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September 16, 2011
Ta da! No no, not the camera, the sweater! (in future years, historians will look at all these photos of people holding cameras and wonder, 'what the heck?' and then create complex theories regarding them.) Anyway. I only got 1 non-blurry shot before my camera battery died again. Naturally I'll post more later. I haven't washed or blocked it yet, but I'll get to that eventually. This sweater DEMANDED to be finished. The best part is, if I decide the sleeves are too short, I can add a few more rows!
September 15, 2011
So the fall semester starts, and I'm on the downward spiral towards graduation, with my dreaded 499 writing intensive course present and lurking. So what do I do? Take up crochet!
Growing up, my mother tried with varying degrees of success to teach me to crochet. Her being right handed, and me left handed, we usually only ended up confusing each other. Eventually I got the hang of it, but never was willing or felt able to progress behind the basics. Until this month.
This is why the Internet is so wonderful. There are instructions and how-to videos everywhere, for lefties, righties, and probably amputees. And patterns! It takes forever to decide which ones to do first, not where to find them! I have been in a crochet nirvana, and grateful to have something to do with my mind and hands that isn't a computer screen.
I am currently working on a sweater. This Chevron Lace Cardigan, in fact, but mine is a dark blue. So far, it looks nothing like the picture, and I have the feeling it never will. But, I had to start somewhere, and it's easy to destroy the evidence. Just pull!
August 28, 2011
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| Easy yellow cake in a cup! |
My miniatures group has been discussing microwave cake for a while now, but this is the first time I tried it. You can use a microwave safe mug or a ramekin. I used a bouillon bowl, because that's all I could find in the store. It's kind of like a small soup bowl. The cake ends up about two inches high in this bowl.
Here are my two favorite recipes. I didn't bother mixing in a separate bowl or using cooking spray, and it didn't seem to make any difference. I also ate it directly out of the bowl. Be careful when removing - it will be HOT and you're going to have to WAIT. Good luck. I sprinkle chocolate chips across the top right after removing it from the microwave. It melts quickly and acts as frosting.
Single Serving Microwave Chocolate Cake
(source: http://allthingsholdtogether.com/blog/2009/09/24/single-serving-microwave-cake-recipe/)
Ingredients:
2 TBSP flour
1.5 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
A pinch of salt
2 TBSP milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp oil
Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute.
Single Serving Microwave Yellow Cake:
(source: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1035841)
Ingredients:
2 TBSP flour
1.5 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 TBSP milk
3/4 TBSP oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Mix ingredients together and microwave on high for 1 minute.
August 23, 2011
There I was, shopping in Walmart. I needed a dish pan, because filling up our cavernous sink is a chore. I wanted to try the ammonia and ziploc bag technique to clean our burners, and maybe a pan. I wanted a cheap pitcher, and to look at storage for the craft room.
Walmart was all screwed up due to reconstruction. Temporary entrance, all the windows boarded up, everything all over the place. Plus they had recently rearranged all the aisles, so nothing was where it should be, and the ceilings seemed to be much higher and farther away. I felt very disoriented. Walmart's previous layout had been logical, and made sense. Now it didn't!
I was looking at ziploc bags, trying to figure out what size they actually were, when the shelf started shaking and I heard something rumbling. Must be doing something weird with their construction. Funny, I didn't see any equipment big enough to make that noise. Huh. Still shaking and wobbling. Harder. Is someone moving the shelf? obnoxious kids? Stop moving, shelf. *touches it*. Still shaking and rumbling. Earthquake? No, Can't be. Could it? and then my common sense started yelling at me.
WHATAREYOUDOINGYYOUCANTSTOPABIGSHELFFROMFALLINGOVERANDITMIGHTSOGETOUTOFTHEAISLENOW!
