zombies wearing helmets

Tales from the Draft Side: Part 2*

2012-01-15T20:37:00.003-08:00

What do you guys daydream about? Travelling around the world? Frolicking with unicorns? Having the powers of Head-Explody and Wolverine claws - at the same time?!? Me too!

Know what else I daydream about though? Storage solutions. True story!

I love organization. No, that's not quite right. I crave organization. I need organization. I'm uncomfortable when things aren't in their place, and downright anxious when things don't even have a place. My home isn't a stereotypical-50s-housewife's dream by any means though. I'm not the greatest housekeeper in the world, nor do I care to be. Ever hear the expression "My house is clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be happy"? That makes a whole lot of sense to me.

Then there's the expression "a place for everything, and everything in it's place", which is all well and good, but what about when things don't have a place? I can sort and purge and label things until the cows come home, but that doesn't help the problem. Besides, once the place is filled with cows you wouldn't be able to read the labels anyway. ("Hey cow! You totally make a great window. Not!") I don't want to buy all kinds of furniture, shelves, containers, bins and baskets. I'm cheap, plain and simple. After trying to save money and deal with my clutter in the cheapest ways I can think of I've realized that some things just ain't working. In fact, some of my clutter has been reorganized in elebenty-billion different ways...give or take.

For instance, I have a lot of crafty stuff. It's everywhere! My biggest problem is that I'm a visual thinker. If I don't see it, I forget about it. If I'm making something, I end up hauling out anything and everything vaguely related to what I'm working on, and it stays out until I'm done, which usually takes awhile. Oh sure, things get put away eventually, but it's never long before I've hauled it all out again and it looks like Martha Stewart threw up. That is not a good thing.

* Technically Drumheller Dino! was the first post that I rescued from the evil clutches of the Draft folder**. I just didn't think of that cool title until now. Oh, and this was written last May. That's 8 months ago, folks. Told ya I was a procrastinator.

** Resolution #1 for 2012: catch up on all the stuff I've been procrastinating.

wtf happened in 2011 anyway?

2012-01-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

Lots happened in 2011! Some good, some not-so-good, some freaking awesome. I'm choosing to focus on the good stuff, the makes-me-happy stuff. It's part of my New Year's resolutions, I suppose. Out with the old, in with the new, so on and so forth.

1. Don't Dream It 2. Rabbity Swirl 3. Swirling Skullies

It was The Year of the Blog. There were lots of exciting happenings around these parts!

Six craft tutorials were written and shared with the craft blogosphere.
Three of my embroideries were featured on Mr. X Stitch. (Three!)
One domain name was purchased.
Macramé. 'Nuff said.

I posted here a lot, way more than in previous years. I did lots of crafty stuff and other people seemed to like it. I also began editing and watermarking my photos, played around with collage making, and just posted more photos overall. And I made new bloggy friends! Yay me!

Macramé awesomeness

It was also The Year of the Birds. Many birds were watched and many, many photos were taken.

Went to the Pacific Northwest Raptors twice. (More on the second visit soonish!)
Got up close and personal with a Harris Hawk and a Great Horned Owl.
Visited both Puffin and Gannet nesting grounds.
Discovered that baby Blue Jays are bald. (Still totally amused by that.)
Hand fed Chickadees, Nuthatches and Gray Jays.

Pacific Northwest Raptors

Those were the two themes that stuck out in my head when I started thinking about doing a 2011-in-review post. There were other good moments of course, of both the non-blogging and non-birding variety. I stitched some other fun things, visited some other cool places, and thrifted some other kitschy stuff. I also did a lot of thinking and musing and soul searching and tried my damnest to have a few epiphanies. I think I may have succeeded too. I'll let you know when I figure it out for sure.

Now on to - the rest of - 2012!

Drumheller Dino!

2012-01-10T14:19:00.001-08:00

Approving sauropod approves of this landscape.

Behold! My oh-so-awesome, almost-headless ceramic dinosaur souvenir from Drumheller, Alberta! He's one of the treasures discovered in the Great Attic Purge of 2011. We found his body near the top of the pile and his head near the bottom. Poor lil' guy. As if being abandoned and forgotten wasn't bad enough, he had to endure all those years of isolation in two pieces! After I kissed his boo boo I bandaged him up. (We didn't have any suitable glue, or even pretty ribbon, so it was a choice between a bandage and duct tape.) I decided that he needed a little tender lovin' care after his ordeal so, after he was (sort of) in one piece again, I sent him on a little vacation. (OK, I may have just taken photos of him in front of a big landscape painting that was also languishing in the attic. Hey, some people take photos of their kids, I take photos of my toys. Don't you judge me!)

No, I wasn't lucky enough to visit Drumheller. In fact, I have no idea how this ended up in our attic. My theory is that it was a hand-me-down from one of my cousins. I'm basing that on the fact that her name is written in one of my childhood dinosaur books...lucky bitch...mutter mutter...

"You should have seen the other guy!"

In all seriousness though, I'm not sure how to go about repairing him - as much as he can be repaired anyway. As you can see in this photo, it's just not as simple as gluing him together. There's a big chunk of ceramic gone on his neck, and lots of little chips all over - even on his poor little nose! So, the bandage is holding him together until I figure out what the best way to fix him is. Then again, the broken neck does kinda match the nosebleed and bloody lip. And what's up with that weird paint job anyway? He looks like he lost a boxing match.

And here's a cat! Scamp was always my outside helper this summer at Mom's place. He's a very odd cat for a number of reasons, but the weirdest thing is how he likes to follow people around outside. He's never too far away and he's become quite the photo bombing expert (like here and here). Actually, maybe the weirdest thing about him is how he likes to chase sticks. We're still working on the fetching part, but he goes absolutely nuts when someone throws sticks for him. True story!

Photo bomb!

If you know anything at all about this Drumheller souvenir, or other dinos like it, feel free to pass it along! Pretty please with sugar on top?

Macramé Monday!

2012-01-08T16:51:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Macramé Monday '12! (Yeah, I'm going to keep the macramé ball rolling, 'cause, why not? Maybe I'll even move everything over to it's very own blog. Then again, maybe not.) I wanted to start the year off with a bang, so I thought I'd share the most epic project from my craft book collection - full length macramé drapes! I wish these old craft books included a time estimate. Whoever completed this project was uber dedicated.

Plus, check out that textured carpet! And the beautiful yellow-orange-green 70s colour combo. Love it!

Resolutions...

2012-01-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

I haz dem. And not just 'cause it was New Years Eve and all the cool kids were doing it. Some of these are actually a few months old, but they haven't quite become new habits yet. The first part of the year is going to be spent catching up on all the stuff I've been procrastinating; organizing photos, condensing all my lists & notebook scribbles, and publishing everything in Draft worth publishing. I'll tell you about my goals for the rest of the year as soon as I sort through all of my lists, scribbles and posts stuck in Draft limbo.

Christmas at my apartment

2011-12-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

Rainbow Reindeer!.

So, these candy cane reindeer are old news, and that's my (pretty boring akshully) Christmas tree in the background, but wait! There's more! More Christmas decorations, I mean. Here's a photo tour of (most of) the Christmas decorations in my place.

Owl chillin' on a wreath in my entrance.

Thrifted latch hook Santa on the bathroom door.

A garland of adorable kitties in socks over the bedroom door! Free printable from happythought.

Second from the right is a Ziggy Stardust kitty!

My Betty Page & Alice in Wonderland wall, slightly gussied up with Christmas garlands.

The rainbow star one is technically a Christmas decorations, but it may just have to stay up year round! I made the Cardinal one with thrifted vintage paper coasters, and was inspired by Dottie Angel's tutorial for "a little string of joyfulness".

Even my plush mounted moose head got into the spirit of things!

The bookcase in the living room.

Two Toilet Paper Roll Snowmen made by my crafty Aunt Juanita. (Yep, you read that right!) I was going to do a tutorial for these before Christmas as there's a secret Christmassy message on their backs, but time got away from me. I suppose I still can though, since snowmen can stay out all winter.

A vintage Drumheller dinosaur souvenir poses with a teeny tiny tree. I had just bought the vintage dino off Etsy, so of course I had to keep him up for Christmas.

I also got this vintage (or secondhand at least) framed cross stitch from Etsy. It's an owl! Wearing a Santa hat! Perched on "NOWL"! Get it? Noel + owl = Nowl! Tee hee hee!

Just a shiny tinsel wreath, bein' all shiny and tinselly.

I found this tree topper just before Christmas at a local thrift shop for only $1.99! Two of the light-cup-thingys are missing, but you can't even really notice that. In fact, I didn't even notice until I was editing this photo.

I also found this kitschy plastic-holly-bell with an elf creature sitting on top! For only $3.99!

A close up of the elf creature.

And last, but certainly not least, my light up pink flamingo! This was an early gift from my Mom. I named him Floyd. There's also a few of the cut & fold Christmas paper toys I made. From left to right we have Zanta, Frisky the SnowCat (under JingleCats), Sweet Tooth (also under JingleCats), and finally, the Krampus.

Happy New Year!

Macramé Monday!

2011-12-26T22:41:00.001-08:00

Here's one last Christmasy macramé photo for the year! I do like the wreaths, but I love the gingerbread hideaway house. It's even got a cute lil' fluffy tree on the end!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:10:00.002-08:00

3 year old me on Christmas morning

Calvin's Snowman House of Horror

2011-12-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

Is it weird that I got a little choked up watching this? Calvin & Hobbes was a huge part of my childhood/teenager-hood). I own all the books (well, as many as I need to have every comic) and re-read them at least once a year. Actually, I also get a little choked up every time I read the final comic. The funnies are serious business, folks.

Candy Cane Reindeer

2011-12-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

from the Canadian Living Christmas Idea Book, 1986

These little guys are just so darned cute! I make a bunch almost every year for stocking stuffers, gift toppers, and hey, just because I can. They take no time at all and are super-duper simple. I made a big bunch in under an hour the other day, and that included the time it took to get everything together and find the camera. (I have camera gremlins. They're kinda like missing sock gremlins.)

Supplies:

candy canes * pipe cleaners * pom poms * googley eyes * glue gun * and glue!

How to:

1. Twist & bend the pipe cleaner to make antlers.

2. Glue on the googley eyes.

3. Glue on the pom pom nose.

And you're done!

I discovered a new way to make the antlers this year.

