My friend Meri posted this and it is wicked geeky fun (and she wanted to play) so here you go:

Pick 20 movies/books/video games and put their summaries from Better than it Sounds and, WITHOUT CHEATING, have your friends guess

1)A super-strong cheerleader, a Jewish computer nerd witch, a goofy slacker, and the school librarian fight undead (mostly) monsters of the week while their personal lives turn into a soap opera. Beloved people die with depressing regularity. (Buffy guessed by Meri)

2)Dr. Frank ‘N Furter, Doc Brown, and a bunch of other blackmail victims run around a big house looking for a murderer and debating simple mathematics. (Clue guessed by Meri)

3)Women do important things and have lots of romance. A young woman has many identity crises. Ten-year-old girl with gender identity issues decides to become a professional crossdresser. Then her love life gets complicated and she kills a man.
So she gives up the crossdressing and decides to vacation with Fantasy Counterpart Culture Muslims. Finally her taste in jewelry saves the kingdom. (Song of the Lioness Quartet guessed by Meri)

4) Two disgraced angels try to exploit a loophole in Catholicism to kill God and destroy the universe, and it’s up to an abortion clinic worker, two stoners, a stripper, and the 13th Apostle to stop them. And there’s a monster made out of crap. (Dogma guessed by Meri)

5)An astrophysicist descends into madness with the aid of an ex-military woman with no sebaceous gland, a plant posing as a blue buddhist, a tentacled samurai who wants to be a farmer, a frog dictator who farts helium, a colourless nymphomaniac plague-carrier, and a reptillian S&M addict who spends his time in and outside the astrophysicist’s brain. (Farscape guessed by Smiss and Jeremy)

6) A nobleman’s friend gets him a job. Everyone’s lives go all to hell. Meanwhile, an adolescent exile with no apparent magical, martial, or political skill decides she deserves to rule the world. Three books later, things still haven’t settled down. There is Twincest. Anyone Can Die. (Song of Fire and Ice guessed by Meri)

7) A young man solves his caterpillar problem through genocide. Sort of like Centipede… IN SPACE!

Siblings argue over how to inherit their father’s legacy.

9) A walking cliche thrown from cliche and and falls in love with a lawyer. (Enchanted guessed by Meri)

10) Extraordinarily Empowered Girls kill zombies with bells. (Abhorsen Books guessed by Ruthie)

11) Experienced, heroic champion of light hires a low-level adventurer and their henchmen to stop a plague.

12)Five teenagers with problems waste a Saturday proving that they’re even less unique than they thought. (Breakfast Club guessed by Jewelled Trellis)

13) A Grumpy Old Man, a Straw Vulcan and a tremendous manslut save the world galaxy. (Star Trek: TOS as guessed by Meri)

14) A Western In Space!! (Firefly as guessed by Jeremy)

15) In The Future, a knightly caste make use of sentient, time-traveling dragons to protect their home from rains of alien fungus. (Pern as guessed by Pamela)

16) A princess wants to Screw Destiny, but her horse won’t let her (Mage Winds guessed by Meri)

17) A boy’s car and its friends protect him from alien invaders who have arrived in search of eyewear. Meanwhile, a part-time model declines to eat donuts (Transformers guessed by Jeremy)

18) A wisecracking colonel, an archaeologist who just won’t die, a pretty blonde astrophysicist, and an alien revolutionary step through a big gray ring to fight snakes with glowing eyes and mechanical insects. Later, the colonel is promoted, so a new proverb-quoting colonel and an eccentric, flirty thief join up, this time to fight glowing energy beings who like to play god. (SG-1 guessed by Meri)

19) You are a weekend warrior. Your dog indulges in schadenfreude.

20) A psychic high school track star helps in the fight against Isaac Newton’s evil mecha army on a highly improbable moon made by Atlanteans.

Ok, there are 4 video games, 5 books/book series, 6 TV shows (one is Anime) and 5 Movies go!

