Crazy Week

I had a bit of a crazy week. On one hand nothing really that terrible happened. On the other hand a bunch of small things all piled up to make it kind of stressful overall. Thursday should have been an easy day at work but I ended up working with a single customer for over an hour and had to call my manager over for questions three separate times. Meanwhile there was only one other employee at the cutting counter trying to keep up with all the other customers. Plus,even though it was super warm last week, it snowed on my way to work.

Also we've been trying to save up to take my car in because I need to get my alignment fixed and this weekend my husband's service engine light and brake fluid lights came on. We've added brake fluid and that fixed one problem but the engine light is still on so now we have to get that checked out too.

We've also got all sorts of errands and cleaning that we need to get done for our Pi Day party so we were busy over the weekend as well. That being said we did get our invitations sent out and the wax seal worked wonderfully.

 

Hopefully we can get enough done so that we can relax and enjoy ourselves by next weekend... At least we had some nice sunsets this week.

Librocubicularist- Feb. 2015

We've been busy getting ready for our Pi Day party. Making and sending invitations, planning favors and everything in between. I've still be reading but it's been in small bits so this month was mostly comics and craft books.


Bound: Over 20 Artful Handmade Books by Erica Ekrem

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book has a nice variety of projects, some made from scratch, some repurposed old books, even one made from a seashell. I've read a bunch of bookmaking books but this one has a few stitching patterns that I hadn't seen before so that's nice. It also has a handful of projects that are related but not actual books, such as a flower press and bookmarks.




Star Wars: Princess Leia by Mark Waid

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The story takes place immediately following Star Wars: A New Hope and follows Leia as she attempts to round-up survivors of Alderaan. I really enjoyed this comic. It shows how Leia grieves for her lost planet by taking action instead of hiding as the other Rebel leaders advise. I also like the fact that she is allowed to fail. Although her ultimate mission is a success, mistakes are made along the way and I think that makes her a stronger more relatable character.




The Creativity Challenge: Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash Your Genius by Tanner Christensen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book offers 150 different activities to use to jumpstart creative projects. Most could be used for brainstorming ideas or solutions in non-creative areas as well. Some suggestions are very simple, such as turning your project upside down to get a better idea of what areas need more work. Others are more complex such as drawing a map without using physical landmarks (just things like sounds or smells). Overall the challenges are designed to force you into looking at things in different way in order to spark ideas.




The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook: Sweet Treats for the Geek in All of Us by Rosanna Pansino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This cookbook is based on Rosanna Pansino's cooking show, Nerdy Nummies on YouTube. It has great recipes inspired by math and science as well as fantasy and video games. There is a section in front with basic recipes such as sugar cookie dough and the following chapters show how to use those ingredients of make cool themed stuff. Examples are a cake shaped decorated like a computer's motherboard or shaped like a volcano where you can actually fill the center with dry ice so it smokes. Everything is explained well and there are tons of pictures to help you follow along as you decorate. The only thing I feel is missing is a short appendix with information about where to buy some of the tools. Where can I get a silicone mold shaped like Zelda rupees? I'm not sure, but I'd really like to make the candy rupees shown in the book.



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Laundry Room Upgrade

So we finally got around to finishing what should have been a very simple home improvement project. Our hallway has a wide closet that is intended to house a side by side washer and dryer. Since we recently purchased a stacked set we have quite a bit of unused space.

It's in a very awkward place to try and get photos of but here are some before pictures.

We also have a small kitchen closet with our water heater. It's also where we keep our trash can to protect it from our cats. Up until now it was also holding the carpet cleaning attachments for our vacuum cleaner and some other stuff. With the addition of shelves its all stored out of the way in the laundry area. We also got rid off that white storage thingy on the side because it wasn't really working. We still need to hang our accessory caddy up but we realized we need wall sinks.

Here are the after pictures.

We repurposed an empty cat litter bucket to hold dryer lint. I also used an empty soda bottle to make a drip guard for our soap dispenser.

I want to paint the shelves so that they are easier to clean just in case they get soap drips or something. The plan is to eventually add a countertop that hides the cat box and gives us a surface to use for pre-treating stains and folding laundry. I'm also thinking of mounting a towel bar to the bottom of one shelf that I can use to temporary store hanging clothes while doing laundry.

I'm also currently reading up on wiring tutorials because I want to change the light. Right now there's a single bulb that is right over the washer so most of it is blocked. I hope to be able to find a way to make some kind of fixture that branches so we can have light on either side of the machines.

BB-8 Inspired Earrings

Before Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released there were people obsessing out about BB-8. My husband and I were not those people. We didn't understand freaking out about characters you know little to nothing about, even if that character is only a droid. As you know, I was super excited about the movie and spent hours working on outfits for us but the idea of cosplaying an unknown character made no sense to me. What if you accidentally dressed up as the next Jar Jar Binks?

However after seeing the movie, I have to agree that BB-8 is awesome!

When I found this pattern by Marilyn Gardiner for chainmaille earrings I thought they looked a little bit like him. 

I thought maybe if I changed out some of the rings it would have the same blurred look as when he rolls.

