Sewwing

Where to begin? Sad, depressed, stressed, and feeling hopeless as I usually do...
  Well I have been back in Michigan for some time now and I've been working at Menard's since early February and I have become employee of the week twice now (only once a month you are allowed and then it is placed in a drawing for the month), and being out of 280+ people I think that is pretty good. They pay well and are a great place to work for... It just isn't enough to live on at the moment..

  Needless to say I am working all the hours I can and am trying to fix my car/save up for a new one, plus just save money.. I'm also looking at different jobs because with the wedding and all we will need a little bit more to live off of.

  I'm sad and find trouble wanting to continue, my fiance knows this, and so does God, but why does that not help?

  Oh, and I'm sewing more shtuff onto my denim jacket. I made a "Ministry" patch and am currently attaching pop-tabs.. Ee'Yup.

More Free Mods/Makings of Mine

 My double-sided cravat/ascot combo made from two ties! Pretty sweet no? Tutorial here:http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Retro-Ascot-Neck-Tie/

 My leather vest has finally been remade (the cotton is so much nicer than the polyester if I say so myself).

 Interior of bag.

My satchel/messenger bag! Sweet no?

2 financially free new SteamPunk accessories

Well I converted one of my cruddy goggles into some monocles and made some denim spats...Yeah,I also painted (was going to dry brush but the paint stuck REALLY well so I just painted) my Solidified Alcohol Petroleum Based Fuel Byproduct goggles.Yeah...I'm broke for a little bit and I wanted something new,Thank You God for DIY subcultures!

So long Truck

Well I sold my truck to a friend,bought my friends car,and am in the process of getting a debit card so I can get a discount on Insurance and then in on the first day of Fall I'll start making payments to my friend until the car is payed off.I have also decided I'll try my hand at getting a Sirius Black Costume (from the third book) together now that I'm not going to school this semester (God and finances).Anyhoo, it really feels like Fall thanks to this awesome cold front (Thank You God!)

Where has the time gone!?

Hey guys,sorry that my posts have been increasingly lacking.Lets see here,what's happened lately is this:God gave me a job as a 3rd shift stocker at Meijer's,I went on a missions trip to Kokomo Indiana with my youthgroup and have had God change me and my views in lots of crazy ways,I made some actual friends (no offense to any of you guys if you read this (I doubt it)),I've been making a rough 28mm scale Firefly class miniature,I've watched the Firefly TV series and am hooked (Serenity is next),I have received my "Worldwide Gothic" book in the mail (it is 5 stars by the way),I've received my Solar Cabin homesteading book in the mail too,I've FINALLY received my two TechCommander starters in the mail,I've been doing sewing/mending,and yeah...That is about it for now,I've also been prepping for college which I think is going to be..Hmm,what is the word...Epic in all aspects.Oh,I've been also saving up money to by a vehicle of my own that actually runs and has good gas millage (compared to my truck or my grandparents truck)...Anyhoo,GLYASDI! --Nate--

Some pictures

 Part of my Plague Doctor outfit/costume (with out the mask or pack it is a out fit)

 Standing against the sign I assembled on the last day (the Chuck Taylors really give a sense of SteamPunkness don't they? Lol)

Me having my arse handed to me (I'm being out lynched by other people I play werewolf with,lol)

Origins 2011

Well I've been to Origins and volunteering there was one of the funnest things I've done in my life (aside from every time I'm with God,CloudLand Canyon trips,Miniature Donkey shows,or mission trips).I met so many people and made a lot of new friends.I plan (assuming God lets me but I think it is alright with Him) on going next year but this time I'll be actually there the whole time (Wednesday (or Tuesday) through Sunday NIGHT..Ugh,I missed quite a bit with leaving early and getting there late...Noot next time).They have moved the dates to the first week of June for the next couple of years but GRCC's semesters should be done by then (I pray and hope so).Anyhoo,I played a LOT of games.I tried SmallWorld,played WereWolf (by the one and only Loony Labs),and a bunch of other things.

  I went to get rid of hobbies (I was gonna get rid of BattleTech and still plan on it...VERY soon at that as well) but came back with several more.WereWolf,MechWarrior (which I have tried before and detested but they had a Age of Destruction starter for $6 (then two days later I found another vendor that had it for $4..Ugh,I guess the saying is true..There is someplace that always has it cheaper (Okay,I know it physically impossible for that to be true but always someplace minus 1)) so I bought it and tried my hand again at it and I REALLY like it.I bought 3 WolfStrike boosters,1 Falcons Prey,3 Age of Destruction,and 1 Death from Above..Yeah,I wish I hadn't bought the FP and DFA and had bought the Ares 3-pack (for only $9 at one place,no Poseidon though..They even had Solaris VII action packs for $9 a piece or sets of 2 for $14..UGH and lol).I also tried my hand at Amtgard but I don't like the Magic aspect of it so I'm probably going with Dagorhir instead.Plus there are Dagorhir players in Grand Rapids as well compared to none from Amtgard that I know of.I told my younger sister about it (she is in her teens) and she REALLY REALLY loves it and I also got my neighbor kid interested in it (13 I think) so it is gonna be a fun summer.Anyhoo,I'll be posting more tomorrow and later on.I actually have 23 more thank-you cards to write.--Nate--

Some updates and Steel

I realize that I haven't posted in a bit but I've been busy quite a bit,my mask is finished and so is my jacket/frock coat.I've been working on the rest of the outfit as well.I have planted a bunch of annuals in my garden as well that I got on sale (well I was buying a flat and my mum bought two hanging baskets and the sale was buy two-get one free so they were free actually).I also have discovered Doctor Steel (I love his music)and am already a Toy Soldier (I shall be wearing the pins I made now with some of my outfits) and I am already working on a Non-SteamPunk TS uniform (its completely synthetic material,Hahaha!).So here is a picture of the Plague Doctor Costume.

