Mistle-Tie Fighter craft

Hey gang!  I'm back with a new craft from "The Star Wars Craft Book", the Mistle-Tie Fighter!  If you're wanting to do something different from the traditional mistletoe, here's a way to shake things up (note: the following text is from the actual book, all images and writing belongs to the original writer/creator)

What you need:

• Pencil
• Manila folder
• Scissors
• Black, gray, and white felt
• Thin cardboard
• Quick-drying fabric glue
• Chenille stems/pipe cleaners
• Table tennis or small styrofoam ball
• Wooden drink stir stick or thin dowel
• Fresh or plastic mistletoe
• Red ribbon
• White thread or clear fishing wire

How to Make a Mistle-TIE Fighter

• First draw a hexagon (a six sided figure) on a manila folder and cut it out to use as your TIE fighter solar panel pattern
• Cut four hexagons out of black felt, and two from the thin cardboard
• Glue the black felt hexagons to both sides of your cardboard hexagons
• Cut the pipe cleaners and glue them onto the hexagons in a crisscross and straight-across pattern, just as it appears on a TIE fighter solar panel.  Use an image of a TIE fighter solar panel from books as a reference.  Be sure to glue pipe cleaners around the edges of the solar panels, too.  Cut out a smaller hexagon from white felt to glue in the middle of each side of the solar panels.
• Begin the cockpit assembly by creating a hole in each side of the table tennis or styrofoam ball.  Push the wooden stir stick or dowel through the ball and trim it so it is even on both sides.  Secure it with a bit of glue on each side.
• Use quick-drying fabric glue to glue each end to the middle of a solar panel.  This is where you must practice Yoda-like patience by allowing the glue to dry on one solar panel before you attach the other.  Let the glue dry completely
• Next, cut out a circle of gray felt and a smaller circle of black felt to glue on top to make the cockpit window.  Cut out thin slivers of gray and an even smaller gray circle to go in the middle of the window.  After it dries, glue the finished window to the middle of the cockpit area of the TIE fighter.
• Wrap a pipe cleaner stem around hte arms of the TIE fighter and bleow it to attach your mistletoe bundle underneath
• Tie a pretty red ribbon around the pipe cleaner and tems of your mistletoe as an added festive touch.  Tie a piece of white thread or clear fishing line to each arm of the TIE fighterand make two loops.  Then tie the loops together at the top with another loop of thread to serve as the main hanging loop, which will properly support your TIE fighter
• Han in a doorway, but remember that Christmas tradition states you have to kiss anyone standing underneath the mistletoe!  So look out for lurking Wookies!

That's it for now folks!  Make sure that you share this with your friends, and if you like you an post your image on the official facebook page and share them with your friends as well!  I'll be back next week to post a double review for the latest episode of the Clone Wars; until then, Merry Christmas and May the Force be with you :D

Star Wars Action Figure Wreath

Merry Christmas gang!  As I promised, here's one (and hopefully more) of the holiday crafts you at home can make and spread the joy to others.  This Star Wars Wreath is taken from the book by the talented Bonnie Burton, "The Star Wars Crafts Book" (if you can, you should get a copy too).  Here is the following instructions of what to do:

Items you need:

1) Foil Christmas garland wreath or fake evergreen wreath

2) Broken or extra action figures

3) Green acrylic paint

4) Paintbrushes

5) Green glitter paint

6) Green twine

7) Green ornament hooks

8) Red ribbon

The following is the actual exerpt from the book, credit goes to the original writer

1.  Unwind the foil garland wreath to the size you prefer.  You can also substitute a larger fake evergreen wreath, available at most craft stores.  Gather the action figures and pieces you want to use
2.  Paint all the action figures you plan to use with green acrylic paint.  Let them dry and then add a coat of green glitter paint to give them extra sparkle.  Let your figures dry again.
3. Place the painted action figures where you want them on the wreath.  Experiment with different placement for the best look.
4. Tie the action figures to the wreath either by using green twine or by twisting green ornament tree hooks around your figures.
5. Use a peice of red ribbon to tie a bow for the base of your wreath
6. Feel free to use bigger action figures and vehicles as a topping for extra fun!
7. This wreath is a traditional green, but you can have fun making different themed wreaths featureing your figures, such as all-white for Hoth or red for Mustafar!

