a case of the Crafties » homelife

awesome

CaLynn — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:03:16 +0000

I just wanted to note that Jessica from ALLFREESEWING.com contacted me a while back about listing my book cover tutorial on their site. I gave permission and am thrilled with the amount of people checking things out!

Don’t forget to share your photos with the rest of us at http://www.flickr.com/groups/fabricbookcover/ :)

On a different note, grad school is kicking my ass so theCrafties is taking a side seat for now. I hope to get things worked out and back to quasi normal after I get caught up (boo for late shipments on books!!). Remember that if you would like to follow my grad school adventures, you’ll need to email me because I will not be linking the site here.

I hope you experience great crafting days ahead and continue to share so that I can live vicariously through the internet!

Willow Movie Party

CaLynn — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:03:18 +0000

My all-time favorite childhood movie is Willow. Or Labyrinth. It’s a toss up, really. But anyway, I found out that my sister-in-law had never seen it. This is important because 1) How can you never have seen the awesomeness that Willow is? And 2) “Kaia” has been my favorite name for most of my life and I learned about it from that movie – And she just so happened to pick that as my niece’s name so hello! Side note: This post is overdue – the party was in January. o_O

I was inspired to do a bit of a popcorn party from one of Princess Lasertron‘s series – Mine was hardly as glorious, but it was a good start. Check out her post Have this party: popcorn bar and a movie!

I made parchment invites and left a bottle of Black Root Ale (root beer) for each of the guests on their doorstep.

To make the invites, I whipped out the invitation details for the front, and some Willow movie facts for the back. I printed onto parchment paper then cut them into ragged, bumpy squares. A few hits with a lighter later, and it had an old-timey effect.

“Kael”, “Sorsha”, “Madmaya”, and “Kaiya” were all in attendance. Unfortunately for the rest of us, our names didn’t mimic anyone from the movie. I also noted that the party was taking place at the “ruins of Tir Asleen” since our house was still under construction;)

To make the bottle stickers, I got some full sheet label paper. I designed the labels myself in Gimp, and I am pretty proud of how they turned out. I had Black Root Ale (the aforementioned root beer), Black Root Ale Light (yummy cream soda), and Madmartigan Party Juice (Izze sparkling juice in clementine, grapefruit, and blackberry).

The mega-awesome sketch of Madmartigan and the Eborsisk came from Joel Carroll. I got the parchment look from FantasyStock. Both are found at DeviantArt. Thank you both!!

Feel free to make your own Willow Theme party! Let me know if you do:D

Midna the Stray

CaLynn — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:02:44 +0000

Our precious stray kitty, Midna, went to the vet yesterday. It didn’t sound good. Her belly is bloated and her intestines are ropey. She has broken hair and alopecia over her back end and a few other spots, leading the doctor to believe she has flea dermatitis, but there are no fleas to be found. Her coat is very rough also. And she has poor muscle mass over her hind legs. Otherwise her teeth, ears, eyes, etc are all ok.
I gave them a stool sample (she choose to poop in random places in the garage) and ordered a slew of tests to make sure she is fit before we give her to someone. The bloodwork was ready before I left and the doctor was very concerned that her white cells were super high. He didn’t have a reason for it, so he suggested testing her for the deadly and contagious FIP (feline infectious peritonitis), considering her low muscle mass and bloated belly.
So a few hundred dollars later (which was our intention on vaccines and spay, neither of which she was healthy enough to undergo yet), and worrying that we may have given our kitties some untreatable disease even though we washed our hands and such (which if that turned out to be true, I would destroy Mother Nature), the vet called today to tell me this news:

Midna’s stool showed no signs of worms (but they did suggest I get a general de-wormer just to be sure).

Midna’s FIP test was negative. Big, huge, massive relief. She’s going to make it and my kitties wont be sick! :D

And how thrilled was I when I found poop in her litter box?? Yay Midna!! :D

So currently I am giving her anti-biotics twice a day and will take her back in 10 days to get a new blood test and hopefully her counts are closer to normal. And then hopefully she will be healthy enough also for the vacs and spay because we will be leaving for NYC and I would really like to place her by then. Wish us luck!

And today, I went out to sit with her in this hot hot heat and we found a garter snake! Once she noticed it, it slithered its way into our garage which is not okay with me. I found myself too daunted to capture it so I called Boy who came home from work but by then I had lost track of it. We searched the garage to no avail. But Lady Luck smiled on me once Boy left (she frowned at him I guess) so I was able to pin it down (with a squeal or three) until he turned around and came back. Once he caught it I was able to regain my composure and play with it but something about having to catch it myself freaked me out. In the excitement I forgot to take another picture but this was the before scene when we first found it. Boy carried it to the back woods to live happily ever after.

birthday cat

CaLynn — Sat, 07 May 2011 19:50:17 +0000

On Boy’s birthday last night, the cutest little kitten strayed onto his brother’s patio and mewed her way into our hearts. She was starved and skinny, as well as a bit grungy looking, but we gave her some hotdog bits and some fresh water which really warmed her up to us. She was freezing and exhausted, and lost her voice by the end of the night. They let us keep her in their garage over night and this morning we picked her up to take her to the vet. Unfortunately she did not have a microchip and so we are using other means to try to locate her family. She’s just too sweet and lovable to be a feral cat. Now she is living in our garage but she really tries to get in the house (although my girls have made it completely clear that they are not interested in sharing).

