Bandeau's Stuff!

Midnight Breed Series

2012-01-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed 8-Book Bundle: Kiss of Midnight, Kiss of Crimson, Midnight Awakening, Midnight Rising, Veil of Midnight, Ashes of Midnight, Shades of Midnight, Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Long rant ahead, be warned. (I mean LONG)

I am not a fan of the Midnight Breed series. Not by a long shot. In fact, I loathe the series. I know I loathe it, because so far I've read the first seven books.

"But if you loathe it, then why the hell do you keep reading them?" you may ask.

I blame Kobo. They did their usual "Books recommended for you" email (what kind of books am I reading that they recommended this junk?) along with a 30% off coupon. Midnight Breed was recommended, and I got the 8 book set for $20. I thought I scored a great deal!

Until I read the first one.

I'm usually pretty forgiving on the first novel in any series. The author's working out the kinks, figuring out their writing style, etc. So okay, it was the typical brooding emo amazingly hot guy who couldn't die falling for the girl that seems to have a quirky ability.

I could even ignore that he kept referring to her as "female". However, I had a much harder time ignoring that he breaks into her apartment to screw her while she's asleep, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with this once she finds out.

And you thought Edward had Rape Face.

Also, when you can delete every sex scene and only have a dozen pages left, I'm thinking you're missing something vital in your book. Something called a "plot".

Until I got to the next book. And the next (why am I still reading these? Because I'm cheap and hate wasting money.)

By time I got to the fourth book, I figured out that I could skim over 30% or more because it was nearly copy and paste from the first three. I thought that at some point she'd try to throw a wrench in this ship so it would go towards something new, but come book seven I'm now rolling my eyes and yelling, "Oh come on!"

She might as well have named every male character the same and every female character the same.
Let me break it down for you.

EVERY SINGLE MALE LEAD:

Drop dead gorgeous (though you're lucky to get a discription that goes beyond "(colored) hair and (colored) eyes and amazing body" (It took three books before she explained Kade is Native. Up until that point going by her description of him...oh wait, there wasn't one, I just pictured a blank void fighting alongside the Order)

All have identical speech patterns and use the identical phrases at the copy and pasted moments throughout each book. By book 7 I did notice that she finally started to veer away from this, a little.

Super emo loathes himself, thinks that the woman, er sorry, "female" would be insane to love him even though he dotes on her/is drop dead georgous/crazy wealthy/adores her/can't die/can offer her eternale life/etc etc. You get the idea. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. "I need to leave her, she deserves someone better! I'm a horrible person! I should rocket into the sun and die!"

Can make her climax with two strokes of his finger in her "hot wet cleft". Yes, this is the description used of a vagoo in every single book. But trust me, it's better than the author's other favorite line, "Her canal milked his cock like a hot wet fist". Does anyone else pictured someone milking a cow with sweaty hands? Because I did. For all four books this was used. Or was it five?

Oh, I only know that two of the males have short hair. The rest seem to have hair that magically lengthens and shortens depending on the mood. In the above drawing, I'm just guessing that Rio's hair is long.

Every guy has no respect for women, unless they're a "Breedmate" in which case they feel obligated to protect the "superier female". Otherwise, women are just things they can drink and screw and then mindswipe and walk away like nothing happened. "I can't get her pregnant, so it's okay!" (Big cheesy grin and thumbs up)

EVERY SINGLE "FEMALE"

Gives up her dreams and her life to spend the rest of her life on her back under one of these guys. The successful photographer? Now only shoots photos for her guy. The vet who ran her own clinic to help people from poor circumstances? Is now their doctor. I guess sewing up the Breed is like sewing up a shih tzu. Everyone one of these women walk away from what they're aspiring towards.

All have identical speech patterns and use the identical phrases at the copy and pasted moments (Look! I can use copy and paste too!)

All have mind shattering orgasms at the drop of a hat, or two strokes of a finger. (Their pap tests must be awkward)

Her family is dead. (Did I mention this is every character?)

Her friends are either dead or end up dead.

Why? Because the author can't, or simply doesn't want to, try to come up with a realistic or, heaven forbid, sad way for her to leave her family to live her new happy eternal life.

As void a desciption as all the other characters. You get hair and eye color, that's it. I was 3/4 of the way through the book before Clair's "butter skin" made sense, because it was pointed out that her mom was white and her dad was black. Up until that point going by the lousy description (that was the same description used for Rio) I wondered if she was Italian or something along those lines.

Are in no way respected, but thought of as beautiful, until they are exposed as a Breedmate.

I'm going to pause for a second here. A "Breedmate" is born only one out of every million women (or so the author says). Yet they seem to be everywhere, and is the first woman any of these men seem to talk to, conveniently only a few months apart. Guys that went 900 years without finding a "mate" are dropping like flies in two years.

Also, these women are being taken in groups of twenty or more at a time by the "evil" guy - read, the guy she threw in to make some semblance of an actual plot - yet no one seems to notice they're vanishing. I'm guessing there's just a hoard of horny Breed walking around.

Oh wait, there isn't, because they take women when they want and drink from them then screw them then wipe their memories of it. Mass rape, yay! (The argument, "but after I gave her the roofie she was really into it!" could come into play every time these guys have sex).

