The Art of Sithel

Glass Wall Critter

2010-05-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Project : Glass Wall Critter
Date : Summer/Fall? 2009
Materials : bottle-cap, wire, suction cups, a bell, fabric (2 types), embroidery floss
Tools : pliers, scissors, needle, hand powered drill
Finished Product:

Process:
Bottle cap monsters are pretty easy. You take a bottle cap, you put fabric around it. Done. Thine one has only one real modification--
Before you start any fabric stuff, get a drill (or nail and hammer might work?) and poke 2 holds in the bottle cap edge. These are the leg holes so they should be sorta' on the same side, close but not too close. Hip-width. Then, string wire through the wholes. It helps if you have twisted double wire, maybe run a wire up one leg, across the outside of the bottle edge, and down the other. Things like this will help prevent the legs from swinging too much. You want the legs to project out from the edge, not to lay flat against the edge. Laying tape down or hot-gluing the wire that runs between the leg holes might help (I can't remember if I did or not).

Make sure the leg wire has an extra length at the end. Suction cups usually come with hooks- wiggle those off and then wrap the wire around the nub. This should be a secure anchor.

Now cut the fabric. There are few pieces and they're easy to measure by placing a (fresh, different) bottle cap on paper and tracing it.
Fabric 1 :
A circle for the rump. The circumference of the edge split into 2 pieces of "inside" the legs and "outside the legs". Remember that the edges need extra fabric to fold over. Cut strips of fabric long enough to cover the wire legs. Be sure to flare at the end to cover the suction cup nub on top.

Fabric 2 :
Cut a triangle whole's base is the length of the "outside the legs" circumference. Then cut a tiny wedge whose length is the "inside". Those two are the top & bottom of the head.

Sew the leg fabric over the suction cups and up the leg. Sew the "outside the legs" fabric to the rump and then to the legs themselves. Then do the "inside the legs" strip. Now hopefully you have somewhere inside you can anchor an extra length of wire to (the wire between the leg holes?). Cut a single wire line that will exceed the length of the head. This is the antenna. Sew the head fabric on but leave the "nose" open a bit, where the antenna wire pokes out from. We're going to wrap the antenna wire with embroidery floss (keep it at 6 strands for thickness). The way to do this is....

I probably need a picture for this. I'm sure there's a name for it. Make a series of loops/twists. As you go, you'll realize that each loop/twist leaves a "bump" This is fine. The loop/twist... it's... you twist the loop, put the antenna wire in the middle, and then pull the tail of the thread up through the middle of the loop. Enough of these, made close enough together, is how you cover the wire. Remember to put a bell at the end of the antenna (before you cover it). Now close the nose. Done!

Thoughts : Very cute, very easy monster. This has to be one of the worst written Process sections on my blog so far though.... Sturdy wire legs and the suction cups make it easy to place and post. The bell is cute and the little ring of the bell makes it playful. A fun toy to have on the desk. Can stand easily on the ground due to the cups as it can on windows. The nose could sometimes hold a pencil/pen, but not very sturdy like. At Christmas I had it hold a candy cane so I guess it's not that weak.

Despite such a crummy Process section, this is one of the projects I actually recommend someone tries. Not that anyone reading this is very interested in making the projects I detail (who the hell is reading this anyway?) but if one were to attempt a project this has a good rewarding to easy-to-make ratio.

All the office peons were trapped behind glass. What was it there for, no one knew. It was large enough to act like a wall but served none- and we do mean none of a wall's purposes. We weren't to lean on it. We weren't to hang stuff from it. We weren't to write on it. It didn't block sight or sound. It was simply this.... obstruction. A symbol of the cages we were trapped in.

Which is why I made a creature to perch so clearly upon the wall. A little bell to ring to make sure you saw it there. A single antenna to extend, like a slender middle finger, and say "Fuck You" with.

Light-Bulb Raptor

2010-05-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Project : Light Bulb Raptor
Date : Fall 2009?
Materials : 1 lightbulb, melted red crayon, fabric (2 major, 2 minor), thread, yarn, wire, chain, stuffing, 4 beads
Tools : pliers, hammer, needle, scissors
Finished Product:

Process:
Part 1 : Lightbulb.
So you take a lightbulb. Then you get a hammer and you smack it a couple times. No, not on the glass part. What you're doing is trying to chip the very bottom of the lightbulb where it screws into the socket- see, that part is glass down there too. You've got to chip the very sturdy & solid glass at the bottom of the bulb enough for you to get in there with pliers and finish the job. Knock out all the glass at the bottom, reach in and pull out the inner parts with pliers, and then clean out the inside. I don't know, but I assume that the white coating is bad for you. I assume the whole thing is bad for you. I tend to use a damp paper towel. Eventually I need to rince it with water, but I leave the used water out to evaporate and toss whatever it dried up in away (rather then dump it down the sink. Cracking and cleaning out lightbulbs is fun and mildly therapeutic, in my opinion. I often will empty a light bulb (once it's dead) for the fun of it, even if I don't have a project in mind.

Part 2 : Crayons.
I used melted crayon wax (red of course) to cover the raw end of the bulb, where I opened it. If you are only going to melt crayons once or twice (who could possibly stop at that??) then make little meth-head like spoons out of wire and tinfoil to hold the melted crayon over a candle with. If you're going to do it more (and you shooooould), invest in a basic metal ladle- I got a pair at a cooking store and have been exceptionally happy with my purchase. I also have one of those magnifying-glass/gator clip assistans that will hold the ladle over the candle for me. How cool is that? Anyway, I poored tiny bits of crayon in at a time and spun the bulb. As you can see, a couple drops slipped down but I'm happy more didn't spill. Less is more.

Part 3 : Fabric.
So I had this awesome bulb that looked mildly bloody. I sewed a tight fabric sleeve around it in red from which to build on. Realizing that making it the mouth/opening into some creature would just look too inappropriate, I drape a creature over it. First just the curved back in blue, with two blue extensions hanging down for legs eventually. Then a blue extension for the top of the snout. Then two slivers of white for the lips. Then a long white strip for under the throat. Now it's time to sew and wire the mouth. I can't remember if I sewed the wire down to the body fabric or to the red mouth fabric first. Always attach the wire to the fabric directly! Then I attached the fabric to the fabric. The head is done.

Cut white fabric for the inner thigh and sew up. As you're doing so, run a wire through and leave the "ends" of the thigh loose- we'll close them after we do the chicken legs. For the legs, take basic strips of gold fabric and twist them around the leg. Then take a thick strand of yarn and do a sparse twist around the leg. Then use pale tan (and hopefully mildly invisible) sewing thread (not embroidery floss!) to hold it all in place. Once the legs are done, go back and close up the thigh-- you should be able to tuck the ragged end of the chicken legs under the thigh fabric for a cleaner close. Add a pair of black beads for claws (I didn't have enough for the hind fingers sadly)

Now consider the tail. Note that even now with the very posable legs the creature can't actually stand. It's unbalanced unsurprisingly! So find a nice length of weighty chain. Simple rocks/rice stuffing wont work because it'll puddle incorrectly. The chain is a heavy weight all the way down. Hook that to the body (attaching to the wire in the legs for a good anchor), wrap with stuffing, and then cut fabric to cover it. Sew it all down and you're done.

Thoughts :
Cute! Super cute! I don't know why, but it's cute despite having a gaping wound as if a lightbulb had been shoved into it's gut. This took a comparatively quick time to make. One evening to gut the bulb and coat it. And then two evenings worth of work for the sewing (I think... this was a while ago....). I received several comments from the people at work about it- it's one of the most popular pieces so far. The tight fitting of the head/jaw wire really helps I think. The wide mouth is also intriguing- I often try for a "wedge" shaped head but so rarely succeed like I did here.

So the tail twists... so what. That's what happens when you pull your fabric to line up rather then cutting the patterns correctly in the first place.

At work I in theory used it to store a single pen. The bulb opening was too narrow for more then one pen/pencil... the mouth could hold one as well.... overall, far more good looking then it is practical.

A co-worker's young son was quite taken by the beast-y. The father even inquired the next day at work as to how one could make it. Imagine that! A young lad not normally given to the 'feminine' arts was so inspired by my critter he actually wanted to learn to sew so he too could make one! Thrilling! What better compliment is there?

Alas, while paper was cut before fabric there was no way to transmit the 'pattern'. How can you explain something that was constructed via a feeling and tugging of fabric? This is one of the most non-replicable creatures I've made due to the melding of bulb and fabric and wire. And so I wrung my hands and made vague mutterings and provided nothing useful. Typical. An excellent opportunity lost.

2010-01-29T21:37:00.000-08:00

Project : Crocheting Monsters - How To : Part 1 The Body
Reasoning: This is a work-in-progress post. Inspired by a Ravelry msg board discussion.
Rough Draft :
1. The Body

A good monster leans on the kidney shape with all its might. At least for the look I aim for. Spheres and cones can get you somewhere, sure, but not where I'm going. It's the kidney. So organic! So in flux! So versatile! One of my cardinal rules when worken' it is to never have a static shape. Tubes are death. Death tubes. Of yarn. This becomes far more difficult when working on limbs, but that's a problem for another day. At least with the torso, tubes are pretty easy to avoid. Cones are just kidneys you don't round out and bend sharply enough.

Why kidney? Because kidney can be anything! And you should approach the project open to anything. Starting a crochet monster is like starting a relationship. Don't go in with too many strong expectations. You can have some basic ground rules- color, size, texture, mood- but anything more will be stifling. Especially for the first, say 5 or so. Be open. Be flexible. If you don't have a specific shape, you can't fail. And that is why the kidney is awesome. Say you start off hoping for an 4 limbed monster with a slightly hunched back. Camel like, lets say. But oops! You curved too sharply and tapered the rump/main bump off too slowly. Well now you just turn that on end, and you've got an upright with a hunched back-- maybe the head built in already. It's all good.

Okay, sure, lets say we all love kidney's now. How to make them? I use (on the torso at least) only 3 things- increase, decrease, and double back. I don't know how common it is, but when I'm crocheting I chug along one way, hook in hand X. Well, if I want to induce a turn, I just toss my hook in to the opposite and and start pilling stitches on in the other direction, back-tracking. This doubling back- first spanning a large area and then shortening the span as you add more rows- is the easiest way to get a gradual curve. This also helps with the flaring that you find in a kidney bean shape.

The key to working with a changing shape is to always be aware of your 'future tube' projection. Look at the "rim" of your crochet. Imagine what would happen if you added twenty rows without any increases or decreases or double-backs. Here I'm going to reference my icky-ugly image. We are looking at a kidney shape from slightly 'behind and above'. You might think I'd say 'we started working from the tiny end down' but I must state that I usually start a little ways down from the actual 'tiny end' end. I start 25% of the way 'down', work towards the big end. Then clip it, do the tiny end, then go back and close off the tiny little gap I left remaining on the big end. Helps with stuffing & weights. But anyway! I digress... shaping....

