Lanterns in the Sky

Day 38: Last few day's project finally done. :) I found out recently that those floating lanterns featured in Tangled are actually real. Well, maybe without that purple sun on the side...and there's no missing princess....or magic hair....but still! They exist!

It turns out that there's this big festival celebration in Thailand where they release tons of these things into the night. I found some photos of the festivities on shutterstock that are really stunning. I'll put one up below, but I didn't strictly copy any one cloud of lanterns. Just used them for inspiration really. :)

I think it turned out pretty well. I was uncertain about adding more colors into the sky because I was so taken with just the plain blue, but I think I made the right choice.

...I also may have been thinking about what Van Gogh said in Doctor Who about the sky being all different colors.....

n_n; Oh well. I like it. It turned out well. I want to make a bigger version (this is just a sketchbook sized one). I'll have to look at the remains of my Bristol pad, but I know it's bigger than a normal sheet of paper...I think that'll have enough room though for a good balance between up close, detailed lanterns, and background speck-lanterns.

I'm thinking about turning this into a pendent too. You know, like one you wear. It think it'd look cute smaller. And with any luck I might be able to sell a few and raise money for the ongoing Botcon quest.

That and if it's smaller maybe I won't see all those early mistakes glaring so sharply at me... ^,,^

It would also give me the excuse to add glitter! xP

 A reference/source-like/inspiration thing...

The Hummingbird Sketch

Day 37 - A sketch I did today. I was putting some photos I got from shutterstock to good use and having some fun with my art pens at the same time. The source photo is down below if you care to compare. Personally I think the bird came out rather well for a freehand try, but the stick?

^-.-^ Mrs. Mittens and I say Blech! to the stick.

.....although I kind of like how you can still see the greens, yellows, and reds I put in there to try and make it not look so flat (I only have the one brown and yellow and it needed something more)....

I've been stocking up on lovely photos from shutterstock when Dad doesn't use up all the downloads on his subscription, looking for ones that I could practice my sketching skills. But most of them, I notice now, require more colors than I have, so maybe I should start thinking about expanding my collection. :)

Of course....that requires money, which is a bit of a problem. I've been looking around for a job, but it's so much more difficult than I had first thought. D<

I have applied for some blogger jobs I found....and I'm so nervous I won't get it! The two I really want stop accepting applications today, so hopefully tomorrow or early next week I'll get a phone call. I want it so bad! If only because I have no idea what else to do if I don't get it.... u.u; I'm trying to save up so my sister and I can go to Botcon this summer and I still need a couple hundred dollars.

So, yeah...I'm crossing my fingers and praying real hard, but right now the only thing to do is wait and see. I have a possible plan B with maybe trying to sell some resin necklaces with little collages or Transformers or Disney things inside....My sis and I are going to hobby lobby today because she wants some fabric to make a Prowl pack for the convention (She wants it to look like she has doorwings. It sounds so cute and nerdy!) so I thought I'd look around to see how much the settings cost. I dunno. Maybe it'll work. Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to find some kind of paycheck before the end of the month....I don't know.

*Sigh* Well. At least my little hummingbird looks decent. I'm rather fond of him. Although I wonder if maybe I didn't over correct with the colors when I was cleaning up the scanned version...oops. n_n;

The Birch Forest

Day 36 - Ooo! 26 hits in the last hour or so. Very impressive! Thanks guys! I guess you like the new background...

The Church Garden

First block in of my church garden painting

Day 31-35 : Yay! With this set of pictures I have finally cleared the month of December in my picture a year quest. To bad it's March....

Anway, I‘m making a couple of paintings for my church for Easter Sunday and yesterday I finally got started. :)

Stick-Formers Unite!

Stick-Jackie Waves Hello

Days 27 - 30: I present to you a whole bunch of Stick-formers! You've already met Wheeljack up there. And of course down below is Mirage. Stick-Grimmy's having a bit of a pout because he's kinda miffed about his cute little curly-que arms. But I think they're adorable! Say hello guys!

*Fancy tea slurp*

Stick-Grimmy Unamused

I'm a big fan of the Starhorse's work (another Transformers fan) and she posted some stick-formers over at her blog Spoiled Robots on tumblr. I thought they were adorable and in a moment of "Well what else do I honestly have to do right now?" decided to try my hand at some of my own. Some of the eyes (and all of the hands) came out slightly derpy...but I think Grimlock there is my favorite. :) And now that I have some decent pictures of them in black and white, I'm going to have to find some time to give them some color. Hooray for color! :3

Oh, and Jazz and Bumblebee here are having a dance party. I should snap some photos of them to use as blackmail at an undisclosed later date before they realize that they can't really dance. ;3

Dance party! Dance party!

