BLORK!

a HILARIOUS play! if you're in Chicago in April, GO SEE IT!
keep checkin' in on Bootstraps for more details.

a savage of an idea

I just added some new stuff to my shop :)

BristleBot

how cool is this?!

you were just too slow, kitty!

this is my roadkill kitty bookmark... for all the books I never read.
no, I haven't read this one either :\ I got a great deal on it at a 2nd hand shop, though, and I like to get it out and smell it - smells like old book. yeah, I know.

jackalopes

I've been looking at bunny drawings online that talented people are able to do and doodling my own crappy versions of them in jackalope form.

I finally came up with a stencil I liked, but even ended up making him more simple than this in the end.

I used shelf liner paper and drew on it with a fat sharpie, then cut all the black lines out and stenciled it on some felt - I think it came out well :) I'm starting to lose some of the sticky on the stencil, but it seems to still work well even if it's not completely stuck down to the fabric.

this is the first stencil I've done completely by hand - if I do any drawing by hand, I usually sketch something pretty crummy and then tweak the crap out of it in paint and photo programs until it looks decent - only thing I did on the computer for this was steal ideas from other peoples bunnies O:)

pin toppers

here's a how-to on making the pins... as well as what not to do O:) I threw fire in there for fun, actually :P if you're going to intentionally set the plastic on fire (it does make nifty looking pin toppers, too) do it outside! I have ash floating around my bathroom still.

lil jar pincushion

I saw a canning jar pincushion a while back and have been wanting to make one, but I don't have cute small mason jars.

so I used a pimento jar and poked holes in the lid to stitch the cushion to like a button.

similar to a baby food jar pincushion, just sewn on instead of only relying on the glue - and I like the little tufted part in the middle. the ring is a needle rest made from spandex and a ring blank with a bead cap I flattened out on the bottom.the pins are made from a #6 disposable plastic casserole lid I colored with pencils and cut out and melted onto regular straight pins via candle flame so I could shape them and to get that round look from over-heating the plastic without killing myself trying to do this in the oven.

sea glass

Galveston sea glass I beach combed for, silver, and wire wrapped faceted crystals.

the teardrops reminds me of the wistful feeling I get on the last day of vacation when I'm looking at the treasures I've found in the sand and wishing I didn't have to go home yet.

copper and clay

copper metal pieces and polymer clay beads

(Christmas gifts I wanna keep for myself!)

ornament project

found this tutorial online and loved it :) but I made it a little easier with less fabric to pin. I might try another with all suggested 8 rows, but I think they still came out looking good as is.

paper calculator

thought this was pretty cool... but I'd never seen it before, so maybe I'm alone on this one :P

Nutcracker 09

after a few months, I finally finished my mom's nutcracker today :D


Sep. 16
sanded and stripped down the store-bought nutcracker



sometime between Sep & Oct. (yes... it's a big gap, shaddup)
painted him a solid white and stared at my blank canvas for a while


Oct. 29
finally picked out a beautiful Japanese paper for his "clothes"



Oct. 30
painted his legs and... mouth knocker-thing. I really should know what that's called




Nov. 1
painted his shoes and faux marbled his pedestal


Nov. 2
painted his head and gold trim, and cut out a pattern for the paper to put on his arms and torso




Nov. 3

decoupaged the paper on his body

Nov. 4

gave him blush - doesn't seem like much, but it was a headache to get it to look right. finally went with real blush instead of paint


Nov. 5

gave him a clear coat of paint

Nov. 6

made his hat from a paper mache box I painted gold and put a little round knob on, and painted his face... which was easier after he was sealed because I re-did his face soo many times! I learned that trick the first time I make a nutcracker

Nov. 9

added gold trim and blue pearl-like beads to his waist and added my mom's initials and the year on the bottom... which I know you're asking "why not your name?" but when I lived at home, we had all our nutcrackers out together, and one year decided to start putting our initials on the bottoms to be able to tell them apart (we had too many to remember), so I still do that to hers for nostalgic reasons

Nov. 10

made a cape from a table runner, cut out the beard and hair from a rabbit pelt, glued red jewels down the front of his "shirt" and attached his cape, fur, and hat.

at some point I added a scepter in one hand, and then he sat like that for a while until I decided what to put in his other hand.

Dec. 2 - today! :)

I got up in the attic and found an old key I found as a kid, sanded it down, painted it and put it on a red ribbon and threaded it through the other hand

Finished!