My hornet trap.

I know, it's crude and probably cruel. But have you ever tried to have dinner while getting buzzed by at least a dozen hornets? My dad made this to help distract them from our food.

My neighbors hang meat, not laundry.

In all fairness, my neighbors are from some Oriental country.

Angry Face Doll

The moment we've all been waiting for! The debut of my Angry Face Dolls! Here is the first of what I hope will be a line of lovable dolls. I may nix the Angry Face in later dolls. Dolls are supposed to be happy!

How did Angry Face Dolls come to be? I'd been bouncing a few ideas around, when someone said "Why don't you make a doll with an angry face? It would look like you." Yes, even though my profile picture is a smiling face, most of the time I really do look angry. (Another long story for another time.) So I set to creating a doll.

You've seen a few progress steps of her hair, shot with my less than quality camera phone. From her meager beginning as a turnip head, I knew how she was going to look. I never did get around to sketching out my idea of how she was going to look. I just started crocheting. I must admit, I'd never have gotten the hair just right without Owlishly's amigurumi hair tutorial. Here is another shot of her hair, just after I gave her bangs a trim:



Her name is Molly Lynn, and she looks angry.



She stands about 1' tall, has bright pink hair and a red dress, with red hair ribbons that have white polka dots.



Her Mary Jane-like shoes can be taken off her feet. Her socks have a bit of sparkly lace edging.


She likes to take walks through the garden to see the marigolds.




I hope you enjoyed meeting Molly Lynn!

Til next time,
Be Fearless. Be Crafty. Be You!

~ Kiki

100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About

Saw this on Twitter today:
100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About

I thought it'd be fun to go through this list and see what I remember or know. Click below to see the list...

Some friendly advice

I survived the Tuscarora Picnic and Field Days. Yes, it has taken a few days of recovery to blog about it. I didn't sell anything, but I survived nonetheless.

To pass the time while at my table, I decided to actually create some earrings on the spot. I had all my findings, beads, and tools at the ready. While greeting potential customers, running for my mom, and taking breaks I think I actually created 2 pairs of earrings. No need to insert the sound of everyone coming to a screeching halt. I know, I should have been more prepared.

But I digress. My real purpose here is to lend a gentle word of advice to the lovely (or manly) vendor that created an anklet purchased by a woman seeking my help. It was too small for an anklet, yet too large for a bracelet. The poor woman had a friend named Joyce, that saw me and my tools and sent her my way. I really do wish I could have helped her. Unfortunately, the only way I could have helped would require a restring of the project.

Dear Other Vendor (DOV), please take the time to read this wonderful article by Margot Potter. Margot always provides fascinating content, and has not let us down this time. Please, DOV, please - pay close attention to Margot when she refers to crimp beads! PLEASE!!

That is all. Thank you.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

164th Tuscarora Nation Picnic and Field Days

If you're going to be in the Niagara Falls, NY area this weekend, stop by and see the Fearless Crafter! I'll be at the 164th Tuscarora Nation Picnic and Field Days on Friday July 10 and Saturday July 11 .

There will be plenty of food, beverages, treats for the kids and tons of Native Creativity! Raised beadwork, quilts, Native dancing, great food and music!

Located just across the foot bridge behind the Tuscarora Indian Elementary school parking lot.
Tuscarora Indian Elementary
2015 Mt. Hope Road
Lewiston, NY 14092

She's comin' to a head!

I've been busy, trying to get a bounty of bracelets and earrings whipped up for the Nation's Field Days. When I'm at home, I work on the jewelry. When I'm at work, I crochet our little friend. Currently, I'm working on her arms. Her head is done, and so is her torso - complete with "underwear"!

Here are some progress shots of the head:

Yes, her bangs might need a trim.

The knots inside her head.

Here she is, even showing part of her body.

It's a slow process, especially when I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to crafting. Normally, I float like a butterfly to each craft with which I've burdened my family. I am determined to finish this doll! I can taste the Sun Chips now!

