YAY! I got my yarn!!!

I had to break down and order yarn online for the afghan commission. it arrived today! I'm so excited! The color is actually alot prettier than I thought it would be. I can see why she picked it. So I'm gonna be very busy over the next week or so crocheting as much as I can.

I also have been working on those bottlecaps. I think I have stuff figured out. Through this process I have to say that my hubby has been amazing. He's reminded me that when I started crocheting it took alot of trial and error and much practice. I didn't just pick up a hook and yarn and become an expert all at once. I seem to have forgotten that part lol. All I know is how easy it is now.

So while ironing out the bottlecaps is a little frustrating for me, he has all the faith in the world that I can figure things out. I feel like a failure right now and I feel like I'm wasting "product" but hubby isn't worried. He says it a small investment that will eventually pay off. And if I enjoy doing it that is the most important part. And he is so right.

I do have plans to chronicle my trial and error in this thing tho cuz all the sites I've come across talking about this stuff make it sound so easy. And I am sure it will be once I figure out the formula. But right now it's not so easy.

So I'm taking a break from bottlecaps for today and doing a little crocheting after i make something to eat and do a little house cleaning (gotta replace the belt on the vacuum ... been a couple days and the carpet is NASTY!!)

xoxox

small update

i think i got some of the bottlecap things figured out. I was patient and didn't touch them. I think I need to do the diamond glaze in a couple layers, which means being more patient lol. And the virgin de guadalupe still faded even after being printed on photo paper and being modge podged to death. I need to figure it out.

I'm waiting on some yarn to arrive so I can begin the afghan for my etsy commission. I'm so excited. Bummed however that I had to order it online instead of at my local michael's but whatever.

Gotta do some house cleaning today and tomorrow. Also planning on hopefully checking out Ian's new band tomorrow night in the D. depends on how late kevin works however. hoefully he'll be off in time. Sometimes it sucks being with someone who works in the restaurant biz cuz they always work late on friday and saturday.

Adventures in bottlecaps

(as usual lately click the pictars for bigger versions)

I think I've figured out what I'm doing wrong. Essentially I need to be more patient. Which is not one of my better qualities. That's okay tho. Perhaps this is just what I need.

So according to all the websites you need to take a rubber hammer and flatten the bottlecaps to begin with. Well, we don't have a rubber hammer (well hubby insists we do but I've yet to find it) so Itried a couple of things and eventually discovered that taking pliers and "folding" the edges works well. I tried it 2 different way and I prefer the 2nd

way #1 (the one I don't like)


way #2 (much better imho)


The first 2 i did last night ended up completely screwy. I didn't remove the rubber ring in the caps and I didn't flatten out the cap properly. Nor did i seal them well enough with the modge podge. so the colours all ran and essentially they need to be thrown out, but I won't do that cuz I want reference of what NOT to do lol

This one was a pictar from a magazine I just wanted to play with.



you can see the raised part from the rubber ring still being in there. and the colors completely faded from the vibrant pinks it was in the magazine. you can also see a couple bubbles that formed ... prolly from me moving it all around instead of setting it someplace, covering it to keep it safe from dust, and leaving it the hell alone.

This one is even worse.



I didn't fill either of them with alot of resin stuff cuz I didn't want to "waste" it. You can see how I screwed with the diamond glaze while it was drying. And again the raised ring from the rubber ring i didn't remove.




So I did a little websurfing and found out how to remove the rubber rings (a couple different ways, but the way I found that I liked was to heat the caps on your coffee warming plate for about 20 seconds and the rubber will pry right off using a butterknife or tweezers)

I used the pliers to "flatten" the caps and sealed the pictars with modge podge and tried again.

unfortunately I didn't seal them enough ... or let them dry enough ... i'm not sure which ... cuz the colours bled again.



which kinda makes it look ethereal and cool ... kinda ... but I'd rather the vibrant colours it was printed with.

(and as a funny I put the pictar of the virgin on a tecate bottlecap hehehe)



I thought I had the colour problem licked but my 2 english D attempts came out funky too ... and one of them has bubbles ... again prolly from me jostling it around peeking at it when I should have just covered it and let it sit.








