A Halloween Review...

Hello everyone!

So, I spent most of October agonizing over not knowing what to be, then at the very last minute deciding to make a Charizard costume. Basically, the last week of the month was full of sewing, sewing, and more sewing. I didn't even stop to shower I was so determined to finish...haha. Still didn't, but I got a decent amount done and it came out far better that I had dared to hope.

The hood! It's a little bit tight, but it came out much nicer than expected

The shirts are from the thrift store and the pants used to be Joshua's...haha

Side view...

Wings!

I still need to finish up some things - I want to cover the elastic straps for the wings and then properly attach them, maybe work on making the center piece a bit sturdier, make gloves/legwarmers, finish the tail and find a better way to attach it than safety pinning it to the bottom of my shirt (haha), possibly come up with a better overall outfit...I'm telling myself that this is really just an early start to a Comic-Con outfit for next year.

It's all made out of different colors of fleece, some pipe cleaners in the wings, and lots of polyfil. I did much more handsewing than I originally anticipated and that's probably what slowed me down, but oh well. I don't feel like I have the same amount of control with my machine just yet, but I'm sure that will come with more experience. I didn't have a pattern for any of this - just kind of winged it. I referenced the pattern I used to make this dog a little to help with getting some of the three-dimensional aspects right and traced the basic shape of my monster hood, but otherwise, I just drew out pattern pieces on junk mail based on pictures I found of Charizard and traced them onto fabric.

Examples of my pattern pieces...JUNK MAIL IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING AFTER ALL!

My signature inside of the hood...you can also see the ridges I sewed into the top of the mouth.

Besides that, there's not a lot going on in my part of the world...I did make a new bat named Tim that one of my friends has claimed (you can still see him up on Etsy, though):

Tim the blue and green bat! With eyes from 6060.etsy.com

I figured since it was Halloween, I was due to make another bat...haha. Still haven't made a regular old black one though...that might be next on the agenda.

It's also worth noting that I've started using my Artfire account again, meaning there is some jewelry up in my shop there! I thought I'd give some things a second chance on there and expand my web presence. Go check it out here: http://www.artfire.com/users/EmoSeal

Oh! And before I forget, enter The Dainty Squid's latest giveaway!

In the meantime, let me know how your Halloween was! I'll be updating again when I get something new made =)

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 =)