I’ve ventured into Youtube land.

I got brave (and bored) last night, and put up my very first Youtube video! It’s just an introduction with a few fun facts about myself, straight from my mouth hole:

I plan on posting more videos about crafty stuff, maybe some book reviews, Halloween fun, and other things relevant to my little life. If you subscribe to me, I promise to do my best to make better quality videos with thoroughly entertaining content.

Do you Youtube? Link me up in the comments so I can follow you, too!

Gentle hugs,

Chels

A chilly and Faire day. (Costume reveal!)

Sorry for the belated post! I’ve been sick for the past week or so with some kind of super cold/sinus infection combo, and I’m just starting to feel like myself again.

Tom and I made it out to Scarborough Ren Fest on 4/5, and it was the coldest, wettest Scarby experience we’ve had yet. I’m not going to lie – we were huddled together and sipping on hot coffee and tea most of the time. We were dressed for warmer weather, but you just can’t rely on Texas to stay in season for too long at a time.

We got lots of compliments on our costumes, and were even photographed by total strangers! Here’s how they turned out:

Super Shaman!

Skye the Dragon Faerie

My headdress and scales

Making friends.

Guarding the dragons.

When we realized how cold it was going to be, we rushed to add some warmer elements to our costumes, like the sheep skin Tom is wearing on his back. The night before, I cut strips of cloth to hand sew to a rug we already own, so that he could slip it on like a backpack. He wore long johns under his peasant pants, too, since the fabric my mom used to make them is pretty thin. I wore leggings under my skirt, and I bought some tall socks at the dollar store on our way to the festival to cut into arm warmers for both of us. I, ahem, had to buy a very pretty velvet shawl as it got colder to help keep my upper body warm, which I ended up gifting to my mom at the end of the day.

I also bought some yummy smelling Fresh Peach perfume oil from Majikah Perfumery, which I love because it’s not alcohol based, and is chemical-free! I also found a dainty, hand-carved wooden wand to go with my fairy costume. We had good food, ran into old friends, and had an overall good time, but headed home early when the drizzle became rain, and the chill became downright cold. Maybe we’ll be able to go again when the weather warms up!

Gentle hugs,

Chels

 

Shamans and Fairies, Oh My! (an update on our Scarborough Costumes)

So, we picked up our tickets for Scarborough Ren Fest last weekend, and we’re planning on making it to opening day (for the first time!) this weekend. I’ve been working hard on finishing our costumes, and, fortunately, my mom agreed to make Tom’s peasant pants, so I could concentrate on the other stuff.

Now, they’re not your typical renaissance festival costumes, exactly. Tom is going as a shaman/green man combo, and I’m going as a dragon fairy. There are nods to renaissance attire, but they’re in no way meant to be historically accurate.

I finished Tom’s “breastplate” (for lack of a better word.) It went from this:

… to this:

I embroidered Nordic designs onto a pleather-y fabric (it’s felted on the back, which I hope will be comfortable for him to wear all day.) There are runic compasses, symbols for guiding you to a specific outcome or trait, and a border design I found online. I’ve hand sewn on faux fur trim, and leather fringe and trim, and added moss and acrylic paint for a lived-in look.

I also made antlers/horns from Sculpey clay to add to his headdress. I painted the antlers with various colors of acrylic paint, and sealed with Mod Podge. Then, I attached them to their own cord to be worn underneath the band of the headdress, which I cut holes into for the antlers to “grow” out of.

I tried out some makeup looks for my dragon fairy costume yesterday:

I plan on dyeing my hair purple before Saturday, hence the purple eyebrows. I still need some practice with using fishnets to produce a “scale” effect on my skin, but I like the way the colors coordinate with the headdress.

To view more photos of our costume pieces, go to this post. You’ll find more of my fairy costume, and some other in progress and inspiration pics!

Gentle hugs,

Chelsea

Energy!

 

Chronic illness cat, you speak the truth.

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Productivity is relative.

 

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a new year filled with love, joy, and peace!

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Here’s to rest.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Season’s Greetings!

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas filled with love and cheer, and that you have a wonderful new year full of possibilities!

 

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Enough.

Gentle hugs,

Chelsea

Listen to the music! How music improves your health and helps you deal.

So, it makes sense that music just makes people feel better (as long as you like the music, of course.) But to read that it can help reduce chronic pain up to 20%, and depression by 25% is just profound to me.

Music has gotten us all through tough times. Most recently, as my mom was suffering from the aftermath of an allergic reaction to the pain meds given to her after surgery (which meant she was completely without pain meds a couple of weeks after her knee replacement,) combined with not having been given her daily medications during her stay in the hospital, I made her an uplifting music list to load onto her iPod. When she was in too much pain to bear, or felt overwhelmingly anxious or depressed, she would put in the ear buds, close her eyes, and “hide” for a while. When she emerged, she was her old self again.

So, I thought I’d share some music with you that I find uplifting. I hope it makes your day a little brighter! If we don’t have the same taste in music, though, just find what you like, close your eyes, tap your feet, and feel better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy listening!

Gentle hugs,

Chelsea