I Crocheted A Parasol!

I Crocheted A Parasol!

May 28, 2025   Crafts, Crochet,

 Found this old broken bank branded umbrella and decided I liked the frame enough to fix it and attempt to crochet a parasol top. I did it! It was shockingly easy so I imagine if I do it again, the next one will be a real pain in the ass.

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Leuchtturm 1917 Out, Traveler's Notebook In

Leuchtturm 1917 Out, Traveler's Notebook In

December 20, 2017   ., Crafts, DIY, Pictures,

I started keeping a bullet journal in mid to late November. My first purchase was a Leuchtturm 1917 since that was what I saw a lot of folks suggesting. It didn't work for me. I'm crafty enough that I'll be able to cut the pages out and use them elsewhere but otherwise this was a very expensive false start. Don't get me wrong, it;s a perfectly acceptable notebook if you are disciplined enough to either sit down and create your monthly/ weekly/ daily pages OR just not give a field of fucks about whether a collection pops up in between week 2 and three of January.

Nope. I can not have collections or whatever in the middle of yearly scheduling pages. The point is to keep me productive. Putting a collection in the middle of a month is like asking a magpie to spell its name in rice and then spilling a bag of gems on the table. Ooooooh shiny!

I set out to fully create all the pages I would need for a year. I don't do a separate page for each day and prefer a week on two pages spread. How fucking tedious is that shit? Nope. Nope. Nope. If it feels too much like work I won't keep up with it. Back to researching...

I came across Traveler's Notebooks. these seemed like the answer to my problems. Pre-made monthly (yay!) and weekly (these ended up being a fail and I now make my own) inserts. I can keep collections in a separate insert. I could hear angels singing. I gleefully ordered this notebook:

Do you see the problem? The freaking inserts poke out past the cover. Granted I'm using 5 inserts plus a vinyl pocket and a kraft paper folder  but still this is unacceptable. The problem now is not only am I invested in the inserts I'm using but I bought a shit ton of them so I have standard sized inserts out the wazoo. Not to mention the 2 blank and 1 horizontal weekly insert I won't ever use.

Irritated by this whole series of events I decided to make my own cover out of some felt I made and had around.

This works. At least the pages are covered but it's not the hand-feel I wanted so I joined a few buy/ sell/ trade traveler's notebook groups on Facebook and this beauty popped up at a reasonable cost:

I've been assured it will fit all of my inserts without the pages poking out. I can't wait to get it in my hands. Sadly, that will have to wait since I'm getting ready to start the annual LA to TX to MD journey. I'm also considering having the cover stamped or burned to read "Chronicles of a Wayward Pussy"

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Outlandish Geillis Duncan Cape

Outlandish Geillis Duncan Cape

April 29, 2015   ., Crafts, DIY, Pictures,

The Outlander series is such a hit right now. I, too, have been watching to see how the novels play out for TV. In episodes 3 and 10 Geillis Duncan wears this wonderful wool cape that I absolutely fell in love with so I set out to make one of my very own.

Geillis Duncan on the right wearing THE cape.

 I have minimal felting experience - I've made two pieces of flat felt, two felt flowers and one nuno felted scarf before undertaking this process. With a pretty picture in my head I ordered the wool I wanted.

I ordered Gotland wool in both locks and roving - a pound and a half combined. The color is such a pretty grey with white, black and silver mixed it.

 I spent a lot of time (5 hours) laying out the wool and the fringe. The above picture is after hand felting for several hours which I had to do the next day because I ran out of daylight to work.

The nearly finished cloak drying outside. All that is left to do is add the ties to keep it closed. It is extremely wet in this picture so the locks look all skinny - they really aren't. I got just enough texture and was able to make my cloak a bit longer than the one Geillis wears. I could have shrunk it more but I like this size. It's 78 x 30 inches when laid out flat.

WOOHOO! Success! It turned out just how I pictured it in my head and I'm super happy and proud that I made this. I can't wait to show it off in the Fall. Continue Reading

Outlander and New Garb

Outlander and New Garb

April 22, 2015   ., Crafts, Pictures,

I have read all 8 Outlander books by Diana Galbaldon and while I took some serious issue with some of the writing the story itself is a wonderful one. Starz has brought the books to life with the series of the same name and while I still have many of the same issues with the show I am glad to see it. The wardrobe of some of the actors is simply amazing. The capelet Geillis Duncan (played by Lotte Verbeek) wears in the picture above (she's on the right) is so yummy - I WANT ONE!

Once I saw this capelet in episode 3 and then again in episode 10 I decided I simply had to have it. I can not, however, find any information about the thing online. But from my exceptionally untrained eye it looks to be wet felted from raw wool fleece. I have since decided to make an Outlander inspired cape (mine will likely be longer). I ordered a pound and a half of grey Gotland sheep wool with a pound of that being uncarded curly locks and the other 8 ounces in carded wool. I'm so excited for the project and IF it turns out like I hope it will I am planning to make several more to sell. Selling price will likely be around $240 shipped since wool isn't cheap and the time it takes to make a large wet felted piece of clothing is immense.

