Castle Crashers Stole My Pants

from gamerzines.com

As some of you may know, there's a sale on. The big Steam Holiday Sale! (insert dramatic music here) Being the nerd that I am, I've been following it closely and voting twice each day so that I can get my holiday sale badge. Being broke like I am, I could only get Rocketbirds for my bf. I would like to think it's just me being all loving and caring, but I also wanted the achievements for buying and gifting a game. A few days later, the sale in full swing still, a conversation like this happened:

Him: Have you heard of Castle Crashers?

Me: Nope.

Him: I hear it's a good two-person co-op.

Me: I'll look it up.

(2 minutes later)

Me: Holy cr.ab! That's awesome! And the wee knights are so adorable! Look at their little funny hats!

Him: Would you like to give it a try?

Me: OH YES!

And so, on the n-th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four little knights! We were all pumped up and ready to go when the game crashed. Ok. No matter. Try again.

The opening scene was that of our two knights partying middle-ages style in a tavern. Useful note here: Player 1 gets the cooler dance. If you're player 2, you get to dance like a dork. Don't be player 2. When all of a sudden a soldier comes flying in through the door, bloody and then dies. All our fellow knights rush out to see what is happening and of course, I, despite my dorky dancing, run out as well, looking for enemies to slay!

This is the part where I would like to say that it would be great if the cut-scenes could be skipped. After the game crashing about the fourth time, I was sick of looking at the big white rock being stolen from my (shivering and scared) king's throne by a tiny ninja-wizard. The game was first released on Xbox, then on PlayStation 3 and even at the start of the game, it tells you that you'd be better off using a controller, instead of a keyboard.

Once we make our way past the barbarian hoards, we saw what the true, horrific, most heinous problem was: The barbarians were kidnapping our beautiful princesses! The nerve! We, of course, give chase, hunting down the fiends who dare lay their grubby hands on these precious examples of (rather big-eyed) perfection. Over the castle walls, through fields of muck and destruction we put down every barbarian who dares cross paths with us. Me, I get shot in the face by an arrow about every 5 steps, but where I lack in skill and coordination, I make up for with zeal. Fighting a canon goat (I swear, I'm not high, there is a canon goat), the barbarian lair is reached, with our princesses tied to poles and displayed by the arena where we face the final boss of this section. 

And what a boss he is! Masked, gigantic and carrying a gigantic shield. I died! I don't mean I died of fright. I meant my little orange knight got owned by the hulking fur-ball many a time and had to be resuscitated by my bf's green knight. That shows real devotion, ladies and gentlemen: Giving CPR to your fallen comrade in arms, while a horned behemoth is trying to turn you into a waffle. Not only that, but he also chugs some very flammable liquid and gives the deadliest burp of all times, sending himself and you and the other attacking barbarians flying across the arena. 

Though we didn't mean to, we both ended up dying. I was too slow delivering CPR and received a death blow from The Waffler up there. This made the game save our progress. Which was great, really. You know why? Because we had fought this boss three times before, having to go through all his minions again and again and again because right when the bastard is about to kick the proverbial bucket, the game would crash and we would lose any progress. But it doesn't crash like a normal game. Oh no. This one is so much more evil than that: It says your session is cancelled! It doesn't die completely, BSOD, block your computer, freeze your screen. No, it continues running, but all your progress goes up in smoke.

This was just a description and my impressions of the first mission. I loved the game, despite it's infuriating crashes, smashing all manner of buttons, aiming for any sort of effect. It's great fun to play with the option to talk to your team mate too, because it's a much faster way to let them know to "GO ON WITHOUT ME! SAVE THE PRINCESS!!!" So if you're looking for something to giggle at and enjoy in a carefree and very silly manner, then by all means get this game!

Getting a head start

I had spent a lot of time on Etsy, before my Chrome started crashing it and read quite a bit of the Seller Handbook. I found it immensely useful and would recommend it to anybody who would like to try and make a go of their crafting skills. It's written in a regular, human way without preaching or patronizing. The Seller Handbook (ESH from now on) is the reason I started this blog and also one of the motivators to take the time and learn to be better with my hands :)

Anyway, ESH says that you should prepare for the coming season before the season actually hits. So, for example, December 15th is not a good day to post your new Christmas themed designs, since, with settling orders, payments and shipping, the item might be late arriving. If you still want to risk it, here's a useful bit of reading for you, my fellow procrastinators. Still, better to avoid the stress, right?

