Long Term Review of Brooksbot75 Skull Purse

I got an awesomely wicked handmade metal skull purse from Brooksbot75 a while ago. I was lucky enough to interview him for my other blog, fell head-over-heals in love with this purse... which I then saved up all my precious pennies to buy to replace my busted and thread bare 'crocheted' purse monstrosity I bought at Target for 10 bucks about a year before to fill the need for a purse. I figured a freaking metal purse would last longer! I got it a little after the first of the year.

It took a little bit of time to get my purse because I ordered it right during the x-mas rush... but I was in no hurry. Pursey (that's what I named him) came with the custom length chain so I could put the purse over my shoulder. I dont know why most purses these days have short straps so that you cannot use both your hands while shopping or have to stuff it in your armpit... again impeding use of your arms. I am one of those crazy people who want a purse securely slung across my body, but I still want to use both arms and hands without having to worry about my purse falling either to my elbow or onto the floor... go figure.

Pursey is lined, which is nice. It saves my keys, pocket book and cellphone from unnecessary wear and lessens the amount of sounds coming from my purse. My purse does squeak on occasion (from the movement of the chain... think school yard swings) but that is easily stopped by resting hand on top of his very touchable cranium. I know that I am constantly fingering his smooth metal surface and tracing his copper grommets! This 'chrome dome' makes a great drum to pass the time, too!

Pursey is heavy, but it almost all comes from the chain. The chain is steel, while the purse itself is lightweight aluminum. I plan on some day replacing the chain with a leather equivalent to lighten the load. This purse, as a bonus, could definitely be used as a self defense weapon if needed. (I need to level up so I can get WP Chain.... gamer geek humor there) Given that it is a metal skull, I would imagine that that would also be a theft deterrent.

Pursey is a bit small inside. I can only fit my small pocket book, basic cellphone and my keys in him. That is okay with me, I have always been drawn to small purses. The opening mechanism is simple, but I believed it has been redesigned a bit (I have the first version of this purse, and I believe Brooksbot75 is onto a second version) I still like it. It can open unexpectedly if you bump it just right, so be warned.

Random people comment about him all the time. I frequently get "Is that a purse?", "Cool skull!" and "Did you make that?" from all kinds of people. I have even had people ask to take pictures of my purse with their cellphones!

Overall Impression:
Pros: Awesome design, small, graphic, can be a weapon, eye-catching, decent price, handmade.
Cons: Can be a bit heavy with the steel chain, can open unexpectedly, small, watch out when around things that can scratch... like the paint jobs on cars.

Halloween Dinner: Hot Dog Creatures Covered in Snot

I know its a bit after Halloween, but I have had so many other things on my plate I havent been able to post much. We made a special Halloween odd diner: Hot dog creatures with Snot sauce. Basically sliced up hot dogs with spaghetti poked through them with Alfredo sauce (from a can too, I didnt have time to make my own). If it had been marinara sauce we would have called it blood! Not to bad, and interesting to prepare, cook and eat! The part of the spagehetti going through the hot dog was a tiny bit less cooked than the rest. It was barely notable, but still good. I might try this again with something like Italian sausage or something with a bit more sophisticated flavor.

I love Halloween!

I had to share all the lovely Halloween stuff I have been accumulating all month. First off, if you haven't gone to your local Target store and checked out their Halloween stuff, you should. They have the best displays and candies I have ever seen...though this year I have yet to see any gummy dissection kits :(
Target is also the only place I have found that carries the rare and wonderful Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. I found them last year and by the time I found they were the equivalent of candy crack... our local Target had sold out. You should go out and buy as many bags as you can afford now. You will not be sorry. I promise.
Last year I picked up a great skull cookie jar to go with my eyeball salt and pepper shakers and brain bowl. I am determined to have a 'mad scientist' themed kitchen... but I digress. This year I picked up some great metal skeletal hands serving forks. They are just great fun to play with! (I the shirt in the picture was also bought at Target... along with a dozen or so other Halloween themed T-shirts).