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So last night my husband and I are outside enjoying the evening after my son has gone to bed. And we see this rabbit munching in our yard. Realize we have a ridiculous overabundance of rabbits here and the cats aren’t killing them. So my husband picks up a rock and throws it at the bunny. Misses. This begins our long adventure of hunting and trying to kill this rabbit with a rock or heavy stick. I have horrible aim so I was merely acting as the flusher/herder. I got within two feet of the damn thing too (wish I had had a rock or a longer club). It eventually got away. Hopefully we scared it enough that it won’t come back. But not before I ran down an embankment, lost my balance and slid across the gravelly driveway behind my house, scraping the crap out of my leg. This is the same leg that a month ago stubbed the foot of three times in one night…and thinking I had broken it. It only recently stopped being sore when I stubbed it again three days ago. Needless to say my foot is very sore today.

Leg Scrape

Also loose, flowy skirts, while very pretty and comfy to wear on a hot May days, not so good for chasing rabbits thru tall grass and wooded areas

Definitely one of the stranger ways to bond with a spouse.

Tags: hunting, husband-wife bonding, rabbit
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I’ve been getting a lot made and done. I even was able to clean up the house a bit.

New Items (listed left to right)Black Lace Mini Top Hat, Two Color Lace Mini Top Hat, Celtic Elf Choker, Embroidered Gibson Girl Blouse, Elfsheet Belt, Chainmaille Beaded Hairsticks, Embroidered Small Steampunk Purse

The two Mini Lace Top Hats are embroidery machine free standing lace. They measure 5.5 in x 4.75 in x 2.5 in. They are wicked cute and perfect for a steampunk, gothic lolita or burlesque outfit. I will be making more embellished hats as well as the unembellished are available if you want to customize one yourself. It’s actually quite a bit of fun. ON the black I made the ribbon rose and the trims were all just bits I had lying around and the gem was from an old piece of costume jewelry I have.

I’ve also been wicked into chainmailling lately; the belt and the choker are both two connected rows of elfweave creating what is commonly known as elfsheet. It’s a beautiful weave that is very fragile and collapses easily until you add more rows to it.
The choker is made from bright aluminum 18 ga 3/16″ rings with a hand carved (although not by me) bone celtic knot charm. It measures 13.25″ x .75″ and closes in the back with a tube clasp which has quickly become my new favorite type of clasp.
The belt is also elfsheet but made of bright aluminum and red anodized aluminum 18ga 1/4″ rings. The belt pictured measures a bit over a yard. It is a completely custom item. I really enjoyed making the belt. The only issue I can see with them is that they take sooo many rings.
I have another belt (simpler and so less expensive) ready to be listed once I take pictures and once I am able to make a very large order for more rings I will have more belt designs ready.

I also finally got around to making the Gibson Girl Blouse which I have been dying to make since I was a teenager. I also put a slight twist and embroidered the yoke with a skull cameo (tone on tone) I think it looks awesome. If skulls aren’t your thing, it can come without embroidery or if you want a different embroidery there are tons to choose from.

I also made Embroidered Steampunk Purse”. This one is fairly small but it’s the perfect size to carry the necessities, wallet, phone, it can even fit an as well. It is very very durable and washable. It is made of a golden poplin and lined with a chocolate brown poplin but interlined with cotton canvas. It closes with a drawstring to keep your items secure and also with a magnetic clasp on the flap. I can also make it as a belt pouch if you would prefer.

The hairsticks are a momentary inspiration. I was at my local bead shop and saw these sitting in a jar and thought, “Oh how cool!”. So I picked them up. Eventually I would like to try my hand at carving my own hair sticks eventually but for now I will just decorate the tops.

I have a few more items on my to make and to do list: garters, chainmaille chaplets, purses and bags (have to get my stash smaller), and I plan on learning how to make my own tatted lace too.

Tags: accessories, aluminum, bag, bead, belt, blouse, burlesque, celtic, chainmaille, clip, Clothing, colored, cotton, Custom, Elf, embroidered, fantasy, fascinator, gibson girl, gold, gothic, hair, hair sticks, handmade, Hat, jewelry, jump rings, knot, Lace, LARP, lolita, machine, metal, purple, Purse, red, renaissance, sheet, silver, skull, Steampunk, Victorian, weave
Filed under: Clothing, Costuming, Embroidery, News!, jewelry

This seemed like a fun exercise so I stole it from my friends Meri and Ruthie

If I were a month I’d be March
If I were a day I’d be Wednesday
If I were a time of day I’d be twilight
If I were a planet I’d be Pluto (I know not a planet anymore, that’s my point)

