craft:g33k

Hey let's go!

2011-10-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Charlie is Totoro for Halloween...

This costume was super easy... like, it took me about three hours, for real. Tutorial coming soon :)

Staff of Newspapers and Duct Tape

2011-10-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

I actually have some non-Dragon Age related crafts coming up real soon, I swear. Halloween!!! Anyway...

Geoff mentioned more than once that he thought the Anders costume really needed a staff. "He's not a mage without a staff," he insisted. But I didn't know how to make something like that, so I went about the internet until I found this amazing blog, where the author explains in detail how she makes incredible WoW staves.

I don't think I'll ever be able to make anything on that level, but I was inspired to make something like this staff. I started with a large stick and a bunch of wire, from the hardware store. I wrapped the wire around the top of the stick and then taped it down.

Then I wrapped it in newspaper and duct tape, and formed it into something like the shape I wanted.

Then a layer of paper tape. I made the spines out of cardboard and taped them on.

After that I started with papier mache.

My first few layers were old school newspaper strips and Mod Podge. I had to do this on my patio, so everyone in my building started asking about my weird dragon sculpture. Yeah, now they know...

Then I built it up using papier mache powder (CelluClay). This stuff was more difficult to work with than it appeared in the video, so I'm not sure if I mixed it wrong or if it was a different brand, but it looked a lot like igneous rock when it hardened. Still, very strong and hard.

Then I finished with a layer of gesso, to smooth it, and black-brown acrylic paint.

I wish I had known that gesso came in black because that would have made painting it a lot easier.

The staff has some glowing green eyes. I happened to have some "jewels" left over from the Morrigan necklace, I cut the centers out of these and used them for shiny eyeballs.

I hot glued them on and then painted around them with puffy black fabric paint, to give it an "eyelid."

And that's it! A very cheap, if somewhat time consuming, mage staff.

More Detail Than You Ever Needed

2011-08-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some construction notes on the Anders costume, for anyone who's interested. I think this is the most complicated character I've ever done.

The Top Coat

Or whatever you want to call this. The bolero? Anders' bolero is made of a single layer cotton bottomweight twill from Joann Fabrics, because I wanted it to breath. I used black twill, and then I used color remover to bring it down to a worn charcoal gray. I started with the same pattern as my Gaius Baltar coat (Butterick 3927), except I lengthened the collar, shortened the coat, and skipped the lining.

I made the piping myself, using some gold lining fabric from my stash, and this piping twine (size 1). I have no idea how one is officially supposed to make piping, I don't really understand how one makes corners, but I used a zipper foot on my sewing machine and... whatever you call the stitch where the needle is over to the right instead of in the middle.

Since the Renegade Coat is closed, I added a jacket zipper to the middle (it's hidden under the piping). Then I put in interfacing and sewed in the edge detail using a very short wide zigzag stitch (eg, the poor man's satin stitch).

And his collar. Oy. I know there are supposed to be two rows of pips on his collar. I tried to make two rows of pips on his collar, but those little pips were a bear and after a lot of frustration I had to give in and accept one row of pips. They are made out of the same satin as the piping, turned into applique using some iron-on interfacing, and then sewed down for security with a satin stitch.

There might have been an easier way to do this. I think gold fabric paint stenciled on with freezer paper might have looked great, for example. But this is how I did it, and so I only have one row of pips. I think they look pretty okay anyway.

That snap there is to keep the feathers in place (more on that later).

The Long Coat

Or, the under coat. This was made out of black upholstery-weight ultrasuede, also from Joann Fabrics. Upholstery fabrics go on sale for half price all the time there, don't ever pay full price. This required about a yard and a half.

I made the pattern myself using some cheap fabric I had lying around, just a basic robe out of three pieces, and then when the coat was made, I topstitched a grid pattern using gold thread. Anders' coat in the game actually has a more complicated square pattern... but I wanted to finish this in this lifetime.

I also didn't want to spend a million years putting rivets in this thing, so I cheated and used mini brass brads from the scrapbooking section of Michaels instead of rivets on this part. They can snag but it took me 20 minutes instead of hours. I used real rivets on the tabs on the front (rapid rivets from Tandy Leather).

And the gold strip in the front is the same gold lining material as the piping.

The Belt

I used the same ultra suede material for the belt, reinforced with heavy interfacing and topstitched with gold thread. The brass rings are from a leather supplier on ebay, here. I used the 2.5" size for the belt (one in front and one in the back) and the 2" size for the little dangling rings near the boots. I used black buttons to hold it together, because that's what I had around.

You can also see here the other side of the brads... yeah they are really brads!

The fabric in the middle is a lightweight quilting cotton. I tie-dyed it using black RIT to give it a faded look, and I don't think it was entirely successful but it looks interesting.

Armbands and Other Details

Although you could definitely just tie fabric around your arms and hope for the best, my experience is that tends to fall off, so I sewed these together to look tied. The fabric was white muslin, tinted off-white with strong coffee so that it wouldn't glow on camera. I spent a lot of time dying fabric on this costume, actually...

The leatherette for the guard is Cordoba Brown, which I also used for my Mission Vao boots and I love. It's goes right through the sewing machine and is super cheap. I used the same vinyl for the canteen and the belt pouch.

The Feathers

The feathers look really impressive, but this was probably the easiest part of the costume. They are just two layers of black hackle feather trim (two yards total), sewn onto a piece of black fabric. The gold chain is just a basic chain from Michaels jewelry section. I hid a snap under the chain to keep the feathers where I wanted them on his shoulders.

Sorry about the camera strap in the picture, there...

The Boots

The boots were the last thing I did and I love them. I spent a lot of time looking at military boots, and I almost bought some really expensive goth boots until I found these, cheapy cheap ultra suede boots. I bought the biggest size, which fit Geoff fine.

I cut the boots free from the lining, so that they weren't slouchy any more. Then I cut a slit down the front, hemmed the edges, and sewed in a tongue (that I made from that same ultra suede above). Then I added eyelets (the large gold ones from Joann Fabrics), and connected them with wide elastic bands.

I sewed the elastic down, just to secure the eyelets (those buggers always pop out). Geoff added some inserts for extra arch support, and then the boots were actually really comfy.

...and I think that covers it for the clothes. I'm impressed you read this whole thing!

Anders Cosplay, Details Coming Soon

2011-08-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything about this yet, but did Geoff indeed have a costume at Comic Con this year: Anders from Dragon Age 2.

He won a Fan Favorite award at the Bioware costume contest. And the fangirls approve... which is totally awesome, not gonna lie :D

Comic Con 2011: Mission Complete

2011-08-06T08:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry this has taken me so long to post, but I did manage to make some costumes for Comic Con this year. First, here's my Mission Vao costume in action. Watch me make an ass of myself:

I really don't think I'm going to do the Masquerade again. It was a lot of work and not really as much fun as walking the floor, but it was an interesting experience and now I can take it off the bucket list, or whatever.

I haven't found photos of this costume yet, if anyone wants to search for them for me, I'll give you internet cookies.

Mission Accepted

2011-04-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hi! Sorry it's been a while. I know that's something I say fairly often, but still. Sorry. I have a baby who is quite fascinated by the moving shiny needle, and it is rather hard to sew.

I'm still working on two costumes this year for Comic Con, though. Here's the beginning of the first one:

I'm going with a Knights of the Old Republic group, where I will be filling in as Mission Vao. If you are familiar with the game, Mission is a Twi'lek. So yes, in caser you are wondering, I will have giant brain tentacles coming out of my head.

Here's the beginning of the brain tentacles. Lissette's brother-in-law, Josh, is helping me out with these. Usually I just get to hide under a wig. This year I get to be blue and wear lekku, that is way further out!

Dragon Age Plushie - Queen Anora

2010-12-21T07:37:00.001-08:00

So I've mentioned I'm really involved with the fandom of that game. In the fandom, I am best known for being the biggest Anora apologist out there. Queen Anora is the bitchy conniving queen of Ferelden who double crosses you every chance she gets, and I love her.

I made this for my friend mutive, who also loves her and actually cosplayed as her at Comic Con.

I used this great tutorial: Baby London Star. The doll is a little small, if I did it again, I would make her a bit bigger, as it was too small to do on a sewing machine, and very hard to turn inside out.

The Most Decadent Cookie Ever

2010-12-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

I just made these for a work holiday treat exchange: Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies. They are rich chocolate on the outside and sweet peanut butter on the inside and they are as big as my fist.

I don't know what the question was, but the answer is fuck yes.

Halloween Ahoy

2010-11-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I have Halloween pictures.

We had a whole other plan for Charlie, where he was going to be Captain Kirk and Geoff was going to be Spock and I was going to be, I don't know, one of those green chicks, but I could not find a gold colored baby shirt. Or gold dye. Or anything, it was so frustrating. So at the last minute I took one of his t-shirts, stuck some grommets in it, got some black string and gold rope, and a bandana, and called him a pirate.

He's a very cute pirate. He has a parrot too (okay I know it's an owl). Look at him just eating it, I mean, wow. This pirate is out of his mind!

"Hey, mom, are we done taking pictures now? Because-"

"-I really hate this stupid bandana!"

Charlie also "helped" with the pumpkin.

The pumpkin was supposed to be angry!Jack Skellington, but the eyes came out more like giant tear drops. I still think it looks pretty sweet. Geoff did the actual carving, although I'm sure Charlie feels very proud of what he accomplished with that big spoon.

Watercolor Ponies and Fan Art

2010-09-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still doing Dragon Age. Sorry guys! That game is sooo good! I kind of got into the fandom. And by kind of, I mean I got really involved in it and wrote a bunch of fan fiction and did fan art. Here's some of it. I love watercolor so much you guys. And ponies. I also love ponies.