We do not want a third cat and I am so worried about her getting hit by a car or attacked by a local dog or the crazy raccoons that I don’t feel comfortable with her being our outdoor cat. Boy won’t listen to me and keep her as his office cat. So….who knows what we will do with her, but I did find an no-kill shelter that seems to be a good fit if I can’t find anyone.

For now I am calling her Midna, which is a character from one of the Legend of Zelda games, and we found her roughly at midnight. She stands on her very tippy toes when you pet her, meows with her tongue out, and craves attention as much as Sasha, yet she is as docile as Maya. She lets me look at her teeth, ears, and eyes, and I could clip her nails too if I cared to (I assume since she is outside I should leave them sharp). She doesn’t shed but she’s young yet (I am guessing under one year).

Hopefully she isn’t already pregnant…

tragedy in the war on tv

CaLynn — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:45:00 +0000

We don’t have television stations: no cable, no satellite, no box for local programming. Nothing. This is a choice for us because of a slew of reasons (namely he hates superfluous shows and I hate the general media and its hold over the world). Over the years we have missed out on a few things here and there but Netflix and the internet has rescued us on some occasions, albeit late in the game. However, I really *really* wanted to be there for the premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin’s (unfinished!!) series. Luckily, I know people with stations;)

However, the tragedy unveiled itself Sunday when both Boy and my television program owner Katie felt under the weather. Actually, it didn’t bother me much because I haven’t seen it yet to be completely hooked and I am looking forward to a back-to-back GoT party next round:) This is a patience one learns only after forgoing the power tv holds, I know.

Meanwhile, my bro and Luci are representing me in New York:

Did you watch it? Was it evilly twisted and full of drama?? Was it awesome?! I hear they are making deals for season 2 already. (I’ll not go on about how I’ve been waiting for YEARS for the series to be finished, George, because I know you know that, duh. I just hope the involvement you have with the television series inspires you to finish them rather than impedes on your time to do so:)

creepies

CaLynn — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:02:27 +0000

Just a thought, but maybe i should rename my blog to “Spiders I Find in my Bed While Sleeping” or something. :/

I would have had a better photo but it was one of them super duper fast ones so theres no way i was removing the glass for a better shot until we were outside so it could go free.

In better news (for me, as it likens to a bioarchaeology discovery), Boy started to rip out the ceiling to see how the rafters were laid out before we progressed with the contractor to remove a wall. An awful smell ensued, but we could find no evidence of water damage or any such cause. Later, whilst cleaning up the dry wall chunks, i flipped a piece over and discovered a perfectly intact skeleton of a mouse! Cool!

awesome

CaLynn — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:36:33 +0000

I dont think i ever mentioned that we did some gutter work. We had some trees up in there so thats all gone and I have noticed a tremendous dent in the mosquito population! Phew!

We also recently visited where I use to live and made pickles with my gramma. She had a lot picked already, but we picked some, washed them all, canned them, and are just about ready to eat them! Grammas pickles are the best – super dill (in fact, the recipe is Dilly Dill) which i cant get enough of.

I had a super good weekend. Boy and I spent all of saturday working on the house. We installed 3 hallway lights, a ceiling fan (with light) in the wood stove room (incidentally, that room is no longer my “living room” but more of a catch-all room with a table in it), really cool track lighting in my craft closet so i can actually see in there, a water hose winder thingie on the side of the house which is awesome, and two cabinets finally hung up in the laundry room. And today, a contractor is coming over to see about the first step to remodeling the kitchen – wall removal!

Sunday, i held my first Crafternoon. I dont remember where i got the idea from, but it was somewhere out there on the interweb to have a bunch of people get together and learn how to make something. I will definately post more about that shortly.

To top it all off, i bought some kiwis a while back and I said to myself “where did those awesome kiwi spoon/knife things go that i use to have?” So i googled and came across the kiwi company Zespri, who sometimes has kiwis at my local store. They have “Spifes!” which they give out at events (probably local to California where they are located) and sell to retailers. I couldnt find a list of retailers to buy one from so i thought “what the heck” and emailed the marketing contact listed on the site. I explained that i wasnt a retailer but just simply a citizen looking to buy awesome spifes. Karen was so gracious to immediately ask for my addy and ship them here and they are exactly what i use to have and are as awesome as ever! Now i have SIX! Thanks Karen and Zespri:D

Karen also notified me of the most amazing giveaway – A trip for 4 to New Zealand! Check it out: www.thegreatkiwiadventure.com :)

a week in photos

CaLynn — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:06:21 +0000

This post isnt that crafty but my week has had some highlights so I thought I would share.

