tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335143012024-03-13T00:18:45.223-04:00she fights like a girlShe Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871299801268755171noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-9795463847796577852020-04-21T20:14:00.000-04:002020-04-21T20:14:25.314-04:00SSDGM Knife CollarThis one is from last year. I was going to see the "My Favorite Murder" ladies live — a podcast that really inspires their listeners to create a lot of things, for some reason — so naturally I had to make something specifically for the show. I embroidered a couple big juicy knives on some felt, hinged them with a couple of buttons, and made a collar out of it.<br />
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<i>MAN I love that great big embroidery hoop!</i></div>
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<b>Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered!</b></div>
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<span id="goog_1852228167"></span><span id="goog_1852228168"></span><br />She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-34390010435319120122019-06-20T15:33:00.003-04:002019-06-20T15:33:53.810-04:00Skulls and Chains (some more)I have had a 3D printer for a couple of years now, and it keeps me busy in the best ways. I recently found a lot of scanned-from-life animal skulls, and wanted to make a...big necklace. :) The base of the thing, I actually already had — years ago, I made this woven chains necklace, and this seemed like a good time to update it.<br />
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So here's a weird picture of yours truly wearing two birds, two rats, and one cat skull. Not to scale! (Probably.) This is the day I wore this necklace to work. Not ONE person mentioned it. Not one! What kind of reputation do I HAVE around this place!<br />
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<br />She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-80710195287235838132019-06-20T15:29:00.001-04:002019-06-20T15:29:18.367-04:00SOTL Moth PatchHaven't stopped making, just stopped posting. :)<br />
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Here's a quick project — well, no, it's a quick post about a project I thought about for a long time. I also recreated the artwork I needed to make it usable not only for an embroidery machine, but also to work in the way I wanted for the applique. There are 4 layers of quilting cotton, embroidered atop a felt backing. It was then trimmed and distressed by hand, then attached to the jacket (a second-hand RTW that had been white before I dyed it).<br />
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I was thinking about adding a quote from "Silence of the Lambs," but I wanted to try with just the patch first. Could still add a quote... but what would it be?<br />
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<br />She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-5551063521375107602016-09-05T14:36:00.001-04:002016-09-05T14:47:13.694-04:00Octopus Lights!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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This project went on for sooooooo long! In a way, now that it's all done, it's kind of like "what's the big deal?" Well, the big deal is, I'd been needing to redo my bathroom for a few years, was actively saving up for it for months, and had been wanting some octopus lights foreeeevvvvver! So let me show/tell you what I'm talking about.<br />
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I have one small bathroom in my house. In the 10+ years I've lived here, this is the <i>second</i> time I've renovated it. It was damaged when I bought the house, and then I got a cut-rate hack job which after a few years led to the bathtub actually cracking on the bottom. Unfortunately, this happened while I was in the midst of my extended involuntarily vacation, so I was left with no recourse other than to stand awkwardly while showering, in hopes of not crashing through to the crawlspace.<br />
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When I went back to work, one of my main priorities was the bathroom. And the priority of the priority was...octopus lights.<br />
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While I was saving up, I was researching like crazy, trying to find someone somewhere who made octopus lights I could use as main lighting for the room, as opposed to some small accent light. Came up with nothing. Even on Etsy! Really, check for yourself! In any case, the answer was — as it so often is — <i>make them.</i><br />
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I refocused my search on finding some kind of statue or plaque that I could wire for lights. Now, if you're looking for statues, you'll find tons. I narrowed it down to three, and ordered all of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsngTSjthoDwouQvmjYB706-LwX_Cql0hzil-kY0-cPyKw_P129IzucIbg-VF9LC8GZQ9xOGpaV-qdKRTryXvbyGFbC22k_IJ4_r8tJnYtOHUsnVp3qpxTGFiaavBe3CX9LnDC/s1600/threeocto.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsngTSjthoDwouQvmjYB706-LwX_Cql0hzil-kY0-cPyKw_P129IzucIbg-VF9LC8GZQ9xOGpaV-qdKRTryXvbyGFbC22k_IJ4_r8tJnYtOHUsnVp3qpxTGFiaavBe3CX9LnDC/s1600/threeocto.jpg" /></a></div>
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I was really rooting for the one on the left, which is intended as a candelabra, and seemed like it would be the easiest to wire up. It was also meant to sit on a table, though, so when I put it on the wall, it just...did not work. The middle one was my second choice, because I liked the coloration of it, and the side-set eyes were cool. But I couldn't come up with a good plan for bulb sockets, so it went back, too. Left me with my last choice, the "steampunk" octopus. A little ironic, that, because now, it's my favorite of the three, and they worked so well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/29039399331/in/photostream/" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Octo Lights: Socket Detail"><img alt="Octo Lights: Socket Detail" height="240" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8419/29039399331_c99dac0f88_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Shaved, epoxied, and painted socket, with dry-brushed collet nut finish.</span></i></td></tr>
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The bronze octo has three spots where bulbs could potentially fit, which would mean 6 bulbs between the two I intended to install on either side of the mirror cabinet. (The lights currently in the bath had 8 bulbs, so I was concerned about getting enough light.)<br />
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They're still small curls, though, so full-size bulbs wouldn't work. That meant more research on candelabra bulbs to find some that would give enough light, sans heat, and would still look cool.<br />
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Let me tell you, I had no idea how many kinds of lightbulbs there are out there. I mean, why would anyone? I've been buying the same CFLs for a decade now, so I hadn't even been paying attention to all these LEDs and stuff. But man, I found some cool ones.<br />
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I got some little candelabra sockets at the local Lowe's, which <i>almost</i> fit into the curled tentacles. The plaque itself is some sort of resin, so I decided I could open the space a little with my Dremel, to get the sockets in there. Luckily, I decided to talk to my cousin Rob about this project, and he said the sockets would be easy to shave down, with less potential for disaster. See, this is why you sometimes just need a second brain on a project.<br />
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Rob got interested in the whole idea, so he came over and the two of us sat out on the deck, shaving down plastic lamp bases until they fit nice and snug. Then we filled in any gaps with epoxy to keep them stable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/28829949460/in/photostream/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Octo Lights: Eye Detail"><img alt="Octo Lights: Eye Detail" height="240" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8493/28829949460_b8493bfe25_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>The eyes are super cool in person.</i></span></td></tr>
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The sockets were plain black, which worked fine since most of it was behind the tentacle, but the raw top edge was pretty ugly and unfinished, even with a bulb set in it. I found some nice rounded collet nuts at the hardware and decided those would make an appropriate finishing touch, with a little bit of paint. So I spray painted them matte black, and then dry brushed some copper. They really look like a part of the sculpture now!<br />
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After looking all over the place for just the right light bulbs, would you believe I found them at Kroger? Yeah, shopping for cheese, found the perfect lights! Dimmable LEDs with clear globes. They suited the octopus so well, with its big glass domed eyes.<br />
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Rob helped me wire all three sockets together to be suitable for the existing wall location, and they were nearly completed. The last thing I hadn't really figured out was how they were going to mount to the wall itself. Because these were just meant to hang, there was a fabric cord moulded into the back to hang on a nail. Obviously, that wasn't going to work. I thought we might have to install some sort of keyhole hanger, but after looking at how my previous lights were mounted, we figured it out. It was going to involve drilling right between the eyes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/28494749154/in/photostream/" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Octo Lights: Acorn Nut Mount"><img alt="Octo Lights: Acorn Nut Mount" height="228" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8711/28494749154_b715181e60_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>That acorn nut right in the middle there.</i></span></td></tr>
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This made me <i>very</i> nervous! Rob found some nice small, and appropriately colored, acorn nuts, though, and after testing out how it looked, not only was I not bothered by the exposed hardware, I decided it really added to the overall look! So Rob took them to his drill press (no way I was doing this with a hand drill), cut and slotted some threaded rod to be deep enough to accommodate the rather thick material, and we were good to go!<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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Now came showing the contractor.<br />
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I told him this room really depended on these lights. All the colors in the room were based on the lights. This whole project was planned around them! (That's not entirely true — the foundation of the room was actually the big-as-possible Jacuzzi tub, but still.) He was pretty tickled by them, which made me happy. I was concerned there might be a moment of "what kind of hack job lights are these, you can't expect me to put something like this up!" But no, he was all for it, even though it was going to mean moving everything on that wall over a few inches to keep the much wider new lights out of the shower.<br />
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At least, he was all for it until 3 weeks into the 2 week project, when he messaged me at work to say, "The lights aren't going to fit." I got up out of a meeting and said, "I'm on my way." No way had we made it this far to quit. There was no Plan B.<br />
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He was just reluctant to move the sink and the wiring over further than he thought he was going to have to, because it turned out the new tub was a couple inches wider than the previous one, which meant the whole room already shifted. (And I now have an entry door that's a couple inches narrower than normal. You'd never know.) I talked him in off the ledge, and he did an excellent job moving and centering all the necessary elements.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/29083815626/in/dateposted-public/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Octo Lights: New Bathroom"><img alt="Octo Lights: New Bathroom" height="640" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8503/29083815626_277ca0e538_b.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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So, this is the new bathroom! I won't bother with pictures of all the other stuff, the new floor, tub, shower tile, etc. Because this is aaaaalllll about the octos. Even the wall color was chosen to highlight the copper shading, and the narrower wall cabinet was also a compromise to get them in there. Yes, that big abstract thing between the lights is a mirror; no one needed to see me standing there with my camera.<br />
