My Family & Other Animals

Sunday 27 January 2013

"They're Gonna Put Me In The Movies...."

Inside
"They're Gonna Make A Big Star Out Of Me..."
Howdy Doody Cats 'n Kittens. So here we are again, another Sunday at casa L-B and I have another creation to share with you. It's been a fairly uneventful two weeks as I have been at home with Jo who flatly refuses to leave the house with even a sniff of snow in the air (not that I'm complaining, who wants to go out in the cold anyway?), so we have passed our time by catching up with all the latest movies. We saw 'The Impossible' the incredible true story of one family's struggle to find each other again in the wake of the Indonesian tsunami disaster, 'Zero Dark Thirty' another true story about the hunt for Usama Bin Laden, 'Django ("the D is silent") Unchained' Tarantino's latest slice of genius, 'Lincoln' another true story concentrating on the last four months of the great President's life, 'The Hobbit' JRR Tolkein's original and best story, Life of Pi' a Tiger, an Orangutan, a Jackal and a young Indian boy stranded in a lifeboat and 'Flight' Denzel Washington's latest film about a pilot who saves a plane and most of it's passengers only to have the tables turned on him.
Standouts were 'Django' and 'Pi' for me, two totally diverse movies but with equally valid stories about life to tell. A lot has been made of the violence in 'Django' but I think that it might just be a case of lazy journalism again as this movie had a lot less violence in it than I for one expected to see, especially for a story about slavery and the old West. What hasn't been talked about is the humour in the film, the dialogue is (as ever) pin sharp and so witty. Nearly every line Christoph Waltz utters had me in stitches, as did Jamie Foxx whose character had more of a sense of humour than you would credit in a man whose life hung by a thread every day he stayed in the South. Plaudits should also go to the great Sam Jackson who I love above all other actors and to Leo DiCaprio whose baby face usually works against him I feel but in this movie really added to his character.
'Life of Pi' was a different beast altogether. Stunningly beautiful, breathtaking and exciting, metaphorically deep and deeply coloured like a rainbow. It is the story of a young boy who finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger, a Hyena, an Orangutan and a crippled Zebra. I did try to read the book but found it's narrative too disjointed and ethereal for my liking, but I did manage to get nearly halfway through and everything I remember from the book is up there on the screen. The acting is flawless and the CGI is just another step forward from anything you have ever seen before. None of the animals are real and only a couple of times did you forget that, so realistic is the Tiger that I never thought of it as anything less than a real, breathing, living animal. I know it is early in the year and there are some amazing looking movies coming out this year but they are really going to have to go some to beat this one for me, it really is a work of art and one I can't recommend highly enough.
Jo's favourite was 'The Impossible' which had both of us in floods of tears, which was in no way embarrassing until the tears were joined on stage by huge racking sobs. It is not so much a film but an endurance test (the last time I was that upset watching a movie was 'Schindler's List', so that must tell you something!!).

On to this weeks card and the theme this week at the Kenny K Krafty Krew is 'Sketch 2'. I have only limited experience with sketches but I found it a lot easier knowing in advance where everything had to go. The image used is Sundae, which you can find here for the princely sum of $3.00 (what a bargain eh!). Here's the sketch in question:
Papers are a mix of freebies and Basic Grey, cardstock from my stash (usually either core'dinations or Bazzil), sparkly gems, some lush dies from Spellbinders and a couple of really old stamps which I think also came free with a craft magazine (if you recognize the bird stamp and sentiment inside then let me know where they are from!!).
I have had a serious case of crafters block lately and my Mojo has only just started to reappear so if things are not up to my usual standard then apologies but hopefully, things will get better sooner rather than later.
Hope you likes it anyway, have a look at the Kenny K challenge blog and I hope you are going to have a great week, see you again soon,
hugs ;n stuff,
Andy
xx
Entered Into: Come and Get It Challenge Blog - Tic Tac Toe
Here Come The Boys Challenge #44 - Bingo Board (Corner to Corner)
Challenge For Everybody Challenge #12 - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge - Anything Goes
Gingerloft Challenge #56 - Love Is In The Air
The Order Of The Opus Gluei Challenge #149 - Glitz, Glamour, Bring On The Bling
ABC Challenges #14 - Valentine's Day
Artistic Inspirations Challenge #26 - Love/Anything Goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts Challenge #32 - Anything Goes
Lady Anne's Challenges - Anything Goes
Digi Makeover Challenge #73 - Hearts
House Of Gilli Challenge #49 - Anything Goes with Pink & Bling
Pink By Design Challenge - Have A Heart
My Grafico Challenge #144 - Anything Goes

