DIY: Perler Beads Robot Art

Here's a quick and fun DIY using the small Perler beads kits that you can get at Michaels and other crafty stores. I had one of these kits lying around that contained the beads, plastic peg board and the instructions for the robot design. However, given that it's Zen's birthday today, I thought I'd make him a robot one, as well as a  cute robot Jesse dog to match in the style of those decals for

Here are the beads ready to be fused with the iron. I tried to design my robot dog one to mimic the robot pattern fairly closely, how do you think I did?

Here they are after being ironed and mounted onto heavy cardstock with my trusty gluegun.



Just a note that I only ironed one side of these (the back) since I felt the beads had a pixel-y sort of look that I enjoyed, and they were being glued to cardstock anyway. Generally you're supposed to iron both sides.

Strangely enough, I think this was actually a craft that I've never done before in it's entirety before, and ran into some trouble with the ironing (didn't iron long enough) but I think I'll be making some more in the future -in particular a robot me to add to the collection!

I think I'll also add some nomeclature labels underneath in fancy writing before I frame them, but overall, Zen was very pleased with these!

If you want to make your own, here's what you need:
-Perler beads peg board
-Perler beads
-wax paper (to place over the beads while ironing)
-Iron
-Paper (I used 6 x 6" Sthrathmore Bristol vellum, which is basically just an acid-free, heavier cardstock with a nice finish)
-Glue gun

You can also find some information on Perler beads and a cool looking application I might try to make your own designs from photos on the Perler beads website.

Happy crafting!

♥ Craftzilla

Music you should Hear : Jeff Buckley

I felt a sudden need to hear this song today and thought I'd share.



I remember hearing Jeff Buckey's Last Goodbye for the first time either on the radio, on the show the Alternate Route on Peterborough's rock radio station, in the dark of my room when I was supposed to be sleeping, or on a mixed tape that my friend Chantal made me, back in the days when we made each other mixed tapes with commentary all the time.

Guilty secret: I may have made a Jeff Buckley web page for a class project in a highschool computer class project in like 1997. It was pretty much like a Geocities website full of photos of him and was pretty terrible in retrospect, but apparently the teacher used it as an example for the next few years. Amusing, right? So I actually sort of enjoy some of these videos that are just picture slideshows.

If you haven't heard Jeff Buckley before, I definitely think you should check out a few of his songs. His cover of Hallelujah gives me shivers/tear up every time I hear it. His range, his voice, his lyrics, everything is amazing.

Sit in the dark, light some candles, have a glass of wine and enjoy.

Other favourite songs:








Who's your favourite artist that brings back memories of a certain time in your life?

♥ Craftzilla

Halloween Costumes from Way Back : Liz Lemon Avoiding Jury Duty

It's been a few years since I actually dressed up for Halloween, and I was thinking back to costumes that I've done in the past. Most hilarious one (where I actually made pretty much all of it?)--has got to be the time I went out to see the shadowcast screening of Rocky Horror Picture show at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto with some lovely friends!

My costume: Liz Lemon avoiding jury duty (aka Princess Leia) (please watch this and this and watch more 30 Rock immediately if you don't get the reference)

My friend Spock (aka Brent)  and I

This was a sort of last minute, DIY costume that actually turned out really well!

Things I bought:

Princess Leia wig -I even happened to find the official Star Wars version (if I'd had enough time, I would have knit one like this one! )
Water pistol

Things I made:

1) Princess Leia dress
Custom design, made from some white fabric I had lying around I think the fabric was actually my curtains at one point!

2) Belt for the dress
I made the belt from a strip of fabric, with tin foil wrapped squares of cardboard glued on to it.

3) Nametag that said "Hello my name is Liz Lemon"
I cut out a rectangle of foam core, glued a pin back on the back and just wrote the text on with a permanent marker.

4) Sign that said "I don't think it's fair for me to be on a jury because I can read  thoughts"
I also used a large rectangle of foam core and a marker to make the sign

Here's the beginning of Rocky Horror! So Exciting! I'm sad to hear they won't be playing it at the Bloor Cinema this year, since they're renovating.


