Vacation Day 2

I love having vacation. Even it is colder than a snails rear end outside. Besides the fact that I needed a break from work - it's driving me bonkers - I like having the time to sit and watch Stargate SG-1, bounce around game and story ideas in my head and work on crafts.

I am working my way through Season 6 of SG-1 at the moment. I prefer the seasons with Daniel Jackson in them, but Jonas Quinn is good, too. The best part is that I know the episodes

so well that I can keep them on in the background while I am working on things and really not miss a whole lot.

Today, I am working on piecing together my Windowpane Quilt. It's a quilt that I found in a Japanese Quilt book that I got from the library. It has lots of 6 inch squares of varying design and color - all of Japanese or Asian prints. I have laid out 125 squares on the bed in a random design, trying to keep like ones away from each other. But, while laying them out I realized that I still need some more fabric. I had enough squares for everything, but I need the triangles on the ends and corners. Which means another trip to either Jo-Ann's or to Shiisa Quilts. =o) I do have a coupon after all.

I still need to sit down and top-stitch Lily's quilt. It's all sewn together, but I am doing additional stitching along the squares and then zig-zag stitching between the squares to add additional stability. I only have a few left to do, but the hand-stitching takes time and attention, so I haven't done it yet. I also need to dig out my big bolt of batting for both quilts.

Lily requested a Monster High pillow a while back, so I finally got one made for her. I took a picture that I had and drew it out larger, then cut it out of fleece. I did all hand-stitching on it, since my machine isn't really friendly with polar fleece. I have a feeling I need a different needle. I think that it came out pretty good for something that I just sat down and drew out. She was thrilled with it. That's all that really matters to me.

I haven't run a game in so long that I am starting to think about doing it again. Mostly cause I have all of these ideas bouncing around my head and I want to do something with them. I keep thinking that they would makes good plots for stories, which I would love to be able to sit down and write. But - I rarely have them time to do so. Then, after I nix that idea, I think that maybe I can use them for a game. Then, maybe use the game sessions as a board for assembling it into a story. My most recent one is about a princess who runs away from home. Now, I don't mean the Disney princess type, I mean the good-head-on-her-shoulders type princess that can wield a sword as well as a crown type princess. Anyway, she runs away from home because her father, the King, has passed away and her mother, now Queen, has taken the throne and married the King's brother. The Princess, realizing that things have all gone down the drain, has decided to get out of dodge before it all gets worse. Along the way she runs into the handsome bandit leader, some nasty critters and eventually a return to the place that she called home for a big fight with her Uncle, who has been poisoning her mother to try and take over the throne. I think that it sounds like a good story idea, but I am not so sure about a game. I don't like to make games this linear, but then again, there isn't really a lot fleshed out just yet.

I don't know. Still thinking.

Back to my quilt.

Decided I Needed an Apron

I bought this really cute kitty fabric sometime last year to make a yarn purse/carrier/thingy. Then I decided that I didn't really want one, so instead I held onto it for something else. After looking through my patterns, I settled on three different ones - a purse, a lunchbox or an apron. There wasn't enough fabric for the purse, so I had to put that one aside. I had enough for the lunchbox, but I wasn't sure if kitty fabric was quite what I wanted. So, I settled on the apron. The fabric is a really nice cotton quilt material. The waistband and second scalloped edged layer are multicolored paw prints on white. The first and last scalloped edged layer are multi sized dots, some with paw prints in them and then the main scalloped layer is flowered kitties all over it. The buttons are flowers of two different sizes and five colors - lime, orange, hot pink, red, and lavender. The ties (not pictured) are made out of the same paw print fabric as the waistband.

It was fun to make. I'd like to make some more for a craft fair, but maybe a different style. We'll see what happens.

My next project is a cupcake hat made of fleece for Lily's teacher.

My daugher is obsessed with Monster High!

She absolutely loves EVERYTHING Monster High.  She has a bunch of the dolls and the rag dolls.  And even some furniture for her dolls.  It's gotten to the point where I am thinking of Monster High things to make for her.  I wanted to make some clothes for the dolls.  Unfortunately, even though they are 12" tall, they aren't shaped the same as Barbies, so the patterns for clothes that I have won't work.  About all I can make would be skirts.  After a while that gets rather boring. 

Even though, I can't really make anything for her dolls, I did finish her nightie the other night.  It's made from black and purple zebra print flannel, which is the pattern and colors associated with Clawdeen Wolfe.   The nightie is made from a Simplicity pattern though she opted to leave the buttons off of the front ruffle area.   I still have slippers and a sleep mask to make for her, but I have to get out the batting from its hiding place. 