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Everyone who has seen pictures asks the same thing: "Where did you get those??" Which is my cue to say my favorite thing in the world: "I made them myself."She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-43121794412089871042016-08-22T13:50:00.003-04:002016-08-22T13:51:48.449-04:00Estate Sale Find! Paper art gold finch.I have been a connoisseur of the second-hand for most of my life, but in the last year or so, I've been hitting the local estate sales pretty hard. And by "local," I mean anything within, oh, up to 50 miles.<br />
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Although it's tempting, I am not a wanton "ooh this is neat I must buy it!" type of shopper. I am also not a "this is valuable, I can resell this!" shopper. I look for things I want, for me, usually for my home. That makes my strike:score ratio probably something like 20:1, but I don't mind. It's also an opportunity to look at how other people live. (Don't let anyone tell you that estate salers aren't voyeurs.)<br />
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The focus of this site has always been stuff I made, but when I was organizing some photos this weekend, I realized how many pics I had of random/recent estate sale finds, and decided it would be fun to start sharing them. So here's the first one.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/29038846951" title="Estate Sale Find: Gold Finch"><img alt="Estate Sale Find: Gold Finch" height="500" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8218/29038846951_96f3573708.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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This is a closeup of an amazing little piece of art I got at an estate that had a good 6 or 8 of these life-size, cut/layered paper birds. There were blue jays, cardinals, and the big one, three cockatoos—again, life size! I gravitated to the gold finch because of the (middling) size of the piece and the contrasting black background.<br />
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In pencil on the back of the piece was written, "Gold Finch, Basil Ede." Great, for once I have the name of the artist!<br />
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Or so I thought.<br />
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When I got home, I looked up <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Ede" target="_blank">Basil Ede</a>. Turns out, he is the originator of the illustration that the paper artist then turned into this dimensional piece. So I still don't know who actually made the piece.<br />
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It was already framed in a rather ugly finish, I have to say. The wood was that mid-tone that dominated in the late-60s/early-70s, with dark grain... just didn't like it. I had no issue with repainting the frame glossy white, as I didn't think that was altering the art in any way.<br />
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And here it is in its place in my living room!<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/29038849001/in/photostream/" title="Estate Sale Find: Gold Finch in situ"><img alt="Estate Sale Find: Gold Finch in situ" height="375" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8445/29038849001_d52d251572.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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That's a big ol' steer skull there, which may give you an idea of the size. I had sent my mother a picture of the piece when I got it from the sale, in the original frame and all, and she said, "And what are you going to do with that?" What am I going to do? Put it on the wall! It actually looks really good in the space, the bad lighting of that photo aside.</div>
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Maybe some day I'll find out who actually made it.</div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-1282040071024232202015-09-27T13:00:00.000-04:002015-09-27T13:00:02.866-04:00MST3K Jacket quickieThis is going to be a quickie, because I don't have any photos. I didn't take any while I was making it, and I keep thinking I'll take better pictures of the finished product, but...I keep not doing that. But I still wanna show it off!<br />
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This is a lightweight jacket (almost a longsleeved shirt, but with a zipper up the front, which makes it feel more jackety) that I bought at my favorite boutique, Value World. (For those who don't know, Value World/Village is a pretty low-scale resale store. But it's a GREAT place to start a project, because the money investment is so low.) I was going to a "Geek Fan Expo," and wanted something unique to wear. (Common theme, yes.) I started by thinking "what geeky thing am I a fan of?" Mystery Science Theater 3000 is my all-time favorite TV show, and inside of that show, the Gamera episodes are some of my favorites, sooooooo...<br />
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The plan was to have Joel and the bots in silhouette across the bottom of the jacket, watching Gamera. I started by seeking a Gamera image that I liked. After looking at many MANY movie stills, I found this awesome illustration, which did not have a creator attached. I wish I could find out who did it, because it's awesome, and the same artist did several other fantastic kaiju illustrations.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdEX6L7ln7I9if7_plxy49ZaGTlFTFbcT5pvrc6IbPAEGsxCZZ_6hyphenhyphenfFPp0ZbcKBc1o2GpdAoj1ZQh4JhE-pdRKSTtJtN_pceIjWlJ7KCFQCJjF3EiGbrydewqw81ztEdSctj/s1600/Gamera-9ga3iq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdEX6L7ln7I9if7_plxy49ZaGTlFTFbcT5pvrc6IbPAEGsxCZZ_6hyphenhyphenfFPp0ZbcKBc1o2GpdAoj1ZQh4JhE-pdRKSTtJtN_pceIjWlJ7KCFQCJjF3EiGbrydewqw81ztEdSctj/s320/Gamera-9ga3iq.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I printed this on white cotton using my Epson inkjet with DuraBrite ink. Printing with this ink doesn't require the fabric to be pretreated in any way. It prints great and HOLDS color remarkably well, even through washing. (Not that I'll wash this jacket, but I did rinse the print after letting it sit for a day or two, and running a hot iron over it, just to make sure it wouldn't smudge.)<br />
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I positioned it on the back of the jacket, and then free-motion stitched a rough outline of the beastie's shape, going over it a few times. Then I carefully trimmed the excess print away, to give it a cooler look.<br />
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I felt like the sky needed something, so I repeated the process with the MST3K planet logo (the Satellite of Love wouldn't quit fit the layout).<br />
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For Joel and the bots, I traced a vector version of them in the theater seats, and used that to cut the shape out of felt with my Silhouette Portrait cutter, after adhering heat-n-bond to the back of the felt. This is important for two reasons: felt needs stabilization to be cut with the Silhouette. Further, stitching around the complex shapes to attach it to the jacket would have been paaaaaaaaiiiinful, so this was a preferable option.<br />
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That's pretty much it! Print-stitch-trim Gamera, print-stitch-trim MST3K loto, cut-iron-on theater silhouettes, and you get...THIS.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/14996891340/in/album-72157638194878046/" title="Gamera/MST3K Jacket"><img alt="Gamera/MST3K Jacket" height="375" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/14996891340_cf828c7a73.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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Yeah, it's not a great picture. But every other time I think about taking a better picture, I'm already wearing it. I wear it fairly often, usually to great response. There are more MiSTies out there than you think!</div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-20090415040701292742015-05-12T17:15:00.000-04:002015-05-12T17:03:05.570-04:00Welcome to Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day 2015!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red;">This giveaway is CLOSED! Our winner is commenter #6, Rachel!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">How could I possibly resist an eclectic 9 year old, especially having <i>been</i> one myself? Rachel & Co.'s new tie is in the mail, and after it gets there, hopefully they'll send me a picture in action to share with everyone.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Thanks to everyone for the comments and visits. My first Giveaway Day was a lot of fun, and I'll be doing it again next time, so stay tuned.</span></b></div>
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Welcome to <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/" target="_blank">Sew Mama Sew</a> <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/04/giveaway-day-is-may-6-2/" target="_blank">Giveaway Day</a>!</div>
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This is my first time participating in the extravaganza, so let me get right to the goods.<br />
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What I'm giving away is a classic burgundy marbled vintage tie, machine-embroidered by yours truly with sweet heart-skeleton-keys motif — a jumble of dark red keys with one true red key right in the center. <i>Aww. </i>(Embroidery pattern by <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/default.aspx" target="_blank">Urban Threads</a>. <i>Hi, Urban Threads!</i>)<br />
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From a series of customized ties which I had listed on my (currently on hiatus) <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashPatch?ref=hdr_shop_menu" target="_blank">etsy shop.</a><br />
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This vintage Wentworth tie is 4" at the widest and 58" long, made of 100% polyester. Digital colors are approximate.<br />
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Now! How can you make this yours? It's easy. Leave a comment on this post telling me how YOU would wear this tie! I'm a woman and a fan of neckties, and I don't think anyone is ineligible for neck fancifyin'. (Of course if you plan on using it to fancify someone else's neck—or anything else at all—tell us all about that.)<br />
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<b>Details:</b><br />
• Giveaway is open from now until Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. Detroit time (EST).<br />
• I will ship internationally.<br />
• Make sure you have an email address attached to your comment! This is how I will be in touch to get your shipping information.<br />
• If my first choice of winner doesn't respond within 24 hours of my message, I'll move on to the next choice.<br />
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Thanks, and happy browsing!She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-59120727497434878832015-05-04T13:08:00.000-04:002015-05-04T13:08:29.100-04:00Here's something I haven't done before... Giveaway Day this week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-3WDuphgd_W_QZzP8Wty8v4qGGuuwKdKzMGrOd6TMhmrxIiiRylUmivQHyCBdubZZIILjDhW_j3bp48qfNsCsiNg7NmOKakobFf0OdtDbbdtRFSaqCGvr_D08kcRwbI-xcAS/s1600/giveawaydaymay6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-3WDuphgd_W_QZzP8Wty8v4qGGuuwKdKzMGrOd6TMhmrxIiiRylUmivQHyCBdubZZIILjDhW_j3bp48qfNsCsiNg7NmOKakobFf0OdtDbbdtRFSaqCGvr_D08kcRwbI-xcAS/s1600/giveawaydaymay6.jpg" /></a></div>
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I am going to be taking part in the <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/" target="_blank">Sew Mama Sew</a> <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/04/giveaway-day-is-may-6-2/" target="_blank">Giveaway Day</a> this week, May 6th. I've been reading Sew Mama Sew for a long time, but have never really paid much attention to this event...somehow!<br />
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On Wednesday, I'll be posting up what item I'll be giving away. I have a few choices, and I haven't entirely decided yet, but it'll be something good, from my store. "Entry" details will be posted then as well.<br />
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So come on back for the full story, and dig right in to <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/04/giveaway-day-is-may-6-2/" target="_blank">Giveaway Day</a> (actually a week!). There are sure to be dozens and dozens of fantastic things in the offing.She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-627107665536657992015-04-29T22:28:00.000-04:002015-04-29T22:29:51.384-04:00Felt-Wrapped Dowels Earring Holder<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17315385162" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="300" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8804/17315385162_c4414f0e6c.jpg" width="400" /></a>Have you ever had a scrap of fabric that you desperately wanted to do SOMETHING with, but it was too small (or too flimsy or too obnoxious…) for most projects?<br />
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Somewhere, I acquired this little piece of cream-colored cotton with green running horses on it. Smaller than a fat quarter… genuinely, no idea where it came from. But I LOVED this little scrap and have always known exactly where to find it, while waiting for the right project to come along.<br />
