Ooooh quilting is fun!

So, like I said in my last post, I tried out some quilting. I wanted to do it for ages but with the lack of an iron, I couldn’t allow myself to try it. I’m a perfectionist at times and the OCD in me refuses to let me start something new in a half-assed manner. My darling sister got a job recently with a little help from me and so in return she asked what would I like as a reward. She didn’t bat an eyelid when I said I needed an iron. She figured it must be for crafting rather than actual ironing of my clothes. Ah, she knows me so well!

One thing I love is scouring the mighty oceans of the Internet, searching for tutorials. There’s just so much cool stuff out there and I want to make so much of it! I rarely follow the full directions, somewhere along the way I’ll insert my own twist on things.

Anyways, one of the most awesome tutorials I’ve seen is from Obsessively Stitching. Caroline makes lots and lots of funky stuff, including fabric storage cubes.
The tutorial I tried was the quilty belt and I must say, it’s a fantastic tutorial. I never thought it could be so easy to make drab belts look so awesome!

(I don’t have a before shot, but it was quite boring.)

Time for the Action shot!

Nifty! The photo was taken by my boyfriend, who is feeling poorly. Awwh!

Much thanks to Caroline at Obsessively Stitching!

Almost a year later…

So the first anniversary of my blog is coming up. I’m not going to celebrate it or anything like that but I have been thinking about what I’ve done in the last year. I’ve learnt a lot, I really have. Some skills I already knew, so I improved on them and I’ve come a long way.
I learnt how to sew and knit when I was younger and I sewed here and there but it wasn’t until last summer that I bought a sewing machine (see post) and really started headway. Then I had to go back to hand sewing after about 2 months because it turned out that the particular sewing machine turned out to be utter shite and refused to work properly anymore. Making mad funny plastic clunky noises, throwing temper tantrums, deliberately messing up the threads…I don’t know what issues it had with me, but I eventually just threw it out and tried never mentioning it again.
Lesson learnt: €40 does not mean it’s a bargain for a brand new sewing machine. €40 for a vintage sewing machine is actually a great deal, especially for a treadle.

My sewing toolkit

On the upside, my mam gave me her sewing machine, a glorious Singer 9012. (Yep, the one I wasn’t allowed touch as a kid!) This workhorse has lasted 20 years and it’s still going strong. T’is a dream to use!

(I call her Attie, short for Athena, the goddess of crafting. It’s not an ego thing, it was either that or Zapp from “Futurama” fame. Personally, I don’t want to sew nothing but velour!)

Getting my love of photography on with my love of sewing...

I’ve already made loads of things with her, but that’s for another post.

The other things I’ve learnt this year: knitting (learnt basics as a kid, but I forget almost everything until January just gone), crochet (I’m only at the basic stage now), digital art, jewellery making, embroidery and I’m sure there’s other stuff but I can’t think of them right now.

My first embroidery piece - ever!

OK,  so some of these skills are still at extremely basic levels, but it’s all fun and I’m gonna keep on trying! I’m gonna try quilting next 🙂

Out of everything though, I gotta admit that sewing is probably my favourite.

I joined up to Craftster.org which is this unique community of crafty people. Everyone’s so nice and so goddamn talented that my jaw drops on a hourly basis at least (I do occasionally have to drag myself away from Craftster). Some of the tutorials are incredibly brilliant as well, I wholeheartedly endorse having a look!

I also joined up to the Monthly Odd Holidays swaps which have been fun, slightly nerve wrecking (“oh insert-deity-here, what if my partner doesn’t like what I sent? What if it doesn’t arrive?!”)  and invaluable to my learning. But mostly a lot of fun!

Well, I’ll leave it at that for now. But I’ll be back again soon(ish) with more updates!

Kitty Hat!

Winter is most definitely here and my poor little ears get very cold so I took it upon myself to make a hat. I got the idea from a craftser on www.craftser.org and while I didn’t use the exact same details, I felt I should also link to the tutorial. So here ya go!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=56636.0

Me wearing my lovely warm hat:

Detail on one of the ears:

 

I probably should mention that this didn’t cost me anything at all to make!

 

Photos by Aidan O’ Brien.

