Fun times at the Maryland Renaissance Fair

Hello Dears,

While I'm still working on my plushies, drawings, updating the graphics on the blog, and novel writings, I do need to take a break once in a while and leave my little apartment in the city. So where does this white deer go to have a bit of fun beyond the conventional travels to the mall or pub?

There is no better place to go, dress up (in period costume, fairy garb or pirrrrate outfits), drink and have some fun than at the Renaissance Fair! No, not that weird place for LARPers and socially awkward losers (otherwise I wouldn't be allowed in ;) ) but a really fun, unique place that anyone can enjoy.

They found a witch, lucky for me, they didn't burn her...

Beer and mead is served there for the adults, as well as some really good music and comedy acts with some cheeky themes. And there are some games, a joust, and pleanty of stuff to keep the kinder happy too.

I did a product review a while back, and I'm thinking of doing one for the Maryland Renaissance Fair, since its the most well established one I go to on a regular basis. Every vendor there is approved by a board for quality, creates their own wares (no made in china stuff!), and are typically really helpful.

I'll do a full write-up in a few weeks (I may be at the DMV next weekend getting my license changed from Delaware to Virginia, yippee!) once I get some material and more pictures. But for now,back to working on the Applejack plushie for my mama in Japan!

good morrow, dears!

- Ori

Bonsai -- Banzai!

Hello Dears,

So I rescued a half- dead, discounted Japanese holly tree a few weeks back, and through some suggestion form my friend Brandulfr, I decided to turn it into a little bonsai tree. We had to cut it back a bit, lots of dead leaves and branches to prune, but about a month later, it came back like a champ!

It's hard to see, but the blossoms have a tint of pink!

I had a bonsai plant when I was 8 or 9 but, lets just say, I had not yet aquired the wisdom to know when to bring pants inside in the dead of winter, let alone care for a tiny, fragile tree. But when I found this little beauty clinging to life, I figured "why not?" and decided to give it another try,

Brandulfr is saving a special pot to transfer it into as he is an avid bonsai enthusiast himself and will be freeing up a really nice, Japanese pot for me to put it in. For now, though, it seems to be flourishing in the plastic pot it came in.

I've taken to decorating my balcony with some foliage as of late, and I've managed to put a few interesting plants up there. I currently have: A fig tree that actually produces yummy figs! (once you get past how creepy they are, they're rather tasty!) a really soft and fluffy wormwood plant, a show cypris, and another Inkberry holly that isn't doing so well right now.


I made the newbie mistake of putting that holly in a pot without a drain at the bottom. We've since poked holes in the bottom of it and have been watering it a bit less to keep the roots from rotting, so hopefully it will pull through.


I'm also having fun in the fine art of picture-bana, in so much as I have a lot of photos for this entry but not a whole lot to say about it, so I suppose I'll shut up now and let you enjoy the zen plants and super zen pup!

- Ori

Artful Days - Intro to Ori's Dearies

Hello Dears,

I've been having a heck of a time balancing a big Six Sigma project at work, my other work at work, social awesomeness, and my art. I have a few bits of artwork I'd like to share with you all, what is the start of a line of cartoonish, heart-faced drawings  called "Ori's Dearies" Let's see what I've come up with...

Ori the Whitedeer, as she's seen on my art site: http://matsuban.deviantart.com/#/d5bxmys

This is done on a spare index card with crayola colored pencil (yes, you can do more with less!) and I really liked how the hair came out. I'm going to post my DA gallery folder with the other Dearies within, and if you'd like one (animal or otherwise) just shoot me an email and we'll talk it over.

In other news, I'm going to start another blog! While "Oh Dear, its Whitedeer!" will continue to display my artwork and other randomness, I'm going to create a separate blog for my written pursuits. I'm hoping it will, you know, get me motivated to write more.

It will be linked to this blog of course, so check back later for a link and intro to it.

That's all for now Dearies!

- Ori

Summer Festival Applebloom is here!

Hello Dears,

I've had an eventful few weeks. I got another chapter of my Warcraft Fanfic, "Straydog Saga" out the door and I had an unfortunate accident in Georgetown on Friday. I wore brand new, awesomely cute shoes which resulted in a horrific misstep on some uneven flooring.

One sprained right ankle and broken left, big toe later, I've had one bummer of a weekend. There is a wonderful bright side, however, as this event has taught me not only to appreciate the ability to walk and care for myself, it also showed me just how kind and caring my friends really are.

I was going to post a collage dedication to a group of very close friends, and recent events only reinforced the image. I'll make that a separate entry but for now, I'm glad to introduce the fruits of my bed/couch-ridden weekend!

That's right! Part one of my two-part order to Japan is done! Everyone say hello to "夏祭りの林檎咲く" or as we Americans know her: that little filly with the Cutiemark obsession, Applebloom!

Applebloom with gifts from Japan! There's cider in that sake cup, I swear!

When I first showed my family in Japan the episode "Bridal Gossip" from  My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, my host sister and mother loved Applejack and Applebloom. They were even more excited to learn that they were sisters!

 They had been seeing my other pony plushies and were wondering where they were from. When my host sister told me that she in fact liked the show, I offered to make her and her mother a pair of small plushies of their very own.

 I made the Yukata and obi as an extra surprise, and depending on what mama-san would like, I may put Applejack in something similar (but not as fancy) If I could only find apple-themed fabric! I looked for hours and couldn't find any fabric with an apple or country theme. I did however find a very Japanese-like fabric with hotaru (dragonflies) on it!