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Meanwhile... For the last couple of decades, I haven't been able to wear earrings without my piercings getting inflamed and painful. (Damn waste, since I have 7 total [artificial] holes in my ears.) I figured I'd developed some kind of allergy, and experimented with different earring types for a while (silver, gold, surgical steel, platinum, etc.) before just giving up on earrings.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17291282406" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="earrings by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="earrings" height="300" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/17291282406_f96b959f57.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Then, not too long ago, I discovered nylon ear wires and decided to give those a try. And hey, what do you know, I could finally wear—and make—earrings again. They had to be danglies, which was fine with me, since those are fun to make and wear. I made a handful of nylon-hooked pairs that became favorites.<br />
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At some point, I dug up some steel posts and decided I just wanted to wear them, hot earlobes be damned. And I did, and it was fine. Then I got some more posts, and found I could wear those, too. My refound tolerance launched a whole new era of ear décor.<br />
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The problem with studs/posts is storing them. The hooks are easy—they're hooks. Hanging is what they do. In my case, my most-worn lived in the bathroom (with most of my go-to jewelry) over the edge of tall shot glasses (filled with acid green plastic beads). Before long, though, I had a little…pile of posts on the windowsill, just asking to get lost. Enter Pinterest!<br />
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I looked for some storage/display ideas, most of which just took up too much space. I did find one idea, though: felt-wrapped pencils, smashed into a drawer, with the earrings tucked between like a ring display. A good start!<br />
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I went to the local Sally (Salvation Army, <i>you nerd</i>) to look for a frame, something with a little depth but not too ornate, nor too big. And what did I find? Well, first of all, I found a VISIBLE BAT, y'all, still sealed in the box!! I have a thing about visible ______s and anatomical anythings, really. Thus, the bat and this heart model here.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17291286986" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Visible Bat! by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Visible Bat!" height="375" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7661/17291286986_d969f643a8.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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Back to the point, I also found a decorative shadowbox sort of frame with some super tacky ribbon flowers in it, an inch or so deep, and about 15" x 4". First step, tear out the hideous…art and throw it away. (I would have burned them, but I'm sure the fumes would have killed me.) Then I'd have to cover the gross brown—HEY! HORSE FABRIC!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17317230715" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="240" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7732/17317230715_2dd03d71be.jpg" width="320" /></a>I've never really Mod Podged anything, but I've seen it done, so I just hacked at it. Got the Fabric formulation (probably not necessary), and put on a not-too-thick coat. Wanted to make sure the fabric would follow the contours, but not get soaked through. Did the long sides first, smoothing down long strips and running a nail along the indents to get the fabric in there. Oh, and made sure the ends turned those corners a little, to be covered by the short sides.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17316800791" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="240" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8735/17316800791_e6582d7941.jpg" width="320" /></a>The short sides were the only tricky thing about the whole project. Smoothed the strips the same way, but up at the corners, I folded the raw edge in and pressed it along the miter line. It was kind of fiddly, but the Mod Podge is super workable, so I just kept at it until it was smooth enough.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17291278456" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="240" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7765/17291278456_b9e5eac8de.jpg" width="320" /></a>For the rods, I got enough doweling for six 5 15" lengths, and a yard of cream-colored felt. I had to experiment a bit to figure out the right length for the wrapped dowels to fit in snugly* together. After a couple of tests, it turned out to be 10" (by the 15" width).<br />
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For each dowel, I hot glued the dowel along the long edge, and rolled it up tightly. It's all about tension, so if the felt is loose, it's not going to hold the earrings. <i>(Maybe. What do I know.)</i> Then I sat on the sofa and stitched down the free edges (rather than gluing, because I have a fear of commitment). The blanket stitch was probably unnecessary, but I like things neat.<br />
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Stuff the dowels into the opening, replace the back that came with the frame, nail on a little hanger, and that's it!<br />
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Now cram the posts in between the rolls, and flip your hair or whatever comes next. I'm sure there's room on this for every pair of earrings I will wear for the rest of my life! (Just like I said for the first of the now three clothes racks I have in my dressing room.)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/16696986543" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="375" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/16696986543_d12c6944bd.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/17315395422" title="fabric-covered earring rack by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="fabric-covered earring rack" height="375" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8799/17315395422_4f86c18e41.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">If my bathroom looks very green in this picture, it's because my bathroom is very green. It was also close to dusk, when that room looks craziest. Because the room where you want the whackest lighting/colors is the room where you dress and put on makeup, right? Yeah, I thought so, too!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*I DID IT AGAIN. I swear I'd completely forgotten about my string of "snugly" until I was editing this post and saw that I'd used it AGAIN.</i></span></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-62472694116998751242014-12-03T17:38:00.000-05:002014-12-03T17:38:04.736-05:00New stuff in the shop—ties!I've opened a new section at my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashPatch" target="_blank">Smash Patch! Etsy shop</a> for a series of embroidered ties I've been working on. These are all vintage ties I've hand-picked and then machine embroidered designs (and colors) that I thought fit them.<br />
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There are four ties in the shop right now, and in the next few days I'll be adding more. Check 'em out!<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashPatch?section_id=16432823&ref=shopsection_leftnav_3" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6AZdwMOEdykZjEsmAwU_bLTk3szqN7oIz0NLfBDiUnbcPHg8lvv8SLBkgQTxNxWuADx09Kh2wCQMDridskYFLk8wBqgExJPYbXlb2Otk0M5O6997gRdsErTTTKR8fwY5gpL8/s1600/tiedept.png" height="376" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-70785679002222129162014-11-28T16:57:00.002-05:002014-11-28T17:03:15.705-05:00My new Etsy shop, SMASHPATCH!I've added a new icon/link to the right navbar, maybe you haven't noticed. I've opened a new Etsy shop, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashPatch?ref=l2-shopheader-name" target="_blank">SmashPatch!</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashPatch?ref=l2-shopheader-name" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEibGhpswjhn3SNvtBm-8J9pA2KmPVjsgGoFDTULT1whCpsEwjmIAsPWAB4cH8jYRH2u_tNKQVg69U6vecAD0jfElAP1wDKfM_akzymvoi_qfbj1q0hVFFK8j5ah_NrVbCLiEU/s1600/smashpatchbanner_twitter.png" height="85" width="640" /></a></div>
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Right now, I have a selection of hand-made felt flower brooches, especially for the holidays.<br />
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Like this:<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/212103265/sophisticated-snowy-white-holiday-felt?ref=shop_home_active_9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScDV1AT4hVfH374RPdDk15sbdzYW8y9OJR2rycqAihpXFP6HfJBjUNCJ_LS9hDOwwh0WcGcis4_bx2B7bQFE5qC_2cX8mVV3nDZBF3Pm1ZBDsbheLOzIT7LoYzhW0HR23SZqZ/s1600/il_fullxfull.686111755_pedb.jpg" height="296" width="320" /></a></div>
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And this:<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/212094914/red-and-snowy-white-holiday-felt-flower?ref=shop_home_active_12" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZyH_v8BT1Trf_U33Be1OCH5cOpIKiTFXI95G74Qkj8aBKYIG40CjsJS2l40cIWrwMzu87hABf3DYuBG1kwnYCExA6IHO8NfJR_Xx8bzqkOmUes1ozoIaHCUavGNn9jLZsgDP/s1600/il_fullxfull.685987450_ilps.jpg" height="293" width="320" /></a></div>
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Aaaaaand this:<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/212092998/green-and-red-holiday-felt-flower-brooch?ref=related-7" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWARbOd27R6ZqsJUXkt-y7k-2qcZqwSev6CbTRQFhJ4gJb5xsnOiKcEFaqA-IEsPL-Hah2PwoiiBzoMX5t5EW_OCnniGn24fGRe68ozXrr4Rw4b2emPnunLjrSvv65FEbvT2n/s1600/il_fullxfull.686093045_2r8s.jpg" height="271" width="320" /></a></div>
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And a bunch more. I'll be making more "holiday" style flowers in the coming days, then less "holiday" style flowers beyond that.<br />
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Right now I am also listing some collections of bead mixes like this one, so go check those out.<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/212071139/seven-red-seed-bead-bindles-2?ref=shop_home_active_18" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJBgReITUFFKOLlsG3O-XORcr-rwEWzdHy3Q6cImANnOFFBstijCy0sPRPUi1istra6NbZ-E4TdKHbTnLsS7upydzd5Ur9wCZrolKLh4Iye85W7yCOzDgyDT7S9cM2cB1maY5/s1600/il_fullxfull.685991831_mo6j.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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As the shop gets more traffic, I'll be listing more embroidered pieces, including ties, zipper cases, etc. And I'm definitely open to talking custom pieces, so come have a look and let me know what you think!She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-34560144545626493682014-11-20T21:30:00.002-05:002014-11-23T19:37:33.024-05:00Embroidered Wallet with Matching Biz CardsI have a friend who is an author and monster-hunter; I've mentioned him before when I <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2012/03/nessie-tie.html" target="_blank"><b>made this Nessie tie for him</b></a>. I like to tease Ben about remembering dates and places, since he works alone and travels extensively. Turns out, I may be underestimating his recall, especially in light of what I thought was a slam-dunk bet I lost to him recently when I challenged him to remember what state (of the Union) we both were in at a particular time. (We live in different states, and every time we have seen each other has been out of our respective home turfs.)<br />
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I must have been really confident in that bet, because I put on the line <i>FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS.</i> Damn you, Arizona!<br />
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I'm Scottish, not Welsh, so I make good on my bets, no matter how minor. But I couldn't just, what, put a fiver in an envelope and send it off? What am I, an animal? No, I had to make a little card wallet for him that would fit a few (AMERICAN) bills, as well as business cards and a drivers license, just in case he wanted to take it on the road with him.<br />
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And since I was making a fabric wallet, I should go ahead and embroider it.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/15652787450" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Ben's Card Wallet by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Ben's Card Wallet" height="400" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8593/15652787450_c35f28e97a.jpg" width="333" /></a>And since I was embroidering it, I should go ahead and create a monogram/logo for him.<br />
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And since I had a monogram/logo for him, I should go ahead and make some business cards.