I digress.

Don't get me started on how the women aren't allowed to leave the compounds during the day because it's "too dangerous". Oh wait, they can't leave at night, either.

So, to break it down:
Every last male is the same.
Every last woman is the same and gives up her career to be his sexy playmate.
Every book has copy and pasted lines/paragraphs/pages/chapters
Every book can now be skimmed over and you don't miss anything important. (There was something about an evil guy for a second, wasn't there? OH HEY SEX!"

Rant over. Sorry

View all my reviews

My Book is Available

2011-03-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly two years since I first started writing Corporeal Daughters: Family Ties, and it's finally up for sale on Amazon! You can find it here for $2.99

It's currently only available in the Kindle store for North America and the UK but don't despair if you don't have a Kindle! Amazon allows you to download their free App for you PC, iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad.

It may only have two reviews so far (and a 5 star rating) but they are excellent reviews and I couldn't be happier!

Since I'm an unknown author, I'll need all the help I can get to spread the word about my book, so if you'd like you can find me on Facebook, Twitter or on DeviantArt. If you could spread the word I would be extremely grateful!

In the meantime, you can check out the Corporeal Daughter's homepage for a sample of the book!

Cheers all!

Higher Education in a Lower Economy

2011-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

It is not common knowledge, but I graduated from high school early and never went onto college. I had and have many reasons, though lately I've been revisiting the idea.

Originally, I watched one of my friends after the other go to college, spend an amazing amount of money on tuition, and then drop out when they realized the courses just weren't for them. Some of them did this multiple times, now landing them in over $30,000 in debt with either student loans or lines of credit. The thought that that could have been me is terrifying!

At age eighteen if you had asked me what I wanted to do for a living, I'd have shrugged and mentioned a number of possibilities. The one foremost in my mind would have been game design. Oh how I am glad I never went into it!

At the time, the four year course would have run me around $46,000. Not to mention my final costs once you throw in the crazy student loan interest rates. I of course didn't have the money to pay for it outright, and neither did my parents. And now, at 25 years old, I have no desire what-so-ever to make game design my career. That would have been an amazing amount of money to throw down the drain for something I would never have put to good use.

The counsellor at my high school told me I should spend the few thousand dollars it would take to go to our local college and take Art. Why? Because he believed I would "Have fun".

A few thousand dollars, and several years of my life not working, to have fun? I thought he was loony!

While stressing about my academic future one afternoon, I ran into the older brother of an old friend of mine. He knew I was graduating soon because his sister was as well, and he asked me what my plans were. I told him I was going to graduate early, and work full time in a print shop because I wanted to continue learning graphic design. He told me he was proud of me for not making the mistake he’d watched so many of his friends make. (And later on, his sister, who in the end went to several different schools and threw away a lot of money into courses she never completed.)

He was…proud of me?
My mother had yelled and screamed at me until we were both in tears because I refused to go to college right away. My councillor thought I would be an idiot not to rush into a course so I could have fun. My dad wanted to see me go to school so I could have a good job. My aunt (to this day) could not sit down with me in a room without changing the subject to tell me how I should take a few thousand dollars and go to any school for any course.

And he was proud of me for not jumping into it?

Currently, my job is not the greatest. I’m doing very low end graphic design part time, while my husband is putting his four years of trade school to mediocre-use.

Four years of schooling, to become a red seal certified top of the line welder, and he is making less than first year students because there is just no work here for his trade. He is making literally half of what the average wage rate is for someone of his experience, skill and certification.

My co-worker just finished school for the course I would currently take if I went back to school. She is done, and knows less than half of what I know from on the job training, and is still working part time alongside me because there is no work here for that field.

Recently I have been job hunting. Nearly every posting is requiring at least two years of post-secondary education, and starting wages range from $11 to $14 an hour.

$10,000 to $44,000 in student debt, for $11 an hour? I’m making more than that doing what I have taught myself to do.

The employers around here complain that their aren’t enough educated people in the city, but they’re paying less than retail wages. This is a bad cycle guys, and someone needs to wake up!

Housing here is astronomically expensive; wages are ridiculously low.

Sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake by not going back to school these last few years, but then I look around. I do not know a single person who went to college who is now working at a well-paying job in a career they love. The ones who did successfully complete their education? Several were working in retail establishments, full time if they were lucky.

You can’t expect your youth to jump into college the second they receive their dogwood, as my and many other parents expect their children to do, unless they have a clear idea of what they want to do with themselves.

If housing and the job market here were different, then I would look at taking some courses. Though at the same time, I’ve also been informed that I know more than most the teachers here who teach the courses I would take. So in the end I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.

Maybe one of the schools is hiring?

Digital Valentine's Cards

2011-01-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

We're coming up to that time of year again! You know the one, where you wake up one morning and say, "Oh S#!T! I never got/made/stole anything for my hunny!" Okay, maybe you don't do this, but I know I do every year.

I'm not so much into the commercial side of Valentine's Day, I usually like to make some chocolates for my guy (for which you can find a
wonderful recipe here ) but lately I find the big V has snuck up on me once again.

