The college countdown has begun

My tutors have already started cracking down on how much time left we have between now and our exhibition week where we have to pull together our last project (final major project where we are allowed to decide what we want to do and how we want to do it without any direction. Much.) We have been told now that we should be all at the stage where we are designing/ making our final pieces, and with 8 weeks to go (3 of which will be spent sorting out our exhibition spaces (note its a part time course and we're only in for 2 days and we have to prep boards and such.))

So far i'm in the process of experimenting on what my final piece will look like. I'm making my own doll and it's not going too bad although it is very tedious and boring, but hey if i want the grades i need to put in the work.

And that's what i'm going at the moment, working away at my degree.

I can't wait to see the end result as well as everyone else.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

I hope you all have had a a brilliant christmas like i had. Granted i knew most of the presents i recieved but i have had a few awesome surprises.

Among the presents i got, my mam bought me a sewing machine, a couple of knitting books, a panda hoodie with lots of hidey holes and art supplies :)


Next month as part of my main present, my mam is giving me some money towards a Samsung galaxy note 10.1, a tablet with a stylus. I'm providing the rest and i can't wait to get it.

I have a lot more knitting goodies on the way so it's going to be a good year!

Have a brilliant end to the year and i hope you find next year even better :)

Harry Potter studio tour

I went to the Harry Potter studio tour for my birthday, that was back in September (well a month afterwards since i needed to save up some spending money). I had to go by myself because it was a bit pricey just for one person. It was a few agonizing weeks to wait but it was worth the wait :)

Day one:

Nothing much to say but, I arrived in London, got lost a few times, spent the night in a hotel room, ate a '3 course meal' (which consisted of 2 starters, a main, and 2 desserts (because I'm greedy)), watched TV and went to bed.

Day Two: 

We left the hotel and literally 10 mins down the road we came to the studios. Our nice coach driver got us in earlier than when we were suppose to so we could get back home earlier. Once inside we had a 15 min wait so me and the rest of the group checked out the gift shop... Big mistake no:1.

I won't give much away because it needs to be seen to be believed. 

After brief intros I set off on my journey around the studios. I first went to the great hall which lead to a larger part of the building where all the large props from the films were. Some death eaters were walking about,  mistake no:2. I wanted a picture with the first death eater I came across, and since I was on my own I asked a kind gentleman to take the picture for me, so I went up to the death eater and asked for a picture and he looked at me and acted like he wanted a fight, so I put up my fists and said "I'll duel you for one". So after two takes I went and enjoyed most of the props. (I say most because I side tracked-below)

I came across a green-screen room where you could have your picture takes in the Weasleys car and on a broomstick. Now I don't do things 'normally'...First the car: I sat in place and did the actions the woman told me (for better effect), train was coming and I acted accordingly (the woman said 'watch out for the train', so I said: 'What train?' and looked behind me.) Then for the finish the pose I did made the woman laugh. Next I went on the broom, I didn't do anything special on that but it was fun!

I then went on my merry way and finished looking at the rest of the props when I came across another death eater... stood there staring at me. Around the corner I saw yet another death eater who was teaching kids various offensive and defensive actions with wands. I decided to have a go (with an Umbridge wand, urgh) I was about to get started when yet ANOTHER death eater came and joined in, so now I was going to battle 2 death eaters, the new death eater was hand signalling something to a staff member there about something (I think I may have met him earlier because he pointed at me and glared in a menacing way.), so then he stood next to me and taught me the moves and we 'battled' the other death eater.

After that I went outside where they had other props like the dursleys house and the night bus. There was also a little stall selling Butterbeer, which consisted of toffee and butter flavour fizzy pop, and I have to admit it was rather nice. Then I went through to the creatures part where they had all the masks for Greyback and the goblins and other various things. On a few screens Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick, and Gripphook) was narrating about the costumes and that, through out the whole tour I kept thinking: 'I met one of the Hogwarts teachers. I met Warwick Davis!'. I didn't say anything like). I proceeded onwards to part of Diagon alley and concepts of characters and large models, and even seen the most fantastic scale model of Hogwarts ever! 

Then basically I went to the gift shop and spent a hour in there, buying half the shop, and even got a 'Have you seen this wizard?' poster with my face on it.

So yeah, it was a pretty good trip and I urge anyone and everyone to go!

Allsort's of updates

It has been a while since i last updated, but a lot has happened in that time.

