Tie Turban- Project Restyle

I decided to start small for my first Project Restyle uh, project? A couple of ties from my stash



a little cut and twist and one line of sewing and..



I made a pretty yellow tie turban headband.



I have super evil scrap projects in the works, and by the works I mean in my brain because I'm still feeling lazy from Christmas. I will begin wrestling them from the clutches of my thinker soon!! Expect much patchwork in my future. I'm thinking scrappy wallets and pouches in new, exciting shapes! I did get the Christmas tree taken down today, which is a start. I need room to breathe in here, people.

1:33pm- must be time to get dressed. Have a lovely, warm afternoon. Peace Outside.

Old family photos

Not sure if you remember, but my dad's dad Grandpa LeRoy passed away due to (the) cancer this year. We went through some of his drawers to look for treasures on Christmas Day, and these are some of my favorites.



When we were little we'd go stay with Grandma and Grandpa on the weekends, and he'd almost always have some kind of creature locked in the bathroom for us to play with. Crawdads caught in the ditch were the most popular specimen, but one time he had a little toad he referred to as "The Great Horned Toad!" He'd keep them wet in the tub for a day or so and then return them to the capture site. I see he's been creature catching long before I knew him.





There are more on my flickr page, and I have a few vintage Ashley pictures I swiped from his large collection that still need to be scanned.

In other news, I'm going to participate in Elsie and Rachel's Project Restyle. I made a tie turban yesterday, but mama needs to take a shower before official photographic evidence can be acquired.

True Excitement

Apparently receiving True Blood DVDs sends my sisters into fits of excitement. Andrea actually did several vogue model poses with hers, but I think she'd put me in a headlock if I put them on the internet.



My mom's mom Grandma Pam and her husband Kenny have been staying with my mom while they recuperate from illnesses. I love how bewildered they look about Alyssa's excitement.





My 17 year old sister just got herself a new case of brace face at her own request. I think she's a fool. Braces suck, FOOL!





Felix is happy to have become, at long last, the proud owner of a dog pillow pet.





Felix and my mom had the biggest piles of presents (we gave him all of ours that night, too). It was bananas!

That's approximately all of the pictures I took that trip. Felix got the flusies and puked all Christmas day. Then Josh got a turn on Sunday, postponing our trip home by one day. I luckily have today off, so I'm going to be lazy for a while and dread the grocery store trip looming in my future.

My new tattoo

Sorry about leaving a bloody eye picture up on my blog to skeeve you out (specifically Melissa, but could apply to anyone).

Here is a little something many times more painful than the eye thing, but way more glorious to behold:



I got this pretty tattoo yesterday in Boulder at Claw and Talon Tattoo! That artist, Jason Gone, is moving very soon, so I had to do the whole thing at once. He is brilliant and did a glorious job. I super dooper love it big time.

Consider me unsettled

Chainsaw just gave me a weird look and asked what happened to my eye. My eye? Why nothing! It's a nice eye that sees and blinks and looks good with mascara. Until I look up.



Aaaaaaah!!! This eye is a bad seed. It was possibly involved in a knife fight last night when I thought it was sleeping.

Actually, my eye was bugging me the other day, and I might have given it a ferocious rub or two. Maybe something was in there and I am the guilty, eye scratching party? Of course, now that I know it's there, I can't stop feeling the fact that my eye is hurt and bleedy.

Chainsaw says I'll survive and that this has happened to him before. However, there is just something unsettling about having a part of my body that I have spent years protecting having a bloody cut on it.

Starring Felix with special guest- the worst thing that has ever happened to me

Do you know what kids love? Giant whiteboards + markers!



This is obviously a Butter fambly portrait starring Felix on the left, Chainsaw on the right, and the lovely round character in the middle is most obviously me.

Later that night I was minding my own business when Felix walks up to the sushi bar to ask a glorious man questions regarding the samurai costume behind the bar. Next thing I know the man comes out with the helmet and my little handsome was transformed into my little samurai.



I think sudden samurai syndrome must run in the family?



Also, that Chainsaw has one fine mustache these days. After these pictures were taken I made the worst two mistakes of my life: 1. Trying sushi and 2. Trying saki.

