Dishtowels

I have a dishtowel problem - I want to buy every single cute one I see. There is one at JoAnns right now that has an owl on it and I just keep STARING AT IT each time I'm there. I don't need it!

Here is why: We have a drawer next to our oven that is full of dishtowels, and there's a dishtowel annex in the linen closet. Yet I still selfishly desire them ALL for myself! ALL OF THEM!

Another thing about dishtowels - Nick has a few (I'm thinking that you can probably tell which one is his here) and I feel like there should always be a dishtowel to represent each of us out. I don't know why, but ... it just feels right?

Work has been bonkers! I'm training to do custom framing and the work is very different - the materials are heavy and expensive and possibly fragile. People pay a lot of money and leave their precious precious artwork with you! It can be very stressful, but also really interesting. So, that's what I've been up to. I will attempt to post more regularly, but I'm not making promises!

Etsy Shop Update - Steampunk Pins & Red Beans & Rice

I've been working on new stuff for my Etsy Shop. Don't worry, there's more Game of Thrones and Discworld jewelry coming up, but for now, I'm adding some steampunk pins that I'd been building for awhile.


Aeon Steampunk Pin / Pendant - Clock with Eternal Time - Clock Gears
The secret with this design is that I used purse grommets from Joanns for the cool round window.


This Too Shall Pass Steampunk Pin / Pendant
I've found this phrase to be very useful as a reminder that everything changes. For the better and for the worse, just try not to be too mired down in what's going on right now. Also, I'm into hourglasses!


Red Beans and Rice Necklace feat. St. Lawrence
Now that I type it like that, it makes it sound like an awesome rap song out of New Orleans. All you DJ's and spinnas, this is Saint Lawrence! Saint of chefs and librarians! He's about to blow your minds!

Also, last, but definitely not least, here's Nick modeling the Timelord design shirt:

He's decided to reclaim the shirt for sure - which I think of as a success in experimentation! I'm going to have to try some interesting techniques out on other shirts.

Speaking of food jewelry (which I was a paragraph or two ago) - there were these ceramic life-sized peanut beads at the bead store in Panama City and I didn't get them. I can't decide if I regret this or not yet.

Dr. Who Dress Shirt

There were shirts Nick was getting rid of and I kept them in order to experiment on them. I did a combination of different modifications on this one:
- Bleach pen for the white circle
- Wintergreen transfer for the initial Timelord design
- Fabric pen for the larger Timelord design


I meant to get Nick to model this shirt before he went to work this morning, but I forgot. I might start doing stuff like this to dress shirts and selling them. I think that Nick might be reclaiming this one though :).

Does anyone have a request? I'm thinking of doing some more Dr. Who Timelord designs as well as some Valar Morghulis/Game of Thrones dress shirts (there really aren't that many cool dress shirts that are also geeky, what the heck?)

Bleach pens are Awesome!

Drawing Begins with Bleach Pen
Yesterday I broke out my Clorox Bleach Pen (from Target) and got to work finally doing some bleach drawing. I had a lot of fun doing this, and it was so easy that I worry for all the rest of my tshirts now.


Letting the Bleach Sit and Bleach
Essentially, I just put some wax paper in the shirt (to keep the bleach from bleeding through) then I drew whatever I wanted on the shirt (in this case, circuitboard design). I kept watch over it while it developed/bleached/verbed. It only took about 15 minutes total for this shirt, since I've washed and worn it several times. I checked the development by looking on the inside of the shirt and seeing how the inside of the bleachening looked.

Once it got to the point where I was happy with the color, I just rinsed it out in the sink, then washed it in the washer. I dried it and it's done. It doesn't even smell like bleach, and I don't have to worry about it getting washed with other things, since I rinsed and washed it.


Unbleached and Bleached
The pink color was a happy accident - I had no idea what color this would bleach to. For me, it's not the design that's an issue, but finding tshirts that I actually like and fit. I bought two of these at H&M so I could do a design on one of them, and then be okay if I messed it up and have a bonus shirt. Planning!

So, this is so dang easy! I actually checked a few tutorials online, just to make sure I wasn't doing something crazy, and here's my favorite (in case this isn't enough to nudge you into experimenting):
- I am Momma, Hear me Roar Bleach Pen Tutorial

Crappy Closeup!

I encourage you to try it out! Or not, you know, whatever. I'm working on some more shirts and combining a few different techniques, so we'll see how that turns out (hopefully tomorrow). Until then, <3!

