New clay stuff!

 Aren't these ring dishes just beautiful? I LOVE my fall colored one above! The colors just ended up blending just enough, and it made me so happy with the end result! I found this tutorial for these leaf dishes on pinterest and I said "I HAVE to make some of those!" I rolled the clay a lot thinner than the tutorial did, but I use Premo and it has a lot of flexibility so I think they'll be fine. The green one is for a close friend of mine. I mixed glitter in with the glaze, and then did a clear coat of glaze on top of that so that none of the glitter would come off whenever you touched it.

 

 

I also made a couple of dragons! The blue one wasn't glazed yet when I took that picture, he is all shiny now.  I'm not too proud of their faces, I am still working on that. The neck on the blue one is definitely a bit thick! I am a lot happier with their wings now... I used to make such ridiculous wings! Now that I've got the wings down (at least I am happy with them... for now) I need to work on their faces and front legs. The red one below isn't even baked yet! That's why he looks pretty shiny. It's a different shiny than what glaze gives them. I've taken a liking to making the dragons out of clay that's been mixed with different colors, but not mixed into one color. They look a lot more interesting this way, I think.

He is missing a black spike right on the tip of his nose!
A picture decided to fall right on top of him...

Both of these dragons will be for sale soon on my Etsy or possibly my Facebook page. I'll have to look up this new facebook shop thing! Does it cost money to set up? That's my biggest concern.

I'm staying at my dad's for another month at least, so I'll be making quite a few more things! I'm headed to Joannes tomorrow to grab some fabric for a few projects... At least 3 different projects actually!

So I shall be posting a bit more regularly for a while. I'm usually at a place where I can't do any kind of craft or if I do I'm being bothered by destructive dogs so it takes forever. I'm so happy to be back here and getting some stuff done!

Bubble Art, tips and tricks!

I spent the weekend with my sister and she mentioned seeing something about bubble art recently. I never thought I'd ever make bubble art, mainly because I never had food dye and never need it, so why should I buy some for one project?

We went to the dollar store and got 2 packages of 3 containers of bubbles and a thing of different sized bubble wands. $3 for the whole project, since she had the dye and paper already! Also, it was the day after Easter, so I'm sure that there were at least egg dyes at the dollar store if not regular food dye.

So here's the results! These are only my 2, but they are the same color scheme as my sisters:

Aren't they pretty? I cut a heart out of the cardboard on the back of the extra wands, then cutout the cutout (if that makes sense, it's the hearts outline).

NOW. We had an issue while doing this: The bubbles hate the color white and will do anything not to land on it!!! So basically, we would blow some bubbles and then try to catch them on the wand, and then basically place them on the paper. If you press down gently and then keep still, then lift up a bit and keep still, you can make rings of color. You can see on the bottom of the green and blue one a blue bubble with another blue bubble inside of it. So when you place the bubble on the paper, press down so that it spreads wider, then lift up so that the bubble tries to come off the paper with the wand and it gets skinnier. That's how we made the multiple rings.

Right next to that double bubble on the green and blue picture, there's a bubble with some purple in it. I can also explain how to do that! We each had a wand, and I would dip mine in the blue and then NOT blow a bubble. My sister would dip her wand in the purple and blow bubbles and I would catch them with my wand. Basically there's extra dye and liquid from my wand and it all goes to the bottom of the bubble. I place it on the paper and extra dye lands first with a little bit of purple from my sisters wand, and more blue from mine since I didn't blow any bubbles.

Anyways, pretty cool huh? I thought I'd just share some of the tricks we learned while making our pretty pieces of art.

Powerpuffs save the day!

So I've taken a short break from my quilt to work on a simple dress. A powerpuff girl dress. Yes. I will be dressing as Buttercup. For Radcon. I really wish I had a black corset, because I just feel so unbelievably fat in this dress. Losing 7 pounds this month has not had any visual effect whatsoever. I can only hope in the next 2-3 weeks I will lose more! Haha. I am doing it for a friend though! We started watching Powerpuff Girls on Netflix and they're just really simple. Instead of doing a simple black band around the middle, we sewed the sash to the front and left the back long so that we can tie them into bows. The front of the dress is "modest", trust me it really bothers us to have such a high neckline! I seriously can't stand shirts touching me above the collar bone.

