DECEMBER AGAIN

Hello, remember me?

I’ve missed blogging. Coursework got the better of me. I’m now half way through Final Year, and wow, it has gone so fast. I had a great few months and now I will share...

University

I’m really settled at uni this year, as I mentioned in my last post. I realised how important my friends are and feel I’ve got a lot closer to them this year. Work has tightened up for third year but I really enjoyed what coursework I was working on. You can see here and here where my time has gone during the 12 weeks of Semester 1. In late January I’ll be starting my dissertation (8000-1000 word essay) on a topic I’m interested in, and will also produce a final practical project which will be on display at the End of Year Show in May. Yikes! Although it seems daunting, truthfully I'm excited to working on a topic that focuses on my interests. I think I know what I’m working on, but an assigned supervisor helps me along who I meet once a week to discuss how I'm getting on.

Friends

Home and University life was weird due to a couple of my friends not being at home. Rebecca, Kerri and Emma were studying/working abroad but were coming home for Christmas. I was counting down the days until I saw them again so December was an exciting month! 

Christmas

Christmas is so wonderful I felt it should have it’s own section. Lots of festivities at University, including the Christian Union and my course Dinners. As well as shopping, films, Starbucks, days out with friends and sorting last minute presents.

Remember in my last post I fell in love with a jacket? I am excited to announce my Mother picked up on my many hints and bought me it! (shown above) I think I’ve worn it everyday so yeah I was delighted. I got lots of other awesome pressies too - perfume, an amazing laptop bag from Emma and an external hard-drive. It was nice spending time with my family and chilling for a few days. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! 

- Claudia

SUMMER-ARY (JULY/AUGUST)

I’m actually dying of the cold right now and have been up for 3 hours feeling restless. I feel disgusting but since I’ve been a slob all summer, I might as well write a blog post.

Usually I would write posts late at night but to be honest I haven’t been staying up as late as I used to, I’ve also been busy during the day and kept putting it off. So here you go...a SUMMER-ARY of my holidays. 

Aaron and Diane’s Wedding

Highlight of my summer was of course, Diane’s wedding. Diane is like a family friend/sister to me since we were both young, and I was privileged to be asked to be her bridesmaid back in July. This past year and a half, you’d soon see the wedding was all I talked about - it was fun having days out for bridesmaid dress shopping and the like. The wedding itself was superb - it was wonderful to see so much planning come together so beautifully. 

The couple got married at our church, a lovely service complete with flowers which coordinated with our dresses and a pretty little bicycle outside.

The weather was perfect, probably the warmest day of the summer. We went to the Silent Valley and took photographs there. Then we headed to the reception in a LIMO! (One of my favourite parts) And enjoyed a delicious meal after more photographs at Canal Court Hotel in Newry. After a video and slideshow, we danced the night away. I can’t seem to put into words how perfect the day was. Many congratulations to Aaron and Diane!

Fused

I took part in Fused Summer Scheme again in Newcastle this year. This is the 3rd year I’ve been a leader and I was involved working with P.4 - P.7 age group. It was different than previous years due to having no American team from Lexington, Kentucky, so it was originally meant to be made up of Northern Irish leaders. However God provided us with a team of 11 Americans from Washington and Oregon. It was really fun to work with different people, plus a bonus was that some were Doctor Who and Sherlock fans! As usual it was wonderful working with the children, some familiar faces, and also some new people too. A great way to spend two weeks of my summer.

Art

Remember last year I worked on a mural in my local village? Well this year I helped create a big fish at our Village Fete. Ashley and Susan created the structure beforehand and during the fete, we encouraged children to glue tissue paper and get a photograph of themselves taken to stick inside the fish. We only had a few hours to decorate this one, so it was rewarding to see the fish ascend down the steps and around the fete. It was so much fun, I love working on creative projects like this!