I hurried out of the aisle into a wide open space, and soon the shaking slowed down and stopped. Walked back a few paces. A wide eyed lady asks me,"was that an earthquake?" I said, "No! we don't get those here!" I went back to looking at ziploc bags, but by that time thought, screw it, go home. Then the lady came back, carrying her phone. "It WAS an earthquake! Everybody's talking about it!" THEN the Walmart employees began combing the aisles, telling us to leave the store so they could check for damage. So I dropped the dish tub and the bags and left. All sorts of cranky old women were yelling at the employees to let them check out up front. We heard a little bit of a beeping warning, but no real alarm. Kinda sad.
I went to my car and started making calls and listening to the radio, along with everybody else, then went home and checked the house over carefully. A broom had fallen over, and a plastic LED candle in the guest room. Yay for the house being sturdier than we thought!
My mom was fine, and had my grandmother and nephew with her. One aunt had to rush down 12 flights of stairs, my sister had to deal with 5. My cousin slept through it all, or was driving and didn't notice. totally surreal.
August 11, 2011
I thought perhaps if I gave Robin a new set of shoes (considering the condition of the old pair) she might relax a little. I found that working with cloth to make shoes turned out to be a bit better than working with leather, but as you can see, I'm still terrible at getting glue everywhere. that's the bad thing about the macro setting on my camera! I don't see the glue at all when I look at them! The soles are made from white fun foam, the rest from plain old red cotton. I trimmed with red and white bunka. They come off!
It was very easy to do.
Step 1. Trace around her feet onto white cardboard or whatever heavy thin material you happen to have handy. Not too thick. Cut out.
Step 2. Trace THOSE patterns onto fun foam. Felt or leather could work, too, but I was gooing for a thick shoe base.
Step 3. Cut out a circle about an inch in diameter using your desired shoe fabric.
Step 4. Cut that circle neatly in half. This will make the toes of the shoe.
Step 5. Cut out two strips of fabric about a quarter of an inch wide and about two inches long.
Step 6. Using the cardboard foot pattern for this step. I placed a sole against the bottom of each foot and then wrapped the fabric around her foot to make the desired shape. Glue the fabric to the bottom of the sole (the side opposite her feet). The long strips go around her heel, and the half-circle goes over her toes, straight edge closer to her ankles. Trim as necessary.
Step 7. Glue the fun foam sole to the bottom of her shoe. This hides the glued edges.
Step 8. Trim with bunka around the edges, or wherever you want to decorate the shoe.I ran red bunka around the open edge of the shoe, and white around the sole to add texture to the base and hide the glued tucked under edges.
I'd say make sure you don't glue the shoe to the doll, but really, with this plastic doll, it'd be easy to remove if necessary. You might find it easier to apply small bits of glue with a toothpick or similar to prevent the mess I made.
I'm hoping the other dolls won't make cracks about ruby slippers and falling houses.
August 7, 2011
My shoemaking skills have not improved, but at least I got something that will work, and minimizes his duck feet. Robin may get a new pair of shoes, as the current pair don't seem to be holding up too well.
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| "Now THAT's a knife!" |
Oh, sweet Netflix.
August 6, 2011
This is another Heidi Ott doll, one of the early generation dollhouse dolls. (I've seen the later ones. I want them.) It's probably pointless to say that he's been in my stash a while. ALL of my dolls have been in my stash a while at this point. His story is bizarre, possibly because I was watching Highlander at the time I acquired him. Netflix reruns, anyway. Yep, that's right. Robin and her team disinterred him in the underbelly of a church. It took a while to convince her that it wasn't an elaborate prank, he really was buried there at the end of the 19th century. Now he's trying to learn about the 21st century and basically driving Robin nuts.
Modern styles are difficult to do, and it's hard to find patterns that would transfer well to this scale. I struggled and futzed and this is the current result. I want to redo the shirt because I had problems with the cuffs, and I need to redo the vest because I got lazy and used too much glue. For this doll I had to sit and think about what a man might wear in the 21st century if he were accustomed to Victorian/Edwardian fashion, yet wanted to fit in with modern casual society without compromising TOO much.
I consider this a trial run. Now that I know what works for the look I want, I plan to make up a pattern and post it. Most Ott dolls look like they're simply drowning in cloth, and this strikes me as unfair. There doesn't seem to be anyone providing patterns or clothing to suit them, and I want to fix that. This style hides his funky hips and hopefully makes him look taller, although it's hard to make a 5.5" doll look tall. (Most male dollhouse dolls come in at 6".)
