As you all may have cleverly deduced, it's almost Christmas.
My sister Sharon and I had this tradition where we would watch The Muppets Christmas Carol every year on Christmas Eve to get into the holiday spirit and all that.
Since we are now both a bit older (ie teenagers rather than tiny humans) we decided to find a new Christmas movie to watch every year.
On our search for a more 'sophisticated' movie, we came across The Hogfather.
The Hogfather is based on a book of the same name by our favourite author Terry Pratchett.
It's a TV movie from 2006, so, the special effects are a bit well, basic, but once you get past that it's a hilarious movie.
Basically, The Hogfather (Discworld's version of Santa) has gone missing, and Death must take his place while Susan, (Death's granddaughter) attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery.
You wouldn't think Death would make a good Santa, but Terry Pratchett's Death does. He really cares about humans and tries very hard to get into the 'spirit of Hogswatch'. However, since he is basically a large animated skeleton, it's rather amusing to watch him trying to play Santa.
There are lots of funny moments (and a few adorable ones involving puppies) but my favourite one involves a snowman and (I won't go into more details because SPOILERS).
I will do another more in-depth review of this movie at a later date, but I thought I'd just do a quick post about how cool this movie is.
You can watch it on Youtube by the way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaOHaBaKq-8
Anyway, I'd better get back to creating our Christmas gingerbread creation (all will be revealed in a later post).
Merry Christmas!!!
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Doctor Who Gift Box Part 3 - River Song Journal
This is the third part of the Doctor Who gift box I made for one of my friends.
River Song's 'Spoilers' Journal was one of my favourite props from the show (apart from the TARDIS of course). It's really elegant and simplistic and I love how it reflects the TARDIS, and I have always wanted to have a go at making one myself.
I started by looking at a couple of tutorials on the internet, the main one I used can be found at this link http://indellibleink.com/2011/11/dr-who-journal/
I kind of used it for a reference point, but I made up my own measurements and stuff.
I started out by finding a hardback journal. I didn't want one that was really specific and had the year and all the dates and stuff so I just got one that was filled with blank pages.
I ended up getting a blue hardcover buffalo journal from this awesome shop called Typo.
After that, I basically used the steps I outlined in the box part:
Drew a rectangle the size of the book.
Used a ruler to measure lines I would cut along.
Cut along all the lines.
Trimmed the pieces until they fit properly.
Stuck everything on until it looked like the picture of River Song's Journal.
I cut out a piece of cardboard the correct length and size for the spine.
After that, I looked at a picture of the spine of River Song's Journal and then cut the piece of cardboard into what I thought looked like the correct sizes. Then I glued them on.
Then I mixed up blue paints until I got the correct colour. Next I painted the whole thing, being careful not to get paint on the pages. After that I covered all painted surfaces with glaze.
This diary wasn't too hard to make. The part that took the longest, was all the measuring and cutting out. The size of the pieces depends on the size of the surface you are covering.
Sorry I don't have any detailed measurements, as I said, I was doing it all by eye and cutting off bits as I went.
River Song's 'Spoilers' Journal was one of my favourite props from the show (apart from the TARDIS of course). It's really elegant and simplistic and I love how it reflects the TARDIS, and I have always wanted to have a go at making one myself.
I started by looking at a couple of tutorials on the internet, the main one I used can be found at this link http://indellibleink.com/2011/11/dr-who-journal/
I kind of used it for a reference point, but I made up my own measurements and stuff.
I started out by finding a hardback journal. I didn't want one that was really specific and had the year and all the dates and stuff so I just got one that was filled with blank pages.
I ended up getting a blue hardcover buffalo journal from this awesome shop called Typo.
After that, I basically used the steps I outlined in the box part:
Drew a rectangle the size of the book.
Used a ruler to measure lines I would cut along.
Cut along all the lines.
Trimmed the pieces until they fit properly.
Stuck everything on until it looked like the picture of River Song's Journal.
I cut out a piece of cardboard the correct length and size for the spine.
After that, I looked at a picture of the spine of River Song's Journal and then cut the piece of cardboard into what I thought looked like the correct sizes. Then I glued them on.
