My Busy Craft Life

Hi all! Wow, the Elf Fantasy Fair weekend is over again... and it has taken me this long to recover... Ok, and find photos by really cool photographers etc... So in the end I didnt win the costume competition which was a shame, especially considering all the hard work and stress I had, but I did get a lot of compliments which were of course very welcome. :) To show you all the final result, I'll put a few pics up here, and more later on the EFF post which will have to wait until tonight as I am already late for work... Here you can even see the shoes!! :) I will actually try to post this on Today's Creative Blog :) Who knows, it might show up! Click on the image above and see what others have been up to recently. Very inspiring! I also linked back to Tea Rose Home Link Party:

Rest at last... the Holland trip is done, and I'm back all safe and sound in good old London. I actually enjoyed it today I must say. Maybe being cooped up fr 4 months working on the Mombi dress made me appreciate going out again LOL. So I left for Amsterdam on Friday, the flight went ok, the luggage arrived (read: the precious dress arrived) so all was well. I dragged my friends out shopping as the usual Dutch purchases had to be made such as tea and satesaus and the likes and I dont know when I'll be over next. Denise, my very good friend, took me to Action which is this fantabulous discount store and I found these super handy photo frames fr only EUR 1.39 each! So now, after nearly two years, I can finally frame the caricature the bf and I had made while in San Francisco. So check it out!!! I'll post the blog about the Elf Fantasy Fair soon also and of course a final Mombi post so you can all see the result of the dress :)

I'm done, I'm done, the Mombi dress is finished!! (this is an update from yday's posting as it was nearly 1am (AGAIN) and I really wanted to go to bed...) So, on Tuesday night, I started the collar. It wasnt as easy as I thought it would be and took a lot more time, but by the end of the night (read: 1am Wed morning) I had this: Not bad really but still not really the way it was supposed to look. Enter Wednesday night, and after sewing on what seemed like 300 press studs, I finally managed to get everything the way I want it to. I might cut off a bit on the one side where the spikes are longer but for now am not doing anything anymore... So this is it!! Had to take my own pics so I look a little grumpy, but if my luggage arrives with me, I hope lots of others take my picture also!! :) I did it! I have actually re-created the Mombi dress! When I started I had no idea that it would take this long and be this much work, or that I could even do it... Phew :) Very relieved and h...

At last at last, another part of the Mombi dress is finished! The back is done! Yeehaaa! The spikes are attached with press studs so I can actually take them off when need be. Very handy when having to move around the house LOL. Yes I tried this, it was extremely awkward... The picture is really not great as it looks like the spikes are hanging down quite a bit while they should be standing up really. Maybe I have just attached the snaps too high and need to re-do this. Not sure yet though, a new day and new eyes might come in handy for that one. The spikes actually have patterns on them too which is a little visible here. As I said, a little blurry but the doll just wouldnt keep this on, I would have had to pin down the dress way too much. One front piece is done and is waiting to be attached to the front. The second part still needs to be made but will also do that tomorrow. So close to finishing... Oh yes, and an umbrella... But now: bed!

Another weekend has passed... the last weekend before the EFF actually and it meant I really had to gear up and finish. Well that didnt entirely work... Although I did finish the shoes on Saturday and today I made the handbag and the key, the spikes are still not great. But lets start with the stuff I did finish. The handbag: I always use the same bag at every EFF, it just gets pimped every year ;) Hey I know exactly how to pack this bag so that I can carry everything I need with me in this tiny contraption :) I also made the key today. My first try at using shrinking plastic! The bf had thrown away the spray paint (hurray) just when I needed it so had to use gouache paint but with a purity seal top coat it shouldnt flake too much and stay the same. Basically the shrinking plastic thingy did specify to paint it beforehand, but I didnt think that putting paint in the oven was such a great idea. But in the end it doesnt look too bad. The key: And at least I didnt have to pay $60 for one ...