Seriously about the sushi you guys, I kept hearing how good it was, and then my mouth was full of it and I thought I'd be chewing forever. I gagged every time I managed to force myself to swallow. I totally trucked through and choked it down without puking, but I probably would have looked much more ladylike if I had just spit it in my napkin. Oh well. I think I'll go back to not being a sushi eater starting immediately.

Felix and I quickly threw together some pouches for his teachers this morning. He drew a picture with fabric crayons, I made the pouches.



This one is a mouse because his teachers like animals. I had to talk him out of using the drawing with a "pillow with a star" and the "I love school trophy," both of which didn't so much look like their descriptions.



And this is a bear who has goggles on his back in case he needs them, ok? I started them a couple hours before school started and finished (wrapped with bow!) a few minutes before my man folk left for school. Then I took a hot bath and pretended I didn't have a zillion other things to do.

The Green Dress

I found this pretty green dress at a thrift store for $1, but it had some problems. Problem one- Shoulder pads. Problem two- Pleated tulle or something to make sure those shoulders really stand the hell up, like close to my ears. I felt like a Disney princess. I didn't get any before photos because I felt a little pants on the ground (looking like a fool!) wearing it.



Sleeves, shoulder pads, tulle, and approximately 8 inches of the bottom of this dress magically disappeared this morning.



I elfed it up a bit per the Chainsaw's suggestion with some stripy sweater tights he bought me once upon a many moons ago in Delft at the World's Best Tight Store or something like that. My only beef is that the weight of those shoulders/sleeves must have been what kept the pretty neckline from gaping, but oh well. I like it anyway.

Challenge: Heligoat

When my friend Will challenged me to create something with a heligoat on it, I accepted immediately. I wasn't quite sure what to emblazon with this mythical heligoat (part goat, part helicopter), so I let it simmer in the back of my mind.

One day at the thrift store I found a green army bag and snagged it, planning on double rainbowing it up for personal use. Then it hit me that Will might need a manly diaper bag (due to impending fatherhood), and nothing says man like a heligoat.



I decided that showing the heligoat mid-takeoff was the only right way to capture the true magic that is the heligoat.



This story is so old, but I'm kind of proud of myself for not sharing it before the present arrived. I was very proud of it and showed it to many people who stopped by my house and also over skype video chat to at least three separate parties, but I managed to not spill its glory here or on facebook so well that I'm only now remembering that it's cool to share!

Thanks to Will for the inspiring challenge. Maybe someday he'll pass it on to his son in some kind of manly, heligoat ritual.

Things are furry around here.

This week, Felix and I (and by Felix and I, I mean mostly me) have been working on creating for funsies for our friendsies.



You may recognize Ferdinand, who now has friends! The newer creations are all backed with faux fur, which makes them extra snuggly. It also makes my couch and body be covered with fur. Oh well!



Felix still needs his own owl, of course. I need to get that finished and put the fur away before it takes over my house.

In other news, the Holiday Handmade was amazing, as usual. I really can't thank everybody enough- Fancy Tiger friends, awesome vendors, my friend/helper Melissa, and of course- everyone who came out to support handmade.



I did so well that I took my fambly out for celebrational breakfast at The Buff Sunday morning so that we could stuff our gullets and drink alcohol for breakfast. That's right, I said drink alcohol for breakfast. The Buff has delicious (and fabulously priced) Bloody Mary's, which is the usual. They had holiday drinks this time, so I was totally getting Schnapps-ed at breakfast. That is how you celebrate at breakfast, ya'll (unless your mom won't let you have anything stronger than chocolate milk).

Back to present making!

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

I'm going to put in a quick plug for my shop, and then we'll get to the fun stuff, ok?

I'm taking Hot Butter to Denver for Fancy Tiger's Holiday Handmade starting Friday night. That means I'll be putting my shop on vacation mode sometime Friday and won't turn it back on until Sunday or Monday. When I do, I'm sure hoping that I don't have much stuff left to sell. So if Hot Butter is on your holiday gift buying list, please check out my shop this week. Thank you so much for supporting handmade this season!

