Book Fair 2012

Finally!  Last weekend it was book fair time again!
For the past 4 years I've been to the book fair regularly. Last year I was joined by my husband. As we got married in September and he started his language classes right after that we didn't get to go on a honeymoon, so last year's book fair was kind of a mini honeymoon for us.
While Thursday through Saturday you can only look at and browse the books, on Sunday many stalls actually sell their books. Therefore we each brought a backpack last year.
The year before I went with my mother and sister and we used the free bags they passed out at the fair, but after a few hours of carrying the books around in bags started hurting our hands.
So my hubby and I thought we'd be smart bringing our backpacks. But we were waaaayyyy wrong. We found so many great books so that, additionally to our backpacks, we also filled free bags with stuff. And a backpack full of books gets super heavy after a while, too.

So, this year, we were even smarter. We brought a trolley that we could pull. It had enough space to hold both our jackets (it was extremely warm inside the exhibition halls) as well as our book findings. And we weren't the only ones. Many people walked around with trolleys, probably with the same plans we had!

This year's honorary guest was New Zealand. And with the movie coming up, The Hobbit was one of the major topics. They even had a Hobbit cosplay on Saturday, which we've unfortunately missed. But this super huge inflatable Hobbit book was still pretty impressive.

When I spotted an author my mother likes I immediately had to call her to see whether she already got the book or whether she wanted me to get it for her.

As you know, I am into Mangas, my husband is into comics, so after hitting the crafting stalls and browsing (and buying) their books on jewelry, accessories and drawing, we went on to the comic area and found this nice little booth that had all these graphic novels. Especially their version of Alice in Wonderland caught our eyes. They started selling their books 2 hours after the opening of the fair, so we hung out in the area until it was time to "ravage" their shelves. I think we got 5 graphic novels from their stall. AND: They had the drawer and the story board writer of this series above in the stall. So we purchased both books out of the series and had them signed. We even got custom drawings!

In the international section we came across these mangas that explained physics, databases, and other scientific topics. I swear, if I had a manga like that at school to explain physics to me, I would have done much better in school! :D

We spent about 6.5 hours at the fair, which can be really tiresome! So when I had to go to the ladies' room my hubby used the excuse to rest his feet while waiting for me. You can tell how tired he was from the look on his face!

The only thing I was interested in that we didn't make was the 3D-classroom. Being a teacher I was interested in how they wanted to integrate 3D into teaching. But the line in front of the demonstration area was soooooo long all day (and English and Geography weren't part of their demonstration anyway) that we decided to skip on that. 

Back home we spread all our new books on the bed to take a picture and share with our facebook friends and family. I think we've been quite successful and we're already looking forward to next year's fair!

So, if you ever happen to be in Frankfurt in October, make sure to check out the book fair dates and stop by!

~Sky

Steampunk Accessories Part 2

I got a lot of positive feedback on my Steampunk accessories. Hence, I sat down last night with the rest of my Steampunky supplies and made some more accessories. Here is an overview of what I've made last night.

This first watch cuff will be a Christmas present for a friend in England. Each year, we send each other Christmas gifts which contain German/English sweets and other stuff. She got to pick the bracelet and the watch she wanted, now she has to wait until Christmas to wear it! :D I really like the floral pattern of the cuff. It goes well with the bronze ornament and the detailed watch.

Here is another cuff, this time the centre is made of a clockwork setting. Swarowski crystals add a little sparkle to the edges. The cuff is plain, so the focus lies on the ornaments.

My last mini watch went into creating this beautiful cuff. Instead of adding crystals to the ornament, this one has beading on either side as well as a beaded chain. It looks beautiful on any woman's arm!

This brooch is an eye-catcher! I took the ornaments I used on the cuffs and added crystals on the flower ornaments. It is very fragile, so when you pin it on you better hold on to the clockwork in the centre to make sure you're not ripping off the crystals. As soon as it is pinned on you're fine.

This cute necklace is very elegant. the floral ornament frames the clockwork in the centre. Cogs form the link to the necklace's chain, a third cog dangles from the tip.

This picture shows the accessories I'd like to put up on sale. I've offered them to friends, first, should they not be interested in them I will put them up online.

When I ordered my supplies I came across this beautiful pocket watch. I've seen similar necklaces in stores before but there was never one I wanted to buy. But when I saw this watch I immediately knew that I wanted to make my own. And I love the outcome!

 Hope you enjoy!

