and me without a costume

(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

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!

Lily of the Valley Skirt

I made a flippy skirt with the Lily of the Valley cotton I bought on impulse a while back. I intended to wear it to the 21+ SATC screening at the Sherman Oaks Arclight (you must go, it is wonderful, both the movie, the theatre, and the cocktails) but I ran out of time and wore something much less fabulous instead. But it's done now. It's a half circle skirt with a green jersey waistband and cotton lace trim.



Half circle skirts are super easy. Here's some quick instructions for your skirty pleasure:

1. Add seam allowances to all measurements (well, except for the waist/6.28 measurement - you'd want to subtract your seam allowance from that...) and cut the fabric. 2. Sew the half circle together in the back, inserting an invisible zipper. 3. Hem the bottom. You probably need to hem it shorter in the front because of le butt. So try it on and pin it before you sew to make sure it hangs straight. 4. Cut a piece of fusible interfacing the height of the waistband, sans seam allowance. Iron to wrong side of bottom half of the waist band. Fold waistband over and iron, then iron down seam allowances. 5. Sew one side of waistband to skirt, then fold over and sew the other side down. 6. Neaten waistband edges, and add hook & eye or button closure at waist.

The jersey waistband was added on top of this because I wanted to stiffness of a real waistband, and the lace was added at the end, just because.

It's very fun to wear, its swirly and old timey and demure. And also cool (temperature cool, not cool like, I'm awesome) which is very important in the San Fernando Valley. I've been wearing it there a lot. A stranger happened to compliment the skirt at The Dressing Room and just about made my year.

Swap o Rama... rama

Went to the Venice Swap o Rama Rama with my friend Charlotte and had a blast.

There were two station where people were making bags, I should have taken pictures of this, but they were made out of shirts at one station, and pants at the other, using the hardware already on the clothing. You could make a really complicated looking bag out of a shirt with a zipper in about ten minutes (given the right shirt!).

I found some swell sailor jeans. They are a bit too short, so I'm going to hem them to capri length when I get some more denim needles.



I stenciled on a Greek key design, a pattern I'm fond of, in yellow.

I found a plain ivory Merona knit top and I added some fun appliques.





I have always pronounced "applique" wrong ... even though I think I have been corrected before. A-plee-kay, not a-pleek. Must remember.

I also met Lincoln, the fellow who makes this needle felted Yeti wonder. He's the one who corrected me on my French there. Needle felting is not the craft I had imagined. Apparently you're basically sculpting shapes out of wool with a needle, and it can be quite hazardous. Rar!

Starbuck Swirlimagig Pillows

Somewhat inspired by this awesome hat by QuirkyKnitGirl, I made these pillows for my friend Brian, who generously makes his TV available for cable-less buddies on Battlestar Galactica night. The squared off Ikea couch in his living room was crying out for throw pillows.



The fandom aspect is very subtle; you would have to be a fan of the show to recognize this. And even if you are, it's hard to see that this is supposed to resemble Kara Thrace's wacky painting of the "Eye of Jupiter." Here's a pic of the so you can join the coolness.



See? The fringe, it's like the edges... and the free hand quilting is like brush strokes. Right? I have new found respect for quilters, by the way. It's hard to get everything right when all your stitches are on display.

Craftster Challenge #28

I've been meaning to recon this office chair for a while -- my cats destroyed it a while back - and I finished it just in time for this month's Craftster Challenge, In the Hot Seat. My entry is here.

UPDATE: Voting is open! Vote here.

I Wish I Had a Penguin Cake

Here is the promised cake. It looks like a penguin because Morgan likes penguins, and it is crooning because her birthday involved karaoke. I am really proud of this, and not just because the frosting is wonderfully not lumpy (unlike the mushroom cake).

The cake is chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting, from the deceased but still glorious Cupcake Blog (sans coconut), with a chocolate ganache penguin.

It started out as some fun sketches. I had trouble picking my favorite little penguin, so I made Geoff pick. A part of me is sad I didn't go with shy penguin.



I made sure the butter was very soft this time, and that it was mixed very thoroughly with the sugar, and it seems to have worked. Note how smooth! I also used a touch of blue food coloring to make the frosting "whiter" (blue counters the yellowness of the butter and vanilla).



I sketched the design into the buttercream with a knife before attempting it with the ganache. I was eager to get back to my important work Elder Scrolls Oblivion, so this went pretty quickly. I used a snipped ziploc bag to add the ganache, as before.

Don't even think about it, Hamlet.



I kind of love this character.



Morgan approves!



And here's a picture of Geoff singing "People are Strange" by The Doors.

Insert Clever Mafia Joke Here

I went to my second LA Craft Mafia meet up last Tuesday at Saints & Sinners in Culver City. These have been really fun. The first meeting Mark Montano of the Big Ass Book of Crafts came out and showed us how to make stamps out of craft foam (it's good for something other than props). I made a butterfly.



We also got to look at his book, which really is Big Ass and pretty sweet.

This week Sonya Nimri visited, promoting her new book Beadalicious. She brought some great glass beads and showed us how to make branched jewelry. I don't have pierced ears so I made a pendant, but these looked fantastic as earrings.



