25 Ornaments Of Christmas 4

All right, so after a hellish day at work (about 105 pizzas, 25 subs, and lots of short tempers) I come home and colapsed on the couch. The computer decided that it was going to be picky and evil, so for about 2 hours I had to baby it through a few steps of rebuts and try to find where my crafty stuff went. Then I finally realized: I still have to make an ornament! -.- Crafgawker, here I come!

I found this wounferful tutorial on ow to make a woven paper ball. Just yesterday I had run out of work early in order to make it to Pamida to get cardstock and clear bulbs. Still not too sure what to do with the bulbs, but i think I'll figure it out sooner rather than later ;)

Anyway, back to the ball.

Sorry for the bad lighting, I didn't use the good camera because well I'm lazy and I grabbed the nearest one to me. I think I'm going to have to attempt this one again sometime. The Cheese Thief made some amazing videos and a really easy to follow tutorial. My ball, however, is rather deformed because 1. I cut paper that was WAAAAY too wide 2. Its almost 4 am and I'm really tierd and 3. My paitence is running rather thin and I dont feel like trying to figure this out AGAIN.

Anyway, I think I'm going to go colapse into bed. Night all!

So

My New Projects

Tis the season for overspending, undereating, long road trips, and snow. Oh, and decorations. Which is what brings me to this post

I have decided that for this year ( mostly because we're broke) I am going to craft the decorations for my tree. We got the tree itself from a little shop called the Treasure Chest for $4 and the previous tennents left a bunch of lights and decorations in the basement. I have utalized a bunch of them but I refuse to color code my tree in blue. So, as a result, the 25 days of Ornaments has been born.

Days 1, 2, and 3 are all smashed together.  So, without further adu, here we go.

1. My very first Sculpy project, Christmas Kitty. I used a whole block of black clay (well except for like 3 pieces) and got my idea from Youtube. I may attempt the actual tutorial for my next project, but for now I like it. For the most part it turned out well.

2.This was my second attempt with polymer clay, otherwise known as Sculpy. Mostly I just used remanents from the kitty and made a spiral. The white dyed itself pink-ish from my fingers but it turned out ok. This may be one that i might want to attempt later on with the proper tools, but for now it looks nice just where it is.

3. Last but not least, a lazy charm. I call it lazy because all I did was take some of the wool that I had laying around and made a yarn ball. I think it acutally looks really nice because of the color combos. I got the idea from this tutorial, which called for a Styrofoam core. I of course dont have any styrofoam, but I do have lots of yarn that I really dont mind using for a ball or two.

So there we have it, the first of many DIY  holiday ornaments. I'm going to try to post them every day, but if I miss a couple I dont think anyone will mind. Its not like anyone actually reads this thing anyway....(yeah, I'm feeling a bit down)

At Some Point You Have To Say 'Really?'

First off, though I doubt anyone really cares, sorry for my absence. I'm now working part time at Casey's in New Hampton and I work night shift, while Jake just moved to nights at Bay Valley. So our sleeping scheules are a bit off right now, but at least things are working out for the most part.

The reason why I became compelled to post this is because of a facebook feed. I was brousing around after work mindlessly when something cought my attention. 'Milwakee Ads Wake Up Parents To Dangers of Co-Sleeping' which you can find the link to the article here. I read through the article, and went 'Really? Is that what they have to pick on NOW?' because I am a product of parent co-sleeping. Now admitedly, my situation was much different. My younger brother and I slept with our grandmother on a queen sized bed until my older brother moved out of the house (I was about 11) because we didn't have room to have each of us have our own rooms. I remember those days as being fitful and restful because I had my family around me and I felt very safe. I have been told (and have glimpses of) memories of sleeping on my mother's chest when she got home from work. No one ever suffocated me, nor did any harm befall me when I was sleeping with my grandmother or mother.

But now, appaerently, this is a huge issue. Just take a look at the add that they have circulating.

...for fuck's sake. This is just people being stupid and paranoid. Reason 1: the kid is sleeping on its tummy, on a bed with sheets and blankets and pillows galore on what looks to be a feather pillow. 2. When a parent is (usually from my experience) sleeping with a baby, the child ends up cacooned within the parent's arms. Tell me, when your cat/dog is sleeping in your arms (or on them) do you roll over and crush them in your sleep? And finally reason 3. I truely believe that Milwakee is just trying to blame the high infant mortality rate on something just to cause an uproar.

