5 Fandom Friday - Favorite Fandom Accessories I Own

I can never have enough fandom accessories! Here's just five of my favorites!



Favorite Fandom Accessories I Own

1: Luna Lovegood Earrings
I made these based on the book description of Luna's earrings. The earrings in the movies are beaded and look nothing like my interpretation. Ah well. I still love these.

2: Tardis necklace
This is my newest fandom accessory. I think. I bought it last year at Chicago Comic Con. I've been wanting one for a while. The first time I encountered it, I asked to buy it, money in hand, but the lady hesitated because another chick was "thinking about it," even though I'd already asked about it. And the day before that, she had removed it entirely because someone asked to put it on hold. The chick who was thinking about it decided to buy it and I went home, necklace-less. That whole situation kinda urked me and still does. The lady who runs that particular booth comes back every year, and I refuse to buy from her. *shrug*

ANYHOOOOO, I picked this one up from the Doctor Who Store booth, for four dollars cheaper than the lady was charging. So I'll call it a win. It's lovely. :)

3: Hobbit Door necklace
I picked this up from geekchicjewelry.com, which isn't around anymore. It's a locket, I think, because the door opens, but I haven't put anything inside. It's so cute though!!

4: Blingtastic Pikachu hair clip things
I got these years ago, and they still make me happy. They're so bling-y that people just register it as some sort of shiny hair thing until closer inspection. Then, randomly, someone will just say "Is... is that pikachu?" Buah haha... yes. Yes it is.

5: Captain Jack Sparrow's ring
I was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. Which was funny, because I didn't even want to see the first movie. I was dragged to it. And I loved it. All of the movies. So, naturally, one year for Halloween I was a pirate, and I needed this ring to complete my costume. It is my favorite ring.



I have other accessories - a homemade pair of pokemon ball earrings, a Gryffindor scarf and a tie, my Jayne hat... I loves them all!


Iggle Squiggle's 5 Fandom Friday

Kinder Surprise!

As mentioned, for my Not So Secret, Not So Christmas Santa swap, I got a Kinder Egg. These damned things are banned in the US for some stupid reason. Not "some" stupid reason rather - from what I gathered - it's a law from 1938 that's got these banned. Something something that translates to, "American parents are so dumb, they hand their children random candies willy nilly, then their stupid American kids choke because they are apparently too dumb to grasp the concept of not eating the whole thing, and the parents get upset and need someone to blame." I think that's what it is.

Must be, because these damned Kinders are sold almost everywhere else. Technically, in my youth, Nestle came out with a "Magic Ball", which was a hollow ball of chocolate that housed a tiny plastic Disney toy of some sort. But alas, it didn't last long, because those effing parents needed someone to blame. As a kid, I only managed to pick up one of those Magic Balls before they disappeared off shelves. I recall how excited I was, and even remember the toy I got. It was a tiny Nala from The Lion King. And I tied a bit of bright blue embroidery around her neck as a leash and took her everywhere. I didn't choke on her. But then, I'm only half "American". I'm also half "Filipino". Maybe that's the difference. *shrug*


Essentially, it's stupid that these Kinder Eggs are banned. Everyone thinks so except for those stupid parents.

ANYHOO!! MOVING ON!

Not-So-Secret, Not-So-Christmas Santa

So late last year, IGGPPC had a secret santa exchange, and I participated. I can only hope the person I sent presents to liked them, and I know I loved the gifts I got from my secret santa! But a new Iggle missed sign ups for it, and so I offered to have an exchange directly with her. I called it a "Not-So-Secret Santa". We exchanged some emails about things we like and whatnot and set a price cap and... both of us ended up with order issues. We both ordered something from two different people, and had separate problems.

For me, I had ordered a plushie a couple of days before US Thanksgiving, it was marked shipped on the 4th of December, but I didn't receive anything until the 16th, and when it came... it was the wrong plushie!! That had me irked, but I contacted the seller, who asked that I send back the wrong item, and he sent me an extra plushie for the trouble. But the right plushie didn't come until the 20th.

Anyhoo, my swap buddy lives in Canada, which meant that my Santa package wasn't going to get there in time. Then I find out she's been waiting on an order she made for me too! So essentially, our "Not-So-Secret" Santa also became "Not-So-Christmas" presents as well. Heh. Ah well. Presents are presents!

