Tales Of Trial and Terror: Diary Of A Copy Cat.

I am crazy over the new eyeball trend... crazy, I say!
Meagan Kyla over at Coffin Kitsch has only intensified that extreme desire to own these goodies with her recent posts.

In the past, when I was selling my wares, the eyeball hair flowers and skull bows were one of my biggest hits. But this renewed hairbow trend has opened up an aspect of detail that never occurred to me, and adds oodles of dimensions to the otherwise planar surface. They utilize the beauty of the doll eye, which is readily available where ever you can find doll making supplies; a quick google search for 'doll eyes' yielded this supplier with a wonderful array of doll eyes in a few sizes: Enchanted Doll Eyes, but as a note, I've never shopped there, so I cannot vouch for the vendor.

Anywho-- as far as I understand, eyeball hairbows in particular are trending pretty strongly in Asian countries, such as Korea and Japan. This certain type of hairbow seems to be most available to us North American buyers either through Ebay or Kreepsville.

I'm faaaar too cheap to buy anything that simplistic, but it's so cute it merits the effort to attempt to make them-- ala, knock off. Shhh, keep it on the DL.

Source: Aliexpress

It should be said that the supplies for such a task is not cheaper if you're planning on making just a sole pair of hairbows. The price of the supplies totals roughly $47-- let's say $50.00 for good measure; a single pair from Kreepsville will run you $19, (ball parking shipping at about $5.00-- exaggerated slightly again to be sure) $20 to make it even. So say you planned on making a plethora of colors? This would mean you'll only have to make 3 pairs to break even.

The only thing purchased new in this lot was the hair snaps and the sculpey oven baked clay-- a total of about $9.00 from Walmart. The rest was what I already had; if you want a rough (slightly rounded up) price break down, here ya go:

• Modge Podge-- I believe I purchased for about $5.00. Ideally you'll want an actual polymer gloss glaze, and it's about $5.00 too 
• Acrylic paints-- assuming you just get the primaries and black and white is about $1 a bottle; so about $5.00
• Specialized duct tape-- depending where you go, it could be cheaper or more expensive, mine was $8. (I went the expensive route cause I could not wait at that time of purchase)
• Glue gun-- I bought mine with a coupon, I don't remember the original price, but I bought mine for about $7.00.
• Resin or in my case model water-- $13. We have long been planning on building the U.S.S Constitution on water... that is why we have it. Ideally you want liquid polymer clay, and that'll run for roughly $10

I'm not going to include the palette, baby powder and measuring spoons because I'm just going to assume that somewhere in the household there is something similar-- if not, then it's super duper cheap to get them at the dollar store. 

In the beginning of the year, I had been casually toying with the idea of duct tape couture, though it fizzled out fairly quick-- I had this idea of making a black duct tape corset with lots of bows, and neat cutouts; it's the reason I had bought all these rolls of black duct tape I now have-- blasted impulse. Who knows, I may yet go back to drafting-- thinking on it has rekindled that desire...

Well in my research I stumbled upon this slice of awesome DIY from The Ribbon Retreat Blog-- it is by far the best tutorial I have found for making duct tape bows.

During my frenzy for eyeball related jewelry, I found yet another fabulous tutorial on creating a life-like eye by Make It With Me blog. Although I must confess, I took plenty of liberties and deviated greatly from her tutelage...
I found that my method for the base of the eye is a little easier and quicker than her method, but it does lack the 3D pupil.

I found that a measuring spoon was excellent for making a perfectly shaped flat-back eye-- and in many different sizes! The bottom of the measuring spoon also worked in making the dimple for the iris

Sadly, the downfall of this trail came in the form of E-Z Water...

I had suspected it would not work out to be clear because the pellets had a yellowish tinge... add to the fact they were pellets and not a nozzled bottle of greatness in a bottle (liquid polymer-- it dries clear).
It was a hassle melting and then pouring the product into the eyes, and it always came out a little bubbly despite following and even cutting the melting time after each trial.

Even when I did manage to keep the bubbles close to none, the yellow coloring really threw off the color of the iris. She doesn't mention using glaze, but I wanted a sort of glossy-wet look, and I had hoped Modge Podge was a good substitute for this... well it wasn't. As thin as I tried to coat it, it still came out too textured. Hopefully soon I can nab myself a bottle of liquid polymer and glossy glaze.

Top one is supposed to be purple, but the yellowing turned it somewhat brown

From close up, you can see every imperfection of my first trials (the more successful ones, at that).
However from afar...

It's not so bad! 