1. Wrap the pipe cleaner.

2. Stretch the pipe cleaner.

3. Twist the pipe cleaner!

Once you've got the basics down pat, you can make all kinds of fun reindeer creatures.

Pretty in pink reindeer...

Double the antlers for double the fun...

Albino reindeer...

A cyclops reindeer...

...and many cyclopes reindeer!

They're tied for my most-favorite-candy-cane-reindeer-ever with...

...rainbow reindeer!

Next on the list...rainbow cyclopes!

Macramé Monday!

2011-12-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

photo from Accenting With Macramé, Craft Course Publishers, 1979

"Make a KISSING BALL in the traditional Holiday colors or be innovative and select colors to harmonize with the wall paper and drapes. Mary Fish is our talented, creative lady for this festive design. We have displayed ornaments and pomander balls, but wouldn't stained glass be attractive when hung inside the KISSING BALL."

I moved! Sort of!

2011-12-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Good news everyone! I bought my own domain name! I'm officially a helmet-wearing zombie, blogging from beyond the grave...well, from beyond a new web address at least. I feel very professional. Except for that whole not-making-any-money thing (details, details). I've wanted to take the plunge and do the zombies-wearing-helmets-dot-com thing for awhile actually, ever since I started watermarking my photos. I always felt like I should put the actual web address on there too, but that just looked silly. Plus it was twice the amount of work. Time is money, people! Unless you're not making any. And I'm not.

And swiftly moving on!

So now what? I kind of want to spruce things up a bit around here, and by "spruce things up a bit", I mean redo the whole damn thing. The poor dear deserves a proper banner, don't you think? Perhaps some sort of background, and definitely some social media buttons (right now they won't show up because of the awkward tweaking I've done to the innocent and ever-so-trusting html). In short, I want it to look...pretty. I also want people who stumble upon it to have at least a tiny inkling of what it's all about. (Fun fact! I have absolutely no recollection of adding "zombies, crafts, dinosaur and kitsch" to the top there. And I totally just noticed it then. This is how observant I am, and why I'll never be a detective.) So, I really need to figure out what the hell this blog's about - and what the hell I'm about!

I like to write about soooo many different things. It's not really a craft blog, 'cause I only do a tutorial or show off a craft project every now and then (or hardly ever, whatever, don't you judge me). It's not really a personal blog, 'cause I don't really get into too many personal details. It's not even really a zombie blog, which contradicts totally with the name. But, I like the name! It's silly, unique and (I think) fits my personality. (And hell, if I were a zombie, I'd totally wear a helmet! I mean, wouldn't you?) And don't even get me started on all the random dinosaur, bird and macramé posts, YouTube videos and adolescent fangirl admissions. And then what about all the stuff I always intend to write about but totally forget, like my awesome thrifted finds and those embroidery patterns I promised way back in August? Confused? I sure am. It must be time for a photo break!

So this is what I did today. ALL OF THIS CROSS STITCHING!!!
Ok fine, I just did a little bit of it today. Feel free to remain impressed though.
I also vacuumed, but that wasn't very photogenic.

Know what you're not going to see on here? Outfit posts. A few of my favourite bloggers do them regularly, but most of their clothes are super cute vintage stuff. Most of mine are t-shirts. Black t-shirts. It'd get boring really quick. Oh wait! It already is.

This past year has been one big annoying roller coaster ride, the kind with all the loops and upside down vomity bits. I don't really like writing about the bad stuff on here, not really anyway. Sometimes I may need or want to write about it, but mostly I try to focus on the positive. This is a hobby, and I enjoy the crap out of it. Yes, I've written oodles of posts this year, many more than in previous years, but I don't think many of them were very personal. (Were they?) It just seems like most of my favourite bloggers are really good at letting their personality shine through - or at least the personality that they're choosing to broadcast to the world.

I'd still keep my blog even if no one else ever read it, but I do love that some of the things that I like to ramble on about seem to strike a chord with others. So let me ask you a question: which of my ramblings are YOU interested in? Is there anything in particular you'd like to see more of? Perhaps a few more smatterings of personal info? Photos of my kitschy thrift store treasures? More crafts, either tutorials or just photos of the random stuff I make? I always get a few more followers each time I post a craft tutorial, but there must be something else that piques your interest, or you'd have un-followed me a long time ago! Has anyone actually read down this far? Oh, and any thoughts on my "about" page? Got any burning questions for me? What kinds of stuff do you like seeing on people's bios?

And I want your honest opinions of course, but please remember Wheaton's Law: Don't be a dick!

i really am amazed that our cats don't smother us in our sleep

2011-12-07T18:52:00.001-08:00

by Teresa Burns Parkhurst, via Reader's Digest

I'm baaaaaack!

2011-12-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't succeed at NaBloPoMo, and by extension, NovZomCon. I only missed it by about a half hour too. Doh! I did enjoy writing everyday though - for the most part. There were days when it felt more like an obligation than a fun hobby, and there were days I didn't feel like writing about zombies. (Gasp!) There was even a week where I was horribly sick and jet lagged, and pretty much just shambled around the apartment in a daze - kinda like a zombie actually. There are a couple posts from that week which I don't even really remember writing. Overall though, it was fun. I'm just happy it's over!

Lots of stuff happened behind the scenes too. For instance, I finished the month in a different province than I started it in (hence the jet lag). Then when I finally came out of my sleepy-sneezy-and-dopey stupor, I rearranged most of the furniture in my apartment. I think I'm finally happy with the way I have things laid out now, after living here for over a year. It definitely feels more homey now. I also hung a bunch of stuff up on the walls and reorganized all the closets and cupboards. I have a huge pile of stuff to donate.

And I bought a new laptop! Yay! My old one (like, really old) has been ridiculously slow for ages, and has developed a nasty habit of crashing when I'm in the middle of something. Plus, the battery would only last about 20 minutes before dying and the keys were falling off. It was time for a change. My shiny new laptop does what I want it to without having to think it over first, lasts forever unplugged, and has a webcam! I named it Daryl, after a certain crossbow wielding cutie.

You know that holiday that's quickly approaching, the one where people max out their credit cards? Yeah, I'm feeling kind of ambivalent about the whole thing. On the one hand, I get to buy gifts for the people I love, decorate with shiny things and listen to all the wonderful traditional Christmas music - you know, like Snoopy VS The Red Baron and Disco Santa Claus. But on the other hand, stores are crowded, people are stressed, and this will be the first Christmas I've spent away from my family. Le sigh. I may need to get more shiny things.

zombie paper toys

2011-11-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Wowzers! It's the last day of NovZomCon! Holy where-did-the-month-go Batman! It's a good thing too, 'cause I'm running out of zombie-writing steam. Also, stuff to post about for certain days. Looks like I'll need to do some more tweaking of the Daily Dead categories next year!

Anyhooooooo....wanna see some zombie paper toys?

Zombie Prom Queen & King

Zombie Jock & Cheerleader

Zombie Freud

Calling All Cars - Zombie Jerom

Zombie Lemi

Destroy All Zombies

And last, but certainly not least...Zombie Santa! His friends call him Zanta.

Zanta the Zombie Santa Papercraft

I'm trying really, really hard not to be a grinch this year. I don't really have an excuse anyway, since I'm not working in retail at the moment. Finding cool stuff like Zanta here sure helps too!

zombie gingerbread ornaments

2011-11-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

Dawn of the Tues-dead: Crafts maybe even crafts for zombies! Just because your arms have fallen off doesn't mean you can't learn how to knit. Oh wait...yes it does.

Since Christmas is almost upon us (shudder), I found a Christmas ornament craft tutorial to share with you: zombie gingerbread men! I've seen the actual cookie version of these around the interwebz, but this is the first ornament I've come across. I like the use of fabric paint for the blood because it looks all sticky and wet, but a completely stitched version would be totally cute too.

How to Make Zombie Gingerbread Ornaments from Halloween Alliance

Wanna hear something really weird? I've never made one single zombie craft. Not even anything slightly un-deadish! I shall have to remedy that.

the return of the living dead

2011-11-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Night of the Living Mon-dead: The digital dead. Zombies you can watch!

image from The Blood Sprayer

This is such an awesome movie! I can't believe I haven't mentioned it here on my humble bloggy blog before, 'cause it's one of my favorite zombie flicks. The modern zombie owes just as much a debt to this film as it does to Night of the Living Dead. That whole "zombies eat brains" thing? Yup, that's from this movie! And besides that, it's a hilarious, over-the-top gorefest. It also has 80s punks, nudity, and un-killable zombies. You cut them up, the pieces come after you. You burn the pieces, the smoke infects everyone who inhales it. It's really very cheery. Oh, and the director, Dan O'Bannon? He co-wrote Alien, which is another one of my favorite movies. (Actually, my Alien obsession almost as bad as my zombie obsession.)

A documentary of the making of this movie has just been released as well, entitled (appropriately) More Brains. I don't own it yet, but it looks pretty chockerblock full of cool stuff. I don't own the movie either, so I guess I've got a lot of catching up to do with my DVD collection!

More Brains!

save the Evans City Cemetery Chapel

2011-11-27T21:14:00.001-08:00

Spare Part Sunday: Not a day off, but a day of extras! An extra eye here, and extra leg there...

Chances are that if you've been following my zombie ramblings this month, you've seen Romero's Night of the Living Dead. (I certainly hope so anyway!) Remember the very first scene in the graveyard with the zombie, and the chasing, and the coming-to-get-you-Barbara? Well, the chapel in that graveyard is pretty much falling apart, so there's a campaign to raise enough money - a whopping $50,000 - to restore it!

Fix The Chapel artwork poster by Terry Callen

Want to help? Of course you do! After all, Since NOTLD is in the public domain, Romero - and everybody else involved I spose - doesn't see one penny from all the merchandise out there. I myself own the movie - on VHS and DVD - and have the poster hanging in my living room. I kinda feel obligated in some way, so I'm buying the Fix The Chapel poster to hang up as well. Merry Christmas to me! Besides, how cute is that poster anyway? All the zombies are getting together to rebuild it! What do you suppose is in that lunchbox?

accessories for chilly zombies

2011-11-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

Survival of the Satur-dead: Clothing. Every ghoul's crazy for a sharp dressed man!

