Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts

Friday, January 2, 2015

Read Only

I think I am just going to spend all of 2015 reading. I am doing this challenge from PopSugar:


Of course, I intend to cheat. I just don't have the drive to read 52 books in a year, mostly because I read really slowly and the whole reading-induced narcolepsy. So, again, with the resolve to cheat, I started before 2015, and I read "The Scarlet Letter," which covers like 5-8 of the checkboxes above. It was one of the books I was supposed to read in high school but never actually read. No, not true... I started reading it my 9th grade year and got to the description of the roses beside the jail's door and stopped. Having finished it, I am not terribly forlorn that I didn't read this book sooner. It wasn't nearly as awful as I had assumed but it certainly wouldn't have enriched my teenaged life.

With this challenge, I am taking this opportunity to read books I have meant to read for a long time. Right now, I am reading "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, and I have "To Kill a Mockingbird" on my list, and "You" by Caroline Kepnes, and of course all the books Stephen King will have written by the time I get to them. You are more than welcome to follow my progress on Goodreads if you'd like. 

Last year was a terrible year for reading. I read 4 books. FOUR WHOLE BOOKS (not counting The Scarlet Letter... which doesn't count because I said so). It was "Game of Thrones" that killed my usually much higher average. Between finishing writing the first in a series of a kickass science fiction mystery thriller novels in 3 months and editing it, then trying to get an agent to represent that novel (still looking!), and having my body totally freak out where my hands didn't work for a few months (which seriously makes typing a novel difficult, let me tell you), and my liver and pancreas freaking out from all my horrible medications trying to fix my hands (most of which I am no longer on for the sake of not dying), and having my gallbladder removed, it took me SEVEN months to read the damned book. Just the first book. And it only translates into like the first 10 episodes of the series. I can't read them all. I just can't... until I run out of other things to read and write. I loved it. It was great... but holy crap. It's like the black hole of series. That's not an insult, I promise. It is just SO dense with information. It is wonderful, and I loved it... I really did, but, yeah, I'm abstaining from reading more of the series for the time being as long as I want to do other things in my life.

Thankfully now, my hands are working with just one medication and they no longer feel like they have been beaten with a hammer (as long as I remember to take my meds on time) so I can easily hold a kindle or an actual book (since Klout sent me an hard copy of "You" to read) without crying or whining or needing to train Stevie to press the side buttons on my Kindle to change the page for me.

So, if you need me, I'll be reading. 

If you want to join in on this reading challenge, I would totally be interested in hearing about the books you're reading, too!





Friday, November 29, 2013

Hanukkah 2013: 3rd Night- Ornament-O-Rama

On the third night of Hanukkah, your Cheeseblarg gives to you:

A tree full of bitchin' ornaments!




The Ornament-O-Rama project was one of the best ideas I have had in a long time. Twenty-seven whole people sent in ornaments for the Cheeseblarg Christmas tree, plus more are on their way (which will be shared when they get here)!

Get ready, there are a bunch of pictures coming with links where you can buy or make your own! Please give these awesome Cheeseblargians an internet round of applause (and a whole lot of traffic) for all their hard work and generosity. I'm sure they would love you to pin their contributions to your Pinterest boards, too!

Thanks again, guys! And now, onto the best ornaments ever made!




Zombie bacon!


Plus, Amber sent me a kit to make my own ginger bread matchstick box, AND extra balls to fill out my tree!

Beth also sent me a link to download her Paranormal Romance novella, which I will totally be reading soon!









Dar hand makes these tree skirts themed with your favorite things. I think I'd like to wear it as an actual skirt when Christmas is over.



Daleks in beads!







Katie actually sent me five of these. Go to her blog and see them all!


http://lianamakesstuff.com/

http://barefootcrafting.blogspot.com

www.kittnen.net
http://kittnen.etsy.com

threemoreweeks.blogspot.com

whiskeredfingers.blogspot.com
www.etsy.com/shop/whiskeredfingers



Made by reader Trina.

stampingrules.com

I honestly can't pick one favorite ornament. I love them all! Which is your favorite?

