Star Wars Day 2014

Ok, ok, for this to work, imagine that movie previews guy reading the following:

"It was 1997. She was 11 years old and her life was about to change.... forever!"

Dun dun duuuuun! Pretty dramatic, huh?

Yeah, it was 1997 and the re-mastered version of Star Wars was out. My dad took me to the movies. I found out years later that he isn't really that into SciFi, but he took me anyway. I didn't know what the story was about. I hadn't even seen the trailer. Dad said it was an interesting movie and that I would like it.

Ten minutes in and I'm overwhelmed with déjà vu. I've seen this before. But it was different. It was funny. It was basically the same thing as Spaceballs!!!

For many people the thing that started them out in SciFi was Star Wars. They have fond memories of seeing the movies, enjoying the adventures. For me, Star Wars was a big ol' let-down because in my 11-year-old mind, it was a spin-off, an unworthy copy of the amazing cult classic, the best movie of my life - Spaceballs!

I asked a few people what Spaceballs meant to them. Feedback brought warmth to my heart. I was not the only one in love with this movie. "They don't make comedies like that anymore!" was the comment that stuck with me the most. I think it's true. The mysterious "they" do not. Mel Brooks, though maybe not very sophisticated, had a way of making you chuckle on a very human level. It was silly, tongue-in-cheek, a little bit dirty at times, but it was always warm.

I had seen Spaceballs at the tender age of five or six. You miss a lot of the jokes and references when you're that young and relying on your budding knowledge of English. It's been 20+ years since and still I discover things I hadn't noticed before. Like this one!

So in honour of May 4th, this is a tiny mention of, what will to me, always be the unsurpassed original movie from which all your fandoms were born.

17 questions with: HobbaGobwin!

I hereby open the first artist feature of this blog! *cue trumpets*

HobbaGobwin (aka Victoria) has graciously agreed to be my first feature. All the artwork that you will see here belongs to her. You can visit her deviantArt page at

http://hobbagobwin.deviantart.com/

for more of her wonderful plushie works. And now, without further ado, I give you HobbaGobwin!

1) How did you first get into making plushies?

When I was around 17 I got the crazy idea to make a gomamon plushie. I went out and bought some fleece and got everything I would need to make it and then realized I had gotten in WAYYYY over my head. I didn't know how to do a backstitch (which is the hand stitch that most closely resembles a machine stitch) didn't know how to use a sewing machine, how to design a pattern, etc. so that plan was a big failure and nothing ever came from it. It wasn't until a few years later I started making little pokemon keychains for myself out of felt and I thought it would be cool to learn to make real plushies. And the rest is history!

2) Do you have any plushie plans for the future?

Right now I have loads of stuff on my "to do" list. Got a couple of dogs, an eagle, a sea mink, elk, butterfly, manatee, sturgeon, axolotl, winged pig, foozle, a couple of bats, a fox fursona, a character called "Nug", and probably something else I'm not thinking of right now. And that's only commissions, trades, and prizes for giveaways.

I'd like to make myself a plush of my character Gobby when I get a chance and maybe a little one of Rudy from Animal Crossing.

A big thing I want to do with my plushies is use them as a means to help those less fortunate than myself. I plan on starting up a charity of sorts involving the "foozles" that I make. I'd like to start donating some of them to children's hospitals and donate a portion of the proceeds from selling them to help feed starving children and support orphanages.

I'd like to have a table at a fair or convention or something sometime and sell some plushies there, but so far I haven't had the time for it.

3) How do you coordinate your making time with the rest of your life?

I'm actually a stay at home wife, so while my husband is at work I'll be working on my plushies. Normally when he gets home I'll stop for the day unless he gets busy doing something else and we're not really interacting with each other for the moment. Then I'll go back and work on stuff more. Sometimes if I'm making really good progress on something I'll keep working after he gets home. I do like to take things a little on the slow side though. I don't want to push myself too much and make it to where making plushies loses it's fun factor for me and becomes only a chore.

4) Any hints and tips you’d be willing to share?

Check out how other people design patterns and try to figure out why they do something rather than only copying the patterns. Make sure you clip little triangles around curves in your seem allowance so your plushies have a smooth look to them and aren't lumpy. Pay attention to the stretch of the fabric and cut your pattern pieces out accordingly. If you cut your pieces going random different ways the different directions of the stretch will cause it to look weird. Also, check out the book called "Stuffed Animals From Concept to Construction". The women who wrote it had a blog that really helped me 

in designing plushies that were 3d instead of just 2d style plushies. She teaches you a lot of stuff that will help in learning to design your own patterns. Lastly, feel free to ask for advice or help! I know a lot of people (I know I am) are totally willing to give you advice on something if you'll just ask us.