Firstly i've started college back in September. I enrolled onto a 19+ BTEC level 2 course at my local art college CCAD (Cleveland college of art and design) (located in Middlesbrough, UK). Since i'm only at college for two days i've been spending the rest of the week working on my sketchbook.

It's going really well, i love the atmosphere, the people and the freedom to actually do some proper artwork and not have to worry to ruin the floor in my mam's house. I finished my first project that was based on shoes and nothing but, and i handed it in for the first marking (not the official one) and i was told i was in the double distinction mark (D/D). So that was a good start.

Now we moved on to the textiles project where everyone is in the same boat and struggling, but we shall prevail!

~*~

Apart from working my socks off for college, i've been working on some crochet projects. There's a couple going on at the moment and some need to be finished. I'm making a blanket for myself because i haven't got one handy, there's a dress that i'm making for christmas which started off okay then began to get complicated and messy and i'm missing a huge chunk off one of the sleeves and now they don't match, and i have a cardigan to finish off from earlier on this year.

They may just be some baby clothes making it's way onto the list as my cousin announced she's having a baby, wooooo! First baby on my mam's side of the family since my younger sister was born almost 21 years ago. So we are all excited about that :)

~*~

With Christmas looming my calender is full of Christmas fair's, and i have no money to fund them ha ha.

Speaking of fairs, people have throws suggestions and i've finally decided that my long term goal is to have my own stall and sell my work. I'd love to have that experience and i've always had respect for people going out selling things in all weather and enjoying peoples company. I love fair's in general because you can find great things and for a good price.

So until next time, peace out!

Hello Kitty hats- Hello Kitty and Mimi

A friend of mine commissioned me for a Hello Kitty and her sister Mimi hats for her and her sister.

Hello Kitty and Mimi (C) to their rightful owners

Manchester MCM expo

Manchester Expo came 3 weeks after Nemacon and a friend asked me if i wanted to go. Unfortunately she dropped out a week before we had to go but i decided to go anyway.

This would have been the first trip i have been on by myself outside of my hometown as well as being on a train by myself.

A week later i was on the train and on my way to Manchester. Everything went well and got there in plenty of time even when i walked from the train station to the venue, and my God were there a load of people. It had been 4/5 years since i was last around this many people/ cosplayers, it was amazing!!!

Nothing much happened during the course of the day except i met up with a friend and even met Warwick Davis and got his autograph as well as having my picture taken with him!

(Lol i look terrified)

Apart from the nothingness i did, i did come across awesome cosplays such as: the carousel version of Beetlejuice from the movie, Freakazoid and Candle Jack (husband and wife combo where the wife was Freakazoid), an awesome Megaman, the Ghostbusters, a group of storm troopers, and Wheres Wally (male and female).

The ride home was a little more daunting, the last hour was a nightmare (drunken women sat in front of me) other than that it was an awesome day!

St-Lucq cosplay

This is my costume i made for Nemacon 2012 in Middlesbrough UK.

This is Saint-Lucq from a novel called 'The cardinals blades' by Piere Pevel. It's set in 1633 and there's tension between the French, Spaniards and 'The black claw' and it's up to Cardinal Richelieu's secret swordsmen, the blades to bring peace to the land. In summary there's graphic detail, funny stuff and dragons.

St-Lucq is a blade and a deadly assassin as well as a half breed, half human- half dragon. After reading a chapter featuring him i knew i had to cosplay him.

The costume itself is mainly created entirely out of wool. Yes, i knitted and crocheted my costume.

The waistcoat- Was a nightmare because i spent a month looking for a waistcoat pattern, but i eventually found one that was perfect. Then of course i had to figure out what stitches i had to use, so after 3 tries i settled with the usual stocking stitch. Down the front around the buttons is a criss-cross pattern. The buttons were a bargain from the life-saver that is Ebay.

The hat- Another nightmare. I made 3 prototypes out of paper then paper mache'd one which turned out far too small. After making another and making the same mistake i just went along with it, it didn't turn out too bad though. I covered the entire hat, inside and out, in knit. There's a band around the head part that matched the sides of my sash.

The sash- Had to be the fun part. Took me a couple of days but it was amazing to work with. There is a criss-cross pattern down the center that matched the design on my waistcoat and on my boot cuffs.

The boot cuffs- Very simple and surprised they never fell out when i walked.

The sword- Paper mache'd everything, blade and handle. Then i crocheted a covering for everything and then painted over it to give it more of a 'used' look.

It had taken me 5 months to make including extra forgotten research as i went along but it was well worth it.