So this year, I'm covered! Well, at least for the card that is. I'm no sap, I suck at coming up with meaningful sayings, and they usually wind up sounding like Engrish. Nevertheless, I tried my darndest and came up with this little bit of crapola.

Yes, you can buy this lovely bit of Jangrish (Jaz awkward English) for $2, download, and print onto your choice of stock, OR you can get together (you fancy wordsmith's you!) and come up with your own phrase for me to slap -er- type on there!However, if you're even more like me, you may prefer to go with this Zombiefied version instead!

Now! Enough hawking my own wears. I decided to poke my head around Etsy a bit to see what other digital downloadable goodies there were.

The first to catch my eye? The Valentine Polka Dot PDF Though it doesn't hurt that when I look at it I think of sweets packaging and my brain immediately sees "Edible" instead of "Editable". Hey, I'm won-over by food, okay?

What else wins me over? As of late, I've become very attached to cute owl images, so this adorable Printable Owl Stationery Set caught my eye right away. The envelopes! The note paper! Cuuuute!

So what, in all my searching, turned out to be my favorite Valentine of all? Easy answer! My jaw dropped in the nerdy cuteness that is the ZombieLuv Valentine Cube! I would love my man forever if I found this and a box of brains -er- chocolates... next to my pillow on V-day. hint hint, honey!

However you like to say it, with your heart on the inside or outside, Happy Early Valentine's Day all! I'm saying it now since I won't be able to wake up on the 14th, roll over and tell you then :)

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction

2011-01-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already, I strongly suggest you check out
Make It Perfect's blog regarding their GIANT fundraiser for the Queensland Flood Appeal Auction.

If you also have something you wouldn't mind donating, it isn't too late to jump in!

Personally, I am going to auction off an 11x14" print of my Last Unicorn ~ Lady Amalthea piece. Artwork to bring out the child in you, or perfect for a child you know!

I will cover shipping costs, and the print will come signed by me :)

Here’s how to bid:
1. Bidding will start at $30 Australian.
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your signed print.
7. Thank you for taking part and let the bidding begin!

The Amazing Women of Etsy & Swap-Bot! Kiwi's Etsy Love Swap #1

2011-01-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

WOW! Long time no post! As my humbled apology to my whole ten readers, I'm doing up a wonderful shopping guide for five shops of some wonderful ladies on Etsy and Swap-Bot. Go give these creative individuals some love...NOW!

Now, I'm a budget shopper. That does not mean that I go for the lowest QUALITY item, that means I go for items that are well priced, and well made. The best bang for my buck, regardless of how much I have to shop around. So what am I looking for in each of these five shops? Well made and affordable items that I can use and love!

I also look for unique items that either aren't easily reproduced, or have a lot of creativity put into them. My first feature has both! As soon as I saw the listing, I was in love.

#1 Funky Lindsay

Meet FunkyLindsay . I really love her Unique Save the Date cards that are also so well priced! So what won me over in the end? No challenge! Her amazing personalized paper dolls! How can you say no to custom art that is both incredibly cute and functional, all for only $20!

You give her the details, and she draws up some custom caricatures for you. Have a younger sibling who likes creation gifts? DONE! Sister getting married who can't pick out a wedding dress? Get a custom paper doll set with different gowns, and throw in some save the dates! Haha, love it!

You can also see into this creative artist's mind at her blog.

#2 Miss Thundercat

Next stop, Kitty Darkness Designs! Yah okay, my love for all that is Kawaii is no secret (as you can see in my older post about Japanese Whipped Topping brands.

At first glance in KDD, your eyes are given a sweet candy-tasting feast! I thought to myself "I have to pick one?!?" I just want to grab up all of her hand carved stamps and be done with it. No more to say here! Hand. Carved. Kawaii. Stamps. LOVE!! Even now, my hand keeps moving the mouse over each one. "I'll pick this one! Oh no wait, this one! That one! ARGH!"

In the end, I want to go for the general stamp that I can see covering a broader audience, interest wise. Lovely Little Alice How freaking sweet?

But for the love of all that is cute, check out her Zombie Cat (or don't, because I want it) and her Angry Cat. I mean really, how do you say "no" to these?

Want to see through the eyes of the queen of cute? Check out her ramblings here!

#3 Provadia

Once I clicked on Folksy Love's shop, I wanted to close the window immediately. Oh how much trouble I could get into in a shop full of such beautiful imagery! And I have to admit, as much as I am a cute lover, I have never been a big Blythe fan. I much prefer large ball jointed dolls, but one look at these professional photos and I knew I had to have THIS Blythe postcard!

Aah, but as much as I am drawn to small stationary, I am much, much more drawn to LARGE stationary. Journals are my undoing. The stacks of well made or interesting journals I have in my bedroom is embarrassing, especially for someone who writes as much as I do! Though the evidence of that is surely not proved in this dusty, cobwebbed blog...*cough* I digress! As I was saying.... GIMME GIMME GIMME!!

Large eyes? Fashion? Professionally photographed rooftop? Oh my!
She also currently has a sale going on. Enter in BLOGSNSWAPS and get 15% off your order!
More of the seller's lovely photography and ideas can be seen in her equally lovely blog.

