Welcome To The Circus Of Terror!

Miz Liz! aka syrusb ! Your falls are done! Here they are! Pardon the crappy cell phone pic.



I'll send them out by the end of the week. I just need to pick up a box to send them in so they don't get smooshed.:)

Patrick: Almost done coloring your commissions in. I'm hoping they will be done by Friday at the latest. Working on the hair clips for you sisters tonight probably.

Tiggy: Starting the sketches of your first 3 right now!


And that's where things stand on the commission front as of now.

The Halloween front is looking pretty dang busy as of now. I have my costume and my sister just asked if I could make a devil costume for my newphew Danny and a matching vest for her Husband, Ryan. I cannot expressed how stoked I am to be making a Halloween costume for my nephew.  I'm already hunting down paterns MWAHAHAHAHAA!! I'll have to call her after work tonight for more details.
Of course this is only going to snowball into insanity since I'm also making my own costume...Luckily Max is opting for a Bed Sheet Ghost costume for Halloween this year so I'm off the hook for making him anything... SO tempted to detour over to Joann Fabric's after work. They're down the street from our house and a good place to look for novelty cottons that aren't over priced.

Project overload!...Kinda how I like my autums.

So currently on the list (So I don't forget):
Liz's hair falls - DONE
Patrick's Smut - In process
Patricks gift clips - Will start tonight
Tiggy's Sketches - Started
Other commission sketches - still in the cue
Kyshy's hair Fall - Still in the cue
Danny's Devil costume - Need details
Vest For Ryan - Need to find pattern and buy fabric
My Witch Costume - In development

Aaaand still plotting tea party with Colleen. Yeah..I be busy.

THIS GAL!

First off, Colleen and I went to go get our nails done since we were both in desparate need.I truly had a wonderful weekend visiting with shadowstarr  aka Kyshandra from Miniclan aka Erin! I had not seen this gal since Gathering 2000 (11 freakin YEARS!). It was SO much fun catching up with her again! She was in town for a conference and took a few days after it was done to come play. We did some tourist-y things and Max and I took her to some of our favorite eating type places. It was as if 11 years never passed and we totally picked up exactly where we left off... And I love going through Old Town San Diego with someone who loves the ktitchy shops as much as I do. Alas, I had to work her last full day in town but we all went to Sushi that night at Tokyo Sushi (NOM!) then watched Despicable Me on cable before crashing out for the night. Kyshy! I had so much fun this weekend! I really hope you can come back to visit again soon! I'll see if I can rope karlyl into joining us next time.;)

Here are some random photos of our Old Town romp.

My God, I am TIRED.
Seriously, I have been crashing hard and early at night every chance I get. Its a shame too because I really have a lot on my plate right now. The good news is that I think I am finally...FINALLY over this damn cold! Thank Friggin GOD! I was really getting over being sick. MEH!

Julie has been in town for the last few days and we've been having a blast. Luckily it has been a mellow blast as well. We've both been mainly chillin' around San Diego. Friday we went shopping then out to Lidos for a belated birthday dinner. We also got our nails done. I haven't had a Mani/Pedi since...oh..I think 2009. My toenails...I kid you not...are neon green. I call the color radioactive zombie green. My fingernails are an awesome pinup girl Hollywood red.
 Behold! Proof!

 

Julie told me about this new polish called Shelack I should try since I'm so hard on my nails. Usually they chip about 2 minutes after I get them done. So far? Not a chip or smear. Julie says for her the manicure lasted almost a month. I'm starting to believe her. It was a little bit extra but hell, with how hard I am on my nails, its worth it for me!
 Then on Saturday we went to the St. Artemas tourney so Jules could see what this whole SCA thingy was about. She enjoyed it! Enough that she was considering looking into it up in No Cal. Max came in 2nd place at the rapier Tourney so I am very proud of my guy. I also put up some sketch commissions for the arts auction. No clue who won it but I'm sure I'll find out on Wednesday at council. We had to leave the tourney early though because Max slightly tweaked his knee. It was bugging him enough that I wanted him to go home and elevate it for a while.
 I'm very happy we've had such a fun relaxing weekend. Hell, most of the day after St. Aretmas was spent sitting on the couch. Max played Xbox, Julie cross stitched, and I got some much needed to do sketching done. Then it ended with hot tub and wine and happily falling into bed into a nice deeeep sleep.
I needed that so much.

