a power failure. It was for an exact 5minutes and it was in broad daylight but... WOW a power failure! We never have power failures and it was so exciting for me. I wouldn't have even known if it wasn't for the fridge compressor becoming too quiet. It felt stupid to call up my friends and tell them ... so... I'll blog. That is the best part about blogging... you can talk nonsense.:D

Hmm... I am still thbinking about the last motif...

Hello...

2009-03-03T15:55:00.004+03:00

Okay...firstly, The rings I used in the previous motifs aren't curtain rings as was mentioned on the 25motif challenge post. They are metal craft rings. Atleast that was what the guy at the store said. :)
Secondly, I am stuck... I was working on another ring and I got bored of it... Now I need something really inspiring to make my last motif... so far I have prited out the antique books...searched almost all the patterns that I have downloaded from here and there and I am stilllooking. May be somethig will click sometime. :)

And...now for the best part. The reason I am blogging is because I have recently come across something that has really floored me. Have a look:
At first I thought it was painting but on closer look, I find that it is worked with beads! Look:

Aren't they beautiful. I am not sure as to what the work is called. I'll call it bead work for now but I am trying to contact the lady who did it and ask her about it...the only problem is... she doesn't speak English! :) Anyone know where I can learn more about this?

Two more motif's inspired by Jon

2009-02-18T19:33:00.005+03:00

Look what I made.

Here it is up close. Recognise it?

Yep it is Jon's Rings Only Snowflake. (In a hurry now...will add links later) I made it size 40 Anchor thread... It is so tiny. I used super glue to seal in the ends...was thinking, I'd getaway with it... look closely ... and ...it shows. Next time I'll remember not to cheat!

And here is another motif I made with rings and beads. I didn't use a pattern this time. Just went as I wished and it came out pretty well.

Here is another look at it:
Isn't it really pretty? I wish there was a way to put a pic i the middle. For now it hangs as a tag formy cell phone and ...my son chews on it!

P.S: Just noticed that I fiished motif 23 and 24! Is it really that I have just one more to do?! I feel like I am panicking that I have just one more to do... I can't be finishing it already.. I was just beginning to enjoy. :(

Motif 21 and 22

2009-02-07T15:41:00.005+03:00

How many times is it that I come online to blog and then forget, surf around, check, re-check and re- re- check my mails, shut off and then remember thereason formy coming online? Too many times. Really, I must put a reminder on my laptop that beeps every ten seconds to remind me the reason why I came online. On another thought I should have reminders,stick up notes and what-nots everywhere around the house to remind of so many things.

These days, as it has been for the past year and more, I come online when my son sleeps. The funny things is, the second he falls asleep, I am so excited that I have 'me'time that I forget everything that I have to do.The only thing that I do remember is that I have to go online. Once online, I forget why I am there... most of the time I have already checked and replied to my mail and most of the times I don't remember about blogging... then what do I do, you ask? I really don't know. It's like my mind clears the cookies, cache, web history and all online details just like my computer does, the minute I shut it down. Amazing, aren't I?

Okay, the reason I came online today is to tell you that, I have made more motifs. Motif no.21 is my first attempt with beads. Yeah I know I did try it before but it couldn't be called as a motif, could it? I really don't know what to do with it further but it looks so cute and I want to just tack it somewhere.

Motif no.22 was inspired by Jon Yusoff. She is an amazing tatting artist ad her work with rings and beads has really hooked me on. I am absolutely in love with the earings she made. Her tutorial where she shows how to make ds on a plastic ring gave me the start that I needed. I couldn't get the plastic rings here but I did manage to get some metal rings. I have been working since then.

Isn't it too cute? I don't know what I am going to use this for but I have some ideas. I am just crazy about rings now. The day I saw the tutorial on Jon's blog, I went out that very evening to get the rings and the beads. Hubby must have thought me crazy because we had so many problems finding the rings and the beads. There aren't any shops that cater to the needs of a tatter here and I have searched high and low.I had to get most of my supplies from India. I don't shop online either so it gets really difficult but once in awhile I do find something that can be considered useful. And that's when I feel the 'Aha'moment. :)

Jon's Quantiesque

2009-02-02T13:51:00.004+03:00

There are some designs that are a must do. Jon's Quantiesque snowflake is one of them...the minute I saw it ( and it was only one minute that I had free)I fell with it.I saw it when TattingChic started it and then... I have done it too.This will be motif 20 for 25 motif challenge. It is in all white but I am planning on doing it in colour.It is Perle cotton size5 btw. And it is the only motif that I have done without messing up anywhere! *phew* (yeah the pics bad...I took 17 pics and they all came out blur...this one is not blurred but it slipped off the table right after I clicked... that is why it is a little cross.)

Isn't it a brilliant design?! Jon...Thank you for the pattern...you are a tatting genius!

Maltese rings and some beads

2009-01-24T10:04:00.003+03:00

And... I have been teaching myself new techniques...

After months of trying to teach myself the maltese rings, I got it right! I know my mistakes now but I think I am still having a little trouble with the size of the picots. I taught myself from tatman's page and pattyD's post on etatters and ofcourse there are some really nice sites out there. I was trying to follow the tat-along on etatter's ... The one with the maltese rings ofcourse... (Don't have the link now)...but I can't seem to follow through.

