when things don't always work out as they should. (plus an ink review?)

I had this brilliant idea to do fountain pen ink reviews.

I have gotten super into fountain pens and ink is kind of like nail polish in that ten people using the same ink (or polish) will have ten different experiences and opinions. I end up reading tons of reviews that often cover the same or similar products, albeit inks, pens or paper.

So, since I've bought a ton of samples lately (and a ton of pens) I decided to start writing out some reviews. Everything was going smoothly so far.

Then I scanned them.



Firstly, my scanner refuses to can the entire page. Not sure why. Obviously, I don't use it very often. There isn't even anything about this in the manual! (Next time I'm going to try scanning it still on the pad and see if having three dimensions helps. Also considering drawing borders.)

Secondly, this color is not even close to the actual color.

Then I googled: https://www.google.com/search?q=noodler's+black+swan+in+australian+roses&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5iNwUtTzNuGBiwKr04DgCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

It seems to show up this way in everyone's photos and scans, so I don't feel as bad.

In reality, it is a much more red purple. Almost a burgundy. It isn't as red as Black Swan in English Roses, but is still more red than it shows above. It's a nice color. It's not my favorite, as I've yet to find a purple that has really wowed me.

The pen, the Fountain Pen Revolution Dilli flex pen is fantastic! I adore it and it is currently my favorite. It's highly versatile and can write from a very fine line to a fat, flex-y puddle. The pen and ink combination here was ideal, because BSAR shades so well. I anticipate picking up at least one more.

I'm a bit discouraged and re-thinking this ink review thing. I'm going to try scanning a few more and see what happens. Please, any feedback is welcome.

*All products here were purchased by me for my own use and review. 


ETA: I decided to not include swabs because I think swabs can be kind of misleading about how a color writes. How it looks in a big ol' blobs is not really relevant for me because I am only writing and not doing art. Plus, everyone posts as swab so I really don't need to. Right?

DIDNEYLAN! (or How I Can Go On Vacation And Still Be Succulent Crazy)

I went to Disneyland. It happens.

Yes, I am a childless (childfree!) grown-ass woman.

Yes, I took pictures with Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and Pluto and Donald. (And Daisy!)



One of the things that I appreciate most about Disneyland is that everything is so detailed and well-done. Everything fits into its theme to a T!

Imagine how delighted I was to look around while I was in Frontierland and discover SUCCULENTS! Everywhere!



There were a ton of strawberry pots like this with a huge variety of plants. There were also plants in wall hangers and quite a few in the ground as well. (I also saw quite a few in California Adventure in the Cars Land and Bugs Land sections.) I really wanted to take cuttings because how cool would it be to have a plant that came from a plant growing at Disneyland? I'm too big a square for that. I kept thinking, "If everyone did it, there'd be none left to enjoy."

I always enjoy when two of my interests come together!

Is it an addiction if you can't stop buying plants?

I wrote in June about succulents and haven't looked back. I've gone a leeeetle bit crazy. I mean, as crazy as one can get buying plants.




This is just one such purchase. I love echeverias and rosette-like succulents in general. I was super excited to find the Perle Von Nurnberg (back left) because I'd been admiring it in photos for quite a while. I'm currently debating whether to plant it outside or not. I also love weird plants of all kinds, like the Baby Toes (back middle), Split Rock (front left) and lithops (front right). My Baby Toes plant is pretty beat up, so you can't really see how creepy they are. The Split Rock got a purple buddy this week, and I'll have a really neat picture of the apothecary jar they were planted in.

What I'm the most excited about are the lithops!



I love these, because they are some of the weirdest and most boring plants on the face of the planet. If you aren't paying attention, you might not even notice that they are plants! Surprisingly, they have a really pretty, daisy-like flower. Of course, they bloom in spring so I will be waiting quite a while for that. Before that, mine will be getting new leaves, which I am also looking forward to.

I'm planning to repot these (about two weeks after their initial planting) to do something like this, in a really beautiful vintage vase:

(image found on pinterest. original source is http://www.solxsol.com/p/11725/)

Expect more succulent pictures and chatter! I repotted a bunch today but didn't take photos.

recent makings

Here are a few things that went into the mail recently! Tartans included (from left to right) are Nova Scota, Cameron of Erracht, Cameron, Rose, and MacKenzie. Plus we've got the Next Stop Everywhere and the Lady Elizabeth pendants plus Evanora's Emerald Amulet.

