Here's a picture of me vamping it up a bit at the NY Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. If I look just a little rumpled, it's because this pic was taken at the end of the day and that top sash had taken several dives into the muddy ground, including one where I thought I'd lost it for good. Luckily a vendor saw it in the path and hung it on her booth, and we walked by and saw it.
My costume is pleasantly cobbled together from items that I brought from home and items that I bought while in NY. Oh yes, and I'm wearing elf ears! I wasn't going to get them, since I don't do faerie costuming as much any more, but everyone thought that I should try them on and they looked perfect on me, so my MIL gifted me with a pair. She also bought a pair for herself, to go with the horns she bought last year. She looked so cute with her elven ears! The vendor even poked a hole in them for her cartilage piercing, making them look even more natural.
Over all, the Faire was muddy but awesome. There was an incredibly light misty rain off and on throughout the day, but otherwise the weather was perfect. Neither too hot nor too cold for my costume, and the clouds kept me from adding to my collection of sunburns. I was a bit disappointed that I had to layer my white choli over my green tie-dye top, but I think it looked OK.
The nice thing was that my brother-in-law Pete and his girlfriend Lisa were able to join us for the day. We wouldn't have been able to see them otherwise, as Pete is going to school a couple of hours away from home.
We caught quite a few shows throughout the day. I was excited to see that Wolgemut was performing that weekend, as I'd heard good things about their music but hadn't yet picked up any CDs. We spent a few minutes watching an impromptu jam session with them and another musician (one of the guys from Karpathos, I think), in an attempt to earn some free beer, and then we caught their 4pm show. Unfortunately, in the middle of their second song, their bagpipers pipe broke, a victim to the humidity. It was repairable, but not immediately so, so they apologized profusely and said they'd only be able to play one more song, which didn't involve the bagpipes. Then they said that everyone should clap along or dance, and of course, I chose the latter option. I was the only one who did so, and then to my utter amazement, they waved me up onto the stage.
So, without any warming up or preparation or anything, I improv-ed a dance to the song, using only a few moves because almost everything else that I knew totally fled my mind -- ha ha. But it was awesome! Possibly the coolest thing that has happened to me so far this year. After the song, they thanked me for my dancing, and Chris and his family told me how cool they thought it was, and of course, we bought CDs to make up for only getting a few minutes of music.
I was also able to get my shimmy on with the belly dancers later, when one of them caught me bouncing my hips along to the last song and pulled me out (they'd been pulling girls in throughout the show, but I was standing in the back avoiding notice... he he). It was a lot of fun, even if we were dancing in a muddy, grassy field (they were dancing in golashes!).
Anyway, my luggage finally arrived earlier (hence my ability to pull pictures off of my camera), so I should really go do some laundry and put away all of my purchases, so I can get the suitcases out of the living room.
Chris and I arrived safely home in Tucson. Our luggage, however, stayed in Atlanta. They were supposed to put it on the second Atlanta-Tucson flight and get it to us tonight, but here it is 9:30pm and no luggage yet.
I'm really fed up with airlines, as there were other small problems before we even got onto the plane this morning. After my trip to Tahoe in October, it's going to be a long time until I fly again. This is ridiculous.
Today was utterly and completely awesome -- except the parts where we drove through New Jersey -- but I just spent the past 1 1/2 hours packing, and I have to be up in 5 hours to fly home, so you'll have to wait to hear about it.
Despite not having any major plans, I still managed to be occupied for most of the day. I'm going to have to wait and post about my adventures after I get back, at this rate.
Tonight we went to an Afghani restaurant and there was an amazing belly dancer who gave two performances with a variety of props, including wings of Isis and a veil fan.
Earlier in the day, we saw District 9, which I thought was good but needlessly gory. That doesn't always bother me, but today I was feeling overly sensitive to such things.
I am once again overly tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow to go to Ren Faire, where it will hopefully not be raining as much as it has been all day.
Damn my commitment to daily blog posts! I spent well over 10 hours in NYC today, 12 hours if you count the time on the train to get there and back. There was a lot of walking involved, and my feet are tired. Actually, scratch that, all of me is tired.
