Showing posts with label a peek into my life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a peek into my life. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

sewing project // frozen // anna's coronation dress

Hey everyone!

   I know I haven't been posting much, hence this update post...


   I don't know if I've ever told you, but Willow and I have been taking sewing lessons for a while now, and we've finally come to the point where we can sew princess dresses (with much assistance, of course).

   Originally, I wanted to do Cinderella's dress from the new movie, but Willow wanted to do Belle's dress at the same time, and seeing that we still haven't got a good look at it in the trailers, we though it would be better to wait and do them together.


   Anna's coronation dress is going to be a tough one, especially compared to Elsa's coronation dress, which Willow is doing. There's a thousand patterns on the skirt. I'm sure mine will take much longer than hers to complete.

   At the moment, I am working on her bustier, which is velveteen. I have all of the fabric, and have cut out most of the applique.

Pattern wise, I'm using this Simplicity pattern for adults.


Look at that. Just look at all of those designs on her skirt.

Groan...


I have a bad feeling about this (jinx!).


Sincerely,
Darrion

Saturday, January 23, 2016

trip to the lego store // photography

   Hey guys! It's me again, and I'm going to share with you one (only one, mind you) of my childhood obsessions.


   Yep, the toys for boys! The bucket of bricks I inherited from my older brother when he moved out drove me into a world of buildable fun.

   My favorite sets were Star Wars, the biggest of my collection. I'll have to show you sometime. I've got a bunch... but, quick tip, don't get the retired Endor Base set. It falls apart and will make the cheese slid off your cracker.

   I also really like the Ninjago sets, as well as their movie and TV show. But no spoilers, I've only gotten as far as the tournament of elements!

   The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit sets are also really great. I love my Hobbit Hole :) Not to  mention my wisdom (oh glory, there goes my ego again) in saving up my VIP points for the big purchase.


   Anyway, while my sister was checking out the American Girl Store (check out her blog with many of the photos taken by myself here), I raced over to the Lego store to get a few pictures.

   But dude, whoever sets up this whole display thing should really rethink their scheme! It was hard to get any good pictures, and even with major editing, most of them didn't turn out at all.

Quick note... these pictures are rather old, so the sets displayed are outdated.


One of the Ninjago sets on display, with Lloyd in his... elemental car... thing...


One of Chen's sets


Kai, Master of Fire key-chain


Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age


Fili mini figure with an adorable expression. Yay! Let's go kill a dragon with hugs and flowers!


Terrified Bilbo (as usual)


Kili doing nothing helpful with a dramatic face (as usual)


And the Jurassic World sets! I loved the movie, and am pretty excited about the sets. The only setback is that they're a bit too expensive for my taste, and that Claire's stubby Lego legs aren't high-heeled. Humph.


Adorable Mini Cooper! I wish they had made it red, though.


Aw! I spotted this minifigure proposal. So adorable.


Out for a movie date in one of the displays!


Pick-a-Brick brick holes

I love that they're doing this, it's super fun to just pick the bricks you want.


Tiny round pieces


Thanks for visiting, friend! Come back soon!

Sincerely,
Darrion

P.S., comment below with your favorite childhood toy, Lego or not! I'd love to hear 'em :)

Friday, December 18, 2015

star wars: the force awakens // review // spoiler free

Not very long ago, in a theater only a mile away...

The force awoke.


How long have we been waiting for this day to come?

Just long enough.

The timing was perfect, special-effects clean and practically real. Actors just the right age and with the right attitude.

Can't get much better than this.

The whole movie was a fast paced ride, with many fun jokes and memorable sets. They slowed down just enough for the emotional scenes, and gave some great in-between dialog to keep the story going. The amazing cast really lifted the story with their chemistry, while lightsaber duels and other battles were wonderfully choreographed.

I can't say enough about the characters. I love the way they handled Finn, he's my favorite of the bunch. Ray was great too, she was a strong character, but not overbearing. Po was amazing and very funny. BB-8 was adorable, and wasn't only a simple replacement to R2, but his own character. It was really cool and nostalgic to see Han, Chewie, and Leia returning.

Oddly enough, I really enjoyed the scenes with Kylo Ren. He was a very interesting character, and I can't wait to see more of him and how his story unfolds.

The only thing I had a beef with was the ending. It could have been tied together more neatly, but it wasn't enough to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.


Over all, it was an amazing ride, and I loved it just as much as the old movies. In fact... I think I've found my new favorite Star Wars episode :)


Sincerely,
Darrion

P.S., please leave a comment on what YOU thought of the movie! I'd love to chat with you :) But remember... spoiler free for those who haven't seen it yet!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

give thanks // photography // 12 days of thanksgiving tag

 Thank you, Sarah, for tagging me for the 12 days of Thanksgiving! I know it's after Thanksgiving itself, but I thought I could show you some of my photos from the big day in this post.

