June Movie Previews

June is the month of sequels with two big franchise entries with Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles 2 and Universal Picture's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Both are movies I am personally excited to see and will be at both opening weekends. Here is a Preview of both:

The Incredibles 2

Disney/Pixar Studio's latest animated film, the paraphrased synopsis from the official Disney.com storyline is: Mrs. Incredible is in the superhero spotlight while Mr. Incredible must stay at home with the kids to and lead a normal life. This is hard on Mr. Incredible and with the newborn Jack-Jack's superpowers emerging, a new challenge is added. When a new villain shows up, the family and Frozone must find a way to work together again.

The Incredibles 2 is starred with the voicing talents of: Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, and  Huck Milner.

The Incredibles 2.is the sequel to The Incredibles from 2004. It had a score of 90% positive reviews on Metacritic. The Incredibles 2 releases to theaters on June 8, 2018.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World:: Fallen Kingdom is the sequel to Jurassic World and the 5th overall movie in the Jurassic Park Franchise. It takes 3 years after the events of Jurassic World where the human abandoned island is being threatened by an active volcano. Owen and Claire decided to go back to rescue the surviving dinosaurs who have been fending for themselves since Jurassic World closed down. During the dangerous rescue, Owen and Claire uncover a conspiracy that may threaten mankind as we know it.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stars: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall, Toby Jones, Daniella Pineda, Ted Levine, James Cromwell, and Jeff Goldbum. It released to theaters on June 22, 2018.

That Woman by Anne Sebba

Today we are talking about a novel called That Woman by Anne Sebba. "That Woman" followed the life of Bessie Wallis Warfield. Not many may recognize that name. She was better known as Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. She is not one of the better-known members of the royal family. She is known in history as the woman that King Edward VII abdicated the throne for. 

King Edward VII was the son of King George V and brother to King George VI (Queen Victoria's father). King Edward is known as the only King to ever abdicate the throne for. Many people (in that time) saw his marriage to Wallis Simpson as a disgrace to the throne because of her marital status. 

Wallis Simpson was a twice-divorced American and as King, Edward was ultimately the Church of England. It was frowned upon to marry a divorced woman (whose two husbands were still living) but to do so as the head of the Church of England was impossible. Ultimately, Edward abdicated and the throne passed on to King George. Since 1937, Wallis Simpson was known as the woman that cost the nation a king. 

This book is a very historical book. Anyone interested in history, the royal family or just biographies, in general, should enjoy this book. You can also see her story touched upon slightly in "The King's Speech". If that movie, or "The Queen" or "The Crown" interest you, you should enjoy this book also. 

Geometric Designs - CAL - Week 21

This next page reminded me of targets and squiggle lines. I decided to use all marker this time and stick to bright colours. The targets or bullseyes I decided to do colours like red, pink, yellow and orange and alternated them around. 

This next page reminds me of boomerangs! It's kind of odd looking, but I enjoy the strips in the background. Not really sure what colours they should be though. I think I'm going to colour the "boomerangs" brown.

Mario Monday! - Warp Whistle

Along with Mario and all the things trying to kill him. There are tools in the world meant to help Mario along on his journey. These whistles are special "hacks". They are hard to find and you only get them if you know where to find them. But if you do have them you can travel from world to world. 

This graph is 20 x 20. Most of the graphs that are just items will be 20 x 20. 

This graph requires: 

                                   - Orange 

                                   - Black

                                   - White

                                   - Background Colour (Any colour you choose)

Mario Monday! - Blooper

Today we are sharing the Blooper graph! This is the odd looking white guy in the water levels. Growing up I called it a fork looking guy; but he's an octopus! This graph is 30 x 15 which would make a great side panel on any blanket! 

These graphs requires: 

                                   - White

                                   - Light Grey

                                   - Black

                                   - Background Colour (Any Colour you choose)      

Book Club - Chapter 20 (Cinder)

The twentieth Chapter of Cinder introduces us to the Lunar Queen, Levana. Through out the chapter we get to hear just how manipulative the Lunars, especially Levana can be. She uses her energy to try and manipulate Kai's mind into falling for her. We also see Sybil's devotion to her Queen and to making things to her liking. This highlights the importance of having things a certain way. 

