LUKA RIOT

Stuff Of Awesome #6

2011-12-07T19:08:00.003-05:00

Easy sandwhich ideas that aren't just PB&J.

Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification, a short film by the NRDC.

My dog is just absolutely adorable

Pizza eating pizza eating pizza eating pizza eating pizza (via).

Shameless self-promotion.

GPOY what I do while serving dinner edition (via).

Reason Jason Segel is awesome #4625470456748956.

This picture never fails to make me laugh.

Boba Fett vs 4th Doctor (via).

Links

The Drunken Moogle, for the drunk nerd.

Top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed.

Horror-Movies.ca, a wicked horror movie (derr) site.

Joseph Madeo, an amazingly talented fashion designer/illustrator.

Stuff Of Awesome #5

2011-12-07T18:28:00.009-05:00

I seriously suck at blogging. In my defense, I am a third year fashion design student (which is basically a synonym for constantly busy as fuck with zero attention span for anything that isn't school or mind-numbing television).

Awesomely creative earring cards by Homemade Speed.

Self-explanitory.

TARDIS mug/beer stein by Bug Pottery.

The Walken Dead. Pure brilliance.

Brushless paintings by Amy Shackleton.

TARDIS bag by Unique Geek Boutique.

Links

Kurt Sutter (creator of Sons Of Anarchy)'s blog. If you're shy of a certain c-word it may not be for you. But if you're a little less timid and enjoy snarky uncensored (but well-structured) rants, then I highly suggest it.

John Pike meme blog.

TRIPP, a brilliant webcomic about a guy who can't shake an acid trip while being haunted by Edgar Allen Poe. Some awesome alien space travel shit in there, too.

Hellhound Fashion is now officially open!

2011-11-11T15:15:00.004-05:00

I've been slowly working on small artwork for the purpose of making jewelry over the past couple months, and acquiring various supplies to do so. I've also been quite swamped with school and haven't had a whole lot of time to dedicate to it, but I've finally got my own Etsy shop up and running! I made an attempt at it last year, but I had little to no focus and didn't put enough effort into it. This time is different! I've made sure to put as much as possible into the preparation stage, and not jump into out half unaware of what I'm doing.

The first collection "Imminent Zombification" has just been posted to Etsy (click the image to go there), and over the weekend I will be adding another two collections.

Now to get back to the mound of school work I have to do... Third year kind of blows.

Stuff Of Awesome #4

2011-10-28T16:00:00.000-04:00

"Save Us" print (via).

A real hobbit house for only £3,000! (via)

I love fanart like this (via).

Amazing spraypainted space art.

Time Turner necklace (via).

Brilliant sculpted faced creatures (via).

Links

Skull nickles: carved soft coins.

Pictures of the abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans.

"Distorted Gravity", a photo series by Anka Zhuravleva.

Carving the Deathstar, for anyone who has yet to attack their pumpkin(s).

Tutorial #1 - candy packaging wall art

2011-10-18T15:01:00.006-04:00

When I was in high school I did this weird thing where I'd carefully open all my candy so the packaging was as in tact as possible, and then I'd tape it to my bedroom wall. I didn't think it made sense then, and I certainly don't know. However, I've come up with a better way to do it that actually looks decent! This would be best for novelty candies (such as these Spider-Man Popeye sticks I used), unless you just really love a certain type of something.

Supplies

frame

paper (that will at least fit into the frame)

scissors

glue (I used rubber cement)

your candy of choice

First cut the piece of paper down to size.

Then eat/play with your candy to empty the wrappers.

Break down the boxes/wrappers so they're one flat surface. If you're using something made of cardboard (even thin card), I'd suggest laying it flat under something heavy for a little while. I had mine under a few layers of plexiglass for a night.

Position your wrappers however you like, then get to gluing them down!

Once you're done gluing, stick the finished picture into the frame.

Ta-da! Easy, cheap as hell wall art. And you get candy out of the deal.

Stuff Of Awesome #3

2011-10-14T14:56:00.005-04:00

Portal jello shots (via).

Alice in Zombieland (via).

Awesome free paper crafts (via).

Star Wars alphabet print (via).

Garbage Pail Kids friendship necklaces(via).

