Thursday, May 24, 2012

Some stuff.

Here's what I've been doing. I actually never finished coloring this lily, but I think it's pretty anyway. I love Prisma color pencils, F.Y.I. They are fabulous. Just a touch on the expensive side. That's why I've been using my brothers. ;-)
 This one just started as a sketch that I decided I loved and therefore put a tiny bit more effort into.
And my attempt at a self portrait. It doesn't really look like me, (I hope!) but it did turn out nicely.
So you get a couple different stages.

And finished. Hair is really hard for me and I'm not wild about it here, but...


 I like it. :-) Except it looks more washed out here than it really is.

~BEADS~
I do love working with beads.

Earrings are my specialty, though I have branched out to bracelets, too.

An earring and hairpin set I made for one of my sisters. Yeah, tutorial for hair pretties-check! I will do it. Because, they do look awesome when they're in the hair.

-Writing-
I am one of those persons that loves outlines. I can write story outlines like nobodies business. It's just the actual 'writing the story part' that isn't quite so snappy. This last week I've been doing a chapter by chapter outline, character building, research notes, and the all-important timeline graph.

Fresh notebooks are the best. Crisp pages...Yay!

Believe it or not, John Denver and Placido Domingo sound great together! This song is beautiful.


 
God Bless! Amy

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Corries

After immersing myself in primarily Scottish music this week and watching and rewatching the 'Brave' trailers,("Brave is going to be epic! I can tell already.:-) I've starting slipping into an accent. I can't say that it's a Scottish accent. That would do the Scotts a grave injustice. But it is an accent of some sort. And I use words like "Ach!" and "wee" and "aboot" instead of 'about." It's grand fun, even if it is completely involuntary. The Scott's have arguable the best accent on the planet. And there are times where I wish I were a Scott. Or at the very least, I could marry a Scott. A Scott that would like to settle in the good ol' USA! :-) But back to reality.
Here are a few of my favorite Corries songs.



How can you not love this one?


Rise Rise!


This one is mainly for the rousing little speech before the song, though the song's great too.


There are loads of songs by these fellow that I'd love to post, but really. That would be quite impractical. If you like them, just go and get one of their CD's. Ya wouldna regret it!
God Bless!
Amy

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Irish/Scottish music- part 1

I've been listening to a bunch of traditional Irish and Scottish music lately. I used to listen to that kind of music all the time but I've sort of drifted away from it, mainly because all the really good Irish/Scottish songs are sung by men and I couldn't sing along as much as I would like. Well, that's not exactly true. I can usually sing along with them, just...they are meant for men and not for women. And for a girl that loves to sing and wants to sing classical music, it wasn't quite what I wanted.
Still, I would have to say that traditional (note the 'traditional--it's very important.) Irish/Scottish music is one of my favorite genre's. Groups like, "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem,' 'The Corries,' and 'The Silly Wizard' are just brilliant and never fail to bring out the inner Irish/Scott in me. Of course, it helps if you know a spattering of the history behind the music. That makes it so much more alive. :-)
So saying, I've decided to start a little Irish/Scottish music spree right here. This gives me fuel for a few posts, and hopefully introduces you to some new stuff. Starting with the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Ah, that was a group!
This clip is a good sample of their music.


This is one of the prettiest love songs...


Unfortunately, this one is sort of bad quality, but it's so fun to watch them sing it, I want to post it anyway.


Sad song. But so beautiful.


To end on a fun note.



Hope you enjoyed at least one of those songs!
God Bless
Amy

Friday, May 11, 2012

Not a tutorial.

Hello and happy weekend, all you all!
I was going to do a post yesterday. I was going to be good and do the North and South tutorial I've been promising. I even went so far as to spend an hour and a half trying to do the blasted style and take pictures of it. It just wouldn't happen. My hair would not co-operate. The camera would not take clear pictures. It did not turn out nicely. I got tired and a little cranky. :-) And I don't feel like trying that again for a while. So, instead, I'm just going to post a song. I know...cop out!  One day you will look on my blog and there will be a tutorial for that style. Just not now.
Instead, I'm going to let you hear my newest obsession.


For some reason, this song really moves me. The tune is so haunting and the words are beautiful. And she performs it very well. I confess, when I watch a performance like this, I wish I could do that. Sing for so many people with a full orchestra to back me up...*sigh.* That would be pretty amazing. :-)
That's all for now. Cheers! and God bless.
Amy.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

So, so, random...

So, I have to post something, because time is slipping by and I haven't up-dated in a long time...
I will not be held responsible for the weirdness that comes through in this post, though! I am in a 'visual' mood. So...

First, I finally watched "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" and I loved it. Mainly because of this guy.
He is awesome.
And it just so happens he's going to be the main character in the up-coming, "Bourne Legacy." Need I say more?

 This guy was the comic relief.

And he was pretty cool too.


It's a really fun movie and other than a rather skimpy dress at a party, it was clean. (As far as I can remember. )
 Here's a funny clip from the movie.






I have been reading a lot lately. A LOT. I was loaned a bunch of books by the amazing author, Georgette Heyer, (I wasn't loaned books by Georgette Heyer...A friend loaned me books written by Georgette Heyer. Just wanted to be clear on that. :-) I have been reading one lovely story after another. I've read, "These Old Shades," "Regency Buck," "Powder and Patch," "The Talisman Ring" and I've just started one called, "Sylvester." So far my favorite has been...um...it's a toss-up between "Recency Buck" and "Talisman Ring." It's actually useful reading for me, since these are all period drama/romance/adventure books, I'm getting some good pointers on how to make tough male characters, how to make the whole conversation thing 'period' and how to slowly reveal the whole story and not try to crowd all that I want to say about my characters into their opening scenes. LOL. So, see? I'm really not waisting time.

And to finish up this very random post, I am in the mood for:
ORANGE LEAF!

 If you have never been fortunate enough to go to a yogurt bar, do yourself a favourite,and treat yourself. At least once. They are so yummy! You get to choose the different yogurt/ice creams you want, and then you can dress it up with fruits (yes, fruit is amazing on it! I never would have thought it!) and nuts and chocolates and cookie bits and brownie bits and candy bits and, and, and...HEART ATTACK! :-) 
What I like to do, is put fruit on half and the chocolaty stuff on the other half. (And for the record, mine is never as big as that picture. You are charged by weight. lol.)

I wish I owned:
This hat.

Ever since I watched North and South, I've been keeping my eyes open for a hat like this one. It's boarder-line impossible. The reason being, it sits basically right on top of your head, (I think I'd have to buy a hair pin to keep it one. Which is no problem for me, by the way.) and in this degenerate age we are living in, they don't make hats that still need hat pins. That make over sized, floppy straw hats. What I love so much about this hat, is you can still wear your hair up in a vary large bun and still put the hat on! See?

That, my dear readers, is the hat for me! (Listen to me! "Dear readers..." I told you I've been reading-and watching- a lot of period drama!) If I am able to find a hat like this one, I will post it...and share where I bought it from, just in case one of you wants one too. If you actually watch North and South, I think you will. Oh yes! And I promise to work on my N. and S. hair tutorial and post it soon-ish.

And my last bit of randomness. I am hoping to watch;
The Midnight Showing of...
THE AVENGERS!

 (The fellow with the bow and arrow? That's the same fellow as on 'Mission Impossible.' *Grins*)

I hope this post was fun and interesting for you all. I told you it would be random! But it was fun random, right?
 God Bless!
Amy