Unique Euphoria

Thank you! Have a fantastic New Year!

2018-01-01T09:27:00.001-06:00

Whip Basics Video Review # 39 "Art Whips" by Sui Generis

2017-10-05T10:20:00.001-05:00

TESLA

2017-07-26T00:44:00.001-05:00

Rod the Ram

2016-03-23T08:18:00.001-05:00

Rod the Ram is looking for a home.

"Having wandered from the Rocky Mountains, this lost little guy had left his home because he found it difficult to keep up with the other sheep due to his oddly stubby legs. During the scull crashing season, he was laughed out of the arena because, instead of emitting a bone-chilling crack when standing off with his opponent, a soft, bouncy squeak assured him that he would be single for life.

More at home in the flat lands, he is here today to ask for a home, with infinite promise for soft cuddles and lots of love."

Want to adopt Rod???

The shop is open

2015-11-19T13:54:00.000-06:00

After a summer of cowboys and gunpowder, Unique Euphoria is back online and starting to collect merchandise. Tis the season, why not come on in the shop and check out what is showing up? 1 new item every day.

Unique Euphoria!!!

STOLEN WHIP

2015-06-29T08:05:00.001-05:00

A lovely whip maker named Bobbi Holyoak of Holyoak Whips was in Las Vegas this weekend at the Combat Con Festival and while her back was turned, someone stole one of her most time consuming and expensive whips. I will post a picture when I can, but it is silver and black in color, singular in that it is a signature piece of hers called the Valkyrie. Bobbi has lost hope in seeing the whip again, but we all want to make sure the thief will never be able to take it into public or sell it without problems. Pictures will be forthcoming with another post on the matter. It's one thing to steal a loaf of bread if you are hungry, but to steal a whip for the sake of stealing it, just sucks. Bobbi does this for a living. Would any of us like a chunk of paycheck taken away? A special shout out to those in the area to pass the message on?

Dresses on hangers

2015-05-03T11:23:00.000-05:00

I recently laid my hot little mitts on one of those We Are Memory Keepers Fuse tools. I'm not gonna lie. I screamed a little bit when I opened the package. EEEEEEEYAY! It's new. Like, really new. So new that there are no real tutorials and ideas out there on what to do with this thing other than the standard instructions. So. Here is an idea I came up with. A cute lil dress shaker card that hangs on a paper clip hanger. It goes something like this:

First, draw out a little dress, or trace it out of a magazine, or whatever and cut it out. This will be your template.

Next, trace the dress onto the pretty paper you desire to have your dress made from. I like yellow...and polka dots. Being "all about the bass" myself, it's a color/pattern combination I have to avoid, but I enjoy it from afar. :)

Cut it out...so pretty! At this point, it would be good to add stickers, like a belt or flower...It all depends on how fancy you want this business to be. I'm going plain for this tutorial.

Now, get you some plastic. Here's the thing. I have a heavy hand and the lighter plastics tend to melt on me pretty fast. its all about knowing how fast you can roll your Fuse to not melt your plastic, but still get a good seal. I happen to have this tablecloth plastic that is kind of thin, but you can sew it. Upholstery covers made from this stuff were popular in the dark ages, and clear plastic table cloths now. You can buy it by the yard for cheap and make a gazillion lil' fused thingers. So, now that I have my plastic, I can carry on.
You want 2 pieces that you can sandwich your dress between and have about an inch around all sides to screw up with. That is, if you need to screw up. I need screw up inch-ary. You will too, should you choose to continue on with this tutorial.

Fuse a straight line right at the top. You are making a little pocket here to tuck your dress in. And, obviously, I cut my plastic like a drunken pirate. You need a straight line. Use your Fuse ruler thing.

See? Nice. Stick your dress between the plastic sheets and scoot it right up in there tight against the fused line.

Now, you want a second fused line, just below the first one UP TO the sleeve of your dress, then up to the next sleeve, then finishing off the other side (see below). This is creating a pocket for your hanger wire to go through, but will create the illusion of your dress on the hanger. You can cut out the confusion and just fuse straight across, but it looks like crap. Don't do that.

Then, you fuse down each side. I like to go all the way down and well past the bottom edge. Make sure not to follow your dress too closely. Give yourself a little space, because if you follow too closely to the paper, you won't get a good seal. The Fuse will kind of melt the plastic, leaving a hole with no selvage edge. If that happens, you are screwed. Trust me here, Give yourself some space and save yourself from screw-age.

Success so far? YAY! We are almost done. See? You have a little pocket to put your sparkles and glitter bits in. Go ahead and do that.

GLITTER BITS!!!!

Sparkles, beads and fun stuffs.

And now, you can seal up the bottom with the Fuse. It's the easiest to just go from edge to edge. Make sure all sparkles and glitter bits are well away from the fusing area. This too can create issues with the seal.

Pay attention! I am giving you pearls here! A lot of swearing on my part went into learning these little tricks. Save yourself the confession time.

