Writing

I used to have high, high hopes for my novel Nevdroonia. Such as having it entirely finished by now. Such as having it edited by now.

Bah.

As many of you know, many things have been going on in my family, and in addition to that I have an incredible amount of schoolwork. Whoever said that homeschooling must be easy don't know a thing. I put in seven to eight hours of hard work a day-- no sitting in boring lectures or chatting to friends by the locker or watching movies in class. I've been escaping more-- reading or doing simple art/craft projects in my free time.

As a result, my writing has suffered. I am only 80% done with Nevdroonia. I finally got over a huge writer's block, when I couldn't figure out what would happen next. (You see, I started this project with no definite end or outline, something I'm not likely to repeat on a full length novel). I now know how the climax will work.

But it is so hard to find time for writing, and I wonder when I will ever finish. Oh, my big dreams still carry on. I have a sequel formed in my mind. I have another-- much better-- story planned, which may or may not take place in the land of Nevdroonia. (If it does, Nevdroonia would be changed around quite a bit.)

But if things carry on in the way they have been wont these past few months, I won't be done by next NaNoWriMo. Arugh.

Tapestry Crochet

I've always been facinated with Fair Isle knitting, where different colors are switched in and out of a project, often with facinating results. Through... well, I wouldn't call it stubborness, but for some reason or another, I've never actually learned to knit. And I really, really wanted to do this Fair Isle thing.

So I learned about Tapestry Crocheting! I used THESE INSTRUCTIONS. The website has some videos that I'm sure are helpful but that I haven't watched.

I first started with a little iPod case, but I did it in the round with a complicated knitting grid and it didn't really turn out.

What you see in the top picture is a (rather poor) second attempt. I followed a knitting grid for a Fair Isle bag with a Gryffindor design on it. Crocheting, apparenlty, is much larger than knitting. If I were to finish this, it would be a banner instead of a bag. :P

The nice thing about tapestry crochet is that switching yarns is easy (provided you twist before you yo!) and it is two sided.

New Gryffindor Scarf

I crocheted William a new Gryffindor scarf! I did it in double crochet (as opposed to the previous hat I made) and did it while watching the Olypmpics. Its five feet long!!!

After my first night of crocheting! Unfortuneatly I had to tear the bottom bit out, because it was too large (I had it sewed down in this picture). And I certainly didn't crochet as much the following nights.

 Why did I need to make a while new scarf when I had a perfectly good one I made last year? Was it because I wanted one for myself (which I kind do)?

No. The old one was stolen. We put it on our ginormous Mr. George Snowman. It was only supposed to stay on the snowman that day, but it got left out there and was stolen overnight. :(

Recycled Shorts

Rosie had the cutest pair of bermuda jean shorts. They had a little design on them with a palm tree. She decided she would practice the splits. While wearing them. They riiiiipped down the leg-- not even on the seam!

I thought it would be a shame to let those shorts go to waste. I cut the shorts along the jeans, up to the crotch. I had to cut a little extra where she tore them. Then I cut out two triangles from yellow material, hemmed it, and sewed it on the front and back of the jeans.

Maybe my sewing skills aren't so terrible, after all!

Self Portrait

After my last post, where everyone seemed to think I drew a self portrait, I decided to see if I could draw a self portrait. After all, my 'drawing-people-so-they-actually-look-like-themselves' skills are terrible.

Gahhhhh. *buries head* Why am I posting this? I spent, all of twenty minutes on it. Maybe less. And I'm not exactly a pretty model... its so much easier to draw nice sharp noses, you know!

I drew this picture at an angle-- I was in the bathroom (what you see is a mirror image!) and the counter was too wet to put my sketchbook on. The angle I drew it at looks better. Oh, if the glasses look cricked and falling down my nose, that's because they are. They are five years old and have been in too many volleyball games.

The next picture is a self-portrait I drew three years ago. You can see that I was so hopeful I'd be able to get thin, workable hair.... lolol

Ooooh, pitiful... I did draw a much better one a few weeks after this one, but that picture is packed up.

And this next one was not drawn by me at all! My friend, Yaviel, drew it based on the picture in my facebook profile. She said it was the best drawing of a face she's ever done. It was so sweet of her to send it to me! Let's all hear a round of applause for Yavi, shall we?

I didn't scan this... sorry for the picture quality.

There you go, dear readers. Pictures of me, since I don't really want to put photos of me on the public blog. :)

Self Portrait?

I didn't make this to be a self-portrait. It doesn't look like me at all, to me. I drew it as a random person from my imagination.

But my little sister, who watched me sketch this, said, "Oooh, Shaylynn, it's you!"

Today my toddler brother, who loves going through my sketchbook and looking at all the "purples" (colors), came to me, thrust it in my face, and said, "Zay-zay! Oo!"