Zombie socks that I want!

from Dress Derby

Zombie socks that I don't want as much!

also from Dress Derby

Zombie slippers that I want!

from ThinkGeek

Zombie hat that matches the zombie slippers that I want!

from ThinkGeek (of course!)

Zombie Attack Hoodie that I just saw on ThinkGeek when I was looking for the slippers and hat! (Want!)

ThinkGeek (didn't I just say that?)

Zombie handmade gloves and hat from Tiny Bully who makes all kinds of awesome fingerless gloves and I want all of her awesome fingerless gloves because they are awesome!

Tiny Bully on Artfire

zombies for dinner

2011-11-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Diary of the Fri-dead: Home decor.

Nothing says homey like a horde of the undead lurking in your living room!

So your house may be zombiefied with lots of undead lovelies, but what about all those fancy zombie dinner parties? What zombie goodies are you gonna wow your guests with? Why, Walking Dead glassware of course!

Walking Dead Etched Glassware - 25 oz stein & 16 oz pint - from ThinkGeek

Dead Head, Rise & Feed, Fresh Meat, and Dead Rules

Close-up of Rise & Feed

And how about a few icy brains to keep those drinks cold?

Brain Freeze Ice Cube Molds from ThinkGeek

You can serve cookies at your fancy dinner party. Everyone likes cookies. Even zombies. True story!

Zombie Head Cookie Jar from ThinkGeek

Para Abnormal comics

2011-11-24T21:43:00.001-08:00

Land of the Thurs-dead: Comics and books. Literate zombies? Well, literally about zombies at least.

Remember how I missed last week's Land of the Thurs-dead because I was passed out from owies and jet lags? Well, my internet pal Kodama cheered me up with a Land of the Thurs-dead appropriate link that combines 3 of my favorite things - craft ideas, cartoons and zombies! It was a selection of comics tagged "handmade stuff" from Para Abnormal. And yes, it is as awesome as it's name implies. It also has zombie goodness of the non-handmade variety and lots of other wonderfully twisted things. Anyway, here are a few of my zombie favorites!

Para Abnormal by Dave Lowe

Lego zombies!

2011-11-23T21:27:00.001-08:00

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Legos are toys, so this totally counts for Day of the Wednes-dead. Right?

zombigami

2011-11-22T20:11:00.001-08:00

Dawn of the Tues-dead: Craft. Maybe even crafts for zombies! Just because your arms have fallen off doesn't mean you can't learn how to knit. Oh wait...yes it does.

Zombigami by Duy Nguyen, published by Sterling Juvenile via Amazon

Thanks for the heads up on this craft book Ange! I'm not sure if I'd like to own this myself, but I do think it's a pretty neat idea. Also, I have absolutely no patience for stuff like this and I'd have the book flung across the room in frustration.

And here's some guy's review!

Thriller Kittehs!

2011-11-21T21:14:00.001-08:00

Night of the Living Mon-dead: The digital dead. Zombies you can watch!

ZOMBIES, RUN!

2011-11-20T20:52:00.001-08:00

Spare Part Sunday: Not a day off, but a day of extras! An extra eye here, an extra leg there...

Awesome! It's a motivational jogging thing with zombies! Or, as the creators like to call it, a running game and audio adventure.

I hate jogging. I really, really hate it. Every now and then I give it another try, but it's just so boring! This may be the thing that finally gets me off my lazy butt and out the door though. What could possibly be better motivation than listening to a pack of gasping, groaning ghouls at my heels? And hell, I bet I'd reach my optimal heart rate in no time!

more zombie tees

2011-11-19T22:09:00.001-08:00

Survival of the Satur-dead: Clothing. Every ghoul's crazy for a sharp dressed man!

It happened again. I start to write a quick post about zombie awesomeness, and wind up spending hours poking around looking at stuff - and adding things to my wish list! Well...enjoy!

He's Undead, Jim from ThinkGeek

Not a Zombie from Oddity Clothing

Zombie Protest from ThinkGeek

Zombie at Tiffany's from Threadless

Zombiesaurus from ThinkGeek

"Breaaad!" from Threadless

Zombies Hate Fast Food from Snorg Tees

Zombie Girl from Bring Me The Horizon (I have this one!)

zombie pillows

2011-11-18T20:25:00.001-08:00

Diary of the Fri-dead: Home decor.

Nothing says homey like a horde of the undead lurking in your living room!

Zombie pillows! The perfect finishing touch to any room. Sure, soft furnishings might be crap for zombie defense, but who wants to cozy up to a hatchet?

Zombie Lady Trophy Decorative Pillow from Etsy shop nomnomluv

"zombies need love too" pillow from Etsy shop cipolla

Zombie Pillow from Etsy shop diffractionFIBER

I Heart Zombies Pillow from Etsy shop Starina23

Zombie Pillow from Etsy shop Big Nerd Crafts

And last but not least, a zombie kitty neck pillow! Ok, maybe neck pillows don't quite fit into the home decor category, but hey - zombie kitty!

Zombie Cat Travel Neck Pillow from Etsy shop Creature Comforts

owies

2011-11-18T08:22:00.001-08:00

Ugh. Yet another zombie post missed this week. I got home around 3 yesterday (local time), and I had a headache that just kept getting worse and worse. I stumbled into bed about 6:30 last night, passed out, and woke up 6:30 this morning. I already blew NaBloPoMo of course, but I still wanted to keep going. And by golly, I shall! Regular zombie posts will resume later today. Or maybe tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow, but probably today. Possibly.

In other zombie news, I feel really sooky because I just left all my family and I plan to comfort myself by watching all of the Romero movies over the next few days.

And now I have to stop drinking coffee and go do something useful.

Bub the zombie

2011-11-16T06:17:00.001-08:00

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Sin today is Day of the Wednes-dead, how about a toy (or action figure, if you prefer) from Day of the Dead?

Hello Aunt Alicia!

Amazon.com

P.S. I'll be leaving on a jetplane tomorrow morning, so if I miss tomorrow's post, it's 'cause I'm sleeping. Or sedated. (I'm not exactly a good flyer.)

stitchy zombies

2011-11-15T09:02:00.001-08:00

Dawn of the Tues-dead: Crafts. Maybe even crafts for zombies. Just because your arms are falling off doesn't mean you can't learn how to knit. Oh wait...yes it does.

Just a couple of awesome embroideries today - the first one is a cute n' clever Shaun of the Dead piece (love those stick zombies!), and the other is based on the movie poster for Dawn of the Dead. Oh, and a super cute zombie hand pincushion that would definitely come in handy when I'm stitching. (Hee hee hee!)

Shaun of the Dead embroidery by Lisa Leggett

Dawn of the Dead movie poster embroidery by Emma Bell

Zombie Hand Pincushion from Friendly Misanthrope

zombies?

2011-11-14T20:02:00.001-08:00

No zombie post today folks! I wasted the first couple hours I was up, and then became unexpectedly occupied for the rest of the day, literally until now. There were errands to run, visits to make, webcams to fiddle with, shelves to fix - and now it's bedtime. I'll do some extra zombie posts later to make up for it!

EDIT: The time shows that this post was published around 8 PM on the 14th, but it was actually 12:30 AM on the 15th. By blog is set to BC time, but I was in Newfoundland and so that's that's the time zone I was going by for NaBloPoMo. Also, I changed the time zone to BC when I moved here in 2010, so if you look back at my NaBlo posts for 2009, it looks like a I didn't post every day. And I did, just in Newfoundland time!

lolzombies

2011-11-13T16:48:00.001-08:00

Spare Part Sunday: Not a day off, but a day of extras! An extra eye here, and extra leg there...

accessories of the living dead

2011-11-12T13:07:00.001-08:00

Survival of the Satur-dead: Clothing. (And accessories!)

Every ghoul's crazy for a sharp dressed man!

Every fashionable zombie knows that an outfit isn't complete without the right accessories. Just ask Zombie Stacy London and Zombie Clinton Kelly!

I Love Zombies Necklace from CorsoStudio

Zombie Octopus Necklace from Delicious Hobo

Zombie Food Necklace from Rude & Reckless

Brain Locket Necklace from Cosmic Firefly

Zombie Bunny Girl Brooch from Happy Fun Shop

Zombie Cuff Links from Pinzn Thingz

Zombie Xing Belt Buckle from Agorables

Hand Stamped Zombie Wallet from Cipolla


Zombie Survival Pack Messenger Bag from Electric Nomad

Exposed Brains Headband from Janine Basil

Zombie Headband from Janine Basil

All of these undead lovelies were found on Etsy.

Zombie Defense Table

2011-11-11T15:53:00.001-08:00

Diary of the Fri-dead: Home decor.

Nothing says homey like a horde of the undead lurking in your living room!

Safe Bedside Table, created by James McAdam

Finally! A table that does more than just keep your stuff off the floor - the Zombie Defense Table! (Otherwise known as the Safe Bedside Table.) When any uninvited zombies show up (as opposed to the invited kind) you simply take off the top to use as a shield, grab the leg to use as a club, and...I guess you could throw the base at them. Maybe strategically place it somewhere to trip them up? Oh, I'm sure there's a ton of zombie-fighting uses for the base! Any guesses?

The table above is the one you could actually own ($245 plus shipping), while the considerably fancier-pantsier table pictured below is the original art piece which was exhibited in The Museum of Modern Art. That one must be reserved for killing a "higher class" of zombies, the kind that flock to museums instead of shopping malls.

image from Dread Central

intellectual zombies

2011-11-10T14:08:00.001-08:00

Land of the Thurs-dead: Comics and books.

Literate zombies? Well, literally about zombies at least.

Comic by Sean Bieri (The Man Who Japed),) published on Tor.com

This actually makes me lol every time I see it. Clearly it's the best zombie comic ever. And hey, these zombies really are literate!

zombie plushies!

2011-11-09T15:11:00.001-08:00

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Dismember-Me Plush Zombie from ThinkGeek

Possibly the zombiest zombie plushie ever is the Dismember-Me Plush Zombie from ThinkGeek. I may be a little biased however. Check out the post I did about my very own Dismember-Me Plush Zombie during NovZomCon '09. It has pictures and everything!

Zombie Zoo Plush from ThinkGeek

Zombie animals! They're twice as cute as people zombies! These are pretty big too, measuring about 13" high. I think they're make awesome nap time pillows, 'cause they're all fleecy and squishy. Unfortunately, I think I'm a bit too drooly to use them as pillows.