~Sky

Steampunk Accessories

Hey folks,

I spent the last 4 or 5 weeks in bed, one of them even in hospital with pneumonia. I am still recovering, getting lots of fresh air, inhaling, and getting my strength back, but I can tell you, I am bored as hell. Luckily, when I started being sick I spent a lot of time online and ordered crafting supplies.
On Saturday my last order finally arrived and I had a creativity flash. I grabbed my glue gun and all my jewelry supplies and made a whole set of Steampunk accessories. I love every single piece of them!!!

So, let me show off my creations:
Here you can see the whole set: two bracelets, one Alice band, a set of earrings, and an Alice in Wonderland themed pocket watch necklace.

I like the colour combination of this bracelet. The brass colour of the cuff goes well with the silver details of the ornament and the wings. I thought the little bead chain adds an elegant touch to it when you wear it.

The second bracelet I really love. There is only a little bit of silver included and the brass of the cuff goes perfectly with the watch and the wings. The perfect steampunk watch!

The Alice band is by far my favourite! It uses the same patterns as the watch, the elements are just all in silver. And instead of the watch a clockwork is added in the centre. Additionally, I used Swarowski crystals to add some colour and sparkle to it!

When I saw the Alice in Wonderland watch online, I just had to have it. If you look closely, you can see different elements from the story. I just added the chain and a few beads and charms to it.

I love the earrings! Simple, but very cute to wear and people look twice before they recognize the clockwork!

And finally, I spent Sunday afternoon sewing another tiny tophat, also Steampunk style! I added a litte bit of dry bronze powder colour to give it a little rusty look. And it makes it sparkle! :D

Hope you like them as much as I do!

~Sky

Back from the Cosday

This weekend the Cosday took place for the second time in Frankfurt and I went there with a friend and my hubby to look at all the great manga and anime stuff. They had this bring and buy area where people could sell their old costumes, books and other stuff they would like to offer. So I brought my tophats and flower hair pins as well as some jewelry I had sitting in my shelf for a while.
I've sold the red top hat, several angel jewelry sets, some cupcake bracelets, some candy cane earrings and the steampunk heart earrings. Even if it wasn't much (I spent all that money and more on Detective Conan books somebody else sold in the bring and buy area =^.^=), it still helped me to find out what items people were interested in as well as helping me finding the right prices for items. And I got a huge pile of Detective Conan to read during the holidays!! :D

Penny blossoms

Do you know The Big Bang Theory? I am a huge fan of that show and can relate to most of the characters one or the other way. I often feel like Penny, trying to achieve something great, or trying to realize your dreams. I wish I had been so popular with the guys as she is, though :D
Anyway, there is this one episode I've seen some time after the wedding where she wants to start her own business making flower hair pins. It shows how great your crafting idea is but how little you can actually earn with it.
But this episode reminded me of the flower hair pins I made for my wedding. I still had some leaves left over and I made myself another, less bridal, hair pin and a head band (and here I remember that I didn't take pictures of any of them!). I also ordered a package of coloured leaves, called "Bollywood package", in order to make hair pins in all sorts of colours. Luckily I remembered to take pictures of those. And here they are! I think they are pretty cute and can be worn with any outfit, no matter if summer of winter. I love them all!

Neko ears

Another creation during my time of being sick but feeling better are these cute fluffy neko ears! They are made of white teddy bear cloth and pink felt. I think the bow with the strawberry button and the earring are some cute additions to the look!

More Top Hats!

Being sick sucks, I think we all can agree on that. But when you start feeling better and not like a rotten apple any more, you're looking for something to occupy yourself with until you're completely recovered. After having finished the wedding top hats, I wanted to make more. Especially because I still needed one for myself for the upcoming Cosday in Frankfurt.
I got this beautiful Scottish tartan and I immediately knew I wanted to turn this cloth into an elegant top hat. And I am more than pleased with the result. I love how it all comes together: the tartan, the black satin, the feathers, the cameo, the chain. It's cute and adorable and I love how the feathers bounce up and down when walking.

After that I was caught in the hat making fever! I had some felt left over. It wasn't enough to make another large version, so I made several tiny and super tiny versions. I think they are all cute and adorable and I want to keep and wear them all, but I am pretty sure my husband wouldn't approve of our apartment becoming a storage room for hats. So I will take them to the Cosday with me and see if anyone wants to buy them. And I still have the pictures, so I can always make myself one, too! :D