Almost done with my rehaul of Original Cin. I really what it up in the next week or two. I'm actually very excited about the sketch blog format and I think I'll be taknig advantage of it. Already It has inspired me to sketch again. And while I'm not drawing every single day this april, I am drawing. Actualyl what I'm doing is drawing and FINISHING pieces which I haven't done in forever. I'm proud of myself.

So it is definite and for sure. I will be belly dancing at the Gaslight Gathering. So if you wanna see shake my toosh..and laugh as well, Come to the con!  Info on the con is here:) 
http://www.gaslightgathering.org/
I'm actually very excited to go. Still need to pick up a pass for Friday though. Since I'm "entertainment" on Saturday, I'm comp-ed.
Need to get my steampunk dance gear in order. here's a hint..it WON'T be skimpy if you've seen my ass lately. O.o Nervous as Hell that I'm going to look REALLY bad out there. I'll just smile and wave my arms around a lot. That always worked on stage.
 
Still tired alas, but my only plans tonight are to go home, put on the PJs, watch the Game of Thrones series premiere on HBO (OMGOMGOMG!!!!!), eat Julie's chocolate rum cake, drink some wine, then crash.
My life is so glamorous.

And I leave you with my wonderful felty Cthulhul courtesy of wyngdlyon  AKA,  Colleen.

Tiiiired...and shoulder is all screwed. I slept wrong. ARG! Going to bave to bug Capt'n to pop my shoulder blade back in place.
OTHER than that? I had a fantastic weekend with Trish, Shing, Jen, Ty, and Kyt. We had hardcore Uber craft/Art day which was pretty productive for most of us. We also took a trip to Creole Cafe to celebrate Trish's birthday....and we bought her a very tacky cake. VERY tacky cake. It was a fantastic weekend! I love my awesome friends!

Yes Trish, I WILL be getting my Etsy store up soon.

Must project ramble and get it out of my system!

Project Rambling:
I started distressing work on my Steampunk duster. Just the first coat of paint on it right now. It already looks pretty beat to Hell with just the prelim. Going to do some splatter on it including a little red here and there to look like blood splatters. Also want to find a way to make the coat look a bit dusty as well. I'll figure it out. Its been fun trying! Going to do a little work on the vest later. Just a bit to give it character, but not as much of a beating as the duster is getting. My shirt was a thrif find so it already looks pretty worn. May do a little dirt around the collar. Haven't desided yet.  After all that then I finaly start work on the "gun" belt and the goggles redux. Slowly my Regina costume is getting the overhall I wanted to give it. Pictures eventually, when I get off my butt.  Also I'll need to knock heads with Dan on us building a Chainsaw for the costume. He told me he's really wanting to help me build it.
Also started putting together my new dollhouse or as I've been calling it my "Victorian summer home". Its a slow process but its been a lot of fun. I'll try to take photos of this as well but there isn't much at the moment to take photos of. Probably next time I pick up the project I'll snap a fiew...the sash windows are so teeny and adorable!

Just bought myself a pattern for a Regency morning dress from Reconstructing History. Always had good luck with that pattern company. Months and months and MONTHS ago Colleen and Ty bought me some beautiful light orange taffeta with yellow enbroidered flowers on it. I LOVE and felt it would make a fabulous Regency gown. I have absolutely no idea where I plan to wear a regency gown..Maybe LoJ someday? I donno. But damnit, I'm making one since I've been wanting to make onefor the last two years. I'm making one out of sheer principal!

Sometimes I get excited about these type of projects then I end up discouraging myself from making them simply because I think "What am I going to do with that?!" But I have to remind myself that I want to create these things because the creating  process brings me a lot of joy and accomplishment more than wearing them somewhere. Finding a place to wear them is more of an excuse.

Wow, I have a lot of catch up on don't I?
I feel remotely bad because frankly I just haven't had the gumption to really write any entries at all. I've been wanting more to keep my hands busy in other ways. Which means that I've been making a lot of hand made Christmas gifts lately.
I will be updating the costume blog soon. Started yet ANOTHER project. Want to get some in progress shots. I think its going to turn out really lovely....Kinda going nutzo on the details.

Anyways, to Recap!

Thanksgiving = Win and awesome!

