Megan's Life

Some Art

2011-11-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

I've recently been making a ton of things for the events that I've participated in. It's about time that I've shared some of what I've done.

I made some new Halloween charms. I done some Halloween charms before, but it was back in 2007. Some of them needed a revamp and I wanted to makes some new ones as well. I actually made four of each of the small charms and some sold better than others, but that's what happens. ;)

I also crocheted some more things. I made a couple of beanies and some flower headbands. Each headband has two chains that they're attached to and close with a button behind the head. They're super easy and simple to add something to your hair.

This kanzashi I made for the Gala. I needed something that would work well with my outfit and that wasn't cheap looking. Thankfully I had what I needed to make this. I like how it turned out. It's meant to be worn with the beads and petals going straight down the side.

My Aunt Annette is having a baby any time now. I decided that I wanted to give the baby her first plushie. I decided to go with a pattern that I knew that I liked. This is the amineko pattern that I did before. This time I extended the legs and tail by 6 rounds and the ears by 1 round. I like the proportions a lot more, and crocheting through both rounds makes it look a lot nicer. I realize that this one will be almost as tall as the baby when she's born so she won't play with it for a long time; but some day she will. xD

Matched & Crossed Signed Books Giveaway!

2011-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

So my Aunt Jenni of her blog, Jenni Elyse, has reached 1,000 posts! She has decided to do a giveaway in celebration! If you're interested in reading Matched or Crossed by Ally Condie then this is your chance! Not only will you get the books but they're also signed by the author! Go ahead and give a shot you'll never know what might happen. ;)

http://jennielyse.com/1000th-post-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-18487

Life, Lately

2011-11-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

Life has been so crazy lately. There has been a lot that has happened. October was especially so. Every weekend there was something happening. I'm having a hard time deciding which week was what with everything that went on. I'll do my best to write everything down.

One day (Oct. 22) there was the Epilepsy Association of Utah's (EAU)Whispers in the Park Halloween fundraiser. Since Nett was in charge of everything that meant that I was a part of helping her. So much was going on that week. I had midterms along with making things for it. Then there was making games and making sure that everything was working out for it. It turned out pretty well. We were there for quite some time. It was fun, though. ;) In this picture you can see a bit of my finished cosplay of Sora in his Halloween Town clothes.

Gma and I. More photos here.

Halloween turned out to be fun. The Saturday before (29th) was the ward Halloween Party. All of my roommates and I got into our garb and went. I forgot to take a picture of one of my roommates; she was a tree. She had her hair up with braids wrapped around wires and then stuck a bunch of leaves in her 'branches; she also wore a brown shirt and pants. I wore my finished cosplay, Keziah was Orion the Hunter, and Amy a Fairy Godmother.

My Cosplay. Sora's Halloween Town version (Kingdom Hearts).

Orion the Hunter and the Fairy Godmother

I also ended up winning the pumpkin carving contest again. That makes 4 of 4 years! This year I spent about 4 hrs. using clay tools to get what I wanted. I'm pretty happy about it, I just wish Sally's hairline was higher up.

On November 3rd the EAU held Artilepsy. This is the second year that the family has done this. Last year all that entered received an award and this year was no different. Taylor got Second and Third place in the Youth Fine Arts Category, while Nett got a Honorable Mention and I the First Place in the Adult Fine Arts Category. It was a nice surprise and lots of fun to be there.

On November 4th, the EAU held their annual Gala. This year's theme was A Night Among the Stars. It was fun and enjoyable. Nett was the only one who brought her kids and they did really well. There was a talk from Glenn Fenster and lots of awards given to those who have helped a lot. The slideshow are some photos that I've taken. Sorry for the bad quality in a lot of them; my camera was acting weird. There are also more pictures here.

I believe that's all for now. I think I'll write more of my Disney CP experience later. I'll also have some crafts to show. It's just a matter of when I'll get this all up here... I will be going to a football game on the 19th and probably seeing Christopher Paolini on the 2nd. I'll be putting those on here, too. ;)

Komaneko

2011-05-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

I was reading a blog today and found this cute video on it. In Japan there's a popular stop-motion animation series called Komaneko. I decided to watch the first video and I loved it! It was super cute and being in the type of animation I love most, it was love at first sight! Enjoy!

I recommend searching "komaneko" on YouTube. There are a few other videos and they're just to die for!

A Month of Disney

2011-05-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

It's pretty crazy to think that I have already been here for over a month now. It still feels like I've only been here for a couple of weeks. So much has happened in this little amount of time. Part of me wishes that I could stay more than the summer but I know that if I don't go then I'll just be delaying graduation and finally getting out on my own. (Scary thought of its own, but that's for another time.)

I'm so glad that my family was able to come down for a few days. I wish that I was able to be with them for the entire time but I guess that's part of working here. We had so much fun enjoying all of the parks. There was, of course, drama to go along with it, but what family vacation doesn't have that? I do wish that they could have stayed longer. I know that it was time, though. If they had stayed even longer I would just miss them more than I already do and I would be out of 'my groove.' Thanks for coming down, all. <3

As for work itself I think that there's pros and cons like any other job. Working on the register can get pretty boring, and being a college program student means that I work some pretty ridiculous shifts. My poor roommate has been working 11 hour shifts for a while now and I hope she gets a break soon. I've been working from the evening to early in the morning most of the time. The people who have worked at the store I'm at longer get better shifts than I do but I'm okay with that. Who gets to say that they have worked at Walt Disney World? Other college program participants tell me that I'm going to get sick of it. I don't want to. The difference I've noticed in them is that they're... slackers. I don't think they're used to working all of the time. Welcome to the real world, kids. One of them tried to convince me that I was lying about how I felt about working here. Whatever.

I've been asked on several occasions on what is my favorite park. Can I be a truthful in saying that I think they are all my favorite? All of them have good things and not-so-good things. (I don't say bad because I don't think anything has really been bad.) There are still a couple of rides that I want to hit. I also want to start getting pictures and, yes, signatures of characters. I think that it would be fun, and why shouldn't I? I should be able to get quite a few when I get down to it. There are also some shows that I need to see before I go. Some at the parks and at least one off of the parks: La Nouba by Cirque Du Soleil. I get half of and what other time will that happen? It's must see while I'm here. Oh, and something totally not Disney related: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Yeah, you heard me. Be jealous. ;)

I want to keep posting pictures of my adventures onto Facebook... but I have run into a little problem. My computer--now named Dinosaur--won't read my 4GB SD card. It'll read the full 1GB, but not that one. I also neglected to bring the cord for my camera to connect to the computer. I know it's in a box in UT but I think the software is in a different spot than the camera box. Interesting problem, huh? I'll see what can be done; until then, I'm sorry!

I'll keep you all as updated as I can. <3

Poison... Poison Ivy

2011-04-15T08:34:00.001-07:00

This is a gift I made for my cousin. She's totally into Batman, especially the girls. Her favorite is Poison Ivy. I'm pretty happy with how she turned out. This was my first venture is yarn hair for amigurumi. Now I know how much time and yarn it takes to do. I realize it's pretty thick but I figure Poison Ivy likes lush plants so why can't her hair be? I may use this body patter to do other people in the future, definitely girls with long hair. You can't really tell but there's 30+ leaves individually sewn onto her. That's how I did the bodice.

And on a side note, this is the 50th amigurumi I've put on dA! Who knew?

(LOL! Emotes transfer over from deviantART!)

Crocheted Bags

2011-04-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

I actually finished this bag before I finished the Mickey Mouse Amigurumi. I had originally planned to type out the pattern but I don't think that's going to happen now. There's lots to do at the end of the semester including packing, studying, and taking the finals. Anyway, this bag is mostly made out of puff stitches and single crochet stitches. When I finished the crocheting part 3 days after starting (I got really fast suddenly. O.o), I knew that it would need a lining. It was made to keep things in the bag and to prevent it from stretching too much. I found a purple fabric for the out lining and used the left over black and white that I used in a kanzashi and dress. I really like how it turned out.

I finished this one this past Monday. I signed up for the Ward Talent Show to display some art and wanted to show this with all of that. Originally, I had planned on adding Mickey's face to the bag but I decided that it was more iconic this way. I also did braided yarn for the strap so it wouldn't stretch too much. The bag closes like the bag above but with two smaller buttons. I like how it turned out and I know it'll be fun to wear around Disney World this summer. =D

Mickey Mouse Amigurumi

2011-04-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

First of all... Happy 200th Post! I finally made it! Woo! =D

In honor of going to Disney World this summer for an internship, I made Mickey Mouse! I love this amigurumi. You want to know my favorite part of him? The gloves. I finally figured a way to make hands that were convincing that I could crochet and no stitching together. There are some felt details on the bottom of the feet to represent soles for the shoes, but you can't see them very well in this shot. I like him a lot. He may become my little pal when I'm out at Disney World. He'll probably show up in some pictures that I take there. I haven't quite decided. ;)

Birthday Amigurumi

2011-03-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Happy St.Patrick's Day! Sorry that I haven't updated these sooner. A lot has been going on lately and I finally have the time to write about it. I've actually made a couple of things lately that were presents for some people that I knew. It's time to write about them!

This is a bear that I made for a friend in the ward named Keziah. (She'll be a roommate next year!) She invited me to her birthday party on Feb. 25th but I unfortunately had to use that time to prepare for Crop Because You Care the next day. I decided to make her this as to apologize in a way. I also wrote a hand note. Thankfully I was able to give both of them to her in person. She really seemed to enjoy the gift.

This amigurumi xenomorph was for Danny. His birthday was on the 1st and last year I guessed on what he liked by making him an amigurumi Cthulu. I was trying to discuss what could be more epic than that but he wasn't sure. Luckily, I knew that he's a HUGE Alien fan. I decided to work on a xenomorph. He's always said that he's wanted a pet one; well, now he can... sort of. He seemed to really enjoy it. He did tell me that it blew the cthulu out of the water. Mission accomplished! =D

Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

2011-02-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

I have realized now that I have forgotten to write about other books that I have read for class. (Totally spaced North and South last semester. I'll make it up some time.) Right now I'm currently taking a British Romantic Period Literature class. One of the books that we have to read is Belinda by Maria Edgeworth. Edgeworth was a female author that wrote just before and while Jane Austen became popular. It's interesting that some seem to forget that she was the one that influenced the later. This book was written in 1801 while Austen wrote in the 1810s.

When you first open this book you are greeted with Edgeworth's explanation for writing it. She hated the idea of Belinda being called a Novel since the genre had bad connotations then. She said that this was to be a Moral Tale. Finding the moral might be the interesting part since so many things are happening. It is a Coming of Age story, but for whom? It would appear three people would be the focus: Belinda Portman, Lady Delacour, and Mr. Clarence Hervey. There are hints at race, feminism, and class differences but I think it may be up to us to decide what the moral really is.

Because I wrote a paper for this book, I feel that it is necessary to write about what other people have said about it. Some have said (especially Edgeworth's contemporary critics) that the title should be called Lady Delacour since she appears to be the dominant character. I thought about this point and at first I agreed with them; now I don't. Belinda is the morally right person in this novel and helps others through her example to realize that some of their actions might not be the best choice. She also is the one that moves the plot through the book. The other characters have some influence but the main tie is Belinda.

Belinda is also blamed for being too much of a goody-two-shoes. I don't mind this about her. She honest, quiet, sincere, and what she say is thought-provoking. I like her amidst all of the other characters who are way over the top. They have so many flaws that I believe that it's nice to have a morally right character. Why must we always have our heroine as someone who isn't morally perfect? I liked this about her. Her prudence may seem a bore to some but that's who Belinda is. She herself said: "Surely, prudence, not courage, is the virtue of our sex (meaning women)."

I also enjoyed the story of this book. Belinda is caught in the moment where she is available to be married and it is her Aunt Stanhope's desire that this happens. In this English aristocratic time courting was a lot different than it is now and how it can go a muck in some areas. This book shows that off nicely. I do feel that there were times when things were long-winded and could have been toned down. I suppose that it's for that reason that I would give Belinda 4 out of 5 stars. If you like to read a book like that of Austen then go ahead and give Belinda a try.

23 Years

2011-02-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

I suppose it's about time I write about my birthday. Sorry for not writing earlier. A part of me didn't want to write since I didn't have any pictures to show. I would forget to get mine out and then others forgot theirs completely. Our bad.

Anyway, I woke up deciding that the day was going to be awesome. The day before I had a breakdown after finishing all of my homework. I had realized that I hadn't received any messages about what was going to happen for my birthday. My roommates also kept forgetting even though they asked me when my birthday was a week or two before. I figured nothing really special was going to happen. However, I broke myself out of that funk. I had received an anonymous text, calls, and Facebook messages wishing me happy birthday. It was nice. =)

The day turned out to be good. I didn't have to go to classes until 1:35 that day so I had some time to make some pistachio pudding cake. I used the letters on my fridge to say "Happy Birthday to Me! =)" and that's when my roommate also started to make a cake because it reminded her. I was able to get that done before I left for class; and along the way I treated myself to a Jamba Juice for lunch. ;)

After wards, I waited for Nett and the gang to come and get me for my birthday dinner. By the time that they came if was too late to go to where I wanted to go. I read that it could take some time to get seated and we just couldn't do it. So we went to a faster, inexpensive Japanese place called the Hibachi House. I know that we enjoyed it before and it had food for everyone. I thought that it tasted pretty good. I was able to get some unagi (eel). Yum!

