Pirate Garb

Yesterday, the mister and I took our engagement photos!  The sweet and lovely Madison Baltodano took our pictures at New Iberia's Jungle Gardens.  We had a ton of fun (thanks in large part to the mister's hilarious goofing off), although it was ridiculously hot.  Louisiana at 90+ degrees is sweat city.  Thankfully, I think we managed to get away with not looking too crazy.  Man, my hair was curly from humidity by the end of it though.

But we decided to do something a little different than usual engagement photos.  We have tons of pictures in regular, casual clothes, but instead of doing dressy outfits (which neither of us wear often), we wore our Renaissance Faire pirate garb.  We didn't get many in them since we got hit by an evening thunderstorm, but we got some good ones nonetheless.  I can't wait to see them!

So, while you don't get pictures of me in costume (yet), here's the overall look:

The corset comes from Corset Story.  I caught it on a major sale, and I love it.  The hair piece (that long, dangly, gold-tasseled piece), I bought at a sale held at my bellydance studio.

Everything else, I made, using Simplicity 5359.

 The shirt was easy, although I made it a little shorter than I'd like, and the hip scarf is made out of that awesome fabric I made that red accent skirt out of (the pirate garb was what I originally bought it for).  I also have a bandanna made out of the same fabric.  The harem pants are super comfy and flattering, and I love them.  The next bellydance outfit I make will use them (or at least the pattern).  I did have to fix them before the shoot, however.  When I first made them, I ran out of black fabric, so I couldn't do the waistband.  I was able to do a hack job of folding over the top edge of the pants, but it made for uncomfortably low pants with a crotch that didn't sit properly.  So I needed to fix it.  Not having any more of the original fabric though, I decided "to hell with it" and used leftover white from the shirt.

Cotton gauze fabric--gorgeous and comfy, but you MUST wash it first.
You should wash your fabrics anyway, but this one's hell if you don't.

 Because the waistband is covered, though, it doesn't really matter that it's a different color.  And I'm happy to say that they now fit like a dream.  The only problem with the pants is that I'm prone to tripping on their billowy awesomeness!

Oh, and this is my little cowrie shell waist thing.  With bells!

I was hoping to do some work on my wedding dress today, but we ended up hanging out with friends, which is always good.  Next week, we'll definitely have some progress there, because time is quickly getting away from me!

A General Post about Things. Also, Getting Fillings at the Dentist's.

So, still no strict crafty updates as of today, but I will definitely have at least one for Sunday.  I promise!

In other news, today is Mr. Couchcrafting's birthday!  Yesterday, I was busy making his birthday cheesecake and then got caught up playing Guild Wars 2, hence why I'm updating before he gets home from work today instead of yesterday.  Haha.  ^_^;;

Cleanliness and Dissertating

So, first things first, I finally submitted chapter 2 of my dissertation.  Yay!  I have about 35 written of the next chapter, but I have a lot left to add (and my introduction is terrible).  It's funny though--I have a couple of job applications to do and some conference proposals, and I so don't want to write the cover letters and proposals that I actually worked on the dissertation instead.  You know it's bad when your dissertation serves as a form of escapism.  But at least I was working!  My goal is to continue working on one of those tasks this afternoon and finish the job applications tomorrow.  *fist pump of commitment!*

I also managed to clean the study this week!  It stills needs a little work, but it's a definite improvement.

If you'll remember, we went from this:

Before

To THIS!

After!

And here's the piano--You can actually see it now!

I do still have my fabric box out and a couple of boxes of DVDs and random stuff that we never unpacked taking up floor space (you can see the boxes at the bottom right of the piano pics).  But my space is much tidier and more open.

I also finally made true, dedicated filing folders for all of my paper work. All of these documents used to be either in 1 of 6 unmarked folders or on my desk.  (Yikes!)  Now I have 14 nicely labeled folders.  Funnily enough, it actually made me feel less generally stressed, just having all my documents organized and well labeled.

Meanwhile, all the crafting stuff has moved to the closet, either nicely laid out or hung up.

Or as nice as random stuff like this can look on a hanger!

Fillings, Wussiness, and Survival

Today, I also had my first real fillings done at the dentist.  The numbness is finally going away about 3 hours after the fact, and it looks like the most discomfort I have is where I got the novocaine shot in my lower jaw.  Speaking of...

So, I've never had a cavity.  I grew up in an area with lots of flouride in the water, so I have super-tough teeth.  The downside is that they stain/darken relatively easily.  But that's just a vanity issue.  ^__^  My molars have really deep grooves though, so apparently it was just a matter of time before I'd need fillings, and today, it was time.  I was nervous as hell.  

