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!

I am the worst at keeping up blogs...

Sorry everyone...haha, SIGH. I always think "Hmm, I should update my blog..." and then I forget about it. Because I am a terrible person. Ah well, I'm here now!

I've been spending a month in the Midwest in order to hang out with my dear Joshua. I had my first white Christmas and finally kissed someone at midnight on New Year's Eve! Otherwise, we've done a lot of lounging, eating out (so much breakfast!), staying up horribly late, watching movies (so far we've gone out to see Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, Youth in Revolt, and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, all of which I recommend, plus we've watched a bunch at home), awkwardly hanging around bars (he works at one as a DJ and his roommate works at another - we were not awkward when we went to Donny Dirk's Zombie Den last night though, that place was AWESOME), and the like. Here is a super cheesy picture of us from Christmas day:

The infamous MOOSE HAT!

Haha, so yeah, things have been good. Leaving on Monday though...sigh. I'm going to miss him. School starts on the 20th though, and I'm nearly done! Sort of! This is my last full semester of my four years of college, but I'm going to be one class short to graduate so I'm going to have to do summer school. Which sucks, but alas. I'm just really reallyyyy hoping that the budget cuts don't screw me too badly and leave me without the last class I need. I'll just have to wait and see. Then I have to decide what I want to do about graduate school...I thought I was just going to stay at the school I'm currently at, but then I found out about the California College of the Arts up in Northern California and I'm kind of intrigued...not really sure if I actually want to move - it'll take a bit more research and thought - but it's an idea.

On the subject of making things, I've done a little sewing since I've been here. Joshua's mom said all she wanted for Christmas was for me to make her something, so he commissioned me to make a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater =) I didn't get any super great pictures of it before we gave it to her, but here it is!

Fleece, felt, and a random textured yellow fabric Joshua picked out for the wings =)

 

And: Joshua and the monster checking each other out...haha

She really liked it and I'm actually pretty proud of how it came out. Joshua also has one of the bartenders at the place he works for interested in having me make a stuffed version of her dog (and potentially her other pets depending on how that goes). I think I'm going to have to consult a pattern or tutorial of some sort to get it right, but I'm excited to get started on it. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE BUSINESS, JOSHUA!

Anyways, since I am now just ONE sale away from 30 overall in my shop, I've decided that my 30th customer will receive 30% off of their next order from me! Please spread the word and/or consider buying that special someone a monster that they can cuddle with =)

I also suggest that you enter The Dainty Squid's latest contest for three of her super cute coin pouches! You've got until January 23 to tell her what your favorite animal is here on her blog.

Click here to enter!

Let's see...well, I'm sure I've got tons of other things to update you on - I've been making more monsters and such - but I don't want to overload you. Maybe the next entry will just be a big monster party! And perhaps I'll have even more things to show you once I'm back in San Diego, because I will finally have a legitimate sewing machine! My dad got me one for Christmas because he is amazing. I really love hand-sewing things, but having the ability to do more and do things quicker will be so great. I'll definitely be letting you know how it works =)

Until then, I hope that 2010 is going well for you!

<3

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale! Plus my b-day and those secret projects...

Yes, I know, I just had a birthday sale of sorts...but now it's Black Friday (and soon to be Cyber Monday), which means an even bigger sale!

I made a brand new HOLIDAY SALE section - more than half of the items in my shop have migrated over into it and they are all 25% off! And the rest of the items in my shop now have FREE shipping =D I rarely have sales throughout the year and this is an especially big one for me, so take advantage of it while you can - the sale ends Monday night at midnight (or, well, Tuesday morning if you want to be technical).

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale!

11/26 -- 11/30

In other news, last Friday was my 21st birthday and it was AWESOME. I went to Disneyland with Joshua, my friend Cat, who I share my birthday with (I'm older by 2 years and 1 hour ^^), her sister, and our friends  Nick, Jen, and Hayden. We had far more fun than people our age should there...haha. Here's a picture!

See my hooded-cat friend there at the front? I totally made that ^^

Joshua stayed to visit for a few days besides that and we had a lot of fun running around with all of our friends, seeing two concerts (The Features and Say Anything) and Boondock Saints 2 (so good), and just getting to spend time together again. All and all a good time.

Now! Secret projects! Haha, I haven't been able to tell you guys about the past two things I've made because they were both birthday presents - one for Joshua (Nov. 15) and one for Cat! Cat really liked the bat I made back in October and I decided to make her one similar - I don't have a picture of her and her new friend together just yet, but here he is right after I finished him:

Cat was very pleased with her bat...haha.

