Week 4's Challenge (Delightful Aberrations)

Hey there, dear readers!

I have finally something to enter concerning the Delightful Aberrations challenge my friend Lilia has started: I have taken some photographs concerning the words that should spark ideas in general... I must admit, I am trying not to be super-critical, &... I actually like them :P. The words for this week's challenge are / were: Exploration, joke, sugar, relaxation, and joy. Now, what did I take photos of...?

Image Credit Name: Rina Freÿa 
Image Name: Oricchi Nuckelt ["Oricchi Suckles"]
Notes / thoughts / meaning behind the image: Used the "relaxation" and "joy" prompt. :)
Link to blog: K r e a t i v
Other information: "Oricchi" is the nickname of our cat, Orion. He's been with us since he was a little baby, being bottle-raised, and developed this urge to suckle on fingers to calm down / relax...

Image Credit Name: Rina Freÿa 
Image Name: Oricchi Nuckelt Weiter ["Oricchi Continues Suckling"]
Notes / thoughts / meaning behind the image: Used the "relaxation" and "joy" prompt. :)
Link to blog: K r e a t i v
Other information: See "Oricchi Nuckelt" ;).

Image Credit Name: Rina Freÿa 
Image Name: Sugar, Anyone?
Notes / thoughts / meaning behind the image: Used the "exploration" and "sugar" prompt. It could as well be "joy" ;).
Link to blog: K r e a t i v
Other information: These little boys are Bart (mostly black cat) & his brother Yoshi (mostly white, with the spots in his fur), two of our cats. The sweets are called "Veggie Mäuse", I think ("Veggie Mice"). :D

...

I hope I have done everything correct now :). Anyway, these are my submissions. I hope you like them!

Much love!

MAYBE...

Am thinking about how to phrase this. Would anybody here would be up for a collaboration on a musical project? I must say, I'd LOVE to participate in FAWM, but then again - Why should I want to wait so long (until February)?

My personal downside right now is that I have no real means to record my singing / my guitar playing. Mainly I write music using a certain program on my PC. I'd love to really work on music with others, no matter if "in person" or "online"...

The mere thought of this just brings joy to my heart. I don't care much about YOUR level of playing your instrument / singing, I think the fun should be the most important point... I must say, I tried installing Audacity quite often and always had trouble with that (The speakers wouldn't work anymore afterwards. D:), but maybe... I can find a solution?

Any instrument would be welcome :D. Genre-wise I am not really focused on "one genre"; it depends on what you guys want to play / what your influences are and I'd just try to mix them together with mine, so that we'd have a totally unique style (In my eyes, probably the best way to go about it!)...

So, all you people, who'd like to participate? :) Please send me a message if you do want to: senor_rina [at] gmx [dot] net (Without the spaces and such!)... Have a lovely day everybody & keep rocking!! ^_^

Sew awesome!! :)

Sew awesome & special!! Oh my, those puns are GREAT :D.

How are you all? I somehow wanted to share with you some resources about sewing. I went to a small list of things I*d like to do and there was "Learn to sew" written on this, so I thought I should write about this a little, share some resources with you, etc. :)

During my childhood, I had an almost-"sleeping beauty" moment when I tried handling a sewing machine without anybody to give instructions & help, and then got my finger in between a piece of fabric and the needle - ouch! That moment, I SWORE to myself to never touch a sewing machine again. In fact, I started despising people who did sew, and I though they were "too feminine" in my eyes. Because being feminine is evil and all that *note for the readers : SARCASM!*.

Then Natron & Soda happened to upload their page(s); I am mainly refering to the actual site of "Natron & Soda", because Soda took down her site years ago, and I won*t blame her for this. However, "Natron & Soda" REALLY was a great place to start, at least for me. Basically, the page used to be all about sewing and generally making goth-related clothing, accessories, and so on. It is amazing!

So, I made a list of clothes to sew, but the list grew and grew and basically said includes (almost) every piece of clothing introduced on this site :). I *always* wanted to cut that list down, but all the planning is getting boring, to be honest. I can, however, see where the patterns come from - or better said, there are (mainly?) sewing instructions on the page on how to make your own unique pattern and how to sew it. They also give tips on music to play whilst doing that, and many people have contributed their own sewing instructions :).

So that was a turning point - discovering this site. Ever since, I couldn*t stop thinking about "I want to sew!", just imagine that with a zombie voice ... "Need ... to sew!! BRAINS!" (Need to sew brains? - Sounds like a cute version of a plushie to me :D!) Ah, that said, they also featured how to make some plushies on the page. I will put the link under "Resources" :).

(The page*s in German only as far as I know, though.)

So, I bought some books from book-selling pages which are famous for low prices :). Around the same time, Burda (a sewing/DIY magazine) released a collection of four magazines in which they explain the basics of sewing, and that said, the instructions are easy to understand. :) For example, I learned (theoretically) how to make a bigger version of an existing sewing pattern - which to me is really important, as many awesome sewing patterns are not available in my (plus) size.