Hair today

This time, I actually read what Owlishly wrote. I removed the mop top, which was not going as well as I'd hoped. You could still see the buff yarn "scalp" through the bright pink "hair". Back to the drawing board! See what happens when you read?

Her head is looking much better now.

Hair we go again

It's been a while since I've blogged about crafting. Now that there is going to be a craft event in the next few weeks, I've been crafting up a storm. I haven't been completely uninspired, but I supposed just more indifferent to picking up a project. Crafter's block.

Here is my current project. I'm working on a doll that I'm going to design myself. I was pondering how to get the hair done. There is an excellent amigurumi hair tutorial over at Owlishly, which I wish I'd seen before I had the head nearly completed. I really do not like frogging my work, so I'm going to do this head in a similar fashion as this doll, by making knots in the yarn and threading it through.

Don't I look like a mutant turnip?

Howie Woo has given me incentive to blog the process and finished product by offering me some of his Sun Chips. :) Be sure to check out his website! He's got amazing crochet skills! I LOVE the dynamite and the little vid that goes with it! His Fridge Critters are just too cute!


Here is a bag I designed as a gift for my friend's graduation. I call it The Jessie. It's made with wool felt, and has inside pockets for a cell phone, pen, and money.

Closeup of the snap closure

I made a Cotton Candy ruffle scarf, using Caron Bliss for my daughter. She didn't like it (neither did I). So I'm going to frog it and just make it straight. To be honest, the scarf looked better on the wrapper. The only good thing about the scarf in its current state is that it's ultra soft!

Working on crochet hair.

This picture was taken with my camera phone. I was sitting on the bed, cutting lengths of hair, and tying a knot at the end. The original plan was to give her a mop top. Why do I always go for the hardest designs first?

Adventures in Nature

I went to my mom's house with my cousin BabyMaker this past Saturday. Mom had no idea I was coming to visit. We arrived at mom's, and found her just waking up from a nap. She was a bit confused to see me standing there in her living room. :)

It turned out to be a nice visit. Cousin took us for ice cream at DQ. I've been lacking inspiration as far as any jewelry making is concerned. I didn't get much done. Cousin made a pillow case for mom. Mom bossed us around, which is par for the course. After Cousin left, mom and I went to the market.

On the way back, she decided we needed to call for her cat named Bear. Bear is a sweet, timid little thing that has recently been allowed outside. Mom lives in the country, and already has one cat (Cheyenne) that knows the ins and outs of being a country cat. We stopped near a field, calling for Bear. I said "There's an orange ca... Oh! That's a fox!" So she says "Quick! Take a picture!" As I struggle with my stupid cell phone, we see a streak of white and tiger stripe dash away from the fox.

It was Cheyenne. She starts screaming, I start yelling for Cheyenne to run (like he knows WTF I'm saying) and I jump out of the car running after the cat and fox. Right into the woods. Bad idea for a city girl. As I'm tromping through the woods looking for her cat or the fox, I knock over small trees, get caught on prickers from God-knows-what plant, and get plant goop on me from what I think (hope) was milkweed. I finally came to a small clearing. As I'm standing there, trying to listen for the animals, I feel a thousand tiny pinpricks in my legs. I look down, and I'm COVERED IN MOSQUITOES!!! I felt like Agent Pleakley from Lilo & Stitch when he discovered that mosquitoes don't "nuzzle" with their noses!

Finally, after 45 minutes to an hour, the stupid cat starts meowing at us. But he won't come out of the brambly trees, and I sure as hell ain't going in after him. I can only imagine what I looked like as I walked out of the woods. Legs all scratched up, hair all wild, sweaty and itchy.

I hate going to the country.

Burning the Midnight... Wood

This year, I received my Mother's Day gift early: a woodburning tool. It's been on my wishlist for at least a year.

Here are my first few projects.

A portable fertility shrine, created for a friend of mine.



A small box for my mother.
(the top)


(the front)

(the side - same design on each side)

MyLifetime Video Link

I thought I'd head on over to mylifetime.com to watch some Crafty Chica videos. I came across this , which includes a really great idea to make an Easter Banner. I'm planning a Luau for this summer, and I think this would be perfect!

