The Kira Nichols Etsy Shop

Plenty more to see at kiranichols.etsy.com! Bookmarks, planner clips, digital stamps, ornaments, and many more unique gifts. Thanks for supporting this artist!

Glittery Monster Horns, Sad things in the Nichols home

For those of you lovelies that are also likers of my page on Facebook, you maybe have already seen this picture of my poor little dog Tink, being a good sport and modeling my monster horns.
 I made these for Halloween this year, but I'm only now getting around to posting them. I made a headband with horns and ears, along with a tail that I pinned to my shirt.
 I formed the basic shape of the horns out of aluminum foil, so they would be nice and light weight and I wouldn't use too much clay, which is relatively expensive, compared to foil.
 Remembering to thread some wire through the foil at the bases of the horns was crucial, otherwise, I have no idea how else I would have attached them to the headband... Maybe it could have been done with a serious amount of glue, but the wire really made it much easier.
 Next, I wrapped the horns with thin strips of fabric attached with hot glue. I thought it would help to smooth out all the crinkliness of the foil, but honestly, I think I would skip this step next time. The clay didn't stick to the fabric as well as I had expected, so it was kind of a pain.
 After that, I smoothed air-dry paperclay onto the outside and let it dry. This picture is before drying. After this step, I sanded the horns down to smooth them out some more, then painted colorful stripes on with craft acrylics. Once those were dry, I used Aleene's tacky glue to do each color of glitter, one at a time, letting them dry in between each glittering, so the glitter colors stayed separate.
 Here's my make-up for Halloween night. I didn't dress up really, except for my tail. I just didn't have time to figure out the rest of the costume. When people asked what I was, I either said cow or monster... But mostly I had people guess. My favorite guess from that night was Pinata.

Anyway, I have not been blogging, because of crazy stuff. I mentioned that Bobby and I were doing assisted fertility treatments because we've been trying to have a baby for several years, with no luck. We did an IUI, and were so happy when we found out it worked, and I was pregnant for the first time ever.

On Wednesday night of this week, I started having abdominal pain, but I went to sleep, hoping it would go away. I woke up early Thursday morning with the same pain, getting worse, and Bobby drove me to my doctor in Dothan, about 45 minutes away. By the time the doctor saw me, the pain was the worst thing I have ever felt in my entire life. I had to have emergency surgery. The pregnancy was ectopic, causing heavy bleeding in my abdominal cavity and the doctor had to remove my right fallopian tube along with the baby. Needless to say, the last few days have been tough. I'm trying to stay busy, putting up Christmas decorations and keeping up with my Etsy shop and stuff. I should probably rest more, but I don't feel like it. I feel fortunate for all the good things in my life, and I'm glad to be alive. God has a plan for Bobby and me, we know it. Anyway, thank you, my friends, for all your love. I'll have more crafts to share with you soon.


Needle Felted Great Green Macaw

Somebody made me smile the other morning, so I made her a bird :) This little needle felted guy is a great green macaw, the kind of parrot I always imagine on a pirate's shoulder. I didn't make it super-detailed, but I think it turned out pretty cute anyway.

And here he is with the rest of my needle felted birdie gang. 

"Happy Tuesday, scallywags!"



November Unique Crafter's Challenge: Sugar and Spice

 Hello, everybody! I'm late with posting November's challenge for the Unique Crafters Challenge blog. Better late than never! This month's theme is "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" or in other words, Little Girls! I used a photo of my super cute niece, Andie, along with the digital stamp image "Shy Alice" by Anna Dixon for Cedar Chest Designs.
 Colored guinea fowl feathers! I just couldn't resist. I've had these in my stash for a couple of months.
Happy Monday!
Here are the challenge details:


We are celebrating all things that are girly, cute, frilly and full of little girl charm.

Our challenge has been sponsored by the brand new Cedar Chest Designs digital crafts website. Be sure to check out all of their great images. In honor of their grand opening, all of their images are on sale for 25% off. Just remember to use coupon code “GRAND” when you check out if you want to get your discount. They have lots of freebies too so be sure to check them out.

This month’s winner will receive a whopping $25 dollar gift certificate to the Cedar Chest Designs site so be sure to link over your projects.

Click here to enter your project!



Awww, A baby scrap monster....

A long time ago in a craft room, similar to this one, but in a different house, I made Bobo the Benevolent Scrap Monster. Well, I recently made another little baby scrap monster for one of my favorite craftsters, Belladune, of the SpinHeartSpin blog. We did a lovely trade :) 
 This little guy is a bit scruffier along the edges, I thought the scraps sticking out were reminiscent of whiskers.
 Basically, I keep (hoard) a big tub full of my fabric scraps, so I can use them for miscellaneous future projects. For this kind of effect, I make a really simple loom from a rectangle of cardboard, Basically you cut slits about 1/2 inch apart at the top and bottom pieces, then wind on some yarn or crochet thread to make vertical parallel lines. Then you start weaving stuff in, pushing it down to the bottom as you go. Maybe I should do a video on this technique. It's fun, and a good way to use up scraps.
Here's a picture of baby monster and brother-of-bobo. I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween! Next week, I'll do a post on the costume pieces I made :) Clue: sparklehorns.

Also, if you haven't entered already, don't forget to enter to win a free copy of "A Bag for All Reasons" by Lisa Lam! All you've gotta do is comment either on the post, or on the Facebook picture.

Everybody have an awesome weekend!