And as for Joshua...Joshua is very hard to get things for. Even harder to make things for...but I decided to risk it and try something new. I ended up asking him to tell me a design of some sort that he really liked that I could put onto something and that he wouldn't mind seeing a lot...because I wanted to try making him a new wallet =) He told me to use the Pixies "P-wing" logo and I went to work. I used fabric markers and hand-cut stencils to get the design onto some fabric, sewed up the edges and attached some backing fabric, and then sewed vinyl pockets to the inside (and, being the cheesy person I am, I stitched "I love you" into the inside...haha). I gave it to him on the bus shortly after he arrived and...he really liked it =) I was super excited and I got this really cute picture of him holding it before he left:

He rarely smiles or looks at the camera in pictures, so this is just AMAZING =D

And here's a look at the inside...and my cheesiness...haha.

He said he really liked it and immediately switched out his old wallet (and proceeded to show it off during the rest of the visit to everyone he could), so YAY! I think I may attempt more wallets in the future now.

Alllright...I considered writing about two other recent projects here as well, but I think I'll save those for another blog soon. Good night and please do check out my Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale!

<3

BIRTHDAY! Free shipping in the shop through the weekend =D

SO! Tomorrow is my birthday! Woooo! This is going to be a pretty brief update, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I am offering FREE SHIPPING on everything in my shop starting now as my gift to you =)

FREE SHIPPING!

on everything in the shop =D

11/19 - 11/23

 

I've been working on a few different secret projects that I don't want to post about just yet because they are birthday presents for two friends - Joshua's birthday was on November 15 and my friend Cat and I share the same birthday (we are exactly two years and one hour apart). Hopefully I'll get some pictures of both of them with what I made and I'll be able to show off then. One will look a bit familiar and the other is something I've never attempted before...we'll see how that goes over...haha.

Alright, next time I promise you will be getting a super exciting, picture-filled entry! For now, I have one more class to get through for today and then I am heading to the airport to pick up Joshua - we're going to Disneyland tomorrow with a bunch of friends and then spending a few days just hanging out together and I am super excited =D Hope things are going well for you too!

<3

HALLOWEEN! + She's BATTY + Custom Order Excitement

Ahhhh, Halloween! My favorite holiday!

Furry green monster costume = SUCCESS!

Haha, so I was totally working on my costume right up until the very last second. I don't know what happened, I was being pretty consistent about getting things done for a little bit there... School perhaps? Ugh, school. Also more frequent hang-out time with my friends. Oh! And I've been visiting my friend Mike (you know, the one who is in A City Serene? you read that entry right?) in the hospital! He's got a long way to go before things approach normal again, but he's talking and joking and being a jerk, so we're all pretty hopeful =)

Here's a slightly better picture of my costume:

I hand-sewed the hood, the gloves, the fur on the shirt, and legwarmers that you obviously can't see in this picture. The blazer was a $4 thrift store find and I found the scarf abandoned on the floor after a concert a few years back...haha. Besides that, I wore purple pants and pink shoes. I've got some picture from the party I went to here where you can see things a little better - don't mind my weird friends and I =)

Yay, Halloween party! And yes, I got my monstery-blood sucked by a vampire...haha

NOW TELL ME HOW YOUR HALLOWEEN WAS! I seriously want to know, I'm still kind of hyped up about it even though it's over...haha. And in that spirit, I'd like to feature someone who seems to be even more into Halloween than me - She's Batty Designs =)

She makes some really awesome cards, as you can see - I really really like the owl one on the right. Go check out her shop - in her own words, Jamie "specializes in greeting cards, invitations and other paper products such as gift tags" and she, like me, is up for custom orders!

Speaking of custom orders...I worked on one for the lovely Poison Ivy you can see in the collage up there =) She requested two bracelets and these:

BOB-OMB EARRINGS!

I am pretty proud of them and she seemed excited, so woo! As usual, please do take these kinds of things as encouragement to request custom work from me - I'm definitely up for it =)

Alright, this took me a lot longer to put together than I meant for it to...so many pictures! Haha...I'll be writing again soon.

Random Late Night Entry: Halloween, Custom Things, ACEOs, and Me

Just feeling the need to update this...

Hmm, well, I finished the hood to my Halloween costume! I would normally post a picture, but I think I'd like to wait until it's all done to show off =) It came out a lot better than I expected - haha, I was really nervous about it, I've never attempted something like this before. The fur is glorious, the horns stay up and stick out perfectly, and the clasp I used works great. I'm really proud of it!

I have also been commissioned by a friend once again to make some things - jewelry this time. Haven't started yet, but I may tomorrow (er, later today...oh midnight, how confusing you are - personally, I have trouble considering it the next day til I've actually slept). Ordered some supplies for the project off of Etsy (of course), but I think I already have most of what I need. We'll see if I'm missing anything else... I'm excited about this! As scary and challenging as custom orders are, they're fun. I do things I wouldn't normally attempt and so far, the results have been good. I seriously encourage you to frighten me with your ideas anytime =)