I got mine last week, and figured I'd do a blog post to share everything in the box. Because there's a lot of awesome in this box.

Nerdophiles Prize Pack

So Nerdophiles had 7 giveaways for the holidays in December. I only entered the ones I thought I might be interested in, and I ended up winning one! I won "Things from the Marvel Universe"...

Here's a pic of the things in the package:

The Iron Sentinel shirt in medium
An Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic book -
An Avengers Micro Muggs blind box
and
the Blu Ray of Guardians of the Galaxy


I'm most excited about the movie, because I wanted it as soon as it came out, but I still hadn't managed to buy myself a copy! I love the Micro Muggs, and I hadn't yet seen the Avengers one.

I opened it up and found a Hawkeye, totally good with that! :)

5 Fandom Friday - Songs That Changed My Life

Hello again! Another Friday, another 5 Fandom Friday! This week's topic should prove interesting... mostly because I'm certain I have songs that fit this bill, but as soon as I'm supposed to write about them... *POOF* So this list will likely have some favorites thrown in, because really, if it's a favorite song, then it's had to have affected your life in some way, probably positive, and therefore it's a change - right?


Songs That Changed My Life






1: MMMBob by Hanson
It is... really hard to think of songs that changed my life. This one popped up immediately though. It was one of the first songs of the "boy band" phase of the late 90's. Hanson, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, BBMak, 5ive, 98 Degrees... I was a fan of all of them. I still am. In '97, I was 11, a pre-teen ready to fall in love with anything. Devon Sawa was my very first celebrity crush, and was the reason I started buying teen-y-bop magazines. And then the boybands of the late 90's showed up... and I had posters plastered over every inch of my walls. I loved it all. This song essentially started the era where 80% of the posters in my room were boy bands. (with 15% being Devon Sawa, 3% Stone Cold Steve Austin, and 2% misc) Of those boy band posters, most were BSB or NSYNC, but Hanson was there too, and I'll always remember them as the ones who started it for me. Listening to those boy bands will always calm me down, bringing me back to childhood.







2: Something I Never Had by Lindsay Lohan
My current boyfriend's longest relationship - before me - was 6 months. Mine was 4½ years. While the love I had for that guy was real at the time, once it was over... I began allowing myself to see the relationship in full. The things that my mind refused to let me see when we were together. I could see that the longer the relationship lasted, the longer the love was one sided. It wasn't a good relationship to be in, and in the end, I was grateful he ended it. I don't remember how I found this song at around the time of the breakup, but it helped me through it. And made me re evaluate how I should handle things in relationships.






3: Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx
As a kid, before MMMBop and boy bands, this was my most favorite song in the world. After boy bands, and even now, this song occasionally tops my list of favorite songs. It's just so... pretty.







4: Gryffindor Rally Cry - Ministry of Magic
This song introduced me to Wrock (Wizard rock - Harry Potter fan songs) and I fell in love - similar to how I fell when I was 11 and listening to MMMBop. It made me look in to wrock and find more fabulous songs to listen to. I also found a love for Jason Munday and Luke Conard and blah be blah bitty. In 2011, when Jason Munday, Alex Carpenter, and Christian Caldeira went on their ConTour, I was super excited to go to their Chicago date. But then an unexpected trip to Bay City, Michigan happened. So what did I do? I borrowed a car and drove from Bay City to Ann Arbor, Michigan in order to catch their tour there. Essentially this song and others in wrock made me realize the Harry Potter fandom isn't dead, and may never be.







5: All for Love by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting
This song. Man, this song. I had this single on cassette tape, and I played it over and over and over again. In younger years, if Right Here Waiting wasn't my favorite song, All for Love was. And still now, I love it so much. I'm a sucker for the right chords, and these guys hit some pretty ones.




That's all I suppose!



Iggle Squiggle's 5 Fandom Friday

Swap Project - Galaxy Bracelet

Another post about a thing I made for my swap partner! On her list of things she liked, she listed "space", and I didn't have anything space related for her yet, so I decided to make a galaxy bracelet! I pretty much followed this tutorial, which I've used in the past for nail art and for phone case art.

I didn't have to go out to buy anything for this project too, because I had all the paint I need and, this past December, from my secret santa, I got two wooden bracelets along with other crafty fun stuff!

 Here's the bracelet plain. I painted it black but realized it was a bit on the rough side. So I took some sand paper to it to smooth it out a bit.