I also made her Halloween costume this past year, like I do pretty much every year.  She wanted to be Draculara, so we found this really nice fabric that was black and had sparkly silver skulls and crossbones all over it.  Our original idea was for a long, sheath dress, since that would be the easiest to make.  It really didn't look too much like Draculara once we got done with it, but she was still happy.  Its really hard to see the skulls and crossbones in the picture, but they are the little blurs.  Since it was cool, she wanted something to wear, so we made a cape out of hot pink crushed panne velvet.  The dress looked a little plain by itself, so I made a belt out of hot pink felt and trimmed it with silver ribbon.   After all was said and done, she ended up being our own made up Monster High girl named Petra Cemetaria, the daughter of the Grave Digger.  I have some of the fabric left over, so I am planning to make her a rag doll based off of her character. 

While in the car the other day, we made up another Monster High girl by the name of Skeletina Bones, daughter of the School Skeleton.  I have no idea where that is going.

It's a New Year...

...I hope that this time around I can keep up with stuff. 

I have all of these wonderful plans to keep up with my blog and then I sit down and watch reruns of "American Pickers" for four hours.  I really need to stop doing that.  But it's just so - engaging.  Don't ask why, I don't know.

But, I really am going to try this year.  I really am.  So for starters, I am redoing the look of my blog and changing the name - again.  I decided that I really didn't like A Dragonfly in Amber.  Since I want it to be something that I can attach to my craft projects that I make to sell, I want something that will look good on a tag.  I have decided on "Amber By Design".  Sound good?  I think so.  So therefore, I am going to change the name and I have found a couple of nifty templates that I want to work with.  Hopefully, within the next few days that transformation will be complete.  That is, of course, if History Channel doesn't show anymore reruns of "American Pickers".

=o)

Signing off for now.  Laundry and Lily's Clawdeen Wolfe nightie are calling.  Must get to work.

Oh what a year so far...

Well, I realized the other day that I hadn't posted anything in far too long. Then again, this year has just been too hectic.

Camp for Lily.

Working far too much.

Car problems out the nose.

Fleas on the cat and in the carpet.

We haven't even had time to game! And that really SUCKS! Really, really SUCKS! I have so many ideas for games but I just can't seem to find the time or the energy to get anything together. And it's heading for the holidays, which kills most chances of gaming. And the fleas don't help. Still working on killing those off.

So anyway, Lily had a great time at camp this summer. She went to the Boys and Girls Club in a nearby town and had an absolute blast. She loved every moment of it and can't wait to go back again next year. Everyone there was great and very friendly. I am glad that we found a good place for her to go during the summer.

Car problems...well, there were all kinds of those. My husband's car went wacky and wouldn't start. My father-in-law had it for a month trying to fix all of the things that went wrong with it - fuses, alternator, battery, and so on. He finally got it fixed (in the meantime, Doc had my car and I drove my dad's pink pickup truck. Yes, pink. Bright, raspberry pink. Lily loved that!) and we got it back and things were all good. Till yesterday. The brakes weren't very good in the first place. I planned on having those fixed when we got the tax check, but that's not happening. So my father-in-law is on his way to go get brake pads. But, then the overdrive light came on - which means that something is wiggy with the transaxle. That's when Doc tells me that the transmission wasn't shifting. I think that I am probably going to be driving the pink pickup again. That's ok with Lily.

My car had a have an emergency tire-ectomy a couple of weeks ago. Got out of work and noticed that my tire was almost flat. I went across the road to put air in it and could hear the air leaking right back out. The closest car place was Firestone and they told me that I could have my car back on Monday. That was a Friday afternoon. It was going to take them that long to put on a tire? Pep Boys on the other hand had a new tire on the car in 20 minutes and gave me a good deal.

Halloween is right around the corner and I have been working fast and furious on costumes. Doc is going to go as his own crime scene this year. Easy costume - black sweats, white ribbon, yellow felt, red felt and some black fleece. Lily was going to be Draculara from Monster High, but the costumes are too expensive to buy, so we decided to make one. We found some nice fabric at JoAnn's that is black and has silver sparkly skulls and crossbones all over it. The dress I made is really nice, but not very Draculara so we made a new character named Petra Cemetaria, daughter of the Grave Digger. She's excited.

My costume is a Victorian Time Traveler. It's made from a Simplicity pattern with two different fabrics - keys and pocket watches. There are lots of little doodads hanging from the front. I even made a hat, though it didn't come out quite the way that I wanted it, but it still looks nice. I did find a pair of Steampunk inspired goggles at the local Halloween store to attach to the hat. It looks much better with the goggles on it. I will post pictures of all of the costumes later.

