2011 CREATING KEEPSAKES CONVENTION!!!

It came...it went...it rocked my world!!!!


Hello, non-existent readers!  Sorry for taking so long to post about my long awaited trip to Charlotte, NC for the CKC, but I had a pet emergency!  My poor baby Gordo developed a nasty ear infection, and needed my attention!

The Creating Keepsakes Convention was actually a two day thing, but I couldn't go because of work & money!  I met up with a couple of gal pals friday night, and we got a chance to scrap away!  It was awesome!  EARLY saturday morning I got up, and went to my mom's place to pick her up.  She was actually ready and waiting to go!!!  (She usually sleeps til noon- ah, the life of a housewife!)  Anyway, I dropped the ball by forgetting to print the convention coupons Shiny Gal sent me!  No fear, Sparkly Gal took mini-Sparkly Gal to McDonalds for breakfast, so total score there!

Mom & Me!  Are my poof balls crooked?  I think they are...

It takes about an hour and a half to get to Charlotte, so it wasn't a bad ride.  My butt was asleep, but I made it!!  We pulled into the parking lot, and you could feel the excitement!!!!

There was an older gentleman that was nice enough to take our picture!  From left to right:  

Mom, me(Shimmery Gal) , Shiny Gal, Sparkly Gal, and mini-Sparkly Gal!

I usually take classes, but with the wedding, honeymoon, Christmas, and DragonCon, I thought I would be better to skip them this year.  Next year we plan to go for both days, AND take classes!

FYI:  I might split this post into several smaller posts because of all the pictures!!!

 

Okay, this is actually a shot of mom as we are leaving the con, but it's the sign!!!

From the observation window, into the dealers room!!

EEEIII the excitement!  Hundreds of women (and a few men too!) running around, trying new products, spending money, and trying to keep their eyes in their sockets!  "So pretty!!!  Must...not...steal...!"  I try to stick with a small list of things to look for, so I don't go broke.  Yikes, did I overspend!!!  Wonder if the other Glitter, Glue, and Gab girls did the same?

My To-Get List:

• steampunk gears for wedding invites & J-Baby's steampunk outfit
• ball point glue pen for fine glitter decorations!
• lacquer glue

Crossing our fingers to win at the drawing!  Must win scrapbooking supplies!!

This year I also went to the Stamping Convention and my mom is still convinced I'm lucky, because I won like 100 scrap bucks.  LOL

Make and takes!!  These are so fun!  Like a mini-class for free!!! 

At the first make and take, mom and I made these cute little cards.  It inspired us to buy the little shredder/distresser machine, foam tape (similiar to pop-up dots), and this wide tip glue stick that my mom liked.  Must scan or take a picture of that make and take!

Another cute make & take!

The second make and take showed off a scalloped punch (already own) and two die cuts which I might hunt down later.  The stocking is actually a stamp & its bits are from a die cut.  the white tag itself is also a die cut.  Very cute!

Can you tell how excited I am?!

One great thing about the convention is that they  have free product demos.  My mom fell in love with this sticky paper and laquer stuff, and of course, we had to get her the fine glitter!  Crap, must take pictures of her upcoming projects with them!  Anyways, about four hours later, we were starving...

Hmm...I don't think mom is having a good time...

 

 Okay, just had to post this funny picture up!  Nobody is mad, it's just that mini-Sparkly said something funny/weird at that exact moment!  *snicker*

Oh wow, this is a long post.  I'm going to break it up into two or three more, so no worries people!

What am I missing?!

With headgear!  Err....

So far...

Here is my steampunk outfit so far.  The creamy blouse has been in my closet forever.  My grandmother made me the Asian looking corset.  I'm reinforcing the boning to make it less-well, pudgy.  The pants are actually slacks I wear to work, so they are comfy.  And the leg brace is something I needed years ago after knee surgery.  Must post a closeup.  It looks cool!  J-baby's paint ball gun isn't finished.

