This is Halloween[-ish]

I love Halloween! It's, like, the only holiday where you can have a party and aren't expected to spend time with your family. And you get to wear a costume, which I love.

Unfortunately, I don't have many Halloween decorations.

So I made some.

Perhaps other people would like to make some too.

Halloween Lanterns~!

I know, my setup is very Halloween-y.

You will need:
1) cardstock - one sheet per lantern
2) vellum - one sheet per three lanterns
3) electric tea light candles
4) scissors
5) exacto knife
6) cutting mat
7) pencil
8) glue stick
9) the lantern pattern - get it here

Step 1:
Print the pattern, cut it out, and trace it onto the black cardstock. I used white cardstock so that (a) the stencil would be sturdy, and (b) I can use the stencil to make another lantern when I'm done.

Step 2:
Cut it out. A sharp exacto blade will make all the difference here. If your blade doesn't cut the paper with little effort from you, do yourself a favor and buy some new blades.

Step 3:
Score the fold lines. Score the fold lines. Really, it'll make the folds cleaner and easier.

(Psst, "score" means you scratch it, like with scissors.)

Step 4:
Find some images for your vellum windows. You're going to want to shrink and crop them down to 2"x2". Karen's Whimsy, The Graphics Fairy, and Google Images are all good places to find graphics for your lanterns. You can also download the images I used for my lanterns here. The file is in Microsoft Word format to (hopefully) make it easier to drop in your own images. The images are from a scrapbooking collection entitled Ravenhead Manor.

Anyway, print them out, cut them up, and glue them to the inside of the lantern windows.

Step 5:
Fold it up, glue the tabs, and drop in one of those battery-operated tea light candles. Close the top and it's done!

Finished~!

Alternatively, you can make an open-top version that can hold a real tea light candle. Though keep in mind that you're putting a flame inside paper, so don't leave them unattended.

You can get the open-top pattern here.

Or, if you are feeling so inclined, you can fill it with treats!

To review, here are the files available for download:
pattern for the closed-top lantern
pattern for the open-top lantern
sample vellum windows

Sims 3: English is Stupid

I know a significant percentage of people who play The Sims 3 don't like English in their game. We all have our weird rules for what we will and will not download. I, personally, won't download anything that has photographic images or art that is too real. Unless I really like it, of course.

Anyway, the whole "Keep Calm and Carry On" thing is pretty huge, and, thus, there are limitless parodies floating around for it. I have included most of my favorites, and, while I was at it, made three more art sets using images from the Keep Calm Gallery.

Keep Calm

[modern painting base]

55 simoleons

Get Wordy

[modern painting base]

55 simoleons

I Spy

[Social Bunny poster base]

45 simoleons

 Words to Live By
REQUIRES AMBITIONS EP

[French painting base]

45 simoleons

download

mirror

If you like this kind of stuff, then you will very probably also like the following:

Keep Calm and Carry on posters by NewOne

Fifteen "Keep Calm" Parodies by Camille

Twenty "Keep Calm" Parodies by Fashionista

Fifteen Prints from Keep Calm Gallery by Fashionista

Manga Monday: Apple Cheek Love (Oneshot)

Apple Cheek Love

~ Downloaded from Goldlily's Media Gallery  ~

Mangaka Usami Maki

Genre(s) shōjo, one shot

Year 2004

Volumes 1

Summary  taken from Baka-Updates

Takami has a HUGE problem! She blushes at the drop of a hat, so everyone knows what she is thinking! She finally makes a decision to stop letting her fear of embarrassment control her -- she gets a job where her crush is working so that she can confess her feelings to him... but then things go awry in an unexpected way!

Scanlated by Shoujo Magic

Translation A+

Scan Quality A+

Editing Quality A

Review

It's just... really standard and short. I dunno. It's not a bad story, but it definitely doesn't have anything to offer. I expect stuff from Shoujo Magic to be at least a little hot, but no. Maybe I just need to quit trying to entertain myself with one shots.

