Halloween Costume: Steampunk Atropos

So now that Steampunk has been perfectly explained (and thanks to my friend Erika for sending this my way), I can now explain my Halloween costume.

First, a little background. Several months ago, my friend Erika let me know about a group of people that were going to be throwing a Masquerade party in December. Knowing that I want to one day have my own Masquerade Ball, she knew I would love this. And so, we started talking costumes. We thought that a group costume would be fun and eventually decided on The Three Fates from Greek Mythology. (Clotho spins the thread which represents the life of man; Lachesis measures the life; and Atropos is the one who ends the life by cutting the thread.)

But, because we can't make things easy on ourselves, we decided that instead of Greek robes/dresses, we would do the Three Fates in Steampunk style. And we decided that life would be much easier if they doubled as our Halloween costumes (because why invest so much in an outfit not to wear it more than once?).

So, I am Atropos, the bringer of death. I decided to use dark colors (browns and blacks), with scissors and skulls as my defining characteristics. But, since these WERE going to be for a party, I decided to try and still keep it elegant. That's the nice thing about Steampunk -- you can make it as grungy or as elegant as you want. Anything goes!

I found this blouse on clearance online and that sort of began my jumping off point for colors. It was this unusual brown/taupe so I then found a beautiful fabric that would combine all the browns (shirt and skirt) and blacks, plus it didn't hurt that it had swirls and paisley and a touch of metallic.

So, with sewing and jewelry making and making accessories, and making sure I had everything in addition (parasol, glasses, shoes), this is me in my outfit (courtesy of the hubby):

But then I noticed that this one picture, while it captures the whole outfit nicely, you can't see a lot of the details. So here they are!

Beginning at the top, with my cute little mini top hat -- I ADORE this!!

And then the earrings, which I am really proud of! (I love those tiny skulls!)

Then moving down to my choker cameo.

And then my timepiece necklace (because no Steampunk outfit is complete without a pocket watch).

And last, but not least, for now, the chain that goes around the waist and holds up my giant scissors.

I do have to plan a professional photo shoot with my two other "sisters" sometime soon, and hopefully we'll get some great shots! However, before that there are a few things I need to tweak and add. I was supposed to have fishnet undersleeves, but they weren't cooperating that night. Also, since I knew I wouldn't have time, but definitely something I'm planning to add is a cuff bracelet (with the scissor charms). Also, not that it will be noticeable, but I was wearing these very uncomfortable Granny boots, which I will replace with another pair of shoes that I will make spats for to match the outfit.

[But, I have to tell you, one of my favorite things is the glasses. They're a brown metal and fit awesomely with this outfit. They are not my normal glasses and yes, they ARE prescription. And, not only did they make it to me the DAY I needed them, but they were also less than $20. Yes, that's right. Cute prescription glasses for only $20 (and that included regular shipping). I found this place called Zenni Optical online. They have tons of glasses starting at $6.95, and while I was hesitant, I figured that for 20 bucks it was worth experimenting. And boy, I'm glad I did! You DO have to have your full prescription to order them, but I believe your eye doctor is required by law to provide that to you. So, if you need to get a second pair of glasses to have around (always a good idea) or even need prescription sunglasses for cheap, try Zenni out!]

And that, my friends was my Halloween (and hopeful masquerade party) costume! The nice thing about this costume is that I can still keep it Steampunk and just change out the accessories to change my character, as it were. What did YOU do for Halloween? Did you dress up?

And, as you can see, I apparently take requests for topics for my blog during NaBloPoMo. ^_^ If you want me to write/post about something, let me know and we'll see what I can do.

NaBloPoMo day 2 completed!!

Handmade Gifts Completed!

So, remember way back when I had that little pay-it-forward crafty contest, where if you commented, then I would send you something handmade and then you had to do this on your blog?

Well, quite a bit ago I posted what I made for Christine, and now I can finally post what I made for Reva and Manda! (Sorry gals, that it took so long!)

For Reva, a pair of fabric headbands, thanks to a free pattern by Heather Bailey! These actually came together so easily, that in the same afternoon I was able to make a couple for me. Tee-hee! (Click on them to take you to the larger image in Flickr.)