Friends

I’ve had a number of awesome days spent with some incredible people. Rebecca and Emma came to my house for a sleepover and tour of Mourne. A group of us also celebrated Hannah’s 21st birthday on Cranfield beach with a BBQ and singalong. I met with Seb, Dave and Becca in Belfast for a catch-up and Cosmo. I had a housemate meet-up and saw Uncle Gordon a few times too. I also caught up with James last week and had many, many Container Parties.

It’s been excellent, however I’m losing three of incredible people - Kerri, Rebecca and Emma! Kerri and Rebecca have headed to U.S A to study for the year and Emma is leaving for Spain in a few weeks! I shall miss you all dearly but good luck and have a wonderful time. :D

- Claudia x

SHERLOCK [COURSEWORK]

Hello,

Sorry I’ve gone missing in action - yet again - but shall return to blogging after I finish up this semester at university.

This past couple of weeks I’ve been working on an Interactive Narrative on Adobe Flash. I based my idea on a BBC Sherlock episode, ‘A Scandal In Belgravia’.

(Funny how for two of my modules this year I’ve focused on BBC shows - I made a website on Doctor Who last semester!)

Anyway I’ve never created anything like this before so apologies if it kinda sucks - and to be honest it doesn’t follow the storyline fully but I wanted to base mine on Sherlock cracking Irene Adler’s code on her phone, rather than all the other fantastic things that happened in the real episode.

All drawings done by myself and as you can see from the image above, they have been based on the characters from the show too.

Feedback would be appreciated!

I tried everywhere but failed at hosting and embedding the ginormous sized swf, so please play here.

Many thanks and I shall return soon,

Claudia xo

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2012

Best Moments of 2012

• Zumba Container Party (yes, that was January!)
• Meeting The Wanted after their concert in Belfast
• Seeing The Dark Knight Rises (twice)
• London with Emma to see EXO-K, Baker Street and Andy Warhol paintings
• Singstar Container Night - reliving the golden days!
• Learning how to create Motion Graphics and my Doctor Who website
• Leading two girls to Christ during Fused Summer Scheme
• Art Night at Kerri's house!
• 'Thorsdays'
• Roadtrips with the IMAmates listening to Mentallll Breaakkkkerrrrr
• Seeing BIGBANG in London!

❐ Biggest Achievement of the Year:

Learning to swallow tablets!
❐ Biggest Failure:

Missing an exam.

❐ Happiest Moment:

BIGBANG coming on stage at Wembley Arena.

❐ Saddest Moment:

Funerals - Granny Green and Great Granny Gordon.

❐ Biggest Shock:

Hearing Gangnam Style by PSY on UK Radio for the first time.

❐ Best Purchase:

2 pairs of Moschino jeans on sale!!

❐ Greatest Musical Discoveries:

Josh Groban and Hans Zimmer.

❐ Best Song of the Year:

The Chaser by Infinite followed by Mental Breaker - Block B in a close second.

❐ Best MV of the Year:

Fantastic Baby - BIGBANG
❐ Best Film of the Year:

The Dark Knight Rises, of course!

❐ Greatest Discoveries of the Year:

Sherlock and Sweetcorn.

❐ Biggest Addiction:

Buying and selling stuff on eBay over the summer.

❐ Favourite Celebrity Figures:

Matt Smith and Alex Day.

That was fun!
- Love Claudia x

2012: THE END

Helllooo - Happy New Year to all! What a strange year 2012 has been - definitely not my favourite to be honest. However the important thing is, did I keep to my resolutions? Here's the original post.

Diet

Aha, I did diet - (although I’m always dieting) - I managed to lose half a stone over the summer but alas, I still haven’t met my ideal goal. The challenge continues...

Photo Diary

I can proudly announce I completed my photo challenge! To those who are not sure what I’m talking about, last year I decided to take an Instagram photo and post it to Tumblr every day for 2012 to illustrate my day. Although it was sometimes an inconvenience and something I was very close to give up on, I’m pleased to have stuck it out to the end! Behold, here it is.

