Philotic Web

Thanks

Crafty people - anyone here sew? Have advice on a sewing machine?
I (of course) sold my machine when we moved here, and now I have some birthday money I'm going to use to buy a new one. Any brands to buy/not to buy?
I'm not an avid sewer (sew-er...sewwer... not the place where ninja turtles reside...one who sews), I just need it to hem pants, make curtains, sew some stuff for my kids - nothing major.

My mom's had good luck with Singer and Janomi. I believe sewing machines are like clothes irons: the price difference between crap and pretty good is minimal, but the difference between pretty good and AMAZING is huge, so unless you're opening a business, aim for "pretty good". I'll ask her if she has any advice next time we talk.

I bought this a few years ago. I got it on ebay for around $50. I'm happy with it but I only use it once or twice a year, for the same types of things you mentioned (except replace 'kids' with 'lizard' ).

Looks better in person than this cruddy scan.

Absolutely gorgeous. I love it!

Not the greatest picture, but, pixel superheroes!

Not the greatest picture, but, pixel superheroes!

Awesome! I love how easy it is to identify each, even so pixellated!


Nomi, I am *thrilled* at the mental picture of a beardie in a pink tutu. I don't know if you've ever done that, but it's making me smile right now.

Hehe! I would love to make clothes for Pheeny but I'm not sure if/how that would work. The only thing that I have made are hammocks for her cage, which she *does* lay on constantly.

Give you Otter Cat

Not sure if there's a place to post art as well as crafts, but I figured I'd post some in here. There's a lot more in the works, and nothing feels complete, but all the same.

Pencil and paper, today. Fun, put me in a good mood, not done, not too time consuming. Considering most of my art is not based in reality, I'm pretty happy with it as a start.



The next two are watercolor on watercolor paper. A close-up and a farther away shot. Neither really quite capture it, since these pics are all from my phone, but close enough, I think. Not sure if the lighting lets you see the two figures walking together, one adult, one child, both female. Done at the end of a long, tough day.





If I change either of these substantially, I may repost them. We'll see.

Please please pleeeeeease make me art, Kirsten!

That water color is amazing! I have always wanted to be able to watercolor but have never been able to get anywhere close to decent at it.

Those are very lovely! I quite like the sketch and the watercolour!

For myself, I've started going to a knitting circle, which is fabulous and I am finally starting to knit regularly

Kirsten, I love the last image especially. The colors are amazing and the scene itself is beautiful.

I've always been bad at painting, drawing, watercolor, etc.


This a paper negative shot in my 4x5 camera.

Metered the water at Zone III. Shot at f/8 for 30 seconds. Effective film speed is ISO 12.

The composition seemed fine at the time but seeing it now it hurts my eyes.

The finished product of my pixalated superheroes:

JLA for our room:


(I need a bigger frame so Green Lantern and Aquaman aren't cut off)

Sidekicks (Kid Flash, Robin, Batgirl, Superboy) for the girls room.




I'm pretty proud of the sidekicks one since I made up the patterns myself!

Those are awesome, Jan. I'm a bit curious as to the whole making up the pattern yourself bit but I don't feel like I know enough about the process in general to understand how much of an accomplishment that probably is.

I repeat my curiosity in stuffed daleks...

I don't really know what Dalek looks like other than from pictures so I don't know if THIS is a good enough likeness or not. But if you would like one, I'd be happy to make it as an early baby gift. Just let me know!

Ahahaha, that's definitely a dalek! I was mostly joking because I had to think of something for the thread.

But I wouldn't turn one down.

f/45 @ 38seconds. Paper negative inverted in Photoshop.

Because I know everyone is just dying to know what I've been keeping busy with in my artistic endeavors (read: painstaking, bordering on masochistic time-passer by-ers), I'm still working on this. (I knew it was from early this year but holy whoa-bagger, January?) I started and was quite enthusiastic about it and then I got busy and had to set it aside for what turned out to be, oh, 4.5 months?

Here is where I am now:




Now for more excuses as to why I'm not further along...I can only make decent progress when I can take over the kitchen counter or some other hard, flat surface. That is rare, as my mother's boyfriend has set up shop on the kitchen table and I hate spending time in the kitchen or living room when he's around. He's not a bad guy but he's loud and needy and homey don't play that. Basically, I have to wait until Mondays (not always an option; he sometimes doesn't work Mondays) or when he goes out of town.

Secondly, have you seen how small these beads are?



Pretty damn, that's how small. Even if I get into a good rhythm of "grab, tweeze, glue, press, repeat," it takes a long time to noticeably cover the canvas. Less of an issue if I'm not trying to make this work on my bed, for instance, but see above about hard, flat surfaces.


Now, before I hear any, "Dude, Alea, the bead is probably normal sized; your finger is giganto and that photo proves it," have a comparison of my finger and the bottom of the canvas.





As for real reasons I'm not further along:

I have a short attention span.
I'm lazy.
Sometimes I forget that no outside interest doesn't make it mean less if it makes me happy.



I'm planning on adding a print to the canvas, to surround the flower, when it's done but that is going to require tracing paper and some brilliant logistics I haven't worked out yet. Probably



this pattern because, as much as I used to hate the red-white-black thing, the damask pattern tends to give me girl-hard ons and I think it would look cool with the red. We'll see. All I know is, my hands have oil and there are issues with keeping my canvas pure white, as I intended to do.

It's looking good! I love damask. Those bead are tiny. I think my monstrously huge fingers would not be able to deal with them very well.

