Can't believe I forgot to include this yesterday ...
Have yourself an animated Christmas! (If the links work.)
As testament to my (questionable) creative genius and unquenchable modesty, three of my annual animations -- 2013, 2014 and the seasonal spectacular for 2015 -- are now available on the Special Christmas Animations page of this blog.
Enjoy.
Preferably after a sherry.
(Incidentally, I popped my sherry cherry last night. Where has that golden nectar of Christmastide been all my life?! #sherryconvert)
qb xx
Showing posts with label animation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animation. Show all posts
Thursday, 24 December 2015
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Sunday Summary | mulled like wine, mullet like vintage Richard Marx
Dear FOQ!
Why, I do believe it's beginning to look a lot like ...
That said, a handful of my decorations still aren't up, and I still have cards to write and presents to wrap.
Think I may well be in Christmas denial. It's all too soon and I'm not ready and I keep having to divide my day up into slots of time to get stuff done and AAAAAARGH! Need mulled wine. NOW.
It'll all be fine.
Right?
This week, I have mostly been ...
Well, you read the sneak preview last week, it did actually pan out very much like that, but with a few happy interludes to break up the threatened monotony. Such interludes included ...
Reading
Three chapters in, and I'm still waiting for her to stop wittering about how she alphabetised her socks in infant school, thus leading to her career in tidying, and for her to stop seeming to consign all women to a life of housewifery -- c'mon, Kondo, bring on the magic. I just want to know how to keep stuff neat and thus change my life, 'K?
Stocking up on seasonal (and nostalgic) vinyl
Oh, British Red Cross shop, you brazen temptress, you. I pop in, in the hope of scooping up a singular, quintessential piece o' vintage Christmas and come away with:
For the record (pun intended, probably), NOW 11 was added to this number yesterday. I can't help myself.
Listening ...
... to this beautiful a cappella cover of 'Mary, Did You Know', performed by Pentatonix. It's actually magic. With thanks to Glenda for sharing this:
And while we're at it, here's Home Free's a cappella arrangement of 'Do You Hear What I Hear' (thanks to Charlie's dad Doug for the link). Singing in caves is the way forward. Natural acoustics. Magical.
Watching
... these Christmas classics on Netflix*
while writing the Christmas cards. Seems appropriate. (Until the greetings descend along the lines of, Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.)
* and by the way, am I the only person in the modern Western world oblivious to the cool kids' definition of 'Netflix and chill'?! Apparently it's a rude one. Why must everything be rude?! Why can't 'Netflix and chill' just mean, relax after a fairly emotionally-gruelling week with back-to-back 30 Rock?! Eh?! (Well, anyway, Natalie has set me straight on that one and I won't make that mistake again ...)
Enjoying the first official turkey dinner of the season ...
... at the departmental Christmas lunch at The Castle, Holland Park (I'll overlook the fact my one small glass of red was £6.50 -- London, seriously, get over yourself -- whole bottles of wine in Sainso cost less than that).
It was rather delicious, granted:
and there was a fun quiz afterwards, written by workmate Mara, with a controversial Where's Wally tie-breaker round that quite frankly robbed my team blind (we were doing so well up until then!).
My secret Santa also excelled herself ... I mean, himself ... I mean ... (thanks, boss!):
I then had to navigate the laughable, disintegrating overpriced, poorly-run Southern network and hop twice as many trains as usual (train to Clapham, train to Croydon, train to Deadhill, train to Rahgate) to get to the last choir of term where we dun did a bit more ...
Singing
... to Voicerox friends and family. With thanks to Jude this time for the photos (and the video of Anyone Who Had a Heart which I can't post, but to which I plan to sob hormonally for the next couple of days just to get it out of my system).
This was then followed up by an impromptu treat of a detour to McDonald's drive-thru with my Lovelies for processed carbs and excellent therapy. Much needed, thank you, girls. xxx
Beginning to animate!
