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World of WarCrafts: BlizzSpotlight showcases fan art on Twitter
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.Do you Twitter? Blizzard (finally!) does, and arts and crafts seem to be among their favorite topics to tweet. The #BlizzSpotlight hashtag has become a hotbed of creative endeavors for all things Warcraft. Click over to some of these recent #BlizzSpotlight finds: Mimibolt the gnome doll Lovers in Darnassus Fishing in Zangarmarsh A Frostmourne made from paper The revenge of Sylvanas
World of WarCrafts: Father sculpts son's character
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.Dang -- I never got anything as cool as this for my birthday. When Wolfgar of EU Aggramar-H hit the teenage years recently, his dad decided it was time to whip up something special. We'd say he managed quite nicely, wouldn't you?"My son is a huge WoW fan, and as he has turned the dreaded age of 13, I decided to do something unique for him," explains Wolfgar's dad, who goes by the not-so-fatherly in-game moniker Ripyernutzof. "I decided to go with as realistic an interpretation as possible of the subject matter while still keeping the flavour of the original toon. (I sometimes wish he'd chosen a gnome character as it'd take a lot less material to complete!)"
World of WarCrafts: Flickpainting and a playtime playlist
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.In the wake of the torrential magnificence of the cosplayers at BlizzCon and Dragon*Con in recent weeks, we're going to dial back the sheer creative force this week. Let's catch up with more humble creative efforts with a new take on an old favorite (yes, it's another take on fabric painting) plus a playlist of WoW machinima and songs designed especially as an accompaniment to your playtime.FlickpaintingSerthida of US Bloodhoof-H sent us yet another fresh take on Sugarrat's wildly popular bleach shirt. Serthida has created a bandana, but the approach works equally well on tees and other fabric.
World of WarCrafts: Scarlet Crusade stalks Dragon*Con
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.There may be dragons at BlizzCon, but the Scarlet Crusade itself was spotted making their mark at this year's Dragon*Con. An enterprising group of players loosely allied with the guild Suncrown from The Venture Co-H made it into CNN's video coverage of Dragon*Con, so colorful and detailed were their costumes. "We had Mograine, Whitemane and two Scarlet Marksmen with us," writes Samanthiel of The Silvermoon Academy (Wyrmrest Accord-H). The Scarlet Crusade cosplay crew was made up of friends split up between Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, La., who play WoW together in order to keep in touch. "We had a really great time, but the footwear killed us," Samanthiel says. "Those heels and boots were massacre on our feet, so we only wore the costume for Saturday morning of the con and sometime into the afternoon." While none of the group are professional costumers, they did reap the benefit of Vexander's (Scarlet Commander Mograine) years of experience costuming, armorcrafting and leatherworking for Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) events. Peek behind the cut for a gallery of his Mograine project in progress, plus a closer look at a druid-themed hoodie that's attracted much love from WoW craft fans.
World of WarCrafts: Inside the body of a dragon
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.In the words of one costumed BlizzCon-goer, creating a convention costume represents "a heart-wrenching story of PVC, fabric and hot glue." We suspect Theodorick of Gurubashi-US was being facetious when he described his 2009 BlizzCon cosplay journey thusly, but his comment went deeper than mere humor. What we found beneath the one-liner showed more heart than even Theodorick suspected was within: hard work, passion, persistence, humor, long hours ... You name it, cosplayers pour their hearts into their creations. While Theodorick – known at BlizzCon 2009 as Sartharion -- wasn't among the finalists at this year's contest, his enthusiasm certainly can't be beat. We visited with Theodorick to learn what went into his BlizzCon creation. Follow us after the break for a behind-the-scenes gallery of Sartharion's creation plus a full accounting of the costume's assembly.