I'm also slowly starting to work on the ACEOs I started drawing forever ago - I think I explained this before (with links even!) but if you don't know, they're basically just trading card sized art. I cut out the ones I finished and signed them and started to work on a couple more. Perhaps another project for tomorrow will be taking good pictures of the ones that are done and getting some of them listed. Ugh, it's going to be hard for me to part with them...I rarely give away things I draw (well, unless you count the birthday cards I make) because I get so attached to them...haha, sigh. What can I tell you, I am ridiculous. Anyway, here's a horrible tease of the finished cards:

The first eight of fifteen cards I plan to draw...just doing random things and hoping for the best =)

Besides that, I made some sales this week and I was SUPER EXCITED! It's been a while...haha. I've been more consistent about working on my shop though (and I have awesome friends), so that was pretty sweet. The only problem is now I'm itching to spend the money I just got...sigh, terrible. So far I'm resisting the urge. I'd be much better off saving for my birthday, for a Comic-Con ticket (ugh, they're $100 now, so lame), for getting my tattoo already, etc...but since when has being responsible been fun? Haha, just wish me luck.

 In other random news, today(/yesterday), I got my real live driver's license in the mail! Woo! I took my test last Wednesday and it showed up in the mail today. Pretty exciting. My dad also brought me to pick out some new glasses, which should be ready in about 5 days - this is really really REALLY awesome because my current glasses are SUPER scratched up and it's been getting harder and harder to see out of them...haha. I have no idea if this picture truly does the damage justice, but it's worth a shot:

I absolutely insist you click on this to see it bigger and truly witness the horror! You know, if you want to...

 

The new glasses really aren't the different from the ones I have now (similarly shaped plastic frame, etc - we were on a tight budget or else I might have been a bit more experimental in my choice) except that they're a nice dark red. I promise you that there will be pictures when they arrive even if you do not want them!

 

It's funny how I always think I have nothing to say in this blog, and yet when I try, I always write so much.

 

Alright, I will leave you with one final note: GO SEE WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE! As a maker of monsters and a lover of unconventional movies (who happened to catch an early screening ^^), I must insist you see it now that it's out!

 

This was all probably just an excuse to show off my awesome crown from the free screening...and my green hair! =D

GOOD NIGHT, BLOGGERS! <3

 

Winning a Giveaway Pt. 2, New Polymer Clay Things, and Fabric!

Okay! Back to posting! Seriously!

As a brief update on my friends in A City Serene, all but two of the members are out of the hospital - my friend Marc is out, but Mike is still in there. Haven't gotten any specific updates on him lately so I can't say much besides that, really. Donations are still needed to help their families out, and I am still sending 40% from all Etsy purchases in my shop to them.

Now, for one of the things I meant to post before all that happened: I won a giveaway! 5erg had a giveaway on her blog a few weeks ago and I left a comment and WON! Haha...I got to spend $20 in her shop and I got an opalite bracelet, opalite earrings, and an ACEO. Look at how happy I am!

The opalite bracelet! I wear this almost everyday now...

 

Opalite earrings! So pretty!

In case you didn't notice, I really really like opalite...haha. The plugs I've got in my ears with the earrings are also opalite. It's just so damn pretty! Thank you again, 5erg!


Hmm, what else...well, I finally made some more polymer clay stuff on Monday. I decided to try making some slightly different kinds of horns and I also made some plugs for myself that I can fit through my silicone earskins (since polymer clay is porous, it's really not ideal for putting straight into your ears) after looking around at the kinds of things other people are making. Lately I've been getting all kinds of cool ideas from other Etsian's shops and various websites and so on - there's so much I want to make and try that it's kind of ridiculous...but that's the usual state of things with me. Anyways, here's a look at what I did:

Wooo, new polymer clay stuff! Just uh, hanging out on my messy desk...

I meant to start getting proper pictures taken of the horns yesterday, but ended up going to the thrift and fabric stores with my friend Hayden, so I didn't accomplish much on that front...hopefully tomorrow! What I did accomplish was getting black corduroy pants for $1.75 and some fabric, woo. Got fabric because 1) I love fabric, 2) I'm trying to build up a good collection of different kinds of fabric for the random projects I think up, and 3) I AM GOING TO TRY MAKING MY OWN HALLOWEEN COSTUME THIS YEAR!

Haha...I've definitely worn handmade costumes before as a kid - I had a glorious velvety vampire cape that used to choke me but I still loved it, I was once the pink Power Ranger (all felt outfit, if I recall), etc - but I've never made one on my own, so I'm pretty excited and really hoping I get it right. My plan is to be a monster! I'm thinking I'll use some awesome green fur I bought a while back to make a hood/hat/type thing with horns, armwarmers, and legwarmers. Not positive what I'll be wearing with them just yet though...might make something or might just look through my clothes/thrift stores to find something that will match it. I will keep you updated on my progress =) Here's the fabric I have so far:

Here's the green I bought a while back...

And this is what I got yesterday! I'm thinking the green and white spot cotton will be the lining for the hood and the pink fleece will be the underside of the armwarmers and maybe the horns. And uh, then there's some awesome pink fur =)

Alright, well I think that's it for today...I'll be posting again soon =)