I love David Tennant, so here's an interview with PBS where he's kinda being a cheeky bastard ("I am popular culture", "Breathe my fresh air!"), but mostly being adorable in every way (yes, I am a total Tennant fangirl).

Links

The Bad Chemicals, awesome one-panel webcomic.

Inspector Spacetime Confessions, a tumblr about "confessions" of the Community parody of Doctor Who.

Rant #1 - I'm not sure how my thought process went here, but enjoy

2011-10-08T14:00:00.001-04:00

Click pictures to go to shops.

I swear I'm going to be better at making this a real blog! I'm really trying this time! Anyway, onto the rant...

A lot of small internet business who deal in DIY clothing, jewelry, and other accessories often don't like to share their sources. And it makes sense. Why make something yourself, try to make money off of it, and then tell your customers where to get the supplies and do it themselves?

There are those who, like me, would gladly by something off a small independent label or artist before going to a chain store and buying something thousands of other people have (though many people only buy independent things out of laziness and easy access via the internet). Indie (fuck I hate that word) items just have so much more character, more feeling put into them. They're also so much more personal, as they are usually unique so you can be sure that you and only you have them.

I'm just going to interrupt myself here and let those of you who don't already know become aware that this started as me featuring a supply shop and then realizing how dumb that was.

The internet has made so many more amazing things accessible, and allowed so many people to do what they love successfully around the world. Sure, it's creating globalization as well, but look at all the brilliance that's come from that!

Stopping that thought there because that's a whole different rant.

The details that are put into these things are outstanding, as well as the attention to quality (which is becoming increasingly more expensive in regular stores). I'm glad to have purchased many of these things, and am planning my own Snitch necklace (click the other Snitch necklace for the shop - Jennie does amazing work!) from one of these shops. There are a large amount of poor quality materials available for far cheaper, but even a good shop down on money can make it into something amazing and long lasting.

Even if you don't have money to buy things from these shops (be they independantly hosted, on Etsy, or otherwise), just look through them at least. Please! Follow their work, watch them grow. Then once you can afford it, buy something! Support them so they can continue to grow!

Or maybe you just browse to get inspired, that's fine too! It's incredibly common for one's work to be inspired by that of another, and there's nothing wrong with it. Of course, that's all dependant on how you interpret that inspiration. Don't just rip off someone else's idea. It's not fair to the artist or yourself, and it's just plain rude. Despite common saying, imitation is not flattery. It's theft, plain and simple. If you like something that someone has done, and you want to attempt it, then by all means! Just don't sell a reproduction as if it's from your own imagination. And if you think yourself an artist, DO NOT DO THAT TO YOURSELF! You have to maintain your own identity, especially in the creative world, or you'll just get lost among the countless discredited fakes that no one even tries to remember, let alone respect.

Returning to where this rant began, don't be that asshole who asks an independant artisan where they get their supplies, or an artist how they do their work. If they want to share, they will. These people have probably gone to great lengths to procure the best quality materials possible or acquired amazing skills through years of practice to make their vision a reality, and then decided to share it with whoever chooses to honour them buy purchasing it. Unless you've done so yourself, you have know idea the sense of accomplishment and pride you get when someone buys something you've personally spent time developing. And please, let them see pictures of you with what you've bought! That wonderful feeling multiplies exponentially when you see how happy your creation has made someone.

The point I'm trying to make here: BUY INDEPENDANT! You may have to search hard for something you really like, but I promise it's worth it when you find something spectacular!

Sorry for all the ramblings and sidealongs in parentheses, but expect this in future rants.

Feature #1 - Nixxi Rose

2011-09-22T13:16:00.010-04:00

Nixxi Rose is an Etsy shop run by 20 year old Nicola in England. Her zombie boxes are what first caught my attention, and are so full of detail it's amazing! She clearly puts a lot of work into what she makes and the prices are pretty reasonable.

Stuff Of Awesome #2

2011-09-22T12:38:00.007-04:00

Eyeball watch from Karma Loop.

Mulled Apple tea by President's Choice. If you live in Canada, I strongly suggest you get this. It tastes like apple pie!

Mandrake Root jar by Lausanne.