I tried to work with beads on my tatting... The result was okay. Now the problem is that I need one simple motif that I can work with only one kind of beads. I should search the net, I know but... well... it will be long I guess.

19.

2009-01-10T14:49:00.003+03:00

The past few weeks I was in India again... this time because Hubby wanted a vacation. I did manage to do a couple of motifs but unfortuately, I have only one pic. I am still not sure if I brought the others with me or I have left them behind.

This is another bookmark I did. The pattern is same as before.

motif 17 and 18

2008-12-11T18:32:00.003+03:00

And here are motif no. 17 and 18.
I made a bookmark for my brother. The yellow one was the one for him. I made it with embroidery floss and it is the first time that i worked with embroidery floss. It took me 2hrs to make it. The pink one is mine. I had to make one for myself!
The design is from a french book that i had seen somewhere. I had made a line diagram to remind myself what it looked like. I didnt remember the stitches so i just guessed it.
By the way , i am moblogging

YAY!!!

2008-12-06T11:41:00.003+03:00

I have FINALLY finished the pretty doily tat-along. Finished it on wednesday...I have'nt ironed it or starched it or done anything more than cut the loose ends off. For now it is spread on my poufe and it looks big. But even I admit now that ispite of all the probs I had making it... it is BEAUTIFUL.

I learnt many new techniques while doing this doily. It is the first tatted doily i ever made and it literally taught me tatting.
1. I realised that I was tatting the wrong way when I did this doily.
2. I learnt floating rings.
3. I learnt to adjust the length of chains to curve them.
4. I taught myself josephine knots while doing this doily.
5. Most importantly, I learnt that tatting requires patience and presence of mind.

Yay! it is done... that is the next motif for the 25motif challenge. 16, is it? I lost count!

Two more Motifs

2008-11-11T15:37:00.004+03:00

And......... I have managed two more motifs and if I don't post this now... I may never ever post it! As it is ..this was done last week and I hardly get the time to upload them.

The maroon one is the first two rounds of the Pretty doily tat along on etatters.(I have just three more repeats to do on my pretty doily tat along btw). It is in size 5 crochet cotton. The other one (beige) is also size 5 crochet cotton but I don't know the design. I have it saved but I don't know where I saved it from. I'll check and update. In the meanwhile if anyone recognise the pattern please do refresh my memory.

A Coaster

2008-09-21T11:04:00.003+03:00

Here is what I have been up to since the last post. It is from Doily and Coasters from the book Tatting From Burda, I think. The thread is the same size 20 DMC Cebelia.

moblogging

2008-09-17T00:20:00.002+03:00

My first post via mobile. Let us see how it goes. Ok, i cant add pics yet... I still dont know how to go to next line.. Need to learn. Ok done.

The Triangle Motif

2008-09-08T12:10:00.005+03:00

Yesterday when Sis and the family went out, I decided that in order to maintain Dane's bedtime routine, I had to stay at home. Dane slept by his bedtime and that gave me enough time to tat a triangle. I found the pattern on my laptop and it was in french. I don't remember where I had downloaded the page from so I am sorry I can't mention the name of the book. The thread that I have used is size 8 pearl cotton. The colour is #0336. I guess this makes motif no.12 for the 25motif challenge.

The bad vacation and a nice gift

2008-09-07T18:04:00.004+03:00

'Where is Ais?' Have you been wondering that?

Well... here I am, back after a month or so long a gap! I am back from my vacation and I am really glad that it is finally over. I can't believe it was the worst vacation I ever had. My advice to anyone with a baby "If you think a vacation is what you need, stay where you are!". Really, all that I had wanted was to rest and what I got was that I had been working twice more than I had been before my vacation. I came back more tired than I had been and I have even lost a couple of pounds ( no, not in the nice sense... I already lost my pregnancy weight months ago. I am now close to being underweight!) Anyway, Dane had fallen sick and he had lost weight too. He is back to normal now...but it was a bad experience for the both of us. The day we returned the very next day, my father went off on a business visit and my sister came to live with us. Dane is crazy about her and he... err how should I put it... drove us crazy. We were both running around all through the day and bedtimes were nightmares. Last week, Dad returned and with him came my youngest sister. They all moved back to there place and then my Husband went on his business visit. He is still away and will returned by the end of the week. The youngest sister is staying with us and now, once again, we are all going crazy!

I did manage to tat a bit in India and that was the only nice outcome of the vacation because eversince I have returned, I haven't done any tatting at all. I am on the final round of the Pretty Doily Tat-along ( I am sure everyone else have finished by now) and there are still seven more repeats left. I feel like I am spinning around all day. Precisely, I feel like an electron spinning out of orbit.... zing...zing...ting...tang...ouch...ouch..you know? Really, I am working all day and the work just doesn't move. I am physically all drained off my energy and mentally I feel sore ('sore' like blue with a lot of 'ouch ouch'). I love my son and his smile lights me up and renews me all the time but I just don't know what it is that is driving me crazy. I am so aching for some me time. I can't believe I had to stay up till 4am to tat and listen to some music! Really...these days, I have no time for things that I really want to do. I sometimes worry that I can land myself in to depression or something like that if I don't do stuff that I enjoy. May be it is because I have guests living with us all the time that I feel so busy or may be it is that I need to sort things out because I definitely don't have a routine in my life. I am sure that if I can sit down and plan it all, I can have time for everything. There was a time when I wanted some change... now, I want a routine. May be if I plan things out ... you know like blogging on certain days...and so on then things will work... I wonder how you guys work... Do you plan out your days or is your life already working smoothly? Love ya all...

