7 Awesome Things
Another addition to the Cute, Cuddly Critter mittens charts - pandas! (Hard to go wrong, there!) Pattern to be released soon!
I spend time every day reading books, blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, and more, all to find inspiration or learn more things that will help me be a better writer/designer/domestic goddess. These are 7 things I recently fell in love with--weighted a little towards the fantasy fangirl/geek in me this month.
Hope you like 'em, too!
Geek Couture fashion show at San Diego Comic-Con 2014
The Marty McFly outfit from Back to the Future won the competition, but every design was chalk-full of clever details that true fangirls would love to add to their closet. See full slideshow on PopSugar.
With nods to everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica to Avengers, Transformers, Game of Thrones, the Hobbit, and even The Little Mermaid, this slide show of geek cultural icons transformed into couture fashions was a Cornucopia of eye candy. (Yes, The Hunger Games got several featured designs, too.) Fashion is fun, and there's nothing more fun than taking something that one would never conceive of as fashionable (a Dalek, for example) and turning it into a wedding dress. Right?
Well, okay, maybe a few things. But let's, ahem, keep this family-friendly, folks.
Little Red Riding Hood Fantasy Coat
While we're talking about dressing up, sometimes I wish I had more excuses to do so, because I totally want to wear this Little Red Riding Hood Costume:
I have loved fantasy since I was a child, but since my fiction reading time is limited I sometimes hesitate to commit to a new series/ After all, what if it sucks and I spent precious "me-time" figuring that out? This was the case several years ago when Jason and I found ourselves in a Chapters bookstore, staring at the shelves of fantasy novels with no clue what to get.
So I called my sister, knowing that she not only has a good idea of my taste, she has also read much more extensively in this genre than I have--and she's rarely steered us wrong. That day, Jason picked up the first book of a new series by Peter Brett (The Warded Man), and I started on the 14-book epic Wheel of Time series. And I LOVE it. While stylistically, it definitely reflects the era when it was written (beginning circa 1970s, I believe), the world and the characters and the many interweaving plot lines make my jaw drop with every volume I complete. I've got book number nine waiting for me right now--as my self-reward for getting taxes done. SO. CLOSE!
(Disclosure: These are affiliate links to Amazon.)
Lord of the Rings Time... Again
When I was a kid, we watched Fiddler on the Roof every Christmas. I don't know why. But I love it, and can't get enough of musicals to this day.
As an adult, I'm not sure how our own family tradition got started exactly, but my kids seem to be under the impression that we must watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy every Christmas. With extended Director's Cuts editions and now that The Hobbit trilogy has been added, we are looking at roughly twenty hours of footage to endure the full marathon about the saga of Middle Earth.
Yikes. I love me my fantasy, but sometimes the thought of sitting through the whole thing again is a little overwhelming. (So far this winter we have only completed The Hobbit and the first of the LotR trilogy.)
So, if the thought of a movie marathon to see just what the craze is all about makes your hair curl like a hobbit's, first check out this back-story/Lord of the Rings mythology video that explains it all in just 5 minutes--more thoroughly and in less time than happens at the beginnings of The Fellowship of the Ring. (You probably don't even have time to make the popcorn!)
After that, you can either call yourself done--or dive into the marathon anyway. (Because every so often, you just gotta.)
And on that note:
Which are bigger- eagles in Middle Earth or griffins in #Narnia? #LotR #geekquestions
— Talena Winters (@TalenaWinters) January 16, 2016Use the Force
Tea Fixes (Many) Things
There are too many of these kinds of problems in life. Thank goodness for the ones tea can take care of!
Happy weekend, friends!
