I like candles. A lot. Way too much, even. I just love the yellow of fire light, and the fire itself. I could watch it like a pyro for hours, probably. It's also ridiculously fun to watch candles melt. The tea-candles that turn into little transparent pools, and the big wide ones that carve themselves through from in inside out, and then my favorite, the novelty-shaped ones that melt all strangely, with squishy jack-o-lantern faces or whatever.
During the Great Purge, my mom found this old cup my great-gran got me when I was born, so I decided to turn it into a candle!
Course, I didn't really plan on melting candles to make another one, so I ended up with a big fat mess and several burns on my hands.
I actually did go to Niagra Falls, but I found that cup at a Seattle estate sale
On a related note, I really need a lighter. One of those cool, cigar-lighting ones that last for a long time. The only person with a working lighter in the house is my dad, and it's a pain having to hunt it down every time I want to set something on fire. Did that sound odd?
I was only going to laze around in pajamas all day, but we ran out of onion dip, and had to go get some more sour cream from the store. We don't usually have the most tasty and glorious onion dip, but my DnD group started up anew on Friday, so my mom saw fit to treat us! Since I didn't take a shower this morning, and my hair was all crazy, I wore my fuzzy blue knit hat.
Yes, I know my face is lovely.
I wish I could display the total fabulousness of this dress, but I still need to show my sister how to properly work the fancy camera, so this blurry pic will have to do.
homemade hat, thrifted dress, and hand-me-down converse
A bit boring today, yes, but I do so love this dress.
Well, two days ago I did too! Although I didn't use safety scissors, I did say to myself, whilst gazing lovingly at my face in the mirror, "Emma, you keen dame, it seems your bangs have gotten a touch too long as of late!" So I whipped out the scissors and sliced them off a la Midge.
All things considered, I'm pretty proud of my barbary skills, and I love my new bangs! When I showed my mom, she asked if my hair had been feeling a bit too normal, and I must admit, there's a grain of truth in that answer. Normal is just so boring! Normal just means doing what most people do, and after 14 years of being normal, I got real bored of it! Also, I love short bangs. Mmmmm yum.
I'm near-sighted (I think) and while my glasses are okay, they're not fabulous or retro. As such, I went on an Etsy-crawl last night in search of frames much groovier than my own. I'm not sure if my glasses place does custom lens shapes, but if they do, I'm so getting one of these next time I up my prescription! They's just so... dweeby and retro and beautiful!
I really hate sewing from patterns. Silly, I know, but I hate tracing and cutting a pattern only to have to spend hours adjusting every stitch and dart trying to get this average-sized dress to fit to my OTT-hourglass figure (Seriously, my measurements are 38-28-38).
To keep from using patterns whenever possible, I either make basic patterns which are easily customized (e.g. basic skirts) or I trace from clothes I already have. I did that for the blue dress I made this weekend, and while it does have some (many) faults, considering it's only my third or fourth dress I'm pretty proud of myself!
Figured I'd share a few progress photos. Eventually, once I have any followers, I might make a guide on how to do this, but for now I'll leave you with these crappily lighted shots.
I trace around the outside leaving about half an inch for seam allowance.
Oh circle skirt, you addictive thing you!
Gotta love a V-neckline
Also, I'm not one for romance or Christianity, but I can't get enough of this band:
First outfit post, whoopee! I got real busy this weekend with sewing, making a long skirt and an old-granny dress, so I had lots of fun clothes to wear today.
Homemade dress, hand-me-down vest, and my lovely Docs!
Yes, there is a tiny man on my head.
I found an old drawing-doll in my room and decided that I had to find a way to wear him. I hot-glued him to a head-band and he stayed up surprisingly well.
I must say, this is one of my favorite things in the world to wear, simply because of all the responses I got. Choice ones include:
"What... what are you... Why are you wearing that on your head?" This was one of my friends, and she never got over it.
Welcome to the post where I talk about weird and/or interesting music I've discovered lately. Yes, I could have made this series of posts "Friday, Friday", but there can never be too much Bangles, just the same as Pat Benetar.
Today, for our first installment of MM, I'm gonna be selling
Rasputina
Rasputina is a cello-rock (sort of) group led by Melora Creager, cellist extraordinaire and fan of historical costumes, as well as the leading voice of the band. Although the line-up's changed a lot since 1992, Melora still leads strong, and she's never stopped being awesomely, weirdly haunting. She's got a voice like a ghost and sings about everything from historical Easter-island crowning practices to black holes to meeting a boy at a county fair. History is a frequent inspiration for her, but she sings about all sorts of strange stuff.
Here's one of my favorites from them, for a taste:
You'll probably like her if you like:
- Cellos
- Music that, while not scary or depressing, can be a bit haunting
- Clever lyrics about unique topics
- Unpredictable female vocals that sound a bit... a bit... I can't really describe it. Take a listen!
If you can't tell already, I pretty much worship Melora and her group. She has 8 albums/compilations, and I've listened to nearly all of them. Her fashion aesthetic is gorgeous, and her music conjures up a bizarre and enchanting other world. I realize I'm sounding a bit love-struck, but I never thought music like this could exist! I've played her so often around the house these past few weeks since discovering her that even my family knows her as that "satanic girl" or the "Thomas Edison lady".
