Jewellery update!

I've been working on a few things lately so this is just an update on them...


First off, I made this necklace to go with the dress I wore for my birthday party. The dress is a sort of purpley grey with lots of sparkles, and I didnt have any jewellery to match. After trawling through all my gemstones I decided none of the colours really went well with it (all too purple or too clear), so I made something a little different...

Sorry the picture here is a bit blurry.

The necklace is made up of individual wire links with beads added randomly, as you can see below:

I think the necklace could do with a few more links on it and less wire chain, but I ran out of time before the party. What do you think? Does it need more?

I've also been getting back into a bit of beading recently, making a few bracelets.

I made this one for myself. Two different shades of blue flower on black.

This one is for sale, £4.99. Pink flowers connected by green stems against blue sky. I really like this one, its very pretty.

I started making these wondering if I should get a stall at an anime convention, hence this design. Pokeballs against a blue background. £4.99.

I'm making more as we speak in different colours/patterns. And, of course, you can commission me if you'd like anything in particular.

What do you all think?

(I'm working on other items at the moment but these are the only finished ones so far. Much more to come! :D)

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky xx

Megalodon... also, name change!

Yeah, things got a bit confusing and I decided to rename the blog. Well, technically its not renaming it, its just reshuffling the url of my old blog 'Halcyon Days Jewellery' and this one. 'Compendium of dreams' was really a rushed, last minute name choice and I couldnt think of anything else at the time. When I found out you could, in fact, change it, I decided it would be good in the long run if I did so.

Sorry for any confusion! This makes it a lot easier for business cards/in-progress-etsy-account if the name of my 'website' matches the name of my business!

To confirm, the old blog (which was really just an extension of my dA account) is now called Compendium of Dreams and this blog is now Halcyon Days. Again, I'm sorry...

On to the main reason for this post...

As you are no doubt aware, I went swimming with sharks recently as a birthday present. So this blog is about one of my favourite prehistoric creatures: Megalodon, the biggest shark to have ever lived.

Perhaps the most interesting (and scary) fact about Megalodon is its sheer size. To put it in perspective, this is a Megalodon tooth and two Great White Shark teeth(the largest predatory fish currently alive):

An early jaw reconstruction:

Aaaaaaannd heres the scale vs a Great White and a human:

This was one BIG fish. Not the biggest fish ever (Leedsichthys, I think, is the current title holder), but definitely the biggest predatory fish. This shark was so large it ate whales, which we can figure out from serration marks on the teeth and in fossilised whale bones.

Don't worry, it is EXTINCT. No one really knows why it went extinct, but current theories suggest the changing water temperature is to blame. Like many other creatures like it (Loch Ness Monster plesiosaur anyone?), there are cryptozoological theories that these sharks have survived in deep sea trenches. It is true that we have not explored all of the ocean depths, but all the Megalodon teeth that are found are ancient, not recently shed as they would be if it was still alive (and sharks shed a lot of teeth). Despite the claims, no proof has yet been found.

And I really should point out, there are no sharks alive today anywhere near its size, and Jaws is all unrealistic scaremongering. You dont get Great Whites that size, and as I've just said, Megalodon is extinct. Sharks are beautiful creatures and deserve our respect. Even Great Whites, which admittedly are very scary creatures, command such power and agility in their hunting style that we should certainly admire them for it. All ecosystems need an apex predator, after all, and lightning strikes kill more people than sharks do. All that rubbish about them being bloodthirsty killers is not true at all.

Like all sharks, Megalodon was cartilaginous, which means instead of bones it had cartilage (the same stuff in your ear lobes). This also means that the only bits to be found fossilised are the teeth, and theres a lot of them about. A sort of average size is 7 inches, although they have been found bigger. Sharks go through several sets of teeth during their life, and are constantly growing new ones in rows to replace those lost.

Whilst in Edinburgh I decided to treat myself to a tooth, because its something I've always wanted.

My tooth is polished, which gives it a lovely, beautiful shine. It's almost complete, with only a small bit of the root missing, and the edge is still sharp and serrated. Its not especially large, as Megalodon teeth go (still as big as my hand!), but the larger ones were verging on £200 which was too expensive for me.

But I like the one I've got! It looks nice in the cabinet next to my Yellow River fishie, ostrich egg and trilobite. I'm building up a nice little collection here!

What do you guys collect? Anything special/expensive?

Oh and expect a jewellery update pretty soon :D

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky xx

Baccano!

Where do I start? This has to be the best anime I have ever seen. No joke.

I found it by just randomly clicking through interesting youtube links. Because I watch a lot of FFVII crap, this was recommended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=uAy8u3IcWZU (seriously, who makes these videos? They're so awesome!!) For those of you who know nothing about either Baccano! or Final Fantasy VII, this is the actual opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msg8ypnLqaw 

The first few episodes are very, very confusing, but once you've got the hang of it its brilliant. The story has a very non linear progression, meaning you see most of the ending in the first episode and most of the series is piecing together the events. There are three main storylines throughout the series (all connected), and one other which is more of a backstory. (I'll try not to spoil it for you...)