 I made one big pattern change in this plushie that I think I'll keep for future plushies. There is one less seem line in the neck, as it didn't appear to add any 3D style to the plushies' heads. The ribbon was another new frontier but I think it came out rather well, though not technically adherent to the character design.

And as always, Lucky-ojiichan (Grandpa Lucky) had to make an appearance with Applebloom for cuteness and scale sake. This is soooo being posted on someone's facebook wall!

So next steps will be to start on Applejack. Since Applebloom was a mother-daughter project I'll wait until the next time I visit my mother to start. It bares mentioning that Applebloom's ears and legs were sewn by my mother, who after a little coaching, did an awesome job!

That's all for now dears. If you have the ability to walk, walk around the block a few times for me!

- Ori

Zecora Preview, Just for you!

Hello Dears,

It has been a long time since my last post, but have no fear! I have made some great progress on my latest project, and those who follow my blog: I did not forget. Though you might find it a little off for me to be rhyming, you may even scoff! But there is a reason to the rhyme, I promise not to do it all the time.

For my latest pony creation, possibly my best sure has put my skills and attention span to the test. Though she is not quite done, I certainly am having a ton of fun. So for those who are not in the My Little Pony know, just take a peek and look to the preview picture below!

What could these two fabric piles be? Could they be two more ponies?

That's right my readers so dear, Zecora the enchanting is nearly here! I still have to do her earrings, bracelets, and add a few stripes, but I know when she's finished she'll live up to the hype. That's all for now dears, have a great July 4th, cheers!

- Ori

Ori's Solstice Smoothie and Liss Peach Bliss!

Hello Dears,

I'm coming to you with a little something different today. I just got done with a little smoothie experiment and the results are, well, tasty! I wanted to share the "recipe",  if you can call it that, with everyone. I have two smoothie concepts that are cheap to make and great for summer!

Ori's Summer Solstice Strawberry Smoothie
(note: the fresher, more organic produce will taste better!)

Stuff you'll need:

• a pint of strawberries
• 1 apple( I used a 'pink lady' apple which has a tangy taste to it)
• red wine of choice
• local honey (I used wildflower honey)
• spring water

Stuff you can add if you like:

• tofu (yes tofu, this makes the concoction creamy without using dairy; you can't taste it!)

So basically you have a lot of freedom with amounts used because I just kinda "felt it out" based on my own tastes. I wanted the tangy apple and tangy red wine to compliment the overwhelming sweetness of the strawberries and 4-5 table spoons of honey. I used water rather than ice to really blend it into a juice but if your blender can handle it, ice would really make it nice!

If you don't like red wine or can't have it for heath/religious reasons, try any kind of fruit juice-- especially pomegranate.

Lucky suggested I use this red wine, but it is reserved for close friends!

If you want a sharper, more tangy taste use less honey and strawberries and add more wine. Do the reverse if you want it sweeter. Just be sure to watch out for that one bad strawberry at the bottom of each bushel. It'll get ya!

Liss's White Wine and Peach Bliss


Stuff you'll need:

• 1-3 white peaches
• small amount of pineapple juice
• white wine of choice
• local honey (I used wildflower honey)
• spring water

Stuff you can add if you like:

• peach yogurt (I would not recommend plain yogurt as it tends to be sour)

This recipe, like the person it's named after, is a bit sweeter. It leaves less room for those who don't like sweet-tasting drinks but the natural sugars shouldn't overwhelm you! The white wine you choose may serve to "calm it down" a bit, but like the other recipe you can tailor this one to your tastes.

Once again, if wine isn't your think a sparkling grape juice would be a good replacement, as would a clear soda if you don't mind the less healthy path.

If you try out either of these recipes, let me know your  results! Send me a picture of your creations and I'll post them.

That's all for now, dear!

-Ori

Crafting Day results!

Hello Dears,

Sorry for the long pause in posting. A bunch of happy, fun, life stuff has been going on and I haven't been able to get much done in the way of crafting. Despite such setbacks as a brand new iMac, Diablo III, more responsibilities at work, a more energized social life when I'm not gaming, and tore-up fingers, my friend Liss the Snood-Squirrel and I got together yesterday for a fun day of crafting.

She asked me to embroider a pillow for her awesome dog with the pup's name on it. In return she is helping me with my latest pony project: Zecora. I tried doing Zecora's jewelry in fleece but that just didn't seem to work. So I asked Liss to use her super, 'knit-fu' to help create Zecora's accents. Her's an action shot of our progress!

All faces on this blog are obscured to protect the innocent!

I also made some progress on my white deer bag that I hope to have done in time for the Maryland Renaissance fair. So if you're attending the fair this year, look for the lady with the white deer mask, bag, and awesome kilt attire!

I should also mention that while we crafted I got to see the 1980's film "Bladerunner" for the first time. Not only was the movie itself amazing, but since we watched it on an old VHS (the thing before dvd's for you millenials) we got to see old commercials from 1984 (the year not the book).  It was amazing not only see advertizements from that era, but to see what products still existed today.

One that had me rolling was Fidelity Bank: the commercial stated it was brand new and a new start for NJ, but that bank went out of business when I was in 1st or second grade. Not to mention all the Jeep Comanche adverts...

That's all for now dears, see you next time with a complted Zebra plushie (I hope!)

- Ori