Once you get it all sealed up, you want to trim the excess plastic off. Remember, I cut my original plastic like a drunken pirate. It needs a trim. You can trim tight against the outside edge of the fused line. If you gave yourself space around the edge, you have a great seal and you can trim it all professional like. No one will even know about the drunken pirates :)

Wah-na-na!!!!!! Awwwe...Flat Stanley prom worthy. I would so wear that...if I too were perfectly flat and had no need to sweat. Okay, yes. I'm odd. Onward.

Now, you want to make the hangers. This is not my tutorial, but you can go online and find the one. Let me see if I can link to it...HERE'S ONE!!! You're welcome :)

So, straighten out the one end so you have a mostly straight area to thread the dress on this hanger.

Remember that somewhat confusing area in the beginning that I wanted you to make? Here it is in action. You see how your dress shoulders end up being in front of the hanger? It kind of looks like the dress is "on" the hanger. Yeah. shove your hanger in that lil' hole.

Then, bend the hanger back into shape and WOOOHOOO! You did it! How cute is that thing? The same method can be used if you want to make those paper clip bookmaker flag things. That way, your dress can be more functional as...well, a book mark.

See? I made one from a fish. You can use this same idea with any shape to make shaker card dangley bits for all your journals, pocket letters, scrap books, etc. Have fun!

Sleep lessons...

2014-11-29T09:12:00.000-06:00

I need them. Sleep lessons. I am the type of person that will go to bed at a decent hour only to wake up every hour to play candy crush and listen to audio books until another hour of braindead takes over. I can't, for the life of me, just stay asleep. I wonder if it contributes to my creativity and overall awesomeness or if my sleep button is just an idiot. I prefer the more romantic explanation
That being said, I have been a crochet fool. While I love my bullets more than pie, it always seems to be the norm to see more hats going out the door in the winter months than bullets. Go figure. I guess one follows the money and hopes to be discovered sooner or later. I assume this is why movie stars are discovered waiting tables. I am simply waiting tables until I catch the eye of some shopper with an eye for recycle art and love for the smell of black powder. Until then, why not try to talk someone into a crochet top hat?

Grandma goes steampunk? Whatever. The whole idea is fun and gives me variety from the run-of-the-mill pageboys, beanies, and flappers. Don't get me wrong, I love them too, but dadblammit, I love to see a little adult variety in the snow. I say adult because every kid on the planet has a bear head hat someplace. Old news. Move over kids, its adult fun time.

If you want to see more hats, They are in my shop at www.uniqueeuphoria.etsy.com.

Admittedly, I took a break yesterday and experimented with some cording I got from a friend in a random package of fun. Another friend had sent me a photo of a necklace that she enjoyed, made from a different (less pretty) cording. I took it as a challenge to try to replicate. The picture is lame, my camera is old and cheap...but much like that sad old lady that sits at the end of the bar at the local tavern, it just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't there...so, the camera stays and all the photos taken with it look dreamy and surreal. Yeah. Surreal. Anyhoo....

It's fine, though I see glue and that tends to bug me. I'm not a perfectionist by any means, I just struggle with shabby chic looking too shabby. We won't explore the back side of the necklace.

Crochet tophat winter outfit

2014-11-20T13:12:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of people enjoying my crochet winter tophat and they think its really neat, but the question has been asked...or rather, the statement made, "I have no idea what to wear it with." While steampunk and victorian dress can be very over the top, it is possible to incorporate the fun bits into your every day without too much trouble, while still occasionally turning a head with your blatant awesome without attacking everyone at the mall with your...um...blatant BLATANT awesome. I tried to demonstrate by making a collection of simple pieces of clothing to make an everyday steam-victorianesque outfit, complete with a warm coat and my handmade crochet tophat (Hello Buffalo, NY right now---amiright?). Just to be extra sassy, I included a pair of my earrings to top it off. Sassy, and...I really love those earrings right now.

Victorian Amethyst Rifle Casing Bullet Earrings by UniqueEuphoria
etsy.com

Victorian-inspired top hat by UniqueEuphoria on Etsy
etsy.com

Tales from around the art studio

2014-11-10T15:53:00.000-06:00

Wow. A whole summer has flown by and where have I been?
To be honest, I don't remember. Well, I do...there was some drama that is very un-artsy like and not something that adoring fanfare would really care about anyway. Even my store suffered. *sadface*
Now that the first snowfall has hit and the cooping up has begun, I will thrill you with...my stuff. Get excited. Basically, I have earrings, necklaces, and newly added to the thrall, vintage-inspired crochet hats. Bask in the yarn, bullets and wire. I shall see you soon. Until then, visit the store. Lots of new bits and pieces to browse through and enjoy. www.uniqueeuphoria.etsy.com

Here comes the sun, doo dee dooo dee...

2014-03-08T15:53:00.000-06:00

I have the back door open. I HAVE THE BACK DOOR OPEN!!!!!

After CNN has ranked the area as the coldest ever, to have the back door open is like...well its just amazing. About this time of year, we are all so cooped completely up we can't stand ourselves or anyone else.