So today I printed out another virgin on photo paper (to see if it makes a difference from regular paper) and another english D on regular paper. I'm modge podging them both about 3 times per side (letting each layer dry inbetween) putting them inside the caps and modge podging them once more. Letting them dry overnight and tomorrow I'll put in the diamond glaze. And let them sit without moving them around. And we'll see if this makes any difference.

Once I figure this all out I am making my own damn how to guide cuz I couldn't find any information all in one place for this stuff. It shouldn't be this hard dammit.

adventures in magikjaz land

(this is more for me than anything)

So after sleeping way too late today I got around to manipulating some images in anticipation of getting the final items needed to get started on my bottlecap endeavour. (if you're interested, they were an image of Marie Antoinette, the Virgin of Guadelupe and an English D ... and i absolutely LOVE the program i got with my pen tablet last year that allows me to do things like this)

Hubby finally got home around 5-ish. We went to Michael's to get the yarn for the afghan I was commissioned thru etsy. Sadly they didn't have that specific colour in stock. (which means I make a billion calls tomorrow to try and find it before I finally break down and order it online somehwere thereby spending way more than I anticipated and cutting into my profit *le sigh*)

ANYWAY!!!

Since we didn't find the yarn and I had a 25% off coupon that expired on Saturday, I went shopping for the final things I needed in order to make bottlecap stuffs. jump rings, hemp cord (i wanted imitation leather but they didn't have it there ... gonna have to order it online eventually or find another store that might carry it), some stickers and buttons for embellishment, a 1" circle punch (makes cutting those images SO MUCH EASIER!), modge podge.

Then it was off to the Avenue to spend my gift cert i got for my bday. They were having a sale so I got a couple plain tshirts and a much needed female undergarment. I could have bought a bunch more in there. Some nice stuff I must say! Alho I still have issues with tank tops with my chubby arms and they had lots of those there. Same thing in torrid.

side note. While I generally prefer to buy shirts bigger than my natural size, it seems that Avenue clothes are cut for you to buy exactly your size. The tshirts I tried on in 3 different sizes of the same style and the smallest one I chose (which was the actual size I thought I wore) looked the best on me. The other larger ones were less than appealing.

Then it was off to Target to spend an xmas gift card (yea we wait awhile to spend these things lol) We got a DVD copy of "Across the Universe" (fizzle ... you can borrow it if you want), a new laundry baskete and some febreeze (exciting I know)

After a stop at KFC for dinner it was home for Red Wings and Pistons games (damn the NHL and NBA for scheduling them on the same day ... AGAIN!)

While I was watching the games I decided I should try to experiment with the bottlecaps stuff. So I gathered the equpiment we had and charged.

Sadly the first couple attempts were pretty horrific. (i used cheap budweiser bottlecaps tho, so it's all good lol) and I was getting frustrated that I couldn't open the jumprings I bought. After some websurfing and the realization that I bought SPLIT RINGS instead of JUMP RINGS (DOH!) I was able to get things under control.

So I made 2 pendants tonight. They are curing right now but as soon as they finish I shall take pictars to share. One of them is going to the fizzle tomorrow night at darts. And as soon as I'm sure what I've done is correct I'm making a speshul one for da banshee (i'm so excited!!!!)

So I just had to share. I know this is boring as hell but I'm so excited that I was able to figure out what I was doing wroing to make bottlecap jewelry. And altho I have a crochet commission, I can see that I'm gonna get a bug for this and make BAZILLIONS!!!!!

xoxox

It's Official!!!

click for a larger image



YAY ME!!!!!!!

I also listed 2 other afghans I made before...these are a bit more expensive cuz they're much more labor intensive, but I think they're worth it. You tell me tho.

Crocheted Americana Afghan

Crocheted Bobble Stitch Afghan

(and just so you have reference...These are what I used as my pricing guide)

flag afghan
winter white bobble afghan

me from a long time ago

HUZZAH!!!!

just got a PM on etsy for a potential custom order!! I"m so excited!!!

It's for the purple popcorn ripple afghan just in a different colour!!!

YAY!!!!!!

purple afghan listing

Dear Earl

I hate John Denver.

the end