Truth or Dare....

I gotta 'fess up! Gotta let it all hang out! Gotta tell the truth even if most of my loyal followers run in disgust and cancel their subscriptions to my blog posts.

I am a blog junkie!

There! I've said it. Finally my deep, dark secret is out in the open for everyone to see!

I...am...a...blog junkie....!

I started by reading one. I was happy. My life secure...
Then one day I was reading a posting that had a link to another blog. Oh the shame of it! My eyes lit up. My trigger finger twitched...before the realization of what might happen dawned on me, I clicked that link.
Instantly I was transported to another realm. I read! ....every post from the newest to the last. I was hooked! I just didn't realize how badly at the time.
That was the first. But quickly a second followed, then a third & before I knew and could still help myself my blog subscriptions numbered over a hundred. That's when I stopped counting.
OK, I know what you're going to tell me....Yes I admit I should have gotten help while it was still early stages. It's a disease, I tell you. Now even my emails contain links.
I read blogs about polymer clay, about building dollhouses. I even read blogs whose owners write about fancy woodworking tools, about turning wood on a lathe....even tho I'll never own any of those tools or ever make a miniature wooden bowl. I read foreign language blogs to keep up my language skills. Blogs about real size basket making; blogs about cloth doll making. I'll never make those baskets or those dolls... Blogs about shabby chic...about Russian village houses with fancy carved window frames. Blogs that only show items made to be sold on etsy. I read blogs about this and blogs about that.....
It never dawned on me how badly I was hooked! This morning someone slipped me a link about wrecked cake decorating. I couldn't help it. I had to look.... and that's when the realization finally hit....and I saw myself for what I really am...

....a blog junkie!

It doesn't matter that I'll never buy an angry toilet paper cake or a Halloween cookie with happy sperm on it..


never have one where a spider is doing disgusting things to an icing dog's behind.
or a cupcake whose decorator went mad with the icing
I snickered. I tittered. I went from posting to posting ever more avid for the next cake photo...and before I could help myself, I subscribed!
I don't know how Ken can stand living with me. Please, please, pleeeease don't tell him. I think he already knows. But when I look him in the eyes, I don't want to see his disgust written inside each eyeball.
I asking for help from each & everyone of you. Here's the link to cake wrecks. If you have any pity at all, stop me before I click again.

this N that...

I always love to read comments that are left for me. Here's what Cate, of Solet Luna Studios wrote about my mouse:

Oh Karin what a great idea! And I think your sculpt is coming along beautifully...but I just melted when I saw that sweet little ratty face! That is a ratty...a dear little dumbo-eared, black-eyed, pearl-coloured and possibly rex-coated ratty! :D But you can keep calling him a mouse if you like. ;)
(as you can tell...I have quite alot of affection for these wee little rodents...!) :D
Can't wait to see how he develops!

This from someone who dresses their pug up as a pirate! LOL Luna, on the other hand....
Now Cate, as a fellow Canadian, you should know how prejudiced the rest of the world is or how long it takes minorities to become recognised. Excuse me while I just pat myself on the back...
I mean afterall,I'm a woman of the world; I know what's what! I've watched Ratatouille twice....at least once all the way thru without falling asleep... a major feat for me! Think about how much trouble that poor little rodent chef had just because someone called him a rat. Had he been a mouse it would have all been so much easier. At the very least, it would have meant less time spent under a chef's hat worn by someone else.
Rat conjures up rat-fink, rat-arsed.....but mouse inspires the words: innocent, cute, quiet. Besides now that it's flocked no one can really tell. It actually looks better than what you can see in the photo:

This is my first flocking. I began with a bit of trepidation since I really didn't want to have to pollute the lake if all went wrong. If nothing else the geese would never forgive me.

When I first started, I wondered how I would get the fur to fall properly but once I started cutting, it was all I could do, not to see Ara's dryer lint monster
So as you can see, my rat errr I mean mouse needs no french-english dictionary or culinary talent

to complete the phrase: "not a creature was stirring, not even a rat errr ummm mouse.

Now getting back to Cate's pirate pug....I happened to be in the pet shop on Saturday to order some new jammies for Luna. Here's what she looked like when her current PJs were new: I ordered red & pink long johns and the cutest little yellow flannels. No way could I ever get her to be seen in public dressed as a pirate. She's insisting on changing her name to Martina Navratilova when she goes out Sat night in her tennis whites.