Goals for the spring:

-Still working on getting the house I want. If its meant to be, it will be. Until then, I am a Pinterest junkie.
-Studio. No matter where I end up, the time has come that it will be mandatory for me to create a space for my work. The shop is doing very well and my name is getting out there. I even turned down a commission yesterday. I don't know. Having someone tell me what they want instead of me randomly picking my own supplies and putting them together the way I want seems to steal something from me. So, I'm a dramatic moody artist. I'm doing this to be happy, not to be a craft machine.
- Food forest. I should probably elaborate on this on my personal blog. I have a pretty elaborate plan that includes several food trees and a weekly educational situation explaining the importance and simplicity behind sustainability. I'll go there...over there :)
-Official copyright. Over and above the postdated and sealed photos of my work, I need to invest in a real legal, documented copyright for the Steambug line. This is really important to me. While the methods I am using now will hold up in court, I just really want something in my hand declaring my work as mine. I've worked hard for this.

In other news, I finished 2 lachrymatories today and listed them under the Victorian-Inspired section of the shop. I have 3 needle cases curing and hopefully, they will be ready to go by Monday for the big order going out to New York. I'm strating to get a really nice following under my Google + account-- https://plus.google.com/u/1/107673053232930198297/posts with a real interest in my work, which is super exciting. I've also reached well over 500 "likes" on my fanpage. Maybe my wasted years as a studio art student wasn't in vain after all... :)
Lastly, Old West in the Hills is all coming together for our first official festival. This has got to be the biggest thing I have ever been in on and I am really hoping it goes well our first year. If you are in the mood to shake off the winter blahs in an old west town this June and you are in the Eau Claire area, bring the kids to our festival. Lots of games, stories, demonstrations, skits, wagon rides, prizes. All within a cool old western town. If you are familiar with the SASS and WOWS organizations, rest assured that there will be no live ammo or firearms at the festival. If interested in a club demonstration, we will have video example or you can visit the websites. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-West-in-the-Hills-Community-Festival/612751452069499

Well, regardless all the good stuff, I still have a day job to do with work waiting for me. So I'm off. Here's to a great year thus far.

Lets talk

2014-01-31T16:53:00.000-06:00

Everyone has a talent. I truly believe this. Some are more apparent than others, but everyone has that one gift that makes them amazing. Everyone. No exceptions. No one walks this earth mediocre. Each of us are miraculous living beings living complex lives, impacting others in subtle complex ways. There are no mistakes. I am convinced of it.

I love to solve problems, create things, make things. I love my individuality and I am not ashamed of it anymore. Not like when I was young and judged by my peers who found it to be easier to conform to the whims of society, their parents, the school, then to explore things for themselves. Looking back onto those days that I felt inadequate, I realize my inadequacy was fostered by jealousy. It may have been unrealized by my peers, who felt that random meanness was justified. An unconscious attempt on their part to turn me around and make me a useful asset to the established norm. I don't know. As much as I hated myself for being different, I simply could not conform. Something kept me loving what I loved despite the meanness. I wasn't a rebel. I wasn't trying to be edgy or different or revolutionary. I just simply was existing as myself and was incapable of doing otherwise.

A friend of mine posted this article about a fellow artist who puts her heart out into the world for all to see in hopes of getting closer to her dreams. She does this because she simply cannot be anyone but herself. She does not post because she feels superior. She posts because she needs to. She needs to remind herself and others that there is more to this world than a gray factory existence, that she has something to contribute and in order to make a living from her talent, she has got to put herself out there into the public. This project I found deeply touching. Obviously, her purpose and destiny is to bring awareness to this cold, anonymous, mean-spirited world.
Anonymous Messages

Having experienced this myself while trying to make a living from what I love and exposing myself to the anonymity of the interwebs in order to achieve this desire, I feel especially kindred to her cause. When first trying to establish my etsy store, I was going from one project to another just trying to find my place. I had no idea what to charge for what I created or to describe it. Sometimes I would sell a hat for 20$, sometimes 50 or 60, sometimes auctions would only bring me 5 or 10$. I was learning. The only thing that I could boast that was extraordinary, was the fact that everything I made was patternless and unguided. The concept itself was not my own, but the creation of it was completely random. As I started advertising myself, I suddenly was confronted by a fellow crochet artist who obviously was running a very successful business. Via Facebook, she publicly questioned my prices and belittled my work, further accusing me of "stealing" her ideas.

At first, I tried very hard to be an adult about the whole thing, simply asking her why she would say something so nasty for no reason. I further admitted that I was new at this and thanked her for the advice, promptly going over my store and setting what I assumed was more reasonable prices.
She wrote back, chastising my price changes, further belittling me for stealing her ideas and ended her message with, "Oh, and you are ugly."

Whoa! What? I am a grown up person, being teased by another grown up person over an idea that is blanketed over the internet for anyone to look at and try. Frankly, I behaved wrongly. I have such a temper that it wasn't long before I simply stooped to her level, finally having to block any more messages from coming in because I suddenly was in junior high with a circle of bullies around me, crying and feeling inadequate and helpless. The only difference was, I was the only one in the room feeling this way.

