Its scary appearance and mean reputation for biting ankles is what makes this book a great way to store your most precious possessions. Not even a Dark Lord would dare to mess with its contents!
What you will need:
-A storage box in the shape of a book, or pieces of cardboard
-Enough craft fur to cover the box and make tentacles
-A hot glue gun and LOTS of spare hot glue sticks
-Plastic safety eyes or clear glass gems from the floral section with eyes drawn on
-Red, brown, and white polymer clay
-Chalk pastels or acrylic paint
-Brown felt and gold paint or a printable text
-A small amount of stuffing
-(Optional) a belt (for protection)
If you haven't heard, two of my favorite bloggers (Charlotte from Happy Little Geek and Danielle at From Girlie To Nerdy) are having a link-up celebrating everyday cosplay called Casual Cosplay Connections!
The last Saturday of the month you post an outfit based on the theme of the month. I am so looking forward to seeing the looks and making more up! If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please join along! (See all the themes here)
This month's theme is "video games." At first I was really struggling to come up with an outfit since I don't play games often or can bring many characters to mind, but then earlier today I saw this green dress in my closet and knew immediately what I could do.
I'm Link from Legend of Zelda!
I had a lot of fun putting this look together and I felt really cute wearing it too. Plus, it goes great with the Triforce earrings I made a while ago!
And of course I had to do this:
Now if only I could catch the darn thing...
Did you join in the linkup? Will you plan to do so in the future? Let me know in the comments!
ALSO!!!!
Keep an eye out because in July I will be hosting a Harry Potter themed giveaway celebrating the release of the new book! Winner will receive a few handmade goodies and some other magical treats!
Yesterday was rounded Pi day! (3.14159 to 3.1416) Pie is round!PIE!
Math wasn't much of a strong suit for me after High School, but Pi Day has been something I celebrated just for geeks and giggles. I was even lucky enough to find a Pi themed shirt while thrifting recently! Score!
The day before Pi Day I managed to craft up a Pi pie just in time for the occasion! A delicious looking triple berry pie too, my favorite!
Wait, that's polymer clay. I can't eat that! But I sure am gonna wear it!
You can make your own by following this recipe by Sweetorials on Youtube:
I can't very well mention Pie without talking about Dean Winchester. Last year I went to SEACON (Seattle Supernatural convention) with one of my good friends and dressed as "lady Dean" or crossplay Dean. I actually made these earrings specifically for the event! It was an awesome time!
And speaking of Geeky pies, I love turning my chicken pot pies into geeky masterpieces! Here are a few that I still have photos of:
Need a pie? Why not Zoidberg?
It seems like I'm perpetually celebrating Pi day the day after, so I find the "A Pi Day Late" pie especially fitting for this post. Did you do anything to celebrate Pi day? What's your favorite kind of pie? Let me know in the comments!
I don't know about you, but the Mario Bros. series of games has been consistently one of my favorites. I've loved the character designs from the 8-big beginnings to today's cute and cuddly 3D versions. Even the monsters are cute and loveable!
That's why when I first saw chain chomp and piranha plant earrings for sale on Etsy, I knew I wanted a pair of each for myself. I put off buying them until one day I came across the YouTube channel NerdECrafter.
These tutorials changed my life (or at least my crafting game). Jackie is the reason why I started playing with polymer clay in the first place. Her videos make even tough projects look easier, and they are! There are so many more awesome and geeky tutorials on NerdECrafter, so please check them out!
Here are a few Mario Bros. themed earring sets I made:
Chain Chomps
*crazy barking noises*
These are my favorite to wear because they are so fun! The chompers are doing their job and they're not letting go! The ear cuff gives it a little something extra too.
"Are you my mummy?"
Using this tutorial, I was finally able to make a pair of chain chomps for myself. Easy peasy! (Actually, that's not true. I spent hours working on this trying to make it look right. But it wasn't as bad or as hard as it looks!) Check it out:
Bullet Bills
I made these for a friend's son. They were really fun and challenging to make. I still need to make a pair for myself!
I didn't use a tutorial for this one, just a lot of reference photos!
Piranha Plants
They're my favorite!! I have several Venus fly trap plants in my house, so I'm a big fan of carnivorous plants. Even when they're trying to bite me!
"Feed us, Bowser!"
Watch out, they bite!
Mine look a little different, but here's the tutorial I used from NerdECrafter:
I highly recommend not doing sharp points like I did. It can make your ears angry after a while!
1-UP Mushroom
I made these specifically for my birthday last year when I went to the EMP in Seattle to celebrate leveling up.
Even more perfect was the awesome Mario-themed mural they had there!
I was pretty much obsessed with the original television show when I was in 6th grade. The characters were so much fun and it was unlike any other show I had seen before. I was also a card collector which means I had no idea how to play the game and because of that I made a lot of bad trades. I got most of my cards (which I still have, by the way) from KB Toys. Ahh, the good old days!
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm sharing two fun Pokémon related pieces of jewelry I've made. The first is one of my favorite, and most intricate, pieces of polymer clay jewelry I have ever created: a Poké Ball bracelet!
