Why Unicycling Should Be An Olympic Sport

photo illustration by yours truly

Today I interrupt your ordinary arts-and-crafts posts to say, "UNICYCLING SHOULD TOTALLY BE AN OLYMPIC SPORT! While I love the fact that unicycling is very unique I certainly wouldn't mind it becoming popular and having talented athletes explore the depths of what can be done on one wheel.

I've been bit by the Olympic spirit, having watched every gymnastics event with my little gymnast sister. So of course I was thinking about it yesterday while riding on a hiking trail. I can barely ride my unicycle backwards, but recently I've been looking at videos of some impressive athletes who do spectacular things on one wheel. Unicycling could totally be an Olympic sport, and this is why...

Reason 1) Unicycles are awesome.

Reason 2) Unicycling is challenging, rewarding, and a very diverse sport. It's still a young sport-- it wasn't taken seriously by athletes outside of circuses until recently-- but already there are unicycling events that mimic (and often 'branch out' to the point where they only borrow a few concepts of) a wide variety of events such as trials biking, mountain biking, freestyle skateboarding, dancing, ice skating, hockey, racing, and slacklining. Plus, you have the typical unicycle tricks that people think of, like juggling while riding a giraffe uni.

Reason 3) THIS:

(extreme off road riding)


(beautiful dance, like ice skating...)


(street)


(cool show with a violin)


(another dance, and a favorite song)


(WHAT IN THE WORLD AND HOW DOES HE DO THAT?)


(crazy circus tricks)


(Can you tell I'm fond of the dancing? This starts getting totally awesome around halfways through).


That is all.

How to Write In Elvish

 This is a post from my old blog, Nevdroonia. Since I'm on a Lord of the Rings kick right now, I thought I'd share it with all of you!

I don't claim to have this all correct. I wrote this post... when I was 13? 14? and was very confused about the info on Elvish. Please feel free to ask questions or correct me on any point.

And so... may I present to you ladies, gentlemen, and fairies...  

Shaylynn's Guide to Writing English using Elvish letters.

 _________________________________

Well, I don't know the language, but I can write English in Tengwar (Elvish letters)! (JRR Tolkien made an entire Elvish language, did you know?) I taught myself, peicing together snippets I found in various places. Most likely I have it all wrong, but... it looks impressive! These are the pages from my notebooks where I wrote notes on it.

The first page shows
1) the Elvish letter
2) the symbol that I think symoblizes the sound,
3) an example of how that sound is used in a word, then the name of the Elvish letter. It has only consonants on it.

The second page has more notes, and the vowels. I am still confused on those, but I use the symbols that say "typically these" by it, and I do not do the "y", as I write more phonetically.

Page three has more notes, esp. explaining that English can be written in Tengwar phonetically (based on sounds, like shorthand) and letter-by-letter (which is generally more confusing to write but easier to read).

These are two visual aids I made, to help you see how the letters fit together. The top one is Sindarin mode (which I use the most) and the bottom is Quenya. You cut out the peices, and arrange them into words. It helps you see how the vowels and consonants fit together.

Wish List Of Useful Thingies

Everyone has their wish lists... As I've been working on jewelry and researching techniques, I've run into quite a few things that I wish I had. Some would let me do new techniques, some would lessen the difficulty of the designs that I make.

Shealynn's Wish List of Useful Jewelry Things 

In no particular order, except #1

1. Unlimited time, supplies, and $$$.

2. Real chainmaille pliers

Yes, I do chainmaille without the proper pliers.

I actually only have two pair of pliers-- threaded needle nose (I cover the plier tips with duct tape to protect the wire), and a flat nose from Dad's toolbox (the tip is bent!). Pliers are going to be the next tool I invest in.

3. Wire Jig/ WigJig

No more headaches from twisting the wire freeform with pliers!

4. Jewelry anvil and hammer

For hardening and flattening wire

5. Other pliers

True jewelry pliers... Including flush wire cutters and (not pictured here) the thing that smooths the ends of wires, nylon jaw, split ring, and crimp. 