Basically: Give her a try! Some of her weirder songs may take a listen or two to sink in, but even her most out-there songs have found a fuzzy place in my heart over time. She's just a super freakin' musical genius.
Here's a few other of my favorites from her.
I love my little cousin Anna so friggin much. Yeah, she's only 10, but I wish I was that cool when I was 10! All I ever did was drink Pepsi max and stay up late writing terrible Inuyasha fan fiction. Now she's my very own DIY buddy, which I'm totally psyched about, since I've never really had one of those before.
Last night, unsure of what to do but all too ready to worship Marlena like the creeps we are, we were inspired by her recent pin-making tut. and decided to do some pin-making ourselves!
These are mine. Isn't that fairy amazing and just a little creepy? She's actually some 75 cent greeting card I
found in our house's Great Purge.
We didn't have any flat-back pins, so we just glued safety pins to the back of stuff we found.
I'd love to get some photos of these babies in action, and when I do I'll put 'em up. I've been meaning to do an outfit post for a while, but haven't worn anything this past week worth mentioning.
Somehow I managed to actually be productive this weekend!
Yesterday, my mom asked if I'd like to go to Goodwill with her (I'm not sure why she even bothered asking) , and I managed to convince her to buy me two totally cheap bed sheets that didn't look too much like bedding! One was this pasty blue, and the other was a red with navy blue stripes and dots. Bored and not emotionally ready to start hw for the weekend, I decided to sew!
It looks red here, but I swear it's blue too.
One of my favorite skirts to make in the whole world is the circle skirt (I'll make a tut. about it later). They're just so giant and flowy! Plus, they're way easier to make with sheets or linens than store-bought cloth since they're so wide.
The whole process went a lot smoother than it usually did, so I just boomed Disturbed and watched GI Joe for a few hours and cranked out one of my most favorite skirts ever!
Have I mentioned yet that I love Rookie?
Also yes, that is an Autobots cap.
It's just so twirly!
Also, I should never be allowed in front of a camera.
In the spirit of the new school year, as well as in celebration of making two great new writing friends, I've decided to share another how-to, this time on decorating those boring old spiral-bound and composition books every teacher and her granny is making you buy for school. Sure, they're fine plain, and whatever you do to them is bound to get fucked up if you don't treat your notebooks like they're made of glass, but that's not the important part! As I always say: when in doubt, decorate decorate decorate!
You will need:
1. Some notebooks. Or just one. These are the kind I like because they can be folded over to show just one page, and cost about 50 cents when bought in bulk.
2. Newspaper clippings, magazine pictures, construction paper, and whatever else you can think of! I recommend keeping a file folder in your room to fill with whatever interesting clippings you find for later craft use.
3. Tools of the trade. I really do recommend buying Mod Podge- I finally got some a few weeks ago and I'm already in love. To use that, you'll need a paint brush and scratch paper. If you're using something else like a glue-stick or boring old elmers, scratch paper'll also be useful, so you don't get your desk all sticky like I always wind up doing. I use an Xacto knife for precision cutting, but scissors should be fine. You'll also need some heavy, preferably hard-bound books, with which to squeeze the life and joy out of the wrinkly things you glue together.
The process
First of all, it only occurred to me to capture the process of making myself a notebook halfway through, so the beginning phases you'll be missing. It's pretty much all the same concept though, so don't sweat it.
1. Look at all your clippings and find some that are awesome. There doesn't have to be a theme, but if there is, that's great too! I like taking slogans and replacing a word or two with other clipped words to create new ones. I did this on the cover of the notebook I'm working on now:
It doesn't have to make that much sense, or any at all, actually, as long as it sounds good or cool to you! That's really what I love about collages; they don't have to be pretty or expertly done or symbolic. They just have to be awesome and great to you, and when you realize that, it gets totally easy and fun!
2. Lay these clippings out where you think you'd like them. It might take a while, but once you've got them all in the right places, burn the image into your mind, 'cause you'll be taking them all off in a sec.
The background was part of what I finished before I realized I should take out my camera.
Those little comic things are part of a 60s ad for baking soda. Wicked cute, right?
3. Chop everything up so it's the right size and shape, and glue it on in the right order. Be careful not to add too much glue! If you can see the opaque white color, it's too much. We don't want everything getting more wrinkly than it will anyways.
It was way too hard trying to hold the big camera with my left hand and take
the photo while holding the razor in my right. At least it turned out okay, and I didn't hurt myself.
Oh no! The dreaded wrinkles! Come on step 4!
4. SQUISH.
This'll help everything dry flat, and get rid of most of the wrinkles that appeared after gluing. While this sits for a few minutes, you should go find something fun or distracting to do, like taking dumb pictures of yourself in the mirror.
Or of your large stack of hats!
If you have one, that is.
I eventually went and made a sandwich, and by eventually, I mean it was probably only two minutes until I got bored.
Something is missing here...
Perfection.