In the IGGPPC forums last year there was a post for a fandom jewelry swap and I immediately signed up! I decided to go ALL OUT for my partner, and her love of Pokemon gave me the inspiration I needed to make this bracelet the very best. (I had to. Sorry, not sorry.)
These are the Poké Balls my swap partner requested: Classic Pokeball, heal ball, Team Rocket ball, Great ball, Diamond ball, Master ball, Ultra ball, Premier ball, and Safari ball.
I used a tutorial from my favorite polymer clay artist on YouTube, and the person whose tutorials got me interested in clay crafts in the first place, NerdECrafter! Here is the video:
I combined this technique with pictures of the other Poké Balls I was able to find online as a guide to the various designs. The only charm that took multiple attempts was the Diamond ball. I eventually ended up embedding the crystals into the clay itself, and that seemed to be the most effective way to keep them in place. As you can see, I ended up making the charms quite small which made this a meticulous process.
The second piece of Pokémon jewelry I have to share are some Poké Ball earrings!
I didn't use a tutorial, but I did find some inspiration online and decided to go for it. If you want to try and make a pair for yourself, here are a few video tutorials that you may find helpful: DIY:Pokeball Stud Earrings and DIY Pokeball Earrings
Are you a Pokémon fan? Which are your favorites? I had so many when I was younger: Pikachu, Mew, Togepi, Evee, Vulpix, Psyduck... the list goes on!
From my trip to PAX Prime in Seattle 2015
Happy Birthday, Pokémon!
Here's to 20 more years and many different and weird Pokémon to catch!
Pizza: the ultimate food.You can cover it in various meats, you can combine meats and veggies, you can make the crust from veggies, you can even have a none pizza with left beef if you want! The combinations and customization possibilities are endless. With Valentine's day coming up, I thought what better way to show my love for pizza, my ultimate Valentine, than to immortalize it in clay and proudly display it for the world to see! (Also Tuesday was National Pizza Day, so there's that.)
Inspired by YouTube tutorials and photos I saw on Pinterest, I set out to make my very own brooch to symbolize my love for this savory treat. So far the comments I've gotten on it have been wonderful. From, "WOW, you MADE that??" to "I seriously want to eat that tiny pizza." I have to say I am honored that people think my tiny pizza is real food. That means a job well done in my book!
If you're interested, I have prepared a special slice of information for how I created this brooch.
Here are the ingredients I used:
Polymer clay (I use Sculpey brand) in tan, white, yellow, red, brown, and translucent
TLS- Translucent Liquid Sculpey
Chalk pastels in brown, yellow, and red
Acrylic paints in the same colors
Glaze for polymer clay in satin or shiny
Inspiration photos and YouTube tutorials, especially this one:
Making a pizza out of clay is a lot like making a real pizza. The first step is to start with the dough.
Knead and shape the tan clay into a crust pattern. By placing it on a piece of course sandpaper, it gives it a similar texture to that of real pizza crust.
Then texture the crust around the edge with a brush and color it with some chalk pastels. I also mixed up the "sauce" by combining TLS, a bit of red clay, and a small amount of brown chalk pastels until I got the right consistency and color. The pepperoni were created by following the tutorial in the video above. The cheese was made by combining a small amount of yellow with white and mixing until well blended then stretching it out and forming it into pizza cheese that would fit over the middle heart.
Layer the sauce and the cheese on the crust. (See what I was saying, exactly like making a pizza only a lot more tedious!) After that, place the pepperonis in a pleasing manner upon the cheese. This is where the perfectionist in me started at pictures of heart-shaped pizzas and desperately tried to make mine look like them. And then I put some grease on it. (TLS and yellow pastels)
Now it's all ready for baking!
Because I wanted to make mine into a brooch, I placed the pin on the back and added more tan polymer clay and blended until it was similar to the original back. I then shaded it with chalk pastels and baked it again.
After adding a few more finishing touches, like painting on browned/burnt areas and glazing all the toppings, my masterPIZZA was complete! All that was left was to make a tiny pizza box to photograph and store my pizza brooch in. You can find that tutorial here, thanks to Images by Heather M.
Oh pizza, you complete me.
From TMNT and Futurama to late nights gaming, pizza is a huge staple in geek culture. It's easy to come by, reasonably fast, and mostly cheap!
My love with Jane Austen is undying, just like zombies. That's why I think they make such a great combination. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" comes out in theaters today and I am so excited to see it on the big screen! Elizabeth Bennet has been a hero of mine for years, and when they turned her into a katana-wielding zombie-slayer I couldn't help but love her even more. She kicks butt!
To celebrate the movie's release, I decided to share my zombiefied porcelain figure that was inspired by the artist Jessica Harrison. Check out her amazing creations! She was also the one who tattooed the porcelain figures.
I loved the idea of zombie porcelain figures, but hadn't found the right one to gore up. Then one day when I was thrifting I found this lovely lady with her hand already amputated for about $1.50. Score! My skills are not even close to the level in my inspiration, but I am happy with the results.