CBLDF Tshirt Modification

My first pass at re-sewing a tshirt that was too big but had a cool design on it turned out okay.
Parts I liked:
- Pattern directions were relatively simple and made sense
- The overall shirt I made it kind of cool

Parts I didn't like:
- I used two different shirts to make the front and it shows
- The neckline is behaving oddly, and I think it's because I finished it with a zig-zag stitch, which stretched it out
- I only took REALLY crappy pictures of the entire project - sorry!

Here's the Large CBLDF tshirt beforehand, with the pattern:


I really wanted to take that centered design and have it going down the left side of the shirt, which mean that instead of one large front piece, I had to make two smaller front pieces and sew them together. Which I did out of this shirt, and another black tshirt, that doesn't *exactly* match up. It's probably not too obvious to other people. I did it *on purpose*, right?

Finished project:


For a first shirt, this isn't so bad. Especially since I instantly begin modifying things to fit my own liking (splitting the front piece). I can't wait to make the next one out of some more tshirts I have (some are Nick's old shirts). I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of black tops in the near future!

Today, though, I'm going to be playing with bleach pens, so I'll be posting the results of that tomorrow!

Five Things I Hate In the Morning:

1. Chewing - I clench my jaw in my sleep, plus crunchy stuff is LOUD
2. Talking on the Phone - I'm kind of bleary/moronic until an hour or so after I've been awake
3. Talk Radio - I can't talk back and tell them to BE QUIET or SMARTER
4. Heavy Perfume / Cologne - Barf
5. Dehydration - The first thing I want when I wake up - two glasses of water

Oddly enough, I like Nyan Cat in the morning, which you would think would be too much - but it's not. It's just enough.

IKEA and New Job

I'm adjusting to the hours at my new job that I spend every day. Currently, the job is biting into my crafting and making stuff time, but not my watching Wizard of Waverly Place and eatinh-half-a-cake-in-one-go time. This needs to change! Otherwise, this blog is just going to turn into pictures of half eaten cakes. EXAMPLE:

Hey everybody! This is what I did last night!


Over the weekend I went to IKEA and it's still just like a magical place to me. Everything is so neat looking and low-priced! Here's some magical pictures:

FLOATING BOXES!


MAGIC INVISIBLE WINE!


FOOD GARAGE!


NARNIA!!


New job details: I work part-time at Jerry's Artarama, an awesome local art supply store.

Dr. Sketchy's - Tie Me to the Tracks Sketches

Last night's Dr. Sketchy's was not exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed it anyway. I expected more Dudley Do Right and probably less bondage, but overall, the models were good, I got some drawing practice, and I came away with some relatively SFW sketches I can show you.

I managed to bring a full sketchbook, so I had to find pages with open space to draw in, hence some of the more random doodles accompanying these. There were no teddy bears floating in the background or hovercrafts!





Also, remember that crochet tutorial I was nuts about? I've made a few things out of it - here's a preview of a green seaweedy necklace I'm pretty pleased with:

I think it looks like seaweed and I kind of love it. I think I'm going to make a purple one next!

Friday Find (on Thursday): WingedLion on Etsy

I am just entranced by the jewelry and printmaking designs in Winged Lion's shop on etsy. The jewelry is gorgeous and ornate and original, and the linocut prints are THE SAME!

The Winged Lion shop is shared by an extremely artistic family (Natalia, Sergey, and their teenage son Lev) living near Charlotte, NC. They have so much variety but awesomeness!

I'm going to start with the linocuts - these prints are amazing, and it makes me want to own them, but simultaneously, be the person who created them. Since we've had a lot of medieval stuff with the Game of Thrones theme, I figured I'd pick this knight one to show you:
Victory Knight by Lev (he's 17! Annoyingly gifted at 17!)

Trying On Hats Linocut

They have a lot of rings that I want, even though they are way out of my league in terms of price at the moment, but still, I call dibs on the Enchanted Princess one! DIBS I SAY! It's so gorgeous! And I've never even heard of a white sapphire before, but gorgeous.

Enchanted Princess Ring

I love flower rings, and this one is just intricate and I can't really find anything about it I don't like, except possibly the size (it may be a bit big on me, you know, when I purchase it as well as the other one HA HA HA).
Blooming Thistle Ring

I switched Friday Finds to Thursday because I'm going to Dr. Sketchy's tonight and plan to have ridiculous drawings to show you tomorrow. Unless I chicken out, and then you'll get a sewing update!

Game of Thrones Jewelry Etsy Shop Refill!

I know you've all been desperately wondering what weird jewelry stuff I would put together for my Game of Thrones jewelry series next. I mean... maybe you haven't. Maybe you've moved on to watching True Blood - ANYWAY - here's some more Game of Thrones / Song of Ice and Fire jewelry. I really love these two pieces.


