Hello, dears!
I’m back with another random photos post and BOY did I need to make one! I found over a hundred miscellaneous photos I wanted to use today. :O Heh heh, but don’t worry, I cut it down to about half that amount with much labor. 😛 Sit back, relax, and start scrolling! Continue reading
Hello, my friends! 😀
I know some of your were looking forward to seeing my fair entries and what prizes I won, so here you go! This is for you. 🙂
Here’s a picture of all my entries except the photos. It’s… kind of hard to tell what’s what, so let me show you a little more clearly…
A strange little octopus. 🙂
I like this one! Two little gnomes in a flower house. 🙂
Look how tiny he is!
A doughnut turtle! She’s so cute. 😀 (Also note you can find this and the previous three clay things at my Etsy shop.)
This is a lil’ hippo I made for my little sister’s birthday to hold trinkets and such. She said, “No, Allison, do you have to enter it? I need it to hold my things!” XD 😀
I also won a sweepstakes ribbon for ceramics, so that was really exciting!
I made this tissue paper flower from a DIY book.
These didn’t win a prize because I accidentally grabbed a falling-apart one from my collection. XD Oops.
I made this cute little elephant in a sewing class. It was rather hard to make, but I love how it turned out!
Just a bonus picture of a butterfly that was passing through. 😀
Here’s the picture of my friend Aria from the last post. Sadly, it didn’t win a prize. 
Oh well! I like it anyway. 🙂
Strangely enough, this won third prize, even though I think the portrait was a lot better. Perhaps they were judging by creativity?
Okay, now for the photos I entered. I entered this in “Abstract,” but it didn’t win a prize.
This was for “Action.” It also didn’t win a prize.
I entered this in “Close-Up,” and it won first prize!
“Architecture,” and no prize.
“Artistic,” and it won third prize! 😀
“People,” and no prize.
“Pets” – isn’t Clemmy so cute? Sadly, no prize.
“Landscape” – no prize.
“Rural _____,” with third prize!
“Wildlife,” and no prize.
“Humor,” and first prize! Heh heh, isn’t it funny? XD
And that’s all for this year! Altogether I believe I got 12 prize ribbons out of 21 things entered, plus one sweepstakes ribbon. Not too bad!
Well, I hope you enjoyed looking over a summary of the stuff I made and photos I took in a year’s time. 🙂 Do you like to enter things in your fair? Did you win any prizes?
Thanks for reading, my dears, and have a lovely day. ♥
***Allison***
P. S. Guys, please pray for the people in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the ones possibly in the path of Hurricane Irma. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be. We’ll keep you in our thoughts and prayers, friends! ♥
Hey guys! Today I – oh wait. IF YOU ARE MALLORY, DON’T READ THIS POST UNTIL AFTER YOUR BIRTHDAY! XD Ahem. This post may, um… contain some classified birthday material. 😉
But anyway, as I was saying: today I wanted to show you some of my recent polymer clay creations! (To see my previous clayation posts, click here, here, and here.) Making clay miniatures is one of my favorite hobbies. 🙂
Let’s start with a hippopotamus, because it’s really fun to say. XD I made this hippo for my little sister’s birthday, and she really liked it! She has a safari themed room, and she wanted some more hippo things for it. 😛 Basically it’s just a shallow bowl with a hippo head and legs. Oh, and I brushed it with triple-thick glaze. Kinda cute, huh?
Next up, we have a cute wittle bunny. I used a brown artist’s pastel to shade her ears and face.
This is a miniature of my old camera: a Nikon Coolpix L830. Which I would HIGHLY recommend, by the way. 🙂
A yummy looking doughnut…
And some coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) to go with it. 🙂
I made this thingy quite a while ago. I meant to use it for a hair clip, but I just never got around to finishing it.
Aww, I love how this little guy turned out!
These are clinging earrings: basically the front of the earring is the dog’s head, and the back part is his body.
I also made similar earrings, but with a scottie rather than a schnauzer. 🙂 Such cuties!
Yet another little pup…
Okay, this is rather random. I felt like making an octopus one day, so I made an octopus. XD He’s holding on to a blue pebble for dear life.
I made one of these pendants for my Etsy shop because I made one for myself that I love and wear often.
