A New Game: Pirates and Dragons

I have never done a plug for a kickstarter on this blog before, but this one looks particularly fun. It is an RPG game that includes two things that my children love, pirates and dragons.

Late last autumn, Blaze had a chance to dress up as a pirate and pose with a group of adult models, also  dressed as pirates, for Mandam: Mythpunk Art Noir (the parents of the little girl I babysit).



The result of that modeling session, was the awesome cover art for this game.

A mother dragon discovers pirates stealing the gold she has used to encrust her eggs.





Cakebread and Walton, the company making this game, has already created the very successful RPG game, Airship Pirates (based on the world created by the steampunk band, Abney Park).

This is where you can go for more information and to donate to the Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1317990451/pirates-and-dragons-the-rpg?ref=live

The Parasol Frog

I'm updating an old costume before we go to Dragon*Con this year.

I've added a Sam Browne belt to my explorer's costume, but instead of adding weapons to my belt, I've been adding more dainty accessories that will help me to be prepared for any situation.

I now have a fan holster from one of the venders at the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, a tea cup holster from Artificer Leather Works on Etsy, and, most recently, I added a parasol frog from Brassroots Leather.

The belt was designed to hold a sword frog (a holder for a ceremonial sword), but I wanted a frog that would hold my parasol instead, so that I wouldn't have to carry it when I was inside. The very talented Jusnel Gonzalez, of Brassroots Leather, custom made this one for me. This was the first time I had ever had something custom made. There was an element of fun and anticipation that doesn't come from buying things that are already made, since Jusnel posted every step of the process on facebook, so I could see the progress, as it was happening.





Today was the first time in a long time that it hasn't rained, so I was finally able to try on the belt and wear it outside for a picture. If it continues to be this constantly rainy, the parasol frog is adjustable, so I can use it to hold an umbrella, as well.

Christmas in July: Bows

Two days ago, I learned how to make traditional gift bows, so I've been making a few out of the scrapbook ribbon I bought this week (see this post from a couple days ago: http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2013/07/no-sew-fancy-bows-using-steampunk.html).



These do take time to make, but they've been keeping my hands busy while I watch t.v. in the evening. I'm starting to associate bow making with Warehouse 13, since that's mostly what Blaze and I have been watching lately.







I, also, understand that these cost quite a bit more that buying a bag of bows during the after-holiday sales, but these are reusable. I'm hoping that my family will find these attractive enough that they will look forward to using them every year, the way they do the tree ornaments and Christmas stockings. That way, in the long run, these will be cutting down on expenses and waste.

Springs

Today at Wakulla Springs State Park, children from the Tallahassee Homeschool Group had a lesson about Springs, presented by Harley Means, an expert on Florida springs.

A map of Florida springs:




He took us on a walk to look at limestone and sinkholes.



Sinkhole #1


Sinkhole #2








After the 45 minute lesson, it was off to the spring to cool down.

No-Sew Fancy Bows Using Steampunk Ribbons

A couple weeks ago, I discovered that the scrapbook section at Hobby Lobby has spools of ribbon for sale that are printed with designs that would work well for steampunk crafts.




This week, those ribbons are on sale for 50% off, so making fancy bows has become this week's "keep my hands busy while I'm watching t.v." project.

This particular style of bow does not require any sewing. Everything is just glued together.

Each layer of the bow is made from four pieces of ribbon, cut to identical lengths.

The ribbon is first glued to form a circle. Then, a dot of glue is used to pinch the circle together, forming an "8".




Two of the "8s" are glued together, to make an "X" or more like a plus sign. Then, two "Xs" are glued together to form one layer of the bow. The bow may have two layers or several, but each level should be made with slightly shorter lengths of ribbon than the layer beneath it.




I think that gluing a button or piece of jewelry to the center of the top of the bow gives the bow a nice, finished look.



I have made several ribbons this way this week.

By gluing a large, multi-layered bow onto a black satin headband, I made a fascinator for myself.




A smaller bow, attached to a ponytail holder, will be good for a child's ponytail.





I also made various sizes to decorate gift packages (getting a huge headstart on this year's steampunk Christmas).

The Grown Children

There has been a lot of focus lately on what Blaze is doing. I am also the proud mother of two adult "children".

Ula has been working in retail sales since graduating from college, but she has recently begun writing articles for the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Both of my older children have been collaborating on a webcomic based on the house where Ula lived while in college. This link will take you to the first page of the comic, "A Day in the Life of a Ficus":
http://ficuscomic.com/comic/001.php


This is my favorite page of the comic, so far:



Nika does the web design and the drawing, while Ula writes the comic.

Ula is now living with her fiance's family, one of whom is an excellent photographer.




This is her fiance at CONvergence this past weekend:

Happy 4th of July!

This is our first 4th of July in Tallahassee and it has been a stormy one for most of the day. The internet has informed me that this is not unusual for Tallahassee.


Our power went out for a little more than an hour this afternoon, while I was preparing food for a festive tea time. Luckily, I had everything cooked already, except for melting the cheddar cheese on top of the little twice-baked potatoes. I used the brulee torch for that.

We listened to Blaze's little wind-up radio and had a very nice meal. We had lemonade instead of tea, though, since we couldn't heat water.







After we ate, Blaze and I went outside and threw Snap'n Pops at each others feet in the rain.

 Blaze played with sparklers on our flooded back porch. This is probably the safest way to use sparklers, since all the sparks fall into water.



It finally stopped raining, just before the scheduled time for the city's fireworks show. We didn't go to the park where the fireworks show was being held, because we figured that would be too muddy. Instead we went to the Costco parking lot. Quite a few other people had the same idea.

We took these with us:



The lollipops themselves were flavorless, but Blaze had fun playing with the glowing sticks.

I hope everyone else had a safe and fun holiday, too!