P.S : I back to mention that I got the best wedding gift ever!! This past year, Hubby has been gifting me too much jewellery and I was hoping he would gift me something else for our anniversary that was on the 15th of last month. Our anniversary was spent on the plane and although he wished me in three countries and in the air too, he didn't think it was enough. He kept saying, 'how many couples do you know who celebrate their third wedding anniversary in three different countries?' I admit, not too many. I was satisfied with him taking me places but somehow he wasn't. A fortnight after our wedding anniversary, he gifted me a new cell phone, the NOKIA N78! I had been eyeing it for a while but hadn't mentioned to him but he noticed me admiring it sometime. (After all, I had been going up to look at it almost everytime we passed by the mobile phone section and everytime, we saw the ad, I had told him about the features like 1000 times!) Really I am blessed to have a husband who reads my thoughts (:p)and takes so much care to provide me with everything that I want.

(Pic thanks to LetsGoDigital website)

It is beautiful! It has a 3.2mp camera with a Carl Zeiss Lens; a 3.5G network conectivity with WLAN support; Bluetooth; it has GPRS and maps and the music... it has an FM transmitter and it has the best music system! I can download podcasts, music and everything on it...and stay conected with the net everywhere I go! :D Now...all that I need to do is figure out how to work the internet! *duh*

Crochet link and a template change

2008-08-05T19:30:00.003+03:00

And.... the template has changed again. Blogcrowds has been my favourite for a long time now and I had used them earlier. They are more Blogger complaint and easier to tweak. :)

Here is a link(Eye Candy mostly) to some really cute Crochet cushions. It's a chinese site but the cushion collection is really nice.

The Pretty Doily...again

2008-08-04T15:52:00.004+03:00

Well begun is half done... The saying really holds true! I have been on the pretty Doily Tat-along from how long? Three months, is it? And the project was going no where for the simple reason that it had been a bad start. I mentioned this to my sister a few days ago and she remarked that it must be that the start had been bad. 'May be true, may be not', I had remarked.
After I ran out of thread on the previous doily, I decided to start the doily again... Sis was right. Well begun is really half done. I started again, in Size 5 Crochet cotton. (Yes, the doily is BIG).

I have not only completed fourth round... I am on the second round of chains on round five. The start was so good that I managed to finish three rounds in just one day! Round four took a little longer because I got side tracked when Dane fell ill. It tok me two days to complete round four and an hour to finish the first round of chains on round five. I have finished half of the second round of chains on round five. Dane fell down while trying to get off the bed this afternoon and although, he didn't hurt himself (just a little bump), I still feel guilty that my eyes aren't on him all the time. We have a house full of people keeping an eye on him and even that is not enough. Dane is Hyper-dooper- active ( That is a new word!)

Hairpin Lace

2008-08-03T18:47:00.002+03:00

Hairpin Lace anyone? I found this link on the Hairpin Lace group on Yahoo. I had this pattern but in black and white... Doesn't it super cool in colour?

Half a Masquerade

2008-07-27T17:27:00.004+03:00

Here is the next motif for the 25motif challenge. I had to finish the thread off the shuttle and here is what I came up with. Half of Mary Konior's Masquerade. It looks cute as it is, don't you think? A cute little motif in the cutest colour I have. :D

SweetHeart by Birgit Phelps

2008-07-25T13:10:00.003+03:00

I made the next motif for my 25motif challenge... it is SweetHeart by Birgit Phelps. I modified it a little bit and added the split rings to make it into a bookmark. It is made in size 20 silk thread and it is for my sister. She requested that I make her some bookmarks and this is the first one.
Oh by the way, I chose this pattern after I saw it in Melissa's archives.

Still Tatting

2008-07-19T16:22:00.003+03:00

And... Finally, round 5 of the Pretty Doily is almost done... I have just one more floating ring to make and... I ran out of thread!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Why me? Why?? I am a nice person... Why me! I was sure the thread wouldn't finish!!:((

Anyway for a change, I have decided to make my sister a bookmark. More on that later.

Again...., I was sure I'd complete that round today!:(

On a vacation...

2008-07-14T13:39:00.003+03:00

It is a small world... I was in another city yesterday... I was in another country last week. In one week I have travelld across three countries... right now I am in India on what is supposed to be ... my vacation. Ofcourse, I brought my shuttles along! There is no relaxing without them.

BabyD has seperation anxiety as his father is not with us... BabyD has a fever too.... I hope to start tatting as soon as we are settled and comfortable.

Yes... this is a random post on a keyboard thatis torturing me...

The New Template and still on the Doily

2008-06-30T16:39:00.004+03:00

And the blog sports a new look! Yep! It's green and it has a butterfly, as you can see.

No raised eyebrows please. I know there are a few faults around and I'll need to tweak it up to look like the way I want it...but I'll get to it in a day or two (or three or ten or fifteen. Whenever).
I have been busy. I finished the fourth round of wednesday and then took this snap.

