What Luck of the Irish?

Artistically speaking there is a school of thought that, "How can you know if you've gone too far if you haven't gone far enough".

Everything I touched this week has been a specter of that expression.
I have been near madness multiple times with everything I touched this week:  a wedding gift that won't be wrapped, my Iron Craft projects(both of them), even just trying to keep track of my Michael's coupon.

So, I can't speak of the luck of the Irish, even though I'm only partly Irish.  I would have thought that counted for something.  However, the only luck I seem to be having is in not catching anything on fire...yet.

Example Numero Uno: Iron Craft 11-project 1.
The theme was green.  No I didn't want to think 'out of the box'; I figured I'd enjoy making something kitschy for St. Patrick's day.  Besides you can only wear the party-store Shamrock earrings and the plastic ring that came off of last year's cupcake for so long.

I dug back to the 1960's Disney gem, Darby O'Gill and the Little People for inspiration.

Of course I like that movie!

There is a dark and stormy night and a Banshee and the Coiste Bodhar make oh so creepy appearances.  True, it scared the crap out of me when I was little but there was always something cool about that part.

So for this project I grabbed a T-shirt from Goodwill.  And scoured online for decent Darby O' Gill images.
So far so good.  I even found a screen-shot from an extra that was a Disney badge looking graphic that says, "I caught the King of the Leprechauns".

This really should have been easy...

But I didn't think to flip the image so that the writing would come out correctly.
I figured that little gem out AFTER printing the main image for the back and the 'badge' for the front.  The badge however, was small enough that I could print a redo on the same sheet.

Have no fear!  I had 1 piece of Iron-On paper left...

Too bad the printer ran blue streaks down the right side of the sheet.

*^#%*^&@&*(#$*%$^
I mean "Thats ok, I'll just cut away most of the green! It's a green t-shirt after all."

Yah!!!

Then I touched the iron.

I touched the iron to the design after it took FOREVER to get the cut away pieces to stay down.

*#$^%&#%~*^@#%@! ~
I mean, "Thats ok, it'll be cute with the vintagey-worn look.  Hmm, maybe not, I'll just use the left over backing and the iron to go back over that rough spot, & that spot, & that spot, & that spot."

I think I saved it though.  At this point I'm so tired of staring at it that I'm pretty convinced that I saved it.

But I being a mere mortal, was not content to screw up just one project.  Oh no, next I offer you frustration - uh, project # 2.  A ring in kind.

I found this cool ring at Target on clearance.

And immediately I thought, I could just take some of those Darby O'Gill pics and print them on shrink plastic, cut that little sucker out and glue it to the ring.

Well...it kind of worked.
 When they were in the oven, I got nervous because they curled up.  So I freaked and thought, well, I'll try those again later.  But I read about the curling problem and found that I probably didn't give them enough time.  So back in they went.

They turned out must better than at first but they were a little too big.  So another batch was printed.  This time the Banshee came out a bit too dull.  But in the 2nd run they shrunk right down.

King Brian however continued to curl, even though I tried the hint to place a piece of parchment paper over the shrink plastic to help keep it from rolling up.  I eventually got that piece to lay flat but noticed a small split in the side.  I don't know if that was from my trim job or my attempt to get that piece to lay flat.

But these pieces were definitely a better size.  So one of these puppies was getting a fancy ride.  So I checked them both out on the ring.  I decided I should color the Banshee's edges - the white was a bit too stark.  While I fixed the edges I decided to brighten her back up.

I gave them both another look on the ring but was still torn.
Unable to decide a clear front runner, I Modge Podged them both.

Head: : Desk.

The Modge Podge on King Brian smeared some of the ink.  He looked like a Gaelic Line Backer, the green smeared under his eye on one side.  Again, with some finagling I think I saved it.

So after a lot of fixes I realized that all these little boo-boos are just another set of tools.  Tools that won't take up any room.  Next time, I'll know just how far to go.

I'll know just how far I can push a piece of shrink plastic and just how far away my iron needs to stay away from an exposed transfer.

And until I decide whether to make a King Brian ring or a Banshee ring I at least have a cool t-shirt to go with that ring from last year's cupcake.

  

Once I'm done...I'll find it...

I always seem to run into the obstacle during my projects that the very thing that I want or need to complete my idea seems impossible to find.

Take for instance the baby wreath I'm currently working on: I am trying to find a little cat stuffed animal.  Think Beenie-baby size.  I don't even care about the color.