While I love articulated dolls, they're also hard to dress because you can't take shortcuts, like sewing or gluing cloth directly to the body. I dislike the feet of these dolls because they're short and paddle shaped, making it difficult to produce a shoe that doesn't look like duck feet. (He stole Robin's shoes for the photo. I SUCK at shoe-making. When I get a non-horrible result I'll reshoot.) The new Ott dolls have better feet, and shoes that go along with them, but they're also more expensive. I had to compromise.
August 2, 2011
My photos of my Archaeologist's study are actually quite old. Since I moved, they are no longer in the same room, or on the same bookshelf. The bookshelf I did move it to is actually bigger, meaning that not only do I have more space to spread out, but I also HAVE to make changes.
It's looked strange for a while, and finally I decided I needed to make those changes. I wanted to add some architectural details so that it no longer looked like I'd thrown a bunch of random objects on a shelf. I felt the best and easiest way to do this would be to make it a split level room, or possibly add stairs. (I could always add a 'second floor' to the shelf above!) Below is my mock-up of my idea.
I think it will work. I can even hide wiring underneath the platform, although that leads to my next problem. My lighting supplies are a mess. None of the lights I have seem to be appropriate for this modern setting, and the ones I've looked at online just don't seem right. I may just add one of those tiny LED undercabinet bulbs. I need SOME sort of light in there!
I also discovered a chair problem. Like my own house, there's not enough seating, so I dug through my stash and stole a few chairs meant for my neglected Edwardian house. Then I brought Robin over to see if I'd gotten the scale right for the platform. She noticed the new chairs immediately. "Where's my green 1920's chair?" She demanded. "It was perfect in here! why'd you leave it out?" I dug around for it and then finally remembered - I'd given it to Nora. This earned me another rant about giving away her furniture to perfect strangers. Apparently I'd whisked Nora away to the guest room when she arrived, and had never had her with the other dolls. The elves are also in the guest room, but I doubt they'd associate with the likes of her. Fortunately, Robin seems to have forgotten about her new laptop that I'd also given Nora. I brought them all down. maybe Nora would like an MP3 player instead.
July 18, 2011
More books made! The top shelf features books from Treefeathers on the left, and the rest are from one of those big classical literature book kits. The bottom two shelves are all new and handmade. These are not the only books I have made, but are pretty representative of what they look all look like. for the moment I've given up on decorating them and am just covering with papers. I'll make them fancier when I get enough done.
July 3, 2011
"We should go to the Green Valley Book Fair!"
After two years of saying this, we finally went! I had been as a teenager with my family, where we always found something to satisfy our reading habits at a fair price. I certainly wanted to go back!
We made a weekend trip of it, planning out a route, eating places, and other touristy stops.In particular was Luray Caverns and Eidelweiss, a German restaurant in Staunton, VA.
It was a pretty weekend, if a bit hot. We took our time getting there, knowing we had no plans until our 7 pm reservation at Eidelweiss. We stopped for lunch at the West Main Market in Luray, a nice little sandwich shop in an old, old storefront. It was a pretty little town, and very quiet at the time, so we decided to explore a little bit before moving on.
Up the street was Bank Street Books, so I suggested we pop in there. It was a used book store, taking up most of a former house. Nicely organized, very big selection, and . . . owls. Everywhere. Enough to have filled a small shop by itself. There were big owls, little owls, furry owls, wooden owls, pewter owls, cutesy owls, owls that looked like they were going to eat you, overly dramatic owls, and even an owl that made noise when you walked by it. (the proprietor demonstrated it and quickly turned it off again.) Ever since I made those owl bags, I have been encountering owls in my shopping trips and excursions. This was the ultimate. I was rather surprised to find out the rather mundane name of the shop, instead of, say, "The Owlry" or "Wise Old Owl Used Books." Although, you'll notice if you visit the web site, I obviously had the right place. Sadly, the owls were not for sale.
