Let Your Freak Flag Fly

I never really got the whole Shrek thing.  I mean, I loved the movie.  It was original and sweet and had a great message.  But out of all the amazing animated movies out there, I never really got why they decided to make it into a Broadway musical.  There had to be easier movies to translate.  The Scottish accent alone was going to be a bear, not even factoring in dressing an actor in 25 pounds of ogre-ness.  But they made it and I avoided it. Until today.

Earlier this week, as I said, I was so inclined to paint Shrek for no other reason than it popped into my head. And to my own surprise he turned out quite cute (even if I do say so myself). But he needed something a little extra so I searched some Shrek quotes and found an absolutely perfect one: What makes us special, makes us strong.  How great is that!?  It was then that I realized it was from the show and not the movie.  So since Netflix is so kind to provide, I decided to watch it.

And I have to say it was so much better than I could have thought.  Honestly, it's most definitely geared toward kids so if fart jokes aren't your thing, you're likely to not fancy it. However, if you can look past that and focus on everything else you'll fall for it. Because of the challenges the costuming department had, I was most focused on what the characters were wearing and how they were changing.  They did an extraordinary job!  Every fairy tale character looked exactly as I'd imagine they'd look.  I can only hope the creatives behind the scenes picked up a Tony for their hard work.

And even with 25 pounds of ogre costuming for Shrek, needing to dance on one's knees for Lord Farquad and wearing donkey suit for Donkey, the entire cast managed to give really funny and really beautiful performances.  After all the singing is the best part of any musical, and these actors managed to do it through all the craziness and costuming.  And they were good.  No, not just good, they were outstanding.  You couldn't have asked for better actors to take on those challenges.

I was so wrong about why on earth anyone would have made this into a musical.  The creators, cast and crew decided to let their freak flags fly, and I'm so happy they did!

Isn't She Crafty?

I'm one of those people that walk around stores and think "I could make that." Then I spend hours upon hours and 3 times the amount of money it would have cost to just buy the item, to make it.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  You wouldn't believe the number of half made projects I have laying around my house.

So when the whole watercolor craze kicked up, obviously, I decided " I can do that." And based on my first attempt, this is one of those times when I actually can do that.  The best part is, it's actually quite fun.  Don't ask me why I decided to paint Shrek. I was on Etsy last night. There were cute typographic quotes from movies.  One thing led to another, and out popped Shrek.  

What I now have to figure out is how to print on watercolor paper, so I can add some super cute quote to it.  I mean he's fairly adorable, but right now he's just half a head.  It definitely needs something else. But thanks to Pinterest, I have quite a few ideas of what to add.  

Long live craftiness!