Monday, April 8, 2019

Lights, TARDIS, Big Hair Action!

It feels like I haven't done much the last couple weeks, but when I went back to check my photos I realized I've just been doing a lot of little things. Here, I'll speed run you through it:

 First, I tried some more melted crayon art, this time with a TARDIS:

 I flicked some white paint onto the glass first, hoping it would look like stars. Then I added a TARDIS decal cut with my Cricut.

From there I melted a whole mess of galaxy-colored crayons on top:


Here's the fun part, though: I used blue and purple glitter crayons, too, and they turned out so sparkly!


Here's a video so you can see some of the crazy sparkle effect; there's both blue and copper glitter in there!


(If you missed it before check out my melted crayon tutorial. I used all the same materials and techniques for this one.)

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With John's help I made my first ever Cricut card for my parents' anniversary. They're currently riding around the U.S. on their Harley, so I found the perfect silhouette to cut:

 

Plus it only took me and John about 4.5 hours to make it! YAY NEW TECHNOLOGY.

::mad laughter that turns to sobs::

(That's for those of you who were wondering why I'm not doing any Cricut tutorials. I still have no idea what I'm doing. Plus Cricut is a sneaky Woozle for including all the pay fonts in with the free ones, so after 2 hours of painstaking design you finally go to cut and it tries to charge you $10. Then you have to strangle an inanimate object, and John has to intervene, and it's a whole thing, you know?

Quick Cute Break:


SO SQUISHABLE.

And Suki's cute, too.

(heyooooooo)


 

Funnily enough I think Suki likes me better - or at least she's the one who always has to be next to me - but Eva is still my heart. She's a little more independent, but she still finds me for head-floppy, tummy-rumbly snuggles a few times a day, and that's enough for me. :)

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This week I cut John's hair - which I do about every 6 weeks? - and my own hair, which I do about twice a year. The day after I cut my hair is always one of my favorites, because I wake up with GINORMOUS bedhead:

I'm also showing off my awesome Labyrinth shirt again here.

I use the ponytail-in-front method to cut my hair, then add in 2 layers: 1 at ear level, then the top crown section - also pulling the hair in front for each. I point-cut, then use thinning shears to blend the edges. And THAT is the extent of my hair-cutting knowledge. :D

Here's John's new 'do, as he models the latest fur cowl trend while holding the world's tiniest can of Diet Pepsi:

This was taken on Saturday at a truly EPIC Game of Thrones themed dinner party. Don't worry, I'll be sharing those photos soon! I'm looking forward to you guys explaining everything, since we don't watch the show. :p  

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I'm sort of embarrassed to share this next bit of craftiness, but at the same time I'm kind of proud? Ehhh this is a safe space, let's go for it:


So here's the thing: John wears his t-shirts to death, and then I cut them up into rags. It's the circle of life around here. However, as I was purging out his latest batch of ratty shirts, I remembered how he's been complaining that he can't find any good cotton sleep shorts anymore. He keeps buying new ones, but they're too scratchy, or have pockets (which weirdly he DOESN'T want), too many seams, etc.

Plus we have PLENTY of rags right now.

So I laid out a pair of John's shorts on an old shirt, hemmed and hawed over it for a few minutes (PUN INTENDED), and then got out the dreaded sewing machine.


I cut the shirt straight across under the arms, folded down a wide hem for some elastic, and in 20 minutes had a stretchy t-shirt skirt.

Then - and you sewing types are going to cringe SO HARD over this - I just cut the skirt in the middle and sewed it up a few inches to make the legs. This is completely wrong for shorts, I know; they're supposed to have this funny little jut-out at the crotch:


Buuuut I don't have that kind of skill or patience, to be honest. And crazily enough, John loves them. He raved about how comfy they were all the next day, because there are literally no side seams anywhere on them, and they're already beat-up cotton, which is the softest.

 Obviously the t-shirt shorts are big and billowy and look a little odd from the front (would you believe John did NOT want to model them for you guys?!) but they're also sleep shorts no one will ever see but us, so... I guess that's a win?

I'm still a little embarrassed. Please tell me I'm not a terrible wife for making my hubby wear ratty old t-shirt shorts to bed, lol.

Also if you sewing types (which is your official name now to avoid comment brawls) have any quick and easy tips to help make the crotch area better, please share! I thought about trying to piece something in from the sleeves, but my brain froze up. And again, zero skill and even less patience over here, so keep that in mind. :D

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We've been making more laptop decals for our winners from last week, and they look soooo sweet in metallic vinyls!


 And thank you again to whoever sent me a "That's what she said" on IG. Made me LOL.

I also cut a Hufflepuff crest in a buttery yellow for a matte black laptop. I bet that's gonna look beautiful, so please share a picture later, Becky!