6. A mandrel

For making rings

7. Metal file

Obviously for filing metal down

8.  Oxidizer Gel

 Antiquing metal and giving it that "oomph" of dimension.

9. Watch repair kit (aka, Watch Taker-Aparter)

 Especially that tool that removes the backs of watches. I've found several dead watches that I want to take apart for steampunk but can't... because I can't get the backs off.

10. Soldering gun!

Dad probably has one, but I want to learn how to use it. Just imagine the awesome wirework jewelry I could make!

11. Metal stamps (and the metal or precious clay to do it on!)

12. Magic gloves to keep my fingers from getting beat up.


Of course, these are just the tools that have popped off the top of my head, because of the specific jewelry I'm working on right now (wirework). Next week when I'm off on a new craze (because my crazes go in cycles, I don't do everything at once), I'll probably come up with even more. :)

Snow Sculptures

Are you about done with all the snow yet? This year, we had some of the most snow I've ever seen. Actually, yes, the most I've ever seen. We took the opportunity to build some epic snow sculptures!

{ Be sure to check out our very first snow sculptures, from last year-- Sir Herbert and Eustace the Dragon! }

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

We had snow and ice constantly from December on. This past week was full of beautiful, green grass and warm breezes... no ice or snow to be seen... but today I had to miss Taekwando because of more winter weather. I don't think we'll ever be able to understand weather. Where was all this snow past years, when my siblings and I went sledding on one inch of slushy ice?

It's not all bad, though. Snow can be quite beautiful. The two above pictures are taken from our porch and basement door.

(I apologise for the picture quality-- Mom took them on her iPhone. I was too busy sculpting or getting colds to do any photography.)

We went sledding... (New tricks this year! Purple penguins flying from one sled to another mid-hill, snowboarding with one foot, and fixing sleds with duct tape!)

...and had snowball fights.

That's just one snow fort.

The first snowfall, we made some large snowballs. They were going to be turned into either a dragon or a catepillar, but melted far too quickly.

Adelynn and I balanced precariously on a snowball. And aren't the carrot arms on the miniature snowman darling?

The next snowfall, we decided to make SIR HERBERT II.

{ See Sir Herbert I here }

Now, my dad thinks he's punny. Tell me, why did he name our snow giant "Sir Herbert"?

(Tip: Say it very fast and think about cold, yummy treats.)

Sir Herbert II didn't look like a marshmallow head climbing out of the ground... But you've got to admit that the hands are cool.

Dear Fairy People, meet SMAUG the SECOND SNOW DRAGON.

Smaug the Second Snow Dragon, meet the Fairy People.

We had so much fun with Eustace the Snow Dragon last year that we just had to do it again!

I did the head sculpture over the course of 3-5 hours. It was almost as tall as I am.

(I honestly don't know how long we were outside, and that was over the course of a long weekend when we were also sledding)

Ben did an amazing job on the tail, and all of the piled up snow for sculpting is thanks to Dad and Will, who shoveled the driveway.

(Random note on the aside: Who's ready to see Smaug in The Hobbit movie? Eeep!)

In the interim, Sir Herbert II had half-melted.

While Ben and I were hard at work on Smaug, Mom and Dad directed efforts on Herbert's Head. I think I know where my artistic abilities don't come from. :) LOL, Herbert does look really neat, though, like he just climbed out of a comic strip.

I think this version of Herbert should be Sir Herbert the Second and One-Half. Because you can still see half of Sir Herbert the Second there.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this peek into my family's craziness. Our new neighbors don't know what to do with us. I understand if you don't, either. :)

I think that there is something especially delightful about sculpting snow. This is the only kind of sculpture I have ever done, and the idea of setting a shape free from a block of snow must be the same sort of delight that Michelango felt while working on David. (Well, to a far less genius degree).

