Stampy Cake!

For Morgan's Birthday 2 years ago, we made a Stampy Longnose Cake!

Lee and his brother, Jay, made a rainbow/tie dye cake and I decorated!

Those guys are adorable working in the kitchen together!

Fairly easy when I thought it out.

I made a grid, used Hershey Bar blocks for the "black" parts, green sprinkles for the eyes, and the rest yellow frosting.

Miss Morgan loved her cake and I passed another year of sliding by another birthday party.

Her last year birthday, we had friends over to the house.

Like 16 friends, it was chaos.

Since her birthday is in December, we filled a bunch of squirt bottles with Kool Aid and had them "paint" the snow. Not thinking, I did mostly red since it's Morgan's fave color.

It looked like a massacre in the backyard! HA!

We had all the children decorate their own cupcakes.

It was chaos.

It looked like a massacre in my dining room!

Live and learn....Not completely sure I'd go down that route again.

Perhaps this year she'll finally agree to have 2 friends over for a sleepover and movie marathon?

I can dream, right?

Amyrlin Seat Cowl

"She comes; she comes! The Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat. Attend you all, for she comes!"

Made for Melissa in the 2015 Knit Nite Xmas Swap. Inspiration: Wheel of Time Amyrlin Seat Stole.

Simple crochet, from yarn I already had. All 7 Ajahs represented!

The Wheel of Time of course is a book series by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson after Jordan's death before the last couple of books). Melissa is a fan, and she digs sassy, take charge women like Siuan Sanche...therefore needs a stole/cowl that kings bow before!

The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long pass, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

1UP Upcycled Bag

As you may well know (or not)

I have 2 kids...

a daughter (oldest) and a son.

 This son of mine LOVES his older sister,

it's a regular case of "Monkey See, Monkey Do around here.

A while ago, Miss Morgan got into bags.

She sees me carry around at least 2 most times...

so who could blame her, really?

Will requested a bag and who was I to say no?

Originally, I had tried all sorts of Glow in the Dark

fabric markers and paint so our 1up Bag could have a little oomph.

As you can see...

The result wasn't pretty.

So, I went over it with regular white acrylic.

Much better!

Next it needed a Messenger Bag sized strap,

so I found a super long Green Zipper I'd liberated from 

something...green.

I don't really remember what clothes I took it from and what 

got made from whatever it was.

Shame on me!

I love the trick of sewing around the Zipper Teeth so the Pull

stops where you want it to!

I attached the zipper to the bag's existing strap ends

where I cut.

(Making sure to fold in the raw edges)

I then outlined in Black Gel Fabric Pen and

gave the little guy some eyes.

Done!

And now my little guy can carry around whatever

his little heart desires.

Everyone needs a Bag of Holding!

Potter Switch-plate!

Almost a 1 1/2 years ago (during summer), 

I developed a strained thumb.

It seriously messed with my Crafty Mojo!

I couldn't crochet (which is what I think caused the strain),

knit, or embroider. 

What's a Crafty Girl to do?

I could hold a marker!

Even though Melissa's Birthday wasn't until February, 

I made this Potter Switch-plate for her and held onto it

for months and months...

I'm terrible with Secrets like that!!!!

But I persevered.

Somehow...

For the details:

I found the Switch-plate at the Thrift Store.

Sketched the design "free hand" with pencil.

Colored in with Oil Based Sharpies.

"Happiness can be found in the darkest of times,

when one only remembers to turn on the light."

-Albus Dumbledore

Lego Movie Hoopla Triple Threat!

This seemed to be, above all The Summer of Lego around here.

I have to admit, I love Benny.

His joyfulness to make a spaceship is how I feel about a great deal of things.

Maybe too many things.

Maybe I'm overexcitable?

Morgan, of course was all about WyldStyle and Will had a big thing for Emmet. 

After I first stitched up the Benny Hoopla the kids promptly put their orders in.

Below is a montage of close ups and basically me playing around with an intagram app for the first time.

I've been pretty busy lately, and a lot of crazy creatively awesome

things have been going on.

My sincerest apologies for leaving this blog for so long.

But no fear, the creativeness has (for the most part) been

captured for future blog posts!

I also have a serious backlog of Craftster Swap items 

to post for posterity.

(Even if it's for my own enjoyment.)

But, on a fun side note, I looked at my Stats on 

here and my Lalaloopsie crocheted hats have 

been viewed 124 times from France today!