Letter To Santa 2009

Dear Santa,

I know I haven’t written to you since I was 8 years old but I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve been a good girl (mostly). So, if you don’t mind, here’s a little wishlist:

 

Things I Need Want:

 

• A drill. Preferably cordless but I’m not hugely fussy.
• Drill bits. (Obviously.)
• Polymer clay.
• Fabric paint.
• A saw (for making shelves).
• A tool box.
• A Canon D10 (for underwater shots!).

 

If you deliver the goods Santa, then I promise to use the items, blog what I’ve made and be a good girl for another year.

 

 

And since I’m dreaming, how about helping me win the lotto?

 

P.S.  I hope a lack of chimneys in my home won’t deter you from trying.

Things I’ve Made Special! – Gig

Well folks, here’s a little something I’ve been working on with my boyfriend and two of our friends; we’re putting on a free gig in December!

The night is called Sól Vs Stomp-O-Rama. Sól is a psytrance night run by my good friend Chris Quinn for various charities (we usually help out with decorations y’see) and I haven’t missed a single Sól night because they’re just so awesome! Great people, great atmosphere, fantastic music…it’s a guaranteed great night if you like psytrance.

For a while now, myself, my boyfriend Aidan and our friend Steve have been hankering to put on a gig that’d cater for the dubstep, breaks and drum ‘n’ bass fans, so we teamed up with Chris and hey, would you look at that, we’re putting on a dubstep/breaks/drum ‘n’ bass verus psytrance night! A Battle of the Genres if you will.

Anyway, the reason why I’m telling you fine folks is this: it’s a free gig, so if you’re around Dublin on December 11th and you’re looking for something to do, then scamper your way to the Odeon at 9pm, go upstairs, (give a little donation if you like!) and just have a good time!

To persuade you even more, here’s a flyer that myself and Aidan made together:

Sól Vs Stomp-O-Rama

In case you’re wondering, Saor in Aisce is Irish for “admit one” 😀

Links!

www.solatnight.com
Facebook: (My facebook is acting weird, just do a search for Sól!)
Bebo: www.bebo.com/solatnight
MySpace: myspace.com/solatnight

Hope to see you there!

Roundup Collection

I’m notorious for multitasking, though I have been known to get stuck in certain loops, like my papercraft obession. I can’t help it, I love making things.

So for all you fine folks out there, I give you a roundup of the latest things I’ve made!

To kick things off, I present you with two more members of Aido’s Monkey Army, complete with personas:

The Mad Scientist

I’m really pleased that I managed to get the lab coat mostly right! Oh, he’s totally crazy.  You should see some of his experiments.

Mutant Monkey

The very first of the Mad Scientists’ experiments. Whether the experiment was successful or not remains unclear, as a 3 tailed monkey could prove to be quite useful for certain missions.

Next, I have some vinyl art for you. Not much but there will be much more on the way!

House of The Rising Sun

I found a vinyl EP of the Animals singing “House of The Rising Sun” in a charity shop. It’s a track that I’ve always loved ever since I was a kid listening to my Dads’ records but I don’t have a record player so I decided to turn it into art. I painted a (modern) New Orleans skyline against a rising sun. I’m still unsure as to whether it’s finished but I’ll update again if I do “finish” it.

Vinyl Heads

A simple piece but I like it nonetheless.

Next up, still on the stencil theme:

No Face from the Studio Ghibli movie "Spirited Away

Flying Towards The Sun

The Great Wave of Kanagawa

Credit where it’s due, the link for this template is here!

Tak's SIIR (Standard-Issue Information Retrieval) robot from the cartoon "Invader Zim"

A piece of jewellery next:

Blue Beaded Necklace

And finally…

In case you’re wondering what this has to do with my blog, I made him play the piano.

See? I’m constantly making things!

Let me know what you think of them in the comments, cheers!

Skin Art

This is just a brief post.

Some of you Internet travellers may have seen the photos of a girl with writing all over her skin. Her name is Ariana Page Russell and she has a skin condition called dermographia (which is a bit of a loose term). The link is here:

http://www.arianapagerussell.com/work/skin-two/

Well, I have a similar, if not the same, condition which is called urticaria. It’s basically hives all over my body and it’s immensely painful and itchy. I take a lot of antihistamines and use lotion but it still returns a few hours later. It doesn’t really affect the things I do but I’ve almost torn my skin to shreds at times.

