Disappointment

The last Jewelry Thursday of the semester and all I have to show for it is these two crappy casts I did. Teach me to not rush things...tiny bubbles....on my cast....makes me unhappy, makes me feel like an ass. Hahaha. Doesn't rhyme well but it's accurate. It's okay though, I'll just melt these down and try again. Notice the tiny hearts didn't even come out--well one almost did. At least I got to try out the new equipment, I'm not as scared this time. That's cool.






I got the little sapphires from my friend the other day and I'm kind of excited--I have an idea of what I want to do with them. I'll work on that when class starts in July. I tried to pick out the greeny ones but it looks as though I only got one green one and three blue/green ones. The picture sucks (I was too lazy to take another one) but I wanted to show scale.

Other things I've been up to this week--baking up a storm for today's farewell to my co-worker. Two batches of butter mochi and a pineapple cheesecake--not the fakey ones that are regular cheesecake with fruit topping, this one has pineapple in it. I'd never made it before (the boy recommended it, his co-worker made it once) and I guess it turned out okay, I haven't tried it. Cutting up the butter mochi made my finger tingle, I think I mashed a nerve using the knife but look at the fun results--my own little army of butter mochi!

What's wrong with this picture?

Another stroll in my ghetto neighborhood reveals this picture (actually I took the picture in February)--I haven't done anything to the picture other than crop a lady out. At first I thought it was an index finger but then I looked more closely...Funny huh?

Hehe, I cropped it even more and sent it out as my Valentine's day card. Not that I have anything against Valentine's day. My pal inspired the card--she loves/dreads this day.

I think they've fixed it...or I just don't notice it anymore. Boo!

Shiny happy jewelry

Jewelry Thursday reveals repolished piece from the stash that I gave my sister. I really did work on some newer pieces (one being the triple threat heart ring mentioned earlier, another having to do with an experiment for the postcard swap) but they'll be finished next week.

This is a bracelet I made during a workshop I took a few years back, it has always remined me of horns (or a bull ring). Anyhoo, it's hollow and slightly denty in some places. I had fun making it but boy was it loud. All that hammering--I think I got Popeye forearms from this little thing! Still kinda have them (didn't help that I took another hammer-intensive class after). Haggaggaggah!


These little guys actually started out as one piece of wax (technically they all do....) but I thought it was too big so I sawed off a sliver and ta da! I wasn't thinking from the start that I'd make two but I couldn't let the little sliver go to waste. If I ever end up doing another skinny minny ring I think I'll carve something on the side. The triple threat heart ring will look really really really similar to this flower ring--what can I say, I'm lay-zee.


Randomness--I think this dish set is cute, but why is it so freaking expensive, even on sale? Kind of reminds me of some animal fabric that I have waiting to be made into a baby blanket.

IQ test

Here's a little IQ game if you have time to spare. Click on the big round button to start the game. The rules are as follows:

Only 2 people on the raft at a time.

The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother's presence.

The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father's presence.

The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there.

Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

To move the people click on them. To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

Have fun...this should actually be in an email but eh, whatever.

What the...?!

The boy showed me this robot camel jockey from CNN:

Whaaaaa....?! Robot....camel...jockey. The reason for them is noble.

Eh, not as neat as the robots Hillary makes (scroll down to see the robots).

Idea crusher

So I went to the post office today to mail a package and to get a few answers. I called them FAQs but the post guy called them FTAQs--first time asked questions (to him anyway)--regarding postcards. The answers were either "No" or "You shouldn't." Discouraging answers to the ideas I had in mind.

Q: Can there be any moving parts?
A: No (I should have known this one but I still had to ask)

Q: Can I cut out a piece and sew it back on?
A: No (this was not so much a rule but for the benefit of the receiver--the part might fall off in transit)

Q: Can the edges be pinked?
A: You shouldn't...No.

