It's been awhile eh?

I have been super duper busy lately (hence me not writing here)! I have done numerous swaps on craftster, all of which can be viewed at my personal youtube channel, dierdrelefae. I got accepted to the Athens Craftsravaganzaa, and have been crafting like a villain for that (only six more days until the show!). And I finally made a lil website, Pickled Pandas. I'm going to work on the website more after the craft fair, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I have thus far. All that's left is for me to make the online store for the website and I'll be done! Too bad I don't have just one thing left for the craft show...I am going to be crafting my butt off until the last minute for that!

Okay, so that about sums things up! Sorry this was so conjumbled, but it's 4AM and I need sleep...

Gettin crowded!

My youtube page is getting crowded with the Azariah Show, my craftster stuff, and everything else. It's just getting to be a pain to organize everything and refer people there and have them try to find the right video among all the ones I've uploaded. So, I am going to start putting my cooking and DIY videos on my other [undeveloped] channel, PickledPandas"^.^" My personal videos and everything else will stay on Dierdrelefae. I will keep you updated on that and continue posting videos from both channels that are relevant to this blog here.

Now to try to get some sleep...it's 3:35 AM and I am so wired tonight T_T Noooo! I thought I had gotten over this crazy sleep schedule:P

Prize package from Whitney Sews

Whitney's blog

First post of February

A little update...

Currently: have a horrible neck sprain from not sleeping well.

Before: played outside with Azzy. He was pretending to mow our lawn!

Before that: received my package from the eco baby swap! I got tons of little goodies and will be making a video this evening!

Things I meant to do in January but failed:

Making an owl plushie from scraps of fabric I have around the house.
Positive thought: Instead, I got all of my swaps done on time, plus I have decided to make owl plushies for the Athens Craftsaganza in May, so I will still make them.

Sew that dress I was working on.
Positive thought: I will sew it once I get white contrasting fabric to complement the green swirl fabric.

Things I have planned for February:

Craft-

Knit a pair of undies for myself.

Crochet some dish cloths -intermediate patterns

Make at least 2 hooded children blankets for Athens Craftsaganza

Finish the dress!

Make at least 5 sock monsters for Athens Craftsaganza

Make at least 2 rice heat/cold pack monsters for Athens Craftsaganza

Make at least 2 cloth diaper pull ups for Azzy

Finish steampunk circus swap on time (Feb 15)

Make socks for winter sock swap before deadline and possibly make some extras

Make at least half of the items for the Harry Potter RPG swap

Buy-

Snap press with resin snaps

Brother 1034D serger

More vintage patterns and some new patterns at 99 cent sales

Pantry for the kitchen (we have a pantry, but we buy food in bulk once a month so it gets crazy in there and we need more room)

Craft closet and other organizational items to get the office in order

Yarn and knitting supplies from knitpicks.com

Other-

Make at least 2 DIY videos on youtube

Make at least 1 cooking video on youtube

These are just little goals, I have more that I want to do, but don't know if I will have time! I will keep you updated on what I make here and on youtube"^.^"

What have I been up to?

A lot! I finished college [yay!], I participated in a craft show, and I've been working on cleaning and organizing the house, oh, and baking delicious homemade Christmas cookies"^.^"

Alrighty, so instead of lots of text to read, here are some vids of my cleaning progress and cookie baking"^.^" I will have a serperate post up for swaps I've done and another post for the craft show.

PANIC! At the Household

Trying to be clever there, didn't exactly work well though. Hm, oh wells.

So here's an update on stuffs:

College-

*Design project for Dreamweaver due after Thanksgiving break! Almost done though, so no big deal.

*Gotta finish chapter work for Dreamweaver (about 2 hours of work left to do for the class). Got luck- he isn't making us have a notebook. Which is great, since I just went through the book and forgot to print out each chapter's progress:-/

*Design project for ActionScript class...oh geez, this is due after Thanksgiving break as well and so far, I have nothing to show for it because my partner hasn't done much and the work I did I deleted out of frustration.

*Got to finish work for this class. IN OVER MY HEAD! I've been so slack with this class because I detest scripting. I thought it was going to be an advanced course in Flash animation, not Flash PROGRAMMING>.<

My store-

*One pyrite necklace to craft. Right now I'm waiting on the pyrite to come in from China.

*One two tiered glass beaded necklace to craft.

Craftster swaps-

* 10 minute swap- I have a dinosaur applique almost completed and am going to work on the bird-shaped tote tonight. I hope to send off tomorrow.

