scifi month continues or aye aye, thats still no moon!

Olo...

With international yarn bombing day less than a month away - 11 June 15 don't cha know - I thought it was time I got my act in gear,

My crocheting seems to have picked up the pace a bit since I started with my monsters around Feb. and since then I've done a couple of sci-fi related items.

The latest of which is my Death Star cushion

Left: First death star pre Kaboom right: second half built effect DS, on either side of the cushion.

 As much fun you can have with 2 balls of metallic silver wool from the £1 shop, (I probably would have used less if didn't double up so it doesn't end up holey,) this pattern, a 4.5mm hook and a few hours.

I also made my first crocheted surprise gift for a friend who had seen this dude on fb and fell in love, this pattern was from here

and finally as a birthday pressie how about the beautiful baymax from big hero 6. I challenge anyone to watch it and not cry. 

As I've been having so much fun I have 3 mini crochets to give away, a Marvin (from HHGTTG) head, a Baymax head, and a teeny tiny baby death star like this one:

all you have to do is leave a comment here or on our FB page for a chance to win. 

And talking of winning it seems like everyone has forgotten about the chance to win real craft vouchers from either Art from the Heart or Country View Crafts.  Meaning you've an even better chance of winning :)  

We honestly couldn't make it any easier, any project with any thing remotely not real, is in with a chance, show us your myths, monsters, or magical beasts, space, superheros and everything in between before midnight on the 25th May.

Talking of mythical beasts, I'm taking part in a tunnel book and themed mine around the Discworld.

This is how it looked setting off

the cover isn't as detailed as it should be but I was worried it might get damaged a bit as it circles the country so I plan to finish it off on its return.

as you can see lurking at the back of the book is an eye, I wanted it to be a bit like a dragon so I dragged out my new favourite stamp (creative expressions), flooded it with a couple of layers of gesso and left it to dry for a couple of days.  Once it had well and truly dried I gently peeled it off the stamp, and was left with a sheet of flexible embellishment, hopefully resembling dragon scales.

I added a bit paynes grey acrylic, dusted heavily with mica, painted some varigated blue gold leaf to create the shine in the eye, added a cabachon and fabric for an eyelid and voila:

I wonder what stamps you have that would make fabulous gesso embellishments?

pop back next week to see what else we've been up to and thanks for looking

Jas x

An Ininkz Link-up

Left of Centre Challenge # 78

This week at Left of Centre Challenges (LOC) its all about 'Distress It' and the sponsor is Bugaboo.

Would you go into the Woods to play with such sad looking skulls?

Instructions
1. Using chalk pastels create a background with yellows and oranges.
2. Print image onto background and attach lots of google eyes.
3. Knock back/distress the colour by applying 'Antique Linen' distress ink across the whole piece.
4. Repeat with blues and purples to create a 'frame', then crinkle frame to distress further.
5. Distress the edges with scissors, highlight with 'Vintage Photo' distress ink.
6. Mount main image onto frame.
7. Print out word banner into white paper, distress with 'Antique Linen', crumple and highlight with 'Vintage Photo', attach to piece to finish.

TFL Lou x

Remember we would love to see any of your sci-fi/fantasy/geeky creations and there is a chance to win craft store vouchers if you share your work either on our FB page or you can use this linkup tool

Star Wars Sunday and another giveaway

Welcome back fellow geeks and today we have another Star Wars project using moulds and this time it's Han Solo encased in carbonite (check on ebay for the mould).

For these, I used liquid Fimo although normal Fimo would work as well. I filled the mould and baked as per the instructions. The liquid Fimo comes out a semi-opaque white, so I added some dark grey paint with a little white to highlight bits. I tried adding some glossy accents to one, but some of the detail was lost so best to avoid that with such a small piece. See, I do these things so you don't have to!

The end result is small enough to make into a pendant which I will give away to one randomly chosen comment made here or on our facebook group during sci-fi month.

By the way, the mould can also be used for chocolate which I also made (don't worry, I have two of these) but the chocolate did not hang around long enough to be photographed!

Anyway, get yourself some moulds and have fun playing with them. Remember we would love to see any of your sci-fi/fantasy/geeky creations and there is a chance to win craft store vouchers if you share your work either on our FB page or you can use this linkup tool

Have a great day and see you soon for more sci-fi madness.

Bex

Star Wars Saturday and a giveaway

Welcome to the next instalment for super sci-fi month, and this time I had to go for Star Wars. This should probably have gone up on May the Fourth but you can't have everything, right?!

Today's little project is a Death Star candle. The best part about it - you don't even need the Force and can destroy it with just a match.

Now, you're going to need some equipment for this - namely a Star Wars Death Star mould. You can pick them up for a couple of quid from ebay, as long as you're prepared for a long wait for them to come from a galaxy far, far away (aka China), or a little more if you want them a little closer to home.

If you're into candle making or want to give it a try then there are loads of helpful instructions out there on the web and this is not the post you are looking for. If you're like me and don't have all these things, then just take an existing candle, grate the wax into a pyrex jug and put the jug into a pan of simmering water until the wax melts.  The mould comes with a little hole at the top which you can carefully pour the wax into until it's full. I used the wick from the candle and put it through the hole whilst the wax was still molten, then chill until it's set. As this mould is spherical just trim a little off the bottom so that it stands up and that's it.