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That's where I started.<br />
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A certain fandom among us will recognize the origin of this monogram right away. One of Ben's books, the first of his that I read, is <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tracking-Chupacabra-Vampire-Fiction-Folklore/dp/0826350151/ref=sr_1_4_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416534541&sr=8-4&keywords=benjamin+radford" target="_blank">Tracking the Chupacabra, the Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore</a></i>. In it, Ben believes he "solved" the mystery of the (non-existent) chupacabra, which makes him a vampire slayer of a certain sort.<br />
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Starting with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer" target="_blank">Buffy</a> logo (designed by the marvelous <a href="http://www.chasedesigngroup.com/" target="_blank">Margo Chase</a>), I found an expanded character set, and made outline versions of Ben's initials, BTR. Knowing the logo was also going to be digitized for embroidery, I simplified the design where appropriate so the cards would exactly match.<br />
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I've covered a little about my digitizing process in my <b><a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2013/12/anatomy-of-embroidered-electric-eel.html" target="_blank">Electric Eel post</a></b>. This design is 2-color only, so it was much simpler, but essentially the same process.<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">Little sewn projects like this are great stash-busters. There was no doubt in my mind that I had some black and red fabric stowed away, so I dug up this really cool black-on-black zebra print/texture (from a skirt I made) to use for the body of the wallet. The embroidery went down without a hitch.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/15652060748" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Ben's Card Wallet by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Ben's Card Wallet" height="287" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7479/15652060748_dd13a9ce4c.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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Embroidery accomplished, I built the wallet, using a scrap of abstract red/black fabric for the inner card pockets. The wallet itself is very simple, using only two pieces of fabric—the black for the body (folded in half on the long edge) and the red & black for the inner pocket (also folded in half on the long edge), along with some interfacing in the body. There are plenty of wallet tutorials out there if you want one, so I won't go into detail. The trickiest part, for me, was getting the size and the stitching <i>juuuuuuust right </i>so that the longest item to be placed in the pocket, the business cards, were held snugly.*<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/15837482945" title="Ben's Card Wallet by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Ben's Card Wallet" height="299" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7577/15837482945_d58198ff23.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div>
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All my top-stitching in place, I tucked in a dozen business cards and, of course, the <i>FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS</i>, and sent it on its way.<br />
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I tease Ben about not knowing what day it is, but the truth is, I finished this project and was just about to mail it off when I realized that it was also the week of his birthday. Oh! Right, um, happy birthday! I'd feel more guilty about being a crappy birthday-gift-giver, but I make things for people at random times, so hopefully the points carry over.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/15652647780" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Ben's Card Wallet by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Ben's Card Wallet" height="375" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8641/15652647780_fc01525573.jpg" width="500" /></a>Overall, a fun, uncomplicated project, with very big personal impact. I think so, anyway—I know MY socks would be knocked off if anyone made something like this for me! <i>(Can I say that??)</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*I have unintentionally used the word "snugly" in <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2014/03/paul-yeti-mug-warmer.html" target="_blank">two consecutive posts.</a> Now that I've noticed, I'm sure to have broken the string. :(</i></span>She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-78289392568660070302014-03-11T20:59:00.001-04:002014-03-11T21:24:15.372-04:00Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/13094260285/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer"><img alt="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer by shefightslikeagirl" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2331/13094260285_c6bdfc2af6.jpg" /></a></div>
Just a quickie.<br />
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A friend had a bday party this weekend, and I spent a good week or two thinking of what to make him...before I actually came up with an idea <i>the night before. </i>Typical!<br />
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<i>(To be fair, my sewing machine was also out of commission for two weeks.)</i><br />
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Paul is an infamous Bigfoot aficionado, as well as a tea drinker. I'd already gotten him a <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ed28/?pfm=Search&t=tea%20rex" target="_blank">Tea Rex</a> infuser last time <a href="http://motorcityblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-samurai-are-here-samurai-beyond.html" target="_blank">I was at the DIA for the Samurai exhibit</a> (which is gorgeous, BTW — go see it as soon as plausible!) I'd also seen neat little knit/crochet mug warmers, which I thought would make a nice combo with the tea infuser. I'm not a knitter/crocheter, but I knew I could sew one.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/13094379573/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3129/13094379573_168fd23204.jpg" height="208" width="500" /></a>I also knew that there were a couple of Bigfoot machine embroidery designs in my collection, from my favorite purchased embroidery source <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/default.aspx" target="_blank">Urban Threads</a>. The <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/products.aspx?productid=UT1896" target="_blank">Latte Yeti</a> was the obvious choice. As for fabric, Paul is a huntin' kinda guy, so I dug up some flannel shirt scraps I had for the main body, with a strip of felt in between for insulation.<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/13094546974/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Paul's Yeti Mug-Warmer" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3290/13094546974_5126f6a549.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a>I decided to use a self-binding technique that's often used on receiving blankets, which I've done a couple of times before. <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2011/09/embroidered-mitred-corner-placemats.html" target="_blank">(See my embroidered placemats post for more details.) </a>Starting with a standard mug, I measured around the body, omitting the handles, and then the full height. The flat mug warmer is about 9" x 3", which then wraps around the mug, and then is held in place with a round elastic.<br />
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Typically, one of these might be quilted as well, but it turns out to be such a small project, that between the size, the embroidery, and the plaid, quilting struck me as a little overkill.