Not to give too much of the game away but here's a cheeky sneaky smidge of what I've been working on in my -- ha ha -- spare time in between finally writing my cards, putting up decorations in very sporadic intervals whilst grooving to the very earnest Andy Williams Christmas album, doing the laundry, writing this-'ere blog, and fighting my way in and out of the soulless capital on trains that won't even ... (wow, can you tell I need a break?):
HA! Yes, that's all you get. Sorry. No spoilers here!
Incidentally, the sharp-eyed among you may have spotted -- before scrolling down to find your names mentioned in the post, gnarf gnarf -- a new feature in the right-hand column of this blog page, which is a Pages link:
It's in development (as in, I've got no clue how to best capitalise on the Pages function per se) but for now I've set up a separate page on which you lucky people can view the Christmas animations I've created for the last couple of years.
Because I'm odd like that.
You're so welcome.
Pinterest Pin of the Week
Y'know, my completely lovely Lovelies have sent me so many brilliant and motivational Pins this week (thanks, Jos and Charlie) that it's nigh-on impossible to choose just the one 'of the week'. So I won't. Here are two delicious pearls of wisdom, and a picture of David Bowie in the here and now(ie) that I can't stop looking at for it is beautiful:
Weekly Web Finds
I've been neglecting blog reading for blog writing lately, which is sad because where else will I get my inspiration? But I had an allotted fifteen minutes a) to recover from shopping in the Co-op where personal space is apparently luxury, not a necessity, and b) for blog-scanning, and I came across the video, above on A Beautiful Mess and it made me smile ergo, blog fodder.
Er, and that's it, really, on that front.
Right, s'pose I'd better channel my inner drudge and do a little of this sort of thing:
albeit in front of something Christmassy -- maybe this one:
or maybe the slightly less obviously Christmassy film but still very festive in most parts, and always marvellous:
And lest I forget ...
Before I shuffle off, though, I should warn you that yet again due to my pressing schedule of eating, singing and driving home for Christmas {cue gratuitous plug of own creative genius}, there will be no Summary next Sunday:
but do keep your eyes peeled for the Monday Missive. (Which I will try to post before 10pm but no promises ... I'll be on Ma and Pa QB time this time next week.)
It's just how things go, this time o' year and I thank you for Bearing With.
Stay warm, stay safe, stay epic. And be good. Santa Claus knows if you've been baddity-bad.
qb xx
Why, I do believe it's beginning to look a lot like ...
That said, a handful of my decorations still aren't up, and I still have cards to write and presents to wrap.
Think I may well be in Christmas denial. It's all too soon and I'm not ready and I keep having to divide my day up into slots of time to get stuff done and AAAAAARGH! Need mulled wine. NOW.
 |
| {Not for the first time, this gif sums up my feelings!} |
It'll all be fine.
Right?
This week, I have mostly been ...
Well, you read the sneak preview last week, it did actually pan out very much like that, but with a few happy interludes to break up the threatened monotony. Such interludes included ...
Reading
Three chapters in, and I'm still waiting for her to stop wittering about how she alphabetised her socks in infant school, thus leading to her career in tidying, and for her to stop seeming to consign all women to a life of housewifery -- c'mon, Kondo, bring on the magic. I just want to know how to keep stuff neat and thus change my life, 'K?
Stocking up on seasonal (and nostalgic) vinyl
Oh, British Red Cross shop, you brazen temptress, you. I pop in, in the hope of scooping up a singular, quintessential piece o' vintage Christmas and come away with:
 |
| {The album on the left is Carols from Westminster Cathedral, 1976} |
For the record (pun intended, probably), NOW 11 was added to this number yesterday. I can't help myself.
Listening ...
... to this beautiful a cappella cover of 'Mary, Did You Know', performed by Pentatonix. It's actually magic. With thanks to Glenda for sharing this:
And while we're at it, here's Home Free's a cappella arrangement of 'Do You Hear What I Hear' (thanks to Charlie's dad Doug for the link). Singing in caves is the way forward. Natural acoustics. Magical.
Watching
... these Christmas classics on Netflix*
while writing the Christmas cards. Seems appropriate. (Until the greetings descend along the lines of, Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.)