Then I mixed up blue paints until I got the correct colour. Next I painted the whole thing, being careful not to get paint on the pages. After that I covered all painted surfaces with glaze.
 |
| Sorry the picture quality is so bad, the light was terrible |
This diary wasn't too hard to make. The part that took the longest, was all the measuring and cutting out. The size of the pieces depends on the size of the surface you are covering.
Sorry I don't have any detailed measurements, as I said, I was doing it all by eye and cutting off bits as I went.
Friday, 14 November 2014
The Story of Reading
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| The hectic mess that is my bookshelf |
The first book I can remember reading all the way through by
myself is Sam and the Firefly by P.D.
Eastman. It’s called an I Can Read It All
By Myself Beginner Book.
Sam and the Firefly is about an owl called Sam who wants to have fun, but everyone is asleep. He meets a firefly called Gus who at first seems a nice law-abiding citizen but then goes on to cause some major air and road accidents (spoiler, Gus ‘redeems’ himself in the end and all is happiness and joy. Except for the hundreds of people who probably died in those air and road disasters. You really don’t think about things like that when you’re five years old.)
Anyway, I grabbed this book of the bookshelf, sat myself down in the middle of my parents bed and read the whole thing out-loud to myself. I then nearly keeled over from exhaustion.
I was immensely proud of myself, and proceeded to tell any adult who would listen about my enormous achievement.
It wasn’t even a very good book, even for a five year old child, but it was the feeling of reading a book all the way to the end that I liked, so I kept going.
Sam and the Firefly is about an owl called Sam who wants to have fun, but everyone is asleep. He meets a firefly called Gus who at first seems a nice law-abiding citizen but then goes on to cause some major air and road accidents (spoiler, Gus ‘redeems’ himself in the end and all is happiness and joy. Except for the hundreds of people who probably died in those air and road disasters. You really don’t think about things like that when you’re five years old.)
Anyway, I grabbed this book of the bookshelf, sat myself down in the middle of my parents bed and read the whole thing out-loud to myself. I then nearly keeled over from exhaustion.
I was immensely proud of myself, and proceeded to tell any adult who would listen about my enormous achievement.
It wasn’t even a very good book, even for a five year old child, but it was the feeling of reading a book all the way to the end that I liked, so I kept going.
The first proper chapter books I read were ‘The Famous Five’ and
‘The Secret Seven’ by Enid Blyton (I would hazard a guess that these were many
many children’s first chapter books). Although I look cynically upon those
fictional children’s exploits now, I adored them when I was younger. I must
have read every book about three times each.
From there I moved onto Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew and anything else I could get my hands on, well anything that had a girl as the main character. I should mention, that this was a time in my life when I refused to read anything with a boy as the main character because, boys were gross and I could not relate to their petty problems (Ironically this was also the time where I was a major tom-boy).
After a while though, thanks to The Hardy Boys, I decided that books with boys in them were overall more exciting, so I broadened my reading material somewhat.
At this point, kind of stopped going outside so much and started reading a whole lot more, I blame this for my current sedentary lifestyle.
If I did have to go for a walk or something, I would read my book all the way there and all the way back, ignoring the exclamations of adults who told me I would be run over because I wasn’t paying attention (spoiler: I didn’t get run over).
I would also read everywhere else as well, in the car until I felt like puking, while I was brushing my teeth, way past my bedtime with a pocket torch, and even, I cringe to admit this, under the table when we went to a restaurant for dinner (I had even less social skills than I currently possess ok!)
After the whole Enid Blyton, kids having heinously dangerous adventures books (I am actually surprised I never tried sneaking out of my house at night after reading them) I embarked on a life of crime.
My book with proper crime in it was the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes.
This opened up a whole new world for me, not only did it give me a life-long love of crime fiction, but it also meant I became kind of obsessed with historical fiction.
After that, I moved onto the works of Agatha Christie. This, was entirely my mother’s fault. While we were at the library one day, she said “maybe you’d like Agatha Christie, but they might be a bit old for you at the moment”. I of course pestered her until she showed me Agatha Christie’s books and let me get several out. This is highly ironic, because Mum is the one who now worries when I recount the latest true crime documentary I have watched, or tell her interesting facts about how you can dissolve flesh using only laundry detergent and water.