In this image. We see Figure A. Imagine that we started crocheting right there on that left most red band. Well, if we look at Figure B. you can see the green 'future tube' that path will take us. Ick! We have to aim the tube downwards. And so I do some double backs. Back in Figure A. the red lines mean I'm crocheting <--- and the green lines mean I'm crocheting ---->. After I've done that you can see my 'future tube' in Figure B. Hmmm... Now I'm angled too far down! And kind of too thick. Well, don't freak out. I have to continue out to the vague purple dotted line there before I've reached my max girth, then I can start rapidly dwindling. How does the 'future tube' help me know that? Well... I can't quite put my finger on it, but it does....

Note that when I'm going from Figure C. as is to the purple dotted line, doubling back alone isn't going to cut it. I'm increasing my area and that means increases in my stitching. Note that the length of the dotted purple line is far larger then the length of the current edge (measured from where it intersects the dotted line). This, plus the fact that I'm not actually curving that rapidly, is what tells me double-backs and increases are what I want.

I can't stress enough how to think about each stitch taking a uniform space. Now I'm going to violate this rule in future posts, but for the most part, pretend that every stitch is the same size. One stitch = one stitch blob. If you increase, when you get back to that spot on the next row you will have two blobs where you earlier had one. When you decrease, right then and there you are squishing two blobs into one. When you double-back be mindful that there your perimeter grows and therefor more blobs are being added to the rim over time slowly. Stitches are blobs and blobs want to be evenly distributed. So if you increase at evenly spaced out intervals, your shape will gradually expand. If you increase rapidly in one location, or at the same spot every time around the row, you'll get a cancer blob. Which isn't always a bad thing. Stitch blobs can only take up X amount of space each (no stretching) and they only WANT to take up X amount of space (no crowding).

If you can make it through all that text above, I applaud you. Makes my eyes cross a bit just reading it. A couple final notes about the torso-

don't add wire-frame (if you're going to add it) until after you finish the torso. If you need a spine running through the torso, wait till as long as possible to avoid adding it. I'll talk more about this later
Stuff as you go (even if it can potentially fall out the other end). Seeing the shape evolve in it's inflated form really helps!
I only work with 'fuzzy' yarn. This is because if you work with non-fuzzy, sock-like yarn you can see the actual stitches clearly and they don't look that nice. This is tooootally opposite the whole arigumi style. I aim for slightly furry (but not Fun Fur level) yarns. If your yarn isn't fuzzy (enough), AFTER you finish the project, you can take a cat brush to it and make it fuzzy. Damnit.
Multi-color bodies are hard. First do torsos all in one yarn. The, eventually put a split somewhere- the rump or neck is a different color. Then, eventually, a tummy or stripes is possible, but switching between yarns makes shaping hard. I'm just finishing something with spots. That was *really* hard (and the spots didn't turn out all that well)
If it wasn't clear from this topic- start with the torso. Head, limbs, etc comes later. Just torso to start with! Just torso!

Next Topic : Limbs
(Eventual Topics : Head, Extra Body Parts, Non-Yarn Items)

Review: CD Swap : 2 : Tree

2010-01-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Project : CD Swap 2010 Review 2 of 12
CD Name : (the image of a tree- sorta' Prince like. I'll call it Tree for now)
Arranged By : Helen
Duration : 1.3 hours
Tracks :

Shempi	Ratatat
1980 World Champion	The Bad Plus
Unless It's Kicks	Okkervil River
Shaping Lights	Ohm Guru
Neighborhood 1- Tunnels	Arcade Fire
Phenomena	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Big Score	The Fort Knox Five
A Love Song Part 2	Foxtail Somersault
World Class	Tomihira
All To Be Undone	Tomihira
Ayahuasca Deep Fall	Gaudi
A cheater's armoury	Hanne Hukkelberg
We're From Barcelona	I'm From Barcelona
Just For Now	Imogen Heap
"Andy, You're A Star	The Killers
Black Magic Carpet	Lilys
From a Tower	love like fire
Letter Read	Rachael Yamagata
A Love Idea	Mark Knopfler/Last Exit To Brooklyn Soundtrack

CD case:

First listened to it : The first half was in the car while I was driving down with Adam from SF to Mt. View. 1/10/10 @ ~5:32 pm. In it's entirety would be 1/12/10 @ 8:16pm

Favorite Track: I liked track 4- Shaping Lights as well as track 11 Ayahuasca Deep Fall. They both fit well with the CD and work well stand alone. Since listening to it my preference between the two swings one way and then back the other.

Overall Thoughts: A solid CD. It has a very strong "walking somewhere" sound to me. A steady beat throughout everything- some songs are slower, some are a bit faster- but I felt always. I feel that it goes from strange instrumental songs back to indie quite well. A vaguely feel-good CD.

Specific Thoughts: First off my CD is scratched. This causes some tension between Adam and I because I think his dying car stereo might have done some of this. He claims it came that way. The CD is listenable, but on my computer Neighborhood 1- Tunnels had some hiccups.

I like the CD casing. It's simple and pretty and sturdy and thin. A CD casing I'm likely to keep for the entire CD's lifetime. My Tree CD was #7-- I like that it is numbered.

As I said in the Overall section, a strong, well flowing CD. All, that is, except for the second track. On initial listening I tried to defend it but repeated plays I'm still, like, -"WTF?" when it comes on. But it rolls by rather quickly and everything else flows. I like the mix of female and male musicians- I feel most CDs fail to mix them properly. A little on the long side, but there isn't a single turning point where this was obvious. I'd shake my finger about the 3 songs coming from the same sampler- that's cheating for a mix CD!- but I've used 2 from the same source myself (I just was clever enough to list them as coming from their original sources). Still, 2 songs by the same artist back to back looks strange on paper... though I don't believe my ear noticed much.

I find it interesting that I like, but am not wildly in love with the CD. I feel this stems from the fact that the music select is similar enough to what I listen to that I can follow along but lacks the more aggressive style I like and therefor fails to kindle great passion in my heart.

Closing Thought :

Fish! I swear the CD sang of fish! From the opening track I had such a visual image of a young, normal girl walking down the street observing fish swimming through the air about her. Three or more other tracks backed this vivid image up. Strange... intentional?

In-Progress

2010-01-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

Project : Unnamed
Date : 1/18/10
Materials : Yarn!
Tools : Crochet Hook

Current State!:

Thoughts :
I wish I didn't post so infrequently... and try as I might I can't produce creations faster... The compromise? Post in-progress reports.

They're playing Rockband downstairs.... When discussing this fellow, the idea of a more awesome version with stake knives, rather then suction cup, feet was suggested. If it wasn't already promised to Adam, I'd switch.... The idea of a larger creature, with coin scales and a large butcher knife fin/spine was also discussed... with fishing hooks for claws....

Review: CD Swap : 1 : CD Exchange 2010

2010-01-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Project : CD Swap 2010 Review 1 of 12
CD Name : CD Exchange 2010?
Arranged By : ?
Duration : 1: hr 12 min
Tracks :
CORRECT playlist order

wenn ich einmal soll scheiden (When once I must depart)	J. S. Bach
Fratres	Arvo Part
From me flows what you call time	Toru Takemitsu
Anthem - Part 3	Philip Glass
Olson	Boards of Canada
All that makes us human continues	BT
In Mind	Do Make Say Think

INCORRECT playlist order... listened to first, by accident

Olson	Boards of Canada
All that makes us human continues	BT
In Mind	Do Make Say Think
Fratres	Arvo Part
wenn ich einmal soll scheiden (When once I must depart)	J. S. Bach
From me flows what you call time	Toru Takemitsu
Anthem - Part 3	Philip Glass

CD case:

First listened to it : while sitting in Adam's apartment. Football is on TV but muted -- 1/10/10 10:34 am
Favorite Track: All that makes us human continues as a close second, with Fratres as a close second.

Overall Thoughts: A very mellow CD. Instrumental, soothing. Complex sounding without building that much energy. Very soundtracky without containing any noticable soundtrack songs. Starts classical, ends electronicy

Specific Thoughts:
First of all, the whole not being an audio CD-- not cool. It couldn't be played in Adam's CD player in his house or in the car, which made me sad. Also, despite the warning on the CD both Adam and I miss-understoond and listened to the entire CD out of order the first time around.

Upon listening to it a second time, my feelings are much warmer. The first two tracks start off well. But then a 36 minute track, POW! The song(s. I pluralize because it has several gaps in the track itself, breaking it up) I have no complaint against... but the duration... too much.

The second song sounded like several things to me- bouncing between Star Wars and Predator at times. The crazy marimba music woven into it was... strange. I really enjoyed the second track the most and felt the first one was a good build up to it.

The 'From me flows what you call time' track has crazy marimba music. Not sure how I feel about that. Very sound-track sounding. Very mellow... I at times almost forget it's playing. Seems like I need to have good quality headphones on to enjoy it. The track is 36 minutes long and sounds like several songs- even has pauses where transitions are between them. One of the parts reminds me of the Predator soundtrack a bit.. Also, a minute of silence at the end of the track? Was it necessary?

I like the second half of the CD- good transitions between songs. I like how strange 'all that makes us human continues' becomes... Reminds me a bit of 65daysofstatic.

Closing Thought :

From ethereal fey to 60s sci-fi robot to enthusiastic creature... Can't say I was on the same page as the sound, but at least it was cohesive. Really. fey, robot, monster... cohesive, trust me.

Upcoming Posts - Doug's CD Exchange party '09-'10

2010-01-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

Project : Post a review for each CD
Date : 1/9/10 @ 8pm
CD count : 10 (including my own) + possibly 2 more later

What?: Adam and I were kindly invited/allowed to be part of Doug's CD swap this year. Thirteen people total were involved this year. The goal- create a mighty fine mix CD and then make 12 copies of it and in return receive 12 new mix CDs. This is our second year and both times we had a great time and spent a lot of effort on our playlists and CD packaging. Others spent more time, others spent less time. For us though it was great fun to talk about music (Adam much enjoys speaking at great lengths about music, he has a vast collection, varied taste, and great memory for such things) and to design a mass produced art project (the packaging quest was my favorite stage)

The goal: To make a blog post reviewing each individual CD. Last year we listened to them but not much came from it. This year I hope to meditate upon each and share the details of it as well as my thoughts. I will be reviewing both mine and Adam's as well. Please let me know if you would like particular tracks from a CD.

Finished Product: In the mean time to hold you over, here are the piles of CDs that Adam and I brought to the party.

