Naruto Fixation and Budgie Rock Lee

Soooo, I rarely get to watch any TV that isn't Elmo or The Wiggles or Curious George, or whatever else toddler-friendly show that I can stand at the moment... My boys will so innocently click the button on our smart tv to exit out of our streaming app if there's something they don't want to watch on the TV. It makes me crazy. So I'd rather just relax and go ahead and chill with cookie monster.

BUT.... When the lights go out, I watch Naruto Shippuden and it's like TV heaven. I love it. Fullmetal Alchemist is still my favorite anime (Kip's middle name is Elric for goodness sake), but after finishing 220 episodes of Naruto Shonen Jump and 2 Seasons into Shippuden, I'd say I'm fully invested in the Naruto franchise. I've got like 7 seasons left and there's still a new one every week. So that's freaking sweet. It's like a binge-watcher's wildest dream, and I haven't gotten tired of it. It's all I watch,

That being said, here are a couple of Naruto things. First is Rock Lee, in the form of a budgie. It's a things-I-love mashup. So weird, but I'm incredibly happy with it. I'm going to have it tattooed on my bum. (Kidding, that space is reserved for Picolas Cage)

And this is a picture of Kippymon, making his pretend "ANGRY FACE" and then I doodled some rough Naruto regalia on him on my phone. It's my favorite. We joke that someday, we're going to cosplay as a family. Kip will be Naruto, Buddy will be Sasuke, Bobby will be Jiraiya and I'll be Sakura. 

Anyway, until next time. Go watch some Naruto.

Kitty Stickers

I deleted the Facebook App from my phone (again). I was just spending too much time reading my trash newsfeed. As Aziz Ansari put it, I was on page 1 million of reading the worst book ever. As much as I kept telling myself that I couldn't live without the memes, I know I want to be so much more deliberate with my time. I'm always thinking that I don't have time to blog or read or whatevs because of the kids, but I spend a lot of time on FB on my phone. So I want to replace that with better stuff. It'll take me a while to become unglued from my phone, but hey, it's a start and a step in the right direction.

I'm laying here on the couch and the kids are napping, so obviously out of habit, I reach for my phone. Checking Craftster, Instagram and playing Disney Emoji Blitz have taken the place of Facebook for now. I thought maybe times like this would be a good opportunity for me to update my blog. So I just dropped $5 on this app for my phone that will let me blog via the couch without having to run down to my studio and use the computer. I hope this app works better than Google's stupid blogger app.  

Anyway, I'm sick. I feel like I got pummeled by the Hulk. Now I know why Buddy was such a turd this week. I want to curl up in bed and hide from the world. Instead, I'll mope and update my blog. I made these kitty stickers on Friday night. I have a big roll of kraft stickers that I want to start using, so I'm pleased. These will be part of my Happy Mails for my Workspace Declutter Challenge.

 

They're things that I think cats would say, but I think I can relate to all of them. My favorite is the pooping one. I don't poop outside, but would if I had to. TMI! TMI!

In addition, I completed some other postcards for the challenge also. A set of six, using more gelli-print from Audrey. 

 

This one is my favorite. This is sass fish. I am sass fish. I want people to treat me right. I want people to be cool. I want a chicken sandwich. I want to nap whenever I want. I want justice. Aren't we all sass fish?

Well, until next time. I hope your weekend has been great :) And a little sassy.

Pet Portraits: Kitties Banner in a Matchbox

I made these a while ago for a wonderful swap with Leslie of Leslie's Art and Sew. They are little acrylic pet portrait paintings of her four kitties!

 I had a lot of fun painting each of her cats, they are all super good-looking cats. The backgrounds are made with Tim Holtz distress paints... I think I'm addicted to those, pretty much.

 Anyway, I hope everybody has a great weekend! Mine will be filled with hard work getting the chicken coop ready for the peeps.

They are growing...and eating...and pooping...so much. They are turning out to be very sweet little birdies, though, especially Yum Yum. She's also the biggest!

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.

Felted Sun Conure

 After finding Feltmeup Designs and treating myself to this sweet little felt Toucan, I was inspired to give 3D needle felting another go. My first attempt, I quit after making a blob. Silly me, I thought I could just figure it out, but this time around, I watched some vids on YouTube and actually made a REAL attempt. I'm pleased as punch! I made this teeny tiny replica of my sun conure, Peanut. 