Last but not least, this is my current masterpiece. 😛 My cousins wanted me to make a “mad King Herod” to go with their nativity scene. (You know how he would have been furious since the wise men didn’t obey his orders?) So behold. XD He’s pretty tall – about 8 inches, which is much bigger than what I usually do, but I’m very pleased with how he turned out!
(See the previous clayation posts here and here.)
I haven’t made a clayation post for a while, have I? We must remedy that, mustn’t we? I should stop asking questions and get to the post, shouldn’t I?
Ahem.
A lot of these things either were or are in my Etsy shop. That sentence sounds kind of awkward but I don’t know what else to say.
Whew, that was a lot of clay! 😀 Which was your favorite little creation?
Do you like making polymer clay things? I’d love to see them!
***Allison***
For those of you (like Christian Homeschooler*wink*) who wanted to know how our county fair turned out and if we won any ribbons, behold, a fair post. 😀
First of all, these are the things I entered in the fair:
Sorry some of the things are kind of hard to see.
And of course I entered all the photos from this post. (Good gracious I use a lot of links in my posts.)
Here’s another picture of the quillow. Have you ever heard of a quillow? It’s basically a 2-in-1 blanket and quilt. You can unfold it to make a blanket, stuff the quilt into the pillowcase to make a pillow, or display it like this. It’s super neat! Thanks so much, Gram, for bringing us to the classes and helping me fix my quilt. ♥♥♥
This year was really fun and successful for me! I always love entering things in the fair, even though I don’t win ribbons for all my entries. It’s so exciting to search for your entries and look at other kids’ (and adults’) creations in the Exhibit Hall!
So, now for the ribbons I did win:
I won a ribbon (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) for every entry except for my drawings and the baseball photo! Woohoo! I also won a sweepstakes ribbon for the clay category (mostly since I entered so many things and sometimes they were the only entries in their category XD ). That was really fun.
All together I won:
12 first place ribbons, 3 second place ribbons, 6 third place ribbons, 1 sweepstake ribbon, aaaannd a total of $72.00! That’s one great thing about our fair – they don’t just give you ribbons, they pay you too! What could be better than that? XD
What is your fair like (if you have one)? Did you enter anything this year? (I’d love to see a picture, if you did!) Did you win any prizes?
**Allison***
P. S. GUYS THE BABY BUNNIES ARE SO CUTE I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE. Random truth.
I finally finished this birthday haul post a month after my birthday. XD It’s not really a birthday haul post, actually. It’s more just reviews of some of the things I got for my birthday. Get ready for a really long post!
____________________________________________________
Mysterious Benedict Society Series:
Click here to see the Amazon listing
(The link is for the hardcover collection which I have. You can also get a paperback collection on Amazon.)
I absolutely LOVE this series by Trenton Lee Stewart. It’s probably my favorite series! “The Mysterious Benedict Society” is a group of extraordinary children who are sent on several extraordinary missions. The characters are so fun to read about – there’s Reynie, Sticky (you’ll understand his name when you read the books), Kate, and Constance. Once you pick up these books, it’s hard to put them down! They’re filled with exciting action, surprising plot twists, hilarious anecdotes, and riddles and puzzles that will stretch your brain.
Notes: The synopses are not actual back-of-the-book summaries, I just wrote them myself. Also, the pictures of each book are from their Amazon listing. If you click on the “via” links, it will take you to the listing. Some of the covers on the books below are a little different than mine, but mainly the same.
***************************
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
Pages: 470
This book is a prequel to the series although you don’t necessarily have to read it first. (I didn’t.) Like in the rest of the series, the plot twists, clues, and riddles throughout the book keep your brain whirling. There are a bunch of mysteries in this book, and some of their conclusions may surprise you. It’s exciting to read how Nicholas uses his genius mind to solve problems and outsmart the Spiders and other fearsome foes. Nicholas also has a condition called narcolepsy (which is real by the way), which means he falls asleep at random times.
Synopsis: This story covers about a year in the childhood of Nicholas Benedict, the man behind The Mysterious Benedict Society. Nicholas moves to a new orphanage filled with surprises – from a huge library to a secret overlook, tough bullies to loyal friends, and maybe even a treasure! Nicholas will need all of his talents and genius to unpack the mysteries surrounding him – and to do so before it’s too late.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Pages: 485
This is probably my favorite book in the series. I especially love the beginning when everything is so mysterious and there are gobs of strange riddles and puzzles that bend your brain. The book is exciting and clever, and some of the plot twists just blow you away. At the end you learn something totally unexpected and funny about Constance. You HAVE to read this, guys!
