Keebles World

We've done it! The final day of the A to Z Challenge! At least my "Z" choice was a chosen choice versus a needed filler like the last two. Even though the Lion King fits in the second gen of Disney movies, I was excited to see it because of the cast, none more so than the actor that voiced my "Z". I've made no qualms about how much I love British television and I've been a Mr. Bean and Blackadder fan just as long as I have a Doctor Who fan. When my favorite actors end up voicing Disney characters, it makes them that much more memorable to me. I was a bit disappointed when Rowan didn't actually voice Zazu in Disney World's Enchanted Tiki Room, Under New Management, but I tried to ignore it as much as possible and just focus on the character (although, for many years, the audioanimatronic had an eye that would get stuck and it looked like he was stoned all the time...I still miss that little bugger!). Here he is at Disney's Art Of An...

Another character of convenience, my "Y" choice doesn't really appeal to me either. She reminds me a bit too much of Cruella DeVille (who I've never really cared for...puppy killing is where I draw the line). But, like "X", she fit the bill and CloudsFactory already had her in their other Disney Alphabet, so there you go. "Y" is for Yzma: I do have a bit of a confession...I finished the last of the characters this weekend. I wanted to make sure I had time enough to wash it, iron it, mount it and frame it. Unfortunately, in my typical, uber-efficient way, I managed to get it cleaned and ironed yesterday and mounted and framed tonight since it fit in a standard-sized frame. So, technically, I'm done with the challenge! I'm still gonna wait and post accordingly and, since I managed to accidently delete the pre-framed full photo, I guess I'll be showing the finished project in its completed framed glory. I also goofed and forgo...

We're in the final week! I've really pushed my limits and I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the backside of a challenge as I have this one! But we still have a few more letters to finish my Disney Alphabet Cross Stitch from CloudsFactory . "X" was definitely a character of convenience. The only good thing about Mulan to me was Mushu (but there is another one of those pesky "M" characters I had to forgo). I know that the Disney version named this character Shan Yu, but I've seen it spelled both ways (and it helped that CloudsFactory listed it as Xian Yu). So there is no need for me to wax poetic about this character, he's just here to fill my "X" quota. X - Xian Yu: On a side note, I gotta rant a bit...I live in tornado alley. All of us around here know when tornado season starts, we know when storms are expected (we've been anticipating this one for days), we've dealt with it our entire lives and all t...

First off, I'm so far behind on comments, it's not even funny, so I'm just gonna do a big "THANK YOU" to everyone and hope you'll understand! We're almost done! My last Princess of the bunch is also the first Disney Princess ever. She's the third part of my "Disney Trinity" and is the Princess that embodies all things Disney to most little girls of all ages and all generations. She is also my absolute favorite character on Once Upon A Time (and perfectly cast, although I've been a Ginny Goodwin fan for years). In CloudsFactory 's original Disney Alphabet stitch chart, she was under "S", but I had to have my Stitch, so I used the "W" instead because she just has to be on this! So "W" is for Snow White:

My "V" choice was part letter necessity and part like of the character. I wasn't a Wreck-It-Ralph fan overall, but the movie had it's strong points and she was one of them. I can relate to the outcast that gets ostracized by the popular crowd and never seems to do anything right (a bit too much actually). From a stitching point of view, I had to flip her ponytail to the other side because of Phillip's name being too low. I also really wanted to change the "V" because it looks weird to me, but I did decide to go ahead and keep it like it was charted because I've changed enough (please forgive me CloudsFactory !). But at least I didn't have to move her down a row (which I thought I was going to have to do). Now, the final row should be easy because it is exactly as charted! "V" is for Vanellope

I hope CloudsFactory isn't too angry with me for all the changes, but I've stuck to the pattern for this one. "U" is another one of those characters that singlehandedly made a movie for me. She's big, she's bold, she's brassy, she's purple, she's everything (well, other than her evil streak) that I'd like to be! I've made my feelings quite clear about the second gen Disney movies, and The Little Mermaid I put off watching until many years after it was out. But her scenes were the few moments that I was able to put aside my CG animation prejudices and just enjoy the movie. My sister praising her majesty at Disney's Art of Animation Resort in 2012: And me praising her in stitch - "U" is for Ursula: I almost forgot to add my Needle Club post. I didn't get much work done (because a certain co-worker, who I have to cover for, decided to fake a sick day). But I least I didn't have to work on anything pink!

