The story behind the copper tatting shuttles

I will be listing the rest of this group of copper shuttles this week in my Etsy shop.

I thought I would share my process since I always find the making of things interesting. So consider this your "Mr. Rogers" tour.

I spend a lot of time (sometimes weeks) conceptualizing, drawing and perfecting the "rough draft".
I take that draft and create a mold from it.
I take that mold and hand build the shuttle with precious metal copper clay.
I spend a lot of time shaping and sanding that shuttle.
I take that shuttle and place it in a kiln that has been fired to over 1700 degrees Fahrenheit.
After a specified period of firing I open the kiln and take out the molten hot shuttle and submerse it in water.
This is the scariest part of the whole process.
When the shuttle has cooled I soak it in a chemical solution to remove fire scale.
Then I spend an entire day, sometimes two, re-shaping, polishing, sanding, buffing and polishing some more.
When the shuttle is to my satisfaction I coat it with a jewelry grade non-tarnishing finish.
Then I take macro pictures from every angle of that shuttle and list it for sale.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about my process.

A picture says a 1000 words.,..TEASER

New copper tatting shuttles

Stage 1.) Designed, assembled, sanded.

Stage 2.) Fired, sintered, removal of fire scale.

Stage 3.) Pickled, polished and coated with jewelry grade non-tarnishing finish.

Copper shuttle #1 is listed.

I read about and purchased a new product that is supposed to prevent tarnishing and to help those who have allergies to certain metals. I made a copper ring for testing this since I myself have a minor allergy to copper. After coating the ring I slept with it on my finger all night and have been wearing it all day and not one hint of green anywhere on my skin. So it is working so far!

On another note, Piccadilly tried carrots for the first time yesterday and her reaction was HILARIOUS! It is the first solid food she has eaten other than rice and oatmeal cereals. I got it on video and if I can figure out my editing software I will post it. Needless to say I changed the stinkiest diaper by far today...yes I gagged until my eyes watered. I have a feeling this is only the beginning!

Oooh la la!

I am very proud to present my newest pure silver tatting shuttle. A lot of very hard work went into this shuttle and I debated back and forth on whether I should keep this one for myself. But at this point I cannot afford to do so, therefore I have placed it for sale in the etsy shop. It is an absolute dream to tat with!

New Shuttle Design

Well, now that silver prices are through the roof I have to carefully plan each and every silver shuttle that I make. What do you think of this design? I will practice it in copper first.
It used to cost me in materials alone $70 to make each shuttle, for that same shuttle it will now cost me $112 and of course that doesn't include time, firing costs, or the investment I made in tools and equipment. So this is not a money making enterprise for me at all. My ultimate goal is to make the world's most beautiful tatting shuttle that ever was and ever will be! Now, whether or not I accomplish this goal remains to be seen, and of course beauty is subjective, but if I aim high the shuttles I make along the way should be pretty decent. It may take my entire life and I may never "get there" but the journey should be fun!
I am spurred on by my love of tatting and the encouragement of my beloved tatting family.
...and of course I will always keep you posted on my progress.

Current silver shuttles for sale.

Sad but not surprising news...

Well, it is official the price of silver clay has more than doubled, it has almost tripled. The manufacturers are located in Japan and they can no longer absorb the losses from all that has happened since the first major earthquake. So there is that plus the price of silver has increased significantly in the last year
As it was, every silver shuttle I made cost me $70 in raw clay alone, that does not account for my time, expertise, firing costs, and the investment I made in other tools and equipment.
Oddly, I made a purchase of silver clay one day before the first earthquake and I still have a little of that left for maybe a dozen or so shuttles. I will use it very sparingly over the next year. Once it is gone...no more silver shuttles. I cannot afford the new prices. So those of you who bought my first silver shuttles, count yourselves lucky because they are worth more than you paid for them in silver alone.
I foresee the value of silver to just keep increasing. I currently have 9 silver shuttles in the shop. I will not increase the price of the shuttles that are already listed but I will have to for any new shuttles I make in the future. I am hoping to just break even in the long run.
I will still be able to make some copper shuttles though so I guess there is a copper lining in this cloud?!?!?
Here is a picture of Piccadilly who is so adequately expressing how I feel about the situation.

New shuttle and the "Squinchy face"

Newest silver shuttle can be found here.


Miss P just discovered a new face to try out. I call it the "squinchy face" and it isn't very pretty but it makes me laugh.