How naive to think that was possible!  They do NOT exist.  Walmart, Target, Goodwill, ToysRUs.  Nope, nada, niet.

Sure there are stuffed cats but none of them are simple.  I found stuffed toys larger than myself, cats smaller than my pinkie, even some that sing and light up.  Not what I need.

But this is nothing new.  This has always been an element of my projects and, to be fair, sometimes my compromises create a better outcome.

Exhibit A:
My Dorothy costume

Waaaaaaaay back when this picture was taken, there weren't red sparkly shoes available.  So my Mom and I made some.   We took an old pair of dress shoes, sprayed them red and once that dried, dabbed on some white glue and covered that with red glitter.  I promise you, Dorothy Gale's shoes weren't as nice as mine!

Now I swear they show up every October...

But I really wouldn't have appreciated my costume as much if my Mom would have just bought the shoes.

So while I hope that I don't have to sew my own cat toy, I may think of something better by the time I'm done.

Real Names Withheld...

So there were a lot of little things that really made my sister's wedding really turn out so well but one of my favorite projects was kind of random. 

The wedding had decor but I decided to use a logo... 

The venue was absolutely serve yourself and my sister and her fiance used a local restaurant to cater but they only set up the food.  So the problem was that we would be a little too distracted to rely on clearing the tables ourselves.

So my idea was to hire some of my youngest sister's friends from school (8th grade) to help clear plates and make sure water and tea were always available as well as handing out Wedding cake after it was cut.  Yes, yes it was child labor.  But there were cash and prizes...

Each kid got a gift bag with candy and a movie and most importantly their uniform..

I made t-shirts and hats with a logo with the last names and the wedding date.  I got a cousin to help me by altering a piece of clip art.  I figured it would make it clear they were helping with the wedding, and then maybe people would be comfortable with the whipper-snapper stealing their left-overs off the table. 

(The last names that go across the banner were erased in this picture - to protect true identities...)

Ended up that the groom liked the hat better than our helpers but at least it was still worn!

Hmmm...shoulda had this done already...

So just when I thought I was through the most recent wave of baby showers...I realized I didn't take care of one.

Heehee -- whooops...

And so this week I'll set things right and get some fancy baby onesies drawn up and sent off!  I mean it's not like the kid won't come out if I don't hook 'em up.  Actually that's pretty presumptuous to assume the little one even wants to wear one of these.  Then again, it's destined to be puked on, among other things...

So, this is what I'll be working on this week!  Onesies just beg to be drawn on in my opinion.  Honestly babies grow so quickly that even if Mamacita isn't a fan of your art, the baby will probably only be able to wear it once anyway.  But you should stop by regularly juuuuuust to be sure they get a little air-time.


These are a few onesies that I made for my little cousin:

I told you -- I worry about making boy stuff too girlie so a dinosaur seemed like a safe bet!

 
Of course some humor makes sure Dad will slip at least one of your creations on the wee one.

And of course, storybook and nursery rhyme characters are always a welcome addition amongst all the, 'Mommy's Little Angel' and 'Poop Happens' themed gifts.  

Well...it's back to the drawing board for me -- just in case that kid does hold out for some onesies...

What Next?

 I've been thinking about what I want to work on next...alright, I'll quit lying.  I'm trying to figure out what additional project I'll be working on next.  Because to be perfectly honest, I never work on just one project at a time.

One thing I really want to try is doing some clothing reconstruction.  Partly out of necessity (I'm 5'1" - not even petite clothes are made for me!) but also because I'm impressed with some of the cool stuff people do with the plain old pieces they're bored with.  To be honest with you it doesn't take me long to get bored with the stuff I wear everyday to work not to mention all those t-shirts that I rock all weekend.

But to be terribly honest the idea of altering my clothes scares me.  It's something about the permanence...
Of course some of the pics on sites like this: 
http://craftfail.com/?p=602   - don't help! 

The closest thing that I've really done to something that I wear regularly is this shirt that I got from a consignment shop.

I thought the shirt was cute but as you can see it had fantastically ugly sleeves...
Those suckers HAD to go.

So I brought out the seam ripper and removed the ruffle.  It was a little tricky because it was well done and I had to make sure not to rip all of the stitching out.

Since it was just a surged edge I rolled the sleeves.

Muuuuuuch better...now I won't look like I'm playing pretty pretty princess...

I really need to find some easy projects that can break me in slowly to re-fashioning.  Of course all those other projects are the perfect distraction - at least until I find a project I can't refuse...