cronicassico tropicas: February 2011

#35: Monster Spider

The monster spider can be found in its natural habitat either under a bed or in a dark closet. I debated painting on a spider mouth but decided...well...I wasn't sure whether to put it on top or in front or underneath. So I skipped it. Some things can be left to the imagination. I found the "eye" beads during my last trip to Michaels and knew immediately what to do with them.

Materials: black plastic beads, black faceted bead, glass eye beads, rainbow E beads, black seed beads, black and green bugle beads, lime green floral wire

#34: Computer Geek Spider

It was so much fun to completely dismantle an old Apple iBook (with the help of my neighbor Charles, who had lots of teeny tiny screwdrivers) to get my grubby little spider fingers on some cool pieces of circuit board, LED lighting, speakers, magnets, and more--all in miniature--that will come in handy for spiders. The laptop had sung its last song, so at least some of the fragments get an encore in my spider world.

This might be my most unique spider in that it least resembles an actual spider. I wanted to use both green and metal beads to keep with the circuit board look, and I came up with the idea of alternating the colors of the beads to be opposite on one side of the spider from the other. The head of the spider is a battery.

Materials: circuit board, battery, light green bugle beads, silver bugle beads, light green seed beads, silver glass seed beads, "frog eye" green/black E beads, light green floral wire

#33: Davy Bones Spider

I've made a similar spider to this that is currently on Etsy, but I wanted to make one for my 365 Spiders project. When I was in about 4th grade, my sister's grandpa visited with a big box of miscellaneous things from the Salvation Army that he thought we would like. Among the things was an outdated 6th grade English textbook that I was immediately smitten with. I can particularly remember reading an excerpt from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island about the Black Spot and trying to memorize the pirate verse: "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum...."

Before Disney made pirates famous, we had classic books and horror stories about them. My favorite book of scary stories that I would check out from my school library over and over (and eventually purchased a personal copy of) was Whistle in the Graveyard: Folktales to Chill Your Bones by Maria Leach. The Davy Bones spider is pictured next to an ink drawing of Blackbeard's ghost from a story by the same name in that book. All of the ink drawings are twisted and weird, and Whistle in the Graveyard is the creepiest kids' book I own.

Materials: carved bone beads, plastic "bone" heart bead, bamboo bugle beads, amber E beads, black seed beads, silver wire

#32: Agate Spider

Growing up off of a long dirt road in small-town Minnesota affords a convenient and ample environment for looking for agates, which I have many memories of doing with my brother. We each had an empty ice cream pail or coffee can that we would take with us when we walked up one side of the dirt road, then down the other, watching carefully for flints of red. For a time, even my dad had the hobby of collecting agates and polishing them in a rock tumbler or buying them pre-polished from a rock shop. So it's no wonder at all that I had the idea for an agate spider. It's even made with a small agate that I found in my dad's fishing tackle box two summers ago.

Materials: synthetic agate pendant, agate with bead cap, round agate beads, vintage peach bugle beads, brass seed beads, gold wire.

#31: Dexter Spider

If you know nothing about Dexter, the basic gist is that he's a Miami police department blood spatter specialist but also a serial killer who takes out murderers who have slipped through the fingers of the justice system. His "trophy" is a microscope slide of a blood sample from each victim.

I tried to find a silver/pewter syringe for the head of the spider (Dexter usually sneaks up on his unsuspecting victims with a syringe) but my online searches were fruitless. I found knives and axes and other assorted macabre tools of destruction, but nothing screamed Dexter quite as much as a syringe. And then a few days back I was rifling through my metal charms and found a Clue game piece of a syringe. What luck! I didn't even know it was there, so the Dexter spider was meant to be.

My guess is that the author of the book that spawned the show didn't just coincidentally name his character Dexter. Dexterity is essential to the success of the character's endeavors. As such, I wouldn't be successful in creating these spiders were it not for dexterity.