Story      

Art         

 Download in .PDF format

 Read online at MangaFox.com

The Most Horrifying Moment in the History of Television

Grey's Anatomy is basically one of the best shows in the history of forever. Poncho hates is because he hates hospitals, but I thing surgery is awesome. Also, there are a lot of sexy parts, and we all know that sex sells. Especially to me.

The past six seasons have caused me to shed tears of all kinds, and probably way too often. Besides the emotional parts, they show some crazy stuff: dead babies, puss-oozing guts, bloated and severed limbs, blood squirting people in the face... Through all of that I've had a pretty strong stomach, and I've never looked away.

Last night, I looked away. A lot.

One of the patients in the episode was a "tree people." Tree people freak me out so much that I'm not even going to post a picture, just a link: See? Too much for me.

But then... I... it... he... There was a spider! And I screamed. And I am totally still not over it.

If there was ever a more horrifying moment in television... Well, I just don't think that there has ever been or ever will be.

P.S. I would like to personally apologize to all the tree people of the world. I know that you are human and you are suffering, but... I... no. Ugh, too much.

Implosion

 Disneyland. Kittens. Crafty goodness. Smaller, firmer buns and thighs. These are the things I focus on most days. I have spent less and less of my time lately working on cover letters that won't even earn me the courtesy of a single-sentence rejection email. I'm getting closer and closer to either applying for jobs that pay me less than Obama is willing to pay me just to sit around and be my adorable self, or just living under my bed.

It's not even about that anymore. I don't have a problem with being poor. I like ramen and Bisquick with jam. It's... this free house. The free house is a problem. It's too free.

You know what "too free" means? Too free means that the people who we don't pay rent to are the ones in charge. Too free means that, for the last month, Poncho and I have had a teenager living with us. A teenager.

It's his cousin. He's nice, this cousin, and he's quiet. That's not the issue. The issue is that I am a grown and married woman who has no job or children, but does have a teenage roommate. Who leaves dishes in the sink and drawers slightly open. Also, I have to wear pants. Like, all the time. I'm wearing pants right now. It's horrible.

It's just one more thing to represent a lack of control over aspects of my life I should have control of by my age. It's one more reminder that I am utterly failing at this whole "being an adult thing."

So yesterday I got back on job-hunting wagon. And then I finished my craft project. And then I went to Disneyland to drown out the echo of my empty womb by screaming on the Matterhorn.

They say things always get worse before they get better. Darkest before the dawn, and all that. And, of course, I can never be too down because at least I have my dear darling husband to snuggle me and tell me to quit my whining.

 And, yes, the stupid images do make me feel better. So does this.

Bonus!
Check out my guest post at Stuff That Looks Like Jesus, in which I go over the glory that is Grilled Cheesus from this week's episode of Glee.

It's so Fluffy I'm Gonna Die!!

I have been going through fluff-withdraws. Going without a fluffy pet this long has been a problem for me, but, since Poncho and I are long-term housesitting for his grandparents, I can't just, like, find a fluffy creature and bring it home.

Fortunately, I have discovered the joys of fostering! You see, Poncho's aunt works with the Orange County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and she found kittens and Poncho's mom said I could keep them... for two weeks.

I will take what I can get.

Henry never holds still. He's the tough one. Duncan is sweet.

They're hard to get pictures of because they haven't figured out

how awesome I am yet.

I will not pretend that I chose to care for and socialize a couple of stray kittens because it's, like, "the right thing to do" or something noble like that. It was purely for selfish reasons, I assure you.

That said, you should totally help out your local animal shelter. They always need more animal food, volunteers, and money for veterinary services. I don't know about other SPCAs, but but OCSPCA allows you, when making a donation, to specify where you'd like your money to go.