If I were a sea animal I’d be a selkie
If I were a direction I’d be a rollercoaster
If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a divan
If I were a liquid I’d be Bailey’s

If I were a gem stone I’d be clear quartz
If I were a tree I’d be a birch (or a witch hazel)

If I were a tool I’d be as awl
If I were a flower I’d be crabapple blossom

If I were an element of weather I’d be a sun shower
If I were a musical instrument I’d be an fiddle
If I were a color I’d be dark

If I were an emotion I’d be passionate

If I were a fruit I’d be a persimmon (or pomegranate)
If I were a sound I’d be the wind
If I were an element I’d be Earth & Fire

If I were a car I’d be an old sportscar that you need to treat just right and I’ll do anything or if treated wrong won’t even start

If I were a food I’d be cheese
If I were a place I’d be tundra
If I were a material I’d be gauze

If I were a taste I’d be complex

If I were a scent I’d be the smell of snow or rain on a cold day

If I were a body part I’d be belly button
If I were a facial expression I’d be that expression
If I were a song I’d be something Celtic and folky

If I were a bird I’d be a black cap chickadee
If I were a gift I’d be unexpected
If I were a street I’d be cobblestone

If I were a city I’d be filled with antique stores and flea markets
If I were a door I’d always be an open vault door

If I were a pair of shoes I’d be a pair of mocs

Tags: if i were, poem, poetry, self exploration, self expression
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Same choker used with the converter and without

I’ve been loving my chainmaille lately. It’s fun, and something that I can do in the living room. I also love my chokers but wanted to wear them has headpieces as well. So I developed the converter piece. Now you can make any of my chokers into headbands. It is made from metal rings (can be made from copper, aluminum, bronze or stainless steel), metal clasps coordinated to match the rings and a soft cotton elastic.

Available at both my Artfire Shop and my Etsy Shop

Tags: chainmaille, Choker, handmade, headband, jewellery, jewelry, renaissance
Filed under: Costuming, jewelry

I’ve been planning out new jewelry pieces (once my new rings come in, I will be making a handflower/slave bracelet) but until then I have mostly finished a new choker (ran out of rings). It’s made of Aluminum rings, black anodized and bright, in the Euro 6-1 weave. With a short chain swag of bright aluminum rings in the byzantine weave. Hanging from the swag is a hand wrapped faceted briolett of black onyx, which I cannot remember the exact size I want to say 10mm x 13mm or something to that effect.

Black Onyx Chainmaille Choker

Wire Wrapped Black Onyx Briolette

It is difficult to see the black on black. I do plan on getting a white bust now for these occasions. I hope to have it listed very soon (if I can get to the bead shop I may just get more rings to finish this and get it up for purchase before the end of the month)

Black onyx is used to balance the root chakra and is good for protection against negative influences.

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Chainmaille supplies

For a long time (since I went to my first Ren Faire at the age of 14), I have lusted after chainmaille jewelry. Of course I wanted the more expensive chokers and chaplets. Being the crafter and creative person, I would rather learn how to make it instead of purchasing it. So I put it on the back burner since clothing came first as fabric and a mentor were readily available to me.

Flash forward 11 years and a few months, I breakdown and find a ring supplier and a place with wonderful tutorials on weaves. I ordered two different sized rings, a bag bright aluminum and a bag of mixed anodized (colored) in each size. With much help from my friend Diana of Nightmaiden Designs and supplies from The Ring Lord, I started my first project:

My first Row

Chainmaille European 4-1 Bracelet

Chainmaille European 4-1 Bracelet (clasp)

The first row (above) came out pretty well so I start in on the second and the results can be see to the left, right and below. The pattern is called European 4-1 as it is built with 4 rings all connected with 1 in the middle. It is a fairly simple weave (from my reading this and the byzantine are the two best to start with). This was made with 18ga 1/4″ rings aluminum rings.

Chainmaille European 4-1 Bracelet

My initial response to this is “Oh my god, new obsession!!”. I, for one, am happy with this reaction since it means when I cannot bear to look at another piece of fabric I have a good craft to go to and one that is a bit more portable. Although, I believe my husband may be less than thrilled. I have many other projects in mind for this new obsession.

