Socks and Sand...

My sister has been visiting so my attention has been a bit scattered but things have been happening. Oh, yes, THINGS. You know that sock puppet I was talking about making a tutorial for? Well...it actually won and they asked if I'd like to make one of her producer too. I figured I might as well, I had a lonely sock all ready to go. So! That made my day and I'll be sharing any new news on it later too.

Have a look, if you haven't already: Ingrid Michaelsock Winners
(That's my name on the grand prize winning sock! That's both weird and awesome.)

How cool are all the puppets? You can tell there was a lot of work into the second place puppet (it looks like a muppet and there's embroidery on her shirt! That's some serious detail going on.) and the third place puppet definitely showed creative use of household materials. False eyelashes probably aren't in every household but they make the puppet look really friendly and pretty as a puppet can be. Also, hair elastics for her glasses? Brilliant. Got to love all the details on the rest of them too, you can tell everyone had a lot of fun making these. I got a kick out of the idea to begin with, it's the main reason I entered. 

As much as I like my puppet I don't know how I won. Maybe it's the mouth...it's rather unique.

I made an awkward video with the use of my brother's digital camera of both of the puppets but I think I'll refrain from sharing it until they've done what they're going to do with the puppets. I don't want to ruin the effect. Plus, I didn't know what I was doing so it's very awkward.

One of the other THINGS was that my dad, sister and I went to the coast. We may or may not have gone specifically to go to this little out of the way restaurant (it's set up like an old school diner on the inside) for fish and chips. My dad had gone there before with a cousin of mine after they'd gone fishing out in the ocean and was really taken with their fish and chips. It was really delicious and they had 3/4 size pirate mannequins on the outside of their restaurant which amuses me greatly. They kind of freaked me out at the same time, though. I got my sister to pose with them, she thought they were creepy too but you wouldn't think it by her exuberant pose:

Afterwards we went for a walk on the beach and Chloe had a blast, I think she had my dad carrying about 10 lbs of seashells and rocks by the end of it and her pants were soaked up to the knees from the surf.

My enjoyment of the whole thing had a lot to do with how much fun she was having, that kid really does love doing stuff. I got my dad to take a picture of us:

After the walk we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory were Chloe got to see how they make their cheese, I don't think she'd ever been there before. We also got ice cream and it was delicious. It might be gross to some but I think their white licorice ice cream is mighty tasty (it tastes like black licorice but I think I know why they don't make it black. That would be rather nasty.). They also have peppermint ice cream which was my favorite and always seemed hard to find anywhere else. It was a great little trip.



Inanimate object appreciation.

Indispensable tools. If I did not have these I would be emotionally distressed.

Pliers.

Seam ripper.

Needles of various sizes and uses.

Thread.

Mechanical Pencil. (I'm addicted, thanks Dr. B)

Clear 2x18'' ruler in 1/8 increments. If it wouldn't be so crowded I'd almost love a 1/16 one. I feel disloyal saying that though. (Also addicted to these because of Dr. B)

Chalk wheel (the Clover brand one specifically. I have one in white and one in blue.)

Embroidery scissors. I've only had them for about a year but I seriously don't know how I functioned without them. Great for itty bitty thread cutting and maximum close up snipping control.

Sharp sewing scissors. My first pair of sewing scissors were actually my great grandma's (actually, so was my first sewing machine) but they were really old and I think I didn't know enough then to not use them on paper or whatever I needed to cut. They were dull as all blazes. Hellishly so. I got new scissors my sophomore year in college and...it was like the heavens opened up. Angels sang, even.

Rotary cutter. Just don't be tired or absentminded with them, seriously. Fingers can be lost and I really love my crooked skinny fingers and all the things they're capable of. You should love your fingers equally well. Yeah, I just told you your business. Still, appendages are best while still attached to your body -more often than not.

Music. Seriously. The kinds of Cd's that I can listen to completely through from start to finish ranging from chill to headbanging depending on my energy needs. Chill for de-stress, headbanging for getting things done with some oomph. I like oomph.

Even while I was at school and didn't take crafting or artsy stuff with me, I still took everything I listed. With the exception of the rotary cutter, the mat took up too much room and there wasn't a really good reason to have it if I had my sewing scissors.

For some reason I just felt like honoring my tools of the trade. I'd be crazier without them.

This is really the only reason you should call first...

Steps to answering the door to unknown persons, Sara style.

1. Assess and/or rectify the decency of your clothing as it pertains to proper fit and cleanliness. Possibly put on a hat.
2. Climb over furniture and things to get to the one window where you can see who's knocking and then climb back out.
3. If the identity of the knocker cannot be determined, locate something to defend yourself should it be needed.
4. Debate what would make a concealable (so you don't inadvertently creep out friends, family or harmless bystanders) defensive weapon that would still be effective. Bonus points if it's a crafting tool of some sort.
5. Determine if the knocker is still there (usually involves jumping to see through the top of the door).
6. Open door with neutral expression and hello ensuring makeshift defense is within easy reach.

I am aware I'm neurotic and paranoid. Also, kind of a hermit. However, this process does weed out people who don't actually need to talk to me or who I don't want to talk to anyway. You know, proselytizers, door to door sales people, people looking for directions or, like today, some random dude I don't know. Family and friends are always welcome...just know you might have to wait. But, *Simultaneous hair flip* I'm worth it.  Or you could just call and I'll skip everything except #2 or substitute #5 for everything.

Flowers...

I haven't forgotten about blogging. I've been preoccupied with revamping my Etsy (it's going slow...) and making new things. I've also been working on the sock puppet but it's not top priority so I've been working on it intermittently. I really like it though. The more I work on it the more I want to keep it, the more I want to keep it the more I'm hesitant to submit it. Not because I think I'll win but because I might not really want to. Kind of defeats the purpose of making it in the first place, though. Then again, I do have a sock without a match now so I could just as easily make another one. I've been taking photos at each step so I think I'll post a tutorial on how I made it when I'm done and the contest is over.
Right now, I want to give props to the woman who owned our house before us. She had some mad flower planting and planning skills. We have a really pretty flower garden we had absolutely nothing to do with and it has most of my favorite kinds of flowers. I'm not really even into flowers so that's saying something. She even planted them so there's always something blooming except for in the part of the year were everything is grey tinted and looks all dead. I think my sister gets the most out of them though, every time she comes to visit she picks some and brings them in the house. Here's some pictures of only a few, right now the peonies and irises are particularly glorious.

There are pink, white and red peonies. I didn't take a picture of the red ones, for some reason.

Irises, so pretty.

I pretend I'm an artist by doctoring photos. Still, I'm tempted to put this one on my wall. It'd go, uh, interestingly with the bright blue.