There was also this awesome black/silver fiberglass skull pot thing. We couldnt quite figure out exactly what it was supposed to be... you couldn't put candy in it without fear of little kids falling in (plus it would take a metric ton of candy to fill it) and it didnt have any drainage for potted plants. We drilled said holes, and now it is a planter waiting for spring to be filled with photosynthesizing organisms.


Not pictured, I also picked up a pair of knit gloves with skeletal fingers printed on them for a buck. Working in a medical building... I get a lot of complements! A glowing skull to hang from our balcony, bloody hand prints for the sliding glass door and a skeleton cling for my back seat of my car also been making their appearances for the first time this year. I have also gotten a plethroa of Halloween themed socks just for fun too.

I have also been working on a Halloween wreath, complete with hand painted skull, black and purple flowers, sparkles and black feather boas. It looks pretty darn kick-arse if you ask me!

WIP: Felt and beaded double sided headband done!

I had this idea a while back for a felt headband with leather straps for ties. I kicked it around in my head for about a month then decided to try it. In that month, the headband grew a skull and sported some bead embroider. Oh, and it also became double sided. This first one I finished is just a prototype for me to keep.



It took a lot of energy to make it, so I am unsure if I will make more for my shop. I might (and I will probably break out my sewing machine next time instead of doing all of the stitching by hand). I am not completely happy with the quality of some of the felt (hint, dont use craft felt unless it is the thick kind).



I like the way it came out. I haven't gotten dreads yet to test it out, but that is why I gave it braided leather straps: so I could wear it with either 'normal' hair or dreads. I also love that it has two sides. It is more versatile that way. I am definitely going to make templates out of card stock next time!

I am a writer!!!

I wrote a little article about future fashion in Viva La Mode magazine! And it is now out on the web for everyone to look at! The whole magazine is a great read... so check it out! I hope to have time to write an article or two for the next issue too!

Orange and Black Striped Loom Knitted Shrug 1

Orange and Black Striped Loom Knitted Shrug 1
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I finally got my first ever (for sale) loom knitted shrug all photographed and up on my etsy shop. I am really excited about the way it turned out. I hope to make some more soon, but I already have an other new item in the works already. It might take me a while to create, but I think it will be worth it.



My poor skinless mannequin had to be covered with one of my favorite sarongs to make her presentable. I hope to have something more permanent soon, but I have to wait until it gets hotter out so we can paint outside. She is made of foam, so I dont know what kind of paint I can use that wont make her melt. My lightest sarong makes a good background, but it was hard to find a good place in my apartment that I could put it and still be in the light. You cant see in my photo, but my mannequin is actually on top of a cat carpet/bed thing, and two plastic litter buckets... all stacked on each other!

Third time is a charm!

Third time is a charm!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Well, there we go! I finally finally finally have a neck warmer! I know it is a bit hard to see, since it is black and I am wearing a black shirt and a black hoodie (can you tell what my favorite color is?) I can wait to turn out a few more (in different colors) and put them up on my etsy site. There are few little things I will do differently to tweak the pattern, but I really like it. I have worn it all day and it is really super comfy. All these neck, arm, and ear warmers are coming in handy as we have to keep the heat low to conserve on our energy bill. I sorta envy my cats, they have fur coats! My husband doesnt feel the chill because I am convinced he is half yeti.

Fail... at Neck Warmers

This weekend I was determined to work out a neat neck warmer I can wear all day while I am at school, teaching etc. I set out with some lovely red yarn and my knitting loom. Well, first, I ran out of the red yarn.... so no problem, I will make it double sided. I really want something that hugs my neck so I worked out a nice ribbed pattern to try. I got to learn and practice how to make the purl stitch on my loom, which was neat. I go on my merry way, knitting along. Well, I finish everything off and....


The binding off is too tight... while most of it will slip over my head, that darn binding stitch wont budge. Dang. Well, it does make a nice and warm ear warmer!



