Bow-Badly: Trying the Bow Square

It's not as easy as it seemed.

 I took an attempt at the seemingly easy bow square I posted about this Sunday, I had all of my supplies ready, I was going to use a basic white cotton for the underneath and four different fabrics that I had gotten in a fat-quarter packet I had bought.





 Everything seemed like it would go pretty smoothly and so I set it all up and got right to cutting not giving it any thought really, before I knew it everything was cut out and ready to be sewn together! Super Easy!



I had the squares of the basic cotton, the centers of the bows cut, and the squares that will make though and I was ready to get sewing. I sewed all of the pattern squares to the cotton squares and was ready to pull the center together and make the cutest bows you'd ever seen.

 HOWEVER, when I tried to make a bow it just wasn't budging no matter what it wouldn't come together it would pull everything together crumpling up all of the fabric rather than just the first layer like it was supposed too. It was then that I realized my simple and very very silly mistake. In order for theses bows to have worked and pulled together correctly the base square and the pattern square couldn't be the same size. It's easy to realize and understand that when you actually sit and think about it but me being me, got very excited and did not think. I just acted, and so I had a bunch of awkward squares lying around that could technically be fixed but in a time of frustration were useless. I did not take a picture of this stage sadly because I was over the project and I was ready to make something good out of my ridiculous mistake rather than fix it.

So after some time of these pieces just sitting there, I finally figured out what to do with them and put them to use. 

I've been turning them into little envelope bags (or another word I can't seem to remember right now), they're the perfect sizes for pencils or as a cash keeper, so even though they weren't what they were supposed to be, all hope was not lost and at least they are still cute. 

I'm ready to set sail (and possibly lay off the 'easy' blocks for a while),

                                                                                                     Ms. Sinking Ship

A Terrible Book Club and an Even Worse Attempt at being SparkNotes,

{ Aka CherishNotes }

I'm not quite sure how to completely express what Cherish Notes is, it's kind of like me goofing off with books and recording it. This isn't a project / series I plan to post on here very often but if you enjoy them then you can follow along on the Youtube or the Tumblr both also called - Cherishnotes. 

The first book we're reading is a love story told from 14 different perspectives called Something a Little Different, it's cute a quirky but the beginning kind of drags, the man male character has some secrets up his sleeve but I don't think that will keep the two love birds apart. 

You guys can read a long with me or just take my word for it but either way I'd love to hear what you guys think,

I'm ready to set sail (and read October ),

                                               Mrs. Sinking Ship

Exploration and Experimentation

{It's kind of odd because when I am thinking about what I want to say for this post I always have all of these ideas and I have this great article all planned out in my head but every time I actually sit down to write it I can no longer remember any of the things I was originally going to say. So with that being said, hopefully if I just starting winging it, at least most of it will come back to me, also fun fact about all of the posts on this blog, after I write them the first time I search for little errors like spelling or missing words but I don't actually re-read through it before I post it. }

I've come to a point in my life where there's a lot of things I want to do and try and write about but I always feel like, maybe they don't match with one another or maybe that is different from what I have been doing and it's kept me from doing a lot of things, I've also noticed that I can't necessarily decide on what I want to do anyway so putting those things off are kind of dumb, the point being, I've decided that I am going to try all of it, for a lack of better words at the moment, because why not, nothing is holding me back. For the next few forevers, (I don't know exactly how this journey if you will, will last) I am going to try new things, reestablish and just enjoy my life, and I am going to record it all, on all of my various connected platforms, while doing so, finding my voice in all of the things I do because right now it's a confused jumbled mess. 

With all of that being said, I want to hear from you on all of it, things you do like, things you definitely don't, I want to know what is working and what isn't so I can keep making the content you guys are enjoying and start cutting out the stuff you don't. The posts are most likely going to be all over the place and a mess, they will also not have any other explanation other than this heads up, so you know now what is going on when you see all of them. I'm very excited to start this sort of project and I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I already am. To kick things off - here is a poorly done, out of focus, speed-painting, water color video I did earlier this week. 

Ready to set sail (and hopefully make sense in all of this),

                                                      Ms. Sinking Ship

Update - 031616

Hey Guys! I am once again sorry for the delay in blog posts, there were a few setbacks and then just poor motivation, but excuses are lame so in all honesty I'm just a poor person sometimes and this is one of those times. I have some posts coming soon that I just haven't posted yet, as well as, I do plan on doing better with the blog, as I said at the beginning of the year that is still a goal of mine and it is never to late to actually do that so I'm going to be working on posting more and making the blog more awesome! I can't wait to actually feel like I'm not failing you guys anymore!

