2011

WOW! It's 2011!

What has happened in my life?!

I survived my first semester of junior year! I made so many amazing friends.
Seriously, this semester I think I've had so many friendships grow than all the others. Part of that is branching out in the art department. I was able to make friends in the graphic design area because of my illustration class. And friends in the film department from animation. Jojo introduced me to the lovely staff of The Point magazine, and I will continue to grow in those friendships because I'm a staff designer for next semester!!
 I also said a physical good bye to my beloved Jojo for 8 months, as she is off to D.C. to become the best journalist the world has ever known. But her departure just means that I will be even more inclined to facebook, text, call, skype, and pretty much attempt to get in contact with her any way possible. You hear that Jo?! Your snail-mail box is going to be packed, because there is no escaping me. ;] 

I'm taking a bookmaking class next semester! I am so excited to see what that's all about. My interest in books has been growing since I started using them in my art and it has led me to look not only at paper art careers, but also being a librarian or a book restorer. But we'll see, I still have so much more of life to go through before I settle on something like a career.

I have also been greatly influenced by Disney's 50th animated feature film, Tangled.
I swear they based the character of Rapunzel on me. Just in the very first song of the movie she does:
-chores, sweeps, polishes, waxes, laundry, mops, shines, and sweeps again
.......okay maybe that part doesn't sound exactly like me.
But then she:
-reads a book (or maybe two or three), paints, plays guitar, knits, cooks, solves puzzles, plays darts, bakes, makes paper mache, practices ballet, plays chess, does pottery, practices ventriloquy, makes candles, stretches, sketches, climbs, sews a dress, rereads the books, paints some more, and then brushes and brushes and brushes and brushes her hair.
Fwew! That's a lot to do in one day, but if you were locked in a tower for 18 years, you would probably be looking for things to do too.
I know that I don't have much hair to brush and brush and brush, but I will! Like many other girls out there, I have been inspired to grow out my hair.
All because of Claire Keane, who did the concept art for the film:

See what I mean? Scissors aren't coming near my hair for a loooooooong time.

But seriously, the art from this movie is almost more beautiful than the film itself. And this, folks, is a beautiful film.

But what of my fashion shenanigans? Well, that's all still going. I've been hit pretty hard by the poor-college-student and the all-nighter-grab-something-cheap-and-24-hours-oh-wait-that's-fast-food slices of life, so personal fashion has not really taken a back burner. But it's not as fabulous as it could be. 

That hasn't stopped me from continuing to keep my eye out though! Like this beauty...

Sweet Visionary Dress

I adore this dress with every fashionable cell in my body. If only I had the $159.99 of pocket change to actually own something this beautiful. My mom saw it and said that it would make a good "going away" dress for a wedding. But there isn't room for anything remotely close to wedding talk on this blog or in this year...

So here's to a 2011 filled with unknowns and undiscovered adventures!

-Brenna Kathleen

Me and my Mac

So if you know me you know that I love Apple. They're ridiculous in their ways of overpricing, and coming out with a newer model 6 months after the last one was released. But all their products are just so dang good looking. And the ultimate look of cool tech savvy nerd.
I love my MacBook, and I love the amazing Disney nerdiness that I can combine with my lovely laptop.
One of my most favorite gifts I have ever been given is the computer decal my brother gave me or Christmas last year.

This summer I had to take my mac into the Apple store to get the charger fixed, and my computer drew a mini crowd of apple employees. One guy took pictures and a video of it because he thought it was so cool.

Well, today I was browsing Etsy, a fabulous handmade web site that has amazing sellers and beautiful items for sale, and found this:

You can find it here on apjam's etsy

 

 

Oh man.... I've always wanted an iphone. I still can't wait for the day when I have a steady job and enough money to afford one, what a dream come true that will be. And if I got a cool sticker like this. I could have matching Macs!!!

On another note... I an in love with my under the bed area. I never want to leave it. 

It has been named "The Bohemian Fairyland"

I can't really get a good picture of it, but I have my comfy chair, Jane, with art on the wall, flamingo lights, a billowy blue sky above, and little golden stars hanging down above my head. I can't wait for Christmas when they put out lights. I've been waiting to get a small strand of just plain white lights to put them up and have distant stars shine through my sky.
I'm also excited to gather more art for my wall, it's something that I do every year. I love the gradual collecting of inspiring images.
Well, I have a meeting with my Theology small group to go to.
Tah-Tah for now!
-Brenna Kathleen

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...

Who is the nerdiest one of all??

Apparently it's me...

Epic Mickey

It's scheduled to release this holiday season, and it's making me want a Wii.

It's Epic Mickey. Disney's new attempt to revamp their trademark pal by going back to his mischievous root.

The story goes like this: Yen Sid made a fictional theme park called the Cartoon Wasteland where he banished all of his unused ideas. This world is accessed by a mirror that transports you into the land.  The clumsy helper, Mickey, spills paint and paint thinner on it, resulting in creating a new bad guy in the land called the Phantom Blot, who proceeds to take over the land from Mickey's long-lost half brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Years later, Mickey is pulled into the world by the mirror and now has to save the day using his magic paint brush and avoid being destroyed while gaining the trust of Oswald who is now mad with jealousy of Mickey's fame and glory.

So here's the deal. You can use Mickey's paint brush to either create with paint (like making bridges to get across a chasm) or erase with paint thinner (like erasing obstacles and enemies). You go around and create a reputation while playing choosing to either become a hero by helping others or a scrapper by taking the more selfish route.

Besides it sounding like a bundle of awesome inside Disney geeky stuff, like uncovering stashes of E tickets. The design of the game looks awesome!

The land is a ridiculous mash-up of deconstructed classic Disney and robotics with a dash of steampunk.

speaking of Disney steampunk. Check out the Beetleworx (created by the Mad Doctor to work for the Blot)

While I'm not very good at video games, I do make an exception for certain special ones like Zelda and the Ocarina of Time and Kingdom Hearts. Sadly, there is no longer a game console in my home and the only one I have access to is my roommate's xbox during the school year, that I'm not very fond of due to lack of games for it that I would actually attempt to play.

I've always known that I would want a Wii though, Mario Kart is just too fun when you get to be princess peach on a pink motorcycle.

-Brenna Kathleen