Sunday, December 30, 2012

Journalism at the Holidays

[Warning-this post has  a LOT of pictures.]

You may not know it, but I'm in Journalism II this year. I'm a writer for the news section of the Arrowhead. The J-room is all decked out for the holidays-lights around the windows, garlands (hung by me), and even a fake Christmas tree! Our Christmas party was on Thursday, December 20, 2012. We had a Secret Santa gift exchange. I bought nail polish and candy for my Secret Santa recipient, two of the three items on her list. I received chocolate from my Secret Santa. :3

The nail polish for my Secret Santa recipient.
Not too shabby for a non-fashionable person, eh?

Can you guess what this is?

An ornament!

Following are pictures of the Jroom :) Enjoy a slice of my life at school!

My cubby, complete with pictures of things I love.






The bulletin board was my handiwork. :)

Following are pictures of the party, with our advisor, all current staff, and a few alums. Sorry for the blurriness, I was standing on chairs and tables to see! We were all in the teeny tiny Jroom, but some migrated over to our advisor's adjacent room after getting food! It was a madhouse. And yes, like any good journalist, I did get permission to put these pictures up. :)







Finally, a picture of our wonderful advisor. Each staffer pitched in $2 to buy her a coffee mug and a red coffee maker. Here she is, delighted as can be!

Our lovely advisor. :)

This post was longer than even I expected. Thanks for reading!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Miss Suzy Homemaker

[Note: this was written a well before publishing, but due to Christmas present spoilers could not be published at that time.]

I feel like Suzy Homemaker, between making chicken pot pies and crocheting all weekend. The pie looked so yummy, I just had to take pictures! Here they are! :)

Pie!

This might actually be the same pie. I made two.

Yummy! :)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Australia

This is probably really stupid and naïve, but I just looked at my blog stats, and someone viewed my blog all the way in Australia! My blog is international! Thank you so much to whoever that was in Australia, you completely made my day. Hugs, and happy holidays! :)
UPDATE-Dec 28, 2012-And in Germany!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Solstice Presents

Just so anyone that actually follows my blogs knows, I won't post much until January. Then, I can post all the Solstice presents I made! :) And in case anyone is wondering... I do celebrate Christmas, but only in the family/gifts/decoration sense, not in the religious sense. I do believe the shortest day of the year is worth celebrating, though! That's when I'll give my friends their presents. I'm doing mostly handmade gifts this year. Have a wonderful holiday season! Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Midwinter Festival, Bathtub Party Day (5), Letter Writing Day (7), or whatever else you celebrate! (Here's a list:http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/december.htm) Hugs! <3

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Edge Of That Paradise

I know posts about other blogs are probably disliked almost as much as ads, but here's one anyway. There's a blog made by one of my friends, edgeofthatparadise.wordpress.com, and it's pretty awesome. Plus, I might be a guest blogger soon. Said the blogger, "This blog is about being unique, standing out, not being ashamed of who you are." Seriously, check it out. :)

Monday, December 3, 2012

My First Bento (ish)

Hello! Today I made my first bento-a snowman! :) Don't you just love snow? It's so magical... and almost as mysterious as the fog we had this morning! Anyway, the inspiration was partially from http://www.ilovefoodsomuch.com/20-beautiful-and-cute-christmas-holidays-bento-sets/. I found the picture on Pinterest while finding lunch ideas. I took the idea and made it my own.

Mmm... a feast for the eyes, if I do say so myself!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Polymer Clay Earrings: Pumpkins

I love pumpkins, and I thought it would be fun to make some out of clay. I think these turned out adorable.

Pumpkins!

It started out as a sphere, and then I used a pin to make four circles around it, creating eight lines. I then indented the top using the head of the pin and added the spiral, which I made by wrapping a tiny piece of clay around the pin. After attaching the spiral, I indented the top with the head of the pin again to make sure it stayed attached. Then I added the stem and the eye pin, then later the earring hooks.

Polymer Clay Earrings: Candy Corn

I love making my own earrings. They're unique to me, and I can make them for any occasion or to match anything! This occasion just happens to be Halloween. The first earrings I made for Halloween are two pieces candy corn.

There's nothing better than candy.
Except maybe candy earrings.

I saw instructions online directing you to make three strips of clay then cut it in triangles, but that seemed too wasteful to me. So instead, I simply took a piece of white clay, formed it into a triangle, then added orange, then yellow.

Owl Mask

As part of Red Ribbon Week at school, Friday was costume day. I couldn't quite get all of the pieces to my costume, so I painted a mask instead. I found it at A.C. Moore for a dollar, and thought it was adorable, so I bought it. I have a weakness for craft supplies.