I had to wait until the day after to go out with Nett and Gma for some present buying. I really didn't know what I wanted besides some crafts supplies. I got a ton more of polymer clay in loads of colors, yarn, and the fabric for my next cosplay. We then had to pick Tay up from school, wait for Bug to come home, and have Glenn land from San Franciso. By that time it was too late to do an activity.

The next day we decided that we were going to do an activity. I thought of doing sledding since I knew that it was something that pretty much everyone would enjoy. We chose the same sledding spot as for my 21st birthday. It was late by the time we went so we only had about an hour of sledding. That turned out to be o.k. since I fell off an inter-tube pretty hard. I was definitely sore for a couple days after wards.

It was a pretty enjoyable birthday this year. And it's not even completely done yet. Next weekend is when I'll be able to get my iPhone. I haven't had a new phone in a couple years and with me going to Disney World this summer I can chat with Mom and Dad using the face-time on the phone. That will be nice. =)

Goals & School

2011-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I feel like I need to talk about school and stuff. I kept feeling like I needed to write and I'm unsure why. Maybe I'm on this weird spiritual kick to share some thoughts that I've been having. I think sacrament and the CES fireside had something to do with it.

Starting with Sacrament. The talks today ended up being about setting eternal goals. I found these talks rather intriguing and they had me thinking. I have never been the kind of person to set goals. A lot of things have come easy to me (like grades and talents), and I've now realized that I have become a bit lackadaisical about them. Things haven't improved in ways that I would like them to. I feel like my laziness has actually hindered me. I think the most powerful evidence in not being able to get into animation.

I love animation and always will. I have noticed, though, that I get sad while watching some animated movies lately. I'm so mad at myself. I was given a wonderful opportunity to be part of something unique; something some people would lie for. Twice. TWICE. And what did I do? I let my laziness consume me. It's been hard for me to be excited about anything anymore. I'm letting depression win and I'm sick of it. SICK OF IT. I want to have goals. I want to be something more than what I am now. An almost 23 year-old with no job, no license, and nothing to show anybody. Pathetic. I think it's time to stop drumming to the same beat; it's time to make goals.

I want all of these by the end of the year:

To be better at scripture study. I've read a chapter of scriptures every night for the longest time and I feel like it's time to change the game. I need to find a different way that encourages me to be more involved in my study.
To have my prayers be more meaningful. I feel like doing this will not only help me be able to communicate with Heavenly Father better, but will help me to trust in Him more. I think that's why my depression shows up more lately in not understanding why I have a different major.
To be a better friend. I feel like I really need to do this. I often think that I'm not a good friend. I don't communicate with my friends as much as I should.
To be better at writing. If I'm going to be an author some day, I need to work on this important skill. This will also include typing up, editing, and sharing stories that I've written. I need to be more open if I want to improve. And I would also like my vocabulary to grow and I think doing all this will help.
To be better at my art. Although art is no longer my major, I still feel like I need to prove something to myself. My Etsy shop is a flop at the moment and I don't know what to do about it. I also want to be more committed at making more things to improve my skills more. And with drawing I know that my tablet experimentation will help this improve, as well as drawing in my sketchbook.
To have a license and job. I think that having both of these will help me feel less... useless. I want the ability to be independent and not have everyone do everything for me. I'm still unsure if the Disney World internship counts to this goal.

Now about school. So far a week of school has gone by and I'm okay about that. I'm taking four literature classes: Early British Literature, American Literature, British Romantic Literature, and Literature and Film. I have two classes a day so it's not too heavy on any day. There will be a TON of reading to do this semester though. But after this I will only have two semesters left until graduation!

I also walked into the Visual Arts office to see what could be done about a minor. Turns out that I will only need a class and a half to get it. I will need to talk to someone at the office on Monday though since one of the classes I took here isn't showing up on this record. If that goes well then I'll be able to have this minor when I graduate! ;)

New Haircut

2011-01-01T23:49:00.000-08:00

My hair had gotten really long since I last had it cut. I knew that it was time to have a cut but I was skeptical because I haven't really had a cut that I liked. I would tell stylists one thing and then I would get another. This time I got someone who finally understood me.

Before

After

There was so much hair on the floor after it was cut. The stylist joked that there was enough to re-fur a small dog. xD I like it this way a lot better than before. I just need to remember to style it more often. >.<

Christmas Presents

2010-12-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I can now post pictures of the items I made as gifts. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I'm also glad that they liked them so much! It was also an interesting experience since I had to make two gifts of the gifts completely before leaving for break. The other one I had to have the body ready to finish when I got home. Boy, did my fingers hurt.

This gift was for my Mother. She mentioned something to me some day that she would like crocheted chilies. I guess she forgot because she was completely surprised. It now hangs on the shelves in the living room.

To be honest, I've always wanted to make something KC Chiefs related for my Dad. I was always worried though because they weren't doing so hot in the past. I figured he would say something like, 'Oh, this is cool. Too bad they suck.' I'm glad they're doing well. A part of me wishes that I had the time to do in single crochet stitches instead of double. Oh well. He still liked it.

My siblings and I would love to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together when we were younger. We even had one of them as a 'pseudo name' since there was four of us and them. Zak was Raphael; and he has continued to be his favorite of the four since. I really like how he turned out. I may have to make the other three. ;)

I was also able to get them some little things from the BYU Bookstore. They seemed to really like them. ^^

Miyazaki Melody Bento

2010-12-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

Wow. Here's my entry for 's Hayao Miyazaki Bento Contest. The rules were pretty simple. I decided that I couldn't pick one movie that I loved so I did 5 together. There's Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Ponyo, and My Neighbor Totoro. Depicted on the top is Jiji trying to get a hold of some Soot Sprites but Calcifer doesn't like that much. Then on the bottom No Face, Ponyo, and Totoro are hanging-out. xD

Foods Used:

On both Bottom and Top:
The underside is rice and lettuce, with some Cherry Tomatoes and Edamame surrounding.

JiJi:
- Carved Baked Potato
- Seaweed
- Swiss
- Spaghetti Noodle

Calcifer:
- Red and Yellow dyed Mashed Potatoes
- Beef Hotdogs

Soot Sprites:
- Rice
- Swiss
- Seaweed
- Swiss dyed Blue

No Face:
- Rice
- Seaweed
- Mashed Potato

Ponyo
- White, Red, and Yellow Mashed Potato
- American Cheese
- Swiss
- Cherry Tomato
- Seaweed
- Beef Hot Dog

Totoro:
- Rice mixed with Black Sesame Seeds
- Rice
- Seaweed
- Swiss
- Spaghetti Noodle

I was seriously surprised by how long this took me. I started around 11:30 and finished about 3-4 hrs. later. It was really enjoyable though! It also ended up being really delicious. You don't think that after all the hard work that I wouldn't eat it? Ha! Wish me luck! <3

Christmas Tree Star Topper Pattern

2010-12-13T15:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas Tree Star Topper Pattern

Size G Hook (4.25 mm)
1 skein Red Hart Super Saver or worsted weight yarn
Polyfil Stuffing
Pipe Cleaners (for the stand)

Abbreviations:
sc - single crochet
st - stitch
tog - together
dec - decrease

Main Part (make 2):
*MAR* (magic adjustable ring)
Rnd 1: 6 sc into ring (6)
Rnd 2: 2 sc into every st (12)
Rnd 3: *1 sc for 1 st, 2 sc into next stitch* (18)
Rnd 4: *1 sc for 2 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (24)
Rnd 5: *1 sc for 3 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (30)
Rnd 6: *1 sc for 4 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (36)
Rnd 7: *1 sc for 5 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (42)
Rnd 8: *1 sc for 6 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (48)
Rnd 9: *1 sc for 7 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (54)
Rnd 10: *1 sc for 2 sts, 2 sc into next stitch* (60)
**END (Cut the first one ONLY.)

Points of Star (5 total):
*Take both circles that you've made. Put the wrong sides together.
Rnd 1: 12 sc one one circle, 12 sc on the other circle (24)
Rnd 2 - 3: 1 sc around (24)
Rnd 4: *1 sc for 1 st, 2 st tog (dec)* (16)
Rnd 5 - 7: 1 sc around (16)
Rnd 8: 2 st tog around (8)
Rnd 9: 1 sc (8)
**END. Weave in end to point.

This should make a star that is approximately 5" tall. This hasn't been tested except for me making my own as I went along. If you have any questions leave a comment and I'll get back to you a.s.a.p. You can make this for personal use only. Thank you!

Black n' Blue Kanzashi and Dress

2010-12-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

I recently made a dress as my final project for my sewing project. I needed something that I could wear in my hair to go with it. What better to use the fabric that the dress is made out of to make the accessory? The dress has two tones: the blue/navy for the top and the black way polka dot for the bottom. I decided that I wanted to make a different kind of flower as the main focus this time around. I believe that it's called ume, meaning plum in Japanese. As a first time around, I think it ended up pretty well.

Here's a picture of me wearing the whole thing together. Why am I not wearing shoes? I walked home without them on... they were giving me blisters. The dress is also a little big big around, so I might fix that in the future. Who knows when though.

Christmas Decorations '10

2010-12-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. I DECKED out the apartment this year. New things were made and the addition of a 6 ft. tree helped it seem more decorated than years in the past. Thanks for the tree, Gma! I made just about everything that will be seen in the slideshow. Other things were obviously purchased. My roommates didn't really do anything this year... I guess that left me in charge. I didn't even take photos of the wreath and t.v. set up this year. It's pretty much the same as last year. I like the decorated apartment. We'll see if it does well in the ward Christmas decoration contest. ;)

All Put Together

2010-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here's an outfit I made during the time in my sewing class this semester. The skirt came first and when I realized that I didn't have a top to match I figured that I would make the shirt project go with it. These two also go with my Umbrella Kanzashi. As you can also tell my hair is still pretty dark from temporary dying it black for my cosplay. It's a dark brown now but I don't think it will wash out anymore. I just hope that my natural hair color grows back fast so I won't have to do anything to my hair besides cut it before going on the DisneyWorld internship this summer. You're hair is supposed to look natural and I'm pretty sure that two different colors separated by a line isn't natural. xD

Umbrella Kanzashi

2010-12-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Here's a new kanzashi. I recently made a shirt and a skirt for my sewing class. I finally got the shirt back and can wear the two together like they were made to be. =) I decided that I needed something for my hair to put it all together nicely. The skirt is made from the umbrella fabric and the shirt the tan fabric. Both pieces also have the same ribbon on it; while the shirt has the same buttons on it. Like the other headband creations I have made this to be able to go onto another ribbon or small headband. What do you think? Should I post the whole thing together when I wear it on Sunday? ;)

Trying Something New...

2010-11-21T20:06:00.001-08:00

So, as some of you may know I have a Bamboo Fun tablet. (Apparently my tablet version no longer exists so here's just a link to Wacom's Bamboo tablet line.) I adore it but I haven't used it much. I've decided to do something about that. I want to be able to do digital art better. I've also wanted to put more up on my blog. I figure, why not put both together? I'm going to experiment on my tablet in Photoshop and share it with you guys. I guess this is a way for me to get some emotions out as well. So don't be scared when some of them are not so happy. I'm hoping this will be a good learning experience for me and you'll have something to look at more often on my blog.

Without further delay, here's the first! (I'm warning you now, the image might be HUGE. Don't blame me if your computer crashes.)

My Judge's Award

2010-11-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

As promised here's my Judge's Award that I received for my Vincent Valentine cosplay. It was so unexpected and so gratefully received! It makes me want to continue on with cosplay! And yes, I do have my choice for next year picked. It should be fun!

The Judges of the contest were allowed to give their choices something else besides a certificate. Mine decided to give me a 'Pocky Cup.' I think it's hilarious and I totally want to meat the guy. xD The front says "National Pocky League" and the back says "Banzai Cup 2010." I did find out something that was a bummer. If I had put my cosplay into the Craftmanship, it would have won. The ones who did put their cosplays in had bought half of their cosplays while I had made all of mine. Guess who'll be trying for that next year? Yep. I think I might have to. ;)

Craft Dump

2010-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've been so far behind on posting on the blog about my recent craftiness. This post will probably be HUGE. I'm sorry! D=

This is Frank. I wanted to make a plushie completely out of felt that was Halloween themed, and since I love Frankenstein by Mary Shelley I thought I would make him. I know he's not true to the monster in the book but I guess I took some creative liberties by making him how I wanted him to look.

