Flying Critters

I finished the card. Thanks again to Marty for the baby dragon idea!

If you look closely, you'll see that the big dragon's right eye got crushed in the scanner. It's OK, though; I was able to fix it with super glue, applied with a toothpick. I've never had that happen before, though I've always worried about it when scanning beads. At least now I know it's not a complete disaster.

Anne Bruvold's Minor Norwegian Flying Dragon is tatted in DMC size 80, color 701 (Christmas Green) wound together with Sulky Blendables 30 wt, color 4021 (Truly Teal), with Delica seed beads size 11 in Silver-Gray. Anne's Ringtrim Microdragon is done in a variety of HDT's, with the same beads. The clouds are free-form tatting in white DMC pearl cotton size 12, with Delica beads in Pearl White added to the larger one. I glued the tatting onto a white faux-parchment paper then cut the paper out around the tatting to make the finished clouds.

And here are a few other flying beauties I've been working on:

I'm not telling what they're for just yet-- you'll see soon enough. ;)

At the top is "Diana" from Tatted Butterflies by Adelheid Dangela. I made the first ring, which forms the tail, much larger than what the pattern calls for. Why? Not telling. The threads are "Marina" by LadyShuttleMaker and DMC black, both size 80. The beads are Delica size 11 in Violet and Aqua.

Bottom left is one of Jane Eborall's butterflies. The threads are Tatskool's "Coral Reef" in size 60, and Flora black in size 50. (I don't have any black size 60 on hand. I'll need to do something about that.) The beads are Delica Aqua and Light Blue.

Bottom right is "Birte", again from the Dangela book. The threads are LadyShuttleMaker's "Royalty" size 50, and Flora black size 50. The beads are Mill Hill 252 (purple) and 358 (dark blue). There's a noticeable quality difference between the Delicas and the Mill Hills; however, the Mill Hills are good enough, and the colors are just perfect for the thread.

You'll notice I left the antennae long on the bottom two butterflies. That's for sewing them down. (Sewing my tatting onto something is one thing; it's the actual attaching of two pieces of fabric together that I'm not so skilled at.) As for what they're going to be sewn to, well, you'll just have to wait!