Then I started the fifth round and no snaps later... I realise that the doily is curling over. I think I got the fourth round too tight so I have.... believe it or not... cut it off! I am back on the fourth round. If anything ,then this doily is teaching me preserverance. I can't believe I have the mind to actually cut and start all over again and again and again and again! Anyway, since I can't believe myself and I have run out of shuttles, I am trying to finish up the thread on this other shuttles by tatting...yes, believe it or not... again that same Pretty pretty doily. I am on round two and I am floating with the floating rings.Yay!! :) No pic yet...will do something some day soon.

Love you all... Keep 'smiling'. :)

Arte y Pico Award

2008-06-22T16:07:00.004+03:00

Thankfully, I have time today... I have been tatting all morning and I am half way through the fourth round on my Pretty Doily Tat-along. I had decided, I wouldn't come online but I have time today and Dane is napping.
I have recieved a message from Verito that she considers my blog worthy of being awarded the Arte y Pico award. Arte y pico is a spanish blog about art and craft links. (I am still searching for the translate page button that I had added a while ago. I better find it or I will have to go to alta vista again for babelfish).

Thank you, Verito. I feel really honoured that you consider me worthy of recieveing this award.

There are some rules to the award.

Rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you copnsider deserve this award,
creativity, design, interesting material, and also contrubuites to the blogger
community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the
author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each
award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog
thathas given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who
has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so
everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.
That is nice, I say. I mean, really, there are too many people I consider worthy of recieving a blogging award. I read too many blogs and I write in too many places. 5blogs seems like limiting it all. Anyway, since I am only supposed to name 5, I think I'll come back and name them. This is all the time I had for blogging. I'll have to edit this post and put up the links ... later.
Stay tuned folks... you could be one of them. :)
After a night of thinking (and pondering and dreaming and turning and tossing and so on and so forth... for reasons not related to this), I have decided that my favourite 5 blogs will have to be only tatting blogs. This is an arts n craft blog, after all.
Zarina: I am just so taken by her tatting all 25 motifs so fast!
Jane Eborall: I am awe struck by everything she does.
Linda S Davies: I love all her tatting and I love the cakes!
Jon Yusoff: I always learn something when I am on her page.
Laura: I'll let you on to a secret: Her snowflakes are what got me to try tatting :)

Motif no.9, doily and Stocking Flowers

2008-06-18T14:16:00.006+03:00

And ... this is the next ( No.9, is it?) motif for the 25motif Challenge. Queen of Hearts from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns. It is done in DMC cébelia size 20 thread. I love the colour and this was my first tatting with DMC threads. I love this thread and I absolutely enjoyed working this heart!
I have finished round three of the Pretty Doily Tat-along. Here is a pic...
I have been also working on some Stocking Flowers...just to test out some material that I had. Here is the result. It's OK. I think I can make more out of these.

In a hurry right now... will be back to update/editthis post.

A floating we will go...

2008-06-11T12:23:00.008+03:00

I've done it!!!

Finally, Ais has learnt to make rings float. No, I didn't put it on a paper boat and let it float in my sink!

First the speech:

'It was hard. Oh yes, it was hard. but... the preserverence paid off. My dear friends, I can now make floating rings but myself, I am floating too... on cloud nine. It was all thanks to a lot of encouragements from all you tatters. I would specially like to thank my friends Melissa, TattingChic and dear, dear Verito for my accomplishments. If TattingChic had not described how to work with two shuttles, I wouldn't have experimented at all. If it wasn't for Melissa's video, it would never have struck me that there was no flip in my tatting. And if it wasn't for Verito's tutoring, I would have never remembered that Tatting is easier than calculus and even easier than teaching Biphysics! Thank you from the depth of the heart.'

Ok, now the story. I had asked Verito to look at my tatting and as she herself is a newbie and self taught tatter and also a student in a scientific field, she really made it so much easier for me to understand. See, the problem with we scientific students is that we mostly understand through rough diagrams and mathematical symbols. Verito sent me this diagram.
And in the explanation she had said, "Notice the orientation of the stitches, they are all in the π position over the two chains, on the two chains which are on each side of the ring.' That was what made sense to me. You see, since I wasn't flipping the shuttle my stitches weren't π shaped. and I hadn't really thought that the second shuttle was making the stitches. In the tatting that I was doing, shuttle 1 was making the stitches on shuttle 2 and for the rings, shuttle two was making stitches on shuttle 1 as core thread. After reading what Verito had to say and seeing what her diagram explained, it all just came into place. When the baby napped for 15 minutes, I tried again and this was the result.

I did it! Anyway, since the flower in the middle was still in the wrong form of tatting, I decided to start again. I tried it the way Verito had done. The 1st and 2nd round together. It didn't come out all that good and I had run out of thread. Have a look at the picture below.
So, I started again. This what I have done and now... I am satisfied. I am on round two now and happy. :)
Once again... I DID IT!! Now... I hope I get the second round done!!

2008-06-09T16:25:00.005+03:00

I have done how many 25motif challenge motifs so far? 8, right? Yes. And it is now that I realise that I still haven't mastered the 'flip'!!

Can you believe that? I have made motifs using both rings and chain but I didn't learn to flip the shuttle. How is that possible, you ask? I have no idea! I really don't know how to make a ring with just one shuttle and no ball. I taught myself to tat and although all videos and articles mentioned the flip, I just didn't understand what they were talking about. I was using Lyn Morton's book and she mentions ball and shuttle. I naturally thought that I first make a ring with the ball thread and then work over it with the shuttle thread. I always pulled the ball thread to close the ring and it worked out fine. For the next ring, I would again use the ball thread and then work over it and pull the ball thread again. It worked fine until I joined the Pretty Doily Tat-along project.

