Lazy Blogger

Admittedly, I am lazy about blogging. I often get so caught up in the creative process that I forget to stop and take pictures, record steps, or tell anyone about it. For those who actually read/follow my ever-lagging notations you have my most sincere gratitude for your time and attention, I hope in some small way I can inspire. 

April simply FLEW past me; with my day-of-aging-sideways (known to the rest of the world as "Sundri's birthday"), the sewing projects, major overhauls in the spring cleaning department, and flipping shifts for one of the roommates it has been a stretch to get online every day let alone type out a blog post. Honestly, I'd rather be arting than typing... is that terrible? 

But, I have been making progress in the costuming area. I finally unburied my art desk and pulled out the sewing machine. It took a bit to work out the design for my own costume (thank you so much to my dear friend Drakokatze for making me think harder about the bustle idea!). I knew I wanted an art belt and to take a wide range of my art & crafting supplies into the character, but figuring out how to pull it all off was difficult to say the least. Not because I couldn't come up with anything, I have overwhelming PILES of ideas for GORGEOUS costumes all over the place. No, it was because though I could come up with a beautiful design I struggled to come up with anything I felt would still look beautiful once on ME.

So I had to do some mental house cleaning, throw out the concept of caring, and buy myself a couple new pairs of jeans in celebration of the two inches I've lost on my waistline since fall. <3 It doesn't add up to a lot, but it's enough to make me feel a little more like a real person. The diet is apparently working, just slowly.... then I kicked myself back into my daily yoga routine (salutation to the sun anyone?) and bought a nice yoga mat and some blocks/etc to make me feel like I'm taking it seriously.

With all that in place I finally got around to settling on something, and now I can at least have the attitude of one who is trying, so I can say "I am going to make a costume so amazing that no one cares who is wearing it!"

Well... that's the theory anyway. 

Parts created recently: 

Wire EARS! <3 Honestly I love points, but the latex kind would take way too long to get into place when I have three other people to help into costuming on the fair day as it is... so I looked around and found a few lovely ideas to twist into my own creation. The wire backs are flexible enough that they can be formed to comfortably fit and I added in the cuffs to help hold the front in place so I'll worry less about them shifting. I may still put some small gold chain accents on... hmmm...

My art belt - which is not QUITE finished yet as I still have to make the sewing kit for one side and fill maybe one or two more spaces; but the grommets are in place and most of the accoutrements all fit. I think I may take out the taupe-colored rose print pouch in favor of more space... or definitely move it further to the side at least. Please excuse my kitchen apron (I spent so much time painting it that I only use it for sewing/crafting now, lol.) and the mock-up pieces of my bodice-in-progress - I didn't feel like taking everything off of the dress form just to get a picture. 

The under skirt is finished, and I picked up some lovely english coutil for the inner lining of the corset, and a beautiful brocade and some velour for the outside. Still have to find the right colors for the bustle (gold and red I am thinking) which means another trip to the fabric store for taffeta. <3 Yay!

Steampunk Paintbrush and a Black Ninja

So the past 2 weeks have seen me (and then a roommate and my daughter) fighting off a nasty case of bronchitis. (Ick, right? I know no one really wants to hear me complain about coughing up my left lung, so I won't bother.) >.<;

It's funny because usually when I get sick all my creativity flat-lines, and this time around I've had so many projects planned and ideas swirling in my head that I've just been plodding along at a snails pace desperate to do SOMETHING but with just absolutely no energy to accomplish anything. So now that I'm starting to feel a bit better we're getting back to moving forward again, just still a little slower than I would like.

This weekend I worked on three separate projects and though they didn't all get finished, I did at least manage to finish something! Halfway done still are the clockwork fairy wings and my own boots, but I did get somewhere with everything else.

Presenting: the Muse-Powered Steampunk Paintbrush (+3?)

Not the greatest picture of it, but I was too tired to care. (We can blame the evil existance of Daylight 'Savings' time for that one. Sheesh.... When are they going to get around to just being rid of it altogether? *rantrantrant....*)

The soldering job on it is *intentionally* sloppy... just in case anyone thought I have no clue how to solder. ;>.> I wanted to express the fact that creativity is rarely neat and tidy. ^___^This one is a tool to go on my art-belt-of-wonder for the fair. (Attending a renaissance fair in steampunk attire... yes I know, I'm a little odd. No one really cares.)

Now to finish those wings - which are more wire-work and less 'clockwork' though they will have a few gears when I'm all finished. Then some hand-sewn pouches, as I'm still waiting on good enough weather to open up the whole house and get rid of winter so I can make the space to haul out the enormous sewing-station-of-doom (read as: big pile of supplies and haphazard tool boxes) and get to work on the BIG projects.

My only complaint about this spring so far (aside from being sick far too long for my tastes) is that it is doing something horrible to my two rabbits! O.o; It's like some horror movie about personality flips "The Black Ninja and the Ghost Peanuts of DOOOOOM". They went from being perfect little gentlemen buddies to fighting to the point of having to live in separate hutches again.

And just to assail you with cuteness: my two rabbits - Mr. Black & Vincent. <3