I finished the shoes!!! I was supposed to make the spikes today but somehow the plan did not cooperate with me... so I focused on the shoes instead. Nearly two days of solid glueing but now they're done. I can see a minimal error in the bow on one of the shoes that should be tilted 2 mm more to the side, but it's all glued solid now so I will live with it. In my defense, I have been doing this all day and I'm getting a little sleepy. Of course that could have something to do with the fact that have been GLUEING all day (sniff LOL). So what do you think? The before picture can be seen here . Now they look like this: For anyone wondering why Mombi has ruby slippers, in my version (and hopefully my act if I havent missed the deadline yet), Mombi has defeated Dorothy, stolen the ruby slippers and is now Queen of Oz. Plus I've wanted ruby slippers all my life ;) The pics are a little yellow as I couldnt use a flash because the shoes would come out way too dark. I'm very ...

Yesterday it was the bf's birthday :) For months we had been wondering where to go and what to do, as he took me to NYC for mine and I wanted him to have a nice birthday as well. Of course me being still thoroughly engrossed in re-creating the Mombi dress didnt help the planning much. So in the end we ended up staying home which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we couldnt have left anyway with that stupid volcanic ash cloud over Europe. Plus it gave me an extra weekend to work on the dress ;) Last year's cake was a bit of a nightmare to be honest as even though it looked amazing, it tasted awful because I had to start 3 days early due to work and preparation time. So this year... I cheated. I made a cake with Betty Crocker ;) At least that way it was quick and simple and the deco could be made all in time to be done on time and also still taste nice ;) As the bf is loving painting Warhammer miniatures, I wanted to make a Warhammer cake. So I started with a brownie bas...

It was the bf's bday yday (more about that in the next blog) and so I took the day off. We were so lucky not to have booked a holiday or so with this ash cloud covering the whole of Europe... I'm even thinking of making backup plans for my trip so that at least I will be able to go! I didnt do a lot for the Mombi dress, but still two things that have been annoying me for a while: fixing the black lace on the cloak as it wasnt in the middle, and making the shoulder pads. So stupid of me as a while ago my mother had sent me some and I threw them away!! So now I had to make my own... They dont look as good as the ones my mother sent but they will have to do. I also made the necklace. Now only have to finish the shoes. I started yesterday, I finally starting pimping my lovdly £4.20 shoes (ebay!) but you might not see them under the dress. But then I always wanted ruby slippers ;) Before: In progress: I also have the make the handbag and of course the collar. I'm just waiting fo...

I havent blogged for about a week though it feels much longer... The dress is still being created and the later it gets, the more my motivations lessens... Today was a bizarre day... Let me tell you all about it: Yesterday, I went for contacts again and managed to get them in, YAY! Progress :) Or so I thought. Didn’t manage to get them out though so that was not so good. The optician didnt like me very much but as she was busy someone else helped me who was very kind. So while my ‘helper’ was getting the optician girl, I rubbed my eye a little and the lens vanished from my sight. So there I was, seeing nothing as usual but was also w/o a lens. So the girl looks into my eye with dye and the machine and everything and saw nothing. Naturally, the whole evening my eye itches and I’m thinking this is coz I’ve been poking my finger in my eye for like an hour, coz that would be a logical answer right? So I do nothing, go to bed, am grumpy coz my eye is annoying, have a sleep, come to work, ru...

It has been an extremely productive sewing weekend! Sadly, I didnt make my set deadline of having the cloak entirely finished by Saturday night nor did I finish it tonight, but I did make some excellent progress! The bf was sweet enough to vacate the apartment for the weekend, giving me plenty of space and time to sew to my heart's content. :) I started on Friday nights (after a much needed nap after work) by pinning all the patches onto the cloak where I thought they would match the picture and movie references. Then I sewed each of the on by hand... sooo much work! And much more than expected I can tell you! By Saturday afternoon, I had finished one of the sides: By Sunday evening, I was nearly finished. I added some rhinestones to the gauntlet (only one as per the movie reference although I'm still deciding whether or not to use the second one anyway) And I also finished adding everything to the cloak itself, by everything I mean the patches and rhinestones. Some close-ups:...