Well gang, that's it for now.  Make sure you share this with you friends; and if you like, post your pictures on the official facebook page and share with your friends as well.  I'll try to post more Christmas crafts later on during the month of December.  Have fun this season, and May the Force be with you

Latest Clone Wars epsidoe review; plus "Rise of the Guardians" review

Hey gang!  I'm back with a couple of new reviews!  First up, the review for the latest episode of Clone Wars, "Necessary Bond".

I was quite impressed that General Grievous had a role to play in the invasion of Felorum, forcing the pirates to form a temporary pact with each other in order to save themselves.  It was interesting though that it was Katooni that was able to soften Hondo's heart and join with the small band of Jedi.  It makes me wonder if maybe she and Hondo will develop some sort of relationship (not romantic) throughout the rest of the series?  He didn't seem to connect to the others that well, and Katooni was the only one that could get through to him; guess that's something we'll have to watch out for.  Second, we've all seen the younglings develop throughout the arc mentally, physically and spiritualy.  Now that they have experience in the battle field, there's a good chance they'll be seen in future episodes and be paired with cannon Jedi Masters.  We'll just have to see what happens



 

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And now, time to review "Rise of the Guardians"!  The story was actually well put together, following the story of Jack Frost and how some of the most mythical characters protect the children of the world.  Some of the characters from BunnyMund to North (Santa) had likeable personalities and kept you on the edge of your seat when they had to face the one called Pitch Black (Boogie Man).  Once Jack is chosen to become one of the new Guardians, trouble begins to loon around the globe, but bit by bit he begins to understand why he is chosen to become part of the team.  This is definetly a feel-good type of film, and the story along with the animation is well put together; this is a film that I would reccommend to anyone, no matter what age you are. (btw, the image above belongs to it's original owner on deviantart.com, make sure you check out the artist's work)

Well folks, this is all that I have for now; I apologize for not posting a craft post yet for the Christmas season, but I'll make an effort too before the week is out.  In the meantime, May the Force be with you :)



Double review for Clone Wars episodes

Hey people!  I'm back again with a double update of the latest in the Young Jedi arc :D

With "Test of Strength", I thought it was genius to involve everyone's favorite space pirate Hondo; this actually gave the younglings a test of adapting to their surroundings in time of danger.  It also showed that Ahsoka was willing to do anything to protect the young ones that were in her care.  I will say that the show was a tad predictable-the with exception of Ahsoka being captured by Hondo to gain "profit"; thus leaving the show in a cliffhanger.

In "Bound for Rescue", I think they stepped it up a bit when they brought back Grievous for this season along with the clone troopers.  There were even some nods towards the Pixar film "A Bug's Life" when they did the circus scene with the younglings, allowing them to enter with ease to rescue Ahsoka.  It was also refreshing to see the scenes switch back and forth to from the younglings to Obi-Won; it's clear that Kenobi is still frustrated that he can't get his hands on the droid general, but at least he has the satisfaction of leaving him a parting give-by blowing him up on his ship.  And let's face facts, who didn't get a chuckle or two when a drunk Hondo was thrown into the air cheerfully proclaiming, "I'M FLYING!"

All in all, the latest episode was satisfying; it's been said that Grievous will encounter Hondo for the first time in the series-I'm certain that it will quite the episode.

In other news, for all the fan girls out there who love "Her Universe", check out the link to this article about the new products coming out on Cyber Monday!
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/11/prweb10147644.htm
I'm super excited for the latest Christmas pin, Chewbacca!  And...wait for it...wait for it...STAR WARS PAJAMAS FOR WOMEN!!!!  YES!

Now that I got that off my chest, I wanna wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and I'll be posting a blog excerpt from the Star Wars Crafts book for the Christmas season :)

May the Force be with you, always

Clone Wars "The Gathering" Review

Hello people!  Here's the review for the latest episode of the Clone Wars series, "The Gathering!"

As we see in the opening sequence, we see Ahsoka about to bring a group of younglings to a secret temple to find their own lightsaber crystals; once they land on the planet they enter into the caverns to find Master Yoda waiting for them.  He explains to them that each padawan would know what crystal was there's once they entered into the tunnel-but he warns them that they must find their crystal before the door froze over thus trapping them inside.  From what we can see, each padawan is unqiue not just in species type, but in personality as well. 