So do that. And, if you are not yet convinced, allow me to inspire you with rhyme:

While walking on the beach one day, I saw a starfish by the shore. And everywhere I looked, it seemed, I saw a thousand more. Then what to my surprise appeared? A boy of nine or ten. And as the starfish washed ashore, he threw them back again.

“One fish won’t make a difference, son; you can’t change this situation.” He stooped and picked up one more fish, then looking right at me, “I can make a difference for this one, sir” and returned it to the sea.

So I went and gathered all my friends, my brothers and my cousins. We joined in with that little boy and saved starfish by the dozens.

There are still many to be rescued – many “starfish” on life’s shore. And you can make a difference too…by saving just one more.”

Author Unknown

Sims 3: Customizing the Painting Mod

Customizing my painting mod to get your Sims painting images you want to see is easy. For reals. I will show you.

Things you will need:

1. The painting mod, obviously.

2. The gallery of images (422MB), so you know what you're replacing.

3. A graphics editing program, such as Gimp or Photoshop. Maybe Paint Shop Pro, I dunno. I use Photoshop, myself.

4. The file format the images are in is called DDS (as opposed to JPG or GIF, which is what most people are used to), so you will need plug-ins so that your computer and graphics program know how to use it. Get the DDS Utilities. Here are the plug-ins for Gimp and Photoshop.

5. The Sims 3 Package Editor, s3pe.

Step 1: Pick it

Open the gallery. Look through it. See Twilight fanart. Feel betrayed. Maybe vomit a little. Decide to do something about it.

Step 2: Export it

Open s3pe. In s3pe, open the mod. Find the instance number for the image you want to replace.

You will need to export the image to a DDS file. Go to Resource > Export > To file...

Step 3: Edit it

Pin-up Peach by pluckylump

Open the DDS file that you exported in your chosen graphics program. Replace Mr. Cullen with something you like better.

Save the file, again, as a DDS, with the same filename as the original. Be sure, when saving, the drop-down box says:

DXTS     ARGB    8 bpp | inerpolated alpha

Step 4: Import it

In s3pe, go to Resource > Import > From file... and, duh, import your new pic. As long as it has the same filename, it'll automatically replace the old one. Save the mod. And you're done.

Alternatively

If you see an image you don't like, or a bunch of them, or simply want to reduce the filesize of the mod, just delete the file in s3pe. Highlight the file like, like in step 2, and press the Delete button on your keyboard. Save the file and, bam, it's gone. Your Sim will go back to painting the [ugly] original painting.

Note

You can also export/import multiple files at once. Feel free to export all 1,580 images, edit them all, and re-import them. Go on. I dare you.

Sharing Policy
And also feel free to share your edits of this mod. Just please give me credit for the work I did. And the work you did. Just because.

Manga Monday: Barairo My Honey

Barairo My Honey

~ Downloaded from Goldlily's Media Gallery  ~

Mangaka Ohmi Tomu

Genre(s) comedy, josei, romance, supernatural

Year 2005

Volumes 3

Summary  taken from Celestial Scans

At first, she might seem just a cute girl, pretty like a doll, but as soon as she opens her mouth, it becomes clear that she’s a really shrewd and independent girl! Her name is Koume and she has a “date with destiny!” She meets one very cool “tiger-master” and one very hot “tiger-tamer” and they are both handsome young men… But what is the truth about them?

Scanlated by Aerandria & Celestial Scans

Translation A+

Scan Quality A+

Editing Quality A

Review

This is another one of those rich-boy loves common-girl stories that seem to be so popular among manga, but this one has a supernatural twist! And, unlike many of these types of stories, the relationship actually progresses, rather than just playing the hot/cold game until the end. It's rated "mature" for sexual content, though it's just one booby kiss really. I'm not really into the art style, personally, but it's really well done for the most part. The main guys have stupid hair. Overall, it's a fast-paced story, though some might feel it's a little too faced-paced, effectively skipping a bit too much development. Can't really complain for just three volumes though.

Story       

Art         

 Download in .PDF format

 Read online at MangaFox.com