From there I moved onto Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew and anything else I could get my hands on, well anything that had a girl as the main character. I should mention, that this was a time in my life when I refused to read anything with a boy as the main character because, boys were gross and I could not relate to their petty problems (Ironically this was also the time where I was a major tom-boy).
After a while though, thanks to The Hardy Boys, I decided that books with boys in them were overall more exciting, so I broadened my reading material somewhat.
At this point, kind of stopped going outside so much and started reading a whole lot more, I blame this for my current sedentary lifestyle.
If I did have to go for a walk or something, I would read my book all the way there and all the way back, ignoring the exclamations of adults who told me I would be run over because I wasn’t paying attention (spoiler: I didn’t get run over).
I would also read everywhere else as well, in the car until I felt like puking, while I was brushing my teeth, way past my bedtime with a pocket torch, and even, I cringe to admit this, under the table when we went to a restaurant for dinner (I had even less social skills than I currently possess ok!)
After the whole Enid Blyton, kids having heinously dangerous adventures books (I am actually surprised I never tried sneaking out of my house at night after reading them) I embarked on a life of crime.
My book with proper crime in it was the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes.
This opened up a whole new world for me, not only did it give me a life-long love of crime fiction, but it also meant I became kind of obsessed with historical fiction.
After that, I moved onto the works of Agatha Christie. This, was entirely my mother’s fault. While we were at the library one day, she said “maybe you’d like Agatha Christie, but they might be a bit old for you at the moment”. I of course pestered her until she showed me Agatha Christie’s books and let me get several out. This is highly ironic, because Mum is the one who now worries when I recount the latest true crime documentary I have watched, or tell her interesting facts about how you can dissolve flesh using only laundry detergent and water.
By the time I was fourteen, I had worked my way up through
the children and young adult sections at the library and had embarked on the
rather large and daunting adult section.
I would go home from trips to the library with a bag of books which probably weighed more than I did. And the books would be anything, from Jaimie Oliver cook books to Napoleonic spy novels to Forensic Science handbooks.
I still get massive bags of books out from the library, and sometimes I even manage to get through all of them before they’re due back.
I would go home from trips to the library with a bag of books which probably weighed more than I did. And the books would be anything, from Jaimie Oliver cook books to Napoleonic spy novels to Forensic Science handbooks.
I still get massive bags of books out from the library, and sometimes I even manage to get through all of them before they’re due back.
I am quite a fast reader, so if I’m not doing anything else
I can potentially get through about three books in a day.
The problem is however, I can’t just read one book right through and THEN start another one. Instead, I’ll be reading about seven or eight at the same time, reading a few chapters of one and then another throughout the day. Due to this, I usually finish quite a few books at the same time (usually about five minutes before I have to take them back to the library).
My personal library is at about 200 volumes at the moment and growing all the time. I can see myself potentially becoming one of those people who has furniture made of books because they have run out of bookshelf space.
The problem is however, I can’t just read one book right through and THEN start another one. Instead, I’ll be reading about seven or eight at the same time, reading a few chapters of one and then another throughout the day. Due to this, I usually finish quite a few books at the same time (usually about five minutes before I have to take them back to the library).
My personal library is at about 200 volumes at the moment and growing all the time. I can see myself potentially becoming one of those people who has furniture made of books because they have run out of bookshelf space.
So anyway, that’s basically the story of how I started reading.
What’s the first book you can remember reading? Let me know
in the comments.
If you comment I will reply.
If you comment I will reply.
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| More books |
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| Random places I have used to store books |
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| Another bookshelf |
Thursday, 13 November 2014
School is Over
I'm back!
My exams are over and I have officially finished school forever YAY! (Now I only have five years of university to go).
I have four months off before I start university so I will be able to post things more often (that is if my tendency to procrastinate doesn't take over).
My exams are over and I have officially finished school forever YAY! (Now I only have five years of university to go).
I have four months off before I start university so I will be able to post things more often (that is if my tendency to procrastinate doesn't take over).
Monday, 20 October 2014
Exams
My exams start next week so I am frantically studying. Due to this I won't be blogging until they are over. See you in November.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Doctor Who Gift Box Part 2 - River Song/TARDIS Box
After making the Sonic Screwdriver, I decided to make a box to put everything in.
I decided to decorate the box to look like the River Song Journal I was going to make as part of the present (I will post about the journal later).
