. . . it’s another. January has been very interesting.

I started off working on a package designs for a client who will be pitching an oh-so-cool toy to Disney soon. What started out as a series of 2-D box-fronts quickly turned into full-blown CG renders (at no request of the client, mind you). And, that led to to teaching myself how to texture objects in Blender. To escalate matters, there were no good high-res images of the existing toy that I could use on the packaging art, so I took it upon myself to both design and render that in 3-D, too! It took two solid weeks of work with no days off to get everything learned and rendered. In the end, it was worth the effort and newly-gained knowledge.

Next, I shifted my focus to working on Nava Designs. There’s a new Etsy store, and a Twitter feed. In the coming weeks (hopefully), I will be adding some unique items to the store. It’s been exhausting, but the items are fun, and the artwork is way cool!

Nava Designs is now on Twitter! And, best of all, the YouTube, Flickr, and Etsy accounts are all connected, so you’ll be kept up-to-date on just about everything.

. . . the new Nava Designs Store on Etsy! That’s right, I’ve got a brand-new Etsy store, which is where you’ll find the former Halloween papercrafts. I will also be introducing other items that will be made on-demand or produced in limited quantities.

A few years ago, I signed a contract with Disney, specifically with the international division of the former Walt Disney Internet Group (now the Disney Interactive Media Group). One of the details gave the company the right to publish certain paper models that I have designed. I cannot go into contract details, but it appears that the models are finally popping up on Disney websites, specifically the Disney Insider. Many thanks to Caleb for finding this and bringing it to my attention.

Back in December, after I got my hair cut, I noticed a small image in the distance out of the corner of my eye. It was a lucky catch. I swore that I saw a solid, white silhouette of Jiminy Cricket above the name “Perris.” I tried to get a good look from where I was, but I couldn’t quite focus on it enough to be absolutely certain. The odd part was that the sign is at our town’s (Perris) new bus/Metrolink station (the Metrolink part is still not complete). I knew that Ward Kimball had donated his train collection to the Orange Empire Railway Museum (yup, that’s in Perris, too!) years ago, but I didn’t think that there were any other connections to him.

Head on over to Zombo’s Closet to read my answers to five Halloween questions. Learn what I love and hate about Halloween. I even recall my first Halloween memory!

The Halloween papercrafts are back, and the store page has been fixed. This time, though, there is no deadline. I usually keep the papercrafts available for purchase year-round for whomever can find them, so why set a limited purchase time frame?

There’s nothing new this year unless I come up with something within the next two months. My mind is in an early Halloween mood, so who knows.

On a related Halloween note, if you’d like to take a crack at getting a free Halloween costume, head on over to my other website, the Disney Experience. It’s been transformed into the annual Haunted Experience one full month early, and HalloweenCostumes.com is giving away two costumes to two winners with free shipping (ship only to U.S. residents). And, I’ll let you in on a little secret: although the ads and pages all say “Disney” costumes, you can pick anything (up to a $60 value) from the website. How cool is that!?

To enter the giveaway, you must make a minimum $1 donation to the site sometime during the month of September. Every dollar donated is worth a separate entry, increasing your chances of winning. Good luck.