I'M ENGAGED!

Soon, I will be known as Mrs. Elise Valentine! By Thor, that has a wonderful ring to it. Speaking of ring, my fiance's older sister, a metal smith, had made my engagement ring! I think that's just lovely.

We plan to get married May, Friday the 13th (win) and I plan to DIY quite a lot of things for the reception and ceremony. I can't wait!

11/4/10 Updates

Dear Friends,

What a week this has been! I have been immensely stressed, and in the midst of all of it, I wanted to just give up and quit everything I had going. So, after much pondering about this site, its direction, me being in a better mood and plenty of sweet talking from my fiance (more on this later), I decided to keep this website. I'm going to take this website in a new approach this month. Even with this hectic week and the roller coaster of emotions. I am giving this humble blog one more chance.

Finishing up this year and the next year will be crazy busy for me. So why not make it even more hectic? Here is my idea. For a few years now, I have participated in the National Novel Writing Month (whether or not I actually finished those projects is not relevant...) and I have been wanting to participate again this year, but I have been on this insane writer's block for some time now. Suddenly, a sharp dressed midget approached me, bowed, and smacked my head over with a sack of potatoes. That was when I came up with this idea that I am sure you have already deducted, dear reader. I will write 50,000 words in the form of blog posts this month. This way, it'll force me to write for this blog and hopefully rekindle my love for the art of selfishly discussing my projects and my life.

So, without further ado, keep a lookout for many articles in the near future. I believe I will be posting 1-3 articles a week. Between planning my wedding, making Christmas presents, review many books, show my recent projects and holiday cooking, I certainly have plenty to talk about. I also will revamp and clean up this blog entirely to make it more presentable.

Peace.

Sock Critters Part 2

Introducing, Hamilton the Hamster! This has to be one of my favorite crafts. I love his little top hat and monocle. This was made from a friend's old sock. I think he turned out really well. I think his arms could have been a little higher though. Oh well.

This was made for a contest that C&T publishing was holding to make a sock animal out of a book they have recently published. I will be doing a review on that book later.

Sock Critters Part 1

Introducing....Clover the Cat! This was made from a friend's very old sock (which explains the "quality" of the craft). This was made for a contest for C&T Publishing to make a sock animal from a book they have recently published. The results of the contest have yet to be announced!

Mr. & Mrs. Pacman Pillows

This was a present that I had made for my boyfriend for Christmas 2009. I spoiled the man with all of the presents that I made him. Here you see both of the Pac Man pillows here. They both are super comfy to lay on and makes you want to nom things afterward. The pillows are made of fleece and the eyes, lashes, and lipstick are felt.

Here is a closeup of Mr. Pacman. One of my favorite things about this project was creating a pattern from scratch.

Mrs. Pacman! I hand sewed the lips and they eyes/eyelashes onto her body. The eyelashes were a pain in the ass.

Here is a close up of her ribbon. Cute, no?

Skittles Vodka

Behold: Skittles vodka! This is, by far, one of the tastiest drinks I have ever tasted. I recommend this recipe to any vodka or skittles lover. This is a very simple recipe to do. If you are able to wait for about a day to have these tasty drinks, then try and make this. Recipe originally found here at Mixthatdrink.com.

Skittles Vodka
One 1.75 liter bottle of vodka
Five 8.5 flasks or bottles
One 1 pound bag of Skittles
Five empty plastic water bottles
A funnel
Bowls for separating the Skittle flavors
A measuring cup
Coffee filters or paper towels

1. A simple formula to follow: 60 skittles to 6 ounces of vodka. If you want more vodka, change the number of skittles to each ounce you change.
2. Cover your workspace with freezer paper or newspaper. This infusion can get messy.
3. Separate the skittles by the flavors. One bowl should hold 60 green skittles, one bowl should hold 60 red skittles, and so on and so forth.
4. Fill the empty water bottles with 6 ounces the vodka of your choosing.
5. Pour one flavor of skittles into one bottle, one flavor of skittles in another bottle, and so on and so forth so each flavor of skittles has it's own vodka bottle.
6. Screw the lids back onto the water bottles and give each bottle a good shake. Eventually, you'll see that the colors will dissolve. The white part of the skittles still has a lot of dissolving to do. Let them soak for a few hours (and give them a good shake every now and then). Mine had soaked overnight.
7. When dissolved, you'll see a lot of white muck floating at the top. Now it is time to filter the vodka, so it'll have a smooth consistency again.
8. Grab your funnel and put it in your measuring cup. Put either a coffee filter or a paper towel in your funnel (I find that paper towels work for me the best) and pour some vodka in your funnel. Your coffee filter or your paper towel will filter the white muck from your vodka, while your vodka pours through your funnel and into your measuring cup. Change your filter as needed.
9. Some colors require you to filter more than once. Keep filtering until the vodka is nice and smooth to your liking, and the white muck is gone.
10. Repeat with all colors.
11. Enjoy! This vodka is great with sodas, juice, or just on the ice.