My Definition of Soon is Rather Off

2010-08-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Me and a lovely fellow Swooper in Warden Commander Armor. Swoopers is the online name for Alistair fans, because the first sign of how completely amazing he is comes when he says, "Swooping is... bad." And that would make sense if you had played the game.

Me and Urthemicharlie. I will post a Tut of these wings soon. And by soon I mean... sometime.

Okay, one more special effect. I still remember how to comp, you guys, please someone hire me. Also, I like the back of the costume a lot.

Back from the Con

2010-07-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

More pics soon!

This Post is g33ky - Morrigan Skirt

2010-07-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Since I've lost all the baby weight and then some, I decided to go to Comic-Con in costume this year! Possibly with Charlie! And since I'm still obsessed with that game, I'm going as Morrigan (my top is slighty less boobtastic).

Here's the skirt.

This is possibly the most well-constructed piece of clothing I have ever made. The invisible zipper is vaguely invisible!! I kind of want to wear it around my normal life. But don't worry... I won't. Probably.

It's made of ultrasuede and is patchworky. I got the studs from Tandy Leather in North Hollywood, and the fake leather and suede fabric are from Fabric.com

The pleather flaps are flippy and fun to walk in.

Tour of the Living Room, Part 3: This Time It's Personal

2010-07-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Charlie loves to take things out of things. He also loves DVDs.

He is truly his father's son. I am truly not enamored of a pile of DVDs strewn all over the floor.

Solution: the bottom shelf of our DVD storage shelf is now devoted to shiny toys, for him to pull down with impunity.

This bookshelf was originally a white crappy bookshelf, but now it's a white crappy bookshelf that I painted dark and light blue. Don't worry, by the way, this really tall and heavy piece of furniture is anchored firmly to the wall with earthquake straps.

Speaking of resurfacing living room furniture, I got bored of my coffee table and decoupaged the bottom of it. I love it now.

This was surprisingly easy -- I just lay down three sheets of nepalese Lokti paper (from Continental Art Supply, they have a huge selection of decorative paper and awesome service, I love them), stuck it on with Mod Podge, and then sealed it with polyurethane.

Isn't this paper beautiful? Happy accident, it also matches my coasters.

Tour of the Living Room, Part 2

2010-07-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

Time for more living room crafts, with host Charlie the flying baby.

Geoff took this photo, that's why it's all artsy.

If your monitor is really bright, you might be able to see to the left of the adorable cherub, behind the TV, there's a fun wall hanging.

I bought one of those college dorm room "tapestries" at Bed Bath & Beyond one time for a film shoot. I decided I liked the fabric but I'm a little too old for pinning trippy fabric to the wall, so I mounted it on canvas stretchers like in this tutorial. Enormous, 48" canvas stretchers are from Dick Blick.

This is a great way to cover a lot of white wall, and cuts down the glare behind the TV.

I had some extra from the borders, so I turned them into bolster covers (see here) and also added some trim to my curtains.

Main curtain material is Liz Claiborne Lilly Meadow, which I love, and the the curtains are installed with grommets, just like the ones in the nursery.

Everything's Coming Up Ultrasuede

2010-06-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry! I've been bad again! Don't forget I have this adorable excuse.

I've actually been doing a surprising amount of crafting, just not much that's blog-worthy or geeky. But hey, I'm going to post some of them anyway. Here's Charlie's favorite:

I made a new cover for my memory-foam-not-bean bag. I bought this chair from a company that doesn't exist any more, and my cats went to town on the original twill cover, so it needed to be replaced by something more durable.

I made the cover by tearing apart the seams from the old cover and using it as a pattern. I even re-used the original zipper.

It is the most comfortable chair you can imagine, and as you can see here, Charlie loves it.

Look, it matches my futon!

I actually wrote a letter to the company that made this futon cover and asked them if I could buy some fabric off them. They sold it to me, at cost!

Since I had a little extra, I made some straps to help keep the futon cover from slipping down. Because I hate when futons do that.

They attach with buttons, in case you want to try to hold up a futon mattress of your own.

Fluffy Bunny Basket

2010-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

I think this may be the last of the polar bear fur, finally. I made Charlie an Easter basket that he will surely think is too cute in a couple of years. I mean, seriously, it has a tail.

Don't worry, we won't be giving Charlie any age inappropriate food (e.g., candy). We have a joke about giving Charlie candy; I eat candy, and claim that it's for him. Does this breast milk taste like Cadbury cream eggs Charlie??

This bag is inspired by this bag on Disdressed. She used a pattern from Zakka Sewing; that book had a long wait list at the library, so I just sewed together a few fabric squares and called it a day. I changed the ears a bit also.

Fabulous Star Lemon Cake

2010-03-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

Modified from a Bon Apetit recipe. This cake has a satisfying texture and surprising flavor.

Cake:
1 cup plus 1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground star anise (about 1 star)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon (zest of one lemon)
2/3 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
1 package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1-3 cups powdered sugar (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a round cake pan, placing a round of parchment paper in the bottom and greasing the sides.

Mix together first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating. Mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake on top rung until top starts to brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

While cake is baking, prepare frosting: Whip cream cheese and butter together, then beat in powdered sugar until frosting is the desired consistency and sweetness. When cake is fully cooled, frost as desired.

Q: Where Have I Been?

2010-03-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

A: Exiled from my computer, since it was parked in Charlie's room. But now I've moved it to my bedroom so I can use it while he sleeps. His room is now totally his.

And he owns it.

"What's going on??"

I can't hang anything on the closet doors as they are plastic, so I attached a Doctors Without Borders free map to them with bright blue painters tape.

The plates on the wall are printed with Norman Rockwell images; they are antiques from Geoff's grandmother. The night light is Ikea.

Geoff's quilt from when he was a baby, my mobile, and a beautiful Baby Mod crib from Walmart.

There is a whole lot of Totoro in this room.

Even hiding under the telephone.

I need to get a basket or something for his cloth books that don't fit in the sling - does anyone have a good storage solution for these?

The image on the left is from Etsy vendor mere designs, the wood blocks in the middle came from Finland via Geoff's same worldly grandmother. And the numbers on the right are my own design.

Yummy Cashmere Pillows

2010-01-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Pillows from old sweaters made the blog rounds a while ago, and they seemed so cozy they've stayed on my mind. I found the softest cashmere sweater at the Salvation Army for $3; it had some small holes so it was begging to be repurposed. Since I wanted two, I decided to make the back of the pillow from fabric in my stash. Here's how.

Supplies:
1 14" pillow form
1 large sweater
2 square of coordinating fabric, 14" (seam allowance included)*
1 rectangle of coordinating fabric, 14" x 7"
2 1" buttons

*a tip from House on Hill Road: pillow cases look better if they are slightly smaller than their pillow forms.

Placing one 14" square on your sweater as a rough guide, cut a square out of your sweater larger than 14".

To keep the sweater from warping, sew the sweater to one square of fabric, then cut to size. You can keep this step if your sweater is fairly sturdy.

Fold over hem at the top of the other fabric square and sew down. Cut triangles out of the corner of the rectangle, 3" from the corners, and discard. Hem edges.

Evenly from the edges, add two buttonholes to the corners of the formerly rectangular piece. Pin this piece on top of the hemmed square so that it forms a new 14" square.

Sew the buttonhole side to the sweater side, right sides together, turn right side out, add buttons, and presto, you have a ridiculously cheap cashmere pillow. It's hard to capture how delightfully cozy and soft these pillows are... just look at this pile.

Mmmm... cashmere.

What a Mug

2010-01-27T12:25:00.000-08:00

I ordered some photo mugs from an online photo site; they didn't come out very well. So I made my own.

Using my light tracer, possible the most useful tool in my craft arsenal, I turned Charlie's portrait into line art. Then I taped the line art inside the glass mug and traced it with Vitrea 160, a dish washer resistant glass paint.

I added a message to the other side in the same way, using a print out of Apple Chancery.

I made one for each of my parents, who are now grandparents. Which is a concept they are surprisingly comfortable with; it still blows my mind (oh my God, I'm a parent).

Color me flattered

2010-01-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

Check out what showed up on Sew and So, a blog I happen to follow. It's a Tardis Tissue box cozy! My original post is easily my most popular post ever, and I'm so excited to see someone pick it up and run with it.

I've been thinking about making a new one myself, since the original was sent off to the UK for a craft swap, and it would be nice to put together a better tutorial. Someday when I have time.

Santa's Little Helper

2009-12-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Officially, the first clothing I have made for my baby is a Santa hat.

Aw. I apologize if I just made you vomit. Come on, it's cute, right?

Here's the pattern.

Cut four of these out of a red knit fabric. I used the cotton interlock from Joann Fabrics, that I had leftover from my Electra costume. What, you've never seen my Electra costume? Aw, it was the first thing I made, ever, on a sewing machine... it's a little terrible so I've never posted it. Also I kind of look fat in it. Anyway.

Where was I? Oh right. How to make a Santa hat.

Cut four pattern pieces, above, out of red stretchy fabric. Make sure the stretchy direction is going width wise.

Sew the pattern pieces together, right sides together, so that they form a cone. Use a zigzag stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.

Cut a 18.5" x 2" rectangle out of the red fabric, and another out of some white faux fur (mine is left over from last years polar bear costume and was purchased at Fabric.com)

Sew the two rectangles together, right sides together.

Finish the edge of the red fabric with a zigzag stitch.

Sew the fur side of the rectangle to the bottom of the red cone, right sides together.

On the inside of the hat, hand stitch the red fabric up inside the hat at the four corners.

To make the pom pom: Cut a circle out of the fur fabric, then hand stitch loosely around the outside of the circle. Stuff with scrap fabric and pull tight.

Hand sew the pom pom to the top of the hat.

Mine came out a little too small, because Charlie has a massive head. You may need to adjust the hat for your own little Santa baby.