My friend is Blossom and made this amazing and giant hair bow. She just made it out of leftover dress fabric so it's pink instead of red, but it is still simply amazing. I love it and I want one. She said it turned out a lot better than she thought it would.

I'm going to add darts in the front and back of my dress because the sleeves are basically hanging on my shoulders and I'd like them to be closer together. There's definitely room in my dress to be smaller! Although it's not a stretch fabric at all so I shouldn't make it too huggy.

Speaking of losing weight, I believe I'm being more and more better (don't even try to correct that sentence) about food. At the moment I am making beef soup bone broth, using a slow cooker for the first time, and I am also cooking beans. Not canned beans, dried beans! They're really annoying with all the overnight soaking and now cooking for hours, but this is what a good woman does, right? Pre-plan meals? I also made rice, and plan on cooking up some ground beef and also making guacamole, so we can have burritos/tacos probably for lunch/dinner. We don't really eat at regular times, and I try to eat smaller portions while my boyfriend will eat until everything is gone. When I make enchilada's, I make 6 so there's 2 for each of us here. When he decides to eat 2 enchiladas I bitch constantly because he knows he shouldn't eat so much (I stuff them unbelievably full, it's like enchiladas you get at a mexican restaurant) but it's there and he WANTS it even though he already had one! He keeps saying that he's lost weight, and I don't really believe him because he keeps talking about when he's skinny and looks good he wants me to make him all of his clothes but he never bothers working out, he tries to get me to hand him things that are just out of arm's reach from him, but nooo he's losing a pound once in a while so why should he try harder? I'm pretty sure he is losing weight because of my trying harder to make us better food.

Sorry for the rant, but it's starting to get on my nerves! This is something that NEEDS to change and soon, because when I don't think and hand him something that required me to move more than he would have if he got it, that's just ridiculous and sad and pathetic. Sometimes when I say no I won't give him something he will explode saying how his hip will hurt like the old man he is in his early 20s, and that I can't expect him to do it and from now on I'm not going to listen to that bull.

Stop ranting. Stop it. I really needed it, though! I feel loads better. I'm just done being a maid!

Quilt Update!

So I spent 12 hours both today and yesterday, plus some time before that, and I'm still just barely done with half the quilt top! It's crazy, but seeing all the blocks I've made, especially after I've ironed them, is just so awesome. Looking at those crisp, clean lines... It's worth it! My hands and back don't even hurt at all. They were a bit cramped earlier, but I just shook them around a bit and that worked like a charm.

Here's a few pictures, this one is of the fabric choices:

Batik's, a few tie dies, and white. 

This below is the block I'm making. The pattern is called "Bento Box", where you make the same block but can put it in several different patterns for the finished top. Since I have so many colors, I might do one of the more random looking patterns, instead of the more organized ones. My friend is making the same block and her quilt is much more colorful. She is further along than I, and has already started sewing the top together. It's looking AMAZING! I can't wait until mine is finished! 

Bento Box Block

The colors look a bit washed out, I'll have to remember to bring my nice camera to take pictures soon. I love batiks and just can't wait to see what it'll look like all put together! 

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Quilting!

So I mentioned my "big project" on Facebook and forgot to give any details. I asked a few friends if they were interested in starting quilts this year. One is more experienced and has been helping us start ours, and it's proving to be much easier than I thought it would be... Probably because the ironing board is right next to us instead of downstairs, encouraging me to actually iron the fabric!

I choose to go with batiks for my quilt. We're doing a pattern called "Bento Box" that shows you how to make a block that can be arranged into many different patterns. Some don't look like anything to me, and other ones look really cool.

