Lucasfilm Sidewalk Art Show

Every year we have a sidewalk art show right outside our building. We have about a day to create a Star Wars, Indiana Jones and now Disney inspired chalk painting. It's always a lot of fun and this year my friends and I decided to participate. 

We had a blast despite the fact that we were helplessly ill prepared for it. Our tape measure to lay out a grid was too short and it didn't lock so it took all three of us to draw the grid. We didn't have enough brown chalk so we had to get creative with the colors. And I'm a little ashamed to admit it but I was actually sore the next day...just from getting up all the time. lol It was a lot of fun!!

Here are some pictures of some of my favorites this year:

and this cutie here was ours:

Interview

Check out my interview on the Gnomon Blog :

http://www.gnomonschool.com/blog/career/gnomon-alumni-interview-visual-effects-secret-projects-environment-art-industrial-light-magics-sonja-christoph

Did you know...

...that the Verve Inspiration Team now has a Pinterest board??

 How cool is that? 

I have to admit I've been slacking on all social media fronts since I started spending all my time in front of a computer for a living but I do like the simplicity and efficiency of Pinterest. Easiest way to quickly share  and organize pictures or ideas. So I'm extra excited that the Verve Inspiration team is venturing

into new territories there. :)

Hope you follow us!

http://www.pinterest.com/vervestamps/verve-inspiration-team/

August Diva Inspiration Blog Hop

Hi everyone!!!

I'm so sorry I only have a picture for you instead of a card today but I have a good reason: I was offered an amazing work opportunity so I'm out of town for two months...and without stamping supplies...aaaand without my car because it decided to break down on me, halfway on my trip. So now I'm in a rental car and have to figure out what to do with my dead, broken car that's now 250 miles away from where I'm at. ;) Happy times!!!! lol 

 But just because I'm taking a break from stamping this month that certainly does not mean that there is no Hop happening today so here's all the Verve info you need to get you going:

	1. Julee	9. Tiffany
	2. Amy	10. Teresa
	3. Anya	11. Charmaine
	4. Betty	12.Christyne
	5. Karen	13. Maureen
	6. Sankari	14.Marisa
	7. Sarah	15.Amber
	8. Susan

Be sure to leave a little shout out in the comment section of each blog as you hop about to be entered in a drawing for a $30 gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Check out all the details and prize info over at the Verve Blog.


We're celebrating 6 years of VERVE this month with a huge sale! Your favorites are bound to be marked down, since all stamps and dies are 10-50% off during the month of August! Now that's something to celebrate!

Exploring San Francisco - Day I

**PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE **

Hi Everyone,

I'm in San Francisco!! And I'm going to be here for a little bit.  I was offered a great work opportunity which I'm very excited about so I packed my car and went. Oh did I mention my car decided to break down on the way up here? Yeeah...in the middle of nowhere...smoking engine and everything...fun times! 

But thankfully there were a lot of very helpful and friendly people that helped me out and got my mom and I back on the road...in a rental. My car...turns out...is officially dead. :(

Anywho...today I went for a drive to get a vibe for the city. It is so vastly different from LA. It reminds me a little of home as in Germany home. Not the architecture or anything but the weather and the city just...feels like Germany. lol I don't know how else to describe it. Perhaps it's the narrow streets and older buildings and definitely the weather. 

So at first I decided to drive through the Presidio. After a few wrong turns I landed right in front of the Walt Disney Family museum. Since I had nothing else really planned for the day I decided to check it out.

I had a great time there. It was really well put together and I was thoroughly inspired by Walt Disney's life as well as the amazing original artwork on display.

the original Studio Floorplan!!! Amazing how big it's gotten now!

I love this!!!

Here's a view of San Francisco Bay from the Presidio.

and then I made another wrong turn and then I missed a turn aaaand before I knew it I was going over the Golden Gate Bridge! Well came to find out there is a beautiful Vista Point right on the other side of the bridge. :) So here's a view of San Francisco - covered in a blanket of fog.

after my little detours I headed to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf.

view of the city from the Pier

and then my final stop for the day: Ghirardelli Square where I ended my eventful day with of course...a Nobhill Chill. What is a Nobhill Chill?

Well...let me tell you: It's more than a milkshake, it's the sundae you can sip! Two scops of vanilla ice cream blended with our freshly homemade hot fudge and topped with semi sweet chocolate chips.

Nobhill Chill

Academy Awards disappointment

Hi guys,

today is going to be a very different post and for that I apologize but I feel very strongly about this and I just want people to know about this. As you know I work in the VFX industry. I love my job, creating magic for the big screen...magic that is often unseen and really that is the biggest compliment of all for us...that you didn't see we were even there. With that however also comes the price of not getting acknowledged or respected for the work that we do. 

At the Oscar's last night, when Samuel Jackson cut of Robert Downey Jr. and made jabs about VFX getting the respect they deserve? In sight of the fact that  400+ people were protesting outside I'd say that was a bit in poor taste. When Bill Westenhofer was trying to mention the financial trouble Rhythm & Hues, the studio that made Life of Pi even possible he was cut off by the Jaws theme music?! Really? His speech was 1:10min long...compare that to Ang Lee's 2:20min speech and no cut off music. And then to top it all off Ang Lee thanked everyone down to the pool company but forgot to mention the studio who created the skies, the ocean and one of his main characters Richard Parker.
For those of you who don't know this...Rhythm and Hues, the studio behind Life of Pi and Snow white and the Huntsman and the Golden Compass filed for bankruptcy last week. Tax subsidies and a flawed fixed bid business model is crumbling the VFX industry and forcing companies to move our jobs overseas. Lay offs in the hundreds and now chapter 11's have become more and more frequent.

In context of what's going on at the industry the lack of acknowledgement last night just added more fuel to the fire. 

And in case you'd like to know just how much of the movies you're watching is real and how much is done in VFX...here are some images that will hopefully make you appreciate the artistry we do:

thank you so much for listening. I know this is not a pleasant subject but please know we just want to raise awareness. We make magical movies possible...movies that make billions of dollars yet our companies file for bankruptcy. We're out of jobs, we lose our homes and are forced to move our families half across the globe every couple of months so we can feed them. I know we're not the only industry facing this problem so I think you can all relate to this issue.

thank you again,

Sony

Merry Christmas`

Hi everyone!!!

I'm just dropping in to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

 And here are some photos from my weekend trip to Yosemite: