Grammy-nominated, Award Winning Music Video

   Hello!

   We finished our video! YAYAYAYAYAUY!!! So I hope this inspires you to do your own! Again, have them in by 25th, 8 pm MT.  You can comment with the link to yours (on your blog or Vimeo or YouTube or somethin') in the comments down below.
   Due to technical difficulties, it's on Vimeo, so no thumbnail. Here's the link to the video on Vimeo, and you will need to enter the password: rmv2020.

https://vimeo.com/411578730

Enjoy!

As usual the post has variants for each of our blogs, so go check out MEM's! MEM's

LEGO®

In A Hole In The Ground. . .

   . . . There lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
 :)
   As a gift for a friend, I made a mini hobbit-hole fairy garden. Between Michael's & Hobby Lobby I got all the accessories. I made the map and frame by hand, and sewed the cushions for the chair. I did the welcome mat as well ('cause Hobby Lobby was sold out of almost everything including the mini welcome mat grumble grumble). The flowers are Dianthus and there's a little succulent in the mini pot.

Happy Spring!

Random Blog Party pt. 2: Random Music Video Challenge

Hello everyone!
    Welcome to pt. 2 of our Random Blog Party! Again this a collaboration between myself, HomeschooledMando and MiddleEarthMusician at Music, Mystery, Middle Earth, and Mitochondria. If you haven't seen pt. 1 of the RBP, go on over to here: HERE.

   So the idea here is a competition to make your own music video of a known or made up song without using conventional instruments. Simple right?

Rules:
1) No conventional instruments. Ex. of conventional instruments: piano, guitar, accordion, bagpipes, flutes. Any instrument.
2) Video must be under 5 minutes.
3) Any song made up or known, must be appropriate for all ages. E for everyone! Thank you.
4) Please comment with your video link by 8pm Mountain Time on April 25th, 2020.

  We are very excited to see what you make. We are going to film one together so watch for it on our respective blogs! We hope to have ours up by the 25th and we are planning to use a very well known song! So stay tuned:)

   If you have any questions, please comment them so we can answer. And don't worry, we will. We're bored :)

Ninjago!   -Homeschooledmando

Namarie!!!

Sewing Pt. I

   You'all are going to laugh at me.
   So the story goes like this.
   Yes, there's a story,
   So before Corona went down, me and my madré  went thrift store shopping. All fun and games, right? And at one of them, there was a box of sewing patterns. Lots of them were old and had dates on them from like 1993 and stuff like that. Super cool! So I picked out this beautiful Simplicity® pattern that said multi-size and everything. I wanted to do #2, the one day in dark gray.

    Then yesterday I went to Walmart w/ my madré to get some things and hit the fabric while I was there. I didn't think about the fact that everybody's making masks and older ladies are stuck home so a lot of sewing is going on and craft stores aren't open really. So there wasn't many choices. Of the things that were there that I liked, there wasn't enough of the fabric. But there ended up being just over 2 yrds. of this red fabric w/ white polka dots.

So here's kind of what I was imagining in my head:

(Not exactly, obviously, it's not the same type of dress and no belt unless I wanted to make one, but my point being)

   So this morning I was like, I'm going to lay out the pattern and start figuring out my size and all that jazz.

   So I'm sitting there, pattern laid across my floor. And I can tell somethings not right. So a multi-size pattern has each piece, ya know, but each one has several lines and it tells you which line for what size. Now, don't judge, but I'm a size 4. I. AM. SKINNY. I weigh a whopping 106.4 pounds at the MOST. Usually I'm 103-ish. I'm thin and tall. The only sizes I can see are 20, 22, 24, and 26 (The smallest the pattern should go down to an 8 which I believe would be correct sizing since the scale shifted at some point so a 4 should be equal to 8). But I had read on the pattern something about measuring yourself so I figured that those were just the measurement numbers not the sizes.
    As you can tell, I've only done one other pattern on my own. And that was a doll pattern. The rest were with my super-amazing sewing Gram. I can sew! I just haven't done many patterns.
   But then I'm looking at it and I'm like, "I'm not THAT big. I'm TINY." So I liked at the back of the pattern package where it's got all those numbers so you can figure out what size you are. Then a line of text I hadn't read before said something invaluable in bold font. . .

 "Pattern Has Cutting Lines For Four Sizes

 Sizes KK (8-10-12-14) PP (12-14-16-18) ZZ (20-22-24-26)"

  Guess which one I have?
   ZZ.
   The smallest size on my pattern is SIX SIZES above my actual size.
   Sharp Dressed Man starts playing. (Sharp Dressed Man is a song by ZZ Top for those of you who didn't catch the joke)
   So that's my life. How's yours?
   Me & my Madré are going to see if we can edit the pattern to fit me, so that's were pt. II will come into play. I'd been wondering why it said ZZ in the top left corner. . .