Ready to Set Sail (and be somewhat consistent), 

                                                                            Ms. Sinking Ship

A Woman to Watch in 2016,

{ Possibly a new series of sorts, but it needs a better name }

You've probably seen these posts floating around Pinterest and Tumblr recently and have just sat in awe while you stared at them, well these dresses as well as tons and tons of other stunning dresses have all been created by 18-year-old Angela Clayton. She's brilliant, talented, and working non-stop to create all of her incredible master pieces that have been displayed all over the internet lately. Now, before you get discouraged (or seriously inspired) by these works of art and spend the rest of your day analyzing every detail of them to try and see how they work, know that not only does she have an awesome Tumblr and Wordpress blog that you can follow to keep up with her many projects, but you can also find her on youtube where she has tutorials and vlogs, along with incredible fabric and other crafting utensil hauls for you to follow and drool over as well (all of those links will be below the post).

I have had quite and obsession with dresses lately, and her works are absolutely inspiring to watch and read about being put together, I can't wait to work on some of my own ideas and projects for dresses this next year and her creations are just what I needed to keep me going even when I don't have the least bit of motivation, I am in love with everything she has done so far and can't wait to see what she'll come up with in 2016 and once you see her in work I'm sure you will too. She is someone to definitely keep an eye on this year,

    Ready to set sail (and sew), 

                                Mrs. Sinking Ship

Back On Track,

It truly has felt like forever since our last encounter, and it has been forever since any actual posts have been made, however, we're finally back (For now at least)! MY computer troubles seem to be no longer and how relieved I am for that! As well as, I don't know how many of you remember, but I few months ago I spoke of some changes that were going to be made with the lay out of the site, this is also under way and is very close to being ready! And the new year is coming as well, and with that other exciting changes, I will be doing a lot more collaborating with SWAT Entertainment for those that enjoyed the halloween vlogs back in October / November, and next year I am going to be starting a series similar to the daily drawings I did of my outfits earlier this year, except with an Art Journal I am going to be working on. 

I hope to get back on track with everything after all of the ups and downs this year has brought with the blog and I can't wait for the new year, I have a few posts that I want to make over the next few days about the new years and things like that, and I will also try to start up some of the videos again sometime soon as well! 

Ready to Set Sail (and get on with things  so this post will eventually have some point),

                                                                     Ms. Sinking Ship

We've Been a Blog for a Year Now?

Mateys, I have been waiting for October for a lot of reasons, (its like the greatest month ever) one being that I thought it was around the time I start my blog last year and I was super excited to do something really fun and cool for it and it was going to be awesome, how ever, when I was looking today I noticed that I actually started my blog earlier this month on the 10th and so I missed it. Who cares though I'm going to celebrate anyways,



and to add to that, I'll tell you a few fun things that will be coming!
First off, there are going to be some updates on the site because I have been working on that, once I get it how I like it there will be some more fun stuff going on and the little bit of everything we have on the site will be easier to find.
Second off, more videos are coming, I have been working on that as well, most of them will be more makeup tutorials because those were super fun and you all seemed to enjoy them, but there will be a lot of other things as well.
And lastly, I will doing something fall / halloween-like at least once a week for the entire month of October so get ready for that bundle of joy. I don't know if you guys love October as much as I do but   if you don't your probably going to enjoy it even less after I shove all of this October joy down your throat.

I can wait to get started and spend another year with you guys! I'm sorry this post was all of the place, but I'm just super stoked for all of the things that are about to start coming, I hope you guys enjoy them just as much as I do.

Ready to Set Sail (and get my Halloween on),
                                                        Ms. Sinking Ship

Blogger Tips From Someone who Blogs: Best Blogging Sites!

From someone who not only reads blogs but keeps one up as well, I am constantly on the look out for the best websites to keep my blog up on (other then maybe having your own domain) because the worst thing in the world is having to try to make the best out of something you can't stand using because you can't find anything else. 

I have tried a decent amount of them, and I've come to conclusions about which ones are the most fun and efficient to use, for me any ways.  I'm making this today to help any one else that also seems to have the worst of luck finding something that fits well with them and their blog starting from the 

best-ish to the worst-ish. 