Merry Christmas!

Morning Glories, Again

2009-12-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

Did a quick painting for a Christmas present -- for a relative that does not read the blog, I think. I have no time to do studies, so I decided to revisit morning glories. This took me an hour. I think it looks better as a watercolor, don't you?

A Better Book Sling

2009-12-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted a book sling for my baby, who no, cannot read yet, but still... they are cool. I liked the size of this one, but all the reviews said the fabric was terrible. I ordered it, and yes, the fabric is indeed terrible. The picture hides it's terribleness well; it feels like it is made out of a disposable raincoat.

However, that is easily fixed.

Before:

After:

I used a home decor fabric called "Square Knots," purchased at Joann on Black Friday. So easy. The sling is just a bunch of squares sewn together. Without a baby it would have taken an hour or two. With a baby... it took several days. So it goes!

Happy Turkey Day

2009-11-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

Went down to San Diego to visit Geoff's relatives for Thanksgiving. It was Charlie's first trip outside LA. He took it sleepily (hurray car seats). This is me, Charlie, and Geoff's grandmother. I'm modelling a contoured burp rag I made one day while Charlie was sleeping. It stays on the shoulder so much better than a square one.

A quick project made with scraps. I've uploaded the pattern in case anyone is interested. It has to be printed borderless on 8.5x11 paper. If you can't print borderless, just extrapolate to the border.

Meanwhile, Charlie is modelling a very cute outfit my grandmother bought him for the occasion. They were all out of 3 Month size, so she bought 9 Month and I altered it down. Note the zigzag stitch in the middle were I shortened it. I was so proud I figured out how to do that in time!

Luckily his Christmas outfit fits as is. Okay, baby is fussing, see ya!

He's Here

2009-10-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Charles Errol
Born October 17, 2009 at 11:33 pm
9 pounds, 1 oz; 22 inches long

Back to sleep now...

Taggy Blankets and the Waiting Game

2009-10-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

I like this taggy blanket by Reanna Lily Designs, so I made one myself. I'm not a big quilter, so I used some old flannel sheets that I've been keeping for just such a project. C is for Charlie; we joke that his rapper name is C-Love.

I had extra fabric, so I made a second one for Geoff's good friend Steve, who is having a son named Kai. Steve was Geoff's best man at our wedding, and completely randomly, is having a baby due three weeks after ours. Which means, you know, we'll have them at the same time.

Yes, I'm very late. I have an induction scheduled for Sunday, and I'm trying to not be pissed about it. No one told me about this, but apparently no one in my family goes into labor before 43 weeks, and hardly even then. And I mean no one; not a single female on either side of the family goes at the medically recommended time. Good bye laboring at home, natural childbirth plan. I wish I'd known earlier so I would have been more mentally prepared.

It's gone so long I'm running out of things to do. I made these blankets out of the rest of the flannel sheets. You can never have too many blankets!

All complaining aside, by Monday I should have a baby!

It's Not Just Me

2009-09-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

I've gotten some great crafts from others for this baby.

My friend Charlotte made this beautiful quilt. It's back with flannel, but very lightweight, appropriate for California.

I love the graphic fabrics.

My mother-in-law made this afghan out of scraps from another afghan she made us, that I have in the living room. I think this will be nice for me, for nursing at night.

It's a nice soft pattern.

Morgan of I Wish I Had a Penguin Friend made me these softies. She also made me a bee linocut, which you can see on her site.

Look at these faces!

Thanks everyone!

DIY Boppy Cover

2009-09-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

I found a free Boppy cover pattern courtesy of Vanilla Joy, and it was very easy. I used Joann Fabrics snuggle flannel, which is deliciously soft flannel that goes on sale frequently.

The pattern isn't perfect -- I think it might be from before Boppy changed it shape to be more "generous" in the waist area, but it is close enough, and the directions are very easy. I would recommend that if you use this fabric also, and care about how perfect your Boppy slipcover is, that you stay stitch it before you get started, because it stretches quite a bit around the curves. I didn't, and I had to fix it in a few places.

I didn't have a zipper, so I altered the pattern to use buttons. To do this, I rolled the hem of the back bottom piece, and I used front pattern pieces 1 and 2 instead of the shortened back top piece as the top, and also rolled that hem. Then I made loops out of my scraps and attached three buttons.

Look! More cute fabric, and cute buttons too!

Easy Painting

2009-09-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

I had a baby shower on Saturday, hosted by my friend Vanessa. Vanessa is always complaining that she doesn't have enough art on her walls, so I wanted to make her something as a thank you gift.

I got this gorgeous frame from my grandmother-in-law (she was throwing it away!) and I knew it would match her furniture, so I decided to use it. I also knew I wanted to do something with leaves, since their apartment is very green and natural.

I was going to paint a leaf, or stencil a leaf, or use a leaf as a stamp, but I decided to just cheat and stick a pressed leaf directly to the canvas.

I pressed leaves from outside our apartment building under a pile of cookbooks -- who says you don't need cookbooks any more? Can epicurious.com do this??

I picked my favorite leaf from the pressings and painted it black-brown. Hard copies of newspapers are handy. Can latimes.com do this??

When the leaf dried, I mod-podged it to a canvas I had painted green with my new friend, the palette knife.

I used heaps of Mod Podge, but it still dried clear.

My little mixed media art project.

Not Too Sci Fi Mobile

2009-09-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

I made a mobile. It is not g33ky. I considered making a mobile that re-enacted the destruction of the Death Star, with a big sphere in the middle and little TIE Fighters and X Wings spinning around it... but my husband said, and I quote, "Let's give the kid a chance."

So I made a simple mobile with stars. Which are spacey but not too much. It's made out of wooden dowels, wooden craft shapes, monofilament, hot glue, and acrylic paint. And that's a Totoro print in the background, because Totoro never hurt anybody.

Names and Recycling

2009-09-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

We are pretty sure his name is Charlie.

Or Charles when he's a grown up. We like the name a lot except that it happens to be the name of a friend's cat. We are not naming him after the cat, we swear.

I wanted to make something with his name on it. As much as I love those fancy wooden letters at the craft store, I'm trying not to spend too much money on crafts, so I wanted to use materials I already had. I turned to recycling.

A cereal box (to make letters), a wine gift box I'd held on to since back when I could drink wine. The paper I printed my letter stencils on was also free, it's three hole punch "marigold" paper, and for some reason movie studios are always giving it away. I also used a drawer knob I've had in the tool box since forever, for what purpose I don't remember.

The font for the letters is "marker felt" -- it has a nice hand written feel. I covered them with paper mache, for depth.

The box expanded a little bit when I painted it, unfortunately, so I need to sand the edges down to get it to open and close smoothly, but once I do I think it will be a fun place to stash things.

Nesting?

2009-09-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

"Hey, aren't you having a baby in like three weeks? Where is all the cool nursery stuff you should be feverishly making?"

Sorry guys, I've been delinquent with the picture taking. Here's some nesting.

I inherited this cool antique rocking chair from Geoff's grandmother, who rocked Geoff's dad in it when he was a baby. It was beautiful, but a bit uncomfortable (look at those skinny spindles!

I bought some foam at Joann Fabrics, and used it to make a cushion form.

I also bought some cute fabric. I love this excuse to buy cutesy fabric, guys. Upholstery fabric was on sale at Joann, so I splurged. It's expensive, but so sturdy. Look, bugs!

I used the foam as a pattern to cut the fabric, adding a seam allowance. You could also use batting to stuff your cushions, but I wanted something firmer.

You could use ribbon or string to make the ties, but I think fabric ties look much better. They are a bit of work. I cut six rectangles out of quilting fabric (the upholstery fabric was too heavy to turn easily), each one 20" x 1.25", and sewed them in half, using as tight a seam allowance as the feed dogs would allow.

You need a loop turner to turn them into straps. It's tricky with the loop turner, but impossible without it.

I turned again to my trusty buttonholer. I love that thing! I threaded the straps from the bottom cushion through buttonholes in the top cushion to attach them neatly.

And that's it. As soon as I put the cushions on it, the cat claimed it for his own.

He's too cute to move... I don't know what I'm going to do.

I Finally Finished This Painting

2009-08-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

I started this in January. I love the look of palette knife painting, big gobs of paint applied sloppily to a canvas, but I'd never tried it before. I bought this huge 30x40" canvas on sale after Christmas, and fully intended to paint it right away.

Life intervened. I got as far as this wash.

Since the canvas was really large, the best place to store it seemed to be to just hang it on the wall where I intended to put it. But life kept getting in the way, so this wash has been hanging on my wall for seven months. My husband and friends got used to the wash, sort of fell in love with the wash, and tried to convince me not to finish the painting. The nerve. But now I'm unemployed, so there.

I bought a nice metal easel at Michaels with a coupon ($40 off!) and went to work. Before this I was using a display easel from Ikea which was not adequate to the vigorous nature of palette knife painting.

Palette knives are so messy and raw, I love them.

I also used a glaze for the first time. I wanted to mute the colors. The glaze is a little too glossy for me, but I love how it pulls everything together. I also love the big gobs of paint.

I got the frame from Ebay. I did not realize when I bought a giant 30x40" canvas that you cannot buy prefab 30x40" frames, and I did not want to spend hundreds of dollars getting this piece custom framed.

I discovered that frame shops sell unclaimed frames on Ebay for excellent prices, although shipping for this was very expensive, it was still cheaper than custom framing. I attached the canvas to the frame using pipe clamps -- forty cents each at Osh -- and hung it with some simple picture wire.

Here it is hanging on my wall:

Ah... it's done.

Short Box Lids into Bulletin Board

2009-08-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a craft that is secretly g33ky. What is geeky about a bulletin board you ask? Apart from being organized and stuff, this board has secret geek parts.