I am glad I joined this Tat-along on etatters because if it wasn't for this Pretty, pretty doily I wouldn't have learnt so many new things.

I learn that two shuttles are not just for split rings.
I learn that mistakes can be really fun. I am learning patience.
I am learning floating/thrown rings.
I am learning to actually work a doily.
I am leanring that ladies who tat are the bestest ladies in the world!

So far, I think I have restarted on the doily atleast six or seven times ( I don't remember). I have cut off and started the second round 3-4 times and I am still stuck on round two. Melissa from Honey_bees_bliss made a video to show how floating rings are done and after the second time I viewed it I understood why my doily looked so different from what it should really look like. I was using two shuttles as TattingChic told me. I wasn't reversing it either. I was following her instructions to the dot but... what I was doing wrong was:

I was making a ring with Shuttle 1 and working with shuttle 2 on it and
I wasn't flipping the shuttle when I worked again with just shuttle two and hence the ring wouldn't close.

I still can't beliveve I wasn't flipping the shuttle. I still can't believe I did 8 motifs and I didn't know that I didn't know how to make a ring! Can you believe that? What a joke!!

Anyway, I have atlast learnt to get that flip right and this time hopefully round two will complete or else... I need to take sleeping pills to make myself sleep tonight!

Here are some of my mistakes:

That was working with two shuttles.
That was the first time. The start to round two was bad from the beginning. I made a wrong join and I was working with two shuttles and a ball.
That was two shuttles and a ball too except that I was using the ball thread with each shuttle.
That is what happened when it was re-done very slowly. Nothing changed, see? It still looks the same

This was done yesterday. That was yesterday before I saw Melissa's video! Now I am working again and I have fragments of thread all over my house. I have been practicing the flip even while cooking! Two double stitches while sauting the onions; one more ds, garlic goes in; one more ds, a little basil; two more ds the vegies go in; A picot and saute the vegies; add a little water and work on the ring and complete it before checking in on the vegies again. I am going crazy. Tat crazy!

New Shuttles and Motif no.8

2008-06-01T09:42:00.005+03:00

First the good news.. I have 4 new shuttles! Yay!! *jumps around, dances, comes back and sits*
Yeap, four new shuttles. The day before my sister Joey came back from her holiday. We had talked quite a few times over the past month and I had mentioned to her how badly I needed another shuttle. She got me four and after she gave them to me last night she said, "Just incase you want more... let me know. I have more." I didn't understand what she meant. She explained thqt she had actually bought TEN shuttles. She had six more in India! She was afraid that they might break with all the jam-packed packing that she had done and so had left six behind.

Ten Shuttles. What was she thinking?! I wonder what she thought I'd do with so many shuttles. Stick some in my hair? :) That's an idea! ...:D

Anyway, there you go the shuttles.

Next ... this is what I have been tatting for the past three days. Well actually, I finished that on Friday but was too busy to post it and yesterday, I came online to post it but completely forgot about it. The pattern is Heart's Desire. I had done the smae thing 1/4th of the way sometimes when I started tatting but as I had literally no practice I had left it after I ran in to trouble. After TattingChic posted hers, I decided to do it again. I have done it in the Viscose thread again and I now Know that the thread is size 20. (I just love that thread!) Although I had so much fun making it, I don't think I am pleased with the results. Somehow it looks too big and too loose. The pattern was like working a puzzle. I really didn't know what was joining where and why until I had joined it. I followed the pattern blindly and decided not to think or use my head at all. I enjoyed but I don't think I want to do it again. I'll just leave it as it is. May be someday I can sew it on to something. This will be the next motif for the 25motifChallenge bt the way.

Next... I start on the Tat-it-along project that TattingChic and Melissa have started. :) It is on etatters.

Baby is asleep and if I can only post this and print the pattern and run off to start the first round... I'll have made my day. Bye-bye...See ya.

Motif No. 6 and 7

2008-05-28T16:22:00.003+03:00

And... I did the Valerie Square hoping to do Eliz Davis' adaptation to a Ice cream cone. That was after I saw LadyShuttleMaker and TattingChic do it. I got into a little trouble and had to clip off the cone. I'll do it again in another colour because for now the sqaure looks cute as it is. It is that variegated viscose thread again... Don't know what size it is. I really need to find out more about that thread. I have too much of it and in 5 colours!!!
And.. this is Julie Patterson's pattern for the SpringFlower Bookmark. I have done 9 flowers and I could have continued had I not run out of shuttle thread. It is in another shade of that viscose yarn. I really like the feel of the thread. It is so silky and soft and the fact that whatever I do in it comes out so nice. It is a bit like HDT and since I don't have the slip that came with it, I can't actually tell you if it is really HDT. My SIL had given it to me when she moved to Canada. She did lots of stuff too and when she was moving she didn't know what to do with all the threads and yarns that she had. I was newly married then and she asked me if I wanted them. I took them but didn't ask what type they were or what she had done with them. She didn't tat, that I know for sure.

