Topless Vlog #46

Here it is!

I say a quick and topless hello from Fresno after a couple nights of shows on the road.

Crystyler Review

As you may know, I'm always on the lookout for a way to speed up my process.  I got two Crystylers a few months ago when a friend bragged about them. They come in ss16 (pink tool) and ss20 (blue tool). I spent more time working with the ss16 tool, but I'll review both.

I tried the pink tool with three grades of rhinestones: acrylic from China via Amazon,
Preciosa Czech glass, and Swarovski crystals. I used all of these stones on my boa balls.

I had a bitch of a time loading the tool with acrylic stones at first. When I was ready to throw the damn thing across the room as stones kept falling out, my husband took over. He had no problem loading it. I was pulling back the metal plunger and trying to pick up the stones with no internal tension in the tool. He discovered pretty quick that the tool loaded up pretty easy if you stabbed the stones (gem side up) one after another, much like spearing trash with one of those handy sticks. I calmly took over spearing and stoning duties. To use efficiently, I put down a dot or strand of glue. Holding the tool like I was going to stab someone, I used the thumb tab to release individual stones onto the glue. I recommend using silicon fingertip covers or a toothpick to move the individual stones into the perfect place. I also recommend checking the spearing tip and the plastic area that holds the stones for glue before you reload the tool. Pick that stuff off to make your life better.

I then tried loading the higher quality stones (glass and crystal). The tool would jam, the stones would turn in the barrel, the tip would pop off, I would swear. No matter how many times I tried the better stones, it would jam up and screw up if I managed to load more than 10 stones. I would not recommend the tool for the nicer stones because it becomes a waste of time.  (I think the better stones are cut rounder so they flip easier. The acrylics have a flatter top so they rest on one another very nicely inside the tool.)

I tried the blue tool this week. I attempted Swarovskis, but the tool would jam and the tip would pop. I didn't grind at it as many times as I did with the pink tool. It was easy to see the shape of the top with the larger stones. I had more success with Clarus crystals from Nova in downtown LA. (I've seen a sign that declared these "Real Korean Rhinestone," which is now how I reference them. 10 gross of ss20 for $17.99 was a pretty good deal.) They're not the same quality as Swarovski, but they're not as flat as acrylics. They worked okay in the tool, but I couldn't load more than 15 without the tool jamming. The larger tool has a larger tip, and I had stones falling out more than once. The tip got spread out, and the stones would rest inside the tube like the proverbial hot dogs down a hallway. I don't know that it really saved me time on the project I was doing, but it did keep my fingertips from becoming disgusting from stray glue.

You can get the tools online from Amazon, or you can hit JoAnn Fabrics with one of their fabulous coupons. They cost about $20 with no discount. Don't expect them to be miraculous, but they can help with the rhinestone process if you have reasonable expectations.

BHOF Weekend Crafting Challenge

My BHOF weekend plans

Not at Burlesque Hall of Fame Reunion Weekend? Neither am I. I know my feed is going to fill up with people having all sorts of sparkly fun. Rather than sitting at home and feeling left out (when I'm not watching the Stanley Cup Finals), I'm going to get busy crafting. I invite you to join me in the following challenge.

This BHOF weekend, I will push myself to make:

• one pair of pasties
• one hair flower
• one dress

I'm not including the costume I'm tailoring or the skirt I'm making for that costume in the challenge, but I hope to get those completed this weekend as well. I'm also not including any work I'll do to help Mr. Snapper complete a prop commission.

I'm going to make these things from start to finish between now and Sunday night (when BHOF weekend ends). I'll share photos as I complete each one. My goal is to make everything with materials I have at home now, particularly since one of the reasons I didn't go to BHOF was financial. (The dress will probably be a day dress because I have the pattern and fabric sitting in my craft room, waiting for the opportunity to make it. I have a couple flowers I got on sale at JoAnn's that just need to be attached to clips and rhinestoned. The pasties will probably be for my new number.) If I knock all these projects out of the ballpark, I may just make an underbra from scratch. I'm leaving that out of the challenge because chances are good that my fellow crafters don't have bra supplies just lying around.

I hope you join me in the challenge and fill up my feed with your projects. If you get lost, need help or inspiration, let me know.

Let's make sparkly magic this weekend!

Topless Vlog #45

Vlog is here.

I'm back after a few weeks out sick and traveling. I ramble about hockey playoffs, talk about Doodlebug's recent illness, show a hair flower crafting project, and give the upcoming schedule of performances. Buster has missed vlogging and is prominent in this episode.

LINKS:
Doodlebug pillow
6/12 The Lusty Library: a Lusty Kitten Production
6/16 and 6/23 Monday Night Tease Presents Goonies Boobies at Hollywood Fringe Festival
6/21 Yadi Presents Gotham Vixens

DIY Boa Balls

While working on my latest tulle boa, I decided to add sparkly balls to the boa for glamour, texture, and weight. I searched the internet for tutorials on how to make the sparkly balls you see on fancy boas and came up with nothing. It was that empty search that prompted this blog.

Supplies:

• Two or more styrofoam balls (I used one 6"diameter ball per end. You might decide to use more than one ball on each end, perhaps varying the size of your balls.)
• Retired pantyhose
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush for the Mod Podge
• Acrylic paint or gold Mod Podge (whatever best suits your stone selection as a background)
• Rhinestones
• Rhinestone glue (I used E-6000 for this project)
• Drill or knitting needle
• Roll of duct tape, packing tape, etc.