 I didn't realize how SMALL of a piece of felt the fibers would become once it gets going with the felting. You start out with this big fluffy puff, then get a firmly packed little shape. Thus, the size of my little bird. It only turned out about 1.5 inches tall. 

 I cheated a little on the wings and used a little bit of yellow felt. I had stabbed myself quite a few times working with the tiny bits of wool, and I was getting a little tired.

 I think he has a kind of smug look to him, just like the real Peanut Button. Not bad for my first needle felted creature.

 Bahaha! When I showed it to Peanut, she was so scared. "What.... is....THAT?!"

 Testing...

It's no use, Peanut is endlessly suspicious of this little feltie doppelganger. 

I hope everyone is having a splendid week!

Toucan Felt Badge and Bird News

I sat down to make this little badge tonight after doing nearly nooooothing all day... I got a ridiculous headache yesterday morning in the middle of a cardio class, then came home and dry-heaved and sat in the dark all day, curtains drawn, feeling nauseous and awful. I think it was a migraine, and I did not enjoy my day! Today I'm feeling better, but still sluggish and tired. I was feeling up to making a little toucan out of my new felt (from Etsy seller SweetEmmaJean) this evening, but after I cut out the pieces, I was 2 minutes into needlefelting the pieces together and my one and only felting needle snapped. Boooooo! I did give up, but came back to it about an hour later. Lo and behold, I have finished it just now with stitching and about 2 minutes worth of needle felting. I wanted to share :)

Also, take a look at this smug, tricky bird. There is bird news in my house, that isn't huge news, but my world was rocked nonetheless. My beautiful Peanut Button birdy boy is NOT a boy, but indeed, a big fat HEN. I got the DNA test results back on Tuesday, and I was a little upset. I know, I know, Peanut is the same sweet, kind bird and I still love him... uh, her... just as much. It's just going to be weird adjusting to the new feminine pronouns after 6 years of "Mister Peanut". I'll be honest, I'm probably going to continue saying "good boy!" to him...DAH! her... for a while. Well, it was 50/50 and we just guessed wrong when he was a chick. In my defense, she never ONCE corrected me. I'll cope.

Happy Thursday to you all, I hope it's been a good week for you so far.

And! Don't forget to enter my Hey Hey Crochet Giveaway Yay, if you haven't already. It's as simple as leaving a comment :)

More Wicked Awesome Series Witch Bookmarks & Baby Snakes

 Nope, I haven't stopped making wicked witch bookmarks :) And lucky for me, you haven't stopped buying them. So I thought I'd share some of the new fun bookmarks I've made for the "Wicked Awesome" series of these bookmarks. They're available for purchase in my Etsy Shop!

 There's a new Wizard of Oz movie coming out in January 2013 that I'm pretty excited about.

 I think the blue one in the middle is my favorite out of this batch. She's got just a hint of a smirk...

 And speaking of wicked things, there's been some heavy, heavy rain here in south Alabama the past week or so and it seems like all sorts of creatures are being, quite literally, flushed from their various hidey holes. My house has been reptile city. This GORGEOUS teeny tiny baby milk snake was in my garage when I got home from a Zumbathon Friday night. I had to scoop him up and take pics in my light box, since he was too much of a wee precious jewel to go un-photographed.

The next morning, there was this baby black racer snake on my front porch, and he was super feisty. He kept lunging and striking at my camera, the tiny thing. He was thinner than a regular sharpie marker and maybe 10 inches long, to give you an idea of size. Harmless, but cheeky. AND a green anole lizard also somehow got into my kitchen that day. Reptiles!

And last Tuesday after a REALLY heavy rain, Bobby saw a huge, sad-looking beaver crossing the road. I'm hoping that ALL the rain cries itself out over the next couple of days, because it's our anniversary this weekend and we have plans to head to the beach! Anyhoo, I hope everyone is having an adventurous week so far :) Happy Tuesday!

Fanciful Colorful Scrappy Bookmarks

I made a bunch of bookmarks for my best friend's family a while ago as a thank you for watching our dog while we were away at Disney World :) I realized that I hadn't posted them yet! So here they are.