Growing up, I always thought I was tough, that I had a high pain tolerance.  As I get older, I find it's not quite so, especially if the pain involves surgical stuff, infected injuries, etc.  We learned this in full when the mister tried to help me clean my newly pierced but infected ears a few months ago.  I passed out.  And not prettily.  I got dizzy, passed out, apparently had a mini-seizure, and then barfed. (Thankfully I was right next to the toilet).  After that, I was woozy for a few minutes but otherwise fine.  The sad thing was, the cleaning didn't hurt or anything.  I was just having a weird, paranoid panic attack over something going horribly wrong when he put my earrings back in.  And it wasn't a matter of distrust, it was more like a phobia of my earrings suddenly not fitting properly or popping back on in such a way that they crushed my earlobes...or something.

So...that was weird.  Before that, I'd only ever passed out once, while my grandfather was removing a splinter, and that was just because I was concentrating so hard on what he was doing that I stopped breathing.  No panic.  Just VERY INTENSE CONCENTRATION.  ^_^;;  (I still do sometimes forget to breathe while working on something very meticulous....I'm weird like that).

So today, going to the dentist for a procedure that I would be awake for, I was totally stressed.  I did my best to keep calm, and it helped that my dentist(s) and their hygienists are awesome people.  My pulse was an even 68.  But on the last novocaine shot, I felt that panic rush come over me again.  I think it was because it took so long, and I was trying to stay still, and that one actually HURT.  The topical anesthetic wasn't as strong on that side, and the needle was deep and very close to the hinge of my jaw.  ANYWAY, I thankfully DIDN'T pass out. ^__^  The rush faded and I was okay.

And it was all fine.  The anesthesia kicked in, and everything was great.  And for any of you who might be in my situation (no previous fillings, discomfort with people messing with the inside of your face), fillings are no big deal.  The dentist soothed my fears with a surprisingly simple statement: "If you feel anything other than a cool breeze, lift your hand."  A cool breeze?  Really?  I knew the anesthesia was working, so if that's all it was, then, hey, I could do this.  And it was just like he said. The rest went well, and the biggest discomfort I had was my stiff neck and a little lingering soreness where that last shot was.  

I'm sure folks who've had full-on cavity fillings are like, "Geez, what a wuss," but this was a milestone moment for me that I felt I should share for any other cavity-less, panic-potential folks out there.  

So, was it pleasant?  Hell no.  But was it scary, painful, or terrible?  Having gone through it, I can truly say, "No.  The bad stuff is minimal and passes quickly.  You'll be fine."

And now, to wrap up with lighter things!

Guild Wars 2

I won't do a full review of this game, but let's suffice it to say that I have never gotten into an MMO before this game.  The mister loved the first one, and part of his birthday present last year was that I would get it and play with him.  And we're still playing.  It's a great game, with a great wealth of depth and history, and the people on the game are as nice as everyone says they are.  If I had any complaint with the game, it's simply that the story gets a bit redundant after level 50-60 when you play through with a different character.  There are still branches in the storyline path to give you some variation, but the milestones are the same.

But anyway, I wanted to take today to introduce you to my characters.

First, we have my primary character/toon, Ororo Wakandas.  Yes, X-Men's Storm (Storm and Ororo Munroe were already taken...).  She's always been one of my favorite X-Men, and when I saw the mohawk hair (with little lightning looking strips shaved in the sides) and knew elementalists could use lightning, I had to make her.  

Sadly I can't really get a look that fully feels like Storm, but I got her looking pretty badass, and I love running around with her using daggers (hello, fight with Marrow in the Morlock underground!).

Then I have the other character I created at about the same time: Kadhrin Wyrshor, a ranger.  She's made to look like me, and originally she had my name, because the mister did the same thing with one of his characters (whom he later deleted).  I felt silly running around with my own name after that, and when the game announced renaming a while back, I switched to a name that recalled my own (Catherine-->Kadhrin) and took the last name my totally awesome sister used for her main character (who happens to be the same race and class, haha).

I'm still working on getting her final gear, though, so these are previews of my two possibilities.  I'll probably use different colors and leave off the masks, but at least you can get an idea.

Which look do you like better?  This one...

...or this one?

Then, we have Aurevia, my Sylvari necromancer.  One thing I love about this game is that the elf folk aren't your typical elves.  They're a race only about 20 years old, born from a mystical tree.  Their designs are very plant-like (their skin has a bark-like texture and their hair consists of leaves and branches, etc.).  They also have bio-luminescence, so you glow at night!  It's so cool!