On BurdaStyle*s homepage you can either download [or order?] sewing patterns ("Schnitte & Shop"; you can also regularly buy the magazine, it is really worth it!) ... There also is a section (somewhere) in which people explained how they tailored their clothes, plus there is a how-to on how to (ORLY?) make your own dress form. Great, I say!! (Also in German.)

Then, there are also resources like Dunkelsüß, Kostenlose Schnittmuster, and Cut Out And Keep. Dunkelsüß is probably most famous for being probably the most popular German-speaking page on which you can find information on lolita clothing. I am far from being as elegant as many lolitas (I mean it! I am just really clumsy and all that :(!), BUT I love the fashion styles in this genre. It is beautiful to look at, plus I like the broad creativity which enables fashion designers to create unique and pretty pieces of clothing.

BTW, there is a great page called SpoonFlower for designing your own fabric!! (Link in the resources!)

Anyways, I*d love to try out wearing Lolita fashion [I don*t want to make myself ridiculous but it would be an honour and a pleasure to me to wear it?], and for the reason Dunkelsüß also offers some sewing instructions for Lolita fashion, I want to go for this :). (Reminder to self : Do that!! :D)

Also, you might find the releases of the "Gothic Lolita Bible" interesting. They also feature some patterns on how to make some Lolita fashion items yourself, like scarfs and such. I only own one of the releases but they show how to make a skirt there, explain how to alter sewing patterns, and there*s a kitten scarf explained :). The version of the GLB I have is in English even.

Kostenlose Schnittmuster is a collection of links to all kinds of sewing patterns online. Some descriptions are in foreign languages like German, [English,] French, and Japanese. I guess there are even more languages I didn*t come across, but brace yourself for the mass of languages you can choose from (I find this amazing. If you need help with some, please tell me!).

As for Cut Out And Keep, that is an English-speaking page on which everybody can contribute their WIP for creative projects. Some might show you how they painted their shoes, some may show you how they dyed their hair, some may show you how they tailored a skirt ... It is an amazing resource and in my opinion one of the best :)!!

Of course, you can also google DIY blogs or craft blogs or sewing blogs or whatever you like.

Lastly, some words on the "Nähmaschinen-Führerschein" and the "Große Nähschule" : I have bought the former book, and it is showing you step-by-step how a sewing machine works. You have small tests to pass after each lesson, and all through the book you get to sew smaller items like plushies or bags.

The latter I haven*t bought yet, BUT I once saw it in a book store in one of my former hometowns and thought, "Someday I will buy this book!! It is amazing!", and my opinion hasn*t changed ever since. Fabrics are explained, steps on how to sew what are explained, and so on. I think it doesn*t contain any sewing patterns unfortunately, but the general knowledge delivered makes it worth the price nevertheless.

Okay, now I want to sew :D. I also have two (!) sewing machines, one is a bigger one by Singer, and the other one is one of these small sewing machines which you can use for smaller projects. Which one would you choose for your first projects? (I haven*t tried either of them. Maybe they still need some oil or so? Hm!)

Resources :

Web Sites :

* BurdaStyle. (Also has a "physical" magazine you can buy over here.)
* Cut Out And Keep.
* Dunkelsüß.
* Kostenlose Schnittmuster.
* Natron & Soda.
* SpoonFlower.

Books :

* Der Nähmaschinen-Führerschein (Author : Eva Schneider).
* Die Große Nähschule (Author : Alison Smith; original title : "The Sewing Book").
* Gothic Lolita Bible.

RSLB, home improvement and bad news.

Hello.

I haven*t been around much and I am sorry for this. However, I wanted to tell you some things that have been going on in my life/our lives lately.

One of our cats got very ill, and after several days he spent at the vet and his feet all being paralysed in the end and him being in pain, he was put to sleep. The doctor said it is possible that he had a meningitis or maybe a moving thrombus, but either way it was really painful for him ... He was 12 years old when he went over the rainbowbridge and has been my feline companion ever since he was three months old. I miss him a lot ... I am not crying that much anymore, but this doesn*t mean he isn*t missing. Everything reminds me of him. But somehow my own belief is giving me strength - which I won*t go into detail with now, because belief is something very personal and I respect that others may not have the same ideas of the afterlife as I do.

Then, we did a lot of DIY work at home. Lots of work like building up furniture again and painting walls. I didn*t do much of all that, though, but I am still kind of pleased with the results, plus the colour in the kitchen is really lovely and warm.