E. Aster Bunnymund's Warren

Day 26 - So the day that was supposed to be the day after Christmas isn't too soon to post something Easter related is it? ;3

As you may or may not have been able to tell from the title, this is the home of one E. Aster Bunnymund. But you probably know him better as the Easter Bunny. :3 He just made his newest debut in Rise of the Guardians, but it turns out that a series of books came out first (I don't know why I'm surprised since pretty much everything is based off of books nowadays. I'm not complaining exactly, just wondering why I'm surprised.)

Christmas Flashback

Day 25 - Okay, so it took me forever to put up this next picture because if I had kept up with a picture a day thing then Day 25 should have been Christmas Day. Only, ya know, I fell a month behind. xP Blah...

Anyway, this is my younger sister and I after she opened up my present to her. Now I am rather pleased with it (because let's face it, it's awesome) but I made her a Jazz scarf.

Jazz scarf!

Not jazz as in music see, but Jazz as in the Autobot Jazz! She and I are both huge TF fans so when I got this idea (about only a week before Christmas I swear) I just had to make it for her. I was originally going to buy her one off of etsy, but like I said it was only about a week before the big day, maybe not even that... o.O

But I found this plain colored cream scarf that was super duper long (a requirement that Sis put out there) and it was really nice and soft (Bonus!) and I sewed on a big blue plain of fabric, then a red ribbon-stripe, and with a white number four on top. It's really cool! And she loved it so much! xD Yay! I think that'll be what I remember most about this Christmas.

Well, that and the power went out. That was fun....

And my Sis lo~oved it. She oh so lo~oved it! Oh yeah she lo~oved it! *Keeps on dancing in seat*

Yay! And now that I have posted my favorite moment from Christmas, I feel emotionally free to move on and post other, not-Christmasy pictures.

Well...maybe not-Christmasy pictures....just saying...

Box Fulla Penguins

Day 24 - So we were putting up our Christmas decor last night and it made me sad. :_

So here is a box full of penguins. It cheered me up, so I thought that maybe someone else out there could use a box full of penguin-y cheer too. :)

Hope things are going alright wherever and whoever you are.

Highland Castle

Day 23 - Wow, so I really dropped the ball this time. It's been so long since I posted a photo that I forgot what day I was on and had to look at my blog to get it right. n_n;

Anyway, so Christmas was fantastic, New Year's involved diet root beer (yay! I don't drink full-sugared sodas because I'm a type I diabetic and they're just not worth the amount of carbs) so all in all things have been wonderful these past few weeks. I'm sad Christmas is over though, but I'm so backed up on my Christmas fictions that I think I'll recover once I get 'em all sorted out.

So my brother is amazing! He got me these awesome art pens for Christmas and they. are. Awesome! I mean I love them sooooo much! (Thanks again bro! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!! :D) I just wanted some black pens in different nib sizes. And not only did he get me those, he got me some colored pens too! <3 And I love them!

This makes me feel super bad because I forgot to get him something. o.O I swear I didn't know what to get! He and Dad are ridiculously difficult to shop for. I thought he wanted some new headphones, but then Mom told me that he asked for a headset instead for his computer (and they told me those are expensive...) but then Christmas afternoon when I told him I was sorry because I didn't have anything for him that he did need some new headphones.

^-.-^ "Of course..." thinks I.

Anyway, so I've been playing with my new pens and this is one of my little sketches. I like how it came out (except that tree-monster! I hate that tree-monster! Dx). That bottom stretch of grass with the small rocks is my very favorite. It just looks perfect! :3

So...yeah. My brain has just crashed. I'm going to try and catch up on my photo-a-day quest, and there will probably be a handful more Christmas photos to make up for those days before Christmas that I didn't post. Just to let you know.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

One Way Over-Saturated Pussy Cat :)

Bonus Picture! :) This is the same photo I put up the other day of Sokka lounging under the tree (really he was hiding from my sister so he wouldn't have to go to bed. Mom swears he's like a two year old. But then I guess that's fair since I think he is actually two now...) But unlike the other day this one is oversaturated and awesome because of it! :P I was fixing up the photo for the other day when I accidentally put the saturation to 100% and I thought it looked cool with all the bright, ridiculous colors. So I kept it. :)

The Plastic Forest & The Lost Prime

Day 22 - More Christmas merch from Hobby Lobby. As weird as it may sound I rather liked this picture, despite the extra large sale signs that sort of stand out like emergency sirens (^-.-^ Mrs. Mittens didn't like them very much either...)

