Thursday, November 29, 2012
Terrible Thursdays?
What a day!! I'm so tired... *le sigh* and have absolutely no energy left. I really don't want to write an essay on WWI right now let alone look at where exactly my math homework went wrong. Ugh. In science, while using an evaporation dish on a Bunsen burner, one of my lab partners picked it up with tongs and promptly dropped it-- goodbye, rule #1 for the project (you have to follow the Law of Conservation of Mass.) All in all, we were only 1.4g off of the original mass so it wasn't terrible but tomorrow comes the real test... lab report write-up.
Also, Spanish. Me estoy volviendo loco... tengo mucha tarea que me está matando. Creo que estoy un poca enferma porque me duele la garganta. Estaba enferma toda el día y mañana es la competencia de spelling y creo que yo estoy perdiendo mi voz. Ay, mi Díos. Mi casa está en el medio de una guerra sobre la universidad para mi hermana. Toda mi familia tiene una idea diferente y nadie puede acordar. Ayúdame! 'Nuff said.
On the other hand, my super cute Totoro sweatshirt came in the mail. If you don't know Totoro... I attached a picture of him for reference. I'm a toddler at heart, really. I require naptime, cookies, and Totoro sweatshirts :)
Well, I also have over 515 cranes!! Yay! Origami gives me some measure of sanity; that and practicing music.
Okay then. Off to immerse myself in World War I. Then to bed, hopefully, if only for a little bit before I get back to homework (read: naptime.)
xx Anya :)
Also, Spanish. Me estoy volviendo loco... tengo mucha tarea que me está matando. Creo que estoy un poca enferma porque me duele la garganta. Estaba enferma toda el día y mañana es la competencia de spelling y creo que yo estoy perdiendo mi voz. Ay, mi Díos. Mi casa está en el medio de una guerra sobre la universidad para mi hermana. Toda mi familia tiene una idea diferente y nadie puede acordar. Ayúdame! 'Nuff said.
On the other hand, my super cute Totoro sweatshirt came in the mail. If you don't know Totoro... I attached a picture of him for reference. I'm a toddler at heart, really. I require naptime, cookies, and Totoro sweatshirts :)Well, I also have over 515 cranes!! Yay! Origami gives me some measure of sanity; that and practicing music.
Okay then. Off to immerse myself in World War I. Then to bed, hopefully, if only for a little bit before I get back to homework (read: naptime.)
xx Anya :)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Mischka! (and Cards 101)
 | |||
| Mischka's Model Shoot! Showing off his fake fur. |
A while ago, a family friend gave me a nutcracker. I'm a fan of all things classical music, so opera/ballet/orchestra is really up my alley. I mean, he was mini and didn't *actually* crack... nuts (I AM NOT GOING TO LAUGH. I REALLY AM NOT GOING TO LAUGH. Ahh, immaturity, how I missed you...) But the point is that I got to paint him. Stick stickers on him. And fake fur! Ohmygosh fake fur for the beard and hair!
I named him Mischka after my guy friend. (My guy space friend.) And I love, love, love this little statuette. So, how do I give a thank you card for that?
Well, knowing the Nutcracker story by heart, I made a book card... :)
Book Card
Materials Needed: Scissors, pencils, paper, thread, hole puncher
Extras: Stickers, paint, ribbons
Time: 5-10 minutes to make it, minus however long you spend to write in it!
1) So, lucky me, I had a bunch of "postcard-style" cards that are basically a card cut in half. Not folded, nothing written in it, nada. These were my pages. You can also cut out pages from paper or cut a bunch of plain cards in half. If you're cutting out pages from paper, I recommend 5x4".
2) Write and draw on the pages. I, for one, am not awesome at visual arts. I drew stick figures :D (speaking of which: drawastickman.com! I found this from... hold on need to search through my web history...) However, I also recommend using pastels, water color (if your paper will hold up under it) or even very light paint. Maybe you could even use canvas as paper and write with pastels.
3) Hole punch the bottom, middle, and/or top of each page. I just did the bottom and top. It's awesome if you use a shape hole puncher. Unfortunately, my star hole puncher doesn't work due to excessive overuse.
