By: Faith Pray,
on 10/28/2016
The tiny guys are my way of getting ready for a virtual boo party
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/27/2016
Profiles in History is a huge movie memorabilia house and they’re having a HUGE three day auction that includes some amazing old movie costumes that you would never have thought even still existed. Like Tom Tyler “Captain Marvel” costume from the 1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel serial. Starting bid: $10,000 OR Dick Purcell’s “Captain America” […]
By: bookkm,
on 10/26/2015
Get a load of these wonderful book-themed costumes over at Seeker of Happiness: SOOOO CUTE!!
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| Photo property of Karen Maurer Copyright 2012 |
Otter Loves Halloween! Written and Illustrated by Sam Garton Balzer + Bray 7/21/2015 978-0-06-236666-5 32 pages Age 4—8 . . . .“Hi! I am Otter. “Halloween is the best holiday ever! It is also a …
By: Emily Smith Pearce,
on 11/10/2014
Hope you had a happy Halloween. Ours was lots of fun, and thankfully, the cold and rain held off until right when we were all ready to go in anyway.
This year, I only made one costume, since my daughter only needed a thrifted dress for her “diva” outfit. Our son, seven, wanted to be a bald eagle. He has a thing for birds of prey. At one point it seemed his visions were never going to match up to reality, but in the end, both of us were happy with how it turned out.
It’s made from four thrifted items: brown jammy pants (unaltered), long-sleeved brown T-shirt (sized down), brown henley shirt (cut open and scalloped for the wings), and the cut-off top of a fleece hoodie (sized down and scalloped for feathers). My son made talons made of yellow foam and cardboard. He also made the foam beak, which he attached to a pre-bought plain white eye mask. I tried to convince him to just attach a beak to the hood, but he was having none of that.
I thought he did a great job making eagle poses here. For more semi-homemade costumes from previous years, click here.
Meanwhile, I’ve been slog, slog, slogging through my novel rewrite. Also, enjoying the fact that Bletchley Circle has new episodes. Woo!
Looks like I am not taking off as much time as I thought. I have signed up for two small one day shows in the coming weeks; I go a bit nuts if I stay in my studio for too long.
The first show I am doing is Carnival Noir in downtown Los Angeles this weekend on July 12th. This is a wild event at the Club Monte Cristo; there will be DJs, dancing, magic, burlesque, and plenty of vendors there. This is a 21 and over event only with drink specials and good times for all. Tickets are on sale here.
The following week I will be at the Egyptian Theater for the 4 Hour Film Festival Double Feature and Carnival Masquerade on July 19th. The films being shown are the two classics Freaks and Nosferatu, both amazing and creepy films to chill you to the bone. There will be the Cirque Berzerk along with other live performances. This is also a 21 and over event and tickets are available here.
Have fun and keep creating…
–Diana
The post Some new shows coming up soon… appeared first on Diana Levin Art.
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By: Emily Smith Pearce,
on 9/16/2013
It’s that time of year again. Time to slap together a costume or two! I thought I’d list some of our past hits as inspiration for you.
I don’t put a lot of fuss into making costumes, but I do like them to be comfortable and reusable. My favorite method involves hacking items we find in the thrift store. It’s inexpensive, much of the sewing is already done, and the fabrics are often more comfortable than those used in store-bought costumes.
For details on these costumes:
Center: Turtle Costume
Clockwise, from the top:
Anastasia Romanov (Russian princess)
One more idea for you. My niece is evidently going to be a mermaid, and I loved the look of this simple costume her mom showed me.
I hope these inspire you. This reminds me, I have to get my kids to commit to their costumes now, too. If they had their way, they’d probably get 10 costumes and choose one at the last minute. Ha!
And so begins my blog anew, retooled and with a new focus on things that make you lose your breath. Moments that make you stop and say to yourself, “Yes–this is what life is for!” And all that mundane stuff in between.
Renaissance means starting over, refresh, reboot. So it’s only fitting that it’s that time of year again: Renaissance Faire time! I know, technically it’s always that time of year somewhere, but here it happens throughout May. Sadly there has been so much rain that we have not yet dragged my nephew off to the land of jousts and turkey legs and the king’s roasted nuts, but there’s time yet.
Gentle readers, in the spirit of the Faire, I ask you: have you ever attended? Participated? Do you think it’s ridiculous? Do you go every weekend?What is your favorite part?
I have two favorite Faire memories–from the first I ever attended and from the last.
The first was in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and it was magical. My friends are crazy, and they love to make costumes. I call this crazy because I cannot sew and would never deliberately make myself an outfit that involves boning in any way. But they are amazing, talented individuals, and they love to dress up, so we all put on their incredible handmade costumes and went to the Ren Faire. The weather was perfect, the dill pickles were icy cold, and we stayed until the sun set over the lake at the edge of the Faire grounds. And as we took emotive pictures together against the pink-orange sky, an old drunkard came up and attempted to urinate in the lake. (That isn’t my favorite memory, by the way, that is just the fittingly inappropriate end to a lovely day at the Faire.)