My other brother heard, and said, "You didn't do a very good job making it look like you. You should put glasses on it."

I thought that was funny so I scanned it in to tell you guys.

While I was writing this, another brother came in and said, "Why've you got an unfinished picture on the computer? Uh, who's that? That supposed to be you?"

I still don't see it. :P

Old Artwork, Again

Found more art pictures in an old file! :)

I made the above picture when I was around 12. It was for a church/school auction. The Last Supper drawing below was also for the auction. (Click READ MORE below)
I remember being so amazed at the price they sold for-- 50 and 80 dollars!!! Obviously, it was for a fundraiser auction, but that is still crazy and cool. :)

These were some of my first attempts in a new mess of mediums-- pen and colored pencil. It remains my favorite.

Detail of the Guardian Angel drawing

The Last Supper.

In progress

 Some drawings I made three years ago for the director of the play The Prince and the Pauper, which my brothers and I were in. Oh, I should find a picture of the set. I helped paint it, Dad did most of the building!

A portion of the set. 

I made this acrylic painting when I was 12. It was my first major painting, and so far the only face I have ever done.

A random set of drawings, when I was 13 or so. I have always been into elvish/fairy stuff!

A pen and ink drawing for the cover of the booklet thing for my aunt's wedding, when I was "nearly 14"

Georgie Henle as Lucy Pevensie. I made two of these; I actually sent one to Georgie Henle when I asked for an autograph. :)

My second pen-and-colored-pencil drawing, obviously I made this before Guardian Angel and Last Supper.

Old cards. These were my very first attempts at Celtic knots and Celtic calligraphy, a few years ago.

Old WIP Paintings

*WIP= Work In Progress

When we first moved to R., we got some paintings to hang on the wall. They were right next to the windows and got terribly faded. I painted over them (adding my own little changes) a couple years ago. Going over two old paintings was very good for me-- it helped me realize that painting is not so difficult and set me off on a painting craze. I found WIP pictures in an old file. Enjoy!

Here you can see one painting done (I have since finished it better) and the other faded painting. Both have been entirely finished for awhile now; must find a picture.

EDIT: Pictures of the finished paintings-- I finished the last one a year ago.

Old Drawing

Old Valentines

I found these in a pictures file. They are from last year's Valentine's day. I made Valentines for all the girls involved in The Pirates of Penzance. The picture should give a clue to how many there were acting or working backstage. :) I used Mom's Stampin' Up! stamps.

Flower Fairy

Once upon a time, fairy-making was a favorite hobby. I remember writing about it three separate times in 4th grade English class. I have (in storage at the moment) a bag full of around 20 of them. They used to dangle from strings on my ceiling.

I made this one recently for my sister. I will not post the instructions, seeing as I got them from a book myself. The book/craft kit does a wonderful job explaining. The book (a newer edition than what I used to have!) can be found HERE. Once you know how to make the fairies, you can get extra supplies at a craft store.

Adelynn's Necklace

I helped my sister make this necklace! It has a rose button (because her middle name/nickname is Rose), a Miraculous Medal, a key (which is actually mine but she insisted on using. Apparently it is magical and can unlock any door or treasure chest), and two pink beads (because pink is her favorite color). The pink leaf at the bottom is just because its pink.

She wanted to put so many things on it... :) I kept it down to five, any more would be far too busy.

My First Crocheted Cardigan!

Okay, so her clothes don't match it. :) I just had her slip it on for a picture! Its also two sizes too big (the pattern didn't come smaller)

THIS IS MY FIRST EVER PIECE OF CROCHETED CLOTHING!!! And, for once in my life, I followed the pattern exactly. It is called Behop Cardi and can be found for free on Ravelry and Lion's Yarn.

I had some confusion about the gauge (it accidentally gave two numbers!), and had made a good part of it with the wrong gauge. Rather than frog (tear out) that strip, I gave it to Addie as a lacy purple scarf.

The pattern called for stitch markers, I didn't know what they were but after reading the pattern a bit I realized that it means things stuck in the yarn to mark stitches. I just used safety pins. :)

Overall, this went fairly well! Being a beginner, self-taught-by-web-browsing crocheter, I had some problems getting the hang of it. Considering I had troubles crocheting a straight line just a few months ago, I am quite proud. :) It only took four or five hours! And that is while reading/watching TV.

No buttons yet! :)

Flag

Found this lying around; thought I'd share. Not sure what this craft is called, I strung beads onto two crisscrossing strings. Made it way back in second grade.

Fun and Useful Pens

What you will need:
A Bic pen, or similar pen with a removable ink/tip. Do not use a hard plastic one; it combusts
Sculpey clay
Clay tools (toothpick, hands, etc)
Oven

What you do:
Remove the ink/nib from the pen. You don't want that exploding in the oven!
Decorate your pen with sculpey clay
Make a "holder." Use the pen to shape it, but make the whole extra-big, twice the size as needed.
Bake according to clay instructions
Cool
Put some unbaked clay into the "holder's" hole. That will let the pen stay put much better.
Insert the ink again
Use until your ink runs out; pull out ink and put more in!