And dont forget, it is revertible! That is great because I really want to wear these items with the majority of my t-shirts during the winter. You can see that the black matches my knit arm warmers too! Those are a mess up as well, they were supposed to go all the way up to my armpits, but I didnt make them wide enough on one end and they were too tight on my elbows... so they are now a pair that sit below my elbows and are scrunchy. At least they still work!

Yesterday I tried again. I dont have any pictures of it because it was so messed up, I made my husband pull it apart. The second one was made from a nice grey and black combo. I fixed the "constriction" problem by not knitting in the round on my loom. Well, I also wanted to add some embelishment in the form of a cowl that you could fold over your nose and mouth if it was really cold, fold it down when you were inside. That didnt really work out... it ended up looking like a bib. Epic fail! I was so disappointed because I couldnt even salvage it. Well, I salvaged the yarn.

I tried again today. Plain and black, no cowl. I dont have any good buttons to close it, so it isnt done just yet... until I can make a trip to the local craft shop. I really hope it works. If it works, I may make a few more for my shop.

Product Review: oh the horror... BRAIN bowl from Foldedpigs

I was so so so excited when my husband called me during work today. He told me that a box was waiting for me... a wonderful box from a wonderful seller named foldedpigs. This seller is one of the first sellers I ever hearted when I first started this crazy thing called Etsy. I have saved up my paypal pennies to finally... finally get a Brain Bowl. It is hard to snag one, because they go so quickly, but I did it! This will go perfect with my skull cookie jar and eyeball salt and pepper shakers!


Well, when I got home there was this wonderful box with a great graphic of an anatomic heart on it... well that gets extra brownie points in my book! I am a total science nerd and anatomy lover. The bowl was wrapped up really securely, and I bet you could just about dropkick it and it would still be fine. I am going to keep all the bubble wrap for when I move in the future (when ever that will be...)!


The bowl itself is just perfect. According to the listing, it is microwave and dishwasher safe, which is good because I plan on eatting all my soup out of this bowl from now on! The red color is extremely vibrant and it is much larger in person that it looks in the listing too! I am going to treasure this bowl for a very long long time!

Overall Impression: I have to say, I was biased from the beginning, but I really love this bowl! I love the design, the concept and the execution! I love my brain bowl!

Investigating a Crime Scene!

Investigating a Crime Scene!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Happy Halloween everyone! I know I dont have black hair... but my costume this year was Abby from NSIC. She is sorta my hero. She gives me hope that I can some day be respected and employed in a lab while having the ascetic I long for. One of the best complements I had today was several people thought, before I told them about my Halloween costume, that I was just dressing up a bit to do something special! I normally wear a lab coat at work, so the only thing I did different was put my hair up in pig tails (my hair isnt long enough for braids... barely long enough for the pig tails!), changed my necklace and put on some make up! I didnt have to actually go and buy anything for my costume. How cool is that!

Arm Warmer Frenzy!

I have been in a fiber frenzy lately. I have made something like 3 pairs of arm warmers (4 if you count a pair I messed up on). I am still working on a blanket and another set of red arm warmers, plus I have another blanket and an extremely long pair of arm warmers floating around in the back of my head. My first two pairs (red and black pair and the sparkly cranberry and black pair) are crocheted and the gray ones are knitted. I retaught myself how to knit because my still WIP red pair (not pictured) will be created using a yarn were the stitches just disappear when they leave your crochet hook! I really want to use this yarn because of its color, red and slightly darker red, and it is really light and soft. As a bonus, while I was balling it up, the original skein looked like a flopping blood clot dancing around my floor. That was great! I found a "new" techinique for balling up my yarn where it will pull from the middle of the ball... yeah I know I am behind on my fiber arts learning curve.. I have only been crocheting for something like 10 years now. HERE is where you can find it. The only issue I have with it is if you get a knot... you are missing one of your thumbs to help unwravel it. More views of my arm warmers can be found on my Flickr site. If you like what you see, just let me know! I am always willing to do custom work (through my etsy shop, of course!)!.