Once they enter into the tunnel, Petro is the first to leave the group as he goes in search of the prized item, while the others stick close together to find the crystals as well.  Coming upon a series of doors, Zatt suggested that everyone chooses a door by closing their eyes and pick one.  Soon the younglings were on their way to find their crystal.  In one tunnel, Katooni discovers her crystal-but her confindence quickly fades when she notices that it is high above ground.  Her comrade reassures her that he believed that she was capable of completing the task and goes his own way.

Ganodi and Gungi are the next to find a crystal-which had chosen the young wookie.  Unfortunatly, the item is located across a lake.  The Rodian suggests to her comrade that he should wait until the water freezes over again to make it easier to retrieve the item.  Then we come upon Byph, who spots the crystal but is fearing the creature that holds it hostage.  Meanwhile, Petro exits out of the cavern thinking he found his crystal and shows his findings to Ahsoka and Yoda-only to be dissapointed by the fact that it was just ice-and he is sent in again to find his crystal with limited amount of time.  Zatt in the meatime is frustrated that his device is unable to find a crystal for him, while Ganodi wanders in circles despairing that she would never find her crystal.

Soon though, many of the padawans overcome their obsacles and retrieve their prized item; Zatt trusted his instincts to find the crystal, Ganodi learned about hope, Byph overcame his fear of the unknown, Gungi learned about patience, Katooni learned about confidnece, and Petro overcame his selfishness to help out his fellow jedi.  Yoda tells them to keep their crystals close, for they were now Jedi.

All in all, this was a fairly made episode which gave the audience a sneek peek of what the younglings must do in order to build their own lightsaber.  I was also impressed that they showed a rare clip of when Plo Koon found Ahsoka-and it was just an adorable and heartfelt scene!

I do wish though that there was a twist in the episode, such as one of the younglings failing in the mission thus that youngling wouldn't have been able to move on to the promotion as Padawan.  On the other hand, we wouldn't have been able to see each youngling learn their lesson when they entered into the cavern.  If this arc continues, I hope that we get to see these younglings in action-maybe even pair up with one of the cannon Jedi Masters like Kit Fisto, Shakk Ti, or even Plo Koon.  Either way, I have a feeling that the action in the series will pick up tremendously.

That's all for now folks, and I'll be back with another review and possibly more news in the si-fi world. And with the Christmas season approaching quickly, I'll be posting up a craft blog soon for old and new fans alike in the sci-fi universe; also to my current followers, please pass the word along about the official facebook page, I truly would appreciate it.

May the Force be with you, always :)

Clone Wars "Tipping Points" review....and a sweet announcement :D

Hey gang, coming at you with a new review of the latest episode of Clone Wars, "Tipping Point."  After watching this conclusion to the Onderon arc, I have to say it was well done story wise.  It was clever to insert Hondo into the story plot to give the Rebels a hand in the situation-even if the items were paid for by Anikan.  And you can see that Steela's leadership role has grown quite a bit since the last episode, which made her a force to be reckon with.  What was not entirely surprising was the kiss she planted onto Lux before entering into battle-and it was clear to see that Ahsoka was a tad miffed by it. 

I will say though I was surprised that Steela was killed off near the end of the Onderon Arc; I was expecting to see her in future episodes of the series.  Afterwards, I realized that it was a good lesson for the young padawan to learn that war can come with a deadly price-no matter who the person is.  It seems that Saw (Steela's brother) might be in later episodes, how his future plays out due to the death of his sister will be an entirely different story.  As for the relationship between Lux and Ahsoka-we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

And now for something really exciting!  For years, Deadpool fans have been waiting for a game that would feed that "Deadpool itch"; recently, San-Diego Comic Con announced (with the assistance of the merc with the mouth himself) that High Moon Studios will be releasing the official Deadpool Game in 2013!  Just remember, this game is recommended for ages eighteen and up-not something the youngsters should be playing.  If you like, check out his official website to learn more about the game: http://deadpoolgame.com/#!/home
And don't forget to check him out on facebook as well :D

That's all for now people, I'll be back as soon as I can to post up something new-and please like the official "Star Wars and Beyond" facebook page and share it with all your friends!

May the Force be with you, and Happy Halloween!

Clone Wars and Prometheus review

Hey gang!  Back in town to give you my latest review on the newest episode of Clone Wars (well, in this case two episodes combined into one), plus a movie review of the popular prequeal to the Aliens series, Prometheus.