.
Spock looks a bit confused as to what's happening here --or it's been 7 years and he's distracted by something over to the left, who can tell?

We were also accompanied by the fabulous Lady Gaga!

Lady Gaga (aka Kim)

We even got the chance to meet the fabulous Kanye West! Best night ever :)



What's your favourite Halloween costume that you've made or dressed up as?

♥ Craftzilla

Day 14: Make something to give away. Send a card to a friend or make a little gift for someone you care about.

I'm hopefully meeting up for lunch with a friend on Friday while she's in town for the Hillside Festival and since it's her birthday on the 25th, I whipped her up a little present to give to her should I see her!

The main gift is this cute little bag

Plus this sweet card

 

I think she'll like it, don't you?
 
 ♥ Craftzilla

Reasons Why I think my mom is Great and Why you should too - Happy Birthday to an amazing Momma!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Momma!

She'll probably kill me for putting more photos of her on the internets, but just wanted to tell you a few of the reasons why my mom is awesome:

• Willing to be silly --we once spent a whole weekend speaking only in Pig Latin --it was really hard to stop!
• Crafty --she's a super talented quilter and general crafter extraordinaire
• Green thumb-this lady could grow flowers in an alley--always a beautiful garden, and taught me so much about plants and things (mostly by enlisting me as grunt labour to move gravel about the yard lol)
• Well -read--Mom is definetely the reason why I read like books are going out of style--we went to the library at least once a week, mostly when we didn't have a car and she'd have to drag us across the bridge  and downtown to the library
• Hilarious - the first one to break into a dance on a counter, or do a dance on the street just to see if someone was paying attention --also the first to challenge you to a tea towel war or pursue you with a dishcloth threatening to wash your face with it if you didn't do the dishes immediately!

So at any rate, my mom is great --so please send your birthday wishes her way!

♥ Craftzilla

Birthday Bag --Piece de resistance!

Because I forgot to add this to the last post, and it's awesome enough to get it's own post--here is my amazing main birthday present from my mom --an awesome felted knitting bag! Gaze upon the loveliness!

Even a fancy pocket on the outside for my glasses and things:)

I love this lots and immediately put all of my knitting in it. I may end up lining it, since my knitting needles poke out through the bag a bit, but still loving it lots! Much nicer than bringing an ugly cloth grocery bag to knitting any day!

♥ Craftzilla

Toronto Trip!

I went on a quick Toronto day trip the other day to meet up with my mom and my sister for a belated visit for my birthday. Here are a few pictures of our adventures!

Lunch at the Eaton's centre on a break from shopping

My sister and Mom

Noooo! My nose is not a sushi!

We went to check out a Farmer's market at Nathan Phillips Square, but not finding much, we stopped for some pictures!

Dancin' --you can somewhat see my new haircut

Laughing, as my mom had just smacked me in the bum

It was sort of weird and foggy out

fountain!

I was showered with lots of nice birthday gifts (that I had to lug home again) but super excited! Look at all the lovely fabrics! Mom brought me all her scraps and extra squares from quilting --I'm going to be able to make a lot of awesome things out of this lot! I already got to the studio last night and was sewing for hours:)

Fancy set of plates-I've hung them up in my bathroom and they look super nice! I can't identify the buildings on them offhand, so may do a little bit of research to try to find out.

Other miscellaneous goodies -Christmas ornaments, wooden box, table runner, stamp, tiny case, and hilarious magnet necklace as seen on TV--comes with hilarious instructions of how to wear it as a belly chain, bracelet, anklet etc.

Inadvertent stowaway in one of the bags holding my presents, lol (my mom clearly grabbed some of the cloth bags they use for groceries, haha)

♥ Craftzilla

30 Before 30 - Goals for the Coming year

So Tuesday was my 29th birthday, and I decided that a list of the things I 'd like to accomplish in the coming year would likely help with actually accomplishing things :) I 've been thinking a lot about the whole "getting my shit together" since reading this post and have been trying to think of all the places where I often feel frazzled and lost, and of goals I have set that have been a long time in getting done. No one likes a tome of a to do list, and I am no exception but eventually, at some point, the things gotta get done! I figure some goals reaching over the next year, that encompass the most important of the things I want to get done, as well as things that would just make me happy, would be super useful in keeping myself motivated, and hopefully help bypass that feeling you tend to get each birthday, when you're not sure if you have anything to show for the last year or not.