I had wanted to do something holiday themed and even got in a bit of drawing in. Yes, as always, it was hamsters. This particular little guy was going to be a little ninja, trying to hit another hamster with a candy cane. I hadn't quite figured out what the other hamster would be doing to fight off the attack, but it would have been something epic, by all means.

The next idea was for a hamster stealing some chocolate chip cookies. I quite liked his happy little face and the one damaged ear was a little tribute to my current fluffy buddy, Treesha. I thought to myself that ok, this is too many hamsters, isn't it? I'm really pushing it. So I decided to take a hamster chill-pill and just not do anything for this holiday season. Yes, they're fuzzy and adorable, but you *can* have too much of a good thing.

Two decisions were made. One - the number of hamster designs should be equal to or less than 1. Two - I will prepare for each holiday/event/markable occasion on time. For 2013 (unless the world ends tomorrow), I've made a list of dates that require some sort of marking, when they are and when to start preparing themed products for them. You'd think this would be easy, but I assure you, it isn't. Many different holidays are marked throughout the world. I'm sure I'll be leaving much out, so please, let me know if you think I should add something. Also thanks to these guys for keeping their super fun site.

FEBRUARY

Groundhog day - February 2nd - January (just for giggles, I had to list this one)

Valentines day - February 14th - January

MARCH

Women's day - March 8th - January

Pi day - March 14th - February

St Patrick's day - March 17th - February

International Earth day - March 20th - February

Easter - March/April - February

APRIL

Mathematics Awareness month

Sexual Assault Awareness month

Autism Awareness month

MAY

Lupus Awareness month

Asthma Awareness month

World Press Freedom day - May 3rd - April

International Nurses day- May 12th - April

Mother's day - May 12th - April

International Museums day - May 18th - April

Towel day - May 25th - April

JUNE

LGBT Pride month

World Environment day - June 5th - May

Father's day - June 16th - May

JULY

Bastille day - July 14th - June

SEPTEMBER

International Literacy day - September 8th - August

International Talk Like A Pirate day - September 19th - August

OCTOBER

Breast Cancer Awareness month

World Vegetarian day - October 1st - September

Halloween - October 31st - September

NOVEMBER

Movember

COPD Awareness month

Thanksgiving - November 22nd - October

DECEMBER

Seasonal Depression Awareness month

World AIDS Awareness day - December 1st - November

New Year's Eve - December 31st - November

Remember the fuzzy

Two and a half years ago, this little guy came to live with me and bring joy to my life. His name was Betelgeuse, but he was soon affectionately renamed either "little B" or our equivalent of "Brutus", from the Popeye cartoons. My dad was the one to come up with Brutus, because the little fuzz ball would stand on his hind paws and try to make himself appear biger than he really was, strutting his stuff much like Brutus would in front of Olive. 

Brutus was a kind and patient little Syrian hamster. He never bit and enjoyed sitting on my shoulder, munching on lettuce or apple slices. He was also a bit of an escape artist and daredevil, getting out of his cage and jumping off my desk when I wasn't looking. He loved to roll around in his plastic ball, so much so that he wrecked two. He was a picky eater, opting more for sunflower and wheat seeds than anything else. 

Two months ago, my little fuzzy love died. One day, while I was away, he slowly stopped breathing. My mum buried him and said that he looked very tiny and was very still.

This little ball of fuzz was a great joy and a nice little companion. He also inspired some of my work and will probably stay the inspiration for any of my hamster drawings yet to come.

This is the drawing that started it all. The "Plooshkin" hamster. I don't know how we (my bf and I) came up with the name, but it sounded so adorable, it had to stay. I tried and failed many a time to transfer the actual drawing into digital form and finally, the little golden hamster was born! Little B did not appreciate my art much, choosing to nibble on the paper instead :)

Though strictly vegan, this little guy did at times appear bloodthirsty. The poor apple core didn't stand a chance! One day, the hamster decides to take a nap, not in his nest, but in the middle of the cage. I almost had a coronary, thinking he had died. It turned out he was alive and well and just sleeping happily. This is when the Zombie Hamster arrived into my head ad had to be put on paper and subsequently, in Illustrator as well.

Ye ol' grande opening

And thus most social media was conquered! 

A few days ago I got a message from the nice folks over at zazzle.com. I've seen this mail before, "Your item has been sold". Yeah, yeah, give it a rest already, I know I only sold one t-shirt. And that was to a friend who was being kind. "Curse you, zazzle!", I think and promptly proceed to their page to edit my account settings and stop all this once an for all. Imagine my surprise when the "Royalties" section opens up and I see that the messages were, in fact, informing me of different purchases by different people! I was overjoyed, to say the least. Even now, two days later, I still can't stop smiling when I think of it. 