#4 Mad About Pink

Mad About Pink's shop is another delicious taste at the oh-so girly! My eyes are going to get cavities by time tonight is over! For fear of playing favorites, I will not be listing this Alice in Wonderland ring as my favorite from Pink's shop. As much as I love the mess of playthings that bring me right back to a child's mindset, I'm instead going to go with the fabric folding purse hanger. Why? Because I HATE these things! Loath! Do not need! Do not wa--Hey? Is that a cute Russian nesting doll fabric I see? And oooh! Adorable fawn? Wait, what was I saying?

Yes! I am a hypocrite! These particular purse hangers are so well constructed and with such great fabric, how can I say "No, do not want!"?

Check out what the pink obsessed has to say at her blog.

#5 Klow

We are nearing an hour and a half working on this post (I'm so very slow at posting links and figuring out how to insert photos, please forgive me!) and we've finally made our way to a little shop called Cards 'n' Crafts by KLow and, for the fifth time tonight, I am in love.

I'm no stranger to paper crafts or design, but to see the two so elegantly combined as this "Warm Thoughts" card, it warmed my heart, and my frozen phalanges. The expertly aligned card was only overshadowed, to me, by her "Best Wishes" card. No matter how quickly I look away, I still want bubblegum when looking at it.

Haven't quite had your fill of paper crafts for the night? Then please check out her blog!

Well that is it tonight for my Etsy Five Features, and I am going to type "goodbye, and goodnight" with a smile on my face and a few less dollars in my paypal account. I hope you found some goodies to line your walls, shelves and hearts!

Wow~ The Sneaky Costs of Eating Out

2010-06-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

My husband and I aren't big spenders, but we do like to eat out once a week as a treat to ourselves. I prefer nice, homey style restaurants, while he likes busier big ol' hamburger restaurants so we switch it up every now and then.

Recently, thanks to our ever lovely economy, we've really been looking at our finances. Like ourselves, many people we know eat out, and sometimes much more frequently than we do. Often we hear complaints of lack of funds, or worries that they can't make their credit card payments. This made me pause.

I discovered that our average meal breaks down like this:

Logan:
1 pop $2.99
burger/roast/etc $12.99 (on average)

Myself:
water $0
soup/sandwich/flatbread etc $9.99 (on average)

Both of us tend to split a dessert, usually around $4.99

So once a week we typically spend $26.00 plus taxes and tips. So lets say $30/week on eating out.

Times that by 4 and you have $120, times that by 12 months and you have $1,440! That's a good chunk of money! After realizing this we have cut back to eating out once a month, if that.

But the craving still hits! So what to do?

We usually wind up bringing home leftovers that don't always get eaten, so if we really have a craving to eat out we've been ordering one burger and asking the waitress to have the chef split it for us.

Between the burger and the fries, one restaurant sized portion is perfect for us! Logan makes sure to order water (who needs to spend $3 on one glass when you can sometimes buy a 2L for $1.50?) and we make dessert at home. Thus cutting our monthly restaurant budget (if we eat out once a month) to less than half and leaving room in our wallets to splurge and eat out twice a month if we absolutely have to. (Hah! HAVE to. Yes I am going to say HAVE to after working 8 hours on my feet and Logan works harder than I do, we don't always have everything prepped and ready to go in time for dinner. Bad us, I know!)

If you have a monthly habit and bigger monthly bills, take a look at what you do and crunch the numbers. You may find that your "little" splurge will leave a BIG hole in your account!

Japanese Whipped Topping Clays

2010-04-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

I've noticed the new crafting trend in cute charms like I'm sure you all have.

First there were the adorable cupcakes, then the sushi charms, then we went onto full fledged meals and little vials filled with salts or colored water. Now we have little charms and jewellery boxes and mirrors covered in this very smooth, very real looking whipped topping!

I’m the type where I see a craft that’s a mystery to me and I have to try to dissect it and figure out how to do it. I tried my regular polymer clays, but they all crack and split when you try to push them through the star moulds. You mix them with liquid sculpey and they still aren’t the right consistency. Then there’s that nice shiny bright white they all seem to have! Argh!

Finally, while hovering around on Etsy, I came across this Cream Dolly Frosting Ah hah! It wasn’t some magical alchemy of just the right clay mixed with just the right liquid! I could stop wasting all my white haha!

This stuff is amazing! Provided you have more patience than I do and you won’t touch it as it air dries, or you can control your animals curiosity so that they don’t paw at it, but WOW!

And that isn't your only option if you don't feel like spending $17+ after shipping. Lots of companies are now producing these in much smaller quantities so you can give them all a try and figure out what works best for you!

Japanese Decollage Brand

Colored creams! Fuwa Fuwa Pink Whipped Cream

Blue Decola Cream

Pink Resin Clay Whipped Cream

Fuwa Fuwa Mousse Whipped Cream in Blue

And the cheapest one I could find... Racoon Honey Cream Clay!

Or! If you'd like to give everything a go then try picking up a Starter Kit for Kawaii Desserts!

There's so much more, so shop around for the best prices as many of the online Asian stores are catching on and following the trends so they're now offering competitive shipping.

Happy Crafting!

