"You made me!"

As I mentioned, I've been keen to embroider, although I've been waiting on some fabric from my sister to really let it rip. But I wanted to do something in the meantime.

It's sort of a given these days to do pop culture embroidery -- it makes what most people think of as an old-fashioned granny thing relevant and hip. So many 30 Rock and Arrested Development quotes on hoops out there. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm guilty of worse. Also, I like embroidering text. There's something satisfying about it. But I didn't really want to do something that was pithy that I wouldn't actually want to display somewhere after making it.

I decided to do this go-to phrase from Adventure Time. Adventure Time in general is a go-to for me and this isn't even the first creative project I've done this year with AT characters. I actually quite feel like the Earl of Lemongrab on a deep level. He struggles to relate and to know his purpose, and so do I. He's high-strung, ridiculous, and annoying, and so am I.

I didn't really plan out anything, as I just did the first thing that came to mind, but applique became part of the process almost immediately. I used to do tons of applique with felt, and now I rarely do (the last time was when I was stitching felt lollipops onto tulle for my Princess Lolly Halloween costume), but I knew I could do a better job actually constructing Lemongrab out of felt than I could embroidering him. So he's both embroidered and appliqued, with the exception of his nose, which is just glued on.

I just kicked back and worked on it while listening to Daft Punk, going from start to finish in a few hours.

But look, a little rainbow fell across him as I was taking pictures. Acceptable!!

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Treasures.

2016? That's spacetimes! That's Elroy Jetson!!

I'm sort of navel-gazey today, and in the mood to re-evaluate/restructure some things in my life -- or at the very least, take a hiatus from said stuff and hit my mental reset button. But that's all vagaries I'm working out in the back of my brain.

For now, just a few pictures from the tail end of 2015.

Finished this floral fox embroidery. I believe I started it in 2012 or 2013? So, well overdue. Sheesh, I like to embroider but I'm not skilled.

For Halloween I scraped together this Princess Lolly (from the board game Candy Land; I believe she's had a redesign since I was a kid) costume. I can't sew, but I can applique like a mofo. I spent an extremely long day cutting, painting, and appliqueing lollipops onto this yellow tulle from dawn to dusk -- not to mention the crown and top of the dress, which aren't pictured here but which you can kinda see in this Instagram pic.

I haven't dressed up in years and I'm not completely sure what possessed me to do it (my hair being Lolly-appropriate, maybe?) but it's cool to have this costume in my closet, at the ready!

Because I spent a ton of time looking at Princess Lolly art and making my costume, when Aimee Ray put this trading card-sized painting up for sale, I snatched it right up. I am definitely a fan of Aimee's -- not only do I have a couple of Blythe dresses from her shop, but I have two of her embroidery books, have done one of her patterns, and also have one of her weavings on my wall -- but I like this particularly because it captures the feeling of my costume and efforts more than actual pictures of me do.

I was lucky enough to see a local production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch this year. I was oddly afraid it would be cringey, but it was amazing. This is the only picture I took, which I regret, but I was very entrangled in the show. I've seen touring productions of Broadway shows as well as other local productions of things, but I think this was the most fun and riveting theater experience I've had.

Finally, Boy got me a geode for Christmas! It's purple!!! I didn't ask specifically for a geode because it's such a random weird thing to want, and I didn't really count on him knowing what exactly I was talking about when I mentioned that I wanted one. I actually advised him to pick me out some nail polish, and bought one of those "break your own geodes!" kits off Amazon with a gift card that I also got for Christmas. Then I was given this! It's beautiful, heavy, and fragile. Now I can break those kit geodes with much less anxiety, knowing that I already have a beautiful one, and I feel happily surprised.

I want to paint the stand (not sure what color; if not white, something much lighter, or maybe metallic) and find someplace special for it. As it's pretty heavy, I can't put it on my bedside shelves where I keep such treasures as my Middie, my TBLs, my Tamagotchi collection, and the little white mice figurines given to me by loved ones.

Decluttering to make room for the gifts I was given at Christmas is certainly in my near future, as is some shelf-rearranging. A happy chore to have, I think.

I hope you all had a nice holiday.

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craft crunch

I started this embroidery (based off this fox print by ChipmunkCheeks on Etsy; I just recreated it by drawing free-hand, which I realize is uncool, but I really like the florals) a few years ago, but it's been lingering with its tail unfinished for a really long time! So long that the original tail I'd drawn in blue water soluble ink had disappeared.

The past month and a half has found me working really hard on my 2015 ripple and I'm almost done -- I'm 4/5ths done, easily! -- but I ran out of yarn on Saturday night, so I had to find something else to work on in the meantime. I haven't done any embroidery in a long time!

I also enjoyably redressed many of my Blythes yesterday morning -- Gavin, Mallow, Drew, Fey, Wisp, and Petaline! Here's Miss P.

Today it's rainy and gray and cool and lovely. Such a moody autumnal day.

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just a little hat post

Post-Christmas downtime, am I right?

