Best Photoshop Tutorials Ever!

This guy is great!  Just the character he’s created of himself for narrating these videos, it’s awesome.  I think episode 4 has just become my favourite.

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Uncategorized No Comments » January 2008

pwned

Going around the gaming community recently was the Fox News broadcast of critics of the game Mass Effect.  The “expert,” Cooper Lawrence, knew nothing of the game yet claimed the game was full of sexual content and was targetted towards young children  They did bring in a Spike TV guy in who did counter the Fox people.  But obviously they’re not gonna let that guy win the conversation.

Well, the community knows how to strike back.  People have swarmed Cooper’s book on Amazon.Com with bad reviews.  Awesome.

[Article on Destructoid]

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Video Games No Comments » January 2008

Portal - Weighted Companion Cube BFF Cross Stitch

For my second video game-themed cross stitch, I decided to go with a more recent popular game - Portal. I used 14-count Aida fabric which fits nicely into a 4×6 inch frame. This time, I decided to try out some self-stick mounting boards which were found in the cross stitch section of the craft store I went to. It worked out pretty well, I was able to peel the fabric off fairly easily to readjust. The frame required minor modifications so that I could fit the mounted stitch in along with the glass still.

Pattern for those of you willing to give it a shot.  (click to enlarge)

Colours:
For Link: #321 red, #310 black., #318 light grey, #3799 dark grey, #604 pink.

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Artsy Fartsy, Video Games 27 Comments » January 2008

Legend of Zelda Valentine Patterns

Here are the patterns I created for the Legend of Zelda Valentines cross stitches.  I used 18-count Aida fabric, which ends up fitting nicely in a 2.5″x3″ frame.  I didn’t do anything special for framing, I just used the cardboard backing that came with the frames and masking tape to tape down the fabric on the back.

 
(click for full image)

Thread colours:
For Link:  #321 red, #720 orange, #402 skin, #704 green, #310 black.
For Zelda:  #321 red, #720 orange, #402 skin, #310 black.

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Artsy Fartsy, Video Games 10 Comments » January 2008

Trying a Little Harder

I meant to sign up for a part-time introductory photography class but I wussed out of calling up the school to ask some questions.  I originally sent them an e-mail but received no response.  I did try calling last Friday but no one picked up.  :/  I guess I don’t want it bad enough??  Maybe when the next semester starts (and the weather will also be better for the field trips).  Anyway, someone at work started up a photography club with plans to do monthly field trips.  So I’ll definitely be trying to participate in those as often as I can.

Also, a friend of mine started up an art blog for people he knows to just get together and practice their drawings.  Skills range from beginners to professionals.  Tonight we just did a 1-hour sketch session, the subject matter being “mythical monsters.”  You can see what we came up with following the link in the blogroll called “Kamikaze Art Club.”

Both of these groups are intimidating the hell out of me.  The first camera club meeting had some pretty impressive photos and ideas behind them.  And some of the artists in the art blog are way ahead of me as well.  I worry a lot about my skills and not showing any improvement as time goes on.  Also, I always think my stuff looks unpolished compared to others.  Tough to shake that feeling.

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Artsy Fartsy 4 Comments » January 2008

The Room

Every so often (and it isn’t very often), I attempt to clean my room.  Sometimes I get it tidy enough, but a few weeks later it’s back to where it started.  I just can’t seem to figure out how to organize things and to keep things organized.  I’d bought this small filing cabinet a few years ago, but after a while, I got too lazy to actually put my documents in there.  None of the folders are even labeled.  My computer desk was at one point completely clutter-free, but for the last year it’s just been covered in papers and crap.

Today, being one of my last few days off before work, I was feeling like I should be productive with my time.  Although, lazy.  I didn’t start some cleaning up until the afternoon.  I was chatting with a friend at the time about how horrible my room was, and she said that hers was worse.  I decided to prove her wrong and took a digital photo of the mess to show her.  She agreed that mine was worse.

So, I cleared about 2 square feet of my floor in front of my closet and then started to gather envelopes that were lying about.  By 11pm tonight, I’d gone through 32 bank statements, 21 credit card statements, as well as a bunch of other things regarding bills and notices, etc.  That’s almost 3 years of bank statements and 2 years of credit card statements that I’d left lying around!  But all that has barely dented the task at hand.

I’m not quite sure what I should tackle next…  Possibly my pay stubs and the rest of the envelopes.  My boyfriend keeps telling me I need to start at a high level and just group things.  But there really isn’t much space to group things in my room.  And it’s a bit of a hassle if this is a multi-day event.  I don’t think my parents will like me leaving junk in the hallway either.  We’ll see how productive I feel tomorrow.

Posted by tastethehappy Posted in: Random Life Tales 7 Comments » January 2008