Dear Vanity Fair...

2010-01-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

Regarding your article "America’s Tweethearts."

Honestly? Other than researching how many followers these women (not girls, women) have, did the writer do ANY research into twitter? What a horrible, condescending poor read that was!

If that's the sort of low end jabs Vanity Fair is taking at something their high and mighty writers think is a new fad for idiot cheerleaders, than I guess I'm reading the wrong magazine.

Here's hoping more people, oh, I'm sorry, "tweeple" like me didn't also take the time to peel themselves away from their inane "tweeting" long enough to take notice at your insults.

Those poor women, they must feel so insulted at having given you their time. Then again, according to your writer it seems like they have nothing but time and should be honored at appearing in something as entertaining as your magazine.

Maybe they'll even tell their fellow "tweeples" how honored they are.

Goodbye Vanity Fair.

X-Mas last minute shopping!

2009-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

So if you are anything like me then you know full well that Christmas is JUST around the corner but for the last two weeks you've been telling yourself "I still have time, I still have time!" so this post is for you! (If you are in the British Columbia area of Canada)

I love to buy unique homemade things for people, and if it isn't something I can make myself then I hit up Etsy.com

For anyone who doesn't know, yesterday was the last day for Canada post shipping to get to it's destination with a guarantee it would arrive before Christmas. This means that anything we BC'ers may want to buy for our families and friends this year needs to be pretty darn close to home! I've jumped onto Etsy to help us all out!

Shop Feature #1 (Kelowna, BC) - Got a knitter in your family? Send them some great print outs or PDF's of these wonderful patterns found in Stitchin' Designs shop! Click Here!

And such great prices too!!

Shop Feature #2 (Kelowna, BC) - Have an art lover nearby? The Little Shop of Artists Click Here! is having a 10% off everything AND gst included sale! Email them and they will give you an exact shipping quote if you are unable to pick your item up!

Shop Feature #3 (Vancouver, BC) - And the cuteness is overwhelming! Take a look around The Tiny Fig Click Here!

Shop Feature #4 (Cranbrook, BC) - I'm a sucker for a beautiful corset, and was stoked to find La Belle Fairy on Etsy! Shop

They have a big sample sale going on right now too!

Shop Feature #5 (Kelowna, BC) - Of course I have to add my own shop to this :) Bandeau's Stuff on Etsy can be found here! Click Here!

Feature #6 (Vernon, BC) Keep your neck warm in style with the wonderful scarves and shawls from Mireilles Click Here!

Feature #7 (Vernon, BC)- I can't resists handmade soaps no matter how hard I try. You can sometimes pick up the most WONDERFUL smelling soaps! Take a gander through Good Earth Essentials and see what they have available to make you smell fresh and sweet! Click Here!

Feature #8 (Vernon, BC) - I was very excited when Steam Punk started to come in style, and the fine jewelry you'll find in Steam Punk Junq's store is no exeption to that excitement! Click Here!

Feature #9 (Nelson, BC) A new season means a new bag to match it! I really loved the designs in Kitty Empire3's shop! Click Here!

Feature #10 (Salmon Arm, BC) Every photo of your family is unique. They have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, so why shouldn't the frame reflect that? Go talk to the peeps at Wood Frames Etc and see how they can give those family photos an added touch! And what's even better?? They are using pine beetle wood! Click Here!

Lets shop local guys! We have a talented bunch of people, and don't forget you can choose to shop local on Etsy simply by going to the home page, scroll down, and hit the shop local application.

Cheers, Happy Holidays, Eat, Drink, and for damn's sake BE MERRY!!

2009-11-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

Work was awesome, had a good day, decided to get some exercise and walk home.
Got mad at people for not moving out of the way of an ambulance. Had to walk through the accident to get to the other side of the road and turned around to see pools of blood under a car and see it dripping out the door.

Got home and found out a friend of mine died BACK IN JUNE from H1N1 complications. I only met her once and hung out for a few hours and she was a wonderful girl! So fun, so funny, and I'm happy I had a chance to get to know her, no matter how short it was.

Got a notice from Lulu saying I owe them $300 for my book http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/corporeal-daughters/7938162 because I made an accidental order of 25 books that I thought was 10 books, that I also cancelled before going to the final freaking page!! Sent emails back and forth with customer service (I'm sorry ma'am, but our policy is not to cancel orders) and finally got the order reversed after stressing.

Forced myself to understand that there aren't "Bad Days" just bad events, then got a call from Logan's supervisor telling me he's in the hospital and will be coming home with a shorter thumb and the rest of the week off.

For ahsakfhjskdjhsfd Sake!!

Started wishing midnight would just hurry up and come, decided to ignore my previous meditation about "Bad Days" not being real, then got the call from my mom.

My Opa may not last to the end of the week.

Okay, seriously. Midnight? You can come over now!

Munny's & Strangness

2009-10-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm avoiding cleaning the house right now so I thought I'd sit down and work on some of my Munny's when I realized I'm a very strange person. Shocking, I know right?

When I get frustrated while working on something it's like I have an "off" switch. I finally get to a breaking point and realize I just don't like a certain area, my emotion shuts off and I white wash it (or black wash, or brown...whichever) and start on some totally random angle.