* Web comic swap- I am lovin reading my partner's favorites! I have everything planned out: plushie from one comic, two note cards from two different comics, clay or shrinky dink necklace from one comic. I will have to wait to send this off until after we get back from Missouri.

* Junk jewelry swap- I sent my necklace to my partner and she should be able to pick it up at the post office today. I will post pictures of the necklace later.

* Star Trek Christmas swap- waiting for my partner, should be partnered up November 23rd.

* November birthday swap- due two weeks after claim date (so first or second week of December for me). These are the people I want to craft for along with the items I want to make.
-Faren: coffee cozy, coupon/shipping cart organizer, personalized measuring tape
-Craftsy: coupon organizer/shopping cart organizer, journal, scrapbooking supplies
-Riechan: steampunk necklace, kokeshi doll necklace, fork pendant necklace, dress/skirt patterns
-Pale Angel Lex: steampunk pin, circuit board earrings/necklace, circuit board journal
-nancy01602: headband, wristlet, small pouches, jewelry

* Personal sock creature swap- sending after Thanksgiving break

* Personal earring swap- three earrings down, having trouble with the last two earrings, may have to improvise or change my ideas for them completely. Hoping to send off tomorrow (overly ambitious)

Mistletoe Market- Things I need to make before December 5th

* At least 8 sock monsters

* At least 4 totes

* At least 4 junk jewelry creations

* At least 3 scarves/scarflettes

* 10 small kanzashi hair pins

* 5 large kanzashi hair pins

* 2-3 head bands

* 4 more hair barrettes

* 1-2 more cowls

Thanksgiving-

*Cooking all day Saturday for Thanksgiving with my parents

*Just making green bean (with fresh green beanies!yum!)casserole for Thanksgiving in MO

So I'm going to be BUSY BUSY BUSY, cramming in as much as possible in the next 3 weeks!

0.0

Today:
WIC appointment, library, bank, pick up bread order from Kneadful Things, knitting for 6 more feet, wash laundry, hang/fold/put away laundry, wash dishes, chapters 4-5 of Adv Dreamweaver,chapters 1-7 of Adv Flash, compose 8000 words for NanoWrimo,pass out and hope I don't have to work at the restaurant in between

Update on previous days, filling in the gap from last post:

We all got a stomach virus. Azariah had it for one day, my hubbie had it for two days, and I had it for three days. And then I got another stomach virus on Halloween that lasted three days. T_T

Haven't worked at the restaurant since last Friday night due to being sick.

Sent off for one of my scarf swap partners and both of mybead soup swap partners.

Received from both of my bead soup partners.

Finished and shipped off the hemp bracelet.

Waiting on materials and check for the Pyrite pendant necklace I am to be working on.

Swaps I still have to complete:

• Scarf swap for my second partner...still have six feet of knitting to do!
  
  
• Sock monster personal swap
  
  
• Sock monster official swap
  
  
• Junk necklace swap
  
  

I joined a Web comic swap and will be hosting a poppet swap [at the end of the month].

Pictures of the scoodie I made for the scarf swap:









Made from snuggle flannel and lined with fleece. I was going to add pockets on the fleece side but forgot:-/

EDIT: If you want a flannel/fleece scoodie of your very own, email me at pickledpandas@gmail.com with the subject "scoodie". Scoodies range in price from $18-25, depending on the flannel and fleece you choose.

Pictures of the hemp bracelet I made for commission:

Oh look at my wrist, time to go!

Orders of business:

1. I'm addicted to Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
2. I have TOO MUCH TO DO!
3. Working at the restaurant again..
4. School?

I'm pretty much insatiably addicted to Dr. Horrible. I want the DVD and the soundtrack so bad! The crazy thing is, I can't get my hubbie to watch it because it's a musical. And yeah, I don't normally like musicals myself, but the is one was made by JOSS WHEDEN! Brilliant man, simply brilliant! I have most of the songs memorized because I've been watching it on an almost daily basis. I want the theme as my ring tone...but I'm too cheap to spend $3 on a ringtone that only plays a 10-20 second loop.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! *plop* *skitter squish scatter squish*
What was that?That was the sound of my brain falling out of my head and running away. I don't know how it got out...psssh, anyway, yeah I am crazy busy since I started working. I have so many things I was suppose to get done this week that I'm now having to crunch into the little bit of time I have in between work and classes.

Things I have to do BEFORE Friday:

1. Finish knitting scarf for one of my swap partners
2. Make scoodie for one of my swap partners
3. Finish compiling beads for bead swaps
4. Sew together muff for one of my swap partners
5. Make fingerless gloves for my swap partners
6. Finish the macrame bracelet

It may not sound like much, but when you have a house to keep up, sick baby to take care of, school work to get caught up on, tests to take for school, and working- that's when even the smallest amount of crafting becomes too much. But I need to work to pay for my crafting habit and gas for the car. Bah! It sucks, I'm running myself ragged.