So, Alea, what other crafty stuff are you working on?

... homey don't play that...

Just wanted to point out that childhood memories flooded into my head when i read this <3

ha, I don't think I expected to be asked so soon.

Current projects, besides the Fables bead rose include another Fables inspired piece; a sort of abstract, copper wire beanstalk that will be spray-painted green and mounted to canvas if I ever figure out the right shape. The leaves are giving me the hardest time but the stalk itself isn't being so cooperative, either.

Also plans to convert another empty frame, like I did before (pictures in this thread somewhere, I believe), but most likely to something MLP based. For that, I need to hunt down some stellar, high res images that are preferably of the same sub-theme within the MLP theme. There are some really awesome profile wallpaper images that might work but I'm holding out until I'm sure I can't think of something better.

I have a pair of sage green corduroy pants that have holes in places that make it inappropriate to wear any more, so I'd like to use those to make leaves for a vine. They're textured, so I think it'd be really cool. I just need to decide on what I want to act as the vine itself and where I'll put it when I'm done.

I had a huge plug thing that I was going to try to steam-punk up for Jan but then she posted her book-based swirlies and monkeys, so that's kind of out the window. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to make it look steam-punk anyway but I thought it would have made a great base.

I keep hoping people will want to start pen-paling so I have an excuse to do some more envelopes, as those are always fun for me to do. That's an ongoing/open-ended thing, though.

On a huge, I can't count it because I'm too scared to try scale, I'm collecting fabric and hope to someday turn it into a more modern looking quilt.

If I ever talk myself into it, I have a pair of costume wings I've been working on for, oh, two years now...I need to finish sewing on the beads, do the ribbon trim, and add the elastic. Then I can slap those puppies on and run around like a deranged butterfly/fairy.

I'm also itching to find some use for my Sharpies but nothing specific comes to mind. I'm always trying to think of new stuff.

So, yeah. Nothing revolutionary or even all that creative but thanks for asking. :)


ETA:

... homey don't play that...

Just wanted to point out that childhood memories flooded into my head when i read this <3

Yay! I didn't think anyone got the reference and concluded ILC must have been a brown people thing.

... homey don't play that...

Just wanted to point out that childhood memories flooded into my head when i read this <3

Yay! I didn't think anyone got the reference and concluded ILC must have been a brown people thing.

I loved watching ILC as a kid with my brother... My mom even made us "home" socks to beat each other with.
And I'm brown well half brown... even if it doesn't show on my skin

You are busy! I'm currently working on NO crafty things at all.

... homey don't play that...

Just wanted to point out that childhood memories flooded into my head when i read this <3

Yay! I didn't think anyone got the reference and concluded ILC must have been a brown people thing.

I loved watching ILC as a kid with my brother... My mom even made us "home" socks to beat each other with.
And I'm brown well half brown... even if it doesn't show on my skin

haha, cool points to your mom...which I wouldn't think was cool at all if I were my age now when that show aired. I make allowances for nostalgia, apparently.

And yeah...you're at least as brown as I am. Maybe even more.




Steph, I'm not actively busy with all that all the time. It's there, keeping me busy if I want it to and if not, it sits quietly in the background. I think I'd be confused if I didn't have something waiting around for me, though.

I totally turned an old skirt of mine into a peasant dress for Kinley.

I did this one about a week ago, now. It looks wrong to me, and I can't figure out where to fix it, so I've been avoiding showing it to most people but what the hell. Let me give you all a hand.

I think it's the perspective on the index finger - it's not clear why it's so short.

Tonight I completed the first of the knitting projects for Wee Brontosaurus!

It looks wrong to me, and I can't figure out where to fix it

the thumb seems long to me, in combination with the index finger being short, otherwise it's fantastic. perhaps try to use a softer line on the fingernail to just hint at the color change... not that you're looking for help.

i loved drawing my hand like that in high school. trying to make it look right and getting all of the lengths to look right is very difficult. as well as the folds and creases.

so while i was working at my previous job, i was bored A LOT. i got into doodling cartoons. and making paperclip people. the cartoons aren't worth sharing, though i did like some of them enough to keep them. and i would enjoy making a webcomic. i have stories i would love to tell. but there's no way i have time for such nonsense. or rather, there's no way i would force myself to keep up with it because i'm a lazy man that comes home and likes to waste time in front of a TV than actually doing his hobbies.

there are some of my creative hobbies i would like to share with you all, even if i don't keep up with doing them.

first, i have pictures of the process of building a guitar. some of which, i will post at some time. probably after the divorce is final. it's really quite interesting. second, i would like to post pictures of my paperclip men. they really are kinda neat. i started making them during the winter olympics. so i made them to reflect some of those sports. red,white and blue snowboarders, skiers, curlers. some were canadian colors too ya know, for my wife. also made a band. everything made out of paperclips. except for the snowboard/skis those are popsicle sticks. once i feel putting time into doing so, and figure out a good way of photographing them, i'll post them.

anyway, they're lame, but passed the time really well.

the cartoons aren't worth sharing, though i did like some of them enough to keep them. and i would enjoy making a webcomic. i have stories i would love to tell. but there's no way i have time for such nonsense. or rather, there's no way i would force myself to keep up with it because i'm a lazy man that comes home and likes to waste time in front of a TV than actually doing his hobbies.

Two of my favorite "webcomics" update almost never, just by the way, and I still check them every day. A webcomic doesn't require a fixed schedule to exist. Just saiyan!