Looks much better in real life but my camera and I do not play nicely together, and looks great lit up.

I also think you can use this mould to make soap and bath bombs - o many ays to destroy the Death Star :)

The giveaway bit - leave a comment here or in our facebook group for a chance to win your own handmade candle, plus don't forget to show us your own sci-fi/fantasy creations for a chance to win some craft store vouchers. This is the address for the Linky tool

Back tomorrow with another little post and until then, may the Force be with you.

Bex

LOC That craft place

Hi All

Emergency creation of this lovely lady from the craft place... the challenge title was bling it up, and although she doesn't have copious amounts of glitter or gems, she does a have more than a little sparkle and a whole lot of shine. and comes alive under a flash !!

the background was painted with gold acrylic, and then was sponged through a stencil with a mixture of copper and paynes grey.

I then drew the very rough panelling and studs on the background with a copper posca. she was coloured in with my trusty crayola pens and a little bit of water. and lots of metallic gel pens.

no one on LOC quite knows who was supposed to be doing her, but i had fun and glad to have her in my collection.

join us again tomorrow for more fun with scifi. and don't forget to upload your makes for a chance to win vouchers - with non yet uploaded you have a decent chance of winning.  You can now use this link up tool to participate.

stay shiny

jas x

They're HERE....

The first post to welcome you to the start of scifi month. oooooweeeeooooo.

Where we are celebrating a host of things scifi related in some (possibly vague) way.

This month I've been making some bleached t-shirts - using some very cheap cotton tees.

This is my favourite of the bunch, a silhouette of serenity from firefly sailing?!? into the universe. and away from the word 'shiny' in circular Gallifreyan. Total geek overload, but I like it.

So grab your sticky backed plastic, a spray bottle of diluted Milton *other bleach products are available, a smidge of imagination. and join me while I have an absolute ball.

Firstly get an idea of the design you want to create (game of thrones vs starwars design for example) - or use someone elses (with permission) in my case from my brother.  Adjust the contrast so you just end up with a stark version and print it out in mirror image.  Stick your image loosely to the paper side of your sticky back plastic *this means when you cut it out to stick on its the right way around. and start cutting.

As this had wording, and I wanted to keep it correctly spaced, I laid some scruffed up masking tape (so its not very sticky) on the image and put my lettering down on top of it... then peeled away the paper backing and stuck it to my t shirt. I used a sheet of cardboard from a box down the middle so it lies flat, and so I didn't accidentally bleach all the way through.

Once I'm happy with the positioning, and everything is well stuck down, I very carefully unpeeled the masking tape leaving the plastic firmly stuck in place.  filling a mini spray bottle with clean water *mines about 40 mls, and dropped in some bleach, for my black tops I ended up using a full tablet of milton per the 40mls, but for the other coloured tops below it was around 3/4 of a tablet, you really just have to spray and leave it for a bit to see if you have it strong enough, however if you're using a strong liquid bleach no more than 50/50 mix. will do the trick.

when spraying use some kitchen towel to dab away any access puddling on the plastic, then wait, and wait and wait a little more and finally:  Ta dah..

as soon as you are happy with the colouring, remove the plastic and the cardboard and drop it in some cold water to deactivate the bleach. rinse it through and put it in the washer on its own or only with other bleached items for the first wash. then dry and wear.

I've also made these harry potter esq tshirts

 the mischief managed design is in the bottom right corner on the back of the I solemnly swear tee.

and as I was careful in cutting out the letters for the above design, I was able to line them back up again using the masking tape trick and transferred the whole negative image of the design onto a second tshirt. 2 different looks for the same amount of work.

Finally I have a Dr who weeping angel design ready to stick. but I can't for the life of me find the tshirt its going on... if you've any idea where it's hiding drop us a line either here or on facebook. 

Also remember to show us your project* for a chance to win real life craft vouchers. (*see previous posts or facebook for terms)  You can now use this link up tool to participate.

Stay shiny

Jas x 

Left of Center and Kenny K

Another Friday challenge at Left of Center, this time using Lady Victoria from Kenny K. I know it kind of looks like a card,but it's actually a cover for one of my many plain black spiral bound journals. I love this image - I think she looks pretty sassy - and I found a quote from my bag o' quotes that seemed to fit. Actually, it was my second choice, but an unfortunate accident with some red ink rendered my first choice unuseable! Sometimes the best things come out of these happy accidents.

I coloured her with my new copics as I had to have a play with them. Love having some darker colours new and only wish I could afford the whole set! Need to win the lottery (need to play the lottery first perhaps). Matted onto a few sheets of DCWV Once Upon a Time paper and added a few bits and bats that I had lying around and bob's your uncle. 

I'm glad I made the effort and it certainly has livened up my rather plain journal. Off to do some more soon, but first I'll be finishing off a few projects for sci fi May, so stay tuned.

Also remember to show us your project* for a chance to win real life craft vouchers. (*see previous posts or facebook for terms)  You can now use this link up tool to participate.

Bex