Halloween

Happy Halloween, blessed Dio de los Muertos, Happy All Saint's Day and/or Samhain to one and all!


Remember the Halloween swap that I entered. I made a Fantasia mop for Jodi Creager and in turn my item was going to come from half way round the world. Susan finally wrote from Singapore to say it was on its way.
Well, I waited & waited.....and then I waited some more.
Gee could it be that the immigration laws had been toughened? Could customs be keeping my whatever? Presumably marveling, possible playing with it? Was there no end to Canadian rules that were keeping me and my swap item separate!!

Then on the 23rd, as I again frantically checked with Canada Post, I found the key to the larger package box laying within our little rural mailbox. Would it be just another eBay purchase? Or could it be.....

It was with great trepidation that I inserted the key. Slowly as the door creaked open.... I couldn't help but think with all the wet weather we'd been having lately, they really should make their mailboxes more weather resistant.
I should have known! Should have felt the foreboding in the air!
Two packages lay within! ....when would I ever learn to keep my trigger finger off that confirm bid button that eBay so conveniently offers. But wait....surely no eBay seller would mail out his package using such wonderfully colorful stamps

I raced home. Threw the rest of the mail at Ken; went into my craft room and closed the door. With trembling fingers that would hardly do my bidding, I tore at the paper. A note held closed with a red seal came to light:

oh my! Did you see? "Palace Treasures"!!
Did my swap item come via a long forgotten maharajahs treasure chest? Would I become rich beyond my wildest dreams? We all know that in Asia lies the riches of the modern world. Even their poor sit on chests filled with rubies and pearls and eat their meals from golden plates.
Inside lay a card, identifying me as owner of.....the HalloWitches! Huh????

I looked up in confusion... Did I need to set extra plates for supper? Just what had I gotten myself into!
If you thought my hands trembled opening the outer wrappings, you should have seen them now. But wait....how confusing!
my brain was addled! I didn't know what to think...
At the very moment where I sat back in confusion, the bubble wrap started to move. Slowly it began to writhe and I was sure I could hear a faint hissing sound coming from within. Suddenly steam erupted...
Knowing that it would play havoc with my sinuses, I frantically fanned the air. It was over in a moment....and there in it's place sat a cauldron!
This was no ordinary cooking pot used at an outdoor corn roast. Although it still sat on a campfire, the wood must have gotten wet in transport and the fire recently gone out. Some sort of steam was still emerging from the pot but already jungle vines encircled it and the hissing that I heard came from two gigantic and extremely colorful snakes. I felt like a rabbit caught in their unblinking stare.

I felt compelled to reach out and touch....
...but before I could do so, from deeper within the bowels of that infernal packaging came chanting. Softly at first. Then ever more loudly and clearer...

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble....
I'm sure I'd heard those words before! They came from somewhere in my distant past!
I began to wish that I'd never brought that package home! Why did I ever enter that damn swap! Why couldn't I have been happy just to buy from eBay? There, sellers aren't allowed to list dangerous or toxic goods!

Again the package erupted in smoke. Again everything in the room became hazy. Again I frantically fanned the air. Again I could hear that chanting......

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble....
Suddenly with a loud poof, the package disappear and in it's place stood three beings gathered round their(?) cauldron!

I sat transfixed! I was horrified! I knew where I'd heard that chanting before...
I was sure the Macbeth had encountered those same three witches just before his tragic end! Even the words rang familiar:
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
What kind of witches were these? They couldn't even get the words right!

I was sure I'd remembered the quote correctly from my high school English classes . Had they been hiding out too long in Asia? That since sending Macbeth to his doom, they'd forgotten the correct words to their own spell?
It might be my only chance! Quickly I sent a message to Susan! Yes, to the cause of all this anxiety... there was still a chance she hadn't known what problems she'd created! It could be that those snakes had grown up eating pig flesh....Even now they could carry within them, the deadly snake flu!
Just as quickly came her response. I won't go into details here! I'll let you read her story for yourselves: Susan's story!

In the meantime what do I do now? That chanting is going to drive me crazy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been seven days now....count em 7!
Altho I haven't dared to open my craft room door, I can still hear the chanting! It's slowly driving me mad! Every day it gets a little louder.
I'm going to leave tonight to go housesit while the grandkids and their parents go out to 'trick or treat'. Maybe if I ooh and ahhh enough over the little tricksters as they come to the door for their treats....maybe if I shell out enough candies...
Then maybe, just maybe...those witches and their snakes will take pity on me and quieten down! Keep your fingers crossed!!!
.....if you don't get any more posts from me, you'll know it hasn't worked. OMG I don't even want to think about it!!!