Let's begin with the Clone Wars episodes.  "Front Runners" was an interesting episode, showing that the Rebels have become more caculating in their attacks on the droids and giving the citizens a sense of hope.  Plus, selecting Steela as the leader of the small group of soldiers was a wise decision-personally, I think she'll be one to be reckoned with in the future.  And "Soft War" was another well thought out episode as well; there was quite a bit of political themes in that show, testing the strength of the false king vs. the true king.  From what I could see from Saw, he's still struggling with the fact that his sister is showing him up as a leader and he wants to prove himself worthy to the cause-thankfully that didn't get him killed and he's finally excepted the fact that he's not perfect.  It also seems that Ahsoka is struggling to keep her emotions about Lux in check while helping out the people of Onderon.  We'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for her and Lux (nudge, nudge, wink, wink :D)

Now onto the movie preview of Prometheus! The movie did not dissapoint in the least; the humaniod like aliens were amazing, though I'm still baffeled about their purpose on the human race-other than that they were evolved from humans (confused yet?).  Plus the origin of those creatures was interesting as well-it looked like a very decayed yet thriving version of earth, or what will be the the main planet of the famous and classic alien Xenomorphs.  The story was very well done as they went into the history of Weland's Industry to how those famoust chestbursters came into play.  It seems that the ending did leave the audience to believe that a sequel to Prometheus is coming into play-that's something I'll dig into further and post as soon as I have the answer.  Just a warning to younger viewers, this film is definetly not for audience under the age of sixteen-pretty much nightmare material for the younglings (unless there's an adult around).  Other than that, it's worth watching if you are a true Alien fan.

That's it for now folks; I'll keep you posted on anything new in the Star Wars Universe and Beyond.  And just a reminder to please like the official facebook page, and don't be afraid to post on the site anything about Star Wars and sci-fi events around the globe or in your community: http://www.facebook.com/StarWarsAndBeyond?ref=hl
May the Force be with you, always :)

NYC Comic Con and more :D

Transform and Roll Out!

Hiya gang!  Thought I would give my views on this year's NYC Comic Con!  I can tell you this, I've seen some amazing cosplayers and some great celeberties, I even had a chance to check out Artist Alley.  I was very tempted to buy some Copic Markers, but passed it up for now (that'll be on my Christmas list this year lol); we even bought some incredible prints from a talented artist named Michael Mongelo (make sure to check out his website, www.supermonge.com) who made great prints from Gargoyles to Ninja Turtles.  Throughout the crazieness, my boyfriend and I saw people dressed head to toe in costumes from Bumblebee (pictured above), Sith Lords, Jedi, and even Deadpool (pictured below with my wonderful boyfriend :D)

Throughout the day, we mainly traveled about gazing at the stands full of souveniers and encountering several cosplayers.  Sonn after, we waited in line to meet the one and only-the six time (six time, six time, six time, six time, six time, six time!) WWE World Champion-and currently the new General Manager of WWE Smackdown-Booker T!!  He was such a sweet and kind gentleman; he signed his new book for me and we even chatted a bit, shortly followed by the photo below

 

 

 

Sometime later, we traveled downstairs for the autograph line to meet a legend from the nineties-Jason David Frank-also known to many as the original Green Power Ranger (also a current UFC Fighter)!  Granted though we waited for quite some time-roughly two and a half hours tops since the line was incredibly long.  Amazingly enough, Jason was very dedicated to his fans; he came out one point running down the line with his I-Pad and recorded his fellow fans cheering for him.  What was even more amazing was that he stayed past his curfew (5 to 7) to meet his fellow fans-including me and my boyfriend.  It was definetly worth the wait.

 

 

 

Despite the craziness of it all, it was a great day nonetheless-and I hope to go back again next year (with the understanding that it'll be longer than a day lol).

 

On another note, I'll try to catch up on the last episode of Clone Wars "Front-Runners" and I'll give my review afterwards.  In other news, my facebook page for this blog is working properly!  If you would like to check out the page, please go to the following address:

 

http://www.facebook.com/StarWarsAndBeyond

 

You, the fan/follower, can post anything related to the page-whether it's somewhere in your own community, a favorite sci-fi book/film/game, or something in between, post it on the page.  Just be aware that it should be kept at PG/PG-13 level-anything else that is innappropiate for the site will be immediatly deleated.  Other than that, just check it out and have fun :)

 

That's all for now fellow fans, I'll be back later on with a new post.  In the mean time, may the Force be with you, always :D

 

 



 

"War on Two Fronts" review and more

Sorry for the late update folks, batteling a cold can take a lot out of you.  Anyhow, this is my review on the latest Clone Wars episode "A War on Two Fronts".