Pandas and the Flu

Last weekend, my dad, my Boyfriend, and I headed up and over to Bay City, Michigan. Two of us (Boyfriend and I) brought back the flu. Hooray!

We've been essentially out of commission for the past week. Mostly staying in bed, chugging NyQuil.

It's been frustrating, because I had more projects to finish for the #LoveYourInnerGeekSwap, which I had planned on churning out as soon as I got back from Michigan, but the flu made it not possible. As a result, I only sent the first half of the swap gifts.

Because of this flu, I had to change some of my project plans as well. Some items I'd planned on making will no longer be made, and are being replaced with store-bought items. I'm hell bent on making three though, they're all too far along to give up now. Ah well. I'll post more on those projects when they're more completed.


So... the reason for our weekend trip to Michigan? My aunt passed last month. Cancer. She died on my dad's birthday, which was... hard. I didn't realize it would hurt quite as much as it does - the last death in our family was over 15 years ago when my grandpa died. (not counting dogs) She was a super nice and very kind lady. As a kid, I used to love going to her house, because she was the Panda Lady. She loved pandas and had over 2,000 of them. Panda toys, artwork, figurines, tshirts. Tons of them.

Last year, in the summer, she started giving some of the pandas away. But she never did manage to get rid of them all.

She was cremated last month, and instead of a big service/funeral dealie, there was just a visitation this month, where everyone was invited to come and chat. That's where we were last weekend. And on a table at the funeral home, there were a bunch of pandas. With a note saying my aunt would love for folks to take a panda to remember her by. I took three. And I thought I'd share them here.

5 Fandom Friday - Conventions I've Been To Or Wish To Attend

How is it already Friday?!? I have been sick with the flu this week, so the days have sort of meshed together. This is another fun topic for me. Score.


Conventions I've Been To Or Wish To Attend 

1: C2E2
Short for Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, this was the first convention I ever attended. C2E2 started in 2010, and I desperately wanted to go, but couldn't find anyone to go with. When 2011 came along, I decided I was going, with someone or not. And I was going to walk from Union Station to McCormick Place too - a 3 mile walk. Luckily, my dad was told by a friend that C2E2 was super fun, and decided to join me. That Saturday, we took the train, and then a cab. We came back that Sunday. We were hooked. We've been going ever since, and this year will be no exception!

2: Wizard World Chicago Comic Con
At our first C2E2, we were constantly informed that C2E2 was like "Chicago's Comic Con". When I got home, I googled it and it turns out that no... Chicago Comic Con was a thing. I told my dad, not really sure if he'd be interested in going to another convention - but he was! Especially since Patrick Stewart and Levar Burton was going to be there! Super cool!! Same goes for this convention, we've been going since 2011, so this will be our fifth year going.

Jeri Ryan (7 of 9 from Voyager)

3: Chicago Star Trek Convention
Wouldn't you know it, in 2011, at CCC, while my dad was standing in line to take his photo op with Patrick Stewart, he was told by a fellow that there also existed a Star Trek Convention - in Chicago - and it was about a month away from the Chicago Comic Con we were currently attending! This one I was a bit hesitant about, because on the one hand, STAR TREK, but on the other, I wasn't sure how "hooked" my dad was on conventions. No need to be hesitant though, because we went to that Star Trek Convention in 2011, and we also went the two other times. (They skipped a year.) I like this con because it's considerably smaller than C2E2 and CCC, so it's not as exhausting and it's much easier to get around.

4: Chicago TARDIS
This was our newest discovery. I had heard of a Doctor Who convention in Chicago, but I never bothered to check it out, because we were already going to 3 conventions a year. Ha. It was my dad who noticed the poster above. The Doctor Who Store booth was advertising it at Chicago Comic Con, so we just had to look it up. And check it out. Of course we went. I like this convention because it's nowhere as big and overwhelming as C2E2 and CCC, but not as tiny as the Star Trek Convention. They had a viewing room where they showed various episodes of Doctor Who, my dad and I enjoyed watching the episodes on such a big screen when there was downtime in panels and whatnot. They also had a game room where we played Doctor Who Yahtzee. Haha. 2014 was our first time at TARDIS, but I have a feeling we'll be going again.

5: San Diego Comic Con
No, I haven't been. This con is number one on my "Wish to Attend". Everyone who knows comic con knows that this one is the mother of all comic cons, and it's the one where all the good actors always end up. Heck, they have to sell their tickets lottery style, it's so damned popular! I heard it got so big they had to move the panels to a completely different building. Someday I would absolutely adore going to San Diego Comic Con.