Rebecca's CD collection

Adam's CD collection

Project : Casting with Crayons

2009-05-03T12:10:00.001-07:00

Project : Casting with Crayons
Date : April 2009
Materials : Crayons!, Tap silicone RTV A & B (blue), lots of paper towers, tape, super glue, hot glue, poster board, clay, things that I wanted to cast
Tools : Saw, glue gun, candle, lighter, aluminum can, stir stick, disposable measuring cups
Finished Product:

Process:

Part A : Make the mold
To make the mold I cut out the box pieces from poster board and hot glued them together. I then just stuck things where they would fit- using two methods of attachment. A: clay! just stick it to the wall and stick the item into the clay. The end. B: Tape and glue! If I had double sided tape, this would be way easier... but I didn't... so I glued the non-sticky side down and stuck gears to the sticky side. After I was set, I mixed up the silicone mold as described on the side of the bottles. It's a mess, I wont detail the steps, they're already written down on the product. But *so* messy. Note: I used un-baked clay and it greatly slowed down the drying of mold touching it. The tape did as well, I believe.

Part B : Cast with crayons
Take your average soup can and wash it out & dry it. Throw some crayons in it. Light a candle. You can hold (with your fingers! How neat!) the can over the flame and melt the candles. Careful- the can get warm if your holding it near where you're warming it... experiment, you'll figure it out quick. Pour into molds! Tada! It dries super-quick for the shallow molds but deeper ones of course take longer- I just threw it in the fridge to speed up cooling down. I found that if I pour a bit, pushed it down with a stick and poured some more there was no structure issues and it filled the mold out more (for the gear teeth).

Thoughts :
Tape method works really well but still having difficulties... how now to prevent/remove the excess/overflow on top of the mold? Hmmm.. For things like the screw, rocking the screw back and forth a bit in the clay pre-pouring to allow the mold to inch up & around a bit more helped. The varied speeds of drying freaked me out, but now I know! The hand mold is difficult to remove, but none other are...

They're cool, but I'm not sure what to do with them... re-melting the gears is a pleasure to watch. Haven't tried to draw with them yet, so I don't know how sturdy they are. They respond well to modification via a heated needle after they've dried.

My current goal is to eat a computational machine. A thing that does something- I want to eat it. Consume it entirely. Ever seen the movie Ravenous? Sort of like that... I've given a lot of thought about how to consume circuitry, but I don't see how it'd work... so now I'm settling on a mechanical device... my goal to to better my skills with casting so I can buy food-safe silicone and create wonders... movable, edible, yummie wonders.... some day...

Project: Squeaky Mule

2009-04-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Project : Squeaky Mule
Date : Winter 2008-2009
Materials : Yarn (3 types), fabric (2 types), 2 beads, pipe cleaners, stuffing, thread, squeaky bladder from cat toy
Tools : Crochet hook, scissors, needle, cat brush
Finished Product:

Process:

I don't remember much about this project. I think I just started going with the purple yarn, letting me head wherever. I made sure it had a large enough butt for a squeaker toy (purchased before starting the project) and that it was long enough for 3 pairs of limbs. I crocheted the main part of the torso in the purple, then continued on a bit with the darker purple.

I stuck simple pipe cleaners through the body to get a fill of the size and placement of all limbs as soon as I could. These worked as guides for the rest of the project and were very helpful. I then crocheted the thighs- brushing the patches that I could as I went.

After most the brushing (though I continued to do so all the way throughout), I cut basic tubes of cotton fabric and sewed them to the leg stumps. The folds at the joints are actually sewn in- this definitely helps with shaping. I capped the bottom of the feet with a sort of satiny fabric.

The head was the same satiny fabric (the lower jaw, I thought for some reason, should be crochet and so I extended a patch of the white down there prior to sewing. I cut the pattern pieces for the head as I went and hand stitched it all together very hap-haphazardly. Luckily, the head isn't many pieces- a lower jaw, a top of the muzzle, and then a forehead. I added the eyes and then cut tiny scraps and sewed them down for eyelids/eye shaping. Vital for finishing the piece.

Thoughts :
Far more "cute' then I was expecting. An easy, relitively quick for crochet, mindless project with good results. It can both stand (on sufficiently rough surfaces) and sit in a very adorable manner. The eyes are so soulful and shiny and tiny! For some crazy reason I thought of making the head a skull- hence the pealed back yarn from the face, but wimped out in the end and just did it fabric. However, several people have commented that it looks rather skull-like. This makes me very happy.

I know it's just a toy. A long coil of string that has been fashioned into a shape by my hand. It has no soul nor life inside it- it has only the stuffing and squeaky bladder I put in it. But... I am unreasonably fond of this creature. Purhaps it's the pile of limbs that it looks like when it sits. It's shiny eyes that reflect the bright points of light, no matter how dim or diffuse, have such emtion as they peer from the scraps of fabric I've fastened around them. It's just things I've shaped, but makes me want to coo at it, snuggle it, and protect it.

Mutated Monster

2009-04-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Project : Mutated Monster
Date : mostly February & March 2009
Materials : Yarn, felt, fabric (2 types), wool (3 types), wire, 2 beads, magnets, thread, stuffing
Tools : Crochet hook, scissors, needle, needle felting needle, pliers, cat hair brush
Finished Product:

Process:
At some point I made the body. It was a long time ago... back when I worked on the skeletal monster I believe... ages ago (as in sumer 2008?). Anyway, at some point in time I had made this mint green kinda' kidney shaped body that had been somewhat brushed. From there, I continue on....

I finished off the body with a couple green stitches to close the tummy and extend the neck up a bit. Then I brush it as thoroughly as I can. I then push some wire through it for 4 legs (of course I was thinking 6, but I just never got around to squeezing in the other 2). A friend comes over and so I'm talking about needle felting and we just sorta' go at the body willy-nilly with whatever wool I have. The spots and stripes and gag-worthy pink... "stuff" is added then.

Deciding that I'm not crocheting a single stitch more for this, I start to sew. I to a pinch of brown felt on the thighs of the hind legs and then follow it up with brown fabric. The legs are slender and the shaping coming almost entirely from the wire within. At the end, I put a tiny magnet it and close it off with a felt sole. Repeat or the other leg. Because this is now a felting project, I go hog-wild just stabbing some brown stuff onto the felt thigh. Not a lot of planning there. I don't want to work to hard on the project so the for-legs are just fabric. No felt means no need to cover with needle felting. Included the magnet though. This means the monster can stand against a fridge on all 4 legs.

The head is sewn on, made out of felt. There's weak attempt to make a wired jaw but the jaw wires are never anchored to the fabric and so it's sorta' lame in the end. A scrap of red fabric is just wedged in there- the whole skull tossed together rather freely. No pre-planned pattern, just rough shapes drawn out as needed and cut. Two *large* ears are sewn on. The head starts to get wool felted onto it... one ear is attacked by the needles but it turns out to look rather stupid, large, and floppy. The second ear (visible in the pictures above) remains untouched. Bead eyes are added on, basic eyelids added, and more skull felt. And then the project just stops. It's not really "finished", but I'm done.

Thoughts :
I'm just happy to get it done. It had been just a stupid body laying around for ages. It was either this or toss it. I like how evil the face sorta' looks. Sewing with felt was fun- it's *so* easy to work with! It however looks terrible to my eye. It was sort of liberating to say "To Hell With It!" and felt whatever. I'm sad about the ears... and *very* sad I didn't do the mouth right. Rather then be positionable, it's just sorta' lumpy now and forever hanging slightly open.
The eyes! The beads I selected (at the last moment) are awesome because they're vaguely yellow and look as if they glow. Gives him a sort of evil blind monster look.
Being highly positionable and on the fridge is fun- I just wish the magnets were stronger since he can't really hold anything up on his own- other then himself. Wire frame + magnets... not wise.

I let Mel felt some wool onto him. She seemed shy at first- here was my creation and I was giving her my blessings and craft supplies to alter it. I'm not sure how many stabs it took, but after affixing her second tuft of wool she seemed gleeful and giddy. There can not possibly be many things in the world as awesome as discovering a new craft. It's not merely learning how to do something. It's learning that there's this whole new possible way of making things. It's so new that you can't even comprehend doing it wrong- your eyes simply glaze over at the thought of doing it at all.

Foo Man Choo-Chew Bear

2009-04-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Project : Foo Man Choo-Chew Bear
Date : March 2009
Materials : Yarn (3 types), fabric (2 types), wool (2 types), some wire, 2 beads, thread, stuffing, a battery, part of an old t-shirt, some tiny glass stones, a cat toy, stuffing
Tools : Crochet hooks, needle, pliers, sissors, needle felting needle
Finished Product:

Process:
Upon acquiring a neat skein of yarn, just start working on making something- anything. You can never go wrong with a fist-sized round-ish shape (a kidney shape would be better, but in this case the yarn was just too crazy/bitchy to take much shaping). Later, when you realize you've crocheted a lump, try to jazz it up by sticking a spherical rattly cat toy inside it. Hey, now it's a lump that rattles when you shake it! Make sure you line the inside of the creature with some fabric (old t-shirt) so that the stuffing doesn't ooze out. Oh, add some stuffing. Leave the bottom open for last-minute modifications later.

Switch to a softer, easier to use yarn and crochet up a stump of a head. When you get to the jaw level (top of the jaw), stop and sew down a mouth. Do this by folding some cardboard in half, trimming it to the right shape, taping tiny magnets to either side of it (the "outside" of the folded cardboard), covering it with red fabric, then sewing half of it down onto the yarn jaw. The magnets should cause the mouth to snap closed. When resuming crocheting, rather then grabbing the stitches the mouth is sewn to, make a chain as long as the circumstance of the mouth and work from that. Continue crocheting up and around. When you get half-way up the head, sew the upper-jaw yarn to the top half of the folded mouth. Now go back and finish the head (stuffing the whole time as you go).

Aim to make some stubby legs. Do a tiny pair on the front (in the end, they'll be the middle pair). Crochet them with a thick easy yarn- nothing complicated, just a tube. Then do the hind pair- crochet just far enough so that its ass isn't resting on the ground when it stands. Add a battery to the monster's rump to make sure it stays balanced. Close up the tummy.

Finish the legs by stuffing them, adding a couple glass stones/magic counters, then using tiny scraps of fabric to sew the legs closed at the end. Then add the forearms by sticking some wire through and crocheting down it. Make sure to bend the wire into loops at the end and crochet through & around the loops (it still wont prevent the wire from occasionally poking out, but it helps and hides any sharp points)

The main body is done! Now to add flair- select some really bulbus vaguely green beads, sew them to the head. Realize it's kind of hard to pry open the mouth so add a little mustache and goatee to grab onto. Note the vaguly oriental look the facial hair adds and cut & sew some fabric scraps down over the eyes to give it a heavier glaze. Looks more ancient and wise that way. No eyelids = stupid and/or anime looking. Fin.

Thoughts :
Bought the yarn totally randomly on trip to NY. Started crocheting it at a friend's house out there and found it fun (if not really a look I love). Came home and was compelled to finish it asap. I like how simple and carefree it is. The magnet mouth + wire arms makes him great to hold a note and a pen. Good office desk companion. Very random, very quick (for crochet at least).