I am now working on my second Halloween costume. I get to dress up twice at work - once for the mall wide trick or treat and once for Halloween. My second costume is a pirate. Working on the coat right now.

Ok, off to work on stuff and laundry.

=o)

A Moment of Silence for my Iron

After about seven years, my iron has died. It is a crafter's nightmare. And I was almost done with Lily's next new dress. *sigh* Now, mind you, this was not one of those grand $50 irons that you buy at the craft store, but just a Hamilton Beach iron that I probably paid $10 for. But still - it's the fact that it died!!! *cries*

I did however get her other dress done before the iron crapped out on me. The pattern was a Simplicity Daisy Kingdom pattern that used three different fabrics to construct the pants and top. It also has a matching purse but the way she's holding it, you can't really see it. The fabrics were all dark blue - one with yellow stars and moons, one with multi-colored stars and the other has little fairies all over it with phrases about sweet dreams and wishes. It's a little big. I did have to tack in the waistband a bit. It always ends up that way. The 5's are always too small, while the 6's are too big. Oh well, not like she won't grow.

I am still somewhat annoyed about the iron, so I am going to go do something else so I don't think about it.

Good night, all.

Floating Around in My Head

Some days thoughts just float around in their for so long and I can't get rid of them. Today specifically one of my old stories popped back into my mind and didn't go away. I think I posted about it some time ago, but I can't remember. But I figure if I didn't, at least I would get it out and maybe get around to doing something with it one day.

I really work well in the fantasy genre since I can just make it all up as I go. This one in particular is about a man who is a former adventurer but settled down to take over a keep and protect the town that had sprung up around it. Not long after settling down, he married a young woman from the town. She was pretty and young and very kind. Everyone loved her. Especially the new Lord of the keep. They were married for two years before she came with child. They were both very excited. But things were doomed. Mother and child died in childbirth. The Lord of the Keep was devastated. His entire life was over. It all seemed so meaningless to him.

He sat in his keep moping about his loss. Sure it was terrible, but after another year of mourning, he should have gotten past it. But he hadn't. The servants and his adviser felt that he needed to move on. Either marry or find something else to occupy his time. Sitting around and feeling sorry for himself was not going to make her or the child return, nor would it make him feel any better. The Lord agreed with this and did what he could to become more involved. It was hard, especially when his adviser started parading young woman at him for prospective wives.

One night, the Lord made up his mind. He could no longer stay at the Keep he'd worked so hard at building back up. There were too many memories there and he was tired of them trying to run his life. So in the dark of night, he crept out with only the barest of possessions and his steed. He rode in the darkness to a nearby town where he got provisions before riding on. After a few days he came to a city (that as of yet does not have a name). This city was not large, but it definitely had everything an adventurer could want. Suddenly, the Lord realized that he was on his way to becoming an adventurer again and wandered if that was the path for him. He sat in a tavern, drinking his ale and thinking back on his life and wandering what was ahead for him. Without an invitation, a pretty dark haired woman seated herself at his table and started up a conversation with him. She seemed confident and not at all like the kind of woman he would associate himself with. That didn't stop her.

Eventually, he left the tavern and started on his way to the nearby inn. His mood had not lightened any and in fact seemed a little darker. That was when he realized that he was being followed. And by the dark haired woman no less. His skills returned in a flood and he spun on her, catching her off guard. He confronted her and they had a minor battle, mostly of words. Steel clashed and he disarmed her. Feeling confident, he stepped to her and questioned her loudly. She confessed that she was following him, but only to find out exactly what his intentions were. (Maybe not intentions. That may not be the word that I am looking for. I can't really keep it straight.)

They end up at another tavern, this one somewhat seedier. She tells him that she had a feeling about him the moment that she saw him. This made him chuckle. He was pretty sure that he'd used that line before. After some conversation, she admits that she's gathering adventurers to go on an excursion to the north to look for some long lost tomb and a great item there. (Not sure what either of those are at the moment) He tells her that he's not interested, but she cons him into it after some serious persuasion.

Ok - well, that's as far as I have gotten. I know, not much, but I can't seem to get past that part. I definitely can't think of what the tomb or the item in question would be. I keep thinking an orb, but I don't want to use that. They seem over used. Not really wanting a sword or armor. More something unusual. As for the tomb, probably a king or warrior of the past.

Time to go tuck in the child.

Have a Happy New Year!