Crafty: Steampunk inspired jewelry box

So, as some of you may know I love the Steampunk aesthetic. I fully admit it's taken me a lot longer than I wanted to get my steampunk costumes finished (because I keep changing my mind lol), but I do fiddle around with small things here and there.

I've been wanting something else to hold my jewelry in rather than the book box that it's all been in, at least until I get my jewelry box from home. After keeping my eye out at Goodwill for options, I stumbled upon this box (for $1.25):

It's handy enough to keep what little jewelry I have in, but it was definitely not the colors I wanted lol. So I set about making it a bit more like something I'd want using what I had on hand. First step was painting a gloss black over the outside. It took a lot of coats, and the embossed parts were still kind of visible if you tilted it right. Next I sponged on a metallic ruby paint I had:

Then sponged the antique gold I had on over that (since I've got a ton of that stuff and have no need for it since I sold my slave leia):

The final steps involved gluing some old gears I had made up for other outfits on top, plus one of the little acrylic gems I had for my twi'lek's old headband. I got some flowers from the dollar store and cut the flower parts off to glue them on top since I felt it was a bit lacking with just the gears and gem. So, here are some final series of pictures:

I don't have any pictures of the inside, but I went more punk and less steam for that. lol Put down some Pactra racing pink then sponged some black on over that. But, it's a nice box for my stuff for now, and I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

Food Time: (The Best) Chocolate Chip Cookies

I do not feel any shame in calling these the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Seriously, they are that good. Over the years I've tried a good many number of recipes trying to find one that was just right. According to the recipe book I got this recipe out of these are supposedly the Mrs. Field's recipe cookies. I can't vouch for that, nor can I even say if they actually taste like Mrs. Field's cookies. They are, however, awesome.

Oven: 350

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 package Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips

- cream together the butter, sugars, egg and vanilla
- sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder
- combine the wet and dry ingredients then mix in the chocolate chips
- spoon the dough onto a prepared baking sheet (I use one covered with parchment paper to cut down on the mess)
- bake for 9 minutes (yes, exactly 9 minutes even if they don't look cooked; as long as you didn't heap the dough too much they will be cooked)

These come out wonderfully crispy on the edges and deliciously soft in the middle.

Random life related mutterings

I didn't really want to clog up my costume progress post with this stuff, so it gets it's own post. (Although I was almost tempted to wait a couple of days before posting just so that way I wouldn't be doing a flood of posts all on one day. XD)

So, I finally had my interview for the D20 Girls and got my contract in. I am, however, rather scrambling to figure out what outfits to use since I had intended to have my cherry print halter dress made by now but had to put it off due to the usual issue, money. I've got plenty of everyday/casual wear, and I might be able to scrounge up something business and costume (I say might for costume only because I'm really not sure which costume I want to use) but I am at a complete loss for "eyecandy." And I really want an eyecandy outfit dammit. So I've been trying and trying to find something to use that is also within my budget but to no avail. I definitely want to get the pics done soon, even if my hair will by stupid for them since I'm not getting it cut again until closer to ECCC.

Which brings me to ECCC. I am pretty psyched about it since Adam Baldwin hasn't cancelled yet lol (anybody who has ever hoped to meet him at D*Con, like me, will get it). I just need his to finish my collection of the major 3 autographs I want from Firefly actors (already have Nathan's and Alan's). I may stop at Wil Wheaton's table again in armor since I know Pere has some more stuff he wants to get Wil to sign. Also, there's a super special awesome thing happening that is planned to happen there that I can't talk about yet other than to say there's a super special awesome thing. Trust me, I will be talking about it later lol. Pere and I went ahead and got a hotel room at the Red Lion since he'll have some more money from some jobs with his dad by then, and it saves us having to go back and forth on the ferry with our costumes every single day. We're also both working as official volunteers for the convention, so that should be fun or interesting at least.

After ECCC we're going back home for a week to visit my parents and go up to St. Louis with them to see the Star Trek Exhibition at the science center (also, I miss the zoo and art museum there so we're definitely visiting those). The break will be a much welcome moment for my brain to destress some like it did while I was there after D*Con.