Superjail season 2! If you haven't seen it (or the first season), do! The artwork is amazing and completely ridiculous but meticulously detailed. Even if you don't particularly like the content you should be able to appreciate the sheer amount of work that goes into this show.

Awesome artwork by Sam/Homemade Speed.

Links

Fuck Yeah Moleskines!, a tumblr featuring moleskine sketchbook submissions.

The Living Breathing Street, street photography and writing by a man in Calgary.

Stuff Of Awesome #1

2011-08-25T16:28:00.009-04:00

In an effort to make this a proper blog I figure a few key themes for posts will probably be quite useful. So, here's the start to that. I spend a lot of time on the internet (admittedly, nowhere near as much as I used to but probably still too much) which means I come across a loooot of things I'd like to have but mostly never will. These are some of those things.

Marvel cake pans. I am a huge Marvel nerd! Mind you, I wouldn't have the patience to make them look this awesome.

Golden Snitch necklace by Mistress Jennie.

PLANT Magazine by my friend Isabel of Hipster Musings.

Polymer clay zombie octopus by Bunny X Productions.

Star Wars rings! By Spiffing Jewelry. There's also some amazing tentacle necklaces in their shop.

Junk food print fabric! Something I will most definitely be getting my hands on from Fabrics and Trimmings.

And lastly but most certainly not least, this zombie teeth hand made leather box by Nixxi Rose. Too awesome for words!

2011-08-09T14:51:00.006-04:00

I don't have to much to write about at the moment. I'm slowly building up inventory for re-opening the shop (and keeping it open this time) and marginally terrified of school starting up again. Third year is going to be absolutely ridiculous and a lot of work. But when I woke up today, it was raining quite a lot and as per usual I broke out my camera right away (a couple actually, but the other one was film) so I guess I'll share a few of them.

View into the backyard from the bathroom window.

View from front porch, left is a little off to the side, right is direct from the front door.

Maila likes to watch the rain about as much as I do, and was just sitting calmly at the door.

Comic Shoes

2011-07-16T01:29:00.011-04:00

Lately I've managed to do what I never thought I ever would: amass a growing collection of shoes. Including an alarming number of heels (none of which I ever really wear, but whatever). The first pair of heels I ever bought (which was only two years ago) are these tiny-heeled shiny as all hell things that I never wear anymore, and only really ever did on pub night back in Kingston on Laura's insistence. Last year when I went to Fanexpo I got a pile of free comics I didn't really care much for beyond the artwork, so I figured I'd make something of them. So far I've only done the occasional piece of jewelry, but I wanted to make these shoes something I might actually wear at some point should there be an unlikely occasion where they would be suitable.

ON WE GO!

So I had the shoes, The Authority (which I can't actually remember the premise of - quite possibly good but evidently not my cup of tea), Mod Podge, and sealer (which still has yet to be applied - I'll get there eventually).

The first and most annoying step of all was getting the exact shape I needed to cut out for the image. This alone took about 45 minutes and numerous failed attempts, but finally I got it (and apparently took the picture with the piece upside down because I am a genius).

Then I had to find a good image that would work with the placement. Initially I was going to use an issue of The Flash that had some fantastically illustrated onomatopoeia but I neglected to flip the piece to the other side and cut two of the same one. Once again, I am a genius.

Thus I came across a page of an attack or meteor shower of some sort on London in the other comic, which I actually liked better anyway so all as well!

After fighting with slippery Mod Podge to attach the images to the shoes, then coating it on top a few times I think they look pretty awesome. I didn't bother taking any progress shots because all you'd see is me sitting on the floor and yelling at paper. "DO WHAT I WANT YOU TO YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Also, I changed up the layout a bit again. Muuuuch better.

Sometimes I bake.

2011-03-08T17:29:00.011-05:00

Monday was Steve's birthday, so I made him dinner [obviously] but didn't have time to get the cake done. Bought these two pieces of awesome on my way home from school Tuesday and spent parts of about 4 hours baking a cake and a dozen cupcakes.

But not just any kind of cake. A Tetris cake. Yeah. What up? While it was all in the oven I added some food colouring to the icing to make it more tetris-blocky and less plain icingy. Realized I wasn't going to have a enough, and luckily had a pile of icing sugar and some shortening in the cupboard, and made some more. Once I had used up enough to glue the cake together [cut it in half before forming the blocks so there'd be a layer of icing in the middle] I split it in two and coloured it green and blue for the cupcakes.

