A block of creativity won't stop an update!

Hellooo...not much new to report, but I felt like trying to be at least a little more consistent in updating here. I just started school again last Wednesday (don't ask, we always start on weird days for some reason) and it has been both consuming my time and making me a bit too tired to feel like doing much sewing or other creative stuff once I'm done with it, and it's totally getting on my nerves...haha. I have a pile of fabric bits that are going to make up a stuffed dog and only the ears sewn together! Sigh! I did use my sewing maching for the very first time this weekend though in order to sew those ears and it was SUPER EXCITING! Here is me with my sewing machine...not the greatest picture, but alas:

I HAVE A REAL SEWING MACHINE!

So yes! That is an incredibly good development in my life! I'm going at a snail's pace with it while I sew, but I think once I get used to it, I'll get to sewing faster. Even going slowly, it's far faster than I could ever hand-sew (obviously) which is kind of nice because big projects don't have to take forEVER...though there is something nice to just using your own hands to make something from bits of fabric and thread. I'm sure I'll continue to hand-sew every once in a while, but really, I'm truly happy to have the option to use a good sewing machine to get things done.

The first thing ever sewed with my new machine =) Cleaned up the angles I didn't get so well after.

Like I said, I haven't gotten much of anything done for the custom project I'm working on, but I did order some eyes from 6060.etsy.com specifically for it and they showed up yesterday - they are PERFECT. I've ordered some black eyes from 6060 before after seeing someone who makes some cool plushes link to their store and I think that since I won't always be able to restock my plastic safety eye supplies at Ax-Man in Minneapolis (have I mentioned that store before? IT IS AMAZING AND MAGICAL! and they sell eyes at fantastic prices) for obvious reasons (I do not regularly reside in the Midwest and Joshua hopefully won't forever either), I will definitely make a habit of buying from them when my supplies run low or I have a specific need for something like this. Again, not the best picture, but here are the eyes I got:

Dear 6060, you are awesome.

Alright...that's really it for now. Hopefully after this weekend I will have made a lot more progress and I'll have more exciting things to show you! Until then...I made a formspring account earlier where you can go to ask me about quite literally anything you like - if you've ever had any questions about me personally or about some of the myriad things I do, this is your chance =) If I get any particularly interesting craft-related questions (or anything I think might be appropriate for this blog), I'll post the questions and answers here for you all to see. You can even ask things anonymously so you don't have to be shy...haha. Anyways, here's my link: http://www.formspring.me/EmoSeal 

Alright! Good night everyone!

New plugs and my latest personal project...

Man, I meant to make this entry like a week ago...haha...sigh. Last Thursday I recieved my most recent Etsy purchase: a pair of 6 gauge glass plugs from iriejen! I got really excited when I realized that there are actually lots of plugs on Etsy and had been doing a lot of shopping around when I found iriejen, and I just thought these were a really neat, and not too expensive either...

(photo by iriejen)

And of course, the obligatory vain-happy-customer picture:

Yayyyy, now I am up another gauge size...haha. I don't intend to go any higher than 4 gauge because I don't want my ears to be permanently stretched, but it is a little addicting...plus, some of the most interesting plugs only come in bigger sizes! Sigh. I think I was always destined to be a modified individual...seeing my older sister get her first piercing when I was little and my dad with his couple of tattoos got body modification into my head early. So far, it's just a lip ring on the right side of my lower lip and the stretched ears (haha, and that actually started out of boredom...). When I have the money, though? Septum piercing for sureeee and some tattoos, the first of which will be something for my nephew (see last entry). Really really need to get that done soon...but alas, Etsy is my only job right now and I only had one sale last month. Hopefully things will pick up soon with the holiday season...that's what I keep hearing is supposed to happen on the forums...haha.