Good morning everyone! Well, the three followers I have and anyone who reads this on the fly anyway ;) Yesterday evening I managed to work a little more on the Mombi dress and I'm pleased to say that the back ribbons are now all on. It was a happy time, me and my glue gun LOL. As the outside cloak is velvet, the ribbons sticks really well and doesnt have to be restitched, saving me tons of valuable time that I dont have right now. I am actually looking forward to this thing being finished... Tonight will be another night of sewing and I'm hoping to get either the shoulder pads and the big print in the back on, or the tiny patches with more ribbon. Lets see how it goes. For now, the latest update is below: Most of the back will actually be covered with black and gold lace, but that is only going to hang over it so if it's a little windy or so, the details will show anyway :) Have to dash now, still in PJs LOL

OMG, 4 days of non-stop sewing and I'm still not done with the cloak! According to my time plan I'm right on schedule but I'm slowly starting to panic... OK breathe in... breathe out... Yesterday I stayed up until 2am roughly and cut and pinned the patches onto the cloak, but then of course I slept until about 10h30 and then I tried to make a tube card holder for the bf which totally didnt work because the fabric I chose (a black very manly heavy cotton) was just way too thick. So after about 45 mins, I put it aside and started sewing on the patches. Result: I then spent a good two hours sewing sequins on these patches. Wow that sounds very long... I actually also had to go out as I had run out of thread and luckily the fabric store was open on a bank holiday :) Of course on the way I spotted some bizarre yet normal things on the street such as a father shouting at his kid to get a job (for about 20 mins straight) and a guy stroking his girlfriend's cheek for about 10 m...

Yes, I finally managed to get off the sofa and do a bit of work... I really actually need a holiday but until the dress is done, I will not have one. But I've made progress. Even though it is a day late as my set deadline for this was actually last night, I have now successfully finished the lining of the cloak. Most of this wont actually be seen but you never know... The back of the dress has no decoration whatsoever actually but the entire inside of the cloak does... Yes, that doesnt really make sense LOL. Do you remember the blue lining cloak I made a few weeks ago (although it seems like months really)? Today I finally added the silver circles out of .... great, the name has just completed gone from my mind, sorry. The pictures in the book and move show it much more sparkly but I think sequins would get stuck the the ribbons of the dress more than anything else so shiny silver it is. As the original lining is much darker than this blue I have chosen, I've added some 'l...

So I managed to find this mesh top as described in the previous blog, and tonight I encorporated it into the dress. Mainly for lack of motivation to start working on cloak which was supposed to be done tonight, or the lining at least... I added trim and sequins, and the gauntlets will cover most of the bottom bit. Except for maybe a few more ribbon re-attaching, the dress is now 100% complete :) I didnt have a camera in the shop and my phone was as usual out of battery, so I took a photo of the fabric to check if it was see-through enough. It could be a little more see-through, but this is all I have at the moment so hopefully it will be enough. I'm not too happy that it looks so netty and not more pantyhose-like, but there is nothing I can do about that at the moment. The only other option would have been to actually use pantyhose but the ones I own are way too dark to be used for this. So, what do you think?

I am sad to say I didnt finish the cloak lining today. I didnt even start it!!! Very bad of me, yes I know... My excuse is shopping (the usual? LOL). I had to go out and get a few things today, which actually resulted in some hilarious moments. London can be a hoot really. For example, as I was walking down the sidewalk, minding my own business, a woman walking behind me on the left started crossing the street. I was walking about three meters in front of her and as the light was green a little further down the road, I also started crossing the street. Suddenly, this woman stops in the middle of the road, looks at me yelling 'Go away!!' and runs the other way! LOL it was so bizarre... Many more things were seen but it would be rude of me to blog about it ;) Let's just say that jeans should cover your entire butt and not just the bottom 5 cm... But anyway, it was a good day for shopping. I was very thrifty and just had a look around in search of specific things I was looking...