Cartoon Shoes, Alien TP, & The Cutest Mini Moon Knight

Happy Tuesday, adventurers! I come bearing treasure from the distant wilds of the spidery inter-webs.

Also this photo of a yard here in Florida:

(pic by Sherry K, friend of a FoE.)

Just 'cuz.

:D

 

Starting with the latest custom kicks by the queen of cell-shading herself, Ginoza Costuming:

HEART-EYES

 

These are themed to the new Borderlands video game Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, which I can't wait to play with John. 

Even if you're not a fan of the game, though, who wouldn't want cartoon shoes? Here are more Brittani's painted:

 

You can see more - including Brittani's internationally acclaimed cosplay - at the Ginoza Costuming Facebook page. (Srsly, prepare to have your jaw drop. This woman's got SKILLS.)

*****

Because I'm a sucker for all things glowy and colorful, I bring you the creations of Fiore Di Luce, or Flowers of Light, in Milano, Italy:

My Google Translate isn't working, but I believe these are all handmade by a single couple, Elisabetta & Pier. From the process photos the lamps look like a form of paper fiber stretched over individual wire frames. Amazing.

Their lamps and pendant lights come in all sorts of fantastical floral designs, plus there are a few with butterfly wings:

Hang Your Game Controllers With This Renter-Friendly, $1 Hack!

If you play video games - or live with someone who does - you know corralling all the controllers can be a pain. You want them out for easy access, but not cluttering up your end tables.

I'm a fan of wall mounts to free up horizontal spaces, so after a little googling I found these clever stick-on wall brackets from Playstation:

They cost $16 for the pair, though. Harrumph.

So how about we DIY a set of five brackets for just a dollar? Yep, that's it, one buckaroo.

Here's how my one dollar version looks:



They can fit any console controllers, and are practically invisible on the wall.

 John I've been using ours almost daily for about 3 months now, so I can tell you they're super sturdy. Best of all they look so clean and organized! It makes me happy every time I hang my controller up.

We mounted them next to John's chair in the fan cave, so they're within easy reach:

Right, ready to see the big one dollar secret?

All you need is this pack of tool hooks from Dollar Tree:

These Pokémon Terrariums Turn Nintendo Game Systems Into Magical 3D Worlds

 Y'ALL.

I just found an artist on Instagram doing something I've never seen before - are you ready for this?

 

 LOOKIE

 Jennifer Z. of Oh Honeydew takes custom Nintendo covers - not the actual game system, don't worry! -  and transforms them into the most breathtaking Pokémon terrariums.

 Jennifer creates detailed floral scenes to complement each colored case, with exquisite little trees, flowers, and even mushrooms!

She also put screenshots from the show onto the back screen, so they look like little windows.

C'mon. How magical is this??

This pink, black, and gray color scheme is speaking to my soul. So good.

I think her DS style is my favorite, since it looks like an open book:

Kingdom Hearts 3: The Good, The Bad, & The One Reason I Keep Yelling At The Screen

Here's a first for me: I started playing a video game the very day it was released! Me! The girl who stumbles on to every Popular Thing at least 2 years too late!

I didn't plan to play Kingdom Hearts 3 this soon, but John brought it home Wednesday night as a surprise. "Here," he said, "you can play this while I'm re-plumbing the house." Which was the most romantic thing anyone has ever said in the history of the entire world.

I'm about 9 hours into the game, and as one might expect, I have thoughts. Good thoughts. Bad thoughts. Conflicted thoughts. Thoughts that make me think in short, choppy sentences.

That's right, this is a job for... BULLET POINTS.

The Good:

- The Fighting 

The fighting in Kingdom Hearts has always been fun, but in KH3 it is INSANELY fun. Button-mashing galore, eye-candy combos left and right, and new special moves that call down Disney rides (like Splash Mountain or the Tea Cups) to bash your enemies with. SO SO FUN. 

It's all pretty easy, too, since you use the same 3 buttons to do all your combo moves. So just keep mashin' away, follow the prompts on screen, and cool things are gonna happen.

- The Exploring

The graphics and areas maps are gorgeous, of course, and just like the previous games you can smash most things around you to get health and rewards. There are also hidden chests, food ingredients, and a scavenger hunt for Hidden Mickeys that make exploring just as much fun as the fighting.

 

 - The Themed Lands

Let's be honest, this is the main draw for all of us, right? Getting to play inside your favorite Disney movies? And seeing all of Sora's themed outfits and Keyblades?