In other renaissance garb news - I am having a custom cotehardie made from a wonderful Etsy seller. This will simplify my garb so much when it comes to working for The Rogues AND it will match The Rogues tartan wonderfully. This is made by the fabulous Melinda from Camelot's Closet. Melinda has been super helpful in getting me the correct size and color to match the tartan as well as being the most reasonably priced custom clothier for this type of dress that I could find during my extensive internet searching. $57 shipped for a custom dress made in the USA. If you are not as tall as me yours wouldn't even cost that much but since I need a dress to fit a 5'9" body mine was a little more costly. The dress is 100% cotton (she also offers linen as an option) and will be great for covering my tattoos without roasting me during the summer festivals. You can see this outfit in person by coming out to the Virginia Renaissance Festival the weekends of May 30 - 31 and June 6 - 7 where I will be selling merchandise for The Rogues.

Now I just need new renaissance shoes and I will be all set for faire!

Custom cotehardie

The Rogues tartan

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Holy Crap, It's April!

Holy Crap, It's April!

April 10, 2014   ., Crafts, DIY, Festivals,

Where did the last few months go? I've been a drained little bee. The weather has not been normal here in Texas. Last winter in Houston, it got a little chilly and rains quite a bit. This year in San Marcos has been FRIGID.

The Inn is nice and toasty when it's chilly outside but the tent that I worked in for Medieval Moccasins at the Sherwood Forest Fair was not. I said before, Sherwood is a lovely little festival with the exception of starting in February. 8 weeks, every weekend was horrible weather at least one (and most cases both) day(s). Ridiculous. We managed to do okay out there given the weather but not without sapping the energy out of my entire being.

Scarborough Renaissance Festival started this past weekend (which Sunday was also my 39th birthday) and felt like the weather just isn't ready to be Springish. Opening day was good despite being overcast and gloomy but then there was Sunday. Sunday started with thunderstorms and pissing rain and that trend continued until just after midnight when Randy and I pulled back into home in San Marcos.

Here's hoping this weekends weather is better. At least the booth at Scarby is actually a structure and not a tent. It makes riding out rough weather a lot better!

This past week I've also purchased a Brother XL2600I  sewing machine and plan to undertake some sewing projects. There are some things I need, some things I want and some things that just look hella fun to make. I'll be posting updates here and directly to a Facebook Page which I will announce later. First, I need to get the machine here and find some space to learn how to use it.. Second, I need to pick out one of the hundreds of projects I've been collecting since I pushed the purchase button.

Randy bought me a little portable music player so I can have music to hoop to, as soon as I remember where I put my webcam I'll be getting some sort of video up.

I've also been gardening up a small storm. As much as I can do and still expect to feasibly travel with my plants.

I'll try to update here more often, with a goal of at least once a week with a new project if nothing else! Continue Reading

Spring in Texas Pt. 1

Spring in Texas Pt. 1

July 15, 2013   ., Crafts, Pictures,

I have a ton of pictures I haven't had time to post. Pictures that go all the way back to November so the next few posts may contain little else. I need to catch up before I can post about all the wonderful things currently going on. This is my goal over the next few days ...

I spent the Spring working for Medieval Moccasins at various markets, Sherwood Forest Faire, Scarborough Renaissance Festival and the Folk Life Festival. Definitely an interesting experience since I've never held a sales job. I was concerned that I wouldn't do well but I was wrong. It's easy to do sales when you believe in the product. I love the shoes s oI can sell them.

I also had the chance to flex my creativity by making an selling dragon eggs for kid's day at Scarby. I didn't sell many but got a ton of compliments on them, enough that I am working towards making enough stock to be able to do a market or event on my own.

My garb is getting crazy - currently own more garb than regular clothes.

Chela made little leather egg holders!

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Feelin' Crafty

Feelin' Crafty

March 25, 2013   ., Crafts, Pictures,

 Spring is trying very hard to be sprung but the cold air has pushed once again into Texas. Not as cold as my friends to the North-East are feeling but still chilly in the 60s.

With Easter coming up this weekend I figured I would make a few Easter Eggs. With that decision also come the choice of what sort of eggs to eat. I picked French Toast and blew out three eggs and Randy and I had a min-brunch.

After blowing and rinsing out my egg shells I went to work hand-coloring my eggs. They didn't turn out too shabby I don't think. Continue Reading

Crafty Biznitch Still At It

Crafty Biznitch Still At It

January 10, 2013   ., Crafts,

I've been working on a ton of projects. Hopefully I'll have them finished soon. Since I don't have a lot of space but I like creating I'll be selling my crafts (the extra income won't hurt either.

Current projects:

Paper quilling
Hand-painted Pendants
Huge pompom project
Hot air ballons
Homemade bath scrubs
Seasonal Doodads

Pictures to come... Continue Reading

Hat Restoration

Hat Restoration

November 30, 2012   ., Crafts, DIY, Pictures,

A friend gave me a hat for Dickens On The Strand. It was in rough shape so I decided to see if I could spruce it up a little. I sort of amazed myself with how it turned out and I'm rather proud of my first ever hat restoration. Here are the before and after pictures:

Before

after

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