Reva's Red Headbands:

And mine:

And then, I made some notecards for Amanda, but ... I'm a goober and forgot to take a picture of the final product! Duh! Anyway, here's a pic from my 365 of me about to start making them, so you get a sort of idea. ^_^

And now I am done! Phew! Hope you gals enjoyed them! I might do something like this again in the future ... but I need to get all my other projects done first! ^_^

A Day in My Life

For a photo contest (yes, one of those I do occasionally for a digiscrap site I visit) this week, we were asked to take pics of us doing ordinary things in our lives. I thought this was good for two reasons. I have been thinking of doing a 365 next year (where you take a pic a day for the whole year), but also because I didn’t know if my life was that interesting. However, I think this challenge proved that it doesn’t matter if the pic is of something mundane, if it’s something that’s going on in your life. Yes, we remember the momentous moments, but usually forget the everyday ones. So, here are my two entries.

Here I am sewing a Christmas gift for my sister. Or rather, I am pinning pattern pieces to fabric. Hopefully I’ll post the finished product here.

I read Pride and Prejudice at least once a year. It’s my favorite book, and I just finished it (as you can see, in this pic I am almost to the end).

As for the 365, what do you think? I am fairly certain I will not be posting every day on this blog, since I don’t know if I would have the time for it. However, I will be uploading to my Flickr account, and then probably doing a weekly roundup here.

Domestic Diva?

Or I have too much time on my hands?

So, over the last month and ... a half I have been baking and working on some projects, and I thought I would share some of them. (Some are secret and cannot be shared yet. ^_^ I also have some cards to put here soon that me and some people made for charity. More on that laterz.)

First off, the baking.

I saw a yummy-looking recipe over at Centsational Girl for a Spiced Pear Cake. I thought I would give it a whirl. It was okay the first time around, but even though I do like a good pear, the taste of the pear was really muted. SO, I decided to try apples (since it was a possible suggestion). This time it came our pretty tasty, and you can definitely taste the apples.

Her pictures are much prettier, but here's my version of the cake (if you're on FB, then you probably saw this already):

Then, my friend Stephanie had been baking lots of bread -- she has a bun in the oven, so it was appropriate. Not long ago, my in-laws gave us their old breadmaker. It was nice to have it, but the bread's crust is kinda hard, and so I decided to try the recipe Steph had posted for white bread. This recipe is seriously easy, and if you have a mixer (like a Kitchenaid) with a dough hook, then most of the work is done for ya!

Turns out soft and yummy, and keeps in the fridge for quite a while, and with a pop into the toaster, mmm ...!

And then, I have also done some sewing! Since my friend Steph has said bun in said oven (^_-) I knew a baby shower would soon be in the works, so once I knew when the shower was, I got down to business, making the baby two little sundresses, with a matching hat. (The hat didn't make it into the original gift, though, as it gave me issues, but thankfully ....) I love the fabric, and used leftover denim fabric from a previous project to make the ruffles and hat.) I think this is the first time I can recall truly following every step in the pattern.

But the results? Gah! Adorable, if I do say so myself. Even though it looks like one piece, it's actually a sundress with little panties to cover the diaper. I just put them together for ease of photography.

(Oh, and you WILL see that foam head in the future. Hehehe ... love it!)

Sewing Craft: Bib for Dad

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there (though I think there's only one who actually reads my blog).

I just wanted to share the gift I made for my dad, since it's crafty. With my dad being almost completely blind, he tends to get a lot of food on him when he eats, especially eating out. My mom sometimes picks up extra bibs like one can get at a seafood place, like Red Lobster. So, when I came across a pattern for an "adult" bib (no lie), I knew it would be perfect for my dad. I thought about making it out of vinyl or plastic, but I've never sewed that type of material before, so I just decided on a dark denim. The nice thing about this, is that it's reversible and washable. (And the denim is very soft -- and the closure just has Velcro, so easy on and off. I actually made two because, One, it's always my dad's birthday today, and Two, I had enough fabric and hopefully one's always available while one is in the wash.)

So, here we are! (Sorry about the creases, as I needed to iron it again.)