4) Ahh, bookbinding. (not.) Since I was feeling just the tiniest bit lazy, I did not pick up my needle and instead looped a thin shiny string through each hole until I was done with that segment, then tied the ends of the string together. However, there are several ways to do this. I recommend using an awl to poke through the pages and stitch them together like so:
5) Decorate the cover!
This can be last minute or a... slightly less non-last-minute project (what's an antonym for that? Anyone?) depending on how much time you want to spend on it. I love the tiny books and the receiver loved it because it was so customized! Handmade gifts are the best! :)
Monday, November 26, 2012
DIY Snow Globe!
Materials Needed: Jar, distilled water, glitter, glue
Extras: Pictures (in that case laminator also), clay, oven, baby oil, dish scrubber
Time: About 15-30 minutes.
Snow, snow. How beautiful; that is, until it turns into the gray/ icky/ brownish/ "Mother-of-God-what-is-this"-inducing expression/ thing we call slush. But where there's a will, there's (almost) always a way. We can preserve our beautiful snowy memories...in a snow globe!
1) Find a jar. I used a salsa jar because I liked its size.
2) *Old Spice Voice* Crafters...Look at your jar. Now look at the ornaments you're going to put in them. Now back in the jar. Does it fit? Choose wisely!
3) Take the label off. If this seems impossible, use the thing that you do dishes with (probably.) No, not a dishwasher... that brush thing that has bristles! If you don't have one, never fear. If this works, a toothbrush (not yours, although this may be the perfect time to get back at that one sibling you never liked) or a sponge will probably worked. Possibly even the toilet bowl cleaner.
3.5) *EXTRA* If you don't have ornaments, I suggest using clay! The more handmade/diy, the better :) For this, I made a music stand and some music, baked it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350ºF (along with some marbles--another project) and completed #4. You can also laminate pictures, etc.
4) Hot glue the feet/base of the ornaments/clay onto the underside of the lid. (AKA, not the top of the lid... flip it over!!) Give it some time to dry. While waiting, rummage in your cabinets for baby oil OR glycerine.
5) Don't have baby oil or glycerine? Never fear! It is a brave new world in which we have this handy thing called distilled water! If you have a small amount of baby oil, don't use it. After about 20 extra minutes of experimenting with ratios, I found out that it must be all baby oil or all water. (Since I don't own glycerine, I don't actually know about the necessary ratios.) Otherwise, your glitter clumps and falls in a decidedly most ungraceful, un-snow-like way. All baby oil/glycerine does is slow down the snow anyway. Fill the jar with distilled (tap) water/baby oil/glycerine.
6) Glitter...glitter...glitter. Pour a small lump in. Sometimes, your glitter will stick to the surfaces of the jar so add more than you think you'll need. You can stir if you want.
7) Carefully stick your ornament in. It will be upside down--basically, you are just screwing the lid onto the jar. Don't worry; trust your hot glue job...it will be fine. Whether you want to hot glue the lid to the jar or not is up to you. I'm waiting a bit to glue mine just in case there are any mistakes that I need to fix (amount of glitter, baby oil, ornament's glue etc.)
8) Turn your jar over. Shake. Admire. Happy crafting, all!
Extras: Pictures (in that case laminator also), clay, oven, baby oil, dish scrubber
Time: About 15-30 minutes.
Snow, snow. How beautiful; that is, until it turns into the gray/ icky/ brownish/ "Mother-of-God-what-is-this"-inducing expression/ thing we call slush. But where there's a will, there's (almost) always a way. We can preserve our beautiful snowy memories...in a snow globe!
1) Find a jar. I used a salsa jar because I liked its size.
2) *Old Spice Voice* Crafters...Look at your jar. Now look at the ornaments you're going to put in them. Now back in the jar. Does it fit? Choose wisely! 3) Take the label off. If this seems impossible, use the thing that you do dishes with (probably.) No, not a dishwasher... that brush thing that has bristles! If you don't have one, never fear. If this works, a toothbrush (not yours, although this may be the perfect time to get back at that one sibling you never liked) or a sponge will probably worked. Possibly even the toilet bowl cleaner.
3.5) *EXTRA* If you don't have ornaments, I suggest using clay! The more handmade/diy, the better :) For this, I made a music stand and some music, baked it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350ºF (along with some marbles--another project) and completed #4. You can also laminate pictures, etc.