* and by the way, am I the only person in the modern Western world oblivious to the cool kids' definition of 'Netflix and chill'?! Apparently it's a rude one. Why must everything be rude?! Why can't 'Netflix and chill' just mean, relax after a fairly emotionally-gruelling week with back-to-back 30 Rock?! Eh?! (Well, anyway, Natalie has set me straight on that one and I won't make that mistake again ...)
Enjoying the first official turkey dinner of the season ...
... at the departmental Christmas lunch at The Castle, Holland Park (I'll overlook the fact my one small glass of red was £6.50 -- London, seriously, get over yourself -- whole bottles of wine in Sainso cost less than that).
It was rather delicious, granted:
 |
| {That would be a mini Christmas pud swimming in custard. Yes.} |
and there was a fun quiz afterwards, written by workmate Mara, with a controversial Where's Wally tie-breaker round that quite frankly robbed my team blind (we were doing so well up until then!).
My secret Santa also excelled herself ... I mean, himself ... I mean ... (thanks, boss!):
I then had to navigate the laughable, disintegrating overpriced, poorly-run Southern network and hop twice as many trains as usual (train to Clapham, train to Croydon, train to Deadhill, train to Rahgate) to get to the last choir of term where we dun did a bit more ...
Singing
... to Voicerox friends and family. With thanks to Jude this time for the photos (and the video of Anyone Who Had a Heart which I can't post, but to which I plan to sob hormonally for the next couple of days just to get it out of my system).
 |
| {"take me in their arms and love me too ... whoooo ..." | Photo by Jude} |
 |
| {Poor Charlie was consigned to prop up the music stand with her nose. The things we Deskettes have to do ... | Photo by Jude} |
This was then followed up by an impromptu treat of a detour to McDonald's drive-thru with my Lovelies for processed carbs and excellent therapy. Much needed, thank you, girls. xxx
Beginning to animate!
Not to give too much of the game away but here's a cheeky sneaky smidge of what I've been working on in my -- ha ha -- spare time in between finally writing my cards, putting up decorations in very sporadic intervals whilst grooving to the very earnest Andy Williams Christmas album, doing the laundry, writing this-'ere blog, and fighting my way in and out of the soulless capital on trains that won't even ... (wow, can you tell I need a break?):
HA! Yes, that's all you get. Sorry. No spoilers here!
Incidentally, the sharp-eyed among you may have spotted -- before scrolling down to find your names mentioned in the post, gnarf gnarf -- a new feature in the right-hand column of this blog page, which is a Pages link:
It's in development (as in, I've got no clue how to best capitalise on the Pages function per se) but for now I've set up a separate page on which you lucky people can view the Christmas animations I've created for the last couple of years.
Because I'm odd like that.
You're so welcome.
Pinterest Pin of the Week
Y'know, my completely lovely Lovelies have sent me so many brilliant and motivational Pins this week (thanks, Jos and Charlie) that it's nigh-on impossible to choose just the one 'of the week'. So I won't. Here are two delicious pearls of wisdom, and a picture of David Bowie in the here and now(ie) that I can't stop looking at for it is beautiful:
 |
| {Sigh ...} |
Weekly Web Finds
- 48 Things Women Hear In A Lifetime (That Men Just Don't) | on HuffPost Women | via Eloise
- Why we have to create more disabled characters in children's fiction | Susie Day on The Guardian | via Toy Like Me on Facebook
- Sad times: Library visits fall 14% in five years | Please use your libraries or you'll lose them, folks | on The Bookseller
I've been neglecting blog reading for blog writing lately, which is sad because where else will I get my inspiration? But I had an allotted fifteen minutes a) to recover from shopping in the Co-op where personal space is apparently luxury, not a necessity, and b) for blog-scanning, and I came across the video, above on A Beautiful Mess and it made me smile ergo, blog fodder.
Er, and that's it, really, on that front.