"T" wasn't a difficult choice for me, but as I mentioned back in "P", he came with strings that, at the time of my charts creation, I wasn't willing to cut. I absolutely love Timon, but you can't have Timon without Pumbaa,like Pain and Panic or Bert and Ernie. But I decided that Prince Phillip was more important and replaced Pumbaa with him for my "P". But I still had Pumbaa's chart and decided the best way to keep the duo together was just to stitch them together! This has been the hardest modification to the chart because, not only did I have to combine the two characters just right, but all the others will have to be moved over to make room. Then, that's gonna cause one character to be moved to the row below (which means another row of characters has to be shifted over). I also had to reverse Timon's tail so it wasn't on top of Pumbaa. Only time will tell, but I think it should all turn out OK in the end! So here he is...

This was another no brainer addition to my chart from CloudsFactory . There is only one Disney character that is in league with Donald in my eyes, and that character is my "S" choice. I have almost as much of his memorabilia as I do Donald's (thanks to the Chinese and Japanese love for him) and it is possible that I'm the only person on the planet that absolutely loves Stitch's Great Escape at Disney World. I even watched the TV show regularly (and had them all recorded for a long time, then the VHS tape died...why doesn't Disney release full seasons of their television shows? That's been a complaint with me for YEARS). "S" is for Stitch, aka Experiment 626...tookie bah wahba! On a side note, I still haven't gotten ahead stitching because I had this: garnering for my attention! Poor baby Bammers, he just gets NO love at all! I tried to get a picture of Zach, but he just wasn't having it!

Are we getting close to done yet? How much further Papa Smurf? This has been the hardest challenge I've ever done...hope it turns out good in the end because I have caught up with myself and there is no advanced stitching done from here (unless I have a good week at work...yeah, and pigs fly). But enough of this chit chat, yak yak, and flim flam (anyone get the Country Bears reference there?)...lets get on with the show! "R" was another one of my "must haves". I've mentioned Disney movie generations before, but I think I need to give a bit of clarity. I call the originals, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, the first gens. Second gens include the first CGI animation like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast (although the characters were still mostly hand-drawn, they were still computer painted and the backgrounds were all computer generated - some of the finest artwork in Disney animation history is the background cells for Sleeping Beauty......

It's time for "Q" in my Disney Alphabet Cross Stitch by CloudsFactory . I had to adjust this one a bit to fit under "Q" instead of "E". When I was a kid, she wasn't my favorite villain (obviously that was Maleficent), in fact, I never actually thought of her as a villain. She didn't scare me at all because she wasn't bad just for the sake of being bad, but because she was just overly jealous and envious of Snow. Like Belle and Jafar, I didn't start respecting this character until Once Upon A Time (can you tell I like the show just a bit?). I love the way her character has progressed and, unlike most of the fan community, I have no issues with her "being good" because I never thought she was bad (and I LOVE the backstory reasons why she became bad on Once...if I would have thought too hard on it as a child, I probably would have come to the same conclusions). So, here she is, Regina as was, "Q" - The Evil Que...

Back on Flynn Rider, I mentioned my "P" dilemma with my chart from CloudsFactory . "P" was charted for Pumbaa, but I knew from the get-go I had made a mistake and should have picked this guy. I've also mentioned (more than once) my love for Sleeping Beauty, so this shouldn't be a big surprise. He was my first crush (well, him and Shaun Cassidy). "P" is for Prince Phillip

This is a character that I had CloudsFactory specifically design just for me. There was no way I was going to leave this character off my list of favorites. It's really nice to see he's finally getting his due, afterall, he is the original Mickey and it technically all started with a rabbit, not a mouse! "O" is for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Another Needle Club down as well. I think that I'm gonna take this home Friday night and work on it for this weekend's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend. I've got to get out of this pink!

Today's A to Z post is below, but I felt the need to interject another post because I finally received my pre-ordered copy of: I have been anticipating this book for a long time and not just because of my Duranie status, it's just really nice to see New Wave music finally getting the recognition it deserves. New Wave music was and is MY music, even though I still absolutely adore Take That and Darren Hayes (much later discoveries). New Wave is what lies in the very depths of my heart and I always manage to find my way back to it eventually. Picture, if you will, a very tiny town in the heart of Northeast Arkansas filled with pure d'ole rednecks. Now, add in an overweight, brace-face, glasses wearing girl who was obsessed with all things New Wave and British. Yeah...I was a complete and utter outcast (and that's not even including the mental issues). I was the only person in my school (or entire town for that matter) who knew who Duran Duran was in 1981, let alone ...

I mentioned that I did have some issues with certain letters of the alphabet and I had to compromise on some. This is one of them. Given the choice, this character would not be my pick as a favorite from this movie, but no one can come between me and my duck, so Dory was out of luck. This is one of the few Pixar movies I do actually like (mainly because of Dory), but considering the lack of "N" choices, it made sense to give the movie its tribute in some way, so "N" is Nemo. Although CloudsFactory did an amazing job creating this chart for me, Nemo is another character that got Keeble-ized. He was charted with a mouth and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. C'est la vie!

