NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 2

Today was better.  That's all.

Alright, no, I talk too much for that to be all.  But today was better.  It took me much less time to get my words done.  I'm a little concerned about tomorrow because I'm going to spend the day at my sister's place, but maybe I can do it in the morning/in the car on the way there since it's an hour drive.

Also, I'm discovering something about NaNo.  While I am glad to be doing this and I do think it will be beneficial, part of me wonders how beneficial it will be.  If all I care about is the word count, I begin to toss things, like quality, out the window.  What good is having 50,000 words if it's 50,000 words of junk?

Anyway, I'm going to keep doing this because I set a goal and I'll be really proud of myself if I follow through, no matter what kind of mess it turns out to be.  Worst-case scenario I'll have an extremely well-developed idea that I can revisit at some later date, best-case scenario I'll have two submission-worthy manuscripts by the end of the year.

Woo hoo!  Day 2 and still going strong!

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 1

This had  better not be how every day goes, or I don't know if I can do this.  It took me from about 10:30am until 5pm to write 1,680 words.  That is ridiculous.  I've done twice that number of words in significantly less time.  I blame this on a few things:

1) Lack of planning.
2) I sort of resent this story for taking my attention away from the other one, which I was finally getting into.
3) I have three children.
4) It's the beginning.

Still, I thought I'd have everything all wrapped up by lunchtime.  Ha!  Granted, I did have to take several breaks to take care of my kids, and some of them were an hour or more.

Ugh, I just got through one beginning and now I'm dealing with another one.  Also I have to sew some stuff tonight and make dinner.  Hopefully this gets easier.

It's NaNoWriMo!

(National Novel Writing Month)  Bam.

Yup.  And I'm pretty sure I told you all that I'm going to try it.  So here are the rules:

1) Write 50,000 words by 11:59:59 PM on November 30th.

That's all.  If it were a published book, you'd be looking at about 175 pages.  I really want to do this.

But it is now officially after midnight and I haven't outlined a thing.  I guess we'll see where this goes.  Tomorrow I must write 1,667 words (4-5 pages).

Wish me luck!

Rainbow Dash Hoodie

Ok, I mentioned the My Little Pony hoodies I'm making for the girls right?  

BAM!  Rainbow Dash.  (Remember, this is the new show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, not the old school show.)  I think I'm going to make some pony ears to attach to the hood and see what they look like.  

This is Rainbow Dash, Chaela's favorite pony.

I did the "cutie mark" by hand.  It turned out pretty meh, and also backwards.  I think for Joci's Twilight Sparkle hoodie I'll cut the shape out of fabric instead.

Twilight Sparkle

  I think it will look nicer.  Oh, well!  It's for my own kid AND it's the first one I've ever done, so whatever!  (That said, if anyone ever wants a custom hoodie or any sewing done, let me know!  I'm much more careful when it's for someone else!)  

Sewing is fun!

Yeah!

Look at my ticker!  It's moving!  I'm excited.  I love getting past the beginning of a story.  Beginnings are hard.

Thanks to my awesome husband for giving me two uninterrupted hours of writing today (during actual daytime!) as an anniversary gift.  Also, happy six year anniversary, Will!  You are great!  Love you!

More Costume Awesomeness.

Diane gave me permission to post this picture. This is the first costume I've done without being able to try it on the person first. I think it turned out pretty well, and the cuteness of the model doesn't hurt!

Next sewing project: My Little Pony hoodies for the girls for Christmas. I'm excited!

The Rules

You know when you hear bad news?  News bad enough to give you that sinking, curling, sick feeling in the pit of your stomach?

You do what you can to help, but it's not much.  And then you're just sitting around, waiting for news.  So there's the internet, all nice and distracting, and there's something funny so you laugh.

And then you think, "I can't laugh, something awful just happened."  Then the feeling of being powerless again, because there isn't anything else you can do.  But how can you let yourself be distracted when people you care about are going through so much?  Like maybe they can somehow feel you supporting them if you just keep thinking about it.

How do you guys handle it when difficult or tragic things happen to people close to you?