World of WarCrafts: The Tale of Pally Pete
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.Sometimes a song can express more than a thousand words. In keeping with this spirit, we're once again calling all masters of sound to create some touching, comical, or just plain awesome songs grounded in the Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo universes. Fill our ears with powerfully emotional melodies in two minutes or less and you'll have a chance to reap some fantastic rewards. – BlizzCon 2009 Contests pageThis week's World of WarCrafts features the third-place winner of this year's Original Song Contest at BlizzCon. Creator Jamie Brown composed, performed and recorded "The Tale of Pally Pete" completely solo - well, except for a little help on the lyrics from his kids. We chatted with Jamie a little to find out what goes into a BlizzCon winning original.World of WarCrafts: Jamie, your song sounds so polished! What do you do professionally?Jamie Brown: I work tech support for an e-commerce company full time, but I know I'm here on Earth to make music. So I have to do it part time for now. I lead worship at a church part time, and write on the side.How long have you been a musician? Pretty much all my life. My parents bought a piano when I was about 10, and I picked up the guitar at about 13.
World of WarCrafts: Sweet! Labor Day cake update
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.Holiday weekends call for a focus on the festive and the fun, something World of WarCrafts is uniquely qualified to deliver. How can you beat WoW cakes and WoW costumes? Actually, you'll have to wait until next week for the costumes - but they're real humdingers, including behind-the-scenes construction notes and photos of award winners from this year's Blizzcon. In the meantime, let's get an eyeful - and a taste, too, because we've got recipes! - of some of truly spectacular WoW cakes. First up: a Gnomeregan cake sent in by reader James, created by his girlfriend Charlie especially for his birthday. "She's really pulled out the stops and done a cracking job on my party, and everyone loved the cake," he wrote. We couldn't agree more - oh, sorry, didn't mean to stick a finger in the wrench there ... Let's just lick that off before we type a bit more ... Mmm ...Join us after the break for the Gnomeregan Cake recipe plus a Cake Wrecks look at WoW cakes.
World of WarCrafts: Music to our ears
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.Despite its name, World of WarCrafts isn't only about crafts. We feature all sorts of creative endeavors fueled by your passion for the World of Warcraft. This week, we hope to inspire all you WoW-playing musicians out there (hey! send us your stuff!) by sharing three of our older favorite fan performances of WoW music on the web today.The Stormwind theme above is played by ObsidianLord, a Hungarian pianist who interprets with obvious passion and depth. Join us after the break for another popular (from 2007) but moving rendition of Song of Elune.
World of WarCrafts: Tanking tough with arigurumi meanie
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.How cute can a malign Death Knight really be? Apparently, if she's a Gnome Death Knight done up arigurumi style - pretty darn cute. Espyr of Sen'jin-US shared this gift she crafted with love for her boyfriend's pocket tank, Pipps. Apparently the character behind this meanie began her illustrious career as a Warrior but has transformed into something ... biggah (in spirit, at least). "Interestingly, he has continued Pipps' story so she has 'become' a Death Knight (on another server, Steamwheedle Cartel), and outside of WoW, he has written short stories about her younger life, being raised by Dwarves," Espyr says. "I love that he can tell her whole story. It's really interesting, I think, because he really thinks it out."
World of WarCrafts: Masks for BlizzCon, plus favorite WarCrafts
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Don't have enough time left to assemble a costume for the BlizzCon costume contest (or maybe it was the fierce competition that Feared you off)? We see you poking around over there for ideas that allow you to dip into the spirit of things -- you know, something that doesn't require blue makeup, showing your belly button or spending the next 72 hours with pins, glue and an X-acto knife at the kitchen table ...Dear cosplay casual, we have your backs (or in this case, your fronts): a mask of one of the new races to be announced at BlizzCon, from Shelbi of The Bronze Kettle. Shelbi (a World of WarCrafts alum and former columnist, herself) dropped us a line to let us know that she's posted a how-to for masking yourself as one of the races of the moment [Spoilers]. This one's as quick, easy and good-looking as they come, so click over to Shelbi's complete instructions and face up to this heady way to look like one of the in crowd at BlizzCon.After the break, we'll include a spoilerific picture of the front of the new masks (SPOILER ALERT: don't click onward if you don't want to see which race the gorgeous sample represents!), plus we'll announce the World of WarCrafts crafters who've been selected for an upcoming geek crafts book from Chronicle Books.
