BRING BACK THE SCARY!!!!!!

It's here!! Well, tomorrow it will be here. HALLOWEEN!!!!!!! Yep, Halloween is an entire month long!!!!! So, what's your plans? Have you already decorated your home? Have you made your creepy costume yet?! What are  you dressing up as?! I want to know!!!!!! I had been pokin around on some sites for creepy things to crochet for Halloween, and I found some really neat things. There's loads of Halloween ornaments to hang on your Halloween tree! I will be making those little ornaments, but I'll put my own twist on them. I found a really cool pattern from REDHEART for garland. Here's the site for that!
***** http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/sugar-skull-garland *****
It's an affordable awesome decoration that I plan on leaving up all year long. I'm really excited about this month! I think October should be SCARY!!! Forget about all the cute sweet and sexy costumes. Halloween isn't suppose to be cute and sweet and sexy. It's suppose to be scary and creepy! Unless of course you're a baby and you look adorable in that little lion costume. Lions can be scary! I just think we should try to bring the creepy and scary back into Halloween. There should be one month out of every year where we dress like monsters, decorate our yards to look like abandoned houses, and have a good time doin it!!
Scary and creepy. That's what it's all about. Oh, and candy!
 Okay, one of my favorite sites for Halloween costumes, ornaments and other little things
*****http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternFinder.fcgi?search=1&searchText=halloween&Go.x=1&Go.y=1&Go=1&start=0&pageLength=15 *****
Lionbrand has an amazing collection of Halloween patterns. I've also been digging around on Pinterest for sewing ideas and there's a lot, too many to pick and list. So I'm being lazy.
I'd love to read about any ideas you have for Halloween!! Post them below in the comments section and I'll reply!!!!

Until next time,
Tonya

Quick and Easy Slippers for Your Flippers!

This is something I've wanted to tackle on my own, for a long time now. I have found a million different styles of slippers, but I keep going back to the same style. Simple and cute. They're so easy to make. I took all the information I could gather from different patterns, and decided to just mush it together, take some things away, and make it so easy, that I can make these and never get bored with them. You can change them up so much, no pair has to look the same. Okay, here it is. If you find any issues, since this is my first pattern, just let me know.

I used RedHeart Super Saver yarn, and an H hook.

Start with a magic ring, ch 3, 7 dc in magic ring, join with sl st.
ch 3, 2 dc in ea st around.
ch 3, dc in first st, *2 dc in next, dc in next, repeat from * to last st, join with sl.
ch 3, dc in ea st around, join with sl st.
ch 3, dc in ea st around, join with sl st.
Now, you don't have to change color, but I did with the ones I made. If you DON'T change color, just continue to follow last step until your toes and the top of your foot are covered enough for you.
To change color here, join color with slip knot and sc, sc around, join with sl st.
I changed color again!
ch 3, dc around, join with sl st.
ch 3, dc across next 15 st.
Follow last step until the bottom (what you're working on now, and the sides too!) is as long as your foot. Once you get there, fold in half, and join the ends with sl st, making the back of the heel.
I made these for my Momma. She's been on me about slippers for a while now. I made hers in colors that I know she'd love together. She lives in Florida, I don't know why she needs slippers!
I'll be making more of these slippers and selling them in my etsy store.
Www.etsy.com/shop/WOOLLYGHOULIE

Until next time,
Tonya

Ever use crafting to get through some things?

I do. Everyday, actually. Crochet is my go-to when I'm down. It has helped get me through my dad dying. It's the counting, I think. You get in a rhythm, and you just crochet the crap out of that yarn! You have to be careful though. You crochet when you're too upset, you're liable to end up with something that's crocheted so tight, it's warped. Then you gotta frog it! I guess that would be a good way to get some anger out! 

So crafting keeps my mind busy. Almost busy enough where I don't think about things  constantly. My fiance and I have been pretty busy with rummage sales and Goodwill. We're what you call Goodwill Pickers. We pick and sell things on etsy, or ebay. That helps to keep my mind off of things. But, it's the long rides in the truck that get me sometimes. When you have time that you're not doing something with your hands, it hits you, and it sucks. 

Crocheting, cross stitching, sewing and upcycling stuff is what keeps my mind a safer place. Losing my daddy has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I NEED crafting, to help keep my mind off of things that bring me down. It's such a positive way to help with depression. You get something out of it. You get the finished product, the satisfaction that YOU created that awesomeness, and a few moments of a peace, if you're lucky. 

Healing your heart and mind doesn't happen with a finished lapghan or a shawl. But crafting, creating and working can help a whole lot. I think that if there's someone that has been an impact on your crafting and creating ability, it can bring you closer to that person emotionally. Every time I hammer a nail or sand down a piece of wood, I can't help but to think of my daddy, and how proud of me he would be. It makes me feel so much better. 

So in my conclusion, I believe that being creative is the best thing for a sad heart. It doesn't make it ever go away. It just helps to deal with things a little better. And it can help with self-esteem issues too. You create something bad ass, and someone compliments you on it, hell yeh!! You're an amazing artist!!! So craft people!! Create!!! Get through all that bad crap going on!!! Help yourself, and everyone else around you. 

Until next time,

Tonya

Results for Resin Castin' Motha'!!!!!

So here are my casts!!! They both came out very easily this morning. I'll do a recap! 

Yesterday I did my first resin epoxy casting, the blue anchor. 

