031. Phew

I attempted to make some yummy Pastaroni for a quick snack today and can I say utter fail? It took me at least three tries to make it past step one. Pretty bad. I poured two cups of milk in a bowl- supposed to be 2 cups of water now and only 2/3 of a cup of milk three steps later. Get the buttery spread and water into the bowl and shove it in the microwave for 12 minutes- didn't realize the pasta was supposed to be in there that whole time. All in all it still took just as much time as making it on the stove top would have taken, I overcooked the pasta a tad, and it was still delicious. Oorah! Lol.

Man, I really need to sort my recent photos. I'm kind of particular about how they're named and organized so it can sometimes be a daunting task. All my fault, I know, :P. Well, I still want to post some pictures in today's blog so... I'll just yank those out from the midst their electronic mayhem and shoot them up here! :D

First off are my sad, sad attempts at creating a photo box. Just a portable little lighting studio-thing so I can take better pictures of my bracelets. Here's a link on Ebay. There are other kinds, same idea. Pricing ranging from $7 to +$100. So, I found a link to make a homemade one! The design is fantastic, by the way, but if this wasn't already ghetto enough- take a look at what I churned out:

 

 

I didn't have a square enough box, so I tore apart some cardboard to make the frame with masking tape and strips of scrap paper. Then, I proceeded to cover it with a pillow case and t-shirt and used another pillowcase as the backdrop.

Even kitty was a bit incredulous/ skeptical about the results! The only way I could have made it more questionable was to use duct tape and bubblegum, :P But I do have to say, I think even my pathetic excuse for a lighting tent worked!

This first photo was with a mini flashlight above :( BUT this second photo was just using my camera's flash! Oh, and I did switch to using a different pillow case throughout testing my box-tent-thingamagig/abomination. I think that's pretty snazzy though! I still need to perfect what to use as a backdrop and techniques on how to get better close-ups, but it's definitely a great start!

In other Etsy news, I finally got my 100th sale! And my 101st, 102nd, and 103rd. Lol, that particular buyer ordered four bracelets. Huzzah! To celebrate this, I decided to release the new Blaze pattern (that I previewed here a few days ago) later this week. My Facebook fanpage has gotten a surge of new fans thanks to a dear friend of mine sweetly harassing everyone she new about my shop. Happy Birthday, Val! And much love and thanks! <3 So, I also gave them a sneak peek too, now that I've confirmed in my head that I would indeed decide to list the pattern.

Oh man, I cannot wait until the rest of the goodies I've ordered finally arrive. I am going to craft like mad. I hope (/crosses fingers) that I can figure out a few foreign crafting techniques and release something totally different than my friendship bracelets and origami mobiles. Well, currently just mobile. Singular. Some of my incoming mail should help change that! UGH! I can't wait! /squeal. Lol. 

Well, that's a lot of linkage already, so I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my... step-nephew kitty? It was taken yesterday when he decided to be all fancy/ awkward. He's a teenager and a huge brat and becoming quite the glutton :( ... we're working together to fix that.

Way too cute. Almost makes you forget he's a little monster. Almost. Lol. Until tomorrow! <3

P.S. Hope everyone who celebrated had a fun/ successful April Fool's day!

P.P.S. This marks me writing for a whole month! Hooray! Lol.

--- Update ---
Due to some technical difficulties, I have not reached 103 sales. However, I still reached the magical 100 because of the latest buyer buying those 4 bracelets! So the pattern will be released and the celebration in my head continues! Yay! :P