My sewing machine impulse buy hasn't been a complete waste of money. I've made a couple birthday gifts, a mother's day gift, and just random gifts in general. Oh, and I hemmed a pair of new jeans and saved myself $12. Take that, friendly neighborhood tailor!
Learning how to sew isn't as intimidating as I thought it would be, but I've mostly been using straight stitches without any fancy techniques. I'm sure there are ways to do what I'm doing in a fraction of the time if I'd only research the proper techniques...but who's got time to do research when there's so much fabric waiting to be sewn??!
Felt's been my material of choice. It's colorful, soft and comes in convenient squares (rectangles really, so why the hell are they called squares?). An Etsy store has even been create to give my craft a home.
My fascination with evolution/genetics has also been reignited recently, so I'm working that into the crafts/art pieces that I'm making when I can. Does a felt pea pod that spills pom pom peas scream "RECESSIVE GENES!!!" to anyone? 
Just finished.
"A" is for Audrey.
A mountain of felt squares.
iPod Nano case for Ruth's birthday.
Bird wallet for Lucie, but she doesn't like red and wanted a green one.
Pea pod drawing on fabric swatch.
PEAS!
Part of a (tongue-in-cheek) mother's day surprise.
And the latest project, a muslin apron for Uyen to tie-dye, as modeled by Patrick.
Friday, May 9, 2008
I've been making stuff
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
SRSLY, Mother Nature, I'm gonna kick your ass
The weather in San Francisco has been completely horrible lately, especially for allergy sufferers. A few weeks back we had awesome hot, park weather which lasted for all of 3 or 4 days. Then the wind picked up, and the weather dropped to WINTER LOWS, then the trees and plants started blooming. Thank you, Mother Nature, for my clogged sinuses, for the goopy, watery, itchy eyes that I have to pry open every morning, and for the annoying headaches...I HATE YOU.
Also, my neck's been fucked up and that's made me extra cranky about all this. Luckily, it's supposed to be really nice this weekend. Hopefully the nice weather will extend down to Big Sur, where I'll be camping. Of course, it's supposed to rain tonight before we get to the nice weather. Sigh.
On a side note, Sheila loves the Counting Crows.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
A new hobby*
*I tried REALLY, REALLY hard to not use the word "sew" as a pun in the title. You're welcome.
Impulse buy of the week: sewing machine. Well, truthfully, it wasn't really that impulsive. I've always wanted one and have borrowed from friends for small projects. Besides a straight stitch, I don't know much more about a sewing machine.
After going to a couple of art shows recently, I've been inspired to start making things. This coincided perfectly with my desire for a sewing machine; I figured if I had a sewing machine, I'd be more motivated to create. One plus one equals two, so the research for the right machine started. There were a couple that I wanted that were completely out of my price range (but one did embroidering and had an LCD display...hott), and would have been ridiculous for me to consider.
After a few hours of research, the Singer 7444 turned out to be the perfect balance between value and features. It's a nice, boxy design with electronic controls. A test drive with a piece of fabric proved that it wasn't too difficult to use. So far, I love it. Hopefully it'll be used regularly, unlike other impulse buys I've made in the past.
Oh! I also bought a caddy for all the threads, shears, needles and bobbins I'll be buying in the future. God, I'm gay.
Love.
A few test stitches. My favorite is the alternating squares.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April fooled ya
The best April Fools Day prank has to be YouTube linking every single featured video to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video, Rickrolling internet surfers to a degree never before imagined. Just now, Sheila sent me this video: a scene-for-scene re-creation of the video. Kind of like Gus Van Sant's "Psycho," but much more entertaining. The guy who "plays" Rick could have been a bit more passionate about his role.
Also, I apologize for all the Rick Astley posts lately, but he's totes worth blogging about.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter
We have a lot to be thankful for on this holy day. The video below symbolizes the body of Christ which, after two days of death, rose once more. In this case, however, it's not the body of Christ, but a Rick Astley song. And instead of two days, it's been two decades.
Eat lots of pretty eggs.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Virgin America emergency diagram
On the flight back from Los Angeles this weekend I was bored and decided to read Virgin America's emergency procedures card. I noticed an uncanny resemblance between the emergency exit guy and, erm, myself. He's kind of a looker.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Rickrolled
As in my personal life, I'm very vocal about my appreciation of Rick Astley at work. Recently, I got an email from my co-worker Craig asking me to take some screenshots of a video supposedly from a client. Thinking it was an odd request that I should be the one to take the screenshots, I played the video. A familiar melody started and soon enough, Rick was on my screen doing the Astley shuffle.
That's when I realized I had just been Rickrolled.
Later, the office manager hands me a FedEx package and said "This came for you." Eagerly opening it, I found a piece of paper with Rick on it, front and center. Well played, Tristan. Rickrolled twice in one day...what a great honor. Perhaps I can add my experiences to this database.
The email, with video attached.
The package.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Lord of the Rings, a tearjerker
In the last couple weeks, I've been geeking out and watched all three movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each of the three movies spans over two discs and is four hours long. It's totally worth the time. I kind of love these well done fantasy movies...and there are hot men in costumes. Funny thing is I don't think any of them are that attractive outside of these movies (i.e. sans LOTR garb).
I've watch the movies three times now, and every single time, there's a part that chokes me up. I know, shut up. I can't help it. At the end when Aragorn gets crowned as king of Gondor (and awkwardly sings in a Tolkien language), he walks up to the four hobbits and they bow to him. Aragorn, being the humble king that he is, says "My friends! You bow to no one." Then a wide shot of the entire courtyard and everyone is bowing to the hobbits. I mean, come on, that has to be the most touching scene in cinematic history...isn't it???
Judge for yourself:
(link here)
Also, fans take the story into their own hands. Oh my.
No, that's not Liv Tyler, that's Orlando Bloom.
What the hell?
