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We intended to release this at the same time as The Hobbit premiere but my internet connection was doing funny things. I'm sorry that the quality is really fuzzy and has the strange extra several seconds of black; if anyone has tips on getting videos to upload to YouTube properly, please let me know!

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A few months ago, I sent my friend Julie an email: "So, this is probably going to sound crazy, but what do you think of trying to do a music video in Elvish?"

Most people, I think, would have either backed away slowly or rolled their eyes. Not so my geeky and talented friend.


She spent a while translating Into the West, the song sung by Annie Lennox in the credits of The Return of the King, into Quenya. She began with a version on the website Quenya 101, but took some creative liberties with the lyrics and pronunciation in order to fit the words to the music. Kelsey very kindly offered to accompany the song on the piano.

None of us really knew what we were doing. I was the techie; I used an old keyboard, a Guitar Hero mic, and GarageBand to record the song. We had to do three or four takes before making a recording that did not have any coughs, sniffles, or missed notes. By the end of the final recording that afternoon, Kelsey's hands were shaking and Julie kept taking deep breaths. It was rather funny in a not-funny sort of way, because they were uptight and nervous for a solid two hours of recording-- but I got to relax on my bed and listen to beautiful piano and singing all afternoon.

We got some very interesting background noises that I couldn't totally eliminate-- but it was an experiment! Experiments are allowed to go badly in the hopes that they actually go quite wonderfully.
Julie says that next time we're recording a song that is actually in her range.

The video was a TON of fun to shoot, even though I now know many things that one should never do with a camera. The shakiness... yeah... it's really bad... Hey, this was my first time making a video that doesn't consist of simply pointing the camera at my hands as I demonstrate an arts and crafts technique!

My favorite part of this project? (Besides hanging out with friends, learning to use awesome software, and being unabashedly geeky?) Listening to the song over and over as I edited the video. :)

By the way, the lovely red-and-blue dress was made by Laura Cook, whose blog Sew Many Seams is definitely worth checking out! This was the dress she made me in exchange for the Entwife jewelry.

Here's a little photoshoot we did:











Leave a comment if you think that Jules' singing rocks and that Kelsey's piano is awesome-- I'd love to show them your feedback!

Two of my friends run a Your Little Princess Costume Design, and they are having an awesome Christmas special for one lucky Princess!

More info on this Your Little Princess Costume Design giveaway here. The lovely pictures below are just a small sampling of the designs they customize!


You can also find them on facebook and keep up with Elena (the seamstress) at the lovely Confessions of a Seamstress blog. She usually posts pictures of commissions in progress, and the detail, quality, and creativity are just astounding! You can also see all of the adult size costumes that she makes!

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Amanda, the other member of Your Little Princess Costume Designs is also selling soap that her family makes! Check them out at The Goats Milk Soap Shop!




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From the Dragon's Hoard by Shaylynn Rackers. Winner of Weapons category.

Most people use the phrase "bouncing off walls" in an entirely figurative manner, but I honestly did bounce off walls the day I got the news. Specifically, I couldn't stop jumping up and down and squealing with my siblings, and while lifting my five year old brother into the air to spin and jump with him, I promptly banged my shoulder into the wall!

I am... speechless, honored, overwhelmed, blessed, exuberant, proud, humbled, excited, surprised, and any number of other things.

I'm going to say this with an attempt to not sound boastful or anything, but my parents and I were joking that instead of doing all the dubious things that you are legally allowed to do when you turn 18 (such as buying cigarettes, legally eloping, getting a permit to own a monkey, and bungee jumping-- okay, the bungee jumping sounds really cool--) I won an honest-to-goodness art contest.

The judges were Alan Lee and John Howe and Richard Taylor, you know? Artists and creative geniuses I really admire... It's weird to think that they judged my art, ohmygoodnessgracious!!! Geeking out here!