I gorged myself. Seriously. It was not a healthy thing to do. I'm STILL bloated too. OYE! This is what happens when all the great cooks of the Iron Maiden get together for a feast. I end up immoble on the couch.
Totally worth it though.
It was the Pie-pocolypse for me. I made four pies; two key lime and two pumpkin. The pumpkin was pretty much devourored. The keylime is ALMOST devoured. I'm pretty proud of my pie prowess. Thank you banshea AGAIN for the pumpkin Pie Receipe!
crzydemona  spent the holiday weekend with us. I had SUCH a blast. We hung out, eat too much, caught a showing of Harry Potter 7 (which was OMG AWESOME IN SO MANY WAYS!), and generally did some fun girly bonding.
And Max is the king of the mighty fine Ham.

Christmas is fast approaching. I'm happy for it in a melencholy way. Its going to be a very odd Christmas for the Kinnard clan this year. This is mostly due to the fact that my Uncle Mike has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I've known for a while now but honestly I just haven't felt like mentioning it much online. He's fighting it though for as long as he can and generally being Uncle Mike, which means he is reaminng upbeat with a smile. And honestly right now he looks and sounds great. The chemo hasn't started yet though so I'm sure that will probably change. Though right now all we're doing is keeping positive and planning on enjoying what little time we have left with him. So this Christmas is going to be bitter sweet for all of us. Trying to not dwell on the bad and just feel blessed that whatever powers that may be desided to grant us some extra time with him. Feeling very grateful for that. So this Christmas is going to be both special and sad for me. If I seem a bit overly sentimental and sensitive this year about the holidays, please try and understand what is going on in my head. :)

On an upbeat note, I plan to spoil my newphews rotten this year the best I can. I'm hoping to do a cross stitch bib for little Tommy that says baby's first Christmas on it. I've been zooming on the cross stitch so I think I can slam it out. I also need to pick up some hotwheels for Danny, then plot with Max on what awesome nerd gift we're going to pick up for Shawn. He's old enough to appreciate the nerd-ity.  Max and I are probably going to pick up a tree next week. We're helpnig Burke and Beth out by taking over the Iron Maiden Yule party this year. Still don't have a ton of decorations but eh, I can improvise. I also need to plot with tigrise and brooklynx  over our anunal gathering of the holiday gargoyles at Macaroni Grill. Last year was epic *LOL*.

In non Holiday news:
-Sewing sewing sewing AGAIN! I have gotten bit by the creativity bug HARD this week. Winter Arts is this Saturday and I'd like to have at least ONE thing to show. We'll see if I accomplish this. Regardless on if I have or don't, I've been having a blast getting my hands dirty again.

-Planning on picking up a pencil again soon and sketching. its been OMG a MONTH since my last sketch. But I"m shaking off the emo artist mood and desided to get back on the horse...yes this also means SCANING the commissions I have sitting in my book. I suck, I know.

-Learned blackwork and more cross stitching. This has been an awesome way to keep my hands busy during down time at the desk.

-I think I may have enough cash to pick up some green paint to FINALLY paint my studio doors. Very stoked for this. Also thinking of making a new Ironing Board cover in the colors of my studio just to keep with the look. Need to find an Ironing board cover pattern though.

-Going to be working with Capt'n soon on the new charter for Middle Eastern Guild. We need to present it on Saturday.

-Etsy store is still not up. I am aware of this. I'm working on it! I've just had other projects in my way. >.<

And that...is that.

 

I have been really shitty keeping up on LJ this week haven't I?
Well things got both busy and boring at the same time...if that is at all possible. Trust me, it is.
 