I'm leaving comments on so you can say nice, sympathetic things to comfort me :)

Simplicity® It's SO EASY!
(Not)

Crayon and Canyon

   So I'm officially losing my mind.
   So last Sunday night it was later, like 9-ish in the evening, and I was doing some light room cleaning. 'Cause that's just what I do before bed, I put away some things I pulled out and it just makes me sleep a little easier. So don't ask why I have bags of rocks, but I do, and I went to move 2 of 'em. I set them down next my dresser, which has my swords, lightsaber, and a stick leaning on it. I believe I bumped said objects 'cause after I turned around and started doing something else, I heard a loud crash. The stick had fallen over.
   So naturally I turned back around aggressively "SHHHHH!"-ed the stick. . .

  . . . I'm losing my mind. . .

   You also might've noticed that myself and MEM from the previous post are both listed as the authors, THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY! It's just to make the joint posts easier if we're both authors on each other's blogs. So don't panic :) Everything is fine :)

   So on to the post. Crayon and Canyon are words that bug me. Just because of the way the Y is used. If you think about saying it, and sounding it out; it's not so easy to say the words. So yeah. But the purpose of all this is I went to a Canyon (Unnamed so you can't figure out where I live hahahahaha!). So here's the pics.:

It's the end of the world as we know it. . .

The Tag of Randomness (pt. 1, Random Blog Party)

Hello everyone!!!!
   This is a joint tag between myself, Homeschooledmando at In Your Service, and MiddleEarthMusician at Music, Mystery, Middle Earth, and Mitochondria. H.M.S. Mando and MEM, for short. During these dark times, we decided to come together (RIGHT NOW! over me) (Sorry. . . but you-all better have gotten that reference) and make a series of blog-event-things. . . I believe it's called a blog party. ANYWAY, to ease into this idea, we decided to start with a tag. So yeah. That's what this is :)
   Sooooo

Rules:
The usual.
1) Link back to us: MEM & H.M.S Mando.
2) Use the graphic. We worked hard on it (well, not we).
3) Answer the Q's. That's kind of the point of the tag.
4) Anyone is welcome to do this if you find it from either of our blogs, but otherwise pls. tag 3 people (MORE MINIONS!!!) (MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) [the evil laugh was Mem].
5) Answer the questions in random order (since this is the random tag).

   So both MEM and I submitted 5 questions and the other had to answer. So I'll put MEM or H.M.S. next to the questions so you can tell you asked it. Ex. What's your problem? H.M.S. So that means I asked it and MEM is responding. (I don't know what my problem is, I'm sorry-Mem. XD) (It's totally cool, MEM <3 H.M.S. Mando)

OKAY! Onward!

1) Would you rather be a phoenix or a gryphon? MEM

   I guess a phoenix. Simply 'cause I always think they are on fire (even though they're probably not, I don't know why I think that) but I'd like to be able to light people on fire.

2) Coke or Pepsi? You better say Coke. . . H.M.S.

      Um I don't recall every actually tasting pepsi...so I'll go with coke...XD 

3) What's your third favorite color? MEM

   UHHHHHH, I don't know, people only ask for my favorite! (Which is rainbow by the way) Pink, I guess.

4) Pick a super power: 1) The ability to change the way your breath smells to any smell you like or 2) the ability to change your voice to sound like Taylor Swift whenever you want. H.M.S.

   The breath one, I guess? Taylor Swift doesn't have my /favorite/ singing voice, although she's really talented. XD

5) How many orange books do you own? MEM
       2.   Firefight and my old algebra book, HAHAHAHA.

6) Someone has just offered to fly you anywhere in the world for an all-expenses-paid, month-long vacation. Where to?! H.M.S.
   THE UNITED KINGDOM HERE I COME.

7) What are you wearing right now? MEM
   A blue, tie-dye Old Navy shirt; Bermuda-style, jean shorts; a watch, a white headband, glasses, and normally socks, but I'm hot right now.

8) How many states have you been in? H.M.S.
  I...have...no...idea. X"D Not terribly many, tbh-mostly ones in the western or northern parts of the U.S.

 

9) Would you rather be able to balance grapes on your nose or catch them in your mouth when you throw them up in the air? MEM
   On my nose, 'cause everyone can catch 'em in their mouth except me.

10) Breakfast, normal, or dessert pizza? H.M.S.
   Normal and dessert for me!

   Well tanks for joining us, and we hope you'all will return for week 2!!!! Please let us know if you plan to do the tag, we'd love to come and stalk (yes, stalk) your blog! (I jk, you now that right? We're not going to stalk your blog. Just follow it. . . ya know?)