These next two were gifts for an aunt. Her costume is Steampunk but she doesn't have any accessories that she could wear with it. I decided to make the bracelet first. I wanted to use kanzashi to make something feminine with edgy side. I like the contrast between soft and hard in the materials to the shapes. The wire wrapping and chain making was interesting since I didn't have any pliers. Needless to say my fingers were raw after making it. >.< The ring came after the bracelet. While making the gears for the flowers I had an extra. (All made out of Cold Porcelain clay. Clay I made from scratch!) Then it was painted and had wire hot glued to the back for it to be adjustable.

I held a contest on my deviantART page. The winner had to get an image of my 7,000 page view (along with other information) and then note it to me. The winner actually didn't know what she wanted so I had to nudge her in a direction. At first I mentioned Halloween theme and then she said that was good or something like a panda. So, I made a panda using purple and white instead of the normal color combo. It's about 3.5" tall. It's on its way to Tunisia right now! I hope it makes it safely. *crosses fingers*

While I was making the panda, I made these pumpkin earrings. I thought they would be a nice touch to wear on Halloween and during the Fall season. I almost put Jack-O-Lattern faces on them but I wouldn't wear them any time but Halloween then. I'm actually wearing them right now and they're super light and easy to wear. =)

This was actually made a long time ago. It's a Rabbid from the Raving Rabbid series by Ubisoft. I love these guys. They make me laugh so much. xD I made him in mind of my other felt key chains so they could be put together.

And finally I made this yesterday. This is a Weighted Companion Cube from the game Portal. I love watching the boys play the game and wish I could do it myself. I've been scared to because I know it will be frustrating. Perhaps some day I will try. This also was made to match my other felt key chains so they could be put together on the same key ring.

Anime Banzai '10

2010-10-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

It's about time I finally write about Anime Banzai. We went on Saturday, October 9th instead of doing the whole weekend. Things that we wanted to do were on that day and money-wise it was the better choice. The day before was a long one. I had to make sure that I finished my cosplay as well as temporary dye my hair. (Gma can tell you all how crazy that was.) Encase you all didn't know: I was Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII, Tay was Batgirl, Danny was a Venetian Plague Doctor, and Nett wore her Steampunk gear (as seen in this post).

Learning from last year, we all decided to get there as soon as we could. Last year I missed the deadline for the Cosplay Sign-ups because the registration took so long. We got there early and found out that the sign-up times were a little later than I though they were. (Whoops.) We ended up wandering around a bit and waiting for the Dealer's Room/Artist Alley to open. We had planned on going to a panel so that Tay could make some kitty ears but we missed that barely.

Upon first getting there, we immediately noticed that the cosplays this year were more thought out. You could definitely see the effort in construction and overall appearance. I even noticed a few Vincent Valentines walking around; we ended up getting to know one of them. Walking around the Artist Alley I met up with a friend from college when I was in Idaho. She was selling some of her drawings there. (Here's her deviantART.) It was super fun to talk to her again.

We finally ate up all the time leading up to the Cosplay sign-ups got our butts in the room. Small room + lots of people + me in pleather = REALLY hot. We were able to get Tay into the Children's Expo and me into the Beginner's Class. After that we decided it was lunch time and got some Crown Burger. Holy crap. People really need to learn not to stare. That's the one thing about living here is that if you look different you get stared at. The same thing happened walking around a K-Mart because we needed some things.

We still had a couple hours until Tay and I needed to show up for the Cosplay Contest. Danny stayed behind at the convention (originally to get tickets to the show but he missed out on that) and the rest of us went to Gma and Gpa's to rest. I'm glad that we did. Laying down helped my chest feel a lot better after being bound for a few hours.

We headed back around 4:30 because they wanted us to check-in for the contest. Waiting in that line also meant me being really hot but they had water there for us so it was better. 6:00 slowly came and Tay ended up being the first to go on the stage. Only she and a little boy were the only children. You should have seen her on stage. She had stage fright at the beginning and slowly warmed up. After the kids went up then they went up again to win their 'prize.' Finally after the kids they had the rest of us go. Eventually it was my turn and as the stage was getting closer and closer I had some butterflies. When I got on the stage though I did the best I could. I walked on the stage holding my cape, dramatically flinging it to my side. Then I did my signature pose, turned around, and exited the other side of the stage. We only had 45 sec. and I didn't want to overdo it on accident.

Afterwards we waited, and waited, and waited. The show ended on time but the judging took about an hour or so. They deliberated so much for the Categories (like Beginner's, Intermediate, Master, Best in Show, Best Group) that the Judges forgot to do their picks right there. They said that they would announce them in the closing ceremonies and if you weren't able to make it then they would e-mail you. About a week ago I got an e-mail saying that I was one of the Judge's Picks! They want to give me my prize but I haven't heard back since the initial e-mail. I'll tell you all when I get my prize what it is and such.

We had a really good time this year. The Davis Conference Center was so much nicer than the hotel the year before. I think we all agree that we want to go again next year. And what's more awesome? The theme's Steampunk. Heck yes.

Pride and Prejudice

2010-09-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Look out world. I read a Jane Austen novel. Never thought the day would come, huh? To be honest, neither did I. I can actually thank my British Literature class for opening me up to Jane Austen by reading Pride and Prejudice. I'm actually quite glad, too. I may have to read more of her works in the future.

I often associated Pride and Prejudice with hoighty-toighty people and overly passionate females. For that I refused to watch the movies (although I've seen bits and pieces) and to read the book. I really didn't want to get myself into the realm of 'squealing girls,' but I have already successfully accomplished that by reading The Twilight Saga. (Funny how that works, huh?) I do see why girls are mainly attracted to this book. The main character is female but she isn't really like other females; and there is more to the story about love. It's about looking into ourselves and finding our own follies; especially pride and prejudice.

I found myself feeling for Elizabeth Bennet. There is a lot to be learned by looking through her perspective. She changes so much by the end of the novel as does Mr. Darcy. I can say that this book has some well developed characters. All of them aren't perfect, and yet they are likable. There are some that you don't like but you end of pitying them because of how naive they really are. Then there are others that you wish you could knock some sense into.

I'm glad that I had to read this book for class. I would have missed out a fun classic if I hadn't otherwise. Perhaps someday I'll be able to watch the movie and be able to enjoy it for what it's worth.

It Begins...

2010-08-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have finally been to all the classes that I will be taking this semester. To be completely honest, I had a semi-meltdown the first day. It was very quiet and I don't think that my roommates even knew about it. I guess a lot of things caught up with me. I believe that a lot of it was caused by my mild depression. Although I have never been diagnosed, I know that I don't have to be 'officially' diagnosed. I know when something doesn't feel right.

Anyway, a lot of the meltdown did deal with the whole money side of going to school. I really don't feel like I have accomplished a whole lot during the summer. I wasn't able to get a job or my license. I can't tell you how many times that I've felt like that I've been mooching off of my parents and people I know. All that guilt ways you down. That will change soon, hopefully. I'm desperately looking for a job and I have applied for five at the moment. I have only heard back from one saying no, but there is another I want to apply for. I just need to finish some steps before I can do that. I will get that done in the next couple days.

I do have good news in all of this gloom. Financial aid is a lot faster since a new law has been passed. I've accepted the loan and am now waiting for disbursement. ^^ I have also made my major official. I'm an English major. What am I going to do with that? Get myself published! I did think of doing something with art as a minor but as I walked over to the building I stopped half-way. I'm not sure why. I just know that I didn't need the minor. Maybe it's a good thing. After this semester I will only need three more semesters and an internship. You read that right! I should be graduated either before or in 2012 depending if I do Summer and Spring terms. I might have to. We'll see. ;)

This semester will have a lot of reading to do. All of my classes have reading assignments; and all but two have some kind of paper(s). It will be fun. I also have four novels to read this semester. Three for one English and one for the other English course. I should be able to get a lot of it done on Tues. and Thurs. though. I only have one class on those days. However, that means I'm in class on Mon. and Wed. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an hour break. I'm hoping it will actually be shorter since the class at the end is a lab for sewing; and we all know how fast I can sew. Getting a job on top of all of this might be murder but I will definitely try!

That's the semester in a nutshell. It should be crazy, busy but fun. Wish me luck!

Mockingjay

2010-08-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

I finally finished reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. It's the final installment to The Hunger Games Trilogy. I wasn't able to get the book until a couple days ago since I was traveling the day it came out. And, boy, was I lucky. The Borders was out of them until a few minutes after I entered the store. They just got a bunch of boxes right then.

In my opinion there is a lot more dealing with what Katniss has going on in her head. She's dealing with a lot of emotional turmoil from beginning to end. She has to deal with trusting the people around her to feeling guilty about the start of the war. There is a lot more that goes on in a 17 year-old girl that has survived through death over and over again; but I don't want to say much else because it could ruin it.

As usual I like Suzanne Collins' writing style. It's easy to follow and understand. I am happy and yet sad that I don't have to wait for another book to come out. I like knowing how things end but I felt like there was a lack of resolution. I also like that about his book though. It's not a complete happy ending, nor is it sad. It's in between, in my opinion. I still enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to anyone who is willing to read a good series. There's suspense, gore, action, and love. Go ahead and try it. You'll like it.

BYU Cougar Amigurumi

2010-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

I had this idea to make a new amigurumi. I was testing out some shaping to amigurumi while making him. You can't really tell from these pictures but his arms and legs curve. I finally figured out how to make that work. ^^ I wanted to also add lots of details like the footpads and beads. I hope you can see them all. I would imagine taking him to football games. ;D I do wonder if he really looks like a cougar though. My dad kept making fun of him by saying he looked kind of like a deer. D= Oh well. I also made his sweater removable but I doubt he will have it off that often. ;)

Mule Designs on Etsy!

2010-08-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I've finally done it! After lots of people giving me feedback and support I have finally opened an Etsy Shop. Say hello to Mule Designs! I'm so excited that I can't even tell you. It's been a long time coming and I have lots to sell. I have well over 20+ things already made for the shop. The only thing now is to put them all up for sale. Wish me luck everyone!

I also have a business card! Feel free to share it. ^^

Memories Quilt

2010-08-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to make myself another quilt. I have only made one big quilt and a smaller one in the past. Those quilts were probably easier than this one. The main reason is that they were both made with squares of the same size. This one is definitely not all the same size.

I call this my 'Memories Quilt' because it is made with t-shirts, denim, and fabrics that all have some memories attached to them. Lots of the t-shirts are from Youth Conference, Girl's Camp, and high school. There are some that were from trips we made as a family, but in reality they still happened when I was in high school.

It took me a total of 3 days to finish this quilt. I did most of the cutting on the first day; sewing and cutting the front on the second day; and then basting and putting the edging on the third day. This quilt is BIG, too. It's a little over 5' wide and 8' tall. It'll definitely be nice to take out at school since it will fit over my bed there nicely. And it will be good to have to lay out on the grass with or take to football games to stay warm. ;)

Want to know how I did it? You can see that a lot of the pieces are the same size. I made piles of shirts that I knew would fit in the same template size; each row was a pile. Since I was doing four across for the t-shirts I knew it would be good to use the scrap fabrics I had to make triangular pieces. (These pieces were already triangles because they were headbands in the past.) I was able to also get more fabrics on the quilt that way. When you enlarge the picture you'll see that some of the pieces had to be made to fit into their square shapes. I just used fabric from the same t-shirt to make it less apparent. Then I sewed the rows together and then the rows to each other. When you get that part done you need a bottom layer of fabric and batting. I trimmed those to the same size as the top and use a yarn darner to bast some yarn through all three layers. Then you pin and sew on the edging!

To be honest it really is an easy project. You just have to make sure that you have the time to actually do it. I like how mine turned out and now this way my t-shirts and fabrics will last a lot longer!

New TLS Technique

2010-08-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

I found a new technique for TLS (for me that is) I thought it would be perfect to make some easy and cool looking polymer clay goodies. I first had to think of things that I would want to do with the technique; and then it hit me. This is what came out of my recent polymer clay madness.

Since I'm a fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy and with the upcoming release of Mockingjay, I thought it would be perfect to make some things for me and other fans to have for the celebrations. I started with easier thing first and then went on to the harder stuff. These are what I made for The Hunger Games. (The first two will show up in my upcoming Etsy shop.)

Book charms.

Mockingjay pendant.

Trilogy bracelet.

Book thong.

Katniss' mockingjay pin.

I also did some other charms using the same technique. These are things that will shop up in my upcoming Etsy shop. I also liked how these turned out.

Twilight Saga book charms.

Legend of Zelda pendants. Logo and heart container.

Amigurumi & Cosplay Status

2010-08-04T14:27:00.001-07:00

This is another amigurumi to be sold in my future Etsy shop. I like the contrast in yarns and thought it would be perfect for a cute little bear! The picture is horrendous so I'll make sure to have a better picture up for Etsy. I'll let you all know when that happens. I just want to make a few more things before setting it up. ;)

Some of you may know that I'm working on a new cosplay. This one will be Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII. For him I had to make some faux metal. I used a tutorial posted here. I actually changed it up a a bit. I made the pieces the same way but then I only did a layer of Elmer's glue, no water. Then I have five layers of gold acrylic paint. Attaching the pieces to the boot covers and glove that I made turned out to be harder. I had to end up using super glue and it worked really well. I'm pretty happy with the results being my first time doing this method. What you do think?