Fire, burn; and cauldron, bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Fillet of a snake that lived in a bog,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
A black snake’s forked tongue, and its cousin’s sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth, boil and bubble.

Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i’ the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab.
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, a gulf-like stomach,
Of the rough sea salt glisten,
Root of poison hemlock dug up in the dark,
Liver of Christians not baptized,
Gall bladder of goat, and slips of pine trees
Cut off the tree when the moon eclipsed,
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips,
Finger of a baby born dead
Delivered in a ditch by a prostitute,
Make the gruel thick and gooey.
Also add a tiger's guts,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Ever since I had long commutes to and from work, I've gotten into the habit of not having the radio on while driving. Back then the silence enabled me to chill out by the time I got home. It was my time out to think with no distractions around me and has remained so since then.
So when I went to visit my son and his family on the weekend....an hour's drive away....I spent my driving time thinking about completed as well as upcoming Christmas swaps and going over all my ideas of what to make. ....at least that's where my thoughts started off.
From there my mini brain jumped to ideas for presents that need to be sent to distant friends who've sent things to me. I sort of feel obligated to return the favor. So I started off thinking of something to buy.
Then I thought of something to make.
Then I thought that if I make a roombox, I could just as easily sell that.
And somewhere in this long silent discussion that I was having with myself, I thought of all the vintage cup and saucers whose market price have hit rock bottom and even then aren't selling.... And suddenly the light bulb went off!

Take a cup. Stuff it with a tiny pillow. Add one sleeping mouse made of clay. Hang a tiny scroll from the cup's handle that reads: "Dear Santa, I've been a good mouse all year......". Glue a mini plate containing some cookies and maybe a piece of candy (all things that I've made plenty of and will most likely have leftovers of, once all the swaps are sent off) to the real size saucer.
If the mouse is covered with a little blanket then all that needs to be made is the head, at least one paw (clutching the blanket) and a tail hanging down.
Simple enough to complete by Nov 7th when I'm selling at a miniatures show. Simple enough to make more of. Some to sell, some to give away!

So start with this:
And make it into this:
We'll see if I actually get one completed.... He may end up in the lake along with the pumpkin head that I just couldn't properly flesh out. At the moment his nose is off center and one eye is larger than the other.
I'm sure I've seen a gif of this scene but for the life of me can't think where. (I know that someone else made a mouse sleeping on a piece of bread & covered with a slice of cheese for a blanket)

...cheezs think of all the work I could have saved myself if I had driven with the radio on.
I'll keep you posted.

more to do....

....and as if I won't have enough to do before Christmas. I've joined a gift exchange with Kathi. She's calling it the Five Star Christmas Swap. Come and take a look
So far only Jill and Jaime have signed up. Along with Kathi and myself that only makes a 4 pointed star. We only need one more that complete it. Whatta ya say......?

time....

.....8 days til Halloween and 62 until Christmas.

I used to bake a lot when my kids were small. Now that it's just the two of us, it doesn't make sense to go to all that bother. Ken's watching his food intake and most things that I love to eat go straight to my hips.
So this'll be the first Christmas in a long time that my oven will get a work out.
I'm all set!
I've loaded up on lollies and red Christmas mints...
...got some fancy green mints and some candy canes...

...got lots of chocolate chips for baking and a cookie jar standing by.

Now did I forget anything? hmmm...oh yeah! I'll need something to put my baked goods in...

Halloween Fun

I'm going to post this on both sites because when I first saw it, my first thought was how brilliant and how easy!
My thanks to Nancy Cronin for her permission to post it. Here in her own words is the tutorial:

I was playing around with one of those easily available skellie and unfinished boxs that you can find at Micheals.


1. cut the skellie at all of the joints
2. drill a hole in the joints
3. glue a wire in the joints. Now you can reposition him any way you want.


4. I fleshed him out a bit so that his clothes hung better
5. the box is covered in faux cement blocks. I tore apart an egg carton , glued them to the box, and dabbed paint here and there. He has a mask in his hand but its hard to see in the picture.

Here's another skellie rising from his grave. Guess it's hard to keep a good man down!

If you'd like to see some of the other things that Nancy's done, here's the link:
http://www.picturetrail.com/nancyc1938