Somewhere out there there is a little piece of my design being shared and enjoyed... Does it get better than that? 

Riding this emotional high, I decided to finally open up my pages. Thinking about it and planning and just doing nothing was left behind.'About' sections updated, ID images cleaned up and sorted, banners adjusted, I took a deep breath and clicked...

http://twitter.com/Plooshkin

Twitter is a bit of a sore spot for me. Why? My Chrome doesn't like it. Most online advice says to erase your cookies, but that won't help if there are no cookies to be found. The page would become red, I would be informed that my certificate was all wrong and all I could do was turn back. But where one browser fails, another will pull through. Faithful old FireFox to the rescue! In a few short clicks, my Twitter was updated and running. All that remains is to find some good accounts to follow and connect with friends. 

http://www.facebook.com/pl00shkin

The Facebook page has a somewhat unfortunate history.  I had a spare account and started making the page with that one. When that account got shut down, the yet unpublished page was lost somewhere in the ether, taking the domain name with it. Writing to Facebook's help center provided no help. I still feel wonky about using zeros instead of Os. Hopefully, people will still manage to find it and not think badly of the shop just because of a bit of 133t speak :)
My friends have been very supportive of this endeavor, giving little mentions and liking the page. Thanks, guys!

http://www.zazzle.com/plooshkin*

The Zazzle page has been in operation for quite a while now. I had this little hamster design and I felt it would make a good t-shirt, so I posted it, never really expecting it to amount to much. Seems other folks thought differently and bought that same design.

When you stop by the page, make sure to go to the "Hamster Rainbow" link on the left hand side of the screen. There are many colourful little guys available there. I didn't want to post them all on the front page because even hamster cuteness can be overwhelming in those numbers. The available colours are: aquamarine, blue, brown, cyan, green, grey, lime, original (orange), pink, purple, red and yellow.

The page will go under reconstruction to match the other pages some time before Xmas.

http://plooshkin.deviantart.com/

About 7 years ago I was pointed in the direction of deviantArt, to a friend's gallery. Some 3 minutes later, after I'd figured out what the page was about, I was signing up for an account. My old page is very close to my heart, it shows how I've learned and grown, practiced different media, sucked and rocked all the same. If you wish to visit it, here's a link.

The current page, though sparse in content, has more finished works that were done with more care and attention to detail, not in a rush to just post something! 

Oh my dear Etsy, how my heart longs for the day when you and I will join together. Alas, our love will have to wait for me to get a credit card and PayPal account.

It is unfortunate when you are a struggling student with no regular source of income and hence no way of getting your mits on a credit card of your very own. Local policies are very strict on this count, so there is no way around it. What's more, in each and every bank I've been to, online transactions with anybody except the bank itself were highly discouraged, followed by hushed warnings of "It's unsafe...".

For now the Etsy shop is open but sadly vacant, devoid of all possibilities for growth and joy until I can hitch a ride on one of my friends' accounts... with their knowledge, of course ;)

DIY: MatchPix

Hello, hello! I got back from Zurich and I'm here to share some silliness. This is a little project my dad and I used to do when I was little. I realize that in the day and age of toddlers having cell phones making a matchstick camera is somewhat redundant, but I still have hope for the innocence of childhood and the amazement that comes from silly little things.

To start off, you will need the following:

• matchbox devoid of matches
• needle and thread
• pencil, pen, maybe some colour pencils as well
• two different sized coins
• small piece of regular paper
• bigger piece of harder paper in a colour you like
• images from a magazine
• glue
• maybe a ruler

1) Place the inner box on the small sheet of paper and draw the contour of the matchbox. Make sure the cutout can fit into the box comfortably and can also be removed without much (or any effort). If you draw the bottom of the box, you will get a paper that is slightly bigger than it needs to be, so take off about 2mm from the top and one side and you should have it right. If you're giving this as a present to somebody (with images that they like), you may want to stick some cardboard on the back, of every image you cut out.

2) Use the white bit of paper as a template for your magazine images. I found pictures of Barbies through the years and they are like little portraits, so I used those, but you can really use anything you like. When I was little, I preferred images from comic books because they had more motion.