Synopsis: An advertisement in the newspaper starts it all: “Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” Join Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance on the adventure of their lives. After passing a series of mind-bending tests, they are sent on a very important mission: to save the world from an evil genius with a terrifying plan to control the world – and the minds of everyone in it. They will have to work as a team and put all of their extraordinary gifts to use after arriving at a strange institute. What is Mr. Curtain’s evil plan? Who is Milligan really? What is the Whisperer? These are just a few of the puzzling questions the Mysterious Benedict Society has to answer.
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Pages: 440
This isn’t my favorite book of the series, but it’s still great. I love that you learn something new about Constance in this book. Her newly discovered talent really adds to her personality. You also meet some new characters like Cannonball and the Bullfrogs. The duskwort plot thread is really interesting and exciting too. (See synopsis.) Here is a quote I like from this book: (Cannonball is comforting Constance, who is quite short, by the way.)
” ‘You know what I like about buttons?… They’re very small things that hold bigger things together. Awfully important, buttons – little but strong.’ ” – page 154
Isn’t that sweet? “Little but strong.” 😀
Synopsis: After a year apart the Mysterious Benedict Society reconvenes. They have been anticipating a surprise Mr. Benedict planned for them when they find out that someone has unpleasantly surprised him. Their beloved Mr. Benedict is in danger! Will the scavenger hunt lead them to their heart’s desire, or into a trap? In the meantime, Constance discovers a new talent, and a plant named duskwort is of imminent importance. If the duskwort falls into the wrong hands, everyone is doomed.
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
Pages: 391
The Prisoner’s Dilemma is the last book in the series. (Except for the puzzle book, but that doesn’t really count.) I really like it! It’s fun and suspenseful to follow the clues with the Mysterious Benedict Society gang, but not everything is as simple as it seems. You might be surprised – actually you probably will be! The end is quite satisfactory. 😀
Synopsis:
The Mysterious Benedict Society is bored, bored, bored. They have been cooped up together in Mr. Benedict’s house for months because it’s not safe to leave: Mr. Curtain will do anything to get back his precious Whisperer, including snatching up certain children in his way. But when Constance disappears after an appointment with the Whisperer, boredom is flung to the winds. Reynie, Sticky, and Kate are on a race against time to find their grumpy companion before the Ten Men do. They must decode secret messages and follow curiously easy clues… that lead them to an unexpected place. This adventure includes two brave girls and two smart boys, a Salamander, a missing friend, sneaky clues, a couple of “S” pies, a red bucket, and a few daring leaps.
The Mysterious Benedict Society – Mr. Benedict’s Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums
Whew! Why do the titles have to be so long? XD I’ll just abbreviate it “Perplexing Puzzles.” Perplexing Puzzles is a really fun book filled with… well, riddles and puzzles. It is a gorgeous book – it’s printed on glossy pages and the whole book is in color instead of black and white. Most of the puzzles are quite hard, but a few of them are easy. (There are hints in the back of the book to help you along. If you need another hint, I might be able to help you too! 😀 ) Scattered throughout the book are quotes from the series, illustrations and profiles, and other “archival materials” as it says. I love the a riddle at the very end that requires you to use letters and numbers from previous puzzles to reveal a last secret message.
Here is one of the riddles: (your answer has to fit in the blanks)
Umm… I can’t really do a synopsis of this one. XD
************************
Pros and cons: The covers all have delightful illustrations on them, and the books are all beautiful and well-made. Like I said, the Perplexing Puzzles book is particularly gorgeous. The box that they come in is really nice too! The inside looks like it has been plastered with newspaper clippings from the first puzzle in Perplexing Puzzles. Umm… there aren’t many cons. 😀 Of course I liked some books better than others, but I enjoyed them all. The one problem is that it’s a little hard to pry a book out of the case, but that’s okay. 🙂 I highly recommend both this series and this hardcover collection.
______________________________________________________
Premo Polymer Clay
Click here to see the Amazon listing
(I’m pretty sure you can find a pack like this for cheaper if you shop around Amazon or stores like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, but this is the listing I found.)
Premo brand polymer clay is a very good quality clay. (At least in my opinion and from what I’ve read.) You can see lots of things I made with it here.