Inspired by this popular Martha craft, I wanted to make a bulletin board, but I didn't want to track down "Homasote," whatever that is. Instead, I used the lids of comic book short boxes.

Geoff and I have... a lot of comic books. It's a little sad. Short boxes are the traditional storage for comic books, but since we have so many of them, I buy "short box houses" which are sturdy cardboard sleeves for the short boxes that turn them into handy drawers. This leaves me with a lot of extra box lids.

Anyway.

I cut the sides off the lids, and sewed together some scraps to cover my box lids -- I didn't have a scrap I liked that was big enough, and I like the pieced look.

I stapled the fabric to the short box lids (I used 3 lids to make it thick enough). My stapling is not as neat as Martha's, that's OK as long as it is nice and tight.

I bought this weird... whatever, at a thrift store for $2, to use for a frame. Poor sampler thingy, you have been rejected twice.

Here it is empty, a state it will never be in again. The fabric is "charmingly" crooked, but that's OK with me because it will always look chaotic.

You may not have a whole bunch of short box lids lying around, but any thick cardboard will do.

Vertical Blind Hack, Part 2

2009-08-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

As I was saying... I hate vertical blinds!

In my bedroom, I hacked my vertical blinds into curtains by attaching the curtains with tabs fastened with buttons. It worked well, but I wanted to try something different for the curtains in my nursery. Here's what I did.

Again, I removed the blind blades and stored them neatly under the bed, on top of the other set. They come out and go back in very easily, so don't be afraid to remove them.

Here, instead of making two separate curtains, I sewed my fabric into one continuous sheet. The nice thing about these is that they use the existing vertical blind hardware. The fabric is held in the clips with large grommets.

If you would like to see a useful tutorial on attaching these eyelets, consult Sew Mama Sew. Especially if you do not have a one step button-holing sewing machine, these are much less work than making tabs with buttons.

These open up like vertical blinds, using the hanging cord. They are very easy to use and install.

The fabric for these is from the Ikea Barnslig collection, which is super cute. These are also fully lined, with drapery lining from Joann Fabrics (coupon!) as I wanted to be able to get this room dark.

Now you have two options for curtain-izing vertical blinds, and no more excuses for living with their ugliness.

Vertical Blinds Hack, Part 1

2009-08-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

For some reason, apartment designers in Los Angeles have a love affair with wall-to-wall carpet (yuck!) and vertical blinds (yuck!). Most apartments I have rented have both. I can't do much about the carpets, but I went on a mission to figure out some way to hack the hated vertical blinds.

Why do I hate vertical blinds? They are bland. They are sharp. They always get twisted up, so you have to straighten them all every time you want to open them. They are harsh in the manner they block light. They don't really guarantee privacy, especially when the cats are sitting in them, as cats do. Ugh! I hate them!

I had a conversation with my manager one day about getting rid of the vertical blinds. He basically told me that I was wrong, that curtains were inferior to vertical blinds, and I must keep them.

But I love curtains. So, compromise.

For these curtains in my bedroom, I very carefully removed each of the evil vertical blind slats, and stored them under my bed. I then sewed these curtains around the vertical blind hardware.

Apart from having the strangest curtain rod ever, they open and close just like regular cafe curtains. I love them!

The tabs are closed by big buttons, so I can take them down to wash them occasionally. You can see here how the curtains are, indeed, hung around the vertical blind hardware.

Making the buttonholes was incredible fun. I highly recommend a one step button-holer over a four step button-holer. You can seriously, like, read a book while it goes to work.

So easy, and such perfect buttonholes.

The fabric for these curtains is by Premier Prints, and it is intended for nurseries, but I really like it in my bedroom, which I've done in sea glass colors.

If you are like me, and also hate vertical blinds, but are also cursed with them, here's one way to deal with them. I will post my second way soon.

Henry 2.0

2009-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I never blogged about Hank! I just found these pictures from January and just realized I never posted them. So, meet Hank.

Hank is a sideboard, a console, an entry table, what Apartment Therapy likes to call a "landing strip." There are too many names to describe this piece of furniture, so we just call it Hank.

As in, "Jessica, where are the scissors?"

"The scissors are in Hank, Geoff."

Before there was Hank, there was Henry.

Henry was a hideous, stained, beat up dresser we used to keep by the door. It needed replacement. I found a small sideboard at an antique shop in Hollywood for forty-five dollars. It was the wrong color. I have become obsessed with making everything in the living room the same red-gold chestnut color, and this color is not in fashion right now. So I began my first refinishing project ever.

You can tell this is January, and not right now, because look at how skinny and flexible I am. Stripping is hard work, but it was worth it.

The color it came in was surprisingly similar to the color of Henry the dresser, which is a terrible gray-beige. Why was this color ever popular?

I stained it in a 50/50 mix of Minwax "Red Chestnut" and "Gunstock" (what is Gunstock? I do not know). Stripping it was somewhat difficult, but getting the stain perfect took several tries and made me a bit dizzy and I will probably never do it again. Also in the process I think I also messed up the concrete on our patio and relinquished our deposit. Eh, the cats were going to destroy the rug anyway... right?

The color did come out perfectly. I love the wood grain and the hardware.

Also, I have a question.

Since I'd never done this before, I forgot to deal with the inside, which is kind of a mess. I'm not doing any more staining! What should I do? Should I paint a picture in there? Decoupage something g33ky? What do you think?

Bats and Sups, Watching Over Me

2009-08-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Check it out, a g33ky craft! Sorry it's been a while.

I bought these frames with prefab prints on Ebay. They were nice, I guess, but too pedestrian for my taste.

I painted them with the same warm white paint as the shadowbox, then I cut the silhouettes out of black card stock and glue sticked them over a piece of blue card stock and cut them to fit the frames. Easy and cool!

I used these iconic Jim Lee covers for reference.

Well... for tracing, actually. I bought a Light Tracer back when I was an animation student, and it has been my best friend for line drawing ever since. I use it to clean up original art in addition to stealing other people's.

This is all part of my "saloon wall" collage, which is now above my chest of drawers in the bedroom.

I think I'm going to replace the gold prints at the bottom with more photos, since I'm not feeling the gold. But I am loving the symmetrical randomness.

Surprise?

2009-08-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Due to not having pictures, and also not really posting much, I haven't gotten around to announcing I'm pregnant here yet. It's gotten a bit late, but for those who don't know.. surprise!

I'm due October 5th. That's only two months away! My mother-in-law sent me a package of things recently, including this fabulous quilt. She made it for my husband when he was a baby. She takes really good care of things, it's amazing how old it is. I love the lace around the lamb.

Farewell my Comic-Con

2009-07-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to go to Comic Con this year. Silly me, I forgot to pre-register. It was weird for people to be going to Comic Con without me! I didn't have a costume anyway.

I just put together this Ikea shelf for all of our action figures, some from Comic Con's past. We had a lot of fun arranging them... check out Spiderman and Vash on the left.

We still managed to do something g33ky this weekend... Geoff and I went to Chinatown, and he bought a Final Fantasy Mini figure. He is completely obsessed with them. He got Tifa. Here she is, waiting to go up on the shelf.

Tell me about Comic Con. Was it awesome? Or was it overrun with tweeny Twilight fan girls??

Little facelift

2009-07-21T12:38:00.001-07:00

Did a little background change on the website. I love the linen background on Design*Sponge so I did my own take.

I think Wednesday really, really is my last day of work, as I've run out of things to do. More blogging soon?

Surprises in the Closet

2009-07-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. It has been a while. I've been very busy... if you want to see what I've been crafting these past few months, go see G-Force :)

I have been doing some crazy spring... well, summer cleaning. While manically going through my bedroom closet, I found an old shoebox, and in that shoebox was my wedding bouquet, all nicely dried and preserved by my cousin. Here is a picture of me, my cousin Dagmar, and my bouquet.

The bouquet was in surprisingly good shape. Before I left for my honeymoon (three years ago!) I asked my cousin, my Maid of Honor, to "take care" of the bouquet for me. I basically just meant hang it upside down for me and see if it dries out, I don't know. But I was being, ahem, kind of a "bride" that week, so I think Dagmar was a little scared of me. And so she did a really great job drying out my bouquet. I think she used the spray and everything.

So I finally pulled out that shoebox, and did something with my bouquet.

I hope you are pleased Dagmar! I think it looks great. I had this shadowbox lying around that I had never used, but it was medium oak which did not work in my bedroom. I bought some Folk Arts "warm white" paint and decided to go Shabby Chic with it. Because what is more Shabby Chic than dried flowers?

This Friday should be my last day of work, probably for a long time. Hope to blog again soon!

Jewelry Organizer via Threadbanger

2009-04-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

I got this idea from Threadbanger. It is a jewelry organizer made out of an 8x10" picture frame I got at Ross.

I made this for a close friend for a very, very late birthday present for my friend Lissette. The Threadbanger version just hangs earrings, but I added necklace hooks to the bottom of mine. The hooks are made from re-purposed paper clips.

Check out these earrings. I got them from my aunt a while back; they are authentically from the 80s. They are like crazy plastic peacock feathers. My cats thick they are tons of fun, but sadly, I do not have pierced ears. Good-bye crazy 80s earrings, I hope you are appreciated in your new home!

But Please Don't Smash This Pot

2009-04-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

While I love Zelda, I do think it is curious how it encourages breaking and entering. Why is there always money in the pots in people's homes? Why do those people not care if you come in, break their pots, and take all their money?

Still, when I decided I wanted to edge a design on the side of the jar I use to hold my laundry quarters, a Zelda pot naturally came to mind.