Filed under: Costuming, jewelry

Well looks like I haven’t posted since early October about creations I’ve done. I’ve been doing mostly embroidery and embroidered items and good portion are holiday themed. First tho,
Patches

Custom D20 Patch

Carl Sagan Quote Patch

(right)I made this for my gaming group and actually features my first digitized design, the d20. There is distinct lack of d20 embroideries available and so I made my own. The digital embroidery file is also for sale here

Measurements: 4.307″ x 4.307″

(left)This was inspired by Symphony of Science “A Glorious Dawn” video, which I highly suggest checking out that and all the videos. It’s really perfect for the geek who is also domestic (like me!). It will soon appear on an apron. More science quotes and geekery patches will be coming out.

Measurements: 4.85″ x 3.69″

Domestic Goddess Patch

Enchanted Forest Chronicles Patch

(left)Urban Threads came out with this fantastic triple moon embroidery that I needed to put on something and then I call myself a domestic goddess (albeit “in training”) that I put them together on a patch. It’s on felt which works better for patches I’ve found.
Measures: 6.89″ x 6.89″

(right)Inspired by one of my favorite series, Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. This phrase hangs above the witch Morwen’s door. It is a wonderful, down to earth phrase.

Measurements: 4.307″ x 4.307″

Gingerbread Man "Oh NOES!" Ornament

Gingerbread Man "Oh NOES!" Ornament Back

Love this ornament (and it’s full legged version), also from the wonderful people at Urban Threads. This can personalized with a name or year on the back in almost any color. It reminds me of Gingy from the first Shrek movie. I am using these as the gift tags on my nieces and nephews gifts.

Chanukah Gift Card Holder

Christmas Reindeer Gift Card Holder

Gift cards are one of my favorite gifts to receive (free shopping!). To the left is a gift card holder for Chanukah (or Hanukkah). To the right, is one for the Christmas celebrant. This is also available with just a name or short phrase on it.

Zodiac Embroidered Pillow

(above center)And finally the custom embroidered Zodiac pillow. It is Made from solid cotton flannel or cotton broadcloth, stuffed firmly with polyester fiberfill and embroidered with your choice of Zodiac sign and a birthdate or name. This one has Aries the Ram embroidered on blue textured flannel (stash fabric)

Measures approximately 18″ wide by 12″ tall

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I love mocha and so I have been playing around with different ways to make it. But this is by far the best recipe I’ve come up with.

Ingredients: makes about 3-4 cups
1 cup Rich dark coffee (brewed)
1 packet of hot chocolate mix
1/4 – 3/4 cup sugar
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups milk
cream to taste

Heat the 2 cups of milk on the stove (heats it more evenly) then dissolve the sugar in the hot milk and melt the 2 oz of chocolate (cut it up for faster melting) with a whisk.
Once it is completely smooth and dark, it will be very dark chocolate.

When you pour the cup of hot coffee, mix the packet of hot chocolate into the cup, mix well.

Pour the hot chocolate milk into a large (at least 4 cup) glass measuring cup and pour the cup of hot chocolate coffee mix in there too. Whisk vigorously.

Then pour and serve hot add cream if you wish

I wouldn’t serve this on ice.

Tags: chocolate, coffee, homemade, mocha, recipe
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Made fudge this morning and realized almost all the fudge recipes out there call for corn syrup and/or marshmallow, which in my opinion, make the fudge too sweet. So I make my grandmother’s fudge which is easy and contains only 5 ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt the butter and mix the cocoa in with it then add the sugar and milk. Heat to a boil, stirring occassionally to avoid burning the chocolate. Let it heat to the soft ball stage (about 235F or when a small amount dropped into ice water forms a soft ball). Then take it off the heat, add the vanilla and beat it until your arm feels like it’s going to fall off and you can comfortably touch the bottom of the pan (do not let it fudge in the pan), then pour it into a well buttered 8″ dish and stick it in the fridge for an hour. Cut it into squares and allow to chill for a bit longer or enjoy it right then.
It’s not quite as soft and squishy as the fudge you buy in the store but it is very chocolatey and good. Like most candy, it is best to make on a day without a lot of humidity.


Tags: baking, candy making, cooking, domestic., fudge recipe
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