Giraffe and a new year.

Well folks, 2011 is finally here. I've told myself I'm doing a lot of things differently in these coming 12 months, so we shall see how that goes.

Just a short post today, as I need to hit the books before bedtime to get the ball rolling.

Here's a giraffe I made at the request of a friend of mine for her boyfriend's cousin.  See some 'in progress' posts here and here. I had some problems planning and assembling this one.  It seemed to take ages and ages to finish.

Due to the fact that sewing machines still put the fear of god in me, it was mostly stitched by hand - but thankfully my mom stepped in to help sew up the arms and legs with her intense seamstress skills on the day before I needed to ship it!

I used minky fabric for the body and felt for the details. The minky was horrifying to work with. It sheds and is slippery to sew with. But it ended up looking alright, thank goodness! I monogramed an M on one of the hooves for the eventual recipient. The lower legs and belly are filled with rice that I tied in bits of nylon stocking to give it a bit of weight. Unfortunately, I think I overstuffed it a little bit. I would have liked the legs to hang down a little more freely. As I am generally pleased with the body shape, I am not too pleased with the face. I had not devised a solid way to build the horns or make the nose a little more... nose-like.  I do like the eyes (from Suncatcher) and the eyelashes.

Some handy things I learned with this one:

• Build complex felties out of paper first, serves as a 'measure twice, cut once' substitute and creates a handy pattern as well
• Never work with minky ever, ever again
• Rice works MUCH better than tapioca pearls if you want a little weight
• Rice works even better when put in bits of an old stocking tied at the ends to keep things nice and tidy
• To, once again, not leave these kinds of things to the last minute
• Giraffes look sort of dumb without their horns

I've got some other things to post, recipies and Christmas crafts mostly - but that can wait until another time.

I hope everyone had an absolutely fantastic break. I certainly did - though coming back to my empty basement suite was a bit of a shock and I'm thankful I have people here I can bum around with every so often or else I'd get awful lonely.

Some classmates from the film program and I went to see a Taxi Driver/Raging Bull double bill at the Cinematheque the other night. It was so fantastic seeing Taxi Driver properly and seeing Raging Bull for the first time. But walking out of the theater after that much Scorsese was a little disorienting. I'm also very, very excited that the Cinematheque is getting in a ton of Chaplin feature films in on 35mm and showing them throughout January and February! Unfortunately, due to my measly student funds, I'll have to pick and choose which of these I attend. It'll be like trying to pick which child you like the most.

Other news I'll sum up here: I'm currently in an obsessive Harry Potter state, I cooked my first whole chicken last week, that was pretty exciting, the word of the day today was infarction and I've started studying chemistry on my own time to make myself feel less dumb.

Anyways, that's that. Hope all is just peachy with everyone and the new year is treating you all very well!

From here.

Hey there, ho there, DECEMBER.

Oh December, how bittersweet your arrival.

I did a lot of Christmas shopping today. Most of it in fact! Now I have sewing supplies spread all over my living room floor, am chiseling haystacks off of a plate I neglected to put parchment paper on and watching some good ol' Pulp Fiction.

Last week, I said goodbye to a feltie that's been with me for a little while. Little Buckaroo!

May he find peace amongst the dutch tulips!!

School is done on Monday, thank goodness. Monday is also the day I show my film to the class. When you show your film to the class, the following things happen: fingers trembling with trepidation, load the projector, fiddle with the sound, roll it, short round of applause, the class talks about your film for a while without any of your input, then you get to talk about it, then you take some questions, then you sit your ass back down. Needless to say, all I'm feeling is fear... but that is normal.

I picked up some inks from Opus, along with a variety of super skinny paintbrushes and my very first real X-acto knife in preparation for the post production portion of my film. Opus is now one of my favorite establishments because they give student discounts. I love a solid business who knows the financial perils of the student. I finished a rough cut today and will spend the next few days doing some all-too-fine work under a magnifying glass.

My one paper for the term is complete, pathetic as it was. My lame math presentation is done, thanks to one super group member who thanklessly did most of the work. Once my film presentation is done, it's on to studying for three exams. I will be done the Fall 2010 semester on the 14th and will be flying home to chilly Canmore on the 17th! I'm fairly excited to have a home visit after an entire year. Hard to believe it's been so long!

In recent (as in 10 minutes ago) news, I have finally started assembling this giraffe for my friend Amanda to give to her boyfriend's cousin who is two years old! I just put these fantastic eyelashes on it, aaand I sort of had to share it ASAP. SNEAK PEAK.