Before he was given a face, Adam said he looked like an inset bear. The facial hair - added so the mouth was easier to open - was labeled as being foo man choo like. He has a mouth to hold and/or chew things. Thus the name.

It was unclear whether the bulbous shapes populating its back were the results of a terrible disease or merely the artifacts of an untidy hide. The creature's steps were short and far from graceful. Thin arms dangled down from its curving chest and swayed limply before it with every lurching movement. They continued to swing back and forth even after it came to a stop.

If perhaps it wore an expression as ridiculous as its form, she could laugh at it and dismiss it as joke. But of course there was only a sorrowful gaze offered over the top of the envelope it carried. Gingerly- hesitant to touch it- she tugged the letter free from its mouth before quickly stepping back to the other side of the road. Heaving what sounded like a deeply depressed sigh in miniature, the little thing rocked and swayed itself around and somehow managed to stumble back into the bushes.

Project : Mr. Muggles

2009-01-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

Project : Mr. Muggles
Date : July 2008 - September 2008
Materials : Yarn (3 types), fabric (2 types), beads, wire, chain, foam, stuffing, tiny buttons, thread, glue
Tools : crochet hook, pliers, scissors, cat brush, needled, hot glue gun
Finished Product:

Process:

First panic because there's a set of restrictions applied to the project that you must meet (see below). Then just sorta start crocheting and see how you feel. Start at the neck and work down the body, putting a hunch in for shoulder blades. When done, go back and work from the neck up, including a bulge at the back so a stocking hat that you're never actually going to make can be worn.

Avoid finishing/fleshing out the face because you're afraid and go back to work on the body. Half-assedly stick some wire through the body where the limbs are but since you didn't wire a spine, it doesn't really do all that much. Crochet some limbs! But not all of them at once, because that would be commitment. Skip around between legs, stopping at the knees. Add a super stubby fox tail with a white tip. Then start brushing the body with a cat brush because you're too eager to try it out rather then waiting like a sane person. However, realize that this look is not actually a good one and stop before you destroy the entire piece. The end of the project will have brushed haunches, rump, and tail to cover for your failed experiment.

Suck it up because you have to and go back and finish the 4 limbs you got. Use black instead of red because you still have foxes on the brain. For this same reason & the beard requirement, use white for the lower jaw of the face. Crochet basically a bent O several rows deep around the mouth, then cut fabric to shape and sew it in. Bend a wire in place on the "inside" and sew that down as well. Now pull out the red and finish off the head. Be sure to build up around the brow region with sharp increases/decreases and doubling back for shape.

Because the requirements call for it, go back and stick more wire through the body where it looks like you can, and crochet another pair of arms. Then select the most adorable little black matte beads and use them for eyes. I confess to not remembering how I did the nose....

At this point embrace the fact that your 3rd pair of limbs looks terrible, especially where they join the body. Therefore draft a vest pattern and sew it together to hide this yarn connection. Don't sew it directly to the monster itself, but feel free to sew the arm holes and hem it while the toy is wearing it so that you need only make it look good while worn. Also, don't worry about arm hole size, the vest is never coming off you decide because you sew the vest flaps closed when affixing adorable little buttons to close it.

Realize you still have hat + glasses + beard requirements. Shred some nice white yarn to get those wool chunks that make it. Use a yarn needle and thread them through the chin and hope no one pulls too hard on them. Bend that wire you used for armature into the shape of eyeglasses and then solder the bends together to make it stronger/not look as tacky. Leave a wire protruding on one side so you can shove it into the nose and have it stay. Because the monster is beginning to look posh and because the glasses easily fall out, take a segment of necklace chain and solder it to the glasses and sew the end to the vest. Then use foam to make a top hat- a rectangle, circle, and doughnut shape being cut out and hot-glued together to do so. Now stop before you ruin it.

Thoughts :
Mr. Muggles originally started out from a list of requirements, put forward during a Ravelry exchange. The list : “Head: Beard, Long Pointy Nose,Open Mouth, Extremities: Big Ol Feet, Extra Arms/fingers, Body : Scales, Extra Bits and pieces: Hat, Glasses”. "Ugh!" I thought. What a terrible list to work from. The beard, hat, and glasses made it far too human for what I normally like to do. For some reason I was positively gripped with the notion of a fox early on. I also desperately wanted to apply the "brushing yarn" technique I had heard about. There were a number of sketches done for him, before and during the process of his creation. For the longest time he looked older and wiser- a longer beard, simple un-chained classes perched at the tip of his nose, and a stocking knit sock cap with a bell on the end. Phfff... How quickly things can change when I'm actually crafting something.

The clothing improved him greatly, helped define the body. The brushing of the red failed because the red was too solid and the creature lost form. Sad. The hat idea I had gotten from a friend's gift. I'm only mildly sad that I forgot the "big feet" requirement. The open & wired mouth was positively awesome. Fun and very expressive.

In the end, I love how nervous and stuffy he strikes me as.

Mr. Muggles fidgeted with his glasses as he lifted the saucer and took a tip of tea from a delicate china cup. This whole situation was quite distressing and it appeared that, after his fifth cup, simply sipping tea and hoping would not make it disappear. The velvet that the mechanism had lain in was still indented with it's shape- the glass shards of the display case simply dusting the fabric hills and valleys without disturbing them.

It was gone and he, the curator, had no idea where it had gotten off to. All the devices on display weren't wound- he shuttered to think of what level of chaos would be obtained if even a crank or two were applied to some of the artifacts. If the device certainly hadn't made off on it's own, then what? None of the others had been touched. Why just this one? Muggles lifted his cup again but found it to be empty. Sighing heavily, he set it down on a nearby, intact case and hunched down to think. His fuzzy black paws fidgeted with the phantom archival tag he could already imagine tied about his leg. Oh heavens above, she was going to send him away! He looked around, forlorn. He needed another cup of tea.

Project : Caterpillar Mermaid

2009-01-04T22:55:00.001-08:00

Project : Caterpillar Mermaid
Date : August 2008
Materials : Yarn (3 types), wire, stuffing, fabric, thread, pins
Tools : Crochet hook, pliers, sewing machine, needle, scissors
Finished Product:

Process:

I'm pretty sure I started this ages upon ages ago. And by started, I mean crocheted a basic torso with a tiny V of off-white yarn on the breast. Half crocheted a torso. And put it away for a very long time. Well, along comes August and I pull it out and decide it's too tiny to put your normal limbs on. So I extend it down and down and down further into a snake like shape. Towards the end I give it a couple ring-tail bands of white-white yarn to spice it up. I got back to the top and crochet up a neck/back of the head. At this time, I've also shoved a long wire through the torso.

The scale at this point is rather small and a crocheted face will lack all detail so I switch to fabric. It wasn't meant to be so stubby, it just sort of worked out that way- made of three pieces : the brow, the "butteryfly" muzzle shape, and a tiny wedge underneath for a throat. A two wires are shoved through the torso for arms. That's two wires for four hands. The length of the arm has a basic tube of fabric tightly sewn down it which overlaps the fingers, which for one hand had wire running through them and the second were just folded fabric.

A final pair of legs are half sewn by hand and half with the machine. A wire is stuck through the torso and the legs attached to it. The toes are wired. To finish it off, two black-headed pins are stuck into the face for eyes.

Thoughts :
Pre-final legs, the monster looked really cool. And if I had spent more time on the hind legs, it still might have been cool (remember! Always sew the joints you want! Don't just depend on wires alone for shaping!). The time was not taken, however, since it was a gift to my parents and I was right up against the deadline. The wiring was included so that it could be posable throughout their cubes. They liked it. My mother however considers the pins to be nostrils rather then eyes. Interesting. The degree of pose-ability with this thing is lots of fun, I really wish I had had the time to make a stop-motion clip with it.

There is a woman who I speak to when I go to the drawing group Dr. Sketchy's. We admire each other's work and chat, me somewhat shyly and her with the obligatory crazy-artist zest. During these periods, I often pull out whatever my current in-progress craft project is and crochet in the long pauses when the models take breaks. Being nice and polite, she comments on them and some times makes observations on what they look like in their unfinished state. This one she observed minus the hind legs and declared it to be a Caterpillar Mermaid! I like it.

Project : Bat-Bunny-Dragon

2009-01-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

Project : Bat-Bunny-Dragon
Date : January 2008 - July 2008?
Materials : fabric (satin black, furry black, red satin), yarn, foam, stuffing, beads (teeth & eyes), black electrical tape, wire, white out, thread
Tools : sewing machine, crochet hook, needle, scissors, pliars

Finished Product:

Process:

Make a basic wire-frame body for the torso and wings. Randomly cut out scraps of fuzzy black fabric and sew together the torso. Tape up the "fingers" of the wings with black electrical tape. Cut satiny black fabric to size and sew to/around the electrical tape. Leave enough on the bottom of the wings to fold over and sew. Paint a white line of white-out along the edge of the wings (where the fabric is doubled). Cut a thin strip of fuzzy fabric and sew along the "arm" of the wings.

Crochet a "tube" using fuzzy black yarn for the neck. Add more wire to the armature to make up the head and neck. Slip fuzzy neck over it and sew to torso. Crochet a couple final touches onto other end of neck. Randomly cut & sew up a narrow lower jaw with red fabric for inside the mouth. Randomly sew up the top of the head. Think long narrow triangles for the whole thing. Affix both to the neck and each other (can't remember the order) and slip some wire into them at the same time. Cut out some foam ears, attach to head with slight curve. Add eyes. Use a bunch of tiny triangular beads and sew along lip-line for teeth.

Switch to the other end. Add more wire, cut a big triangle of fuzzy black fabric, fold in half, sew to butt, then sew up seam around wire, stuffing as you go. At the very tip, just tie down some white stuffing for a POOF! tail. Switch back to legs and FREAK OUT. Then give up and sew two tiny tubes and affix them to the legs. At this point, call it quits.

Thoughts :
This went from having amazing potential, to being meh, to sucking, to settling on meh. The in-progress photo is my favorite. The head was neat, but I didn't scale it right and so it threw off the whole project. But the time I got to the feet, I just gave up because nothing would fit with the totally wacky scale I had going. Oh, by the way, there was a near six month gap between the awesome stage and the "I screwed this up" stage... But I've reached the point where a stupid finished project is better then a potentially-awesome unfinished one.

The original design was based on this character created by a friend. The wings were awesome for it, and the scruffy neck... but when I stuck the head on there it was, like, 100 times too large and threw off the entire project. The wings look awesome, but are time consuming to make so that's why I ditched on the original tail design as well.

I've come away from the project with a good wing design/approach, a finished project, and a so-so monster that I can hang in interesting places using it's wired tail. Also learned- I can come back to projects and should! Because as lame as they look, they still look better then something with protruding wires that only I can "see".