In Toy Story land, they're actual toys! Eeee!

Honestly, these 3 things are all I want out of Kingdom Hearts: I want to explore the Disney-themed worlds, watch a fun cut scene or two, and smash bad guys with giant teacups shooting fireworks. You know, the little things.

Ahhh, but enter...

The Bad:

- The Gummi Ship travel

Ug, tedious and not fun. The graphics are a little better than the last KH, but let's be real: no one is playing Kingdom Hearts to customize a LEGO rocket ship and navigate - slowly - around asteroids. Basically an unskippable intermission on the way to the good stuff.

That's a minor quibble compared to the one TRULY bad thing, though:

DIY Overwatch Pop-Up Card - Free Templates!

Here's a super simple craft I put together that I am ridiculously excited about, because it combines two things I love: pop-up cards and Overwatch.

Eh? Eh?!

 

(For you non-addicts: "Heroes never die" is something this character, Mercy, says in the game. A lot.)

And best of all, I've done all the hard stuff for you! I'll give you the template below, so all you have to do is print, cut, and glue.

You also have the option of swapping out Mercy for another character. The graphic I used is one of the "cute big-head" sprays from inside the game, so you can find almost all of the other characters with a quick Google search:

The font I used is Coalition (a free download here) which is pretty close to the official Overwatch logo font, in case you want to make your own card with a different saying.

But for those of you who like mine the way it is, let's do this:

YOU WILL NEED:

- printed template (right-click and download the graphic below)

I Finally Started Playing Overwatch! SEND HELP.

I blame all the cosplay, really.

This past year almost every time I didn't recognize an amazing costume, it was from this game "Overwatch." I was intrigued, but once I heard you had to play online - you know, with real live human strangers, I was like, NOPE.

Then some of my friends started playing, and I kept reading more and more about it online, and my favorite artists were posting gorgeous fan art, and THEN I heard about a 2-week free trial on Xbox Live... and the time had come.

 (You can also play on PS4 and PC, if you don't have an Xbox One. You need an internet connection for all of them, though.)

So John and I rented Overwatch from Redbox (Fun Fact: you can rent games from Redbox!) and fired 'er up several weekends back.

About a month later, and I'm helplessly hooked. (HEYO ROADHOG PUN!) It was a bumpy ride at first, though; after the first few days I told John I didn't want to play again EVER, and it took some adjustments before I could really start to have fun with it. So I thought I might throw this review out there, in case any of you are thinking about taking the plunge.

The first thing you should know about Overwatch is it's hella confusing at first. There's a laughably simple "tutorial," then you're on your own in a maze of character and play options. Like most games nowadays, you just have to muddle through and learn as you go. Fortunately it doesn't take long to get up to speed, though.

In a nutshell, Overwatch is a tournament fighting game. You're placed on one of two teams, then instructed to either attack or defend an objective during a timed match. There's no story to follow, no mystery to unravel; you just fight. Obviously this requires FPS (first person shooter) skills, but if you're not great, there are ways to practice outside of the "real" games. More on that in a sec.

The second thing you should know about Overwatch is that you die. A lot. Sometimes over and over and over, in fact. That's not just my lousy hand-eye-coordination talking; everyone dies a lot. It's part of the game. You immediately respawn, though, so dying just means the inconvenience of running all the way back to the fight. Well, that and the frustration of being soundly trounced for the eighth time in a row. :D

Which brings me to the third thing you should know: if you can get past the frustration and rage-quitting stage, Overwatch is insanely fun - and even more addictive.

 

The secret is in the enormous cast of characters, or Heroes, you can play. You can fight with everything from a bow and arrow to ray guns. You can fly, leap tall buildings, turn invisible, turn back time, or clomp around in an enormous robot mecha. The variety feels endless, and every character has unique abilities to discover, which adds to the fun.

Most players settle on a few favorites and stick with them, but since I'm new I've been switching up my character a lot, just to try them all out. I've been surprised how often I end up really loving a character I wouldn't have picked otherwise, and hating others that are really popular.

The game locations have a lot of variety, too; you could be in a space-age industrial factory, a quaint Mexican plaza, or pretty stone ruins in a German forest. It's all beautiful to look at and incredibly detailed:

As a reward for the battles you gain medals and experience points, plus "Loot Boxes" filled with customizations for the characters. Each character has maybe 20 different "skins," along with different things they can say or do, so collecting all the goodies is a real incentive.