 You know, the more I look at these Barbies, the more I think of creeps in crime shows who hang and tie up and gods-know-what-else dolls... Hmmm... Anyway, back to the task at hand!

4) Use a threaded needle to poke a hole through the sheath of the box (is that what it's called?) about 1.5 cm (slightly more than a half inch) from one of the edges. Don't tie the thread off before you do this, you want it going through both sides. Once it is, then you can tie it off.

5) Somehow my photos for this step disappeared, so I will try to talk your though it to the best of my abilities.

• Place the matchbox sheath on the edge of an A4 piece of coloured paper, so that the striking surface is on the paper and aligned to one corner. 
• Mark out the length of the entire box and cut out a band of paper as wide as the matchbox is long. The shorter side of the A4 is more than enough for this.
• Now mark out the width of the striking surface, folding the paper so there's a lip on the paper that matches this.
• Press the paper along the face of the box.
• Place a thick pen or marker that is about the same width as the box and fold the paper over it.
• Press the paper back down along the other face of the box.
• Make another lip that will close everything off.

I'm in the middle of preparing for an exam now, but as soon as I have an hour to spare, I'll make a drawing for this.

6) Use the coins to draw two circles. This will be your lens. I made mine a bit to the side. I trust your creativity to make something cool. And if you have drawing skills, even better!

That's my end result. Looks a bit like an iPod, doesn't it? See at the bottom and top where the paper is somewhat folded? That's that lip I keep mentioning!

 7) Now comes the gluing. Start with the striking surface and the lip of the paper you cut out. Move on to the face, careful not to put glue on your thread. Then proceed to glue the other face of the matchbox, leaving the second striking surface glue-free. Finally, place the second lip over the first, to close everything off.

You may want to use clothes pins at this point to hold the glue in place. I used regular glue (because I couldn't find my glue-stick) so the paper shifted a lot.

 While you wait for the glue to dry, look for any spills and clean them up. The hole where the thread goes is especially prone to leaking.

 8) Something that I should have mentioned earlier is that the thread should go out to the side to which the hole is closer. The box containing the "photos" goes in on that side too. When you wish to "take a picture", tug on the string and the box will slide out, almost all the way.

 Have fun with it, place any image you like, the box can hold a whole lot of paper. I hope you have enjoyed this trip into childhood memories and if you make this, I would love to see how it turns out. :)

-Tasha

Portion für zwei

Tsk tsk tsk. Fourth blog post and already it's late. I have a good excuse, though. IT WAS MY  BIRTHDAY! This week I'm staying with my wuvvie and celebrating my 27th year of existence. We marked the occasion with some yellow muscat and a green cake, which was very tiny and adorable, just barely spaceous enough to fit the 12 candles spellig out "happy birthday".

This is my third time visiting Zürich and each time I have to visit Cafe Zähringer. The place is a tiny bit off the beaten path of Niederdorfstrasse in a scruffy looking building with little green metal tables outside (apparently gone in wintertime). Don't let the scruff fool you. This place is a relaxed and friendly piece of paradise. If for nothing else, then stop by and try their carrot cake and sweet lemon tea. The bf and I always make the "mistake"of ordering a "Portion für zwei" tea, which leaves us with a huge teapot. Thankfully, you do not feel rushed to finish your drink and cake, the staff is friendly and very accomodating. You can sit for as long as you like, surrounded with books, art depicting the Spanish Revolution of '36 and likeminded people going about their business. I've seen people study,  hang out, bring their babies there. Today, I even saw a tiny dog hiding under one of the tables, waiting for its owner.

I love these sorts of places. The ones where you come in and you're greeted as a friend and made to feel welcome. The yummy food helps too. My fairly carnivorous bf enjoys the hummus plate just as much as I love their coconut curry pasta. Alas, only one vegan dish is served, if that is your thing, but I am assured by vegan friend Sandra, that it is quite delicious. Me - not being a huge fan of paprika, have yet to confirm this piece of information. 

I will be posting some photos up on my flickr, so stop by and check it out for bits and pieces of interest in Zürich.

And finally, something shop-development related. I tried to make a stamp, but came to realize that despite all my good will, my font is just too thin for my heavyhanded scraping on an eraser. The next attempt will probably involve some styrofoam packaging and a sharp pencil. I've seen this one with the cat about a million times and want to give it a shot, but while looking for the specific one I wanted to share I open the pinterest page on DIY stamps and thus end up making even more little projects for myself. It would really be a hassle if I didn't love it so much! 