Updates and greenhorn Backpacking

Well hello blog followers,I have been busy (No,not idle) and am able to now upload pictures (Yay) so I have worked a lot on the mask (all I have to do is get a strap on it and more breathing holes/openings/etc) and the bike is good now.Also,as some of you may or may not know another one of my favorite outdoors hobbies is hiking..well backpacking actually.In Florida I used to go on a lot of day hikes and when I was 14 I saw a 2 (maybe it was 4) hour documentary about backpacking the Appalachian Trail and I knew that someday I was going to hike it.Yeah,yeah,yeah,almost everybody from this Nation has heard of or known someone who said they will and then call it quits (theres a reason why only about 1-in-4 people who start it as a through hike finish it) but they usually don't have a) the will-power or b) the training,stamina,etc (please note that b) is completely optional if you have lots of a)..It has happened).With me I won't be able to realize my dream until I retire or take a summer off but if I retire early I won't need to take a summer off (It's amazing how living on less than you make frees up all that money that you could,say,put to retirement with dignity).Another reason why I can't take the summer off is because thats when I'd be working at my Greenhouse/Nursery.

So I've finally started training just for backpacking period yesterday and took out my external frame Cabela's for the first time with 50lbs of chickfeed in it and over a 1/2 gallon of water...Bad Idea!From now one I will follow what every dag-nabbit book/website/person says and not do that! Ooh I still ache all over,it was fun but it was hell (then again I didn't learn how to put a backpack on correctly till AFTER I had hiked 9.2 miles in four hours(please note that that is including breaks and searching for a geocache at the halfway point)).When I placed the pack on correctly then I realized how wrong I had put it on..lol.Anyhoo,so my hip-bones are chaffed and I also learned why most hikers try to keep it under 40lbs.Another good thing is that I found that cache.

My External frame Cebala's I bought for $20 at a garage sale last September.Whenever I can find it online again I'll post the site here.

Masks

Well as some(or most in this case) of you may or may not (definitely the latter) know is that I love hats and masks(masquerade style and the like) and what I love even more is making them.I have made quite a few masks and hats (and mock helmets) and I decided to embark on the making of one for my SteamPunk Costume Contest Entry at Origins Game Fair this year and it so happens to be a Plague Doctor Mask.Ok,lets fill in some back story here(and history),I saw this mask for the first time in the 2009-2010 winter playing Assassin's Creed II (the doctors wear them) and I was recently reading up on the mask and found out that during the 13th century (Bubonic or Black) Plague Doctors were hired to treat people afflicted with said virus.The mask's "beak" or nose contained a very crude breathing filter that was thought to stop any air-borne viruses (unsurprisingly many doctors contracted the virus) but the mask has existed for the many centuries since then and now here we are.About the construction of the mask,I still need to coat it with paper-mache or a glue and flour mixture and then paint it.The main thing stopping that is that I need to find some red lenses to place in the eye-holes but I also need to mount them in some goggles that I can pop in from the back but I gotta get those lenses(the reason for red lenses is that was the traditional colour for Plague Doctor Masks way back in the day).Anyhoo,for my costume I plan on getting a black frock or over coat (maybe both if I can find/make them) that I'll wear over my "bloody" Sweeney Todd shirt,black vest,and black dress pants.Then I shall have a small chest of drawers rigged as a back-pack to hold all my herbs(I actually am learning about medicinal herbs and know quite a bit so it ain't all rubbish let me tell you),and will be carrying a leather hand bag that will hold all my apparatuses(Dullified hand operated circular saw blade for amputations and whatever crazy things I can come up with by then)oh,I also need to find/make a wide brimmed black hat.Anyhoo,it shall be quite interesting being a SteamPunk Field Medic/Herbalist.

My SteamPunk clothing mods

Oh you gotta love second hand stuff from relatives and thrift stores that have 50% off everything the last Tuesday of the month sales.Anyhoo,the reason I even said all that was because I got a WoolRich 100% wool shirt from the former and also a 100% cotton trousers from the latter.So here they are then

 My hand-sewn Cog Wheel embroidery

Goggles

Ok,I've decided to post pictures and brief descriptions of two pairs of goggles I have made recently so here they are.

Well the black and grey one I made last friday and is made out of a bunch of plastic (uck),while the one on the right is made out of leather and tin coated bronze (I think),only the strap is made out of pleather (the back side of it is coated with "velvet") while the rest is real.

 I made them yesterday and I think they came out rather nicely.

I still don't really know what to think of these guys.

It is a danged pain trying to see out of these guys.

I personally think they make me look like "Moaning Murtle" from Harry Potter.I actually still need to find lens for these (gonna try for glass though),didn't think of that when I made em (shows right?).

Of conventions and bargains

Well I went to my first "official" Gaming convention yesterday and while I was there I found a "Deluxe Edition Lord of the Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game Starter set" for $20! I bought that and have greatly increased my supply of troops and also dressed steampunk(which I love btw) so here are some pics of me playing SBG as well:

 http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff504/BlackReaper93/Me%20in%20Steampunk/DSC07604.jpg

 http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff504/BlackReaper93/Me%20in%20Steampunk/DSC07603.jpg
Here I am playing "Alien Frontiers

 http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff504/BlackReaper93/LotR%20TMG%20stuff/DSC07627.jpg

pics

alright here are some of my dressed up pics,remember what i said earlier and also:yes,those really are size 13 purple rubber converse