After the book store (I bought a copy of "Peter and the Starcatchers") we headed over towards Luray Caverns. We had been warned in the Market/Deli that there was a bluegrass and mountain music festival going on there this weekend, so we decided we would just go and look and see how bad it was.
It was pretty bad. People parked everywhere, and worst of all, a big crowd congregating outside the building with no shade in sight. Had I known about the festival, I would have made plans to go to that, but I wasn't prepared to deal with outdoors and big crowds. We vetoed it and headed out towards Harrisonburg, where we had hotel reservations at the Sleep Inn.
Eventually I noticed the big Hollywood style sign for Endless Caverns. "We should go there. Or at least see if it's as crowded." So we turned off and drove down a nice long country lane, to eventually come up to a nice, half-empty parking lot in front of a sweet little country style building and old style stone covered walkway to one side. There was one tour left for the day, conducted by a teenager on summer break. It was a nice tour, over an hour, with very little hoopla or crazy gimmicks, just oohing and aaahing over nature and history. The cave had been found and explored and toured since 1879, and as part of the tour they showed how they used to give tours, pointing out natural shelves where candles once stood, or chandeliers hung, as well as Alexander's Ballroom, a large room in the cave that once housed speakeasy parties during Prohibition. Sadly, we missed the bats, who hung out in the woods during the summer where they could get all the mosquitoes they could eat.
Of course, right at the very start of the tour, as we're starting down the deep dark staircase, the strap on my owl bag gave way and my bag went tumbling down the stairs. (I think my bag was jealous that I wanted all those other owls earlier.) Fortunately, nothing fell out and the bag wasn't damaged, but it was a bit embarrassing. I lightened the load of the bag and tied the one end up with a knot. Hopefully this week I'll install the sliding buckle I purchased a few weeks ago for it.
After the cave tour we headed to the Sleep Inn in Harrisonburg. It was a nice little hotel, best of all with free, easy to use wifi. We only stayed long enough to drop off our bags and then headed even further south to Staunton.
Eidelweiss was a cute little log cabinny type restaurant. There was a cat lying flat out on the gravel walkway at the entrance, pretending to be a rug. He didn't move or care about us at all. Inside we found an accordionist with a sense of humor, and varying degrees of waitresses, some in standard waiting outfits, some in German frocks. Our food came very quickly and was pretty typical German fare.
When we left the cat had moved about 3 feet away, still flat out, and flicked the tip of his tail at us in response. We returned to Harrisonburg and collapsed, full of rich German food and lots of cave walking.
The next morning we checked out, stopped for breakfast at Sheetz, and headed to the book fair. Yet another nice little country roads, passing cows. Fortunately, it wasn't very crowded there, so we could park fairly close to the building. I grabbed my big, currently empty NWF bag and we headed in. Two hours later we ambled back out. Only 8 books, but I was struggling with my 'don't buy books you haven't read' stigma. There were, as usual, lots of books there. I remembered the layout, except we went through a different door than usual and so everything felt backwards to me. I felt better once I hit the original entrance and we worked our way back through. The prices were excellent. I don't feel paperbacks should cost more than $5, and very few of them were over that.
We stopped for lunch and to pop in an antique mall in Harrisonburg, and then headed back home, taking Skyline Drive. It's a much better drive in a taller vehicle, but it was nice and leisurely for a Sunday afternoon. We stopped at a few places in Sperryville, drove past my great-uncle's salvage yard outside of Warrenton, (marked by me suddenly yelling, "Oooh, there's Uncle Arthur's place!" And then we were past it, and Brian's saying, "the place with the windows?") We grabbed dinner in Gainesville and just barely beat the thunderstorm home.
It was a nice trip. There were owls, caves, books, and accordion music. What more could you ask for?
P.S. The radio stations down there were much better. This is not fair.
June 26, 2011
Yep. Now I'm on a book-making binge. Finally back to miniatures!