The creature wobbled forward a couple steps and then two to the left. It shook it's head and chirped. Leaning back on her chair, the woman took the pins from between her lips and handed them to a plump sewing assistant. Sticking them into it's back, it waddled off to the corner of the desk and hunched down. The new creation cheeped and stuck out it's luxuriously maned neck- it's large head bobbing and swaying as it watched the sewing assistant. A long and crooked tail thumped the desktop twice but the woman picked the creature up just as it tried to spring forward.

Her long fingers closed about it's torso, holding it's wings against its body while stubby little feat kicked frantically below. The friendly bird sounds were replaced by a low growl and hiss before it's jaws locked onto her thumb, worrying at the flesh with its nubby little teeth.

"Perhaps I can use it as a decoy," the woman said with a sigh. "It seems noisy enough, and I must have miss read my measurements at some point because at this scale those wings will do nothing but drag." Shaking her head, she tossed the poor thing over her shoulder and went in search for the miss-placed decimal point somewhere in her calculations. Warbling deep in it's throat, the creature picked itself up off the floor and waddled forward to mingle with the other things shuffling about the laboratory.

Project : Chewie-kun

2008-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Project : Chewie-kun
Date : August-ish 2008
Materials : Brown fake fur, brown simple fabric, red satin-y fabric, two beads, thread, stuffing, 2 batteries, tinfoil
Tools : Sewing machine, scissors, needle
Finished Product:

Process:
After sketching out an initial rough idea, which took the Chewbacca character and tried to make it as simple as possible, I just went at it with rough paper patterns and cut into the fabric. As I usually do when working with little fore-thought, I cut most pieces large and simply trimmed & tucked them down as I went to achieve the shapes. Made the torso first, then the head (lower jaw and upper skull being separately constructed pieces). Before connecting fuzzy head together, I sewed the inner mouth down with fancy red fabric. . The limbs were cut and made, bottom first. They have a slight flare as the limbs extend. Sewed a "kink" into the legs where the knees are. I wanted him to have more weight and hang better, so I stuffed the bottom of his feet with old batteries. I can't remember if I put them in the feet alone, or all four limbs. Used the basic brown fabric to make little circle caps at the end of the limbs. Added eyes. He didn't quite scream Chewbacca enough so I went and sewed a little sash, put a pouch at the end, and then folded tinfoil and sewed straps down for it. The end.

Thoughts : Gave it to my ex-co-worker and good friend Darren, who seemed to like it. That's good. The quality of craftsmanship was kinda' iffy... the fur hid my stitches while preventing me from making strong ones... The batteries in the feet added an adorable weight to it- making them swing back and forth just so- and seemed like a great use of dead batteries. I am holding onto all future dead batteries for such a purpose. Does anyone know if this can cause a problem somehow? The tinfoil "amo" was very tacky, but the belt was nice. Put a coin in the pouch, adding a nice weight. Given how quickly it was made, and how hard it is to mach Chewbacca fur specs from your average craft stash... it all turned out as a lame "okay".

He shuffled forward, long arms swinging back and forth and the fur around his feet rapidly accumulating a thick coating of dust bunnies. He could feel them dragging him down slowly, the Will of this space wishing him to stop and stay. The back of the couch towered above him, allowing only a thin sliver of living room light to tickle down. Ahead he could see the crumpled form half standing- propped up by wall and couch.

Something made a scuttling sound under the couch and Chewie-kun made a low moaning sound in fear. At the noise, Han Solo's stubby arm jerked and tried to wave. He wasn't as well stuffed as the fuzzier toy and the therefor was not able to right himself on his own. Han had only fallen behind the couch yesterday but already a heavy layer of cobwebs and dust had settled on him. A little fabric leg was bent and hidden entirely by the couch as if something had tried to pull him under.

With a growing roar, Chewie-kun shuffled faster for the last couple steps and charged full force- or as forceful as a toy can- into Han. There really was no better way to do it- when you've no hands but just fumble-y appendages, pushing and pulling in close quarters becomes hard. Both carried forward half a foot or so before landing in a pile. With his head lower, Chewie-kun could see something metallic glint in the dark under of the couch.

"WUUUURRrrrrrrr!" Chewie shouted, sweeping a limb back and forth to fend off the threat. Han had managed to squiggle over him and was limping and flopping toward the other end of the couch. Kicking and swinging his limbs, Chewie-kun continued, trying to follow. They *had* to get out now, or risk being trapped here forever- forgotten and molding!

Squeaky Toy Monster

2008-04-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Project : Squeaky Toy Monster
Date : September 07 - October 07
Materials : Squeaky toy, yarn (2 types), buttons, fabric, thread, stuffing
Tools : Sewing machine, needle, crochet hook
Finished Product:

Process:

Take a squeaky toy- this one having been bought spur of the moment like at a checkout stand for $2. Crochet around it. In my case, mine was spherical and spiky. I noticed the spikes were sticking through the shaggier yarn so I switched half way through. Go back and start making a head. Switch halfway through to the limbs. In this case (and in general good practice) it's always good to do 1/2 to 3/4ths of the legs on all of them or at least a a pair on each before you finish them. I used a curve of black for hooves since I believe I was running out of yarn. After a long delay, I came back to it and not wanting to crochet more since it would muddy the look of the thing, I sewed a simple beak and attached it along with 2 (different sized) button eyes. Fin.

Thoughts :
Totally random project. I was visiting Seattle and came ill-prepared for the planned craft day. Grabbed the toy and yarn day of and did most of the base and some of the limbs in one sitting. I really like the curve of the hind legs and the hooves son all of them. The beak was the result of laziness but still looks good. It did take multiple sittings and there was a *massive* delay in the middle, but I'm still going to list it as "time: quick" since it was light speed compared to my normal crochet projects

Do not ask me what it is. It is made of yarn- do you know of any creatures made of yarn? No, I didn't think so. So why should it be confined to 'being' some creature of flesh and blood that you are already familiar with? It is like a gargoyl, made from an unliving substance, suggestive of many different creatures and yet very firmly of it's on kind. And like a gargole, it perches upon my castle walls and watches over me, protecting.

Of course, when I say "perches" I mean barely balances and my castle walls are rather short and defining a very personal eight by eight plot of office space. The only protection it offers notification of incoming attack with a loud squeak since my cube-mate, when arriving or leaving, can not seem to avoid squeezing it and, if I'm unlucky, chucking it blindly at me over the wall.

Project : Skull Bear

2008-03-12T16:01:00.001-07:00

Project : Skull Bear
Date : January 2008
Materials : Wire, tin foil, clay, white out, hot-glue, a pinch of fabric, yarn (2 types), thread, beads (temporarily)
Tools : Crochet hook, needle, hot glue gun, oven
Finished Product:

Process:

Given that I'm a poor sculptor, I started with the head. Looking back, I would have started with the body- as I do with almost all my projects- and *then* done the head. Sigh. Live and learn. Anyway, I bent some wire and used some tinfoil and then some clay and BAM, I made a skull. Of course I was desperately looking at photos while I did this and it still sucked. There's a skull top and seperate jaw, mind you. Baked them, then painted 'em with white-out. Started crocheting the bear. Had massive, massive, *massive* problems sculpting it correctly. Left a gap at the bottom and also inserted a wire spine. Got glued a scrap of fabric to the clay bits and then sewed that to the yarn. Had difficulties sewing it such that the two would line up. Then I crocheted the limbs. Put very stupid looking beads on as claws, closed up the rump and called it good. Went away for a while, then came back to it. Sculpted clay claws and then went over the chest with some re-shaping crochet and added an (ugly) tail. During this all one of the teeth broke off but was easily hot glued back on and then repainted with whiteout. Several paint touch-ups were needed throughout but luckily whiteout is easy to find, use, and dries fast (the reasons I picked it)

Thoughts :
Good first try. Interesting idea I will have to try again. Skulls are a bitch though- hard to draw, hard to sculpt. Toy was made upon request for Moonykins for the Ohantra character. You can see I was less successful adapting this one- moved it from an on-all-fours character to a more doll-like form. Also the shaping around the jawline failed despite my best efforts. Really, I blame working head-first for most these problems. It's actually really fun to play with. I like making the mouth open and close to sing along with whatever I'm listening to. The sculpted claws are also quite awesome- the hands are individual claws while the toes are fixed in a row.

Project : Furry Doll

2008-03-12T16:00:00.002-07:00

Project : Furry Doll
Date : Feburary 2008-March 2008
Materials : Fabric (white, pink, orange, green), pink wool, yarn, thread, stuffing, embroidery floss (green, black, pink), rice?
Tools : sewing machine, needle, scissors
Finished Product:

Process:

Shockingly simple once the basic form of the head was settled on. Unfortunately I shipped the toy of months ago and cannot remember/figure out from photos how the head was shaped... I think there was a connection between head and neck, but maybe not? You can tell there is a clear connection between neck and body. Head and body were connected, then the legs made, compared, and then connected. Next the arms were made, compared, and connected. In both cases an incorrect limb was made that was discarded. Filled with rice (I think?) to achieve a heavier feeling. Very basic. The hair was small chunks of wool pulled through the fabric. The eyes, eyebrows, and mouth were embroidered on while the nose was an actual scrap of fabric. The headband and tank-top straps were yarn. The cloths were extremely basic in design- basically just tubes and the straps are only tucked into the shirt, not sewn.

Thoughts :
So much disdain for this project! Ick! It was an interesting practice on matching a photo and doing something I didn't find interesting. The character was made for the real-media-exchange and then mailed off. It was based off this character. I know a lot of what I would call furry artists on the net and a couple mild "furries" but the more hardcore furries freak me out.

Despite my loathing of it, I *do* think it turned out really well. There just some poor puckering around the snout but other then that it's a good match. It's important to note how much better the doll looks with the cloths- a major improvement for minor work. The hair was sooooo much fun to do! I'm excited to try it again. The fabric was of poor quality and it took quite a beating pulling those chunks of wool through it, but it survived and playing with the hair is by far the best part of the doll.

"Glowsheep : Most cursed project ever?
I should honestly just mail this off ASAP before my house burns down or something.

Started off by losing the needles I was using/needed for it.
Spent half an evening searching for my white thread.
Then I lost the vibrant orange fabric for the pants.
Then I lost the right thread for the blouse top.
Then I lost my CAMERA to take pictures of it."
-- excerpt from my post saying I'd finished the project. I lost something else as well, but can't remember it at the moment

Project : Mook-Mook

2008-03-12T16:00:00.001-07:00

Project : Mook-Mook
Date : February 2008
Materials : Yarn (2 colors), wire, stuffing, embroidery floss (black), fabric, thread, beads
Tools : crochet hook, needle, sissors
Finished Product:

Process:

With the crochet monsters there is both a technique and a wild attack that goes beyond words. Some day, I'll write up the technique...
I started at the throat and crocheted down. Giving a monster a "tummy" may make it look better, but switching back and forth between the yarns as you makes for a less fluid flow. The mid-section has only a minor bulge relative to the thickness of the neck. Went from the neck and crocheted up one throat, then back to the neck and up a throat and most of a head. I switched back to the first head, finished that, and then finished the second head. Then the hind legs were added, the bottoms staying open. A two pieces of pipe-cleaner were stuck through the body and then crocheted (tightly) over on both sides to create the front arms. Little circles of fabric were cut and then sewn to the bottom of the feet. Some stuffing was affixed to the rump- I can't remember if it was pulled through with a hook or needle or flat out needle felted on. The ears were added- nubs of crochet with a tiny triangle of fabric sewn on the back. Eyes were added and then little triangle noses sewn on with floss. Somewhere in there I went back and crocheted over the chest a bit to correct the shaping.