Materials: antique silver locket pendant, glass, red soap dye, Clue syringe game piece, gray glass bugle beads, gray E beads, red seed beads, silver wire

Kim Kardashian Hot Pose

Funny Sexy Beer

Funny Naughty Kids

FUNNY VIDEOS ACCIDENTS

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#30: Tiki Spider

This spider is one of my favorites simply because all of the proportions and colors (or lack thereof) are in sync with each other. Mother Nature often provides animals and insects with a distinctive armor against predators--a butterfly with a wing pattern that closely resembles eyes, a frog with an angry look about him...and this tiki spider is gifted not just with a message of warning but with the threat of a curse! If you find this elusive spider in the wild, it's best to leave it alone...or you could end up like the Bradys.

Materials: pewter tiki pendant and spacer, gray glass bugle beads, silver bugle beads, round silver beads, black glass seed beads, silver wire

Process

I was beyond lucky to find this wee baby Moleskine weekly calendar (2 1/2" X 4") for $1 at Borders last week, and it has really come in handy for planning which days I will make and share certain spiders. If I suddenly remember a holiday or a great idea for a spider for a certain event (like my Spaaah vacation coming up), I can skip ahead to that date and write in my idea so that I can prepare for the spider as the date approaches (which typically means making sure I have all of the supplies to make it). And this little planner goes with me when I leave the house. I probably could store the information on my phone, but I'm more likely to peruse it in book format, and this size pretty much means I can put the planner anywhere.

I also keep a list of spider ideas in a notebook. (Naturally, I'm not at liberty to share a photo of that.) The list is somewhat random, but if I don't write down an idea when I think of it, it could be lost forever. Because I can be a bit of a neat freak, I'll regularly go through the list, cross off spiders I've already made, circle the next likely candidates, and rewrite my list.

So far, I'm having no problem coming up with ideas and even have had help with ideas from friends. Sometimes, when I get out the supplies for one spider, I see beads in my stash for another one and quickly get to work. To be honest, I'm a bit ahead of myself...by about a week. But I continue the process of possibly 2 or 3 at a time in the works, even if I don't finish one per day. After that, it's a matter of putting the spiders in order, juggling them a bit so that the ones I think are similar are separated by a couple/few days.

I'm tempted to say I'll have no problem with a whole year of spiders, but then I take a step back and realize I've barely completed a month of spiders! I'm using pizza boxes for storage, and each time I lift the lid to put away another spider (I haven't quite filled one yet), my imagination runs wild with that final number. Another ongoing task this year will be designing a giant web so that I can exhibit the spiders when I'm finished.

#29: Creepy Doll Spider

Another diabolical hatchling from my craft lair!

I don't know how I ended up with the strange little painted doll torso, but I worked from that piece to find the other remnants that would make her into a perfect spider. It was a stroke of luck that I was able to find some vintage bugle beads that matched the skin tone of the doll. For the hand, I used peach baking clay and another of my recently obtained clay molds of doll parts. I torched a small piece of copper mesh to wrap around the two adhered body parts and some copper foil-wrapped wire and a vintage shell button to hold it all together. I was going for creepy but ended up with something better defined as primitive. I guess the challenge will be to come up with something even creepier down the road.

Materials: vintage doll piece, baking clay, copper mesh, shell button, copper gear, peach bugle beads, copper faceted glass beads, peach seed beads, gold wire

#28: Redwood Spider

Every once in a while, it's important to simplify. This spider isn't symbolic of anything; I just really like the warm reds, browns, and blacks of the wooden beads I used. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln would have adorned his hat with this one at a Steampunk ball. Today is a day (among many) to thank our lucky stars and stripes for the freedoms we have and for those who gave them to us. Without the ability to nurture our creative spirit, we are mere shells.

Materials: wood focal and joint beads, red glass bugle beads, copper glass seed beads, rusty wire

#27: Elpis Spider

I could tell you that I was inspired to make a spider that was based on the Greek spirit Elpis, the personification of hope. As the myth goes, Elpis and the other daimones were trapped in a jar by Zeus and entrusted to Pandora, who eventually opened the jar and set all of the spirits free except for Elpis, who remained behind to give hope to mankind.

In part, I did wish to create some type of goddess spider--a goddess of hope. But in my research, I couldn't find any. Elpis comes close, but she is depicted as carrying flowers, which my spider clearly does not. I have some great clay molds for faces, and I wanted to use this peaceful face for a spider, as well as more of my recently acquired radio resistors for her hair. So let's work with the myth of Elpis a bit. Let's just say that she decided to wear the flowers in her hair...just this once. Isn't she beautiful? Even for a spider?