I was concerned about the glue eating through the styrofoam or creating a horribly toxic gas when combined. (I don't know that it would happen, but I'd rather be safe and living than daring and dead.) I slipped each ball into a leg of pantyhose and tied a knot in the hose at one end. (Don't worry -- I cut the knot off later.)

I rested each ball on a roll of duct tape or packing tape. It's the perfect stand to keep it from rolling away. I applied a coat of matte Mod Podge over the center of each ball, careful not to apply it too close to the tape stand. After that dried, I rotated the balls so I the former top and bottom were coated. I didn't coat the pantyhose knot but did coat the puckered area below the knot. Once that dried I cut off the knots and coated the puckered area with Mod Podge. Base coat complete!

I didn't want the white of the styrofoam to show between the rhinestones so I applied a color coat. My rhinestones were light peach, and a gold Mod Podge color coat worked perfectly to tone down the white. I used the same technique to color coat the balls that I did with the base coat: coat the ball but not too close to the tape stand, let it dry, rotate the ball, repeat. If I was working with darker rhinestones, I would have used acrylic paint as a color coat, sealing in the color with more clear Mod Podge. Color coat complete!

I used the holes from the ball mold to find the top and bottom center. I used a knitting needle to gently work a hole from the top of the ball to the bottom so I could thread my boa through the ball. My husband cleaned up the hole with a drill later. I had to make sure I could successfully feed the cord base of my boa through the hole with no problem. Boa holes complete!

Rhinestone time!  I bought 3000 ss12 and 2000 ss28 acrylic stones from Amazon for about $25. This was enough to cover one ball. I had to get a second shipment of 2000 ss28 and 1000 ss12 for $20 to finish the project. (I still have some leftover.) I used the center line left from the mold as my guide for rhinestoning in stripes. I worked my way up, then flipped the ball and worked my way up again. Those rolls of tape are handy for the rhinestoning.

Once the balls were rhinestoned, I took a clean, dry dish scrubbie to the stones. This helped work free any stray glue strands that were obscuring the stones.

I threaded the cotton cord for the boa through the ball holes. (It's easiest to slide a crochet hook or long wire through the ball, tape the cord to the end of the wire or hook, then gently pull the wire or hook back through the ball.) Tie a knot below each ball, and proceed with finishing your boa.

To finish off the end of the boa, I tied some tassels to the end and covered the knot with tulle.

It turned out wonderfully and the balls looked amazing under stage lights.

"Do You Swing?"

The simple answer is NO.

I shouldn't have to justify my life choices, but I'm going to take a moment to share what it's like to be me and be asked that question.

I was a child genius, and I'm still pretty smart. By following me on social media, I'm sure you've gleaned that I'm always up to something. Actually, it's more like I'm up to fifty somethings. My brain rarely shuts off because I'm pondering, problem solving, postulating. My mother learned how to rein me in at a young age by providing me with charts and lists. This gave me focus. This kept our entire house from becoming land of the creative crazy. I still live off charts and lists so I can stay focused and complete tasks, giving me creative discipline.

I get overwhelmed easily. I don't always understand things that aren't black and white. I scored high on science, math, and logic on my standardized tests, and noticeably lower on reading comprehension in school. I need some structure to stay focused. I need stability in some aspects of life so I can handle the randomness of creativity and problem solving. I like stability.

I study menus before I go out to eat. Part of it is because food is my porn. (I like to imagine how things would taste. I like food.) Another part of it is that I have a lot of food allergies and dislikes. I need to know what I can actually eat off the menus so I don't inconvenience everyone with questions that hold up the order. Once I find something I can eat, I usually get the same exact thing every time I go to the restaurant. I know what's in it. I know I can eat it without getting hives or diarrhea or blisters on the back of my neck. I know I like it. It becomes something stable. I like stability.

I turn people down when they suggest I eat fish. "C'mon, it's really good for you. You'll like it." They seem to think they can change my opinion, or if I try their fish then I'll see that I've been wrong my entire life. They don't realize I have eaten fish in the past. I've caught, cleaned, and cooked my own fish. I'm far more familiar with fish than folks may realize. They may think this is my first time to be offered fish. "No, thank you" doesn't seem to work. "Because I'm not interested" doesn't always kill the topic. I turn down people who suggest I eat mushrooms. "Why don't you eat mushrooms? "Because I'm allergic." "What happens when you eat them?" It's not polite to say I get the raging shits and feel miserable for the rest of the day. I like stability. I like enjoying my food and feeling good after consuming it. I like what I like.

I've been with Andrew for more than half of my life. I like stability. He's my steak cooked medium without mushrooms, no judgments for wanting extra greens, no shaming for saving room for dessert. I don't have to explain or justify why I like this but I don't like that, why I do this but I don't do that. I don't have to jump through hoops to impress him, to do anything that would make me feel unsafe or uncomfortable, to try to apply my poor reading comprehension skills to sort out what something means because it isn't incredibly simple. I like my steak. I don't share my steak.

He doesn't share either. He's like the male version of me in many ways, only he got a better reading comprehension score and wasn't good with the math. He saves complication for writing plots and characters, not for real life. Stability. Simplicity.

We don't swing. Too many complications, too confusing, too much unwanted problem solving. Neither one of us wants to work that hard. We'll just be over here enjoying our steaks together.

Doodlebug Repairs

My Doodlebug has been sick lately. You can read more here, and you can buy a Doodle pillow to help fund her recovery or just donate if you want. :)