I'm wearing my earpiece and goggles, but I'm not sure how I'm wearing my hair.  A friend is making jewelry and I'm excited to see it!  What am I missing? I'm making little pouches to hang off the belt thing.  GRRRRR

Poor Kitty!!!

Ok, this has nothing to do with my usual blog posts, but I just had to share!  It's been driving me nuts trying to brush my cat Gordo's fur, and detangle it.  So I finally decided to just get him groomed and start over!  In all his ten years, Gordo has never had to feel the humiliation he feels now....Poor baby!

He was extremely sluggish and clumsy when he came home, and J-Baby said his first instinct was to claw the kitchen rug.  Weird.  Penalope is completely freaking out, because Gordo smells like the vet.  LOL  As I post this, it looks like his tail was cut off!  No worries, non-existent readers!  He still has his tail!  He's just hiding it in horror...

Vest FAIL!!!

Well, everyone is bound to mess up sooner or later, right?  I was so obsessed with finding the right color combination for J-Baby's outfit, that I didn't listen to his horrified voice when he said the vest I was making was a NO GO.  I forced him to try it on anyway, and the result was...scary!  I made the GAYEST looking vest in the world...and poor J-Baby looked like...well...a twink in it!

This is my dumb butt making the horrifying garment...

This is the horrifying garment in its early stages.  Yes, I finished it before he tried it on, and OH GOD MY EYES!!!  Now I have no idea what to do with it...  What was I thinking?!

Steampunk Outfit Progress

Well, this weekend I was able to work on J-Baby's outfit a little more, and thought I'd show you some progress photos.  This is why I love Goodwill, because I can find cloths that I can easily alter and rip apart for costumes!

This is J-Baby's outfit, so far...

The light brown pockets were actually part of an old leather hat I've had for centuries (back in my Indiana Jones stage.)  I only had to buy leather for one of the pockets, and Goodwill supplied me with the belts.  The watch is from Full Metal Alchemist cosplay that I never did, and the dark leather utility belt is actually a Goodwill purchase:  a very tacky dark leather skirt!!!  I still need to replace the buttons on the red shirt with something other than white plastic.  One thing you won't see in this picture is J-Baby's blue striped vest-which I just finished altering last night, and will definitely post up here soon!

Please refer to my Awesomeness from J-Baby! post to see what the vest was inspired from.

LAST SECOND BIRTHDAY CARD!

All I have to say is,  thank goodness for amazon gift cards!  This little steampunk themed card took me about five minutes.  Ten, if you count the five I took panicking for ideas.  I used Tim Holtz paper and distress ink (walnut stain), and the Tim Holtz gears die cut.  Basically, thanks Tim Holtz!
J-Baby printed out a gift card, and gave him a magic card, and vuala!   Instant birthday gift for the any otaku! LOL

Nuestra Adventura!!!

Well, my non-existent readers-  Today's little blog is about my most recent adventure in wedding planning!!  If you haven't already guessed it, planning a wedding SUCKS.  It takes a lot of money, time, money, creativity, people, and money to pull off one of these shin-digs, and did I mention all the money?

One of the smart things to do is plan everything in advance- give yourself at least a year, ladies, to plan every detail.  Hence, why I've started planning for my little March 2012 wedding in June 2011.  Anyway, to my adventure:  the wedding cake...

Pricing on these things is just sooooo overblown, it's ridiculous!!!  Even the consultation to MEET the bakery costs money!!  (In this case, $25.00)  I've been looking to stop by at The Cake Lady for a month.  Today was my appointment, and boy, did it not go very well...

See, she *had* two stores open:  one in Camden (closer to me) and one in Columbia.  Oh Lordy, did I have a little thrill of panic rip thru me when I went into Camden, and the lovely little bakery was GONE!!  Only empty shelves and a 'for lease' sign left.  My mom didn't get it until I explained, yeah, this empty space was my bakery.  *whimper*  The store owner in the next shop said they had been closed for a week...