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| Needs more books! |
About a year ago I had purchased a leather book kit by Jeanetta Kendall. I had also slowly been collecting scrapbook papers that I thought might make suitable book covers. Then, on Friday, I went to the scrapbooking show with my mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, where I kind of went a little crazy tracking down appropriate book papers. In all, I think I've spent about $100 on materials. I figured I better justify my madness and actually produce some books!
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| 28 books here, 12 over there, and 900 more to go . . . |
Jeanetta Kendall's book kit is amazing. It comes with super-thin sheets of leather-like paper, printed with gold ink, and three sizes of little wooden blocks to serve as the interior. There are tiny crop marks as guidelines on the 'leather', and you can use either scissors or an Xacto knife to cut out each book binding. I painted the edges of the blocks with gold, and used Aleene's tacky glue to paste the binding to the block. Everything fit perfectly, I had no problems, even when messy me got glue on the outside of the book. Wiped right off! Since I used an Xacto knife to cut them out, I still have plenty of leftover 'leather' to cover other books with - particularly if I make smaller ones.
I purchased balsa wood to use for book interiors, but the quality hasn't been that great. Since we just got a new set of unwanted yellow and white pages dropped off, I thought I would use the white pages to cut and make up my own interiors. It might be a bit more work, but hopefully it will add some extra realism.
I'm not against buying books. I'd like to buy one of each at Treefeathers, if only she had that option! I just need to be careful and get books that are properly in scale - so many look too big! I also want to design my own, particularly the spines. I can pull lots of covers off the internet, but not so much the spines, which is generally all you get to see of a book on a shelf, anyway. Maybe I should just take a camera in to a library or bookshop and photograph those.
Yes, I have a book issues. There are books in every room in the house, and I think there should be more. Lone books just look so sad, they need lots of friends!
June 9, 2011
Local Neighborhood Information for Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax County, Virginia Provided by Spencer Marker
I'm hopping up and down inside.
I grew up in Herndon, where the historical society is very active and vociferous. I had the opportunity to work with them in my position at the local TV station, and so got to know Herndon history very well. Yes, it was a hokey little dairy town on the W&OD railroad, but people lived there and influenced other's lives.
When I moved to Centreville, I was a little disappointed at the dearth of historic information. I managed to dredge up a 1970's book on Centreville from, of all places, GMUs library. I fortunately had a professor who lived in one of Centreville's few historic houses, and provided me with a lot of information on the area.
I began a summer internship with Fairfax County Park Authority last week, where I will be cleaning up their document and photograph section in the computer database. The transfer from paper to PC was not exactly successful. Since I have OCD tendencies towards organization, and I can beat any computer into submission, I feel this position is right up my alley. History AND Computers!
Sadly, the computer I was slated to use was abruptly upgraded before I began work, and the database program has not yet been installed!
In the meantime, I've been acquainting myself with the paper database and some of the original documents and photos. Each item has an accompanying work sheet detailing the information about it. The items are in archival safe boxes, sorted by location, and assigned its own archive number. The work sheets are in numeric order in binders according to whether it's a photo or a document or the dreaded 'miscellaneous.' From what I saw before the upgrade, the computer just has the assigned numbers, and may or may not have any detail information.
I thought I would begin by creating a spreadsheet of the work sheet information, so all I would have to do is copy and paste into the database program once it's installed, after checking that the item matches the number and the work sheet description. This means I get to read lots of descriptions of photographs of local places, some of them unfamiliar.
I've taken to conducting a little internet research and adding that information to the description so that I have a better idea of what an item is. So far I've corrected a mislabeled church, added the name of a park to a description just labeled 'battle monument' (and learned why Monument Drive in Fairfax is CALLED Monument Drive!), and added pertinent information to archived newspaper articles. (title, author, publication, date! c'mon, that's important!)
I also discovered a few extra historic sites in Centreville, such as listed the website posted above, and other websites like http://www.novahistory.org/index.shtml and http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/GMP/MG_CLRPRV_CH2TXT.pdf
I haven't yet seen the pictures to these descriptions yet, and hope that I'll be proved correct. I'm having a blast and I haven't even gotten started!
June 5, 2011
The first movie is still the best. This one lacked the energy, although I do admire the historical details.
