I'm sorry, but this entry has absolutely nothing to do with crafting. Instead, it is a recap of an awesome dream last night. It was such a cool story, I thought I had to write it down. Unfortunately, I have no where else to "publish" this. I'm not even sure it warrants "publishing," but whatever - it's my blog. Read if you want, if not - keep on keepin' on....
The dream begins joining a story already in progress: It's around the 19th Century, probably in some part of Paris - somewhere dreary with winding, narrow cobblestone streets and dark corners, perfect for vampire mischievousness.... More on that later on.
In this dream, I am playing the role of a random woman that Lestat has chosen to keep captive for whatever reason. No one has fed from me [yet] and he has no intention of killing me [yet]. I guess you could say I was more like the hired mistress of the house, though there certainly was no payment and I was NOT free to leave upon my choosing. I cannot vividly remember Lestat as I do most of the other details, though I do believe he is in fact Tom Cruise as he was in the movie. In my dream, Lestat lived in an extravagantly decorated, fairly large house, much like the one from the movie - not the Colonial one in Louisiana, but the one before that in where he, Louis, and their "child" Claudia live. In this story there is no Claudia. Perhaps that is why I am in the dream - I replace Claudia's role as the extra torment for Louis. Ah, Louis. Louis is as he was in the movie, more or less, except for one major detail: instead of Brad Pitt, my Louis is played by none other than Alexander Skarsgard! I believe he is actually portraying Eric Northman, too, though I cannot be certain. I don't even remember if he is actually called Louis or Eric, but for the sake of this recap, let's continue to call him Louis.
Louis seems as he was in the movie: tormented about his new role in life - vampire. He cannot bring himself to drink from humans, as though he is loyal to Lestat, he hates him. Lestat is over-indulgent and has no value on human life, and Louis resents him for throwing him into this lifestyle. In my dream, we are already situated as a household: Lestat and his victims, and Louis and.... me. Louis loves me, but I am angry at the vampires and hesitate to explore my feelings for him. I am more of a companion for Louis, and a play-thing for Lestat, though as I said - neither have yet to drink from, though Lestat certainly threatens to often.
I remember sitting and having a conversation with Louis - He is remorseful and sad, and because of this I feel sorry for him... and maybe a little more than that. Louis softly asks me to try and forgive him, and maybe one day I could bring myself to love him. That seems to be all he wants in life - not to be feared as vampire, but loved as a man.
Throughout the dream, there are little events. For instance, Lestat bringing humans in and toying with them before he drains them: the humans acting as prey, running around the giant house trying to flee and hide from Lestat, their predator. When the hunt was on, I found I would have to run and hide too, else Lestat in his blood-lust might decide just to snack on me. Eventually, Lestat turns his attentions to me permanently - probably because Louis refuses to become just like him, and seems more affectionate to me rather than him. And so, Louis finds he must wage a personal uprising against Lestat, but to do that he needs more strength: whatever he is feeding off of is not human, and thus it makes him weaker than the already stronger Lestat.
Louis and I dash off in to town under, running through the dark, twisted corners to find some poor soul for Louis to feed from. The only candidate we find is a younger girl, dressed to the nines. He convinces her to come with him into a dark little stairwell where he proceeds to feed from her. I keep watch, for several people, albeit men with a different kind of deviant nature, have noticed our strange behaviour. I turn around to make sure Louis does not drain the girl to death. Then we make a dash back to the mansion, only to find the streets eerily empty. The few people we do see appear to be more zombie than human: they are pale and frozen in motion with nothing but the blood flowing down their upright bodies. We know something strange is happening....
This is where the plot gets a little hazy, I'm afraid. Instead of witnessing the dream through my own eyes, I am viewing as though watching a movie. Louis comes home to find Lestat cradling a corpse on the couch. His back is turned as Louis finds me - and this is where it gets ridiculous - as a lamp. Yes, I know - I said it was ridiculous! It turns out that Lestat has waged his own war on the entire town, because he was afraid they were catching on to them. He says they must flee, but Louis refuses to go. He is at my side as we are both crying - I profess my love for him and ask him to turn me so we might be together forever. Louis hesitates but then bares my neck and his fangs. However, Lestat stops him and tells Louis that I must die along with the other citizens - we are all to be burned so that it looks like a horrific accident. As Louis screams in protest, and we both sit there crying - I wake up.
I'm back!
After being absent for a very, very long time, I present my latest finished project:
It's a little wooden cupboard that I've re-finished as a house-warming present for my mum! Yes, it's Cinderella's Castle from Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom - she's slightly Disney obsessed ;P I have three of these cupboards and I plan on doing each park icon. The next one shall be the most important - Disney's Animal Kingdom, where both my mum and I work! [Notice what's on the television behind the cupboard? hehe FIFA FEVER!!! COME ON, ENGLAND!] *Ahem*
It's taken me a LOT longer than I originally planned, as I wanted to have it ready as a surprise for mum when she moved into her new place at the beginning of June. However, I severely under-estimated how difficult it would be! It took three coats of primer alone! Why? Because THIS is what it looked like when I got my hands on it:
Drawing it up proved to be a MAJOR pain in the butt. I used both a real photo of the castle and a children's colouring book image for line reference.... Unforunately, the children's colouring book image was slightly off from what the castle actually looked like, so I discovered about half-way through drawing the lines [in pencil, thankfully] that everything was just slightly off. Needles to say I killed my pencil's eraser. [I discovered it AGAIN when I actually started painting the lines.... grumble....]