We’ve been pounded with severe thunderstorms for what seems like weeks now. Living in a swamp means the mosquitos are out of control. Eugh. Instead of picking up sticks, ive dragged tree branches larger than me to the burn pile. And all while this is happening, my girls are obliviously laying in awkward positions.

On one of the nicer days, Boy took Sasha out in the mosquito infested backyard for a morning stroll. She still drags her leash throughout the house like any well-trained dog would to let you know it is time for a walk (she can be pretty gosh darn demanding about it too!).

I finally beat Super Mario Bros. Wii, with all five sparkly stars and 99 lives, which means Mario plays without a hat!

Deer have been out and about like crazy during the day (as well as those dang mosquitos!). Weve got a new raccoon in the yard – we had a big ole fat one for a while but “Mikey” got hit by a car:( Most people hate raccoons, I know, but they are super cute and really, what trouble are they? Besides eating Rupert’s cat food, that is (“Rupert” is a stray black cat who likes to wander around the house). Our trash cans are animal proof so I dunno why all the hate:P We also have a squirrel with a bald tail. He likes to greet me in the driveway every day when i leave for work. But the creatures that are also saying hello to me that look like this are not my friend:

It snuck in with me last night when i was bringing in the groceries. I just knew it was following me, so that it could end up in my bed like the last one. (I did not get a photo of yet another spider in my bed, but it had a huge abdomen and reared up to fight when Boy tried to move it, and it was pretty big – about a quarter or so without the legs). Im pretty sure this is a wolf spider, based on its size and the stripe on its back, but Im not positive. Sasha discovered it when I was trying to take a better photo and it attacked her so she flung it and then it scurried away and made tinking sounds on my tile with its legs. *Disgusting*. Boy rescued us by killing it, poor thing. I would have liked to have studied it more but I guess i was being quite a girl about it…

Oh and i was going to work the other day and this car was stopped in the road. I honked a bit but she didnt move. She was waving to her friend at the old people home. Then she thought it would be a good idea to put her car in reverse. Seriously, who does that in the middle of a road?! Well i laid on my horn but she was quite deaf. I threw my car into neutral just in time for her to hit me. IDIOT. Then she drove away (to park at the old people home). It was right at work so i didnt follow her, assuming there was no damage (i got her make/model and license plate if it was more severe). I checked when I parked and there was about a 5 inch scratch on my bumper but my car has seen a lot and i know the woman didnt mean to be such an idiot, so i let it go. But she could have at least apologized.

basket tags

CaLynn — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:07:13 +0000

(My camera is in Alaska – I lent it to Topher for his green-eyed-monster-summoning 10 day cruise. So, I apologize for the quality of the pics, as they are from my phone. Usually my phone takes pretty swell pictures, but the lighting in my craftroom is quite lacking so thats not the case here. But while grabbing the pics off my phone, I came across some from a WWII re-enactment that our friend Adam participated in – so here is proof that it does take okay photos!)

Anywho, i have a few of these canvas boxes for storage in my Ikea cubbies and they all look the same. I have been meaning to label them somehow, so when I came across some high quality clothing tags that I had hoarded in order to pleasure my inner packrat, I had the answer.

I ran them through my Xyron 250 using the permanent adhesive.

Then i stuck them to the wrong side of the paper and cut them out with an exacto knife.

Then i ran them through the Xyron 250 again and repeated the sticking and cutting for the other side.

Then i punched a hole where the original hole was in the tag, and looped some twine through it.

I rummaged around and found some sticker letters, labeled them all, and voila! Basket tags!

surprises

CaLynn — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:32:42 +0000

So there i was, straightening my sheets the other day and as I flipped the top sheet over to tug the bottom one, I was greeted by this huge monster.

Perhaps he wasnt as mammoth as I had originally thought, but mind you *i was just in the bed*. Literally, like 60 seconds before and it was found right where i lay. He was just shy of a quarter in size. After about an hour search (seriously, what took me so long??) i discovered it is a Parson spider, and although not poisonous, people can have reactions. Hooray.

Its their world too you know. I almost never kills bugs (mosquitos are the only exception). I put him outside so, you know… he can come right back in. But hey, it was raining so i didnt want to go far:P I like to live dangerously.

The other surprise is that I whipped out this glasses case for my MIL. It was a very simple project but i didnt truly follow the directions as you can see from the design. But you can follow them here, from Design Sponge. She always has reading glasses laying around so I thought this would suit her. It is also the first time i got to use the button elevator tool she gave me – very handy indeed!