It's been so long,

I can't believe it's been years since I've posted.  SHAME ON ME!

I really enjoyed sharing my crafts, adventures and inspiration.  Please check back soon for some posts and pics of some of my recent projects.

Here's an old pic of my furbabies and their varied sizes.

Evening craft project

So this evening I decided to change up a cup from my vanity tray.

Yup, it's old and ugly but it held my bits and bobs for nail designs and such.  But tonight, I used

and

 And got this

Funky and fun.  Now to give it a day or so to dry.  And yes all I did was dribble polish onto the water and then dip the cup in...messy but fun.

Stop 1

So stop one is leading me to 2 areas, 1 has a bit of controversy about it and the second looks interesting.  

From First Stop I’m heading North West about 1.5 hours to one of the locations identified as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  For those of you not familiar with it, it’s what it sounds like.  This link takes you to the Wiki page  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch  

Now where the controversy comes in is the fact that since it’s not always locatable, because it moves and because it’s never been found by satellite that it’s not as big as thought.  No matter if it is real or not, we as a society should be working to save Earth and the creatures on it.  So please cut those soda can plastic holders up, dispose of your trash correctly and above all recycle first.

Back to First Stop and back toward the nearest landmass, Guadalupe Island. 

For those of my followers that are fans of Shark week, I’m sure Guadalupe Island is known to you.  It has been a seal sanctuary since 1975, drawing the sharks.  The weather year round has a median temp of around 65 degrees F and has attracted many groups to study the biosphere reserve that the Mexican Government has set up.  But really unless you are a scientist studying seal or shark habits or just a lover of either this area really is stark. 

And the next stop is…Lake Eyre in South Australia. 

Traveling Virutally step 1

So recently I've wanted to get out and travel but my bank book says "Nope!".  So while watching a BBC special Explore Borneo, I realized that I could turn a boring evening, day, weeks, months and years virtually traveling the world. 

This is a twofold plus.  Not that expensive (just my power bill and my internet bill that I have anyway) and I'm learning something, not just sitting here clicking mindlessly on the next page or puzzle. 

That being typed.  My goal is to share with my followers my virtual worldwide traveling via here on the Eclectic Dame.  I'm going to use Google Earth to randomly pick my first location, kinda in a the way kids did with spinning the globe and where our finger landed we had to figure out where that was. 

so the first stop is...the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Ok so maybe I should spin again...or not.  I'll keep you updated on where I end up going and if anyone has a suggestion, please let me know, I'd love to 'visit' your corner of the Earth.

Check back in a few days and I'll share what I learn about the First Stop.

Cutting down

I've been remiss in my duties Ladies and Gents.  This Dame has been on a hiatus for entirely too long.  I've started my evening projects again.  Tonight it was to take a shirt of mine that was a XXXL and I turned it into an XL.  I'm sorry for the poor lighting and well, the smartalec tongue in the second pic.  Neither picture really convays the shear size difference that was done. But enough...here's the pics. 

Before 

After

I did this project after watching a video tutorial.  I kinda wish I had rewatched it right before doing this as I see where I made a few mistakes.  Overall, I plan on doing this a few more times as I continue to loose weight.  If you'd like to cut down some of your shirts folks, check out this tutorial.

Tutorial - Resize a shirt

Thanks folks for not flaking out on me and check back soon.  Lots more posts to follow...I promise!

A small project

A fairy contacted me and my sister recently and asked if we knew of anywhere she might be able to move to.  Being the kind people Michelle and I are, we decided that not only could we help find her a new location but even help build her a new place to live.  I bought a few things today for this fairy, I hope she'll like the before and after of these. 

The fence doesn't show very well but after I worked with a bit of paint, well it looks a bit like reclaimed wood. 

It doesn't look like a lot but keep your eyes pealed over the next few weeks as Michelle and I continue to work on the home and where the fairy ends up living.

Mea Culpa

Oh my have I been amiss.  This Dame fell off her posting habit and needs to take it back up.  I promised pictures of the new place and the cat and haven't been able to get either done.  The pictures of the apt will have to wait as I've been working on some pictures for the walls and well to tell the truth there are still boxes in the corner of the living room.  Other than Big Dave my newest love is my fast growing kitten Purrlin.  Most of you that are following me know how nuts I am for my furball. 

He'll be 10 months old in just a few days and already tops out at 14 lbs.  I think he is mostly fur but his PURRsonality is even bigger.  

I have been working on a multiple piece painting for over my couch that I do a bit here and there on.  I've dyed some clothing, but I've been getting my geek on and crocheting a Yoda stocking cap for Big Dave.  I should finish this post and go stitch the last bits together and take a pic of it.  Overall, please know that I've not completely given up on The Eclectic Dame, she's just been really busy.