I also am going to start knitting a TON of these Trumpet Flowers for my sisters wedding! They're really pretty, and small. It shouldn't take to long to churn out a bunch, but I've got the time anyways, it seems. I'll need to grab up some needles that size, and matching yarn for the theme, but it shouldn't cost too much except time, which I've got plenty of!

So there's my 2 big projects this year. Yes, a lap sized quilt is a big project for me! I really want it to turn out beautiful. We are zipping through, honestly. I only got most of my fabric today, and I know that I'll end up need more anyways. Especially of the white. When I sew up a few blocks, I'll post a couple of pictures of the blocks so you can see my color scheme. It's mostly batiks, with a couple of tie-dies thrown in that sort of match the batiks.

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Homemade Xmas Gifts

Anyways, so here's some of the things I made for this past xmas. I didn't get a picture of the scarf I made, I liked how it turned out though... Oh well. I knit a lot, and made a few clay things... I wanted to make more clay stuff, but I just ran out of time. 

Here's a headband I made to match a hat that I didn't get a picture of. You can't really see the pattern, but it has rib knit along the edges and in the middle it's broken rib. I think if I make another one, I'll make sure the rib and broken rib don't line up. 

Dice bag! I love the stripes. The white yarn is fuzzy and the green yarn wasn't... But, whatever. We were supposed to fill it with all kinds of dice, but we never got the chance too. 

Back scrubber! This was like knitting a scarf with the smallest needles I've used. Ugh. Took forever. 

This is what took the longest out of the clay projects. I took the box apart in order to stain it all, and I also used sandpaper to make some worn areas. I was planning on adding more clay features, but the clay wouldn't stick to the wood. So, I painted it instead. After I made the dragon! It's the biggest dragon I've made. You can't really see but one eye is open and looking up. I think he turned out adorable! 

This was for my boyfriend's new friend at school. She mentioned how she really liked the unicorns that also had wings (alicorns), so he came home and asked me what they're called so he could tell her their name. Then asked me to make her one for xmas. The last pony I made was butt ugly, so I'm happy this one came out cute! 

Peacock! This is an ornament I made for a friend. I worked really hard to make it more color-accurate, but the beak ended up become much too long and I didn't want to try to make the wings. They'd be really complicated! 

A lizard! This was actually a request, and I had planned on making more desert themed animals but ran out of time. 

Rags. I actually haven't given these to their recipients yet but they know what they are getting anyways. 

Just a hand warmer. I stuffed some jewelry into it as well. 

These were fun! Corset shaped bags! I put hand soap, sewing kits, and jewelry in these. I wanted to put more, but again I ran out of time. 

Here are the sewing kits. Thread, thread cutter, pins, needles, a zipper in one and I think some velcro in the other. They're good to keep in cars for emergencies! 

2014 Goals

So I'm reading lots of posts on blogs and on facebook about people's goals and I have been thinking about my own. I only really have one big, long term goal that I want to get too: A self sufficient farm. There's a lot of smaller goals that go along with that goal, such as learning about raising and then raising all sorts of livestock, as well as gardening, and using the products from the garden and livestock. I'm in the process of learning a LOT right now, but the farm is a long way into my future right now, and I need to focus on smaller, short term goals that will get me to my future farm.

One of the more obvious goals is to get a job. However, I'm letting the job be interchangable with an education. If I can get financial aid this year and go to school, that will allow me to feel like I have a purpose to my life and that I'm being productive. I suffer from depression, and I think it's because I currently don't have anything to do all day. I AM productive, when doing crafts, but as I've said before I am living in a place where most of my crafting supplies don't have the room to be at. That last sentence could have been worded better, but that brings me to my next thing: Without school, or any stimulation, I can literally feel intelligence leaking out of my ears. I have been having trouble spelling, and a lot of trouble figuring out simple math in my head. Addition? Subtraction? I suddenly seem to be amazing at remembering random multiplication facts, but I can just forget about division. I literally missed learning it in school, anyways. So, I would prefer getting into school instead of getting a job, but again, money would be AWESOME.