The very last time I went to the Faire, I went with a different group of friends, including D. Some dressed up, and some did not. Once again I found myself in borrowed bits and pieces, because I like to immerse myself. D showed off his axe-throwing skills, and attempted to climb this tricky rope bridge, and I swooned appropriately. Then he got dragged up to dance (because there are never enough willing gentlemen) so of course I had to join him, and we shared our first dance. It rained and it poured, because apparently May is the rainiest month of the year in Tennessee, and we got soaked to the bone and ditched our friends to change clothes and watch movies all afternoon.
I would love to hear about some other favorite Ren Faire locations and memories, so be sure to leave a comment! Tell me what takes your breath away?
By: PJ Hoover,
on 3/18/2013
It was off to the Sherwood Forest Ren Faire this past Saturday. This time I managed to convince a few writing peeps to come along with me, namely Salima Alikhan, Bethany Hegedus, and Sam Clark (our new Austin SCBWI Assistant Regional Adviser). Also it was great in that it was only about 45 minutes away from Austin.
And as always, I think pictures summarize the whole event best!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 3/4/2013
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| photo by www.strinnistudio.com |
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| photo by www.strinnistudio.com |
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| Note all the kids dressed as cowboys/girls and pirates! photo by www.strinnistudio.com |
By: Tara Chang,
on 2/8/2013
5 Stars Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie Laurie A, Jacobs Anne Jewett Flashlight Press 32 Pages Ages: 5 and up Inside Jacket: Sophie and Chloe are lucky that their Grandma Tillie knows how to be royally silly. To their delight, whenever Grandma Tillie babysits she seems to disappear, only to be replaced by a parade of [...]
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 10/31/2012
We are feeling incredibly grateful here in the Krosoczka house to be celebrating Halloween this evening. The hurricane's fury avoided us completely. Our hearts go out to all of the folks in the affected areas. And I feel lucky to even be home. I had been in Austin for the Texas Book Festival. I had already canceled Sunday's appearances, but was scheduled on a flight out on Sunday morning. On Saturday afternoon, while signing books with Dav Pilkey, Lisa McMann and Mac Barnett, I glanced at my phone and saw that Massachusetts was in a state of emergency. I took off to pack my bags and head to the airport and got on the last flight of the evening. Sadly, many of my Northeast author friends are still stuck in Austin. Not a bad city to be stuck in, but I would far rather be home with my kids. Not only to shelter them from the storm, but to decorate pumpkins like this:
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| My three year old drew this. So proud! |
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By: Tara Chang,
on 10/12/2012
By: Tara Chang,
on 9/14/2012
By: Faith Pray,
on 8/31/2012
Excluding the heat, July is one of my favorite months of the year. My husband is home for the summer, and there is always something going on in Utah. Last night we watched 4+ big city fireworks shows from my backyard, and there are parades and festivals all month long.
To get in the spirit of things, I thought it would be fun to introduce all of you to some of the fun historical costumes available from Wholesale Halloween Costumes.
For the 4th -
By: Claudette Young,
on 5/2/2012
Aztec mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, c. 1500, of Mixtec-Aztec provenance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m using this poem of mine to lead into my subject of the day.
Window to the Soul
My presence acts as a window
To the human known as me.
Through that window you
Can see masks I wear eternally.
This mask reflects where I’ve been,
Still more show what I do with time.
Another suggests secrets held within;
Each mask a new persona.
Feathers, sequins, jewels, glitter
Before the beholder’s eyes,
Dropping hints about who I am,
Yet leaving me secured, invisible.
Each of us has gone through cycles within our lives. The practice is normal and human. We start as children learning all the lessons that will take us to an age where driving and dances are the norm. Some of us also take a path, somewhere along the way, that forces us to grow up all the sooner.
Once we have the ticket to responsibility called “a license,” we move on to planning the next decade of our lives; college or a job, singlehood or marriage, childless or not. They all make it into the mix of aspirations and goal lists.
Rules guard these bastions of normal living in our world. Each culture has its own signposts and traffic tickets. Once in a while, cultures crossover into each other, and create mutual signposts and tickets. It’s up to the average human to learn all of these and navigate the highways of modern living.
For all of the meandering we do in our lives, how much of ourselves do we really put out there for others to see or know?
“Plenty,” you say. But, do we really? The internet has made a public forum of many of our lives’ aspects. We blog, comment, dole out pieces of ourselves on Facebook on a daily basis and think nothing of it. It seems expected of web users to be “Transparent.”
The question remains. How much of our true selves do we reveal to the public?
Are we not merely shedding our masks, one at a time; those masks that protect us from revealing too much of the one who resides within the core of self?
I am a writer. I write about many things for many types of readers. My public image reveals those aspects of my writer’s mask. I’m female. Enough said on that score. I’m opinionated because I was taught to be so. Education will do that when it isn’t stifled by arbitrary bureaucratic controls.
Yet, within all I’ve revealed about who I am, few really know me, and I prefer it that way. Our deeds reveal more about us than anything we can say about ourselves.
My poem says a bit more in its way. It intimates that masks are all we see of each other. We all do it, and we do it because the world isn’t always the safest place to live.