ANYWAYS! Personal project! Yay! Haha, so I have this jacket for a band whose music I like, but whose overall reputation and image I do not...I got it at a show of theirs that I got into for free because, quite frankly, it's practically impossible for me to go to a concert and not bring back some sort of merch. Plus I was in need of a smaller jacket at the time...anyways, the point is, because wearing said jacket now makes me feel like a jerk, I decided to cover up the part that has the band's name on it with a patch I made! And after doing that I figured, hey, I should just cover this whole damn thing with homemade patches! It'll be soooo punk rock! ...haha. See, I'm very serious about that "punk-rock poser" thing. Because Pokemon patches and the kinds of things and bands that I'm really into...are not punk rock. They are just dorky. And, well, the music isn't very punk at all.

I am rambling a lot today...back to the point! The patch I originally put on the jacket was one of three Pokemon patches I made a while back with an old shirt and fabric markers. I ended up safety pinning it and the other two onto the jacket in various places. A couple days ago, I made a patch of a red balloon on some new fabric I bought a 1/2 yard of, and last night, I took another old patch I made and put onto something else off of that something else (haha, yeah, make sense of that) and sewed it to the back of the jacket under the screen printed picture that's there that is really, seriously, not really all that related to the band - it's Ferdinand the Bull sitting under his cork tree. Strangely, this is also the same exact picture that my fiancé has tattooed onto his shoulder in honor of another musician who has a somewhat more logical (and less forced) connection to Ferdinand than this...other band...haha. I'm not sure why I am so adamant about not mentioning their name here, but it's kind of just for fun now. Okay, okay: PICTURES NOW!

Alllllrighttttt...that's more than enough for one day! Talk to you all later <3>

Horns, new clay, and my second Etsy purchase

So a lot happened yesterday! ...sort of...haha.

First of all, I finally sent out a gift I made for a friend of mine who just transferred from here to Portland for college. I actually made them earlier in the summer, but we never ended up getting to see each other before she left...here they are:


Haha, yeah, I made her some polymer clay horns! I had made myself two pairs back in July (that you can see HERE) and she saw pictures and wanted some too (not a surprise - she has a reputation for being "the girl with the horns" because she has a couple pairs she wears on a regular basis; I believe one pair is fabric and the other is plastic). I figured they'd make a good going-away/just-because present. Oh, and in case you were wondering, they are sitting on the letter I wrote to go along with them...anyways, I've been thinking for a while that I ought to start trying to make horns like this for Etsy - maybe start off with a set or two and offer to do custom orders - and since Halloween is coming up, I think I might finally get on it...suggestions for what colors to start with are welcome!

On the subject of polymer clay, I also recieved four new blocks of clay that I ordered yesterday!


Now I have blue, black, more white, and a shimmery white, as you can (hopefully) see in the second picture...this adds to the red, purple, orange, yellow, green, and older white that I actually originally got from a really wonderful lady who had it all sitting around and thought I could make some use of it...it actually took quite a while for me to do so, but once I got on Etsy and realized all the amazing things that can be done with polymer clay, I dug it out and got to work =)

And FINALLY - I recieved my second Etsy purchase ever in the mail as well! Haha, it was an excellent day for mail. I bought a hat from anatomyofatooth (who blogs HERE) that made me smile before I even opened the package...


Best packaging ever =) (btw...ignore my Little Mermaid bed sheet...haha, I have problems with that whole growing up thing). On top of that? She included a second hat and a pair of gummy bear earrings as extras! Totally unexpected! I had read in her feedback that she gave out extras with purchases, but I expected really small things...alright, vain-happy-customer-picture time!



The first picture is the hat I originally bought...it makes me feel like I have little zebra ears =) And, it fits perfectly! Sweet. The second hat is a bit snugger but still neat, and the earrings are sooooo coooooooool...as proven by all the extra o's. Extra bonus points - that holder you see them poked into? It's a paint sample from a store. Seriously, what an awesome idea - it's the perfect size and everything. Haha, I am clearly happy with my purchase...can't wait for it to stop being so damn HOT out so I can start wearing the hat!

Alright...that's it for today!

<3