~ Rules ~
 
1. List 12 things that you are thankful for
2. Tag as many bloggers as you want, making sure to tell them of their nominations

I'm going to be giving less generic answers here... so just know that I am thankful for God, my home, and my family :)


one

the smell of cinnamon rolls on sunday morning


two

 the light of the sun's morning rays streaming through my window


three

handwritten letters by caring friends


four 

little white lacy dresses


 five 

warm knit sweaters in the wintertime


six

listening to gentle instrumental music while blogging


seven

steaming hot tea in my favorite blue round cup


eight

long walks in the cool winter air with my dad


nine

twinkling white stars in a deep blue sky


ten

a layer of frost on the dull green grass


eleven

 wrapping up in warm blankets for long car drives


twelve

 fuzzy boots that act as slippers around cold feet



I tag the following...

Maggie Rice from Traveling Home

Thank again to Sarah for tagging me! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving :) Maybe later I'll do a post of the other photos I took on our trip to the Thanksgiving table. There was a lot of good scenery.

Remember to thank God for the little things in life, and to give thanks with a grateful heart.

Sincerely,
Darrion

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

market makings // pumpkins and teacups // watercolor

Whew.

   It's been a while since I've actually posted any of my artwork, much less the more traditional, not fanart kind. But here we go! And there's a little story to go with it, too :)


   Okay, so almost every year my church holds an event called "Christmas in October", which is a money raising event for our missionaries. We send them money for Christmas early, as in October. Usually, we just donate for certain needs each missionary has. But this time, people in our church are selling their handiwork and donating the money they get from it. The event is being called Market for Missions.

   Willow is sewing five doll dresses, and I did six watercolors in frames I got from church. It took me... well, forever. Our art teacher brought some pumpkins, and I did watercolors of those. The first two are of the same pumpkins, but colored differently.

Which one do you like better, out of the two of them?


   I liked this one at first. I was happy with the tiny pumpkin and the long red and yellow one, but the background wasn't as I imagined it. But my art teacher helped me lighten it up, so I'm pretty happy with it now.


   I'm very happy with those pumpkins. It's funny, 'cause I was frustrated with the watercolor below (more specifically, the plump one on the right), so I redrew them and worked on it instead. That's how I ended up with two from the same reference.


   I'm more happy with this background, but the pumpkins are more realistically colored, so they're not as appealing to me.


   And now that I look at it, that pumpkin is kinda small... huh. Well, nothing I can do about it now!


   I was inspired to do these teacups by a birthday card I made for a friend, which was really fun to watercolor. But because I wanted to match the frame with the coloring, I chose different cups to paint than I did on the card, which changed everything. I set the stack on a bunch of books as a reference and started drawing them out. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it's good enough to be called done.


   The middle teacup was the most fun to watercolor. I loved doing the sporadic flowers and greenery, which were more suggested than detailed.


   I've painted this bottom cup before, my first finished watercolor, actually :) It's my mom's Danish cup, so it has some sentimental value to it also. Personally, I love Danish cups. They're so pretty and blue, that really made me happy with it.


   Anyway, this top teacup was the hardest, and is the one I'm not very pleased with. It didn't end up like I had imagined it. It's a Russian cup, and I wanted to show the gold embellishment on the inside, which is why it's on the top. I don't think it's separated enough from the middle cup, which is probably because of the gold paint I used on them were the same.


My art teacher asked me to pick out a few little frames to paint tiny pictures in, seen above. Three was good enough for me, and my favorite is the one in the middle. I didn't use a reference for any of these.


I don't like this one as much because it the experiment, the first one I painted. Smack-dab in the middle, too.


This one was more Halloween inspired, with the clouds and moon like that.


This one's my favorite because of how the colors work together. Very happy with it.


Close-up for close-up sake... Oh, and I used a pen to outline them rather sloppily, to look more artsy or something ;)

Whew! That's six watercolors for one event. I have no idea if they'll sell, but I'll let you know if they do. Do you guys have a favorite? Comment below if you do!

Thanks for reading, guys!

Sincerely,
Darrion

Monday, October 5, 2015

the frost // photography

Hey guys!

   You might have noticed how I disappeared for a little while. I've had a stall in my artistic spirit, so here's some photography from... last year, I think?

   So I've been busy with other things... weddings, vacation, school... quite a combination :) Maybe a post about that will follow sometime.

   What made me want to post these old photos? Well, since fall is finally here, the frost has been collecting on our lawn almost every morning. It looks so pretty, but I haven't been able to drag myself out of bed in time to capture it :) So I thought I'd share these old things with you.


Yeah, this photo is more wintery... snow on the branches and all :)











You also may have noticed the new header and background. Like it, or no? Let me know what you guys think! I took that picture on our vacation.


Well, that's all for now! Hopefully I'll have some art for you sometime later... or more photography...
or both!

Sincerely,
Darrion