I was perusing craftster.org and I came across an image that looked pretty familiar …
Except the totally cute spoon … so cute!
Somebody on craftster.org saw my work and was inspired to create a few cups of her own. So exciting!
A fellow craftster just blogged about my gorgeous yellow water pitcher and some of my other ceramics in the craftster.org blog. I’m really flattered. You should check it out!
It’s not often that I get press, so I’m pretty excited about this. 
Sooooo I finally got an awesome package from my craftster.org metal swap partner. I sent my package in the beginning of July so I could participate in the MJ swap. My metal swap package from my partner was almost a month late (minus one day!), but it was pretty rockin’ so, whatever!
I took some pix because that’s part of the deal with swaps — you have to post pix of what you receive. I decided to go all drama queen on the photos to show my appreciation. I took the pix w/ my mac, so some are flipped and some are not (didn’t flip the ones that didn’t need it b/c of words). Anywho. yeah. 
Alexi Laiho towel based on (I’m guessing!) this pic:
what I’ve deemed a Dethpouch (zippy pouch with the Dethklok logo x-stitched on) — so very timely because I JUST bought Dethklok (w/Mastadon/Converge/High on Fire) tix on Friday! They are coming to Des Moines, IA! We hardly ever get anything good (metal-wise). 
Inside the dethpouch. No, there wasn’t any cocaine in there … or Duncan Hills Coffee beans … or BBQ sauce. Just a cool kick-ass pouch.
Nathan Explosion plushie head. I’ve got a few ideas where this guy is going to go…. Might have to figure out a way to get him strapped on to my iPod for when I’m running (motivation people!). We shall see.
Some additional cool stuffs (patch and some beaded safety pins)
AND THE CREME DE LA CREME!
Okay — so I told my partner that I recently had to quit running (I’m nearly a 10-year distance runner… every day… 5-7 miles, this time last year 7-10… marathon last year). Anywho, the only thing that got me through any of my runs when I was able to start running again — and starting from square one again is HARD — was “Are You Dead Yet?” by Children of Bodom. At one point I was only able to run the duration of the song, which was a feat for me when I hadn’t been able to run for 3 months. Now I’m back (kind of) — still injured, but working on it, but back up to 3-5 miles a day, which is okay, but COB is what gets me through.
Coolest thing evar — x-stitched Are You Dead Yet? triptych lyrics!
These are getting put right above my desk so I can see them every day when I get done with my workouts (I always plug in the iPod to download my runs to nikeplus.com) … and when I’m sitting here not wanting to work out or run, I’ll be able to see them. YAY MOTIVATION!
All in all, what a great swap!
I recently participated in a heavy metal swap on craftster.org. This was the first organized craft swap I’ve done through the site, and I think it turned out pretty well.
For those of you who don’t know, basically in a craft swap you decide that you’re going to make a certain number of items and find out a lot of stuff about what your partner likes. Craftster does a lot of themed swaps like the metal swap (next up, MJ swap).
My partner was really into a lot of the same kind of stuff that I was into…Children of Bodom, In Flames, Pantera…etc. But she was a HUGE Maiden fan. I took this as an opportunity to get to listen to some Maiden since I never really gave them a chance. I got really excited about crafting some Maiden stuff since I got kind of into the cheesiness of the music. I decided that I’d only make her maiden stuff so she wouldn’t outgrow it later (like she might have with some of the newer bands).
We decided that it would be fun to make some über-girlie items with a metal theme. She seemed pretty interested in kitchen items, so that’s what I made.
Potholder set (with Eddie and Aces High lyrics on the back)
Grocery Tote Bag
Grocery Bag Dispenser
I tried to make it cute... but it didn't quite work. The inside is a pink floral (the top too) and I quilted the outside with silver...but Eddie's just so fugly.
and…. Breakfast with Lemmy — the one non-maiden item. Mötorhead. Ace of Spades. (what’s with the aces theme??)
I was the first one to send, and my partner was the first one to post her stuff… apparently I rocked the eff out of this craft swap. :) So hopefully I get a rockin’ package in return (actually my partner is sending late b/c she wants to thoroughly rock the eff out of MY package too).
Sooo I’m switching gears and crafting for my all-time favorite musician… Michael Jackson. (okay, here’s where I almost went on a “to those of you who are now riding the MJJ train… seriously get off it” rant…but I restrained myself) You guys all know how I feel about him (or at least you know now…most of you knew before), so yeah, I’m a little bit upset about the whole deal but on the bright side, I’m getting to experience him all over again and am discovering things I never knew existed.
I’m SO excited! I’m taking part in my first organized craft swap on craftster.org.
AND, it’s a metal swap! Yay! There are so many craftsters who are into metal — who knew? AND good metal, not hair metal or nümetal! I just got my partner yesterday and we are SO perfectly matched! She’s into Iron Maiden, Slayer, Children of Bodom, EARLY Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, In Flames and Amon Amarth. PERFECT. The only 2 things we’re not matched on is her Maiden and my Dethklok, but otherwise, we’re a great pair.
The other thing is that neither one of us is a typical metal girl. You wouldn’t think I listened to heavy stuff by looking at me and by the way I dress and she’s like that too. Just a girlie girl who happens to listen to cheesy music is how she put it. So we’re thinking of doing very non-metal things and adding a metal twist to them — embroidered tea towels, reconned t-shirts with lots of ruffles and lace, no red and black combos… just super girlie stuff.
I’m soooo excited for this! I’m listening to Maiden right now to get pumped for it.
