Javert - Finished

Finished!

Okay, so technically, I promised a hat, but I'm kinda ready to move on to other things.  Honestly, he'll probably go hat-less until they release the next Les Miserables movie trailer, and then I'll get all worked up and excited about the movie again and decide make his hat.

The only difference between the finished product and the last time you saw him is that trim and buttons have been added to his uniform.  The trim is slim, silver ribbon that's been glued on.  The buttons I actually purchased as do-it-yourself covered buttons, meaning they're meant to be covered in fabric, so that they blend in with the material of the clothing.  But I had no intention of covering them.  I needed smooth silver buttons for his uniform, and buying covered buttons was cheaper than buying the real thing.  The buttons come with a front, that gets covered, and a back that pops into place afterward.  Since there's no fabric, I hot-glued the front and back together and then sewed them on as-is.

And that's about it!

Now that I've got Javert done, and I've got Tokyo in Tulsa out of the way, I feel like I'm open to start up new things.  I'm not totally sure what I'm going to start on, since I have a few different ideas of things I'd like to do.  But I do know that I'd like to get started on some writing.  (Remember earlier when I said my muse wanted me to write stories about some guy named Charles?)  I need to get all my ideas written down and organized, and I have a lot of research and world building to do before I start actually writing.  I debate a bit whether or not to post my writing as I go, but I doubt I will, mostly because I have a habit of getting half-way through a story and then deciding to make major changes to the characters and plot.  If I posted it as I went, I'd end up saying, "Um... guys?... Pretend the last chapter didn't happen.  Also, Riley's name is now inexplicably changed to Emma.  For reasons."

So, yeah, that's where I am.  We'll see what happens from here.

Peace out!

New Project full of Les Mis-y Goodness

I've been very busy crafting this week.  Have I been sewing a dress?  No.  Have I been drawing?  No.  Have I been putting together costumes?  No.

I've been making a plushy, because my artistic ADD kicked in hard core this week.

The Little Mer-seal

muse
-noun
1) One of several goddesses of classical mythology presiding over the arts.
2) A person who serves as a source of inspiration to an artist.

Alternate definition:
The part of an artist responsible for inspiration and creativity, referred to as it's own individual entity, due to it's habit of defying reason, logical thought, and occasionally the wishes of the artist, as if it had a mind of it's own.
Example sentence: "My muse demanded that I draw my favorite character.  After that, my muse must have gotten mad at me for something, because it gave me artist block."


So, for the past, like, two freakin' years, my muse has been all, "I am in love with Trigun!"  This past week, for reasons I will never be able to explain, my muse came to a screeching halt and said, "Vash?  Who's that?  Whatever.  I'm all about making my own characters, baby!"

Knives and Dresses

...are two things that don't usually go together.  This is especially true, considering I'm referring to an anime character whose name is Knives, and he definitely does not wear dresses.  But I would pay to see him in one.

Okay, this time I've got a quick note on "draw impulsively," a drawing, and plans for a dress.

How To: Pillowcase

Alrighty, guys!  Someone requested the instructions for the pillowcase I made, so that's what I've got for you this time.

Anime Pillows

What have I been doing this week, you ask?  Making anime pillows.  Duh.  What else would I be doing?  You think I do normal things like watch TV?  Psht!  No!  I come home from work, jump on the sewing machine, and my life is complete!  (Apparently I have no social life.)

Tailoring, Part Two

I want to start off by saying that I am wearing my Milly Coat even as I type this.

Trying my Hand at Tailoring.

Note:  This blog post is about something I'm CURRENTLY working on, but it takes me a while to get to the point.  Just keep reading.  You'll get there eventually.

I sewed my first item of clothing when I was about eight years old, if I remember right.  It was a pair of shorts made from purple flowered material, and my mother wouldn't let me wear them out of the house.  (I don't blame her, although back then, I thought they were AWESOME!)

My mother did a lot of sewing when I was very young, and would make matching Easter dresses for my sister and I every year until we were old enough that we thought that was kinda uncool. As such, I learned a lot about sewing when I was little.  In fact, I even remember doing those little lacing cards where you thread the yarn through the holes to outline a cartoon character, and I was always annoyed that the string wasn't long enough to do a back-stitch.

Project Completed: Vash the Plushy

I'd like to introduce you to someone.

Now, this blog is called Adventures in Creativity, not Adventures in Anime, so I’ll forgo explaining his character and his show.  I’ll just let that introduction suffice.*

*Vash is the hero and a good guy, but also an outlaw, so he's a little hesitant sometimes to throw around his name.

Who I really wanted you to meet, though, is this guy.

I finished him up just a couple days after my last blog post, but I was slow to post him on here because I’ve been really busy... busy being lazy I mean.  So, what I’d like to talk about is how he was made, and tips I’ve learned in plushy-making, so that other’s can take a stab at it if they like.

The Huggable World of Plushies

"This is Scrump.  I made her.  But her head is too big, so I pretended a bug laid eggs in her ear."
~Lilo, Lilo & Stitch

I remember the day I discovered the craft of plushie making.  I was poking around corners of www.deviantart.com that I had yet to explore and stumbled upon it.  Making your own doll was a completely new concept to me.  The idea of making a doll for a child was within my realm of reasoning, although it conjured images of Raggedy Ann dolls and things with button eyes that came just a little too close to resembling something you cast voodoo spells on.  And it seemed a bit silly to go through so much trouble when you could go to a store and by a doll that wasn’t creepy.  But here were people (lots and lots of people) who could stitch together completely adorable little dolls of just about any fictional character they wanted.  They weren’t creating Raggedy Ann for the sake of giving a toy to a little kid, they were creating cute, huggable versions of their favorite characters for the sake of owning cute huggable versions of their favorite characters.

A lightbulb came on.  I could hug anyone I wanted!  All I had to do was figure out how to make them!

It was as though I had seen the light.  Someday, I would hug the crap out of one of my favorite characters while squeeling like a little girl.  It was my destiny!