The premise is a race to the Fountain of Youth, stopping to collect all the items needed to make it work. I sense a video game in the future. The racers? Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, for whom Sparrow worked under duress, our old friend Barbossa, now sporting a pegleg and technically working under the English Crown as a privateer, and some Spanish prince. We never really learn anything about him, except he's snooty and holier-than-thou.
I was pleased with the first appearance of Blackbeard. A solid, rough looking man, with burning fuses tied into his great beard, glaring fiercely at his mutinous crew. Excellent entrance. And then . . . he pulled out his magic sword.
Now, I have nothing against swords. I LIKE swords. And magic. Magic rocks. For a historical pirate adventure movie, a little bit of magic and a little bit of swords is perfectly acceptable. Voodoo and other beliefs were/are present in the Caribbean, and there's no reason they shouldn't be in these movies. I mean, after all, they are looking for an epic fountain! This magic sword, however, was just too much. It was jarring. He could control the entire ship and everything on it with it, performing complicated rope tying and etc with a wave. Certainly, I can accept cursed coins. They did one simple thing: prevent the holder from dying until it was returned to its home. Jack Sparrow's compass? It too, did one simple thing - point toward the holder's heart's desire. This sword? It probably baked bread and made coffee while it was adjusting the sails. It begged the question: if he had that sword, which performed necessary ship tasks quicker and more efficiently than the losers below decks, WHY DID HE NEED A CREW?
That's the other thing. My main answer for the crew's presence is to use them in close combat. However, Blackbeard's ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, was equipped with . . . wait for it . . . FLAMETHROWERS. That's right. Two of 'em, tucked in the bow of the ship. I'd like you to pause and think about 18th century sailing vessels. What are they made of? What are they covered in? What do they carry when they're looking for a fight? Wood, you say? Tar and swaths of cloth, yes? Gunpowder, right? Things that catch fire easily? Is having flamethrowers in the FRONT of a hard-to-steer wooden and tar-covered ship carrying gunpowder REALLY a good idea? No.
I calmly accepted mermaids, zombies, fountains that granted immortality, voodoo dolls, compasses that that pointed to heart's desires, and even actual shrunken ships in bottles. I could not get my head around that sword, and refused to accept the flamethrowers.
It was fun if you're looking for lots of action and a simple plot. Sam Claflin was hot. Jack's complex escape from King George Vernon Dursley's chamber was highly amusing. I'm sure I'll add it to the collection.
May 31, 2011
Yup. We went on another cruise. 9 days, Royal Caribbean, out of Baltimore on Enchantment of the Seas.
Pictures are here, here, here, here, there, here, and here.
I was going to do a play by play, but 9 days is a long time. Let's see if I can sum up.
Day 1-3: Baltimore and at sea. Got a US coast guard escort down the Chesapeake. Teeny boat with a mounted machine gun. Got oriented on the ship. Made a few friends or at least people we waved to when we saw them in the hall - The Hershey couple, Dave and Clarissa 'we're not alcoholics' (seriously, that's how they introduced themselves - they were just NY Italians), the hyper short newlyweds, Jerry the drunken Scot (I repeat myself) (he kept trying to hire Brian to play piano at his Glasgow club) Frank and (probably Linda) the quilting couple who taught the classes, and crew members Resa, Fitzmorris, Yadira, Orce, South African jewelry shop lady, two Australian dancers (one who looked a lot like my Dad when he was young), and Captain Gus, who seemed to be doing more PR stuff than running the ship.
Day 4: San Juan. Took a Walking Tour of Old San Juan. Was fun and informative, and based on the amount of cars just SITTING in traffic, I was glad we didn't take the bus tour. Amusing to be walking down an old, narrow, brick road and see: people having a party in a Hummer, since traffic wasn't moving, lots of cats, a Marshalls, a street beggar all in black, playing an accordion. Found a cannon.
Day 5: St Thomas. Brian went snorkeling, I made a necklace. We wandered around, ate lunch at Cuzzins, tried Conch, wandered in a local fabric store and an overpriced antiques shop, and a few random shops. They drive on the left side of the road, but in cars where the wheel was also on the left. Pretty much EVERY car we saw had some sort of damage to it, but they were also more into customizing them. Saw some interesting airbrush work!