I used Armor Etch to scratch in the design, following this method, which I heartily recommend over the contact paper method described on the package. In progress:

And in action:

Good-bye Galactica

2009-04-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

Battlestar Galactica signed off for good on March 21st. I have some problems with the ending... mostly the missiles ex machina, and the, um, head Starbuck? But overall it's a good show and a magical fantasy ending doesn't really ruin the whole thing.

But I digress. Ron Moore makes a cameo appearance in the final episode, and my blog got a lot of hits from this because my Ron Moore photo is on the first page of a Google image search. I have just been informed that he is actually wearing the exact same shirt in my picture as he did in the episode.

Behold the geeky comp my friend Mark whipped up. See the gray shirt with the red starburst there? Yeah! And we are in the same order and everything, it's like we were psychic :)

Homemade Chai Mmmmmm

2009-03-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

I recently became obsessed with making a real masala chai at home. The obsession was worthwhile. I'm home sick right now, enjoying quite a few decaffeinated cups.

Here's the recipe for a batch:


6 cups water
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tea bags
herbs:
6 green cardamom pods
6 cloves
4 peppercorns
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

In a stovetop pot, bring water to a boil, and dissolve sugar 
completely.  Add tea bags and spices.  Turn off heat, cover 
and steep for ten minutes.  Add milk and enjoy!

If you are unfamiliar with some of these whole spices, here's a picture. They are so pretty and good smelling.

I found the star anise in the ethnic foods aisle. McCormick sells cardamom pods, but they were crazy expensive. I actually found mine for quite a bit cheaper at Whole Foods. Yes, that Whole Foods. They have surprisingly good prices on spices, as they only sell their own label.

Belated Birthday To Me

2009-02-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

Last month I took part in a "January Birthday Swap" on Craftster. I made a present for someone else born in January, and then someone else made a present for me.

I made my person this book-inspired pillow:

The pillow is inspired by this beautiful work by Patchwork Pottery. The book exterior is quilter's cotton, and the "pages" are corduroy.

I admit my literary ignorance, that I did not know there was a writer named "A. Trollope" but I did giggle a little bit as I embroidered this.

I got an awesome blue scarf from Craftster user Yelutci:

Again, sorry it has been SO LONG since I have last posted. Expect more of the same, unfortunately, as I will be working heavy overtime until May, and barely have time to wash my underwear, let alone craft. Sadness :(

Yummy Bath Salts

2009-02-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! The longer it went, the harder it became. Like a giggle loop. So, here, I'm just going to go...

I made bath salts for Christmas. They are shockingly easy! Here is the recipe.

3 cups epsom salt
1 cup baking soda
1 cup sea salt
Food coloring
Essential oil

In a large mixing bowl, add 3 cups of epsom salt, 2 cups of baking soda and 1 cup of sea salt into the bowl, and mix them with a wooden spoon. Add food coloring of your choice to the mixture, one drop at a time, until salt is desired color. Then add essential or perfume oil, to taste.

I made cutesy labels using my recycled linen paper, and packaged them in ziplock bags inside white lunch bags. Easy present.

That's a Wire Wrap

2009-01-16T23:57:00.000-08:00

I love wire wrap, but I've always been too intimidated to try it. Still, I had this beautiful beach stone that I picked up at my friend Charlotte's wedding, and I really wanted to make it into a necklace for her. So romantic! And worth learning a new skill.

I used All Wired Up, by Mark Lareau, to get started. It was the only wire book available at my local library; luckily it was quite good. The illustrations are clear and the writing is simple. I managed this pendant in an hour or two, and I think it's pretty swell.

Despite his advice to buy fancy German tools, I made do with a set of tools I bought for $6 on Black Friday at Joann Fabrics. They actually worked well enough. The wire at Joann, however, is not so good. At the first bend, the copper began to show through the silver. Next time I try this, I will invest in some real metal.

LOLOLOL

2009-01-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Have you seen Teh Yarn Bukkit, by Craftster user angelbum? It's awesome!

Not only is it practical and cute, it's also flippin' hilarious If you still think LOLcats are funny (I do...). Plus, bonus, it's recycled. check out the needle storage:

I copied the basic shape to make a Christmas present for my knitting mother in law. It's a little more classic than hilarious, but I'm still going to share a tutorial with you as soon as I get one together.

Christmas backlog pt 1.... Sock Jareth

2009-01-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

I made a lot of presents for Christmas this year, and I got a little craft fatigue. Trying to catch up with them now.

Sock Jareth, the goblin king! Your embroidered eyes can be so cruel. I vowed to stick to my stash as much as possible this year, so this cuddly, underendowed plushie uses my stash of... mismatched socks.

This is the beginning of his body. His arms are made out of the rest of the tan sock, his shirt is white muslin, and his hair and vest are craft felt.

Katie is a big Bowie fan and the toy was a hit. Phew. I finally posted something kinda geeky ;)

CPSIA - Action Needed NOW

2009-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

A new law is about to destroy all small businesses that sell handmade items to children under 12. It goes into effect February 10th, so action is needed ASAP.

Please sign this Petition
And this petition.

And please, please, write and call your Senators and Reps. I have contacted mine and heard nothing, because of course this is a terrible time to try and get any action from government. They are in transition, and busy with the desperate economy. However, if they don't do something now, the situation will get much, much worse.

There's a reason they are calling this National Bankruptcy Day.

I want safety for all children, but there is so much wrong with this law! For starters, it requires lead and pthalate testing of ALL items intended for children under twelve -- even if that item is made of materials inherently free of lead or pthalates. Organic cotton diaper users, get ready to pay for useless testing, or face huge fines and possible jail time.

It also requires that each item of each line be tested individually, even if the components have already been tested. So if you use the same blue zipper in twenty different pillows, you have to test it twenty different times. And these tests are ridiculously expensive - up to $4,000 each.

I imagine this law had good intentions, hoping to save our children from the (relatively small amount of) dangerous toys and clothes from China, but I assure you, this law will have the opposite effect. The only retailer who will be able to afford these extreme tests will be Walmart. And we all know where they get their swag.

Please take action now, if you have any interest in handmade goods. Thank you.

TARDIS travels through time and web

2008-12-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you Geek Crafts, for posting my Tardis tissue box cozy!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hope you've got something good under the tree ;)

Cuteness Advent Calendar

2008-12-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm working on so many crafty things, but they are all secret until Christmas. Can't risk a family member destroying their surprise.

Here's one thing... I made an advent calendar. I hear they are all the rage this year, although I did not know that when I started. I only knew that craft felt was ridiculously cheap at Joann Fabrics this Black Friday.

I decided to do it with the Holy Family, even though I'm not religious, because that's what an advent calendar is traditionally about.

Cute little Holy Family. Don't they look like weebles?

Much, much chain stitching, which I was guilted into by this project on the Purl Bee.

And the pockets are just the right size for Ghirardelli squares. Not an accident!

Here's the applique pattern if you are interested:

The tan felt is 27.5" x 33",folded in half over the dowel, and the squares are each 3" x 3" (there are 6 in each color). If you attempt this, I would recommend changing the numbers so that they are evenly distributed on each side of the picture. As it is, it tilts to the right as you eat the candy....

"Good People Have Things That Are Handmade"

2008-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Joss Whedon, the wunderkind behind Buffy et al, has finally been interviewed by CrochetMe. If you didn't hear about their original call, they've been crafting as hard as they can to get his attention, and it paid off.

The best part is, Joss himself is well versed in craft. His wife is a quilter and a crocheter, and he has been known to pick up the needles himself. And he uses the word "decoupage." Got to love that.

Zzzzzzz.......

2008-12-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the pillow I was working on just before I left (the one with Jigglypuff). It worked out great, as you can see. This fabric was much softer than most commercially available pillows, making it extra comfortable.

The special secret behind this pillow is that it isn't a pillow, it's an empty sack. When you want to sleep on it, you fill it with soft clothing that you are already taking, so you don't have to give up any precious carry-on space. Take that luggage fees!

If you think this is as cool as I do, I've got a few of these in my store here and here. The store versions are made of flannel and they are a little bit smaller -- I tweaked the design after flight testing it. While they are totally lacking in Jigglypuffs, they are still quite handy to have around.

Black Friday (and Satuday)

2008-11-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

Joann fabrics always has the best deals on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Practically the whole store is half off, or more. If you haven't gone yet, you might wanna.

Buttons, 50% off (all of them!)
Notions wall, 50% off (and it is actually fully stocked for once)
Craft felt, $1.99 a yard (this stuff is 72" wide!)
Jewelry supplies, 50% off
Polymer clay, $0.99 a package
Fat quarters, $0.99
Butterick patterns, $0.99
Embroidery Floss, 4 for $1

I also slipped over to Michaels, and while their deals are not quite as good, they did have 50% off most of their frame stock (and they have great frames) and also 50% their Bead Gallery brand beads, which were already a pretty good value.

Have at it!

New Cards

2008-11-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've got some new cards in my etsy shop. I hope to have some more gifty things up soon.

Check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

Apple pie is so much work but so worth it. I made an apple pie with Betty Crocker's easy pie crust recipe (just canola oil, water, and flour) and Baking Illustrated's fancy filling (Arkansas black apples with crystallized ginger). I used a leaf cookie cutter to make patterns in the crust top.

It would be prettier if my oven hadn't decided to shut off halfway through, causing me to overcompensate and burn it. But still... pie. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hallo (that's German for Hello)

2008-11-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

Cheers! I am back in the warm. Berlin was amazing. I feel like I just visited history. It's startling how much crap has happened to that city. Pictures!

This is Schloss Charlottenburg. Schloss means 'palace' -- Berlin was covered with palaces. Many of them were destroyed in various wars, but they just keep rebuilding them. The inside was silly with gilding. You can see why the Bauhaus movement was so sick of decoration.

This church, the Kaiser Wilhelm, is half rebuilt, as a reminder of war. It's all bombed out from World War II, but they still hold services next door.