So that brings us down to me working again. Yes, I am again working at the Chinese restaurant. I started back yesterday. I went to class, went to work, had to take sick baby to the doctor, had to rush back to work...yeah my life is even more chaotic now (as if it wasn't already too chaotic to begin with). Miserable. Doesn't. Even. Begin. To. Describe. It.

So...school? Hmmm, yeah six chapters behind in one class (but it will take me all of an hour-two hours to get caught up because it's just ActionScript) and a couple chapters ahead in my other class. I hate four hour classes. Mainly because I do my classwork at home, because I can concentrate much better here than in the classroom.I don't know why. Probably because I'm so lonely in my classes. Not having my college buddies around sucks majorly. MAJORLY! Bah....

In order to sleep well

I've had too many nights of tossing and turning, incapable of getting comfortable on our deflating air mattress. So, tonight I am staying up as late as my body will allow in order to obtain the level of complete exhaustion it take to get a good nights rest on our mattress. I do this every couple of days and it works quite well. Even though I will only be getting 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep, it will be a deep sleep and I won't feel achy in the morning because I will not have spent 8-10 hours in an uncomfortable bed. It's a necessary evil, loose restless sleep in order to gain a few hours of blissful deep sleep.

Reminds me, you know those dreams you have where it feels like you are falling, like you are half conscious and you feel like your body is floating to the ceiling and then suddenly plummeting? I used to be able to have those dreams on command when I was in my youth. I also used to be able to control my dreams by thinking about something right before I fell asleep, then I would dream about it, and while I was dreaming, if something didn't happen the way I wanted it to, I could change it. Lucid dreaming I believe that's called. I can still do that sometimes, I love it, things will be going awful and it will be on the verge of a nightmare, and then I will rewind my dream and play it back where I save the day instead of watch everything get destroyed, or something to the effect.

I also love how vivid my daydreams get. When I used to work at the UGA experiment station in the parasitology lab, I would get so bored with the monotonous work that I would day dream that I was a sailor senshi in disguise and that evil doers would bust through the window, and I would transform into a senshi and save the day...or I would dream about the love of my life whisking me away to some wonderful place far far away from the cow feces I was filtering for experimentation-this was when I was single, and oddly enough, the guy who whisked me away looked like my hubbie"^.^"

I miss enjoying sleep. The lack of a comfortable mattress really makes me dread going to bed because I know I'm going be tossing and turning all night and feeling achy in the morning...

Farewell Summer

It's a bit late, but I thought I would formally say goodbye to summer. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of summer. I think the only time I should have to deal with heat is when I am tanning at the beach. No, I am referring to all of the bold colors you can get away with wearing during the summer months. POW! pinks, YOWZA! yellows, BADABING! blues, are just a few of the many wild colors that we must now put away until next year.

But now, it is time for my favorite time of year: autumn. I love autumn, I love the earthy colors, the cool breezes, making big pots of homemade soup, knitting to keep warm, snuggling with family, reading good books...there are so many more that I could add! There's just something about this time of year that makes me want to put on something cozy and slow down from my busy life...

However, it seems as if my busy life is inescapable. I am in 5 swaps on craftster.org right now:

Autumns Fall Scarf Swap- I have two partners in this one, send off date is October 30th

Junk Jewelry Necklace/Bracelet Swap, R2- one partner, send off date is October 30th

Sock &/or Glove Doll Swap- one partner, send off date is November 9th

Bead Soup Swap - Round 3- two partners, send off date is November 2nd

A personal sock monster swap due October 30th

Plus I have a commission job on Etsy.

//rant time//
So, between maintaining a clean home, taking care of my baby, and going to college, I am busy busy busy! I like being busy craft-wise, but mixing college and crafts is really starting to get to me. I just can't wait for it to be over so I can have more time to craft. I was planning to start going to a local craft show in Atlanta, but I haven't had time to get enough high quality merchandise available yet. The last weekend is December 2nd, so maybe in November I will be able to do it. I want to be able to make enough money so that I can have a booth at Hatch Market next year. We'll see if I can make that happen or not.
//end rant//

I think I'll end this abruptly. Here are some images from a commission job I did early this year using a Vogue pattern. If anyone wants this pattern, I would LOVE to get rid of it. Maybe for $9?





More pictures can be found in the sold listing from my store.