Yorik, our new cookie jar!

Yorik, our new cookie jar!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

What can I say... I love Target. That store takes Halloween as seriously as I do. I have been looking for a new cookie jar for AGES (since I make cookies fairly often) and I just haven't found one that fit me. Well, the other day my husband and I decided to check out the delight that is Target's Halloween candy and decor. After gallivanting through piles of gooey gummy bats and beakers of margarita mix, I laid my eyes upon this gem! He was sitting with two others, just waiting for me to whisk him away to my kitchen. I knew right when I saw him, he had to be mine. I was thinking of waiting until the Halloween stuff went on sale, but I knew if I waited he would be gone for sure. I think he goes wonderfully with my eyeball salt and pepper shakers we got last year, don't you? While I don't remember exactly where we got them, they eyeballs did not come from target. I figure, when I am rich (yeah right) I will be able to have a whole "mad scientist" themed kitchen, complete with beakers for drinking vessels etc. A girl can dream, can't she?

Product Review: William Blake Red Dragon Business Card Holder from Sweetheart Sinner

The environment in my book bag and/or purse can be very dangerous for small paper items like business cards. My pocket book is also so crammed with cards and IDs that I can only put maybe 3-5 business cards at a time, which can leave me without any easy to grab information about my business quick! In steps Sweetheart Sinners and her great metal business card holders! She has over 1000 to choose from, and that is about the only hard thing about picking out a holder. Picking out just one that would be me but still business appropriate was a bit hard. I decided on the one featuring William Blake's Red Dragon because I love anything Hannibal Lector related. The case itself is metal, which I hope will stand up well in the black hole which is my backpack. Both sides can be used for cards etc. which means I can fit about 15-20 cards on each side. I haven't tried it, but the listings also say you can fit an iPod Nano and earbuds in the case instead. The opening mechanism is easy to use and the tabs that keep the cars etc. in place are spring loaded. The image is nice and clear, but I have only been using it for the past couple of days, so I have no idea how it will hold up in the long term... but so far so good!

Overall Impression: I like the price and room in this holder, but I have yet to really put it through it's paces.

Product Review: Two Pairs of Wrist Warmers from Ariadne's Island

I have a weakness for hand warmers... and I finally indulged myself in two light pairs for the summer from a great and affordable shop on etsy called Ariadne's Island. Her wrist warmers are so cute and come in lots of colors. I stuck with my two favorites, red and black. Ariadne is also open to custom orders. I had been watching the shop even since I had saved up a few extra bucks to see if she had any colors I liked and inquired on a custom order of red and black... but to my luck she was planning on listing those same colors so all I had to do was to wait and pick them up in a few days! I have to say, they came very quickly and in great shape. They are made of t-shirt like material (I am no fabric expert, but I am sure if you really wanted to know you could just ask her!) and are perfect for summer. When I got them, I wore them for about 2 weeks just about every day. I absolutely love them! I have to say, I also love the price too, great deal for an awesome look!

Overall Impression: Great customer service, comfortable and affordable product. I look forward to ordering more items in the future!

The images are used with permission from Ariadne's Island. Mine are full of cat hair... since I have two cats and I wear them so often!

Bondage Doll Necklace 1

Bondage Doll Necklace 1
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I am so excited that I have to tell the whole world! I made my first mature listing on etsy! I wonder if anyone will buy this little doll, but it is waiting for the perfect person to come along! It was quite a pain to make, it seems like every time I tried to work on it, something else would go wrong. I dont know if I will ever make another one because of the difficulty level in both execution and finding a good used doll body w/o any damage to it and the correct head attachment. While it was difficult to make, I am very happy with the result!