Glowing!

Her current look.  BTW, look at the awesome glitch in her mugshot, which erased every part of her head except her eyes!

I still don't have her final look either.  I came up with a cool design, but if I use it, it really limits how much you can see of her nighttime glow. 

 The other design uses her cultural armor, and that's just ridiculously expensive.  Alas.  I don't mind her current look though, so it's all good.

And lastly, we have Jixet, a Charr warrior.  This is another awesome race design, humanoid cats with horns! But Jixet is only level 45, so she has a ways to go yet.

I also still need to create an Asura, the one race I have used yet, but I can't pick which class I want to do.  Besides, I need to work on Jixet and the others before I wade into a new character.  ^__^

Anyway, that's it for today!  It actually ended up being a much bigger post than I expected.  Whew!

Fun reads, part 1

Well, as I wrap up writing chapter 2 of my dissertation (a 54 page chapter, whew!), I got the awesome news that a sequel I'd been looking forward to just came out.

A few months ago, I used my student Amazon Prime account to borrow a book called Haven (first book in the War of the Princes Trilogy) by A. R. Ivanovich.  I can't remember if I read about it somewhere or just came across it while browsing, but it was a fabulous find.

Haven tells the story of a young woman named Katelyn Kestrel, who lives in an idyllic country cut off from the rest of the world.  Over the course of the book, she discovers the terrifying reality of the outside world and has to fight for her life in order to get back home.  The book seamlessly combines fantasy and steampunk elements, and, if you're anything like me, you will NOT be able to put it down.  Ivanovich does some absolutely fascinating stuff that sets her world apart from other steam/fantasy settings, and her characters are rich, lively, and engaging.  It may technically be YA, but it doesn't hit the same pitfalls that so many others do.  If you liked Hunger Games, definitely pick these up.  I honestly think War of the Princes is better than Hunger Games in a lot of ways, and Ivanovich's Kat is a much more relate-able character without being a Mary Sue.

The second book, Dragoon, just came out (and is on sale until July), and it definitely does the first book justice.

 I think Haven was a little better (and most reviewers seem to be in consensus on this), but it's still fantastic.  The world grows in complexity and depth, there's a great villain (I wish we could have gotten more of her!), and the plot engages with real and weighty consequences for the characters' actions and decisions.  There are a few moments when I felt characters' reactions to certain events were a little off, but these were relatively minor and usually resolved well.  My sense of dissonance there may have also been due to how fast I read the books.  Maybe I just didn't give my brain proper processing time.  ^_^;;

If I have any complaint at all about the books, it's a really minor gripe: one male character is supposed to be extremely attractive, and it gets a little annoying to constantly hear the main character mention it.  Even though it's  "he's a jerk despite his appearance" rather than "and he's beautiful and I love him", it still gets redundant.  But that is seriously SUCH a minor gripe, and it lessens as the story goes on.

It'll probably be a while before book 3 (two just came out a few days ago), but don't wait to read them.  The second book recapped the first well without being repetitive, and they're totally re-readable.

By the way, the author's pretty amazing.  A. R. Ivanovich did her own cover art on both books, and she seems like a really awesome person.  Seriously, if she lived in my town, I'd invite her over for dinner and gaming fun.  Go check out her blog if you want to learn more about the books, the art, and their author: The Official Site of A. R. Ivanovich

Wednesday I should have some pictures of my CLEAN study, and hopefully other cool info.  Maybe it'll be my day to glorify Guild Wars 2 and talk about my characters.  And next Sunday, we should have some dress updates!

Gala!

Well, Gala has come and gone! I would have posted about it Sunday, but my new job at Toys R Us had me working all day, and I let it slide. Oops!

Anyway, the Oasis Bellydance Gala 2013 went really well. We had some absolutely fantastic dancers, some amazing choreography (everything from stunning fusion, traditional Egyptian, to comedic pieces), and it was a lot of fun. I definitely want to be in more than one number next year!

Anyway, I kind of slacked and didn't take progress pictures of my final updates, but I continued the ribbon tactic on my fringe, and that actually worked really well. I wouldn't advise it for really long wear, as the fringe still starting to itch by the end of the night, but it was much, MUCH better. I also added in a bit more trim on the top to make it go better with the belt. I didn't end up adding any of the beading I was considering, but that gives me something new to try at a later date!

I added a gold swirl in the middle, blue in the bottom left and red (hard to see) in the upper right.
I also added in a new blue sequin swirl on the right, and a tiny strip at the upper left.