Thoughts :
I don't know where the name Mook-mook came from, but it struck me day one and stuck. He was created for a Ravelry craft exchange based on someone else's sketch and I'm very, very sorry to see him go. I'm fond of the girl he went to though and I got a *fantastic* creature in return so I don't regret doing so... but still there's sadness. This is the first of my monsters that both the Greatest Living Philosopher and I like.
Despite looking so cute at the end, he went through some rough times. At a Dr. Sketchy's session, the lady next to me said it looked like a penis wishbone mid-way through. And when I was picking up eyes, my friend claimed to be highly skeptical of how it would look... although seeing the final product I know that the eyes are the key to the "cute" look. Relatively easy to make... the rabbit tail idea was random and I should do pipe-cleaner arms like that more often. Last thing to note is the tag. I saw many tags like this at the Swedish Natural History museum, hanging from the legs of long dead creatures, some times typed, sometimes handwritten. I feel they bring a sort of credible, sophisticated look to the creatures that I strive for. This one was lovingly made and I feel really adds to the look. (The tag was nabbed from work... I NEED to find where it comes from so I can buy handfuls of them)

The tag reads:
    Mook-Mook
   Mookion mookus (in italics)
   First seen by Pam M
   Caputred by Rebecca
   Winter 2007-2008 (in italics)

Project : Squid Kitty aka Octo-puss

2007-11-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Project : Squid Kitty
Date : September - October, 2007
Materials : Fabric, ribbon, a bell, thread, stuffing
Tools : Sewing machine, scissors, straight needle, curved needle
Finished Product:

Process:

I'll be upfront that the kitty head is not my creation. I nabbed that from the book Soft Animals A to Z. The neck down was simple but of my own doing. The ribbon & bell not only looks awesome by really highlighting the kitty aspect, they also nicely cover the seam between the two parts. No eyes were really fitting and so were left out- only the scrap of fabric for the nose.

So, to start with. Make the head. I want to say it was 4 pieces of fabric- muzzle, sides of face, top of head... maybe a chin piece as well (I don't have the critter on hand at the moment). After that, it's simple. I used 3 large pieces of the white to make the body and individual strips for top of squid legs- on the body: one for either side and a dart down the front to help for shaping (since this had little pre-planning).

Interesting note about the body/tentacle joint shaping: it looked very much like V-V-V-V per side. Note that the segments between the legs actually extends down past the start of the tentacle. This fabric was cut on the side like so |_|_|_|_| , folded up under itself and sewn to the tentacle leg. This made the webbing and the lack of seam between it and the body really improves the look. Keep in mind that the webbig will "bow" nicely since the legs sit between edges that used to be connected- no fabric is removed from the body!

Wedges of pink (slightly longer and thinner then their white tops) were cut and sewn to the underside of the tentacles before the tentacles were attached to the body. The center was very mushed together, I just folded and sewed the ends of the pink wedges together and then pushed them (with a still open seam in the very center) up into the squid kitty body. Not a bad look (the opening isn't visible), easy, and allows for future work.

Thoughts :
Very awesome looking though sadly made out of the cheapest fabric I had since it was only supposed to be a random project. The lack of eyes goes very well with the squid half of the body. If I had done this a smidgen more professionally, it would be my most marketable creature by far. The fact that I used someone else's pattern for the head (it was VERY educational!) makes me feel as if I cheated though. I desperately wanted to add suckers to the bottom- tried buttons, embroidery, even actual suction cups. Sadly they all looked foolish. I've got one last idea of coiled yarn, but I don't feel I should spend any more time on this project. Perhaps next time. I'm considering a higher quality version that is ACTUALLY a squid... The idea initially comes from Neal's response to my "give me stuffed animal ideas!" post- her answer: "squid cat", the Greatest Living Philosopher directed me to put the tentacles on the bottom and not the face, and the opening scene of The Scar with the hunting squid was a strong inspiration as I worked.

Given its lack of eyes and albino coloration, it clearly dwells in the Deep. And what is any cute little kitty, with it's snow-white fur and little bell upon a ribbon without the accompanying Miss who owns it? What better pet for Lady Cthulhu than this little kitty... thing?

Review : Book : The Scar

2007-10-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Book : Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville
Data : mid June 2007
Genre: Steampunk

Brief, spoiler free review : Perdido Street Station is a cruel, cruel story. It is a breathtakingly well described and beautiful in its detail, even when describing the most evil or wretched of things. I'm more fond of The Scar, but such is the side effect of starting mid-series I find.

As usual, if you can stomach it, I recommend reading the story without a clue as to what it's about. Avoid that dust jacket summary and dive right in.

Review:

I'll confess an instant liking to Lin and a preferance to the character from the very begining. The idea of the headscarab is one of the most interesting I've heard of in a long time. Her treatment in the story infuriates me and is the second main flaw of the book- the first I'll get to soon. I truely thought her dead- so readily did the authur do in named and noteworthy caharacters. I had no problem with this. When we found her alive, I was shocked and hurt and happy as the characters were. The broken shell, the lost leg, the wings! They seemed like a more dramatic set of injuries then could ever be inflicted on a person, no doubt because I cannot concieve a human equivalent. But this was okay. This was dramatic tension. This was bad but surmountable. And then they took half her mind. HALF. Far worse then all of it. And the rest of the story gets us nothing except their pain and a worthless escape into the woods. I feel ashamed to say it, but that's a bit too depressing for even me.

The main flaw, the really irritating and stupdiest part of the book was the Weaver. The way it skittered about and flung the characters about, the whole story stank of an author unable to construct series of events that got the characters where he wanted them. The man is a brilliant writer - it is clear in his langauge and the mad ideas he paints pictures of out of words. The Weaver was a well written mad, powerful creature- the parts about ears and sissors were creepy and nice. But the random appearances and constant "saving the day" actions went a long way to disrupt the flow of the story and pull the reader out of it.

Unlike The Scar, there are more and more problems to nit-pick about. I've adressed the main two and shall avoid the rest. It is a good book, problem is that it's not great. The writing is beautiful, the descritiopns grand. The world amaizing, fantastical, and deliciously steampunk. But a lot of the naritive is weak or confusing or trivial. It reads like a first novel. Which it is. While The Scar suffers from a single track plot line, this is the complete opposite.

My last comment is of course about the cruelty. This book, like most books, has good and bad aspects- the descriptions and the plot respectively. But unlike other books, it has this aura of something that transends value judgemnt. The ease at which he conjures up unique and interesting characters and then is abominably cruel to them, up to and far past the point of simply killing them is something. There is horror and revolusion somewhere in my reaction, but there is also awe and praise. Never before have I been so caught up in a story's action scenes beause never before could so many worth while characters actually die or be perminately maimed during them. Pigeon and Rescue, Lin and everyone's ears. It made for some extremely gripping nonsensical plots, let me tell you!

Inspired Sketches:

Lin & a cactacae

Image : Hand Skirt

2007-09-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Project : Hand Skirt
Date : September 16th, 2007
Media : Pencil sketch gone over with a 0.03 pen

Image:

Thoughts :
I did this while stuck on a flight from San Fran to Germany for work. Started with just the woman's face, then the midget because I couldn't bring myself to erase some of the hands, and then... I don't know. It went from there and a very clear story unfolded in my mind mid-way through the sketch. The rest of the image was like playing a game- illustrating tidbits I thought of and trying to rationalize things I illustrated. In the end, I'm very fond of it. I also found that such things make me a good candidate for long flights since the trip and seat confinement bothered me not one bit as long as I could sketch.
I currently have it hanging on my cube wall despite several disparaging comments against it by a coworker who seems to especially dislike it of all my pieces. Screw him- looking at it pleases me.
I would be highly inclined to trade artistic favors if anyone managed to write a short (or longer!) story based off this image...

He reached up to caress her face and was met with a heavily lidded gaze filled with cold disgust. It broke his heart that his faith angered her so- he had tried so hard the bloody night before to explain it to as they purified her for this dawn. How could she not see that this sacrifice was the highest sign of his love. To lose her hurt him more then the hangman's noose could ever inflict upon her.

He felt no anger at her for the enchantment cast upon him as he and his men had ridden up to the cottage. In fact, it rather pleased him to know that this unnatural adoration she inflicted upon his heart would be useful upon his eventual return to court. No saucy Duchess or sultry Baron's daughter could ever manage to cloud his reason with worldly wants now. His heart was forever bound to his witch, he knew this. But in order to ensure their eternal bliss he had to do this. Those fingers and flesh distorted from a lifetime of dealing with the Dark Arts had been lovingly parred from her by his very own hand. He was strong enough think ahead- to lose her in this life time was worth their eternity together.

Besides, she was a witch and had long since lost the fear of death. It was not the noose, but rather her failed attempt to enslave him that made her so recalcitrant this morning. The least he could do was let her wear her bloody skirt, sewn from the hands of her victims, on this, her last day.

Project : Egg Shell Monsters

2007-09-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

Project : Egg Shell Monsters
Date : Mid to end of September 2007
Materials : Egg shells, clay, solder, pins, copper tape, flux, hot glue
Tools : Soldering iron, hot glue gun, pliars, oven
Finished Product:

Process:
So you make some hard boiled eggs. Then you eat them. Best instructional steps ever, yes? Just be careful when you shell them- I used an exacto knife on one to pre-crack around the center. I found trying to salvage only one side of the shell per egg was best- the big endians working better. Let them sit for a day or two to dry and what not.

For the robo-egg, just lay down copper tape around the inside of the shell, prime with solder. Pre-bend the pins so that they poke out from the edge of the shell after a tight u-turn and attach. Then add the next segment of the leg. The end.

Hand-egg used twisted tinfoil as the base for the hands. Sculpt accordingly. I did not glue until after both were done. Be mindful of how the clay will contact the shell. Hot glue into place after legs are baked.

Thoughts :
The legs on robo-egg aren't insectil enough for my tastes. The angles at the joints are too wide, leaving it to sit too low to the ground. I've since picked up T-pins which I may use for another version later. The hand-egg was meant to be a leg-egg but I couldn't sculpt legs. This makes me sad. The hands aren't actually the same size, but it's okay because it looked like overly dramatized perspective. Feature, not a bug. Riiiight....