This weekend -- besides watching about seven hours of Adventure Time and likely as many hours of British true crime shows -- I made this hat by request! I haven't done a really simple hat in a long time and I enjoyed it. Note to self: get more pastel pink embroidery floss!

Oh, also this weekend, it snowed for the first time this winter! It's lovely to be indoors under blankets, surrounded by Christmas loot, during weather like this.

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those blues

Practicing my knitting by revisiting this slouchy elf hat pattern over and over. It's confidence-boosting that I can manage my way through it, yet at the same time, it still gives me trouble. I am faster at purling now, so that is heartening, at least. Here, Lamb models a hat that will be sent to my friend L's Bloomy Bloomsbury, Edolie.

I just saw the cutest thing on Feeling Stitchy:

This inspires me so much! I really want to do something similar -- maybe not a cozy but some general embroidery featuring a fluffy doily-looking cutout like that. The curvy edging looks difficult to cut, but mine would not have to be so perfect. :)

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hot outside; cold inside!

Surrounded by embroidery floss and hoops... florals... scraps of felt... and a bad tendency to sort things into color families kicking up and causing me to rearrange all my shelves and dress all my Blythes accordingly!

While embroidering, I've been watching (or rather, listening to) makeup videos on YouTube, just as background noise. I don't wear makeup all too often, even though I like it in general -- much more, I like watching organization videos! I love seeing how people organize their collections and talk about their passions!

Particularly fun was to see some of these big beauty gurus who actually borderline make a living off of doing their videos do a $20 makeup challenge without their high-end products or brushes. There was some glorious schadenfreude happening on my part, let me tell you.

Other stuff I've been up to:

• fantasizing about rippling again... I really want to!
• writing, writing, writing for a project that ends June 15th!
• watching a BBC show called Antiques Uncovered - obsessed!
• listening to "Threw It On The Ground" a lot... because it's inspiring???

PS: I have an adorable Deena and Ozzy wallet that I love so much I haven't been in the market for a new wallet for some time, but when I saw this one at Target, how could I resist? Well, I couldn't! Sheesh!

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Mr. Schue, is he your son?

I got a few of my neutral items in the mail yesterday -- hooray! I love this cape!

Man, did I have a scare this weekend! My computer died. Like, died. It wouldn't even start up. I had an internal panic attack, because I use my computer for work (my actual jobs in addition to stuff like Etsy) as well as play. I don't know what I would do if I had lost it. Luckily my sister's tech-savvy boyfriend did some surgery on it and gave it a new heart (ie, power supply), so now it's up and kicking again. Bless him!! I hope some good karma goes his way.

I sent off my embroidery project to its recipient before my computer was back in the game, so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the finished product, so here's the mostly-finished product!

In the style of my maidensuit embroidery, I did some for Freya of NaughtyPixie. The buttons came from a super-old tin of buttons from either my grandmother or great-grandmother, I'm not sure. I outlined the "Pixie"in red to help it stand out more, but other than that change, it pretty much looks like that. I hope it reaches her safely! The oval hoop I used in making it was shipped along with it so of course I'm fretting about it breaking.

I had nothing much to do while ol' compy was playing dead, so of course I made hats whilst watching entire blocks of true crime programming I am convinced aired just for me.

Here's a white one. In true Duggar fashion (continuing on with my "f" names), it's called "frost."

It has beaded flowers on it and also beading where the antlers are attached. The beads are glimmery and clear and slightly iridescent, and the ones used for the center of the flowers are all either pearly or metallic.

I am not sure if I will mass-produce these; the beading takes some extra time. I might offer them when I have the materials and yen as "made to order." I'm not sure yet. This is so wintery, but I'm still in the mood for autumn. It's not even cool here yet!

Glee starts up again tonight!

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gorging myself

First, can I just say re: America's Next Top Model (yes, I still watch this hilarious trainwreck; I just mute Tyra)... TEAM ANN! I love-love-love the awkward girls, and I love her sense of humor. When she was joking about her ideal guy being a warlock, breathing fire, and knowing how to make sushi, I was just like, "You just won me for the rest of the cycle!" Then she took the best picture. Saw that coming!

(I like Kayla too. She seems very sweet. Rhianna, aka "Willow," is interesting too.)

I have been continuously producing deer hats these days. I find that I am getting messaged about them on Etsy a lot (sometimes for infant/adult sizes, neither of which I can do) and I am very happy to make them (for Blythe-sized heads) anytime! I currently have three yarn colorways I am continuously getting at the craft store and I'm about to start work on a fourth color option, if I can get a breath. It seems like the days are really draining away in a blur of antlers and the UPS store.

The antlers are so time-consuming to cut, sew together, stuff, and attach that I find doing them in their separate stages in batches really helps me out. I can do that while chatting online or listening to music or waiting around for something. Then sometimes I just feel like sitting around crocheting and watching TV, so I'll do two or three hats at a time that way, and they'll sit around waiting to be deer-ified.

However this week I've been slow to get any fully complete because I've been working on an embroidery/applique project!! I'm excited because I like to embroider but full projects typically take me months. But I'm quick at applique after years of Sticking Stuff Onto Other Stuff. Here's a teaser:

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made while watching 30 Rock...

