Gutted!

I was absolutely crushed that a spring craft fair at the Legion was canceled due to a scheduling conflict.  Lots of people rent that place on weekends for various and sundry reasons like wedding receptions.  It was supposed to be on March 23rd.  I am still really shy about selling myself to people and am grateful that Marsha was gonna do it with me again.  What I look forward to the most is seeing so many friends.  I felt a little bit cut adrift after that because I'd been making stuff like these votive cups.  Piecing together small glass chips on a round surface is way, way easier than working with large chunks on a square one. 

Seed and microbeads.

Since all the candle votive stuff was still out on the table, I decided to keep decorating them even though the show was canceled.  The ribbon weave was a MAJOR pain in the butt and this is yet another 'never again'.  The results look cool but it was very time consuming and difficult to keep the ribbon taught enough to cover the metal posts, as well as straight.  That one has a separate glass votive cup that fits inside, therefore there is no fire danger.  

Blinged up my eyeglass case the other day, too.  Can't believe I didn't think to do that before.  "The obvious was hidden".  

I also saw a project idea to make a Golden Snitch (from Harry Potter of course).  I found a smallish ball that I had, which was already pre-glittered.  I kind of wish that the ball was more gold than copper but it still looks cool.  The wings are made from bent wire with tissue paper glued over it, then glittered.  I used E6000 to glue them to the ball.

I hope that the show is rescheduled for a date in April or May.  Till then...

Recharging at The Beach

One sunny morning at the end of February I decided that the cleaning and laundry could wait, because I was in need of a beach fix, so I headed off to Scusset.  It was really chilly and windy but once I got walking, I warmed up pretty fast.

I love it when the surf pounds.

There was a lot of crap washed up on the beach from all of the February storms.  Mostly shotgun shells and tampon applicators.  And also a whole bunch of stairs.  I wonder if some of them came from Town Neck.

Also lots of lobstah traps.

It's illegal to take traps and buoys off the beaches, even though they make such nice yard decor.

A few beach logs as well.

Scusset's not a good glass beach and this was the most I've ever found there.  That pink thing is a plastic ball and I've no idea what it is.  Some of those rocks were used to make the painted Pocket Palz, previously featured.

Beachy Crafts

I've seen some tutorials online for drilling holes in beach glass and rocks.  I was going to take a class in Sandwich in February but it filled up and had a waiting list so I bagged it and found a cheap set of diamond tipped drill bits on Amazon.com.   They work really well!  It's a little rough on the shoulder, it takes speed control and several minutes to drill through.  My fully charged drill battery died after doing just these 2.  It's just nice to know that I was able to do this myself with a $5.99 set of bits, instead of taking that class in Sandwich that was going to cost over $60 for materials & instruction. 

Marsha brought me back a sackful of shells from Sanibel Island so I made good use of them.

This is my first attempt at stitching together 3 pictures into one, using a very basic photo editing program called Photo Expressions.  That's why the background looks a little wonky.

I DID NOT MAKE THIS.  My friends posted it to Pinterest and on my timeline as an idea for a project.  I would post who this belonged to if I had the link but I don't.  It didn't lead anywhere on Pinterest.

This is my version.  Another 'never again', or at least not for awhile.  For one thing, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to wire wrapping so I wung it.  I was going to do 5 strands of glass but stopped at 3 because of the frustration level.  I wish now I'd taken Mark Lareau's 'All Wired Up' class at The Bead Factory in Tacoma, but I figured I'd never venture into that particular craft.

This was another Pinterest idea.  I need to buy shiny-drying paint though.  It was too cold to use the sealant on them so I stuck the eyes on without it, because I'm impatient.   I call them Pocket Palz.  It's so nice to have an unlimited supply of beach rocks for this!

This is the final result of the drilling beach/craft glass and rock.

Then I put some of my beach glass chips into a teeny bottle and made a necklace out of it.

Pottermore

Some friends of mine in Portland, OR turned me onto Pottermore.com, a Harry Potter fan site created by J.K. Rowling.  When you create your account, you are asked to pick a screen name from four they provide to you.  The only one I liked of the four options I had was WitchWolf15375.  From that point you are taken through the first book, chapter by chapter (just synopses), in which you look for items to put in your trunk, like books, galleons, chocolate frog cards, Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, feathers, etc.  