The whole Zombie Zoo herd

Plush Zombies from ThinkGeek

Zombie Kitty! Squee! These little guys are made out of cuddly soft fabric except - get this - the red fabric in their wounds is corduroy. You know, like exposed muscle! And look! Lil' Zombie Mittens has a boo-boo on his tail and a stick-outy tongue. Awwww!

Plush Zombies from ThinkGeek

Zombie Monkey, exclusively from ThinkGeek

ThinkGeek also has this cute Zombie Monkey with corduroy cuts! Apparently he likes to fling zombie poo.


Zombie Bear from Fluffles & DIY Fluffies

I only need to say two words about Zombie Bear - removable intestines!

Any other awesome zombie plushies out there?

make your own little zombie friend!

2011-11-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Dawn of the Tues-dead: Crafts. Maybe even crafts for zombies. Just because your arms have fallen off doesn't mean you can't learn how to knit. Oh wait...yes it does.

Tiny Zombie Kit from Mochimochi Land

I love, love, LOVE this itty-bitty, teeny-weeny, cutie-patootie zombie-wombie!!!

Zombie Felties by Nicola Tedman & Sarah Skeate, published by Andrews McMeel Publishing

And I've been coveting this craft book for some time now. Look at how Michael's brains are done. They're soooo cute! And so is the little bunch of red thread for spilled guts on the green guy!

I'm sure there's a bunch of awesome diy zombies out there, and I'm absolutely sure that I want all of them! How about you guys? Have you made any little zombie friends?

The Walken Dead

2011-11-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

Night of the Living Mon-dead: The digital dead. Zombies you can watch.

Just like regular zombies, but with more cowbell.

And how about a bonus zombie? It doesn't fit today's NovZomCon theme, but it does fit today's date. November 7th is Marie Curie's 144th birthday, which I learned through today's Google Doodle. So, here's Zombie Marie Curie with a little history lesson, courtesy of XKCD.

The return of Zombie Boy!

2011-11-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Spare Part Sunday: Not a day off, but a day of extras! An extra eye here, an extra leg there...

Dermablend has found the perfect model for their product - Zombie Boy! You remember him from Lady Gaga's Born This Way video right? Of course you do! Who could forget a cutie-pie like that? And a zombie no less! Rawr!

His transformation is pretty amazing. I bet he got a shock when he saw himself in the mirror! And he sure has the "pouty model with an angry stare" look down pat, doesn't he?

Shaun of the Dead t-shirt mania!

2011-11-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Survival of the Satur-dead: Clothing.

Every ghoul's crazy for a sharp dressed man!

You've Got Red On You t-shirt from T-Shirt Bordello

Winchester Tavern t-shirt from T-Shirt Bordello

I Got Wood t-shirt from T-Shirt Bordello

ZOMBAID t-shirt from T-Shirt Bordello

The Plan t-shirt from 80s Tees

8-Bit Shaun & Ed t-shirt from Red Bubble

An expired design (of course!) from Ript. Image found on Live For Films.

zombie cabinet knobs

2011-11-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Diary of the Fri-dead: Home decor.

Nothing says homey like a horde of the undead lurking in your living room!

Zombie Knobs (set of 4) from Llama Cafe Store on Etsy

Zombie Knobs (Full set of 15) from Llama Cafe Store on Etsy

These are beautiful, creative and fully awesome. I want them. Do I have anywhere to put them? Well, no, but that's besides the point. Details! Pshaw!

Night of the Living Trekkies

2011-11-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

Land of the Thurs-dead: Comics and books. Literate zombies? Well, literally about zombies at least.

Night of the Living Trekkies, published by Quirk Books

Zombies at a Star Trek convention? Yes please! It's crazy that this book has been out for over a year and I still haven't read it. After all, it's right up my zombie lovin' and Star Trek watchin' alley. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to ask Santa to bring it to me.

And the book trailer is just hilarious! (Book trailer? When did they start making those???) It'd be so awesome if someone actually makes this into a movie.

Have you read it? Let me know what you thought!

bowling for zombies!

2011-11-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Zombie Desktop Bowling from ThinkGeek

Ah, ThinkGeek. Is there any undead need they can't fill?

For kids aged 3-7? Yeah right! Gimmie!

NaBloPoMo and NovZomCon. Together at last!

2011-11-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's that time of year again - National Blog Posting Month! It's also NaNoWriMo, and possibly some other Mos, but NaBloPoMo is the only one I'm participating in. And guess what? I have a theme! It's the same theme from when I did NaBlo in 2009 actually: Awesome November Zombie Content to the Max Month! Or, NovZomCon for short. (What? Everyone else gets a catchy name! *pout*)

So here's how it works. Each day of the week is going to feature a different kind of zombie awesomeness. The daily "dead" titles are a nod to George. A. Romero's Dead movies, which are among the most famous (and awesome!) zombie movies ever produced. I've modified the categories slightly from 2009's NovZomCon, but they're pretty much the same. I just turned the awesome all the way up to 11.

Night of the Living Mon-dead: The digital dead. Zombies you can watch! (Isn't it convenient that The Walking Dead airs on Sunday nights? You can probably expect to see a review or 2 here.)

Dawn of the Tues-dead: Crafts. Maybe even crafts for zombies! Just because your arms have fallen off doesn't mean you can't learn how to knit. Oh wait...yes it does.

Day of the Wednes-dead: Toys and silliness and fun. Zombies can be playful too!

Land of the Thurs-dead: Comics and books. Literate zombies? Well, literally about zombies at least.

Diary of the Fri-dead: Home Decor. Nothing says homey like a horde of the undead lurking in your living room!

Survival of the Satur-dead: Clothing. Every ghoul's crazy for a sharp dressed man!

Spare Part Sunday: Not a day off, but a day of extras! An extra eye here, an extra leg there...

Gosh, I sure hope you guys like zombies!

Happy Halloween! Again!

2011-10-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's the shuffle zombie song by LMFAO!

Macramé Monday!

2011-10-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Macramé Witch from Flickr user karyberg

Macramé Jack O'Lantern from Flickr user karyberg

That's right! Macramé is great for Halloween decorations too! I have a few pictures of Halloween awesomeness in my vintage macramé books (including these two lovelies), but unfortunately I'm nowhere near any of them right now. How about I point you towards the instructions for a macramé pumpkin instead? If you start now, you might get it done in time to impress the trick-or-treaters!

My Halloween Costumes - Part 3

2011-10-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

2006 - A store bought "Corpse Bride" costume
(obviously not from the Tim Burton movie!)

2007 - Big Bad Red Riding Hood
I made the tutu from a big ol' mess of tulle and the cape from a curtain panel.
The Big Bad Wolf's head is hung on my belt as a warning to all the other Big Bad Jerks.
(And, um, please excuse the mess.)

The Big Bad Wolf is Big Bad Dead. It's what makes this costume awesome!
(It's actually a hat I found in crappy novelty store. I covered the eyes with black electrical tape X's.)

Big Dead Wolf head hats are fun to play with!

The Big Bad Woodsman may have helped slay the Big Bad Wolf. (Thanks Scott!)

2008 - Alice Cooper groupie!
This was actually for his concert - but it was in October!

And that clues up my look back on costumes of Halloween past! (Did you guys see Part 1 and Part 2?)

I'd love to see your costumes of course! A few of the bloggers I love have already done a costume post (or 2 or 3), but if you think I've missed yours just leave a link in the comments so I can check it out. Actually, go ahead and leave me a link to anything Halloween related!

My Halloween Costumes - Part 2

2011-10-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

In 1999 I wore a Star Trek uniform (red shirt! Oh noes!) & was accompanied by a Klingon! And yes, I am aware that this is a Next Generation Klingon.

2000 was the year I (tried to) face my fears by dressing up as Regan from The Exorcist. (It didn't work.) Can you believe I got hit on that night? True story! I guess there really is a fetish for everything.

Father Merrin came along with me too! Talk about an odd couple, hey?

On another night out in 2000, I was a vampire nun (or something). I suppose I needed a dash of sexy-evil after the scary-evil demon possessed costume.

Look out! Here comes the Spider-Ben! Somewhere along the line I bought a Spider-Man costume for Bender, my parent's dog. This particular photo was taken in 2009.

There's a Part 3 coming soon! Also, you can check out Part 1 of My Halloween Costumes for a couple of costumes from when I was a wee lass.

It's silly hat time!

2011-10-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Me & my cuz. Isn't she pretty? :)

Yesterday was a good day. I spent the afternoon shopping with my mom, Aunt Madonna and cousin Rebecca. It was the first time in ages that the four of us have gotten together. Rebecca bought a super cute faux fur hat with ears and dangly bits, and then I found an owl hat I liked a few stores later. And I got matching mittens too! Of course my mom thought it was adorable that we both had animal hats, so we had to pose for pictures while my aunt was running an errand. As soon as my aunt saw them, she decided that we should head straight to the Wal-Mart Photo Centre to print out copies. They turned out ok, so I figured I'd share a couple with my internet friends.

Me & my cuz. I'm so jealous of that long, curly red hair!

Macramé Monday!

2011-10-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

photo from Macramé With Style, Gaylemot Publishing 1977

Mom just jazzed up her bathroom with some new paint and accessories. I wonder if she'd appreciate some "soft touches"?

I know I appreciate that patchwork paisley wallpaper reflected in the mirror!

pumpkin dance

2011-10-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Is sexy, no?

I highly recommend checking out the other versions of this, like Ke$ha's Tik Tok and The Safety Dance. That's one talented pumpkin!

Thanks to The Halloween Tree for the heads up!

BTW, I had to use the old embed code on YouTube for this to show up here. When I tried the new default embed code it said something about the content not being allowed to show up on certain websites. But, the old one worked, so it's all good. You're welcome.

My Halloween Costumes - Part 1

2011-10-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

I know I went trick-or-treating every year when I was a kid, but these are the only pictures I can find!

Here's a photo of me and (most of) my Dad. I'm wearing my awesome Smurfette costume, the one I found in the attic this summer! (Well, the smock part anyway - the mask must be long gone.) This was in 1982 and I was only 2 years old. That's my high chair behind me, in a stylish yellow, orange and green floral print - stylish for the 70s I mean. Like every other child of the 80s, I loved the Smurfs! Besides this costume, I had Smurf pajamas (with booties and a hat), Smurf figurines and stuffed toys, a Gargamel punching bag - and there was even Smurf wallpaper in my bedroom!