Possibly I was raised differently, but to just say something, even in comment online, randomly mean is unspeakable to me. Even during my argument with this other artist, I was never able to type, "No, YOU'RE the ugly one." I can't do it. Oddly, I don't feel the cloak of anonymity. I feel like a hater bully. I feel real guilt and remorse when I know I have hurt another human being for no reason at all. This is not to say that I do not have strong opinions that others may not like. I am also not saying that if my feelings are hurt, it will only be so long before I will justify a taste of the medicine prescribed to me so liberally. I am not perfect. I'm not Zen. I am a human being with the same knee jerk reactions as the next person. However, I will put my name on each and every thing I say and I will be accountable for it. I will even apologize for it and reflect on my actions should my accountability be challenged. I am not afraid to answer for anything. If I am, then it should not be said until I am willing to be accountable. This is a daily, conscious challenge for me because I am so open with my heart. It's taken me a long time to learn it and I still screw it up at times.

I tend to think about things. It may take days, but I have to come up with a valid reason for things to happen. I will not claim that my reasoning is correct, but if it brings me peace enough to move on to the next thing, then I stick with it. I personally believe that everything happens for a reason. There are no accidents. The reason we exist on this earth is to support each other and help each other. Maybe that crochet artist was meant to send me messages because I needed to be humbled. I needed to be reminded that there will always be someone out there who has more talent than me. I need to think about how I present myself so that I shine, but I don't make others feel inadequate. I need to inspire. Thats my job. I need to use my talent for good. I need to sing for those who need a song, and I need to create things for people who need a symbol. I think I have a right to prosper from these talents, but I also know that they are a gift to me and should be a gift to others too. Maybe what I said to her was meant for her. Maybe she got something out of my retaliation that humbled her for the better. I don't know. Her attitude did not change with me despite compliments and an honest attempt to be diplomatic. But, maybe they did and she was just too ashamed of herself to let me know.

But, why then did she confront me in the first place? What was the driving force behind that first anonymous comment? Here again, I am not at all sure. I've spent a lot of time discussing this very thing with myself over several different subjects and it always seems to boil down to one simple emotion. Jealousy. While arguing she mentioned that she purchased the patterns she used to create her business. There was no originality there. She had the talent to construct, but essentially, she made her money from the creativity of others.

As with the artist above who posted her mean comments and incorporated them into her art, what was the reason that prompted this hate? In one photo, she poses with her arm up showing her armpits in their most natural state. Personally, I don't find this offensive. Shaving is an unhealthy nuisance that is only encouraged because the "norm" dictates that the modern woman is a filthy animal if she is not hairless. She, of course, gets chastised for this photo. Why? Maybe because the person commenting wishes they had the guts to be natural. Maybe they wish they were loved as they were without all the makeup and razor burn. Maybe they are jealous of the artist's comfort in her own body, which fosters the attitude of, "If I can't do it, no one should. It's my duty to shame her into conforming to the mainstream." Possibly they are jealous of her ability to just make things, to be pretty with minimal effort, jealous of her natural thinness, jealous of her ability to manage or prioritize her time to do what she enjoys...Jealously that they would never ever admit to if they had an identity attached to that comment. Instead of finding their own talent and beauty, they compare themselves to others and pull them apart to me them feel superior. These people assume that the recipient of the comments will simply shrug it off, but we feel every single jab as real as if it were a sword through the guts. I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would honestly want to do this to another human being. Instead of being jealous, look for your talent. It may not be as black and white as some, but its there. It may be a way with words, a talent for making money and managing it, just being a comfortable presence, but its there and its something I do not possess. That a lot of others do not possess. Its your gift unique to you and yours to spread to others to help them be better. Stop being ashamed, hateful, jealous. You have a purpose. You may not know what it is, but you are accomplishing it right now. Are you loud and obnoxious? Maybe you are teaching patience. Are you disfigured in some way or do you feel you are unattractive? Maybe you are teaching acceptance and appreciation for inner beauty. Do you complain a lot? Maybe you are teaching someone to be more empathetic. We all have our quirks, our subtleties, our personalities. None of us are perfect prophets of peace. We are human beings. We should act appropriately and be proud of who we are and be supportive of others. We should be people who are proud to wear a name tag all the time.

Who needs buff when your man brings you stuff?

2014-01-06T20:16:00.001-06:00

I hate roses. I think they are a huge waste of money. Whiny, wilty, overpriced attention grabbers. I hate them. Oh I know there are ladies out there that love the chocolate and roses bit. I take them too with a smile when I get them, but ultimately, after 20 years, my husband "gets me."
Today he surprised me with a clean workbench, new Dremel bits, and EZLock cutting kit, and a can of spray shellac. Sexiest man alive right now.

