Replicas and Such...

I got the Noble Collection Holiday 2008 catalog a few weeks ago and finally got the chance to browse through it.

I sure liked the look of this:

http://www.noblecollection.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=NN4536&catid=45

and this:

http://www.noblecollection.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=NN8133&catid=21

among other things. I've got several Harry Potter items from Noble and I really love them.

Of course, there are things which I have yet to see from Noble or other prop replica or collectible stores, so I thought I'd check out etsy.com and see what cool stuff is available.

First up, this gorgeous re-creation by Deconstructress of Satine's dress from "Moulin Rouge." I'm not a fan of this movie, but dang this dress is purdy. Another frock of note is her Corpse Bride wedding gown. Love it!

I've become a "The Tudors" addict. So even though I support Team Katherine, this Anne Boleyn "B" necklace replica by duchessa caught my eye.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_4&listing_id=13464407
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16632942

I love Greg Broadmore's Rayguns (I have both of the minis, yay me!), so of course I've been exploring the whole "steampunk" look. I found this adorable raygun pendant at Builder's Studio. They also sell robots (deactivated, I assume) and other gadgets.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5130230

Finally, I've been drooling over the notebooks and bags being hand-printed in Italy by celestefrittata. The Potter-inspired items are especially spit-cloth worthy. I might just commission an order for my next Potter class...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vt_related_1&listing_id=17327890

For those who haven't yet, I highly recommend browsing the shops at Etsy. Handmade, one of a kind items abound, as do vintage goodies. They also have a function called "Alchemy" which lets you make custom requests. You just wait while the bids come rolling in! You can also contact specific artisans and work with them to create a custom project. The holidays are upon us and this is a great place to find the perfect gift!

RocknRolla!!

I have not, obviously, been paying due attention to the blogging thing. :P I'll try and be better, I have a few things I want to post about sometime.

Anyway, I went to a screening of the new Guy Ritchie film, "RocknRolla" on Wednesday night. We barely made it, with just 2 minutes to spare! Thank goodness for reserved seating. :D Gotta love the Arclight. There was a scheduled Q&A for after the film, but when the email went out, the guests were TBA. I took a chance, hoping that Ritchie, or, dare I hope, Gerry Butler would show up. I was duly rewarded. :) I had only heard confirmation that Joel Silver, the producer, would be there, though.

Just before they rolled the trailers, the usher announced that Butler would indeed be there to answer questions. Woo! At the Arclight, they only show 3-5 trailers (no commercials), so we were rocknrolling pretty quick. The movie was just what I expected, for the most part. It was both funny and action-packed, with twists and turns typical of a Guy Ritchie gangsta pic. If you liked "Snatch" you'll probably like this one. If you're a "Lock, Stock" fan, you might feel like it's too commercial.

When the credits were rolling, I looked to my left (we were on the aisle, about five rows back on the left) and spotted Silver watching the crowd's reaction. There were a ton of people who pretended to be leaving so they could try and go by there. My brother spotted the top of Gerry's head. Be sure to stay and watch the credits, there's a funny extended version of a scene.

It was really dark in there, so I only got a few shots, and most of them were bad. This was, sadly, the best one of the bunch. Butler confirmed his involvement in "The Watchmen," another hotly anticipated movie. He does a voice-over for the Japanese graphic novel in the story, but it will only appear on the DVD. There were some terrific stories about the making of "RocknRolla," including one involving a 6'7" Russian with a large machete, jumping on a bed on top of a ball-gagged Butler. :O He even did the "This is Sparta" line, off-handedly. He pointed in my direction at one point, I swear. Hahaha... There were also a lot of stupid or meandering questions, thank goodness for the moderator! Butler had some (mean-sounding) answers to those. Awesome.

I looked around for some RnR merch, but found nothing. I did take a picture of the big backdrop in the lobby though. When we left, my brother went to pay for parking and the lady stole his ticket! It was weird, she asked us for a movie ticket, which he showed her, and she just took it! He was so confused, he didn't make her give it back. Thank goodness it wasn't autographed, or he would have Archie-slapped her. ;P

Nightmare Before Christmas Widget!

Who doesn't loooove NBC?
Here's mine...

Now Open for Business!