The book burning memorial, in the center of Bebelplatz (a 'platz' in Berlin is like a Square in NYC). It's in front of Humboldt University, the distinguished school that produced Einstein, whose thousands of books were burned by the Nazis. The memorial is simply an empty bookshelf, underground, with an inscription that warns, approximately, "What starts with burning books always ends with burning people."

The Holocaust Memorial, in the center of Berlin. It has no particular meaning, except that which you make yourself, and is constructed of various blocks that all have the same footprint, but different heights, on uneven ground. Some people think it looks like a graveyard. Our guide felt that the disorientation you feel walking through the memorial conveys some sense of the confusion and isolation those imprisoned in concentration camps felt.

My tour book referred to the excessively ornate architecture of the Prussians as "bombastic." This is Brandenburger Tor, near the Holocaust Memorial, which later became a symbol of reunited Germany because it was on the border of East and West Berlin.

Only parts of the Berlin Wall are still standing. This part is behind a fence to protect it from tourists seeking mementos. Most places you can't even tell that the wall was ever there.

A section of the wall in East Berlin was turned into an open air art space called the East Side Gallery. Graffiti artists were invited to paint the wall. Other graffiti artists have added to it. This painting was especially moving.

I took a lot of pictures of fences and leaves. The fences along bridges were always ornate and beautiful.

The center of Tiergarten, Berlin's central park. This is the spot where Obama gave a speech, causing all of Germany to have a great big crush on him. Berlin generally loves America, more than most of Europe, but they weren't on speaking terms lately. Now the passion is back.

A little fun with forced perspective: an angel on Geoff's shoulder.

I don't know why Indy had to convince Nazi's that "It belongs in a museum." It seems like they think everything belongs in a museum, including entire ~~stolen~~ temples. This one, and several others, are in the Pergamon Museum.

We shopped KaDeWe, the second largest department store in the world (after Harrod's). The toys there all looked depressed.

I made sure to visit the Turkish Market in Kreuzberg, in East Berlin. This is the best place in Berlin to buy fruits and vegetables, and, interestingly enough, craft supplies. Every other booth was a fabric shop. I bought some beautiful viscose fabric for 1.50 euro a meter, I hope to make a skirt out of eventually.

That's enough about my vacation... more crafty posts soon.

See You Soon

2008-11-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

I haven't gone on a serious vacation, one where airplanes are involved and a Christmas or wedding with relatives is not, since my honeymoon. So my husband and I are taking a long overdue trip to Berlin.

I won't be blogging for a bit, but here's a detail of what I am working on right now, for the trip. It's a travel pillow made of fleece, for our red eye flight. Jigglypuff is there to help me get to sleep.

Bye for now!

Check Me Out, I Voted

2008-11-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

I love the "I Voted" stickers, and this year was such an amazing election, I wanted to keep mine. So I made it into a magnet.

I used Aleene's Paper Glaze as a poor man's resin (inspired by this Angry Chicken post). I glued the sticker to a piece of cardboard and wrapped it in ribbon. The ribbon didn't go on quite smoothly, and the glaze has some bubbles, but it came out cool enough that my husband wanted me to do his up, too.

You can tell a lot about a person by the magnets on their fridge. Well, if they have magnets on their fridge. I removed the more personal magnets from this photo, like my Save-the-Date magnets and my high school magnet, but here you can still see that I have visited San Francisco, Vegas, Greece, and New York, and I like Corgis and puns about medical marijuana. Oh, and also, I voted.

What's on your fridge?

Sewing Desk for a Cosplayer

2008-11-04T14:54:00.000-08:00

If you are back from voting, check out my new desk.

(If you are not back from voting, go vote, silly!)

I picked up this desk on Craigslist a few months ago. It was a sewing desk with the sewing machine removed. I neglected to take a before picture, but it was in quite a sorry shape. There were spiders. But look at how nice and big it opens up...

I painted it brick red, and I bought a custom cut piece of wood at Home Depot to fill in the empty hole where the sewing machine once lived, and then I had to track down a square head screwdriver to attach it. Then I covered the seat cushion in new fabric and made the little fabric covered trash can out of a cookie tin, to catch thread. Thread goes wild all over my sewing area.

And then began my adventures in decoupage.

Here's the custom piece of wood, in progress with the craft:g33k girl. I used huge amounts of Mod Podge for this project.

Inside, left side. I use my sewing machine to make costumes and clothes, mostly, and I wanted the desk to be inspiration for that. All the images except for the craft:g33k are from old comic books and fashion magazines. I'm pretty sure the comics aren't worth anything, but please, don't correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption.

Spike, from a Buffy comic.

The Fantastic Four, from a free comic book day book. The gold question mark is from a stencil I made.

Inside, right side.

Supes, by Jim Lee. I used a lot of pictures from this particular comic, not because Superman is a favorite of mine, or even Jim Lee (though he's pretty darn good), but just because Superman is a pose-worthy fellow. It's hard to find a full body shot of Bats, for example.

I reserved all my favorite pieces for the top.

Spidey, by John Romita, Jr.

My man DD, by Alex Maleev.

This post is a eulogy for my sewing machine, a cheapy cheap Brother that I am bidding farewell. I just bought a Kenmore that is made, apparently, by Janome. The Kenmores have been going on sale recently, and the deals are great. If you are interested, the link is here.

Metafiltered

2008-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

This photo that Natalie took of me ended up on Metafilter last night. Surreal! Geoff is the polar bear. More on that later.

Bride of Ghost and a Taste of Fall

2008-10-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

I made these ghosts out of glittery satin and tulle last year. They are stuffed with paper, and the eyes are painted on with acrylic. I think they look sort of bridal. You can make up a story about why there are four of them.

I made the bats out of craft felt. I also made these felt leaves to put on tables, around the appetizers for our Halloween party.

Geoff's mother sends him colored leaves in an envelope from New Hampshire every year. It's very sweet, and they smell good. I used one as a stencil to design the maple leaves.

Potions and Such

2008-10-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everybody! This idea has been around for a while, but I took inspiration mostly from this page.

Many of my supplies are from Party City and the dollar store, and all my jars are recycled. Vinegar jars are the best; they come in many interesting shapes. From left to right:

Pickled Succubus Fingers - clear plastic Halloween fingers, covered in hot gue and soaking in water (with red food coloring) in a salsa jar.
Faerie Dust - sparkly confetti, in an old spice jar.
Werewolf Bones - plastic Halloween bones, burnt with a match and touched up with red paint, in a jelly jar.
Eye of Scrod - gooey Halloween eyeballs, in yellow food-colored water, in a caper jar.
Hair of the Muse - fake hair from the dollar store (what is this for?), in a vinegar jar.
Dried Amaranth - selections from cheap potpourri, in a pickle jar.
Vampyre Blood - orange hand soap mixed with red and blue food coloring, in a mustard jar.

If you are using water and want to keep your jars for future years, mix the water with household cleaner to keep the water from growing stuff.

The labels are laser printed on linen paper that has been scrunched up, dipped in coffee, and pressed dry between paper towels and heavy books. I used Excellentia in excelsis for the titles and Note This font for the writing (both are free). I also used the letter "e" from Floralia for the corners, and various Flourishes found online. I arranged them all on one piece of paper, for easy printing.

They are glued to the glass and then Mod Podge'd for durability.

Halloween Costumes p. 1

2008-10-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

We had a Halloween party last night. I dressed as Sarah Palin, and Geoff dressed as John McCain.

Oh! Did you see what I did there? Sorry. Geoff insisted I make that joke. He came up with this costume by himself, and he really enjoyed it.

Makeup was from a makeup kit he found at CVS meant for making a puppy dog (?).

The jacket he already owned. He bought it many years ago at a thrift store thinking, and I am not kidding, "Hmm, this would be cool if someday I wanted to be the joker for Halloween." He bought the vest at a thrift store yesterday, just hours before the party, and painted it green with thinned out acrylic paint. The pants, we dyed purple with RIT dye.

The craziness, Geoff supplied himself.

Flying Baby

2008-10-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

I am a stupid amount behind on this blog; sorry. Work has been relatively stressless, but I can't blog at this job. The people are really great, though.

Here's a painting I did for a coworker who is pregnant. Her baby's room has an aviation theme. I would like to point out, for the record, that it is not a giant baby; it is a tiny plane.

I've got a lot of Halloween crafts I want to show you. More later!

Baked Alaska (Earrings)

2008-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

Usually for Halloween I just pull out my Comic Con costume and lovingly wear it again. This year, however, I've assembled my best fitted suit, peep toed pumps, and square glasses for a topical costume...

I sculpted the above Alaska-shaped earrings out of polymer clay, then baked 'em in the oven and painted them gold.

I made this oversize American Flag pin out of Shrinky Dinks. The finding is an old Siggraph pin (and to think I almost threw that schwag away).

Are you doing anything for Halloween?

To the Pirate Faire

2008-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've been a way for a while; sorry, I got a job! It's short term for now, but it pays well and the work is relatively stress free (so far). I've been all busy again so I'm backlogged on posts; here's one I meant to post last week.

Geoff and I went to the Pirate Faire in Ojai, California. It was, believe it or not, the 17th annual pirate faire at this location. It was like a Renaissance Faire, except more absurd.

Yar!

There was a pirate battle, with a mini pirate ship performing some forced perspective for us.

And very loud cannons.

I could not tell you who won.

If I was going to a Pirate Faire I was going to dress up a little anyway. I found our costumes at the excellent Salvation Army on Sepulveda in Van Nuys.

My costume was three separate pieces that somehow managed to work together. Geoff's shirt was an actual pirate costume shirt that got accidentally sorted into woman's clothing. Total cost, ten dollars.

There were many other more elaborate costumes. People did take this fairly seriously.

Cute pirate sock monkey!