One word to leave you with:

SPACESHIP!

Onesies for a Geek Dad!

My friend Andrew is getting a new addition to his family.

Andrew likes Nerdy and Geeky things.

I happen to love making Nerdy and Geeky things!

The King of New York is in honor of the Mother as

her fave movie growing up was Newsies.

The other two should be pretty easy to guess....

One Onesie to Rule them all said Batman....

Weasley Family Napkins!

I Finally made something with the super-fantastical thrift store fabric I found a while back!

Napkins!!!

I decided to make some "Weasley Family Napkins: 1 for each kid in the Burrows"

to enter in the Summer Nerd Wars.

Here are the "name" pins we use so there's no mixing up between 

people. I just use beads with the favorite color and first initial of the "wipe-ie".

It was great before my kids could read, the colors would help them...

Now that they're older the letters work great! 

I wouldn't put it past that excellent Domestic Hero of mine, aka Molly Weasley,

to have this fabric close at hand.

Or wand...

And because I'm a stickler for even numbers,

I had to make 8 Napkins in all.

There are 7 Weasley Kids.

I just couldn't stop myself. 

If they every come for an afternoon tea, I'll just hide the 8th one.

Rolling Pin Shower Gift!

My good friend Jessie got married last summer and what do you know....

I made her a gift that could also be entered into the Craftster Summer Nerd Games!

The prompt was "Romance v/s Horror"

I chose "Horror"

There was a Rolling Pin on her registry, I couldn't resist making a cozy for it.

But...

You've gotta have a little kitchen towel to match! Every good little housewife knows this!

This is where the HORROR comes in.

Becoming a happy homemaker was not on her list of "things to be". 

As a proud happy homemaker myself, I thought I'd sew up some snarky fun for her very traditional gift she herself had registered for.

Heh. Heh.....

Here's an action shot!

Here's the whole gift package I put together for her. 

Jessie's favorite thing when she was in her 'teens was Purple Rain.

When it purple rains, it purple pours!

I also included a little kitchen towel.

With my gel fabric marker, I drew a little snark onto it.

get it? tee hee!

I love making unexpected things.

I also give myself extra points for making myself laugh in the process.

Have a happy homemaker day!!!

Princess Leia Headband!

So, yes....this is what I believe is the best thing ever!

I made Morgan some Princess Leia Buns!

There was some yarn, a wide headband, and major amounts of Glue required for this little piece of head gear.

I mostly took my cues from Nicole over at Tikkido.com (here's the direct link )

The most inspired part is the felt circles to have something for the "buns" to keep their "bun-ie" shape on.

I both glued and tacked the buns to the felt.

Where I differed from the tutorial was the actual headband.

I wanted an allover look, not just buns sticking out from no-where.....

So I glued the beejeezus out of the top of the headband with little strips of yarn.

Actually, before I glued it on I cut my yarn strips grabbed a little strip of felt and machine sewed a seam (hair part) straight down the middle. A small detail, but I loved the effect.

Glue GLOBS were inevitable for me that day.

Here are some actions shots:

Even that Will got in on the act!

And so another cosplay item gets added to our ever expanding bin of dress up clothes.

May the Force be with you!

Max's Clean/Dirty Dishwasher Sign!

So it was well past time for a new Clean/Dirty Dishwasher sign.

In case you've never been privvy to them, they're those things which tell us not to mess up a whole clean load of dishes with a disgusting peanut butter knife. (sheesh.)

Here's our old one. It's so artfully handwritten (by the husband) on the back of an invitation dating about a decade ago. 

The invitation was brand new when we defaced it. 

Yes, we've held on to this ratty little piece of paper for way too long. 

And here's our new one (another laminator usage victory!).

I hung it on its very own hook above the garbage disposal switch. 

Oh yes, I should be very proud of the fact it fit a prompt in the Summer Nerd Games!!!

45pts

June Wordy

---Wordy: Many little nerdlings find their way to the Nerdyverse through reading.  Pick one of your favorite childhood books, and craft something inspired by it.  (Because I’m quite old, I rule that books that you loved from birth to teen counts as childhood.)

But enough buildup....

Here's what the 2-sided sign looks like up close and personal...

Materials Used:

LAMINATOR!

ATC card blanks

Scrapbook Paper Scraps

Colored Pencils

This sign makes me smile every time I glance at it.

