The Magic is Back!

So I saw The Princess and The Frog last weekend. What a movie! Drama, suspense, romance, angst, horror... this one's got it all! P&tF was definately worth the 5 year wait for Disney's return to traditional 2D animation.

The backgrounds were gorgeous, the animation was flawless, the whole color palette of the movie was just beautiful. The costumes were amazing, the voice acting was great, the music was astounding! There were these three little girls sitting two rows ahead of us and they actually got up and danced whenever a song came on! Randy Newman hit it big with this score! And the writing was just amazing. There's a very important lesson to be learned from this movie. And of course, it's a love story within a love story!

The thing I never liked about the different versions of this story was that the characters never learned anything. In the Grimms Brothers' "The Frong King," the princess is a spoiled little brat who is horrible to the frog and in the end gets to marry the king without learning anything or going through any kind of transformation of her own. Sadly, the same is true in many Mother Goose versions of the fairytale, as this is the one that those are likely based on. In "The Frog Princess," by Alexander Afanasev, it's the woman who is under a spell and the prince who is a spoiled, selfish brat.

Thankfully, Disney has done the classic story justice as each and every character, from the two main heroes to the dastardly villian, to the spoiled friend and cute animal sidekicks, learns an important lesson about the difference between what they want and what they need. The journey to this realization takes place through such emotional songs as "Almost There," "Dig a Little Deeper," "Ma Belle Evangeline," etc.

The whole movie, from beginning to end, is absolutely beautiful. The ending, however, is perhaps the most beautiful of all fairytale endings where everything is just as it's meant to be, but in a way that's the complete opposite of what the viewer (and the characters) would expect. What an inspiring film!

More Toy Story Accessories

Just because there aren't enough Toy Story accessories out there! I made this out of pajamas. The bag part is the shirt and the handle is the pants. Or was. I wrote "There's a snake in my boot!" on the back in orange, but it wouldn't come clear in a picture.

Happy Anniversary, Emma!!

Today marks one year since the debut of The Emma Collection at Big Apple Comic Con in New York City. When I look back over the past year, I can't help but be excited about my dolls and the experiences they have brought to me.

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the amazing people in my life who have played an important role in this journey: Thank you to my husband Mike for being patient and flexible, especially during those first few frustrating months. Thank you to my parents and my sister Lori for not laughing when I once again announced that I wanted to try something new. Thank you to my manager Alex for the encouraging pep talks that make me feel like I could fly if I tried to. Thank you to Alan for having me in that first show. Thank you to my Aunt Corrie for the awesome enthusiasm about my doll collection. Thank you to Alexis for being the best assistant ever at that first show. Thank you to my mother-in-law and Aunt Kathy for being my first fans on FaceBook. Thank you to all my friends and all the people at the store who offered constructive criticism along the way to that first show. Thank you to the great people at Friends of Lulu for their support and interest in a multi-tasking artist. Thank you to all of the people who have purchased an Emma doll to take home with them, especially the little girl from the Wizard World Philadelphia show, who totally made my day by showing not one, but two of my dolls more love than maybe even I did while I was creating them, if that's even possible.

One day I got the idea to try making a doll. Months later, on a hot August afternoon in 2008, I put the idea to work and loved the way it came out. I'd known that I would be appearing in the Artist Alley at Big Apple Con that November and decided that I wanted to have more dolls so that I could display them with my artwork and see if maybe they would sell. Less than three months later, I had nine handmade dolls to bring with me. And so The Emma Collection was born!

Over this past year, I have been lucky enough to enjoy two successful shows, a handful of commissions, and the launch of The Emma Collection website. I can't wait to see where the next year will take Emma and all her friends! Happy Anniversary, Emma!!

Support

I'm wearing this bracelet for you and I won't stop until you get better.

This Is What Happens When I Get Bored...

When I have too much time on my hands, I get Sharpie happy. Too bad I don't have a "before" pic. This was actually a really fun way to make old shoes look new!!

Help Me Help a Friend!!

I will be walking on Sept 26 in honor of Allison, who is the daughter of one of my colleagues and a dear friend. Please help out if you can!!


http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1488&AID=752&PID=100443

Summer Reading

I don't think I've done this much reading over the summer since I was in high school!! But what a great summer of reading it was!

Here's my reading list:

Fairy Haven and the Quest For the Wand, by Gail Carson Levine
Insperatus, by Kelly Varesio
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis
The Vampire Diaries Volume I: The Awakening, by L.J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries Volume II: The Struggle, by L.J. Smith
Curious George At The Aquarium, by R.P. Anderson
Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
Fairest of All, by Serena Valentino

I love the feeling of being in another world completely and luckily this summer, I had the concentration time to do it. Of course the dreaming doesn't end here with the season. I'm going to get started right away on my "Fall Reading List," which includes the rest of The Vampire Diaries, a companion to Narnia, several puppetry books, American Gods, and more! So excited for three days off next week!!

Thinking In Words

I've got so many ideas for art projects, but they're all coming to me in words. Which is really strange, because normally I think in pictures, not in words. Now it's the opposite. These words, phrases, fragments, sentences keep popping into my head and entice my creativity. Too bad I'm not a writer!

Home is Where the Heart Is

This is the place we picked out to live together.
This is the town where we know everyone.
This is the town where everyone knows us.
This is the place we invite family and friends to.
This is where you carried me over the threshold the night we got married.
This is where we come to after a long day's work or a week's vacation.
This is where we stay up all night talking, or reading, or watching tv.
This is where we wake up in the morning.
This is where we feed the cats.
This is where I cook all my meals for you.
This is where we planted our first garden.
This is where Teddy has his cave.
This is where our "offices" are.
This is a very nice place with a lot of love.
My home is with you and we are in this house.
This is our home.

Best Weekend Ever!!

My husband and I spent our summer vacation visiting my sister in Connecticut. Of course, she planned the best weekend ever! We went to Brown University to see the comic book archives, which was utterly amazing. Then, we saw Funny People at get this, a drive-in movie theater! And this was just Friday. Saturday was spent in Mystic, where we went to the aquarium (so much fun!), shopped at Olde Mistick Village, and had dinner at Mystic Pizza. On Sunday, we went to a flea market in the morning and then spent most of the afternoon at B.I.M.P., where we went to the puppet museum. Apparently U-Conn is one of three schools in the U.S. where you can get undergrad and graduate degrees in pupeteering. That is awesome!! So many thanks to my sister, Lori, for hosting us at her home and for an incredible and fun-filled weekend. =0)

So despite the annoying floor repairs that have to be done in my appartment, I came back from this wonderful weekend feeling refreshed and inspired. The puppet museum was just beyond words. I have quite a collection of puppets myself, and I have dabbled in the past with puppetry and toy theater, but the outcome of the dabbling always was that I'd much rather create the puppets than do the actual puppeteering. Now the artist in me is itching and I'm thinking I may start dabbling again. =0) I've started doing some research and mapping out a project that I know I want to work on for sure. So we'll see. Maybe my re-awakening in my puppet interests will spark something for future projects.