Tribbles and other thoughts

DS has made it home from CA.  As usual with prolonged trips, he was more than ready to be back.  Winston has demanded fetch sessions about 10 times today.  We are all happy he's back.

I accomplished more than I would have thought while he was gone.  I'm making a lot of progress on this cross stitch pattern I've been sewing.  I woke up Friday with an idea in my head for new jewelry options and then made a whole bunch of them.  The first one was given to my friend Sarah, who came over that day, and she was super excited about it.  So even though she later broke while nervously fiddling with it, I feel like I'm on a good path with this idea, and that I can work through the kinks.

I got bored with the living room layout and decided to completely rearrange.  Well, as completely as we can considering the tv is immobile.  We're getting used to it, but so far I think it's a nice change.  I also started teaching myself sign language from a website I found.  It's something I've always wanted to do, and could possibly come in handy one day.  Especially if we ever have kids, since comprehension and motor skills come earlier to children than speech.

I'm reading The Diamond Age, and while I'm not very far along, I can say A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is something I would have absolutely adored in my youth.  Alas, I learned to read from regular books...

I've finished the first two seasons of the original Star Trek series in my quest to watch them all in order.  DS even watched an episode with me today and laughed at all the appropriate parts.  Perhaps there is hope for him yet.  Here are some thoughts so far:

• I knew going into this that gold uniforms of command in the original series were actually chartreuse, but that the lights on the stage made them appear gold on film.  So I find that I really enjoy it when Kirk wears his couple other shirt designs.  They seem to be made out of a different fabric, and actually show up green.  It's really lovely.  Related: sometimes you can see the hidden zipper on the left shoulder, and even when the shirts look gold, that zipper looks green.
• Most of the stereotypes you've probably heard about the show don't seem very apparent until the second season.  And considering the first season was a whopping 30 episodes, that's a lot of show to get through before you start seeing them.  I kept a special lookout for the ill fates of "redshirts" and "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor!" jokes, but I don't think I saw the first redshirt die until close to halfway through season 1.  That being said, they certainly ran with it once it got started.
• I really enjoy the banter between McCoy and Spock.  Also, I love it when Kirk compliments Spock's humanity, and Spock is subsequently offended.
• I was happy to see the cast solidify a bit more in season 2, meaning more of Scotty, Zulu, and the arrival of Chekov, who I was not aware wasn't in season 1.
• Also, what the heck is up with Chekov's hair in his first few episodes????  Did something made a nest in there??
• While The Trouble with Tribbles is a pretty famous episode, it had been a long time since I'd seen it.  Watching Shatner trying not to laugh as he's buried in tribbles and someone is obviously pelting him in the head with more while he talks is super hilarious.

I just noticed today that Deep Space 9 finally made it to streaming, so now it looks like I won't have any trouble getting through all the series, including the animated one.  Though all but the newest movie will have to come in disc form.  I can handle that.

DS called me a geek today, like it was a bad thing.  Though I give him credit for smiling when I said "OF COURSE!"

Engineering Christmas Party at WHYY

Tonight was the annual holiday party for the Engineering School.  It's held somewhere different every year.  Last year it was at the Academy of Music, which is the same place the ballet is held.  This year it was at the studios of WHYY, which is essentially Philadelphia's PBS station.  It was really cool to see the studios, and even though they weren't filming tonight, the control rooms were still functioning since they were still showing taped things on air.  

As seems usual at this point, the evening started with cocktails and appetizers.  The empanadas were amazing.  Elmo was running around, which was interesting.  Then there's the big sit down dinner.  This year we had three different  buffets with different kinds of food.  DS and I felt it was important to try all of them.  The kimchi pancake things with the aioli sauce... wow.  So good.

After dinner there's always some entertainment.  This year, it was a live performance of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!  It was hosted by Carl Kasell and Patrick Stoner.  They used two professors as the contestants, and it was pretty funny.  Afterwards, they were both kind enough to hang around and talk to people and have their photos taken.

Carl Kasell enjoying dessert

 Mr. Kasell has been doing radio for 62 years.  Just let that sink in for a bit.

Dessert was so delicious.  We had spiced apples, gingerbread, chocolate mousse tarts, hibiscus cheesecake, and some kind of pistachio brittle.  I had all of it.  Some of it more than once.

One of my favorite things about these parties is that I get to dress up.  I don't get to do that a lot often.  This year I felt like doing something different with my hair, and this is what I came up with:

Up-do for the Engineering Christmas party

I got a lot of compliments on these earrings, which I made just before the party to match my dress.  I'm afraid people think I wove the pearls together, but alas, I bought them that way.  One person even asked how to find my shop, so fingers crossed!

Elephant

DS and I have an elephant rug as part of our themed "jungle" bathroom* (and yes, I know elephants aren't jungle animals). It gave me an idea for something I thought I could actually do for my Shrinky Dink embroidery project.

DS had trouble seeing it... hopefully he's the only one. But if not, let me know what you think would help.

And I'm including the back here because real embroidery people seem to care about these things.

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*I'm too lazy to take a photo of the bathroom, and I can't find a photo of the actual rug online, but I did find parts of the collection here. Turns out it's actually called Monkey Kingdom.

Experiments

I had this idea to embroider designs onto Shrinky Dinks a long time ago, and I'm just now getting around to trying it out. After some trial and error and buying a new hole punch, I have my first prototype.

So what we have here is a flat disc that I first embroidered with red floss, then a second time in orange using a shorter line. Straight on it is colorful, vibrant, and sort of reminds me of a sunset. From the side, you get a sense of how many stitches are involved from the height.

It's a good size for a necklace pendant, a brooch (if I had the clasps for it), or even earrings for those that like them slightly on the large side.

This idea is part of my general interest in mixing items of very different textural qualities. I really enjoy the contrast between the hard plastic and the soft thread.