Recently, I wondered if I could do the same thing as that girl Ariana did with her skin.

It turns out I can but it’s not an experiment I’ll try again. It upsets my boyfriend so I’ve promised him that after taking one photo that I would stop.

So, here you are, the one and only photo that I will take of my urticaria.

Ouch My Leg

Yes, I messed it up but it does spell ouch!

Plush toys/teddy bears/whatever you call them!

I AM THE CONQUEROR OF MY SEWING MACHINE!

Sorry about that, I’ve been pretty excited about that. I’ll back up and explain a little.

Before my mam became a missus and a mother, she used to be a seamstress in a factory (not in that Discworld “Guild of Seamstresses” sort of way). After she left her job, she continued to make outfits for various occasions. She made my communion dress, a flowergirl dress and 2 debs dresses. (For all non-Irish-school-attended-people, a Debs is sorta like a prom, but it usually happens a few months after leaving school.) Of course, all of that was for me, I can’t even think of how many other dresses and outfits she’s made for several other people.

So you’d think that my mam would have taught me how to use a sewing machine from a youngish age but no. I never really found out why (maybe she was afraid I’d break it?) so I learnt to sew by hand. Which is all fine and well for a while but a sewing machine is far superior to hand sewing. So, off I toddled to Dunnes Stores to pick up a cheap one and after much cursing, practising, slightly more cursing and finally re-reading the manual, I finally figured out to master it!

NOW you can see why I got excited!

Anyways, today I present you with my latest skills:

Totoro from the Studio Ghibli movie "My Neighbour Totoro"

Greetings fellow allergists! You may recognise the next creature!

Snot Monster will devour all of your tissues!

The next two were made for my boyfriend who REALLY wants an army of monkeys. I’m doing the best I can with recycled materials such as old tshirts and whatnot but don’t you worry my love, you will have your army!

BW Bush

This monkey’s talents lie in being a Class 1 Distract-O-Mime. Ever been distracted by a mime? No? Well, you will be. How can you resist? It’s a miming monkey! Oh noes, ambushed again!

Ninja Monkey - deadliest of all ninjas!

I managed to get a picture of this secretive simian while he was posing but as soon as he heard the “click” of the camera, he was gone! Now who knows where he could be…

I do have more plans for Aido’s Monkey Army! Many more plans, but I won’t tell you what they are yet (in case they turn out badly!) but guaranteed, I will post more pictures!

Jewellery

Wow, my last post received a lot of views! Now I’ve got standards to live up to I guess 😀

So, today’s post is all about the jewellery I make. I’ve made and fixed jewellery for over 10 years but not much, mostly due to lack of the right tools. However, that changed about a month or two ago and ever since I’ve been making jewellery almost every day.

Here’s a few examples:

Flying Spaghetti Monster - I'm not a Pastafarian but I enjoy his noodly goodness

Instructions from:

http://www.winonatong.com/archives/2006/06/flying_spaghetti_monster_jewellery.php

Butterfly Necklace

4 Earrings

Necklace Mandala - my own design

Origami Crane Earrings

Well, that’s all I have for the moment, I still have a lot of works in progress. I’m hoping to sell a few of these at an arts and crafts fair soon enough so let me know what you think!

Banksy Exhibition

As a birthday present to myself, my two best friends took me to Bristol last Friday. We were only there for 2 days and a night so we wanted to get in as much as we could.

After we devoured the most delicious breakfast, we made our way to the Bristol City Musuem, to wait in line for 2 and a half hours to see the Banksy Exhibition. (If you don’t know who Banksy is, well then, I gotta ask, where have you been hiding? Use your Google powers to see who I mean.)

It was totally worth the wait, I’m really glad that we got through that crowd!

This was only PART of the queue. This shows nothing of the crowd behind me, nor the crowd around the corner in front of me!

The queues have been like that for a month. People begin queuing at 7AM but the doors don’t open until 9AM. However, admission is free and I do recommend visiting it yourself if you can.

Here’s some of the shots I got, as always, the rest are on my Flickr page.

Suicidal Ronald

Skanky Angel

Animatronic Bunny Filing Her Nails

Escape from Guantamo Bay

Venus De Homeless

Nanny

Workers Of The World Unite!