Anyway, that's my rant for now, later on I may post about my crochet. Feel free to comment (if anyone reads this) and let me know what you think.

Zombi Kitty

 So, after almost a year in the making, my Zombie Kitteh has been born! She's looking for snuggles, scritches and BRAAAAAAAINNNNSSS....then a saucer of warm milk and a nice long nap. ^.^

And then there's me, messing around with Jake's Jayne hat. I was actually watching the episode on Firefly when Jayne got the hat when I took the pictures. There is a pom pom on top, which mystified Jake when I was making it. I made some adjustments to the pattern and made it a bit bigger than it was called for, but it fits him nice which is what I wanted.

So, back to hooking...and writing out a pattern....

First Snow

So Jake gets up like ten minuites before he's suposed to be at work and leaves ALL the lights on in the house. I get up and shut them off, then go back to lay down for awhile. I couldn't fall back to sleep. It was so bright out, I couldn't figure out why. So I look out the window, and this is what greeted me.

Snow. The very first snow of the season, and the very first snow in Iowa. Yep, its still cold. And yes, it is still super soggy wet. Ah, just like home -.-

ANGRY EYES!

So, yet again another day sitting home alone waiting for the mail to come because my phone still hasn't shown up. I filled out a few more applications, then set myself down to watch movies. I finished another 2 potholders before I got sick of them, and decided to try this pattern. Its actually an amazing pattern by Karla and it worked up a lot quicker than I thought. Only took me about 3 hours, if that. I really enjoyed working on it and look forward to making another, if not the whole gang! 

Pot Roast and a Potholder

So yesterday was eventful. I decided that I was going to cook supper, and had to make a run to Fairway to get some Onion Soup. We chopped potatoes, carrots and celery, tossed some mushroom soup on top, and threw it all in the oven for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, I made some potholders (since we didn't have any) and made these. I made the very first one out of Red Heart SS, but then after doing some reacearch I found out that some WW yarns that don't have cotton in them melt. So I went and grabbed 2 small balls of Sugar n' Cream, and set to work. I made a very small one first and the second one was a bit bigger, so we'll see how they work.

Later, when supper was finally finished, we invited the neighbors up and had that delicious looling pot roast. It turned out really well! I am so proud of myself i could just burst ^.^ Anyway, today is another slow day so I think I might work on one of my other zillion projects. Happy Hooking and Blessed Be!

Random Blarg

So today was a really loooong day. Jake had to work at 3am, and I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I ended up wandering around the apartment and I decided that we were going to have chicken tenders for supper, home made. I looked up a recipe earlier that I thought would be good. If you're brave you can try the recipe here. Overall, they were pretty good. The only thing that I could have done differently is maybe leave them in longer or add some egg to the batter to make it crunchier. Either way, Jake sure loved them!

Later on I'm hoping to make some cookies, then pop in Young Frankenstein and chill out. The neighbors are having a party downstairs, but neither one of us are really interested it, so staying in seems to be a good idea.

Also, no dice on the job frounteer yet, but hopefully I'll get something soon. I've only been here a couple of weeks, but its already feeling like home.

I've Never....

I'm stealing this idea from Jenna, whom I've just started folloing. You can find her blog here.

I'm 20 years old, and I've never...

1. Traveled outside of the country
2. Been to a art gallery
3. Seen a musical in person
4. Fully defeated Mario on the original Nintendo

 5. Hurt an animal out of anger
6. Owned a car
7. Been to a really fancy resturant
8. Been Pregnant (thank the Goddess)
9. Played in a sandbox
10. Been to a haunted house.


Some of the answers you come up with may surprise you, when you sit and think about them!

Candy Wrappers!

Lookie! My next crafty blarg bracelet. I took a picture of the pattern and then as well as the clasp. I made it from Star Burst Tropical candy wrappers, and it turned out pretty cool! the hardest part was probably the clasp, but really it wasnt THAT hard.

Anyway, right now I'm just waiting for Jake to get going so that he can run to the store to get me some cinamon as well as a few other things. I'm FINALLY tring to make that banana bread, but of course we dont have all the ingredients -.- so I got his butt out of bead to go get them. Aint I sweet? :D

Today I'm just going to clean and watch movies with the neighbor down stairs, Kylie. She's really cool and we've become fast friends. Later, I'll post my haul from Hobby Lobby (Which is a very dangerous store, never take me in there without proper supervision) and ya. Squee!