Materials: glass, scrapbook dictionary paper, blue sparkle baking clay, radio resistors, gold and slate gray bugle beads, black seed beads, metallic blue E beads, silver wire

#26: Sea Glass Spider

We had beautiful February temperatures in Pennsylvania yesterday and the day before, so we all watched the snow recede to nothing and got a good dose of spring fever. The kids went to school in shorts and refused to wear a jacket. The sun made us sleepy for afternoon naps. But today the temps started to drop again and the wind picked up. So this sea glass spider, which was spring-fever induced, will have to be the last glimmering reminder of spring weather for perhaps another few weeks. Here's to a swiftly arriving spring!

Materials: sea glass shard, foil glass bead, green stone bead, green glass bugle beads, light green faceted plastic beads, light green E beads, silver seed beads, silver wire

#25: Medusa Spider

I wanted to make this Medusa spider almost from the beginning. Something about the Gorgon's serpentine hair and body just scream "spider" to me. The portrayal of Medusa in the 1981 movie Clash of the Titans was downright creepy to me as a child. The idea that the mere sight of a being could turn a person to stone? Incredible. But even more incredible, how does one's natural morbid curiosity keep him or her from looking at Medusa?

Figuring out what to use for her--the spider's--body was more of a challenge, but it didn't take me long to locate this small hand-fired Raku bottle made by The Crafty Bead on Etsy. Variations of green and gray compliment the piece perfectly.

Materials: Raku bottle bead with cork, pewter Medusa head bead, gold and green glass bugle and seed beads, ivory plastic E beads, green craft wire, silver wire

#24: Watchful Spider

I wanted this spider to be both purposeful and pretty...if a spider can be pretty. But here is a little known fact about me: I can't actually wear watches. (Well, who does anymore?) Within a couple of weeks, the battery is dead. It's a rather strange phenomenon that I discovered in college when I bought an expensive Van Gogh watch that I had been coveting but then had to keep returning to the store to tell them the battery had died. After the third battery, I gave up. I had the same success rate with other watches afterward, so I stopped wearing a watch.

Melvin Morse, author of Transformed by the Light, suggests the eerie idea that people who make watches stop may have had a near-death experience. Cue Twilight Zone music now! I have heard that it has something to do with levels of electromagnetism that a person possesses. Who knows? There are people who claim that computer hard drives fail and light bulbs burn out in their presence, but a Google search indicates a lot of conjecture and hypothesizing but no real firm research or findings. For me, the whole watch problem is just a nuisance. And if you're wondering about this spider--yes, the battery is dead.

Materials: watch with dead battery, metal bugle beads, Swarovski crystal bead, iridescent E beads, metal seed beads, silver wire

#23: Spider with an Elephant's Memory

Known for their incredible memory and intelligence, elephants symbolize wisdom in Asian countries. I made this spider in rich copper, amethyst purple, and antique gold to exemplify the royalty of these well-loved mammals.

Materials: glass, acid-free paper, baking clay, antique gold elephant bead and spacer, amethyst beads, lavender/gold stripe glass beads, copper glass bugle beads, copper metal spacer beads, gold wire

#22: Message in a Bottle Spider

In the spring of 1994 (my best guess from memory), I tossed a message in a plastic Pepsi bottle into the Mississippi River from St. Cloud, MN. It was probably mistaken for litter, but I figured that glass would have a greater tendency to break. After doing some research on messages in bottles, I discovered that glass is actually pretty resilient. It was Benjamin Franklin's idea (brilliant man that he was), when he was postmaster general, to use messages in bottles to map the ocean's currents, specifically the Gulf Stream (which he is responsible for naming), in an effort to seek the fastest way to ship mail. I have to wonder how many bottles were actually sent forth in order to complete this task.

The early history of messages in bottles is filled to the brim with intrigue, adventure, and tragedy: military forces sending messages about enemy whereabouts, a stranded ship crew bidding their final adieu from an island, a long-lost father sending his last words before dying at war. The message-in-a-bottle spider pays homage to the words lost and found at sea.