                                                                                                                

1. Blogspot

 I have had problems with Blogspot, it is not always the greatest thing ever but it is reliable and very customizable, along with that there aren't any hidden fees or anything and there are ways to make money off of your blog as well. The  only downsides I've seen are complications with coding when it comes to customization, it takes some time to get used to and figure out how to do those things but it is nothing a little problem-solving can't fix. 

2. Tumblr

The only reason this isn't number one is because it's more of a social media site than a blogging site, but I made one early today because it was the only think I hadn't tried but I constantly hear awesome things so I decided to try it out before I made this post and I love it. It's a little bit difficult to navigate right at first but once you get this gist of it, it is really easy and pretty fun. Above is mine and you can follow me on there as well as mssinkingship of course, I'll probably do a decent amount of blogging on there as well. It is pretty customizable and there is tons of things to work with, if you're looking for something not quite so serious for a blog this is definitely the first place you should try.

3. Wix

So I tried this site the other day and it is pretty interesting, there are quite a few downsides though and it ends up getting complicated. For one, there isn't a trash can so you are unable to get rid of anything that was on the original template you might not have wanted. Also, it does have an apps section where you can add all kinds of cool things to your blog, but a decent amount of them you have to pay for and if you are on a budget you can't always afford all of that. 

The only other downside is that for your domain name it gives you it lists their site before yours and that can seem less professional the other way around. Wix has some cool things to use like some of the templates they have and animation effects, things like that etc, but it the long run there is more hassle than anything else when it comes to this site.

4. Weebly

For those of you that have been reading my blog for it's pretty close to entirety, you will most likely know that it originally started out on Weebly. This site is perfect for a blog just starting out, if you just want to dip your toes into the whole thing, or if you're unsure you really want to commit to any type of thing that's this nature. It is fairly easy but really isn't all to customizable. Weekly isn't the worst but it really isn't something you would hold a blog at for a long period of time.

5. WordPress

I had always heard that if you want your blog to be successful use Wordpress, so eventually a few months ago I had been irritated with bloodspot and I thought it might be a good time to give it a try. I was so frustrated with all of it after the first 10 minutes I have never gone to the site again. I'm sure it's a lot easier and customizable if you buy the packages for your websites from them BUT not everyone (me included) has the money to drop $50 on a website so I can change the layout. That is ridiculous for one and two I've done decently well on Blogspot and never had to shell out large amounts of money to do so. I know people who use it and love it so this one is purely biased as most of these are but for someone who can't spend a bunch of money and want something to be even the slightest bit personal, I wouldn't use Wordpress. 

These are the blogs I've used and the major pros and cons I've had with them.  A lot of the factors in this has to do with customization because that is a big part of blogging and creating a brand for your self, I hope this gives any one who is thinking of starting a blog or wanting to switch from the site they use now.

Ready to Set Sail (and keep playing with my Tumblr),

                                               Ms. Sinking Ship

Story Time! (kind of),

Ahoy-o fellows! 

    So lately I have been working on the beginnings of illustrating a manga for my boyfriend and I have also very slowly been working on a sister-type series of novels, and just for funzies I was wondering if that would be something you guys would be interested in seeing. We do a large variety of things here at Ms. Sinking Ship and I thought it would be cool to show you guys the process of how this manga will be made and put up the chapters and everything as they come? and if you guys wanted me to put the chapters of my books up (because I do really need to get back to writing those)? Also, along with that I was thinking about updating the site a little and maybe changing things and moving some stuff around making it more organized with pages and stuff any ideas with that? and lastly, what did you guys think of the videos and do you want more, if you do what do you want to see more make up tutorials or other things as well? Sorry this actually wasn't much of any story I just named it that because it was originally just about the books and manga, but it is things that I would really love to hear you guys opinions on since there are becoming more and more people that read my blog every day. Please comment, snapchat, tweet, what ever your ideas or even email them to me if any of that seems to indirect, I would just love to hear some feed back on all of this stuff so we can get things going. (:

Ready to set sail (and never put a smiley face in a blog post again),

                                                                                            Ms. Sinking Ship

   

Tips To Bloggers From Some One Who Reads Them,

I read a lot of blogs, I see them as an inspiration to get me going and also as a hopefully someday peer or something like that, I also read blogs as a way to make my blog better, because if you are trying to do your best at something you have to try to see it from all sides not just one. I read blogs in hopes to see what does and does not appeal and things like that. Something I have seemed to notice over the past few weeks is that there is something to a blog that will always make it seem of more importance than others and I will share this something with you all, 

This something is pictures. Good Pictures to be a little bit more specific, something that might not have something specifically to do with what is being talked out but something that might have words written over it or something with a pretty background, possibly an image that helps add to the post or just something that has really good lighting. These pictures are always what grab the attention more than anything else. They are how you begin to draw the attention of the audience and how you continue to keep it until they are attached through some kind of connection or enjoyment with your blog. 