And yes, there are some epic prizes and when they arrive I'll have some epic photoshoots up here on my blog. :)

I think my brothers and Dad are much more excited about prop weapon replicas than the artwork (Okay, Dad was more excited about the artwork but with my brothers it's a full out tie between "Shaylynn won a LotR art contest!" and "OMG we are getting weapons!). They keep calling dibs on who gets to keep which sword in which bedroom when I leave for college!

If you want to see behind-the-scenes for "From the Dragon's Hoard"that blog post is here.

I also wanted to share some of what I personally consider the coolest pieces in the entire contest:




Without a doubt, this is my favorite entry in the entire contest... THE DETAIL. THE COLOR. THE AWESOME.

Also, the artist's name looked google-able, so I searched her and found her website and blog, which have some seriously impressive pieces.

And a sketch and a larger version of the digital painting!


This is just so beautiful... I especially love the colors and layout and shadows... I just can't think of a word to describe it except for beautiful, even though beautiful isn't a word you'd normally use to describe Trolls...


Again, beautiful stunning colors and obsessive detail! I've only ever thought of Durin's Hall as a gloomy, mammoth relic of older years, filled with musty air and echoes of memories. But "The world was fair in Durin's day..."

Be sure that you are clicking on the pictures to see them full size on the contest website.


There were so many good entries that I'm sure the judges had a very hard time picking the winners, but I imagine the choice between this and "Durin's Hall" was very tough. Personally I would have tied them. :) This is just such a lovely imagining of Laketown and I aspire to be able to paint like this some day.

Wait, this one is bigger, too! (The contest called for a square picture, guess most of the artwork was not drawn specifically for the contest.) I love Google Image search. Lookie lookie lookie at the brilliance!

This is my interpretation of Bag End, how I pictured it as a child. It focuses more on imagination and less on detail, similar to how I felt the first time I read the story.

I really like this one because it's so creative and different.


This one is really clever!

What is that Lamp Which Lights up Men, But Flame Engulfs it, And Wargs Grasp after is Always? My idea of Wargs has always been inspired by the Norse mythological wolves of the same name.

Creepy Wargs are creepy but also hauntingly beautiful...

When one of Smaug's treasures is pilfered by the invisible hobbit burglar, the ancient dragon erupts in a jealous fury, exits the Lonely Mountain, and alights upon its summit.

I love this part in the book. Bilbo and the dwarves come to rely on Gandalf so much, yet when they're entering the most sinister and dangerous place so far, he abandons the group.

Several of the drawings are very purple-and-yellow, which is interesting because the colors I primarily think of when I consider The Hobbit are cheerful gold and green and a creepy dark brown. But I'm really loving these pieces... And this cartoony style is really neat.



I could go on and on sharing the amazing artwork that was entered but I'm running out of time here. Go visit Treasures of Middle Earth Design Contest and feast your eyes. :)

I'm so blessed to have friends who do not think that my crazy ideas are too crazy to be considered. :) They jumped in full-heartedly!


Anyway, I'm being the techie person and doing the final parts of the project, and because of my busy schedule it will be around a fortnight or even longer before we are finished.

These pictures are just too much fun, however, and I can't resist teasing the Tolkienites who read my blog. YOU WILL LOVE THIS, GUYS.

Cuio nin mellyn!

 By the way, guys, BY THE WAY, I am a finalist in The Hobbit Design Contest! This means that I advanced to the last level of judging, and do you know what this means? JOHN HOWE and ALAN LEE and RICHARD TAYLOR looked at my artwork!!!

(These three are the seriously talented artistic masterminds behind the Lord of the Rings movies. Howe and Lee are concept artists, Taylor heads Weta Workshop. I've been huge fans of their work ever since I was a young girl home sick, watching the extra features on the LotR DVDs. You can't imagine how much I'm bouncing off of walls).

I've no way of knowing if I "passed" or not-- they aren't announcing the winners yet-- so I'm not getting my hopes up, but the simple fact that I'm a finalist is HUGELY awesomesauce.

From the Dragon's Hoard by Shaylynn Rackers. Blog post about it here.

I want to strangle the person who told me that the senior year of high school is not as bad as junior year. Maybe this goes for people who attend regular schools, but the homeschool curricula I am using just upped the ante. I'm swamped. (Tell me you read that in Prince Humperdink's voice!).