So, I primed it, drew it, painted on the black lines, painted in the blue, painted in the grey - both of which took several layers, then painted in the detail work [bricks, flags, etc], then went back over with black to clean the lines up. I had such a hard time painting a straight line I almost threw this project away. The new medication I am on make my hands shake really, really bad, so there was a LOT of cursing and clean up to do. But now, the behemoth is finally finished!
Overall, I'm somewhat happy with it. There are a lot of fudge-ups so of course that's all I see when I look at it - that, and my shaky, shaky lines. BUT, Mum loves it so that's all that matters... as long as she's telling me the truth, haha.
And now, on to the rest of the photos:
I finished and sent off all the things I made for my partner in our World of Warcraft Swap. I sent off late Wednesday afternoon and MUCH to our surprise it arrived in Sweden on Monday morning! Holy crow, that's fast!
After seeing some of the other packages in the swap gallery, I was starting to feel VERY anxious that I didn't make enough stuff, but my partner insist her fiancee is happy with everything so hopefully she's not just being nice ;)
Anyway, now that she's received I can post what I made here!
First, I painted one of those cardboard book boxes. I tried my best to make it look like a rugged leather book - something that you might actually find in the halls of Orgrimmar. The idea was to make it Thrall's [the leader of the Orcs in Orgrimmar] little secret box.
In fan lore, it's believed he is "very close" with a Human leader named Jaina Proudmoore, so I stuffed the book with goodies from Disney and made it seem like they were sent to Thrall from Jaina on her trip to Walt Disney World.
I even made her send him a postcard.
Ok, ok, ok. I'll stop procrastinating and blog a little about the bag and show you how it turned out. But, because I'm a.) lazy, b.) troubled, c.) busy, and most of all d.) anxious to start gorging on the Girl Scout Cookies in the kitchen, I'm just pasting in what I wrote about it on Craftster.org. I added a little on the end... 'cause... well I was just trying to be cool and polite, so I didn't include much ranting. Fortunately, this is MY blog, so I can rant here! MWUAHAHAHAHA!
"A good friend of mine, and follower of the Church of the SubGenius practically BEGGED me once he found out I had a pattern for their icon, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs. He didn't care what, he just wanted something! I wasn't prepared to devote myself to making an entire sweater, so I just made a bag... a huge, oddly oblong bag.
The pattern came from the Domiknitrix book, which you can find more about here: http://www.domiknitrix.com
It was the first time I had tried knitting an image and the first time using multiple strands of different colour yarn... and it just might be the last. hahaha. In all seriousness, I'm glad I did it. I proved to myself I COULD, and know I have that knowledge under my belt.
Since it was the first time I was attempting translating and knitting an image, I wasn't even going to try and adjust the size... The original size being intended for a man's sweater. So, it was HUGE, took [what seemed like] forever, and made for a VERY odd shape. In hind-sight [which of course is always crystal clear], I should have just added more stitches to the sides and just embraced a MASSIVE, but proportionate bag.
The other thing I will never, EVER do again is use a sewing machine to sew something that took me weeks to knit. I just can't stand the pressure! My machine [Betsy] decided to have a hissy fit THE.SECOND. I started sewing the lining to my knit piece. I froze. I cried. I CONQUERED!
(back, after sewing up side seams)
BUT! I finally finished it! It's not perfect, but all things considered.... *pats self on back*
(I swear the top edging isn't as wonky as it looks)
(I added some pocket-age)
There you have it! Whatcha' think then??"
Some things I didn't mention in my Craftster post:
- I over-ironed the son-of-a-bitch. Bob, that is. I was trying to iron out the edges because they were of course curling under, as knitting does, but I over did it up by Bob's face and it came out all wonky. I kind of fixed it by sort of rubbing it back into shape with hot water.
- The comments I got on the post were quite sweet - things like, "Wow you're brave;" "Kudos, I would never try anything like that;" [both of which in knitting terms I think mean "what in the hell made you think you could do THAT?!"] "looks great;" and my personal favourite "Epic." Haha.
- And most important, let me reiterate : NEVER.AGAIN. Seriously, if anyone ever hears me say I'm going to start knitting something that has to be sewn, PUNCH ME. PUNCH ME HARD. I will never ever EVER again try to sew something with a sewing maching that took me DAYS to knit. It's nerve wracking. I almost died. Ok, so I'm exaggerating, but BETSY [my sewing machine] almost died!
I mailed off this bad boy on.... erm.... uh.... Tuesday? Crap, I can't remember. Anyway, he should have it by now. No word yet though. I swear to God.... if the mail loses it.... BEWARE.
Alright well, time for an update!
The relief that came from the emergency room visit and associated meds did NOT last. I went to my regular doctor, came out with a new load of meds, and still no real relief. He gave me a referral to a specialist, and I'm anxious to call and make an appointment. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time it's just an annoying ache. Other times it makes me want to cut my own head off. By the way, the day I went to visit my doctor, I developed a cold! So for about a week I was snotty, sneezy, heavily medicated, and just generally feeling shitty.