So here is my list, in no particular order: 

1. Retake G1 exam and get full G2 license
2. Try to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep every night
3. Work on something crafty every day
4. Go to studio at least 3 times a week
5. Tidy up the apartment a bit every day --goal: 20 minutes
6. Finish creating Craftzilla Facebook page
7. Get a passport and use it to travel somewhere fun that requires a passport
8. Start practicing yoga again on a regular basis (try for 3 times a week)
9. Keep a clean inbox in all my emails
10. Participate in some kind of Photo project (i.e. 365 Day portrait,30 Day photo challenge)
11. Get new Etsy shop up and going -- and make a few sales!
12. Organize some crafty events in town (i.e. Etsy Team for Guelph, another craft Party, perhaps an Etsy sellers show)
13. Take some photos every day
14. Get at least an 80 in every course I take this year
15. Try to be mindful of my temper and don't take stress out on loved ones
16.  Limit TV watching --try for 1 hour a day max
17. Finish a knitted sweater
18. Take a screenprinting class 
19. Take a weekly yoga class
20. Visit a city I’ve never been to before
21. Go on a weekend getaway somewhere
22. Read at least 10 more from the BBC Big Read List
23. Go to a museum I've never been to before
24. Have a tea party
25. Pay off credit card debt and keep a $0 balance
26. Learn to use Photoshop proficiently
27. Get to 100 blog posts
28. Host a blog giveaway
29. Learn to use my serger
30. Plan a fancy picnic with dishes I haven't made before

Birthday cakes and Sole Meuniere, oh my!

The cake, prior to putting on the topping--neat cracks and dells!

There were birthday celebrations at my place last week, and a tasty cake was made! I used this recipe for  Easter Cake from the wonderful  Thimble 's  blog, and I'm happy that it actually turned out,due in large part to acquiring a hand mixer last year for my birthday --I am no good at whipping up eggs to an almost meringue-like state.

The Finished product

There was also a tasty meal of Sole meuniere, roasted potatoes and asparagus made:

Sole menieure and potatoes

Apparently this meal turned out great, as all who ate it were gibbering messes by the end :)

Since Sole menuiere is generally known as a fancy French dish, I'm surprised it actually seems to turn out well when I make it! This is basically what I did for the whole dinner:

Potatoes

Roasted potatoes--at least what was left! 

Ingredients:
Potatoes (6)
Fresh thyme
Stock cubes (2 or 3)
1 1/2 cups water
4 -5 cloves garlic

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, add more water if necessary, and stir every once in awhile to stop the potatoes from sticking

1. Wash and Cut up about 6 potatoes into quarters and place in a roasting pan
2. Sprinkle 4 to 5 stems of fresh thyme over the potatoes
3. Peel and crush the cloves of garlic and place around the pan
4. Crush the stock cubes up into chunks and place around the pan
5. Add the water to the pan

Put into the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the potatoes are crispy and tender. Add slat and pepper to taste.

While the potatoes are cooking, get the sole ready!

Sole

Sole meuniere, mostly eaten up at this point

Ingredients
Sole, roughly 4 fillets (or more if there is a hungry bunch to be fed)
Fresh lemon
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Butter

1. Mix some flour, pepper and salt together, and put on a plate
2. Dredge (i.e. cover) both sides of the fish in the flour/pepper/salt mixture.
3. Using a cast iron pan (just my preference) on med-high heat, sear the sole in a few tablespoons of butter for roughly 1 minute on each side

Put into a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes to finish cooking
To serve, squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto the tops of each filet

Asparagus

I didn't snap a pic of these before they were all eaten up, but I cut off the bottoms of a bunch of asparagus and just pan fried them in the same pan I used for the sole for 2 to 3 minutes on medium high heat--this was nice as they got some of the extra flour from the sole on them and were mighty tasty!

One of the birthday gifts --first attempt at some thread art

Has anyone else had any memorable meals of late? If so, please share!