COMING SOON

January 23rd: Songs That Changed My Life
January 30th: Favorite Fandom Accessories I Own

February 6th: Favorite Funko Pop Figures
February 13th: Favorite Fictional Couples I Ship (Valentine's Day)
February 20th: Things I've Bought But Haven't Read/Watched/Played Yet
February 27th: Character's I Would Name My Kids After

Princess Pen Pals

Another blog post about another one of my loves at the moment: Princess Pen Pals.

Princess Pen Pals was created by a lovely Iggle within the IGGPPC community who wanted to be a princess, and really, who doesn't want to be a princess? Essentially it is a role playing game. You create your character and the world that they live in. The character doesn't even have to be a princess. You write a default introduction of your character and their world, and then you choose another "Princess" to write to. You each send your letters and go from there.

I must admit, I was at first intrigued and terrified at this idea. I wanted my own world too, but I'd never role played before! While I still sat on the fence about joining this tiny group of "Princesses", my mind went crazy with ideas of my world. It seemed my mind knew exactly who my character would be, and what my world would look like. I have a notebook with all of the ideas, and trying to sort things out was tricky, and yet they all fit together well. In the end, I chose two "Princesses" to correspond with, my introduction letter was over 1,000 words, and my character seeks friendship.

I deliberately decided that my character, a Queen, would only seek friendship, because I knew that would be a safe action to attempt for my first whack at role playing. Since I only sought new friends, I could easily adjust to whatever actions my correspondent was taking.

My first Princess Pen Pal is actually a Princess. She lives in a world full of Unicorns and seeks allies. Our letters are working nicely together.

My second Princess Pen Pal is not a princess, she is a Shadow Priestess, and she is seeking help for her world, which is trapped by unknown forces.

Overall, I'm incredibly happy with my decision to join the other Princess Pen Pals. It is quite fun having to depend highly on my imagination to write these letters. Sometimes I get stuck and have to sit on the story line a while, plan out the next move. It'll be fun to see where these stories will lead!

Not to mention, it has increased my interest in all things princess - specifically items with crowns on them. :)

Swap Project - Perlers

This month, I chose perler beads for the January Iggle Craft Challenge. This made me excited, because I hadn't played with perler beads since I was a youngin'. This past weekend, I ran out to buy some, and a pegboard.

I sat down the next day and got to making. The first thing I made, of course, was Jimbob, the official mascot of IGGPPC. Then I googled "Perler beads" and found some I liked.

5 Fandom Friday - My Favorite Things About Winter

BEHOLD! My very first 5 Fandom Friday post! I've been reading these posts from friends' for ages, and only just asked about them last week. How on earth does everyone know what to write each week? Ha. But someone pointed me towards the origin of this series, and from there I've navigated my way to today!

I cannot complain about my first 5 Fandom Friday post, because today's topic is fabulous!!


My Favorite Things About Winter

1: It's cold
I am one of those rare people who prefer the cold over warmer, hotter days. For most, any other season might be their favorite, but for me, it is winter! I am a winter gal!! The way I see it, when it's winter-y cold, you can always warm up under more layers. In Summer, you can only take so much off. My bedroom often gets waaaay too much heat from the vents, so in addition to closing them, I might also crack a window. THIS IS MY SEASON TO THRIVE.

2: Snow
It's frozen white goodness that falls from the sky! It makes the world look fresh and bright and clean. It makes the world seem more quiet. Have you ever been outside during a large snowfall? One without wind? It's almost as if someone hit the mute button. It's so quiet and peaceful! And snow is beautiful! It glitters in the light!

3: December
Here in the states, December is in winter. December has Christmas. Of course I love Christmas. And for my family, it also has my father's birthday, my birthday, my brother's birthday, and my parent's anniversary. Plus, December has New Year's Eve, where we say goodbye to yesteryear and hello to the new year! I love December!

4: An excuse to have hot chocolate
Yes, hot chocolate is good at any time, but in the winter, it just feels right. And I am a gal who loves hot chocolate! Not much else to be said about it, because well duh - chocolate!