Peachy Sweets Day Dream Figure

2010-07-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

Woah! Something from me that isn't about movies?! Who knew... Okay, seriously I'm finally able to write some stuff other than about movies now. I sent in my portfolio Thursday (not sure I feel about it this time) and I can now do other things.

On deviantART there is a contest called "James and the Giant Peach Day Dream Contest." Now how does this qualify as a day dream? Here's the reasoning I put on deviantART:

For the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to eat foods high in sugar without my stomach turning sour. It's usually temporary and only lasts for a couple hours but it's still uncomfortable. I find myself wishing that I can have sweets again. I guess you can say I day dream being able to eat my fill of sugary delights. So this is my entry; me surrounded by peachy sweets. Maybe this will be me again someday.

You want to know the ironic thing? I'm not even sure if I like peaches. It's been forever since I've actually eaten one. However, I thought that the peach flavored delights would fit best seeming that it's for the James and the Giant Peach.

I also said this on deviantART:

This is about 2" tall and 3" wide. I'm not sure on the estimated time that it took to make this. I know that the girl figure took about 2 hrs. I guess you can estimate yourself using that. ^^; Made from different colors of sculpey and fimo clays, as well as TLS.

I failed to mention that I also used glass beads and sculpey gloss glaze. I hope I do well. Wish me luck!

How to Train Your Dragon

2010-07-25T19:40:00.001-07:00

The latest movie I've seen is How to Train Your Dragon. It has been a while since this movie first hit the theaters. Many of my fellow students at school were telling me how much they liked this movie and I've been eagerly waiting to see it. The four of us still at home went into the $2 theater to see it.

I'm glad that I finally got the chance to see it. I really liked how everything was animated. Everything was nicely polished and textured from the characters to the scenery. That is something I've felt like DreamWorks was missing in the fourth Shrek movie. The last movie that of theirs were I liked the atmosphere was Kung Fu Panda. I also liked the character designs. The Vikings were fun and interesting to look at as were the dragons. The only one that really stood out was the main dragon named Toothless. His design was quite a bit different than the other dragons but I think it fit since he was a different class of dragon.

Throughout the film Hiccup (the main character) is trying to impress everyone in his village but most of the time makes things worse. And when he finally does something that is to be commended, the people don't believe him. Hiccup decides that he's going to prove what he did but ends up not being able to do it. Instead he starts building a relationship with Toothless. And if I say anything more then I'm going to ruin it for everyone.

How to Train Your Dragon is a fun movie for everyone in the family. Go ahead and see it. I'm sure you'll like it. ;)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-25T19:16:00.001-07:00

The third movie I saw was The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Turns out that the movie is loosely based off a poem that also some of Fantasia is based off of. I honestly went into this movie not expecting a whole lot. The trailers made the movie seem a little cheesy. I was pleasantly surprised leaving the theater.

This is a fun movie. It's definitely a movie that everyone in the family would enjoy. The story starts off a little different than I imagined it would have so that was nice. There are a lot of nice effects and lots of humor. The movie even has a couple of love stories tossed into there. I always like that. I mean, I am a girl. ;) The story was easy to follow and they stuck to it throughout. There are even some homages to Mickey Mouse snuck-in but you have to stay after to see one of them. = o

Go see it and bring the kids along. You'll have fun. =)

The Last Airbender

2010-07-25T19:00:00.001-07:00

The second movie that I saw this summer was The Last Airbender. Originally, this movie was called Avatar: The Last Airbender like the show it's based off of; but you can blame another block buster for the title change.

I like the original cartoon so I was really curious to see how this would turn out. I didn't care so much for the 'casting fiasco' because I don't believe that they all needed to be Asian. Even if the cartoon is in anime doesn't mean that everybody has to be Asian. How many Asian people do you know that have Katara and Sokka's dark skin color? I didn't think so.

I have to say that I walked out of the movie theater neutral. The acting got better by the end and I wasn't impressed with the 3D. I really need to convince everyone that 3D is only necessary for animated movies. The element bending was cool in 3D but that was all. I also felt like the story was going way too fast. I know that they have to jam an entire season into one movie but I think I would have liked the movie to be longer. The main story points remained the same so that made me happy. I was also happy that there was some humor and that the actors sounded a lot like their cartoon counterparts.

Go ahead and see if you want. You might have fun as there is some fun to be had. But be aware that it moves fast.

Eclipse: The Movie

2010-07-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

And now it's finally time to write about movies that I've seen this summer. I haven't had the time but I figure that now would be better than any other to write them all.

The first picture I saw this summer was Eclipse. I waited until my sister came into town before seeing this. Dad was kind enough to go see it with us. Amber ended up calling it a Daddy/Daughters date. ;) He has already seen the other two and I guess he figured that he would see this one, too.

I liked this one the most out of them all. A lot of things stayed a lot truer to the book than the others and still had the humor that was in the book. I always loved the scene when Emmett made fun of Bella for punching a werewolf, and they put it in! It made me smile. I also loved the past stories of Rosalie and Jasper. I liked how those were shown. I wish that Carlisle, Alice, and Esme got their stories in Twilight.

I wish I could say more but parts of the movie are already slipping. I know that I'll be eagerly waiting for the DVD though. It's fun. Any fan of the series would like it. =)

A Doll & Amigurumi

2010-07-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

It's been way busy since I lasted posted. I have to write about two movies that I've seen as well as this one. There are a ton of people over and that just makes everything crazy. I probably should be drawing in my sketchbook instead of doing this but I've let it go far enough.

First, I finally finished making Coraline's doll. I started making this last Christmas vacation it wasn't until recently that I got the blue yarn to finish her. She's not entirely perfect but I'm okay with that. If I ever make any more in the future then I know what changes to make to the pattern I created.

Second, I started making some more amigurumi that I could possibly sell soon. (That is when the sketchbook is done. No more making things until then.) I decided to make some small animals wearing a hooded vest. I like how they turn out. I think more animals will have to be made in the future. ;)

Finally, I've wanted to make one for a while but I got around to him. This is Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. I think it's a really cute show. He's not he most perfect amigurumi ever. I like the base but the face needs some work. A little smaller will be better for possible future ones.

Make Your Own Bento Bag

2010-06-28T15:59:00.001-07:00

Recently I got myself a bento box. I love it. I've heard from a friend that they are easy to use out at school. I realized that when I got it I needed to make a bag to carry it in. I needed to make sure that the bento would stay together and would travel safely. If you wish to make your own then go to my DevantART account to *THIS*. It's a very easy and simple tutorial on how to make your own. Go a head and try. ;)

Lots of Crafts

2010-06-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

I need to post these before the masses start showing up at the house later today. I've done these quite recently, it's just that I haven't put them up on the blog yet. Either because I was being lazy or busy with sketchbook and being out of town. So here are the new things.

First off, I made some more kanzashi. One is for a cousin that was getting married last weekend. I decided to make her a kanzashi using her wedding colors: black, white, and hot pink. Then the other kanzashi is made from an old beret that I only wore occasionally because I hated the design. Now I wear it a lot more often. I like how this turned out as a first try of doing shidare (dangling parts) of kanzashi.

Then I made a charm as an art trade with a DeviantART friend, Demi-Plum. This is her avatar that she currently has on her profile. This charm actually has no paint on it at all. That's right. The eyes are all polymer clay.

The next charms were more things for my cousin getting married. They are also in her wedding colors. I decided to make a dragonfruit cane so that I could have uniform slices for the charms. I mostly like how these turned out. The cake park of the big cake is messy; not fond of that.

Then lastly is something for my Granni. She turned 75 yrs. old while I visiting for my cousin's wedding. She loves things that are red, white, and blue. I thought she would enjoy this. She seemed to at least. ;)

Two Kanzashi

2010-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

A while ago I decided to try a new craft called kanzashi. I decided to finally pick it up again. I really want to have an Etsy shop and I was trying to come up with something else I could sell in it. Kanzashi came to mind. They are also fairly simple so they are something I can do when I'm not working on my sketchbook. This time around it was also a lot easier to find tutorials on how to do them properly. I also decided to use fabrics that I had around the house and also reuse old clothing for some of the fabric. Yay for being green!

The first one here is one that I made to match a new dress that recently got. I wanted to try this time making a kanzashi that had multiple layers. The other kanzashi that I did before were only one color and layer. I think this turned out pretty o.k. for my first try. I don't think that I'll ever use felt to make petals again though. The petals turn out massive as does the flower. This one is a little bit over 3" wide. It was a nice learning experience though.

This kanzashi started because of the fabric choice. I had an old pair of pajama bottoms that were ripped and the stripes gave me an idea to make a 'Fourth of July' kanzashi. The other thing I wanted to do was to make the kanzashi look like it was a firework blasting off in the sky. Not just because of how the colors are laid out, but also the overall shape. I think that it turned out pretty nicely.

City of Bones

2010-06-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

I finished reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare a few days ago. City of Bones is the first book in The Mortal Instruments trilogy. It followed a young girl named Clarissa Fray; Clary for short. She spots three young teenagers kill a human demon and thinks at first that they're crazy. She soon finds out that she isn't crazy and is plunged into the exciting world of the Shadowhunters, or demon hunters, along with her best friend Simon.

There was a lot to love in this book. There is plenty of action, some romance, humor, and lots of twists. (Although I guessed one on them.) There was one twist at the end of the book that blew me off guard though. I really didn't see it coming and kind of wished that it didn't. It changed the dynamics between two of the characters and I'm pretty interested to see how that turns out. I do wonder if the twist is true or if it's just something the villain decided to come up with.

I also really like Cassandra Clare's writing style. Her metaphors are great as is her diction. She has a knack for dialogue to sound like it's actually happening right before your own eyes. Descriptions of the people and places are down to defined images that I hope I can emulate in my own writing. I also like her references to modern things rather than stories that I might have or might have not read.

The end of the book is left pretty open and I want to know what happens. I sure hope that you all give this book a try. There's a lot in there and I'm excited to read the next two in series. (When I get a hold of them. xD ) I'll leave you with the synopsis to figure out if you want to read it yourself.

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder–much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing–not even a smear of blood–to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But, why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Belated Mother's Day Present

2010-06-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Walking into JoAnn's yesterday I only had the intention of getting three things. Interfacing, elastic, and ribbon. I walked out with more than that.

From the picture you can tell that mother had this great idea of making an apron. Well, me making an apron for her. There was this free brochure showing you how to measure someone to make a pattern for the apron. Then it gave you the dimensions for the other pieces.

I thought it was innocent just playing along and the next thing I knew Mom picked out some fabric and some 'bling' to match. She told me that she wanted an apron because she was sick of getting grease stains on her clothes while cooking. I took this as a belated Mother's Day present since I wasn't home when it happened.

Mom likes her apron. It's not the most perfect thing in the world but at least she can still use it. I followed everything it said and it still came out a little long in the top. I also took it upon myself to adding lining since one layer of fabric wouldn't be sturdy or think enough for protection. All-in-all a pretty easy project. Probably about 2-3 hrs. of actual work on it.

New Hair

2010-06-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

HA. The day after I say I lost my pictures of my haircut, I find them. Who knew? I thought I put them on my computer but it turns out I left them on my SD card. Well, here you go. What do you think? I straightened my hair in the second one. If I didn't it wouldn't look too much different except for being shorter.

Bad pictures are bad; but I suppose you still get the drift. I got at least 3-4" off and lots of layers. Guess this means I need to take care of my hair more often.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

2010-06-03T18:43:00.001-07:00

Ah, finally writing a blog post. It seems like it has been a lifetime. I would write of what I've been doing but I know that would be redundant. Amber has posted all of that and I know I'll just bore everyone to tears saying the same things over again. I was going to write about getting my haircut but I lost those pictures some how. It's not much of a difference unless I straighten my hair anyway. I just 4 or so inches shorter and has more layers.

Anywho, last Saturday we got out of the house and went to go see Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The background behind this movie is that it was first a video game made in the 90's for Play Station. Being that it did so well (as did its sequels) it got a huge fan base. This includes the boys... kind of. Parker at least passed the game and knew the story. I was just curious to see if this game-made-movie was going to be any good.

I was happy when I left the theater. I liked the story, though simple, and everyone in the movie. I had some doubts with the casting because, honestly, who would think Jake Gyllenhaal as a Persian prince? That's what I thought. Although I guess he doesn't have to be Persian since he was adopted off of the streets by the King. I got over it. I liked him as Dastan. I also liked Gemma Arterton as Tamina. I think they had chemistry, which is good if there is going to be a love connection between them.