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The buttons are faux wood made from...honestly, I don't know what. Resin maybe? They were a couple I had in the Big Box O'Buttons that you know we all have.<br />
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Here's what it looks like, snuggly* around a generic/standard coffee mug. It wasn't the Bigfootiest gift he got that day, but I'm <i>pretty</i> sure it was the only one made by hand.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/13095124673/" title="Paul's Yeti Mug Warmer by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Paul's Yeti Mug Warmer" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3400/13095124673_8fdb9a4fbd.jpg" height="341" width="500" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*Just fully recognized the difference between "snugly" and "snuggly," and it made my day.</i></span></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-37514352500370525382014-03-06T02:30:00.000-05:002014-03-06T02:10:11.770-05:00The Anatomy of an (Embroidered) Electric Eel<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">UPDATE:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=best-of-2013"><img alt="Craftster Best of 2013 Winner" src="http://www.craftster.org/bestof2013/2013-Winners.jpg" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=best-of-2013">I'm a Craftster Best of 2013 Winner! </a>
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<span style="font-size: large;">UPDATE:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19G48DTbqzHXru4Nvq1WEpQwNEmvZYp0E6zUFGKZdDjjcdQfWpcFNnoTrKGt7oEtiu34aWAM_HFDh_H6xwsU84FwleyGq9H1AFob7awnLkQpGzgsj1ymI2U_UCMz4UimoBChJ/s1600/gear_threads_banner2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19G48DTbqzHXru4Nvq1WEpQwNEmvZYp0E6zUFGKZdDjjcdQfWpcFNnoTrKGt7oEtiu34aWAM_HFDh_H6xwsU84FwleyGq9H1AFob7awnLkQpGzgsj1ymI2U_UCMz4UimoBChJ/s1600/gear_threads_banner2.jpg" height="100" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0000ee; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.mrxstitch.com/gear-threads-brocade-lions-electric-eel/" target="_blank">Gear Threads – Brocade Lion’s Electric Eel</a></span></div>
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<br />
I did a project this weekend which serves as a great example of the typical steps I take in order to create a machine embroidery pattern. I'm going to break it down into steps.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 1: Inspiration, aka, I am invited to a special event.</span></b><br />
In this case, it's a fundraiser for the Belle Isle Aquarium, as they attempt to bring back an electric eel to the country's oldest public aquarium. When I make something for myself, it almost always starts as a special event to which I want to wear something I made. I feel positively naked without something I made.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 2: Research/concept.</span></b><br />
Electric eel, that's easy. I mean, it's easy because electric eels are <i>awesome. (That reminds me, I gotta email John that video of the electric eel accidentally killing that alligator.)</i> Turns out, electric eels are more catfish than eel. I don't feel like I need to know the whole biology of the creatures, but I want to at least know what they look like, and what their distinguishing features are. <i>Assumptions are the enemy. </i>(If there is one thing in my life that defines me as a "skeptic," if not a crafter, it's that statement right there.)<br />
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So I watched a few videos, looked at a bunch of pictures, and thought about how I would represent it. I veered both literal and figurative.<br />
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I think <i>electric</i>, I think <i>lights</i>. Although cartoonists love to show them with lightning bolts and beams coming off of them, electric eels don't actually light up at all themselves. (<a href="https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1434&bih=779&q=bioluminescence&oq=biolu&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.806.1570.0.2963.5.5.0.0.0.0.89.388.5.5.0.ernk_timepromotiona...0...1.1.32.img..0.5.387.2_VJx4b91u8" target="_blank">Bioluminescence</a> is a whole different thing — if you haven't looked into it yet, do yourself the favor! Natural bioluminescence is incredible and fascinating and gorrrrrrgeous, all at once.) However, they <i>can</i> be used to power lights. Every year, a new video comes out of an electric eel powering a Christmas tree (usually in Japan, dog love 'em). I love lighting things up, as is proven by the fact that I have a small drawer with 6 or 8 little LED light strings tucked away for future use. I set a couple of those aside.<br />
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My first concept was to take a western-style shirt with front yokes, and do a cartoony eel with lightning bolts embroidered on either side. Those sorts of pics kept coming up in my searches, and I even found a couple of Tesla-riding-electric-eel illustrations to choose from. To my immense shock (heh), I did not have a plain western-style shirt in my stock. (And by "stock" I mean "closet." And by "closet" I mean "the third bedroom of my house which serves as my dressing room.") I had neither the time nor the inclination to make a shirt from scratch, neither to buy one, so that idea was out.<br />
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Second thought was to do a hairpiece. I have very short hair, so putting things in my hair/on my head is always a pretty high priority. (Wait, that's not really a short hair thing is it? In any case, I do.) Since I've practiced/developed a pretty good technique for embroidering on felt, making hair decorations has become a favorite quick-and-satisfying go-to project for me. I decided on a headband. With lights.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 3: Illustration.</span></b><br />
Because I was going to an aquarium to be speaking with docents and other experts, I abandoned the fanciful "electric eel" concept for the more accurate. I was a little surprised to find a couple examples of vector clip art specific to the electric eel; frankly, they are neither attractive nor especially interesting to look at. As is so often the case, personality wins out, and interested some people enough to do realistic representations. I acquired this one from Thinkstock as a vector illustration, shown here opened in Adobe Illustrator.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11299825434/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/11299825434_793d667029.jpg" height="313" width="500" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 4: Color assignment.</span></b><br />
Electric eels are brown. Just...brown. As you can see, the clip art there uses 6 different shades of grey, making the shading look more variegated than do the actual eels. At this point, I can decide whether I want to choose as many colors as I need to suit the design, or to limit the design to fit the colors available (or feasible).<br />
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I checked my grandmother's antique spool cabinet where I keep my good thread to see how many browns I had available. When it comes to thread color palettes, there are a couple of things to consider in addition to color, specifically weight and sheen. Because we're talking eel, I wanted to use only shiny threads, so I stuck with 40 weight rayon/viscose. (This is merely one of many niggling details that I will overshare.) This left me with 4 browns, plus black for the outline and details.<br />
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The background is the final significant color choice. As I said, I've had great results embroidering on felt, which is both weighty enough to stand alone, and non-raveling to allow for a clean border. I checked my stash for something maybe a watery blue...and found a stone-embossed medium grey, which struck me as a good background for this bottom-dwelling creature.<br />
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Knowing what I know about aquariums (one of the first things I look for when traveling to a new city is whether they have an aquarium where I can spend an hour or two), I anticipated the lighting to be fairly low, the bulk of the ambient light coming from within the exhibits. This would allow the browns to blend in to each other, without the whole thing getting lost in total darkness.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 5: Re-illustration.</span></b><br />
With an idea of what the animal actually looks like, technical and feasible restrictions, it was time to colorize and simplify the original illustration. I've talked about using Adobe Illustrator before, and how it's one of my favorite crafting tools. It was an absolute must for me to be able to use Illustrator as a primary prep tool before starting an embroidery pattern, for this reason.<br />
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Starting with the original, I selected the areas to be colored, simplified some of the details (remember, we're talking about a 4" x 4" maximum area, and embroidery machines don't have nearly the resolution of your desktop printer), and removed overlaps. In some cases, stitching one color over another is acceptable — even desired. But what we have here is large areas of solid color on felt, with details on top of <i>that.</i> More than 2 layers of heavy stitching overlapped tempts a big ol' mess of broken needles and thready birdnests.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11293807595/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/11293807595_f91c2c48e3.jpg" height="313" width="500" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 6: Import and edit and edit and edit.</span></b><br />
At this point, I saved the Adobe Illustrator file from my Mac to a thumb drive to sneakernet over to my totally-unplugged-from-everything-because-it's-so-old-it-will-just-crash-everything Dell laptop, where I reopened it in Illustrator on the PC. The illustration was resized to under 4", and then reduced by another 85% for resolution reasons I don't quite understand. From there, I selected one shape at a time to copy and then paste into the embroidery software. The software I have does a great job of auto-converting a basic shape, so that's where it all starts.<br />
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Copy a shape, paste a shape, convert a shape. Next...<br />
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Then, of course, each shape is going to need ordering and tweaking. After...honestly, I don't even know how long it took because this is the part where I tend to go all zen and start fidgeting with things at 800%...and this is where we wind up in the embroidery software.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11293808685/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3708/11293808685_d9a9dcb9f6.jpg" height="274" width="500" /></a></div>
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This is the stitch view. One thing that is significant/fun about embroidery, vs typical graphic design, is the textures available simply by stitching the same color in a different direction. This software simulates/supports this, and so I wanted to take advantage of the option to give more dimensionality to the slippery critter.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11293929223/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2845/11293929223_6472b7846f.jpg" height="274" width="500" /></a></div>
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Rather chaotic, no? The panel on the right side shows the stitch sequence. It's very important that the objects are stitched in the right order; sometimes for layering, sometimes just to minimize jumps between areas. The 8th and 9th objects are simply green circles for the eyes. The 10th object is a satin stitch outline which serves as a fence for me to cut around when he's all finished.<br />
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You may also notice that black gets stitched twice, first as the background/outline, and then as additional detail. I actually used two different blacks for that — lightweight bobbin black for the background/outline, and 40wt for the details, so they'd stand up as the spines would.<br />
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The final outline was done in a grey matching the felt to give me a border to follow for trimming. Here it is all stitched out and trimmed, with green glass beads for his eyes, and human hand for scale.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11301315264/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/11301315264_c0018eb4a4.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 7: Finishing.</span></b><br />