Edit to add 09/29/2013:
Alright, so I mentioned in the comments below, I think I'm getting the hang of reducing the yellowing occuring with the E-Z water, along with minor differences in the amount of bubbling. All I did was reduce the depth of the dimple for the iris by about half of what I was initially doing. Take a look for yourself!

 I also took the chance at creating the 3D pupil and baking it inside the dimple; most times it didn't stick on its own so I had to glue it in before painting. I think there's a special polymer glue for this situation... but in my case, I just used super glue. I also tried adding some glitter into the iris using some of my glitter nail polish.

Turned out much better than the first day of making eyeballs, but there is yet another problem with the addition to the new 3D pupil. The E-Z water now bubbles only around the pupil, instead of all around the iris. I'm determined to get this right!

In the meantime, a very minor detail was also bothering me-- the white outline of the tape around the cut edges. I fixed it with a little bit of black paint and sealed it with modge podge for gloss effect.

Left: unpainted, Right: Painted

Here are a couple new shots of the latest bows:

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Spooky Basket: The 'Get Well' Gift That Gave In Abundance.

My mother had sent me some money and well wishes during this time of austerity and health concerns-- she felt I had been cooping and sulking all this time, and wanted to give me an excuse to get out.
She was completely right, I had been doing just that.

She left a message in the gram "Happy shopping, I love u!".

I couldn't help but feel like a child again-- in a good way-- being loved by your momma, and feeling giddy at having cash in my pocket purely for spending on little frivolities.

Her intense generosity is a reminder of how much I miss her company, because with all the things I bought with this money, I would be testing or sewing it with her; she would let me do her makeup while we watched our dramas and chick flicks, and she would sit and chat with me while together we would sew something up. They are always times I really cherish; thanks to this blog, I can keep showing her what I've been up to and what I purchased with her gift.

Usually I go into shops not really knowing for sure what I am going to purchase, but with a very vague idea of what I want to try out. This time, I let myself strategically plot the coming months with the projects, and purchased accordingly.

I've been coveting the dresses from Hell Bunny... specifically these dresses:

Source: Unknown

Source: Atomic Cherry

But I can't seem to find where to purchase the first, and further more... they seem simple enough to add my own twist to; A.K.A recreating them myself.

Since making this apron for what feels like forever-and-a-half ago, I felt like I really needed an actual dress that was similar to it... I still have a few yardage left over of the day of the dead fabric. This Hell Bunny dress was just the inspiration I needed to pool my motivation into buying the notions needed to make it happen-- minus the pom pom trim... I'm not sure if that'll make it to the final dress, heh.

This came into the lap of having the desire to try out more patterns, and having a few on my wishlist that I really wanted to experiment with. Patterns are a nice way to bide my time, because I don't have all the tools I need to draft the more complex patterns, at present; they lie somewhere in the cavernous abyss I call the boxes I packed back in Canada.... and I've been too incredibly lazy lately to draft them anywho.

Entrez Halloween fabric and patterns.

They're all New Look patterns... what can I say, I love a decent sewing challenge, despite my laziness-- and New Look offers just that.

The two upper fabrics weren't purchased with the money my mother gave me, and are probably not going to be turned into dresses because of the nature of the type of material; I had purchased these very late in August, and just hadn't blogged about them yet.

The spider damask is very thick, and has an almost flocked silvery pattern-- I find it suitable only for a vest or maybe some other accessories. The pumpkin and candy fabric has glitter in the weave, also making it rather sturdy-- I have a very cute corset in mind for this fabric.

Now the lower two... these will be dresses, along with the day of the dead fabric.

The eyeball fabric will be view A from pattern 6457, the spiders will be made into view D from pattern 6143, and the day of the dead into view C of pattern 6208 (all circled in the fancy frame)

Eyeball

Spider

Skulls

After having purchased this mess of notions, fabrics, and patterns, I actually had lots of money left over (you can thank preparation and planning for that!). After having visited Walmart and Joann's, off I went into the malls of madness, not far from where the two stores were located...

I took a visit to Hot Topic hoping to find the Black Heart skull shaped nail polishes, after seeing the post Karoliina published on her blog. Indeed, they were there... and much much more skull shaped cosmetics that I regret not cleaning them out of. The rest of the cosmetics were found at Walgreens, Target, Walmart and Dollar General. I'll make a proper post of all these in the future, once my trials are done.

While in target, I happened upon the shoe section... nothing much of note... that is, until I hit the children's section. Behold!

And they were on sale for about $8... which makes it that much sweeter. Size 5 is the highest they went; sometimes it really pays to have such tiny feet.