But even more than that, snow is so fleeting. Each of these sculptures had melted within a week of creation. There is something about the fleeting beauty (and craziness) that tingles my imagination and sense of adventure.

Google Art

Hi, there, Fairy Peoples!

Well, I've been pretty busy lately with life. You know, school and making new friends and visiting old friends and last-minute get-togethers with relatives.

I really should start scheduling my posts, so that I can write up three or four when I have time, and set them to automatically publish.

In any case, I have a very fun craft project (with a tutorial! Shiny!). Gotta snag a couple more pictures. You should see it sometime on Wednesday.

Now we get to the point of this post-- have any of you heard of the Google Art Project?

Check it out HERE.

Google has teamed up with a bunch of museums. They have extremely high-rez pictures of artwork. You can zoom in and see the tiniest details! Even individual brushstrokes!

One thing that cracks me up is that they have an interactive virtual tour of some museums (I especially like the tours when the building itself is a masterpeice on par with the artwork it displays).

You can even go out in the street at one museum and see a vendor selling some kind of yummy-looking food. :)

Happy {Late} Valentine's Day!

Our family doesn't do much for Valentine's. Dad usually buys Mom some roses and we cook some nice deserts. (We all need deserts, right?)

Yes, this was a fun little craft of mine. Instructional post coming soon...

This Valentine's, however, Dad was on a business trip and we had my sister's Little Flower's Girls' Club meeting at our house! Soooo... I felt like sharing some pictures.

I had some of the most delicious tea in the morning; a bestie :D from my old town sent it in a pretty little box. I pulled out the only teacup in the house and enjoyed the sweet taste of rose petals, lemons, and who knows what else.

Dad bought Mom some stunning roses the night before Valentine's day, when the prices are insane, just because he loves her so. :D

As always, I took advantage of the photo ops that bright red roses bring...

CUPCAKES! Well... for the little girls. Which picture is better? I can't decide!

I did Adelynn's hair in a heart-shaped braid, just because I can. Because she's my little doll, now that I'm "too old" for "real" dolls, LOL! I used these instructions from A Story of a Princess and her Hair. And I'm going to try this one soon, too.

 The craft this month was a flower hair barrette. (We got messages crossed; we thought the "virtue of the month" for the Little Flower group was "purity," hence the white flower, while it turned out to actually be "piety." Oh, well!)

This was really easy to make.

  Hair barrette
  Glue dot
  Flower petal (they painted glitter on it)
  Glue dot
  Flower petal
  Glue dot
  Flower Petal
  Glue dot
+   Rhinestone
___________________
= Flower hair clip

The glue dots are small enough that they stick to the flowers only; not the hair. I'm wearing one right now. ^_^ It looks pretty with those strange little curls I get when I don't brush my hair.

The "older sisters"-- all around my age-- came over and I discovered that they like dress up as much as I do. :) :) :)

Someone brought over these sweet candy roses!

Just for fun...

I had a very fun day, even thought it meant cleaning all morning and getting a full day behind in school. :)

So, that's not much of an arts/crafts/jewelry/writing/otherwise-creative post.... But it's fun!

I'm Impressed at the Stats... :)

I'm really excited that so many people are interested in my blog!



I've got this little widget at the foot of the blog, which keeps track of how many times people look at my blog. I've had over 8,000 pageviews!!!!!!!! Of course, some of that is you, my dear followers, who check my blog regularly. But, still! I'm so excited! :)









Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe

My facebook page has 80 followers!!!
Don't forget to fan me on facebook. I'll keep you updated on new events, giveaways, and sales on my Shoppe! Don't worry, I don't spam-- lately I've only been posting once a week, and I make it a point never to post more than once or twice a day.

Fan, soon, because you'll find a giveaway there in the near future. ^_^

 The RSS feed has 40 subscribers...




Look over to the right, in the sidebar, and you'll see the Blogger Followers widget. 29 fellow bloggers follow my blog!!!

Look over to the right, in the sidebar again, and you'll spot more options for following, including receiving email updates!