In this latest episode, Anikan, Obi-Won, Rex and Ahsoka are called to the planet Onderon to aid the new founded rebels to hone their skills in combat.  We meet the new rebels on the planet along with an old aquantince, Lux. They explain to them that the Capital of Iziz is being ruled by a false king and they must reclaim their city back.  We can see right away that there is a possible love triangle between the new female character Steela, Lux, and Ahsoka-causing Anikan to question his padawan if she is losing her focus (whether or not he knows about the connection between the two is yet to be seen).  A probe droid is sent out to investigate the situation when the battle droids discover that their latest group has yet to arrive to the city.  The droid discovers the Rebel's location and relays the information to the droids.  During practice, the droids invade their base of camp, but they are defeated by the group along with aid of the Jedi.  Soon they make a plan to take back the city from within and defeat the flase king.

After watching the episode and reading other reviews, it does have some similarites to an episode from Season 2 involving the Bounty Hunters and the Jedi training villagers to defend their crops from Hondo and his pirates.  The difference between that episode and the current episode is that the Rebels are already trained in the art of combat, while the villiagers were never fought an enemy before.  It's also noticable that a love triangle is forming between Ahsoka, Lux and Steela-it's possible it will bloom into a romantic relationship for the young padawan, but we'll have to wait and see if that is Filoni's plan.  I did notice a slight flaw in the episode though-Adi Gallia was ALIVE in the scene with the Jedi Council; she was killed in the first episode of the season so it was surprising that she was sitting with the council in the beginning of the show-not sure if that was intetnional or not.  Finally, I was quite impressed that they brought back the original probe droids for this episode; bringing these classic droids from one of the original Star Wars films ties it nicely to the Clone Wars series.  I can't wait to see what the next episode will bring ;)

In other news, NYC Comic Con is just around the corner and some incredible guests will be there!  Actors such as Ian Mcdiarmid, Carrie Fisher, Seth Green and more will be there throughout the duriation of the weekend!  And for those who are Her Universe girls (such as myself :D), Ashley Eckstein will there as well selling gear from the Her Universe store!  Furthermore, coming this November for all Mass Effect fans, is the animated prequeal to Mass Effect 3 is "Mass Effect: The Lost Paragon"!  And as for the last item on the list, I'm still trying to create the facebook page for the blog, for whatever reason there seems to be an issue trying to like the page, and I'm trying to remendy that problem as soon as possible.

That's all I have for now folks.  I'll give you guys a post soon about my experience at NYC Comic Con and more; until then folks, may the Force be with you!

Review for "Revival"

Yay! My first review post!

Today, I was able to catch the first new episode of Clone Wars season 5, "Revival".  The story plot was well thought out; using Maul and Savage to lure the space pirates under false lies definetly raised the bar on the story line-more importantly, the loss of Jedi Master Adi Gallia (hope I spelled that right) is a new turning point of the story.  Finally, we see how Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) reacts to the whole situation of the return of Darth Maul and Savage Opress, expressing that Kenobi's "personal problems" should not interfere with the issues of the Clone Wars. 

This was a great opening for the new season, and from what I've been hearing so far, this sounds like it could be one of the greatest seasons ever; we'll be witnessing the full circle here until it reaches the storyline of "Revenge of the Sith".  Possibly the main question on everyone's mind is though what will Ahsoka's fate be?  We'll have to wait and see I guess.

Well, that's it for right now folks; on a side note, I will be attending NYC Comic Con next week and I'll try to keep you informed about the event as much as possible.

May the Force be with you my friends :D

Introductions are in order I believe...

Greetings! 

And welcome to the blog called "Star Wars and Beyond" :D
I started this blog to share with fellow sci-fi fans anything related to the star wars universe or similar subjects (star trek, mass effect, district 9, etc).  Whenever something new comes up, or it's just something I want to share, I'll post it up on here.  I'll even have a blog post for kids for craft ideas or how-to-draw character posts; and when special events come up-such as NYC Comic Con-I'll post my experience there as well as panels and special guests that were there.  And if there are any special community events happening around the states, there will be a post and a link to that as well.  If you have any questions at all, or comments and/or advice on how to improve the blog, let me know and I'll try to accomidate everyone as best as I can.

For now, I'm signing off and I'll come back with a new post as soon as I can.

May the Force be with you today