Critics give this movie a lot of crap but we all know how critics are. They like to hear themselves talk. The movie was fun; full of action; funny; and had good CGI in it. Parker tells me that there are differences between the game and movie; but from what he told me I can see why they changed it. One thing that was changed also had something to do with Dastan and Tamina. I'm glad they changed that. What can I say? I'm a girl. I like the happy ending.

I won't really say much more about it. I figure if I tried to get a synopsis out then I may spoil it for some. So go see it for yourself! You'll enjoy it. ;)

Catching Fire

2010-04-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

I finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins two days after finishing Hunger Games. However, with moving out of the apartment I didn't have the chance to write something about it.

I love this book just at much as I love the first book. This was written with the same fluidity and diction as the first, and I loved that about Hunger Games. I wanted to keep going and going. I was very sad when this one ended because I knew that I couldn't get a hold of the third one until August 24th! Oh well. That's what happens when you read a series that hasn't end yet. xP

One thing I noticed with this book is that there is a double meaning to pretty much everything being said. It so happens that Katniss made some people in the Capitol mad and has to please them. She follows with this for a while but that changes. There is also a love triangle beginning to form in this book. I'm interested to see how that plays out in the third one. And the ending! If you don't like cliff hangers then you won't be happy how this ends. For me, it makes me eager to read the third even more. Anyway, you all should read this book and it's prequel. I'm sure you'll like it. ;)

The Hunger Games

2010-04-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

Some time ago I finally got my hands on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've heard good things about this book from roommates, an aunt, and my sister. I wanted a new book to read since I'm all caught up on current series that I'm reading. I finally got the chance to read this since it's finals time and I don't have any to study for.

From the start I like the fluidity of the writing. It's very easy to follow and it makes you want to keep reading. I like that it didn't take me long to want to know what was going on. And when the book ended I was very sad that it did! However, there is another book in the series that is out and I will get my hands on it today. ;)

It begins with a 16 year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen living in a futuristic, post apocalyptic America. The country is split into 12 Districts; formerly 13 but the Capitol that controls them destroyed it to show that they can stomp the rebels. As a reinforcement of the Capitol's power, they have something called the Hunger Games. A boy and girl from each district is chosen randomly go into a battle arena and fight to death. Katniss takes her younger sister's, Prim, place when she is called. As the book goes on it deals with the trials of before, during, and after the Games. She also is confused about her feelings she has about her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta.

This book was a lot of fun to read. During the fight scenes you are dragged into it and left to wonder how Katniss will pull herself out of this one. And then during the slower moments you were enthralled in Katniss's mind. The way this one ends also wants you to have more. I suggest that you read this book. I'll be getting the second of the trilogy, Catching Fire, today. Then I'll have to wait for August 24th for Mockingjay. ;)

Yeah...

2010-04-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm not going to call any of you. You'll have to call me if you want. I got my letter back and it looks like I'll have to go for it again. I'm sorry that I disappointed everyone. I'm pretty sure that I've disappointed teachers as well. I e-mailed one and hopefully I will be able to meet with her next Wednesday before being done with school. I want to see what I can do for August. This is what I want. I don't see myself doing anything else. Yeah, so, you can't make me call you. I won't do it. I just won't. I'll probably pick up the phone just know that I won't be a happy camper. My roommate is thinking about going to a movie as a pick-me-up. I don't know if that will help. I can commend her for trying though...

Crochet Flower Bracelet

2010-04-13T14:46:00.001-07:00

I stayed up late last night because I could and made this. My roommate is getting married later on in the summer and is having a bridal shower before everyone goes home. I wasn't sure what I would be able to do for her since I don't have a lot of money. As I was watching YouTube I discovered bead crochet. (That isn't part of this because I don't have a hook small enough. Later projects in the future hopefully.) Since I couldn't get that to work with my hook I started playing with my string and thought of making a bracelet. Then came the flower idea and using the beaded star in the middle. I think that it turned out pretty nicely.

Wedding Presents

2010-04-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Carlee, is getting married today and having a reception tomorrow. I thought that I would make her and her husband some gifts since I don't have a lot of money. Her's was the easiest to come up with since I didn't know anything about Eric. I think I figured out something pretty generic that he'll like.

I first made Carlee's gift. Since she's a hairstylist, I thought that a headband would be nice for her. I decided to go with a three-layer flower that alternated some color. (I found out how to make this flower on YouTube a while a go.) I figured out the leaves on my own and then crocheted a way for the flower to slide on the ribbon. I made the attachment wide enough to fit on most headband if she ever wishes to switch it out.

Then came Eric's gift. At first I wasn't sure what I could make him; then I figured that he probably had an MP3 player or iPod. Most people do nowadays. I wanted to use the gray as the base and then use the same colors as Carlee's gift but you can see that idea changed. It really depended on what button color I chose to close it on the back. It ended up being yellow because I liked the contrast so much. I decided to go with a monster face from there. I also made the case big enough to fit my iPod which is the biggest size physically so I was safe to give it to him. (I think when my current case dies I'll be making one kind of like this. xP )

My hope is that they find a use for these gifts and like them. I guess I'll find out when I give these to them.

Eclipse Trailer

2010-03-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Lookie at what I found. You better believe that I'm dragging the boys to go see it with me. It's not like they haven't seen the other two already. Be prepared. June 30th is closer than you think. >D

A Pretty Big Decision

2010-03-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

We know that I'm not usually one to share my feelings about personal matters often. I fear that's because I don't want to come off as whiny or prideful. I also don't like it when I make other people worry about me. I don't want to put anyone in that kind of situation. I know that I'm insecure and have times when depression wins. I don't want to put anyone in a situation that requires them to help me. I absolutely hate the fact that mom and dad pay for my housing. I want to remedy this, I really do; but what can you do when nobody wants you for an open job position? So I continue to try and hope that the folks don't have to worry so much about it.

Now back onto the topic. Recently I've been overcome with feelings of deciding if a mission is the best course for me. I decided to really think about it the last fast Sunday. I wasn't getting a strong impression during church and it wasn't until walking back with a roommate that I decided to re-read my patriarchal blessing. I don't know how much I should go into detail but I know from it that I will serve when I am married. I am also told be willing when that time comes. Reading this I was impressed that a mission isn't for now. Even right now I know that this decision is right. I keep asking myself if it's fear making the decision and I get a flat-out 'No' to that question. And when this answer comes I'm also reminded of my health. Bad feet, knees, and back. I have to take care of these.

I know that my Heavenly Father will still love me if I don't go right now. He shows me this by answering another major decision in my life. I continually ask if Animation is the right course for me. The last time I asked this I received a calming feeling. "This is your year," I was told. I know this now. Now it is up to me to make the best of this revelation. I will show my love for Him by accepting this and doing the best I can. I will focus my energies to making the best portfolio that I can. I won't be timid when drawing other people in public. I will do my best to blow the department's socks off. In order to do this though, I will have to stop doing crafts until I submit my portfolio. I want to focus myself and not distract myself. I will have plenty of time for crafts over the summer when I open an Etsy shop. (Yes, finally.) I suppose there won't be much to see on this blog until then but at least you all will know why. Wish me luck. =)

Alice in Wonderland Charms

2010-03-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

I was a silly person and stayed up really late last night to make these. The idea came and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I just went ahead and made them. I decided to use different colors of polymer clay so I wouldn't have to do the painting step. This morning I finally glazed them after doing all of my homework. I think that they all turned out pretty well. I thought of making the Cheshire Cat's mouth more prominent but I thought that would make him stand out too much from the others. What do you think of them?

My First Kusudama

2010-02-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

I was going on this thing making new kinds of origami flowers and found this flower. Then I found that if you make 12 of them then you could put them into a kusudama. I thought I would give it a try and this is what came out. I finally got the chance to use my origami paper. The beads are even made out of origami paper because I lack real beads. xD I'm pretty happy how it turned out though. I think I'll be trying other kusudama in the future. ;D

Here's where I found out how to do it: [link]

A Contest Entry

2010-02-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Here it is. My submission for Red Heart Yarn and JoAnn's crochet/knit contest. As part of the rules, he is made from from eco-friendly yarn. I bought four colors of this kind of yarn. 70% of the yarn is acrylic while the other 30% is made from recycled products. They'll be judging on technicality, orginality, use of color, and quality. I believe that I did what I could in those categories. I had plans to make a little star and heart for him to hold but with how the arms turned out I thought that would be funny looking. He is about 12.5" tall from ear tip to toe and 8.25" wide from hand to hand. Wish me luck! I won't know if I made the top five until the end of March. ^^

Oh, I also made some Valentine's for my roommates. They all seemed to really like them. They're made out of vellum, scrapbook paper, and craft foam.

TLS Charm Experiment

2010-02-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Sometime ago I finally got my hands on some TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey). I've been wanting the stuff for a while to make icing and jelly stuff for my charms. I was able to get it because Aunt Cheryl gave me a gift card for JoAnne's. (I also got my fabric for my new costume for 50% off at the same time. ^^) After having the TLS for a week I finally go the chance to try it out (Thursday last week). It's messy stuff! I'll just assume that I'll get better with it over time. I'm glad how the frosting came out, but not the blue berry juice and jelly. I think I used way too much chalk color in it because it didn't turn out as transparent as I wanted. In the future I know what to do and here's hoping to better charms in the future! =3

Mini Ami Dude & Contest

2010-01-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

I found my ball of string by chance yesterday and decided to make an amigurumi out of it. This is what came of that. I didn't really have a plan when making him. I like the color combinations of the embroidery flosses and the string. I wanted to do something more with it but this is what came out. I guess that's what I get for not planning ahead. xD He's a little over 3" tall.

And recently I was e-mailed something interesting by JoAnne's. JoAnne's and Red Heart Yarn are teaming up to do a contest. If you use Red Heart's eco-friendly yarn and either crochet or knit your own design then you can enter. The prizes are pretty cool too. A $1000 JoAnne's giftcard for first in both categories and a $500 JoAnne's giftcard for the runner-ups. They are judging mainly on originality, use of color, and technicality. I'm think of making an amigurumi for the crochet half of the contest. I'm going to try to use as many techniques as I can and give it a shot. Wish me luck!

Birthday Week

2010-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

On the 20th I wake up like it's a normal day. I knew that it was my birthday but I also knew that a whole lot wouldn't happen on the actual day since I would be in classes from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. I spent the morning making a small cupcake charm to wear as a necklace, and then made pistachio pudding cake. Sarah had decided that the her birthday present to me was getting the ingredients to make it. I love pistachio pudding cake. =D

While finishing the cake I saw something on the fridge. We have these magnetic letter and words that Amber gave to me up on there. I didn't notice it at first because something was there earlier. Someone decided to write "Happy Birthday Megan!!!" I thought that it was really nice of them. ^^ I went on the rest of the day in classes. Not too exciting but I appreciated that I did well in my classes considering that it was my birthday.

The birthday activities didn't really start until the weekend. I went over to Nett and Glenn's house to spend time with the family that was there. We all partook of the pistachio pudding cake that was left on Friday. Then on Saturday Grandpa had his annual train show to go to at Thanksgiving Point. We then went to go to JoAnne's and I was able to use some coupons and Cheryl's giftcard. I got my fabric for my new costume for 50% off. ^^ I was super happy. After that we went to a place called Hibachi House. It was cheap and very good. That was the official birthday dinner. Mmmm, unagi (eel). =D

The whole weekend I worked on a new amigurumi. I've wanted to make this one for a while but I finally got the time to make it over the weekend. I really like creepy and cute things. I believe that this guy fits. He is a Zombie Bunny. And what better way for a zombie to live than to have access to his own brain. It's also of good quality since some of the brain stem is still attached. xD

Oh, and this is the 150th post on my blog. ;)

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox

2010-01-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

I finished reading Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox last week. I was going to write about it then but I got distracted by being back in school again and spending time with family near by. I also forgot for a moment that I write 'book reviews' on my blog. xD

The Time Paradox is the sixth book in the Artemis Fowl series. I made the mistake of reading this book late at night. I started reading one night and went to bed at 1 a.m. not too bad considering I get up at 9. Read some the next day and then that night I read until I finished it; 2:30 a.m. Silly me. I say it was a mistake because I knew that the climax was going to start at any time and I kept going. xD

I'm glad that I kept going though. When I got to that part in the book I didn't want to put it down. The classic humor was throughout and seeing the development of new relationships was cool. There was one thing that I predicted but I think anyone could spot that. *coughseventhkrakencough* Why would an author mention something like that without it showing up later in the book? Anyway, I liked the story a lot and I found it pretty easy to follow. I was interested in the re-introduction of a past villan and I'm curious how that will play out in the future.

