Links To The Past

• Kristin of My Life As A Teacup shared this absolutely fabulous cover of ‘All About That Bass’ and I can’t get enough of it. The whole channel has some really interesting covers (I absolutely love hearing new takes on songs). The doo-wop cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘Problem’ is strange, but in a good way haha!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyTTX6Wlf1Y
• Mariko of Gamerwife has started the #puttogetherproject on Instagram this month. It aims to raise awareness for mental health issues by taking pride in your appearance, and making an effort every day! This hits quite close to home for me lately, so definitely check out her post for the full scoop, and play along! I’m not committing to every day, but I definitely plan on making a donation to an organization at the end of the month as it is such a worthy cause.

• The Geeky Seamstress had a great post on sewing with Spandex for the first time. I’ve always been intimidated to try anything other than standard cotton and knits, and this was a great kickoff point for anyone looking to try it out!

• I love all things from Mystic Eye Creations (I have a custom acrylic pen and pencil, both of which I use on a daily basis, and I have a wooden pen too!) but lately these styluses have completely snagged my attention. Gorgeous, and useful. Christmas is coming and I definitely recommend checking out their product lines – they offer so many different things, and they are gorgeous, high quality, one of a kind pieces! Shop indie!

• AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is being released for the 3DS!!! I am SO EXCITED. I feel this game is highly underrated – it has an amazing story and is what I consider the most challenging Zelda game I’ve played. I can’t wait to get it, and I will absolutely be getting the big special edition box with all the swag. Drooooool.

• Artist Austin Light is doing amazing things with illustration and movie titles. Definitely check it out; it’s hilarious.

• Jess of Bookworms In Dresses shared this fantastic cat furniture article. I want them all!! If I were rich and an interior designer, I would incorporate so many of these into my house. My favorites being the Cat Burger and the cat friendly bookshelf (which are actually possibilities for real life!).

• Erin of Sugar Crumbs shared nine Thanksgiving side dish recipes and they had me drooling. Espeically the Crispy Potato Roast (#4) and The Slow Cooker Cream Corn (#7). Om nom nom.

No fanart this week. I think I’m going to expand and have it include ANY video game art, not just Zelda. Which means I have lots of possibilities to choose from! They’ll be something next week for sure!

Links to the Past

• I don’t often post parenting articles, but this is such a great one dealing with vaccinations. I hear so much negativity towards vaccinations, and it really makes me sad for the kids that it affects. Vaccinations save lives, period. This quote from the article is one of my favorites, “If you think your child’s immune system is strong enough to fight off vaccine-preventable diseases, then it’s strong enough to fight off the tiny amounts of dead or weakened pathogens present in any of the vaccines.” Logic, people, logic.

• Although I love to edit my DSLR photos in Lightroom, I haven’t really delved into the world of editing my pics on my phone. My Life As A Teacup had a really handy post all about photo editing apps. I am definitely going to check a few out (TimerCam especially just seems so helpful!).

• This post about how to support bloggers you love is so great! It includes so many (non-monetary) things that I love about the blogging community, and some great ideas I had never thought of. (I think I originally saw this on My Life As A Teacup as well, but I forgot to mark where I first saw it!)

• Comxiology is a new to me website that has made my heart so incredibly happy. As someone without a comic shop nearby, I love that I can log on for all the latest releases, and purchases comics in ebook form as well! Plus, they have a coordinating app so I can read any digital comics I buy on my phone or tablet. Loving it! I have so many comics to read now.

• I’m pretty sure all of you know about this, but I’m linking again anyway! The 5 Fandom Friday link up hosted by The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick has been so much fun so far! Join in on the fun!

• This image amused me. I’m so glad other people think the way I do.

And now, your weekly dose of Zelda fanart.

Pretty much the creme de la creme of Dark Link cosplays. This is actually from many years ago, but it’s one of my faves. His DA page (click the pic!) has more photos that include the Hylian Shield and Master Sword and they are so great! Also, he has one with a different hairstyle (I think it’s his actual hair in the others, as opposed to a wig like here) and it works so well!

Links to the Past

• My Life As A Teacup shared this amazing link to Harry Potter ambiance tracks. They are so perfect for background noise. My favorites are the Ravenclaw Common Room (I love the one with the choir, and without), and the Gryffindor Common Room. Also the Hogwarts Express track with the dementors is so creepy! Love!