My doctor ordered me to get blood work. Did I mention that not only am I afraid of needles, but DEATHLY afraid of blood? It's a big deal, but, I am resolved to feel better, so I went. I had to fast from 9pm the night before until the time of my blood test, which I was aiming to be at about 10am. My body, as usual, had other plans. As it turns out, taking all of my meds and the usual ibuprofen and not having anything to eat for almost 12 hours does not work well, so at 7am-ish I woke up.... and threw up. I'm sure you all know what it feels like to throw up when you don't actually have any food in your stomach, so I won't go in to any more detail. So I threw on some clothes and off we went to the hospital for my blood test. You can imagine how awful I felt, from not only being physically ill, but also FREAKING OUT about the blood test. I was in and out much quicker than anticipated, but that doesn't mean it went well. It didn't go terribly, but I did get real ill and violently shaky. However, staying conscious is an achievement in my book, so all things considered it went ok. The nurse was amazing, also - she even got the needle in in ONE GO! Normally it takes them three of four tries! Unfortunately, afterward I was still extremely nauseas. I couldn't fathom the idea of eating anything and not even toast could help me through. I ended up finally falling asleep on the couch, and when I woke up a couple hours later I felt much better.
Needless to say, it has been a REALLY ROUGH couple of weeks. That said, somehow I did manage to get the Bob bag FINISHED and sent off AND finished two items for the Warcraft swap! I'll post about the Bob bag later.... I PROMISE this will get back to being a craft blog as soon as I get back to feeling like a crafty human being and less like a trampled pin cushion :(
Since I posted yesterday about what was presumed to be TMJ, there has been a development. And no, this post has nothing to do with crafting.
Right after I finished writing my last entry, I had some cereal, and ended up in agony. My husband has been trying to get me to go to the hospital for a while now, and since I was in so much pain yesterday, I gave in. He left work early to come home and pick me up. We got to the Celebration Hospital around 3:30pm, and at 6:00pm I was finally seen. The Doctor gave me a little look and decided it was in fact TMJ. He ordered an injection of steroids, a course of steroid pills, pain relievers, and muscle relaxers. The shot idea had me panicing, and the doctor feeling around made my jaw feel INCREDIBLY painful, so I was being a big crying baby. Then the nurse came in, gave me the shot in my bum, and I was still a crying baby... because I'm deathly afraid of needles and I was feeling very very faint. Eventually I got myself together enough to walk out, ALMOST passed out on the way to the waiting room, and sat my sore butt down while my hubby sorted out the financials. My signature after shots is to gently slip out of consciousness whilst in the waiting room, but my jaw [and butt] were so painful, and I was so shaky, that I managed to avoid it.
On the way home we stopped by Target to fill all my prescriptions. By then my jaw was almost COMPLETELY painless! I cannot even describe what relief that was. I was literally getting to the point where I would look of photographs from earlier and I could not remember what it felt like NOT to be in pain all day everyday. Now, I'm just mad at myself for not listening to my husband and going to the hospital sooner.
I took the muscle relaxer before bed, as instructed, and I am very pleased to say that I slept the entire night through... for eleven hours!!! I cannot even remember the last time I slept through the night. I'm amazed. Doc said to take it easy today, so that's what I'll do! I'm not sure if I can knit, because in the past that did contribute to my jaw pain, but we'll see. It's a great excuse to cuddle up on the couch and watch Turner Class Movies all day! So far today I feel a little pressure, but relatively no pain, and I'm assuming that as I go through this steroid treatment, the pressure [caused by the inflammation] will go away. Gosh, I hope this lasts. Now I know what to do the SECOND it comes back next time.
Epic news, people - I have finished knitting the giant monstrosity known as the Bob Bag! I am now knitting the strap, which is obviously a breeze.... but still VERY boring. *sigh* It's almost over!
However, I have been stricken with an illness that is keeping me from being terribly productive. I don't know what it is - At first I thought it was a cold, maybe allergies, and now I'm thinking it's just plain old T.M.J. I've been struggling with this for about two or three years now, on and off, but usually it's at it's worst this time of year. It's horrible. All day, every day. No sleep. Sooooo many pills. And I'm gaining weight like crazy because I can't take all these pills on empty stomach. Picture it: it's like five o'clock in the morning, I'm in agony, I need to take pills, so I grab something quick and carb-y [meaning fattening]. Ugh. It's insult to injury, really.
Anyway, despite all of this I did manage to bake my butt off yesterday. My husband and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead, we celebrate our relationship on February 13th. He made me heart-shaped pink pancakes [raspberry and chocolate chip] for breakfast in bed, took me shopping, and then we went out for a really nice Indian dinner. It was great. I wanted to do something kinda special for him, so I spent all day in the kitchen. Don't let anyone tell you any different - the way to a man's heart IS through his stomach. Let's face it - besides expensive gadgets, they don't really care about anything else, haha.
I made white and pink white chocolate drizzled brownie biscotti, which is one of my favourite things to make these days. And for the first time ever, I made flan. BUTTERSCOTCH flan, which is my hubbies favourite sticky goodness. I had two little heart-shaped ramekins, for an added touch of cuteness. And finally - a heart shaped pizza! It was semi-homemade: I bought the dough from the grocery store and rolled it out into it's heart shape, then PILED on the cheese, hehe. Hubs brought home some wine, I put the flowers he gave me on the table, and it turned into quite a cute dinner!