I was in the middle of uploading some random pictures off my camera when my trusty apple lappy had a sudden fit of narcolepsy. When I turned it back on, it said something about my iPhoto being unreadable or some junk. It was pretty easy to fix, this time. I fear my dear lappy may not be with us for a whole lot longer.

Anyway, here are some random pictures I've been holding hostage.



This is my glorious wild horses thundering across my thighs skirt. It's friends with the cat lady skirt. Pardon the flashy picture, the strings on the rug, and the keytar. Apparently the editing I did to this photo was sacrificed in the Great Narcolepsy Event of 2010. We're friends, and friends pretend not to see that stuff, ok? :)





I painted up this pretty brown vintage clutch/wristlet the other day, and I kind of wants to keep it for myself.



Here's my one (also flashy) picture of the star of the Thanksgiving feast roster (in my opinion), my turkey. This is my second year making my very own turkey, and I think I might be awesome at it. Like maybe better than my mom (I don't think she reads this, but if she does, I'm sorry. Let me make you a turkey?).

Bonus prize:



Purple striped necktie ninja sighted at the Chainsaw's birthday feast.

Oh Ferdinand

In the middle of wallet assembly line creation last week, I was overcome with the urge to make a new friend. So I did!



Please allow me the pleasure of introducing you to Ferdinand. He is made from a handmade vintage table runner. I found several sets of owl faces for macrame at a thrift store, which I sewed onto his face with embroidery floss. The beak only had a top hole, so I hammered a hole into the bottom of it with a hammer so I could attach it more securely.



I think he's pretty handsome.







I have a few more long wallets in my shop, including a couple with the pretty pretty Kokka cupcakes we all love. I'm off to work on button earrings. Happy Monday!

The Crazy Cat Lady Skirt

My friend Martina of EyeLab was wearing a glorious cat skirt the day I met her, and I happened to notice the same kitty kitty fabric at JoAnn the other day. Now I too can claim the glory of wearing a cat skirt, which I did at work last night. It's another exposed elastic waist skirt, for the record.



My sweet Double Rainbow is getting so big! I would have like to have gotten a picture of me in the cat skirt holding all my cats, but I don't think Jezebel Lincoln would stand for such humiliation.

And to change the subject completely, Felix once admired a hat in a picture of my friend Matt. Matt got a new green hat and ever so nicely passed his old one on to Felix.



Matt predicted Felix wearing it all the time, and that guy should probably invest in a crystal ball and get a job telling the future. Felix loves it and has already written an adorable thank you note complete with drawing of the hat.

Mega super shop update

I have been super busy this week working on wallets, pouches, and top secret Christmas gifts. Of course, the Christmas gifts are what I'm REALLY excited about, but I have to try to keep a couple surprises.





I have amassed a doily collection and tried to put it to good use here. I think these turned out super cute, and I'll for sure have to make some more soon!



I have a couple Owl and the Pussycat wallets. I super dooper love these and may end up with one for myself soon!





This is just a random selection. Please go check out my shop if you want to see everything. My shop is at it's all time high on stock. It's glorious!

I made a couple more exposed elastic waist skirts yesterday in new and exciting themes. Stay tuned, kids.

Wristlets

I finally finished (only) most of the partially done wristlets that have taken over my table for that last uh..way too long, ok?



My topstitching looks funky on this one because the purple fabric hid almost all of the stitches, so the few that are showing look kind of funny in pictures. Oh well! It's super cute.



I love this green and white fabric. It looks like a glorious little forrest on my wrist.



A very nice lady asked me if I'd be interested in upholstery samples at a craft fair a long time ago. The universes aligned, and she wasn't joking when she said she had tons she didn't want to throw away. I still need to make her a special thank you present now that I think about it. Let's add that to the never ending to do list, shall we?

These ladies are present in the newly updated Wristlet section of my shop.

I haven't taken any awesome photos of these yet, but here's a sneak peek at some of the skeleton key necklaces I made yesterday.



I finished six yesterday afternoon and am presently waiting on the rest of my favorite keys to unrustify themselves in a glass of vinegar. I scrubbed them with baking soda first, which got a bunch of it off. Any advice on how to make this happen quicker? Sand paper? I do not want to go buy toxic rust removing chemicals.



I'm going to have a giveaway for one of these soon! Keep your eyes peeled.