Here's the finished costume, hung up and ready to go!

And here I am in the finished product backstage!

Woohoo!  Sorry I don't have onstage shots--don't want to use any of those without permission.

The only other news of note is that 1) I have a ferret now!

Her name is Tali (of Mass Effect, no Soul Calibur fame).

and 2) I'm starting to clean my office.  It's been needing it, but after we rearranged our living room, and now I've got even more junk in there.  We may still move some stuff around, but it needs cleaning no matter what:

Look at that hot mess.

I didn't get much done so far, but at least I can walk into the closet again.

There used to be no floor here.

Also, I've been keeping everything from the blog on my piano.  It now looks like a piano, not like this:

So, now, it's on to the wedding dress and finishing cleaning!  Hopefully I'll be able to get some work done on that this Sunday.  If not, this will be a weird reverse week:  I'm going to start doing non-crafty updates, probably on Wednesdays.  Let's see how it goes!

Gala Costume Test Run

This week, my lovely shimmy sister and long-time friend Katie came over so that I could help her make a skirt for one of her Gala costumes.  We didn't have enough fabric for a circle skirt (and she didn't want that much fullness anyway) so we adapted one of my patterns.  I had to redo the waist 3-4 times, but we finally got it.  Word to the wise: always triple check the pattern, and remember to zig-zag stitch when you need stretch.

Still, it turned out great, and she loves it.  I wish you could see the amount of sparkle the skirt has.  I still have  green glitter everywhere.  

While she was here, we did a test run of my Gala costume, and here is version 1.0!

I'm really happy with how it's turning out, but I have a few things that need to be fixed.  First, I need to add some of the belt's swirls to the top to round out the design.  Second, we realized that the cross strap just isn't working--it's pulling the cups too far away from my body and messing with the fit.  Third, the fringe is uncomfortable at the bottom edge of the bra.  And fourth, the fabric of the back straps likes to slip, so it's hard to tie it tightly.  So, those are the tasks to take care of before Gala this Saturday!  Thankfully, I've made good headway.

I went ahead and made a second layer of back straps out of the sheer red glitter fabric.  I still have to test it, but the tying should work better now.  Once I've tested it, I'll sew the two together to make tying easier.

Dual straps!

Next, I fixed the asymmetrical strap.  It's a little lumpy because of the shape, but I don't think it'll matter/show in wearing.  I do need to test the length of the back part of the strap though (you can see the pin holding its guess-timated place in the picture).

Lastly, I started on the fringe itchiness problem.   It's just a bit of ribbon sewed over the top back of the fringe.  It covers the beads that would be against the skin and also pulls the fringe a bit away from the body. Again, I have to try it on and test it before I'll know if it does its job, hence why my stitches are messy.

Eventually, I'll line these cups like a proper seamstress.

The rest I'll be working on throughout the week, in between practice, dissertation writing, and my new summer job at Toys R Us.

And now, as I leave you for the night, I went to the MAC stand in our local mall and got a makeup test run for everyday and engagement/wedding.  Here's a shot of my super-glammed eyes.  I'll probably be using these techniques for Gala too!

Hehehe, my nose looks huge.

Gala Progress

So, I made quite a lot of progress this week, which is good, seeing as Gala is in 2 weeks.  I only have one "must do" task left, and everything else is lagniappe.

Firstly, I finally found the pendant.  At first, I was debating these, although I wasn't won over by either:

Then, I went to Hancock fabrics for ribbon (sales, whee!).  Of course, the store with the smallest jewelry selection had something perfect:

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  A lot of these turned out blurry.

So I got two.  One for the belt (above) and the other for the top (although I didn't use the two extra pieces on the top).

I also had to do the straps.  Again, the pictures insist on staying sideways, and the color variation doesn't show well, but I layered the top's fabric over a sparkly red chiffon. I also added the fringe, but I forgot to take a picture.  

But I do have one when I laid everything out for comparison early on.

This is before I sewed them in properly. I didn't take a current picture.  Whoops!

All that's left on the top is getting the back straps the correct length.  I'll have proper pictures of the top next week.

I did almost the whole belt yesterday, after Jenny helped with the design last week.  I sewed on the pendant stuff and used Fabri-Tac glue to attach the trim.  I like sewing them on, but the glue was SOOOO much faster.

In progress

 It's mostly done, but I want to add a little more trim or something in the center--it's a little plain.

laced back

This is how I did the lacing loops.

Well, hopefully next week, I'll have some pictures with the costume finished and actually ON. Whoohoo!