5) Or inspiring words for those just starting out?

Keep at it! Realistically you probably won't be amazing at making plushies to start out with. I know I wasn't . . . like at all. My first plushies were lumpy and misshapen. I had a hard time getting stuff symmetrical (I still do to some extent). It took me a few years to get at the level I'm at. So if you actually enjoy doing it KEEP AT IT!

6) What do your family and friends think of your plushies?

My husband is really supportive of me and my plushie making. He lets me know that he thinks I'm doing a good job and that I've gotten good at doing it. My dad actually helped me to buy my sewing machine since the one I had was really old and I didn't even know how to thread it. He always asks how my business is doing whenever he calls me. My mom thinks my stuff is really cute and she likes and shares most of my stuff on facebook. She bought a couple things when I was starting off for baby showers and kept one for herself. It hangs from her rear view mirror thing. And my friends compliment me on how nice my plushies look a lot.

7) Do you like commissions and why?

Yes! I enjoy getting to work with other people and turn their characters into tangible items and I like getting to see how people react when they see the finished version of their plushie. I do tend to take on too many things at once though . . .

8) Have you ever done any collaborations and if so, how was it?

Nope, I've never actually done and collaborations yet! I'd totally be up for it though.

9) What scale do you prefer: making small or large things? Or somewhere in the middle?

I enjoy making all scales really. Sometimes I like making key chain sized jointed plushies, but they take more work than you think they would for their size. Turning such small pieces can be difficult. For four legged standing, sitting, or laying plushies I'd prefer to do them on the larger side (closer to 12"). Plushies that sit on their butts with two legs and two arms (like my dragonite) work well for around 6". So it really depends what I'm working on. It's hard to fit a lot of detail in a plush that's only 6" so when I try to make characters that have a lot going on I would much prefer to be able to 

make them on a larger scale. I haven't made any really big plushies yet, but hopefully one day I will!

10) Do you have a theme that goes through all your work and if so, what is it?

Well, a lot of my stuff is a little bit more on the chibi side than realistic if that counts. I wouldn't say I have a consistent theme really, but I do enjoy making my plushies engaging. That's one of the reasons I like to do jointed plushies. They invite people to actually play with them a bit more.

11) How important is the Internet in your work?

Verrrryyy important. Like, I wouldn't at all be at the level I'm at now if it weren't for the internet. Being able to look at other people's tutorials and stuff on here was what helped me learn to make patterns. It's how I connect with potential customers and how I build a fanbase for my plushies. It's how I research characters/different animals so I can make plushies accurately. Before I moved into my new house I actually didn't have the internet, so I had to go to places like McDonalds to be able to check and update my stuff. It was a frustrating process and I wasn't able to engage with people as much. So if I didn't have the internet I might never have gotten into plushie making to begin with and if I had I'd probably only be selling stuff in local consignment type shops and not making very much profit.

12) What is your favourite cartoon? Why?

Ducktales is my favorite by far. It's just a nice show. The main characters are all likeable and it's well made. Plus, Scrooge McDuck is pretty cool and he has cool spats. Digimon is probably my second favorite cartoon. I can remember watching the first season when it first aired and collecting the cards toys (same with Pokemon), so it's got a big nostalgia factor for me. The story line is good too and I like that it flows more like a novel than just a bunch of random filler episodes (like Pokemon, though I still do like that show). I have the first three seasons on DVD and parts of the fifth.

13) Favourite artists: dA and otherwise

Plushie artists: sewgoods(tumblr), magnastorm(DA), dot-Doll(DA), d215lab(DA), plus loads of other awesome people.

Normal Artists: Chigle(DA), Witchpaws(DA), extyrannomon(DA), purplekecleon(DA), and lots of other people. These are just a few.

14) Favourite ice cream flavour

I really like cotton candy icecream, but that's sort of hard to find. Cookies and cream is a close second.

15) Worst sewing injury

I actually haven't had anything TOO bad happen yet. I mostly just stab my fingers occasionally with the needles or tear off some skin on my fingers from pushing needles through areas with multiple layers of 

fabric.