 I'm thinking about making art-print bookmarks like these to put up in my Etsy Shop. I'm not sure how well they would do, but there's only one way to find out, right? Here are some close-ups of the stamps I used for each bookmark:

 Stamp: "Toby Looking Up" by Alpha Stamps

 Stamp: "Wombat" by Kira Nichols for Stampotique

 Stamp: "Floating Dog" by Kira Nichols for Stampotique

 Stamp: "Whisker Monster With Sign" for Stampotique

 Stamp: "Hug Monster" by Kira Nichols for Stampotique

Stamp: "Shouting Bird" by Kira Nichols for Stampotique

So I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! I, for one, caught another cold/bug/sickness. That's about once a month for the last 6 months. Blergh. My immune system is shoddy, booooo. But I am feeling a little better. I've got too many things I want to do! I've got no time for being sick :)

Have a super-d-duper weekend! Go out and enjoy life... I will be trying to, and in between I'll still be feeding this little featherball:

He is doing great, by the way, we've had him for two whole weeks. He's always hungry, but not eating on his own yet. It's hop, hop, hop, chirp, chirp chirp, mouth open, feed, feed, feed. I think he's realized he can get an easy meal by cheeping and pestering me and opening his mouth real wide. How can I resist shoveling food down that little beakhole? I thought he would be attempting to eat on his own more and more, but not yet. Dear baby bird's big-grown-up-bird instinct: Take over, please! He is a lot of work, but I kinda love this featherball. Love him as I do, I can't wait till he is ready to fly free!

Fancy Turtle Beaded and Besequined Embroidery Hoop

 Hurrah! Who loves turtles? Who loves flashy sequined crap? Well, have I got a hoopla for you! I beaded and embroidered this little hoop for the Craftster.org IYP Swap with the lovely Ffrogg526 :) The turtle is just a doodle of mine. I split stitched the outlines, then used a 3-strand filler split stitch for the turtle's legs, head, and tail. Then I lazily used acrylic paint to fill the shell, since it was just going to be covered in sparklies anyway.

 The word fancy is done in metallic embroidery floss which is a real pain in the booty to work with! I swear, it must have taken me 15 attempts to even thread my needle. (No, I didn't use a threader... I'm too proud.)

And the turtle is bedazzled by hand with bead soup and mixed sequins.

And in unrelated news, my husband brought home this little fledgling sparrow on Friday. They were exterminating pest sparrow nests in the hangar where he works and this little guy didn't have much of a chance. So, I've been busy feeding the little chirp every hour 6 AM-9 PM for the past few days. He's learning to hop and fly after every feeding... I'm so glad he's feathered and almost ready to be released! I think he'll be ready to go in another week or two. Isn't he precious? Happy Monday!

Papercraft Pennant Garland

I dug through my "Paper Shapes" bin last night (it's a bin where I keep punched cereal box shapes, ATC and inchie bases, etc), looking for something crafty to do and found these triangles that I cut out a while ago for a garland I never ended up making. Voila, my entertainment for last night.

 I like making this stuff, because it's like making inchies, but a difference shape than square. I was able to use up some scrap paper and a tiny bit of ephemera. My favorite one is the top left with the letter k.

After the photos, I glued them all to a length of novelty yarn to make the garland. It makes the perfect decoration for the front of Peanut's new cage.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Mine will be spent at home, computering, reading and watching Netflix. I caught Bobby's cold and feel like junk. Oh well! At least I'm having crafty ideas :)

Pink Koala and Peanut Glamour Shots

 "My head is not a party," grumbled Koala.

I've been feeling a bit of a creativity dry-spell over the last few weeks. Dunno if anyone has noticed that my posts have dwindled down to about once a week... I feel lazy! But honestly, I sit down at my table with glitter and paper and paint and stuff galore and nothing cool comes out. I'm going to chock it up to winter doldrums and that I was sick this week. Anyhoo, I painted this grumpy pink koala this afternoon after sketching and erasing about 10 different creatures that were all hideous to me and not in a good-hideous way. Koala reflects my sourpuss mood :)

 I also used my new-fangled-light-tent-majig to take some shots of Peanut Button, who just had a bath.

 He didn't really enjoy sitting in that box and was hooting and walking around... These were the best three shots.

Tiny Mr. Crustybeak looks very macaw-esque in this one, I think. Well, I wish you all lots of crafty mojo and good ideas this week! Hopefully mine return to me soon.