    Curios, she picked up the little creature as it scuttled past her yet again. With a delicate touch she pinched the shell and lifted it straight off the table, its tiny legs kicking frantically. She turned it upside down in an attempt to examine how the furiously moving legs attached to the shell. Look at it as she might, she felt her eyes unfocus or simply slide to one side or another.

    "Please put him down," the witch said as she returned to the room, carrying the tea tray.

    Sam felt guilty being caught prying and quickly did as the woman asked. Dropping the creature, she chipping the rim of it's shell with her haste. Unphased by the damage, the thing quickly scurried away around a corner as the witch came over and set the tray down.

Project : Steampunk Hair Piece v.2

2007-08-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Project : Steampunk Hair Piece v.2
Date : Aug 20th, 2007 one evening
Materials : Adjustable crescent wrench, wire, philips screwdriver (broken), streach red velvet, hot glue, solder, flux, thread, copper tape
Tools : soldering iron, needle, pliers, hot glue gun
Finished Product:

Process:

Images from v.1, now lost

Ridiculously simple. Cut/break/hack up the handle of the desired screw driver. Solder to end of of the wrench. On the first version, I had to saw off the end of the wrench (which ate up a new blade) and only hot glued. On second version, I cut nothing but had to lay down copper tape onto the wrench handle for the solder to take. Thing wire was twisted about and soldered to for extra stability. A thick layer of hot glue was added for stability but mainly to smooth out the uneven surfaces. Stretch fabric was then wrapped around and sewn into place. Make sure the stretch runs around the girth of the tool.

Version 2.0 is 6" long. The wrench half is 1.5" which is ideal. The center is 2" and does not taper smoothly on the screw driver side which makes it difficult to wear. This could be fixed if I were to cut the fabric off and reshape with more hot glue. The screw driver is 2.5" which is okay, but I could have done with a bit more length.

Thoughts :
These things are very easy to make and very pretty to wear. The screwdriver on the first came in handy several times and I suspect the adjustable wrench wont be neglected. The only complex bit is in fact how to properly twist your hair up to wear it. Perhaps I'll document that next. Version 1 had a better looking tool while Version 2 makes for a better hair piece.

The boys at work always carry around their Lethermans and other fancy tools in their belts or in boxes. Whipping out pliers with a crack or folding up a blade with a snap. I've decided to not be outdone and designed my own tool to be carried around at all times. It makes no loud sounds when brought into use, signaled instead by a cascade of hair falling down my back.
Elegant and functional, I find it to be a key item to display my thoughts on the idea of "steampunk"

UPDATE: While visiting Seattle, end of August, Logan sort of sat on it and the solder joint broke. I now have an excuse to go back and make it better, which I've not complaint to do.

Project : Paper-Sewn Pillow

2007-08-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Project : Paper-Sewn Pillow
Date : August 20th, 2007 at dusk
Materials : Thread, fabric, book you can decimate
Tools : Soldering iron, sewing machine, needle, scissors
Finished Product:

Process:

I happen to have been burning pages for another reason, but wherever you get the paper should be fine. The burning of the edges isn't necessarily required, but I think it makes them more interesting then a boring straight cut. But then again, I do love to burn paper for any and all reasons. I cut the pages out of the book by drawing the outline and pressing a wide-tipped soldering iron around the path, burning it one centimeter at a time. Takes time, but the end look is worth while.

Then, sew them together on the machine. I used a wide stitch and nice visible black thread. Be mindful that you can really re-angle the two pages once you start sewing so make sure they're lined up just right. I left the ends as just long threads (no backing up over stitches) and tucked the ends under every time I joined pieces. You'll notice that the paper goes only to two sides, rather then all four. This is because I didn't want to shape it to the pillow's bulge and putting bend on the pages in two directions wouldn't work well.

Then, sew on the edge fabric. Then, sew the back of the pillow on, right sides facing. What I did was just sew the fabric-to-fabric parts. That leaves a whole side un-sewn and gaps where fabric meets paper. Then turn it right-side out. Now pinch the fabric at the fabric-meets-paper seems and use a fancy stitch to sew it close. This doesn't make for a perfect edge, but I figure it's stronger then trying to hand sew it and putting a lot of wiggle strain on the stitches.

I haven't quite figured out how to close the last fabric-to-fabric seem though...

Thoughts :
It looks mighty pretty, though it is severely impractical. The pages mean nothing, alas- they just come from some random stupid book. Using a meaningful book would be fun. Thoughts of laminating or re-enforcing it somehow are now being contemplated.

--image I left at home, will be uploaded by Thur Aug 23--

Image : Forced Grin

2007-07-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Title : Forced Grin
Date : July 27th, 2007
Media : Photoshop 7 & Wacom Tablet : Tie pen pressure to both brush size AND opacity for best results

Image:

Thoughts :
Done in 1.5 hours, from complete scratch, entirely on the computer? That's pretty amazing, for me at least. I'm normally wretched with CG sketching. It helped that I had such a fixed image of my head of a stitched on grin... I love the hands, the lace, and the teeth. Nothing but the tears look poor to me. How *does* one illustrate tears? I also don't think I quite captured the extreme distress of the grinner. What an odd feeling it is, as an artist, to try and capture an extreme negative emotion. Do we project an attempt at the mood upon ourselves? Are we inflicting it upon our subject? How can you capture the mood without feeling it in some way.

...Perhaps if I understood biology or psychology better I could explain this fact, but regardless I know it to be true- a mood is brightened by smiling. Your own false or force smile, a received smile, an offered smile. Any and all elevate the mind and the mood. Some may question the inclusion of a false smile but please do not miss-interpret it. I do not mean a sneering upturned corner of the mouth or a sulking twist of the lips offered up to some relative. Instead, replace your default blank expression with a slight curve of the mouth. At the very least, un-furrow that brow. Such strain often offers low level distress and you'll find you cannot keep it so tense and easily grin. ...

Project : Wooden Bug

2007-07-15T14:26:00.001-07:00

Project : Wooden Bug
Date : End of June 2007
Materials : Wood, pins, flux, solder
Tools : Soldering iron, pliers, hammer
Finished Product:

Process:
Find yourself a piece of drift wood that has a lot of character. Add to this character by burning into it patterns and designs with your soldering iron. Hammer a couple of pins into the body, bend them, then solder another set of pins onto the ends of them for segmented legs. A drop of solder on the first bent pin's turn adds to the look of large segmented bug legs. The end.

Thoughts :
It's a good idea, but I just don't know how to burn wood interestingly. The sucker patterns- neither patch of which are pictured here- were the most successful look. I will definitely try more of this, it is a pleasant mixture of nature and metal.

Project : Damaged Messenger

2007-07-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Project : Damaged Messenger
Date : July 12th, 2007
Materials : Type writer parts [most notably the N/n striking bit, levers, and springs], copper tape, copper wire, pins, nails, a screw, drift wood, flux, far too much solder
Tools : Pair of pliers, soldering iron, saw, hammer
Finished Product:

Process:

Yank out all the parts from the machine. I found gripping at the base with the needle-nose pliers and then just agitating it with constant little wiggles eventually broke the metal. Attach the striker to the.... 'tail spring' part. Cut a notch in drift wood and then cut to 'body' length. Line notch and base of wood with copper tape and spend far too long trying to both wedge the tail into place and solder it to the tape. Oh, and be sure not to let the tape fall off the wood. Score the wood with a soldering iron and wrap the base with wire- preferably catching it in the groves you just burnt. If you make a mess like I do, consider hiding it behind a screw which can also work in as a sort of anchor for the wires.

Now consider the hind legs. Wrap a thin strip of copper tape where you want one half of the spring to connect, then solder it down. Try, somehow, to bend them into a fitting position. Wrap the leg's connection point in copper tape and liberally apply solder to the entire thing. Struggle for at least 30 minutes to attach the legs straight to the tail, give up and wrap the wire around them for support. Now you'll find it's super easy to solder them down. Oh, if you really want to do it the Sithel way, be sure to damage your soldering tip somewhere at this stage. Now bend some nails and solder them to the copper tape, this can also help prevent wire wiggling and further anchor down the tail.

If you're not lazy, you might consider permanently attaching the other half of the springs, but I didn't bother. Add flare for personality such as pins for antennae and a stupid burnt gash for a mouth.

Thoughts :
So I found an old, semi-electric typewriter at an recycle store and nabbed it for a reasonable price. The keys are far from pretty, but I found myself drawn to the myriad number of springs and levers in the back, as well as the strikers which are so unique to the machine.

I list this as being quick- about 3 hours total- but I had spent nearly an entire evening previous pulling the machine apart and getting familiar with the pieces. It helped that I sad down the evening of construction with a relatively clear image in my head of what I wanted and how I'd get it from the start.

My original intent was a sort of scorpion feel, it turned out more grasshopper-esque, and photographs like a spider! The pivot for the "tail" is a unique and very fine piece I pulled from... somewhere. It was a fight to overcome the "I must save this till the *perfect* project comes up" feeling in order to actually *make* something. The key is of corse unique, but I'm not overly fond of the letter. The legs came jointed- they connect to the strikers so I've got quite a few left. The springs from below the keys- no shortage of supply there- and are of a very pleasing tension. At the same store I grabbed the typewriter, I scooped a bag of random bits for $0.50. During construction, I was quite sad to find that my first choice of black screws for the legs from wouldn't take solder and then that I only had 3 nails. My firm intent to finish the piece before the night was over drove me to using the nails and suffering the absence of a leg. Given how, upon finishing it, the story for the piece *leapt* out at me, I'm happy with my choice.

The screw was just added to cover my mess and the pins a last minute attempt to add pins to the project since I love them so. After I used the spring for the tail, I was determined to incorporate more spring joints into the piece. Playing with the tail is fun and pushing that extra bit to "squish" it- where its leg gives out and it drops to its tummy- is a quaint feature.

Like all things made by her, the creatures served a practical purpose that was obscured by a layer of secrecy and infused with a feeling of spite. The little assembly of messengers might appear impractical at first glance- larger then any folded slip of paper and prone to being noticed due to scuttling sounds as they traveled. A flock passing down a dark corridor would make the hair of any listener stand on end, so eerie was their faint metallic clicking of furiously moving limbs. But unlike a slip of paper or a errand boy prone to cracking under torture, the little constructs would never give up their message to any but the designed recipient. And while a slip of paper can be burnt before opening or a mortal messenger evaded, these devices would not rest till their intended knew exactly what the Master Architect wanted them to, no matter how unwelcome the words may be.