Here's the synopsis of the story:

After disappearing for three years, Artemis Fowl has returned to a life different from the one he had. Now he’s a big brother, and spends his days teaching his twin siblings the important things in life, such as how to properly summon a waiter at a French restaurant. But when Artemis’s mother contracts a life-threatening illness, his world is turned upside down. The only hope for a cure lies in the brain fluid of the silky sifaka lemur. Unfortunately, the animal is extinct, due to a heartless bargain Artemis himself made as a younger boy. Though the odds are stacked against him, Artemis is not willing to give up. With the help of his fairy friends, the young genius travels back in time to rescue the lemur and bring it to the present. But to do so, Artemis will have to defeat a maniacal poacher who has set his sights on new prey: Holly Short. The rules of time travel are far from simple, but to save his mother, Artemis will have to break them all . . . and outsmart his most cunning adversary yet: Artemis Fowl, age ten.

I'll be waiting for the next book, Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, on July 20th to read more about Artemis and his friends. Maybe in the meantime though I'll read the second graphic novel. ;)

Christmas Presents

2010-01-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Now that I finally have the time I can write about the Christmas presents that I made for the family. I wanted to post them earlier but the end of break came so fast and then school started this week. I'm getting used to this weird schedule of mine.

I stared with my Mom's present first, the kokeshi doll. I made the pattern pretty easily and then used that same pattern for the rest of the family's gifts. Dad got the golfer; Zak got Indiana Jones; and Parker got the missionary.

I also made another ornament for mom going with the cowboy flare. She really liked the fact that it was a penguin and suggested that I made more in the future because it was the only one she had. xD Then I made Dad the Y keychain since he's big football fan. ;)

Sherlock Holmes

2009-12-26T11:14:00.001-08:00

As part of the Christmas fun yesterday Dad wanted to take all of us to go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Having never read any of the books and only seeing a Disney rendition, The Great Mouse Detective, I went without any expectations. I'm glad I did. Dad enjoyed it but wasn't sure about some of the things because he has read books and seen old movies before.

I enjoyed the movie. Yes, there were parts (tiny parts) that may have seemed a little out the 1800's era but I think they were done within the era's boundaries. There was one part where Holmes picked up a device that looked a lot like a tuning fork. It turned out that it could shock things. It only showed up on the screen for a few minutes and wasn't a big part of the plot. The way that it was designed and was introduced seemed like it was totally plausible to me. That goes with anything that seemed a little out of the ordinary.

The movie was full of action, jokes, and second guesses. I didn't predict anything that was about to happen. Maybe if I was as smart as Holmes then I could have. But that's the beauty of Holmes. I also thought that the actors did a good job. They all seemed to be born to play these roles. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel; and I say that because they left it wide open for another. Go see it! You'll have fun. ^^

Avatar

2009-12-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

Unless you have been living under a rock, I'm pretty sure that you've heard about the movie Avatar. I wasn't sure that I would like it when hearing about it. I had an idea of what the story was but I was skeptical. It's also been getting a lot of hype and sometimes those movies aren't cracked-up to what they were supposed to be.

I'm glad that I saw it with the boys and Dad. I liked it a lot. Throughout the whole movie though I kept having to prepare myself that this wasn't going to end the way I wanted to. It just seemed like it could have been one of those movies. I'm glad that it didn't. Dad thought that some of the ending seemed a little tree-hugger. I didn't take it like that at all. I'm not entirely sure how he picked it up like that. O.o

I like how everything was done in the movie. It was very imaginative and new. The world of the Omaticaya was so different than anything I've seen before. It was very cool. The human world was also a lot more sci-fi than I originally thought it would be but I should have expected that. I especially enjoyed watching this movie in 3D. This is the first movie that I had no problem watching in 3D. I think it enhanced everything on the screen. Dad isn't so sure about that.

Encase none of you know the basis of the story I'll try and give a short synopsis. Humans have left Earth and gone to a new planet called Pandora. Jake Sully is the main character, a human and Marine. He finds out that his twin brother had been killed and is offered to take his place in the Avatar Program. He accepts and becomes a driver of an Omaticaya that the humans created for his brother. Since Jake is a twin then his genetic code matches that of his brother and so can 'drive' this avatar. He goes out in Pandora with other drivers and finds himself in some trouble. He runs into Ney-Tiri and that's when the real story begins. I'll let you see the movie yourself to figure out the rest. ;)

Once There was a Snowman...

2009-12-07T19:21:00.001-08:00

This is the latest addition to the Christmas decorations. I knew that I wanted to make a snowman originally thought of giving him the traditional top hat. But when I was over a Nett's this weekend there was this tiny hat on the fireplace. She had no idea where it came from and I thought that it would be perfect for this guy. I started making him at Nett's and showed it with the hat on. She thought it was cute, so I kept going. I don't think I really ever asked if I could use it though... Sorry about that, Nett. If it's not o.k. then I can crochet it another hat. ^^; I guess I was excited to make it... Anyway, he's about a foot tall without the hat on. The more I look at it I wonder if I should have tried to do something else than the snowflakes at the bottom. Oh well. I guess if I end up not liking them then I'll change it.

Christmas Decorations

2009-12-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I posted on Facebook that I had decorated the apartment for Christmas (as much as I could) and my Mother then posted that she wanted to see pictures. I finally got around to making the last decorations but it still feels kind of vacant. I wanted some Christmas lights and to replace the ornaments that went on the ceiling last year, but that didn't happen. Maybe next year.

Sorry for the unsightly pictures. I thought these would give you the general idea.

T.V. wall. (There's a tiny Nativity on top of the t.v.)

Wall right of the t.v. and across the t.v.

Count down to Christmas and poinsettia I won at the Hostlers Christmas party.

Wreath and kitchen window.

Living room window/sliding door.

New Moon: The Movie

2009-11-21T09:06:00.001-08:00

Jenni called me at the beginning of November to see if we wanted to go see New Moon together. She offered to take me to the Twilight Lexicon showing that they have going on today. However, since it was $25 that automatically meant that I couldn't go to that. So instead Jenni and I went yesterday. =)

There are so many good things to write about this movie. I even think that my father, brothers, and brother-in-law might like this one a lot better. xD I've always liked the Twilight movie but it wasn't really done perfectly. This was done pretty spectacularly. That makes up for the last movie. ^^

I think Jenni and I were pretty much like Amber and I when we saw Twilight. We definitely were laughing and giggling at the same times. There was one part in the movie that I took my hand and pushed her shoulder a couple of times. I was so excited to see this little 'preview' within the movie of what was to come.

Without trying to give too much away, Edward decides to leave Bella in order to protect her. Through her depression she ends up spending a lot of time with Jacob. She's on this adrenaline rush so that she can 'see' Edward since she promised him that she wouldn't do anything reckless. Bella finds out that Jacob has become part of a pack and they aren't too friendly to vampires. While they're off hunting, Bella does something stupid and because of this she has to go save Edward from the Vulturi. She does so but they give the Cullens an ultimatum.

I had so much fun watching New Moon with Jenni. I love seeing movies with other fans. ^^ And I definitely can't wait until Eclipse comes out next June. ^^

SNL Twilight Parody

2009-11-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

Another funny Twilight related video. xD

Twilight: The Puppet Saga

2009-11-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

For all of those who can't wait just a few more hours for the new movie. This is hilarious. xD It kind of reminds me of a certain "Angel" episode...

Mama's Holiday Wishlist Meme

2009-11-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

Aunt Jenni actually posted this and then tagged anyone who wanted to try and enter it for themselves. I figured what the heck. I like the prizes they're giving away. We know how crafty I am so it seems perfect.

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
A laptop (if possible) and some movies. I always like movies.
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
My Granni has made me a couple of things I love. One is a jewelery hanger in the shape of a doll made out of wood and hand painted. The other is also made out of wood in the shape of a cat and hand painted. They still hang on the walls in my room.
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
Maybe learning how to make knitted amigurumi.
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
I don't have just one gift. I have a year. The whole family decided to get me a bunch of crafting/drawing supplies.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
Does my nephew and niece count? I'll probably be making them something.
6. What is your favorite holiday food?
The deep-fried turkey for sure. ;)
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
Everything. Being a poor college student just implies that.
8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
Nightmare Before Christmas, A Christmas Story, or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
9. Favorite holiday song?
I like lots of the Christmas songs. I usually like Silent Night and Carol of the Bells though.
10. Favorite holiday pastime?
I like helping prepare Christmas dinner.

Now, anyone else that wants to do this go on ahead! ;)

More Charms & Another Headband

2009-11-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

I had a little more fun making charms the past two days. I really didn't want to study for any of my classes since I bombed a Japanese test. Kind of depressing actually. I have never failed a Japanese test. Oh well. I guess I'll be doing lots better on the final...

Anyway, I was trying to think of charms that would probably sell in the future. I'm gradually making a stockpile of them to sell. These mushrooms are some of what I was thinking I could sell. And then my fruit blobs, of course. They're my own design and I thought it would be nice to have them in rainbow order to take a picture of them.

Well, I couldn't stop there. I kept on going. First I made other charms like the ninja and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Funny thing about the ninja and animals. I actually made them thinking I would photograph them separately. As time went on I thought that it would be kind of funny to put them in a picture like this together. (I knew that my camera hates taking single charm photos, so this was the best solution really.) I think it actually turned out pretty cute. xD

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are actually charms that I've been wanting to do for a while. I just kept forgetting to do them or ran out of time. I like how they all have individual personalities and their shells.

Coraline's doll actually came to being when I decided that I wouldn't be able to make an actual doll myself. I don't have the money to obtain the materials so this was the next best thing I could do. This is my favorite charm that I've made. I did my best to get all the details that I could into the charm. (Like two holes on the yellow buttons and four on the black ones.) She even has a wire body on the inside to give her more strength. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished her. I didn't think that I could actually pull it off. But here she is! My pride and joy of the charms. ^^

And finally since I'm going to see New Moon on Friday with Jenni, I thought I would make the Cullen Crest as one of my headband attachments. It can slide onto any kind of ribbon and certain headbands. I'm please with how it turned out. ^^ Now I'll be able to wear it with my other Twilight inspired charms. xD

Charms, Charms, Sculpture.

2009-11-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

I was coming up with some new ideas for charms that I could sell and this is what happened. First I created a cat, monkey, and then Max from Where the Wild Things Are. I used the same star shaped that I developed while making the Harry Potter charms. The face turned out too big on the cat and I was too lazy to fix it. (Not in the future though. I won't let laziness get in the way of my crafting again.) I still like how they all turned out though. (Oh, and Max has a cute tail. My camera was being stupid and wouldn't get the tail without washing it out.)

After those three I decided to make a bun of snails. Why snails? I don't know. I thought they would be cute and simple. Turns out that I was right. My favorite one is the purple shell with a blue body. The mushroom was just something fun to make. In the future I'm going to make more of them in different colors.

Then when I was done with the snails, I remembered that Aunt Cheryl's birthday was last week. We were going to go do a dinner over the weekend but people ended up getting sick. Then we were going to try on Monday but it go rescheduled for this coming Saturday. So I can actually have a chance to give this to her now. Cheryl always seems to like the things I make and this seems to fit her.

DeviantART Trade

2009-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Most of the people I know know that I have a deviantART account. I've had the privilege to trade with another deviant on there. When you do an art trade, you make/create an art piece specifically for them and vice versa. Demi-Plum, the other deviant, started a trade where there was a theme to it. The theme she chose for me and her was Illusion. I started to think of magic and the little charm here is what I came up with. Funny thing is that she created a bunny coming out of a top hot for me too. xD

What I did for her and she for me.

The second trade is a Wishlist trade. She wanted an amigurumi while I wanted a charm for her. She hasn't finished hers yet, but I will post it when she does. ;) This bunny went pretty fast. I was afraid how the fluffy hood/vest would look at the end. I thought it would look like the little guy took shears to a sheep. I'm glad it didn't. xD

My bunny and her trade.

It was a lot of fun to create something for her and to receive something back in return. I hope to do more of these in the future. ^^

I'm an Auntie, Again!

2009-11-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their second child today. This is Annabelle Leigh. She was born earlier today and exactly 18 months from her big brother, Jared.

Isn't she cute? >w<

Mini Bunny Amigurumi

2009-11-09T15:28:00.001-08:00

Meet the newest addition to the miniature amigurumi. I started this one about a month ago and finally finished it yesterday. I ended up being so busy during last month that I only got the things done that needed to be done. I don't think that this one took too much time to do. It takes about as long to do him as the bigger amigurumi. He's my favorite out of the miniatures. What do you think?

Headband Attachments and a Locket

2009-11-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

I've had this feeling for a while that I need to start selling the things that I make. So yesterday I started to make things that I could possibly sell. These four things are what I'm calling headband attachments. You can slip them on any ribbon or headband and wear them. They were all pretty fun to make.

These flowers are known as kanzashi. It's the japanese art of making flowers out of fabric. Usually these flowers are made for geisha to wear in their hair and out of silk. As we can see, I don't have any silk and this is my first time making kanzashi. I actually attached the backs of the petals wrong in the first one and did it right in the second one. I personally will only wear the first one. The second one I made in mind for my 4 yr-old cousin.

