So we’ve had State of Origin NRL Cushion Covers (HERE), and now we have State of Origin NRL Scarves.
These are free knitting patterns from Lincraft, so make sure you go in store (or shop online) to get the very best colours and wool.
YAY! I’m so happy! My local Lincraft store has released a lot of new knitting patterns.
To help spread the love for those not near a store, I will be uploading them here. Let me know what your favourite is.
Almost there!
Today I’ll be continuing the 12 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge by ScaleSimple.
You can find Day 1 HERE, and Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE, Day 5 HERE, Day 6 HERE, Day 7 HERE, Day 8 HERE, Day 9 HERE, and Day 10 HERE.
When you think of animation, you think of hours of hard work to create simple second-long videos.
Not anymore.
While wandering through Target the other week, I found the Crayola Easy Animation Studio.
It immediately caught my interest, and with it only costing $29, I figured I would give it a try.
Inside you will find – Manny the Mannequin (with a stand to clip him into), Crayola Twist crayons, a stand for your phone/tablet, and a book full of characters and backgrounds for you to colour-in. You will need to download a program on your smart-phone/tablet, but it’s free.
Inside the book –
*Helpful Hint*
I wanted to make something really cool, so I decided to make Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008). Unfortunately, I used other brand crayons as well, and I think that put-off the system, so always use Crayola crayons.
I’ll take you through step-by-step making an easy short animation.
Either colour your own character, or use one provided on the program.
You can choose a background from the book, use one on the program, or you can even take a photo of your house and your character can be there with you.
There are a bunch of actions you can choose on the program, or you can use Manny to do it yourself. The program works by capturing images of Manny in positions, and filling in the blanks.
It works best if you keep the smart-phone/tablet still, and have Manny facing a window with light.
*Helpful hint*
You’ll have to be patient while capturing the positions, as it needs time to figure out where Manny’s limbs are (through the symbols on his limbs). Here is what happens when it is having trouble:
To make your character wave, capture Manny in these three positions:
You don’t have to do this, but you can record some audio. I record “Hello” in my best bear-voice.
It only takes a second to turn it into a video.
And voilà, here is my video:
I used to absolutely suck at wrapping presents. I used too much sticky tape, I ripped the paper, and there was WAY more paper than present.
Last year I volunteered with The Family Centre, wrapping presents for donations at a local shopping centre. I suddenly had to get very good.
After watching and giving it a try, I’ve found a pretty good way to wrap presents, and I thought I would share it with you all.
Gather your materials. You will need:
Lay out the wrapping paper with the present on it. I started wrapping this on the carpet, but then moved to a table. Don’t cut too big of a sheet. You can always cut some off before finishing. I lay the top of the present down, because the folds end at the top and this way the top will be seamless.
Bring the longest sides together and place one bit of sticky tape.
I moved to a table to make sure my folds were crisp. Push down the top layer of the paper, and fold the sides into crisp angles.
One corner at a time, fold them over to form a point. Do this on both sides.
Fold the sides up and use one piece of sticky tape.
There you go! All wrapped. This technique works for more than just square gifts too.
Happy wrapping!
Fun for the whole family? How often is that actually true? You’re either left with a sullen teenager or a screaming child. Crayola Marker Airbrush can actually be fun for the whole family.
Listen when I say I am in no way being paid by Crayola or anyone else. I just wanted to share my opinion.
Today I was feeling pretty crappy and tried to get my mind off it by walking around Target. With Christmas coming, of course there are a lot of new toys out. There were two that caught my eye: Crayola Marker Airbrush, and Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio (latter review to come).
Let me give you the rundown:
The box pretty much tells you everything there is to know about the product. Each pack comes with the Airbrush Sprayer, 20 blank sheets of paper, 8 Washable Markers (for designs on paper), 4 Fabric Markers (for designs on clothing – cotton recommended), and 4 Stencil Sheets.More detailed instructions are also inside.
It is great how much there is in there, but I still would have liked some more stencils, such as letters.
Everything is very simple to use and there are only a few elements. You also don’t need batteries or to assemble anything, so you’re all set to go on Christmas morning.
So there you go. It’s a very easy and fun thing to do. You can create your own designs on paper, books, windows, walls, clothing, etc. You are pretty much only limited by your imagination.
I had a great time playing around with this and hope to get some more stencils and airbrush on some shirts.
Target had this one for sale for $29.
Let me know if you’ve tried this and what you thought of it.