The weekend though was FABULOUS which made me smile lots. On Friday wyngdlyon  aka Colleen and I went out to troll for fabric...which actually just turned into us wandering around Old Town San Diego looking at girlish things. We had lunch and Creole with  Ty then went to the Temecula Olive Oil Company (picked up some Roasted Garlic Olive Oil for Mr Max and some olive oil/lavander lotion for myself.) and found a cute fabric shop and bead shop in the area. We also found an adorable girly store called Bodytreats in that area. I picked up some of their handmade soap and I have to admit, I'm impressed with it. I think I'll go back someday and pick up some other bars of theirs. The day ended with us hitting Yardage Town in National City and contemplating both steampunk costumes and Halloween costumes. I picked up some awesomely obnoxious plaid fabric for my March Hare costume. It shall make a magnificent vest ...and an eye sore. WOO! I'll snap some photos of it later. I did find the perfect fabric for when I get started on my victorian gown. A beautiful bluish grey taffeta with bees embrodiered on it. But I didn't snag it yet since we think we can find it cheaper up in LA. So I have to be patient.  Eh, my patterns aren't even in yet so I want to wait until I get the right yardage number.  After Colleen went home I put together my Viking garb for the Leif Erickson tourney this Saturday. It turned out pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. pics to come. I still have to finish the decorative stitching on the apron dress seams.
Saturday was date day for me and Max. We haven't really gone out for one in...wow..three months or so? Its been a busy year for us. We slept in until 10am which was glorious then grabbed some lunch at our favorite noodle house Chopsticks...which we haven't been to in almost a year now. OOOH such good Ramen! We then caught a showing of Machette which I must say was full of WIN AND AWESOME! Holy crap that movie was funny as Hell! And my lvoe for Danny Trejo still is alive and well. Afterwards we hit Creole (yes again..I love Creole Cafe) just to get some bread pudding and coffee. I managed to drag Max to the Oilve Oil place so I could get him to taste some of their oils and vinegars.  SUCH good stuff! We went home with some Pomegranate Vinegar. I'm looking forward to max cooking with it. Its extremely tasty. We wandered old town, checked out the cigar shop for him, found out my favorite tea shop has closed (SADNESS!), then found a small wine tasting room where we chilled out for a while. Max treated me to wine tasting that night and bought us some chardonnay and Red Zin...SO GOOD! We meandered home finally and chilled on the couch watching Reign of Fire on HBO.
...Incidently I had a dream that night that I was IN  Reign of Fire and was Christian Bale's character's sister. I did a lot of fleeing for my life in that dream.

Sunday = Work then Boardwalk Empire in the evening...which is my new obsession on TV right now. SO GOOD! If you have not seen this, SEE IT! Steve Buscemi is awesome in it.

So overall, things have been pretty spiffy for me. This Weekend I have Leif Erickson to go to, then Max and I start preping for Great Western War. We're only hitting GWW for a weekend so it won't take as much prep as Estrella or May War does. And we're sharing Mark and Ty's Pavilion so we don't have to worry about packing the yurt so that makes life a LOT easier.  Just toileties, Garb and Max's fighting gear if he plans on suiting up over the weekend.

And Halloween Fast Approaches! Which means Horror movies on TCM and AMC! WOOOOOO! It also means pumpkin lattes and costuming fun! SO STOKED!! My favorite time of year is about to kick off!
And also, Max and my 2nd year aniversary fast approaches...seriously? Its two years already?

And yes, Fully aware I still have a Meme. I'll just continue at my own pace with it.


Day 04-Your Music
Showtunes are my life blood, I'll admit that. Its all I listened to in high school mainly because its the only thing that ever appealed to me at that time. Not a huge fan of New country or rap/R&B ...some techno is okay. I like rock mostly and I like things with a good melody that doesn't drive me insane.
I don't really have much of a niche in music. I just sorta like what I like. This ranges from classical, to bluegrass, to rock, to showtunes..etc etc...But I am definitely a sucker to anything I can sing along to. I am a world class champion car singer. I can be found of some bubblegum pop and I will get myself hooked on some songs that are fluffy. 
Pretty much, if the song moves me. I'll like it, regardless of the genre.

Ketill took me geocaching for the first time on Friday and I have to say that it was WAY more fun than I expected! I took a couple random photos of the caches we found but alas, they are still on my camera. I'll toss them up sometime this week. So Ketill is stuck with me as a partner it looks like. We're already planning out caches to hunt down when both of us get back from our trips.
New obsession? Quite possibly. I even found a GPS on Amazon made specifically for Geocaching on Amazon that 's running about $70. Not too shabby. I may pick one up when I get the extra spending cash so I can go hunting around my own neighborhood on my after work walks. There's a ton around my area in public places where I'll feel safe heading on my own.
Still, more fun with a buddy...which is why Ketill is stuck with me.;)

The weekend so far has been pretty fabulous and busy. Thursday my new newphew Tommy David was born. According to Leelee, he's a great big readed boy who really loves to sleep. Kinda the polar opposet of my aborable and incredibly handsome newphew Danny. Since Tommy is the youngest and is also a redhead I have desided I will make him my minion. oh YES! Tommy shall soon be my minon in all that is nerdy. *rubs hands together evily* I fly out on Wednesday to see the boys. Let the spoiling commence!

