Bread

I looked into my 'special' cupboard trying to decide what to bake. I am not huge on sweets but I LOVE baking! I wanted to try something from scratch and my friend Mike (who is an amazing cook) gave me his stew bread recipe so I thought I would give it a shot.

The recipe is follows:

5 1/2 cups of flower

2 cups of warm water

3 packs of yeast

2/3 cup of sugar

1/4 oil

1 tsp salt

Mix the water, sugar and yeast to dissolve after it turns to yeastie goodness add oil, salt and flour (make sure to add flour slowly not all at once) until thoroughly mixed but not over mixed a gentle kneading is all. You do not wan it 'smooth'.

Add to oiled bowl and coat both sides. Allow to rise to double its size

Split into 2 loaves and let rise to top of pan but no further.

Bake @ 350 for 30 minuets and POOFERS you have bread. 

This bread is for serving with stews and soups.

Enjoy!

Tip Covers for Bows

So today I made 6 covers for my bow tips. Little leather tips used to go over one end of your bow to keep the string from slipping off. I needed these badly since I am sure I have spent a small fortune in strings because I leave them all over SCA camping sites when packing up.

So they are rather easy to make. First you cut out the pattern using a piece of card stock. It is kind of like a diamond with a long tail like above.

Once you have your pieces cut out you fold the tips over and sew them closed with strong string. I used the thickest embroidery needle I had. I also used the sharp tip of one of my wood working tools to make the 5 holes in the leather before sewing them up.

Once they are sewn closed they are all ready to use. Make sure you double knot the end of your string so they to not come apart and you are done :)
Simple, easy and functional just they way I like it.

More Mask Making

I put the last few layers of plaster wrap on my first mask tonight and it is drying. I have decided that I am going to make this one for display only and will more than likely give it to my daughter to hang with the others I have bought for her over the years in her room. I want to say something different so after I sand this one down and make it smooth I am going to paint it, give it a nice unicorn horn, decorate it with some fake hair to make a mane then cover the painted area with a glass like apoxie to give it a shine and make sure the bright colors of the mask are protected. This should prove to be a fun project. I will post more images as the project moves on :)

Archery N' Stuff

So I braved the cold today and went to archery practice. Other than about 30 minuets where I felt dizzy and sick i did alright. We shot for about 3 hours then packed up and hit the Nock Point. I had three bow strings I needed to pick up and Shelly got her new baby in the mail and needed one for hers. We ended up shooting for a few more hours and lord I am sore! The burn feels great and while I am tired I am glad I went. After coming home, showering and getting a nibble to eat I decided that i just HAD to sew so i grabbed some material and zoomed up to Shelly's place. I took some old fake suede curtains and made two bow carriers. It was nothing complicated but it was fun and now i can pack around my ever growing collection in style! I also dug up my arrow carrying case so I am all ready to go for the season! I am going to have some arrows made with the house colors, the paint job is going to be VERY blingish but that's how I roll. When they come in I will post a pic so you call can giggle at me.

Hit a Snag

Well I have hit a snag or I should say snagS in doing any work. The embroidery machine I bought seems to be a POS so I am just going to get my old baby fixed at Sears and get back to things. I was also sick. i got the flu and it swiftly turned into pneumonia :(


I am hoping to get back on the sewing horse soon!

Ideas and starting

I took a little field trip to Michaels craft store today and man oh man I am glad I did. I got a new glue gun, my old one was dying hard. I also found acrylic paints on sale 3 for 1 dollar so I snagged 9 base colors for my cameo painting. i also found the prefect brush so I will be making some new ones tomorrow for friends and a few projects. I got some nice jewelry parts and Mod Podge dimensional magic so that will be fun. I also got some wooden dowels to make these with the help a a cool tutorial. I will add pics when I have done a few. 

http://majann.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d389bn0

Masks for Feast of Fools

Well I had another battle at the docs today and she insisted I rest more so instead of anything major I hid out in my room and sipped tea. I gathered up my Harry Potter movie collection and put them on rotation from start to finish while putting layers on the base for my plaster mask. SO far so good. I wish my phone was charged since I wanted to take stage by stage pictures but since I have two to make I decided to have fun learning with this one and doing a better job on the second and take pics of that.

I also decided that even if I am not working on something I am going to post something every other day or so. It can be an image of something I want to do, to a costuming resource to a tutorial I have stumbled on so keep a look out. For today I am going to share a cool link.

101 Pretty Printables This is a cute site with a ton of print out and use things from name tags for dinner parties to a complete Hello Kitty party pack for little girls. Check it out and make sure to bookmark!

At the starting line...

I am bouncy! I really want class to get over so I can fun to JoAnns and pick up the little bits I need to make a few of my garters. I can not start on them until tomorrow since I have a presentation due in my Business Law 201 class but after that I am going to fire up my new machine and give it a shot. I am excited and a little scared. I don't know why sewing machines are so intimidating to me they are really not that complicated for what I am looking to do. I think once I get in the swing of things i will be fine. I have a ton of ideas, tutorials to help me along, a laptop to watch said tuts on while I work and ample space and materials. I just have to jump in with both feet and have at it.

We will see :)


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Yeah I made it in and out without spending a car payment on fabric!


So the first one I am going to try has a rugged feel to it. The flask pouch is going to be made of canvas and decorated with a octopus cameo.

The second one is going to be in browns with a velvet main strap and a suede-like material for the pouch. I have not decided on how to decorate this one. We will see how it turns out when I am working on it. 

And here we GO!

Well here I go. I decided to amuse the hell out of the crafting community with my painful DYI stumblings. I am sure this will be entertaining to those who actually know what you are doing. I am sure there will be a ton of 'OH I WANT TO MAKE THAT' pics more then any actual projects to start with but bare with me :)

My interests are as follows:

Steampunk

Historical

Cosplay

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Original Design

Corsets

Millinery (hat making) 

Jewelry 

My first project is going to be making a steampinkish(ish) pocket garter. I was thinking for a flask or something small and kind of cute. 

I am going to use a very easy to follow tutorial I found on youtube from  Corinne's Craft Closet! I love Corrine she is AMAZING and her tutorials are very informative and easy to follow.