Halloween Costumes 2012: Complete!

Today I finished Chaela's Rapunzel hair!  With that, all of my required sewing/craftiness for Halloween is complete!  I've had some people ask me how I did it.  Well, I took an entire skein of yarn that matched her hair and about 6 spools of gold ribbon, cut them so that they were twice as long as I wanted, folded bunches of them in half and slid them on bobby pins, then put the bobby pins in strategic places on her head.  

To get it all to stay I had to start the braid and then put some of the stuff in as I was braiding.  It wasn't as good as I wanted it, but it was just a trial run, and as far as looks go, I think it turned out really well!  I even had some trim leftover that I was going to put on her dress.  That didn't work out, but since the trim was a sheer ribbon with silk flowers sewn on, I decided it would work really well for this, and I think it did!

The braid with no Chaela attached to it.  It's ALIVE!  Just kidding,
 but it is a little creepy to me even though it isn't real hair.

The whole effect!  And Joci with an apple!  Wrong fairytale, Joci!

Later in the day my neighbors swept/raked all of their leaves and let the kids from around the neighborhood jump in it.  They loved it!

Joci kept running up to me and yelling, "Fun, mommy!  Fun!"  That's pretty priceless.  I love my kids, and I love that they can experience everything I've always loved about Fall.

Progress

I will have you people know that I am almost finished with the beginning.  I've spent the last few days going over what I have and bringing it up to what I want it to be.  Tomorrow I should be writing the last chapter of the beginning.  Then it's on to the middle.

Also, thanks to the email of one certain person in my writing group (you know who you are!) I've done a Stupid Thing.  I have signed up for NaNoWriMo.

"But why is it stupid, Caitlyn?" you, the reader, asks, "You can use that as encouragement to finish this current manuscript!"

Ha ha, you silly person.  Those NaNo people are smart.  They make it into a competition.  I will be competing with myself.  You see, you can "win" NaNo.  Yes!  Winning!  I love to win!  BUT you have to follow the rules, and one of the rules is that you're not allowed to use anything you've already written.  Oh, you can outline and whatnot, but no prose.

"Winners" get cool internet badges that they can put in their profiles.  I want to be a winner!  I could try to finish what I'm working on now before NaNo.  Or I could go along at my current pace while outlining something new for NaNo and just write that while giving my current story a break for a month.

We'll see.  I'd really like the distinction of having completed NaNoWriMo.

Or maybe I'll spend November sewing instead.  I never know what I'm going to do.  Oh, yeah!  UN-PRE-DICTABLE!  (That was for you, Lindsay.)

Probably I shouldn't blog while drowsy.

Halloween Costumes 2012

I'm so happy to be able to say that I am almost finished with the Halloween costumes for 2012.  Whew.  For fun, here's the list:

Tangled Rapunzel - Bodice, skirt, underskirt, hair.  Almost complete; I have to finish cutting the yarn for the hair and do a trial run to see if my idea will work.

Flynn Rider - Vest, pants, boot covers, two belts, small pouch.  Almost complete; I have to sew some belt loops on the vest and both belts need buckles.

Pascal the chameleon - head, body.  Complete, even though Kairi hasn't tried it on yet.

Brave Merida Formal Dress - Dress, shift, wimple, circlet, quiver, and "fletching" for store-bought "arrows."  Complete.

Pirate Princess - Skirt, bodice, sash.  Complete.

Legend of Zelda Link - Tunic, hat, sheath, two belts.  Complete.

Hobbit - I helped my sister make a vest, pants, and cloak for her son's hobbit costume, but she did most of the sewing.

I'd really love to post pictures of all of these with the kids in them, so hopefully around Halloween I'll be able to do that.  I still want to throw together a few fleece cloaks, too, if I can figure out where the pattern got to.

Also, I think I've decided that I'm up for making custom costumes for people if they'd like them, so feel free to ask.  If any of you guys ever need one (or any custom sewing) send me an email or facebook me and I'll give you an estimate for whatever project you'd like done.  If you're thinking of a Halloween costume, ask me by the end of August.  

After this I think I'll stick to writing for a while!