Sadly, when I got home, the fresh scent of virgin shoes lured my cat once again... and off went one of the rhinestone buttons.

You'd think I'd learn my lesson from the first time, right? ... wrong. Luckily, I was going to change the buttons anyway-- I just haven't decided if I am to use bat or skull buttons... hmmm.

I love how they very nearly match the color of my favorite nail polishes (including the new), and my new baked eyeshadow from Hard Candy in Super Nova.

I sense an outfit brewing.... Thanks, Momma!

P.S. That reminds me... I still need to work on this, which by majority vote turned out to be the shorts. I have so much to do now! How exciting!

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: "Hmph" Said The Bat

The month has been creeping by slower than I could possibly tolerate.
Unfortunately, just days after my last post, I became a bit sick.

Gallstones-- hooray. <rolls eyes>

Having to actively monitor what I eat, how much I eat, and when I eat, before I receive the surgery has become such a drag...
It's a hurdle that feels much like weaning off some drug I was addicted to... I am definitely not happy if I don't get to eat whatever I damn well please... but such is the life of a person who disregards structure in many senses (most cases without intent)... including healthy habits, much to the dismay of the loved ones.

You see, I found myself in this predicament purely because of how seldom I actually eat; not how badly the foods I eat are. Ordinarily, my meals (when eaten) are highly balanced-- meat, grain, veggies... the whole deal. But I have been indulging myself in high fat meats in the past months; pork and beef. And since I am genetically predisposed to gallstones, this caused my system a bit of a shock and thus gallstones were formed and now causing heaps of pain.
It's not entirely my fault-- that is to say, my budget for groceries is quite strict, limiting the amount of proper ingredients I'm able to purchase... and as of late, the price of chicken and fish has been sky rocketing out of control at our local grocers. They seemed to have raised all their prices, matter of fact...
They're the only supermarket within a 40 mile radius, sadly, and lets be frank... their "fresh" food is never the freshest; the veggies go bad within days of purchase, and you ought to watch their dairy because they're always trying to foist off their past dues to an unsuspecting poor devil.
It happened to me twice... the last time was a very bitter and chunky guava yogurt drink-- I was looking forward all day to my treat that I simply forgot to check the date; the time of purchase it was already 2 days past due. At least it was only 2 dollars...

We bit the bullet and bought the exorbitant chicken and fish so that I can have some joy during the most eventful part of my daily existence... I can't and won't live on just salad-- I absolutely refuse to. I have always refused eating what cannot provoke a positive emotion from me, and salad in every form has always been at the tippity top.
But you want to know the real irony? Whatever power saw it fit to do this to me dealt its final blow with a sinus cold. So not only can I not eat what I want, but the foods I can eat... I can't taste. At all. For a few days now...

So, here I am, typing this obnoxiously long post with nary a positive point so far...
You all deserve at least one... let's see...

I made this thing in a bout of frustration at seeing the bathroom so tremendously cluttered with my primping gear.

Or at least I think I was frustrated at the mess... it could've been just the catalyst and focus to my frustrations for the former subject.
It is made from the junk I have lying around the house; a box, and a few random containers (tea tins, and Parmesan jar)

I simply traced where I wanted them to sit on the rectangular box, cut it out, placed the jars in and taped the sucker up with masking and duct tape.

And so ends the jumbled display of heat styling tools upon the bathroom shelf... next step is de-cluttering the rest of the bathroom. The tea tins give the added bonus of not having to wait till my flat iron or curling iron cools down before I can put them up.

Mind you, it's not going to remain undecorated-- I wholly intend on doing so, but at the moment I haven't found trimmings that fill me with gusto. One absent feature is certain, however, I am going to put a couple strips of magnet so I can store my pin curl clips in an orderly fashion.

... funny... I don't even know how to use these tools properly... they're purely for experimentation and attempts at doing my hair up in ways other than a pony tail or side braid. Hmph.

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Sophisticated Kitty Shoes

I'm not sure whether it was pure happenstance, but when Mrs. Kitty over at Sophistique Noir announced her latest monthly theme I couldn't help but to laugh.

This month's theme is "Special Occasions".
And here's why it struck me as amusing...

Today is the exact day my beloved kitty Poe was born; his first full year of life.
Since adopting him, I tried to chronicle most of his growth... but the other photos didn't quite fit in to this little collage, so there's a considerable gap.