Day 6: Dominican Republic. Took a cave and mangrove tour, mostly by boat. Beautiful national park (Los Haitises.) Lots of birds and even some bats. Didn't bother with the town, but to get to our tour boat we got to go to Deck 1 and through part of the crew quarters. We also got to see how they loaded the tenders back on the ship.
Day 7: Labadee, Haiti. The cruise line's personal land resort. Wandered around and took some pictures, but Brian slept in. It was soo humid I didn't want to do anything else. Found some cannons, but no one was around to take my picture with it.
Day 8-9: at sea. lots of cruise activities, lots of food, lots of sleeping. There were mostly comedians as guest performers for the nightly show, but we did have 'The Unexpected Boys' as a Four Seasons cover band. The Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers were OK. The singers couldn't act, and the dancers couldn't sing, but they worked it out.
It was a great cruise, but I'd like to make a few proposals.
Clocks. Why are there no clocks in the cabins?? Serious oversight. Along with putting the phone on the far side of the room instead of on the nightstand. When there's no clocks you have to resort to call wake up, which is at best awkward when you're sleeping in pitch blackness and have to stumble across the room in the dark.
Classes. This cruise had arts and craft classes every day. It was awesome. Varying levels. Appliqued towels, pineapple totes, knotted scarfs, tied, bracelets. They had jewelry making classes, and scrapbooking classes. Lots of fun. It was nice to have a free souvenir of the trip that I made. Not only did I get the item, I got the memories and the bonding with the other class-takers. Keep it up!
Other things I'd like to see would be destination introductions. Before arriving at the next port, have a little documentary - a brief history of the place, a few photos, highlights of special places to visit. The excursions are fun, but they're not ALL of the possibilities, and they give minimal information. We did attend one thing that I hoped would be this format, but it turned out to be only about shopping on shore - where they wanted you to buy diamonds, watches, jewelry, etc. I can do that at home! I'm in a new place - I want to know what's unique about it! It was very disappointing. There were shows on TV, but they weren't specific to the ports we were visiting.
As for my travel organization, it varied. My hip bag worked out quite well once I learned the trick of getting the passport in and out. I ended up cutting the adjustable strap off a spare passport holder that you tuck under your shirt, and that worked much better than the belt. I made a little emergency medicine bag that was nice, except I forgot to add more aspirin, and totally didn't think about sunburn medicine. Next time I'm going to take extra, since the shop AND the clinic ran out. I never did find Tums. Otherwise it was nice to have. I had found a little zippered pouch at the thrift shop for a quarter. See through and the perfect size. I may have to go back there and see if there's any more - they had a big container of them up by the cash register. I had a little separate bag for clothing emergencies - wipes, safety pins, a tiny roller brush, sewing kit. I could go right to it when I needed it. I don't think I really missed or needed anything else - except maybe a travel sized toothbrush.
It's nice to be back, sort of. It was about 80 degrees the entire time, we come back to 90 degree temperatures! I think it's time we move to a cooler climate.
May 29, 2011
The True Cost of A Wedding Knot at Credit Sesame Blog
Average cost is 27k? I don't think we spent much more than 8. AND we had a church, a restaurant dinner reception for over 80 people, a dance floor with DJ, a 1940 Rolls Royce to cart us around, and a photographer. In June!
Where did we save money? My mother made the gowns and the pew bows. I made the invitations, the favors, the place name cards, and the table IDS. (we had a semi-tropical theme and named each table after a Caribbean island so guests would know where to sit.) The photographer was only there to take pictures. She gave us the copyright, and I did all the post editing. (she was awesome, too). The baker happened to be a former boss and was excited enough to cut us a deal. The flowers we got at the grocery store, and I had a tiny wrist corsage that I wrapped around my confirmation Bible. (Why sneeze my way down the aisle?) We kept the wedding party down to a single best man and maid of honor. We were also fortunate that our parents helped with the rehearsal dinner, flowers, and gowns. Brian already owned his tux.