One of 0 Comments on Questions of the Day: Personal Transparency as of 5/2/2012 4:56:00 PM
By: Claudette Young,
on 5/2/2012
Aztec mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, c. 1500, of Mixtec-Aztec provenance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m using this poem of mine to lead into my subject of the day.
Window to the Soul
My presence acts as a window
To the human known as me.
Through that window you
Can see masks I wear eternally.
This mask reflects where I’ve been,
Still more show what I do with time.
Another suggests secrets held within;
Each mask a new persona.
Feathers, sequins, jewels, glitter
Before the beholder’s eyes,
Dropping hints about who I am,
Yet leaving me secured, invisible.
Each of us has gone through cycles within our lives. The practice is normal and human. We start as children learning all the lessons that will take us to an age where driving and dances are the norm. Some of us also take a path, somewhere along the way, that forces us to grow up all the sooner.
Once we have the ticket to responsibility called “a license,” we move on to planning the next decade of our lives; college or a job, singlehood or marriage, childless or not. They all make it into the mix of aspirations and goal lists.
Rules guard these bastions of normal living in our world. Each culture has its own signposts and traffic tickets. Once in a while, cultures crossover into each other, and create mutual signposts and tickets. It’s up to the average human to learn all of these and navigate the highways of modern living.
For all of the meandering we do in our lives, how much of ourselves do we really put out there for others to see or know?
“Plenty,” you say. But, do we really? The internet has made a public forum of many of our lives’ aspects. We blog, comment, dole out pieces of ourselves on Facebook on a daily basis and think nothing of it. It seems expected of web users to be “Transparent.”
The question remains. How much of our true selves do we reveal to the public?
Are we not merely shedding our masks, one at a time; those masks that protect us from revealing too much of the one who resides within the core of self?
I am a writer. I write about many things for many types of readers. My public image reveals those aspects of my writer’s mask. I’m female. Enough said on that score. I’m opinionated because I was taught to be so. Education will do that when it isn’t stifled by arbitrary bureaucratic controls.
Yet, within all I’ve revealed about who I am, few really know me, and I prefer it that way. Our deeds reveal more about us than anything we can say about ourselves.
My poem says a bit more in its way. It intimates that masks are all we see of each other. We all do it, and we do it because the world isn’t always the safest place to live.
One of 0 Comments on Questions of the Day: Personal Transparency as of 5/2/2012 7:54:00 PM
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 4/20/2012
I had a great week of school visits in Merrimack, NH visiting with the students at Reeds Ferry, Mastricola and Thorntons Ferry Schools. Everyone went all out! Check out the Bagheads that arrived at my presentations:
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By: Kris,
on 4/5/2012
Part One - The Suit Naturally, in a lot of ways, this is the most important part. I was volunteered for the role of The Bunny for our five stores here and I had no involvement in choosing or renting the suit. This was a horrible, horrible mistake. If possible, go to the rental place - see the suit - try it on if at all possible. The suit we got was a misbegotten thing that looked like it was
By: John,
on 3/26/2012
I’m falling hard for the work of Jean Jullien! It’s a playful balance of looseness and sketchiness with complete confidence and control. He has a great mix of drawings, sculptural illustrations, and videos peppered throughout his portfolio. Don’t miss the video on his About page!
(via Jean Jullien’s online portfolio: Centre Pompidou)
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 10/31/2011
Halloween leaf message inspired by leaf invitation on page 4 of Mary Pope Osborne's Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Magic Tree House #30).
Bats on our ceiling. Idea from Pinterest and Reading Confetti's Handprint Bats post.
Bat [pdf] templates available from: Martha Stewart or Country Living
Our halloween snack: Chocolate Pudding Cup Ghosts
And presenting -- Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story) and Lady Lilac (from Elsa Beskow's The Flowers' Festival). Trick or Treat!
By: Faith Pray,
on 10/30/2011
By: Rebecca Ryals Russell,
on 9/14/2011
Well, I can safely say one thing about Dragoncon that absolutely everyone who attends every year will agree with. It is an experience. But then again, so is a train wreck. Not that Dragoncon is a train wreck--but it shares many of the same qualities. Such as crowding. Last year's count was 30,000. This year's estimate is 60,000 people in attendance. And I think I saw every single one of them as I ran from hotel to hotel getting to my various workshops. There was no respite from the smell, pushing and squeezing through masses of costumed bodies, stern stares from Snape and Gandolf or Clone Troopers. Luckily I shopped as early as the doors opened and got most of the way through the exhibit hall before it became impassible. And I'm glad I did. I got some great new skirts and such. Continue reading
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I think the bald eagle costume was original and well designed and made. If Lucas were in contest, it should have won first place. Were you able to open and view the video, “”Osprey, the ultimate fisher”. It should have been of great interest to Lucas. GD Bob
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:21:37 +0000 To: [email protected]
Hi! I have been sick with a bad cold. We have not viewed the video, but thank you. Glad you like the costume.
You are amazing, Emily!
Holy Moley!!! That AM A ZING!!!!! I WANT ONE TOO!!!
Just a few thrifted tops and you can! Glad you like it.
*blush* Your comments always make me smile.
Oh you make my Sebastian the Crab look like a lump of lint…great job!