There has been a lot of mentions of "M" throughout my posts of my CloudsFactory chart so far and it's almost time to find out why. I'm not going to make this one a wind up, she deserves her acknowledgement from the get go. I've said that Sleeping Beauty is my favorite movie, Aurora is my favorite Princess, so it makes perfect sense that my favorite villain is Maleficent. There are so many reasons why I love her as a character, but none more so than the fact that she was designed by my beloved Marc Davis, Disney animator extraordinaire. He was the biggest art influence on me as a kid and the reason why I wanted to be an artist in the first place (even if I never got there...I may not have drawn in 20 years, but I was born an artist and will die one...it is how I will always see myself). I mentioned on Lady Tremaine that there were similarities between her and Maleficent. Not only were they both designed by Marc, but they were both voiced (and modeled after)...

It's week three already! How did that happen? I don't think I need a personal explanation of my "L" choice, simply because I covered my feelings about her in "C-Cinderella". But there are other reasons why I love her (yep, I love villains...it's a character defect on my part). Problem is, I think I'm gonna wait until "M" (I keep saying "M" is a biggie) to explain those reasons because the two are intertwined in more ways than one. Bout the only thing I can tell you about "L" is that had to get CloudsFactory to manipulate her name differently than she appears on their other charts because "T" was needed for another character. So, without all the pomp and circumstance of the others (besides, you can read all about her in "C" and tomorrow's "M") - "L" is for Lady Tremaine: Some of you may have also noticed that there are no dots on my i's this time. I can't ...

Before I get to today's challenge, just a quick note...this is my 500th post! I can't believe that I've actually ranted, shared, exposed, whined, and just generally been social 500 times! For a reclusive Asper like me, that's a pretty big feat and it's way more social than I have ever been in my in my entire life. I'm also pretty surprised I haven't gotten bored with this whole blogging thing yet...I usually have a very short attention span. But, anyhoo, congratulations to me and let's get on with 500, shall we? "K" is a bit of a departure from your typical Disney character. I am a child of the 70's and 80's and this character was at his strongest in those days (even though they weren't owned by the Disney company until later). I'm glad to see the Muppets making a comeback (to us Disney World alums, Muppet Vision 3D is still a big must see at Disney's Hollywood Studios). Granted, "K" isn't my favorite ...

I have to admit, I'm already exhausted. I'm trying hard to keep up with other people's blogs and I have found some really amazing posts and themes in this year's challenge! Between reading through the blogs of others and trying to keep up with my own stitching and posting, I haven't been very good with responding to comments, but I am trying. There may come a time when something will have to give. But I thank everyone for your kind words even if I haven't emailed you back. This definitely isn't close to the most complicated or advanced stitch I have ever done, but it is testing my abilities in other ways. Since I've restarted this chart from CloudsFactory , all rules have pretty much gone out the window. There was an issue with Hades that bothered me enough to move the entire first row up a line, but, while I was at it, another character replacement has been gnawing at me. I had partially stitched the characters through "P" before I dec...

"I" has typically been a hard letter to do in the challenge (or at least it has been for my challenges), but I had no trouble picking an "I" for my Disney Alphabet cross stitch chart from CloudsFactory . Despite it not being cool to like Gilbert Gottfried anymore because of his public antics, I still do because of this character. Disney villain sidekicks really hadn't been their own entities until the second gen movies came along, they were just minions to the villains. Iago changed all that. He had his own agenda and has managed to instill himself in the Disney-verse without Jafar. Even this Disney purist has to admit that I preferred The Enchanted Tiki Room with Iago and my "Z" choice better than the original. Granted, my all time favorite sidekicks were Pain and Panic from Hercules, but Iago is pretty darn close! "I" is for Iago. It was also Needle Club this week. I ended up staying later because I goofed and ended a column s...

First off, I think I must have two pups who aren't getting the attention they deserve because this is the look I've been getting from both of them all night long: I'm gonna cut it short tonight and spend some time with my pups, but before I do, we need to get to today's character. There was no question what my "H" choice on my custom chart from CloudsFactory would be. My dislike for the new generation of Disney movies ended with this character's film. At the time, I thought that Disney movies were finally back on the right track. There was a modicum of return to hand-drawn animation in this film, the music (the only area where the new gens stayed strong) was the best of them all, and this was the best villain to come out of the Disney camp since my big "M" (and still stays second only to "M"). His wit, dry humor, and temper I can relate to almost as much and my little duck man. I was never a James Woods fan, but no one but h...