Materials

Completed mask!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Jack O'Lanterns

Today I spent the better part of my day carving a pumpkin. I decided what it would be about a month ago: Ray Bradbury, one of the best sci-fi authors in history, and also one of my favorites. He died recently, so this pumpkin is sort of a tribute. I think I may be the first person in history to make a Ray Bradbury pumpkin. Here's the process:

Picture from The New York Times.

I based the template off the picture.
Needless to say, I couldn't find one online.

I thought a dotted Ray Bradbury was neat,
but the picture didn't come out very good.

Finished! It looks a bit better in person.

"Rest In Peace"
"1920-2012"

I don't think many recently deceased 91-year-old men have 15-year-old girls making pumpkins in their appearance.

Mr. Bradbury, if you're looking down from Mars or wherever sci-fi writers go when they die, this is my  tribute to you. Thank you.

Halloween Party!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been very busy with my schoolwork lately, and also with preparations for Halloween! I made a bunch of stuff, so I'll have several posts in a row now. Halloween is just two days away, and I have off school today and tomorrow because of Hurricane Sandra/Sandy. Thank you Hurricane Sandra/Sandy! On Saturday night, my brother and I hosted the biggest party we've ever had. We had seven guests. Anyway, a good time was had by all, as far as I know, and we had some fun food. :) Here's a sampling.


Eyeball deviled eggs!


Halloween colored cupcakes!

Gravestone "dirt" cups!

Note to anyone and everyone: tonic water tastes disgusting. Even when mixed with fruit juice or in Jell-O to make the Jell-O glow under a black light. And it didn't even glow. Oh, well...the pudding was delicious.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Craft Day Project # 2

Project # 2 was a painted pumpkin. My aunt grew the pumpkins and gourds she brought over, and they are quite pretty.


Here is my painted mini pumpkin:


And my brother's mini painted pumpkin:


We just used cheap acrylic paint, the kind that comes in a bottle. Happy pumpkin painting!


Craft Day Project # 1

Project # 1 was a felt "cloud flower". I got the instructions from http://www.linesacross.com/2012/09/the-little-cloud-flower.html. Their tutorial is probably better than mine will be, and pictures certainly are. On that topic, please excuse the poor quality of the pictures; the lighting was terrible and I'm learning a new program for pictures (PicMonkey-it's awesome). Anyway, here:

1. Cut out nine felt circles about the size you want your finished flower to be, plus one a bit smaller.
2. Put a spot of hot glue in the middle, fold in half; put a spot of glue in he middle of the newly formed edge, fold in half; repeat eight times.
3. You now have nine folded circles and one smaller unfolded circle.
4. Attach four folded circles to the small circle side by side with hot glue.
5. Attach four more on top; stagger them above the first layer. I didn't show this, but then just glue the remaining one in the middle of the "petals".
Ta-da, you now have a felt "cloud flower". I attached a hair clip, you can do whatever you want.

Craft Day!

Since it is Monday, I'll give you a weekly picture of my Zen garden. Maybe it will calm you as it does for me. Ta-da!

Today is Columbus Day, which means my brother and I are home from school, and I have officially decreed today a Craft Day. I promise to post pictures of what we make later, and hopefully instructions! Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Hello World!


     Hello, World!  My name is Amelia, but I have a ton of nicknames.  I am a teenager, but many say I am not a typical one.  I believe I was born a couple decades too late, as I am definitely a hippie and tree-hugger.  I believe in karma, and I read my horoscope nearly every day, though that's mostly for fun.  I guess I'm an atheist, but I might become more or less a Zen Buddhist, and anyway, I refuse to be labeled.  I actually "strive" to be different, or even strange.
     I love art, especially sculpture or anything you can touch with your hands.  Name most any art or craft, and, chances are, I've tried it before or I'm planning to in the near future.  I enjoy science, especially things that make you think, like quantum mechanics and if time really exists.  I also love reading and writing; I am a self-proclaimed literary nerd and straight-A student.  I love being on The Arrowhead staff, my school newspaper.  I used to know what I wanted to do with my life, but now I'm clueless.
     Anyway, this blog is for most anything, but I'll probably post mostly about art and craft projects as well as writing.  Also, I now have a Zen Garden, so I'll try and do a weekly or so picture of its ever-changing status.  Read it or not, it's up to you.  Peace!
     P.S.-Please keep all comments appropriate, and more or less pertaining to my blog :)  Thank you!


This is me, working on a stool for my niece and nephew.