Ticker Tape Quilts = Totally Awesome

Have you heard of Ticker Tape Quilts? Well, they're just about the coolest things ever, in my opinion. I've always wanted to try my hand at quilting, but the thought of cutting out hundreds of squares and triangles gives me a headache. I love the raw edges and the fact that it is made with scraps. Barely any cutting, since I already hold onto scraps like they're bits of gold. I think that ticker tape quilts and I are a match made in heaven. I've decided that I want to make one in all shades of turquoise and lime green, with a black background. I got really excited the other day, and wanted to get started. Sadly, i discovered that at some point I used up all of my black quilter's cotton and never got around to replacing it. I have yards and yards of black suiting, black jersey, black twill, black lining, all kinds of black fabric - but no plain black cotton! Sad face. So, it looks like I will have to put my ticker tape quilt on hold until I can scrounge up some cash for a Trip to the Fabric Store.














Sorry for the layout issues, by the way. I just can't seem to get the photos to cooperate. Also, the pictures are links to where I found them. In theory.

Eyeball Cane : Tutorial Link

I was on hiatus a bit after having minor surgery and a broken computer. I'm doing crazy better, sadly my laptop is still sick. Don't worry, soon I will buy a new housing and whatnot and after a bit of first time DIY computer repair, it should be right as rain again.

Anyhow, I thought I'd share a really cool tutorial for making a polymer clay eyeball cane that I found on the internetz. You can slice this cane and use it for all sorts of things. Basically, if it will hold still, you can put eyeballs on it. All you need to make these is polymer clay of just a few colors, a blade and toothpick, and some way to roll out the clay (like a pasta machine or a glass).
Well, what are you waiting for? Head over to Corvus tristis's blog for the tutorial!

P.S. On a completely unrelated note, I want a glass of milk very badly. VERY badly.

Yay! I won something!

Last month, the folks over at Stickerella had a little contest in honor of H.P. Lovecraft's 120^th birthday. If you don't know who H.P. Lovecraft is, you don't know horror. He is pretty much one of the most famous horror writers ever, inspiring many modern day horror writers as well as movies. Anyhow, Stickerella was giving away an H.P. Lovecraft themed decal, and I won! I chose their Miskatonic University decal. I can't wait to put it on my car! Head on over to the Stickerella Etsy store to grab one of your own. They also have tons more horror and nerdy themed decals.

Skull Flower Hairclip: Text Tutorial

This hair clip is super easy to make, and super customizable.

All you need is polymer clay, fabric flowers, fabric glue, hot glue, a hair clip, and glitter.

A while back, I made about a dozen little skulls out of scrap polymer clay. They were kind of swirly mud colored, but that's okay because I knew I'd paint them eventually. They are super easy to make. I just formed a basic skull shape, then used the end of a paint brush to make the eye sockets and the back a craft knife to make the indents for the teeth.

For this clip, I painted the skull blue and sprinkled glitter on it while the paint was still wet. You could do the same, or use colored polymer clay.
I mixed a little fabric glue and glitter together and painted the edge of the petals with my fabric glitter glue. After it dried, I cut off the plastic bits in the center of the flower, leaving just enough to keep the flower together.
Next, I used my trusty hot glue gun to attach the skull to the center.
I then put a big blob of hot glue on the back to attach the hair clip. I like to use a lot so that it sort of envelopes the clip a bit, making it more secure.

Coffin Shaped Glasses Case: Tutorial Link

I have tons of gas station sunglasses. Tons. Part of the problem is that I used to work at a gas station, so I got first pick on new shipments, plus a hefty discount on already cheap sunglasses. The other part of the problem is that I never seem to remember to bring sunglasses with me on road trips (which I go on fairly often), so I am forced to pick up a new pair. However, just because they are cheap doesn't mean that I don't feel sad when a favorite pair gets scratched or broken from hanging around in the bottom of the black hole that I like to call my purse.

That's why I was really happy to find a great tutorial for a case at one of my favorite crafting blogs, Crafting for Cheapskates. Not only is it functional, it's kinda creepy. I also love that she uses duct tape to secure the fabric, rather than pins. Those are the kind of short cuts I totally dig, hehe. Anyhow, head over here for a simple, straight to the point tutorial to make your own cute-but-creepy glasses case.