My stupid camera batteries died as soon as I turned my camera on, but luckily Chris's phone has a good camera and he got some nice shots. I'll share at least one in tomorrow's post... and I'll buy decent batteries before we go to the Ren Faire. Those rechargeable hybrids may be great for the environment, but they're lousy for my camera.
Anyway, everything today was awesome and I'll make a full trip report tomorrow, when I should hopefully have some down time to rest my poor tired feet and catch up on internet stuff.
Cthulhu hitched a ride in my purse today, accompanying me on a trip to Long Beach to meet a friend. It's hard to tell in this pictue, but I've finished the top of his head, finally. I didn't get a chance to work on him during my flight out, due to the tight space in the airplane, but I've stolen a few minutes here and there to work on him.
However, Cthulhu didn't get to come bead shopping with me today, because I didn't trust him not to escape my purse and wreak untold havoc on the sanity of the bead store employees.
We went to three stores today. Wherefore Art Thou, a small shop where I found nothing to buy, my usual standby of Ace Handicraft, where I bought a bunch of key pendants, some vintage beads, and a couple of neat focals, and Beads and Stitches, where I found some matte pearl Czech glass and other neat things.
Tomorrow we're off to NYC for shopping, site-seeing and Wicked!
No pictures today, because I forgot my camera and Chris isn't here right now.
We went to the Nassau County Art Museum, except not really. We actually went to a museum on their grounds dedicated to miniatures, where they were having a rather disappointing Alice in Wonderland themed exhibit. Then we ate a picnic in their grassy field, visited their guest shop (where I got an awesome painted and embroidered scarf), and walked down one of their nature trails.
Once again, despite sunscreen, I managed to burn. It isn't a bad burn, doesn't hurt, but I don't like being red in the face. I fear it may be time to join the ranks of the hat-wearers, even though it drives me crazy to have a brim obstructing my view. I suspect that skin cancer would drive me even more crazy.
Also, we went to Utopia, the goth/hippie shop that we always visit. I almost bought myself a corset, but instead I just bought two faerie tanktops which were on clearance sale, and four packages of new scents of my favorite brand of incense.
Anyway, time to iron the things that got wrinkled in my suitcase.
I arrived safely in NY last night, and am just now sitting down with a computer. My day of travel was a little harrowing, but I got in just a little behind schedule.
The picture above is one that Chris took on his phone, of some pretty orange mushrooms that we saw on a nature trail at the Planting Fields Arboretum, where we spent our afternoon. It was a lovely day: warm, a little humid, a mix of sun and clouds. We picnicked in the shade, read, and explored the grounds. All in all, very enjoyable.
Now I'm quite tired, after a day of walking and sunshine, and a very large dinner, so I'm going to veg out for a little until bed.
Because I will probably be too tired today to blog after I land in NY, I am pre-writing this post and scheduling it to show up while I'm either in a plane or in an airport. I'll be spending at least 11 hours of my day tomorrow in planes and airports, and that's assuming they actually give me a seat in Atlanta, which they're trying not to do.
So check in Monday for the harrowing details of my two-layover trip from AZ to NY via GA and VA!
Hello, internet. I'm so busy right now that I don't even have time to edit a cute puppy picture for this post. Despite getting up hours earlier than I normally do, I'm still behind on all I wanted to do today, and it's less than two hours before I have to take the dogs to the kennel. So I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not too chatty.
I'll be trying to keep up my daily blog schedule while I'm in NY, and this time I remembered to pack my camera, so there should be pictures, too!
After last night's wild party to celebrate HP Lovecraft's 119th birthday, I found Cthulhu passed out on the dining room table. This gave me a good chance to take a photo of the work I've been doing on the top of his head. When he woke up, he was feeling a little light-headed, so I gave him a hand up, and snapped a shot of the beads on the back of his head. Even though I'd turned the flash off, he was still irritated and threatened to eat my soul, but we both know he didn't really mean it.
I decided that since I took a bunch of pictures of the dogs, I'll use them on posts where I don't have any new Cthulhu or other bead-related pictures. So here's Daisy, being cute and happy. For some reason, she puts her ears back when she's happy. I think it makes her look kind of like a seal. This picture was taken between her bouncing up and down excitedly on the couch trying to get me to pet her (which I did) before running over to the other end of the couch to wrestle with Maggie.