Let me compare and contrast it with Sculpey III, a popular brand of clay made by the same company. Premo is more of a professional clay, while Sculpey III is more of a recreational, hobby-type clay, not meant to be super durable. Premo is much stronger when baked than Sculpey III, and not as gooey and hard to work with as Sculpey III can be. (But see “Pros and cons.”) Although I do think Sculpey III has more colors available. They are both good for different reasons, but I prefer Premo to Sculpey III.
Pros and cons: Usually I love this brand of polymer clay, but the pack I got this time was a lot softer than normal. That is really helpful for conditioning and mixing clay, but not so good for sculpting. Normally though, it’s a really great clay – not too hard, not too soft – and this sampler pack comes with some really neat options, such as translucent clay (which looks transparent-ish when you brush a gloss over it), and faux rock clay which really looks like rock! The sampler pack lasts a long time if you make small things, like I do, but I found it helpful to get an extra pack of white Premo clay because I use white a lot. Even though the changeable pliability is annoying, I would still recommend this product.
____________________________________________________
Artist’s Pastels
Click here to see the Amazon listing
I requested these to use on polymer clay. They’re kind of like chalk. First you scrape them on paper to obtain colored powder, then you use a paintbrush to paint the powder onto baked or unbaked clay for more realistic shading effects. It’s kind of like paint, only more subtle. Pastels work very well for shading miniature food. The cookie on the left is not shaded with artist’s pastels, and the one on the right is. (Sorry, it’s not a very good picture, but trust me, some clay artists can do amazing things with artist’s pastels! Like Tracey, for instance.)
Pros and cons: Certain shades of brown are missing that would be helpful, but at least you can mix colors. I haven’t had much experience with artist’s pastels, but these work quite well for my purposes! I would recommend this product.
______________________________________________________
“Gelly Roll” White Gel Pens:
Click here to see the Amazon listing
These pens are really nice! Not to mention there are three of them, so they should last me a while. 🙂 They have a fairly fine tip and write smoothly as long as you don’t write too fast. You can use them to mark highlights on your drawings, for things such as hair and eyes:
The ink is almost marker-resistant – you can see on the left of her hair one of the squiggles is slightly more muted. That’s where I drew over it with marker and the gel pen still showed through. When you draw on top of marker, the marker ink bleeds a tiny bit with the gel pen ink, so it’s usually not quite completely white. (In the picture above, the ink turned a little grayish.)
The white ink looks stunning on black paper! Here is an ATC I made with one of the gel pens:
Pros and cons: The pens write quite smoothly unless you write fast; then they’re a little scratchy. The optimum background seems to be black paper. The ink will smudge if you’re not careful, but it’s not super smudge-prone. I would recommend this product.
_________________________________________________________
PicMonkey Royale
I was really excited about getting this, because I use PicMonkey a lot. (Royale gives you access to lots more features – extra effects, overlays, collage options, and more. But you do have to pay for Royale. 😉 ) Three of my favorite things about PicMonkey Royale are the “Custom Effect” feature, Clone feature, and the Royale collage options. You make a custom effect by adding different effects to a photo like usual, then saving all the things you did as one effect that you can use over and over again.
Here is a photo I edited with Royale: (More kitten pictures coming soon! 😀 )
I used clone to “wipe off” some dirt, Miniature Effect, Eye Brighten, and then several other non-Royale effects and features. So cute!
Pros and cons: It’s definitely nice to be able to use features like clone, Custom Effect, extra Overlays and Collage layouts, and more. Pretty much the only con is the price. If you don’t use PicMonkey a lot, or don’t use it much besides the basic touch-ups which are free, you probably won’t need this. However, if you love photo-editing or PicMonkey or both, I recommend this feature!
__________________________________________________
Of course I got a bunch more things for my birthday, but it would take a few more months to review them all at this rate. XD I hope you enjoyed this! Which was your favorite item? Do you have any of these things?
***Allison**
Hey guys! Back in this post when I first showed you the doll I made, I said I would do a photoshoot of her sometime. Well, here you are! And by the way, I named her Dorothy. 🙂 Like from Wizard of Oz, you know?
First, Dorothy stopped to smell the roses.
She’s quite the climber, Dorothy is, and before long she was climbing hither and yon up every flower stalk and tree in sight.
She even took a short zip down the zipline, a.k.a. clothesline.
I had to help her onto the swing, though. She’s not as good at jumping as she is at climbing.
