Flamboyant Googlie Eyes

I have a friend who has a thing for googlie eyes, that may possibly be a little on the obsessive side. That being said she was telling me how frustrated she was that there really isn't much variety in googlie eye styles, so I decided to try and make her some customized ones.


Materials

• To start I purchased three different sizes of eyes to experiment on 10mm, 15mm, and 20mm.
• small angled blade
• tweezers
• model glue/tacky glue
  
• glitter
• confetti
• acrylic/enamel paint
• small brushes
  

Opening The Eye


Using a small angled blade I inserted it in the side of the eye as close as I could to the white backing as I could get, and slowly slid the blade down the side. I had quite a few mishaps at first with the blade working it's way up the side until I was closer to cutting along the upper edge of the clear plastic. Once I got a little better at it though I was able to get the blade to separate the clear and white plastics giving me a cleaner opening.

Once you have an opening large enough to get the pupil out, I recommend using a pair of tweezers to do so, it allows you to get away with a smaller opening.







Pupil Mods

The first set I did I coated the pupil with the model glue, covered the surface with glitter, and patted it down until I had an even coat. That worked out alright, I just had to clean up the pieces that hung over the edges. Once once I was satisfied with it, I again coated the the eye with the model glue to help hold the glitter on the pupil.

Next I tried painting it, the acrylic paint worked alright but it took several coats to become opaque. Nail polish though worked really well, you can usually get it cheaper than model paint, and when you're done you can paint your nails to match. I'm thinking of attempting to paint the pupils to look like animal eyes next, but I need to get some good closeups so I can try to make them at least a little bit accurate.

I also tried replacing the pupil with confetti and/or glitter. I think it worked out pretty well, the one thing being that the confetti is much lighter than the original pupil so it doesn't move around as much.








The Eye

I haven't tried too much with the casing yet, but there are eyes with an eyelid painted on them available so I picked some of those up and used it as a guide to apply the model glue and then dipped them in glitter, and added another coat of model glue for a blingy eye. I also used the model glue to secure confetti to the white backing, by applying it to the confetti and then using tweezers to pick it up, insert it, and center it.

I'm thinking of using felt as an alternate backing and then it would be easier to use the eyes on sewing projects. I'd also like to get some doll making eyelashes and do some more glittered eyelids.




Reassembling

Ok, so this part is pretty easy, just insert whatever it is you've descided to use in the eye and glue the opening shut. Originally I also used model gule for this but the type I have has a very low viscosity so while it was great for detail work, almost all of the first eyes I made ended up with nonmoving parts because the glue seeped right through the opening. I found that using tacky glue which has a much higher viscosity, worked much better. I pinched the sides of the eye on either side of the opening and used a small paintbrush to apply the glue along both sides of the gap then pressed it closed and brushed some more glue along the seam.

So it's Back to Real Projects

So this is the lace scarf I started some time back that was put on hold for all the Christmas projects I had to do for the family. I guess that now that the snow is going, Christmas is over, and I've completed several culinary experiments it's time to get back to work on it. As far as lace goes this pattern isn't all that complicated, it's just really time consuming because it's done on US size 2 needles. I was thinking that if I ever make it again I'll use a sport weight with US 4 or 5s, it would be more shawl like but would still work as a scarf.

Bye, Bye, White Stuff!

I am honestly done with the stuff. I have not been able to get my car out of the driveway for close to two weeks. Everyday is a struggle to get to work because the roads are so bad I was bumming rides to work, and I didn't get my shopping done until Tuesday because my car has been stuck at my house the whole time.

Today I thought I'd be able to get out because the snow is melting and for most of the driveway you can see the gravel. Unfortunately the bottom of the driveway is a DEEP slushy muddy mess and I got stuck. We tried for almost an hour to get it out and finally had to concede defeat, when we got it part of the way up the other side and then it just started digging in instead of actually moving.

Bacon & Mayo Filled Chocolates

The Story

A few months ago I was watching Dinner Impossible on the Food Network, and the chef came up with Chocolate Covered Bacon as a dessert. What really got me though was that the people thought it was good, so I had to try it.

I made it the same way they did bacon coated in milk chocolate, and sprinkled with chopped almonds. Surprisingly it's pretty good though I would suggest using a thin sliced bacon because the thick slice that I used gets pretty chewy at the ends. Since it had turned out to be surprisingly good I made a big batch and took them to work.

One of the guys I work with is from Hawaii, and thought it was great but that it needed mayo in it. Well that wouldn't work because mayo doesn't setup, but I thought that if you used a mold you could just use it as a filling. I didn't want to make it though because I thought the idea was quite repulsive. My co-worker however thought it sounded wonderful and kept asking for it, until I finally caved and made it for him last week.



The bacon & mayo filling.





Filling the cups.

W00t!! Snow!!

Ok, so what we call lots of snow here in the Portland area is nothing like most other places. It usually takes about 4 inches to close down schools and businesses. It sends everyone flocking to the grocery stores and and tire centers for food, emergency supplies, chains, & studs.

The thing is that most winters it just rains in the valley, and so we are experts at handling extremely wet conditions. Frozen precipitation on the other hand, while fun is quite a bit more troublesome. I think the biggest issue is that since we really only get snow every few years and even then it usually only lasts for about a week.

This doesn't really give our road crews and people enough exposure to dealing with snowy and icy driving conditions and it takes us longer to clear the roads. So while 4 inches may be nothing to most other places it's a big deal for us.

Plus it's just fun to stay home and play out in it all day.

Anyway here are some pics I took to celebrate the arrival of the white stuff.







I was having quite a bit of fun posing the Pinky's until my boot busted.

Tis' Craft Show Season!

I always like the holiday crafter's show season, it's a lot of fun to see all the interesting and creative things people come up with. This year I'm planning on going to Crafty Wonderland which thankfully is going to be at the Convention Center this year. Last year it was at Norse Hall which is a great place just not suited to large crowds trying to squeeze into aisles to look at vendor's goods. It was nice that they had a bar and it was open but getting run down by a lady in a fur coat and a Bloody Mary, at 10"30 in the morning really wasnt.

That was actually the deciding factor in vacating the premises and going to Rebel Rabbit a few blocks away. It was much more laidback and I found a great baby outfit that I gave to my cousin for her baby shower. Sadly they have now disbanded.


So instead I'm thinking of going to one of the Handmade NW shows this month, I've not been to one before and think it'd be fun to check out. I might also see about hitting the Museum of Contemporary Craft's Holiday Shop, it's probably too expensive for me but it should have some beautiful pieces.

Odd Restaurants In Asia

The first one is in Taiwan and is called The Modern Toilet, and it definitely begs the question is your bowl clean enough to eat out of?

In Singapore you can dine in macabre style at the Aurum, where the cuisine really will put you in the hospital.

You could also try taking the higher limb at Okinawa's Nahu Harbor Diner perched atop a lovely replica of a Gajumaru Tree.

If you're not afraid of things going bump in the night you could always try Beijing's Dark Restaurant, where lit devices of any kind are prohibited, so you can experience your meal with your other senses. It's said to be quite popular with the online dating crowd.