I've never been a jewelry maker, but the book has a lot of good simple ideas. I really like one where she shows you how to make a cameo. She has another book that I want to check out called Just for the Frill of It, about adding trim to blah clothing.

The Mafia meets once a month, check the website for more info, it's really fun!

Incognito

I'm working on a lot of stuff right now but I can't post it because it is all surprises. I'm making a special cake for Morgan, and I'm working on a Craftster swap for a Dr. Who fan in England, and I can't wait to share these because I think they will be really cool. But it's a secret right now so shhhh.

In lieu of crafts, here is a picture of me hugging a tree.



That's an Ancient Bristlecone Pine. It was our second wedding anniversary this week, and we went up to the mountains near Big Pine, CA to celebrate, where we hiked and ate a whole lot. Hurray marriage! ;)



Ooo, edit: I made that hat, from a pattern in that book I love, Saturday Night Hat. It's called the Engineer's Hat and is made from one pant leg of a pair of ripped corduroys. So, crafty after all.

Flies are Hard

My sister-in-law warned me: flies are hard. It was extra hard because the line in the Burda 7841 detailing how to attach the underside zipper made no sense. Like really, it was in the English column, but it wasn't the English that I speak.

These are for a Gaius Baltar cosplay, in case you're just tuning in.

Apart from the puckering around the fly, which is not too obvious when attached to a person, the pattern was great. The fit is nice and slim, the pieces fit together in a simple and obvious way, and the pockets are nice and roomy. I skipped the back pockets because they didn't seem necessary for this suit, and they looked a bit complicated.

I picked this pattern because it was literally the only pattern for a simple pair of men's pants in all of Joann Fabrics, but I've heard good things about Kwik Sew 3267 if your store has that brand in stock and you want some better fly instructions than Burda has to offer.

The fabric is from Fabric.com's sale section and was only $2 a yard. It's a stretchy suiting.



Geoff was unavailable to model these pants, so they are being modeled by the curtain rod over my bedroom door. Yes, my bedroom has curtains. There is a reason, and it has to do with cats. It gives my bedroom a Turkish harem feel, I think.

Super Strawberry Cake

This was so much prettier in my head. I thought I had figured out how to get smooth (not lumpy, pictured) frosting, but I thought wrong. I swear I sifted the sugar! Argh. I'm still going to eat it.

Do you want to know how to make a possibly lumpy, but EXTRA delicious, Super Mushroom/Strawberry cake? Read on...

Strawberry Cake



2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup pureed strawberries
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray) and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13 cake pan. Set aside.

Combine remaining dry ingredients (except sugar) in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl, beat remaining ingredients together. Add to dry, beating with a wire whisk. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.

This recipe comes from Whole Foods, and I was very happy with it. It was hard to find a strawberry cake recipe that did not use white cake box mix and/or Jello!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting



1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl.
Add the sifted powdered sugar and cream. Beat until smooth.

I was not so happy with this. I'm not sure what went wrong. Maybe I did not beat long enough? Maybe I accidentally put in too much cream?

Assembly

Cut the domed crust off the two cakes, leaving a flat surface.

Frost the bottom layer.

Slice a handful of strawberries into thin pieces and arrange them on top of the bottom layer.



Frost the bottom of the top layer then lay it on top of the bottom layer and frost it.

Put cake in the refrigerator to harden frosting.

Strawberry and Ganache Topping

Dice a handful of strawberries into small pieces and toss with red jam (to maintain color). With a butter knife, carefully sketch out the shape of the Super Mushroom into the frosting, then arrange the strawberries in the appropriate place.

In a(n improvised) double boiler, melt two bars of high quality dark chocolate (I like Callebaut). When fully melted, add cream until ganache is the desired consistency.



Let ganache cool a bit, then transfer to a ziploc bag and cut off the tip of the bag. Draw the outline and the mushroom eyes with the ganache.



That's it! Perfect for birthdays for eight year olds in the eighties (or lazy days for twenty something right now).

Using All the Scraps

Geoff was working Saturday, so I spent my alone time on a bunch of little projects, like this skirt. The green part was already a skirt I own, and liked, and bought for $10 at Ross. The fabric is green with a white flower embroidered pattern on it. The problem was that the hem wasn't very nice; it was a semi-unfinished hem with only a serged edge.

I thought, this would look nice with a band of white satin at the bottom, and I wondered if I had any white satin. So I looked through my scraps, thinking I might have some satin left over from the White Mage project. While searching I happened to find the hem from my wedding dress; the seamstress had given me the excess when she shortened it.

Perfect! Heck, it was already hemmed, I just had to attach it. I think it really adds something to the skirt, and it's good to use all your scraps, especially the sentimental ones.

Getty Sunday

Geoff is having a tough time at work lately, and working almost all the time, so we needed to do something fun and easy on Sunday to help him relax. Decided to go to the Getty, which as a museum is honestly a bit whatever but the location is wonderful.

There was an awesome beetle thing in the lobby, that we rescued.



Ivy!



The tram was very crowded, so we walked back down. It is a very nice walk, I recommend it.



Flower!