After all the physical exertion, Dorothy needed a rest – for about 17 seconds.
Then she was up and going again. She collected several random objects, and claimed she was going to put on a hat fashion show. *Shrugs* What could I do?
Dorothy wants to know which hat won the contest. Her personal favorite was the maple key because it gave her bunny ears. She loves bunny ears – and bunnies too.
So that was her day of exploring. I’m worn out, but she isn’t. 😀 Dolls… they never get tired, do they?
What was your favorite part of her exploration? Hmm… do you think I should make a Toto dog for her? That might be fun!
***Allison***
P. S. You’ve got to check out Aria’s amazing addition to WordCrafters 2! You’re going to have a lot of fun with this story, guys. 🙂 Oh, and Zielle, it’s your turn to write a chapter next!
Today I shall show you some of my many polymer clay creations (or “clayations” XD ).
First up, I started a little collectible series on my Etsy shop called Tiny Turtle Collectibles. They are mini turtles with unique and fun shells. The only collection I have up so far is the Sweet Treat collection. Here they all are:
Little cuties. 🙂 From left to right: Sprinkles, Cocoa Cupcake, Chippy, and Sundae Monday. (Sundae Monday, Sundae Monday, Sunday Monday… it’s so fun to say. XD ) Here’s a close-up of Chippy:
If you’d like to see more pictures of the teeny-tiny turtles, take a peek at my Etsy shop! The link is up there ↑ somewhere… aw, I’ll just give it to you again. 🙂 Wee Little Crafts
I made this lil’ cardinal for my grandma for her birthday:
And I made this bluebird pencil pal for my cousin’s birthday:
I put this birdie pencil pal in my shop. (It’s a blue bird but not a bluebird. XD )
Yet another bird. (Wow, I didn’t realize I made so many birds. XD ) This guy’s name is Oliver.
A mini fairy-village:
I’m kind of proud of the next thing. 😛 This is a little Noah’s Ark. I was so excited when someone bought it the same night I listed it on my shop! 😀
And lastly, my current masterpiece. XD XP After seeing this adorable doll made by Julia, I decided to try my own. I was going to make it a baby doll, but… as you can, see, it didn’t turn out like that. Although she’s not nearly as cute as Julia’s, I still really like how she turned out. 🙂 I want to do a photoshoot of her sometime. When I do that post, I’ll show more detailed photos and tell about her a bit more. (If you’re wondering why, in the last picture, she has a hole in her ear, it’s because I’m still working on earrings for her. 😉 )
If you’d like to see more of my clayations, check out this post, and/or type “polymer clay” in the search box on my blog sidebar.
I hope you enjoyed this clayish post. 😀 Which thing was your favorite?
***Allison***
P. S. I just listened to “Camp Granada” by Allan Sherman and “Ebay” by Weird Al. They are hilarious songs, especially “Ebay.” XD Have you ever heard them? If not, you should. XD
Today I have a little crafty tutorial for you, my friends. Bring out your scrapbook paper and that huge stash of cardboard rolls you have tucked away in the closet, and… um, read this tutorial! XD
We are going to make this handy-dandy organizer. It’s perfect for organizing those stray but important knickknacks, or showing off a collection.
What you’ll need:
Ta-daa! You have made a template. Now slip it on to the tubes you want to cut, and simply trace around the top with a pencil. No measuring needed! 
I cut 10 lengths for my organizer, which used about 5 tubes (not counting the template tube).
By the way, the little critters and food in the organizer are polymer clay miniatures made by my sister Megan and me. I made all of the miniatures except some in the last picture, where Megan added some of hers to help fill it up. Which knickknack is your favorite? Of mine I might like the peacock best, and of Megan’s I think I like the cute little crab. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed crafting along with me!
Oh, oops! I almost forgot the BIBPC photo. BIBPC is fun photo contest that my sister Megan is doing. (Read about it here.)The prompt this time was “Funny.” Here’s my entry!
Story behind the picture: This is a hilarious photo of Diamond, my little sister’s rabbit. We sometimes bring our rabbits in the house for a bit, and here Diamond is just hangin’ out like a cool dude with sunglasses. XD You can see more funny bunny pictures in this post.
***Allison***
P. S. I made the white background of some of the photos with FotoFuze. It’s a really neat program! I made the poster with PicMonkey, which I also LOVE. 😀
Allison Marie 