I started by finding a box of the right size.
The box I ended up with was really pretty and I was kind of sad to paint over it, but it ended up looking awesome in the end.
Things I used:
I used this blog post about someone who did a DIY River Song Journal as a reference http://indellibleink.com/2011/11/dr-who-journal/
I started out by measuring the size of the box and then drawing an accurate rectangle of that size onto my cardboard.
Then I used the ruler to pencil in the lines I would need to cut along.
Basically, it looked like this:
When I'd done that, (and it took agggggeeeees) I used a craft knife to cut along all the black lines.
I didn't write down the measurements I used as I basically made it up as I went along, and anyway I had to constantly trim bits off so all the pieces fitted together right.
What I found helped, was looking at the example I found online and then trimming the pieces until they looked the same distance apart as the example.
Then, I stuck it all on piece by piece.
After that, my sister (she's good with colours) helped me mixed up different blue paints until I was happy with the colour. Then I painted it.
I painted in stages, doing one side at a time, using a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.
I then went back and covered up any spots I missed. The main thing to watch out for is the gaps around the squares, the paint tends to pool in there and then dry so I kept scooping out the extra paint with a toothpick or paintbrush.
When I'd done that I mixed up a lighter blue paint and painted the inside of the box and the lid.
Then I used Mod Podge to glaze and seal all the surfaces.
I decided to decorate the box to look like the River Song Journal I was going to make as part of the present (I will post about the journal later).
I started by finding a box of the right size.
The box I ended up with was really pretty and I was kind of sad to paint over it, but it ended up looking awesome in the end.
Things I used:
- A box
- Thick cardboard
- A craft knife
- Glue
- Various shades of blue paint
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Mod Podge
 |
| Original box, this is the bottom, it had a black lid. |
I used this blog post about someone who did a DIY River Song Journal as a reference http://indellibleink.com/2011/11/dr-who-journal/
I started out by measuring the size of the box and then drawing an accurate rectangle of that size onto my cardboard.
Then I used the ruler to pencil in the lines I would need to cut along.
Basically, it looked like this:
When I'd done that, (and it took agggggeeeees) I used a craft knife to cut along all the black lines.
I didn't write down the measurements I used as I basically made it up as I went along, and anyway I had to constantly trim bits off so all the pieces fitted together right.
What I found helped, was looking at the example I found online and then trimming the pieces until they looked the same distance apart as the example.
Then, I stuck it all on piece by piece.
After that, my sister (she's good with colours) helped me mixed up different blue paints until I was happy with the colour. Then I painted it.
I painted in stages, doing one side at a time, using a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.
I then went back and covered up any spots I missed. The main thing to watch out for is the gaps around the squares, the paint tends to pool in there and then dry so I kept scooping out the extra paint with a toothpick or paintbrush.
When I'd done that I mixed up a lighter blue paint and painted the inside of the box and the lid.
Then I used Mod Podge to glaze and seal all the surfaces.
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Doctor Who Gift Box Part 1 - Sonic Screwdriver Pen
Last weekend I went to a friend's birthday party. Since she is a Doctor Who fan I decided to make her a present of that theme.
No Doctor Who Gift Box would be complete without a sonic screwdriver, so that was the first thing I made.
Sadly, I forgot to take step by step pictures as I was making it, so I will just have to make this up as I go along. Below are picture of what the various supplies I used look like.
I removed and discarded the actual highlighter bit and the plastic thing attached to it.
After that I cut the little handle thingie of the lid.
Then, I cut the top off the highlighter lid. The hole this made is where I eventually glued on the round glass bead which is the sonic screwdriver 'light'.
With the bottom of the highlighter, I made a hole in the end, big enough to poke the tip of a pen through.
After that, I mixed up so black and white pain to make a sort of silvery-grey colour and painted Part A and B. After using a hairdryer to speed up the drying process, I covered the paint in glaze.
Following that, I poked Part C through part B until the tip went through the hole in part B and it looked kind of like an actual pen. Then I used a hot glue gun to glue around the tip of the pen, fastening it to the outside of the pen. When the glue was dry I painted over it in the grey and glazed it so it didn't stand out.
Then, I poked some glue down into Part B so that Part C would be a bit more secure.
Wow, sorry this is sounding so confusing, it sounded much easier in my head!