I finally got around to posting something (anything!) for sale in my Etsy shop, The Blue Forest Shoppe. Yay! So far, I only have a few of my handmade wirebound blank books. I make most of them out of found items or postcards from my extensive collection of postcards and other paper goods. For example, the Pineapple Express journal is made from a postcard I picked up at SDCC last month. Most of these would be thrown away, I hope I've saved a few from that sad fate. :P The TTT one to the left was made from a tent card ad. Even the backings were cut from saved bits of chipboard packaging. So, I get to combine two things I love...geekery and conservation. Woohoo! I will try to upcycle, recycle, reuse, etc. anything I can, so don't be surprised if I've turned a used box inside out. ;)

I've also created a few postcards which I am planning to offer soon. (Have I mentioned how much I love postcards???) One card is made from a photo I took of an actor, and the rest are (so far) mostly based on my papercuts. My favorite is based on the cover of a book by Dr. Seuss. They will most likely be offered in sets of 5 or 10, with envelopes or without.

I am trying to keep the costs reasonable, but competitive, and I might be able to take special orders. Since I am currently on break from work, I can afford the time to be crafty, but normally my labor is just too expensive! Hahaha...

Visit The Blue Forest Shoppe by clicking on the links at the right. Thanks!

Silhouette-Cutting

So I don't know how I got into it, but one night I just started cutting silhouettes. After exhausting a few basic design ideas, I got onto my computer and started looking for pictures that I could turn into silhouettes. I found a shot I took of the mini Manmelter raygun box last year and was inspired. I think this was one of the more complicated ones I had done to that point. Everything but the two bits that are essentially lines was cut from one sheet of black paper. I was pleased enough with it, I glued it down onto cardstock and gave it to Greg Broadmore last weekend. Kinda silly, but I thought it a good idea at the time.

Here are some of my other cuts, can you tell what they are?

SDCC Pictures!

Hey peeps!

I know, how lame, Comic Con was like a week ago and I'm just now posting pictures. I actually didn't take that many this year, and I have been on break from work all week, but I didn't get around to editing them until today. Eek.

Anyway, check them out in my flickr gallery. I just threw them up, some with little comments. I'll post some write-ups on various and sundry SDCC-related topics as soon as...oh, who am I kidding...when I get around to it. ;)

Prince Caspian

So cco invited me to the midnight showing of Prince Caspian at the El Capitan on Friday. For those of you who don't know, the El Capitan is an old theatre in Hollywood. It was purchased and renovated by Disney, so it is now used exclusively to show Disney films. Since we also saw LWW there, our Narnia streak continues...

We got there a bit early so that we could see the costumes, props, and set pieces on display in the lobby and downstairs. However, before we got to that, we had to stuff our faces. :P Next door to the El Capitan is the Disney Soda Fountain, which, besides being a soda fountain, is also a store. After pawing the merchandise (a few tempting pins and such), we sat down at the counter for some sandwiches and a Narnia sundae. I had 2 cokes before we went in to the movie and that was a tactical error on my part...

I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pics...not until I pester cco to email me hers. :D

I'm not sure, but I think there were fewer pieces to see. The theatre was decorated to look like WWII-era London, complete with "underground" signs, red phone booth and mailbox. In the lobby were Peter's armor and the Pevensies' school uniforms. The pieces down in the (for lack of a better word) basement seemed to be mostly Telmarine and Miraz property. Weta has definitely done a fine job with all this. If you're interested in Narnia merchandise, I highly recommend the very limited edition Weta pieces. I believe they have a satyr statue, mounted Caspian, and minoboar bust available at present (see link to the right). I own several LWW pieces and they are large, detailed sculptures.

We finally got over to the theatre to take our seats for the movie. At the El Cap, reserved seating is $25 and includes popcorn (keepsake Caspian bucket) and bottled drink. The usher escorted us to our seats in the orchestra section as the organist began playing onstage. Yes, they employ an organist at the El Cap. ;) After that, there was a little staged swordplay by a Caspian look-alike before the screen came down for the film. If you liked LWW, you should be pleased by Caspian. It is not entirely faithful to the book, I won't say specifically how, but there's quite a bit more action and humor. There isn't a whole lot of explanation given for the backstory, so I suppose it could be a bit confusing to Narnia-virgins. For example, it might not be clear to the uninitiated that the Pevensies were adults when they left Narnia the first time. A little flashback might have been appropriate here.

On the way out, they were giving away card packs. I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but there were five character cards: Caspian, Peter, Susan, Ed, and Lucy (see pic above). Very pretty pictures. :)

Oh, and bonus random "celebrity" sighting...that KoJo fashion guy from the entertainment shows in the Hollywood and Highland parking structure.

2010!!!

or 2011. or 2012. Aw, who cares so long as it's made!!!

Look at all the good news, including apparent commitments from two major actors!!!

http://www.variety.com/VR1117984595.html
http://mckellen.com/cinema/index0.htm
http://www.serkis.com/cinema.htm

My PUB!!