5: Holiday Hours
How many times in my life have I thought, "Oh! I should run out to Target/Michaels/the mall/etc. and pick up that ______!!" only to check the clock and find out I'm two minutes past closing, or I won't have enough time to get there? I'm a night person, so this scenario happens very, very often. In the winter though, usually starting in November and continuing in to December, a beautiful thing called "holiday hours" happens. Where I'll think of a place to go, and see that it's two minutes past normal closing hours, but I can still go, because the holiday hours are extended by an hour or two!



Really, I love winter. So, so much! ♥ ♥ ♥




COMING SOON:
January 16th: Conventions I've Been To Or Wish To Attend
January 23rd: Songs That Changed My Life
January 30th: Favorite Fandom Accessories I Own

Blogging in secret, for now.

Usually when I blog, I might mention it... somewhere. But I haven't so far, and there is a reason.

The reason is because I'm participating in a swap, and I'd like to blog about it here, but I don't want the person to whom I'm sending to find my blog yet, and spoil the surprise.

So, for now, this blog is a secret. Shh.

IGGPPC

Greetings! I think we can all agree that the simplest way for me to get used to this blog is to write as if I've always been here. Ha.

So today I thought I'd write a bit about one of my loves, IGGPPC.

IGGPPC, or the International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club, is a large group of geeky folks from all over the world. It started in March of 2013 as a community for those who are both geeky, and enjoy snail mail.

Every month, they run a sign up, and all you need to do is list a few things like your name, age, email address, and your five geeky loves. Then they pair you up with someone who has at least one of the same loves, and you've got yourself a new pen pal!

But pen pal pairings are not the only things you'll find on the website! You'll find many, many different things, from activities to meet ups, swaps & exchanges, challenges and forums, and even special events like online camp in the summer and a Halloween party! Even if you don't sign up for a pen pal, do consider signing up for the site (two different things.) to have a look around. You might find your new geeky best friend there!

There are four houses to get sorted in to:
House Granger   (Ages 13-17)
House Quinn      (Ages 18-22)
House GlaDOS  (Ages 23-29)
House Organa    (Ages 30+)

These houses are there mostly so you can be paired up within your age group, and to be able to see all the other geeks your age, and sometimes there's house competitions where we compete against each other.

I'm in House GlaDOS, but only for one more year. In December, I'll be 30, and head over to House Organa.

Mostly, IGGPPC is a community of guys and gals who are various levels of geeky and all levels of acceptance.

Click here to check out the website!

I already have a blog, so what am I doing here?

Hello blog world. Or rather, hello again. Sort of.

I have a blog. I've had a blog since August of 2009, and I've written there, on and off, ever since. That blog has been through template changes, color changes, name changes... we've been through so much, that blog and I. We've been through ups and downs, shared both amazing moments and utterly heartbreaking details of my life.

And then I was done.

Towards the end, I changed gears and tried making it mostly a beauty review/craft blog, but I lost interest in the reviews, and the change of pace didn't help save my blog in my mind, only prolonged the inevitable. I stopped writing there in April of last year. And I couldn't bring myself to go back.

But I wanted to go back. I found myself - many times each month -  thinking "I should blog about this!" But then I wouldn't. I couldn't.

Why?

I felt... I felt I had shared too much. In specific, I separate my online world from my real world. I'll share aspects of one with another, but rarely do I share too much of my online world with my real world.

Yes, I said that right. No, I didn't have a problem with sharing too much of my real life. I had a problem sharing too much with my real life.

I had that blog for years, and while real life friends knew that I blogged, I never shared the blog with them. And then I took the plunge and showed my site to a close friend, who was looking in to starting a blog herself. From then on, I felt as if she were reading everything on my blog, and judging me.

And then she and I had a falling out. A nasty one, where both of us were at fault. And while things were still bad between us, she would read my blog with a mutual friend and nit pick. She would judge me. About everything I posted, even the good things! So I was right about that feeling. I lost her as a friend eventually, but I kept up with my blog. That is when I changed course and tried reviewing.

And then last year, that mutual friend she would read my blog with? We started growing apart. And again, I felt as if she could just open up my blog whenever she wanted... and judge me.

No more please. I already feel stinted in instagram because my sister in law now follows me. And I rarely ever post on Facebook because there's too much real life there. I realized at the end of last year that the only way I could possibly start blogging again was to cut ties with my old blog and begin anew.

That being said, it's odd writing this here. Unfamiliar. Soon, I hope, I'll be able to call this blog my new home.