Bored Crafting

Lookie what I made! A Pop-tab bracelet! lol I was super board for the past few days and so I decided to brouse youtube. I found a tutorial to make pop tab bracelets, and so I immediatly set down to make one. I closed it with a paper clip for the clasp and its loose enough that it wont strangle my wryst but tight enough that it wont slide off my hand. I'm super proud of it :D

Anyway, not much else going on really. The neighbor and I figured that we'd go for a walk uptown, and after that I HAVE to do the dishes. Before Jake comes home. Because I've been procrastinating on doing them for 4 days and we are out of glasses. -.- sadness. But either way, today is going to be a good day even though its flipping FREZING outside. Time to pull out my awesome hat and scarf!

*knock knock* Are You Still There?

Hi hi! Yes, it is me, your lovely little pest again. So much has changed since my last blog post, and I figured it was about time to post again.

Well, first off, I'm not suicidal anymore. Yey me! Second, I don't live in Wisconsin anymore. Again with the Yey! Jake and I got an appartment togeather and we are living in Iowa now. We got here about a week ago and I am busying myself with making the appartment a home and finding a new job, as well as getting back into my crafts. Its nice, being able to wake up in the morning and see my lover off to work, then busy myself with dishes and laundry, like I was home. Like I had made myself a home, with Jake. Squee!

I don't know how often I'll be able to post, but I'll try to make it at least once a week, or maybe once a day. I'm not sure yet. For right now, True Blood calls my name. Tootles!

Stalkerish Tendancies

All right, I’ve been depressed. So much so, I’ve seriously been contemplating suicide. Grandma’s in the hospital, soon to be going to a nursing home, I cant seem to do anything right in my own home, even though work seems to be going well enough. A few things have stuck in my head from my conversations with Aunt Diane, and one that I think I may try.

I’ve come to realize that I do truly hate myself, and I told her that. She told me that I should try yelling at myself in the mirror, to which I responded that I cant even look in the mirror to comb my hair, let alone yell at myself. But the idea still stuck in my head. I started thinking about myself in an ‘objective’ way. Then I thought ‘Why not write a letter to my selves?’ because I have come to realize that there are-were-is?- many different ascpects to myself that I can clearly name. Nikki, Nikka, Nicole, and Crystalina. Past, rebellion, present, and future. And then I thought about what I may write to each of them. (still havnt gotten past the ‘Dear’ part for most) and I figured since I havnt posted in my blog for forever, I’d share some of my thoughts. After all, its my blog right?

Each name represents a different part of me. Nikki is a carefree, child-like girl still trying to get mommy and daddy’s attention for more than a few seconds, running around in the grass barefoot or talking incessantly with anyone and everyone who would listen. Nikka is a darker side, whom doesn’t want to do anything but sit in her dark corner and read, or write. Nicole is my present self, trying very hard to understand herself and where she has come from and where she will be in the future. Crystalina is my future. She is confident in herself, her abilities, her appearance. She knows that no matter what everything will work out and that she just has to stay positive in who she is and what she wants. She does not shun the past like Nicole, but embraces it like a part of herself.

That’s kinda what I’m thinking, at least. Its just sort of an idea that I’ve been trying to toss around to try to help me achive something.

Work is going well, I’ve been ‘promoted’ for lack of a better word to a head nightstaff. I’m working with the only other person in the office that gives a rats ass about me and we are doing well. We’re getting everything done and still have time to do what we missed out during the time we had to try to get manifests out. While paychecks have yet to reflect the work we have done, we are hopeful.

On the crafter’s side, I can honestly say that I have not done much with my crochet. I’ve been trying (Gods have I been trying) but no profit seems to have come out of it. I think that I need to get rid of some of this ‘negativity’ before I can focus on it again.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do to help myself (or anything they think that may help period) please let me know. I’m going to post this not only on my blog but also on my deviantART because I feel that those of you who are waiting to see the creations that are currently on my hook deserve to know what is getting in the way. (side note: the fox IS complete, I just need to get up the umph to get pictures taken to be posted)