  

In fact, here's the Bastion skin John's saving up for:

This Fan-Made BioShock Doll Is Perfect For Snuggling, May Or May Not Murder You

If you've played BioShock and/or BioShock 2, then you know Little Sisters are anything but cuddly. They're these ghoulish children wandering around with stabby gun-pacifier things, their eyes glow, and they like to cheer on whichever Big Daddy is currently pummeling you into the ground.

But at the same time, they retain a sense of innocence, and - mild spoiler? - are really just victims themselves, waiting to be rescued and turned back into sweet little kids again.

Literally the least creepy screen-grab I could find. I've played both games multiple times, but I'm telling you, some of Google's pics and gifs are friggin' terrifying. Ha!

Which is why Kari Parham's custom Little Sister doll is both brilliant and gives me all the grabby hands:

 
WANT.

Granted, my tolerance for creepy dolls is pretty high, but c'mon: this is adorable, right? Don't you just want to squeeze her? And then wake your husband up with her sweet little face RIGHT NEXT TO HIS?

:D

PLUS, Kari made this incredible display for her! 

So perfect it looks photoshopped - but it's not! Kari just set her handmade display (the floor and cage-like walls) in front of the TV to give it that awesome window-to-Rapture background.

And what's the display made of? 

Foam, paper, and paint??

 My mind, it is boggling.

The world's most perfect night light. 

Just imagine the comforting glow of her eyes and blood syringe, lulling you to sleep each night.

 (Eh, John?)

And look, accessories!

I first thought the Big Daddy doll was the ThinkGeek exclusive from years ago (I have one, and it is a prized possession), but no, Kari made that all from scratch! (Wha whaaaa?) She also made the ADAM syringe - aka the stabby blood gun thing - which lights up. Both in a suitcase just like ones seen in the game.

And can we pause to appreciate the paint work and aging on that floor and trim? Because HNNNNNG SO GOOD.

 If the doll seems familiar, it's because Kari modified an old My Child doll from the 80s - remember these?

 

I asked Kari for the scoop on the glowing eyes, and she told me she sculpted them from translucent clay, then lit them from behind with LEDs. There's a push button in the hair bow to turn the eyes on and off, and the batteries are accessible through the top of the head, which opens up.

If all that sounds complicated, it's because it was. Kari said it took her over a year of trial-and-error - and more than one ruined doll! - to get it right.

But wow, did she.

 

I can't get over that perfect eye glow. Translucent clay - who knew?  Plus, serious skills on that dress!

Sadly Kari doesn't have a website or page we can follow, but she's working on putting together a Youtube video showing the whole build process, so I'll link that here when she's done. She actually shared all these photos through the BioShock Facebook page, so you can check out her original post here to ask her a question or to give her a virtual high five. (Plus it's a great page to follow anyway, if you're BioShock fan.)

In the mean time, anyone else eyeing old dolls they can retrofit with glowing eyes? Or is that just me?

This Unicorn Princess Has Good News, Also Tsums Too Much

The past week has been lots of routine doctor visits (Tomorrow I have to RUN. On a TREADMILL. NoooOOOOoooo), frantic last minute cosplay crafting (which will never be done in time for MegaCon, but hey, it's fun to try, right?), visits with friends we don't see enough, and of course, stressing about how to fit it all into my incredibly tight schedule of trying to sleep, joking about bad cakes, and Tsum Tsum-ing.

Have I mentioned I made the mistake of downloading BOTH Disney Tsum Tsum *and* Magic Kingdom on my phone last week, and am now a Disney zombot (zombie robot, duh) who hears fairy swishes and chirpy chipmunk voices in her sleep?

John finally pointed out that my feverish poking fits while playing this game are probably not helping my insomnia at night. The adrenaline rush is real, peeps.

Then there's this thing:

TAP ALL THE THINGS.

This one is more relaxing, at least, but for the first 10 minutes I was like, "How does anyone find this addicting? You just tap on check marks!"

[Cut to 3 days later when I'm obsessively opening the app every 15 minutes to tap on check marks.]


Getting back to my doctor stuff, I have good news regarding my Hashimoto's I want to crow about, so STAND BACK:

Ahem hem hem.

[steps up on chair]

[crowing] MY ANTIBODIES ARE STILL DROPPING, AND (here's the best part) I DID IT WITHOUT GIVING UP GLUUUUUTEN!!!