1) What similarities do you see between Cinder and Cinderella? 

2) Why do you think the Queen is so particular?

3) Do you think she enjoys manipulating everyone's mind or just Kai's?

4) Do you think Kai is strong enough to fend her off?

Growing Lemon Trees

Today we are talking about how to grow your own Meyer Lemon Tree from seeds. It has become very popular lately to re-use food items to re-grow them. We see this often on social media; taking the end of a celery stock and re-growing it, re-planting green onions to grow again. This works with a lot of things including potatoes, pineapple tops, and seeds. 

Joybilee.com has a wonderful post about how to Grow a Meyer Lemon Tree and they take you through step by step on how to use seeds to grow a tree. 

Freebie Fridays - Word Scramble

This game is called Word Scramble. This is sort of like a code or cipher. Where your job is to fill in the blanks. 

Using the scrambled letters given, arrange them to create words. The biggest clue we offer is the title. Keep this in mind when trying to solve the puzzle! 

Here is the first Word Scramble puzzle, enjoy!

Freebie Friday - Color Burst Afghan

This week we are sharing Michael (Aka Mikey) Sellick, of the Crochet Crowd's pattern for the Color Burst Afghan! This afghan is beautiful and involves a number of granny squares put together to make one large Afghan. In the beautiful example by Mikey, he uses four brilliant colours that match amazingly well together and make the most beautiful blanket. Of course you can choose any colours you want, and any number you want also. Mikey's example has four, you can stick with two colours or just one colour! 

Fortnite

Fortnite is another free game that I recommend. This 100 player battle royal style game has free multiplayer where you play against 100 other players either individually, in duos, squads of four, or occasional special modes such as 50 vs. 50. The objective is simple; be the last person alive.

Fornite was published by Epic Games and is currently still in Beta where is it not fully released yet but is entirely playable, however, features may still be added or taken away in future patches. Fortnite is now consistently the top streamed the game on Twitch and Mixer.

What sets Fornite apart from other battle royal style games in the ability to build forts after gathering supplies such a wood, brick, or steel. In additional to being free where other games cost anywhere from $35 to $80. You may choose to pay for cosmetic items, however, these items do not give any player an advantage.

Fortnite is available on Windows PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4 consoles with the ability of cross platform play. The PC Version can be downloaded here. Where the console versions are available in their respective store.

Tips, Tricks, and Tutorial Thursday - Melt and Pour Soap

Today we are offering a small tutorial on how to make melt and pour soap. In our opinion, we believe this is a starting place for anyone interested in trying to make their own soap. 

Melt and Pour is a much safer way to try out soap making. This is because the base is already made for you. You DO NOT have to handle any chemicals and the safety risks are much lower with this. This is because you are buying the soap base already; meaning that the lye has already gone through the saponification process. 

You'll need: 

A Soap Base (You can find these online or at a craft store like Michael's)

An essential oil or fragrance oil (make sure it is cosmetic safe - or soap safe)

A colorant (again making sure it is cosmetic safe or made for soap)

A glass bowl and/or glass Measuring Cup

A sharp knife or Soap Cutter

A Mold 

A spatula (Rubber)

90% (or greater) Rubbing Alcohol

Cutting Board

Getting Started: 

As a pre-caution we recommend sterilizing everything with Alcohol before starting (The bottom list). 

Some soap bases already have the rows and sections marked off where to cut, some do not. Basically, you want to treat this like chocolate. The smaller it is the easier it will melt. Throw the amount of soap you need into either a glass bowl or a glass measuring cup. (The amount of soap you need will depend on the mold you pick.)

The packaging will give more instructions; generally in the microwave, you will want to melt at 10 - 15-second intervals, making sure to stir it. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler to melt the soap (or a pot of boiling water with a glass bowl on top). 

Next you will want to add your colour and scent to the melted soap. A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of fragrance oil or essential oil to 1 pound of soap. You can play around with this, of course, depending on your scent and how strong you like your soap to smell. With the colouring you want to be very careful. If you add too much you run the risk of staining not only surfaces that your soap is resting on but your skin also. One drop at a time, until you have the colour you want, is a good start. 

