Epic Art: Boy and His Blob Custom Figure

Boy and His Blob Custom Figure, originally uploaded by kodykoala.

Boy and his Blob custom figure by Kody Koala, inspired by the new Wii version of the game. Created from action figure parts and epoxy putty.

Yummy: Bumble Beast Cake

Bumble cake , originally uploaded by debbiedoescakes.

First there was the cupcakes and now my favorite cake maker, Debbie Does Cakes has made a Bumble Beast cake from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He's 16 inches high. Big boy!

He's almost too neat to eat.,

Presents from The Girl Gamer: Day Two

Congratulations to yesterday's winner: Genny
Contact me at thegirlgamer.net@gmail.com to win your prize.

Time for another prize giveaway. Today I'm giving away a copy of Telltale Games Sam & Max - Episode "Ice Station Santa"

Just answer the following trivia question and you can win.

"Name the president that appears in the Telltale Sam & Max games."

Look for another prize giveaway tomorrow.

Presents from The Girl Gamer: Day 1

In the holiday spirit, I've decided to be holly and jolly and all that crud to my readers this year, and give away a few gifts over the next few days before the Christmas. I've been saving up a few codes I've received and plan to give them away to my readers.

The contest is simple. Answer the daily trivia question correctly and I'll pick one winner from the comment section with the correct answer to receive the daily prize.

Today I'm giving away a free code for the Beatles Rock Band Rubber Soul Album DLC on Xbox 360.

Just answer this question and you could win!

"Name the blue creatures in The Beatles Cartoon movie, Yellow Submarine."

Good luck and stay tuned for another prize tomorrow. Note: players can only win one prize. Once you win a code, please opt out of playing the contest.

This Movie is Going Be Awesome - Marvel's Kick-Ass Trailer

So how long before the moral right wing start freaking out over this movie? Nothing this cool stays under the radar for long.

Another Front Page Story for the Pulse Niagara

It's always so nice to get these little surprises from my boss at the Pulse Niagara once in a while. Only problem is the game is Assassin's Creed 2 and whoever is responsible for the cover art used Altair from the first game, not the new assassin, Ezio. Still an awesome picture but I think they should have gotten the character right.

Spike VGA Premiere Trailer - Batman: Arkham Asylum 2

Nice to know I wasn't the only one who loved the new Batman: Arkham Asylum game. Apparently enough people loved this title that Warner Bros Interactive is making another in the series and has already provided us with a teaser trailer at the Spike VGA.
I hope they bring out some of the villains they missed like Catwoman, Clayface, Penguin, the Mad hatter and more.

When Pac Man Ghosts Become Zombies

zombie pacman, originally uploaded by boyoma.

So darn cute!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Cupcake

Inspired by the holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, these cupcakes are probably the cutest and yummiest cupcakes I've ever seen. Almost too good to eat.

[Via Super Punch]

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Track is finally out on store shelves and Nintendo had decided to advertise it with the creepiest advertising campaign ever. This is the extended version of the commercial found on television currently.

Muppets Perform their Version of "Ringing of the Bells"

The masters of the spoken word, Swedish Chef, Beaker and Animal bring holiday cheer to the world with their version of Ringing of the Bells. Got to love the Muppets. Tonight I think I'll watch Muppet Christmas Carol before I go to bed or maybe I'll get them to put it on at work.

More on the Subject of Etsy and Copycats

Now I don't want anyone to think I hate Etsy due to my last rant because it is a great site for artists to sell their wares. Ebay is too expensive and not targeted at the right market for us, plus it lacks the community that Etsy has. However what does upset me about Etsy is the lack of support they show artists when they need it the most.

Etsy claims that they will moderate between members when there are issues but honestly I have seen several stories where sellers who create original items had other sellers on Etsy steal their exact items and Etsy did nothing to help them. Most small sellers or hobbyists can't afford lawyers to defend their work and if Etsy doesn't step in, how can you stop other people from just selling your art without your permission?

So sellers are left to defend for themselves and disputes can get nasty. The harassing emails start, more items are stolen and people will go as far as attempting to destroy each other lives basically. Thankfully I've never had to deal with anyone like that but I've again heard the stories.

But all the finger pointing aside, isn't the idea of copying art just ruining the whole purpose of art? Why bother selling crafts if all you're doing is producing something created in the mind of someone else? You may as well go work in a factory then sell on Etsy?

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Etsy: The Perfect Place for Craft Sellers ... And Thieves

So I've been selling my videogame crafts for about 2 years now on Etsy and is been a good little side hobby for me. I don't make a lot on the bead crafts but I do it for the fun of it. Lately the craft has been losing its fun side do to the huge amount of copycat artists and idea thieves on Etsy who are selling both the exact same designs as me and other sellers or just stealing our good ideas and making their own versions.
Now a lot of people sell videogame bead crafts on Etsy and a lot of us use original videogame sprites from retro game system, so I'm not complaining about other people selling the same Secret of Mana set as me because well, I don't own the rights to those sprite designs. That's not the issue here because the game companies encourage fan art. Hell, I've sold some of my work to Sega, Blizzard and Sony employees, so I don't think they have a problem.

What I'm talking about here today is when I come up with a unique bead design like my Patapon magnets or Loco Roco keychain (as seen above) which don't come in pixel sprite form in the first place and someone starts selling them on Etsy. See I know I don't own the rights to those characters - Sony does, but I did create the design for those magnets and that keychain, so when someone else comes along and starts selling that keychain or magnet design without my permission that's what irks me.

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Epic 8-Bit Art: Worm from Labyrinth

SerenaAzureth_Labyrinth_Worm2, originally uploaded by SerenaAzureth.

Another amazing piece from Serena Azureth. This time she made the little blue worm from Labyrinth and boy, it is spot on.

This is a Christmas present for a friend of hers, but don't worry, Serena, we won't tell her about it. SHHHHH! Now, internet people don't tell Serena's friend about her present.

Good internet readers. ;)

Baby Mario & Luigi Picture Frames - Getting the Little Ones as Soon as They Come out

I'm a little strapped for cash this Christmas, so instead of spending a lot of dough on a ton of store bought presents, I'm making a lot of my gifts instead.

For example, I made these picture frames for my sister. My nephew, Evan is a big gamer and loves Mario games, so I decided it would be cool to make gamer themed picture frames with his name and my other nephew's name, Logan. I figure both my sister and Evan would enjoy them.

I used Baby Mario and Luigi sprites for the themes and customized the frames with their names. The Mario frame is about 2 rows of beads too small to cover the whole frame so I'll have to paint the frame to hide it or add on some beads somehow. Or I just might keep the bad one for me and make a new one for my sister.

With these designs in mind, I plan to make baby shower frames for my store too. A Mario frame for boys and Peach frame for girls. People can customize them with the baby to be's name or I can just make them with It's a Boy or It's a Girl on them.

Demos of those ideas to soon follow.