I should probably cool it with the pincushions. And learn a stitch other than the lazy daisy stitch. It just truly is a lazy thing for me.

I sent these three to a friend. Currently theorizing that the guy up at the UPS store is evil and my arch nemesis.

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well pin a rose on your nose

Made this bottlecap pincushion this morning. I love to make these - I get so much use out of them and they're the perfect size to keep in my floss case - but it had been a while since I made my last one! That pink mushroom pincushion just got me in the mood for pink. Then again, it doesn't take much to do that! I'm making a dusty rose-pink pixie hat right now... and all of my Blythe girls are wearing pink at the moment. Yikes, I'm scaring myself.

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You're killing me, Buster.

Sort of a long and image-heavy post! You are warned! I have a small pile of things to catch up on!

I finally got this dress I've been waiting for anxiously in the mail - I'm so happy with it! It's by NaughtyPixie originally, but I got it from PP and couldn't believe my good luck. I just had this lovely inkling it was meant for Beatrix. It really, really is! It was kismet! It was karma!

Calico is also in secondhand clothes right now -- this Dolly Molly dress. I really love getting second-hand Blythe clothes. Sometimes they are a little loved, but knowing that they were on other dollies and a part of someone else's life actually makes me feel connected. Maybe it's silly, and comes from the part of my brain that sometimes forms an attachment to the packaging things I like come in. Who knows.

I'm still discovering Calico, bonding slowly with her. I was really excited to get her, but it was also not a plan. She was a crazy impulse buy. So I'm slowly circling her, wondering what she would like to wear and what makes her look "right"-est to me, and happiest. She is a mystery. I wonder if some customization is in her future. It scandalizes me to think of touching her freckles, though, so they will stay!


Plummery and I watched Forensic Files all night long the other night. It was fantastic because I just felt like crocheting and made up a few hats.

I have to say, this cheap mustard-colored acrylic yarn has gone a long, long way -- I've also made myself a cowl from the same skein -- and is oddly kind of my favorite color to see on my dolls. I made up this little flower-ish circlet out of some lace I got for my birthday and stitched on a sweet little carved wooden button (I am a sucker for wood buttons). I like it!

Finally, tonight I sat down with some plain pink fabric and an oval embroidery hoop and decided to make up something, anything. I knew I would do the word "maidensuit" (a long-time username for me, and the name of my Etsy shop besides) and then thought, what do I like? Kawaii smiling teeth! Toadstools! Pixie hats! Hearts! Flowers! I think it took me about four or five hours. Luckily I have a large appetite for the true crime shows that run at 3 AM.

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"One of my best, don't you think?"

After a while of stalking the sundries on PP, I found a stand for Calico! It's a Cassiopeia Spice stand, but I think Tailor Gibson's stand was also brown, so hopefully it's the same-ish thing. The brown looks really good with her, I must say. Also, the dress with crowns on it was a birthday gift from my friend J, the same who got me Dear LeLe Girl. Crazy kid. Let the record show that he picked it out all on his own.

I've been hooked on embroidery these past several days. I did this one over the weekend:



I'm going to miss new episodes of The Big Bang Theory this summer!

In more recent news, I woke up yesterday morning sick, rather weird and out of nowhere! So I haven't felt up to much. I did, however, watch the entire first season of Community yesterday, along with last night's The Big Bang Theory and the last two episodes of Chuck. (No one can marathon TV quite like me.) Community is great fun. It reminds me of Arrested Development, humor-wise, and Glee, self-parody-wise -- they bash Glee once, which I think is odd because in some ways they've got a really similar feel going on -- with some small smidgen of The Office (US) in there, too, somehow. So I wholeheartedly recommend it if you like any of those three shows!

Glee tonight! :)

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ghost birds and the boys

Last night I was terribly cold, so I fixed myself some toast, crawled into bed, and put on Gilmore Girls. Then I picked up some embroidery that I've had partially finished for quite a long time so I could keep shotgunning Gilmore Girls from my bed and get some work done on it at the same time, and I wound up finishing to the lovely lilt of Emily Gilmore's guilt trips and Dean Forester's fall from favor. Poor Dean.

The pattern is Ghost Birds by Aimee Ray (her Doodle Stitching book is the only crafty-type book I've got, and mainly just because it's cute -- I have to learn stitches and such from YouTube videos, I've discovered) and I did it here with a pink and brown theme. Not shocking, I'm sure. They're my favorite colors!




As I took some pictures just now, I had two of my rattie boys on the bed (they like to get under blankets and be nice and warm too) -- my two more recent adoptees, Aldebaran and Pollux, or Al and Paul for short. They crept out to see what was what.


They are pretty nice boys, if a little smelly and sneezy.


I'm surprised they allowed me to snap a few pics. Rats move so fast it's really hard to take pics of them, especially without flash, and Paul and Al are still a little shy about me. Anyway, most pics of rats, you just wind up with their butt or a bit of tail in the picture...


WORK IT!

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