16) What is the best super power to have and why?

Omnipotence? Ha. I don't really know if that counts as a super power though. Invincibility would be cool for obviously reasons. I think personally I'd like the ability to understand animals and get them to do my bidding. It might not be the "best" one to actually have, but it would just be neat to be able to talk to them and get them to do whatever you needed them to like protect you and stuff.

17) Song that always makes you feel better

The Mos Eisley Cantina theme from Star Wars. Seriously. Listen to that song. Whenever we're at a red light of something and someone is blaring rap music really loud we'll turn this song up and roll down the windows so that they can hear it. It's always funny and you can't help but dance around to it.

That's all folks! The artist feature will (hopefully) happen every last Thursday of the month. If you've enjoyed it leave a comment, share, reblog. If you would like to be featured, contact me.

Until next time

LaDIY Tasha

IF - Lush

Another Illustration Friday comes around and this time, the theme is "Lush". For the life of me, I can't figure out who comes up with these and how they do it. All I can seem to think about the word "lush" is that store with all natural body-care products. The one where I always get nauseous because of the strong smell of everything inside. I get dizzy, I get a headache, I can't breathe properly. So why not? Why go the traditional route and do something that actually depicts lushness? I go with my silly idea and here's how it went.

Things you can learn from Stripping

Hey, guys! You know Penny Arcade, right? If you don't, you really should, the people there started with a web comic and built it up to a mighty ninja-wizard empire of awesomeness! (I swear I will buy a thesaurus and learn new words soon)

logo is property of Penny Arcade, folks, I had nothing to do with it

Anyway, what I was going to say that the people of PA decided to make a reality show. All reality shows are set up, made up, tweaked, exaggerated. The people in reality shows are cam-whoring attention-seekers who would sell their own grandma to goblins, if it would mean screen time. Right? WRONG! Oh so dead, goblin-grandma-eating wrong! At least in this case. "Strip search" is the most fun I've ever had watching a "reality" show. There was no backstabbing, no plots, alliances, no over-the-top screaming and weeping into the camera. It was a group of 12 artists, doing their thing, going through some challenges and facing off for elimination.

What I found very refreshing about the show was that after elimination, the Creators, Mike and Jerry, would go have a talk with the eliminated artist. The person wasn't just discarded like the format of other shows dictates. They got to talk and say what their plans for the future are, how they enjoyed the experience of participating in the show and get advice from the Creators.

I found out about the show through following OhJoySexToy (if you're a minor, I will suggest not following this link) by Erika Moen, who was one of the contestants. I'm not exactly sure about the time-line and when this all took place, but it was nice to have all the episodes on hand at once.

Here are the important links:

Penny Arcade

Strip Search - Episode archive

Strip Search - List of participating artists 

image also property of Penny Arcade

If you like good art and/or web comics, I suggest you check them all out. Every artist introduction page has a link to their own page, where you can find their comics, artwork, blogs, twitter account... Just take a look, it will be worth it!

Now, what I really wanted to talk to you about is what you and I can learn from the show. Every set of episodes covered a certain topic that a budding (or seasoned) comic artist may encounter. Dealing with fans and trolls, evil contracts that screw you out of house and home, making money through merchandise, promoting yourself at cons. I think these lessons aren't limited to comic artists. Anybody trying to make and sell things can learn a thing or two from this show and that is what I loved most about it. Behind the heckling, the silliness, there were serious problems being discussed and shown. 

image came from otakusphere

Do you know how to set up your booth? What will draw the most attention? How not to get ticked off by trolls? Personally, I have huge problems with that one. It's all very useful. There are such articles on etsy, but here you can see real people making some very real-people-type mistakes and being corrected. Maybe that's exactly what I was doing wrong and now I know what to do! Yay!

property of Erika Moen

Another useful thing I've found through Twitter, is a lecture about self-promotion by Erika Moen. It's full of little bits and pieces you can't know beforehand, that you can't have learned unless you were in the con trenches fighting your way through booth barnacles (I love this term so dearly). For me, it's better to learn from people speaking and showing me things than from articles, so this format is perfect. Maybe it isn't your thing, in which case I suggest Etsy's Seller Handbook, which updates often and does have great advice, it's just that the video format works better for me.

