Only Animals in the Party

No projects to share this week, I'll have more for my next blog. So enjoy some of the fun things and finds that have happened this week!

I reconnected with two of my old best friends! We would play games daily when we were 11 years old, calling every day. As the years went on we all also moved on, just got busy with life and didn't have time to hang out, we always remembered to message each other on our birthdays though! As of last Thursday, we have been chatting again! Playing games and catching up the last few nights. I love them both to bits, Amity and Libby you guys are awesome!

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A game Amity, myself and literally all my friend group have been obsessed with is Party Animals. This adorable, wacky physics, PvP is the best game I've played in so long, I can't explain the endless fun and cute unlockable characters this game has! I've even made a few friends from the game itself as it has an open voice chat.

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NFL Falcons v Jaguars

Pixars Toy Story and the NFL teamed up on Sunday and the Falcons and Jaguars got the amazing opportunity to 'play' in Andy's bedroom! Using motion tracking both teams were transformed into toys in Andy's room for all his toys to enjoy the game.

This is such a fun idea and a great way to get kids into sports. The feedback says it all honesty, from fans saying it brought their family together and teaches their kids sports in a way they'd understand.

To celebrate their win the Jaguars fell to the ground like toys when Andy came home!

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From now until January 2024 the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Pokémon has taken over the beautiful works of Gogh and has jumped into his world. You can find remakes of his paintings, from Sunflowers to The Bedroom, six of his famous works have been reimagined featuring fan favourite Pokémon. The six paintings were created by Naoyo Kimura, sowsow, and Tomokazu Komiya. You can find more information and book your tickets to visit on the Van Gogh Museum website.

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My favourite show, Only Murders in the Building season 3 reached its finale last Tuesday and I, somehow, predicted the killer in episode 6 for the wrong reasons (my only evidence was based on a scene we later find out they weren't even in...) but still got it right so I'll take It. Now we patiently wait for season 4! This season made me so emotional with the storylines portrayed, Oliver being my favourite character finally getting his chance in the spotlight just for another murder and his health causing it all to almost not come true! With so many wonderful musical numbers from many of the cast including the BEST special guest they've had on the show so far, Meryl Streep. This season had me crying, laughing, and gasping, every moment was so perfect. Please treat yourself to Only Murders in the Building, you can find it on Hulu, but if you are in the UK (like me) it is on DisneyPlus!

Tasty BSL

I got my first tattoo! I love it, wasn't that bad really (the yellow was the most painful bit and took the longest to heal). It's the primary and secondary colours, for me it represents my love of art, my work and my years of studying! I also just kinda like that being this bright ball of colour is my brand now and the tattoo fits with that.

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I've signed up for BSL (British Sign Language) lessons! I've been wanting to for a few years now but never really had time. Nothing in particular made me want to learn BSL other than it's a language I used to know at a basic level and I stopped using it so I thought I could pick it back up again!

Speaking of BSL, Cadbury has partnered with the National Deaf Children's Society for a fun new combo! You can now buy chocolate fingers that feature designs that show you how to sign words and phrases! You can find out more about Sign With Fingers here, on the website features videos on how to sign, some helpful articles on how to be more deaf-friendly, and where you can buy your own pack of these fingers!

With this campaign comes the best ads!

The above shows the signs of

"What A Goal", "Going Anywhere Nice?", and "Any Holidays Planned?"

Illustrations by Bodil Jane.

Fun fact, the hands are actually 3D models that are made to look 2D. You can find out a bit more about how the ads were made here.

Video by Peter Henderson.

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I made a fun intro video for my work! Just thought I'd share it because I like it and it was the last project I did.

https://youtu.be/6HHCSvd0E9Q

Canva also has the best writing AI, by this I mean I was messing around a bit and found an option called 'sprinkle fairy dust', I used it on my About Me section and it changed 'I'm a wheelchair user' to 'a journeyer upon the wheels of an enchanted chariot'. Anyway, this is now how I will describe my D&D character.

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These few weeks at my new job have been super fun! Loads of laughs and great projects. I finished my first project last week, I did the graphics for the Summer SEND Community Offer 2023 video, you can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utw5SpmCVfc

Though I finished the project it definitely didn't go so smoothly. The first graphic I did was the 'Happy' title. I wanted to have the sun come up behind the text and the beams be spinning. In theory, this should work but I have also never used After Effects for graphics before so I had no idea what I was doing. Here is my first attempt and the final version.

I decided to add a cloud to the graphic for two reasons, the first is that for the life of me, I couldn't work out how to do the effect I wanted with a transparent background. The second is it actually helps the graphic pop of the video and I then decided to add the cloud to every graphic.

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I finally made my Discord Server! Art, games, movie nights! Come by and join a 16+ fun, friendly community, full of cute and horror goodness! We just had our first movie night and on Saturday 23rd will be our first group game night. I am excited to build my little community slowly and have the best time with everyone. You can join Blade's Burrow here!

Custom emotes, coloured roles, and more!

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In the art world, Procreate announced its newest app! Procreate Dreams is a new animation app for iPads, it will have a similar interface to its drawing app Procreate, with the added touches of a timeline, animation tools, and assets. The software runs so smoothly and is quite powerful for being an iPad app, a lot of professional animators have said that this app will change the animation industry. Just like Procreate, Procreate Dreams is made for beginner and professional artists, animators, video editors, and hobbyists! The product releases on November 22nd this year, for ONLY $19.99 (one-off purchase).

You can find out more about Procreate Dreams here.

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Back in 2019, LEGO began making Braille Bricks, LEGOs made to help visually impaired, partially sighted, and sighted people learn the touch-based alphabet using the fun LEGO bricks! They are completely compatible with other LEGO products. The LEGO Braille Bricks were given to charities and schools to help children. As of 2023, you can now buy these bricks for yourself. You can find out more about LEGO Braille Bricks here and the languages they are available in.

Also, check out https://lingojam.com/BrailleTranslator, that's how I made the title! Isn't that cool?

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Did you know that Jaffa Cakes has the coolest Barcode design I think I've ever seen?

It's literally a mini-debate over if they are cakes or biscuits! I love this so much, they are poking fun at the question everyone asks for their brand. Also, it's a great conversation starter, I had almost everyone in the office talking about it last week!

I also added a poll on Instagram to see what my friends and followers think the debate is!

I'm not sorry to say I call them cakes, it seems most of my friends call them biscuits...I never did share my opinion on the topic though, so shh!