Dark Wings, Dark Words Necklace
(Though every time I type "Dark Wings" I have a hard time not thinking of Darkwing Duck)


Saltwife Necklace Hhehe, the Greyjoys. I had fun writing the descriptions for these.

Here's some other summery necklaces I made that I think turned out quite pretty:

Sea Nymph Shell Necklace - Nereid of the Aegean Sea Necklace



Moonlit Dewdrops Necklace

Available in my shop futuregirl.etsy.com.

Halloween in June - Decorating!

I helped decorate for an Undead Birthday party over the weekend, so here's some of the decorations:



Why the human torso? I don't know, but it looked cool!



Most of these were put together by Ruth, but I think they're great:
Jell-o Brain with oreo dirt and gummi worms, Zombie Fingers (Snapea Crisps), and on the three tier: Worms, Gravestone cookies, and Coffin sandwiches!

And here's a picture of me as a mummy, so you know that I dressed up:

McCall's Pattern Sale at JoAnn's!

McCall's patterns are on sale at JoAnn's for $1.99. Of course, they go on sale for $0.99 next weekend (for the 4th of July) but by then I, and other's like me, may have gone through and bought all the cool ones!

Limit 10, so I bought 8 of shirts and dresses made out of knits:

I *really* want to use up all this t-shirt fabric! There will (hopefully) be more stuffed animals and outfits in the future from them!

Also, I bought these two, which don't go together, but they are the outliers:

I hate trying to find leggings that are the right length for me - and in interesting colors. I mean, yes, I could buy them over at welovecolors.com, but they're $15 each and I'm cheap! Also, I love that style of skirt, and in theory it's really easy to do, right? I have no idea, which is why I bought a pattern.

So yes, SEWING!

Friday Finds / Tutorial! Crocheted Necklace Video

This week has been sort of an off week for me, in case you couldn't tell from the lack of random craftsplosion that you usually get on here.

One thing I've found and I think is very satisfying is crocheting with beads - but not actually crocheting, just repeating one tiny slip stitch over and over.

Here's a fantastic video tutorial I've been using as a reference: it's for creating a multi-strand crocheted bead necklace.

It was based on the fact that I've been cleaning out my beads and jewelry supplies - I've found lots of beads that I like, but really don't know what to do with. I was looking on etsy for ideas and I found this:

Crystal garden series crocheted bracelet by SidneyAnne

I love it! Nick says it looks like a magpies nest, but in a good way, which is exactly what I like about it! Anyway, I've been working on just doing black thread with black beads for now to get a feel for it. It's super fun, and kind of relaxing. I think I have a new craft to bring to Craft Night!

Also - I was watching an episode of Robin Hood where Richard Armitage kept taking his shirt off *for no reason* (well, except ratings, I suppose) and I accidentally made a strand 6" longer than the others because I was so distracted. I feel silly.

Maker Faire NC 2011

I went to Maker Faire NC over the weekend and it was awesome! Though a little crowded.

This year was much bigger, but I think it still has a lot of potential to get bigger and bigger each year. There was everything, from lace tatting to robotics, quilting to hacking, and there were so many people!

Here's some pictures:



Several people I know, including Kelly Farrow and Joei Reed, were running a booth called "T-cycle" where you could buy a t-shirt for $5 and mod it right there - they had sewing machines, a serger, and all kinds of supplies and books for changing your t-shirt into something cool (which I'm all about).


The entire Maker Faire was humming and buzzing while we were there - so many activities and cool places - The Scrap Exchange, TechShop RDU, Bull City Craft, Spoonflower - I can't even list them all. I wish Maker Faire had been around when I was a kid - I don't know where else I would have learned about modern quilting and robotics right next to each other!

I'm thinking of getting a booth next year and making a million stuffed animals from t-shirts and having them for sale. I'm not entirely sure what kind of activity I might have at my booth though - any ideas?

Friday Finds: Cupcake Land

What if you lived in a world where everything was made of cupcakes? Would you still think of them as delicious?

What if your dog looked like a cupcake?


And your soap?


And your crayons?


And all your doorknobs!?


And your hats?


And your, err...


And what if Daleks were all "EXTERMINATE this cupcake for me, would you?"


Would it drive you crazy? Would you have terrible colorful foam running from your mouth from alternating between eating the crayons and the soap?

Thank goodness we're safe... for now.

Dog Cupcake Hat by Sweet hoots, Strawberry Champagne Cupcake Soap by Virginia Soaps and Scents, Crayon Cupcakes by zeebree, Cupcake Doorknobs by shimrita, Cupcake Hats by yeahsurewhatever, Two Giant Fake Cupcakes by 12LegsCuriosities, and EXTERMICAKE by anilineblack.