The backstory happens aboard the ship Advenna Avis some time in the 1700s, and focuses on a group of alchemists who summon a demon to help them gain immortality. The demon grants them an elixir, which grants them eternal life.
The three stories all cover the crazy events that happen 200 years later when two bottles of the elixir accidentally end up in the hands of New York gangsters and outlaws. There are gang turf wars, train robberies, assassins covered in blood pretending to be monsters, immortals... its completely and utterly insane! The stories are all mixed up and connected, and the way in which the plot plays out is fantastic. Watching the whole thing in one go really pays off.

The characters are all amazing, although a lot of them are psychopaths. This anime is rated 18 for a reason, dont watch it if you're not good with violence. People get dangled from moving trains, their heads blown off, shot to ribbons, beaten to a pulp... There are some scenes which are very gruesome, and some characters who are scarily sadistic. But theres also characters who are ultimately very good people, and their development through the plot is good to watch (Jacuzzi, from cry baby to hero). Theres even some seriously sweet love stories. And the fight scenes are brilliant.

The best character in the whole thing is Claire Stanfield/Vino, who is one of the aforementioned psychopaths (albeit with moral tendencies). He's the most badass character in anything I've ever seen, completely invincible and untouchable in a fight with a mad mad personality. He really comes into his own in the OVAs, which are well worth watching to get a sense of closure on the series.

If he grins like this, you're screwed.

Another two brilliant characters are Isaac and Miria, who take eccentricity to a new level. They're a pair of thieves who specialise in robbing people in the silliest ways known to man, and get away with it because people think they're not being serious.

Words cannot describe how insane these two really are.

The voice acting here is fantastic. Seriously, regardless of your feelings on English v Japanese dubs, you have to watch the English here. No one does American gangster voices like American actors. The best performance of the series has to be Jason Liebrecht (Train in Black Cat) 's sexy gangster voice as Luck Gandor. Everytime this character opens his mouth I fall in love.

And the soundtrack is so damn cool! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI76wS6tlKs 

I really cannot recommend this highly enough!! Go watch it!!

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky xx

Shark dive

Got back from my shark dive!! It was amazing!

Just to remind you from my blog a while ago, I went swimming with Sand Tiger sharks at Edinburgh for my 18th birthday. They had 7 of them, the biggest of which was 12ft long.

Here's a few pictures from the tunnel:

The tunnel was really long, and they had several other types of shark in there as well as the sand tigers (tope and angel).

Heres some pictures of the dive itself!

The sharks werent bothered at all that we were there. They obviously get a lot of divers in with them, so they just cruised around and mostly ignored us.

There was one moment when a shark dived a little too close to the diver next to me and the instructors had to push it a little out of the way, but it wasnt aggressive at all, just curious.

Sand tiger sharks look very ferocious due to their protuding teeth, but they actually arent a threat to humans, even in the wild. They are found mostly all over the world, and have several different names depending on where you are.

They are possibly unique among sharks as they come to the surface to swallow air to aid with buoyancy, and they also have an unusual method of reproduction where the most developed embryo eats the less developed ones. This sounds a bit cruel, but it increases the chances of the young surviving after birth.

I feel very privileged to have been able to share their world for a short amount of time and would love to do it again!

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky xx

Nemacon

The exams all finished a week ago... I did write a blog post to say I was alive, honest, but my laptop died on me and I gave up ;(

Anyway, I finally finished my cosplay for Nemacon, which was a fun weekend! A little disorganised, perhaps, and I dont feel it was as good as last year (but that may be just because last year had the excitement of being my first con), but I still enjoyed myself. Last year I didnt really talk to many people (I was Cissnei from Crisis Core, who isnt really a very recognisable character), but this year it was great to chat and make some new friends.

(Just putting this up here, because I spent ages making that shuriken and was very proud of it. Also, you see what I mean when I say that getting my hair to lie flat under the wig was a nightmare...)

On to this year's escapades! I went as Aqua from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. (sorry, theres a lot of pictures here)

The costume was made by me, with some help and advice from my gran who has had a lot more experience with sewing than I have. My grandad also helped with the shoes, recommending the right kind of paint to use that wouldnt crack as I walked. 

I actually really like the blurryness of this picture (I stole it off facebook, all credit to the photographer).

A nice Zack Fair cosplayer let me pose with the Buster Sword! (because I'm not obsessed with Crisis Core at all or anything... ¬¬)

Me and Charlotte (http://www.fyeahtea.com/) who looked awesome as Harley Quinn. That corset was incredible, cant believe she made it herself...

Aaaaaand finally, a pic of me posing with a lot of Sora cosplayers.

I got way more pictures than this, but I didnt want to upload them all. There were some incredible costumes (Predator, Loki and Thor, Samus, Ryuk and Rem to name a few), and I'm gutted I didnt get a picture of everybody.

Oh, I guess I should probably talk about the Wayfinder.

This is a sort of lucky charm that Aqua makes in BBS, and I decided that if I didnt have the time to make a Keyblade, I should at least have one prop...

I'm going to make a Terra and a Ventus one at some point too. Maybe to sell... I've already had some very nice comments on deviantart about this. I dont know if anyone's ever tried making them out of beads and wire before, its normally just polymer clay.

Oh and the very nice people over at http://www.daemon-saviour.com/ got some great pics as well. Make sure to check them out!

So, its the summer holidays now! I have a lot of plans, jewellery and otherwise, and I'll be sure to keep you all updated on what happens!

What have you guys all got planned for the summer hols?

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky x