Linda January 24th, 2012
As you all are probably aware…we had lots of snow last week. I could not leave the house sunday through friday. And we had probably close to 10 inches. One of the days early in the week, Max and Mimi went out and made a “snow octopus with little snow people” being eaten. You can see the carnage that was taking place in our yard. Don’t worry though…it is only juice and not blood!
I made it to my oncologist appt. on friday. They do not want to do any chemo or radiation because the cancer was limited to the very thinnest layer of skin and did not spread below that. She (as well as the other doctor) insist that I go no longer than 6 months with out having a close visual inspection of that surrounding area. Yippee skippee.
These are 2 of my latest creations to go up for sale in our etsy shop. I have noticed that my “odd” works are the things that get the most web traffic (i.e. BJD straight jackets and 2 headed stuffed animals). Those past things have sold out so I am making others–I want to do a 2 headed elephant and bird. I am also in the planning stages of making a “girlie” straight jacket. Surprised? Right now with Scott’s job situation and my job cut back, things are VERY tight here. So what ever I can sell in our shop helps that much more.
Linda January 10th, 2012
It has been a long couple of months here at the homestead. In late November Scott was demoted at work–which meant a decrease income. He would have a temp. manager job till the 15th of Jan and then he needs to find another job in the company or take a clerk job (that is a 45% decrease). Then at thanksgiving we noticed that Scott’s mom did not look “right“..she looked 6 month pregnant. At first she did not want to go to the Dr. but after much prodding she went and found out that she has a tumor (a LARGE one that was growing fairly fast). Over the course of December she had to have fluid removed 2x (as much as 6 ltrs). She was in the hospital on the 9th of Jan. having it removed, it is stage 4 cancer and she will have to have chemo but Dr.s are giving her good chances of 5+ years. Then at my annual “female” physical the Dr. noticed a “spot” and after pushing them to do tests I was told the tues before xmas that it was cancer. Also that same night was told at work that they were cutting my work days from 3 days a week to 1 day a week. Needless to say, I completely lost it! After much weeping I called the store owner and the manager and explained circumstances to them and , Bless them, they had grace on me and only cut my days by one instead of 2. On the 29th of Dec I went into the Dr. and was told that the type of cancer I have is a “local” one and very easy to remove and rarely comes back. I had the surgery on the 5th (they removed a patch of skin somewhere between a quarter and a half dollar) in said area. It is an awkward place to have a large wound–but I am dealing with it. We still don’t know about Scott’s job–the 15th is soon approaching. I vacillate between trying to figure out what I will sell first and trusting that God will supply our need when we need it. Who do I trust? Am I relying on “myself” by selling stuff (I am willing to let go) or am I buy selling stuff not relying on God’s supply? Where does faith come in and when is it just denial? When or how do I let go and trust? No, it has not been an easy holiday–it rates right up there with the time that my parents got divorced, my grandmother died, I got pregnant, we started building the house and Scott’s brother committed suicide—all between Thanksgiving and early January!!!!!!
Linda December 8th, 2011
I worked more my automaton and you can see the progress on my modding page…on right of this page.
Linda October 25th, 2011
I am in the midst of a doll project so I have added a new page on the right called, “doll modding”. I will continue to post progress there.
Linda October 18th, 2011
Well the long awaited and sewn for weekend has come and gone. I am feeling a little lost right now. I have been planning, sewing, packing for Aki-con and Steam-con for months and now that it is all over, I feel goalless. But assume that that will not last long. On the right under pages you will find a new page, cons. That is where I have posted pics of them and us. Hope you enjoy. Even more pics of the con can be found here: http://www.seattlepulp.com/arts-entertainment/131977593.html
Linda October 11th, 2011
I added a new page for convention pictures. Figured that not everybody wants to see people in funny (but incredibly creative) costumes. Still recovering from a whole weekend con with my daughter. Still have one more to go–Steam-con. Will post pics of that in about a week.
Linda October 5th, 2011
Ah, how does one answer that question. Yeah, it probably seems like I have dropped off of the blogging planet but I have actually been very busy sewing…sewing costumes for my daughter and myself (notice that she is first?!). She wanted to go as Grell from one of her favorite animes, Black Butler and as Toakaka (a game called Blaz Blue). Lots of planning and sewing went into these costumes. I am just an okay sewer and through this I guess I have perhaps become better?! The convention is Oct 7-9th, aki-con. The weekend after that Scott and I (I talked him into it) are going to a Steampunk convention. I made for myself:2 corsets, 3 blouses, 2 skirts, added new waist bands to 2 vintage lace slips and am hoping to finish a swallow tail coat. So as you can see, with sewing for Mimi and then for myself..well I have put a lot of time behind my machine.
I have also done 2 demos for C&T publishing, one that went great and one that was a total flop. The second one that I did there was a MAJOR mix up..I filled in for a teacher/author and no one told the ladies who had signed up to see her. This meant they came all packed with supplies for a demo/class that I was not told about…they were prepared to paint fabric and I was prepared to demo Transfer Artist Paper and Lutradur….when I had to explain this to them, well lets just says it was a less than a friendly crowd. Man, I never want to go though that again!
Linda August 31st, 2011
I will be demoing C&T products at the Daniel Smith store in Downtown Seattle. Come by and say “Hi” if you are in the area! Below is the post from their blog referring to it:
http://seattledanielsmithevents.blogspot.com/2011/08/mixed-media-and-fabric-arts-free-demo.html
Linda August 30th, 2011
The weather here in good ol’ western Wa has been cool and rainy this summer. Old man summer showed up last week to bring us 80 degree temps and has now decided to leave again. Actually this has been good because I have been chained to my sewing machine. I have piles of fabric with patterns scattered all over my side of the studio. This picture of my desk is just an example of some of it. I have sewn one “Grell” coat for Mimi and two steampunk outfits for me for steamcon. I still have to sew Mimi a vest for her Grell costume (if we don’t find one at Goodwill), and a Toakaka costume. This one is easy because it is just a big hoodie sweatshirt. I also took a lingerie class at pacific fabrics (no–I will not model it for you and take pics thank you very much!) But…I did learn how to sew panties, a slip and camisole. They turned out nicely–well, the panties are grannie panties so I will end up modding that pattern LOL. Sewing slippery knits is quit a feat–I would like to try some knit cottons in the future. I know it sounds silly but I think it is kinda cool to sew your own undies. The price was really not that bad–for $15.00 I made the slip, panties and camisole! Now this is all kinda funny to me because I did not really start sewing till little over 6 years ago–and Scott was the one who really taught me how to.
My other project has been painting the house–and if you slip on over to Scott’s blog you can read more about it. He picked out the colors–I just have him tell me what to paint etc and then I do it. I don’t really want to think about it.
On another front below is my latest girl–her name is Elsbeth and she is a Souldoll Fafner MSD sized (about 18 inches). I waited 10+ weeks for her and just love her to bits. I also bought a cheap BJD body to do some mods on this winter. I lucked on a wind-up music box heart that is about an inch across, as well as a tiny key-hole plate with a teeny tiny key. I have plans to make a steampunk doll out of these. The body will require a lot of dremeling and I will probably start a new page to chart it’s progress. I am very excited about it.
Linda August 5th, 2011
Okay–so it is true. I took over my daughters playhouse. Doesn’t every girl want a playhouse of her own? My daughter took over my greenhouse as a play house and more or less abandoned her own. She did not play in it because there were always yellow-jackets in it. It was my idea to wrap the inside with tyvek and then paint it. It is now some what insulated and the flying crawlies can’ t make it in so easy. Over that we added lattice (it smells all cedar-ie good).
The floor is still gravel–I plan on pouring cement on it next year and then I can put rugs in it. Now the real fun starts–finding cool furniture at garage sales!
Another picture of the outside just because I like it so well. We put japanese paper latterns in it (battery operated) and when they are light up at night it looks really pretty. So far we have had tea in it several times (the “brothers” were there too–probably for the snacks though) and Mimi now wants to have midnight tea out there. We had started on this project last year but as you all can recall, I broke my leg and everything came to a standstill. So happy it is done.