Aloha!

Swap: My Favorite Actor/Singer RECEIVED

For this swap, I picked Sully Erna from Godsmack, Milla Jovovich from The Fifth Element, and Gerard Butler from 300. My partner crafted Sully for me!

The top of the tin

The bottom of the tin

All the goodies inside

And the extra goody - a fab apron that says

Swap: My Favorite Actor/Singer SENT

The object of this swap was to craft an Altoid tin around our partner's favorite actor or singer. I thought this would be the perfect swap, since it only required an Altoid tin and an extra goody. My partner listed Pink (Alecia Moore), and John Mayer. I've never really heard either artist, but I at least knew of Pink.

Here are the items I sent:


A polymer clay covered tin, with TLS photo transfer

The inside of the tin, along with three 1" marble magnets

Knit wrist cuffs

Shrink plastic bracelet

Polymer clay earrings, using TLS photo transfer

Polymer clay pendant, using TLS photo transfer

I have yet to send the other part of the extra goody. It goes with the knit wrist cuffs.

Adventures in Polymer Clay

Kathy Cano-Murillo is known for her love of Glitter and Chicano pop-art.
Margot Potter , Jennifer Perkins, and Jackie Guerra create gorgeous works of jewelry.
Twinkie Chan inspires me with her sweet and savory crocheted scarves. (LOVE the pizza scarf!)
Maureen Carlson creates whimsical creatures in polymer clay.
Vickie Howell has gotten me to knit.
Carol Duvall is the queen of it all!

Why can't I just do one craft? I haven't decided what medium I prefer to work with when crafting. I always have to try to do different crafts, I can't just stick to one. Which is why my craft area seems to have overgrown it's happy little corner and is now trying to take over the entire third floor of my house.

But I digress. My adventures this week take me into the land of Liquid Polymer Clay. I saw the Carol Duvall episode where guest Michelle Ross used liquid polymer clay to create a photo transfer for a translucent night light. I decided that I wanted to try this technique as well.

I want to mention that I haven't really worked with PC too much, just a few small things for swaps and one other Altoid tin. I must say that I learned a few things.

Special thanks to @summergirl38 and @penguintrax (from Twitter) for their tips!

Here are some things I learned during this project:

• Don't shake the bottle. I didn't, but I read that doing so can create air bubbles. Bubbles = BAD.


• Use a thin layer of liquid clay. Let it rest after spreading, after baking and any other time you think the clay might need it. 10 minutes might be a good resting time. I don't think it would hurt if you let it rest longer.


• Bake the liquid clay. Yes, a heat gun will work, but I had better results with the oven. It requires a higher baking temp, which seems to give a brighter color transfer. Let it rest.


• Don't use Sculpey Bake n Bond to attach anything that you have to bake more than once. I've been told that the Bake n Bond doesn't do well with being baked more than once. You can use a thin layer of the liquid clay as your bonder. Let it rest.
  

• Gently place the transfer onto the item to which you are attaching it. The last thing you want is air bubbles under the image. I gently "rolled" the image onto the tin, then used an old spoon to smooth out any air bubbles trapped underneath. Let it rest.

Here is a picture of the first tin I tried, without any knowledge. I covered the top of the tin, baked it. Added the photo transfer, baked it. Still looking good at this point.

Covered the bottom of the tin, got lazy and used the toaster oven instead of the regular oven.

See all those red circles? Those are bubbles. Remember what I said about bubbles?

Bubbles = BAD.

There was no way that I could send this tin in a swap. It's sub-standard for the Fearless Crafter. Luckily, I had a second tin on hand.

Just because I was annoyed at the bubbles, I decided to peel the transfer off the tin.

It's still cool that the image transfered from the transfer to the clay. And it had a nice shiny top coat.

Keeping all this info in mind, here are my steps for creating a polymer clay-covered altoid tin with a liquid clay photo transfer on top:

Make sure your tin and work area is clean. As always, condition your clay.