A clean workbench means I have room to weld and my day was AWESOME!! I thought I would take your through the process of a simple wine rack. First, the wire. I like electric fence wire, but barbed wire works well too. Whatever you can get your mitts on that isn't too rusty or thin. I like electric fence wire because its usually galvanized and resistant to weather. Just make sure you have a well ventilated area. Galvanized tends to be a little toxic when you weld it. Okay--a lot toxic. Use common sense here. If your getting a headache, you need air. Artist does not equal stupid. I have faith in you.

OKay, so the first thing I do is take a long piece of wire and fold it in half equally. Clamp the folded end in a vice and chuck the 2 fee ends in the drill. Then twist.

I twist the wire for a couple of reasons. 1 you get a stiffer and more sturdy piece, but mostly because you need a pretty light hand when welding this thin of wire. Basically, you will be making a series of tacks here and the thinner the wire, the more difficult the tack. You will either not penetrate the metal at all, or you will blow right through. Of course, it can be done with practice, but I'm admittedly the first to say less is more, but more is better. Twist the damn wire.

Then, brainstorm. This is the part that you decide what your gonna make and then lay it out the way you want it. You can fly by the seat of your pants like me (way cooler), or you can draw it, map it, and calculate. (Zzzzzzzz...)

I like to make a bunch of swirls and then move them around until I get what I want. Ish...

It all works out. Don't be scared.

Okay, so this is kind of cool. Remember, we are making a wine rack, so eventually we will need it to function as such. So, you get it all laid out like you want, donn the sexy SpeedGlass and start lighting stuff up. This is the cool part. ACTION SHOT!

Yeah. That whole sexy dancer by night welder by day thing? Total bullcrap. Sexy welder. Period.

Don't have a welder? Get one. The most fun you'll have and still be conscious. Not even lying right now.

So anyway, tack away until its all together....

And it should be welded if you did it right. My husband says I have a heavy hand and weld a bit more than I should. About 2 paragraphs ago I said more is better? Yeah. I have slag boogers. Deal.

Then you take a wire brush or whatever and clean up your tacks.

I like to use a beefy brush backed by some kind of mechanical insanity. 1. I love tools. 2. More is better. If your welds stand up to being raped by overkill, they will hold up to a bottle of wine. Just sayin'.

After you get it all cleaned up, try to brush off any wire bits left, slag, whatever sand down any overzealous blobs and make your piece look nice. Flip it over to the front side and clean it again. For the sake of simplicity, I mounted 2 rings on the front to hold the bottle of wine. ANNNND not done yet. But close!

after you get to this point, you want to take it and wash it really good with dish soap and a scrub brush. not really sure what the deal is, but there is some kind of oily something that shows up when you weld. Wash it. you will thank me later.

After washing and drying, prime it with spray primer. I use Rustolium. Good stuff. That's where I'm at right now. My rack is primed and drying. Tomorrow will be 2 coats of black gloss Rustolium and when it's dry, it will be ready to go. I will post the rest of this post tomorrow with the finished product.

I also made a fairly simple votive candle wall sconce. Creepyyyyy.

It's supposed to be a spider, but after looking at it a while...I see woodtick...Hm.

UPDATE:

The finished pieces.

Roach clips

2013-12-04T16:13:00.000-06:00

In an effort to explore other ways to use recycled bullet casings, I spent some time fiddling around with them this past week. Long story short, I was thinking cicada, but got cockroaches. Bullet 30-06 cockroach hair clips. Roach clips. Heh...

These will be going to a show this weekend, but I plan on adding some to the shop next week maybe. :)

Oh, and I think I mentioned the commemorative bullet keychain before. if not, a new customer came buy after having shot a beautiful trophy deer. He wanted a commemorative keychain made from the bullet. It is now finished as well.

Dabbling, because my ADD told me to.

2013-12-03T03:17:00.000-06:00

Thats about it. Boredom hits me pretty quickly and I flit from one thing to another. Etsy tells me, as a store owner, its much better to have 1 kind of thing instead of lots of things. Sadly, if I focused on 1 kind of thing, I would be one kind of asleep. I sometimes think that is the real difference between an artist and a crafter. An artist is all flitty and do whatever. Their work is from their hearts. There are no patterns and no plans. It just happens. The crafter is structured, refined, expert even. They have a plan of attack and rarely waver. Crafters are predictable. I can't say that is entirely a bad thing. I mean, if I want a handmade coffee cozy, my best bet is to find a crafter who has thousands of them. In my store I might have one or two, but its only because I thought it might be fun to add hair to one, or feet. Absolutely everything in my shop is an experiment. I never have a plan. It just comes and if I love it, I list it. if I don't love it, it gets put away somewhere until another idea strikes that will make it better, or I destroy it. Either way.

So it all started when I was digging around in the deep freeze for some hamburger. In the corner I saw a bag that was questionable to say the least. I opened it and found the hide from a pheasant a friend had harvested for me during last year's season. The feathers are beautiful and it had been a while since I played with them. I felt it was high time to separate the feathers from the hide, wash, sort and strip them and if I still have the gumption, make something.

I had the gumption.

Feather fascinator and others...