When you get to the Diagon Alley chapter of  Sorcerer's Stone, 550 Galleons are deposited into your account at Gringotts and you get to buy your school supplies.  The wand I received from Ollivander's is 9-3/4" long, made of pine with unicorn hair as the core.  

Once you get to Hogwarts, you are asked a series of questions so that the Sorting Hat can place you into the right House.  I always kind of fancied myself a Gryffindor until the character Luna Lovegood was introduced.  I felt a kinship with her from the start because she's definitely not afraid to be herself and took a lot of teasing for it.  So when I got sorted into Ravenclaw, it just seemed right and really wasn't that surprising, especially after I read THIS information about Rowena Ravenclaw and the students chosen for her house. 

So far the site only has the interactive chapters up as far as Chapter 7 in Prisoner of Azkaban. There are games that have to be played in order to advance to the next chapter in addition to hunting for stuff. In my typical 'instant gratification' fashion, in one afternoon I blew through the first 2 books & 7 chapters of the 3rd one looking for stuff for my trunk.  Now I'm sitting here somewhat impatiently waiting for more chapters to be added.  In the meantime I can practice making potions and spells.

This site is A LOT of fun if you are a fan of Harry Potter.  Let me know if you join and send me your screen name so that I can friend you!!  

Water Marbles

When I saw this jar of 'water marbles' on Pinterest, I was of course intrigued and desperately wanted to make my own.  The Pinterest picture incorrectly says that they can be made with 'just a few simple kitchen ingredients'.  I never looked to see what they were because when I investigated this craft, a lot of people said all they ended up with was a big fat mess in their kitchen and it didn't work.  Someone else said that these colourful water marbles are made from a polymer bead that expands in water, and the kit can be bought online.

I found them on Amazon.com for $5!!!!

They start out as tiny little opaque or clear beads.

Here they are after being put in water.

About an hour later.  The clear marbles all but disappear.

And after another hour

Here they are after being submerged all night long!

They are sooo cool!  Very firm to the touch, slippery, rubbery and they bounce!

I'm not sure what happens after they dehydrate.

As of today, they have only shrunk a little bit!

Wordless Wednesday

Rainbow and marbles reflection on CD disc

Wintery Day in Sandwich

These were taken in mid-February, after our snowstorms.  I loved how the postal trucks looked all lined up in the parking lot.  Wonder why they weren't out delivering?  It was 10:00 a.m. on a weekday!

Marshes & Boardwalk

Town Neck Beach, swept clean of rocks after all the fall and winter storms.

Entrance to Old Harbor

The beach also suffered terrible erosion from the storms.

There was a lot of 'caution' tape on this staircase down to the beach but I climbed over it anyway.  

Looking down Boardwalk

Silly doggy watching me take pictures.

Brrrrr 

April 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge

It's that time of the year!!!!!  Time for the April Blogging from A-Z Challenge!!!  If you would like to participate, please enter your blog in the list HERE.  I had a lot of fun doing it last year, met some awesome people and started following a lot of great blogs.  All you do is start with the letter A on April 1st and blog through April 30th, taking Sundays off.  

This year, I volunteered to be a 'minion' and am proud to be a part of Tina's Terrific Team, from the Life is Good blog.  My duties will include visiting as many blogs as possible to ensure their consistent participation and letting my Team Leader know of any issues.  The cohosts work very hard all year to bring you this event and I have the time to assist, since I managed to get my entire A-Z posts for the month of April written and scheduled to publish before February even ended.  

Join us, won't you?

Flashback Friday

My maternal grandfather, Anthony Marsh.  I'm guessing this is from about 1915 or so...he would have been about 17 in this picture, and it was taken prior to his service in World War 1.  "Marsh" was Americanized from 'Masciarelli' (I think that's how it's spelled).  He was born in America in 1898, but his parents were from Italy.  He died right before my 4th birthday in 1968, of lung cancer.  I didn't really know him at all and only have vague, fragmented memories of him.