Right, s'pose I'd better channel my inner drudge and do a little of this sort of thing:
albeit in front of something Christmassy -- maybe this one:
or maybe the slightly less obviously Christmassy film but still very festive in most parts, and always marvellous:
 |
| {Oh, see, now, that's festive ...} |
And lest I forget ...
 |
| {And if you don't know what this film is I don't think we can be friends. Sorry.} |
Before I shuffle off, though, I should warn you that yet again due to my pressing schedule of eating, singing and driving home for Christmas {cue gratuitous plug of own creative genius}, there will be no Summary next Sunday:
but do keep your eyes peeled for the Monday Missive. (Which I will try to post before 10pm but no promises ... I'll be on Ma and Pa QB time this time next week.)
It's just how things go, this time o' year and I thank you for Bearing With.
Stay warm, stay safe, stay epic. And be good. Santa Claus knows if you've been baddity-bad.
 |
| {Santa Claus: The Movie | Can ya believe this film is thirty years old this year?} |
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Sunday Summary
This week, I have mostly been...
Reading | Tragedy in Sedona by Connie Joy
So much tragedy and I'm not just talking subject matter. There's great tragedy in the naïvety of the author, and all those who fell for the questionable 'charms' of James Arthur Ray in pursuit of enlightenment, and at enormous financial and physical cost -- three people died in Ray's 'sweat lodge' in 2009.
And don't get me started on how badly this book is edited. It's bad, people. Shocking.
Creating | my own gifs!
Indeed: no longer satisfied just by liberally borrowing or adapting gifs from the internet (giphy.com and gifsoup.com in particular):
 |
| {...like this one, which I made with a YouTube clip of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, gifsoup, Photoshop Elements for the subtitle trickery, and some sticky-back plastic} |
I've taken it upon my creative, control-freak self to try my hand at making them from scratch*.
And I'm ridiculously proud of 'em.
(Did I mention my world is very small...?)
Provided you have a version of Photoshop or PS Elements you too can gif your life away! It's a little time consuming as it involves creating several image layers and piling on ever so slight differences for each one.
And keeping track of them. But it's worth it.
No, really it is. Even if staring at an animated fist bump on a loop for too long makes you a little bit dizzy. (It does. Feel free to scroll down now.)
I found the best instructions here.
Now, I'm not sure I've mentioned previously that I have a little passion for creating 'naïve' animation. For the last six years or thereabouts, on and off, I've been creating an animation for Christmas (again primarily in PS Elements) for the entertainment of my family.
The process, inspired in part by the excellent work of Aardman Animations, involves me photographing Playmobil® characters in various poses (nothing dodgy):
 |
| {Driving Home for Christmas | animation still © the quirky brunette, 2013} |
* I say 'from scratch' -- this isn't strictly true, although I did originate both of these babies. The Boogie Shoes gif was created with stills from an ad-hoc animation I made about three years ago, while the Fist Bump was a badge design:
Simplez.
Snapping | for The August Break 2014
#augustbreak2014
Just as I was thinking my photo a day project was feeling a little stale (and you'll know this is the case by the photos taken on my bed at the end of a day in which nothing has warranted a genuine shot), along came Susannah Conway, spearheading the inspirational August Break project -- with a photo theme for every day of August 2014.
The themes are listed over on Susannah's blog here, and the results featured on Instagram under #augustbreak14 and compiled in a Flickr group here.
 |
| Day 1: "lunch" |
 |
| Day 2: "pattern" (aside: I love my IKEA flamingo tumblers. I want more of them!} |
 |
| Day 3: "window" |
***NEW FEATURE***
Ten Pins
My last ten pins on Pinterest:
 |
| {1. nautical style} |
 |
| {2. waves} |
 |
| {3. beautiful homes | and beautiful sofas} |
 |
| {4. inspirational quote | by thenotebookdoodles} |
 |
| {5. inspirational quote from Socrates} |
 |
| {6. inspirational quote from C. S. Lewis} |
 |
| {7. inspirational quote... I spy a theme here...} |
 |
| {8. inspirational quote} |
 |
| {9. why yes, 'tis another inspirational quote!} |
 |
| {10. more of a motto, I'd say...} |
And finally...