Happily, I sold one right away. This beautiful lady is also a

etsy seller and makes wonderful meditation pillows. Her husband also makes

gorgeous handmade pottery which is sold in the shop as well.

By all means, go and see what she has!

Barbieszenhouse

I flitted around with this and that, but looked over in the corner at a gallon sized pickle jar I had, full of seashells. I decided to play, but was not thrilled with my lack of imagination. I had made all this before. It was then I discovered that I had Polymer clay.

Since seashells are indeed cast offs from various sea monsters,

I thought a mock taxidermy of sorts would be fun. I ended up with some pretty cool little monsters

growing out of those seashells.

Octopus and other questionable sea-krakenary

Alas, my thoughts turned back to my bullets. They are, after all, my favorite medium.

Something different though. After the invention of the corseted bullet, I really felt I needed to step it up.

I went out to the shop and broke out the cutting wheel and started hacking away at a bullet hoping something would come of it. At first, I was really going for some kind of sculptural thing. I beat on it with hammers and trimmed off bits and pieces, when I kind of saw something in the rubble.

It wasn't long before I had a plan-ish and hacked away until I got this shape:

I don't know. A cicada? I filed away at it for a while before bringing it inside to stare at it for a bit.

I had a fella, who had shot a very beautiful deer this season, ask me to make something cool out of the bullet he used to harvest his deer. While I was digging through some scraps of filigree trying to decide where to go with THAT project, I spied a piece that was still whole. It was then my 30-06 cicada became a 30-06 cockroach.

Of course, as the prototype it is far from perfect, but seems to be well on it's way to being a recycled UniqueEuphoria original.

Hair clip I think. I mean really, what woman doesn't invite bugs to crawl through her coiffure?

Especially when they are made from spent bullets and scraps of filigree. I'm just sayin'

copper ring and a reminder of being loved

2013-10-13T13:51:00.004-05:00

My dad had very debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. It, along with other co morbid factors, put him in a wheelchair for the last few years of his life. He religiously wore a copper bracelet that he had made himself. He used to tell my kids that the green stuff that was left on his skin after wearing the bracelet was old and rotten arthritis that was drawn out by the bracelet. :) {He was a great storyteller}. I can say with some certainty, that I cannot remember my dad's left hand ever giving him as much trouble with swelling and pain as his right. Usually, if he was having a bad attack, it was his right hand that would be the culprit. He never wore his bracelet on anything but his LEFT hand. This is only what I had observed in someone who was willing to try the treatment with an open mind. I could go all over the Internet and copy and paste facts and statistics that someone somewhere had managed to collect but have been long since plagiarized and re-posted without any firsthand knowledge. As you all know, when posting wildcrafting recipes and ideas in my other blog, I personally have prepared and eaten everything I share and tell all the gory details associated with it so you, the reader, are prepared.

I believe that copper will work as much as you want it to work or as much as you need it to work in conjunction with other holistic remedies, it may be worth trying. It certainly is safer for you than Big Medicine's experimental drugs with all those side effects that may actually be worse than the original problem. As I progress through life and the inevitable comes and settles in my joints, I have no qualms with having green wrists sipping on stinging nettle tea.

So anyway, the fun part. When my dad was alive, he would often experiment with different ideas and when he passed away, I had the privilege of getting to go through his odds and ends. At some point, dad had sliced a copper pipe for something. I kept the little rings in case inspiration hit me.
Last night, I was unable to sleep, so I went out int he shop and started playing with these copper rings.

I've never actually done metalsmithing, so it was all a big fun experiment for me. Several buffing tips later...

I have this fun little ring.

I chose loved instead of love because sometimes I need to be reminded, not only to give love, but that I am loved unconditionally in return. Maybe this reminder will help the ring draw out negativity and loneliness as well as pain and inflammation :)

The artist versus the crafter...

2013-10-12T23:28:00.001-05:00

A meme featuring myself :) for when I'm dead and famous...

Get ready Facebook.

Get ready to "like" the shit out of me.

Tattoo trials, a confession, and a squid

2013-10-12T13:33:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine is newly anointed into the infamous roller derby sanction, which takes this mild-mannered accountant from conservative to I-want-a-tattoo real fast. This is just a little fooling around, but a couple of quick ideas we discussed...

The wheel. More to her liking, as she hasn't quite committed to the whole idea in the first place and, should she actually go through with it, she wants something small. Pft.

Wiener.

My original idea was a really beat up and tired skate. Instead of flames, I wanted smoke.

I never went through with the sketch because this one was too busy and big for said accountant/newly discovered bad ass.

A fun derailment from the jewelry, but tattooing is waaaay to controlled for my taste. This is why I shudder when someone asks me to do commission work. I have to limit myself to the customer's expectations.

No fun at all.

I prefer to whim on my own and dive into what I want and then wait for the mental unicorn to come along

and love it as I made it.

Like when I decided to crochet a squid...

I mean really. Who doesn't want one of THESE!???

Run you better run, run from my bullet...earrings...