Today I had another workout, and I got more advice on how to deal with my ridiculously short Achilles tendons, and I lifted 25lb bars, and I jumped around a lot, and I rowed 500m. Actually, I did that first, but whatever. I don't go back to the gym until the Tuesday after I get back from NY. I will get plenty of exercise while I'm gone though, as I'll spend at least one day walking around NYC and one day walking around a Ren Faire, and I'll probably dance a bit, and practice my squats. I will not be sedentary, that is for sure.
After reaching the end of the thread I was using to work on the top of Cthulhu's head, I decided I should really put some more work into his face, even though it's difficult and annoying. I actually made a bit of progress before reaching the end of that thread as well, and can probably do the rest of the face in one go, if I'm feeling particularly patient. I need to push onward, as there are only 5 weeks left until the retreat, and a whole lot of Cthulhu left in need of beads.
By the way, if you are a fan of Cthulhu, even when he's not covered in beads, you should probably check out the Indie Squid Kid blog, where they're having Cthulhu week!
To make up for yesterday's gloomy post, here is a picture of Daisy and Maggie! Awww. I took a bunch of pics of them yesterday before things got lousy, and this was the only pic of both of them in which neither one has a blurry head. I'm telling you, they just don't like to sit still.
As for yesterday's badness, I think things are going to be OK for now. Sorry to be all doom and gloom like that. I usually try to keep that stuff out of my blog, but it was late, I hadn't blogged yet, and I couldn't force myself to be positive.
I think tomorrow will be another Cthulhu post. Today my arms are tired from working out, so I really don't feel like trying to hold my camera steady.
I said I'd update every day, but today has been awful and I have nothing I want to say.
Ok, this is a really lousy picture. I forgot to take Cthulhu outside for photographing before it got dark, so I had to take the picture at my desk instead. It's dark because I'm between Cthulhu and the light. I'll try to take a better picture in a couple of days, when I'll have more progress to show.
I got very frustrated with how hard it was to fill in the little bits of the face, so I've moved on to working on the rest of the head. I'm mainly using some matte opaque pea green size 11 seed beads that seemed rather fitting. I also decided that the four sections of the crown of his head should have ridges. Size 8 seed beads seemed to be just right for that, and I fortunately already had some that matched the lime green 11s I was using on his face. Now I'm outlining the ridges, and filling in the rest of the head.
Working on the head has proven to be a lot easier than the face, which makes me confident that the main body and limbs shouldn't be too challenging, either. This means completing the project should only be an issue of time and appropriate beads (both of which I should have enough of), and not an issue of skill/feasibility.
There are some benefits to Chris being gone. The main one is that I eat whatever I want. Tonight I had lobster ravioli and truffle flat bread. He eats neither crustaceons nor fungus, so these were rare treats for me. And delicious treats. Mmmm. I'll eat the rest of the flat bread tomorrow, with either a chicken patty or marinated ahi steak (he'd actually eat those, I won't spend the entire week on a shellfish and mushroom binge).
I've made some fun progress on Cthulhu today. I think you'll like what you see tomorrow.
I decided to go ahead and put my Etsy shop in Vacation mode a week early, so that I can spend the week that Chris is gone focusing on getting the house clean, working on Cthulhu, and maybe even making one or two shiny new things to wear on vacation*.
There will be changes made to the Etsy shop when I get back, and a few changes to my website as well. There will also be more destashed beads in the shop (I plan to photograph them before I go so I can start listing ASAP). There may even be new jewelry, but probably not. Cthulhu is taking most of my beading time right now.
Speaking of Cthulhu, I'll probably post about him again on Sunday. I haven't been working on him as much as I would like, but I feel like my momentum is back.
*I say all of this, but I'll probably spend most of the time reading novels, since I'm going to the bookstore tonight to stock up.
Having a gym class in the morning and a dance class in the evening does not leave me much time for things today! I need to leave for Tempe in 40 minutes, and I have a few things to wrap up before I do.
