Bottle caps!

Because I have so many bottle caps, I decided that I must do a craft with them. So I have been painting them with the intention of making magnets, but I am having difficulties with getting the magnets glued to the bottle caps.

Here is my work station, I spray painted the bottle caps white out on the porch.


Here is the finished product, some of them came out better than others. The goal is do to the five mana symbols from Magic: The Gathering. However, they have proven very difficult to paint. You can see that I did the Avatar symbols, a pokeball, a tri-force, the deathly hallows, and three of the five mana symbols.

Rainbow Scarf

Recently my mom has been demanding I crochet things for her, because I have lots of free time. First I made her a purple beret, and now I made this:

Apologies

I'm so sorry for the hiatus. Unfortunately, it's going to have to go a bit longer.

At the moment, I'm swamped with other responsibilities and I'm getting absolutely no crafting done. Additionally, we're discussing some administrative items amongst the group, so there may be some changes in the near future. My hope is that everything will calm down by next week and we can get back to crafting.

Thanks for your patience. Sorry about the radio silence. We'll be back late next week.

-Amanda

Mini Rat Cage

The cage is miniature, not the rats. Yes, those exist.

So, I'm getting a new rat in about a month, and I needed a separate cage for her to live in for the first few weeks, before I start socializing her with my other two. There is a common method people use for making a spare cage (often referred to as a hospital tank, because it's also used when a rat is sick and needs to be separated from the colony.) It's also a great travel cage, because it's so light, has built-in handles, and it's spill-proof.

It's fairly simple. You start with a plastic bin. Cut out the top, and insert an appropriately-sized piece of chicken wire.


The chicken wire is kept in place with wire tied through holes I drilled in the top.



I drilled some small holes in the side for the water bottle. Two small holes for its wire hanger and one large one for the nozzle to go through. This part was a little trickier because the tub is made of a sturdier plastic than the lid, so there was a danger of it cracking. I did get one small crack, but it didn't go very far, so I'm not too concerned about it.


That's it! Now I have a spare cage for my new rat when she arrives in February. I'm very excited. I'll post pictures when I have the new rat and the cage is furnished.

More crafting news later in the week.

Bleach stenciling: it actually works!

Sorry I have not posted for a few weeks. But today/tonight I have a special post!

Recently I discovered the joy of bleach stenciling and have finally figured out my own technique!

My brother is, as all unique individuals, extremely difficult when it comes to making him a present for Christmas. However! He has an obsession with Kurt Vonnegut. So I bring your attention toooooo:
And that's just the close up of the image! When I took the stencil off of the shirt and checked out the bleach, I was amazed. Simply amazed. The mustache, the glasses frames...it came out perfect!

My brother had mentioned yesterday during dinner that he really wanted a Kurt Vonnegut shirt. My fiance nudged me repeatedly under the table. He wore the shirt today. I am pleased. And want to make more stencils now.

Han Solo Belt: research & materials

I finally borrowed someone's camera, and so it's here! The first Han Solo Belt entry, as promised!

As I think I mentioned before, Alex is helping me with this project. More than just a little, it's pretty much a joint project at this point.

The first step in the process was research. I stared at photos of Han Solo Belts for hours before I even called Alex up. He sat with me while I fast-forwarded through A New Hope, trying to get screenshots of Han facing away, so we could see the back of the belt. Yeah, it was pretty intense.

I finally found a few informative source photos that I decided to go with.

This is one of my favorites.

The strength of this photo is that you get to see the whole layout of the main belt section, and it's continuous. It's a replica, but I'm finding more and more that the replicas out there are very trustworthy. As it turns out, most crafters are as obsessed with accuracy as I am!

I also have some photos of the actual prop from the films:



I found these at the amazing Original Prop Blog, which is a phenomenal resource that I've barely begun to use yet. There's so much material to read, and I have so little time!

Okay so down to the materials. Alex had me drive way out to the leather-working shop where he gets all his supplies. It's called Russell Farms (it would appear they don't have a website). The hilarious thing about this place is that they're a farm. They process people's deer meat. They sell leather and leather-working supplies, but their usual clientele is hunters. Alex loves this place. But he is not their usual clientele. Observe:

You would be forgiven for thinking he only dresses this way SOME of the time. But you would also be wrong.

So, with the help of the very friendly lady who works there, we were able to buy the leather we need for the belt.

A strap for the main belt, a large piece of scrap leather for the holster, and some medium-brown leather dye.

Here is the scrap leather, with my foot for size reference.

There was some controversy as to whether the holster is one piece or two. If it's one continuous piece, this scrap leather - despite being the largest piece they had - wouldn't be big enough. But, Val brought a few photos of various replicas to my attention. Here's a good one:

(projecthro.com)

See the rivets across the top of the part where the blaster sits? It's a separate piece of leather. It's still large, though, so it's going to be a squeeze. I think we need to go back and get another piece of scrap for the pockets on the main belt, so that this large piece can be used entirely for the holster.

So, there you have it! Of course, all of my crafting is on hold over the holiday. I don't anticipate having anything new for you next week. I'll be far too busy this weekend catching up with family, and spending every spare moment getting my January applications together and ready to submit.

Everyone have a lovely holiday, and we'll be back late next week!

British Scarves

Ok, so my thinly veiled hint earlier turned out to be a boldfaced lie. I need to find a decent camera and/or a person to take photos before I can do my Shman Shmolo Shmelt entry. Luckily, I have some other crafting news to hold you over until then!

I have two projects coming up that have 2 things in common: they're both scarves, and they're both about series' that were started in England. I guess the British just know what they're doing when it comes to sci fi/fantasy knitting projects.

I'm speaking, of course, about Harry Potter and Doctor Who.

Really my Harry Potter announcement is more of a quick note. I'm going to get the ol' crimson-and-yellow yarn out again and try to fill the shop with the ever popular Harry Potter scarves. What I would like to know from you is, what do you want to see? Which house colors do you prefer? Are there other knitted items you'd like to have in the house colors? Perhaps some Slytherin Socks?

I have to say, I absolutely love Gini's hats. I love that the colors are quieter than my scarves. It's like her hats are for the more reserved HP fan, whereas my scarves are more the shout-it-from-rooftops variety.


So, leave a comment on this entry and tell us what HP gear you'd like us to make for you!

In other iconic-scarves-inspired-by-British-fiction news, I recently happened upon a couple of wonderful websites dedicated to the accurate recreation of the Doctor Who scarf, worn by Tom Baker.

As it turns out, there are a few different versions of the scarf (essentially one for each season of the show when Tom Baker was on), and various patterns floating around the internet for each one. The lovely ladies at the websites I found have done some phenomenal research and provide resources for making your own Doctor Who scarf, including color matching for selecting good yarns, several patterns, and tutorials to help with the knitting techniques used in the patterns.

I'm going to keep digging, familiarize myself with the patterns, and then go on the epic search for yarn. I hope to make myself a Doctor Who scarf, so I can wear it to conventions and post it as a commissionable item in the Etsy shop. This is no small project, it should take some time. But It's exciting because knitting is a craft I'm already familiar with, so I feel I can tackle something of this scale with confidence.

Guys, this scarf is enormous. This is going to be awesome. I'll definitely keep you updated on the progress of this project.

In the meantime, check out those websites, and as long as I've got you commenting on this entry, vote on your favorite scarf. Which season do you like best? I haven't picked which one I'm going to knit yet.