• Gamerwife blog reviewed a game called DragonBox Elements that looks so intriguing. It combines the fun of video games with learning geometry. I think video games can be such a great supplementary learning tool!

• Punk Projects had a guest blogger this week who shared the most adorable Spock Deskmate plush tutorial!

• I am so in love with this hoodie. Yes, I know it’s a mens hoodie but too bad! I usually buy mens anyway for hoodies – I find them so much more comfy. And although I’ve only played the first Assassin’s Creed game, I just love the design of the sweatshirt.

Leaving you with some creepy Zelda fanart today. 😀

Despite my complete fear of spiders, this digital painting of a Skulltula by Nate Hallinan is pretty rad! Though if they looked like that in the Zelda world, I’d die of a heart attack five minutes in.

Novel Tea Book Club: July Review and August’s Book

At the beginning of July, I posted about My Life as a Teacup‘s new venture, The Novel Tea Book Club. I am so glad I joined, as it was such a great experience (and we read a great book to boot!).

July’s book was Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan, and I found it to be a great read. I had no idea what it was about going in (other than the title) and I love that. Getting caught up in the mystery as the plot unfolds along the way is one of my favorite things about this book. I won’t go into spoilers here in case you decided to pick it up (which I highly recommend), but it had great characters, a very compelling plot/mystery, and I love that it made you think. It touched so much on the idea of physical books vs. technology, and where things are potentially going in that area which made for excellent discussions in the book club Facebook page.  For a more in depth review, I highly suggest you check out Kristin’s vlog review on her Youtube channel. It’s an excellent review which I 100% agree with.

As for the book club itself, I am loving that too! The Facebook page had some excellent discussions going on throughout the reading. There is no feeling of intimidation either – it’s totally free form for anyone to post in, and that is so great! Also, I love that there isn’t a sense of urgency to fly through the book to keep up. Everyone goes at their own pace, you comment on the posts you want to, and it’s entirely stress free. Perfection.

Speaking of August, the book club members voted and we are reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell! I’m excited (I voted for this choice) as I’ve seen it everywhere, heard all good things about it, but have yet to read it! However, I am totally slacking and haven’t bought/checked out a copy yet! Really need to get on that. . .

So, if you’re looking for a great summer book club, I highly recommend joining The Novel Tea Book Club for August if you haven’t yet!

Blogger Portrait #2: Meet Kristin from My Life As A Teacup

Time for another blogger portrait!

Meet Kristin of My Life As A Teacup.

This was a super fun one to do. Kristin was kind enough to send me multiple photos to choose from (which was quite hard!) but I settled with this one for a few reasons. Mainly, I felt it captured the essence of her personality that I get from reading her blog. Someone who is comfortable with herself and her style; a little quirky perhaps in a very endearing way. Now, since I don’t know Kristin personally that could be 100% wrong, but the original photo gave me that impression and I wanted to capture it.

What drew me to her blog? A more apt question would be what didn’t! Much like last week’s blogger portrait, I really like that you  know she is a real person behind her blog. And the majority (as in I’d estimate at least 98%) of her posts are all subjects I’m interested in! One of the first posts I ever read on her blog was this Batman for Beginners post. After reading it, I knew I was going to love her blog. While her topics vary, a lot of them are literature-based which, being an avid reader, I love. I’ve added many a book to my Goodreads lists thanks to her posts! She is also where I discovered the 30 Days of Lists Project, which I absolutely adore!

Kristin also has great post series. They range from a weekly gratitude post, links to cool things around the internet, and my favorite one: For the Love of a Linguaphile. It’s a very simple series – every week she posts one word and it’s definition. Some are words I know, but most I don’t and I love learning new words to add into my vocabulary! Some examples that I have loved learning:

aubade
alacrity
penurious

There really isn’t a thing about her blog I don’t like. She is an excellent writer which makes her posts even better. She just posted a personal essay she wrote about her hometown of Pittsburg, and it was great! Hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to read more of them! I definitely recommend you stop by, look around, leave some love, and start following along.

Who will next Monday bring? Come back and see!

-Kayly

Blogger Portrait #1: Alycia