Unfortunately for me, all the tension of baking [haha] really did a number on my jaw so I was in agony by the time I was eating. The wine helped, but the benadryl.... oh yeah. I was feelin' good! ...For like an hour. *sigh*
Picture Time:
Butterscotch Flan
As for what I'm working on... yup, you've guessed it - The Bob Bag [still]! I know, I know, it's taking me forever and you're sick of hearing about it! Trust me, I'm sick of knitting it! haha. I've just been rather busy and/or distracted lately, and haven't really had a chance to sit and knit. I PROMISE I'll be done soon! I have to be, anyway!
I also signed up to make a couple of items for a Celebrity Gift Basket that will be placed in their greenroom at the TwiCon in Las Vegas! I couldn't resist! There are going to be stars from Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and [wait for it...] TRUE BLOOD! *dies* Sam wearing something I made him!? *dies again* Plan is to paint a leather cuff and/or leather wallet.... Don't know what I'll paint on said leather items, but I thought that's what those kind of men might like. Can you see Peter Facinelli tweeting a picture of his new wallet - painted by yours truly?! No, I can't either - but a girl can dream!
I love having a deadline. Sure, I freak out about it for a good long while, but I always get it done in time. Having a deadline keeps me from stalling [*ahem*Bob Bag*ahem*]. The guilt of not being productive usually weighs so heavily on me that I could never just waste away on the couch watching soaps. Not that I do anyway. Maybe I should say "...farming away in War Craft." Oh God, I am so horribly addicted!
Besides stalling on my knitting, signing myself up into a couple different projects, creating a "musical listening experience" mix CD for my BFF, and spending hours fishing in War Craft to get a rare Sea Turtle mount [you heard me], I have also been working hard to get myself back on track! As in, a life path, or whatever you want to call it. I have gathered the information on what I need to apply for Financial Aid so that I can get back in to school and finish getting my Bachelor's in Fine Art [I'm three years into it]. For the longest time I have felt resentful at the art school establishment and was seriously rethinking my major, but a week or so ago it all just CLICKED.
... So yeah, there's that.
Since my last post, I have parted ways with Facebook. Kinda. I use to spend waaaaay too much time on there, so I cut myself off. I only log on once a day, if that, for a quick check of certain peoples' updates. I don't comment, I don't do status updates, I don't "share" things anymore. I've also deleted the Facebook app from my Blackberry, and it's VERY liberating! If I do feel the absolute desire to send a little quip into the world wide web, I use Twitter, which limits me to like 140 characters. And, no one reads or responds to it, so it works well.
Apparently my husband, who was the first to suggest I leave Facebook, has notice quite a difference in me. I do feel less obsessive compulsive about it. I also feel less regected, as stupid as that sounds. I mean, I had like 175 friends on my Facebook, but whenever I posted something I go little to no response. Like Drew Barrymore's character in He's Just Not That Into You: "Now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." I am a very much introverted person, but when it came to Facebook and all forms of social networking, I am an extrovert. I have no idea why. I suppose it's the same reason I write this blog. I know no one cares, but I feel like I have something to say, and being that I am so painfully shy, I never get an opportunity to say these things out loud.
I have been abandoning popular websites for a while now. Around 2003-ish, my friends and I were posting all over LiveJournal. Same story there: Me writing way too much and WAY too much drama developing. So, I jumped ship for Myspace at a friends recommendation. Rinse and Repeat. Myspace was getting out of control! So, I retreated to Facebook [around 2006/2007], which at the time was for college students only, so it was nice to go somewhere simple and quiet to connect with old school mates. Then they went public, and I thought it was SO awesome that all my current friends were leaving Myspace and joining me in my new world. And now, with all that's going on in the world, I can no longer stand the negativity that overwhelms my "Friends List." Sometimes Twitter makes me feeling like I'm shouting in to a HUGE mob of people yelling a lot louder than me, but I think that might be better for me, to keep me from getting obsessed. Really, I just use Twitter to follow Dita Von Teese, Michael Sheen, and Peter Facinelli. I think it's fascinating! I mean come on, Dita tweeting a photo of her ironing in her Paris apartment, which just happens to have a french door balcony looking out onto the Eiffel Tower?!
SO! Instead of me smearing my personal business all over the internet [with the exception of this blog post], my husband treated me by taking me to Books a Million and pick out a pretty journal! I got this cute little red one with the old British Propaganda slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" on it. We thought it was appropriate as well as being perfectly "me." I also got a FABULOUS bookmark to keep my place in it. Why is it fabulous, you ask? Because it has a picture of a zombie, a pile of yarn, and says "Zombies are crap at knitting." *pause for laughter* It makes me smile every time I open my journal. That right there is a step in the right direction. Any time I need to talk about something that doesn't belong anywhere public, it's going in this journal. I feel better already!
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple snapshots from the spontaneous and goofy photoshoot that started whilst shopping in Michaels:
This Bob Bag sure is going slooowwwwww! I've just started on his mouth, and all I have to say is this: I will never EVER work with polyester yarn again! I got it because it was not only the cheapest, but also the sturdiest yarn to use for a big project that's not going to be worn but suffer a fair amount of physical abuse... ICK! I can barely stand to touch it at this point.
Not only do I have a growing animosity towards this particular knitting project, but there is another project I'm anxious to get started on - a *gasp* PERSONAL project! I want to do some painting on a big canvas. I've got an idea in mind, and I'm just excited to get going on it. Also, my plan is to lose weight and reward myself with a new homemade dress... in my favourite colour - deep purple!