Me and my Dad. (I'm the one in the Smurfette costume!)

My loot!

Here's 3 year old me dressed as a witch - a witch with an impressive unibrow. (I think it's hilarious that there's a Wikipedia entry for that!) The hat was made out of construction paper, and that's probably just one of mom or dad's black shirts. Notice that I'm wearing a thick coat and wool hat underneath the costume? It gets pretty cold here that time of year. It's actually quite normal for there to be snow on the ground! It looks like I got a lot more candy that year. I guess my parents took me to quite a few more houses!

Unibrow Witch, 1983

Next week I'll post a few pictures of costumes that I wore in my early 20s. They're quite a bit different than these!

autumn leaves

2011-10-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

zombie shamblings & dinosaur ramblings

2011-10-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Walking Dead

So! Walking Dead season premiere! Fully awesome, right? I was afraid all those sneak peeks that AMC was releasing were gonna spoil it just a tad bit. Thankfully that wasn't the case! I was still perched on the edge of my seat, squealing with delight during every awesome zombie kill. (Note to self: carry a screwdriver at all times.) I also watched the entire first season that day (partly to refresh my memory, partly because I don't have much of a social life). I had forgotten how well written and directed it is. And I'm loving that they've deviated from the comics and are keeping Shane alive (for now anyway). I love seeing both him and Rick share the responsibility. Plus there's that whole secret affair thing. And did you catch the look of fatherly pride on both Rick and Shane's faces during that last scene with Carl? The upcoming drama between those two guys is gonna be soooo good! If you're so inclined, there's a bit of fan fiction floating around the interwebs about those two manly cuties. (A friend told me. Really. *cough*)

photo from AMC

Did I have any complaints? Of course! The whole bit where everyone was out to look for Sophia for instance. One group wandering through the woods single file would probably be useless enough. Throw in the threat of zombies though, and it's upgraded from useless to just plain stupid. Rick and Shane are cops. They'd know better. Furthermore, Daryl is an experienced hunter and all around badass. He'd know how prey (them) avoids predators (zombies), and it wouldn't be everyone marching through the woods talking, arguing, and generally just being unaware of their surroundings. Speaking of Daryl, isn't he just an awesome character? Remember when he (the racist redneck) saved T-Dog's (the black guy) life, and then thought of the perfect way to hide from the zombies? Also, he's a total hottie. (Yes, I know, apparently I have the hormones of a 13 year old.) It makes me nervous that Norman Reedus is only listed as guest star. I know none of these characters are safe, and that's one of the reasons I love the comic, but I still hope Daryl is left alive for the long haul. It does give me hope that there's a Daryl doll - complete with squirrels - available though.

available from McFarlane Toys

He will be mine. Oh yes, he will be mine.

Terra Nova

Predictable. Boring. Cliche. These are just some of the words that spring to mind. Mira saying "You'll see" in answer to Jim's question about what Terra Nova is really about was just plain dumb. I think that whole scene could have been saved by simply ending it after he asked. It would have kept us viewers in the dark about the mysterious conspiracy, and we'd be left wondering if she spilled the beans to Jim or not, thus creating even more mystery and conspiracy! But really, I just wish they'd get on with it. Also, why the hell do the Sixers look like they stepped off the set of Mad Max? It is pretty cool that they live like Ewoks though.

photo from Terra Nova TV

I think part of my irritation with the show is that I expected, well, more dinosaurs. Don't you think a human colony plopped down in the middle of the Cretaceous Period should have slightly more interaction with, oh I don't know, everything around it!? And that's all I'm gonna say about that. However, the dinosaur in that one too-short scene was pretty darned cute, even though it was yet another fictional dinosaur, a Nicoraptor. (The fake dinos outnumber the real dinos 3 to 2, by the way.) And hey, did Zoe's handmade toy dinosaurs get as much screen time as the "real" deal? Even though I love them, it's still pretty disappointing. I hope the writer's didn't include those when they promised us there'd be dinosaurs in each episode. Of course, they already broke that promise with the pterosaur episode. Unless the Carnotaurus really does have camouflage abilities like in Michael Crichton's Lost World, I didn't see any damned dinosaurs. (Yes, I'm nitpicking, but it's my job. I am a blogger on the internet afterall!)

And what the hell was Newt doing in the Cretaceous anyway?

Macramé Monday!

2011-10-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Photo from Macramé Moods, published 1976

It's the Foxy Lady Bath Swag! I bet all the sexy Bond girls have them. OK, maybe just the sexy hippies.

Walking Dead season 2!!!

2011-10-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Were you wondering why I haven't mentioned it before the day of the season premiere? It's 'cause I only found out yesterday that it starts tonight when I saw the ad on AMC. I thought it didn't start until next week. Oops!

Anyway, it starts tonight. Zombies! Rick! Glen! Daryl! And...the rest. I'm not exactly thrilled with some of the deviations from the comic, and actually, Daryl Dixon is the only new character that I like. So yeah, I'm slightly anxious about the second season. Then again, I may be a teeny bit biased, 'cause I may be ever so slightly fanatical about the comic. (Like, re-reading-the-entire-series-each-time-a-new-TPB-is-released fanatical. With the doors shut, the phone off, and a box of tissues close at hand.) But, I don't think I'll get really upset unless they screw up my favorite character - Michonne. The fact that they've changed Andrea so much doesn't give me much hope though. Am I still gonna watch it if the characters continue to disappoint me? Hellz yeah! There are zombies! Hell-ooo!

Remember Bicycle Girl? Here's a time lapse video of the make-up process for her. It's super-duper cool, and you need to watch it right away if you haven't already. And if you have, watch it again!

Want more Bicycle Girl? The video below is the first in a series of 6 videos made for the web that tell the story of how she became a zombie. It's not super-duper cool like the make-up video, but it's ok. There are a few good zombie moments. (Zombie + moments = zoments. True story.)

more thoughts on Terra Nova

2011-10-12T10:48:00.002-07:00

Photo from io9

There were only 2 things I liked about the 3rd episode of Terra Nova besides this cutie Carnotaurus:

Everything Taylor said and did
Zoe's handmade toy dinosaurs

Other than that, it was a big pile of dinosaur poop. Taylor is the only one with any decent character development going on, he gets all the good lines, and he's hot. (That's right, I said it.)

Seriously, the writers need to stop trying to cram so many story lines into each episode, create story lines for characters besides the Shannon family, and focus on what the show is supposed to be about instead of this contrived crap. Oh, and try using some real dinosaurs instead of these dumbass made-up ones. As it stands right now, I have zero interest in this show beyond the (based on real life) dinosaur eye candy. My only comfort is the knowledge that Star Trek: TNG sucked for the first few seasons, but then turned into a really awesome show.

Macramé Monday!

2011-10-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Photo from Macramé Hangers for Small Spaces, published 1975

LEFT: The imprint of a leaf on rock...the interplay of shadows in the woods...is the mood of "Impressions."

RIGHT: Bleached driftwood and handcrafted beads contribute to the primitive tone of "Ramona".

Photo from Macramé Hangers for Small Spaces, published 1975

LEFT: When the view is lacking and greenery is desired, create a mini green scene near your kitchen window with a stylish little hanger like "Space Needle". This is suited for keeping fresh grown herbs at your fingertips!

RIGHT: The cleverness of this spirited hanger is owed, in part, to the cheeky little pot which serves as focal point of the design, and to the exotic fringe which punctuates the circle - your own creativity will deserve thanks for the rest!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-10-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

Make sure you eat all of your leftover turkey this week, or it just might try to eat you!

(Ok, technically Thanksgiving Day isn't until tomorrow, but my family is doing the turkey thing today. So there.)

I won A Nostalgic Halloween's giveaway!

2011-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Halloween greeting cards, handmade by Kris Dickenson of A Nostalgic Halloween

A little while ago, I was the very lucky winner of a blog giveaway over at A Nostalgic Halloween. Kris (the artist behind those two gorgeous collages above) had put together 4 packages of Halloween craft supplies to give to 4 lucky winners in a random draw - and I was one of those lucky winners! I can't even begin to tell you how happy all these goodies make me. You guys know that I love both Halloween and crafting, so you probably have a pretty good idea though.

Spider web alphabet stickers and Halloween rub-ons

Vintage Halloween collage sheets

Kris packed so much awesome stuff into this prize - half of it isn't even pictured here! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it all! I guess that's partly because I'm still on the opposite side of the country from my craft supplies though. I do know that I can't wait to play with everything, especially all those great images on the collage sheets she included. I've been a follower of A Nostalgic Halloween for quite awhile now, and I love all of the collages that Kris makes. She also shares lots of vintage Halloween images and advertisements. It's all wonderful eye candy for a Halloween fanatic like me!

A huge assortment of patterned papers, stickers, and embellishments

Thanks again Kris!

Dear last night's episode of Terra Nova,

2011-10-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

Do you really expect me to believe that out of all the soldiers who came through in all ten pilgrimages to Terra Nova, not one of them remembered to bring a freakin' helmet?!?! Gah! Also, the scene in the house where the soldier gets knocked out because of his incompetence, the teenagers have to drag him to safety, and then Josh grabs the machine gun and goes back to save Zoe? Seriously, it would have been more entertaining (and possibly believable) if Zoe's carnivorous plant jumped out and ate the pterosaur that was coming at her. (Yeah, yeah, I know...fiction!) And speaking of the pterosaurs...well, ok, they were pretty cool actually. Their coloring was disappointing - boring ol' black with a few barely noticeable white stripes - but, still cool. What's not cool is that on Fox's official Terra Nova website the pterosaurs are called birds. BIRDS!!!1!

Le sigh.

Perhaps this sexy Carnotaurus will calm me down. It looks like he wants to tell me a secret - a sexy secret!

In other news (of the non-nerd-rage variety), it occurred to me as I wrote this that I completely forgot about yesterday's Macramé Monday post! Unfortunately, I don't have anything even remotely macramé related saved in the drafts folder, so I'm just going to skip it this week. I promise to pay more attention to the days of the week from now on!

pine cone mobile with a creepy crawly twist!

2011-10-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Want to know how to turn a pretty basket of pine cones and twigs...

...into a cluster of creepy, crawly spiders?