Motif 3, 4 and 5

2008-05-22T13:51:00.004+03:00

And here are the pics...

Lyn Morton's Tudor Rose in size 8 pearl and Mary Konior's Flower Fragments also done size 8 pearl.

Pressed for time so gotta run...

2008-05-22T12:54:00.000+03:00

And ... Ais had been away from home for a few days. Hubby was out of town and Baby and mummy spent the week with Grandpa and Grandma. I got my much needed rest and baby quenched his thirst for company. It really helped me unwind and think a few things over. I did get to do some tatting too and finally finish the Tudor rose. *Whew* it is done. I hated it hen I was doing it with size 40 thread but now that it is done in size 8, I really like it. It looks cute and really perfect for a crafts ring as Lyn Morton herself says. Unfortunately all the rings that I have are a bit small. I have put it up on my notice board for now and it looks even more cute there.

The pics aren't coming up and so I'll post them up the next time I come online... :)

No email replies?

2008-05-15T14:33:00.002+03:00

Okay, this is an emergency post. I had to post a notice here for you all that my email address is unfortunately... NOT working. I mean I can read the letter but everytime I try to reply the page just closes. I have tried for days now and I have no other choice but to make another address. Until then, I guess I'll reply on your blogs. :)

That all folks. Thank you.

Crochet, Tatting and Incomplete works

2008-05-14T15:00:00.008+03:00

Last week BabyD pulled out my crochet basket and I don't think I need to tell you what he did with it. He is 6months old and he crawls. Most babies dont crawl at his age but I have a hyperactive son. He could support his head at less than 3months and he rolled over and pushed forward at less than 4months. Now he crawls and he almost walks when in his walker. He crawled over to my side and pulled himself up on to his feet 3days ago. It is a one time thing cause he is too small to stand yet but... he actually stood up!

Anyway, the crochet basket episode and the fact that tatting with no.40 thread brought me to tears made me realise that I had too many unfinished crochet projects. Here is what I completed the past week. I have done some tatting too but I guess it'll just have to be put in the 'mistakes' box. (yeah, I actually have one!)

P.S: I have tried to align the pics rightefor the past one hour. Baby D had his nap, woke up, played on his own and now is irritated by his hiccups and I still haven't got the pics right!!! Please ignore the spaces inbetween.

That is the size 40 Tudor Rose by Lyn Morton that made me cry. I had to drag myself to complete as much as I did. You can see I haven't cut the thread off the ball. That means, that I still plan to finish it.

The doily Florentine from the Magic Crochet Magazine. I had plans to do it for a long time and here it is complete.

Here is the pattern for crochet lovers.

This is Rambler Rose. I don't remember where I got it from but I had the pattern printed that was lying around and it had no picture. I found it when BabyD pulled out the basket and decided to finish it to see what it looked like. Cute, eh?

This is Hairpin lace. I had made three strands when I taught mself to make hairpin lace last year. I joined them up just so that they wouldn't curl over. I am still not sure what I'll do with it but it looks really pretty, don't you think?

And this is what I had been tatting the past two days. I started on Black Magic from Mary Konior's after reading about TattingChic making the bookmarks. I had first started it in size 40 last week (or was it two weeks ago) but that was what had made me really cry. ( I threw away the stuff I had made so sorry no pics) I had a migrane, a stiff neck and by head was dizzy. It was midnight when I put down my shuttle and I couldn't sleep the whole night because I kept dreaming of finishing the bookmark in size40! I gave up on that pattern and started on Tudor rose. You saw above what happened to that! Anyway, I made a mistake with the joins in the second flower of black magic and cut of the thread and started on Tudor rose again. I am hoping (against hope hopen) that I finish it this time! Itis in size 8 this time by the way. :)

2008-05-08T13:57:00.000+03:00

The past one week or so I have been trying to find time to tat... I found time...But.... I think I have been playing with the wrong thread. Size 40 is not for me!! I have made knots that are too tight... I have gotten tangled and I have cut off and started over thrice and now I have lost interest! May be the design is too complicated...Ugh!! I think I'll get back after a while!

Motif 2

2008-05-01T11:54:00.001+03:00

And this is motif no.2 for the 25motif Challenge. It is the same one as before but a motif this time. Last time it was a book mark. I had done this four days ago but our internet had expired now...we are back. Anyway, it is in size 8 thread and it is Mary Konior's again.

Motif #2 -25Motif Challenge

2008-04-27T09:31:00.008+03:00

And .......... I have completed motif #2 for the 25Motif Challenge. YAY!!! *Clap Clap Clap*. :D The pattern is Anniversary from Tatting with visual patterns - Mary Konior and I have done it in Coats Chain Mercer Crochet No. 20.

This is my second motif and I think I should keep track of what all I am learning from each motif. What did I learn from this motif? Well, I managed to get the rings and chains right. I have perfected the joining and I learned to attach new thread when my shuttle ran out of thread. I think, I also understand more clearly now as to how a pattern is worked.