I have found that these pictures are a large pieces to the whole blogging thing and that they are in every way, shape, and form helpful, so,  use those pictures like there is no tomorrow. The worst thing that could happen is that they might become just slightly misleading if you do not use them carefully. 

I hope you guys find this helpful in some way or another if you like the advice let me know because I could always use some as well, and one more thing, what do you guys think blogs that have multiple pages? that's one of those things that I've never seemed to figure out when it comes to how helpful there are or not so I would love to here it from you.

Ready to Set Sail (and search for more tips),

                                                        Ms. Sinking Ship

The Thing Everyone Seems to Miss About the #dontjudgechallenge

So the basis of the #don'tjudge or #dontjudgemechallenge is not to judge a book by its cover, many people how ever are seeming to miss or forget the examples that are commonly used to teach CHILDREN what that means, there are many people groaning and moaning over this challenge because they claim it's calling people with acne, glasses, etc. ugly, but if we thing of the original meaning of the phrase it is doing quite the contrary. 

As a child growing up your taught this phrase and the most common example people use to teach this is stories like the ugly duckling or to think of some 'nerdy' or less then average person and then to always be nice to that person because even thought they have their less than perfect qualities now, someday they might not be that way, And that is exactly what these videos do, they aren't calling anyone ugly or saying that these things are bad (to be literal they don't say anything at all), the only people that are doing so, are the ones trying to critique these videos. Instead, these videos are showing the example we are taught, in the beginning they are normal or not the most attractive but after a period of time and 'treatments' or whatever, they turn out to not be that way in the end. They grow and change into something people swoon over instead of being who they were before. They are trying to show that you should care for them one way because they might be other eventually. 

I'm not saying we should praise the videos because there are other ways to show this, but we should definitely not look so poorly on them because the original intentions of the videos were good.

Ready to set sail (and get off the soap box),

                                                   Ms. Sinking Ship

P.S. Fun back to school stuff is coming soon!

Books, Haircuts, and Business,

So this post has been written as many different things already but everything sounded weird when written down and I realized it was because you fellows have no idea what is going on in my life anymore. SO, I'll let you in on what's been going on and all of the crazy things that are in motion at this moment.

1. I'm writing a series of books on WattPad

So lately I've been working on a horror/thriller love story on WattPad (sounds kinda messy but it's not that horrible I promise). Along with that story I've been writing another book that is another main characters point of view of the same situations, they are being written at the same time so you can see both reactions and both sides to every situation around the same time. If you are interested in either, there named IdolIzed and Her Eyes, they are updated every Thursday and Wednesday (or that's when they're supposed to be updated. You guys know how awful I am at deadlines).

2. I cut off all my hair

This one was supposed to be an entire entry on it's own but every time I wrote it out, it sounded like an informercial and that was weird, the reason I am writing it in the first place is because of the impact it made on me. I have had my hair short before, but I was young and did not take a lot of care of my hair when it came to doing it, so it was horrible. This is the first time since childhood that I have had it short at all. My hair was below my chest and almost to the end of my back, when I cut it, it came to right above my shoulders I instantly felt some type of relief (mostly because my hair was heavy) but also because I was no longer doing my hair for everyone else it was for me, and as the days grew I became more and more relieved, then I became confident My haircut gave me that pushed I needed to feel free with myself, and to push my self to become more of who I wanted to be. It sounds cliche and even a little bit silly I know, but it's true. It made me feel good and in return I did everything else good as well. 

3. I've been working on getting my business together

As you guys know I am the owner of The KNITche and lately I have been working hard to get it out there and getting things sold. We now have an Etsy, a Facebook, and as of yesterday we now also have an instagram. New things are being made daily and new items are posted as soon as possible after that, so hopefully, with that production rate and all of our out put on social media we should be going at a steady pace soon, a steady pace that I am definitely excited for.