These pens are remarkably sturdy. I've made around ten of them; the three above are the ones I haven't given away. The pen on the far left was my first ever. I made it five years ago, and its still holding up. It has a slight crack because I put a chair leg ontop of it one time, but still works. The middle was about three years ago, and I just made the right one a few months ago. Its much prettier than the picture makes it look.

Hermione Granger's Wand

There is something about reading a detail-abounding book that makes you want to go and make all those neat gizmos and gadgets and whatnot. Also, watching the movies for the millionth time lets you notice the little prop details.

I've already posted instructions on a light-up wand. But for a more movie-accurate, lighter, and much easier wand, I suggest this method.

First, take a sheet of computer paper and lightly coat with Elmer's glue. Roll the paper diagonally as tightly as you can. Allow to dry.
Next, trim the ends with scissors. For wands like Hermione's, that have carved detail,  use a glue gun to glue on the design.
Then, paint with acryclic paints. If you glued a design, you may or may not want to paint the design in a lighter/darker shade.

Light-Up Wand

I'm sure you've seen the wands that nearly all Harry Potter merchandise sellers sell. The light-up plastic wands (so horribly overpriced).

Why not DIY? That's my preferred method. Above is my fully-functioning "Lumos" wand. Its obviously not finished. I won't be finishing it, though, because my brilliant 6 year old sister decided to 1) leave the already half-used bulb on for several hours, and 2) tried taking it apart to see if she could fix it before I realized. :D

Below are instructions!

French Braiding

I finally learned how to French Braid properly! My sister usually doesn't like me to experiment with hairdos on her because it "HURTS!!!" But I convinced her. :)
What you see in the picture is... rather confusing. But it holds hair back nicely, and is pretty. I did it for my friend before her basketball game, and it stayed in! Its two sets of french braids on either side of the head. The braids ended at the middle of her head, and I then pulled the rest of the hair into a single french braid with a ribbon in it.

My favorite french braid so far is the one that looks like a circle crown.

Penguin Amigurumi

What is Amigurumi? I'd wondered that myself. It is, apparently, the "Japenese art of crocheting small dolls or toys."

On the Fairy Tale Novels Fourm, I was on an adventure with Yaviel. We metamorphed into purple penguins and got kidnapped by The Boss... well, long story short, I made a penguin for Yaviel!

I'd seen some pictures of crocheted dolls on Ravelry, and thought I'd go for it. I pulled out yarn scraps and set to work! I did not follow any pattern (I didn't even know it was called Amigurumi, and had never done any pattern similar before).

I did alot of things in very ineffective ways (I have since learned how to crochet multiple colors properly. All I did was sew white ontop of the purple). But I got a very cute little three-inch penguin! :)

I think I will be trying Amigurumi again. Although I might actually spend the time to find a pattern and/or basic amigurumi instructions.

Bauble Necklace

This, like my Fairy Hairclips, is basically a bunch of beads that are held together by some randomly twisted wire. So, I can't really give exact instructions. Enjoy the picture, though. :)

Such a Horribly Nasty Blogger

I am, yet again, posting for the mere sake of taunting my few readers. :P

You see, I got onto the computer with the intention of posting at least six posts, instructions and all. That would be just a small fraction of the crafts/art projects/etc I have done recently.

I got onto the computer. Paint Shop wouldn't open up (and all of the pictures had bad lighting). Then, I realized I was on my brother's account and he doesn't have access to my files. And then I realized that my bedtime, one which I'd better not miss by even a minute, is in only a few minutes. I might/might not be able to post tommorrow.

Can you all pray for my family? Especially early this week? This being the internet, and this being a public blog, and this being a public blog that more than just close friends read, I can't put up too much info. But prayers would be appreciated. :) Danke!

Radish Earrings

Luna Lovegood' Radish Earrings

Luna Lovegood was the slightly-wacky girl... She wore a pair of beaded radish earrings (they are called dirigible plums in England!). These are not beaded... but they still remain very Luna.

I made them with Sculpey clay, stuck a wire loop in the top, baked, and attached earring loops! 

Time Turner

The time-turner, minus the chain.

Well, it's a bit sloppy... but it is a time-turner nonetheless. Best, all it took was some wire, a few beads, and Sculpey clay. AND it spins freely (well, until it decided to stop working).

I just messed with the wire and clay alot. I can't explain how I did it; I bet there is a much better way. Mine was rather ineffective.

It pales in comparison to the real thing... Oh, well. :) My bros sure don't care!

The "real" one, from Noble Collection