I had plans for one of my Munny girls to be wearing a teddy bear jacket with fur trim. The trim around her hood came out nice, the trim on the sleeves was good, but then there was the trim going from the collar to the bottom of the coat. My brain kept telling me she had chest hair.

My "off" switch was flicked, and before I knew what I was doing I mixed gold with black (odd combo...) and completely painted over the fur trim to give her some huge Victorian style ruffles. And you know what? I LIKE it! I gave her some lighter black/gold gloves and pants to match, and now I'm quite happy with it :D It's all a very strange looking combination, and nothing compared to what I originally had in mind, but I like it :D

Photos will come once the finishing touches are added and she's glazed.

Book Review? From me? Yah you know it's gotta be bad.

2009-10-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Morganville Vampires. Why did I decide to hunt down these books, you ask? Because I recently sat down and read through Many Blood Returns, a book compiled of short stories regarding vampires and birthdays from writers of all walks of life. Some had never written vampire stories before, some had been writing them for many years.

A few stories in the book caught my attention and I thought "I'd love to read more about these characters!" One in particular was titled The First Day of the Rest of Your Life. It was a quick story following a young goth named Eve, who just turned eighteen and had to choose if she was going to sign her life away to her Patron, a vampire who would ultimately keep her safe from others (with the joys of doing whatever he wanted to her) and use her for whatever he currently needed a human for. Eve decides not to sign, and somehow ends up hiding out in the house of her high school crush, Michael. The story pretty much ends there, and something nagged at me about these two characters.

I took a quick look online and found that Rachel Caine continued writing about these two (though they are secondary characters to the new protagonist, Claire) and there are currently 8 volumes of the series out.

I hit up my favorite book spot (EBay!!) and found a good listing with oodles of happy buyers for all the novels in ebook form. I'm not a huge fan of ebooks, but if I'm unsure about a series I like to pick them up and then buy the rest. (I have, literally, thousands of books, I'm starting to be a little pickier about what hardcopies I pick up.)

First off, my god I will never buy from them again. It looks like some high school student quickly sat down and retyped out the books. I was garunteed that at least nothing in the actual story was different, just the horrible grammar mistakes.

I didn't actually realize these were young adult books, though I really should have guessed.

Before I rant about the insane amount of continuity errors, I have to rant about one character inparticular. Shane. Oh my Shane.

Eighteen, Shane is described as a drop dead sexy rebel who, by the tales of the other characters, screws a new girl every week. Shane falls for sweet sixteen Claire, and is the one to constantly roll over off the couch or bed or wall, and tell her he will not sleep with her until she is older.

Right. Show me a gorgeous eighteen year old guy who's used to getting laid every week that has that much restraint. Drives me nuts how poorly these characters are written.

Not to mention Michael. I think the author has a father complex. Michael is constantly giving platonic kisses on the girls forheads and hugging and comforting them when they need it. Sure it takes (2?) books before he starts sleeping with Eve, but he sticks around to make the girls swoon and is always a fatherly shoulder for them to snuggle up against.

Gimme a break.

Now please, correct me if I'm wrong (seriously) because I am still questioning these ebooks, but the continuity errors have actually made me put down the books.

I am now on book four, and as Claire was leaving the home of her vamp teacher she realizes it is dark out, so when she sees a cop car she asks for a ride. The cop turns out to be bad, he takes her to a secret hide out (shed!) with some other nasties and ties her up.

Fifteen minutes later her vampire friend breaks through the door and is burning up from the Texas sun.

...She got a ride...because it was dark. Not mid afternoon.

This was not the first error, this was around the 50th, but it was the final straw. Between the horribly unbelievable characters (oh, you tried to kill me a bunch of times, cut me, burned me, threw me down a flight of stairs, but SURE I'll save your life and tutor your friends who took part in trying to kill me, no problem!) and the unreal plot errors, I've had enough. I cannot read another page, let alone another four books.

Which is really too bad, because I was hoping poor Claire would finally lose her virgin status to her hotty boyfriend (because, you know, that's a shit load more believable than "no honey, I promised I wouldn't sleep with you") and more of her vamp teacher, who was the only well written and interesting character in the books.

But unless the sky lights up with midafternoon sun after it has JUST turned to a dark sky, I don't think I'll read through another page.

New Local Art Gallery

2009-10-25T21:50:00.003-07:00

Recently I was offered a very interested position. 1/5th owner of a new Art Gallery in our town. The concept for this gallery is a little different than most. Each of the five owners (all of us are artists) pay for the gallery, work at the gallery, and work on our art at the gallery at scheduled times so people can come in and watch us work if they'd like.

I thought it was a good idea, so yesterday I decided to go to the meeting with the possible owners.

By time we left I was literally VIBRATING with excitement!

Of course, I said yes.

Yes. Yes. YESSS!!

We are coming up with a name by Tuesday, registering, and opening by....NOVEMBER 1ST! My god, so soon! One week! Ah!!

I'm a gallery owner.

Holy Crap.

Halloween Costumes

2009-10-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my!

As I find Halloween quickly sneaking up on me I realize that I got MY costume out of the way weeks ago, but now I need to get my husband's costume done!