Friday I geocached then went to Tink and Noelle's with Mark and Ty for some dindin (yay pasta and chicken boobies!). Then on Saturday I headed up to Angels Aniversary with Max to pull some court and guard duty. It was freakin' hot out there but the event overall was pretty nice...lots of nice garb to drool over. I ended up playing lady in waiting for Baroness Kate while she judged the period desert contest happening...which means I ALSO got to partake in the tasting...hehehe. Just letting you all know, stawberry soup? REALLY fantastic. I'm glad I was able to jump on that desert grenade in the name of Calafia.;) Trish and Kyt also managed to head over to Angels so we had a great time hanging out and enjoying the tourney. It was Trish's first tourney so she was having a blast watching all the tournament style fighting.
We ended the day by going to dinner at Sizzler (CLASSY!) then after a 3 hour drive home, Max and I passed out for the night.
At work right now and so far the day has been lovely...thats not sarcasm.

Some fabulous thigs that have happened:

• Had fun at Angels Aniversary. Wore my Bodice gown which tends to make the "Gals" look VERY nice and...um...perky. Alas no photos.;)
• Geocaching is now the new obsession! Can't wait to find more!
• NEW NEWPHEW!! =D
• Worked on my steampunk costume and updated costumenonsense finally. Hopefully more photos for there to come.:)
• Got MAJORLY inspired by one of the merchants at Angels and I'm going to make myself a period persian coat  and chamise with the help of Ty's pattern.:)
• The fall weather is creeping in over here in San Diego which means chillier nights. Hooray Fall!  I've been breaking out the Anything Ghost podcast in honor of my favorite season.
• Started back on weightwatchers and started my walking back up. I already lost 2 pounds. WOO!

House meeting after work. Then hopefully a little moment of peace and perhaps some puttering around in the studio. I'm feeling creative.

So apparently for the last few days my body has been in some sort of rebelion against me... which is really infuriating considering I would like to wake up NOT in pain for once. But Alas, my shoulders and neck are giving me a great big FUCK YOOOOOU lately. I'm not sure why. Our matress is fine and I really shouldn't be stressed out so there's no reason for me to be sleeping tense..Meh. Stupid body.
I desided I'm going back on my work out routine tomorrow..maybe that will learn it some manners.

Though I did go to a kick ass wedding last night and had a blast. A friend from the SCA got married. The woman pretty much made every single thing which was impressive..and GORGOUS. She really should consider going into business with her mad skillz if she hasn't already. The food was great, the booze was plentiful, great friends, and GREAT music. All and all, a fantastic evening...which I forgot to bring my camera to..'natch.
Before that I worked in the front yard. Mowed the lawn, weeded and trimmed the herb garden. Still trying to kill all the clover I planted originally so I can put more herbs in the front yard. Once thats gone I'll rototil the bed and plant some more herbs and some flowers as well. I need to find me some good boarder flowers that are drought tolerant and easy to care for..I keep killing everything else...'natch.

The steampunk inspiration continues to poke me, shroud1 , rogue_78 , and wyngdlyon continuously in the face. Apparently we're getting a group together for the con in May. It shall be epic...and probably hilarious as well. Capt'n is pretty inspired which is only working my imagination into a frenzy..which only means trouble.
....'natch.
Colleen and I are working to put together a photoshoot in September.Hee

Okay..I really have nothing more interesting to post at this moment so I"m going to stop babbling now.

So the ComicCon maddness has begun here in SD. I haven't ventured downtown so I haven't gotten to see the insanity yet. I plan to head over tomorrow to pick up my SCA badge so I can help out with the booth and such. I was going to pick it up last night at Fighter Practice but I was so freakin exhausted after work yesterday that I couldn't get myself out of my chair. Max felt the same way. So we both slipped into comas until the guests came back home.
Jen is crashing with us this year as well as my old cosplay buddy Jarrod (only a couple days probably). Overall its pretty quiet over at the Chateau for nerd prom. Next year we'll probably be housing Karine as well if she can make it. :)

If anyone wants to come hunt me down to say hi hi, I'll be at the SCA booth or the SCA demo (in garb...looking fabulous) On Friday and Saturday...though I am hoping to catch Johnathan Mabrey's pannel on Saturday and get him to sign my copy of Patient Zero. We'll see if that's in the cards.

Its gonna be a mellow ComicCon.
And here's a random picture of flowers I took.