BUSTED AND BLUE

I just hit 700 followers, and that means I have to keep my promise. Therefore, I’m giving away free PDFs of my two poetry books to five followers.

To enter, all you have to do is like/reblog this post. Each will count as one entry for a maximum of TWO per person.

I will draw the winners and announce them on Monday, September 10th. More details will be included in that post.

Questions about the giveaway should be sent to my ask box, and I will answer ASAP.

You do not have to be following me to enter the giveaway, but it would be appreciated.

My miniature Terry Pratchett Discworld novel library!

Made from an Altoids tin, Popsicle sticks, cardstock, copy paper, and a whole lot of patience. All of the miniature books open and have real printed pages you can leaf through. And the insidevof the lid has a sort-of-3D scene of the UU Library.

* Nobody knows what the hell their doing with their life. They might make you believe that they do, but honey, no. We’re all essentially blind chicken running around, pretending we’re functional big chicken.  * Spread a little kindness everywhere you go. Most people really only just want to know that someone is willing to listen to them.  * Take chances. I know that a lot of times, being unable to take these chances is determined by outside factors (and by this I mean $$$), but whenever money isn’t a hindrance, take those chances. * YOU DO YOU, BOO. Society might want to make you think that you need to be doing certain things by a certain age, but no. That is a LIE. You don’t have to get married, have a kid, have a 9 to 5 job, be in committees, get a PHD, DO things. You decide your life. You decide what makes you happy. Don’t let others smother that.

* You’re never ever old enough to pursue a dream. Just because you’re not doing something you’ve dreamed of doing right now, that doesn’t mean that you’ve forever given up on that dream. Life has a way of surprising you.

* There will be bad days. A lot of them. It will be hard, and painful and heartbreaking and sometimes horrible. But THEY. WILL. PASS. Always try to keep your chin up and keep going. Keep fighting. Keep trying.

* It really does get better.

* Surround yourself with people who make you feel good about yourself. With people you can trust. Don’t be afraid to let go of toxic friendships or relationships. Put yourself first. 

* Internet friendships are real and can be more meaningful than friendships you might have/have had with people you’ve met irl.

* The kindness of strangers is often bigger than the kindness of family or friends.

* Just because you share blood with a person, that doesn’t make them entitled to your love and respect. Those can be freely given and taken away, no matter who that person is. To put it bluntly: just because they’re your parents/siblings/etc doesn’t mean that you have to love them if they treat you like crap.

* Animals are the purest form of love and we’re not worthy of them.

* The world has gained something with you in it. Never fucking forget that.

* When the world or your life is going to shit, hang on to the small things: that puppy you have at home - for whom you mean the entire world, the way your favourite book makes you feel, listening to a new album from your favourite band, sunrises, fresh snow, summer nights, your favourite ice cream, movie marathons - all these small things m a t t e r. Hold on to them.

* It’s okay to want things for yourself. It’s okay to want more, to dream big. 

* Explore your creativity. Don’t avoid doing something because you think you’re not good enough at it. And hey, the only way to get better is to practice, right? :)

* There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. Something that brings you joy shouldn’t make you feel guilty at all. Love what you want and enjoy what you want. There are worse things in the world.

* We are our worst judge. We hold ourselves to standards that are greater than others, so… remember to try and be a little kinder to yourself, not only to others.

* You are FUCKING BEAUTIFUL.

* You will fail at things sometimes. We’re all human and sometimes we can’t do everything right. But failing at something doesn’t mean that you should stop trying or that the world will end because you failed. Get up, dust yourself off and try again.

I would assume a Maeamian is a patron of the famous Maaemo restaurant in Schweigaardsgate, albeit one with a persistent typo.

