My new acorns!

I had quite a bit of fun seeing these little guys come into shape. I didn't use a pattern, but I got the idea from Paxton Valley Folk Art's acorn pattern. I used burlap instead of muslin, and I didn't stain them. I might make more, I haven't decided yet. It seems like the more there are, the cuter they collectively become. :)

I don't really have much else to type about that I didn't say yesterday. I gave my blog a much needed revamping and did a little cleaning of my following list. The day I made this, I literally started following like 114 different pages, so I had no idea who was who. I think I'm down to about 70 now, which is still a lot, but they all stood out to me for one reason or another. A lot of the ones I cut out were deleted pages or MIA people (like I usually am...) that haven't posted in forever. I do love finding new exciting blogs to follow, though!

Anywho, I should get to bed or at least consider it. I hope you're all doing well!

It's almost that time again...

Soon, we'll be reaching for our favorite sweaters and smelling that beautiful familiar scent in the air as the leaves crunch beneath our shoes... I simply cannot wait. <3

Yes, I do still exist, and I do apologize for being absent pretty much since last fall/winter. I wonder if I'm just a seasonal blogger/crafter, heh. I did finally finish (I think) the turkey that Ma kept asking me about last year, albeit very late (or early?). Anyways, meet Gobbler, the fluffiest turkey you've ever known.

I'm still debating on whether or not to give him eyes. I'm afraid if I do, it'll make him goofy looking. I kind of like the vibe without eyes, but I haven't decided yet.

Just to give an update in case anyone was following me and read about the job I was excited about last winter... I left the job in the beginning of June because I simply couldn't deal with commission pay. At this point in my life, that career choice simply was not realistic. So I have been looking for something else since then. Several rejection letters and a whole lot of discouragement later, I'm still hoping. I was trying for the big insurance companies in Hartford, since it's the insurance capital of the world, but at this point, I just need SOMETHING. I'm slipping into credit card debt just paying my regular bills, and feel terrible for relying on my grandmother again. I'm even selling a bunch of my old clothes on ebay just to get a few bucks to put towards my card. But hey, as my grandmother says, "This too shall pass." She's very good to me. I wish it didn't take me until my adult years to finally appreciate her the way I do. Silly teenage angst.

Anywho, I hope you're all doing well. I see I lost a few of you in my hiatus, including Gina (sadface), but hopefully I will get myself to do a bit of crafting and blogging more often soon. I do check in from time to time, and I was so happy to see autumn prims popping up in your blogs even months ago, haha.

Enjoy these summer days. We'll be missing them when we're shoveling snow.

A basket of cute.

I took my new babes out of the window this morning and tried to place them somewhere they'd be comfortable. I'm not too crazy about the basket they're in, but for now, it'll do until I get something more suitable. Yay!

Apartment pictures!

I love sharing pictures, if that hasn't been obvious yet, haha. Anyways, I thought I'd post some pictures of my apartment as it is right now. It's always work in progress, considering I love decorating and changing my environment periodically.

First, the living room. Excuse the exercise bike. There really is nowhere else to put that thing, haha.

The potato box thingy won't be staying there, I just don't have a spot in mind to put it yet. Gina brought up a good point, so I may put it in the kitchen for plastic bags or recyclables. Both of which are usually just stuffed into my dining room closet out of sight, lol. And that magazing is my Country Sampler, which has soooo many photos for me to drool over.

Next, I'll show the dining area. I don't often have visitors here and it's one of the few spaces I have to keep my crafting stuff, so it's more like a work area/eat-something-once-in-a-while area. Ignore the broken sewing machine. :(

This is where I keep all my fabric, sewing stuff, and extras. That apple barrel thingy is full of hay, exelsior, and spanish moss (which I bought right before my sewing machine bit the dust, so I have yet to use). Sorry for the mess on the floor. That's where the fan sits when it's not in a window, and I couldn't fit the rest of the Poly-fil in that little stand.

Now the bathroom. I warn you in advance, the color orange kind of threw up all over the place in there, so it's reeeally bright, but I needed a change from the mismatched blue, pink, and green back in my springtime phase... :/ It's also pretty hard to get a picture of the whole thing, considering that I can't stand back far enough to capture much. I had to get in the tub for the picture on the right, haha.