Once everything is mixed in well, pour into the mold you want. The soap base will tell you how long to let it set for (usually up to 1 hour). 

Wednesday Review - Marked (Book Review)

With Vampires getting a new make over in the last ten years. Marked (A House of Night Novel) by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast adds a twist all its own to the new kinds of Vampires. The series follows Zoey Redbird, a 16 year old girl who has just become a "fledging" vampyre. In this universe that means she is required to attend the House of Night boarding school. The school is set up to help adolescents on their transformation into being a vampire. 

But Zoey isn't any regular Fledging. She has been marked with a crescent moon on her forehead and she has been marked by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. She has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. In the first book of this series (Marker) we meet Zoey and learn more about her life and the vampyre world around her.

This is a good teenager/young adult book but some adults may enjoy it also.

Pure Soapmaking: How to Create Nourishing, Natural Skin Care Soap

Today we are talking about a book called Pure Soapmaking by Anne-Marie Faiola. Anne-Marie is known for being the woman behind Soap Queen and the spokesperson, CEO and Founder of BrambleBerry.com. IF there was ever an "expert" on soap-making it is her and she shares her knowledge, her safety tips and 32 recipes in her latest book. This book is a great buy for beginners and even the more experienced of soap-makers. 

Geometric Design - CAL - Week 20

This next page was pretty cool! I used pencils for this page and because snowflakes are while, I had to be creative. I lightly coloured them in using the same blue I outlined them in, to give them a hint of colour but still keep them close to white. 

This next page was a little odd. It has what looked to me like targets and squiggle lines. I decided to use all marker this time and stick to bright colours. The targets or bullseyes I decided to do colours like red, pink, yellow and orange and alternated them around. 

Mario Monday! - Bullet Bill

Today we are sharing the Bullet Bill graph! This isn't exactly the Bullet Bill, this is the launcher it comes out of. Bullet Bill in Super Mario 1 is very similar to Bullet Bill in Super Mario 3 so we went with this instead! 

These graphs requires: 

                                   - Light Skin  

                                   - Copper Brown

                                   - Black

                                   - Background Colour (Any Colour you choose)  

Book Club - Chapter 19 (Cinder)

The nineteenth Chapter of Cinder starts with Cinder in the doctors office. They start by talking about the Prince. It is obvious that Cinder is not as worldly as the doctor. There are many areas she is naive in or hasn't been exposed to certain things yet. After some small talk, the doctor talks to Cinder about the results and conclusion he has come to with his test. 

Cinder is devastated to learn that Doctor Erland believe she is a Lunar. She already feels like an outsider being a cyborg but to be a Lunar also, Cinder can hardly believe it. Now that they both know she is a Lunar, the doctor makes it very clear that should she be seen by the Lunar Queen, Cinder would be in great danger.

1) What similarities do you see between Cinder and Cinderella? 

2) Did you see this result coming?

3) What do you think happened in Cinder's past?

4) How do you think this will effect Cinder's plans and future?

Freebie Saturday - Ultimate Cherry Chip Cake

This week we are making this special Freebie Saturday post to continuing making boring old cake mix a masterpiece. These recipes will be real simple recipes that take a cake mix and add one or two ingredients to transform it into something new. 

(Please note, we are not claiming these as our own recipes. These recipes have been floating around for a long time and are in most cases common knowledge.)

This week we are transforming a Cherry Chip Cake Mix into an Ultimate Cherry Chip Cake. 

You'll Need: 

1 Box of Cherry Chip Cake Mix

1 Can of Cherry Cola

Optional: 

Frosting

Directions: 

Mix Cola and cake mix well. Pour into greased pan. Bake as directed. 

Red Heart Yarn

Today we are talking about Red Heart Yarn! Red Heart has wonderful yarn at decent prices. And is carried in most craft stories including Michaels and Walmart. They have many different types for any project including scrubby yarn for dishcloths and softee for baby items. On their website they offer many different projects for both Crochet and Knitting and if you are from the United States you can buy online and get free shipping on orders over $50.