You'll need a craft book with directions for making mobiles, and a cat. Or a small child. Anything that will insist on getting in front of the camera, really.

The Complete Encyclopedia of Crafts. © Marshall Cavendish Limited, 1975

Gather your supplies...

* pine cones * thin branches * garden clippers * thread * scissors * glue * patience

...and get started!

1. If your pine cones aren't fully open, bake them on super-low heat. Remember to keep a close eye on them, and never-ever-ever leave them unattended! Never ever!

2. Cut the twigs into small pieces. Try to snip them so that they have a couple of bends in them. This will make them look more leggy.

3. Plan your pine cone spiders. Pick out 8 twig legs for each pine cone body, making sure they fit snugly between the scales and that they point in the right directions.

4. Glue the legs in place. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue.

5. Tie a length of string to the stem. Put a dab of glue on the knot to make it sure it stays put.

6. Assemble the mobile! You can follow the directions word for word, or just kinda wing it like I did. Did you happen to notice the extra support strings between the top and bottom branches? They were needed to make the bottom branch stay in the position that I wanted. So yeah, things like that might happen if you wing it! I think it turned out pretty awesome all the same though. What do you think?

I joined the Terrorific Tuesday Blog Hop over at The Swell Life!

I'm a total chick magnet

2011-09-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Apparently chickadees and nuthatches will eat out of your hand! The chickadees seem happy enough to actually perch on my hand to grab some seed, but so far the nuthatches just land on a branch above and reach down to eat - they seem to like the peanuts the best. And, a Gray Jay "tested" my hand the other day. He hopped on and off again right away, but didn't take any food. Yep. Total chick magnet. ;)

Chickadee-dee-dee!

And just a few days ago I watched a pair of Bald Eagles circling overhead! They didn't come down for a snack though, which was just as well. As much as I understand the whole "circle of life thing", I'm not really prepared to watch my cats or Blue Jays get eaten by an opportunistic Eagle. (Yes, my Blue Jays. I did watch them grow up after all.)

Bald Eagle flying over mom's house

And a couple weeks ago I spied a Rough-legged Hawk in the front yard. I was sitting on the deck taking photos of the Blue Jays at the feeder (as per usual), and just happened to notice as he landed high up in a tree. Pretty cool, huh?

A Rough-legged Hawk in mom's front yard

I've been playing with the different special effects on Picnik lately - I mean besides all the cropping, watermarking and slight color enhancing. Check out my photos on Flickr to see the fancypants versions of the birdies, plus a few other random ones.

And speaking of Carnotaurus...

2011-09-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well how about that? Terra Nova didn't disappoint me. Sure, there were your usual plot devices (teenage mischief gone awry) and stereotypical characters (angsty teenage son mad at his father). I'm ok with those, as long as it works for the script. Acting? No complaints. Even the children didn't irk me (well, mostly). Clunky dialogue? Well, ok, I can forgive a few blunders. Explanation for the existence of time travel? Whatever. It only exists in the realm of fiction, so really, the reason is a moot point. The fact that the environment of that time period wouldn't really have been hospitable for humans? Hey, if we're accepting the time travel, we kind of have to accept the fact that humans could indeed live quite comfortably 85 million years ago. When you sit down to watch a show about a pre-post-apocalyptic world where time-travelling humans have set up camp amongst dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period, you kind of have to be prepared to suspend disbelief. That also applies to the local cuisine and medical treatments involving totally cool leechy things. I hadn't even thought about the fact that we'd see some super-sized critters. I was too distracted by all the dinosaur hoopla! It was well deserved dinosaur hoopla though. Well, I thought the Carnotaurus' arms may have been a little too beefy. And I don't know why they felt the need to create a new kind of dinosaur - the Slashers - when there are so many weirdly cool dinosaurs that, you know, actually existed. And the Slashers should totally have had feathers. (I know, I know...fiction!) Really though, as long as I'm getting a weekly dose of dinosaur, I'm happy. Besides, Jack Horner is a consultant for the show, so I'm pretty sure it's in good hands.

Ah, Commander Nathaniel Taylor. I think I'm in love. I don't care if he is a benign dictator, the man stood down a charging Carnotaurus! Our babies are going to be so freaking badass!

Carnotaurus says...

2011-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Macramé Monday!

2011-09-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! Two owly posts in a row? Aren't you a lucky little macramé enthusiast! And this isn't just a photo of a macramé owl. This is a photo of 8 freakin' macramé owls!

I want them. Don't you?

Photo via Retro Renovation

na na na na na na na na...bat lamp!

2011-09-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

Daytime batties...

This was my favorite Halloween craft last year - Clothespin Bats from the Martha Stewart website (I skipped the poking-holes-for-eyes part). It's a simple idea, but holy smokes was it time consuming! And cutting out all those bats from card stock made my hand all crampy. I think it was worth it though, 'cause they look awfully cute roosting on my living room lamp.

...and nighttime batties!

5 days until Terra Nova!

2011-09-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my. I don't think I can wait that long.

Like a rhinestone cowboy?

2011-09-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

One plastic flamingo: $2

Four packs of adhesive gems: $8

Seeing the horrified, yet slightly jealous looks on your neighbour's faces: Priceless!

He suspects nothing.

When I found plastic flamingos at Dollarama, I may have done a little happy dance. I've always wanted a lawn full of these kitschy lil' guys! I began to wonder if this particular plastic flamingo was kitschy enough though. It somehow seemed...lacking. So, I took a stroll down Dollarama's craft aisle in search of a way to jazz it up. Ooh, Glittering Stickers perhaps? Bingo!

Supplies:

One plastic flamingo
Adhesive-backed rhinestones
Crazy glue for touch-ups on errant rhinestones that lose their sticky

Optional Supplies:

Spray paint for an even base color. Notice how you can see the white and black of his beak if you look closely?
This Glen Campbell tune to get you in the mood

The simplest how-to (minus the optional spray painting step) is pretty straightforward - make sure your flamingo is all squeaky-clean so the stickers will actually stick to it, then, stick them on. Bam! One almost-instant kitschy plastic flamingo! Now you can put him in your front yard, pull up a lawn chair, and get ready to receive the adulation from passersby. Just make sure to take him in when it rains, 'cause he's probably not waterproof.

Zee eluseeve Keetschy Flameengo in eez natural habitat. 'E move so graceful in zee foreest.

Shiny!

Ooooh, pretty!

Bling bling!

Wormy is unimpressed by kitschy rhinestone flamingos

Macramé Monday!

2011-09-19T15:16:00.001-07:00

I didn't tell you guys about my nifty new owl, did I? This one wasn't thrifted like my creepy-awesome King Kroker froggie - not by me anyway. I bought it from 3MontanaGirls on Etsy, who always seems to have something new for me to covet each time I check out her shop.

What a handsome lil' guy!

He's got fluffy little eyes...

And cutsie little tootsies!

Yessir, this is one fine lookin' owl!

Halloween Matchbox Mania!

2011-09-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Cool! Even I can make a fancy mosaic! (Big Huge Labs)

Late last summer I joined Swap-Bot and, through that, discovered matchboxes. They were fun and simple to make, plus I was excited to have something to do with all the Halloween ribbon that I was buying from Michaels. I ended up making a bunch of them for various "Halloween goodies" swaps, filling them with buttons, beads, brads, ribbons, googly eyes, and stickers - loooots of stickers. Michaels made a lot of money off me last year. Le sigh.

2011-09-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Question: How freaking awesome would it be if the whole "Charlie Sheen goes crazy and gets fired and then Ashton Kutcher takes over for him on Two and a Half Men" thing is just one gigantic punk on everyone?

Answer: Totally.

Grandma's embroidery transfers

2011-09-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

These are all the vintage embroidery transfers that I found when I cleaned out the attic. They all belonged to my Grandmother who died two years before I was born. It's nice to discover that we have something in common, especially since I'm named after her (my middle name). She was way more productive than I am though! Besides embroidering everything she could get her hands on, she also made quilts, crocheted, knit, sewed - and even did mosaics!

Some of the transfers have been used of course, but the lines haven't faded much at all. I doubt I'll end up embroidering all of these designs because I already have a huge backlog of WIPs and ideas. I do have my eye on a few though, and any of the ones I do end up using are going to be photocopied first. Perhaps I can even share them on here. These vintage designs are just too cute to keep to myself!

"Here is your opportunity to make your home beautiful and spend those leisure hours in a profitable and artistic way."

I haven't seen this kind anywhere before. And look at that beautiful peacock!

I'm so excited to have puppy and kitty and deer transfers! And the "good night" designs are pretty cute too!

All kinds of designs for pillowcases - mostly flowers of course.

Even more flowers to embroider.

These are the first transfers for gingham that I've seen.

Macramé Monday!

2011-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Lampshades from Left to Right are: Pambie, Helen, Jacqui, and Janet
Front cover of Bright Ideas for Lamp Frames, by Debby O'Hanley (70s?)

Lampshades from Left to Right are: Carol-Anne, June, Diana, and Tara
Back cover of Bright Ideas for Lamp Frames, by Debby O'Hanley (70s?)

I spy, with my little eye...all the elements of fashionable home decor in the 70s!

Welcome to Tabletop Cemetery

2011-09-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

Peekaboo Mummy says "Peekaboo!"

By this time last year I was knee deep in Halloween crafting and decorating. Maybe that's a bit early to start decorating for most people, but then again, maybe not. Halloween has gotten pretty popular over the last few years, thanks in no small part to Martha Stewart - and that's totally a good thing! (See what I did there?) Living in an apartment does limit your options though. I can't wait until I'm in an actual house with a yard again. There are just so many fun decorations you can do outside for Halloween, like pumpkin patches, spooky scarecrows and creepy cemeteries. For now though, I'm stuck in a boring apartment building.

Was I gonna let that stop me from making a graveyard though? Hellz no! I just had to improvise. So I thought, where in my tiny apartment could I stick some tombstones and creepy crawlies? Which corner hardly ever gets used? Why, the dining room of course! And that's how the Tabletop Cemetery was born. I found a mini "graveyard kit" at Wal-Mart for about $15 that had a bunch of awesome stuff in it - like tombstones, a skull and bones, bats, rats, and spiders. Then I added realistic crows, some bloodshot eyeballs and even a few mummy heads to it - 'cause, you know, mummy heads hang out in all the cool cemeteries.

