The most I've been doing lately in the world of crafts is hemming my niece's school uniform pants - four pairs!

However, Halloween is coming up, and I have several projects that I must complete in the next couple of weeks, so I've been working on one this weekend.

I'm making a waist cincher for a friend of mine for halloween.

I tried to start last weekend, but my iron decided to die, after I tried to clean it (with salt) and so I gave up. I had another iron in my basement, and although it took me a little while to get it to work, it seems to be working fine now. I ironed the fabric, and then transferred the pattern to the base fabric, and then cut it out. Today, I laid the base fabric (a black twill cotton) on the fashion fabric (a silky sort of purple) and pinned and cut. Tonight, I've been hand flatlining the pieces. I could do it by machine, but I feel like it sits so much better when you hand flatline it. It's been nice - we sat in front of the tv, and I've been working on it while we watched halloween cartoons and random tv. I'll work on it some more tomorrow - between the insulation of the attic yesterday, and the little I was able to help, and then suddenly deciding to scrub one of the bathroom floors today, my body says that it is done!

I would really like to get into the habit of sewing or crafting a little each night - maybe I can work towards it.

I've decided I'd like to try two new recipes a month. It's not set in stone or anything, but if I have a goal to work towards, it helps keep me from getting stale with my recipes/cooking.

Some of the things I try are just for me, others aren't. Plus, my mom is in town (okay, it's been over 6 months, I guess it should be a given, now?) and I can generally give her leftovers of my cooking - she's pretty happy to be a guinea pig, since it's just her, and after working 45-60 hours/week, she just doesn't feel like cooking (unless it involves a can and microwave - does that count?).

I've only cooked fish the once - and that was just grilling salmon on a George Foreman grill. So I decided to go for the adventure - I went to the Farmers Market, and bought a whole fish! (Okay, I was excited and flustered, and totally missed the fillet section.. but the whole fish was probably cheaper, and more entertaining!) I had a simple seeming recipe from Epicurious (have I mentioned how much I *love* the iPhone? because I do!) and I went home to cook it.

The fish still had the tail on it, so I cut that part off, and after checking for bones, tossed it outside for the outdoor kitties. (Maximilian got it - which is only fair, since Chiarascura always runs him off from the regular food. I mean, I understand pregnancy makes you crazy, with the hormones and all, but still!) I was Max's favorite person for a little while. (Granted, this didn't mean he was willing to let me approach him or anything - wild kitties.)

Anyway, I followed the recipe, and it was pretty good. A success! I even gave my mom some leftovers today, so we'll see what a second opinion thinks.

Now, I still have rosemary and new potatoes at the house, so I should think of something to use the rest of that up. :)

It's so nice when a new recipe works out, and when something new is successful. Considering that 15 years ago, my version of cooking was popping a frozen meal in the microwave...

My boss decided a Friday a month off would be a nice perk. I completely agree! So here I am, with my first Friday off. I hope to use today to knock a bunch of stuff off my to do list that has been there forever, run some errands, and work on dragoncon costuming, but we'll see how far I get!

The bunny has been incredibly hungry lately, I'm not sure why. This means that at night, instead of running around in the living room, he's been filling his bunny face with hay and pellets. So this morning, when I got up, he was already awake (normally we have a cute little wake up the bunny and scratch his head moment) and we exercised together.

This consisted of me using Wii Fit, and him running laps around me and sniffing at my legs while I use Wii Fit. Exercising with the bunny is always fun, but not incredibly effective, as I have to keep an eye on him at all times to make sure he is not destroying anything. but still - it was a terribly cute moment, and he seemed very affectionate this morning when I took a couple of breaks to pet him.

We went to HSV a couple of weeks ago, and on the way back, stopped by Unclaimed Baggage, where I found a huge bag of some sort of yarn for $6. I dug into it last night, since I'm prepping for Origins and their craft track. It looks like it's tatting yarn - there are some tatting samples mixed in, and there is a *ton* of it. In many colors. I'm trying to separate it out into ziplocs, and I currently have 4 of them, and need another two (they're either quart or gallon, I'm not sure). I may take it to Origins, and see if anyone has any suggestions.

I also started doing another hairfall to prep for Origins - I got about halfway done with one of them, and then quit, because it's pretty time intensive. I had been using big yarn, and this yarn is smaller and thinner, so it takes more of it to do. Plus, I had spent the day prepping for Father's Day activities, and my energy level was pretty low. I'm hoping to work on it more tonight, but I may just take it with me and finish it up there or in the car - they have craft time set aside. I'm not sure how much of a costume con it's going to be, and it's definitely supposed to be "family-friendly", so I'll have to choose my costumes carefully.

Last week was not so hot on the crafting side of things.

I did manage to print some of the photos from the trip, including the ones of the train that I plan on making a flip book out of. Also, we stopped at Unclaimed Baggage on the way back from HSV, and I found a huge bag of yarn (crochet?) for $6, and two pairs of bamboo knitting needles for $4 each.

And I purchased some stencils and some stencil blanks at Michael's, in the hopes of getting fairy stuff worked on!

Hi!

I've decided to make the focus of this journal my creative activities.

So, on that note, a general to do list that I hope to achieve for the weekend!

Fill & put up birdfeeder (done - Friday night)
Make hummingbird food, find hummingbird feeder, and put hummingbird feeder up outside
Plant plants in square foot garden (yes, this should have been done before, but due to numerous reasons, it wasn't!)
Attend Craft Fair!

Go, look, do!

Lube wrestling!

i'll be at lube wrestling this Saturday, so if anyone wants their stuff then, let me know. :)

i'll be a lube girl, selling cups of lube.

come out, it will be much fun - raffles, wrestlers... how could you not want to be there?

Saturday, 8pm, the Eagle.

hello, ruthlessness. :P i have a *lot* of craft supplies.

sigh.

i started going through the craft cabinet tonight - and here's just text of stuff that i have. i'm too tired to take and post pictures today.

( Read more... )

i'm also making a list of all the supplies i keep for certian projects of things i'm "going" to do. that way, i not only have a list of projects, but i can look at it all at the end, and maybe cull some more. :P