World of WarCrafts: Aigie's character sketches
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Who doesn't love original artwork that expresses the essence of your character? We were captivated by the character sketch Elnore of Argent Dawn-US sent us to go with her recent profile in 15 Minutes of Fame. As it turns out, the guildmate behind the artwork has just begun to accumulate a small portfolio of simple sketches. "I've been sketching since I can remember, really, but not seriously until I was a teenager," says Aigie. "I enjoy challenging myself with different perspectives and the process at which I got from point A to point B. This is why I use Artpad for most of my sketching. Sure, it's not the top of the line program and it's free -- but it has a replay button, and you can see the logical process in which my work evolves. (And did I mention it was free? Hehe.)"
World of WarCrafts: Baby Hordie shirt
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Yes, it's another T-shirt update – because c'mon, people, who doesn't love to wear T-shirts? Stages of Dunemaul-US sent us her version of Sugarrat's popular bleach T-shirt, modeled by an especially cute Hordie-to-be. ("She doesn't play yet, though occasionally she talks in guild chat and yells at noobs in Vent," Stages says.) We like this version because it uses fabric paint instead of bleach (for those of you still leery of the whole bleach idea), which also makes it ideal for light-colored fabrics that wouldn't be well suited to the bleach method.Stages plots out the path for a perfect fabric-painted WoW insignia shirt. She's created an easy-to-print Horde insignia, or you can find or make your own design. Follow her complete instructions, after the break.
World of WarCrafts: My Lich King Pony
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Heat got you down? Summer raid attendance and progression wilting? Have a case of the midsummer doldrums? Sometimes, it's good to start out your week with something a little, err, different. Cue this week's World of WarCrafts project, combining the runes of Frostmourne and the power of the Lich King with ... My Little Pony.If you're suddenly humming "one of these things is not like the other," we'd suspect you've perked up and are catching on fast. That's the reaction we suspect most people have when confronted by the frosty terror of My Lich King Pony from Rosenrot of Nazgrel-US. "I love crafting and WoW," Rosenrot writes, "and when I was a little girl, I loved My Little Pony. I wanted to combine my past and current loves into one really cool project!"
World of WarCrafts: Nominate your favorite WoWCraft for upcoming book
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.It's chic to be geek -- and World of WarCrafts has some of the coolest geek chic around, according to the author of an upcoming book on geek crafts. She's looking for a World of WarCrafts project to include in an upcoming crafts title to be published by Chronicle Books ... And you, our readers, get to help select the featured project!"The book is a collection of 25 original geek craft projects from Star Trek to comics -- and WoW," writes Susan Beal, author of crafting favorites Button It Up, Bead Simple and Super Crafty. "We're so excited to spotlight a reader-chosen favorite project from WoW.com's World of WarCrafts in the collection!" The creator of the selected project will receive a copy of the book, plus full credit and a bio in the book.
World of WarCrafts: Sounds like a whole new Stratholme
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.In this week's World of WarCrafts, the "dark and haunting tale" of Stratholme comes alive with a custom audio build from Ashram of Darksorrow-EU. Ashram paid a visit to the burning city, capturing it on video and then setting it to all-new audio - from spell effects to NPC voicing to birds cawing in the background, all set against an atmospheric soundtrack that injects an eerie edge of desperation to an instance that's become old hat.Ashram brings a good bit of recording and audio experience to the project, having spent several years singing in a band and recording most of their material. "This is the first time I've ever attempted something like this with a full rebuild of a game's audio," he admitted. "This project was much more complex than anything I'd ever attempted before." We visited with Ashram (thanks for the tip, Foulbourne!) to learn how he brought dread and despair back to old Stratholme.