I also would REALLY like to get a group of my friends to make enough things so by next February we could be a vendor at Radcon. With all of us together, we can make jewelry, knit items, chainmaille items, dice, carbon fiber boxes, plus lots more, so if we all pitch in I think we could make a profit.

I've also been thinking about getting German Angora rabbits. You have to shear them every 90 days, and you can use their fur to make yarn! Plus, they are also good for meat. So, it'd be jumping into the livestock that I'd like, if I started breeding them at least. I have to learn about rabbits still, plus this ties in to the fact that a job would be helping me move into a place where I could keep rabbits. I'm really excited about the idea of the rabbits, so here's what I've decided my goals this year is:

1. Get a job AND into school.
2. Move after accomplishing first goal! 
3. Focus on sell-able crafts. 
4. Get German Angora Rabbits. After moving. 

I honestly think that my life will be vastly improved by the first goal. I'd be doing something. So, that's the one I'll be working on the hardest. 

And of course, I'm an overweight woman, so I'll need to also lose weight for my New Years goal. I've already lost 3 pounds! What are your goals/resolutions this year? Do you think you'll accomplish them? 

No pics until AFTER xmas.

I planned on posting all of these pictures of the things I've been making recently, but then I decided against it because I DO post my blog posts on my blogs Facebook page and I don't want people seeing all these things, deciding they like it, then finding out it was for someone else. So I'll be posting them after xmas.

Meanwhile, I've been working my fingers off knitting. Scarves are always difficult for me, because they seem to take SO long to make. I've saved the hats for last, because they go so much more quickly and feel more satisfying. I knew I'd be burned out by now, and it's only the beginning of December! After all the knitting, I've got clay figures I need to make. One will be rather simple, and the rest I haven't even decided what exactly they'll look like.

So, sorry I haven't been posting, but all I have been doing is knitting, knitting, knitting for xmas. I'll make absolute sure to get pictures of everything before I give it away, because some of the things are nice enough that I wish I could keep them. I cut a lot of people out of my gift list this year (you know, the people I never see and who never give me anything anyways) and some people I won't see until summer, so I can concentrate on those gifts at my leisure. I really wanted to start making things earlier in the year, but I couldn't decide on what I wanted to make, because my gift list was a lot longer. I usually end up making everyone one small thing, and basically mass producing the same thing to give to a lot of people, and most of them time they aren't exactly happy with that. That's the big reason why I cut the list down. The other reason is the fact that I'm sick of giving people shit when they don't return the favor. If it's been a couple of years... You ain't getting anything anymore. Or is it you ain't getting nothing? Apparently "ain't" has been added to the dictionary, so what is the proper way to use it in a sentence? Honestly I think it's an improper word, so if it's an improper sentence, it should be proper. Two impropers make a proper, right?

So, here's a link list of some of the things I'm making, in case any of you guys need ideas:

Corset Shaped Hanging Bag

Graham Knit Hat

Very Plain Knit Hat

Starfish Knit Cloth

Knit Scrubber

Knit Troubador Scarf (I did a variation on this scarf)

Double Knit Soap Sack

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Baby Alligator

I'll hopefully be posting some pictures of xmas crafts soon, but I wanted to share a fun social media thing I just did. I usually don't do these types of things, but I figured, what the heck, it'll be fun. 

A friend posted that she was moving too a new country and I asked if it was true. She then sent me the following: 

"Its not Real! It's a game. You should have never commented or liked my picture. HAHAHA! You fell into the trap. This is a game. The person who likes/comments has to choose one of the following to post as his/her Status, Profile or Cover photo. 1. We eloped! 2. We're getting married.3. We're engaged 4. Wedding bells 5. Engagement ring 6. I'm moving to another country. 7. I'm expecting 8. Ultrasound 9. I just bought a new Ferrari. 10. I just got a pet Alligator. 11. I'm still in love with my ex. 12. I'm in love with a stripper. 13. I'm a stripper on weekends. Make it believable and juicy! Note: You cannot explain anything, just post and leave it up for a few days and INBOX only your victims. I'm also a victim lol"

Well, I didn't want to do any of the marriage type ones, or the ultra sound ones, or the stripper ones, and definitely not the ex one, so that left just a few choices that would definitely sound unbelievable with me posting about them. So, I went the MOST un realistic and tried to make it sound as real as possible. I posted a picture of someone holding a baby alligator and typed (Amiira is our hedgehog):

"Today we found a baby alligator and I guess we're keeping it for the winter. We're keeping him in Amiira's old cage right next to her new one, kinda scary but the room is warm enough. We'll have to get a heat lamp tomorrow. Here's a pic of the little guy."