Don't forget to comment for your chance to win my needle felted Dino Ball!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Pintester Movement: That's Not A Moon!

It is also not a dented flamboyant golf ball though it looks like one of those, too.

So, I am back, thanks to Sonja Foust's Pintester Movement again. She really does a good job of getting me to post once a month. This time, we're all making ornaments (serious, go look at all the awesome ornaments in the links!), and I wanted to try out this awesome Star Wars Disco Death Star that I found on Pinterest.

This picture is not mine. This is what it should look like. This is awesome. 

It should be noted that there are no square sequins in all of Montana... in fact, there are hardly any sequins at all. I guess when you live in a place where eagles pick up baby deer and fling them at power lines, sequining shit is not a priority. After checking every other store in town, I finally found round silver sequins and since we are pintesting here, I figured, 'fuck it, that will do.'

Also, I don't know if this phenomenon is widespread but it seems that Montana thinks that Styrofoam is made out of unicorn spleens, because they are seriously pricey here. This tutorial was all, "under 5 dollars" and I was all, "bullshit!" So my ball is much smaller than their ball because I am cheap, and I wasn't paying over 6 dollars for a stupid ball, though I suppose it will never decompose, so maybe I'm supposed to be paying for longevity.

Anyway, once I started the project, it was pretty easy. Took me about 2 hours to finish it while not really paying attention to a football game on TV. I was kinda of tired of being covered in glue by the end of it, and of repositioning sequins that my giant clumsy fingers knocked out of place.

It doesn't look like the Death Star really because round sequins are built to reflect light everywhere, so it just looks like a gaudy silver ball really, but I am sure that if I tell everyone what it is when I put it in my tree, they will be able to see it... if they squint.



And, I don't really like sucking at things so I made another ornament to show that I really am good at things when I am given the correct supplies. This one is from the following tutorial I found on Pinterest, which I used as an inspiration, again, because I couldn't find exactly what it called for and these bitchin' hollow glass globes were on sale at our fancy craft store.

Here are their versions:


And here is mine:

TOO SOON!
I needle felted the landscape from polyfill fiber and various colored wool, and the T-Rex came from our local animal feed/farming store. I have no idea why they have tiny dinosaurs in the farm store, but I am glad they do, because, while it is insensitive to dinosaurs, apocalyptic dino deaths are one of my favorite art subjects. Should I find the appropriate medium before Christmas, I may even glaze the back of this with reds and orange to really drive home the "imminent death" thing.

As a reminder, if you are sending Cheeseblarg's tree an ornament (and thank you to those who already have, they are all AWESOME), they should be to me by the 21st (if it is a day or two late, I'll cope, but I do need time to get them photographed and coded). I can't wait to see all the ones that are on their way! You guys are super awesome!

And while I am showing off my needle felting, though it has absolutely nothing to do with the Pintester Movement, this is still my blarg, and I can show off why I haven't been entertaining y'all as frequently. Part of it is getting Hanukkah presents ready for you guys (Starting Thanksgiving night, there will be daily posts coming for eight whole days), but mostly, I have been stabbing things and making money doing so to replace my husband's lost unemployment.



If you are interested in buying a felt from me, I have the white and black Dalek on Etsy (the rest have been sold), and I am happy to make almost any felt sculpture that someone is willing to pay for (unless it is a human baby) as long as you are willing to wait a week or so for it to be done. Remember, these are not sewn pieces, they are all stabbed and are solid (but soft). They are art pieces, and not really suitable for playing with, because tugging can pull the wool out of place. If you're interested, I can only manage about 10 of them before it becomes too late for gifting for Christmas, so feel free to contact me at cheeseblarg at live dot com so I can get a piece done for you. Fair warning, I am working at 15 bucks an hour on these, and most take me several hours to do, but as you can see, they are pretty damned awesome.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Cheeseblarg's Ornament-O-Rama Project

If you'll remember from my many mentions, I was raised Jewish, which means that we didn't have Christmas trees... what with the not celebrating Christmas and stuff.