We're big on making our own costumes as more and more people are as well while trying to cut back spending, but some people can go a little over the deep end. Try to decide what you want to be as much in advance as you can, so you don't wind up leaving everything to the last minute and end up buying more expensive items just because you don't have time to hunt something down or order it online.

After having read all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, I find that there is something I just adore about Sookie. Maybe it's that (in her book descriptions) she's a size 8 on a good day, and a 10 on a regular day, or that she can go from wearing comfy oversized pajamas to skin tight jeans with baby doll tops in a matter of minutes. Whatever it is about her, I decided that this year, darnit all, I'm going to be Sookie Stackhouse!!

And boy am I glad I planned early!

When I posted this photo of myself on my deviant art page ( http://bandeau.deviantart.com ) as good old Sookie, people started commenting/emailing/and noting me about where I found everything.

I had planned about three months ago who I was going to be so I had time to find all the bits and pieces.

So here is what I went through to put this together for my goal of $30

1. Tshirt - simple, right? WRONG!! Try finding a white, snug fitting t-shirt that isn't completely see-through or $50. Seriously! After a few hours and hitting every store I could thinking of (I think I tried on at least 25 white t-shirts) I found this one at The Garage Clothing Store and it was the cheapest too at only $9.50

2. Black Shorts - didn't own any and black shorts are out of season now so I had to hit up Value Village for these. Fairly new Randi River shorts Comfy too! Got them for $3.50

3. Apron - Got it off Ebay for less than buying the fabric. Just look up Kelly Green Apron. $5.50

4. Black Runners - not Nike's sadly, but if I find an all black pair that fit nicely I'll probably pick them up. In the meantime I found these completely by fluke at, of all places, Canadian Tire, on sale for 75% off, the only pair and my size. Some good luck! $10.00

5. Merlotte's logo - this took some collaboration I didn't want to redesign it myself (I can be lazy, lay off! ) so I checked out on DA and got permission from Nightshyfter ( http://nightshyfter.deviantart.com/ ) to use the one he created. I then went onto Etsy to Shannon's Goodies ( http://shannonsgoodies.etsy.com ) shop and she printed off and mailed me a $2 iron on patch

Natural blond, so all else I needed were my contacts and an elastic!

Total cost of the costume - $30.50

I also decided to pick up a bottle of Sobe for my husband's lunch so I could later fill it with pomogranite juice and slap a True Blood label on.

$0.50 over my budget, haha! However had I waited to the last week I would be buying the shirt, apron, and true blood label for around $60, if you've seen what HBO charges for those! Not to mention the rush shipping charges.

Though I am an Eric fan, my husband looks a lot like Bill, so we're throwing him in some run down clothes and I'll "deaden" up his face. All we need now are the $20 fangs! I highly recommend Scarecrow's brand. I bought myself some of their fangs about five years ago for a Halloween party, and I still have them and they still fit GREAT! Well worth the $20 instead of buying new cheap ones everytime you need them.

So for Halloween, it pays to plan early!

Happy Halloween!!

Nails and Crafts

2009-10-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Quite often I read from other clay workers that having nails is a big old no-no when it comes to sculpting. Now, in my case, I really say "sculpting" loosely. I work with polymer clay, making cute little charms like these.

I'm in no way a professional sculptor, those guys blow my mind. Seriously.

Anyways, back on topic, I find having nails a god-send. I use my nails in place of dental tools or other sculpting tools. My index nail is great for wide gouges, my pinky nail is great for fine detail, etc etc.

Of course that doesn't mean you don't have to be VERY careful with your nails. It's a lot like holding scissors, a poker, and knives in your hands all the time while handling pliable clay. If you aren't careful, then the two really don't go together all that well.

Even while painting.I think I often wear more paint than whatever it is I'm painting. And *cough* Penguin Pajamas FTW!! :D I've also found that if I'm tired and not paying 100% attention then one of my nails will nick the wet paint and scoop it off my canvas or Munny.

But again I find them useful while painting. If I want a specific line in something I can use my nail to scoop off the paint on purpose and then fill it in again later.

Presto! Instant free tools.

Now if I could just learn how to NOT break my nails. Hm.

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Interested in my other crafts? You can find them here!

Deviant Art - http://bandeau.deviantart.com
Etsy Store - http://bandeau.etsy.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/BandeausStuff

Recipe Scrapbook

2009-10-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

We've all done it at one time or another. Standing in line at the grocery store we see that $5 magazine and think "Hey! That recipe looks good! I'll buy it and then make it a bazillion times!" only to never use that recipe, or the other ten in the magazine.

If you're anything like me, you have done this MANY times and now have a stack of magazines dating back a few years because "One day I'll get around to making those yummy recipes."

Well no more I say, NO MORE! In the recycling those magazines go!

But lets not let all those recipes go to waste!

What is shaped like a book, and has pages that sit inside nice 8x8 or 12x12 sheets of plastic? Scrapbooks! What would be a great Mother's Day/Birthday/Christmas gift? A scrap book of splash protected pages with all those great magazine recipes! Or hell, maybe just make it for yourself and then they're all in one spot and you might actually get around to making them if they're sitting there with all your other cook books. We can always hope, right?...Right??

