Chicago cemetery circa 1998

Posted on February 20, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

A photo of me in Chicago, 1998. I’m so goth I shit bats. Make sure to listen to “Burn” by the Cure (off of THE CROW movie soundtrack) or “It’s No Good” by Depeche Mode, for the full effect.

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We’re all time traveling, just in one direction

Posted on February 19, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Butterfly effect. I think about it constantly. That’s why I have anxiety disorder.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Video game inspired prop replicas

Posted on February 18, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

I recently made the Nuka-Cola bottle, Buffout and Wasteland Survival Guide props in the above picture, and gave them away as prizes for the FALLOUT SCAVENGER HUNT 2021.

I’ve also made bottles of Daytripper (based on the item in Fallout 4) and Nuka-Cola Quantum (based on the version in Fallout 3). I know Quantum is supposed to be blue but it always looks lavender to me when I’m playing Fallout 3 on my laptop.

Or there’s the glowing cannister of nuclear material I made based on the junk item in Fallout 4, shown here on top of my plasma rifle (not handmade, it’s official Bethesda merch) and next to its in-game version.

I love making replicas of items from video games, TV and movies. Sometimes, this takes the form of jewelry, props or even food, like these Minecraft cakes I made for my husband’s birthday about ten years ago.

That’s a very nice birthday you have there…

Or sometimes it’s not crafting so much as finding objects and putting them together, such as this Stone of Barenziah from Skyrim, made with a brass cricket cage, gray silk and Swarovski crystal.

Or there’s the mini Honningbrew meadery bottle necklace …

A larger, LED lighted version of the Honningbrew bottle…

And the bowl of moon sugar I keep beside a bronze statue of Aphrodite that looks very similar to a Dibella statue from Skyrim. I commissioned the handmade ceramic bowl on Etsy to look like the alchemy ingredient in the game and then filled it with rock candy.

Finding bath salts became a running joke when I played through the Dishonored series, so I purchased a lovely pyramid-shaped Italian crystal bottle and filled it with the same color bath salts as those found in the games.

I also painted my own prismatic shards from STARDEW VALLEY using rocks and nail polish.

You can watch me play all of these games and more on my YouTube channel at YouTube.com/jewelsmith or read my video game articles and stories at JLHilton.com/videogames.

~ J.L. Hilton

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I named my horse Shadowfax in Stardew Valley

Posted on February 17, 2022 by J.L. Hilton
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Movie Night: TOMBSTONE

Posted on February 16, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Recently rewatched Tombstone (1993) because I found out my husband had never seen it. Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking. He should’ve had an Oscar.

“I’m your huckleberry” is a classic line. It appeared, along with many other references to movie and TV Westerns, in the WESTWARD video games. I spent many happy hours playing those games back in the 2000s.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: DEATH AND TAXES

Posted on February 15, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Today I played DEATH AND TAXES, a 2020 indie game similar to Papers Please, where players take on the role of the Grim Reaper in a bureaucratic afterlife.

DEATH AND TAXES has a branching narrative with loads of dialog options and multiple endings. Gameplay revolves around choosing who lives and who dies from the files that appear on your desk, and then having conversations with your boss Fate. Player choices determine whether you save the world or condemn it to damnation.

Developed and published by Placeholder Gameworks, a small Estonia-based Indie game company. I played the free Steam demo for Windows PC, but the game is also available for Mac, Linux and Switch. 

UPDATE: I bought and played the full game with my husband over the course of the following week after posting this. Unique story, several hours of entertainment, very replayable. It’s not really a two-player game, but we had a good time discussing and making the moral choices together.

For more about DEATH AND TAXES see Deathandtaxesgame.com. 

~ J.L. Hilton

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Skyrim Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Helping my husband use console commands in Skyrim so he can bring a bevy of babes to Windstad Manor. I’m a good wife.

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Happy Valentines Day

Posted on February 5, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Sometimes I see something and I just have to photoshop it (or in my case, GIMP it). Happy Valentine’s!

~ J.L. Hilton

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Firefly/Serenity Planetary Postmarks

Posted on February 2, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

After the heartbreaking cancellation of FIREFLY (2002) and the release of its companion movie SERENITY (2005), I spent many years making jewelry for cosplayers and fans known as Browncoats.

Bracelet inspired by Saffron’s in the Firefly episode “Trash”

I founded the annual Raleigh Can’t Stop the Serenity charity event in 2006 and was either coordinator, emcee, committee member, local sponsor or global supporter, until covid-19 put the kibash on large gatherings in 2020.

I also donated so many pieces of jewelry to fundraisers and raffles locally and around the world, I’ve lost count.

When I sold or donated Firefly-inspired pieces, I would rubber stamp the boxes or tags with planetary “postmarks,” as if the item had passed through several hands before finally reaching its destination on the edge of the ‘Verse.

I also purchased a Chinese coin stamp at a craft store, had a stamp made with the pinyin characters for “serenity,” and I created an “Alliance inspector 28” stamp using a template on the manufacturer’s website. You can see all of those in the photos.

These are all of the graphics I created, which I used when I ordered the custom made rubber stamps. Free use is granted for personal projects (things you aren’t going to sell). For any commercial use, please contact me.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: APICO free Steam demo

Posted on January 25, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

APICO is a casual-sim game about collecting, breeding and maintaining bees. It features farm building, crafting and resource gathering, similar to Terraria or Stardew Valley, but there are no enemies to fight and even the bees won’t sting you!

Beekeeping is one of my favorite things in Stardew Valley, and APICO takes that to new levels. Build different types of hives. Gather honey, wax and other bee products. Plant flowers that give the bees different boosts. Crossbreed bees for new species. Build and paint structures. Collect and read magazines. Rehabilitate dwindling bee populations.

Interactions with other island inhabitants are limited in the free demo, but I suspect the full game will include more characters and more story development, and possibly a way to build boats and leave the island to visit other locations.

A release date for the full game is TBA other than sometime in 2022.

APICO is being developed by TNgineers, a team of two brothers who were inspired by their love of old Minecraft mods, casual, and crafting games. The publisher is Whitethorn Games, who also published Teacup, Calico, and my favorite of 2021 Wytchwood.

TNgineers hopes to promote bee conservation and will be donating a portion of APICO sales towards national and international beekeeping charities, according to their website.

Rated “E” for everyone.

For more about APICO see Whitethorngames.com/apico and Apico.buzz.

UPDATE: The full game is going to be released on May 20, 2022. 

I was inspired by APICO to make some bee-themed earrings and a necklace, which I’m planning to give away during my 2022-sub celebration on YouTube.

~ J.L. Hilton

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