I know zombies eat mostly brains and other... bits... but the position of her hand made me want to stick a heart in there. I have an awesome shirt that has a zombie eating a heat that says "Eat Your heart out" which also helped inspire my decision.
I like to think she was a woman who had just been scorned, and after she was turned into a zombie all she could think about was ripping the heart out of that man's chest (with maybe a few brains for dessert).
She's GOREgeous, don't you think?
Check out that teeny, tiny heart! (Apologies for grainy phone photo!)
I used this tutorial from PuddingFishCakes to make the heart as anatomically correct as possible:
I had to work with both acrylic and enamel paints to decorate my zombie'd figure. The acrylic was used for the clay heart because the enamel paints started to eat away at it! It was getting sticky and gross really fast, so I had to clean that up and start over. I used a blend of red, black and white enamel paints for the rest of the blood and gore. I left it alone to cure and it stays pretty well as long as nothing scrapes it off. Here are photos of the process:
Have you read PPZ? Will you go to see it in theaters?
I'm curious to see Matt Smith as Mr. Collins! Which is as curious about Mr. Collins as I'll ever be, lol.
This month seems to be made of awesome... and zombies! Deadpool and The Walking Dead's return is next week too, and I'm really excited for both of them. Bloody hearts all around!
Special thanks to Gladys from Usagi In Wonderland who gave me the Nord figure!
When I first began playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a few years ago it quickly became my favorite game. An open world where I create my own character who has awesome Dragonborn powers?? Count me in! Since then I have also played a little bit of III: Morrowind and IV: Oblivion. One of the biggest features of the games are the Daedra and Aedra, basically the Greek Gods of Tamriel, who play around with the world and its people for their own entertainment. Of all of the deities in the game, the one that stood out most to me was Talos, AKA Tiber Septim. Though many refuse to accept him as a deity, because he was once a man, he is a favorite among the Nords of Skyrim. Not so much with those jerks the Thalmor, who had it outlawed during the White Gold Concordat.
But I digress. The Nords remind me of my own Norwegian heritage and so I feel a connection with Talos. Even though my own character is a badass Redguard, she still has the warrior heart of a Nord. In the game the Amulet of Talos allows the wearer to decrease their shout cooldown by 20%. If you don't play the game that probably means nothing to you, and that's okay! When I first saw it I immediately wanted one, and not just in the game. I searched the web hoping to find something in my price range, but I didn't come up with many results. As I had been playing around with the idea of working with polymer clay at the time, I figured I might as well try to make my own!
It had been over 10 years since I worked with clay last, and I was really impressed with what I was able to accomplish for a first go! Don't get me wrong, I made a LOT of mistakes. The point is, I did my best. And now you can too!
The X-Files revival series premiered last night, and another new episode airs tonight. Despite being RUDELY delayed by football, I felt that the episode was worth the watch. I really enjoyed live-tweeting with some other iggles! (International Geek Girl Pen Pals.) It featured all of our old favorite characters and added a few new people to the mix. Without being too specific and spoilerific, the episode contained many classic themes such as conspiracy, the government, and Mulder's favorite: Aliens!
Watching many Science Fiction shows and movies over the years have drastically changed the way I view extra terrestrials. Yet whenever someone mentions aliens one specific visage comes to mind. (Sorry, Doctor!)
This face right here:
Take me to your leader
You've probably seen some incarnation of them before on stickers or shirts. Gotta love the 90's grunge style aliens! Especially those that glow-in-the-dark! I had been wanting a cute little alien head pin of my own, and being the crafty person I am decided to sit down and make it!
Here's what I used to bring this little green dude to life:
Sculpey brand glow-in-the-dark clay
Sculpey Accents clay in "Twinkle Twinkle"
A small amount of bright green clay
A pin back blank
Various sculpting tools
I wish I wore pins more. Maybe I should have made it into a necklace instead. It measures about 2.5x3 cm, so it's quite small.
Still, I think it went pretty well with my 90's grunge X-Files look for Nerdvember 2015.
T-shirt I won in a giveaway from 6 Dollar Shirts, and yes, I layered a blazer over a hoodie. (Liv Moore style!)
Since we're talking about aliens, this classic alien face isn't the only one I love and have crafted. The zany Pizza Planet aliens from Toy Story are also near and dear to my heart. (And my ears.)
The Cllllaaaaaaawwwww!
I've been playing Tsum Tsum for a while now, and was inspired by their shape to make these earrings. I think those guys are so cute tsum-tsum-ised!
For this pair I used:
Sculpey Premo! Clay in Bright Green Pearl
White and black clay
Acrylic paints
2 i-pins
2 earring hooks
Sculpting tools
So tell me, in a non-spoilery way for fellow fangirls who haven't watched the episode(s) yet, what did you think of the premiere?
"I want to believe" that this will be a good comeback for the series.
Seriously though, I hope this is worth it, and I'll be watching it tonight! Feel free to join the conversation with me if I live-tweet! @craftylilgeek
