Crazy.Canadian.Loon

We used to be friends, a long time ago

19 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

by Kai in Nostalgia, Unopened Letters to the World

Hello old friend,

If you’ve made it here, I assume that you’ve known me from a time where my crazycanadianloon handle is me.

Sometimes in life, things happen and things change. We may have been friends and now we no longer speak. Maybe something dramatic happened, or maybe life just happened and we moved on. If you were wondering how I am but don’t have it in you to start a conversation again, here are some updates of my life that you won’t find out from Facebook (which I hardly update anyway):

I own a condo now. It has an indoor swimming pool and it’s awesome. My strata fees are worth every penny.
My job is fantastic. Even on the days where I want to flip a table because I’m stressed, I can still go home and smile because the work I do is meaningful.
I have two cats: Tobiko and Tamago.
The people currently in my life make me happier. I listen to them. They listen to me. Whether we talk about things that are good or things that are bad, we are there for each other.
I’m still obsessed with miniatures. I do have other hobbies now though. Another hobby I get obsessed with in certain seasonal cycles is knitting.
I still think the 3 best TV shows are: Scrubs, Futurama, and Arrested Development. Watch Scrubs if you want to laugh, cry, and feel any other emotion in between. Futurama will make you laugh and wonder about a future you will never see. Arrested Development (even with season 4) is funny and witty and make you feel smart if you get the jokes.
I still listen to early 2000s pop punk. It’s just the best.
I like my parents now that I don’t have to live with them.

If you were looking for schadenfreude, I’m sorry. Do know that there were a lot of tears shed and harsh life lessons learned before I got to where I am today, though.

Wishing you the best,

Painting Party – Peg Dolls

17 Jul 2018 Leave a comment

by Kai in Crafts, DIY, Painting

I had a painting party with a couple of friends a while back and we painted some peg dolls. A friend was browsing for Disney Princess peg dolls on Etsy for her daughter’s dollhouse and actually paid $60 for a set of 5. $60!!! After a comment from me that I could do it for much less, she hit up Urban Source, found some peg dolls and we spent a rainy afternoon squinting our eyes and proceeded to paint.

Make it so.

Sailor Pluto Time Key – Part 2

10 Jul 2018 Leave a comment

by Kai in Crafts, DIY

A continuation of my Sailor Pluto Time Key project:

PAPER MACHE TIME!

I started the first layer of the paper mache on the time key and built down. In retrospect, this was not a good place to start, as the rod ended up being crooked later on. If I were to do this again, I should build the rod first to make sure everything was straight, and then add in the supporting piece for the garnet orb later.

The connector ball was all paper mache.

Then I started work on the first layer of the top part. This part required more layers than the rod part to round it out.

All the rod pieces put together.

Airplane Mode

24 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Kai in Crafts, DIY, Paper

Fiddled around with some card stock and finally cracked open my instructional book on making pop-ups.

Airplane pop up card

I used a template from the book. I think it turned out well.

Sailor Pluto Time Key (Work in Progress)

17 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by Kai in Crafts, DIY

Materials:

cardboard
sculpting paper mache
paper mache ball (2.5 inches)
card stock
plastic dowel rods
Time Key template

Tools:

box cutter
scissors
Sharpie

This could be a fun adventure. For *reasons*, I am going to be Sailor Pluto for an upcoming event. I managed to find a cost-effective outfit through my usual online shopping methods, but the cost of a ready-built Time Key would put a serious dent in my wallet/credit card. I was initially going to make it myself. then after researching some online tutorials, i decided it would be too much time and effort and was going to suck it up and buy one. Then I realized I could use a different medium so I swung back around to crafting my own.

This is a work in progress.

The start of progress!

Step 1: Create the template for the top piece of the time key. It’s essentially two hearts, one sitting on top of another. It’s a very simple outline, for anyone who wants a reference.

Step 2: Trace the template onto cardboard and cut the shape with a box cutter

Step 3: Make the cone that the Garnet Orb would sit on. I fiddled around until the flaring at the top looked right and the bottom matched the circumference of the dowels.

Step 4: To be continued… (most likely with the sculpting paper mache)

A Flying Cat I Call Coco

10 Oct 2013 2 Comments

by Kai in Crafts, Sewing

This project idea has been spinning around in my head for several months now. It wasn’t until last month that I lucked out at a dollar store and found the black cat to fulfill this idea. This is why Halloween season is awesome!

Only minor surgery to sew the legs into a “flying” position and cutting up the back to insert the wings was needed.

Crafty Avocado Stuff

19 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by Kai in Crafts, DIY, Felt, Jewelery, Leather, Sewing

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from someone who had come across my Avocado Earrings and Avocado Necklace. She had been looking for something avocado related and was in quite a rush because she was leaving the country soon and wanted to give something to her boyfriend. (Awwwwwwww!) She was looking for avocados because it was something they shared between them and something they both loved (Double awwwwwwww!). Although the originals had already been given out as gifts, I had some extras (and that is why you never waste craft material!). So, the earrings turned into keychains and the necklace turned into a rear view mirror decoration.

Anyway, when I met with her to exchange the goods, we had a conversation about avocados and her search for crafty ones. She’d mentioned that she tried to find a plush avocado and wasn’t having any luck. I ended up poaching the idea and did some experiments.

Now, the stuffed avocado was cute and all, but what was I going to do with it?

Since I’ve been working with leather, I had a few pieces of scrap from my projects. It was a very simple process of attaching the avocado to the leather band and now it’s a useful pincushion!