I like Mary Konior's style of tatting and I like the book, Visual Patterns. I guess, I'll be tatting from this book again. :)

Reply to Comments on Previous Post(RCPP):

I am sorry for not being able to reply to your comments. I am a new mom and have a six month old baby who is crawling these days and so I am always so running about. I only have a few minutes through the day to check my mail, blog or comment and some days, I don't have time for even that. It is amazing how I get time to tat but more on that some other day. Please bear with me if I don't post or reply as often as I can. :)

TattingChic: The Flower's for you. I thought of tatting a flower after you posted yours and I really wanted to tell you how welcome I feel.:)

Gina: Thank you Gina, for visiting me. I have already been on Antique Patterns and have downloaded some books but somehow, I don't find antique stuff so easy to understand. :)

LadyShuttle Maker: :D Oh yeah been busy, alright!:)

Tattycat: Thank you for commenting.. you're encouraging me to tat. :)

Linda: I know... isn't it fun to find books online. I have visited your site and just couldn't comment ... was pressed for time...:) Your patterns are beautiful. I think I will be trying them out too. :)

A card, practice work and some links

2008-04-21T10:44:00.005+03:00

And......... I have been busy! There has been a lot of stuff that I have been tatting but it is all just practice and I think I am not ready to include that in the 25motif Challenge. There is a cute little flower that came out right but what is just one flower. My idea of 25motif challenge is that when I submit something it should really count as a really good tatted piece that I can display. It is just 25 motifs and I have an entire year. A year is a really long time... 365 days to practice and perfect myself in the art of tatting. And I want to use this opportunity to make stuff that I can be really proud of. Here is a pic of the flower that I made. [Clearly, I need a scanner or a high resolution camera for all my photos!!]

So far I have made one flower with stem and leaf (all in same colour) that I can make a card out of. TattingChic, this one's for you. I know that I am just starting out but here it is one little flower to say 'Thank you for making me feel so welcome'

I am working on some coasters right now and I guess it is only practice...

The Notice board in the study has another coaster that I completed on Friday. It is untidy, it is clover leaf and I ran out of thread so had to wrap it up quickly.

Now for the real reason why I am online. I am so excited and just can't giggling to myself. Guess what I found online?

BOOKS. Books on tatting... I was complaining that I didn't have enough books or designs to learn to tat and had been searching online for patterns when last night I came across this site. And a little while later, I found the main gallery. There are whole complete books scanned and available on this site. Thank you so very much to Karen, the owner of the gallery, for sharing them. It makes tatting so much easier for me to learn now. Here are the books and some other sites on Tatting.

Classic Tatting Patterns by Anne Orr

Tatting with visual patterns - Mary Konior

Tatted Fashion, Teiko Fujito

Tatter's treasure chest

Tatting from Burda

Tatting patterns and designs

Tatting adventures...

Tatting doilies & edgings by Rita Weiss

Tatting with Anne Orr

Big book of tatting

http://picasaweb.google.com/ratherdoknitting This site has Crochet books and Knitting too along with Tatting. Mostly Vintage stuff.

For those of you wondering how I got to this...err... I typed Tatting in the search box on Picasaweb. :D

Decorative Tatting and 163.com

2008-04-13T16:38:00.003+03:00

Carol Lawecki asked me for the link to where I got the photos on my previous post and it occured to me that I must share it with you people. The site is in chinese and I know there are very few of us who speak the language but here is the link anyway. The site is Photos.163.com and this is the album.

Before anyone asks me how I got to that site, let me tell you how. As I mentioned before, I crocheted before I started to tat and I would often search for patterns and blogs that had crochet . I came across this site and a little common sense and translations has gotten me around since then. You can find almost anything and everything on this site. Lots of crochet, knitting, macrame, embroidery, cooking books and tatting too. There isn't much on tatting, just one or two albums and most of it is repeated. I will try and post the links if I find anything new but for now this is all I have. I don't usually save the links and hence don't have anything to share with you all but next time I find something, I'll note it down (here).

How I move around the site is that I check the person's friends or favourites link ( on the left hand side, top of the page) and if there are other people's albums there, I check them out.

Here are some more pics for you all to enjoy.

Tatting and inspiring images

2008-04-12T13:16:00.008+03:00

The guests have gone back and baby and I are still teaching each other to crawl! :)

Tatting is progressing at a slow pace with me still getting confused and joining on to the wrong picot... really, it is nothing more than my lack of concentration that is driving me to do that. Can someone please tell me what to do when I run out of shuttle thread. I mean, is there anything else that I can do except wind my shuttle up again and continue with the ends hanging around for me to tuck in later?

I have been around the web searching for patterns and books and just anything tatting. I came across a couple of necklaces. I don't know where the lady who posted this got these from but... I found them on a Chinese site. Beautiful, aren't they?

Does anyone know where she got them from?

2min post

2008-04-09T18:11:00.001+03:00

Dear Carol, Sharon, Jon and TattingChic,

Thank you all for your comments and encouragement. I am really feeling in the mood to tat all the 25 right away. The problem is... time. My baby is learning to crawl and we are having a houseful of guests!!! I have three minutes to finsih this post, log off and go check that POT!!!

Later...

A Pattern a Day-Crochet

2008-04-08T09:41:00.006+03:00

I've been blogging for a long time now but this is my first ever art related blog. I used to blog about crochet, embroidery and other new stuff on the other blog but have since discontinued both the blog and the arts. Since I am thinking of getting all my previous friends here too, I thought I'd keep up the old tradition of posting a pattern a day. The pattern is randomly selected from my collection and if there is a link available, I'll be putting it down.