I already had a headband picked out for this project, a two-bar deal with some scrolly connectors between. This meant it was wide enough to support what I wanted, with openings for me to stitch through.<br />
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I don't really have any photos of this step, but trust me, it's not very interesting. I had a 7-light LED string from Ikea in the drawer which I stuck through the openings, and stitched in place with regular thread. <i>(I will never understand why people will choose messy, unreliable hot glue when hand-stitching is so much easier and non-destructive.)</i> I wanted a fabric to go over the lights to represent water, and to diffuse the white LEDs a bit, so I chose this short-pile blue faux fur I had. A large part of that decision was down to it being what I had on hand, but additionally, the swirly pattern looked pretty cool and watery over the lights.<br />
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I hand-stitched the fabric down, trimming and ladder-stitching as I went (while watching some non-"The Thing" arctic-station-gone-wrong movie). I pulled two of the lights through a small slit in the fabric so they would be extra-bright right next to the eel, to show him off a little. Then I took a tuft of light blue tulle, of which I have several yards for completely unknown reasons, and put that down for a little splash and for something to stand the eel against. (Yeah, there are a few beads in there, too.)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11296744853/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/11296744853_bd900fff16.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a>
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Here's a close up so you can see what a difference layering and varying the stitch direction makes.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11296719954/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/11296719954_ea865a3766.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a></div>
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And his adorably alien little face.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11296725164/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/11296725164_da4d0a75de.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a>
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With the lights on, in a fairly accurate simulation of the light at the event.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11299742334/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2831/11299742334_81dfd44455.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a></div>
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The "underwater" lights.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11299684125/" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/11299684125_2cddd36064.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a></div>
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So there you go, the anatomy of the ultimate in one-time-use wearables. Oh, it's perfectly capable of being worn again and again, but where am I going to be inspired to wear an electric eel on my head again?<br />
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<i>hahahaha</i> Considering that I wear eyeballs and skeletal birds in my hair on a regular basis, this is actually not so hypothetical a question...<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11300530924/" title="photo.JPG by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="photo.JPG" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/11300530924_7acc5734b4.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-44011218153480314972014-03-05T18:00:00.000-05:002014-03-05T18:00:42.043-05:00CRAFTSTER BEST OF 2013<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=best-of-2013"><img alt="Craftster Best of 2013 Winner" src="http://www.craftster.org/bestof2013/2013-Winners.jpg" /></a> </div>
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<a href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=best-of-2013"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm a Craftster Best of 2013 Winner!</span></a></div>
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<i><b>Woohoo</b></i>!<br />
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It's always so great to be recognized by one's fellows, and to be able to add this badge to my blog tickles me to no end.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11296744853/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Electric Eel by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Electric Eel" src="http://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3819/11296744853_bd900fff16_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>What's being honored is <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2013/12/anatomy-of-embroidered-electric-eel.html" target="_blank"><b>my machine-embroidered electric eel project,</b></a> wherein, after 3 years of machine embroidery, I finally took the time to document the (or my) entire process of digitizing a project.<br />
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I didn't realize it was listed in <a href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=best-of-2013#axzz2v8A44ykF" target="_blank">Best of 2013</a> until just today, because there is SO much wonder on <a href="http://craftster.org/">craftster.org</a>, that in my browsing of project after project, I genuinely forget to check back in on my own posts. If any of you reading practice any kind of crafts and are not yet a craftster.org member, you should go join up. I've never met a more creative, cheerful, and most amazingly of all <b>supportive</b>, group of people in any other venue.<br />
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I've been posting at craftster for so long, I've actually been awarded a Best of once before...in 2007, <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2007/06/expo-dress.html" target="_blank">for this dress</a>. Yep, I'm old skool: I've been on craftster since 2004 in fact!She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-11988797984347195262014-01-18T19:24:00.001-05:002014-01-18T20:37:34.984-05:00Where to put all these hair decorations...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/12020471565/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Hair Things Mount"><img alt="Hair Things Mount by shefightslikeagirl" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5494/12020471565_fc196099fb.jpg" /></a>I just want to show this thing real quick.<br />
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I've mentioned before how much I like making things to stick in my hair. Not too long ago, it got to the point that I needed to devise some method of storing them all — in other words, how to get them all off the window sill in my bathroom.
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They tend to be a little oddly-shaped to play well with most of my initial ideas, which included those cables on which you hang photos/notes, magnetic knife bars... okay, those were all of my initial ideas. So I headed to Ikea to either find a photo cable, or a better idea.<br />
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I did find the photo display, but it was pretty short and over-priced for what I was going to do with it. So I continued my trek to what is usually my ultimate Ikea destination anyway, the As-Is department.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/12021311696/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Hair Things Mount by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhaOFYyooSP_yQdaJ2uM1zekYKV5TILV4BlhqqiCwuS7RUCskEeiKuVRjEnN9sTGzZidvgWiKCL_UH1ptrq0Ekr2lIAJ3kYdR_tIU83BUDmPu8FmkqQoHEruz9ySYcsoT_2muVT5r2zb6DIYgbOWLpjetIwwLWElbm9Ig=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hair Things Mount" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7451/12021311696_488010a38d_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>That's where I found this big metal screen. It's about 24" x 31", and I'm not positive what it was intended for, but I suspect some sort of industrial shelving. It was <$5, so even though I couldn't see in my mind where on earth I had enough wall space for it, I grabbed it anyway, figuring I'd sort it once I got home.<br />
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The one wall that was both big enough and out of the way enough turned out to be in the hallway outside of my bedroom. So up it went.
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The beauty of this solution is that it's steel, so the things which I mount with magnets stick right to it, and then the grid itself is big enough that anything with a clip on the back can just snap right on.<br />
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It's not, at this moment, the prettiest thing in the house, but it does the job perfectly. At some point, if/when I paint that back hallway (which means after the bathroom gets torn out, most likely), I'll probably paint the whole screen. But for now, it's a perfect utility solution.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/12020831904/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Hair Things Mount by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Hair Things Mount" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/12020831904_4ee99abc02_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Oh, and here's a quick look at a couple of things I've made recently. The thing up there that looks like a rabbit? That's a rabbit. It was my New Year's Eve hat this year, featuring some red foil streamers (since removed) and a rabbit wearing a top hat.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/12020775743/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Hair Things Mount by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Hair Things Mount" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/12020775743_7bb6093e28_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Last weekend, I made a little leather bat (on the wing) for a party at the Detroit Film Theatre, celebrating their 40th anniversary with a showing of the 1931 Spanish-language "Dracula." A bat with some red beaded droplets seemed like just the thing.
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As fascinating as some of the options are — have you <i>seen</i> a camel skull?? — I generally avoid buying things like that at a mass marketplace like eBay. Part of what I enjoy so much about my personal skull collection is how I come by them; right now the majority have been gifts, followed closely by estate sale finds, and then skull-based artworks.<br />
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But 20 mouse skulls? For $5? My curiosity got the better of me.<br />
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This is how they arrived; (mostly) cleaned, unbleached, big ol' rodent nibblers intact. I looked at them for a long time, figuring out what I was going to make of them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11129305654" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Mouse Jaw Necklace by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Mouse Jaw Necklace" height="240" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/11129305654_8de7295cdf_m.jpg" width="180" /></a>Unsurprisingly, the bone is extremely thin, particularly at the mandibular notch. Initially, I wanted to wire-wrap each jaw, but that turned out to be impossible, because I couldn't lever the wire — no matter how thin or soft — around the bone without it crumbling. Instead, I went with some pre-wrapped wire coils I had, which are made mostly to use as cord ends.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11129223715" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;" title="Mouse Jaw Necklace by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Mouse Jaw Necklace" height="320" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2818/11129223715_c2cae57486.jpg" width="240" /></a>It was necessary to glue them in place, using a thick super glue gel, which helped to fill in the empty space and further stabilize the extra-thin part of the jawbone. Each tiny jaw had to be carefully centered and placed, and then propped up for a minute or two to allow it to set in a good position.<br />