To recap: Strip Search and the vimeo lecture about self-promotion are very useful things that I suggest anybody who wants to start their own art-related business should watch and learn from.

image credits: Penny Arcade, Otakusphere, Erika Moen

Sewing on ice

Hey! Remember Valentine's day? Yeah, neither do I. My idea had been to make a penguin for my boyfriend and I had set about it kind of on time, but alas, it turned out that I was merely finding another distraction and reason to procrastinate. So the project was put on hold until such time as I could finish it properly without the goblins of guilt tugging at my hair. Here's how it went.

I thought I would start out doing a bit of research about penguins. My trusty Google at my side, I dove into the internet and you know what I found out? Making a true-to-life colour pattern on a penguin is really difficult. Here I was thinking that they're mostly like Tux. They aren't. I decided though to stick to what I know and went for the familiar pattern we all know and love. A chubby dinner-suit-wearing bird with awkward little legs.

See that? How the bloody hell do you do that in terms of fabric?

Or this?

Or this?

I got about sketching. Drawing a silly little ball of cuteness with a Valentine's day theme wasn't difficult at all. Pin a heart on something and the theme part of it takes care of itself. Then I set about measuring and drawing a pattern. I get really OCD about sewing patterns. Where as any normal human being would just freehand it onto a piece of paper, I had to use rulers (yes, plural), bits of string and a compass. Complete bloody time-suck, but I was very happy with the end results.

After the tough part was through, I purchased felt and set about cutting out the pieces. This was about the time that I realized I will have to pause this project because I had spent the better part of a day working on it. The parts were stored in a box and put away for the time being. After my exams, I visited the bf and brought the penguin parts along (does that sound morbid to you? Does to me) fully intending to present him with his penguin on the spot. Being the scatter-brained genius I happen to be, I forgot to bring any stuffing and again, the poor little penguin's creation was put on hold. He spent about a month in that box, moving from my desk to my travel bag to my to-do bin.

Finally, after much delay, I started putting the little guy together. Soon after completing the body and wings I realized that he was too small to have those legs as well, and thus to pasture that idea was put, leaving the penguin go be a flat-footed ball of adorableness.

 That whole "Measure twice, cut once" thing turns out to be true. I shook my fist angrily at the god of useful proverbs when I discovered that through all my obsessive calculating, drawing and measuring, I forgot to take into account the curve of the body for the length of the wings. What this meant in practical terms was that the penguin's wings were too small to hold the heart. A quick heart transplant later the heart was big enough to hold, but created a whole new problem: You couldn't see most of the penguin because of the heart.

Well, bother! What to do now? Scrap the whole heart thing? But then it won't be a Valentine's day thing! It simply must be a Valentine's day thing because... reasons! And you can't tell it would be unless there's hearts and/or flowers and/or chocolate. I suppose I could have smeared some chocolate on him, but why would I do that when I could enjoy it instead? To the side the heart went, being held up by the brave little penguin, who was pretty tired of my miscalculations by this point. 

Adding some final, but important touches, namely eyes and a tail, the little guy was finally ready to be mailed to my boyfriend's office, where he now lives happily, reminding him of me and home. Oh, btw, did I mention he loves penguins? That's why I went with the penguin in the first place :)

Stock credit: sxc.hu

The white no-bake cake of doom

Everybody in my family likes the white cake and it is the go-to cake for marking any occasion. It's quick and easy and people tell me it's delicious. Frankly, I've made it so many times, it lost all appeal to me, but since I'm strapped for a topic to write about, and late to boot, here's how the white cake is made.

First you will need a lot of very yummy ingredients: 

• 1 liter of whipped cream
• about 1 liter of sour cream
• 1 kilo of defrosted frozen fruit (I used cherries and raspberries)
• 3 layers of cake (store-bought)
• around 200g of sugar

You will also need a huge-ass bowl, like the yellow one in the picture. Why, you ask? Because no mere mortal bowl can take this much stuff without spilling! (does that sound a little bit pervy?)

See, what did I tell you? That's what one liter of whipped cream looks like. It took me 20 minutes to make that sucker stiff (I'm turning into Nigella with the food porn). It made me long for a nice KitchenAid mixer that mixes stuff for me and that I don't have to put any effort into. Until the day that happens though, it's the elbow-grease path for me.