My gym class taught me more things that I suck at, but I also feel like I got a good workout, so I guess that's the important thing. My quads still hurt from Tuesday. Hopefully class tonight will help me loosen up. At the very least, I don't go back to the gym (not counting Sunday's yoga session) until Tuesday, so I should have time to fully recover and be able to tackle whatever they're throwing at us next. I don't like the fact that I'm already behind schedule.
In the meantime, the corgis are mostly recovered from yesterday's dental ordeal. For whatever reason, the vet wasn't done with them until 6:15 in the evening. I had to get a ride from my parents to pick them up, so Chris wouldn't be late for krav maga. Of course, my parents are bigger dog people than I am, and Mom's van already had two crates set up in the back with pads and blankets -- ha ha! The girls had a comfy ride home.
Ok, off to put a few more beads on Cthulhu's lumpy head and then get ready for class.
Tiger in a Taffeta Dress earrings are today's Daily Special. I'm honestly surprised that these haven't sold yet. They're a good price, and they're beautiful. Maybe the photos are to blame. I'm not really thrilled with that blue background, very few things have looked quite right when photographed on it. At some point, I really need to start the process of taking better images of most of the items in my Etsy shop and on my website. That probably won't happen until at least mid-October, when the Tahoe retreat is behind me.
Today is a really busy day. The dogs are at the vet getting their teeth cleaned, and will be coming home sometime this afternoon. I need to clean the house for tonight's game. I need to get some major work done on Cthulhu. I need to sit down with my companion DVD for belly dance class and find where the moves I need to practice are, and then practice them. I need to string two packages of crystals during tonight's game. Also, I have to try to keep the group on track so we can wrap up our current game before Chris takes off for NY. With all of that on my To Do list, I should probably wrap this post up.
Medusa Turning to Stone is today's Daily Special. One thing that I love about Green Girl is that she made not one, but two different Medusa bead/pendant styles. This one, and a two-sided flat coin with Medusa's head on the front and a snake on the back. That other one is in a necklace I made for myself and wear all the time, in gorgeous olivine greens. Mmm.As stated in the title, today I started attending Chris's gym. I guess that makes it my gym now, too. While at the gym, I learned that I suck at squats. I also did a lot of rowing. I also hung out with my friend Casey, who is my learning-to-workout partner, and who does not suck at squats. While I was trying to learn to keep my stupid heels flat while squatting, he was lifting big heavy weights from a squat. So in a way, it was actually good to suck, because I was a lot less tired at the end than he was. I'm going back on Thursday, to learn what else I suck at.
I've already told you before that TotusMel's Wunderkammer is one of my favorite blogs ever. It's a finds blog that features dark, steamy, and unusual finds, quite different from the cutesy cupcakes and indie fashion that other blogs focus on.
To celebrate the blog's beautiful new look, TotusMel is having a give-away, and that is why I wish I was full of win, or at the very least, one of those lucky people who wins drawings. All of the prizes are amazing, but I'd really love to have the custom bustle skirt pictured above! I know, I know, I already have a bustle skirt, but this one is a totally different style. These things are important.
Would you also like a chance to win fabulous steampunk prizes? If so, you should head on over to The Give-Away Post and read up on the rules. There are so many ways to enter, and the more people who enter, the more fantastic prizes are available. Jewelry! Crowns! Sexy bustle skirts! What more could you want?
What a busy weekend this has been! I drove back and forth across town so we could take care of Chris's friend's pets (his cat is so beautiful and soft!), we had a game yesterday, yoga today, and then Casey came over and the three of us spent just over an hour working on the game room. We got two large wall panels up, and Casey cut the drywall for 4 small panels, which Chris and/or I can put up at any time. That leaves only a couple of spots left for drywall, then it's time for tape and spackle, and after that, PAINT! The paint is my favorite part, because it will brighten the room up. Drywall is really drab and ugly without any paint.
Anyway, yoga was awesome, and all of the driving has given me a lot more confidence on the road. I almost agreed to drive the three of us to get gelato tonight, but I decided to let Chris do it. I could probably drive there, but I'm not sure how well I would have done with driving and conversing with Chris and Casey. Better to remain on the safe side.
So now it's time to grab a couple of hours of vegging out in front of the TV, watching a DVD of Psych and stringing crystals, before facing another busy week.