The message in this bottle is a poem by E.B. White titled "Natural History," from Poems and Sketches of E.B. White (Harper and Row, 1981):

The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider's web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

Materials: vintage glass fish bottle, ink on tea-stained card stock, raffia and jute, plastic fern, shell beads, blue glass bugle beads, ivory glass seed beads, blue plastic beads, silver wire

Funny video

#21: St. Valentine Spider

Love bites. So does this spider. Happy Valentine's Day.

Materials: Carved shell pendant, pink-stained wood bead, vintage pink glass bead, silver heart bead, hot pink faceted glass beads, light pink E beads, white and pink glass bugle beads, silver wire

#20: Tweed Spider

Who doesn't love a tweed jacket? (although I'm more a fan of houndstooth) Or a tweed spider? A small, simple spider that only appears in your peripheral vision when it's dangerously close to crawling up your neck; its brown and white segmented legs are the giveaway.

Materials: carved wood bead, round wood bead, amber glass bead, brown and white glass bugle beads, ivory glass seed beads, brass spacers, silver wire

#19: Navigator Spider

I grew up on an acre of land out in the country that was surrounded by fenced-off pasture, and my brother and I frequently went for nature walks beyond the fence line to look for interesting rocks and leaves, to set up forts, and to imagine ancient Indian burial grounds. Summertime was spent outdoors, so many of my childhood memories, if they aren't about playing catch or batting a ball with my brother, are about being out in the thick of those trees, standing under a grove of pine trees in an inch of browned needles, climbing rocks, picking snail shells out of swamp water. We got to know those trees well enough that I could close my eyes, spin in circles, and still know where to go when I opened my eyes. This toy compass spider makes me think of that time in my life.

Materials: toy compass, green glass beads, gray and green glass bugle beads, silver wire

#18: Radio Spider

A really big thank you to my new acquaintance/friend Linda Gillis Gentile, a fellow blogger at twoboysfourcatsnodogsyet.blogspot.com, who I met through a friend on Facebook when she listed photos of wire resistors and capacitors needing a new home. I was always that kid who saw treasure where there wasn't treasure, so you can imagine what it was like to open a whole box of colorful wires.

I told Linda that I could make spiders with the resistors, and it was a bit challenging because I'm used to twisting one long piece of wire around a focal point and then having two spider legs that are secured in the center, but the resistors I used for these radio spiders (one of which belongs to Linda) weren't long enough to twist and instead had to be attached. My soldering iron is currently kaput, so that option was out, but I've been playing around with glass decorating marbles and baking clay as of late, which was how I ended up anchoring the radio spider's legs. The resistors were great for twisting and beading, and a few days from now you'll see how I used them in a completely different way for another spider.

The radio spider is my largest and heaviest spider to date, with a leg span of approximately 4 inches.

Materials: glass marble, clip art, black and copper baking clay, resistors, glass bugle/E/seed beads, silver wire

#17: Peacock Spider

I've had a feeling over the last couple of months that peacocks are going to be very fashionable this year. Just as sparrows and owls and squirrels and whales have had their day, so will the peacock. And why not? What a gorgeous bird. As a kid, and actually even as an adult, whenever I have gone to the zoo, I've looked for the peacock, crossing my fingers that he'll have those beautiful feathers all spread out in a rainbowy mosaic. I'm counting on seeing the blue-green-purple color combination on everything this year; women will have peacocks on T-shirts and peacock feather earrings. Probably even shimmery iridescent nail polish, don't you think? So the peacock spider is only the beginning.

Materials: peacock focal bead, glass foil bead, matte-finish blue-green bugle beads, blue E beads, blue and green glass seed beads, silver wire

#16: Weaving Spider

I took a weaving class in college, and it definitely wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Setting up a loom is a hell of job, and the designs can be tedious. Perhaps that is why I never ventured into quilting. But I thought it would be fun to make a weaving spider using this really neat wire jewelry frame that I've never found a use for. I used leftovers of embroidery floss for the fibers, a large needle as the shuttle, and a toothpick as a heddle. Working in miniature meant a much quicker job, especially since I didn't plan to weave the whole "loom." I wanted it to look like a work in progress. I matched the color of the beads to the embroidery floss, which resulted in a really vibrant spider.