Anyway, after that I got the clear plastic casing I had broken off my INC pen ie Part E.
I put glue all over the opening of Part B and then shoved Part E on as far as it would go.
I now had the bottom of my pen, complete with ink and tip.
I slipped Part D (the spring) over part C and it slid down until it came to the barrier made by the dried glue. The spring serves absolutely no purpose, I just thought it made the pen look nicer.
When I'd done that, I glued Part E into Part A.
When this had all dried, I decorated it.
I glued Part G (the bead) onto the hole I had made in Part A by cutting off the top earlier.
Then, I got Part F and shoved it onto Part A as far as it would go (and so the bead 'light' was sticking out and not covered).
For Part H I removed the rubber grips from two pens and cut them in half longways. I glued one to Part B and then trimmed the other until they fit together and looked like one large rubber grip. Then I glued that one on too.
As a finishing touch, I found a long blue seed bead in my bead box and glued it onto Part A so that it looked like a button. To glue I on I used the mod podge glaze.
Sorry if that was hard to understand, it is waaaaaay harder to try and explain how to do something after you have done it than step by step. If you want to make your own sonic screwdriver pen design, just grab some office stationary and play around until are happy with the end result.
I was very happy with how my pen turned out :)
Here are some more pictures of the finished pen.
No Doctor Who Gift Box would be complete without a sonic screwdriver, so that was the first thing I made.
Sadly, I forgot to take step by step pictures as I was making it, so I will just have to make this up as I go along. Below are picture of what the various supplies I used look like.
 |
| Highlighters Parts A & B Source: http://24hourwristbands.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Brazil_highlighter_50f72fa05b302.jpg |
 |
| Ball Point Pen Part E |
- Part A and Part B - Highlighter
- Part C - The Plastic Ink filled part of a ball point pen
- Part D - Spring from a ball point pen
- Part E - Clear plastic casing from a INC Alias 1.0 pen
- Part F - Rubber grip from a pen
- Part G - Round glass bead
- Part H - Two rubber grips from pens
I removed and discarded the actual highlighter bit and the plastic thing attached to it.
After that I cut the little handle thingie of the lid.
Then, I cut the top off the highlighter lid. The hole this made is where I eventually glued on the round glass bead which is the sonic screwdriver 'light'.
With the bottom of the highlighter, I made a hole in the end, big enough to poke the tip of a pen through.
After that, I mixed up so black and white pain to make a sort of silvery-grey colour and painted Part A and B. After using a hairdryer to speed up the drying process, I covered the paint in glaze.
Following that, I poked Part C through part B until the tip went through the hole in part B and it looked kind of like an actual pen. Then I used a hot glue gun to glue around the tip of the pen, fastening it to the outside of the pen. When the glue was dry I painted over it in the grey and glazed it so it didn't stand out.
Then, I poked some glue down into Part B so that Part C would be a bit more secure.
Wow, sorry this is sounding so confusing, it sounded much easier in my head!
Anyway, after that I got the clear plastic casing I had broken off my INC pen ie Part E.
I put glue all over the opening of Part B and then shoved Part E on as far as it would go.
I now had the bottom of my pen, complete with ink and tip.
I slipped Part D (the spring) over part C and it slid down until it came to the barrier made by the dried glue. The spring serves absolutely no purpose, I just thought it made the pen look nicer.
When I'd done that, I glued Part E into Part A.
When this had all dried, I decorated it.
I glued Part G (the bead) onto the hole I had made in Part A by cutting off the top earlier.
Then, I got Part F and shoved it onto Part A as far as it would go (and so the bead 'light' was sticking out and not covered).
For Part H I removed the rubber grips from two pens and cut them in half longways. I glued one to Part B and then trimmed the other until they fit together and looked like one large rubber grip. Then I glued that one on too.
As a finishing touch, I found a long blue seed bead in my bead box and glued it onto Part A so that it looked like a button. To glue I on I used the mod podge glaze.
Sorry if that was hard to understand, it is waaaaaay harder to try and explain how to do something after you have done it than step by step. If you want to make your own sonic screwdriver pen design, just grab some office stationary and play around until are happy with the end result.
I was very happy with how my pen turned out :)
Here are some more pictures of the finished pen.
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