This is just three skulls made out of polymer clay and wire. I painted them with acrylic paint and slipped it onto a ribbon. I wore it to school today and someone noticed it. they actually asked me where I bought it. I had to tell them that I made it. ^^

The second one with polymer clay and beaded stars. It's my least favorite out of the bunch. I really like stars and wanted to make something fantastic with them. Unfortunately I don't have any ribbon to sacrifice for it so it came out like this.

This is a locket that I made for my aunt. She decided that she wanted to be a Steampunk chick for Halloween and I thought that this would be perfect. I ran out of time to print the pictures of her kids to glue in there. I also need to figure out how to make it close properly. The next locket maybe. ;)

Halloween

2009-11-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty interesting this year. I had two parties to go to the day before. The first was the Omniture party. I didn't take any photos there because it was dark in some areas and very crowded. Plus, it's hard to take pictures when you're holding a sword and shield. xP It was pretty big this year but ended too quickly. We ran out of time to get through the whole building, and when 5 p.m. hit some people hurried to clean up. =/

The second party was the ward party. That was a lot of fun this year. I got a lot of comments on my costumes and brought the only pumpkin. I was the pumpkin carving contest because of this but here's the quote: "So, you were all lame and didn't bring a pumpkin except for Megan. Although we're pretty sure that Megan would have won anyway if you did..." I found it kind of funny. I wish I got a picture of it in the dark for you all. However, my camera hates the darks so it would have turned out gross. I also came in second place for the costume contest. A girl came to the party as a logger. She had put her curly hair into a ponytail at her chin to look like a beard. It was pretty funny. xP

Actual Halloween day was slow. I spent most of the time being on Gaia Online doing the Halloween event. I didn't actually get to Nett's house until much later. I was mostly dressed and Nett was in her full Steampunk garb when I got there. Taylor was out with Glenn and Danny trick-or-treating and Bug had fallen asleep. By the time Taylor got back she was done trick-or-treating so I didn't even bother getting fully dressed. I did get pictures of Taylor and Nett before they shed their stuff though.

Taylor as a pink cat and Nett being Steampunk.

On a Pale Horse

2009-10-31T10:39:00.001-07:00

Last week I finally finished On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. It's the first book in the Incarnation of Immortality series. However, I don't think I'm going beyond this one. I've read bits and pieces of what's in the following books, and I know that there's going to be pretty graphic things. I really don't want to read that.

Anyway, I found On a Pale Horse an interesting read. I started reading it in my junior year of high school. I found it interesting then too, but I got my hands on other books instead. The main action in the book doesn't happen until the very end and that's why I found it pretty easy to put it down.

Zane is the main character and as he is attempting to commit suicide, Death comes walking in and Zane shoots him. Zane learns that he has to take the place of Death and meets the other incarnations throughout his journey. He gets tangled into a plot dealing with Satan, but he has to destroy the woman he loves, Luna. So he tries to find a way to fight off Satan.

Zane doesn't learn about the plot until near the end of the book. Before this he has to go around and collect the souls of people who are 'at balance' between good and evil. I found the reasoning for the people at being at balance disturbing sometimes. Especially when Zane has to collect babies or children under 8. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I found the reasoning for the children being at balance sad; for the babies especially. I know that through the Atonement, Jesus Christ made the Fall null for everyone. Our sins are not our parents sins. They are our own and so we have to use the Atonement while repenting for ourselves.

I'm glad that I read this book now. I have my own testimony of the Atonement and this book didn't change my stand on that or how God and Satan work. By the end of the book, God and Satan were made to the same level as the other Incarnations. That was weird. I still find it interesting to read though.

A Birthday Amigurumi

2009-10-31T10:33:00.001-07:00

A roommate that I had last year had her birthday this past Monday. She comes over a lot and it's nice to have her over. She always seemed to enjoy the amigurumi that I made. She even threatened to take some of them when I wasn't there. So I finally got around to making one for her.

For this amigurumi I used camouflage, white, and pink yarn. The camouflage yarn gives a nice striped texture to it. It actually gives me an idea for a present for my younger brother this coming Christmas. I just need to get a hold of some yellow/orange/red yarn to do it. ;) I'm not entirely sure how long this amigurumi took to make. I had to rush it since I started making it on her birthday. I think it turned out pretty cute. I almost wanted to keep it myself. xD

Anime Banzai

2009-10-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

While looking around on the internet for local anime conventions in September, I stumbled across Anime Banzai. I looked around it's website and gleefully found out that it was going to happen on October 16th-18th. I was so excited. I would be able to wear my costume to somewhere besides Halloween! And there was also a Cosplay Contest and I thought I could give it a try.

October approached and I had to rush to get my cosplay done. The night before we went I stayed up to finish painting a lot of the shield and the gold on the scabbard. I ended up staying up until 1:00 a.m., I believe. This caused sleeping in a little longer than we (Nett, Taylor, Danny, and I) wanted to on the next day.

The hotel the convention was at was about an hour away and I still needed to get dressed. I also had to be at the convention between 11:00 a.m. to Noon to sign up for the contest. I don't remember the time we left the house but I still needed to get some spirit gum to attach the prosthetic ears to my ears and duct tape for the scabbard and shield. So we ran into a Halloween store and a shopping store. We rushed for the stuff and were back on our way.

We got to the convention around 11:45 a.m. and went straight to the registration line. Frustratingly, the line took us 45 mins. to get through. That meant we missed the contest sign-ups by a half hour. It was disappointing but I was having a lot of fun so I didn't mind much.

My costume: Link from Twilight Princess.

As we walked around the convention, people were sneaking pictures of my costume. Some people even told me that I was one of the best Links there or the 'cute Link.' Two people asked for pictures that I remember and lots of people asked for hugs. Taylor and I went into the Artist Alley and Dealer's Room. It was cool to see all of the anime wares. I got a poster and a keychain. Taylor got a lot more than I did. xD

Later on in the day, we tried to get a glimpse at the Cosplay Contest. We had to leave earlier to help finish move some of Nett's friends from their place. We hurried back to watch the show but we must have missed it. Taylor and I ended up watching 10 mins. of a badly done anime performance. I don't remember the name of the cosplay group, but they tried to reenact an anime in a musical form. Too bad most of them couldn't sing. xP

We walked around for about a half hour after that. That's when I got a lot of the pictures I have of people. And also that was when the crazier people started to show up. That was our cue to leave. It was fun while it lasted. =)

Cait Sith (Final Fantasy VII) & Kuja (Final Fantasy IX).

Not sure with this one. He was very nice, too. Luigi & Mario.

iFly

2009-10-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

On Annette's birthday (16th) we went to iFly in Ogden. We spent most of the earlier time of the day helping Nett' move Robin and Beverly out of their apartment. Grandma and Grandpa met up with all of us earlier and we all went to their place.

After we spent some time there, we headed out. iFly was something that Nett has been wanting to do for a while and so as a surprise we went there. They got the family pack so five people could fly. Nett, Glenn, Taylor, Danny, and I ended up being the ones flying. All of the others didn't want to or couldn't in Bug's case. Taylor was hesitant as first, but after watching the training video she was up for it. That kid can be so much fun. xD

Watching the video and getting ready to go.

It was so much fun. We only went up for two one minute intervals but it was great. In my second minute I actually rolled over on accident. I apparently hit the wall with my left leg and arm and so flipped over. I thought it funny. I was laughing the entire time as the instructor made sure that I was O.K. He made jokes afterwards about me being the 'rolling master' or something like that. xD

Me flying and rolled over.

At the end, we all received certificates that we've flown and coupons for the next time we go. Nett seems to think that will use them as some point. ;)

Oh, Grandma took the photos... That should explain things. xP

Glenn and Taylor.

Danny and Nett.

Pumpkin Hunting

2009-10-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

On October 10th, I went to Black Island Farms in Syracuse to go pumpkin hunting. At first we--meaning Nett, Glenn, the kids, Grandparents, and I--tried to go to another pumpkin patch. However, that one was closed so we went to the next one. That turned out to be a good thing.

We get there and Nett buys the tickets to get on the hayride to the pumpkins. We don't do this first though. We start walking towards all the other activities that they had set out. The first activity was getting Taylor's face painted. The lady that worked on it was really fast and did a great job.

As she was doing that I was handed a map of the corn mazes. Talk about a surprise. The corn mazes were made in the images of the actors playing Jacob and Edward in New Moon. The Farm had gotten permission to make mazes with their images. The actors had to sign some paperwork to get their likenesses put there. And I wasn't told how, but Jacob won the right to getting the most acreage around his face.

We continued on by doing all sorts of other activities; most of which were aimed towards children. Bug even had a good time playing in the corn box. Taylor loved to go down the slides, as did Bug when Glenn brought him up to the top and let him go. Taylor wouldn't go down the bigger ones without me accompaning her.

After the smaller activities we headed towards the Edward maze. We decided to do that maze because it was starting to get late and Edward's maze was the shortest of the two. With Nett's great skill of navigation we got through it in 15 mins. That's when we ate for a little bit and then went on the hayride. The hayride was fun and finding the pumpkins went a lot faster than I thought it would. They had so many great ones. At first I chose one but then I changed my mind to another one. Me being the silly person that I am, only got a picture of the first pumpkin I chose and not the one I ended up with. xD Oh well.

It was a lot of fun; and all those Twilight fans better get there to walk the mazes.

Taylor's face paint and the slides.

Corn box, mini hayride, and the mazes.

Hayride and pumpkins.

Mini Mouse Amigurumi

2009-10-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Madi is coming in town tomorrow--and I haven't seen her in a while--so I decided to make her something. This gave me another chance to work on a miniature scale again. Although this mouse is about the same height as the kitty, it really is smaller. It's the same basic pattern but my stitches have gotten a lot tighter. I would have also extended the green onto the arms and legs but I ran out of green. Oh well. It's still cute. You think she'll like it?

Amigurumi Onigiri and Cupcake

2009-09-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

It has been craaazy this week. I was finally able to finish these yesterday though. One the last day of the monthly ami-along I finally putting it up on the blog/internet. xP This month's theme was food and I decided to do these two. I also wanted to do a doughnut but I ran out of time. When I make more cupcakes in the future, I'm going to fix that icing edging. It doesn't look as wavy as I want it to be.

Dracula

2009-09-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today I finally finished reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. I don't remember when I started reading this because I've had the book in my possession for a few years. It came with Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with an introduction by Stephen King. I had to read Frankenstein for my English class my senior year. (LOVED it, by the way.) And so you can deduct that this isn't the cover that mine is but is published by the same company; so it's the unabridged version like mine.

As I myself am writing a story about vampires I thought that it would be prudent to read this as research. I'm so glad that I did. I can see why this is a classic and has lasted for over 100 yrs. The language is fascinating and the story is gripping. It's written in the style of different journal entries. You hear things from different point of views and it adds more depth to the story.

If you want horror but not gruesome horror, then this is the book for you. Bram Stoker is able to achieve so much in the reader's mind without scaring them with images of gore. When you get to the end of the book the climax builds so rapidly. I had to put it down due to classes unfortunately. D= I mean, I did have to pay attention to the professors. ;) When I finished I wanted more. I think any good book should leave you feeling that.

So, if you have the time, read this. You'll get used to the language pretty fast and just enjoy the story. =)

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

2009-09-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

This is a post that was looong in the making. I started reading this book either last Winter or Fall semester. Me being lazy on the most part for not finishing it earlier. Also I'm reading three book at the same time. O.o I'm going to finish the other two before starting new ones. I promise!

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony is the fifth installment of the Artemis Fowl series. (I have neglected to write about number 3 and 4. Mainly I forgot to write about books for a while.) Out of the five I've read, I like this one a lot. There is a lot of adventure, magic, and genius going around. I like the introduction to the new magical beings. I also liked how you could see a change between the younger Artemis Fowl and the older on in this book. I could not put down the book when I finally came to the end. There was so much going on and lots of surprises. I'm eagerly hoping to read the sixth one soon, but that will wait until Dracula and On a Pale Horse is finished. ;)

Ten thousand years ago, humans and fairies fought a great battle. When the fairies realized they’d never win, they moved their civilization underground and hid. All the families agreed, except the demons. The demons planned to lift themselves out of time until they were ready to wage war on the humans once more. But the spell went wrong, and they were catapulted into Limbo. Now the spell’s deterioration is accelerating and the demon materializations are erupting. Even the fairy scientists cannot predict the next one. But someone can. Artemis Fowl, teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no human can. So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theatre, Artemis is there to meet him. Unfortunately, a second mysterious party has also solved the equations and has managed to abduct the demon. Once again, Artemis will pair up with his old comrade Captain Holly Short, to track down the missing demon, before the spell dissolves completely and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.

Go, Joe!

2009-09-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Before Mom, Dad, and the boys left to go back to Seattle today, we wanted to do something yesterday. I was ridiculously tired from the weekend fun at Lagoon and moving in. The original plans were to go to the bookstore and then pick up more hangers for my clothes. We did all of that and then to get some hot dogs at J. Dawg's. We then decided that we wanted to do something else and Mom mentioned a movie.