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This was a fun way to spend a chunk of an afternoon.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11129227515" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Mouse Jaw Necklace by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Mouse Jaw Necklace" height="240" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3678/11129227515_09e76f2f90_m.jpg" width="180" /></a>Once they were all glued in, including any loose teeth, I attached all of them to a short length of chain, as a fall. To give the fall some visual and literal weight, I added a faceted black beaded ball which I strung on an eye pin with a metal teardrop at the bottom. That whole assembly was then attached to a silver chain, which was decorated with deep red faceted oblong glass beads, which are effectively black under most lighting. I hung the fall off-center for a little added interest.<br />
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This is a piece that has to be worn with a certain type of top. In this case, a black knit with snap-front. The chain itself is simple enough to wear with a collared shirt; it's the centerpiece that needs a frame of its own. It never fails to draw a lot of commentary when I wear it, usually including variations on, "Really? REAL mousejaws??"<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/11129253806" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Mouse Jaw Necklace by SFLAG, on Flickr"><img alt="Mouse Jaw Necklace" height="500" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2879/11129253806_c8204bea69.jpg" width="375" /></a></div>
Of course! Only authentics for me!<br />
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She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-22657953947934608552013-11-20T17:27:00.000-05:002013-11-20T17:27:04.528-05:00Gma's Stash BoxMy grandmother — Carol, Ma, Gramma, Grams, GG, and, I'm sure, countless other variations — died this spring, 2013, at the age of 90, a strong and hale woman her entire life, and mentally aware to the end. She was the mother of 8; grandmother, great-grandmother, and even great-great-grandmother to I don't know how many, but I'm sure she did.<br />
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Grams was a Dust Bowl/Depression kid in the Great Plains, so she knew not to waste. She was also the daughter of a seamstress, so making, remaking, and conserving were in her blood. Plus maybe a touch of the hoarding.<br />
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I was out of town for Gram's funeral. She was a materialist (and not just the quilting kind) and a realist, and, like my grandfather who died the year before, would have found a funeral to be an unnecessary fuss. Of course, we know that funerals are for the survivors, so since it wouldn't have resonated with me, and wouldn't have meant much to her, I didn't make it. That was <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2013/06/spent-weekend-in-chicago-with-stranglers.html" target="_blank">the weekend I went to Chicago and had one of the best weekends of the past decade</a>, and there's no question in my mind that she'd have rather had me go do that.<br />
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At my birthday party the following July, my sisters brought me a hat box full of Grandma stuff, cherry-picked from her crafting stash. I mistakenly called it, with all good humor and appreciation, a "box of random stuff" and was corrected that no, my sisters picked these things out for me intentionally. Which made it a gift not only of/from my grandmother, but also of/from my sisters. Any time you select something with me in mind, and make the effort of getting it into my hands, it's very special to me, be it a diamond ring or a wad of embroidery floss.<br />
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The party was in full swing, so after lightly looking through the bits and bobs in the hat box, I set it aside with my (increasingly out of control) crafting stash. It's been there since, visible and safe but not really explored, until last night.<br />
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Cleaning and organizing after a sewing project, I looked at the big round box and decided it was time to dig in and see what was really inside.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10967632044/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="mostly embroidery floss by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="mostly embroidery floss" height="375" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3684/10967632044_d92872c315.jpg" width="500" /></a>I have to start with the box itself. It looks like the sort of pressed paperboard affair you'd get at a big craft store, papered on the outside with copies of old hand-written letters. Americana at its finest. And that's what it is — except <i>these</i> old hand-written letters were put there by my grandmother herself, photocopied from her collection of our family's history.<br />
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She wasn't only a natural lodestone for history; she went out and did the research herself. As a kid, I remember a regular topic of conversation being what new things Grandma had discovered about our family. And really, most of it not even <i>her</i> family, but rather my grandfather's line, the one she'd married into. But it mattered to her not because it was her blood in the past, but because it was important to her blood in the future.<br />
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I don't know much else about the way-back of my family, but because of her work, I do know I have unbroken documentation back to the American Revolution, when a young Hessian soldier named Kasper, hired by the British, decided these Colonials were on to something, and defected. He changed his name, married an American girl, and settled in to family life in Tennessee.<br />
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Just like that, we became German.<br />
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Before Gram's research, we'd thought for generations that we were Scottish — the current form of my last name <u>is</u> Scottish. But a couple centuries of re- and mis-spellings back, our last name was about as German as it gets without umlauts.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10967625314/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="yours truly by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="yours truly" height="375" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2867/10967625314_29d146877c.jpg" width="500" /></a>The letters on the outside of this box are, as much as I can read them, mundane letters between family members — mundane until I take a moment to reflect that one of them is from 1881, and the original was in my grandmother's possession. I'm embarrassed to say that I'd never taken much interest in the research and documentation that she did, but I'm also happy to be able to say that she did it, we have it, and you can bet I'll be looking through all of it soon.<br />
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True to the labeling on the outside, the box mostly held embroidery floss and silk ribbon. I already have too much of the stuff myself, and none of it was especially precious. I set that aside and dug for better treasure.<br />
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Gramma did a lot of beadweaving, what she called "tatting" from the old lace-making practice she and her mother both enjoyed. Over the years, she'd given me pounds and pounds of her excess beads, especially when she got older and working with the tiny seed beads I love became increasingly difficult. In the box were not only a few small zipper bags of glass beads, but a couple small strips of worked netting and right-angle weave. There's no real indication where these pieces were going, so I don't know if they were projects that were forgotten, or maybe just bits of practice. In my beadweaving days, it wasn't unusual for me to aimlessly fiddle with bead and thread to practice, learn, or keep myself busy. I've never had to wonder where I got this tendency from, but holding those pieces in my hand was a solid reminder.<br />
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I found one of these unfinished objects, a long, light blue netted strip, in what I recognized as a box made from a greeting card. Reduce, reuse, remake, I told ya. As any crafter would, Gram had her share of specialty plastic storage, but I can't count how many small bundles of beads I got from her closed up in little boxes she made from Christmas and birthday cards she'd gotten. After fondling the silky netted strip (my love of the feel of woven glass beads continues!) I looked inside the boxlid and noticed handwriting in pencil. So I unfolded it:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10967389325/" title="Junior by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Junior" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/10967389325_1eecbb55b9.jpg" width="375" /></a>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Dear G.G.,<br />Thank you very much for the picture and the lucky $2 bill. I will cherish it, carry it where I go, and never spend it. I wish I could explain how thankful I am, and how much I love you. I will tell my mom to take me to visit you, very soon. I love you!<br />(heart) Junior</i></blockquote>
<br />
This changed the timbre of everything I was doing.<br />
<br />
Up to this point, I was really just organizing my stash, pushing things around, seeing how much of the stuff in this box I could actually use. Then, there in my hand was what in a hundred years someone would consider another mundane letter between family members — except that these family members span four generations, and they're <i><b>my</b></i> family, the family I know.<br />
<br />
"Junior" is my nephew, although doesn't call himself Junior any more. He's Daniel now, and is in his 20s. He wrote this card as a young teenager, maybe a little before (there's no date anywhere on the card).<br />
<br />
"G.G." is, of course, my grandmother, his great-grandmother: his mother's mother's mother.<br />
<br />
I took a quick iPhone pic of the note and MMSed it to my sister. She messaged me a few minutes later, after she also sent the picture to Daniel. "He still has the $2," she told me.<br />
<br />
Of course he does.<br />
<br />
I asked my sister if she wanted the card, which seemed pretty obvious to me. We don't see each other often, although we only live about 20 miles apart. I offered to put it in the mail for her, which seemed to me the most efficient way to effect the transfer. She responded, "What are you doing for lunch Friday?"<br />
<br />
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• • •</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Last week, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10948266413/in/set-72157637846580135" target="_blank">I spent some time in Philadelphia</a>, marveling at historical documents by people — <i>families</i> — who shaped that city, and ultimately the country, our culture. People I had never heard of, yet instinctively respected as I looked at the thin lines from their fountain pens.</div>
<br />
My family has a record, too, written and unwritten, which shapes our country and culture: from a young soldier who followed his conscience, to a teenaged boy who unreservedly told his GG how much she meant to him.<br />
<br />
The materials from Gram's stash box <i><b>will</b></i> get used. I learned enough from her to know that I shouldn't let anything go to waste.<br />
<br />
And Friday, I'm having lunch with my sister for the very same reason.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<iframe align="center" frameborder="0" height="400" scrolling="no" src="http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?set_id=72157637885564254/&" width="400"></iframe></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-80252957307751919622013-10-31T14:46:00.001-04:002013-10-31T15:29:14.221-04:00Teller and (my) Houdini<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
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Hey, remember <a href="http://www.shefightslikeagirl.com/2009/04/finished-houdini-portrait.html" target="_blank">this project</a> I did a couple of years ago?<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/3414294673/" title="Houdini Finis by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Houdini Finis" height="375" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3342/3414294673_48efc211ff.jpg" width="500" /></a>
</div>
<br />
It's my itty-bitty Houdini cross-stitch that I made for <a href="http://www.pennandteller.com/" target="_blank">Teller</a>. I planned it for his February birthday, and wound up giving it to him on my July birthday. Hey, dates are arbitrary and time is an illusion.<br />
<br />