I know that's going to ruffle a lot of feathers out there, but after being lectured by yet another doctor last week about how I had to go GF  - even though all of my tests for gluten sensitivity/allergies were negative, including the rare IgG Antibody test, and even though I did a full month trial and felt zero improvement - it was incredibly satisfying to see said doctor's eyebrows shoot up at my last test results.

My antibodies have steadily decreased with every test since I was first diagnosed with Hashi's, and as I told the doctor - much to his displeasure - I have gluten with every single meal. (MMMM GLUTENY GLUTEN.) My antibodies are down to 136. The goal is zero, of course, but I started around 200 - and keep in mind many Hashi's sufferers have antibodies in the thousands, so I'm one of the fortunate souls who caught it early.

(For those who haven't had to read a bunch of books on this stuff: the antibodies I'm talking about are the things my own body is using to attack my thyroid tissue. Which is why we want zero. And also what makes Hashi's an autoimmune disease.)

Since I was massively deficient in vitamin D when I was first diagnosed a year and a half ago, and a vitamin D deficiency can actually trigger Hashimotos, I believe my silver bullet has been the D drops. Plus maybe the Selenium and other supplements I'm taking.

Anyway, new Doc finally grudgingly admitted that 20% of Hashi's folks maybe *don't* have to go gluten-free, and I was all:

But in a super lady-like manner. (Did I mention I was wearing my rainbow glitter shoes?)

I'm still struggling with energy levels and other less-fun stuff, but we're tweaking some meds and working on it, so there's always hope. I like hope. Hope is good.

One final happy thing: I wore said glitter shoes out to an indie craft show last weekend, and I got more compliments on them than I've ever had on anything ever, possibly including my own wedding. Vendors were literally standing up from behind their tables to watch my feet go by. Then this hair color lady came over and put (temporary) glittery purple and teal streaks in my hair, and I felt like a freaking unicorn princess. It was glorious.

And no, you don't get pics. You just got awkward Jen pics last post! Besides, this:

Slothilda is my spirit animal.

 Happy Tuesday, y'all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go tap some check marks.

Undertale: The 8-Bit RPG To Make You Laugh, Think, Feel

About a month ago one of you suggested I play Undertale, an 8-bit indie game billing itself as "The RPG where you don't have to destroy anyone." I was immediately intrigued. And once I logged on to Steam and saw the overwhelmingly positive reviews - plus the low $10 price tag - I was sold.

You may have seen some Undertale fan art or cosplay around the web, since this little game has already taken parts of the geek community by storm. So even if you don't plan on playing, here are a few non-spoilery reasons I've learned it's so great:

- It's funny.

This is my #1 reason for why you *should* play Undertale, and my chief take-away from my time with it. Most video games suffer from clunky, over-long dialog and convoluted storylines. By contrast, Undertale keeps it relatively short, weird, and laugh-out-loud funny.

I'm a humor writer, so it takes a LOT to pry a laugh out of me, but Undertale's unexpected twists, groan-worthy puns, and gleeful sense of humor kept me chuckling through much of the journey.

 - It's short.

I finished the whole game in 3 nights (at maybe 3 hours each), so Undertale doesn't require a huge time commitment. There's a lot of exploring, though, so you could easily spend more (or less) time in the game.

- It's almost completely non-violent

Almost every battle can be won without fighting, and let me tell you, the non-fighting options are the best part. You can flirt, pet, mimic, or compliment your opponents - often with hilarious results - and those options change with every new baddie you encounter.

This aspect can be a *little* frustrating, since the bad guys are still attacking you, and it takes trial-and-error to figure out which non-violent approach will work for each enemy. But hey, just because the game doesn't require killing doesn't mean it should be easy, right?

On the few occasions when you do have to fight, from what I can tell there is always a "mercy" option after you've knocked their HP down a ways. Be careful, though; I accidentally killed a character very early on, and that messes up the whole storyline and the "pacifist" ending. So try not to kill anyone.

Which reminds me: the mini-games inside the "fights" get surprisingly hard. On some of the boss encounters John and I took turns playing (and losing) over and over. So prepare to die a LOT. Heh.

- It's different.

And in the world of video games, that's huge. It's refreshing to see something this creative, and completely gratifying to watch so many fans embracing it.

 via

The gaming industry as a whole WILL take note of these successes, so remember to vote for what you want to see in gaming with your wallets.