And I am working on a scrapbook-kind of project. Maybe you have heard from Gala Darling before; she is one of my favourite bloggers :). She also is the one innitiating the Radical Self-Love movement, and also came up with the idea to start a Radical Self-Love Bible, which is the project I am working on. The only downside I have come across thus far is that I used too much glue and the sides are stuck together now? I will maybe remove them and tear them apart again, and then "glue" them in with some kind of poster strips. Sounds like a better idea to me? Or maybe glue stick instead ... :\ I loved the work on it so far, though. :)

For those interested, here*s a link to the Radical Self-Love movement and several texts on that subject for that matter ^^ : *Clickedy Click*.

Memes ...!

I found a great page recently with many, many memes for yourself to work your way through ;D. Of course, some seemed really interesting to me. I will be posting my results from two memes on here, which are *drum roll, please!* :

The 30 Day Photography Challenge & the 30 Day Super Awesome Drawing Challenge ...

It will start as soon as possible ;D. Probably even today, but I cannot promise this yet. I am still working my way through two other memes, and still -- I really want to do this!

I have to admit, photography-wise I am not a really big talent, because I have no real account of anything I took a photo of. I also remember when I tried, my hands started shaking, like in panic. I don*t know why, though. Maybe it will vanish when I practice a little, and maybe photography will turn out a really great new hobby for me ;D. I also like the way it makes you be as open for the results as possible by only naming subjects but no "You have to do this and this and this". Much room for creativity!!

As for drawing ... Well ... Yeah, I love drawing :D. I am looking forward to it, really. :)

Also, I wanted to ask something. Does anybody of you know of any competitions/challenges for people writing blogs on any creative subject? That*d be awesome!!

Feel free to comment~!

And, btw, I need H E L P !!

I am currently searching for a decent program to write, program, record, etc. music with. I came across Mu.Lab which seems to be quite okay, but then again I am not sure about the system requirements. :( I want to write something musical so badly!! I dislike not doing much musically (I am only able to sing right now. Sure singing is great, but then again, I want to do all kinds of things ...).

Also most likely many of my former songs I wrote are gone ... Yes, pity me now. :P I know I can still re-write them ...

So, if you know a good program, or even just a website I can use, please tell me. I know one site, too, but then again it only offers a limited amount of notes. Oô

I n s p i r a t i o n ?

Recently, I bought myself a collection of colo(u)red crayons. I think there were many included in this, and even though I did not have many good ideas as to how to (ab)use them, I will hopefully get to use them tomorrow. Or tonight; if I cannot sleep at all ... :D [I also want to write a few letters and maybe use them to make the pieces of paper more interesting after all. (But in a way that I will be able to write still ...)]

So please look forward to new pictures coming :).

I will not leave you with only promises; I really want to expand my creative ... projects and reach out for my possibilities. Therefore, I am thinking of giving you some advice. I find it was very nicely put in the following videos :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1E4aeCTg7s
("29 ways to stay creative".)
This has indeed very nice ideas as to what you can do to be more creative. Even though I do consider it creativity when you sit at your computer and create pieces of art/music/writing/etc. on it, but I am aware of the power of ideas you can have when not being on your computer. Sometimes they come randomly. What I think is really important is that you just let ideas come to you, and don*t try to bash yourself because of the quality of your ideas. Just try them out; it always happens to me then that I get better ideas for what I can do, also partly from the things I just wrote down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JUFjTOM32g
("Best motivational video ever for creative people and startups".)
This one is more about an attitude you should keep in mind. I don*t want to go too much into detail, but it is eye-opening for me, and I think ... Well, if you really want to do something, if you have the idea, try it out. There is this option of trying and failing, but you can still stand up and create better ideas out of your options before! :)

I also recommend reading some texts on the following site; it has helped me countless times :
http://www.tinybuddha.com
There is a lot of wisdom on this site, and I just love the ideas and attitudes ... And I can still find myself in them. (My favourite recommendation thus far was about how to make decisions. Just write your options down on a piece of paper, cut each option out, fold them together and put them in something like a hat, a box, or whatever; then draw your option. If you feel unhappy about your result, this is not the right decision to make :) ...)

So, yeah, I will wander off now, and most likely get creative. I usually spend that time sleeping, but right now I am not feeling tired at all. A possible YAY for that! I will upload it as soon as possible then.

Sorry that this didn*t include anything "artistic" from me. I just wanted to share this with you and maybe cheer you up. (BTW, I do think everybody is creative in a certain way. It is just a matter of how people look at things ... Creativity also comes from excitement, and excitement comes from love/loving what you do.)

Work presented #1

You can find some of my works over at DeviantART, too (my user name there is khaosinkinema), as well as on my homepage (khaosinkinema). Today, I would like to show you a picture I once made using felt-tip pens. It was inspired by various things ... My favourite colour being turquoise, and to be honest, since I didn*t have a turquoise felt-tip pen, I had to do something else to create at least a vision of turquoise. Also, I must say I love the legend of Atlantis a lot, so I wanted to set a sign for my own vision of Atlantis.