My engagement ring? Pawn shop. Seriously. Not that we didn't try the regular shops first. My hands are so small that every ring I tried on at a regular shop just looked ridiculous, or would have warped the ring too much to have it sized down. I found EXACTLY what I wanted in a bizarre little shop in Leesburg. My wedding band belonged to my great-grandmother. Brian wanted the plainest, simplest style band imaginable as he was concerned that he would hate wearing a ring.
And everybody claims they had a good time, which, I guess is what we were aiming for.
May 18, 2011
I also found a belt strap at the thrift shop that goes ok with it, although it's a little thick, and looks pretty ridiculous as a purse strap, now that I come to try it. While I was there I picked up a cute little NWF book bag for 50 cents. I couldn't resist. It's not often I want to advertise a company, but they were good to me, though they didn't share many samples. ;-) A year or so ago I found TWO NWF travel bags at the same thrift shop and bought both. Excellent design, lots of room, and even a water bottle/umbrella holder on the outside. I'll be taking one along on the cruise for land excursions.
May 17, 2011
Having been successful with not one, but two owl bags, I decided I was going to branch out and design my own bag.
I wanted a hip bag, not the bulky fanny packs of my childhood, but something sleeker, streamlined. It would hold EXACTLY the vitals and nothing else. What are the vitals? Stuff I would likely need on our upcoming cruise without having to deal with a purse. I couldn't find a pattern that satisfied me, but found enough information online that I felt confident in doing my design. I wanted it just big enough to hold my passport, phone, camera, credit cards, loose change, and maybe a few bandages and pepto bismol pills.
I designed and designed and designed in my head for ages as I struggled through finals, and dashed to the machine as soon as I had finished. What I ended up with . . . was more or less what I planned. I just don't like it!
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| Camera fits, couldn't get it in the photo! |
Surprisingly, even measuring twice didn't help. It's STILL too small, but I was still able to wedge my passport inside. Everything else fit inside with it, so I'm calling it good for the moment.
I need to get cording or a small belt, and quickly, too, because the scarf doesn't go so well with it. The way I designed the straps on the back, I can wear it over my shoulder or around my waist. I could probably add a smaller strap and make it a wristlet.
I also need to do something to it to make it look more like a purse and less like a pillow.
Things to remember for the next hip bag: make it even wider, use less interfacing, and try once more to make it flat bottomed.
May 14, 2011
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| Inspiration Bag - visit her blog! |
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| My finished bag |
I bought buttons to use for eyes, but they turned out to be too small. (No one likes a beady eyed owl.) An image search for owl eyes turned up beautiful amber stares, but I couldn't get any fabrics that worked properly without seeming too weird. Eventually I found the right golden shade in my own stash to use as eyes, but it took a lot of tries. I then decided that it would be a good idea to use four layers of fabric: black, brown, gold, and black to define the eyes properly. It's REALLY hard to cut out a cloth circle! Eventually I used iron-on interfacing, after failing twice to come home with the right double stick iron on whatever it is I needed. Yes, I glued the eyes together and on the bag. If they fall off, glue them back on, please?
I made a few changes to the original pattern. I separated the front panel, wings and body, to make into a pocket. The body fabric was folded in half and cut out, with interfacing on one side for added strength. Pull on his beak and it opens! I also altered the inside of the bag, making the top three inches of it the same fabric as the outside. (The rest is a soft tan colored fabric. Possibly challis?) For the strap, I used D-rings, and found a tutorial at Sew Loquacious that allowed me to make a fabric slide so the strap can be adjustable. I couldn't find the right kind of metal part to do this, at least, not big enough. If it doesn't work well it will be really easy to undo.
The instructions were excellent and I had no problems with assembly. I drew out the owl on oversized paper and then drew all the parts on separate pieces so I wouldn't have to cut it apart. I added a seam allowance, just in case.
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| Owl Bag, Jr. |
Fun, fun project! Now I'm experiencing a small bag-making addiction and making plans for two or three others.
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