   Both of us posted this on our blogs and the versions vary a bit so please go check out MiddleEarthMusician's!

Don't just clean it. . . OxiClean it!   -H.M.S. Mando

Namarie!!!

Howl's Moving Castle Art Competition

FLOABT ©
(For lack of a better title)

   Some of you may not be familiar with Howl's Moving Castle. It's a movie by Studio Ghibli, kind of the Disney of Japan. Whilst I like some of the Studio Ghibli films, Howl's Moving Castle isn't my favorite. In fact, I've only seen it once a year or so ago. So when I got the invite for the competition I was a bit disappointed that it was Howl's Moving Castle and not like Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or something.
   Howl's Moving Castle is about a girl named Sophie, she's about 18, and at the beginning of the movie gets cursed. The curse makes her old, like 90 or something. So she goes to the wizard Howl to get the curse lifted. I don't really remember exactly how it all happens, I didn't bother to watch it again for the competition. . . I know, but it's a freakin' 2 hour movie! Anyway, he doesn't lift the curse either because he can't or whatever, and it's the adventure that ensues. It's a really cool movie in one way, and a lot of girls my age when I was in highschool LOVED it. I was just like, "eh." It's really abstract, and weird. With a bizarre side story. It's just. . . yeah. I wouldn't recommend it. But if you want to get an idea here's the posters, some shots from the movie, and a link to the english trailer:

Trailer (the trailer is just as weird as the movie):

   Visually it's a gorgeous! It's an amazing movie for artists to have a competition off of! But personally I would've preferred a different movie choice. The others I named are beautifully stunning as well.
   The competition was being put on by Fan Factory in association with Her Universe and Hot Topic, if I'm correct. It's a bit confusing. The judges are Ashley Eickstein herself, the President of the Miyazaki fan club (Hayao Miyazaki is the founder of Studio Ghibli and like makes all the movies), and some guy who's the head of Hot Topic or something like that, and the head design manager or whatever of Her Universe Noelle Wagner I think.
   Point being I entered:) Deadline was last night. We were given pretty much a whole month. I started last Sunday. I got it in with 38 mins. to spare. . .
   I know what you're thinking. . .
   Anyway, here is the design I ended up with:

If you would like, I would greatly appreciate it if you would vote for it on their website! The voting is only through the 13th SO HURRY!!! :) :) :) The vote button is in the top left corner, it's red, and you can't miss it! Tanks, here is the link: LINK!!!

Catch The Wave! Coca-Cola.

When I see You Again

   For many of us, right now we don't get to see our friends much. Yes, we get to talk over text, phone, social media, or even video chats. But the fact remains that we don't really get to go places and hang w/ our friends and extended family.
   I was driving home the other day and a song I thought sounded familiar came over the radio. It was beautiful, and reminded me of Lewis Capaldi's recent hit Someone You Loved. Not exactly, a little more light-hearted, but kinda the same vibe (Random note: I don't like the word vibe, but it was the best word for that situation).
   So to my friends that I don't get to see, this song is from me to you (Yikes, that was sappy). I can't wait to see you all again :)

See You Again  by Charlie Puth

Peace, Love, and Cookie Dough

Star Wars: For Those Who Have Died

I have serious problems, I know.

For Those Who Have Died was a simple short story that was actually written off of the title I'd come up with. I thought, this sounds like a cool title, and made a short story off it. So here is my sweet little short story. :)


For Those Who Have Died         HomeschooledMando


    Today we celebrate the brave heroes who brought the Empire to its knees. It is Endor Day. Three years ago the Rebel fleet amassed in preparation to strike the Death Star. On this very day, a commando team inserted onto Endor and attacked an Imperial Bunker in hopes of lowering the shield that protected the Death Star. This brave act would allow the Rebel Fleet to attack.
    We all know how it ended.
    That day we gained heroes, figure heads, and leaders. Ones we still celebrate. But I want this ceremony to not be for the heroes we thank day-by-day, but for those who have died. The countless brave souls that fought for our freedom. We are free this day because they took a stand−learned to fight and fly. Pilots and gunners attacked the second Death Star, but not without great fear. They attacked knowing they could be dead before the next day. When I think back to my days in the Rebellion, I do not see the heroes. . . I think of those who died. Who put trillions of lives above their own.
    And may the Force be with them all. They who were brave. They who were selfless.
    Political leaders to soldiers, Mon Calamari to Ishi Tib, smugglers to princesses−every one of us united against evil.
    And so today I challenge you to not only raise up the heroes, but to also remember the fallen. This day was meant for them. A day to honor their sacrifice, and celebrate what came from it.
    A day for those who have died.

                                                                                      -Leia Organa Solo, Endor Day, 8 ABY


Little Caesar's, Pizza Pizza