Motif No. 9/25 - The Merlion

The Merlion was first designed as an emblem for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board in 1964 by Mr Fraser Brunner. The lion head represents the lion spotted by Prince Sang Nila Utama when he discovered Singapura in the 11th Century. The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion” (singa) “city” (pura) in Sanskrit), and represents Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village.

If you are interested, you can read the legend of how The Merlion came to Sentosa island here: http://www.themerlion.com.sg/

I have wanted to tat the Merlion for some years, but only took the plunge now. Can’t believe I have been working on it for one and a half months! Had mental blocks on how to go about tatting it, and in between, I completed Jane’s TIAS 3, designed the bookmark “Dancing Kristine” and tatted a few more bookmarks. Phew! finally, its finished! This is Motif No. 9 – the Merlion, tatted with Manuela 20 thread and with 3-cut beads:
This went to Hanna for the animal motif for our International Round Robin project. I enclosed more small animals on paper clips for Hanna too, a token of my apologies to her for the long wait. Hope Hanna will like the selections. To give the credits, the bat is Mark Myer’s pattern, the snail is Sharren Sarver Morgan’s, the bee and caterpillar are Roger aka Freedman’s, and the butterfly is from Rebecca Jones’ book.

Tatting Books

Received my latest order from Handy Hands yesterday. I was quite amazed at the size of the box that came. No, I didn't buy so many things. I had to put both hands in and felt like I was digging for treasures beneath all the foam pieces! No wonder shipping charges charged by Handy Hands are so expensive, but look at how they shipped orders, the items are sure well-protected!
Ok, these are what I bought and digged out from the box - most of them are the latest books by Christel Weidmann, Martha Ess, Karey Solomon and Iris Niebach.
The animals in Christel's books are as usual, so realistic. My boy is so excited to see the bull, cow and calf. I love the pig and piglet. Joey wants the rabbits, but Kristine is asking where are the horses ? Come to think about it, I don't recall seeing a lot of tatted patterns for horse besides 1 small horse by Jane Eborall and 1 (rocking?) horse by Pam Pamela.

Martha's critters are so cute, I love the heart patterns and variations, and the rabbit the most. Karey's dragons should work out faster than Pam's dragon, but I will need to read the instructions first to figure out the patterns. I just finished my animal for Hanna, and I have also used beads for the scales, loved the effect of the beads, though the way I work is tedious. Must check out how Karey did her dragons! This is a sneak preview of what I did. Any guess what is it ?


Last but not least, I just had to get 3 of Iris' books, including 2 of her earlier books on doilies, after seeing so many tatters doing her doily patterns. Her patterns are sure special, I am not disappointed.

TIAS 3 Finished!

Here's Day 9 and Day 10 ...

... and finally, Day 11! Hurray, it's done! Just saw the bonus from Jane, wow! Jane, you are one genius!

TIAS 3 - Day 7 and 8

Now this looks like a cat to me, waiting for the ears to go up!

Felt Art - Dog

I signed up for a felt art workshop sometime ago for last weekend. Interesting how 3D objects can be formed using only wool and felt needle. A bit tiring on the hand, and face the risk of “ free injection” if you are not concentrating enough to see where you are poking the long needle into. Well, this dog is what I managed. My girl, Kristine, named him “Happy”. Not too bad for a first try, right? Now, Joey is trying her hand on making a squirrel, and not so simple as she discovers.

Hand-Turned Sewing Tools and Tatted Dragon from Vicki

I love things made with wood - they don’t rust or tarnish like metal, and will have a nice patina with use and age. Cynthia from the US hand-turned these pens and sewing tools using mainly dyed birch laminates and natural burls. The dyed birch laminates are so colourful, and supposedly waterproof too. I just adore the hand-turned beads! Prices are a bit steep, but it’s paying for quality and beauty of hand-craft items, and I’m a happy returning customer!

I have received a dragon from Vicki for the round robin - it’s Karey’s new design that everyone is talking about not too long ago! I’m quite excited to see and feel the tatted dragon, as I have been trying to decide if I want to get the book. After seeing Vicki’s, I have made up my mind! Thanks, Vicki!

TIAS 3 - Day 6, Ivan's Robot and Art Clay Food

I have done the TIAS Day 7, but my camera run out of battery. So here's Day 6 photo first. Now, my guess is a Crinoline Lady or a butterfly.

My boy, Ivan, likes fixing puzzles, 3D models and such. He assembled a battery-operated robot by himself over the weekends, and made some art clay pieces too.