Working with the minky fabric has been a little bittersweet. Although it is extremely soft, it has a bad bad habit of looking a little mangy at the seams, and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it. It was probably a fabric made for more large scale things like baby blankets.... but it will have to do!!

State of the floor. I'm going to have fun vacuuming out all of the minky bits out of the shag. Not.

I'm really happy to be sewing again. I haven't finished anything since the Rainbow Owl. I've sold a couple of felties since then. I seem to be missing them a little more than I had expected. I guess every feltie I make has a little bit of my love stitched into it (corny much?!). Bahaha. Anyways. Life goes on. More felties come to life!

Back to felting I go!

I do plan to finish that VIFF review sometime...

Universe says : 'Hai thur.'

October is coming in like a lamb, but will be a firecracker of excitement by the start of November..

I've completed my pattern planning for my long-planned giraffe I'm making for a friend's two year old cousin. I'm really excited about it! It's probably the largest scale thing I've done. I special ordered this delicious giraffe print minky fabric from the states - it's so, so soft! It's also going to have cream and brown felt embellishments. Should be fun! I just finished building a paper model of this giraffe. I like having it SUPER planned out before I start cutting fabric, especially when it's nice fabric. I think the legs and neck are going to be a little shorter and the head a little smaller, but it will look rather similar to this. I'm actually quite fond of this paper fellow that I have constructed. He sort of has a personality, don't you think?

I have talked to my film instructor about the film I proposed on paper on Monday. I was so nervous about this (the cappuccino I had right before I went in didn't help the anxiety so much). But it turns out, she liked the idea and said I was quite clear with my description. She gave me some great pointers on how to focus the purpose of the film a little more. It is going to be absolutely amazing! The shot list is due next week, I may post some 'teaser' storyboard panels if I feel like it. I've come up short on finding a kind of paint that adheres to film without flaking or being too opaque. It seems ink is my only option. I'll see what I can do with that! I shoot my film start of November. Then I get  to show it to the first audience I've had since high school. Should be.... nerve wracking.

Also happening next week: proficiency tests with film equipment, film midterm exam. My Aunt is coming into town on Thursday, which should be fun! We've got five VIFF films lined up, possible plans to go see The Guardians of Gahoole (seriously cannot get over how adorable those owls are), and on Saturday we're having my Gran and a friend over for a Thanksgiving superfeast. After my Aunt departs, then my Dad's coming to visit for a few days. While he's here, I hope to check out the Body Worlds exhibit at Science World, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and also have him move my refrigerator for me.

One thing I've started doing is drawing onto old book pages. I have this copy of Doctor Zhivago that I bought for a dollar my first semester at University., read once, and truly, truly did not understand what it was about. It was a pretty haggard copy when I got it, and by the time I finished with it, it was basically falling apart. It's an edition from the 60's, so it's got a bit of that gorgeous brown tint around the edges of the pages. The pages have also become quite brittle. I did a set of botany drawings on them. They can be seen on my Deviantart (here, here and here) or on my Etsy! I'm quite proud of them. The pitcher plant is my favorite, inks wise. The ginkgo is my favorite colours wise. The orchid I'm not too fond of, I screwed up the perspective a bit and it turned out a little sloppy.

I went to see Let Me In (which I kept confusing with Never Let Me Go,  for some foolish reason) with a friend this evening. I wasn't entirely sure what it was about going in, which always makes for fun viewing. It is a remake of a Swedish film that I haven't seen (yet), it's about a fairly bizarre relationship between a young boy and a vampire who appears to be a 12 year old girl. Aside from the bizarre pacing of the film, it was creepy. It was a creepy relationship that had moments of innocent, adolescent cuteness, punctuated by lots and lots of blood. The whole film (plus the temperature of the theater) made me feel strangely cold. What was refreshing about it, however, was what a vampire actually was. I've been hearing way too much about this sparkly-man-Twilight nonsense. A cold, dark, slightly bloody film with an odd spark of  a relationship that endures a remarkable number of horrors.

I'm realizing, lately, my severe lack of horror movie knowledge. I mean, I have seen remarkably few. Maybe I'll turn this October into my horror month. Tell me things I need to watch!

Two things that go amazing together: Genetics readings and the Blade Runner soundtrack. So awesome!

Phrase I haven't heard in a while: nah nah nah nah boo boo.

Anyways, tomorrow is a big day of Aquarium, begging for a job, film lab, shopping, baking, furious cleaning and maybe a nap. Hope everyone has a great rest of their week!

What I'd really like to be doing right now. Via.