2013-10-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

I spent the day out in the shop punching out primers from bullet casings to make jewelry, namely earrings. A lot of people were asking for earrings as opposed to pendants and I really had to real way to utilize a decent earring. I had made some attempts, but wasn't really happy with the overall result. It turns out, a .22 has a very thin and easily punched out primer-capsule situation, most likely due to not being a re-loadable type of bullet. Anyway, a little metal punch and a whack with a hammer made for a very nice, centered hole. I was able to make some pretty neat specimens last night.

These are .22 shorts and are an 1800's friendly round that I picked up at the cowboy range. Most specifically, these were laying all over the floor of the church after Fire in the Hills. The flowers are fire polished Czech glass with antiqued brass filigree.

I experimented with some other sizes since my hubby bought me some small drill bits as a treat the other night. I often break these, so a set of drill bits is better than a dozen roses to me any day of the week.

So anyway, 30 carbines. The lighting in my room is really crappy, but you get the idea of them anyway. A .30 carbine was introduced in the 40's, so unlike most of my bullet casings, it's not a Victorian-era round. I have a lovely assortment of firearm enthusiast friends that keep me supplied in odd casings.

Here again, larger Czech fire-polished glass flowers with aged copper filigree findings.

And lastly, another pair of .22 shorts. Mottled, creamy green and brown Czech flowers with antiqued brass and a rhinestone roundel.

So, that was last night's project. I also have been working on a few dollhouse miniatures for my sister who recently acquired a very large display dollhouse with a pretty limited supply of minis to go inside. I had some Sculpy and Fimo, so decided to try my hand at miniature making. She had a garden plot on her Pineterest, so I went about trying to make veggies.

I'm getting the hang of it. they are really tiny, so its a little harder than I had anticipated it to be.

Things I have learned in the process is, keep your heat gun on hand. When you do a section or layer, hit it with your heat gun and "bake" your piece (Be careful, you can burn them and yourself. I had the bits I was working on stabbed onto a pin that I had mounted on the end of a chopstick). That way, when you put on the next layer, you can fiddle with all the little details without messing up your prior layer. With these tiny guys, you really don't need to bake it if you just use your heat gun. Also, have some pastel chalks on hand. that way you can add color layers to your items before heating them up. This is how I got my carrots "dirty" the carrot top is a tiny piece of moss that I had harvested and dried from the roof of my garage. One little hunk of moss with make millions of carrot tops. I may do a picture tutorial on my UniqueEuphoria blog to better explain my method. Really though, this is fun and really does not cost a lot to get into. The most expensive part is the actual clay, and you use so little making such tiny things, you really get your money's worth out of it. All the other goodies can be found at the hardware store or in your house. The texture of the leaves on the cauliflower was a little seashell and the leaves of the corn was textured using an old toothbrush. It helps to Google images of the thing you are making, so you have a reference to color and texture and you can refer to the screen as you work.

Upcycled photo frame pin cushion project

2013-01-20T06:15:00.000-06:00

Here's a cute little idea for old, tiny picture frames. My mom had given me a box of stuff she was cleaning out of her craft room and inside were these little picture/mirrors things:

Cute right? I suppose the lucky person would find these and the backs would easily pop right out so you can safely remove the glass without too much drama. Me, I live for drama. My backs were glued in. So a little exacto knife carving, a little prying and a little swearing, I managed to...

Ahhhhh, break the mirror Seven year's bad luck? I think not. I'm recycling. And...I'm too awesome. I repel bad luck. Stay strong and keep prying.

Ta da!!!! Now choose your fabric. Not only am I recycling the old frame, but that fabric is left overs from another project somewhere out there.

Sorry the picture quality is kind of meh. It's like, 5:00 a.m. and I'm trying to do this in low light, all stealthy so as not to wake up the spawn.

So anyway, you want to cut your fabric a little bigger than the back plate thingy. This isn't an exact science. Just follow the general shape of your backing thing and make it a little bigger.

Start hot gluing it down following the edge of your fabric. Pleat it with your fingers to keep it all even. You want this to pouf out the front of the frame.

See? Like this. all glued.

Now, your back plate thingy was not made to allow for fabric. Usually these things consist of some kind of cardboard, so take your utility knife or scissors and carve it down a bit so its a little more frame friendly.

Your going to want to get some fiberfill. You don't necessarily need to spend money on this either. I like to visit the dump weekly and see what I can find. An example would be leather chairs. Always carry utility knives with you so you can harvest the free. Within those leather chairs is an endless supply of perfectly usable and clean fiberfill. WOO!

Pack that inside the fabric pocket while hot gluing the back thingy (I'm sure this is the official name for it). Use a pencil or something to get the fiberfill under control while gluing in your back thingy.

This is going to be under a little stress, with the fiberfill all packed in there, so run a bead of hot glue around the edge to neatly seal everything up.

When your done, you have a cute pincushion. I left the hanger thing (yet another official term) on the back so I could hang it up on the wall next to my sewing area.