World of WarCrafts: Wowatar fills in the lines
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Getting started can be the most difficult step for WoW newbies and WoW "WarCrafters" alike. Showing your artwork to other people – or even having the gumption to create any in the first place – can be intimidating stuff. Discovering someone who's willing to show you how it's done or even share his creative process represents a major inspirational coup. Swedish WoW player Jonas at wowatar.com is one of those creative wellsprings. He's created a small drawing site filled with WoW-related nuggets that inspire, instruct and delight.
World of WarCrafts: From Naxx to Pinky Street
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Is there somewhere in game that feels like home to your character? Reader Asphydel's characters hail from Pinky Street – literally. Pinky Street is a line of four-inch anime figurines that come with interchangeable parts, allowing you to create trendy, custom figures with your own look. The line encourages customizations, from swapping out parts and accessories to adding entirely new paint jobs. Asphydel of Ghostlands-US took the look a step farther, bringing her figurine into the World of Warcraft with Pinkycized versions of her Priest and her boyfriend's Mage. "I actually have a background in art and had taken a class in 3D," she explains. "We had a small section on making molds, so it was pretty darn easy for me to follow various suggestions and ideas I had found online. I can imagine that it can be a little overwhelming for anyone who has never looking into it ... O_o I knew it was for me in my first classes."
World of WarCrafts: Jewelry and bleach shirts, take two
World of WarCrafts returns to WoW Insider with a broadened focus to spotlight art and creativity by WoW players and fans, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction – and yes, (War)crafts. Share your creativity: tip us off via the tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts).Fans of Sugarrat's WoW Bleach Shirt didn't waste a moment after last week's feature to get working on their own creations. We begin this week's World of WarCrafts with another version of the bleach shirt from reader Andy (Zorren of Auchindoun-EU). "I made basically negative versions compared to hers, as the bleach isn't the outline – it's the fill," he wrote. "I based them on spray-paint stencils but had fun bleaching the designs ... and my pants ... and the tablecloth ..."... and apparently, a hip flask for his friend Criterous of Auchindoun-EU, too. "Similar method to Sugarrat's, except I cut the design from sticker paper and spray painted over it," he noted. It appears to have played a major part in a happy birthday celebration, from the look of things -- check out the photo of a happy Criterous at the very end of this article.Another bleach shirt, plus a handmade racial necklace (and Criterous' happy day), after the break.
Fan-made Draenei Barbie
Reader Amanda S sent us this picture of a Draenei Barbie (that is a Draenei, right? Not a Night Elf? Oh yeah -- check the hooves) she says she and a friend made when they were bored. It's not the most involved craft we've ever seen, but it looks pretty good and it's an interesting idea: make Warcraft characters out of existing dolls, rather than completely from scratch. GI Joe would probably be perfect for putting together a figure of the new King Wrynn. But we do like the dress and the shoulders -- nice job. Whenever Blizzard figures out how to do player housing, we can put her in a dream house as well.Got a WoW-related craft that you'd like to share? We'd love to see it -- send us a tip through the tipline and we'll check it out.
Custom WoW plushies look adorable
Debbie sent us a note about these plushies that she made, and as you can see, they look pretty awesome. The funny part, however, is that she doesn't know anything about World of Warcraft -- her mom's friend asked her to make a Troll Priestess, and since she makes these dolls on commission (prices start at $60 plus shipping and handling), people have asked her to do a Troll Shaman as well, and she's currently working on a Draenei Paladin. Very cool.You'd probably have to negotiate with her if you wanted something custom made, since these are definitely not coming off of a factory line. But even if you're willing to pay the money for a doll like this, they do look cool. We don't know what it is about Shamans and their little totems that seems to make them perfect for plushie form, but there must be something there. Somehow, we're not sure a plushie Warrior would cause the same fascination. But hey -- be sure to prove us wrong. If you catch any great WoW crafts around the net that we haven't seen yet, drop us a tip.