Then I got  out the other mold, the flowers, and decided to try another attempt. Just to see if there would be different results. I haven't done this by Easy Casts standards. I haven't used their cast release spray. I haven't used their pigments. But I swear that Easy Cast is amazing. 

Anyway, what I did use for a release was cooking spray with the blue anchor. It works. It creates a barrier between the mold and the resin. It released very easily. Perfect for that. But, I'm not crazy about the matte finish. I don't want to buff these casts or have to do much sanding. Sanding around the edges is fine, but other than that, I'd rather not have to mess with the cast too much. 

As for the flowers, I used a silicone spray. It said that it protects rubber and so on and so forth, so I figured I'd give it a shot on the back of the mold first. It worked, so I casted some flowers. They turned out shiney. Just what I wanted.  

I used eye shadows to color the resin epoxy. As you can see, it works! It doesn't just work.. it works WONDERFULLY!!! 

Now, these casts haven't cured completely yet. They take about 73 hour for a complete cure. I popped them out of the molds with no problem, but they're still a little soft. So before in use these for anything, I'll let them set for another two days. 

I know it sounds like it takes forever, but you can't mess with perfection. I don't see any reason to search around for a different resin epoxy. I'm happy with my results and I don't mind the curing process. 

So, I have a LOT of casting to get done today, folks. I'm excited! And I have to get to work. I'm going to try a few things like a multi color casting. =) Wish me luck!!!!

Until next time,

Tonya

Resin Castin' Motha' YEAH!!!!

I have FINALLY received my resin molds in the mail today!! I've had my resin epoxy for about two weeks, and I've been looking for cheap ways to color my resin with.
Well, I bought Easy Cast resin. It's super easy to do. The instructions and trouble shooting tips are extremely easy to understand. A little bit goes a long way. So I'm glad for my first go round, I got a small kit. There's some helpful tips in there, like filling your mold with water before you mix the resin together, so you know how much to make, and you aren't wasting your resin epoxy mix. It's too expensive to waste. The small kit I got was about $14.00. But, like I said, it goes a long way, at least for what I'm using it for. The molds I purchased aren't very big. I recommend definitely getting rubber molds that are very flexible for things that have crevices, like flowers. The reason for that is, you need to make sure you get your mold casting release spray in every crevice. You need to test the release spray and resin on the back of your molds before you go pouring resin inside your perfectly wonderful mold. If whatever spray you're using isn't going to work with your mold for some funky reason, you need to know. It can ruin a perfectly fine mold. Waste. That's what you would have. Waste doesn't make a penny.
So today, I used eye shadow to color my resin. It was super cheap at Family Dollar, I think I spent $3.50 on eye shadows and I got seven different colors. You can also get eye shadow pallets on eBay for cheap. I haven't ventured into anything other than two molds. One is a cameo and the other is a mold that has three small flowers. The cool thing about the eye shadow is, it has a shimmer affect to it. I think these castings will be really pretty when they're done. I'm going to experiment more the day after tomorrow, after I find out if I can release these casts without ruining them. The Easy Cast says that it takes up to 73 hours for a hard cast, which is what I want. I don't want something pliable, just to make a mess of it.
Hopefully, if anyone is thinking about doing some resin casting, this helps out a little bit! I would suggest checking out Amazon and eBay for your molds and resin. And when you go mold shopping, make sure you can use them with resin!! You don't want ones that are for just food. So, there's a few tid bits of info for you. Happy casting!
Until next tome!
Tonya

Pom Pom Mayhem

I hate making pom poms. It's NOT easy, people! They never come out even and pretty and perfect. They come out all lopsided and uneven and stupid looking. I have been to SEVERAL websites that have posted on how to make these evil little yarn balls.
I know, it looks like a simple little cute addition to your hats, sweaters, jewelry, shoes, socks, gloves and whatever else you want to use pom poms for. Cute, yes. Easy to make, no. How come?!  How come everyone else's pom poms come out great, but I have the most difficult time making mine nice?! I just want nice ones. I don't mind having to trim up and cutting off the strays. But, when one side is two inches longer than the other side, and there's not enough on the shorter side to do anything with, ARGH!!!!!
Oh, the mayhem of POM POMS!!!!!! I follow directions. I do what it says, and still, mayhem!
I, eventually, WILL master this evil little monster. I have to! Everyone else makes these things like it's nothing. I need to be able to make pom poms. That's all there is to it. Once I get it mastered, I will post my perfect pom pom!
Are pom poms supposed to be perfect? If not, tough. I'm getting it as close to perfect as I can. I have experimented with every type of pom pom markery that I could find online. But I need to take parts of each one, and put them all together. Or maybe I might just need to throw it all out of the window! Forget about everything there is to know about making pom poms. Make a pom pom in an unorthodox fashion. I have no idea how I do this. I will figure it out soon!
The reason I'm going on about these pom poms...
I made a slouch hat in Heather grey and magenta. I made a sloppy, sorry and pitiful pom pom to top it off. I'm keeping this hat for myself. It's going to be getting cold, and I have no hats. I have hats to sell, but not any to keep. So this one, I'm keeping. It will match the scarf I made myself last year, out of the same Heather grey yarn! And my coat! It's black and Heather grey! Did you say mittens?! Don't mind if I do!! I think I'll go with a basic, quick mitten. I'll be posting pictures soon!! I'm excited!
I have work to do. I can't stay and blog allllllllllllll day!
Until next time,
Tonya