You can use any frame to do this. I happened to like the antique look, so I kept it pretty original, but you can spray paint your frame or embellish it any way you want. Have a friend who likes coffee? Make one with coffee theme fabric and embellish with coffee buttons. Sewer? Wine drinker? Pirate lover? Trust me here, they have a fabric for that. Go nuts.

teapot surprises

2012-09-26T06:12:00.000-05:00

Yep. I'm a swapper. I love to do those cool mail swaps where you have some kind of a challenge and then get a random partner to send to? Well, if you've never done it, go to swapbot.com and sign up. Its free and super fun.
The last swap I did was supposed to be for a cup of tea and a letter. You get 2 partners to which you send 2 teas/packaged beverages and a letter. as long as you follow those rules, your good. However, I LOVE getting fun mail and extra special things and I honestly believe that you get what you receive, so I try to make mine special.

What I did was, I drew a teapot freehand onto a piece of paper and then cut out each section that I want to applique Like this:

Then, you pick your fabric and iron it on to stabilizer--the thicker the stabilizer, the better, especially when you have tiny swirls and corners to stitch around.

Then, you trace each piece out onto the stabilizer side of the material and cut it all out. For interest, use coordinating colors, but different fabrics for each piece.

I then take a piece of felt and tightly zigzag all the way around the piece, making sure to leave an opening at the top so you can put things into your teapot.

You end up with a little something like this. You want to trim the felt edges of the teapot for a nice finished look. I added a pocket in the front too, to put my letter in for my partner.

And here it is! all packed up and ready to go! It was very easy and the pot only took about an hour extra to put together. A little effort and my partners have a super special surprise.

I also offer little things like this in my Etsy shop all pre-made for the swapper. Not everyone is crafty, but everyone loves special just-because surprises. That little something extra will make someone.s day.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104776939/vintage-1960s-fabric-coffee-gift-set

Because I'm on the subject of surprises, Look what I GOT TODAY!!!!

SUPER QUICK!!!

2012-09-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, I am supposed to be working at my "real" job, but I really wanted to post this quick. First, "the story."

So, year ago my mom gave me a box filled with tons of crochet hooks that belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I was thrilled, but both of them were doily makers and most of these hooks are teenie weenie!!! With the hooks came a bag of cotton thread that you used them with. basically, string. not yarn, not something bulky and quick and warm. String. Thread even. As an impatient artist, I lovingly put these hooks to the side along with the thread and convinced myself that I would NEVER have the patience for anything less than worsted weight and a size H hook. The other day, I was looking for lace applique to make jewelry and realized, it looked just like the doilies my grandmas made, only not round...

So, I went looking for patterns, but as I said before, I am super impatient. So, the pattern thing never really does me any good because after the first couple of rows or whatever, I go all independent freelancer and do what the hell I want. I managed to work out a little something. Of course, it's freehand, so there is no exact numbers, which adds to the wonky appearance; however, the deed has been done. I made me a choker with one of my grandma's teenie weenie hooks and some of her string. TA DAAAAA! I am currently blocking it which is why you see all the pins, but you get the drift of what I was experimenting for.

Now, will I do it again? Hmmmmmmm...it IS terribly cool, though my hand was not loving the tiny hook. I may need to fashion a more ergonomic grip on these hooks before trying again, but yeah. I can do this. Hi grandma (s)! I did it!!!

feather necklace

2012-08-30T18:36:00.001-05:00

This turned out pretty:

vintage fabric love

2012-07-19T12:01:00.000-05:00

I have been having such a blast with these vintage fabrics my mom gave me. Each one has a story. There is this blue polka dot that came from a dress that was made for my sisters to wear, but they both refused because it was SO OLD :)
A scrap of mom's out-dancing shirt and vest set, a square of hot pants, a charm from that pink prom dress my sister's shared...

I'm having to work at it, but I am managing to make coffee sleeves out of the scraps for gifting. I just added 2 more beauties to my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/uniqueeuphoria

Take some time today and pick out a little "just because" gift for you or a friend.

Swapbot section on uniqueeuphoria

2012-07-07T23:44:00.001-05:00

As you know , I love, love, love me some swapbot. I have been working on a section of my shop, just for swapbot users looking for fun little extras to send to their partners. Not everyone is crafty and not everyone has time to be crafty. I am really hoping I can offer a little something to the swapbot site.
Today I focused on making some treat envelopes. Made from vintage fabric and felt, I sew these all by hand in the shape of a little mug. You can then stuff this with little goodies like a letter and some tea, honey sticks, coffee, sweeteners, chocolates, hot chocolate packs, pencils, pens, chap stick, whatever you want to fill it with for your partner. Lets say you are to send a friend a beverage and a nice long letter. This would have plenty of room for your letter and beverage and possibly a stir stick/peppermint/bookmaker/etc. See? Just one more little something to make your letter than much more special. So, here is the new additions to the swapbot section. Along with the treat mugs, I also made coffee sleeves with vintage fabric and managed to list a couple of zipper pulls/purse charms. any of these would be a welcome extra for your partner.