Just got back from Chris's friend's apartment. We're taking care of his cat and guinea pig while he's out of town, and I've been doing some of the driving. Today I drove us there and back, my first time hitting the road in the middle of the day, with traffic and stuff. Also, my first time running a red light, because I misjudged how quickly I needed to stop when it turned yellow. Oh well, no one's perfect.
I'm almost to the point of being ready to tackle some major roads, which means I'll soon be able to drive anywhere in town, and Chris will soon take utter and complete advantage of that and make me drive everywhere. I guess it's only fair, he's been doing all of the driving for the 11 1/2 years we've been together ;)
Why is Cthulhu giving us the evil eye? Is it because he objects to being called cute? Perhaps he's offended by the fact that he's being covered in beads? Maybe he's annoyed that I stuck my needle into his hand. Most likely, he just can't help it.
The eyes probably are the most evil part about this project. If you're not familiar with this style of eye, it's a hemisphere with a shank in the back, held in place by a sort of pronged washer sort of deal. This means that the cloth around the eye had metal or plastic under it instead of plush, which makes it very difficult to anchor the needle to stitch the beads down.
Another problem I encountered while working on Cthulhu is that the thread I was using was too fine and kept breaking, so I had to force a thicker thread through the tiny eye of the needle I'm using. But at least I haven't broken any more needles -- yet.
Cthulhu's face is mostly covered in lime green colorlined size 11 seed beads leftover from a past BFAC kit. I considered using the pink-lined lime beads leftover from this year's BFAC kit, but two things stopped me: I hate them and I hate them. Ok, maybe that's just one thing.
I'm filling the rest of the face in with the size 15 beads from the first step, as they're smaller and easier to use in the tight spaces leftover in his face. Also, I got bored of using the same color. I think there will be more variety on the rest of his head and body.
In a few hours I'll be off on my weekly trek to Tempe for dance class. Yay! With any luck, the class DVDs will be back in stock. The problem with practicing during the week is that I have to rely on my mental image of the move, and sometimes I get to the next class and find that I've been doing it wrong all week. It also doesn't help that I don't have a mirror to work in front of -- I rely on my shadow, and my reflection in the TV screen. That problem will soon be in the past, at least, as my friend Helen is going to trade me a mirror for some dogsitting. Hooray!
I'm also trying a new restaurant tonight, one which is right next to the studio and comes highly recommended by the folks at the studio. It will be very convenient if I like them, as it will mean that we won't always have to drive around Tempe to get food.
Tomorrow I'll probably have another Cthulhu post. I got some work done on him last night and intend to do more today, in between housework and class.
Oh yes, and in honor of dance class, Spiral Journey is today's Daily Special!
Even though I'm very busy this month, I'd be more than happy to make you a Custom Crystal Bracelet, which is why they're today's Daily Special!I guess I must have been bored, because suddenly I have a lot going on in my life. Not only do I have dance class, learning to drive, and beaded Cthulhu to work on, but next week I'm going to start going to my husband's gym, and a couple of weeks after that, I'm off for a week in NY.
The gym is partially because Chris has been nagging me to try it, and mostly because I would like better strength and stamina for dancing. My arms especially tend to get tired really fast, and I know it will be even worse if I'm trying to work with props, especially heavy ones like my sword or my fire fans. Plus, of course, more muscle tone will make me look better in my coin bra ;)
As for NY, it's my annual visit to my in-laws, and I will be putting my Etsy shop into Vacation mode during that time. I haven't decided if I'll take any of my jewelry along to NY. I usually do, because my mother-in-law likes to shop in person -- but tighter luggage restrictions mean I may have to leave my jewelry case at home in order to have enough luggage space left to bring home whatever I buy in NY. That said, if there's something you've had your eye on, you should probably buy it now just in case I take it to NY and sell it.
Anyway, right now it's back to housework and Cthulhu for me!
Here he is, in all his plush glory, Cthulhu! And he's sporting beads upon his brow.
Why is Cthulhu being adorned with beads? Because he's (hopefully) going to be my entry in the Ugly Beaded Project contest at the Tahoe Mountain Bead Retreat in October.
