Scissor Quirk.

Flawed.

*EDIT - Found! Watch the whole film right here.

I went to an animation screening last month (yay! It's been a while...there's nothing like watching - literally - personal, handmade films). I saw this super-cute film 'Flawed' by Andrea Dorfman and it really stuck with me...

I think, as girls - okay, maybe as a girl with a larger-than-some French Canadian nose - it really struck a chord I related to. Got a little teary-eyed over, I have to say: it chronicles her journey of self-acceptance, in particular - learning to love her big her nose. As girls, sadly, I think we can all relate to wanting to change a part of ourselves due to it being 'different', mostly due to incidents that happen when we're younger or teased - and struggling with that subconciously more than we'd like to admit.

I could only find these two preview clips of it, here are some previews, and you can click through to see the whole film right here.

Flawed by Andrea Dorfman, via The National Film Board of Canada.

I hope you're touched by it & can watch it in whole... :)
And that you love your nose or ______ a little bit more.

Streamschool.

Ohmygoodness, I have so much to share... :)

I'm at work, however, so all my photos are having naps at home. he he. I came across this beautiful film that an animation instructor sent me, and I thought you might like it - because I love it:

Streamschool (Patakiskola) from Péter Vácz on Vimeo.

There's a great 'making of' it right here, too.

It makes me want to make a film! :) he he. You?

Scrapping Beyond the Photos/Sassafras Love.

Today I have a little guest post up over at Sassafras Lass!

(You can check it out right here).

It's all about reminding myself (and you, maybe...) to get back to the meaning behind your photos and journal about it! Instead of journalling, for example, 'we're at the park', like I'd see in a photo, I think 'oh, we took this picture in the park right after I tripped on the tree stump and was laughing' when I see it, and that needs to be written down more often, I think.

I know I'm not alone - that's the whole fun of pictures, right?
The stuff that was happening while they were being taken!

Here's the page I made to practice my journalling-beyond-the-photos:

"Us = Behind The Photos'' (I made this page using the yummy new CHA-released Apple Jack and Cherry Delicious Sassafras collections!)

Goodness, my photos got blown out. It's so hard to get good pictures of pages when it's grey out, isn't it? Today is just not the day! lol. Anyhoo - hop on over, read the full post, and I hope you feel inspired to dig a little deeper. :)

(And it's a two-parter, so the second half will be posted in a few days, too).

On a different note, I head back to work tomorrow!

Yay! For those who are knew to my blog, I work at a local animation studio here in Vancouver, usually. It's contract work, so sometimes I have breaks (like I have for the last little bit). I get to work on really fun kids' shows while I'm there, & have over the past few years - it's such a fun job!

I'll be there for a month or so starting tomorrow, and then I get April off, and then I'm back to work full-time again in May! So excited! I can't share what show I'll be on, I'm sure, so my lips are sealed - but here's a little YouTube peek at the last show I worked on last year.

It's an Irish kids show called 'Roy', and I was part of a team of compositors that textured, lighted, and put that little cartoon guy in with the live action footage (the first scene with the newspaper, among a few others, is mine!) he he.

(...make sure you turn the music off before you press play!)

It was a loooooot of work. lol. Mostly, it was why I was so MIA for most of last year. lol. Seriously. This contract should be a lot calmer, so I'm excited about that, too. :)

What's your day job? Do you love it?? I hope you do!
I always feel so lucky/blessed to have a creative job I love. :)

Colorful Moments & Contests!

Well, hello friends! :)

Back from vacation, I am! And back at 'er! My list to-do is daunting after being away for a week, and I have *so* much to share (pictures, stories, some new scrapbook pages, new shop news...) but it's all super-fun, so lets get to it! 

Anyhoo - in a mad rush before I left for Victoria/Tofino last Friday I posted up my (just-barely-finished-it-in-time) contest entry to Etsy's "A Handmade Moment" contest, it's called "Colorful Moments/Handmade World". The first round of the contest is counted by video views, so instead of posting the super-sharp, high-quality version here on the blog, you have to hop-skip over here to see it!

Here's a peek at it, via some still-frames:

 

 

 

I animated the whole thing in a program called Flash - every frame of the 15-second video was hand-drawn by myself. It was actually the first time I've drawn in flash with my wacom tablet (usually I build pieces and move em around...which is usual, too) so I had fun boiling them! :)

When I was done animating, I composited it in AfterEffects - added some lovely textures and shadows (which are hard to see on there, but you know...lol). So please take a peek and tell me what you think!

And, the CONTEST!!

(this looks a little daunting, but is really not.)

I'm also holding a contest starting today to help get the word out about my new shop location and, err, contest entry! If you think my video is cute and would like to help spread the love, or just plain want to win a $25 gift certificate to spend (yep, one lucky person will win $25 to spend on anything they want from Bubbly Shnooks! What a help that would be Christmas shopping, hey?)

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Blog about this blog post/video announcement (you must include one of the still-frame photos and this direct link to my video on etsy.tv in your blog post), or if you go here you can generate some code to embed the video directly into a blog post (cool, huh?). Then, leave a comment on this post or e-mail me with the link to your blog post so I know you entered. 

2. Send an e-mail around to your close friends/family (including one of the still-frame photos, if possible, and this direct link to my video on etsy.tv). Make sure you e-mail it to me, as well so I know you sent it and can enter you in the draw: michelle.a.clement@gmail.com

3. Put one of the two cute Widgets (up on the top side of my blog, under 'Contests & Widgets') on your blog and link it directly to my video on etsy.tv, and then leave me a link on this post/e-mail me with a link to the place you've put them. (They only need to stay up until August 31st!)

4. Do anything and everything else that I haven't listed that you think qualifies as an entry - it pretty much just has to link directly to my video on etsy.tv, and then send a copy to me so I can enter you in the draw! :)

RULES:

The contest is using views to tabulate the first round, so it must link directly to here (have I said that enough?? ha ha...) to qualify as a contest entry! Please include your contact information (your full name and e-mail address) with your entry. You can do any one, or all of, the options above to enter. The more you do, the more times you'll be entered. (Yay!) The contest runs from August17th/18th until August 31st at 12 am, PST. At which time, all the names of those who participated will be entered into a random draw for a $25 gift certificate for Bubbly Shnooks and perhaps an extra goodie or two!  

And, please, don't spam people! I'm just trying to get the word out, I don't want anybody to be annoyed! Only e-mail contacts you know personally, and don't use Etsy conversations or abuse twitter spam policies or anything! Simply say something like, "Check out this cute video Michelle Alynn made for Etsy's Handmade Moment contest! I think it's so cute!", and let them know about this post, as well, so they can enter the contest, too! Share the love!

I just want to generate a lil buzz, since we're down to the last 3 weeks of the contest and I posted mine but a week ago! lol...Need to make up for 2 lost months. And, besides, you guys are lovely. I need to thank you somehow! :)

And if you have any, any questions at all, or need help e-mailing/posting/widget-ing, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll help you out! michelle.a.clement@gmail.com

Okay, til next time. Happy contest-ing!! :)