If you're like me, (little Miss Perfectionist), you can create a template.

Roll out your clay, use your templates to cut out your clay in colors of your choice. Cover the entire tin with clay.
Bake the tin. I baked mine at 250 for 15 minutes.

Time to create the transfer!

Print your image onto photo paper. I've been told that not all photo paper works well with this technique. I used glossy photo paper I found at the dollar store. I also used an ink-jet printer. I don't know that a laser printer will give the same results.

Take your time, and paint a thin coat of liquid clay onto your image. Make sure you add about a 1/4" all around the image. If your image is 2" x 3", you want to make sure you cover an area that is about 2.5" x 3.5"

Let it rest. I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I cannot stress this enough. Letting your liquid clay rest will help to eliminate air bubbles. Oven bake the transfer according to the product directions. The first time around, I didn't paint a thin layer and I used a heat gun. And I didn't let it rest.

After the transfer is baked, let it rest. Paint another thin layer. Let it rest. Oven bake it again. Let it rest.

Now that everything has had a rest (hopefully you've included yourself, too!), it's time to bring it all together.

Once the liquid clay has been baked, it can now be cut with scissors. Cut your image to the size fo the tin. I lightly scored the top of the tin before adding a thin layer of liquid clay. I also applied a thin layer to the bottom of the transfer. Yes, let it rest.

Bring it all together!

Slapping the transfer on the tin is not going to yield good results. It's going to produce bubbles. Starting with one end of the transfer, gently "roll" it onto the tin. Be careful that the transfer doesn't move too much. It wants to do that. Use an old spoon to burnish out any bubbles. Depending on the photo you are transferring, you might be able to see any bubbles that may have formed through the image.

Once I was satisfied that there were no trapped bubbles, I oven baked it all again. I had one edge that wanted to raise up and not be flush with the rest of the tin. I baked it upside down, checking that it wasn't burning about every 5 minutes. However, since regular clay requires a lower baking temp than the liquid clay I baked it at around 250 degrees. I also baked it for about 20 minutes.

Here is the second, finished tin!

For pizzazz, I added silver beads that I found in the wedding crafts section of my local craft store. To make sure it's a perfect fit, you can gently press the beaded string into the unbaked clay on the tin to create indents. I used some glue to adhere them after it was all baked. If you like, you can line your tin with felt, or any pretty fabric you may have.

My first Polyvore Set

Kiss Me Deadly by krafter.kat featuring Yves Saint Laurent heels & wedges

This is similar to the bridesmaid outfit I'll be wearing at the end of the month for my friend, Dollie's wedding. I'm hoping that I really won't have to wear heels that skinny...

Link Time!

Knitting is a bit more difficult for me than crochet. I learned to crochet when I was 8 or so. I just learned to knit and purl within the past 18 months or so. I always get the garter stitch and stockinette stitch mixed up.

I am a visual learner, so I googled garter and stockinette. I found another blog called "a year in stitches", that has pictures of all the swatches she created from a pattern book. LOVE IT! There are a lot of stitches I'd like to try once I get better.

Busy day

I'm working on a swap item without a pattern. I recently watched my DVR'd Knitty Gritty episode called Celebrity Scarves. Sarah Rosenberg was the guest, and she makes scarves that have been seen draped around Hollywood necks. She also showed us how to make matching wrist cuffs.

I really want to make the cuffs, however I deleted the episode from the DVR, and the directions for the cuffs aren't available on DIY Network's website. :( If anyone else happened to catch that episode and the directions, could you drop me a line at krafter.kat@gmail.com I'd really appreciate it!

In other life news, I'm trying to start spring cleaning on my craft areas of the house. I'd like to have one central area for my craft stuff, instead of it being scattered to the four corners-literally. I'd love to have a little spot in the house to use as a "studio"

Mobile blogging

I've figured out how to blog from my cell. I am amazed at technology sometimes. I wonder how many characters I can enter? I think I will keep typing to find out. Ok, maybe not. Time to sleep!