Orange is actually my least favorite color so instead I made his little brother BB-6. To save a bit of money I bought rings in multi-color packs, but after I started putting everything together I realized the blue doesn't match between the two sizes. I also realized that I only had one earring hook so I'll have to do more shopping before I can have a complete pair.

What do you think? Does it look like a BB model droid? Also in the close up you can see all the little nicks I made in the rings. Any tips to help prevent that?

Valentine's Day 2016

We had a nice quiet weekend for Valentine's Day so far. Friday night we ran some errands so we'd have more free time. Also my husband brought me a very pretty blue rose. Then Saturday we slept late then spent the afternoon hanging out with friends. It was the weekend of my husband's Pathfinder game but they had a session that was mostly downtime so I tagged along. Because I usually have to work Saturdays it gave me a chance to see some people I don't get to hang out with very often so it was nice.

For Valentine's Day itself we stayed in and had a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon on Netflix and a delicious homemade fondue dinner. We made the fondue with aged white cheddar and gouda with Red's Green Apple Ale for the liquid. For dipping we sliced up some smoked sausage and apple.

We also had broccoli (blanched just a bit so it was easier to skewer) and pretzel bites that we made using this recipe. It's the same pretzels we made for Pi day last year and they are fantastic!

Everything turned out great and was a wonderful match with the cheddar flavor.

We both have tomorrow off as well and do have a few plans. Mostly we have plans to visit the library and make a tasty turkey for our Monday game night group. There will also be some requisite cleaning and work on our Pi day ideas.

Miscellaneous Updates

I don't have any great impressive progress to show for this week but I do have lots of small stuff going on right now. First, and most exciting for me, I think I'm finally over my cold! After my husband was relieved from jury duty Monday we spent a cozy evening with books and cookies.

I ordered a great wax seal to use for our Pi Day invitations and it came in the mail today. That means everything is ready for us to start crafting. The Bardic Bear is ready to party.

In other super exciting party news, I got a great invite in the mail for the Johnson County Library Foundation's Stay Home and Read a Book Ball. It is a fundraiser for the library where all you have to do is read. You can dress up or stay in your pjs and share photos of your favorite books and reading spots. I'm still trying to decide what I want to read for the occasion but I am definitely planning to participate.

I love the Book/ Bowtie logo

I did make a little progress on my quilt square embroidery. The Zelda owl now has wings and part of his feather details.

Finally, my husband and I have three whole days off together this weekend! We actually don't have a lot of big plans but are looking forward to just hanging out. We plan to order a bunch of take-out for Valentine's Day and work on a few home improvement projects.

Sick and Tired

So.... I'm sorry to say that I'm still sick. Not in a really sick need to stay home from work and focus on getting better way, but in a just have a cold and my nose hurts from blowing it too much and I'm too tired to do much besides read after I get off work kind of way.

Needless to say I accomplished nothing this weekend. I have several projects that I wanted to work on including more stitching and organizing our laundry room but, you know, stuff happens. Also since I spent a lot of time reading I found a character I'd like to cosplay (If I could ever find the time and money to go to a convention to cosplay at that is.) Atlanna, the mother of Arthur Curry/ Aquaman from the New 52 looks really badass. I also like that she's mostly covered up so I wouldn't feel too awkward about the fact that I'm getting pudgy around the middle.

Let's see, what else is going on with us? My husband is super unhappy because he has to report for jury duty today. We are starting to make plans for our 2nd annual Pi day party. At this point mostly work on the guest list so we know how many invites and favors we need to make.... and thinking about what kind of favors we want to make.

Not much else to talk about other than I took a bunch of cool cloud pictures yesterday while my husband aired his tires at the gas station.

Sick Again

No matter how hard I try to avoid it, I always seem to catch whatever cold/ illness my husband catches. At this point I'm not completely sure I have his cold but I have a strange feeling at the back of my throat.

So I spent yesterday resting up and trying to stay hydrated. . . I know that I need to drink more to keep from getting sick or to help me get better but I never do I very good job of it. But I did have soup for lunch and some hot cider.

While I wasn't as productive as I'd planned I did manage to finish my book and get started on the embroidery for the Zelda owl. You can't see it in this picture but I have it set up with a speech bubble to ask if you need that repeated or not...

New Work on Old Projects

I haven't been as productive as I would have liked this week. I don't really have any excuses to offer. I have a Star Wars book that I'm trying to finish before it's due back to the library, I'm only halfway through and have 4 days left. I'll definitely finish it in time but reading filled several of my days off this week. The other side thing is that my husband has been sick. Nothing serious, just a cold and sore throat, but I've been taking time out to make sure he has plenty of hot drinks to soothe his throat.

Reading and Cat Snuggles

 I've finally gotten back to work on my geeky quilt (last mentioned in this post) and started the embroidery on the squares. I haven't worked on it since early October, partly because I had misplaced the fabric for them. I started with Rocket Raccoon. (Check out my process for making the designs here.)

It's been a while since I did any kind of stitching but I think it turned out alright. It took me a bit to get back into the rhythm of things and I hope that as I work I'll get faster with practice.

It took me almost an entire day to finish the design even though it's fairly simple. There's also a lot of empty space and I'm thinking about going back and adding either his name on one side or some comic book style pew, pews by his gun.

What do you think?