Nice Things Just for Me

I dont often get to sit down and create something that is specifically for me. Tonight was a rare night. I decided to take a night for myself. I just wanted something nice to wear when I go out some times. I normally wear the same jewelry all the time and dont spend money on "frill" jewelry.
I made myself an long "over the head" style black and red necklace. I tried to use all the black and red odds and ends I had laying around. It has all different kinds of beads in it, including glass, stone, bone and coral.
The next two things I tried out was some hair clips. Since I got rid of my wool dreads, I have some crazy hair... that needs to be restrained. It is too short for any kind of pony tails yet, so clips will have to do. The first of the two clips has an actual preserved maple leaf focal "bead". It is a bead, it even has a hole to string it by. I have been waiting for inspiration to come to me so I could use it, but I was so afraid that if I put it in a necklace, it would break. It is pretty sturdy, but I like to make things that are durable when used in their normal capacity. I figured I could safely use it on a hair clip because you don't normally knock you head into things, but you may catch a necklace on something. I really like the little beaded drop off the end of the clip... it sorta jazzes up that end of things. The second hair clip is just something fun. All the tiny rhinestones were glued by hand. There are 3 drops with 3 jingle bells on each end. It is just something simple and fun to wear.
I dont think I will be putting any of these into "production" any time soon, but if you really like what you see, I have no problem doing a custom order for you! Just go to my etsy shop and get the process started!

Product Review: 10 Random Themed Gothic 1 Inch Pinback Buttons from Button Empire

I have been meaning to review these wonderful buttons for ever... I got them back in February... but I have just been so busy. This is actually my second purchase from this seller and I am extremely happy with the quality of these stylish buttons. This wonderful seller is Button Empire on Etsy. The first time I discovered Button Empire, I got a gift for my husband and I. It was a cute pair of his and her buttons that says "I'd rather be smooching my nerdy husband" and "I'd rather be smooching my crafty wife". The are just adorable! I mentioned quality earlier... and let me tell you, these buttons are tough little buggers! I have a jean jacket that I love to stick buttons and patches on, so my buttons go on that. My husband has no such button displaying device, so he put it on one of his button down shirts. This shirt went through 2 complete wash and dry cycles and it was no worse for wear. No rusting, bleeding or fading. I was just amazed! Because of this, when I saw that Button Empire offered a random bunch of 10 gothic themed buttons I jumped on it! I have a weakness for randomized things and grab bags. When my package came speedily in the mail I couldnt wait to rip into it and see what I got. I got quite the pick, from skeletons, anatomical diagrams to comic book vampires. Button Empire also included 3 freebie buttons... pink and flowery.... but I found a place for them.

Overall impression: Great value and awesome (laundry defying) quality. Once I find some more room on my jacket, I hope to get some more!

Product Review: Matte PVC Surgical Mask from Black Orchid Designs

I have been wanting a simple black surgical style mask for years, but all the searching I have done on the internet has yielded me either very intricate and massive mask (like this one) or very expensive ones (like this). I didnt want a big investment in my first mask if I didnt like them. Thankfully, I found Black Orchid Designs on etsy! I had hearted her shop a while ago because of some of the wonderful and affordable items she has in her shop. When I first decided to look into her shop to fulfill my mask needs, no plain black masks were listed so I convoed her to see if I could get a custom mask done. Black Orchid told me that she was actually listing exactly what I wanted in a few days, so I could just order that. I was so excited! Two things to keep in mind when ordering from Black Orchid is that:
1. She is in Canada, so it may take a little longer if you are ordering from the US etc.
2. Her default shipping method is air mail, which is fairly expensive. To get ground mail, which is more affordable (but takes longer) just contact her and she can arrange that.
All that being said, it took my mask about 2 weeks to get to me (using ground mail and I am in the US). The package was plain and only contained my mask wrapped in some tissue paper, but everything arrived just fine and in one piece. I am very happy with Black Orchids customer service, price and product. It is hard to find affordable gothic style clothing and accessories and Black Orchid Designs is a great shop for those of us who love style but dont have a lot of money to spend creating it. All in all, my mask with ground shipping cost me under 7 dollars!
Overall impression: I love Black Orchid and would recommend her to anyone!