"I see you!"

doggie dinos!

2011-09-08T19:10:00.002-07:00

Soooooo freaking adorable! I wonder if they carry plus sizes for kitties? I think the Triceratops hat would be perfect for Madison*, with Wormy in the Stegosaurus costume. Then I'd tie them on out back and watch my two little herbivorous dinosaurs grazing on the lawn! Squee!

The doggy dinosaur costumes are available at Party City - and so is a super-cute doggy shark costume!

Thanks to Geekologie for the link!

*On second thought, screw the cat, I'm wearing the Triceratops hat! :P

You got the right stuff baby

2011-09-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Vintage New Kids comforter!

In this post I mentioned that I found a stack of New Kids on the Block posters in the attic. Well, apparently I'm a collector of New Kids memorabilia and didn't even know it! There are other bits of boy band goodies gathering dust around here, so I put it all together and called it a collection. I'm sure there were thousands of adolescent fangirls with way more stuff, but this is mine and I like it, so there! Anyway, for some reason that escapes me now, I thought it would be fun (and not embarrassing at all) to share photos of all my stuff on my bloggy. And hey, at least this gets rid of yet another thing from the list of possible blackmail material.

Check out the snazzy replica of Joe McIntyre's hat on prepubescent me. I was too cool for school!

See all those posters pinned to the wall? Yep, those are the ones I found in the attic. Super cool, huh? I also had t-shirts, shoelaces, the Joe hat, an oversized Joe pin badge, and of course, all of their cassette tapes. And that lovely pink NKOTB comforter? That's still on my bed - but in a duvet cover at least! I even had a Joe doll (action figure?), but all I have left to remember him by is his itty-bitty microphone. I buried the doll out back somewhere. Don't ask me why, because I have absolutely no idea. I assume I had a reason at the time though. The sexy Joe hat is nowhere to be found either, but I'm pretty sure I didn't bury that.

I also discovered a little notebook with a few embarrassing poems scribbled in it, one of which is an ode to "Joey-Joe". And here it is, in all it's prepubescent, misspelled glory! Please be gentle - us poets are a sensitive lot.

I especially like the phrases "Monsterly gorgeus" and "Yippie for him". I'm a regular frickin' Robert Frost all right.

Not only do I still have all their tapes, but I've listened to them very recently. I lived with my mother for a few months before my big move to BC and the car she owned at the time didn't have one of those newfangled CD players, just a good old fashioned tape deck. Since the radio reception around this area is really crapactular and these were the only cassette tapes I still owned, they were kept in the car so I could rock out to all the hits - like Hangin' Tough, Step By Step and Please Don't Go Girl. And if I had easily annoyed passengers? Bonus!

And now for some gratuitous kitteh shots!

Scamp loves to help!

Aw, da kitty is cweaning his widdle paw!

Scrunchy little kitty nose!

Rough little kitty tongue!

I'm pretty sure I got into NKOTB because I wanted to fit in. (I did a lot of stuff in school because I wanted to fit in, but that's another story altogether.) If you couldn't tell from the posters, my favorite was Joe McIntyre. Every other little girl had a favorite, so I picked him. Don't ask me why. That was over 20 years ago, and if I didn't still have all this fangirl crap lying around I probably wouldn't remember they even existed. They're touring again though, and I'd totally go to their concert if I had the chance. There has been one tiny change from 20 years ago though - I'm all about Danny Wood now. Like, total lady wood for Danny Wood. (That's right, I so went there!)

damn this thinky head of mine!

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

After a long dry spell in the creative department, my brain has decided to bombard me with dozens of awesome crafty-type ideas. Have you creative types ever been so creative you just feel like you're going to explode? More specifically, have you ever had so many creative ideas come to you all at once that you're completely overwhelmed and have no idea where to start and can't even envision how you'll get it all done in the foreseeable future but you don't want to pick and choose you want to do it all right now!? Gah!!! Other exclamations of frustration!!!1!!

I do believe some list-making is in order. Also jot note scribbling. Perhaps some schedule planning. I wish I were one of those people who can just do stuff without feeling compelled to plan out every little detail first. Because really, the organizing is just one more task that needs to be completed.

All these creative thinkings include blog posts too. I've got a bunch started (one even pretty much ready to go live actually), but I keep thinking of more things I want to write about. Being slack in this area does seems to be the running theme for this summer, but I totally have excuses...for the past month at least. First the mom-heart-hospital thing happened. Then Mr. Zombie was finally able to take some leave for a wee visit - and I do mean wee, just under two weeks. He arrived just in time to ease some of the pressure off being the only child of a parent in the hospital because of a heart attack. (Not that there weren't wonderful, caring relatives and friends to visit and help out, but really, most everything fell to me to take care of.) Then there were lots of smallish day-to-day things around the house that he took care of when mom was first released. And of course, the comforting and supporting of me and my close-to-being-shattered nerves. We did get a bit of sightseeing and relaxing in since mom has been on the road to recovery though. There were the usual walks and cuddlings, visits with family and friends, a shopping trip to St. John's, and even a circus!

So yes. Blog posts will be happening. Some will even be about crafts! I actually have two in mind for the next couple of weeks - a silly thing involving a bird and rhinestones, and another with feathers and balls (fingers crossed they both don't turn into gigantic craft fails). I've also had Halloween crafts on the brain. Big time. I did loads of Halloweeny crafts last year but never shared them on my bloggy for some reason. It's about time I remedied that. Anyway, want a preview of all those impending blog posts? List time!

Upcoming Blog Happenings That Are Totally Going to Happen

Three treasured items from the attic
Two craft projects/tutorials
Silly-awesome-nerdy line drawings for embroidery
A Halloween countdown
Some fun I've been up to - like Wonderbolt Circus!

So there ya go! Exciting blog happenings and stuff. I don't know about you, but I'm way overdue for some relaxing crafting and silly blogging. On top of everything else that's been going on this summer, guess what I had to do today? Take poor Madison to the vet - for the second time in three months! Le sigh. He's since been dubbed with yet another nickname - Mommy's Little Money Pit. Oh, and guess what he did after we got home? Crawled under the car and got icky, greasy dirt on his head. (My kitties are indoor cats but I have harnesses and long leads for them - and lots of patience to sit outside supervising). It's my fault though. I parked closer than usual to unload the groceries, and forgot to move it back. Plus, I was reading Stephen King's Needful Things, and I'm just getting to the awesome, blood soaked, and downright distracting finale!

Psst! Check out this photo of my little Blue Jay friend. *sniff* They grow up so fast!

Macramé Monday!

2011-09-05T16:56:00.055-07:00

Cover of Macramé Hang-Ups, published in 1973

I just love this plant hanger! The chunky knots and unkempt 'tails', the little round terracotta pots, those little touches of green cord - and that pun-tastic title! Love it!

(Oops! Sorry to everyone who reads this in Google Reader and the like for that blank post earlier. I've got trigger happy fingers.)

Macramé Monday!

2011-08-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

How about a dose of cuteness to counteract the creepy clowns from last week?

Photo from Macramé Elegance III, published in 1977

Mom's home!

2011-08-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Mom was released from the hospital yesterday, and I picked her up yesterday afternoon. She had her Dye Test on Friday and got her diagnosis. She had only two blockages, one at 40% and the other at 90%. They went ahead and put a stent in the big one. And the part of the heart affected by the attack wasn't dead, it was only "stunned". So good news overall!

Friday was also her birthday! The big 6-0! What a way to spend it, huh?

Awww, how cute!

2011-08-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Guess what? Until their head feathers grow in, baby (teenage?) Blue Jays look just like little blue vultures!

Squee!

Squee X 2!

Macramé Monday!

2011-08-22T04:00:00.001-07:00

Photo from Macramé Splendor No.2, published in 1980

Can't sleep, clown will eat me...

Thank you!

2011-08-21T06:20:00.001-07:00

Thanks so much for the heartfelt comments on my last blog post and everywhere else besides. This may sound silly, but it meant a lot to me.

Mom is doing well. She's been in the hospital ever since, but was moved out of ICU a few days after being admitted. She has to stay there until she gets sent to St. John's for a Dye Test, which is apparently only done on Thursdays***. That means she's got at least another week in the hospital, and possibly even two or three. It's the best place for her though. Besides being surrounded by nurses and doctors, she's eating better, has switched to decaf, and isn't smoking. I just wish the hospital was closer. A half hour drive isn't really that much I suppose, but I caught a cold last week, so between that and all the worrying I haven't had much energy. Plus, the radio reception is craptacular, and I'm sick of listening to the same CDs over and over. Oh, woe is me and more's the pity and can I get some more cheese with that whine? (Please don't take my self-centered whinging seriously. Humor is one of my defense mechanisms.)

Anyway, we should be back to our regularly scheduled programming as soon as I figure out what day it is. Please stay tuned.

***Oops! The tests are done everyday. The Thursday thing was for something else and I just remembered it wrong. It's still gonna be two or three weeks until she gets in though.

a sad break this time

2011-08-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've been staring at this screen for ages now, not sure what to say or if I should say anything at all. I did want to let everybody know that I haven't abandoned the blog though, because I may not be posting for awhile. A few days ago my mother had a heart attack. She's been stable ever since, but she's going to be in the hospital for awhile. I'll be visiting every day of course, which means I may not have the time or energy to write blog posts. There are quite a few things in the drafts folder that are just about finished though, so I'm sure I'll be polishing those up before too long.

Macramé Monday!

2011-08-08T03:49:00.000-07:00

Ah, 70s home decor at it's finest! (Wish I could say the same about the composition of the photo. I'm certainly no expert, but the bottom of the photo just seems way too fussy.) You've got your standard funky carpet in a vivid orange, an oversized leather couch in chocolate brown, and a large scale macramé piece in colors to match. Very cool use of the hoops, no?

Photo from Macramé Unlimited II, published in 1977

How I Spent my Summer Vacation, or; Yay! More Lists!

2011-08-07T04:00:00.002-07:00

Howdy stalkers...er, I mean friends! How about a summer-in-review-catch-up-type-post? I've been pretty darned busy! There wasn't any of that typical summer fun though, like camping and swimming and picnics and ice creams. Well, OK, I may have had a few (boxes of) Mr. Freezies when I was feeling sooky (not the one from True Blood), but that's it!

Anyway, here's the highlight reel of the past month or so...