The best place to find patterns or books on the internet is, I have found, Photo.160.com. It is a Chinese site and I know you'll be surprised to read that they really don't believe in copywrite! Any magazine, any book, any art that you are looking for, you can find it there. That is how I found tatting too. I was just browsing the pages on a site and my mother came in and saw the shuttle on it and told me what it was. I have done many projects from books that I found there and well... I must say the Chinese are really very talented people!

The above pattern is from a Chinese magazine and I just love it. I want to make it but I have too many projects already waiting to be completed. I must not start another one. Besides, I am just not getting in the mood to do anything but Tat these days!:)

Ais gets crafty

2008-04-07T13:22:00.000+03:00

This blog is not about ONLY tatting. I just had to remind myself that. I am learning to Tat and that means that I will be writing about tatting most of the time but there are a lot of other things taht I do on a daily basis. Before I learned to tat, I taught myself to crochet and I still do that on a regular basis. I have friends in blogworld who crochet and I know how difficult it is to get crochet patterns. I will be writing about crochet too on this blog.

Decoration and Interior designing is my hobby. I almost pursued it to a proffesional level before I was forced to choose another career. Now, I only decorate my own home and sometimes advise friends and family. Presently, I am trying to decorate my son's nursery. BabyD was born a bit too early and I was on bed rest for two months before I delivered him. I didn't get a chance to make his nursery then and it has been 5months now and we are still trying to move things around. The idea is from here with some of my own creativity thrown in.

Will write about more...later.

One PROJECT done

2008-04-07T11:00:00.000+03:00

I have finally learned to tat!! Well, yeah I knew the basics and had been struggling for a while now but this time I have actually completed something without having to undo any part of it or even leave it mid way. It is from a book called Tatting Patterns by Lyn Morton. The pattern is Water Lily. The thread used is a viscose polyester blend silk type spun yarn that I have had for a few years now. It is used for a type of embroidery in India which is called 'Kaadhi kamaan'. I don't know what it is called in the west. The finishing is silk like.

The first time I made the motif yesterday evening, I ran short of thread on the shuttle. I had to leave it at that and start all over again. I completed the daisy and the two rings and chains on the outer ring yesterday evening and since it was too late, I had to retire for the night. I kept dreaming of getting up an to do it and today as soon as Hubby went of to work, I had my breakfast and sat down to complete it before BabyD got up. It is complete but all ruffled and I wonder what I need to do make it lie flat. Also, what do I do with the ends... where in the world and more importantly, how do you tuck them in?

With one project completed I feel like I can take up the 25 motif challenge too. I have no idea what i'll tat but one thing is for sure I will always be interested in trying out all of what everyone else is doing!

Stuck on a Daisy

2008-04-04T16:06:00.000+03:00

Tat is all I did yesterday and to much of Hubby's annoyance that too. I did manage to get the daisy done and twice but well... It looks so untidy. I had done it with a variegated thread ( don't know what brand it is) and after trying it out three times I finally got it completed to six petals the fourth time. It looks so dirty. Hubby thinks it looks artistic with each of the opposite petals the same shade. I still think it is a bit untidy. The picots are'nt the same size and even the petals.

I started on the daisy again with white size 40 anchor thread but... this time I messed it up by joining the first picot of the third petal with the second last picot of the previous one rather than the last picot. I need to undo that. It looks like as though I am not doing it with as much concentration as I should be. The truth is how can I be not distracted with BabyD tring to chew on my thread ball or him trying to wiggle out of his rocker? BabyD is really getting very naughty and very active and that even when he can hardly crawl!!

Ais goes Tatting

2008-04-02T15:56:00.000+03:00

The latest thing for Ais to do is tatting!

How did tatting happen, you ask? Well, my mother tatted when she was in college and she learnt it from a friend. Although she doesn't have any of the stuff she tatted around anymore but some how she remembered it when she saw a pic of some tatted lace on a Chinese website I was on. She got me a shuttle from India when she was here for my delivery. I couldn't tat then and I really didn't know what tatting was or how to do it but then I was on the look out for any tutorial that would teach me.

After BabyD was born, I had time on my hands. I know there are many of you who'd ask, 'You had time with a new born on your hands??" Well...Yeah! Actually, I crochet or tat ( these days) while I am feeding him.

So how's it been? I think I like tatting. I am enjoying wasting my threads these days. That is really what I am doing, I am wasting the threads. I taught myself to make a ring and a chain and have been working on flowers. I did make one little flower ( will post a pic some other time) but every time I get on to do some serious stuff, I wind up with a mess! I think what I need is someone to teach me what to do after the first line. I mean, you make a ring and then how do you make the petals? Another problem that I have is that I have only one shuttle and until mom gets me more shuttles... life ( my tatting life) is going to be moving in only rings and chains!

And... I don't have books. I have some that I don't like and although I have been to the books stores to locate some tatting books.. the ones that I have found seem so not what I want. There is stuff online but it is not enough. I don't even have tatting friends... :(

Ais sad.

A Blog as a log...

2008-03-29T11:27:00.000+03:00

There are a hundred things that I can think of doing but it is all in my mind...
There are projects that lie incomplete because I thought of something more exciting..
Everything lies as it is...
Crochet, knitting tatting,...
Baking and cooking...
Painting, sketching...
Sewing and decorating.
This blog is with hope that I complete most of what I start and that I learn more arts along the way.