From tea-cup kitty to cool cat

Last Saturday, my husband and I were invited to the wedding of one of his colleagues. I was particularly excited because only a mere week before I got my hands on a beautiful pair of t-strap vinyl pumps, and at quite the bargain of just $7 from Payless Shoes.
I had kept them nice and packed away, and waited for the right time to bust them out-- and happily it was not a very long time.

New and ready to be blogged about...

The day of the wedding came, and I promised my neighbor I would help her pick out her outfit and do her make up and hair. So over next door I went, unaware that during the commotion in the house and my sudden absence after said commotion, that my own Mr. Kitty decided to have a vinyl snack...

Poe is the first cat I've been raising from kitten-hood... he's also the first cat I could truly call my own. In the short time I've had him, he's made me realize one unequivocal fact: as a cat owner, you come know and accept that sometimes owning something in its original bought state is a pure luxury. Poe is a firecracker compared to the gentleness of my late dog Chico, but in being the little pest that Poe is, his exuberance has led to some very savvy ways of fixing what he fraught with destruction: my sewing machine cover, lots of thought as to how one should decorate the house, and these pumps-- among various other disasters.

As an avid believer that nothing is too far gone to do nothing with, I took my anger and frustrations and went into my creative laboratory.

So with a little glue, some lace, and bows....
I managed to recreate and even exceed the beauty of the former heels.

I guess I have Poe to thank for all the forced moments of angry creativity he's given me thus far...

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: To The Bat Cave! (Road Trip Essay)

Less than a week ago my neighbor came to me and invited me to go on a road trip on rather short notice.
To be fair, we had been hoping to all year long... but we never accomplished any real planning for it.
Then opportunity opened its doors, and she was quick to greet it.

It was really rather impulsive of me to say yes when she came to me with the proposition, but the excitement overtook me and suddenly it was happening. We were going to Carlsbad Cavern.

My husband wasn't very pleased by my eagerness to accept, considering our trip to Canada was a mere two weeks away, but he empathized with my desperation for mental stimulation, and didn't argue.
Not surprisingly enough, this was also the very first road trip I had taken without either my husband or my mother... so the cards were stacking high in my favor; a chance to experience something at my own pace.

With my husband, road trips mean very little deviation from the allotted plan... but not with my neighbor-- she was quite eager and enthusiastic with all our whims. It took us a while to arrive to Carlsbad and meet up with her friends, but the thrill of adventure, and memories it brought along was completely worth it.

Carlsbad Cavern is located 750 ft underground, which you can take a very quick elevator down to; alternately, you could take the natural entrance, but it closes rather early because the main attractions reside there. The cavern paths are completely paved, and speaking normally is discouraged because your voice will carry roughly a mile-- whispering is encouraged; it's surprising how loud your whispers can be in a cave... I could hear a whispered conversation from a few feet behind me. I can't imagine how talking normally would be like... though I was very tempted to try...

The cavern is HUGE; to roughly quote Fight Club, it's big like you imagine god as big.

It became clear how completely humbled I was when I realized how sore my jaw was from all the gawking and gaping. Unfortunately, being new to my camera still, many of my own photos didn't quite turn out till I was near the end of its battery life-- I did manage to grab some really great shots, however.

The stalagmites in the Hall of Giants are roughly 60ft tall... but somehow in the photos they seem a mere few feet tall...

I wasn't able to capture the essence of the next photo on my own camera since it was near the beginning when I was still tweaking the settings. Thankfully my neighbor allowed me to use her photo, as it is one of my favorite looking stalagmites.

Aptly called the Puppet Show, or as I like to call them: Scherenschnitte!

During our guided tour of the King's Palace, they sat us down in part of the cave... and shut off all the lights.

Never in my life have I experienced such a profound darkness... the feeling was a little like being sea sick at first; in your mind there is nothing around you, you feel the floor yet your mind tells you it's not there; you can hear the sounds, but it's as though you're in a great abyss and the sound is everywhere and nowhere... a feeling that can only be described as an excitable panic begins creeping its way into your gut. 

As the time elapses, another feeling begins washing over you as you come to terms with the darkness-- like being cradled in the arms of something both warm and cold. My neighbor said that her boyfriend describes such a feeling as "being hugged by the earth". It could not be more closer to the truth.

Then very suddenly, the ranger flicks on a lighter. You feel frightened but elated like someone ripping you from your solace, but promising life; you see the cave as it was discovered those many many years ago.

It was one experience I won't quickly forget.

After hours of walking through what felt like miles upon miles of cavern... it came time for the part we were most looking forward to...

 I know it doesn't show... but really, I am excited!!