I really LOVE LOVE LOVE the new black settings, and I'm looking to add Loopy black so that everything will come in black.

Things have really started to pick up now that Fall is around the corner and I can't be more excited to be making things and sharing what I'm making!

C'est le weekend!

Here are some photos of what I've been doing lately.

I went on a very awesome vacation where I did a lot of spinning.





Finished this while I was there! I plied it the night Tim Lincecum threw his no-hitter. It's lucky yarn!


This was tonight's Tour de Fleece spinning, with my little helper.

My succulents are doing well. So is my pitcher plant.



I found out I can water him with air conditioning condensate which is great! We have a LOT of that this time of year. It's a lot cheaper than distilled water bought by the gallon.

We found a really weird succulent while wine tasting at Ceago Winery in Nice, CA:

I found out later it's a cereus forebesii monstrose. I really wanted to take a cutting, but didn't know how! The winery is gorgeous! There is a beautiful garden and there are lavender fields. Check out their photo gallery if you need some more pretty things to look at.

I've been doing some pretty fun jewelry stuff, too. (Of course. I always am!) Here's a little backstage peek:


One of my pendants is going to Comic Con this weekend! I hope the recipient sends me photos.

three cheers for the red, white, and blue!

This is Sally Hansen base coat, RCM Midnight Affair, Sally Hansen top coat, one thick coat of L.A. Girl Brilliant Blue, Hit Polish Nautical Nonsense, topped off with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

I was very excited to find a couple of these LA Girl 3D Effects polishes at Rite Aid a week or so ago and this blue was absolutely ideal for Fourth of July.

I found Hit Polish on etsy a couple weeks ago and they were having a great sale! I picked up a couple, including Nautical Nonsense. It's got various red, white, blue, and gold glitters in hex and squares with a few shards thrown in. Some of the gold bits are holo, which makes it even better!

Happy July 4th to my American friends!

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

Succulents and such

My two new babies! A kalanchoe (Paddle Plant/Flapjack Plant) on the right and and echeveria (Hens and Chicks) on the right. I love succulents because they are very low-maintenance but can be really striking and unusual.



I have a bunch of cuttings and small plants going right now as well.
 

I'm going crazy with them! Now I'm on the search for containers and terrarium supplies.

Tour de Fleece day 1

Tour de Fleece day 1, a photo by TartanHearts on Flickr.

on the left/forground: Widdershin Woolworks BFL single, half of a 4oz braid to become two-ply
middle: first wheel-spun chain-ply/n-ply! WOO! Woolgatherings BFL, light fingering-ish weight
on spindle: same Woolgatherings but spindle-spun.

Orly Gel FX

If you do gel and think you even might like this, GO PICK SOME UP! Seriously. It's amazing.





This was three coats of Sally Hansen 'Red My Lips' with two coats of Orly 'Gel FX' and Gelish base and top coats. It was a little thick, because of all those coats but not too bad.





Basically, I want to wear Gel FX over every gel color out there. It is so fun! I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves with this one.

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

Tour de Fleece pre-game post #2

When I said, 'I think there is a wheel in my future", I didn't mean two days in the future. I meant something more in the range of two years. I was planning to save my pennies for a while and that sort of thing.

Then this happened:



I posted about wanting a wheel and BAM! A friend of a friend had an Ashford Traditional for sale for a very good price. I snapped it up! I still can't believe it all happened so quickly.

I've been doing a bit of spinning, as often as I can. This was the end of my first day:



I am so glad I started on a spindle and was at least nominally familiar with the why and how. I still thought the yarn went over the big wheel part until last week. (hehehe!) Treadling was the hardest part, mostly because I'm not very coordinated. I'm burning through fiber compared with working on a spindle. I can't wait to start on the Polwarth from the last post and this stuff that just fell into my cart on etsy: (do you sense a theme from the other fiber?)

T-minus 6 days until TdF starts!