I will not be showing any of my bedroom. It's a mishmosh of Halloween/gothic stuff, band posters, and a few decorations I don't have a place for yet. Basically, it needs to be completely redone, but I don't know if that's something I'll take on, considering that I move out in five months... I will, however, show you the premade wreath I fell in love with from Michael's a few years ago (can you tell I love that store?) which hangs outside my bedroom door.

Thanks again for stopping in! Seeing all your blogs is so inspiring, really. The only problem is, I followed so many of you at once, that now if I want to go back and find something specific that I saw in someone's post, I have no idea which blog it came from, haha.

Anywho, I think I'm going to go visit my great grandmother for a bit and enjoy the cold air we have today from my swing in her wooded back yard... I love it there. :) Have a nice day, all.

Some photos I took a few years ago.

Blogger noob.

I mainly made this for my art stuff and to be able to type more than is appropriate for a Facebook status (although I know several people who annoyingly post essays on a regular basis). I'll start by posting what I've made thus far. I've only been making prims and sewing in general for maybe a month tops, so it's not amazing yet, but I enjoy what I do (a lot), which is what matters to me right now.

I'll start off with the little guy I made before I had a sewing machine when I was just dying to see what awesome little creation I could use cheesecloth for. This is Spooks.

I added the hat because I didn't like the shape of his head. It was too round and person-like.

Next, upon the purchase of a sewing machine, I made Lily Anne and her little kitty Salem. I was going to leave her without hair, but she looked too weird without it, so I finally caved in and attempted to attach some yarn at the risk of making her look even worse. I believe that it was a fine decision.

After making Salem to sit on Lily Anne's lap, I decided that the kitty was cute, but an entire BASKET of them would be adorable. Lo and behold.. a basket of kitties! *squeeee*

After Lily Anne and my kitty spree, I was feeling kind of lonely at the time, so I decided to make a sweet little couple. This turned into a two day adventure of switching shirt colors and resizing overalls, etc. which finally resulted in Mr. and Mrs. Crowscare. And yes, I left them faceless on purpose. I think they have plenty of personality and warmth just being together. If you separate them, they kind of lose their touch, as weird as that sounds.

Finally, my most recent prim project was the Three Brothers and some candy corn ornies (were not originally meant to be associated, but I felt the candy corn added a lot to the little display I had). It took me forever trying to decide what materials to use for each piece of each face, but in the end, I am pretty happy with the way they came out. Especially the black one. I started off with the classic, very standard prim orange one, but wanted to make each one different. I absolutely love the way they all turned out.

I started dabbling in painting with acrylics, too. I enjoy it a lot as well. There's so many things I'd like to paint now, but I need to fine-tune my detail work first. Shading and texture, in particular. Once I get the hang of it, I can do the more in-depth stuff, but for now, I'm just attempting some plain and simple pictures (Halloween of course). I've snuck in a swing to each one, and I'd like to continue doing this, but I know at some point, it's just not going to fit in. But for now, that little symbol of my childhood peaceful place in the woods at my grandmother's house will make a cameo whenever I can allow. Also, my camera and the lighting used make the pictures look a bit different (crappier and less detailed).

This is my first acrylic painting ever. I love the way the sky came out, but I hate that tree. I only had a few brushes at the time and they were garbage at that. I've since A.) gotten better brushes and B.) learned how to control the amount of paint slopped onto the canvas better.

My second painting I'm not so fond of. I went for a more autumny (yeah, it's a word now) ground scheme, and when I added the blades of grass in fromt of the gravestones, it just made them look like they were on fire. Plus I hate the way the little girl's ghost came out. Yeah, that's supposed to be a ghost. I'd like to learn how to get a more transparent kind of look... In due time. I rushed this in the end and trimmed off a bunch of negative space at the bottom because I already decided I wasn't happy with it (after about 5 hours of work) and just wanted it to be "done". There is soooo much I dislike about this picture, but hey, it was only my second one and you can't win 'em all.

My third and last painting I was a bit happier with, although my brain pretty much froze and prevented me from coming up with anything creative to do with all the negative space around the cat that was just dying to be added to. I was happy that my shading progressed (from non-existant to attempted at least). I am obsessed with detail (I am an Accounting major after all), so seeing myself improve in that department is especially gratifying. :)

Anyways, that's all I've got so far. Hopefully I'll improve lots and maintain the motivation to work on these things. I'll be starting my last semester in two weeks, so after that, who knows? I'll probably be freaking out about deadlines and exams as usual. That could either make me feel the need to be more creative or it could kill my schedule and motivation to do anything but sit and relax once I'm home. We'll see.