4) Hot glue the feet/base of the ornaments/clay onto the underside of the lid. (AKA, not the top of the lid... flip it over!!) Give it some time to dry. While waiting, rummage in your cabinets for baby oil OR glycerine.
5) Don't have baby oil or glycerine? Never fear! It is a brave new world in which we have this handy thing called distilled water! If you have a small amount of baby oil, don't use it. After about 20 extra minutes of experimenting with ratios, I found out that it must be all baby oil or all water. (Since I don't own glycerine, I don't actually know about the necessary ratios.) Otherwise, your glitter clumps and falls in a decidedly most ungraceful, un-snow-like way. All baby oil/glycerine does is slow down the snow anyway. Fill the jar with distilled (tap) water/baby oil/glycerine.
6) Glitter...glitter...glitter. Pour a small lump in. Sometimes, your glitter will stick to the surfaces of the jar so add more than you think you'll need. You can stir if you want.
7) Carefully stick your ornament in. It will be upside down--basically, you are just screwing the lid onto the jar. Don't worry; trust your hot glue job...it will be fine. Whether you want to hot glue the lid to the jar or not is up to you. I'm waiting a bit to glue mine just in case there are any mistakes that I need to fix (amount of glitter, baby oil, ornament's glue etc.)
8) Turn your jar over. Shake. Admire. Happy crafting, all!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Senbazuru Update
Guess what!? 400! Yes, that's right. 400 cranes :) I started the senbazuru for one of my teachers in late August, hoping to hit at least 100 and then we'd see. I'm stringing them as I go, aiming for 25 strings of 40. Right now I have 9 (360 strung) and another one ready to go... soon I will have 10 beautiful strings hanging!! I'm keeping the top part of the strings under various cups, containers, etc. and it looks crazy.
I fold, on average, 15ish cranes a day (at school) and over Thanksgiving break so far I've folded a little over 100. The great thing about this is that I can fold while reading, studying, listening to music; anything that is hands-free. It's meant to be a New Year's present and I'm counting on the fact that should I not have it nearly done by the first week of winter break, then I'll do some extreme folding and stringing.
Happy crafting, all! :)
I fold, on average, 15ish cranes a day (at school) and over Thanksgiving break so far I've folded a little over 100. The great thing about this is that I can fold while reading, studying, listening to music; anything that is hands-free. It's meant to be a New Year's present and I'm counting on the fact that should I not have it nearly done by the first week of winter break, then I'll do some extreme folding and stringing.
Happy crafting, all! :)
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Defining art?
art 1 |ärt|
noun
1 the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power : the art of the Renaissance | great art is concerned with moral imperfections | she studied art in Paris.
• works produced by such skill and imagination : his collection of modern art | an exhibition of Tibetan art | [as adj. ] an art critic.
• creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture : she's good at art.
2 ( the arts) the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance : the visual arts | [in sing. ] the art of photography.
3 ( arts) subjects of study primarily concerned with the processes and products of human creativity and social life, such as languages, literature, and history (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects) : the belief that the arts and sciences were incompatible | the Faculty of Arts.
4 a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice : the art of conversation.
Who knew? I mean, what is art anyway? Imagination is expressed so many ways. Math, writing, painting, singing.
Anyway, Anya on deck! (I have no idea why I just said 'on deck.') I hope I won't be the only one enjoying this blog. Project posts coming soon :)
xx Anya
noun
1 the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power : the art of the Renaissance | great art is concerned with moral imperfections | she studied art in Paris.
• works produced by such skill and imagination : his collection of modern art | an exhibition of Tibetan art | [as adj. ] an art critic.
• creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture : she's good at art.
2 ( the arts) the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance : the visual arts | [in sing. ] the art of photography.
3 ( arts) subjects of study primarily concerned with the processes and products of human creativity and social life, such as languages, literature, and history (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects) : the belief that the arts and sciences were incompatible | the Faculty of Arts.
4 a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice : the art of conversation.
Who knew? I mean, what is art anyway? Imagination is expressed so many ways. Math, writing, painting, singing.
Anyway, Anya on deck! (I have no idea why I just said 'on deck.') I hope I won't be the only one enjoying this blog. Project posts coming soon :)
xx Anya
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)