5. Now that everything's all dry, guess what: More glue! Yeah, one great thing about Mod Podge *hinthint* is that it can be used as a final coat to seal things up! As before, don't paint on so much that you can actually see more than small white streaks, but make sure everything's all covered up.
Of course, more glue can only mean one thing:
More squish! Just make sure to wait until the glue coat is done being sticky, or you'll get rip-streaks on your papers when you tear the books off.
You see those lovely speakers? She's a koala, with one of Marlena's bows on her head,
made out of this pretty dragon-fly fabric scrap I found.
I swear dudes, this time is the real end of the squishing. Pinky swear.
And, voila.
She's supposed to be leaning on that pastry. I think. Also no, I have no idea what
"Take your mother to FIGHT" means. I do know, however, that it used to say
"Take your mother to Disneyland."
There are few things I enjoy more than a good craft, which I guess is the reason I started this blog in the first place. Hopefully there'll be a few less boring and plain notebooks wandering school halls this year!
On a final note, here's a song I can never, ever stop singing once I start.
I had intended to make a post on Sunday and on Monday, but I caught that nameless Autumn cold and spent the first half of the week sleeping and sneezing. I guess I'll just have to write the first installment of Manic Monday next week, then.
In any case, while cleaning out our house this weekend, my parents found this 1967 copy of LIFE they decided to give me to rip up for collage fodder! I can't wait, but first, I had to take pictures of all the fun bits to share with you.
But who cares about all that serious stuff, right? I'm gonna show you the real gold.
Wow. There are few words for this.
Don't see it? Look again. Closely, now.
Creepy, right?!
Wait for it...
Twice on the same page? I'm not sure why this is so funny to me, but it is.
I love this one so much. It makes me want to listen to Space Oddity.
With the Good Camera still out of the house and away from my
slimy little fingers for the next couple of days, I’ve decided to write a post
on an experiment I’m conducting this year rather than the sewing guide I had planned.
A journal!
I’ve tried to keep a journal/diary/sketchbook/planner
several times in the past, but I always get sidetracked and it winds up
abandoned under my bed for bugs to lay eggs in or something. This summer,
however, I discovered this lovely creation on Deviantart. It’s everything in one big, ink-drenched , chicken-scratch package! Sure, I’m
not studying art, so mine won’t be as lovely as hers, but if there was ever a
way to accurately capture one’s life experience it would be in a collage diary.
As such, I’ve filled up my Mario pencil pouch with an entire
kindergarten classroom’s worth of art supplies, and doodled away! At first I
was afraid of ruining it with either an off day, or my general lack of artistic
arrangement skills, but then I realized it didn’t even matter! Journal’s aren’t
supposed to be pretty or smart or filled with detailed prose about pondering
life’s mysteries. They’re supposed to be about what happens to you! And you
know what? Big pencil scribbles and way too much glitter is what’s happening to
me right now.
Journaling this past week and a half has been a surprisingly
liberating experience, leaving me less nervous about screwing up the perfection
of a crisp empty page, and more in touch with my thoughts and my daily life
than I usually am.
As such, I figured I’d show off a few spreads and tell you
how to do this as well!
How to make a REAL
journal:
Materials:
1.A journal
of some kind. I got a $10 one from Amazon since I wanted something sturdier
than your average spiral-bound or composition book, but those work fine as
well, and can be decorated just as easily. Lined/graph/blank paged books are all great!
2.Coloring
materials. Dig through the art cabinet no one has opened since you were ten
and pick out your favorites. For me, it’s some colored pencils I got for X-mas
a few years ago and the few glitter pens to have survived my youth.
3.Glue
stick. Sure, maybe you’re not a collage genius- I’m certainly not- but you’ll
find stuff to glue in, like your schedule and locker number, or new friends’
emails, or even just a funny fortune cookie fortune you get at lunch. I suggest
the massive Elmer’s ones emblazed with the intimidating title of X-TREME School
Glue Stick.
4.An X-acto
knife. Seriously. It’s one of my prized posessions. You can cut anything
with this baby, quick and easily, and it fits into any pencil pouch like just
another sharpie!
5.Whatever
else you can think of. Stickers? String? Magazines? Nail polish? I dunno
what you can do with those things, but obviously you do, and whatever you think
should go in your journal can.
Procedure:
1.Do whatever the hell you want with your new journal.
That’s it! Write down interesting conversations or funny
jokes, glue in strange notes you find crumpled up on the floor, and draw a
picture of your LA teacher with your eyes closed. In five years when you look
back on your younger self, you’re going to appreciate having the sort of
journal that actually says something about you, rather than one filled with
whiny passages about teenage hormones written every
once in a while when you get grumpy.
Come! Join me! Together, we shall take over the world
with our unconventional diaries!
And now, for some inspiration. This will help show you how much
thought and time you don’t have to
put into your journal:
What could that sensor bar possibly be covering?
Also, 10 points to whoever knows what song I obviously had stuck in my head.
I'm a real sucker for creepy songs, and was bored out of my mind in Latin, so I decided to make a Rookie-style playlist.
That blacked out one is Jeremy, by PJ. As much as I love that song, and it's about a killer, it isn't that creepy.