I'll eat it up, I love it so.

Superman Skirt!

I was at the Thrift Store (surprise) and in the fabric/craft section (another surprise) when out of the corner of my eye I spied that tell tale combination of red, blue, and yellow.

Oh yes, it was superman fabric!!!
Not knowing at the time it was technically a quilt panel I thought "Oooo what a fun skirt this would make!".

I could also sneak it into the summer nerd games under the prompt of the "muscular" system.

---Textbook: Guts & Glory!: Pick a particular system within your body (muscular, digestive, nervous, endocrine, reproductive, circulatory) and craft something inspired by it.

Up, up, and away!

Check out that black trim. 

It's actually lace I got from my friend Lisa...

(the picture here doesn't quite do it justice)

and the amount I got from her was a perfect length to add to the blue plaid underskirt!

Thanks again, Lisa!!!

Also, thanks to my photographer Melissa!

I can't very well take sassy pictures of myself, right?

Mat Cauthon Hoopla!

A staggeringly huge 3 incher of a Hoopla!

It might be safe to say Matrim Cauthon is my favorite character

in the epic book series The Wheel of Time; written by Robert Jordan.

Mat LOVES to gamble with the dice.....and hears them rolling in 

his head when a decision has to be made. 

Also, he is quite the Han Solo of the series: he has a mouth on him 

and "Blood and Bloody Ashes" is kind of a swear phrase in the books.

Sort of like saying "Well "F" ME!" 

Nynaeve would not be pleased.

I entered this in 2 Craftster things in August.

Craftster was having it's 10th anniversary so the Aug Hoopla challenge was 

"The number 10"

There are 10 pips on the die and Mat is prominetly featured on the 10th book in the series.

Which leads us to the Nerd Games Challenge.

August Wordy: Craft your favorite Book.

Just look at that swagger.

It's as if he's saying...

"Who's scruffy lookin'?"

Sir Robin Shirt!

Yes, he slew the vicious Chicken of Bristol and 

personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill.

We love Sir Robin so!

Will has discovered he does not have as many "dress-up" clothes as Morgan.

This needed some changing!

The shirt was a thrift store find and I used my handy-dandy fabric markers.

We love the soundrack to Monty Python's Spamalot around here,

Will has a special affinity toward Sir Robin. 

Here's Will as Sir Robin for Halloween a few years ago!

This was when he was 2 and probably the last year I would 

get to choose his costume. Sigh.

A few things Sir Will had in common with Sir Robin that Halloween...

Both had red hair,

Both have an affinity for the color green, 

Both had issues with soiling their pants!

Teen Titans Light Switch Plate!

Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go have become huge around the house.

It's even been decreed I make some costumes for Halloween. 

(we'll see if they're made or bought. eek!)

So when The Nerd Games Battle Royal came up I thought Will 

could use a super cool Lightswitch Plate.

July Battle Royale: DC v/s Marvel 50pts

(Sadly, Marvel won that month.)

I even had to make a few impromptu puppets as

I can't find any reasonably priced action figs for the kids.

Also, any excuse to use the laminator!

Here's an action shot of the Switch Plate.

I decoupaged the "group pic" then used my handy dandy

Oil based Sharpies.

I was very happy how I could get the screws to blend in for 1 color. 

TEEN TITANS GO!

Goodnight (that's no) Upcycled Marker Caddy!

I sorely needed a place to put my Sharpie collection:

Enter, the Summer Nerd Games for Inspiration Rescue!

June Fandom: Super Fans 45 pts

Fandom: Super Fans can tell you every detail, back-story, and aspect of their Geekdom.  Craft like a Super Fan by creating something that is either extremely detailed or has hidden aspects that you must take a closer look at to see.

Inspired by Star Wars Episode 4 when our rogue hero, Han Solo, is

flying the Millennium Falcon toward what he thinks is a small moon...

Here's a little presentation of all 4 sides.

If you peek closely...

Yes Virgina, there IS a Death Star in that window!

Goodnight quiet old Jawa whispering hush...

Goodnight nobody.

(Here's where you can see the Pizza Roll box I haphazardly primed over.)

Goodnight little Wookie.

He's a cute little guy!

Materials used: 

1 Totino's Pizza Roll box 

(the big one from Sam's Club)

Primer Paint

Oil Based Sharpie Markers.

I just love upcycling and crafty "in" jokes!!!