Watched the entire Royal Tour across Canada
Attempted to learn how to juggle...again
Drew some embroidery patterns (that I can't share yet because I don't have a scanner)
Began researching my family tree (on Ancestry.ca)
Went bird watching a few times (puffins and gannets mostly)
And...hold on to your butts, this is the big one...cleaned out the attic

In fact, I've spent the past month sorting through everything that was jammed up there all willy-nilly and helter-skelter. You know how attics are generally depicted in movies, with sturdy old trunks containing bunches of lavender-scented letters tied up with pretty ribbons? Yeah...it wasn't like that. There was a huge pile of garbage bags and boxes filled with random crap. Most of them contained...well, everything. Opening each one was like opening a birthday party grab bag, only with more dust and memories.

The final tally of treasures and keepsakes included quite a bit from my Grandmother...

A pile of vintage embroidery transfers
Oodles of hand embroidered linens
Handmade doilies, quilt blocks, and tons of fabric scraps
Craft books and magazines
Clothing, crochet and knitting patterns

Then there was the stuff from my childhood that I thought was long gone...

New Kids on the Block posters
Part of a Smurfette Halloween costume
My stories and drawings, everything from from K - 12
Stuffed dinosaurs and Popples and Wrinkles (no ALF though, bummer)
A ceramic dinosaur souvenir from Drumheller, Alberta (in two pieces, but still awesome)
Zaks!

There were a few random treasures too...

A scrapbook mom kept for me when I was a wee lass
Old letters written to and from various family members
Really old Newfoundland tourist books and souvenirs

Sadly, the one thing that I was hoping to re-discover was nowhere to be seen - my collection of Smurf figurines. And I had a lot of them, even the black one! And a Smurf figurine poster!

*humph*

But I digress.

Many, many, many bags have been filled with donations to the Sally Ann and SPCA, and quite a few more filled with just plain garbage. The rest was sorted, cleaned, and displayed or packed away securely and neatly. Actually, we're still sorting, cleaning and packing. It's a good thing I drool over storage containers and shelves like some women drool over shoes and purses.

ZOMG! *

2011-08-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

And here's the other TV show I'll be watching this fall. Dinosaurs and zombies FTW!

* The Z stands for Zombies of course!

OMGasaurus!

2011-08-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Oh snap! I had totally forgotten this was happening until a few days ago when I saw a (slightly shorter) trailer on TV! Awesome! Well, I hope it's going to be awesome anyway. The dinosaurs will probably be cool if nothing else. And look! That's a Carnotaurus chasing down his lunch at the end!

Macramé Monday!

2011-08-01T04:00:00.002-07:00

Macramé For Home Decor #819, front cover

Lots of retro goodness to ogle here! Besides, of course, the macramé projects - an absolutely epic lighted hanging table and room divider - there's also the stucco ceiling, brown shag carpeting, and yummy faux bois background!

Macramé For Home Decor #819, back cover

Pinky swear!

2011-07-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

Regular posts will resume shortly. I've just been so busy lately! I have lots of fun goodies planned for the blog though. Do you guys like embroidery? And awesomeness? And...some other stuff?

Macramé Monday!

2011-07-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Remember Archie comics? I once had hundreds (yes, hundreds, true story), but now I have none. I gave them away in high school and have regretted it ever since. They probably weren't worth anything, but that's not really the point now, is it? Anyway, I guess the Archie Universe got caught up in the 70s macramé fever too, because I distinctly remember a few story lines where the girls were making macramé things. After many Google searches (and much cursing of my stupid decision to give all my comics away), this was the only one I found.

Photo found at MightyGodKing

Of course this means that vintage Archie comics have been added to my list of things to look for in thrift shops. Are any of you wonderful readers lucky enough to possess any copies of Archie macramé awesomeness? I'd be forever in your debt if you scanned them to share with the world. Pretty please with sugar on top? :)

Macramé Monday!

2011-07-18T04:00:00.001-07:00

Advertisement from McCall's Needlework & Crafts, published Spring 1978

I'm so jealous! A whole room full of color-coordinated macramé projects! With three, count 'em, three different ways to hang your plants - from the ceiling, on the wall, and in the windows! And I do believe that's an owl on the project board.

Didn't I tell you that Google was my BFF?

2011-07-13T04:00:00.004-07:00

Yup, this was pretty much my reaction, and now here I am! I may even start posting things one of these days. If you haven't signed up yet, but have been just dying for an invite, I'd be happy to send you one. I'm pretty sure it's still early enough in the game that you'd be able to say, "I was using Google+ before it was cool". Then again, if I think it's cool, then it probably isn't.

Birdies!

2011-07-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos from my visit to the Birds of Prey Visitors Center last May. I can't believe that was over two months ago! Time sure flies when you're procrastinating writing blog posts.

Phoenix the Turkey Vulture

All of the other birds either stayed towards the back of their cages or screamed at anyone who came too close. Not this cutie though! Phoenix hopped right up to the front and looked me in the eye. We had a lovely little chat. And there was another personable Turkey Vulture named Judge Dread who was in the flying demonstration. He was a cranky boy, and flew up into the trees refusing to come back down. He was still ignoring the handlers an hour later when we left. This is why Turkey Vultures are awesome.

Dramatic hawk is dramatic

Not much to say about the hawks. They were hopping and fluttering about on their perches, twisting their heads around to get a good look at us. Later on, one managed to get off his tether somehow, and swooped down during the Barn Owl's flying demonstration. He obeyed the handlers though, and was caught before he could catch his snack. Needless to say, poor Cleo was pretty spooked after that.

Cleo the Barn Owl with the handler

Falcons!

There were falcons galore! It's pretty creepy when they're all sitting quietly, staring at you, most likely plotting your demise. It reminded me of that scene in The Birds where the blonde lady is sitting outside the schoolhouse. It's super quiet, and after a couple minutes she turns around and realizes that the jungle gym has completely filled up with birds while she had been sitting there.

Storm the Golden Eagle

Manwe the Bald Eagle

The eagles were absolutely beautiful! They looked so soft and fluffy and I wanted to hug them. I didn't though. I rather like having all of my fingers, thankyouverymuch. Besides, Manwe probably had fishy breath.

Anakin the Harris Hawk on my arm! Yay!

This is the lucky hawk that I got to play with on the Hawk Walk. You get to wear one of those big fancy gloves and go for a short stroll through the woods with a hawk and a handler. The hawk flies overhead and lands on your arm to eat the bits of food that the handler puts there, flying away again as soon as he's done. I did get to walk the last few minutes with Anakin tied to my glove, though he wasn't especially happy about it. In fact he seemed downright indignant. I, however, was thrilled!

Macramé Monday!

2011-07-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

I think it's high time for another dose of macramé owls, don't you? After all, they're probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of macramé. Well, owls or plant hangers, I suppose. Or maybe jewelry. Purses? Well, it's definitely not speaker tables or belts for shy hot pants wearers anyway.

And how about that little owl grouping on the table? I especially like the little metal one in the middle. I'd love to find a few metal owls to add to my collection. Perhaps even a few 80s hair metal owls with teased long hair, leather pants and the obligatory power ballad.

Photo from Accenting With Macramé, published in 1979

"Wise old bird says..."popularity level continues." We selected one that could be very personally yours. Have fun scavenging for driftwood and collecting beads and feathers. Then pick cord that is a natural or one of the synthetic types, but get busy and make several owls and be prepared to sell them before you can give a HOOT!"

Well, what are you waiting for? Get busy and make several owls!

Iron Man and sand art, together at last!

2011-07-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Come on, tell the truth. Would you have passed this up? Of course you wouldn't! It's all kinds of awesome! I'd really like to know who's idea it was to combine the latest incarnation of Iron Man with a retro kitschy craft like sand art. I want to be their friend.

This isn't really a tutorial or even a review of the Iron Man Sand Art Fun (yes, you have to say the whole thing). It's just something I did recently that amused me greatly (it usually doesn't take much). I probably would have done a sand art tutorial, if the very awesome Jennifer of Naughty Secretary Club hadn't beat me to it.

Sand is messy. If you feel like making some sand art of your very own, Iron Man or otherwise, make sure you have a big piece of paper beneath your masterpiece. You have to pour the excess sand off, and it's a lot easier to dump it on the paper, and use that as a funnel to get it back into it's container. Or, you can just leave it there like I did.

My only complaint with the Iron Man Sand Art Fun is that there really weren't any outlines to fill in. That is what the black sand was included for, right? This was the best I could do, short of busting out the exacto knife and making my own outlines. My fingertips were quite happy that I didn't attempt that.

And there you go, one completed Iron Man Sand Art Fun! I assumed mixing the red and yellow sand would make an orangey looking sand, but no, not really. Oh well. I left his eyes and mouth white on purpose, though in retrospect, I probably should have made the mouth black.

Iron Man, Iron Man, does whatever an Iron Man does...

Ooh, pretty! I'll probably pick up some colored sand to play with later on, 'cause this was actually kinda fun!

pew pew pew!

2011-07-06T05:15:00.001-07:00

OMG you guys! Animated Space Invaders cross stitch!

via Mr X Stitch via Craftster

Check this out for more laser love!

Macramé Monday!

2011-07-04T03:32:00.000-07:00

Photo from Macramé Enchantment: Book 5, published in 1980

It's a pretty mirror/shelf/macramé wall hanging! And look! It's our puppy friend from a few mondays back (this project is from the same booklet). I would love to have this guy actually, or maybe even two flanking my front door to freak out girl guides and encyclopedia salesmen.

Photo from Accenting With Macramé, published in 1979

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most attractive of us all. Carol Reeves used a square mirror tile and worked the macramé design with wood beads in REFLECTIVE OCTAGON. The synthetic cords that brush out lend a most decorative effect."

Here's another mirror decorated with macramé! The brushed out look was never a favorite of mine, but I think it's grown on me a little. I do love how everything in this photo is perfectly color coordinated. And just look at that awesome wallpaper! In fact, the only thing that could make this photo any better would be if the wallpaper was the fuzzy kind. A couple of the closets in my mom's house are still papered in a velvet, straw colored damask print. Hmmm, now that I think of it, the puppy statue would probably look pretty darned awesome with it.

And it's not macramé related, but happy 4th of July to my American readers!

need a creative boost?

2011-07-02T04:00:00.001-07:00

Found at Today and Tomorrow