Heh heh heh. You're right, she does look pretty easy...

Grimace

2008-09-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

I know I promised that I wouldn't go to the craft store, but I was out of fusible interfacing and what can you make without fusible interfacing and I also had this idea that needed ric rac and while I was there I saw a boootiful piece of linen for $2 so you can't fault me for any of that... and I have my period.

Yes, today I made a tampon cozy. And it has a face. A *grimace* face. How-to follows, but if you don't want to know how-to, scroll down to the fun part at the end.

Supplies

7" x 9" Outer fabric
7" x 9" Lining fabric
7" x 9" Fusible interfacing
8.5" Red ric rac
Black embroidery floss and needle
Coordinating thread
1 button

Clip 3/8" seam allowance off interfacing and fuse to outer fabric. Embroider eyes 2" from the sides and 1.75" from the top.

Pin outer fabric to lining fabric, wrong sides together, and sew together leaving 3/8" seam allowance.

Leave two openings at the corners of the mouth, so to speak. Make sure one of them is big enough to push the fabric through (although if you make it a little bit too tight, it could be an appropriate metaphor for the... never mind.)

Flip inside out and iron flat, neatening the openings

Pin ric rac to the top of the front, and fold edges into the openings. Sew in place.

Fold over the bottom so that the top flap is 2.5" long. Pin in place, and sew down the edges. I recommend using a topstitch or denim needle for this, as the fabric is quite thick here.

Pull out your buttonhole foot and make a buttonhole between the eyes, about 1" from the edge.

Sew button to the inside about 0.5" from the edge. Stuff with four tampons and go!

Now, here's the fun part:

Since I ran through this design twice to get the how-to right, I have an extra tampon cozy. So, giveaway! If you would like this tampon cozy, introduce yourself in the comments, and leave some way to contact you, and I'll pick a winner next week. Good times!!

Pretty Little Thing

2008-09-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

I vowed that while I was unemployed, I would try to avoid trips to the craft store and work with what I have. Because I have a lot. This chain I bought when I was trying to figure out how to do the Six earrings, and I bought this leaf charm on sale (it's from the "Lost and Found" collection at JoAnn Fabrics).

My sewing desk project has been stalled by the need for a square head screwdriver. Do they sell such things at hardware stores? And how do you figure out what size you need? If anyone knows about square head screws (??) and how to extract them, please share!

Scrapbuster Headbands

2008-09-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

I made some headbands inspired by this one at The Long Thread. I made mine a bit thinner than the pattern. This is another useful project that doesn't take much time or fabric. Action shot:

This photo is weird; yes I took it myself. But notice, makeup, and a collared shirt. A sleuth might deduce that I just got back from a job interview. It's for a three week project, nothing too big, but it would be a good thing to hold me over for now. Fingers crossed, and all that.

Fishy Towels

2008-09-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is the gift that accompanied below card. My aunt-in-law recently painted her kitchen green, and their house has an aquatic theme (uncle-in-law is a marine biologist).

The stripes on the fish were a happy accident; the fusible web would not stick to these Target towels, so I was just trying to keep the appliques attached. I ended up really liking the stripes, though. The button is vintage, and the fabric is a fabulous scrap of cotton.

Here is my applique pattern, feel free to use:

Thanks!

2008-09-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

I just drew this on a card for a relative who puts us up very nicely every time we are in San Diego. I did it really quickly with a Sharpie and a crayon, and I think it's cute in the way only spontaneous doodles can be. Anatomy be damned.

Still Crafting

2008-09-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there! Sorry it's been a while. For an unemployed person, I've been very busy. Between applying for jobs, I have been cleaning and fixing and getting rid of everything that has been wrong with my apartment and life for the past year. Damn, I love being unemployed. I wish I did not also love money.

I've been working on a big craft project, which is revamping a beat up sewing desk I got on Craigslist, but since that's not done, here are some cute coasters!

I got this idea from a neat sewing book I picked up at the library, Sewing Projects In An Afternoon. I'd been thinking about doing quilted coasters for a while (these pinwheel coasters being one inspiration), but the brilliant idea of not piecing them inspired me to actually do it. The top fabric is a denim print from my stash, and the backing fabric is the faux dupioni from this project... I'm so glad it was useful for something.*

Okay, style question: I'm thinking about making matching placemats using the denim fabric and this poly brocade - what do you think?

One more question: Does anyone know of a tutorial for making a fabric box that I could store these coasters in neatly? Alrighty, thanks for listening!

*In fact, I fully reject the notion that you should immediately get rid of scraps. Scraps are awesome; most of my projects use scraps in some way. I keep them neatly in a clear plastic bag.

Not indicative of my mood

2008-09-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

This painting looks depressing. You might think that I am desperately sad about something. But no, I actually did this a few weeks ago, when I was bored at work, and I thought I might be doing a swap with someone who likes Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. This is a fan painting of Morpheus and Matthew.

I think I need to do some more painting while I'm off. I really like these 8x10 water colors. Here's another one I did, some Chicks and Hens at the Huntington Gardens.

I also did this at work. I was really bored, I had nothing to do for so long that it's really remarkable that I wasn't laid off sooner. I also did these lilies at work.

TRON Bib and Burp Rag

2008-09-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is a commission for a friend, whose coworker has just had a baby girl. TRON is more important to this coworker than I am allowed to explain here. Ha. That sounded dirty (it truly isn't).

The bib pattern is from The Purl Bee. It was exciting to be able to craft for a baby. I always see great crafts for babies, but alas, there are no babies in my life. Which is probably a good thing, but still... cute bibs, man.

The applique on the bib is a Light Cycle, and the applique on the burp rag is a Recognizer. Does it look like an M? I should have planned that one out a little better. Maybe if I am lucky, M is also important to this coworker.

Pity Party

2008-09-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

So. After more than four years, I am no longer working for Sony. Of course I haven't actually been "working" for Sony for months, but now, they are no longer going to pay me.

It's actually really good to be free, it's good to be motivated now to get a new, better job, one where I actually do something. But still. I can't really say that getting The Call was particularly fun, nor was meeting with the hatchet man the highlight of my day. Yeah.

/pity party

The bug is unrelated, just a cool picture I took on Monday. I like macros. And extreme looking bugs. Aight. Gotta send out some more resumes...

Mario Piranha Plant/Pipe TP Cozy

2008-09-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

My craftster challenge entry is up. I wish I could enter this contest, like, a hundred times.

Failure and Fleurchon

2008-08-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to a wedding today in Wellesley, a high school friend of my husband's. I had this idea that I would make a dress for this wedding. My goodness. It was going to be navy blue dupioni with a gold lining and a patterned waistband, in a crossover bodice style. And I spent many, many hours more than I intended, and I did indeed finish it, and it is beautiful.... for a person two sizes bigger than myself.

Damn you McCalls!

I'm just too upset to try to fix it (which will be possible). It's fully lined, so I need to completely rip out the zipper and cut out fabric of fabric and re-insert it. I'm never making anything lined, or from a pattern, or complicated in any way, again.

Okay, I (probably) don't mean that. But looking at how pretty and properly made this dress is just pisses me off! It makes me want to gain two dress sizes just so it fits. Okay, again... not really. But still.

In defeat, I bought a dress at Ross. It's very cute, and was $13. Remind me again why I was making a dress in the first place? It's a cute black & white floral and is only marked down because the buttons were missing. I made some fabric covered buttons out of the Six fabric, that is, red ponte knit, and a maching headband with a yoyo (paired with a covered button). So I didn't manage to make a dress for this wedding, but I did make a fleurchon.

Quickie Capelet

2008-08-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

I noticed my swap partner had a cape how-to in her W(ishl)ist, and I also noticed that it was very similar to my quick and dirty half circle skirt pattern, except with a simple rectangular hood, so I thought I'd throw this in as an extra. I think it came out very cute for a few moments of sewing.

I used the remnants from the skirt waistband, a difficult jersey fabric that I really had no other use for. It's finished with gray bias tape; the tape is stiffer than the jersey, giving it a curious lettuce edge.

I wanted to put a little leaf button on it, to make it sort of Fellowship of the Ring inspired (and therefore, geeky). And I had a little leaf button. And I tore apart my apartment looking for this little leaf button. But no. It would not present itself to me. So here is it, with a regular button. Arg.

Shrinky Dink Charm Bracelet

2008-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

One more swap item. My swap partner is a fan of Ctrl Alt Del, so I made this charm bracelet with the characters out of Rough n Ready Shrinky Dinks. The charms have lobster claws on them, so they can come off and be used as stitch markers, or something.

Shrinky dinks worked as expected, mostly. A few are a little warped, but not too bad. The backside remained rough and unfinished looking even after Mod Podge-ing, is there a fix for that?

Number Six Earrings

2008-08-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

I got a surprise commission last week. A fellow Six cosplayer found my picture on Flickr, tracked it back to this blog, and asked if I could get her a pair of earrings like the ones I wore at Comic Con. So flattering!

I made them in surgical steel, per request. Mine were gold, and clip ons-- and completely in the wrong position in this picture....

The red beads are from Michaels, the findings are all from Joann Fabrics. The wire is memory wire (meant for bracelets), carefully bent out, and the top of the bead is a craft sequin with crimp on top. I think they are pretty enough to wear outside of cosplay.

Can't wait to see her pictures!

Best Cupcakes EVER

2008-08-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Cupcake cravings come after dinner. Why are do all my favorite cupcake bakeries close at seven? So I was compelled to make these, by powers greater than myself. You must make them also. Right now. Seriously. You won't regret it.

Here's the fabulous, easy, delicious, recipe: Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cupcakes. I subbed 1/2 cup oil for a stick of butter, and I used the cream cheese frosting recipe from Baking Illustrated, and man, these are delicious cupcakes.