18 comments:

  1. Your card is so fun, Andy! Love the combination of papers and the cute image! Great take on the sketch!

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  2. Fab card Andy I love the papers.

    Caz

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  3. Great card. Lots of wonderful details. Love to read your blog. Thank you for joining the Tic Tac Toe challenge at Come and Get It this week.

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  4. Fabulous card great image. Thank you for joining us at Here Comes the Boys challenge good luck
    Ginny ♥

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  5. Great card and beautifully finished. Thanks for playing Tic-Tac-Toe with us at Come and Get It.
    Karal GDT

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  6. Fabulous card and a great layout! The image is totally sweet and the details are fabulous!

    Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with us this fortnight at Gingerloft.
    Best of luck and we'd love to have you visit again!

    Mian
    Gingerloft Design Team Member
    http://mianspysselhorna.blogspot.com

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  7. What a great card with a really retro feel Andy. Fabulous colouring and love the papers you have used. The green check really has an American diner look to it.
    Hmmm I won't ask how you managed to see all those new releases at home :)
    The idea of meeting up when Spring finally arrives sounds great to me. How about somewhere like the LOTV shop which is near Leeds? Kill 2 birds with one stone or I am hoping to go (weather permitting) to the Harrogate craft show in March... don't know if you have been to that one before but it was the first one I went to last year and I spent a fortune :)Great variety of stalls there too.
    Thanks for the lovely comments you leave for me. Best wishes to Jo
    Eileen x

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  8. Such a darling couple. Love the bling on the hearts. Very LOVE inspiring. Thanks so much for playing along with us at OPUS GLUEI.

    (I am a snow wimp too. I love it when it snows IF I can stay inside.)

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  9. Ah I love the Retro Feel you have given this card, Love Hazelxo

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  10. What a sweet card, and great job on the sketch you used. Thanks so much for joining us for the Creative Inspirations Paint challenge! :) hugs, Kimberly

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  11. Such a cute card, your work is fab, Thanks for joining us at HCTB's, good luck with your entry Mandz xox

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  12. What a seriously great card! I have that image, I iffed and aawed about using for my parents' anniversary - now I've seen it all coloured up (so beautifully!) I wish I'd plumped for it :-) Fab papers and embellies too; all round fabulous card for the Bingo challenge at Here Come The Boys
    Thanks for joining in, good luck and hope to see you next time too, Donna ☺

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  13. Such a fantastic card and I just love the image! Thanks so much for playing along with Pink by Design!!

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  14. Very Cute!!!!! Thank you for joining in at Pink By Design!

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  15. Great card! Thankyou for joining us this week at ABC Challenges.

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  16. This is great. I love the papers you put together. I would never have thought of putting them together but when you did it looks great! The image is awesome. Thank you for joining us for our 3rd Anything Goes Challenge on Mondays at Lady Anne's. We look forward to seeing you again. :)

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  17. What a fun blog post! I totally agree with everything you said about the film Django. =) I also love your card! The mix of patterns and colors is fantastic and I love all the bling. Thanks for joining the challenge at Creative Inspirations Paint!

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  18. Great card, very sweet and romantic and a fine use of bling! I haven't seen too many movies, Quentin Tarantino usually isn't my taste from a violence perspective. I did see Skyfall and that's violent but it's Bond and well.....lol

    I hope you come back to play with us!

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Please feel free to leave a comment, I welcome constructive criticism.