All of this has been keeping me from writing often but so has the fact that I'm not exactly happy with blogger and I feel like my writing is not accomplishing quite what I'm trying to get across, I do enjoy blogging and would like to continue to do so, but with all of that in might at the moment, I might not post as frequently as I would in other situations. I hope you understand and continue to enjoy the blog even with these minor setbacks.
- ready to set sail,
                          Ms. Sinking Ship

Merry holidays! See you in the new year,

Why hello, I want to first apologize for the lack of words this past month, but I plan on making it up to you all. Starting this new year we will go on plenty of exciting new adventures and try out thousands of new ideas I already have planned. I hope you all have a great holiday and a happy New Years eve. Also, I'm sorry for the vague and short structure of a statement you are receiving but I'm busting planning and preparing for the end ofnthis year and the beginning of the next, see you on the new year,
         Ready to set sail (and restart)
                               Ms. Sinking Ship

A Thankful Woman Crush Wednesday 11. 26.14,

This Weeks Woman Crush Wednesday is dedicated to special people in our lives we are thankful for, since tomorrow is thanksgiving, I've decided that a special WCW is in order. I want to see all of the women in all of your lives that you are thankful for, so instead of posting a blog about one woman today you can send pictures and short notes to me, all tonight and tomorrow, of the women of your lives you are thankful for and I will put all of the pictures and notes on the blog as they come tomorrow, I Can't wait to see all of the amazing women in everyones lives.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and get ready to set sail with me,

Ms. Sinking Ship

Woman Crush Wednesday 11.12.14,

This weeks Woman Crush Wednesday is going to be short and sweet similar to the woman nominated. Today is my mothers birthday so I dedicate this week to her, she has been there for me and helped me through so much these past years, I am so great full to have such an empowering woman like her as a role model and a mother. She is constantley busy volunteering and helping people, She is a woman who is always there for people are rarely asks for anything in return as well as running around doing things to help me and the rest of my family all day, for this and for her birthday she, this week, is my Woman Crush Wednesday.

Women Crush Wednesday 11.5.14,

 This wednesday we have a very special Woman Crush because it's not just one woman, in fact it's thousands. This week I want to applaud everyone who took part in the anti-Victoria Secret fashion show during lingerie fashion week this past week end.

 I am defiently not for bashing people or companies for their mistakes but I do believe they should be pointed out and not handled lightly. If you are not aware, Victoria Secret recently released the campaign above and though they claim it's supposed to be a play on words since the name of the bra is 'the perfect body bra' it was not perceived that way,  they have now been in the hot seat for about two weeks due to the campaign. Many people were outraged, some so much so that they did something remarkable about it. The show had multiple brands in it as well as multiple body types and situations. The production showcased a pregnant women and a group of women who have recently defeated cancer as well as multiple body types. This show is not only spectacular for the reason that it  protested something so hurtful but it is also for the reason that they applauded these women for how beautiful they all are at the same time. So since they had the courage to applaud and showcase these women, this week I applaud everyone that helped and was apart of this show this past week end.
         Ready to set sail,
                    Ms. Sinking Ship

Woman Crush Wednesday 10.28.14,

      The woman we're crushing over this wednesday is Emma Watson. This year she became the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador at the age of 24. She is the first of the title and incredibly young to have such a title given to her, She has recently launched her campaign #heforshe and is creating a worldwide change when it comes to the meaning of what it is to be a feminist and who can be one. Watson has shown that in a world of inequality among the sexes that women have the power to make a change for the better, and that is what makes her such an outstanding woman and role model. She has conquered many feats in her life span so far and is on her way to conquer many more.
       As a special honoring for Watson (and due to a small case of writers block) this piece was cowritten by Chase Maudlin.
                    Ready to set sail (and see what she comes up with next),
                                                                                      Ms. Sinking Ship

A Crutch for the Crippled Conversation,

     Today while in my AP class we talked about (Satire being the original subject) hashtags and what they do to society now in conversation. I realized that this would be a great way to start another idea I had for the blog. Do you think that hashtags help society in conversation and expression ( or in general even) or do you think they have crippled society in its force of few words and illiterate spacing? To tell me you can use the hashtag #thecrutchofsociety on twitter, on the blog in the comments or on Facebook even. Not all of the hashtags will be so 'deep' so to speak, most will likely be craft related, but for trying this idea out I should know how you feel about the basic concept in general first. If this goes well you will see little notes like this in other posts or little questions of the day posted by themselves with a hashtag to identify them with, if it does not go well then the idea was one that will be put away until another rainy day.
             Ready to set sail (and hear all of your thoughts) ,
                                                                    Ms. Sinking Ship