Believe it or not, within a couple of minutes I already had 2 people ask where I found him. I think I'm just proud of how well I did tricking people! 

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What is the world coming too?

I automatically hit tab and it went from the title to the blog post instead of "publish" or any of the other buttons... THAT was a cool discovery...

I just read a blog post by another woman about how she is sick of children being spoiled rotten and babied. The post reminded me of a specific experience I had in High School.

Several of my teachers used their classes for experiments. One such occasion was when my Government teacher decided to give us 45 minutes in the computer lab to write one single spaced page on a subject. (I cant remember what subject it was.) Most students sat in their seats waiting for more information, and when he didn't give any, finally asked, "What are we supposed to write about?" He just told us to write a page on the subject. Again, the question: "Yes, but what about it?"

This was a normal sized class of 25-30 students and I am positive that I am the only, or at least one of the few students who wrote ANYTHING, much less the full page. I understood. I had no problem just typing for the full 45 minutes of anything I could think of, and making it a coherent report of some sort. All I could hear around me, and indeed I was asked, "What are we supposed to be writing?"

I explained several times that we just had to write whatever we wanted about the subject. Of course people only asked me after surfing the internet for most of the time. I am a fast typist, and I had trouble filling the full page with information in 45 minutes. In fact, most of my time in High School I noticed that when we had the computer lab for the full hour, most people only wrote a sentence or two. I spent my fair share of time NOT doing work in freshmen and sophomore year, but I finished my school work AT SCHOOL and never had to take it home.

A lot of people mention how independent they have grown up to be and how it's a result of being treated like we should be, with spankings and being grounded. I, however, don't remember being spanked. I simply stopped whatever I was doing if I was threatened with a spanking. I was also never grounded by my parents, (different story when I lived with my sister) but I'm sure I could have benefit from being grounded several times. I definitely went through a teenage angst stage. My younger brothers are a million times worse than I ever was, though. I attribute this to the fact that it's my dad raising them instead of my mom. They have selective hearing, are rude, do not stop talking regardless if you are on the phone or doing important work on the computer, they refuse to clean up after themselves, they cannot sit down at a table and eat their food without getting up several times to go back to the tv, which they NEVER turn off even when they finally go to bed. We don't have channels, just a Wii, therefore, Netflix.

Also, the WORST ideas come from my stepmothers family: They gave us the Wii, they gave my oldest younger brother an Iphone, not that it has minutes but it can still take pictures and connect to the internet and download apps. They gave us a leapfrog tablet, which has promptly been destroyed by my retarded brother who gets frustrated beyond belief when he cannot figure things out. (Yes, I call him retarded. He IS retarded, I don't consider it an offensive term.) Which they KNOW that he gets like that, yet they insist on giving these kids things that are making them not want to leave the house EVER. They don't want to go outside when kids come over to ask if he can play, or ride bikes. They are glued to multiple screens. They are no longer allowed on the laptop, since they broke 2 computers before, which turned out to be a good thing. These kids are being allowed and even encouraged to sit around all day. I can watch this happening and know that my generation is the last to be only HALF good. There are kids like me, who were sort of disciplined and took to it, then there are the other kids who were sort of disciplined and decided to forget that.

I'm sad to be a part of this last generation of some good people. I can only hope to give my future children a fighting chance in a world that is both too nice and too mean. There's a surprise at every turn, and whether it's a good thing or a bad thing is half the surprise. I've already lost hope in my brothers.

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