After I left I came up with more Qs: Does the postcard have to be made of cardstock? Can it be hardened fabric? Would that end up being too heavy? Can the card be laminated?

In the event that the answers are a big fat NO I have the postcards that I managed to buy from the art store, after a discouraging stop at the craft store. When I asked the sales lady if they had postcard stock she said no, but I could try cutting the card stock in half. Thanks. But then who knows, I might not even end up using the postcard stock I bought.

uh oh...

Am I in over my head? Just checked my email and Myra has sent the list for the post card swap. My very first swap, I'm so excited but as I visit the sites on my list, I'm so intimidated! They're all so crafty! Reality has set in....I'm so 2-D challenged what was I thinking? What to make? WHAT TO MAKE?! Ideas, I need ideas!!! I'm freaking out here!!!

Okay, I may have a vague idea of what I'm gonna do...may...or may not. EEEEEE!!!

Pet peeves and bonehead (I have, I am)

So one of my biggest pet peeves is when I introduce myself and whoever I introduce myself to instantly mispronounces my name. Grrrrr!!!!!! This mostly happens on the phone with tech support ("Can I get your name?" "Susanne (pronounced Suzanne)" "Okay Susan, how may I help you?") although it has happened when I'm face to face with someone. Aaaaaaargh!!!

Bonehead moment: I'm in the elevator tonight with my neighbor friend who knows the other person in the elevator (who happens to be my upstairs neighbor I've never met). My upstairs neighbor introduces himself "Hi, I'm JJ" I say "Hi, I'm Susanne." I'm pretty much out of small talk at this point (good thing I'm on a low floor) what kind of quickie small talk can you make in an elevator ("I can hear when you drop marbles on the floor")? Anyhoo, when I get off the elevator JJ says "Bye Susanne." I say "Nice meeting you Jay." D'OH! I AM my own pet peeve.

Resolve to PAY ATTENTION bonehead!

TMI (too much information)?

Thanks everyone for the get well wishes! S' sweet :) Feeling better today, enough to go to work and to jewelry class...which is where I work on my pieces. I got into jewerly making in college (my cousin was an art/jewelry making major, I saw her working with all the paraphenalia and I was hooked!). I wasn't an art major so I didn't have the prereqs to take it at the U (boo!) but luckily one of the community colleges offered it as a noncredit course. When I came back home I found out that the Academy offered adult art courses, jewelry making being one of them. That was about 5 years ago, I've pretty much been taking the class every semester since then...and I have very little to show for it (I spend a lot of time being Chatty Cathy).

Here's a little ring I'm wanting to cast (I haven't cast a lot, just a few rings, nothing in gold yet!)--carved it out of wax, those little shapey things are supposed to be hearts but I think I'm going to try to make them a little nicer. I also need to sand the whole thing smoother.

Nothing else to do...

Been under the weather the past couple days but can't rest because the workmen outside are making such a racket! Since I can't rest I thought I'd post a couple of pieces I made a while back.

Bracelet...I think I just started making these irregular shaped links and it turned into this.


This is one big honkin' ring, I think you could knock someone out with it. It's too big for me but I wear it anyway.

I think the workers stopped, maybe I can get some sleep now.

Saturday walk

This lazy bear has come out of hibernation after a looooooong winter of sloth. I actually suggested we take a walk around our neighborhood (note walk, not run--lazy bear isn't ready for that yet...ever). We walked the route we used to run--I'd been wanting to take some snaps on our run...the photogs below are in the order that we "walked into" them.

The cross street is Stitches--ha ha, I'm kidding, it's not. Mostly I took this picture for the bird you can hardly see.


I don't know the name of this viney thing but the flowers have intrigued me for a long time. I used want to do a jewelry piece inspired by this but an idea has never come together in m'brain.


I like the veininess of this weed...is it creepy?


Chameleons I like, geckos I don't.


The boy spotted these leaf "fossils" in the sidewalk by our place. The whole corner sidewalk is covered with these modern fossils!!