And pretty. And maybe a little Canadian.

LOLCross-Stitch Pouch

2008-08-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

This was also for my Great Geek Swap partner.

I have been embroidering (or trying to) for a while now, but this is my first cross stitch. I learned the basics from this page. I thought it really had to be cross stitch for the subversive factor, and I had some evenweave fabric from the Black Mage project (his hat)(and is it possible to link to that project too many times?{answer: No!})

Initially, I wanted it to be a wall hanging, but I made a mistake in my measurements and it no longer fit into the frame I had in mind. So I made it into an impromptu bag, using the microsuede and cording from my chair recon and the fringe from my BSG (not nipple) pillows.

I wish I had seen this awesome zippered pouch tutorial before I started, because it explains how to do it all by machine. I hand sewed the lining in because I wasn't sure how to work it with the machine, and well... it would have been better this way. I'm not the prettiest hand sewer. So, next time! It's still cute on the outside, right?

Tardis Tissue Box Cozy

2008-08-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: This blog post has been crazy popular, which is awesome, but I know these instructions are a little fly by night. If you want any help please feel free to message me at plainstoopid (at) gmail (dot) com.

Cheers! -Jessica

It had to be done. It's so obvious that it's even been done before. This is my interpretation, made for the Great Geek Swap. My swapper partner likes Dr. Who.

The BBC has actually copyrighted the TARDIS design, which is one of those interesting copyright oddities since clearly this "design" was just borrowed from actual police boxes designed for the London PD. So, anyway, I'm not selling this.

Supplies:
20x20" Fusible interfacing
1/4 yd Dark denim
1/4 yd lining
Silver Satin (scraps)
Embroidery floss (white and navy)
Print n Press transfer paper (dark fabric)
Sewing Machine, denim needle & navy thread
Bead for top light
1 5.5x5.5" cardboard square

I wanted to do a more detailed HOWTO, but my process got changed and convoluted somewhere along the way so this is the best I can muster. Here's the basic template for the sides:

All the blue is one piece, and the dark blue sections form the top pieces. A base piece the size of the light blue area is also needed.

And here's the sign I used (with Print n Press transfer paper). Print this out for use on one of the denim base (door) pieces.

First step: cut interfacing into shapes based on template, then iron onto the denim. Notice one of the sides has to be split in half, for the door.

Next, cut them apart, cut open the "windows" and baste the window seams under. Topstitch the window pieces on top of strips of satin, and the base pieces. Then sew the sections together, with the "doors" on either end. After this I topstitched four corner pieces over the seams.

Embroidered "Police Public Call Box" labels. The window grids are also (very simply) embroidered.

I cut out a square piece of denim big with sides the length of one of the panels. As tissue boxes are not square, this did not fit exactly, but the cloth was forgiving. I sewed this to the top of my panels.

I added a lining to hide the embroidery mess on the inside. This was done by sewing together a lining in the same shape as the denim exterior, then sewing it to the denim, right sides together, and flipping it inside out.

It would have been more awesome if I had found a lining fabric that had a big polka dot pattern like the inside of the actual TARDIS... but I already had this, and I like money. Both of these fabrics are leftover from a certain other cozy project.

Almost done - just some last minute tailoring. I hand sewed the embroidered signs on at this stage.

The top is just five pieces of fabric sewn together and then hand stitched to the top. It is tightly stuffed so it could be used as a pin cushion if you are so inclined to have a pin cushion on top of your tissue box. The "light" is a clear bead tied on with embroidery floss.

The base is made by sewing denim around a piece of reclaimed cardboard, and then hand sewn to the cozy. I made the base in the actual dimensions of the tissue box (rather than square) and then just pushed the fabric around until it fit properly.

Some final product detail shots.

There really is a tissue box in there.

I love the otherworldly glow in this shot:

I also made a Dr. Who card, which I colored with a highlighter and a green marker. David Tennant, incidentally, looks like an older Scottish version of my brother. Who in turn looks like an older, American version of Daniel Radcliffe.

Gold Flats, for Cheap

2008-08-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

A rather long time ago I saw a pair of gold flats at the Skechers outlet in Encino for ten dollars. I debated over whether or not to buy them for far too long, and somehow I decided (quite incorrectly) to not buy them.

Since then I have uncontrollably desired a pair of gold flats, but have been unwilling to pay more than ten dollars for them, for obvious reasons. So I decided to make my own.

Okay, not make... refurbish. I used gold leather paint I bought from Ebay for five dollars, and then I made some shoe clips from some gold and silver beads I had in my stash.

The beat up old flats, before:

The beaded flower, which I did not do in any particularly correct way, in detail:

The purple thing is a hair clip I appropriated for holding the flower. This means these shoe clips could also go in my hair... if I so choose.

Best. Craftster Challenge. Ever.

2008-08-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

(above cozy by Craftster user defaultbunny).

Craftster just announced their next challenge, called Cozies with Irony. Yes! I love silly cozies! What should I do for this contest??

Comic Con 08.... more!

2008-07-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Some new (last?) pics from me and flickr.

Me and Geoff with some random steam punk awesome.

This Jayne hat (from Firefly) may have been the most common bit of geek apparel at the con. This one was interesting because it was a knit/crochet hybrid.

A much more involved Firefly homage... Kaylee's fancy dress.

Baltar with J. Michael Straczynski (creator of B5). Geoff always manages to feel foolish in front of this man... perhaps it is the costumes?

An enthusiastic Phoenix Wright. Phoenix Wright is a wacky lawyer game on the Nintendo DS.

Dr. Strange, the Sorceror Supreme. I've always kind of wanted to dress Geoff up in this costume... to laugh at him. I mean, I'm not laughing at this guy, this guy is rad, I just think Geoff as Dr. Strange would be off-the-hook hilarious for some reason.

From Flickr:

I like my evil red eyes in this one. Like in the random box set art! You can also see my (scrapbook paper) bracelet really well, and enjoy how badass Geoff's jacket is. I had to adapt the pattern from a women's coat pattern (Butterick) and it turned out pretty well.

This is my favorite pose of Geoff's. He looks very studious, like he truly is a brilliant scientist plagued by guilt at having accidentally killed billions of people. And I am truly... tired. Good enough.

Craft Mafia Tonight

2008-07-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

This picture has nothing to do with anything.

Los Angeles Craft Mafia meeting tonight!

Los Angeles Craft Mafia
Tuesday July 29th at 7pm-10pm
Saints and Sinners Lounge
10899 Venice Blvd
W. Los Angeles, Ca 90034
www.SaintsAndSinnersLounge.net

~~I'm bringing friendship bracelet stuff, so if you have an urge to relive summer camp, check it.~~ Or not! Maybe next time :)

Flickr Costume Search, part 1

2008-07-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

One of the rituals post-cosplay is looking for pictures of me on Flickr and hoping they are not too awful.

Here's a happy one.

I had a lot of trouble finding the right expression/pose. Here's one of me doing a Paris Hilton.

And, the more standard "sullen stare."

Aye... more later!

Comic Con 08, part 1

2008-07-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so that happened! Ha. Comic Con is over. I spend so much time preparing for this thing and it is over so quickly. We never get to go to as many panels as we intend, but somehow it is still fun. We did not get into the Dollhouse panel, for example, but this was a boone, because while still outside waiting in line for the Battlestar Galactica panel, we saw Ron Moore, and he was nice enough to pose with us.

Oh, hey, look! Our costumes! I ended up scrapping the foam jewelry and making new "jewelry" out of mirrored scrap book paper. Much better in photography (shiny!).

Some more awesome costumes:

Alien. Dude had a working mouth... thingy.

Unfortunately this picture is out of focus, but this is Princess Peach and Captain Falcon, Smash Bros edition. Note the frying pan.

Flycatcher, from Fables. I love how this guy really looks like him. Someday I should maybe dress up as a character I actually look like, instead of really tall supermodels.

More later, just wanted to let everyone know I survived this cosplay!

Friends 4 Eva!

2008-07-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

There was an article in the L.A. Times last Sunday, in the Image section, about how "Camp" was a current trend in summer style, a blend of safari and summer camp nostalgia. There was a bit about friendship bracelets, how glorified, designer friendship bracelets are being sold in trendy shops for too much money.

The article was kind enough to remind readers how to make the simple bracelets. If you don't remember, look here. I had a bunch of embroidery floss on hand, so I made one. They are charming, aren't they?

Last Weekend

2008-07-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Almost done with the Baltar and Six costumes, just need to avoid distraction and finish up (see above). Distraction does not include The Dark Knight, which we will not miss this weekend. We leave for Comic Con on Friday.

and me without a costume

2008-07-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

(photo above by Flickr user djwu)

I went to Anime Expo ~~this~~ last weekend (or whenever it was now)(wait, where am I?). My friend Derek works for anime DVD distributor Media Blasters ("More than just Hentai!"), and he got us exhibitor passes, gratis. These passes had super powers; we were allowed to walk the wrong way in one way lanes.

My husband assured me that this was a professional convention, more trade show than Comic Con. Um, no!! Anime fans are the craziest cosplayers. They will cosplay for anything! See above.

Their was a much higher ratio of cosplayers/civilians than at Comic Con, and I felt a bit undressed. So many people in costume, and me just in my khakis. What anime character would I cosplay as? I have no idea. But Geoff did get me this Naruto sleeping cap, cuteness.

Ah, that's better.

Kawaii Cupcakes

2008-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart hosted a Cutest Cupcake Contest recently. The above is my favorite (it was a finalist but did not win). I like it because it is ingenious, but looks like anyone could make it, and does not contain fondant (guess what I don't like). I'm guessing the "dirt" is crumbled chocolate cookie, and the plant is your standard sprig of mint. Brilliant!

Have been crafting diligently myself, but nothing to post right now. Comic-Con approaches!