We saw G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. I have mixed feelings about this movie. Sure, it's a lot of fun to watch but there's no relevancy to the cartoons. They made new romantic relationships between characters that didn't have relationships before. Then the story between Snake Eyes and Shadow was totally different. I don't understand why they had to change all of that. Oh! And you don't see Commander Cobra until the end. It feels like they had to toss him in there at the end because of the title. Oi. I wish they used the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim storyline of G.I. Joe that aired not too long ago. The story was better and the characters were like in the original cartoon. Grant it, it's a little bloodier than the old one but it's better than the movie. Here's the first part of that special:

Two Amigurumi and Some Tutorials

2009-08-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Finished this one a while ago. A Triforce. It's pretty embarrassing. It looks more like three onigiri (rice balls) tied together at the points. xP

Then this is a kitty humanoid (furry). The clothes were fun to do. Someone on Gaia wanted to know how I made them for my amigurumi. He ended up looking a lot tougher than I originally drew him as. xD

I've also posted some tutorials on deviantART on how to make these items.

Embroidering
Shirt Tutorial
Pants Tutorial
Crochet Hat w/ Ear Holes Tutorial

Mario Themed Amigurumi

2009-08-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I've been a member of a website known as Gaia Online for almost four years now. I'll simply call it Gaia in daily speech and on here occasionally. I've gotten to know quite a few people on there that make amigurumi. Well, I decided quite recently that I should open a guild so we could talk and post about our shared passion. One of the things we do in this guild is have seasonal and monthly Ami-Alongs. That's where we create something together based on a specific theme. It so happens that this month's theme was Video Game and this is what I came up with.

I decided to do three different Mario themed amigurumi. I started with the Invincibility Star first and that turned out to be pretty easy. Next came the mushroom and then followed Boo. I think they all turned out pretty good. What do you all think?

A Crafty Week

2009-08-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Since Amber, Greg, Jared, and Grandparents are coming into town at the end of the month, I decided to finally get the sewing machine off of the kitchen table. I figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to have sewing nick-nacks with a toddler running around the house. So I had a goal to get everything that I wanted to sew done this week. Well, I made that goal today. =D Here's what came out of this week's sewing adventures.

I designed this skirt about a month ago and finally got around to making since I didn't have to worry about my sketchbook anymore. The design only came to me when I was sniffing around the fabric remnants in storage. The fabrics are actually from leftover Halloween costumes; the white isn't, however. It's a lot of fun to where and I'm going to wear it this coming Sunday. It poofs out a bit, but I think that makes it more fun. >w<
I call this my 'Link' bag. It's made with the same fabrics as my Link costume, and with the painted Triforce the name just seems to fit. I like it a lot. Lots of pockets and the strap is even adjustable at the top.

And finally (finished the sewing parts today) my Link costume. This is still a WIP (work in progress) though. I still need to make the shield and buy a wig and ears. I know where I'm going to buy them though, so I know how much money I'll have to save. I also have to redo the gloves as soon as I can get my hands on some fabric that looks like leather and not this vinyl. It'll be the only way that I can make fingerless gloves properly. I'm really happy with this costume. It makes me happy to know that I've made everything here except for the sword and its sheath. I can't wait for Halloween now. *o*

Personal Sketchbooks

2009-08-01T21:12:00.001-07:00

Amber e-mailed me this link on how to make your own sketchbook. I almost took a class in Idaho on how to bind and make your own books. So needless to say I had to try this right away!

It's really simple and easy to follow. The directions might seem overwhelming at first but when you go step-by-step it's very easy. Just make sure to measure a lot. I was going to do the light blue of the little book as the inside color for the bigger book. 5 1/2" + 5 1/2" =/= 10" though. D= Whoops. I like the purple on the inside better. I was only planning on making the bigger book at first but I realized that I needed a smaller one. I also found some ribbon lying around the house, so it was perfect! I needed the book to close so it wouldn't get damaged traveling in bags.

I wish the pictures would show the texture of the paper more. Oh well. They still look good I think. ;)

Mini Kitty Amigurumi

2009-07-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

After we had lunch yesterday with mom, I dragged the boys to JoAnn's since they dragged me to Fry's. We ended up being there for a good hour, so my revenge was the to have the boys sit in the car waiting for me to get some stuff. I got a smaller hook, more safety eyes, and fuzzy white yarn. (The yarn was on sale too. =D)

When we got home Dad wanted to go swimming before he had to go to Scouts. So I didn't get a chance to start my newest project until late last night. I thought of trying out my new hook on the fuzzy yarn but that didn't work too well. Then I thought of using string. Couldn't find the string so I found my embroidery floss/thread. I started to work with it and, what do you know, it worked. This is what came out the experiment.

As you can see, he stands about 2 3/4" tall. It didn't take too long but the tiny tail proved to be more difficult than I thought. I'll have to keep that in mind when I do other miniature amigurumi. Yep. I'm thinking of trying some more this small. I may even try to do smaller. I kind of want to see how small I can go. Thank Coraline for this new craze. I found out that anything that look knitted in that movie is actually knitted. Someone sat down and knitted gloves and sweaters. They're amazing too. Maybe one day I can do the same thing. xP

Amigurumi Bunny

2009-07-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

I finished this a couple days ago. This is for the coming niece in November. I had some pink and white yarn laying around, so I thought this would be perfect. Jared has two things made by me, so why not two things for my niece. (It's so hard not to say her name.) This is about the same size as the doll.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

I love midnight showings. I love seeing all the people dressed up and going with family, or friends, to something we all love. What I don't like are idiot teenagers. You know that some of them were there just to be there, and others just to ruin the movie. Like the idiot who yelled an obligatory at the end of the movie. M.O.R.O.N.

Parker and I decided to dress up. We wanted to have fun with it. Zak thought we were just being crazy. xD You can see from the picture that Parker came up this idea for a t-shirt and I executed it. Isn't it great? xD He had lots of fun with it. Oh! And you can finally see the new scarf I finished. It's my first knitting project and I think it turned out great. ^^

I loved it. I think it was the best one yet. Sure there were changes but that it too be expected. I mean, you can't fit everything from a +600 pg. book to a 2 1/2 hr. long movie. It's just not going to happen. I think that the director kept everything that needed to be kept and left out things that were necessary. (Skip next sentences if you don't want to be mildly spoiled.) The only scene that I hoped that would be in there was the funeral. I think there would have been more closure.

The movie was a lot funnier than I expected. Parker and I particularly thought that the Felix scenes were the funniest. Of course there were other things that were pretty funny. The interactions between Harry and Ginny or Ron and Hermione were funny at times. The way the relationships were built were a little different. Especially between Remus and Tonks. Only one scene with them both and Tonks calls him sweety or honey. I can't remember which.

I loved this movie. It makes me even more excited to see the next two. The same director decided to carry on with it, and that makes me super happy. I like how he interprets the books into the movies. Go see it. You'll have soo much fun. ^^

Some Pendants

2009-07-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

I made and completed these yesterday. I had the idea of making the Harry Potter one to wear at midnight when we saw the movie. The Jack one was inspired by something I saw on deviantArt. They're both about 2" tall.

Independence Day

2009-07-11T14:37:00.001-07:00

Sorry I got this out late. I have been constantly knitting my new Harry Potter scarf. I'm getting close to being finished. Which is good because the movie opens up the coming Wednesday. (Yay!)

Anyway, the 4th. The first thing that the family did together was go see a movie. We saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. If you have seen the first two then you'll know how this one is. There were lots of funny parts but they were all mostly jokes for children. It's kind of hard to get into a movie when it's not set to your demographic. Oh well, what can you do?

Another thing that was boring about the movie was the 3D. Yes, 3D. Sure, you would think that would make a movie much more exciting. It doesn't. It looked cool in the previews and the first 5-10 mins. of the movie, but after a while it just got boring. The whole family has agreed that 3D isn't worth the extra money unless it was shot in 3D. Coraline is an example of that. (I hear that it's amazing in 3D since it was shot in 3D. Good thing there's a 3D version to buy when it comes out.) Anyway, you can see Ice Age 3 but don't expect a whole lot.

After the movie we went to a firework alley. Dad was only hoping to spend $100 this year but when we got there that didn't quite go as planned. So Dad walks up to a guy to ask him a question. The guy starts talking to him and then they're talking about the fireworks. Turns out the guy is a co-owner of a fireworks stand/shop. It was getting late in the day so the guy knew that he needed to make bargains. He talked to Dad some more and convinced him to get $350 worth of fireworks for $200. Needless to say we were all happy. Lots of firework smoke to make me happy. (I love that smell.)

We get home and Mom comes up with this idea to invite a co-worker and his girlfriend over to watch the fireworks. So we have a fast clean-up of the house before they got here. (Turns out that was unnecessary. They didn't come inside.) By the time they find the house we have to start heading down the path to our beach. We were only allowed to do fireworks there. The path is steep and not fun to go up. Once Mom starts the disposable grill she bought at Target, we realize that we forgot the chocolate for the sh'mores. So we call Zak to bring down the chocolate that we forgot when he gets home from work. Way to go us.

As we start lighting off fireworks, the nearby town are doing their shows. You can see four different shows and hear the ones in Seattle from where we are. We decided that maybe next year we'll go watch some fireworks that we saw go off across the Sound from us. They looked pretty cool.

By the end of the night, Dad lost one of the mortars in the water; we had one close call with a firework; sore legs from climbing back up the path; and tired people. It was past midnight when we were done.

The holiday was pretty fun. It would have been more fun if we were able to be with family. Oh well. A good side to that is that the family is going to drive down with me when I have to return to Provo for school. That should be fun. ;)

Wizard Pairings

2009-07-06T21:40:00.001-07:00

Found this while browsing the new Harry Potter movie website. Thought you guys might find it fun. xD

Link Plushie

2009-07-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Just so I don't have to feel like I'm repeating myself, this is what I said on deviantART:

Here he is! It's the plushie that I've been promising for a while. It's Link from the Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess/Brawl version. (DUH. xD ) I'm excited to reveal him for two reasons:

1. This is the cosplay that I'm going to be doing for Halloween. So, this is really a sneak peek of the costume. The same fabrics and everything that I'll be using.

2. This is my pattern. Other human plushies that I've made have been another pattern that used or modified. However, I didn't realize that the pattern would make him 15" tall. xD That's fine with me. More to huggle. ^^

Here's a fun little factoid about this plushie. His sword comes out of the sheath, and he can hold his shield. I love that! ^w^

More Charms

2009-07-02T13:19:00.001-07:00

I've made quite a few charms again. I was just going to make a few things but more ideas came up. The newest Harry Potter movie will be coming out in 12 days (Wooh!) so that sparked eight of the charms. Skin is a hard color to get right and hard to paint around the hair. Well, really it's the hair that causes the painting trouble. So next time I'm getting a hold of skin color Sculpey to make people. I'm totally going to put these on a bracelet and wear them to the next movie. xP

These are some random charms. Taylor came up with the idea of doing a shark. That's why that one is there. xD The others are sushi, Luma, Heartless, cat, gyoza, and a koi fish. The koi took a while to sculpt but I think it was worth it. The next time I do animals like the cat, I'm going to paint the eys on instead to make it cuter. I don't think I like the big eyes.

Here are some Steampunk jewelry. Amber wants to do an Etsy store and told me that we should name our store A&M. I automatically thought of clocks and she thought of radios. Oh well. xD I went along with the theme and created and gear necklace. The clocks can be worn as earrings to complete the steampunk look.

For My Niece

2009-07-02T13:04:00.001-07:00

Well, if Jared gets things made by me then so should his sister. =D Yeah, pretty much made this the day that Amber called me and said that I was getting a niece. xD I didn't get the chance to paint the face until yesterday. I figured the odds of the girl getting red hair and blue eyes is there. I didn't want to make here blonde. All cute dolls are blonde! I wanted something different. The dresses where pretty simple to make. I tried to add sleeves in the white, but it turns out sating is hard at that size. >.< She does have bloomers on the underside though. That makes up to for it, right?

New Layout

2009-06-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Found this layout on btemplates.com. I like it a lot. There are only a few things that aren't working properly, but that's fine for now. The "Archives" and "About" buttons at the top aren't functional. However, I don't have an about page and I don't think people use the archives that often. In any case Nett has offered to help me figure it out since she's the masta in coding. What do you all think?

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-25T23:25:00.001-07:00

Today the boys, Dad, and I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Mom was originally supposed to come with us but she ended up getting sick. Probably from all the crap she has to deal with at her job.

Anyway, the movie was a lot of fun. The beginning sequence was a little weird for me. I think it was the way that it was presented. I know the purpose of having it there but the way it was shown on the screen (probably the transitions and voice-over) was off somehow. It's hard to explain.

The rest of the movie was enjoyable to watch. I only wish that the language and crude humor was toned down. Those were a bit distracting. The other parts of the movie were fun. Lots of explosions and robot parts flying everywhere. The story was pretty interesting too. It's kind of like the first one but different at the same time.

Go see it. You'll have fun despite what the critics think. ;)