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My most labor-intensive "craft" - and I suspect the reason I woke up the next morning with a bad charley horse:


 Our ceiling looks much cleaner now, until the light hits it just right and it looks like it has the chicken pox from all those spackle spots, heh. Next on the list: paint! (Maybe in another 3 months...)


And finally, a couple of glamour shots of my office mates:


If you're quick, you can catch the video version of this - with Suki swatting at Eva's tail - over on my Instagram/FB Story right now.


Here Suki contemplates what else in my office she can knock over or destroy, while Eva is mid-process destroying my inbox. (It's cracked in the middle under her tubbiness, grr.)

Here's to more cuteness and craftiness this week! I hope you guys are OK, sending you love and squishy internet hugs.

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Your "likes" and shares and dollars are what keep Epbot running, so ALL the honor on you AND your cows, my friends. ::mwah::

22 comments:

  1. I'm one of those sewing types (and couldn't care less about the terms!), and if you want to add the crotch, there's a very easy method for making elastic pants/shorts using a pair that fits already. I learned it from an SCA publication way back when, but the tutorial here(*) is pretty much the same method. I see no reason why this couldn't be done using his current sleeping shorts and a tshirt folded in half lengthwise as the fabric.

    (*)I have no affiliation with this site or any other, I just went googling for a site that had a tutorial for the same basic method I've used before.

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    1. Ooh yea, I was going to add a tutorial of this method too! I have made many pairs of pajama pants and some shorts this way too.

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    2. Let me be the next to endorse this method! I don't sew clothing, because I love myself and I don't have the patience for it. HOWEVER I will sew shorts/pyjama pants because they're that easy!

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  2. I have that Cloak of Visibility shirt from Woot and they now print most of their old shirts to order. Costs a little more than their shirt of the day, but when you destroy a favorite, it's wonderful to know you can get a new one. I did a quick search on their site and that one is still there if John wants another.

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    1. We've re-ordered a couple of John's favorites that way, like Boba Fetch and the phoenix roasting marshmallows with its tail!

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  3. Jenny of the NorthApril 8, 2019 at 9:30 PM

    Sewerists! There! Piss *everyone* off! XD

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    1. Seweristress's - might as well throw in a greengrocer's apostrophe just to wind up the people who don't care about sewing terminology.

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    2. I laughed SO HARD at this, I think I love you.

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    3. Years ago I read that "seamster" is the male term for seamstress.

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  4. Jenny of the NorthApril 8, 2019 at 9:35 PM

    And PS, reusing old clothes to make new ones is THE BEST. Clothing waste & "fast fashion" are filling up our landfills and using resources we could much better spend elsewhere. I could go on... but I won't. :) remember, the three R's are in order of importance! Reduce, reuse, recycle! B-)

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  5. If you download a free font (from wherever) before you open the cricut design space you can search just system fonts and use that.

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  6. I love the Tardis crayon art picture - it turned out so good!

    And folding regular pants/shorts drives me crazy - I want everything to line up and that darn crotch ruins everything! I give your design an A+ for folding purposes.

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  7. Use the filter in design space to only show your fonts. Those filters have saved me hoirs.

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  8. I love your Tardis crayon art! Using the sparkly crayons is a great idea for a space-y print. Also, I think your sleep shorts solution is very clever. Don't be embarrassed!

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  9. Go to Joann's, buy a 20 -30" Flexible ruler. Ask John to run it front to back in the Manly Bits area to get HIS curve for the crotch. Make a paper pattern. Boom! You be a Sewing Lady.
    Love the Man and Cat pictures. Good for you to Reuse Recycle Remake.

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  10. For the cricut, you can always filter your font and select "system" so its just the fonts saved on your computer. I download a lot of free fonts from fontbundles.net and I usually try to use only those for projects

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  11. I was just coming to suggest using fontbundles.net for free fonts. Dafont and creativefabrica both have a lot of free fonts too. Creativefabrica has a bunch of free svg's also.

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  12. I'm a sewing type and agree with the others... but if your customer is happy it ain't broke. I make costumes for theater and we like to say if you can't see it from 20 feet away it doesn't exist. ;) And I foresee John making you a sturdier (cat butt approved) inbox in the near future.

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  13. Not sure if this will be helpful to you, but I also recently bought a Cricut and have been using Inkscape (Inkscape.org) to create my designs.

    I find Inkscape much easier than Design Space and no surprise costs! When I'm ready to cut I just upload my .svg file to Design Space, confirm the dimensions are still correct and go.

    Added bonus, Inkscape is free, open source software!

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  14. If you place fold the t-shirt in half length ways (so with the fold running from nect to hem) then place the folded template shorts on top with the crotch bump-out lined up with the fold. Wouldn't that work?

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure if I have enough material that way... but I can try!

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