It was the moment of truth, and as you can easily guess, it was the flight of bats! Cute Mexican fox tailed bats! Where upon hundreds and hundreds fly out of their cavern and go to hunt for the night. It was a magnificent sight to see so many flooding out of the cave... it could've been a much better experience had it not been for the tiny tots that were loud and rather obnoxious; the bats didn't come out in clouds as I expected-- that might've been because it was too loud for them all to come out at once.

I'm one of those types that strongly believes there are certain events not suitable for small children; you need to be very quiet and very still for hours... and I just don't think many young children can be-- and it was apparent that many in the crowd could not be. Parents were told by the rangers to leave if their child began fidgeting, and advised to stay away entirely if the child could not calm down... alas, hardly any one of those parents listened, and dampened the experience for the childless.

Anyways, I digress.

After such a fantastic day... there was nary a thought in my mind that believed it could get any better the next day heading home...

Was I glad to be so utterly wrong.

My neighbor suggested it might be a great idea to pit stop at Roswell and experience the UFO Museum.

The place was kitsch.

But it was thoroughly enjoyable because it was so kitsch. The main attraction was a display of aliens and their ship that every half hour began blowing smoke and making sounds.

Cover of 'Alien Vogue'

The rest was posters of information and images of abductions, and the history behind the crash landing in Roswell.

My absolute favorite part about pit stopping in Roswell was this little hole in the wall place that charged 3 dollars to take as many photos as you like in an area they set up with scenes; I can't recall the name of the place, and I also can't remember the last time I goofed around so much...

In the very back of this area was one of the most astounding feats of sci fi creativity that I have ever been privy to see...

I had just enough juice in my camera to take a couple shots of my own.

Taking pictures of the entire display proved difficult, and somewhat futile; it had little ships in the sky, and quite a magnificent mural painted on the walls (which you can vaguely see)... but these images alone ignite the imagination.

It was extraordinary experiencing this with my friend and neighbor, and I was somewhat glad my husband didn't go... but on the same token, it would've been nice if I could share it with him also... I wish with all my heart that this won't be the last time I visit all these places.

From Carlsbad & Roswell, with love...

P.S. This is off topic, but I notice that a few comments some of you are making are not publishing properly, they show up in my inbox, but aren't displayed on the actual post. I assure you, I'm not deleting them (it would show as deleted by owner, if that was the case), so if you want to make your comment public, make sure it shows up! Otherwise know I appreciate it, and wish I could reply!

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Sweetening The Deal

Hum.

It's only 7 more days till my giveaway is over, and I have to be honest-- I'm a little disappointed by the lack of further interest in it. Thank you to those whom are currently participants and commenters-- you make my heart glow with warmth. On the brightside, I guess this means there's a bigger chance to win *wink wink*.

I thought I had a zipper to make the make up bag... but it turns out I didn't. What this means for the winner is that I'll be adding a few more things to the pile before the deadline.

Today inspiration struck me, and I thought it'd be really neat to create a mug cozy to add into giveaway.

Here it is all finished up! I made one for myself, since I am a huge tea drinker (hot and cold), I figured I'd get far more use out of it. I hope the winner is the same, hehe! This will be the one I put into the giveaway.

It's funny because that tiny little black applique on the skull is what sparked it. I used two others in the creation of the jewelry piece I promised to make for the giveaway.

But anyway, enough talk... here are some progression shots of the mug cozy as it is being made.

I was going to add in two, but I lost the inspiration for the one above it... and I don't I liked how I cut it, anyway-- the bias tape would've covered the skeleton's head.
The inner lining is felt, which makes a perfect insulator for those hot and cold drinks. The lining is a heavy weight canvas material to prevent any sweaty drinks from bleeding to the front of the cozy.

Here it is in action:

Speaking of cute, I'm also quite proud of the necklace I made for the giveaway. I was bummed I couldn't tat it, but I figured that would be the case... I'm just starting to learn how to needle tat, which is a lot different than shuttle tatting.

I had some leftover applique trim that I cut into individual sections; I sewn them together to create a nice little center piece.
I tried my hand at a bit of knot tying-- like for hemp jewelry-- for the strand. I slipped in a few black seed beads throughout the length for added pretty.

A few minutes of digging around and I found some plastic pearl beads, purple ribbon rosettes, a charm, and a little length of chain-- perfect!

Next thing you know, I created a piece of jewelry from nothing but the scraps and things I had lying around, hehe.

I love it so much, I am going to use this same train of thought and creation to revamp an old necklace I made some time ago; I still have several applique pieces, lots of seed beads and string to make one more.