But now that I am an adult, and my family either lives with me or a couple blocks away, I insist on celebrating Christmas every year. I must make clear, I am totally in it for the festivities, and not for any religious reason at all. I will seriously celebrate any holiday where I can give or get presents, and make ridiculous amounts of food.

I don't begrudge other people their faith, as long as they are not jerks about it, in which case I might say snarky things behind their backs, but I just like being nice and celebrating things, so now my family is forced to celebrate Christmas (which is actually awesome this year since Hanukkah is super early, it would be utterly disappointing to twiddle our thumbs all through December).

In the past couple years, I have made do with my paper craft Christmas tree.



It is super cute, and I love it, but I wanted a REAL (fake) Christmas tree, so when everything was discounted after the holidays last year, my mom bought me a half-priced tree friend. Since, unlike everyone else in the world who has a lifetime's worth of decorations saved up, I have... none, I got myself a few ornaments as the leftover Christmas stuff got more and more reduced. However, since I'm a nerd, I ended up with about 7 ornaments that pleased me and stayed within the ever sucking budget of a starving artist.

Quick math problem here:

LOL I can't count.

As bitchin' as my Stay Puft Marshmallow Man ornament is, I don't think it is going to carry the whole tree, so I am launching, RIGHT NOW:

The Cheeseblarg Ornament-O-Rama Project.

As you have seen from my previous posts on the subject, I am working on my own ornaments, but I was reading Sonja's blog, Pintester, and I thought it would be awesome, and likely hilarious, if she and I got together to challenge people to make ornaments for my first ever family tree, since I feel like the Cheeseblargians and my fellow Pintestes are my internet family anyway. And since she agreed, here were are!

While I would love to have nerdy ornaments that are catered to my favorite themes:
  • Zombies
  • Bacon
  • Cats
  • Dinosaurs
  • Cupcakes (or sweets in general)
  • Ghostbusters
  • Doctor Who
  • Back to the Future Trilogy
  • Beetlejuice
  • Star Wars and Trek
  • Video Games
  • Llamas
  • Narwhals
  • Anything I have mentioned loving on da blarg
  • Absolutely not a whale under any circumstance

I will pretty much be happy with whatever I get as long as it is not particularly religious, or a dead animal that hasn't been properly taxidermied, or a live animal, or actual poop, OR a swastika ... even a really cute swastika. No matter how badly crafted it is (pin fails are awesome), I will totally put it on my tree.  Unless it is a whale... in which case I will cry and cower in a corner.





I will be making a post on Black Friday with photographs of each ornament on my tree featuring links to blogs or shops of anyone who has sent me an ornament, so that your pages receive extra traffic, and hopefully sales (if you are a seller of crafts).

So there is your challenge: Ornament me!

The Fussy Details:


  • Ornaments need to be to me by November 21st. I want to have plenty of time to arrange and photograph ornaments, as well as code the subsequent post.
  • Please, be sure to include your name, email address, and blog address (and/or online shop address) with your ornament so I can give you proper credit.
  • Please, don't send me things that you want back. I hope to make these ornaments part of my yearly tradition.
  • You don't HAVE to make your own ornament-- I will happily accept purchased ornaments, BUT I need you to include the maker in your credit information so everyone gets the traffic they deserve.
  • I will also accept garlands and other things that trees traditionally wear (except toppers... I will cover that one).

  • All packages can be sent to:
J Rose
[address redacted]

And finally, for my readers, please consider blogging about your ornament making experience and entering it in Pintester's "Pintester Movement," should you get inspiration for your ornament from Pinterest.



Here is a link to Cheeseblarg's Ornament-o-Rama board on Pinterest, also, in case you would like some further inspiration.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...