Personal projects aside, I've also got aspirations and new ideas for my etsy store. And maybe, just MAYBE, even open another store just for the scrub caps I sew, and perhaps some other bits 'n bobs. *shrug* We'll see... Basically what all this means is that I need to go to Michael's and stock on supplies! w00t!
By the way, if you're looking for something totally cute and unique and/or feel like treating yourself, check out this etsy store, Hearts for Haiti, where all sorts of wonderful etsy sellers have donated items to sell with 100% of profits going to Doctors Without Borders to aid them in their work with Haiti! So far they have raised OVER $12,000, which I think is just AMAZING!!!!
You see, I have never knitted anything from a picture pattern. Mine are always written out [including the only time I used a picture pattern in the past, when I was just learning how to knit, and my awesome mother wrote the whole pattern out for me], but this time I realized I couldn't just wing it, so I sat down to write the pattern out myself. That's only part of the battle, too. I still have to think while I'm knitting because of the multiple colours and multiple strands of said colours. Yes, I said multiple strands.
This is not only my first experience with what is called "intarsia" knitting, but also "fair isle" knitting, and it's just about as complicated as you can get, unless your Scandinavian and fancy knitting yourself one of those gorgeous sweaters. While I am only knitting with three colours, I have five strands yarn going. It's my own, personal mutation of several knitting methods, I guess! Like I said, I'm not going by any pattern here, just the gridded picture from this awesome book by the amazing domiknitrix, so I don't really know if I've done something wrong until after I've continued to knit and I come across a deformity.
Pfft. As if it were cold enough in Central Florida to warrant hibernation. Well, actually, it kinda is. Brace yourselves readers, this might shock you - We have SNOW in our forecast. Please, please - simmer down! Any Northern readers will no doubt be, at this moment, snorting at my use of the word snow. No, we won't be getting anything that will actually stick to the ground, but still - Doesn't the fact that there will be actual, real-life SNOWFLAKES falling down from the sky in FLORIDA deserve some attention? What was that nonsense about Global Warming? Nahhhh. It's just a conspiracy... Keep calm and carry on.
[Editing Note: I woke up at 5am to sleet against my window, so I walked outside to investigate and THIS is what I saw - Yes, the sleet was collecting on my plants and forming a snow-like appearance!]
Anyway. The purpose of this post may not be entirely to inform you of my latest crafting adventures... I know, I'm sorry. Well, it's just that, you know - with the holidays and all - I've not really done much... as in, I've done a fat load of NOTHING but get fatter! Ok, so that's not ENTIRELY true....
Right before Christmas, the always wonderful Miss Kelly came to me for more scrub caps... with some Christmas themed fabric. So, I spent a couple of days frantically trying to get those done for her to actually wear in time for Christmas. I finished those just in time to begin the mad bake-off for Christmas. I made Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough truffles, which tasted remarkably like cookie dough, despite not actually being made from cookie dough. [One more time for good measure: "cookie dough."] That's right - safe to devour without the risk of the nasties that come along with consuming raw egg! All there was to worry about was caloric intake, but since we all know that calories don't actually exist during Christmas, we were all free to gorge ourselves. They ended up being little festively bagged favours placed at everyone's table setting.
The other brand new, never attempted, edible crafting I did was to make biscotti! I wanted to make something that I could actually finish the night before Christmas, but that we could eat on Christmas morning [you know, before we broke into our stockings and started on the chocolate]. First of all, I have to admit that the author of this recipe [Biscotti with Cranberry and Almonds, dipped in White Chocolate] was none other than that HORRIBLE "Everyday Italian" Giada woman from the Food Network. Oh, how I loathe her! Her and her huge, toothy white smile and over-Italian-pronunciation. Blech! So whilst I secretly hoped that the recipe was horrible and icky, alas, it was delicious and simple. GRANTED, she tried to over complicate it with her usual, so-called "only the best" ingredients. Pfft. Maybe if I was married to a wealthy business man and had my own tv show on the Food Network I could afford to use only THE BEST white chocolate and FRESH dried, chopped cranberries - but then again, if I was, you wouldn't be reading this blog now, would you? And we all know how much you love reading this blog, so there you go! Anyway, despite her annoying me to death, even on paper, the damn stuff was delicious and I didn't burn the house down. I even bought a cute little glass tree shaped jar from - aw crap, caught again - WALMART to store them in! 'Tis the season to sell your soul for convenience.
So, where does that leave us - ah yes, Christmas day was a food-induced coma.... as was Boxing day... I honestly don't remember when my memory came back... So let's just write the whole week after Christmas off, shall we? I mean, honestly - who actually accomplishes anything between Christmas and New Years? Ah yes, New Year's Eve! Whilst I was busy getting my butt electronically handed to me on the Wii, apparently some people were shopping! I got a notification on my phone a couple hours before midnight of a sale on etsy! Pretty sweet way to bring in the New Year, if you ask me!
Unfortunately, stores apparently close early on New Year's DAY, which happened to be a Friday this year, so I couldn't get out to get any of my shipping supplies until the following Monday. I took everything I needed with me so I could package the order up in the car and drop it off at the Post Office on the way home. I also got some of the supplies I discovered I needed in order to finish the rest of Kelly's non-Christmas scrub caps - which I finally did today. I feel bad that it took me so long, but between the various holidays, coinciding shenanigans, lack of supplies, and sick days... well, the point is they are done now.
