Pricey isn't always best

Lately I've been looking at lot of crafting sites. Now, I don't sew a whole lot(heck, I don't even own a sewing machine), but recently I came across this girl on Deviant Art who works with leather. Most of them are super simple and made from patterns she created herself. What really caught my attention, however, was the manikin she drafts her stuff on.

I want one.

So I started researching the cost of getting one suitable for what I wanted to do and came away scorched by the cost of quality. When I mentioned the fact I could almost buy a car for what most of the dress forms cost(my hubby and I have only ever had used cars ranging from $400-800), a friend mention that I could always make one out of duct tape and stuffing. I declined, saying I wanted one that adjusts. She just shrugged and we starting talking about something else.


That was a month or so ago. Today I found myself back on Google looking yet again. Not much has changed, so when I stumbled across a make-it-youself site for dress forms, I gave a look. Now I have to be honest, being wrapped in duck tape doesn't look like much fun, but that's really not the point of it all. The point is to have a dress form fitted to you for a mere $15 at most.


People tell each other all the time that you get what you pay for. Usually the idea is that the more you pay for something, the higher the quality and the better the investment. However, when you're broke half the time and can't afford to shell out the dough, cheap and easy works too.

Well, I'll catch you guys later. If I'm going to get wrapped with duct tape in the near future, I'd prefer not to look like I'm trying out for the tin man in the wizard of Oz. Besides, researching what color duct tape I want is much less painful then looking at anymore pricey dress forms.  

In the meantime, I found this lovely rose here through Google, but if you really want to see some duct tape wonders, stop by DeviantArt.com and take a look the gallery of the official Duck Tape artist, the DuckTapeBandit .

~Sun and Moon




P.S. Nothing to report on chapter twenty-eight(for those of you who are wondering). My hubby noticed me beating my head against the computer desk again and has banned me from my laptop for a few days. I'd be irritated, but I really did need the break. Edits start up again tomorrow. Wish me luck :)

Pass the popcorn, please

I'm sure most of you know the movie "Pirates of the Carribean; on stranger tides", am I right? Well I just got around to watching it this week and I was pleasently surprised. I'll be honest, I was never a fan of the franchise. The first movie was funny, but after that the storyine seemed to lose track of itself. In fact, I probably would've passed this one by as well if it weren't for the mermaids.

To be honest, I'm really glad I didn't miss out because I think I can safely say this movie is my favorite out of all the others. It was goofy and fun, and the mermaid mythology was right on the money. So many times I see mermaids portrayed as lovely, helpful creatures who are basically harmless and I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. I mean, are you kidding me? Anyone who has ever googled mermaids and sirens knows they aren't all happiness and sunshine. In fact, most of the time they're quite deadly.

In the movie they use men to beget more mermaids and then drown their partners. They also eat them. In turn, men hunt them for their tears and fear them like nothing else. The mermaids also have the ability to shed their tail and grow legs, but walking is difficult. Last but not least, they are all stunning beauties until they lunge for your throat.

This keeping to the older, darker side of the merfolk one of the reasons I've watched the movie several times now and still love it. Not only is it a refreshing change of pace, but since I have a siren appearing in the second book of my trilogy, it's research as well. Of course, her character and the world building for her species is going a lot smoother then my current predicament. Chapter twenty-eight is still fussing.

Yeah, I know. Big surprise, right?

I am making progress though, and I have today and tomorrow to finish beating it into submission. One way or another, I'll be getting the darned thing done by April. Right now my hope is to have edits for this book wrapped up by May so I can start Book Two right after my birthday. If nothing else, it would be a nice birthday present. Plus, you know, I'd be first-drafting again and that's always good.

Well, I better quit yapping and get back to work. I still need to clean and it would be nice if I could get something artsy done for once. And by done, I mean finished. I have so many partially done projects floating around my art studio, it's not funny. The fact that two of them are late Christmas gifts only makes it worse.

And on that note, I think I'll get to work. The sooner I'm done, the sooner I can watch that movie again. After all, it is research.


~Sun and Moon

Is this thing on?

First I'd like to thank Shell flower over at Tangent Shell for the Versatile Blogger and Kreativ Blogger awards she sent my way last week. It was a very pleasant surprise to say the least. Thanks again!

Also, to those of you who left me little "get well soon" comments, thanks. I'm feeling much better. Today I'll be putting my bucket to better use as I work to get my apartment looking a little less ragged.

In other news, I've been kind of a ghost when it comes to the internet as I continue to chip away at chapter twenty-eight. I've hit several new snags, but after fighting with them off and on over the past few days, it looks like I should have this chapter in the bag sooner rather then later. I would've tried to wrap it up last night, but I'd already spent about three hours worth of time hammering it out while I was at work. I don't know about anyone else, but my brain can only take so much abuse before it runs up the white flag. So instead of doing more work on chapter twenty-eight, I spent the evening with my husband and we watched the Dresden Files dvds I got from the library.

And on that note, I'm off to get started. My husband gets off fairly early today and I still need to clean. Plus I promised homemade pasta and fudgy brownies for dinner tonight. If I want to get it all done in time to wrap up chapter twenty-eight I better get a move on.



~Sun and Moon


P.S. Sorry this post is so short! I will try to write a longer one for next week when my brain is a little less scattered. :3

Pass the bucket, please

I hate being sick.

It's not the needing to sleep all the time, or the fuzzy head that bothers me, though. No, the part that has me looking to never be so sick again is the time it takes to recover from the worst of it. So when I got the stomach bug earlier this week I was not a happy camper. For two days I lived on the couch and couldn't handle much more then gatorade, sprite, crackers, and buttered bread. Water tasted nasty and I slept whenever I was remotely comfortable.

I still don't feel the greatest, but I'll live. At least I don't have to carry a bucket around with me any more.

Today is the first time all week I've been remotely interested in doing anything other then sleep. I have edits I started at work last night still waiting to put into chapter twenty-eight and there's artwork waiting for me in my studio. On top of that, I have a pile of buttery soft, golden buckskin and a pattern I sketched up for a bodice.

Hopefully I'll be able to touch on all those projects at some point today, but for now I'm off to work in those new edits.

Also, I need to find some real food. If I have to drink any more fierce grape gatorade I swear I'm going to turned purple.



~Sun and Moon