Weekly Weblinks
Literary Linkage
- Roald Dahl Funny Prize put on hold
- Ignore the superlatives in book blurbs
- School reports on authors
- Kathy Lette: Women written off by Man Booker Judges
Non-literary Linkage
- Alasitas: Bolivia's festival of miniatures {thanks, Evie, for the link!}
- Things you know in your thirties that you wish you'd known in your twenties (I still need to educate myself on number 17...). Number 21 is The Truth.
 |
| {"21. You are not missing out on anything by going to bed before midnight."} |
- "Put down your phone" -- a rather magnificent little ditty about, er, putting down your phone and enjoying the real world (...yebbut only after you've clicked through all my links, all right?)
C'est tout, les gars!
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Sunday Summary
This week, I have mostly been...
Storm-dodging | Nuff said.
Seeing | Rock of Ages This popular rock musical comes off the West End this week (I think) so a friend and I took the opportunity to see it in its last throes. It's very entertaining (for the mullets alone) and the 80s rock music is well interpreted and weaved into the storyline, which focuses on wannabe rocker "Wolfgang" whose ambitions are reignited when he meets Cherry, wannabe starlet. All does not go as planned for the young lovers -- at first they fail to realise their love for each other, he ends up in a boy band, and she somehow ends up an 'exotic' dancer (not sure the striptease-style dance number was aimed at my demographic... a little bit too Sun reader for this musicals fan!) but they find each other in the end -- and rock out to Journey!
Finishing | Middlesex I'm still nursing a book hangover over this one -- finished it on Wednesday and have yet to pick up something new! My review is over at Goodreads (with some spoilers -- be warned!).
Making | Minions out of Kinder eggs. Because I can.
Animating | At Christmas for the last couple of years I've presented to my family (and select friends!) a little animation project I've been working on. It's very naive and slightly shabby, but fun -- and I'm always quietly pleased with the outcome. That's all I'll say on the matter for now but -- not long until the grand reveal!
Other shenanigans of the week:
Tove Jansson centenary marked by Sort of Books (hurrah -- one of my favourite authors)
New sports craze: underwater spinning classes. Shame I failed my cycling proficiency.
10 old letter-writing tips that work for email
Illustrators decorate paper watches for charity
Comefly dance with me | a great safety video produced by Virgin America
Rare pink hippo spotted in Zambia | not to be confused with this one:
And finally... What Does the Fox Say? | by Ylvis.
This. is. NUTS.
That's all, folks.
Storm-dodging | Nuff said.
Seeing | Rock of Ages This popular rock musical comes off the West End this week (I think) so a friend and I took the opportunity to see it in its last throes. It's very entertaining (for the mullets alone) and the 80s rock music is well interpreted and weaved into the storyline, which focuses on wannabe rocker "Wolfgang" whose ambitions are reignited when he meets Cherry, wannabe starlet. All does not go as planned for the young lovers -- at first they fail to realise their love for each other, he ends up in a boy band, and she somehow ends up an 'exotic' dancer (not sure the striptease-style dance number was aimed at my demographic... a little bit too Sun reader for this musicals fan!) but they find each other in the end -- and rock out to Journey!
Finishing | Middlesex I'm still nursing a book hangover over this one -- finished it on Wednesday and have yet to pick up something new! My review is over at Goodreads (with some spoilers -- be warned!).
Making | Minions out of Kinder eggs. Because I can.
{Photos on Instagram}
Animating | At Christmas for the last couple of years I've presented to my family (and select friends!) a little animation project I've been working on. It's very naive and slightly shabby, but fun -- and I'm always quietly pleased with the outcome. That's all I'll say on the matter for now but -- not long until the grand reveal!
Other shenanigans of the week:
Tove Jansson centenary marked by Sort of Books (hurrah -- one of my favourite authors)
New sports craze: underwater spinning classes. Shame I failed my cycling proficiency.
10 old letter-writing tips that work for email
Illustrators decorate paper watches for charity
Come
Rare pink hippo spotted in Zambia | not to be confused with this one:
And finally... What Does the Fox Say? | by Ylvis.
This. is. NUTS.
That's all, folks.
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