And at the end, I will close by quoting something I've read on the bathroom door at Zähringer:

"The only magic I've ever known is how to turn money into alcohol"

Go brown or go home

"... brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favourite things..."

Hands up, how many times have you heard this?  "My favourite things" is a lovely and extremely catchy song (I'll have trouble all day getting rid of it). And all of a sudden it's true! All the packaging is brown! To be eco friendly and recycle, it must be brown. The string must be brown, too! When did brown become so important?

It may be a bit hypocritical of me to be complaining, really. I love most things brown. Trees, clothes, packages, string, you name it. I was just surprised to find that so many others do as well. Starting up a crafting business ain't easy and I've been combing through Etsy's Seller Handbook religiously. Most of the examples of good packaging were eco-friendly and, you've guessed it, brown! I'm all for it. It looks neat and pretty, but really, if we all tie up our brown paper packages with brown string, does it stop being special and become commonplace?

I have yet to figure out my packaging idea. I've started with parts of the box my cupboard came in, but I'm not quite happy with the result. It doesn't strike me as very sturdy and most definitely isn't water resistant. When I find a design I like and which is functional, I will look back on this poor cardboard and string box I've made now and laugh the mighty laugh of experience and point and say "Lo, 'tis the lowly box of yore. How much more awesome my current packaging is!" I won't actually say that, but I will post a side-by-side shot of both. See how I didn't say "how much more my package is"? D'oh!

Everybody does haul shots. Why? Because the mighty hunter-gatherer in our brains wants to show off? Though I don't think showing four packs of pretty rocks is quite as impressive as lifting a slain mammoth over your head. Especially if you can lift a whole mammoth. That's impressive as hell! But back to the baggies. Some people buy drugs, I buy art supplies. They make me happy and when I want to try and make something, I don't have to panic about what I'm going to use. This line of thinking, unfortunately, produces a lot of clutter. But look at them! They're so pretty and shiny! Who knows what potential lies there! Not sure why I named them. Maybe I've been looking at Pac Man ghosts too much lately...

- Tasha

Exploring the jungle

For as long as I can remember, I have loved tinkering. You know, not really making things per se but giving this and that a try to see what works better.

When I walk into a hardware store, it's always overwhelming. That first tiny, teasing smell of metal drifts through the air, tickles my fancy as if to say "Hey you! Come, follow me, I know where all the good bits are!". And thus hooked, I follow. Greeted by big rows of shelves, my eyes wander around, maybe reading the signs for a hint of what interests me. But that's the thing, isn't it? I am interested in everything there is to see! Realizing this, with a small sigh, I plan out the best route for my exploration of the be-shelved jungle.

We don't have greeters here and it's next to amazing if you can find an employee when you need one. On the other hand, this means that I am not constantly hounded by "May I help you"s and "What are you looking for"s, I do my exploration on my own, braving the wilderness with no help!

I make it sound terribly dramatic, don't I? But it's always what you make it. Every trip anywhere can be made into an adventure, some with more and some with less use of the imagination. The thing to remember about it all is to always find the fun in what you're doing, however cheesy that may sound :)

My little sparkle project is going well. The peroxide is by far the best solution so far: The sparkles are staying put and the contents isn't spoiling. Based on what the control sample looks like, it should have started spoiling long ago. About three days in, the murky part started forming and pushing the sparkles lower and lower. It looks a bit gross, but I don't want to throw it away just yet, for the sake of SCIENCE! :) I'm assuming that I didn't mix the bleach in too well and that the clump that formed is a direct result of this. In conclusion: Peroxide owns!!!

Artish.si is coming to my little town in early December. All hopes of participating dashed so far, since I must study for exams, but I will work hard on eventually joining the ranks of the lovely creative people displaying their work in this small, but thriving community!

Hugs&Cookies

- Tasha

And thus the Powerpuff girls were born!

Sometimes you'll have a person on your IM client with a very clever quote or status that they never change. Mine is my friend, Andrej, and his quote is by Homer and says something like "An idea makes a good carpenter, not strength.". I look at that quote every day and think "That isn't true at all! What makes a good carpenter is a lot of practice!". So here I offer another quote, to stay on this blog forever (I hope) by Andy Warhol. I humbly offer my art to you, reader, and while you decide, I will be at my table, tinkering away, making new and beautiful things. By all means, stop by every Thursday and there will be an update on this and that, art, inspiration, experiments, tiny bits of research or things about yours truly in general.

We'll get along great, you'll see.

-Tasha