Things will settle back into a more normal pattern after that with us working where/when we can, organizing donations for the non-profit, and generally killing time until Celebration 6. We keep hoping we'll have some sort of paycheck from the non-profit by then, but nobody really knows. Right now we're waiting on the IRS to give us a tax ID number so we can actually start collection donations. The Board of Directors still has to be sorted completely out, because, while some of us have been placed there are more people needed for other spots. At least the business plan is finished lol. At some point during the summer we hope to be moving back into the carriage house since, in theory, the people there now are moving out. So we should be able to get my stuff out of storage and be able to have people over to visit (in small numbers since it's more like a small one bedroom apartment only with no additional parking space so maybe one additional car can fit here otherwise we have to pick people up ourselves). I'm kind of looking forward to that since I really miss having my stuff not in storage, and frankly really hate having my parent's have to pay for that on top of everything else. (I always sort of have a mini panic attack whenever I go that I'm going to open the storage unit to find all my stuff gone.)

I guess that's most of the "real life" stuff for now. Most days are the same old same old. lol I hope, after ECCC and the April trip, that I'm able to get more costuming stuff out of the way.

Costume progress!

I swear I really have been doing costume work. I've also been really bad and kept lacking the motivation to update here, in large part because I haven't gotten as much work done as I really feel like I should have. Though scrolling back through my old posts I realize that I was a LOT further behind in updating here than I thought. My bad guys.

So, for the Early Crusader Beast Master. The large horns have been attached to the helmet, and I'm looking at some different ideas for the smaller horns and bone ridges (because I suck at sculpting). It is more progressed than the picture I have because I was trying to hold off on another picture until I had at least started the bone ridges and small horns.

I've gotten a new patchwork kama done for this one, which involved a small addition to the old kama half plus the new longer kama half. (A loin cloth has also been finished and all I need to do is attach the velcro so I can pull it all on and off as one unit.) It still need some weathering, but is assembled other than that. The new capelet I have no pictures of since I'm trying out the idea of having a fur collar on it but haven't gotten out to Joanns yet to buy the faux fur I need (also, holy crap it's $15 a yard so I need to really figure out just how small of an amount I can get away with).

I've gotten some of the misc. decorative baubles partially finished. The beads are going on more feather/bead danglies either for the belt or for the spear, but I need more shell/bone/wood beads to finish assembling them. I repainted an old resin claw since I'm looking at making that part of some sort of collar decoration. The beads and the claw have all been repainted with nail polish, a trick I learned from some over on the Twi'lek Celebration forums because it's not even remotely something I would have thought to do myself. (The round beads were painted with a deep metallic blue; the long beads were split between a mother of pearl and an opalescent purple/pink; the claw with black though the picture is before it was completely painted.)

I've spent a lot of time searching for boots for this version of the costume. The original version used black suede wedge heeled boots, which a lot of people apparently never noticed were wedge heeled until somebody asked about it. lol So, because I like the bit of extra height it gives me, I was trying to find some brown wedge heels that would work for this version (since I'm not doing the black undersuit like the original had). What I found instead, were these awesome boots at Goodwill:

Yeah, those are pretty much some internal wedge heeled leather boots. They are awesome. I seam ripped about in inch down the back of the calf of the boots so I could actually pull them all the way up (plus have them on over pants) so that part will be hidden with some armor on the back of the leg in addition to the shin armor. Because I didn't want white boots with the costume (especially not white boost with a random red stain on them) I looked into dying vs painting them and was talking into painting them by the guy I spoke with at MacPherson Leather. I have to say, I love this Angelus leather paint. The boots look 10 times better now, and I haven't even gotten around to the whole "armoring them up" part yet. :D

So, that's most of what I've been working on for costumes lately. I've made some half hearted attempts at starting the work on Kora's revamp, but a lot of my costume work is getting put on hold until after ECCC since I'll need to see how much money I'll have left that I can justify spending on costume parts. I've also been working on some scrap fabric card/dice/whatever bags that I'm now selling and have some more ideas for things to sell soon here. More bags will be up in a week or so once I get some more trim and ribbon from Joanns. Stuff for sale is currently only listed on my Bonanza page since I don't have the money to spare for an Etsy store anymore: http://www.bonanza.com/booths/Barghest1031

Event Report: "The Phantom Menace" 3D Premiere

Small event but worth noting anyway.