I'm rather new to embroidery, so if you have some tips or ideas, please share them. It takes a lot of planning to make something like this, because all the holes for each stitch have to be punched first, and once the plastic is shrunken they can't be added. I had initially tried doing something more like a picture, but as a first attempt it was proving too difficult for my limited skills. Thus the more simple star burst pattern. Also, I'm a little fuzzy on where the lines are drawn for copyright and selling when embroidery patterns are involved, and chose to avoid them for selling.

Want one of your own? I have lots of colors of embroidery floss, so feel free to ask for whatever you want here.
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Design copyright 2009 Sleep Goblin Crafts

Needle Felting Goodness

One of the amazing areas at Maker Faire was the Needle Felting Playground, a section of the Craft: booth. It was a cozy little area set up with real furniture, like this comfy green couch.

The Needle Felting Playground at Maker Faire

Now, I *think* that couch actually belongs to the lovely lady on the left, one Brookelynn Morris. She is one of the authors of Feltique, an inspiring book that covers the gamut of felt. I had heard of this book before going to the faire, and I wanted the book, but had no idea I would be meeting one of the authors. I'm sort of oblivious that way.

So all weekend there were swarms of people stabbing away at little pieces of wool, making amazing things, while receiving helpful instruction by Brookelynn and Moxie of madebymoxie (whom, sadly, I didn't officially meet; hasn't stopped me from including her in my recent crafty dreams though. seriously you guys, my brain is a crazy place). You can see Brookelynn's photos of the pieces people made on her Flickr site.

Needle Felting 101 with Brookelynn Morris

These ladies also gave how to sessions, and I was able to catch Brookelynn's. Craft: did this wonderful thing where they gave away free goodies at the end of every demo (seriously, the amount of free stuff I snagged at Maker Faire is mind boggling!). So at the end, Brookelynn gave away little needle felting kits with everything needed to make the bauble earrings from her book. Lucky me, I won one!

This is probably my third needle felting kit, and I've been experimenting with the process for probably a year or so now. I feel like I have just enough experience to know what tools I do and don't like, so I'm going to share my findings with you.

Needles

1. Needles break. Easily. They're jerks like that. In fact, the one that came with my kit broke sometime between me inspecting the kit in the hotel, and taking it out to play with on the drive home. Beyond that, I do not currently have any preferences as to brand, gauge or anything of that nature.
2. You can use a single needle all on its own if you want. It's probably really good for doing intricate things like this, which I currently have no talent for. Otherwise, I find the single needle to be slow, and I am more likely to break them and/or stab myself this way.
3. You can also get these little wooden things, which speed up the process. I like that they're wooden and have multiple needles. I don't like the way you have to hold them, or the fact that I still stab myself with them.
4. What I really really love are Clover's tools. This one is great for mashing things together super fast, especially when those things are flat pieces you're connecting. It holds several needles and has a cover that protects you and the barbs from each other. The cover slides out of the way as you use the tool, but can be locked in place when the tool is not in use.
5. But the one that makes me happiest is this little baby. I love that I can hold it like a pen. It has three needles in it, which can be replaced if they break, and are close enough together that you have a lot of control over the design still. Both the pen-like design and the close-placed needles make this a good option for sculpting. It also comes with a cap that keeps you from stabbing yourself when you're not currently using it. (Things always manage to end up underneath me when I'm on the couch, which means ouch! if those needles aren't covered. They are SHARP.) You can find this little guy lots of places, both online and in craft stores.

Working Platforms

1. The first kit I bought came with this block of what feels like upholstery foam. The idea is that you want something to lay the felt on that is soft enough not to break the needle, and thick enough to keep you lap or desk from getting stabbed. Having experienced better things, I have decided I hate this foam. Little pieces of wool stick to it. Cat hair sticks to it. And it's ugly. And it gets dirty. Everything just sticks to it. I hate it. Oh, and I hear it's bad for the environment. So that too. I believe most kits you buy will come with this foam. Boo!
2. The second thing I bought was the Clover needle felting mat. It's not bad. It uses bristles instead of foam. I have no trouble with cat hair or dirt, though I couldn't tell you its relationship to the environment. It's really nice to use with Clover's chunkier tool mentioned above.
3. As happy as I was to discover Clover's mat, I was even happier after using the foam that came with my Feltique kit. Wow. This thing is great. Nothing gets stuck to it, it's clean, and it's good for the environment. I love it. You can get these from madebymoxie.

So there you have it. A year's worth of "research" into needle felting. It's pretty easy to get started, as Brookelynn's flickr set illustrates. There's just something about wool that makes my soul happy, and I'm really excited to start incorporating it into my jewelry designs after reading Feltique.

Which reminds me. I finished my kit today!

Please excuse the Winston hair! It's everywhere...

Hooray!!

I just got into the Art of Jewelry Making: Level 1 class for the summer at the local community college:

Students are invited to come and learn how to make silver rings, earrings pins, pendants and gemstone settings in this fun beginning-level jewelry class. No experience necessary! We have all of the tools, metal and stones you will need for your projects ready for you. All are welcome to come and ENJOY!

So excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a Roll!!

Man, selling things is AWESOME! I always thought that I would love living an artist's live, and now I know for sure!

This morning I had a special request to ship to Canada, and now I am happy to say that I've made my 3rd "stranger" sale. Woo-HOO!!! That's two in a row! I feel like, just maybe, I can actually do this when DS gets a teaching job.

I can't really explain what it's like to put your time and love into making something, and then have someone say, "wow, that's really cool, and i'll pay MONEY for it!". Sometimes it's hard to let the thing go, but I know that if I really want to keep it, I can make another. It's such a gratifying experience. I can definitely see why people opt to make things rather than go out and work for the man. :)