Plus, I have finals in my chemistry class soon. Sitting in a classroom again, even if it is for college lectures, is weird. It takes so much time ohmygoodness.

I'm starting to like math again. Don't tell my mother. I'm doing not-really-calculus this year (half of it is far more advanced college algebra and trig, the other half is typical calculus).

In other news, I actually did well on my standardized tests and qualify for a good state scholarship. My choice just gets harder and harder. Do I go to an awesome, albiet expensive, liberal arts Catholic school? Or a good state school where I'll incur practically no debt?

School again-- do you know how hard it is to write scholarship application essays without sounding pretentious? "This is why I'm awesome and a good student and this is why you should give me money/let me be a part of such-and-such program, and by the way my ego isn't as big as it sounds from this essay."


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I was sick last night so I doodled a tree. And I found an old paper plate with leftover watercolors, so I wet the paint and colored in the tree.




Autumn is such a lovely season... but once November came in full swing, it brought along brown trees and headcolds. Here's some snapshots of the lovely fall colors! We've also had some spectacular sunsets, but I have always been heading to or from class and never got the chance to photograph them properly.





(ooooh, look, I discovered double exposure!)



My family is rather large compared to your typical American family. We have six kids, and no one from my class can seem to wrap their mind around that. They stare in shock and ask me if I like it!

For the record: my siblings are the most obnoxious little monsters in the world, and I love them to death. I think my family is one of the strangest ones I know of-- we are all geeks, and love to hang out, and tease each other quite rudely but it's all playful (my dad is particularly good at teasing...)-- and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Sure, being part of a large family can be stressful and my lifestyle is a lot different from small families... but I just don't get why people always respond with shock! It's like, gasp! Six kids! I wonder what they'd think about some of my best friends' families, with an average of eight or nine kids... heehee

I also wonder what they'd think if I told them that we are having some fifty family members over to our house for New Year's, and that we get together at least twice a year, and that normally it's at Grandma's house, where sleeping bags underneath the dining room table is prime real estate because no one can trip over you!



I've fallen in love with tea. It is so delicious and makes me feel so British-- "Oh, I'm going to just go get myself a cuppa tea to survive through my literature readings." "Got to go fetch some tea to cheer me up and soothe my sore throat..."

I don't usually add any sugar or cream, so I can drink three cups a day and not feel guilty at all!

By the way, my newest favorite tea is Spiced Chai rooibos brewed in apple juice. Yes, brewed in juice! It's brilliant! I've also been told to try making ginger tea in bubbly water with a dash of lime...

HAMA: There is Éowyn, daughter of Éomund, his sister. She is fearless and high-hearted. All love her. Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.

THEODEN: It shall be so. Let the heralds announce to the folk that the Lady Éowyn will lead them!


~J.R.R. Tolkien. Chapter VI: The King of the Golden Hall (The Two Towers, Book Three)

Eowyn is one of my favorite characters in The Lord of the Rings. She's such a strong shieldmaiden, a woman who has gone through so much and still remains truehearted, and her love story with Faramir is one of my favorite romances of the epic. It's a pity they left so much out of the movies!

I wanted to make some jewelry inspired by Eowyn and pulled this screencap from The Two Towers for inspiration. The circlet she wears at Theoden's funeral was my starting point.

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Eowyn doesn't wear much jewelry; here's the necklace and earrings that she wears in most scenes:

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I wish I knew how to cast metal and had the tools to solder precious metals... I'd love to make something like her necklace some day!

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It's hard to find good-resolution pictures of Eowyn's crown, but I just came across this one from an eBay listing. As it turns out, my necklace doesn't look much like her circlet.

This torc-like necklace is nonetheless inspired by Eowyn.

It's made with raw copper braided into a loose band and attached to a hammered wire. I obviously can't make flowers like the ones on Eowyn's circlet-- which look like gold with and aquamarine/sapphire inlay-- so I went with tiny teal leaf beads to imitate the star/flower design.