Again in the sidebar (sorry, some of these widgets are Blooger built and I can't move them inside my post) you'll see my Popular Posts (the posts with the most pageviews). I find it funny which ones are so popular... The drawing of Hermione's Dress somehow got ranked fifth in Google's image search for queries such as "Hermione Yule Ball," "Yule Ball Dress," and some others. (Thank you, Blogger Stats, for letting me know that! lol!) Actually, I get ALOT of people coming through Google searching for things like "Elvish crafts." Hopefully they will be pleased with what they see here at Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe!


Anyways, I just had to share that. Back to regular crafty posting soon... :D

My First Craft Fair

My table display, set up in our school room.

A few weeks ago, my Mom forwarded me an email from a homeschool group: they were having a craft fair!

"You might want to think about doing this," Mom said.

Of course I wanted to do it! And thus it was that last Monday we drove out to this funeral-home-turned-gathering-center with a Rubbermaid tub full of... well, every jewelry that I have made and didn't plan on keeping. :)

The tables were free, and it sounded like it would be a mix of cutesy little kids' wares and parents' crafts. My six year old sister, Adelynn, made her own "Shoppe"-- "Adelynn's Princess Shop."

The day before the craft fair, I took over the homeschool table and made a beautiful little display. (See the results above!)

I wasn't expecting round tables!

The real deal!

(Please excuse the picture quality. Silly me forgot the camera's memory card! Mom snagged these with her phone camera. You'd better thank her for remembering that, or else you, dear readers, would have no pictures of any quality!)

Please excuse how crazy I look and see how pretty my little sis is. :)

I didn't really know what to expect; after all, this was not a real craft fair. When we arrived, I was surprised at how many people came to sell items.

Most of them were cute little kid crafts-- some very creative. For instance, marshmellow guns? Rings made out of brads? Pretty cool. Some people made soaps, some made tote bags, my co-op's art teacher did calligraphy... one lady had some amazing "good deed bracelets" (sacrifice beads made into a bracelet!) Mom bought this thing called a rice bag from someone-- it. is. awesome. I'm going to make some myself and do a post on them. ^_^

So the craft fair turned out rather well; I made five or six small sales and nearly everyone took one of my business cards. Adelynn sold two things and promptly spent that money on two little things from two other little girls. :)

I did notice that the only people there were the people selling things and their families. Most people came with full tables... and left with nearly full tables.

Packing everything up!

I certainly got a lot of experience from this craft fair! One important thing I learned: never forget hyperallegenic ear wires for earrings. I missed out on two sales because of that... In the future, I will always bring some gold plated, silver plated, and niobium ear wires for people who want them. :)

Have you ever been to a craft fair? Which displays and wares were your favorites? Have any tips? Please share in the comments box!

I am now officially hooked. I shall keep an eye out for craft fair opportunities-- and I might even bring some original artwork and some prints!

Do you want me to do a post on how I displayed the jewelry? I've already taken things apart, but I can show you the *drumroll* secrets. (I would make a terrible magician, lol!) For instance... I spent $0 on it!

What is the purpose of a mannequin?

Art mannequins are no help, whatsoever. They are supposed to help artists understand the proportions, angles, and movements of a human being.

The problem is that mannequins cannot move in the way that people do. My little mannequin cannot sit. It's hands can't touch its face. It can't cross its arms, tuck its ankles primly, or touch its toes. The little wooden joints simply don't do that.

A mannequin can also bend in ways a human cannot. It's head swivels, it does more-than-spilts, it can stick is arms up... backwards.

Overall, a mannequin is no help in art.

The only purpose I have discovered for it so far is:

But I wouldn't use a mannequin to help draw a unicyclist. I tried, honestly I did. But my drawing-from-imagination turned out much better. I'm much more likely to get my little sister to take a blurry snapshot of me in action than I am to use a mannequin.

I don't understand why mannequins even exist. The imagination is a MUCH better tool-- for me at least.