Score!

Free mag! Nabbed the recent Budget Living magazine from our downstairs area where people leave unwanted mags. Apples were the feature in the decorating section and thanks to Tania I think I've found a new obsession...


Apple pillow


Apple wall decals

New favorite site thanks to BL: notNeutral and blik. Drool worthy but pricey. Blik has a lot of fun decals for kids (robots, cars, planes, animals, etc), their other grpahic decals are really nice too.

Looking at all these apple things makes me want to try apple stamping... hmmmm.....but I don't think the seeds would show up and I'm really liking that part.

ta...da

Oh my g-ness, my 2003 Christmas present to my pal, Niecy, is finally finished. She's such a sweetie for waiting....and waiting....and waiting. This is what happens when I rush--d'oh! I guess I sort of learned my lesson--I didn't rush (as much) making this ring.
The original (which looked pretty much the same as this one) had four stones in varying shades of pink. Because I rushed to finish it I didn't do such a hot job at setting the stones and when I gave the ring to her one of the stones fell out! How embarrassing. I took it back to fix it and while I was doing that I broke the stone and then in my attempt to fix the "fix" I undid the setting from the ring. Double d'oh! I trashed the whole thing and started a new ring....or had plans to. By this time I was so shell shocked by my cavemanishness that I put it off making a new one (sorry Niecy)....until now. Funny, when I actually sat down to do the ring it didn't take as long as I was dreading. The setting still isn't the prettiest but them stones'll stay in if I have to glue them in! :)

SVH

I bought the new issue of Bust this past weekend because of two articles: "Don't quit your day job" (balancing work and craftiness, or how to keep creativity alive while working for the man) and "Return to Sweet Valley High" (an interview with its creator).

I was never really into "SVH" but I did have/read a lot of Sweet Valley Twins (and even Kids, odd how I went backward, not forward). Good times. Secret--she didn't write the books (except for the first one or something like that), she provided the plots and characters and writers did the rest. Hehe, didn't realize that but duh, how could someone write that many books?

Aside: There was a board game (I didn't have it) but I'm thinking it was a dream date rip off. I could be wrong though.

In semi-crafty news I saw these little stuffies in the Dec/Jan issue of Bust--so cute and ohhhhh, I have stipey socks. How conveeeenient. I tried to make one out of my old socks but I couldn't figure out the instructions so I never attempted with the pretty socks. Bah, another backburner craft project.

Fluffiness

Finished...two scarves made out of mohair and angora. Good thing I finished them because it's fricking freezing here...in Hawaii! Riiiiiiiiight. I'm a space-case for knitting and crocheting scarves (scarves! why would anyone need a scarf here?!) out of some of the most unfavorable-to-Hawaii-weather yarn. Mostly I like the fact that if you mess up, can't really tell through all the fuzz. Sweeeeet.

The blue scarf is my first non-stockinette item (besides ribbing). I modified the Opera Scarf pattern--I think I must be the tightest knitter because I added extra stitches and used size 13 needles to get what looks like the same width. I used 2 balls of GGH Soft Kid in I can't tell what color--blue gray? It's abot 72 inches long, I think I'm going to add fringe to hide the ugly ends. Blocking might help but eh, perfectionist I am not...lazy I am. I'll block when I make a sweater.

Hanging on the towel hooks.

Folded on a pillow.

Closeup shot.

This yellow/cream angora scarf is from a Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart, probably about four or five years back. This has got to be the most expensive starter scarf ever--angora is not cheap my friends! I don't know how many balls I used and then I added the cream edging because the granny squares by themselves looked so flimsy. Not at all like the gorgeous one the girl in mag had on. I wonder if blocking would have helped. Oh well!

The color difference in real life isn't as striking, it's more like the picture below.

Look, the edge is waving at you!

Note to self: must resist fuzzy animal yarns (it's so hard!), the fiber flies all over the place and makes self sneeze :(