After that is done, in another much smaller bowl, we mix the sour cream and the sugar, then add this mixture to the whipped cream. Folding this is a bit tricky because the whipped cream moves out of the way for the sour cream and sometimes you are left with a bunch of sour cream on the bottom, which, though making for a good dirty joke, isn't much good for a cake, because it will just spill out. So take your spatula, mixer, hamster wheel or whatever you like to stir with and patiently even out the mixture.

And you're done! That's all the preparation you need to do.

 
 

So what you do next is you separate your cake layers and place one on the serving dish. Cover it with the cream mixture, leaving about 1cm of the edges free, so when you press down, the filling won't spill over. Then put the berries over the cream and add another layer of cream. Cover all this with the next cake layer and press down gently.

You should end up with something like this. The top layer doesn't have any berries, except the ones that will be used for decorating. Now all you have to do is put the remaining cream mixture onto the sides of the cake and it's done!

This, in total, took a half hour to make, despite the horrid cream whipping session. The cake is really easy to make, but it isn't for the faint of heart or the lactose intolerant. I usually have some cream mix left over and I combine it with the juice that came from defrosting the berries. It makes for a simple and yummy ice-cream.

Oh, and finally, don't forget to do the little lad dance if you want your cake piece!

George, the slacker brain

Somewhere along the way, I had to become grown up. I don't know how this goes for other people, but at the somewhat advanced age of 27, I still find myself confused by the adult world and its responsibilities. Part of my brain wishes to play forever and doesn't understand why exactly I should do all these dull tasks that are a part of everyday life. Play-brain, from now named George, grasps some basic human rules like brushing teeth and paying for stuff. He enjoys showers, sitting in the library while being quiet and even enjoys calculating how much money is to be set aside for bills. What George doesn't like, it seems, is everything else. 

"Why? Why do I have to study? I would much rather draw! I don't wanna study! I want to look at stuff online!!!" - yells George petulantly and then goes on to drag me into his slacker schemes. I know I must fight this impulse, but I've been finding that very difficult ever since puberty. Maybe it's because I never had a rebellious phase, maybe it's because my hamster died, who knows? I hope to one day have a lot of money to give to some nice shrink who will tell me why this is.

For now, though, I am interested in solutions and how to keep George from totally messing up my life! Books have always been the go-to thing so I tried self-help books. Who better to help me than me, right? Here is what I found out: I really don't like self-help books! The few I've read were long-winded, somewhat patronizing and spun the same sentences 27 ways. I'm not saying all of them are bad. My sample wasn't large enough to establish this without any doubt. I am saying, however, that I would like my advice given to me in concise, logical terms without any fluff on the sides.

Enter lifehack.org! Oh joy of joys, I found a good one! I've been slowly following this page for about ten or so days now and I really like their style. The articles are divided by topic to lifestyle, communication, productivity, work. It's all peppered with inspirational quotes and this thing called '30sec tip'. Oh boy are those things painful. In two or three sentences, this short article makes you assess your life choices and plans for the future. Unlike the patronizing "do this or fail at life" approach, the 30sec tip tells you "Look, I know you're an adult and you can do as you please, I'm just offering this for your consideration. Another perspective, if you will. Just think about it, that's all I ask."

I hate that 'motivational' quote: "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?". Failing is an integral part of the human experience. The thing to ask is "What would you do after you've failed?". Pick yourself up by use bootstraps or wallow? I've been known to wallow. I've spent a considerable amount of time doing this and if there were such a thing I would have a black belt in wallowing. The thing is though, being a wallow-ninja isn't a cool thing to be. It made me sluggish and angry at both the world and myself. While some people can make being angry at the world profitable, like Gordon Ramsay, I couldn't do it. George just wanted to sit in the corner and hate everything and everybody. Hm. I guess I did have my rebellious phase after all, it just wasn't particularly impressive. 

George and I are just barely on speaking terms, or whatever you call being "in touch" with your slacker-brain. Seems there is no hack anywhere that will kill George forever and the smug little bastard knows it. I am stuck with him. For the past few days we have worked out a compromise of sorts. He lets me work a little and then I let him have fun. Somehow this always gets out of hand and I end up doing much less of the useful stuff than I had originally planned, but it's a start. 

Here is one useful link for those of us with productivity problems. I've recently "discovered" the GTD (Getting Things Done) method, but being notoriously slow at reading, haven't moved past page 5 or so. When I do (see how I use "when" instead of "if"? Take that, George!) I'll write about it, hopefully. In the meantime, good luck to us all!

Stock credit: xn3ctz