Look what happened to my pub. :(

My favorite pub when in San Diego is The Field on 5th. I like to order up a plate of bangers and a Guinness whenever I'm in town (which happens to pretty much just be the week of SDCC).

I knew that one of their former waitresses had gone on to be a finalist on American Idol, and when I stopped by last weekend, there was, I kid you not, a tourist taking a photo of a Carly poster in the window. Later on, a tour bus stopped outside. When the check came, there was a wad of these cards for Carly stuffed in the folder. Sigh. At least it wasn't too crowded inside, everyone was probably still down the street at the Padres game.

Still, the waitstaff was pleasant and the food delish (mini beef guinness pie!!). Here's hoping I can still get them to pull me a pint the old-fashioned way come July. :)

The Man in the Hat is Back

Just think of all the new goodies we can buy!

cco and mbf's Downtown Adventure!!!

So my old friend cco and I met up this morning for our annual trek to the FIDM Costume Design Exhibit. The school's gallery sets up this exhibit to show off the handiwork of Oscar-worthy costumes from the past year. We've had the opportunity to see up-close and personal some amazing costumes from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and many other films. This year, they have last year's winner, Marie Antoinette, as well as this years' fashions (Elizabeth, Sweeney Todd, 300). If you're interested in going, click on the link below.

http://fidm.com/resources/museum+galleries/exhibits/motion-picture-costume-design/2008/index.html

I woke up this morning only to find that the Los Angeles Marathon was taking place today. Since most of that 26.2 miles winds through the streets of downtown Los Angeles (where FIDM is also located), I knew that we were in for some closures. Armed with my trusty GPS, cco drove around and around looking to get close to the building (obviously, the GPS didn't know there was a marathon going on!). We gave up and headed over to Chinatown for lunch around 11am.

After a very filling lunch of dimsum, we gassed up the car and tried again to make it to FIDM. The sites of downtown LA are not familiar to many southern californians, so I got to play tourguide a bit. :P We were a bit luckier this time and parked in Pershing Square. It was probably about a half mile to the exhibit, but who's complaining when there are people running a marathon right by you! It turns out that we were right in the thick of the marathon. If you look closely at the picture below, you can plainly see we were at MILE 26!!



After hoofing it over to 9th and Grand, we discovered the museum was closed on Sundays! Doofus me, I only noticed the hours (10-5) and that they would be closed for Easter weekend. On the way back to the car, we stopped at the South Park Flea Market and perused the handicrafts (some beautiful hand-bound journals and letter press cards!). So four hours and $12 in parking fees later, we actually didn't see anything we came to see! However, it was still a good time and I don't entirely mind having to go back another day. :)

Flickr

So after the demise of Photosite, I spent some time wondering what to do about my photos. It isn't a perfect solution, but I've decided to go with flickr. There, you can view new and "vintage" photos of my collections (prop replicas, statues, action figures, books, etc!), events (eventually), and miscellaneous stuff (like Sweeney Todd costumes at the Arclight in Hollywood). I've got a lot of updating to do, at some point, when I have the time. I've actually had flickr accounts for a while, but hadn't gotten around to setting up this one until now.

Use the link below or the one in my "Linky-Links" bar.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marybluefairy/

The Blue Fairy

I bought this on ebay a little while ago. If I understand correctly, this pin was given out to participants chosen to perform in a parade at Disneyland. A larger version was sold in the stores. I don't really collect Disney pins, I have one that was a gift and one I bought on impulse this past Christmas, but I thought if I should have one, this would be it.

The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio was the inspiration for my well-known online moniker. I have a dress somewhat like this one which I once wore whilst shopping in old town Pasadena (granted, we just had dinner at the Ritz). Maybe you saw me? Anyway, everyone thought I was Cinderella, but I decided I liked how blue fairy rhymed with Mary and here you go!

I think I'll dig out my old blue fairy tote bag and pin it on for my official marybluefairy outings.

Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory

See what came for me in the mail today? I hear that it was delivered by a postman perched on an incredible contraption identified as the Posteriotron 12. You know, I inquired about just such a machine several months ago and was told they were not in production. Liars! Why, I am of a mind to march right down there to Doctor Grordbort's laboratory and take him out. Of course, since my only weapon is my mini Manmelter, I hope to take him by surprise.

Anyway, this marvellous directory of dingus is available for $12.95 from Weta Publishing (through Dark Horse Comics). With shipping from UPS, I paid about $20. Do yourself a favor and get one from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Grordborts-Contrapulatronic-Dingus-Directory/dp/1593078765/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201671489&sr=8-1