So there you have it! A nice long blog about absolutely nothing, really, to keep you entertained for a few minutes. It was just the combination of GUILT from not updating and the insomnia that has recently developed. I blame television. No, seriously. I watched the Season Four Finale of Dexter this past week and I'm absolutely TRAUMATIZED! I can't fall asleep because I just lie there, wrapped up in the fetal position, convincing myself it was a lie. You might also remember in my last post that I mentioned I was begining to watch Dr. Who... well, the Mayburys came over and schooled me on all things Doctor via DVDs. Just in time to get into it, and start figuring out just why Michelle is oh-so in love with David Tennant/ The 10th Doctor, and he's leaving the show! Nope. It's not happening. I've stuck my head in between the sofa cushions. If I haven't seen the 10th Doctor regenerate, well then it just hasn't happened! LA-LA-LA-LA!!!! .... Crap.
*estimated time of consciousness
Ahhh... it's a great feeling to have accomplished your goals. They may have been little, short-term goals, but it feels good none the less!
After finishing the eight butterfly dishcloths, I went to work on the four True Blood bookmarks that I mentioned I was commissioned for on etsy in my last blog. Once they were finished and sent off, I then went straight into the "Secret project." I actually SURPASSED that goal because I ended up deciding to double the amount I was planning on. Since I handed it over yesterday I can now reveal the secret!
FOUR DR. WHO THEMED DISHCLOTHS! Two Daleks, and two Tardis'! One of each made in a multi-green striped cotton yarn and the other two made with a natural cotton yarn, both of the Sugar 'n Cream brand.You can check more photos out here.
Like I said, at first I was only going to make one of each in the green yarn, but since I whipped them up pretty fast, I decided to make two more so that my good friend Michelle and her hubby could share them for their birthdays which were only a couple weeks apart. There was a [couple] Dr. Who marathons on BBC America whilst I was working on them, too, so it worked out sort of perfect, hehe.
The icing on the cake? The Birthday card! I printed out the Tardis on heavyweight photo paper and cut it out. On the inside, I put a photo manipulation I had made where Michelle's face was on the body of one of the Doctor's companions. I cut the doors open on the Tardis, glued the photo underneath, and WAH-LA! Michelle was traveling through space and time with the Doctor! hehehe. I glued it all to some cardboard and then put some blue paper on the back to give it some substance. I also made a little envelope type-thing to put the Tardis card in and attached it to the gift bag with the same blue ribbon I used to wrap up the dishcloths together.
So that's that. All deadline driven objectives finished. All I have left at the moment is that bag, which, like I said, I was taking my time with because a.) there was no deadline and b.) it's going to be tough and time-consuming. I'm going to get to work on it real soon, but after knitting for pretty much three weeks straight my poor, poor hands need a little rest. But hey, I'm not complaining - I LOVE IT!
Happy Holidays!!
Just a quick update on the situation:
The spray paint was continuing to give me problems even after going about it a different way and a serious brain-storming session with my artistic husband. I was ready to throw in the towel on my whole darn shop! No point in painfully painting those damn little tiles, only to be ruined by the damn sealer! Finally, I gave up on the spray paint and gave in to his suggestion of... CLEAR NAIL POLISH!
Oh my gosh - I'm a total believer! It's perfect! It's easy to apply, damn-near flawless, super glossy, and dries super duper fast! The only downside is, because it's a much smaller amount in a bottle, it's more expensive. But, at the rate I was going through spray paint just trying to get the desired results, it doesn't really make much of a difference! I'm going to put some on a raw piece and then submerge it in water, and just generally beat the crap out of it, to find out just how well it does seal and protect.
Anyway, the point is, I finished the bookmark! YAY!
*SIGH*
Hear that? That was a HUGE sigh of relief...
In other news, I am just about to finish up number 7 of the dishcloths! I'm going to stop at 8, switch to another project [a hush-hush Christmas present], and then if Cindy needs more, get back to work on those. I've cut a couple projects from my to-do list, which I'm a little sad about, but I just felt like I was taking too much on. If I somehow, miraculously, finish everything with time to spare [which I won't], then we'll see... but I'm not holding my breath. I get light-headed very easily....
So all in all, I'm feeling MUCH better.
[Now if only people who bought things from my etsy actually PAID...]
ps - UPDATE! I listed the bookmark as a reserved listing on my etsy, and within the hour I've had someone contact me because they want FOUR of them! lol Many many MANY thanks to Angela for being so awesomely supportive, for without her request I would have never made such a cute bookmark, which seems to be so popular!
At this very moment I am extremely frustrated with a project, so I'm distracting myself by watching Graham Norton and moaning about it on the internet of course!
I'm not talking about the dishcloths, which yes I'm still working on [there was a fiasco of going to the store and buying the wrong SHADE of "ecru" which set me back a few days]. In between the knitting I've had Christmas shopping and custom orders from my etsy... which is what brings me to the aforementioned frustration...