I think what I liked best about the trees is that I think if I stood in the middle of them all it would feel kind of like standing in the middle of a forest. A perfumed, plasticky, not-very-piney forest but still.

Oh! Dad has just saved Kreon Optimus Prime from the depths of the couch! I didn't even know he was under there...

Me: o.O

OP: -.-

Me: I-I didn't even know you were lost...

OP: }:s

Me: I'm, uh....sorry?

OP: Mmm-hmmm....I'm telling Santa.

Me: O.O NOOOO! OP wait!!!!!

OP - }:p Ha ha! Teach you to leave me under that nasty couch! Oh, by the way, your lost socks say hello.

Me: o.o I thought the dryer ate them ages ago...

;3

Look! He's got a cupcake! :D

Day 21 - Was going to post this last night, but upload was taking forever. So I put it off til today. I saw this (strange) guy at Hobby Lobby when I was shopping for Christmas gift components and I thought he was...well....

Weird.

So I present you with weird Santa man. Look! He's giving you a cupcake! :D

...no I realize that makes him no less weird....

Now I must go get my Mom's Christmas present. So long folks! :)

Sokka Christmas Cat Strikes Again!

Day 20 - Hmmm...something is amiss with this picture. What on Earth could it be? ;3

Now sing it with my now; One of these things is not like the other! One of these things doesn't belong! xP Sokka the Christmas Cat strikes again! My sister tried to pull him out from under the tree to bring him up to bed, but he just backed up even farther. My dad ended up scaring the bujeebers out of him to get him out. Poor Sokko-Taco. ;3

Q is for Quiet...but not right now

Day 19 - Another picture of our tree after I played around with it in the photo manipulator program that came on my (new) computer. x3 I rather liked the angle of this shot along with how the ornaments were placed. And then I just messed around with the vigenette (whatever that may be...) to see what it did. I haven't posted a largely light photo before.

Alright, so two things that are bugging me right now:

1.) I was just skimming the episode list on wiki for Young Justice. I was trying not to actually read them because I only just finished the first season (in two days :p) so I'm still rather confused by the five year time skip. And what the heck happened to half the team from the first season?!?!?

So that was why I was 'skimming'. Actually, I was using the find command to look for Aqualad, Artemis, and Wally's names to see how long I would have to wait until I found out what happened to them in the last five years that to us viewers equals about, oh....ten minutes. ^-.-^

And then what do my eyes abruptly, forcibly, just latch on to? That Aqualad is evil?!?!? That Artemis dies?!???? Are you freaking kidding me?!??!?!?! Aghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! *continue frustrated scream...*

Ahem...alright, so I may be suffering from sudden cartoon-related frustration. But why is it that writers feel the need to corrupt and kill characters after they went through so much trouble to ensure that we liked them?!

Now to be fair, I can't exactly say I am innocent of causing this frustration. I am almost constantly writing. Or thinking about writing. Or ironing out stories and characters in my head. And I have killed characters before. Not because I hate them, or suddenly find them useless, but because I am trying not to let my innate desire for everything to turn out peachy keen override the inescapable fact that not everything that happens is 'good'. What can I say? I have a problem dealing with the wrongness found in the world.

But still. Writers killing characters they made us love rankles me as a viewer/reader. I don't like it. To be blunt-

It bugs me. }:(

Agh! And then I am faced with the internal dilemma of 'Do I keep watching this show despite knowing that something horrifying is about to happen?' or 'Forget this, I'm going to find something that won't make me feel like all people are heartless monsters'.

....*insert more frustrated grumblings here*

Well, I have no answers (and my very silly Dad and Mom have made me laugh so hard that I think I drooled a little on the blanket...) so moving on to numero 2) I have not been able to write anything substantial ever since I got this new computer, so almost a full week. And I know it doesn't sound that long to you, but a full week without any really focused writing is enough to drive me a little bit loco. So...that may also be feeding into my high annoyance at the whole heros-going-inexplicably-crazy thing. Everything seems ten times more annoying/horrible when I can't write...

......okay, so, I feel a little bit better. Although I think Dad's ability to pull strange and random faux-truths out of thin air regarding Aqualad helped in that regard. That and his truly terrible Woody Woodpecker laugh. I swear it sounded like the Penguin trying to laugh like Woody. And not a Penguin from a well-done Batman movie. I mean Adam West Penguin. It was great. :)

Mickey and Minnie's Display

Day 18 - Well, it was good while it lasted, but alas, I am behind again. Oh well. I went to the mall today in search of some elusive Christmas presents for my Mom and my lil Sis. Unfortunately I only succeeded on one account and even that isn't, eh, 'finished'. n_n;

Anyway, this was the window display for the Disney Store. Isn't it cute? :) I've always thought Minnie and Mickey were adorable and this only confirms my suspicions. ;3

Finally Caught Up! Whew!

Day 17 - Woohoo! With this I am finally caught up on my picture a day venture! Yay! Even though, technically, it's one in the mroning and therefore a new day where I must post a picture so I'm still, technically again, a day behind, I don't care! I haven't gone to sleep yet therefore, I am caught up. Period.

As you can see Sokka the Christmas Cat returns! In all his lazy-feline glory...wee?

;p Nah, I love him, even though he's a lazy furball, he's our lazy furball. And he's soft. That goes a long way when you're a cat. :)

Three Little Carolers

Day 16 - Three little carolers and their lantern propped up in someone's yard. This may sound strange but I kinda hope they weren't home when I took this. That would've been...a little strange... o.O

But I promise I'm not casing houses! xP They were just so cute. ;3

Graduation Day!!!! :D

Day 15 - Graduation Day!!! HOORAY!!!!!!! :D I had no idea I would be this happy to graduate. I mean none. I was so nervous, especially about what comes next, but as soon as we stared filing into the theater it suddenly struck me that this was it. This was the day that most of me thought would never actually get here. You know how you have those goals that you're always actively working towards, but you just work at for so dang long, that you begin to think that you'll never actually make it? It was sort of like that.

People kept asking me what I was planning next and I would just look at them and go, "This was the plan. What do you mean what comes next?" n_n;

Anyway, yay for me! :D And we had a party afterwards with the family. Since it was a winter graduation I was afraid that no one would be able to make it, but in the end we had to ask for more seats at the restaurant. ;p

And I got a new computer!!! :DDDDDDDDD YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am about that, I really can't! But it was also so much fun just to sit and talk with all the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins I never get to see. :) I really loved that part too. I kinda just want to go back in time and sit there some more and soak up that feeling of love and togetherness. <3

And now I have run out of coherent words. I'm sure more will slap me upside the head later on, but for now....Yay! :)

Mini-Grimmy Ascared! Dx

Day 14 - So this is actually yesterday's post, but my computer crashed on me and I had to get up obscenely earlier, so I didn't reboot it til now. Last night was the eve before Graduation. My graduation to be exact. And yes, this is how I felt. I was terrified.

Of course, now that I've actually graduated (o.O) I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself, so this picture doesn't fit as well as it did last night. I'll have to post an exciting graduation photo to even it out. n_n

This is Mini-Grimmy, providing me an immense help by hiding under a table that's too small for her and staring in horror at a diploma, a graduation cap, and some textbooks in abject horror...

No, I am not kidding. Graduation to me pretty much equals the thought that the world is ending. It was just one of those things that I've been working towards for so long that a part of me didn't think the day would actually come. And when it did I didn't know what to do. So yeah.

Rose

P.S. - It was great though! I got to wear a pretty dress and walk across stage after hearing my name to get my diploma and my hood. I even graduated Magna Cum Laude! o.O Did not expect that. Although no one else in my family seems surprised....

Mini-Grimmy Asleep on Christmas Eve

Day 13 - My dear Mini-Grimmy sleeping near the tree on Christmas Eve. Just a little watercolor sketch I did with some watercolor pencils and field brushes. I know you can't really tell with her curled up under a blanket, but she's a child-sized mechanical dinosaur. And by child-sized, I mean she's about half a foot (maybe more) bigger then your average six year old.

:)

Original image itself is only about 3x2 inches. Very small. But I'm rather attached to her. She's my sweet. And despite appearances she shares a lot in common with my little sister, who may or may not have earned the nickname 'Mini-Grimmy' first.... ^,,^

The blue thing she has tucked against her nose is a puggle named Topspin. My sister has one she bought at Botcon, hence his appearance here. Yes, he's fast asleep too. He's also a raucous snorer. I wouldn't be surprised if Santa's scared away just by that! ;3