I'll end by saying if you don't choose the pacifist route through Undertale (even by accident, like me), then you're guaranteed to feel like crap by the ending. (If I'd known this at the time, I would have re-started the game immediately after I killed that character.) I won't go into details, suffice to say Undertale is a lovely, heart-felt game that makes you want to solve things peacefully, so by the time you get to the end, you really don't want to fight!

I have to believe this is intentional on the creators' part, and it's admirable, but that doesn't make the non-pacifist ending(s) any easier to swallow as a player. I FELT things, you guys. Unpleasant, singing Behind Blue Eyes to myself feelings.

So next time - since I strongly suspect there will BE a next time - I'll be sure to play much more carefully, and not kill anyone. :D


OK, guys, your turn: have you played Undertale? What'd you think? Share in the comments, but do try to keep it spoiler-free for everyone else, k?

Give Your Funko Pops Extra OOMPH: Easy Aging! (BioShock's Big Daddy & Songbird )

I picked up two big Funko Pops at ThinkGeek the other day: the Big Daddy and Songbird. They're already surprisingly well painted, but even so, I knew a little aging would really make them shine.

It's always fun to age existing vinyl figures and toys, since all you need is black or brown craft paint, a brush, and a wet rag. Paint on, wipe off, VOILÁ. Instant age & extra detailing!

Here's Songbird straight out of the box:

And after aging:

It's a subtle difference since he's already so dark, but see how the stitching on his head really stands out now?

I also painted the stitching on his body suit tan before aging, to give it a little highlight. Then I added metallic silver on his arm grommets & orange and yellow to his eyes. 

That's optional, though; as you can see, the aging does most of the work!

You can see my eye paint is pretty rough, and since I didn't prime it, it will come off the slick plastic if scratched or scrubbed. He's just for display, though, so this is fine for me.

I'm still debating adding a crack to the eye.

Now for the more dramatic transformation: Big Daddy.

My DIY Legend of Zelda Holster Bag

This didn't turn out quite nice enough for me to turn it into a tutorial, but here's a thing I made:

Link's Shield holster bag!

I love holster bags (freedom from purse straps!!), so I'm forever looking for ways to make more of my own. The ones I use now, though, just clip onto my belt loops and are pretty small.  So, I decided to try one with a leg strap.

Plus I wanted an excuse to make more stuff with Friendly Felt.  :)

Initially I made the top straps WAY too long, so after giving it a test run at Supercon - and having it flop all over the place - I shortened those up considerably. This way definitely feels more secure, but I'm still figuring out if the leg strap is more help or hindrance.

Also, since my jeans all seem to dip in the front, I've found the forward top strap goes slack a lot while I'm walking. Maybe that's how they're supposed to work, though?

On the plus side, the leg strap looks cool, and this bag is positively cavernous compared to my other bags.

My sewing skills are abysmal, as you can see by my wonky strap Xs. But hey, I got that zipper installed! Just, uh, don't look too closely at any of the OTHER seams, mkay?

The bag construction is ridiculously simple in theory: two shield outlines, and one long rectangular side piece sewn around the outside edges. (Sew the zipper in the side panel first, though.)

 Turns out it's not nearly as simple in execution, of course: sewing that side panel in was a PAIN - and not at all pretty. I had to really crumple the bag up at times in my sewing machine, and those wrinkles are still kinda there in places. :/ Plus, I didn't quite get the two shield sides to match up perfectly, so there's a wrinkle at one corner - see?

Decorating the front of the shield was the fun part. I drew up the pattern using a prop shield I found online as a reference, cut it all out of Friendly Felt, and used E-6000 to stick the pieces in place. (I read online you can also use white craft glue, but when I used it for the smaller yellow bits, they fell off as soon as the glue dried. Urg.)

There's a loop on the back side for the leg strap to slide through, and the top straps are sewn in place. Easy-peasy. Total material cost for the clips, straps, zipper, and felt was less than $10.

So even though this didn't turn out quite as pretty as I'd hoped, I think it's still decent inspiration fodder for you crafty types out there. Especially since I know I'm THE worst at sewing. I'm sure some of you guys could make this look way better!

I'm determined to make my own everyday holster bag at some point; just have to figure out the best design. And as much as I go to the parks, I'd LOVE to have a water bottle holster, too. Have any of you ever seen one, though?

*****

Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!