A giveaway and other things of meager importance!

So. 

I'm back!

Right, I've been meaning do this for a while, but it completely slipped my mind. 

Hilda is having a giveaway over at her blog! And it is a fun giveaway. And y'all should enter it. Soon. Enter it soon, because you'd win this:

and this:

Both of which would be fun to own, would they not?

Anyway, to enter, one must answer the questions below. (there are other ways to enter, if you follow the above link.)

QUESTIONS:

1.) If you could spy without being seen, which celebrity would you spy on?

     You know, honestly? I don't think I would.... I sort of stalk all my favorite celebrities online, but other than that, honest-to-goodness spying on them seems a liiiittle bit creepy. 

2.) What would you do if you teleported over to your celeb's house?

     Probably freak out.

 Maybe hyperventilate a little.

 Eh... Maybe if I was feeling like.... super brave....

3.) Would you lend your magical ring to someone else? Who?

     Probably one of my sisters or my best friend. 

4.) Would you spy on your crush and friends?

     No! No no no. That's not me at all. I feel bad eavesdropping

5.) Would you tell anyone of your secret (magical ring) ?

     A magical ring? A... ring... of power? *cue Lord of the Rings music*

You know, to be honest, I don't think I'd be able to keep the secret. I'd be like, "LOOK AT THIS RING!"

6) What would you wish for?

    Hmm... Maybe to be less of an introvert. 

7.) Finally, why would you like to win this giveaway? Be honest. ;)

     Books, my dear Hilda, are always a lovely thing. Indeed. I would like to win. 

Right, on to the things of meager importance. 

Kat, Amy, my mom, and I all went out shopping today. (World Market, thrift stores, Michaels, Barne&freakingNoble.....)

And I got books. 

I got I'd Tell You I Love You but then I'd Have to Kill You, which is the first book of the Gallagher Girls series. (seriously, a must read series. So funny and clever.)

And I also got a beautiful copy of The Virginian, which is a really good book that... I surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying. 

Both of those were at the thrift store for insanely good prices. 

And then we went to B&N, and I saw the newly released last book of the Gallagher Girls series. I had a minor freak out moment, because I've sort of been dying to know what the heck happens. 

So I bought it. 

And I regret nothing. 

Seriously, if you've never read the Gallagher Girls, you're really missing out. 

And now that I have bored you all silly. 

I shall bid you all a very fond farewell. 

Cheers!

A tutorial!!

Well hey!

Righty, so I've had a couple of requests to do a tutorial on how to draw a face in profile. I'll be honest, I am not sure how good my tutorials are. But I shall do my bestest, and you guys can let me know if you prefer them this way or as videos. Okay?

Here we go.

1.) Start with this. It's kind of a backwards P I guess. The length of the top should be a little more than half the length of the bottom one.

2.) Add the jaw line first. It should only come about halfway across the face, slanting up a little.  The back of the neck connects to the back of the skull, and the front should start... just about halfway up the jawline. 

3.) Add the guidelines for the eyes, nose and mouth. The eyes are about halfway down the face. The nose is usually about midway between the eyes and the jaw, and the lips.... huh. Are about halfway between the nose and the jaw. Gosh! I didn't realize how I measure everything by halves like this!

4.) Add the nose. It should come in right about where the eyes are and then slant out. Bring it all the way down to its guideline.

5.) Add the lips. Um... The bottom lip is fuller than the top lip and is usually a little behind.

6.) Add the eyes and the nostrils. Hehe. Nostrils. It's a weird thing to say. Anyway! The eye is basically a forty-five degree angle. Or a bird's beak. whichever you prefer. The nostril is.. a rounded checkmark. 

7.) Add the ear. It should be just above the back of the jaw, and reach from the bottom of the eye to the bottom of the nose. It's shaped a little like a backwards question mark, which a backwards capital J inside. See?

8.) Erase the extra guidelines and add a little definition to the nose and lips. The nose.. is just a line to give depth.

9.) Draw a slightly crooked line for the eyebrow, and color in the eye, leaving a bit near the front white, for that realistic shine. *grin*

10.) Add the outline for the hair. 

 11.)  Begin shading.

12.) Aaaaand fill it in. (I usually add a few sticky up pieces of hair right behind the part.. you know, cowlicks.)

Laaaa! You're done! I think... that's.... that's about as simple as I can make it when I'm just doing pictures and trying to explain what I do.  I think I am not that great of a teacher. lol. 

Let me know how it works if you try it though, yeah? 

OOH! It is Jonnah's birthday today! Happy birthday, m'girl! Hope it rocked. 

Cheers and God bless, guys. 

There shouldn't be good in goodbye.

Hello all you people out there!

So, I realize I kind of disappeared from the blogosphere for a while, and I do so very much apologize. (especially since my last post went on and on about the epicness that was going to be happening at my house.)

But I did have a really good reason, I swear!

Because the epicness that I talked about was a freaking family reunion!! (I know, you're all like... thrilled. )

See, my two sisters who are married live waaaaay away from us, and we only see them every two to three years or so. (which stinks) So a couple years ago, we all decided that for Mom and Dad's 35th anniversary, we should surprise our parents and get all the kids together at the same time. (the last time we were all together at home was at Laura's wedding which was... eight years ago.)

Getting it sorted and planned without Mom and Dad knowing was a bit tricky, but we were sneaky and secretive and they had no idea.

And the surprise rocked.

Look! Look at all the people who emerged! (And yes, Justin really is that tall. He's six foot eight!)

Can I just say that suddenly having eleven kids under eight almost overwhelmed me with adorableness? I'd just sit there like, "I'm their aunt. I have the cutest nieces and nephews on the planet!"

I'm going to try not going into it hugely, because I think all of my sisters are planning on posting about it as well... but I'll do a quick go-over. Because I can't help but brag when it comes to my family. *grin*

Let's just say there was a little of this:

And a little of that.... (Thank you, Dan, for trying to teach me to dance. :)

Some of this:

Some of that:

s'mores are delicious!

Waaay too much of this:

Like seriously.

We love food!

Mom and Dad!

A truly ridiculous amount of just talking. And laughing. Because our conversations quickly move from serious matters like how yummy the aforementioned food was, to the stupid things we used to do.

The visit was perfect, it was so much fun! It's been so long since we've all been together and just relaxed. We packed in hiking, and swimming, we went to the park, we played volleyball. (way more fun than I thought it would be)

We watched Rise of the Guardians and we introduced them to Psych. Hehe.

We even managed to get a professionally taken family picture, which was awesome. (the last one we had was when I was nine, and my face got partially cut off so it looks like I'm biting the frame.)

The only thing that stinks about the visit is that it's over. I don't like saying goodbye for another couple of years! *sniff*

I understand the Doctor.

The vacation's over, everyone leaves, and I'm just here like:

Hee! I might not be as depressed as Ten, I'll give you that, but the house does feel emptyish now.

Anyway....  real quick: Mary! I can't comment on your blog! It won't let me!

So yeah! That is why I was gone. But now I'm back and things will be back to normal. Yay!

And now I must go, because I've been on the computer way too long, sorting through pictures and figuring out which ones to not post.

Bye!