A friend of mine asked me to make a special bookmark for someone. It seemed simple enough, I've cranked out many things like it. So I said, NO PROBS! I'll have it done in a day or two.... 5 days later I'm still working on it. I feel like such a miserable failure! I use a clear spray paint to seal the things I make on those little bamboo tiles: It's glossy, quick, flawless, and durable. Recently I've been having problems with the spray paint leaving little dimples on the surface. They've grown progressively worse from project to project, too. For this project it absolutely ruined it. I thought maybe it was because I was running low on the can, so I bought a brand new one and made a new decorated bamboo tile. I went out to spray it... BUBBLES! *headdesk*
I just don't know what to do. I've tried different things to try and single out the problem, but nothing's working! And now of course I'm not only wasting lots of materials, but I'm running out of time! Stupid Christmas! lol Seriously, though - I don't know if I should just say "sorry I tried but I don't think I'll be able to" or continue trying, apologize for taking so long, and running the risk of my friend getting it too late. There is absolutely NO reason why I shouldn't be able to do this, as I've done this particular method many many times, so I'm probably not going to just throw in the towel - I have to find a solution eventually anyway! [If anyone has any tips, please share!]
Ugh! It's a huge flaw of mine that I get really pissed off when I can't do/figure out something... especially when I know I've done it perfectly before.
Well, as usual, present inspiration has struck me at the very last minute. Either that, or I have a brilliant idea in October and think there is plenty of time and then come the end of November all I can say is "shit."
I'm still working on the butterfly dishcloths. Apparently a full dozen were requested, not the half a dozen I thought I heard. Hmmm... If I work diligently and uninterrupted, then I can crank out one a day. But, of course, life doesn't flow so easily so after all this time I only have 5 done. And of course I have the mammoth project of the bag looming on my shoulders... at least I bought the yarn for it. I don't have a definitive due date for that either, which is both a blessing and a curse. I told him that it would take me a while, but I still feel bad.
I also have a few other projects/gifts that I'm HOPING to get finished by Christmas [obviously I can't tell you here - cheeky!], but that could just be me being my usual, foolishly optimistic self. Oh well - a late Christmas gift is better than no gift at all, right? If I'm not finished, then I'll simply just give each recipient a wrapped box with a mysterious sliver of yarn in it and a finely decorated piece of paper with "I.O.U" written on it. ;)
Oh, and if you don't hear from me much between now and after Christmas, it's because my hands have been crippled by all the knitting.
Since getting back from the cruise I've been a busy little beaver... Well, kinda.
The thing is, as soon as we got back on land the horrible sinus headaches I had all trip finally manifested into a cold. I'm grateful that it waited until the vacation was over, but it a.) made ending the vacation that much tougher and b.) slowed me down when I had things to do!
I mentioned in a previous blog that I was making scrub caps for a friend. I got three of the five [including the Halloween one - remember?] finished before we left, so I had the last two to finish when we got back. I felt bad enough for not finishing them all, so I didn't want to leave it too long. However, sewing is something that I personally feel you need to be in tip-top shape for, otherwise you make a load of stupid mistakes and could potentially ruin the project... which is ALMOST what happened. Since I had all the pieces cut out already and all I had to do was assemble, each hat should have only taken an hour or two - instead, one hat took me like four hours because I kept making stupid stupid mistakes because I still felt poorly. I wasn't able to use my iPod, either, since I forgot to charge it. I really don't work well without music [I'm calling it a fact now]. Anyway, in the end, as always, it all turned out ok. My poor hubby had to suffer a couple temper-tantrums, but he should be used to it by now ;)
The other project that was waiting for me when we got home was one of my "signature" Twilight bracelets. First, a little back story:
Yes, this time last year I was obsessed with the Twilight books [before the movie came out, I'd like to mention]. Of course, it reflected in my crafts. I made a few pieces of Twilight inspired jewelry to wear to the midnight screening of the movie and they were a huge hit [the best thing about that night, because the movie sure wasn't, haha]. Lots of people [ok, they were teenage girls] commented on them and asked me where I got them, and were very impressed that I made them. Unfortunately, this was before I had started my etsy, so I missed a golden opportunity to pimp myself out. When I finally got around to opening my etsy shop, however, the two twilight bracelets were the first thing to be listed! The stretchy "book cover" bracelet sold within a couple hours! So I made another - and that one sold. Then came a Twilight convention - I made my friend one to wear to it, and I made a different version of it for myself, on top of a bunch of other Twilight inspired jewelry. The second my friend and I arrived at the Twilight convention we were swarmed by a bunch of older women who wanted to know about my jewelry! I passed out a lot of business cards that day, but I didn't see any immediate boost in sales.
Then came Twilight convention #2, haha! We wore the same jewelry and this time, it wasn't other Twilight fans who noticed and complimented - it was the Twilight STARS! Well, just one. The hottest one - Kellan Lutz [aka: Emmett Cullen]! We went to take a photo of him and he said he liked our jewelry and asked us where we got it - When we told him that I made it, he said "That's cool!" *blush* It was unexpected and awesome. I also gave out quite a few business cards that time. If I'd have known, I would have taken a lot more. We ended up leaving about 10 on a table next to the "photo" line and within minutes they were all gone! But, once again, I didn't see an immediate boost in sales. So fat lot of good that did, eh?