Don’t Complain

This one started out really well, surprisingly. I became really aware of others around me complaining and instead of joining in with them, it made me really thankful of how easy my life was!

However, after everything that happened during the summer, I began to feel down and kinda miserable - and after returning to university everyone’s negativity around me made me feel even worse. Even then, I didn’t complain - although everyone was driving me absolutely insane and everything in my life appeared to be going wrong. It certainly was testing times for me, and I didn’t handle it very well. 

Work Hard

Second semester of first year was great - I created a really cool Motion Graphics piece and got a brilliant grade in it, so I’m really proud of that. Overall, I was really proud of my first year marks so I guess that’s proof that I did work hard!

However I was shocked to see how much of a step up my course was from first year to second year. In first semester I was working so hard and for so long that I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing, it made me sad. I’m hoping this upcoming semester will be better!

Save Money

WOO I actually kept a book of my finances so that’s really impressive for me. I also opened another bank account to save money because to quote Claudia’s Blog 9/1/12 “If SM or YG decide to put a show on in London, I will use it then!” which THEY DID, as you all know, BIGBANG stopped there during their tour in December - success!

No Stressing

Believe it or not, since making this resolution I don’t stress as much as I used to. My whole attitude towards everything has changed. Although I wouldn’t call myself laid back, I definitely have chilled out much more more since 2011.

Get a Boyfriend

LOL - neither Rachel or myself successfully completed this resolution, maybe next year! (I did see T.O.P though...from a distance anyway!)

Much love,

- Claudia

MOTION GRAPHICS

Hello friends,

Okay super quick report because I’m tired.  My aims were to finish my Motion Graphics before the end of this week. (Friday) I worked like a bulldozer to get it done and successfully completed it today. Wanna see?

I’m pretty pleased with it - there are a few wee tiny mistakes but if you all saw how they looked before you’d settle for it the way it is too. 

I done all the illustrations - drew them out, scanned them in and coloured them on Adobe Photoshop. Some were more difficult than others. (Benedict Cumberbatch may or may have not been traced.)

I wish I could have included everyone - because I know there's some people that should have been in it - but alas, it could not be.

Thanks to all who have liked and commented on it on Facebook. It can be used for feedback in my Visual Diary - which will commence operation next week.

Wow, this sounds incredibly serious doesn’t it? Let’s finish this post of with a celebratory waaayyyyyhheeeeeeyyyyyyyyy!!

Happy Easter everyone!

INVINCIBLE

Hey,

I feel I must speak of my adventures this past week.

I’ve had an extraordinary week filled with fun and festivities - I feel much better since my last post here. I was really getting depressed for a while but I think this week has definitely made up for feeling so crappy.

First of all, I got my driver’s test! Hoorah! If you know me at all you’d be aware about how much I HATED learning to drive - it was a despair - I was on the verge of giving up. It’s not that I wasn’t any good, I just couldn’t master it. Then I booked my test in late January after much deliberation and persuasion from my parents. Within a month and a half I bloomed into a pretty good driver, which also boosted my confidence.

I took my test on Monday morning (5th March). I felt nauseous - it was terrible. I was so nervous I couldn’t remember the answers to the question that the examiner asked me, and at one point I panicked so much I couldn’t put my poor wee car into gear. Although this cost me two minors, I successfully got through the rest of the test without any problems. I was delighted and still quite shocked that I passed!

Hopefully I’ll get a run out tomorrow because I haven’t had the opportunity from being in Coleraine all week. 

I also had my first deadline this week for my course. I had to create a Motion Graphics piece using Adobe After Effects on a topic of my choice. I chose myself.. sounds a bit egotistical but I was inspired by P.J Ligori’s video.

Here it is, posted below, you can have a look. There’s a couple of mistakes, yes, but it’s not the final version. There’s lots more to be done. I worked for 9 hours on this for only 30 seconds of footage - it’s ridiculous how time-consuming animating is.

I thoroughly enjoyed making my wee illustrations on Photoshop, and if you have any feedback it would be much appreciated! 

Thirdly and finally, I must tell my tale of my evening with 5 lovely men - The Wanted!

The Wanted are a British boyband who’s hits you are likely to be familiar with: ‘Glad You Came’ and ‘All Time Low’.

They are near the end of their first Arena Tour and Belfast was on the list - Kathryn, Kerri and I ordered tickets. I am pleasantly surprised at how AMAZING of a show they can put on! Seriously, highly recommended. The atmosphere in the Odyssey was fantastic and we were all singing and dancing along!

The highlight of the night was spending 2 and a half hours outside the back gate patiently waiting for the tour bus to drive out - anxiously anticipating that we may see them again.

The persistence prevailed - at 12:30am they appeared! They walked up and down and kindly took photographs, signed autographs and offered hugs and kisses. Totally worth the wait. We were, as you can imagine, in hysterics.

First of all we met Jay - my favourite, such a cutie. We were so excited though we didn’t get photographs separately with him. :( However I’m peaking out of this photo with Kathryn.

We met Nathan next - which was a lot more successful - we got individual pictures with him and he gave us a hug. He was so adorable and down-to-earth. This is the best photo I think.

Lastly we met Max - Kathryn got carried away and our photographs didn’t turn out great - as you can see I’m not sure who looks more scary in my photo! 

Alas, we didn’t get to meet the almighty beautiful Siva or Tom either - but hey, maybe next time? ;)

It was an amazing experience though and none of us expected to have such a brilliant night! I’m still buzzing with excitement and it was almost 24 hours ago! 

But yeah, that’s me all caught up once again! 

Lots of Love,

Claudia

DIGITAL IMAGING

Well lads,
Feels like a long time since I’ve been blogging properly. I’ve done a couple of memes but most of them were written a couple of weeks before posted because I knew I was going to be so busy.

However I am now FREE from the clutches of Digital Imaging coursework (but shall return to it with open arms in February.)

I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed working on this piece of coursework - it mirrors how Art is, except BETTER- research, experiment and final piece - except this time the final piece is not a painting or sculpture, but a photoshop piece.

Claudia + Art + Computers = ♥ LOVE

If that wasn’t fun enough for silly old me, we also were able to make a book!! Those who can recall my psychotic takeover on producing the Upper 6th Yearbook can imagine a similar behaviour which occurred for this project.

We used a company called Blurb to publish our book and mine should arrive in the post on the 5th January. 

I’m very pleased with the way mine has turned out - and although my class mates are cursing under their breath as they continue to work on theirs - I am now free to enjoy my Christmas holidays! 

Above is a .jpeg of the cover - and below is an embedded link if you would like to read or look at it.

Digital Imaging: Visual Diary by Claudia Green | Make Your Own Book

Merry Christmas everyone! I shall update with my goodies next week.

- Claudbag

SI SI SI SEÑOR!

Don’t read me - I am boring.

Yah!

Quick update, last Thursday I got my A-Level results! Y’know, the important exams that decide if I’m into university or not.

Well guess what! I’m going to University of Ulster in Coleraine! Hooray!

My results were CCC - which I thought very impressive since I consider myself as a bit stupid. I honestly thought I was going to fail English this year, although technically I did since I got DD in my two exams, but that’s beside the point because it’s a C overall.

I’m in no way disappointed with these results, because Upper Sixth, despite being my favourite year of school socially, was a nightmare studying for.

Seemed like everything I worked for went wrong, by the end of it I lost hope knowing it wasn’t going to go well anyway.

What puzzles me most is the fact that I received a D in my coursework part of my art, which I was convinced was the best piece of artwork to date. It made me rather angry, but still confuses me. It’s not the end of the world though, just is annoying because I slaved over it for months.

RealIy should praise God for the unexpected but pleasing grades I was awarded with. No complaining here, no sir!

Don’t think it’s sunk in yet. The whole university thing. Think I’m just gonna take it as it comes.

Like I said, boring post.

- Claudia