Since I didn't have my phone, (forgotten at my mom's house) I couldn't find the number, but the sweet shop owner found it, and I made a call.  Turns out, The Cake Lady still had her Columbia shop open, and couldn't get ahold of me for an entire week.  *face palm*  I thought I gave her the right number, hell, I thought I gave her my email too.  I don't know...

So we reschedule for an hour later to just GET to Columbia, and finally make it into our appointment.  Here is where the experience gets a little better.  We show her a picture of a steampunk themed wedding cake, and tell her we want cupcakes instead (which my mother doesn't approve of, but hell it's my wedding).  We get a quote, try out some very interesting flavors, and go on to shopping!  

This is my mom at the cake tasting!!!

So the flavors we tried in order of the best:

1.     The OBAMA!!   yup, you read right...The OBAMA CAKE!!  Chocolate coffee and OMG good!!!
2.     Strawberry-banana
3.     Apple Jelly with Caramel icing AND OMG I just realized what I ate to hurt my stomach!!
4.     Rum & Coke cake - needs way more rum and less coke, please
5.     Banana faust or something like that
6.     Butter cake with buttercream frosting
7.     Lemon yuckiness

She was out of coconut *pout*.  So, we tried cake, had WAY too much sugar in our systems, drank a TON of water, and went on our way.  Brought home some slices for J-Baby, who scarfed down the Obama and strawberry-banana, and still whined that I hadn't fed him real food.  Excuse me, I had dinner with my folks at Applebees!  Score!  The waiter was adorable!

Which reminds me, I finally met face to face with the Catery On Broad people and will FINALLY set an appointment next week to try their food!!  More to follow.

Awesomeness from J-Baby!

Look!  My new sewing machine of awesomeness!!!!!!

As you well know, Dragoncon is less than seventeen days away, and we are running out of time!  J-baby NEVER cosplays or dresses up in any manner, so when he said he'd dress steampunk for dragoncon...well, happy doesn't even cover it!  We have been running things to goodwill for months now (the BEST way to rid yourself of clutter) and each time we run in to see if we can find cloths for our outfits.  Josh found these amazing boots already!

Anyway, I found this awesome image online for a steampunk utility belt thing.  Here is the inspiration:  I MUST find this guy and thank him for his awesomeness!

J-baby liked it too, so I got some leather? ($5 lady's tacky skirt) and started trying to sew...using my grandmother's EVIL ANCIENT POS machine.  That thing hates me.  And all the directions I was given were in spanish, AND didn't cover the evil little bobbet holder refusing to work!  So I was a little upset I couldn't make J-Baby the utility belt.

Well, every sunday he goes off to do the grocery shopping with his sister, and he was sneaky & super sweet when he came back with a new sewing machine!!!!  It's so sleek and has an automatic threader!!!!!  I love J-baby so much!!!  Now I can make the utility belt & i promise to post pictures!!!

Passport DENIED!!!

Ok, so it wasn't exactly denied, just delayed a little.  See, I submitted my passport application with my birth certificate, only to find out that the certificate they require is the LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE.  As in, the same stupid piece of paper the Republicans required of President Obama.  Yes, very funny- I can hear my fiance laughing at me.  The whole situation is funny to him-not me.  So the U.S. Department of State sends me a letter telling me why they are denying me my passport, and how to get the problem resolved.  Which is to get a certified copy of the long form, or the original from Texas- which is wear I was born.  On some little military base.  That I can NEVER remember the name of!  GRRRRR

So my first thought is, "Cool!  I can do this online!"  WRONG!  For some stupid reason, my home internet won't log onto their site, AND the lady I called gave me a little attitude.  She gave me another site to do it from, but for some reason, they couldn't verify my identity (WHY THE HELL NOT?!)  I'm over it.  So I print out the form, fill it out, PAY $22 to get a certified legal copy of my long form thing, and mail it off to the Texas birth records people.  Overnight FEDEX.  Because it's THAT SERIOUS.  I will be waiting on pins and needles til it is sent back, because I need to give the U.S. Department the new certificate before the 90 days is up, or it will be completely denied, and I won't get my passport, and I won't be able to go to Japan!!!

The lesson from my little rant:  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE WHEN APPLYING FOR A PASSPORT!!!!

Steampunk Ear Piece

With less than 25 days til Dragoncon, I've been wracking my brain for ideas for our steampunk costumes.  J-Baby found an old ear piece for my phone & thought this might be a cool WORKING piece of art!
What I used:  a gold calligraphy pen (makes painting object easier), scrapbooking embellishments, krazy glue, hot glue, and an assortment of little gears I bought off ebay.  I truly wish there was a better (and cheaper) way of buying gears.  And if I find it, I will share it with you!
Let me know what you think in the comment section below!

Upcoming Events!!!

Penalope announces future blogs:

AUGUST 26-27, 2011  Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte, NC  http://www.scrapandpapercorner.com/events/ckc/charlotte/index.html

SEPTEMBER 2-5, 2011 DragonCon in Atlanta, GA
http://www.dragoncon.org/index.php

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011  Scrappin' Creations Yard Sale in Columbia, SC
http://scrappincreations.com/

I'm Ready for my Closeup!!

This string was a *insert appropriate naughty word here* to do!

An unconventional birthday card!

Time for SCRAPPINESS!!  This week is my friend's bday & I just HAD TO make her a card! Why spend hundreds of dollars on awesome scrap stuff if your not going to use it?
I was a little disappointed I couldn't post this until after I give her the card, and realize this AM that she wouldnt't see the post til tonight! Duh!
Anyway, I made this unusual beauty using the Nursery Rhymes cricut cartridge (give me a second & I will explain!), random brazil stock paper, and some string!  Actual tiny ass string!  My next post will have a close up of the kitty string.
Ok, I used the Nursery Rhymes cartridge becaz I wanted dancing kitties.  And they are supposed to be carrying presents!  I also had the phrase "Have a Purr-fect Birthday" stuck in my head.
I say this card is weird because it doesn't look like your standard birthday card, does it?  At least, that's what my J-baby says.  I don't care- it's pretty!  So there!

The sacrifices....

Really, if your going to create anything steampunk, you have to sacrifice your free space, time, money, & yes...sometimes your blood & fingers! 

Suica Card vs Japan Rail Pass

For those of my non-existent readers that don't know, my future hubby and I are planning a honeymoon to Japan!  Specifically, Tokyo- which has started an endless hunt for information.  Turns out you need a rail pass, unless you rent a car (and there is now way in hell I'm driving in Japan), or Walk.  We will do plenty of walking, but we still need this rail pass.  And guess how many types of passes there are?  Several, but I'm too lazy to mention the unimportant ones.
The two that concern any visitor are the Japan Rail Pass, which will let you go about anywhere, & HAS TO BE PURCHASED BEFORE ENTERING THE COUNTRY.  (See how important that piece of info is?)  And the second card is the Suica!  Which allows you to travel most any train line within Tokyo-mostly via the JR East.  This little pre-paid wonder can be purchased right off the plane.
Why the seemingly random post on this?  Because I've been confused on when to buy the Suica card since the start if my planning!  My travel agent insists that we need to purchase a Japan Rail Pass beforehand, & my dumb butt assumed it was the same as the suica card I've learned about via Youtube.  Lovely.  So in case someone stumbles across this blog in search if info on travelling to Japan, I've done my part to help.  So there.

Steampunk Goggles

Everyone says you can't dress steampunk without the goggles, so here are mine.  Simple swimming goggles for about $3 at K-mart, and random nuts and metal pieces from J-Baby's crap collection!  It took about three hours to make.  Guess watching tv while working isn't helpful....

Just testing out the insanity...

Some days it's so slow at work, I can get away with pretending to be four years old & color.  I happen to be coloring paper gears for a steampunk costume, but it's still knocking down my maturity level.