Eventually the listings expired and I've just not bothered to renew them because, well, I'm about ten different kinds of OVER Twilight! I still appreciate the books and how I felt about them when I read them, but... the movie is just so LAME! I LOVE some of the actors [and HATE Kristen Stewart ], and I LOVE making fun of the movie [and Kristen Stewart] with my close friends who feel the same way - hence why we all trailed all the way up to Atlanta for the convention, but it's gotten WAY out of control. The marketing is overkill to the extreme and, well, I'm just over it! Sure, I'm still going to New Moon [HELLO! One of my favourite actors/characters tries to KILL my LEAST favourite actor/character! That's worth $8 right there!] at midnight, but make no mistake, I will not enjoy waiting in that line with those teeny-boppers. I've moved on to bigger and badder things - True Blood! I've even been toying with the idea of bringing one of the books from the Sookie Stackhouse series to read whilst waiting for New Moon [and perhaps a bookmark that says "Real vampires don't sparkle?"].
Anyway! I've gotten WAY off track here! The whole point of this babble-fest was the Twilight bracelet! My good friend Michelle asked me to make one for a younger family member's birthday. I started on it before we went on vacation and finished it as soon as I was able when we got back. It was sort of nice to make it again, since it's where all of this started, but I really really REALLY don't want to be known as the girl who makes Twilight jewelry and nothing else. It's not where my heart is, and frankly, I'm not sure I want that kind of attention [aka: dealing with the demographic]. I'll still make it if someone asks for it, of course.
I have three other commissions lined up within the immediate future, as well. I got a custom order request on etsy for three matching, painted sunflower bracelets, so that's what I'm working on right now. Next, I'll be knitting a half-dozen [I think] butterfly dishcloths for a very good friend. I made her two for her birthday and I guess she liked them because she wants more! Heh. I used an non-bleached cotton yarn that my Nanny gave me from England, but I don't have enough left to do six, so I'll have to see if JoAnn's has anything similar. The last project is something I've just recently gotten myself into - a knitted J.R. "Bob" Dobbs tote bag. This fabulous creature known as Logan is a big fan of the icon and all he stands for, so when I happened to mention in passing that I have a pattern for the graphic, he was VERY excited and damn-near begged for something, heh.
So there you have it! Busy busy busy! When I have a lot of things I have to do, I tend to shut down and generally avoid working in any way possible [say, BLOGGING] until the last possible minute. I'm trying desperately not to do that, but I'm not sure how successful. Of course, the only thing that I gave myself an absolute deadline for is the etsy commission, but it's not like I want to take too long to do the others - just because I'D feel bad.
Once again I'll end this kicking myself in the pants, telling myself to stop gabbing, and get to work!
Soooooooooooooooooo..... remember all that effort I made in to getting the dress ready in time for the cruise? You know, since I MADE the dress FOR the cruise?!
Well, as you know I finished it. I didn't know when I should wear it, but as it turned out we were booked for the most formal, nautical-themed restaurant on our last night - Triton's [as in, King Triton from"The Little Mermaid" hehe]
However, on our second night they did a formal portrait session before dinner where you could dress up and get professional portraits taken - the characters were even dressed in their best tuxes and gowns! I decided to take the opportunity to get some photos in my dress so I ran up to the room, threw it on, tried to make my hair look decent, and ran back down to join the ques! I didn't bring my purse or put on my gloves because I figured I'd just wear them to dinner and not have to fuss with them for photos. After Greg and I took photos together, I couldn't resist getting a photo with Goofy in his tux! I even got a little snog from Goofy, though he ended up awkwardly smashing my nose in, haha. Anyway, dinner that night was at one of the more casual restaurants so I ended up changing BACK into one of my more appropriate outfits.
.... snap.
The zipper split.
Part of me wanted to laugh. Part of me wanted to cry. But, most of me just wanted to kick the CRAP out of my dress! And, well, that's exactly what I did. I couldn't help it! All that build-up! All that WORK! All to be FOILED at the VERY LAST FREAKING SECOND by my arch-nemesis, WAL-MART! I HATE you Wal-Mart! I hate you hate you HATE YOU!
After standing in disbelief for a second, then another couple seconds kicking the dress around the room, I had MINUTES to put another outfit together. I ended up wearing my white dress with the jacket I made for the dress [with the collar folded down so the stripes showed], the matching purse I made, and the new sailor-themed flip-flops I got on the trip [my old ones broke whilst on the island - the one place I DIDN'T get my 40% cast-member discount... I'm starting to think I'm a little too unlucky to just be quirky and amusing]. I was obviously disappointed in the outfit, since I was supposed to be wearing something MUCH more fabulous. Especially since it was the fanciest restaurant and there I was wearing flip-flops! Not that it was against the rules or anything, but still! I was SUPPOSED to be wearing my fabulous and favourite retro silver pumps! *sigh* Oh well, everything happens for a reason, right? I guess it ended up being lucky I had those ultra-adorable navy sailor Disney Cruise Line flip-flops that matched the jacket and purse so perfectly so it actually was a cute outfit [though, I still think it wasn't very flattering....]. Oh, and did I mention that the stripes of lining fabric turned the arm-pit of my white dress PINK?! Again, thank you Wal-mart. [You get what you paid for: the cheap fabric is actually white linen with red stripes painted or dyed or whatever on it, so it rubs off!]
Basically what I'm saying is this: NEVER depend on Wal-Mart. I used the cheap, black zipper because I HAD it, instead of investing in a better quality one, and I paid the price in the end. Curses! Oh, I'm also saying that the post of all the detailed photos and stuff about my dress is going to have to wait a little longer because now I have to go back and put a new zipper in! CURSES!