Teller was gracious, as always. He said, "Oh, I know exactly where I'm going to put this. I have a Houdini grotto in my home..." (Did he really say "grotto"? I like to think so, but the truth is lost to history.)<br />
<br />
To which I dorkily responded, "I know." Because I had read about his Houdini collection.<br />
<br />
The next day, when I was in the Penn & Teller theater again post-show, Teller called to me by name from across the lobby. "I showed your Houdini to a couple of people. My wardrobe woman remarked that it's particularly fine work." And then, as far as I can recall, I blacked out.<br />
<br />
FF to a week ago when I was sitting in a local coney, having lunch with my iPad. (Coneys are, as far as I can tell, pretty much a Detroit thing. I didn't realize this until recently, when I saw a little bit more of our country. Here, Coney Islands are two to a corner. Everywhere else, well, they're whatever that region has for diners.) Someone I follow on twitter had tweeted an <a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/teller-magician-interview-1012" target="_blank">article about Teller which appeared in Esquire</a> magazine last year. I thought I'd already read it, but doing a quick scan of the article, it was clear I had not — because there's no way I'd have seen this photo before and not flipped my lid.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10595790405/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Teller and Houdini"><img alt="Teller and Houdini by shefightslikeagirl" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/10595790405_47841fc1ed.jpg" /></a></div>
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You see that up there on the left? In the corner of the window well? The bright red frame in that room of amazing artifacts including the got-dang Houdini cross?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I had never really wondered before whether Teller's consistently generous, gracious, effusive manner was genuine. I mean, to a large degree, does it matter? I've met him on several occasions, and he's always been the model of what "celebrities" should strive for, in my opinion. Does it really matter whether he <i>meant</i> it when he appreciatively told me he had just the place for my gift in his home?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, I can certainly say it means the world knowing that he <i>did.</i> And that four years later, my little contribution to his collection still has a place.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/10596508524/" title="Teller in Esquire 2012 by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Teller in Esquire 2012" height="614" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/10596508524_e245a25690_o.jpg" width="460" /></a></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-79930892495574235692013-08-25T12:52:00.000-04:002013-08-25T12:52:04.913-04:00In new news: I'm looking for work!<b>I'm officially on the job market.</b><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm looking for full-time work, but I'm available for lots of different options. If you look at this site, you've seen some of the things I can do, creatively and craft-wise. In my professional life, I've been a graphic designer and production artist for, oh, let's just call it many years. But my skills really encompass a variety of creative areas, including writing and voice recording.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So if you've liked anything you've seen, read, or heard here and you think I might be able to contribute to your company or project, please email me and we can talk details. (And yes, I will relocate.) shefightslikeagirl at gmail</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl39W-oke6cUgPr3l_9vVSeFXW9QNan_L4XMXOImYGpCFl8iIeYQc13nw5n62n1Xi4qETGq3GKKzUR9Z4w_6yx6tO4ZOGoh0amqycQqgiSyPkacZV-bWV8H3xYKk49eTSykxM/s1600/TDI_websamples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl39W-oke6cUgPr3l_9vVSeFXW9QNan_L4XMXOImYGpCFl8iIeYQc13nw5n62n1Xi4qETGq3GKKzUR9Z4w_6yx6tO4ZOGoh0amqycQqgiSyPkacZV-bWV8H3xYKk49eTSykxM/s640/TDI_websamples.png" width="402" /></a></div>
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She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-19168414732179154302013-08-12T15:10:00.001-04:002013-08-12T15:10:50.300-04:00I was interviewed for the Project Archivist podcast...<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ99dJiARmGQfIiX6Irs-vs-Wy24lFfC6St3EGBhfu1IhiSnQ0uoYkJ9dYOMbtXyyCg8WRHP4IdZzWImilQNCmjzlGbon2AyhsGGDVFLrKCX-CqdDEoW_mD3MA_6iIhO_eixEK-w/s1600/PA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ99dJiARmGQfIiX6Irs-vs-Wy24lFfC6St3EGBhfu1IhiSnQ0uoYkJ9dYOMbtXyyCg8WRHP4IdZzWImilQNCmjzlGbon2AyhsGGDVFLrKCX-CqdDEoW_mD3MA_6iIhO_eixEK-w/s400/PA.png" width="400" /></a><a href="http://www.projectarchivist.com/?p=1450"><b>Project Archivist Episode 93:</b></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.projectarchivist.com/?p=1450"><b>Sleep Paralysis, Wide Awake and Dreaming</b></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><b>featuring <a href="http://bit.ly/DC-MCB">DC-in-Detroit</a></b></i></div>
<br />
Hey people! Here's something from my non-crafty life.<br />
<br />
I recently had the pleasure of a long talk with Roejen and Lobo, the minds behind the Project Archivist podcast, along with frequent guest/contributor/smart guy Tyler Kokjohn.<br />
<br />
I've been a long-time PA listener; the show covers esoterica, spooky things, and general weirdnesses, with an air of open-minded curiosity. Turns out, Roejen is a local, so we've run into each other once or twice. A recent conversation we had over a couple pints of mead turned to the topic of dreams and sleep states, and we both agreed it would be a good topic for the show. Sleep paralysis and other sorts of sleep disturbances provide a crossover between "skeptics" and "believers" in a way that I don't often hear discussed.<br />
<br />
So we discussed it.<br />
<br />
The show is about an hour and a half long, and it was a good, spritely conversation. At least I think so.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.projectarchivist.com/?p=1450"><b><span style="color: red;">Listen here.</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<i>Greetings Archivists!<br /></i><br />
<i>We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dreams...</i><br />
<i><br />In this episode Show listener Dorion joins us to talk about the strange world of sleep disorders. We take a look at Narcolepsy, Sleep Paralysis, Cognitive dreaming, Lucid dreaming, Night terrors and Hypnagogia. All of which she experiences or suffers from!<br /></i><br />
<i>We also take a look at how these conditions of consciousness could be perceived as paranormal experiences and describe what it feels like to have one. Later at the end of the interview, a few listeners call in with their own experiences. Yes, that other voice in the back ground is Tyler who joins us as a guest host just to add a bit more coolness and logic to the topic.</i>She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-52287457832935306292013-08-02T20:49:00.003-04:002013-08-02T20:49:59.195-04:00Zombie Kitty wants BRAAAIIIINS!!...and catnip.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brocadelion.etsy.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="BRAAAIIINS!!!" border="0" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2TKz2djVPH0MuG10HeTz6OLfPF1DVENXj8Ikdza0E00z2KR1Pf1ZSwKrByc9qVJuU4ICIt1WfwNcG2kuJzUCviyKd-4UVKBkdrCvHdhdPWQ1Lbz2Tz7caGHXdR3qtdefnnZu/s640/braaaains.png" title="braaaaiiins" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Hey, have you seen the zombie kitty catnip toys I made that I'm selling on <b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://brocadelion.etsy.com/" target="_blank">my Brocade Lion etsy store? </a></span></b>They're gruesomely adorable, and I have it on good authority that they are irresistible.<br />
<br />
<b>Some testimonials:</b><br />
"I owe you $14. I was going to put your cat toys in the shop today, and our asshole cat went and stole one of them." <i>—Friend with a boutique shop, whom I cannot name because she called her cat an asshole.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
"All hopped up on your catnip meth, my cat went and killed a bird today. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY." <i>—Friend I also cannot name to protect the guilty.</i><br />
<br />
I have a handful of different colors up in the shop right now, and will be making more all the time. Custom orders are <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">always</span></b> entertained, so if you have favorite color combinations, let me know, and it's no extra cost.<br />
<br />
There are also embroidered vintage ties, and some big bright polka-dotty convertible necklace/bracelet combos.<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://brocadelion.etsy.com/" target="_blank">Go check 'em out, and buy something!</a></span></b></i>She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-73918237026390389112013-07-14T22:19:00.002-04:002013-08-02T22:07:10.975-04:001979 Fitz & Floyd parrot pitcher and matching napkin rings for sale.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhlU77Ifso4WYSfIC6WIXSm9c3HciTBMCna7uYOThF_tJEN6KPdXUbvdK-Wvxt_QTkkHr3M8OeGEimUdTOCXcz6s8n_mLVNkZpLE76892yhCl4cUefDGQH0xTsz2SDV8MGR3d/s1600/parrot-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhlU77Ifso4WYSfIC6WIXSm9c3HciTBMCna7uYOThF_tJEN6KPdXUbvdK-Wvxt_QTkkHr3M8OeGEimUdTOCXcz6s8n_mLVNkZpLE76892yhCl4cUefDGQH0xTsz2SDV8MGR3d/s400/parrot-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Hey everyone. In case there are any parrot lovers or vintage pitcher collectors out there, I wanted to let you know that I am selling this nifty Fitz and Floyd parrot pitcher, with four matching napkin rings, on ebay.<br />
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<b><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=281136357148" target="_blank">You can check out the listing here.</a></b><br />
<br />
Edit: SOLD!She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-81525853090798496092013-07-09T22:02:00.001-04:002013-07-09T22:02:24.205-04:00My revamped etsy store is UP! brocadelion.etsy.comCheck it out, folks. I've repopulated my formerly dormant etsy shop:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/brocadelion" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Brocade Lion at Etsy</span></a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I've reposted some items I made shortly ago but didn't yet sell, and there are bunches of new things to come.<br />
<br />
Come visit, and keep visiting, because I've got some things in the hopper waiting to get posted!<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/brocadelion" title="brocadelion.etsy.com by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="brocadelion.etsy.com" height="411" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7441/9253212378_b25f11e720.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33514301.post-54726146872963483782013-07-09T15:54:00.001-04:002013-07-09T16:00:49.494-04:00Machine ShamingInspired by <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/blog/?p=8980" target="_blank">this blog post from Urban Threads</a>, I took a couple of pictures of what had happened to me today, literally moments before I saw the post. (Yes, I was taking a frustration break.)<br />
<br />
Trying to stitch out something I've done several times, I decided I didn't need to completely keep an eye on dear old Rudy there, until I heard a tell-tale *clunk*. <i>Somehow</i> it had managed to wind the upper thread around the bobbin, so desperately, after I cut the project out of the tangle, I had to actually break the bobbin to get it out of the guts of the machine. What a mess.<br />
<br />
Seems fine now... But it canNOT be proud of itself...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/9248336337/" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Machine Shaming"><img alt="Machine Shaming by shefightslikeagirl" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7365/9248336337_bc12e5e0da.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/9251117700/" title="Machine Shaming by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Machine Shaming" height="375" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3679/9251117700_e6327042b6.jpg" width="500" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sflag/9251118264/" title="Machine Shaming by shefightslikeagirl, on Flickr"><img alt="Machine Shaming" height="375" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2818/9251118264_bef9e8acb8.jpg" width="500" /></a>
She Fights Like a Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115915657408393557noreply@blogger.com1