If anyone follows my MadMadPotter blog you know that I have undertaken a new endeavor. Every first Thursday of the month all the art galleries and art coops hold an open house. The artists are encouraged to attend so that customers can meet them. That is where I was last night meeting new people and talking about my work...my pottery work. But it is known that I am also a tatter and that is perking some interest. I am hoping to get a display together to put in the shop to draw people's interest and educate. Also, there is a very good possibility that I can teach tatting classes there as well.
Life one step at at time.

Finished!

Here it is, the fruit of all my labor over the last few weeks, from concept to reality, my largest silver shuttle to date. I used twice as much silver for this shuttle than I have used on other silver shuttles. The enameling was a success and overall I am happy with the end results.


Little Miss P is learning to sit upright on her own and she is so proud of herself, it is all she wants to do these days. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Ideas materializing

Remember this post about two weeks ago? After a lot and I mean a LOT of hard work this is where I am on this project. I am working on enameling now.



Here are some more PURE silver shuttles I am working on. They will be available in the shop very soon. There is a new product on the market that when applied to precious metal is supposed to prevent tarnishing. So I am giving that a go as well. I will be making some more copper shuttles soon....boy I tell ya, my "to do" list is growing and growing as I am trying to get used to the pace of being a new mom which means I can no longer guarantee when things will be finished. Ah well, I LOVE being a mom and much to my own surprise I am not so bad at it!
Health permitting there are a lot of exciting new things I will be adding to my Etsy shop for your pleasure!

So excited!!!

I hope this isn't premature...but I am so excited about this project that I had to share the concept before it is even finished.
I have been designing this shuttle for two days straight and I think it is finally where I want it to be.
This will be a pure silver shuttle with pic tip and enameling if all goes well.
I have to meticulously plan every step before execution because failure will be too costly.
The price of silver has doubled since last year and unfortunately the two major manufacturers of precious metal clay are in Japan so I have no idea what that will do to future supply.
Anyway...now that I feel good about the design I think I can finally get some sleep. When I get excited about a project I can forget to eat or sleep for a couple of days....I know...it drives my hubby crazy.

Anyway, on another note Piccadilly discovered her feet today...hilarious!

Friday's featured shuttles

Light House

Seascape

Mountain landscape.

Wildflowers

I know I need to get more creative with naming these shuttles but I have exhausted my creativity for the day.

Again, these shuttles look even better in person; glossy things are always difficult to photograph.

Todays featured shuttle

Winter Cabin #3
Yesterday we had one of those blizzards with the awesome gigantic pancake flakes (my favorite kind of snow). So that inspired me to do another winter scene. Today all the snow is gone and it is sunny again but the surrounding hills are coated with a beautiful white blanket.

Here is Miss P wearing Grandma Diane's pretty pink onsie with tatting. It is one of the very rare times you will see 'Dilly decked out in pink....but we made an exception for Diane because she is such a sweet grandma!

Tatting ladies, pictures galore and my special diet

I had the opportunity and privilege to meet three of the four ladies of DMR. Teresa and her lovely daughter are visiting from GA. Dena and grandma Elaine are fellow Idahoans. It is always nice to meet other tatters, especially a tatting family. No one in my family tats...and trust me I have tried to get my sisters to come around. So I think Piccadilly is my last hope.

I have been working hard on some new shuttles and despite my ever growing expertise, my failure rate is still around 50 to 60 percent which is why I think I am still the only known ceramic shuttle artist in the world....because it is an exasperating venture ...AND I'm crazy!

Here are Miss P's four month pictures. The knitted hat she is wearing is from LaceRn. She is finally starting to grow into some of her lovely gifts and I am trying to document it before she grows right out of them.

Check out the knitted Mary Janes from Tatfully Yours! Yes they (as well as the scottie dog dress) are still a bit big but I just couldn't help myself!
Also still a bit big, here is Marty's onesie with her beautiful tatting on it. She is growing so quickly that I am afraid to miss any opportunity for her to sport her fancy duds.
Since I have been nursing I am having such a difficult time trying to maintain a healthy weight so that I can continue to nurse. It is taking everything out of me and I think it is greatly contributing to my constant fatigue. I drink 1050 calories of Ensure everyday on top of an already calorie loaded diet. It's become a full time job in and of itself. I would like to be able to breastfeed for the pediatrician recommended year but I may only make it to 6 months. I am very grateful that I have made it this far!


Here are a few more treasuries that my work has appeared in. I think it is always fun to see how people group things together.

Well I think that is plenty for today!