Okay, so if nothing else it'll look damn pretty and you'll have an excuse to use all those odds and ends embellishments. When I bought those turkey leg stickers I knew I had a purpose for them! Really, I did. Honest. Okay..they just looked yummy.

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Interested in my other crafts? You can find them here!

Deviant Art - http://bandeau.deviantart.com
Etsy Store - http://bandeau.etsy.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/BandeausStuff

Cheap Crafts!

2009-10-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went down to Vancouver to go to the Final Fantasy Symphony, but realized I didn't have a matching tote/purse/clutch/wallet for my outfit. Normally I wouldn't care about this, but for the specific occasion I didn't think an expensive outfit would go along with an old leather purse very well.

I hit up the mall, Winners, Bentley's, Ebay, EVERYWHERE trying to find a freaking white or off white/cream purse to go along with the outfit. Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Ziltch. Zero.

So I got out my material bin :D

Possibly a bad idea.

With some old christmas fabric, a hot glue gun, and the cardboard from our Guitar Hero box, I made my clutch :D

The fabric was the exact color as my corset, so it went along with this outfit nicely.

Apparently I have something against smiling o.0

THAT project worked out so nicely that I decided to use the same fabric to deal with my kitchen problem. (Yah okay, I was just lazy and didn't want to get out any more material :D )

Under our sink are a million bags. Grocery bags, shopping bags, fancy jewelry bags, you name it. We usually only use our eco shopping bags, but sometimes forget them. We also use the plastic bags because we have a dog, and we enjoy walking her, and we don't want any fines :D

So I used the same material (and hot glue to inforce my quick hem job) and made a nice under the sink bag holder. It now looks MUCH better.

Good start to the day!
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Interested in my other crafts? You can find them here!

Deviant Art - http://bandeau.deviantart.com
Etsy Store - http://bandeau.etsy.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/BandeausStuff

Etsy Explosion!!

2009-10-19T23:12:00.001-07:00

So apparently I bunkered down and tossed a load of goods on my Etsy site! Who knew?? Check it out: http://bandeau.etsy.com
Bookmarks, cell straps, new prints, munny's, paintings...how do I find the time??

Kelowna Etsy Group

2009-05-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

I had the wonderful chance to meet a whole swack of local ladies on Monday. We ranged in ages and races, but had one main thing in common (besides the obvious anatomy) we're all Etsy sellers! It was a blast meeting and chatting with these incredibly talented women, and I wish I knew my way around this blog better, I would so post a link to all their shops. As soon as I figure out how I will be sure to do so :D

Kelowna Group Garage Sale

2009-05-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 30th 9am to 2pm
431 Fleming Drive.

http://classifieds.castanet.net/showproduct.php?product=460515

HUGE group and family Garage Sale:

The Anime and Cosplay Club of Kelowna (ACK! http://ackelowna.proboards.com/index.cgi? ) and several families are getting together to put together one large garage sale. LOTS of collector items and fun stuff for everyone!

Furniture

Housewares
-beautiful unique dish sets
-newer microwave
-BOOKS - Collectors books

Clothing
-Beautiful Designer clothing
-All clothing in excellent condition

Manga/Anime
- dvd's
- books
- full series
- half series

Video Games
- PS2
-Xbox

ONE Ball Jointed Doll

SOOO MUCH MORE!

Eeek!

2009-05-19T18:56:00.001-07:00

I will be at Anime Evolution this year in Vancouver, and I'm in the artist alley! Yay Table number 57 Come by and say hello if you're there!

I just got the awful news that my boyfriend has been laid off, and we just bought a house! SO if anyone wants a cheap commission right now, or some prints, or anything from my etsy shop: http://bandeau.etsy.com now's the time! lol

All Moved In!!

2009-05-14T18:22:00.001-07:00

Whoo!!

We are finally all moved in :D Just tons and tons of unpacking to do so far, yetch. I have a ton of new craft ideas that I want to get cracking on, and a few unfinished paintings to complete, and then I'll have plenty to post!

But in the meantime... MUST MAKE ROOM!

Help?

2009-05-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

I see all of these amazingly beautiful blogs but I have NO idea how to do it myself? I would love to do a trade with someone if they could help me out, or if I can afford it I would pay for the work and effort :D

I absolutely LOVE the look of this blog: http://blog.memkeep.com/elegantrose/ but wouldn't want something quite so fancy. I like my pink text, and would want the majority of the blog to be blue. I can even design it and supply all of the graphics if someone told me how to put it altogether haha! I would love to feature people down the sides etc too!

Twilight Sets

2009-05-05T22:47:00.001-07:00

These have been SO popular so far :D I'm very proud of these little sets! Only $25.00 each plus shipping for your personalized Twilight Set!

Get your favorite character's name and image, or your own name with a saying or image! It's totally up to you :D

Bandeau's Stuff!

2009-05-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone who won't be reading this just yet, and welcome to Bandeau's Stuff! I create original artwork for myself and others, along with any crafts I feel like experimenting with along the way :D

Etsy - http://bandeau.etsy.com
Artfire - http://bandeau.artfire.com

See you there!