Materials: jewelry frame pendant, embroidery thread, colorful glass bugle beads, plastic E and seed beads, wire

Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in the World

Antilla Mumbai

The world’s most expensive home in 2010 is unquestionable. It is the first $1 billion home the world has seen. A custom-build 27 story towering mansion, Antilla in Mumbai is the home of the world’s fifth richest man, namely Mukesh Ambani, head of Indian petro-chemical giant Reliance Industries, which is India’s most valuable firm by market capitalization.

With double height ceilings, ballrooms, crystal chandelier ceilings, retractable stages, and 600 servants, there is no other home on earth that compares to the 570 feet tall Antilla.

Villa Leopolda, Cote d’Azur France

Villa Leopolda is an 80,000 square foot Chateuau built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The villa has been rumoured to be the home of Bill Gates and many more global figures, but has actually been home to French banker Edmond Safira, whose wife Lily still lives there. The 19 bedroom villa, which boasts sports courts, a bowling alley, multiple kitchens, dining rooms and a movie theatre, received even more press lately when a Russian mogul lost his deposit on the property when he reneged on completing the sale.

One Hyde Park The Penthouse, London

This massively stylish modern penthouse may not be so expensive did it not sit atop the famous number 1 Hyde Park address. As it is in such a premium location it has been built as a home for the rich and famous complete with SAS guard, bullet proof windows, iris scanners, panic rooms and a secret tunnel to the nearby Mandarin Hotel. The building has communal spas, squash courts and wine tasting rooms, and the penthouse is served by 24 hour room service.

Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons

This 63 acre home is considered the largest residential compound in America. The 29 bedroom beachfront home of publicity shy billionaire Ira Rennert has 5 sports courts, a bowling alley and a $150,000 hot tub.

Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills

This mansion — the former home of publishing giant William Randolph Hearst, the inspiration for the main character in “Citizen Kane” –, features 29 bedrooms and three pools. The estate became a pop-culture icon after being used in The Godfather movie, when the infamous severed horse’s head turned up in the owner’s bed. The fact that assassinated President John F Kennedy stayed in the mansion during his honeymoon also added to its status. The house has some notable neighbours, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and David and Victoria Beckham.

Franchuk Villa, Kensington

Anyone else spotting a trend here (the most expensive homes being mainly in the UK and US, this making it 2 all). This Victorian Villa was a girl’s prep school until 1997, when it was bought and upgraded in 2006. After receiving a £10 million overhaul and refurb it was purchased by Ukrainian AIDS philanthropist, Elena Franchuk, and renamed the Franchuk Villa.

The Pinnacle”, Montana

This is the home of Time and Edra Blixseth, owners of the billionaires-only golf and ski resort “Yellowstone Club” in Montana. It will be the largest and grandest property on the resort, but is still small in comparison to some of those on this list, with only 10 bedrooms. To catch up the property has impressive features such as every inch of floor being heated, a heated driveway and fireplaces in all bathrooms. (3-2 to America).

The Manor”, Los Angeles

The home of Aaron Spelling, dubbed “The Manor” by wife Cindy, has 123 rooms for his family to choose from, an indoor skating rink, multiple pools, three kitchens, sports courts, private orchard, and a bowling alley. The home, which he had built from scratch in 1991 also has a room used exclusively for wrapping presents and an entire floor dedicated to closet space.

Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey

The description of this home is above, as it was the 3rd most expensive home in 2008. What is interesting however, is that in 2008 it was valued at $110million, meaning its value has grown substantially even during such difficult financial times.

Dracula’s Castle, Romania

This home needs no introduction. Built in the 14th century, the castle is now a national monument and museum thanks to the legend surrounding it, which also needs no introduction. It has 57 rooms in total, including 17 bedrooms filled with antiques and historical artefacts. It wouldn’t do for the publicly shy Ira Rennert mentioned above, but for the quirkier billionaire, the 450 million tourists that visit every year may be worth it for living in Dracula’s castle.