Before this I had never done more than a simple boxed cake with icing on top. Easy. Hadn't even done marble before so it was a new experience. And kinda fun. MARBELY!

I didn't realize until it was too late that I probably should have shaved off the top of the cake to make it flat, so the blocks were all messed up and the cake itself isn't very even at all. Cut off the top half, then cut it all into quarters. Arranged them to fit together as best as possible, then icinged the tops and bottoms back together, made them into the T block, and covvvvvered it in icing and sprinkles. Sorta wish I hadn't now, but I used chocolate sprinkles to separate the blocks, didn't like it so I put a bit of the white icing on top of them. Those parts were so coma-inducingly good though!

Anywho, here's how it all looked in the end.

Considering this is the most extravagant baking I've ever done, I'm relatively happy with it. Not so happy with all the dishes on top of what I dirtied up last night making supper. Geh.

Neeeeeeeeeeew things

2011-03-01T13:59:00.005-05:00

So reading week started yesterday [or Friday, depending on how you want to look at it] and I am so ridonkulously glad. And Fabricland's having this big "dollar days" sale from yesterday til I'm not sure when, but I went today and loaded up on stuff. Only spent 60 bucks on all this!

Bigass zebra print bag, a tailor's ham, bunch of pins, retractable measuring tape, a roll-up/clutch thing that I might use as my new pencil case [far easier to organize things in], a travel sewing kit, 4 19-spool thread organizers, and 32 zippers! They're on for 4/1$. It's awesome!

Yesterday I cleaned my giant messes and finally got to sorting through and organizing my bobbins by colour. When my grandma passed away I got a lot of her sewing things, and it's a clear display of how she always tended to do things in three. Look at all the duplicate colours! I'm pretty surprised there aren't more but thankfully there aren't because there'd be nowhere to put them! Now I've just gotta go through the insane amount of thread I got from her [definitely more than can fit in 4 boxes of 19].

And check out my toaster! It's making me a cheese bagel right now. Mmmmm. Thanks moooooooom! These bagels dry out horribly in the oven, but not the toaster!

Mornings are lame

2011-02-26T11:06:00.004-05:00

I will probably pretty much never do so many posts in such a short time, but if I don't do this now I'll forget it completely. Heeeere is the final result of the painting I've been working on.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with it, buuuut I'm gonna stop painting after dark using artificial light, because it's nowhere as green as I thought it was.

My mom is coming to visit today, and she's bringing me a toaster! The toaster here was Vanessa's, so when she moved out last summer she took it with her, and we've been using the oven ever since. When you're like me and you have the attention span of a goldfish, using an oven to toast things is just a bad idea. Many burnt bagels and slices of bread.

Now on to an actual post...

2011-02-25T19:57:00.005-05:00

I've been extreeeeemely busy with school over the past couple weeks, and as a result have been stressed beyond belief! I haven't had much of any time for anything other than 10 minutes here and there on the internet, and homework. Occasionally I ate. But pretty much everything that's been taking up my time is now done and over with, and now I'm off for a week. I've got a few assignments to work on, but I don't have to go anywhere! It's awesome!

On Tuesday we had our third guest speaker in marketing, and he wasn't really addressing anything that hasn't already been covered so I just zoned out and started doodling randomly. Ended up with a small collection of weird alien things.

I'm sure you can tell which one I liked the most, because it actually got full shading and everything, and I decided I wanted to paint it. I haven't had much time for painting in quite a while, and Steve's parents got me a few canvases [in sizes I'd never used before!] so I figured I'd do it up. I just got it done but the sun set a couple hours ago so I can't get a good picture of it right now. Planning on doing it tomorrow, but here's a few progress shots.

Let's try this again...

2011-02-25T17:54:00.003-05:00

At this point I'm not sure how many times I've deleted everything on here and started over, but I'm doing it again! Mayyyybe I'll actually keep on it this time, but who knows?! Anyway, mostly doing this post for layout editing purposes, so I know what posts look like...

Here's how it looks now:

Let's see what I can do with it...