……………..

steve: bucky used to call me steve

rainbow mountains (peru)

red soil (canada/PEI)

rings (saturn’s if they were on earth) 

bioluminescent waves

northern lights (canada)

salt flats (bolivia, where they filmed crait but did NOTHING COOL WITH IT except red dust?? like??? come ON)

and cool fauna like the touch me not or like, you know, the venus flytrap.. and don’t get me started on BUGS like… we have bugs cooler than sw aliens

Tsingy di Bemaraha, Madagascar

Zhangye Danxia, China (similar to the Rainbow Mountains in terms of appearance)

Chocolate Hills, Philippines

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina

Lake Retba, Senegal

Tepui, Venezuela

Tsingy du Bemaraha, Madagascar again (but a different part)

(those are razor-sharp, if you were wondering. very little of this area has been explored because YIKES)

Lake Natron, Tanzania

(looks cool, but is alkaline enough to Kill Your Shit)

Lake Baikal, Russia

(the deepest lake in the world, seriously)

and I’ll wrap it up with Son Doong Cave, Vietnam, the largest cave in the entire world.

it puts anything Dagobah has to offer to absolute shame:

(seriously, the largest chamber is 660 feet high. you could jam a fucking skyscraper in there and still lose it) 

Here’s a tutorial for finishing a cross stitch in a hoop. Of course there’s a few different ways, but this is a method I use regularly which can be customized to suit the stitching. I’m hooping ‘Florence the Owl’ and I’ve chosen hot pink felt and bright green ribbon to match her. I’ll stitch the felt backing on with turquoise thread. If your hoop is a bit ropey you could wrap it with ribbon or tape.

As well as your FO and a hoop, you need felt and ribbon, and cardboard of the same colour as your cross stitch fabric. Toy stuffing as well, but it’s not essential.

Firstly, make a circle of felt and a circle of card the same size as the outside edge of the inner hoop. Trace around the hoop in pencil to make a line to cut.

Give your stitching an iron on the reverse side to remove creases and plump up the stitches a little. It helps to be neat like this, especially with evenweave, so that loose thread and trailing ends don’t show though to the front. Trim all the little ends of thread left here and there and press flat with the iron.

Now put your stitching in the hoop. 1 The cardboard circle is going to sit on top of the inner ring and go under the fabric. This does a few things. It will help provide a bright background and so your stitching will look great! The grid holes in the fabric won’t be as noticeable. My stitching here is on evenweave - I’m going to use stuffing inside the hoop and the cardboard will stop it fluffing out the front. And the cardboard will also help protect from accidental impact damage.

2 When you’re happy with the position of the fabric do up the fastener as tight as you can, pulling the fabric flat all around the edges as you do the fastener up a little more each time The gridlines of the fabric should remain straight. 

3 Now trim the fabric all around the hoop to make it a circle. It’s easier to round the corners off first, and then trim down from there.

4 Fold the fabric down neatly at the back. Start at the top and make folds the same direction all around. This way your backing fabric will lay nice and flat. Fix the fabric in place with some running stitches made where the creases lay. 

5 I did two rows with this one as the evenweave wasn’t laying as flat as I liked. You could trim your fabric more than I did at stage 3 so there’s less to stitch. 

6 Poke some toy stuffing under the fabric and push it right up inside all around. This optional extra protection makes the back feel solidly squishy.

7 Now fix the felt circle onto the back by stitching it onto the evenweave fabric. I’ve used a simple blanket stitch. Make straight stitches from the edge inwards, pick up the last stitch and pull it flat. Blanket stitch will give some protection to the edge of the felt and looks lovely. But you could be more creative if you like!

8 This thread is a colour in the pattern. For blanket stitch, use a piece of thread as long as three times the circumference of your hoop. Use all six strands, much easier than separating it! The stitches are about 1cm apart here.

9 Tie the two ends together in a tight knot and tuck that knot into the fabric with the thread in the needle. Trim the ends where they poke out, if you need to.

Finish with a bit of ribbon at the fastener to hang the hoop. Double over one length of ribbon with one twist. Knot it at the end and loop through the fastener with the knot at the back and a flat loop ready for hanging.

(The photos for this one came out a bit rubbish so here’s a similar FO ^^)