Kibiri and I hit up the Episode One 3D premiere at the Pacific Place AMC theater here in Seattle. Peregrinus was with us, but the outfit he was been sewing was just barely not finished in time (seriously, if he had had a couple more hours it would have been done >_<). So guess that just means he'll have to premiere it at ECCC.

Kibiri was there as THE Jodo Kast, and I just went in my force user's smuggler outfit (which will eventually just be a plain old smuggler but I didn't want to rush finishing the chest box or helmet). We had a lot of fun posing for pictures with other patrons and theater staff, plus talking with the other hardcore nerds who were there. Kibiri also had the crowning moment of actually having somebody see his costume and NOT say "Hey, Boba Fett" but instead go "Jodo Kast!?!" lol

Event Report: Ltd. Art Gallery Star Wars Exhibit Close and "Hughes the Force" Screening

Sadly, that's the only picture I have of the event. I was in such a rush to get all of my costume together and make it to the ferry on time that I completely spaced and forgot to grab my camera. So we had to make do with an Iphone. lol

Anyway, on Jan. 28 the Ltd. Art Gallery had the closing reception for it's Star Wars exhibit and had a screening of the fan film "Hughes the Force." This was Terentatek Clan's first real troop as a group, which was kinda awesome.

For those who haven't seen the fan film, you need to. I'm normally pretty picky about my fan films, but I loved this one, especially with it's references to other movies. Despite some technical difficulties, I'm pretty sure the screening was a hit with everybody present. I sadly had to dekit and leave shortly after that so I didn't have any time to spend talking with the creators or the actors, but they seemed nice. (My excuse - my hip had been acting up really bad the night before, so much so that I was worried about making it. It managed to last most of the night but was killing me by the time the movie started.)

Yes, I know this is a really short and kind of sparse report, but there's usually less to talk about when it's small things (no matter how much I enjoy them) than when it's conventions.

It's New Year's Eve Revolutionizing Time!

Well. Not quite. It's well past New Year's Eve, but I do so love Red vs Blue and have been wanting to quote that for a while now. This seemed like a good chance.

I think my biggest goal this year (aside from my usual job hunting which has just sort of become background noise for me it's been going on for so long) is to drop about 40-50 lbs by the end of the year. Not really looking to tone right now (though that would come in time if I had the money to pursue all the activities I used to do), just drop the fat I've gained. Would really like to lose about half that by Celebration 6 so I can look awesome in a mystery costume (no, not the ISB. . .that's long since no longer my mystery costume). I know it can be done; whether or not I achieve it is something else entirely.

I sort of ended this year researching another costume I've wanted to do for a while. The Flame Handmaiden from Episode One. I was curious to see if I could get it done in time for the 3D premiere. The good news is, I could. The bad news is, I could if I had several hundred dollar to throw away in about a months time. :/ The cheapest option for fabric (that looks good, not the crushed stuff that I've seen some use as a cheap way to do it. . .sorry, but I don't think it looks good at all) is about $17 a yard. And I'd need enough to make that whole gown. Plus two different colors of dye since I have to do the yellow fade then the orange fade. That's not even touching the red sash and undershirt/hood. So, it's still on my list, but is definitely not something that is going to get done before the 3D premiere. (On the bright side, I found some shoes that I think will work at Goodwill already.)

Costume work has been very sporadic. I fully admit I've had a hard time getting motivated as of late; I've been far more motivated to clean and sort my stuff (which I did get accomplished, mostly). Plus SWTOR came out, so I've been trying out all the classes. Have to say, I'm really enjoying it so far. It's enough like WoW that it's easy for me to pick up, but enough not like WoW that I can enjoy it without going "man. . this is like WoW" all the time. There are definitely some glitches still, though I'm lucky that all I've encountered are some cinematic glitches. I also keep meaning to get on my alts on other servers and level them for the guilds there, but without fail each time I get ready to get on those servers are either full or heavy. (This internet is tricky enough that I don't trust it on "heavy" servers.)

So, that's pretty much it for the end of the year. I promise I'll try better to keep things updated as we go into the new year.