When I first heard about the contest, I started thinking. While it's perfectly acceptable to submit something you already have lying around the house, I've only completed one truly ugly necklace (being a perfectionist, I'm quick to stop making something ugly, rather than trying to salvage it), and I have no idea where it was. Besides, it was ugly in a rather unspectacular way.
I didn't want to miss out on the competition, but I also didn't want to make an ugly necklace on purpose -- what a waste of time and materials, since I'd never wear it! But then I thought back to a project I've wanted to do for years -- a fully-beaded plush Cthulhu. Though the plushie itself is pretty cute, Cthulhu is a pretty ugly dude, and while he probably won't be ugly enough to win any sort of prize, he'll be something I'll be happy to have around my house long after the Retreat is over.
So far I've just stitched some matte metallic iris size 15s along his brow line. I tried to continue that down to the eye, but after breaking one needle and bending another, I decided that seam was too tough to sew beads into. Now I'm trying to decide how I want to bead the rest of the head, and what beads I want to use. Definitely lots of greens!
I'm August's Featured Artist on the FAE Team's Squidoo lens! Thank you, Aquariann, for bestowing this honor upon me.I'm really enjoying my membership in FAE Team. It's nice to be part of a group of artists working in different media, all with a love of fantasy, faeries, renaissance faires, dragons, and more. I've found my teammates to be fun, friendly, and chatty -- you'll see a few of them posting in the comments section here on the blog on a pretty regular basis.
In other news, I have permission to share my Ugly Bead Project on my blog, so I think I'll do the big reveal tomorrow. Are you excited? I'm excited.
Oh yes, and Summer Dragonfly is today's Daily Special!
I planned to practice driving tonight, but it was *really* windy. Not only does this make it harder to control the car, but since we haven't had a lot of rain, it's very dry, so there's blowing dust everywhere, messing up visibility. So since Chris was at gaming yesterday, that means I took the entire weekend off from driving. Well, after the crazy ordeal Chris put me through on Friday (driving halfway across town and back on dark, narrow roads), I deserve the break.
In other news, I set a secret goal for myself last month -- to actually update this blog daily, no matter how busy, tired, or cranky I was. And I did! 31 posts in 31 days! Woohoo! I'll try to do the same this month, though the NY trip may throw that off.
This is my favorite picture of Maggie -- I love that I captured her mid-yawn and managed to get a photo where she's showing her true cuteness, instead of looking sulky.
Today Chris and I took both of the girls down to the vet for their annual check-up and booster shots, in preparation for them being boarded while we're in NY. It was a bit of a stressful ordeal for them -- the vet and vet tech were both very nice, but that only goes so far for a dog when strange objects are being put into their orifices! Maggie especially wanted no part of it, though she still licked the vet's nose while being stethoscoped, and walked up to the vet tech for good-bye petting at the end.
Since then, they've spent most of the day in a post-vet drowsy state, showing the appropriate enthusiasm for food and opportunities to go outside, but otherwise adopting a feline-like system of moving from one nap spot to the next, largely based on where I am. AJ's in the office? Let's sleep on the loveseat or behind her desk chair. AJ's eating dinner? Let's sleep under the table or on the back of the couch, the better to occasionally wake up and make sad, starving eyes at her (they got fed before I did, don't believe them!). AJ's not paying attention? Let's go take a nap on the people bed! Silly dogs.
But when I sat down to write this post, Daisy became suddenly animated, barkingly insisting that she needed attention now, then jumping up to put her paws on my leg and nose her way between my arm and body, so that I'm hugging her. This is a frequent trick of hers, and she seems very pleased with herself for doing it. Now that I've turned down her advances, she's back on the loveseat, wearing her "I'm the saddest puppy ever" face. Guess I should go make it up to her!
By the way, Gossiping Pixies are today's Daily Special. Thought I should tack that on here...
Here's a picture of me vamping it up a bit at the NY Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. If I look just a little rumpled, it's because this pic was taken at the end of the day and that top sash had taken several dives into the muddy ground, including one where I thought I'd lost it for good. Luckily a vendor saw it in the path and hung it on her booth, and we walked by and saw it.