The contents which were spelt out via miniscule metallic twitches and the striking typebars were of course encrypted along with fall-backs in the event that not all arrived. The reactions of the message recipients varied. Some found the creatures to be delightfully quaint and amusing. Others shuddered with revulsion as they pressed the constructs' quivering typebar tales to encode their response. Miss Wells abhorred the little constructs- no doubt viewing them as perversions distantly related to her beloved press- and took every opportunity to vent her irritations and frustrations of them and their creator upon their delicate forms. If the messenger was not required for her response she would catch and destroy it, a task becoming increasingly difficult as they seemed to have learned to fear her. Any returning to Master Fletcher were sure to be damaged up to, but just shy of, being incapable of functioning: legs torn off, antenna battered, springs bent. One wondered why the Architect spent the effort on such a clearly doomed creation and if perhaps she would stop should Comrade Wells be less obvious in displaying the irritation they caused her.

Review : Book : The Scar

2007-07-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

Book : The Scar, by China Miéville
Data : Finished some time around the end of May 2007
Genre: Steampunk

Brief, spoiler free review : I believe the most vital bit of wisdom I leave this book with is: "Be careful what I wish for." See, I came by this book through a friend with whom I pleaded and begged a reading recommendation from. When asked for what I wanted, I firmly replied with these two facts: "An interesting villain" and "cruelty toward the characters." The first I found makes every good book great and every pithy book bearable. The second is something I don't run across often and am interested in. The lack of cruelty is no doubt simply a symptom of my predominantly fantasy based reading diet- dragons, magic, perhaps the occasional strong female lead, and always a happy ending. Mind you, this particular search had already been narrowed down to the genre of "steampunk". Not only does this book nail my request, it repeatedly beats me over the head with them, nearly leaving me to whimper and regret I asked for them in the first place. Nearly. I came away from the book immensely pleased with the blend of fantasy and clockwork tech, still reeling from the actions within it, and with a ravenous need for more by that author. If you can stomach the nauseous blend of depressing, vicious actions and puffed up pretentious language, I highly recommend it.

Review:

Given the medium, the issue of language must be addressed first. What beautiful words! Not only did he use large fancy words, but he took common words that even I use- over use in fact- and cleaned them up. Made them sharp and part of some really biting or vivid text. The best example of this was his use of "idiot" throughout the beginning of the book. Some phrases were over used, yes, but they were few, and given how brilliantly the rest of it reads, very forgivable. The smooth flowing descriptions were very pleasing, especially to me as an artist. Not only did he create fascinating things, but he wrapped them in wild descriptions that made the targeted nouns orders of magnitude more interesting. More then any other book, I felt compelled to sketch what was presented, though of course such radical concepts as he put forth were far beyond my grasp or gift.

Being ignorant of boats and all things nautical, I was amazed at how well he described the environment and more so that he would make it so engaging. I highly approved of the mix of fantasy and the clockwork mech, perhaps due to my ignorance. I struggled to suspend disbelief with the concepts covered in Perdido Street Station because I was too familiar with some of the subject matter. The world was divine, although I'm far fonder of it in this book then the first. The Scar's lack of racial tension pleased me greatly- it's so hard to find a multi-psecies book without getting hit over the head with racial conflicts- especially ones where humans take a leading and discriminatory role. I enjoyed watching the more physical and practical side effects of a multi-race world. Coming into the middle of the series- something I'm starting to realized I'm fond of- was also refreshing. Getting hit so suddenly and fully with this world, where everything isn't described, was a pleasant mental exercise. I enjoy trying to figure out who was what and what was what. The feeling was faintly reminiscent of the original Pirates of the Caribbean- tossed into a story and not yet knowing all the rules.

In regards to the actual story: I went into it absolutely blind and I think that really helped me enjoy it. Not even reading the dust jacket, I had no idea where the story was going- that she would even remain on the ship, that the anvac would become a key plot point, anything. And so my awe built and built until that ending- what a un-shocking shock. It must be noted though that having gone back and read Perdido Street Station, I'm horrified to say it's an improvement over the first. In truth, I felt like the whole book read like a Hans Zimmer song- specifically "The Might of Rome" from Gladiator. It built with such momentum, one fantastical unknown gracefully solved and smoothly passed onto the next larger mystery. I was pleased with the pacing and felt the flow of events to be natural and sensible- a blessing compared to some of the other messes I've waded though recently. But, like Zimmer, there is no where to go with all that force. I much prefer the choice made to let the unknown remain, at the cost of petering out, then to suffer some overly complex attempt at an awe inspiring, all explanations ending that would have only ruined the buildup with its inability to meet expectations.

Belis is, as I asked for, one of the most abused characters I've read. Caught up again and again as nothing more then a pawn- it is rather disturbing in truth to see her stripped of that normal aura of good luck and near meta-knoweledge of the story that characters normally have. The ending in particular makes my heart wrench with pity- though not sympathy for she was most soundly a bitch. Her efforts to declare she will never be a pawn again sound like a promise that she's forever bound to be tricked into the part. Her relationship with Doul was emotionally draining to me as a reader, with the lack of resolution or so long and the absolute way in which she was played. Belis's story was one I'd often wanted to hear- that of a mundane's, looking from the outside into the lives and actions of "real" story characters. A normal book, I feel, would have followed Doul, that dark conflicted hero with a shadowy past and far too much power. As much as I delighted (it was a morbid delight, yes) in watching Belis get kicked around, I understand now why most stories don't do this- far too frustrating.

Tanner I viewed somewhat differently. I enjoyed his development (Belis having none, only a long slide into the realm of pathetic) and was fascinated with the parts of the world he exposed. I found he resembled more the type of character I'm used to, with both up and downs. His arc was interesting and complete. The final "kick" to him however- the loss of the boy- was too much in my opinion. It wasn't required and did not take the character anywhere since we ended so soon after. It was that vicious unproductive move, along with others, that made me somewhat unnerved by the author. Taking into account both the cruelty and beautiful language, he reads like a soundly abused geek. Picked on all through school till the point of breaking. And while some may break for happy escapist realms where they can flee to and be happy, he snapped and painted a picture of suffering for all. A moody individual who has come to the point where they feel their suffering indicates a reality where everything falls apart in the end. Sort of like a Nine Inch Nails song, expect equipped with a better vocabulary.

In the end and to summarize, I loved the book. The conclusion was weak and Belis failed to develop much as a character- she ends as only a slightly more broken version of what she starts as. The world, so vividly described, perfectly scratched that itch I had for steampunk reading material. And while the plot was rather linear and out of our characters' control, I enjoyed the mystery and suspense that built at every stage. The scope of the unknown grew at every turn rather then a sliver of some single puzzle revealed- which gave the feeling of something actually getting accomplished and was ultimately what kept me pinned to my couch for so long reading it.

Inspired Sketches:

Tanner

Project : Glass Box

2007-07-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Project : Glass Box
Date : Some time in June 2007?
Materials : Glass, solder, flux, copper tape, wire, [mirror for Trisha's]
Tools : glass cutter, plier, soldering iron
Finished Product:

On the left is my box, on the right is Trisha's.

Process:
Who knew cutting glass was so easy? The blade fairly flies across the surface with ease and speeds that in truth make it a tad bit difficult to control. Anyway, you slice up the glass, wrap copper tape around the edges, and liberally apply flux to the tape so that the solder will take. If you're smart, like Trisha, you lay solder down on the edges individually. Then try to hold the pieces together and re-heat the solder to attach them- or in my case, struggle to hold two pieces of glass, an iron, and apply solder at the same time. My addition of wire was easy- bend it about, tape it down, and seal with some solder. Afterwards, you wash everything off and declare it done.

Thoughts :
Mine turned out lumpy, unevenly cut, and unattractively thick with solder. Also, the "door" doesn't stand up. But, considering it was my first attempt at anything involving glass, and my first artistic use of a soldering iron, I absolutely love it. The speed of the project counters many negative qualities since it does not hold much "lost time". As fabulous as I found it, I don't think I'll get much into glass. I lack any talent with geometric shapes and have little interest in developing one. I can appreciate and marvel at Trisha's works yet feel little compulsion to try a rival work- an interesting and pleasant sensation for me.

"You didn't actually expect it to stand up, did you? I mean... two hinges are common in all doors for a reason."
"I know, I know... It's just..."
"Maybe if you made the coil longer."
"I know..."
"Or tighter, less wiggle room."
"I know."
"But really, two-"
"I know damnit."

Image : Lilly Tree

2007-07-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Title : Lilly Tree
Date : Some meeting, mid-winter 2006-2007
Media : All pen, no pencil. Minor post-scan touchup
Image:

Thoughts :
For a sketch with no pencil guidance, it most soundly rocks. In no way does it relate to actual Gaslight story lines, real or imagined.

In the back of her mind, perhaps she knew what sort of fate she sealed for herself when she bit into the pear. But in all likely hood, she stood staring at that wretched fruit too consumed with hatred for the faeries to be much shocked.

The tingling in her scalp would have sent any normal London miss into hysterical fits of screaming. The twisting vines about her boots and ankles ruffled her sense of modesty, but what did modesty much mean when the slowly lifted hem of her skirts, pushed up by ever thickening vines, revealed not the pretty curve of calf but rather a solid wooden trunk. It was her hand, in truth, that gave her fright. That appendage which channeled so much of her power- through deftly handled wrench and lighting quick pen strokes. Her last breath was drawn into her lungs as a horrified gasp. The sensation of vines sprouting, crawling across her scalp was the last she felt- the becoming of wood overtaking her fully after that.

And so she stood, a wooden woman made half of sprouting tree, still clothed in her fine, fashionable London dress and holding that fruit which cursed her. Though it soon rotted, she remained- each bud flowering to reveal fruit with a mechanical pit and, in time, no fruit at all but rather a unique wooden gear.

Project : Gear Flower

2007-07-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Project : Gear Flower
Date : Some time in February 2007
Materials : Acid [type?], sharpie marker, sand paper, brass square, rubbing alcohol, baking soda
Tools : plastic tub, chop sticks, rubber gloves
Finished Product:

Currently a paper clip is taped to the back of it so it may hang in my cube.

Process:
You take a chunk of etch-able metal (brass and copper were the only options I was made aware of) and you sand it clean. Perhaps a dash of rubbing alcohol, the point is to make it smooth and clean so that there are no rogue spots when you etch. Now you mark up that bit o' metal with a "resist"- in my case a very fine brand name Sharpie marker did the trick. What you cover will not be etched, obviously. The trick I found was wrapping my mind around "lines" which would be neither etched or un-etched, but rather level changes. You see this in the chain links and definition of the gear. Leaving gaps or drawing thin lines were the best methods of definition, rather then settling only on broad silhouetted. Be careful with pencils, I found they left faint marks, working as very weak half-assed resists.

Now you've drawn on it, drop it in a tub of acid. The acid should be in a plastic or glass tub and safety measures such as rubber gloves and glasses wouldn't hurt. Keep some baking powder (baking soda?) on hand to neutralize the acid. Let it sit for a while, jostling it occasionally (we used chopsticks). Be mindful that a buildup will probably form if you let it sit absolutely still, leading to a sort of odd tightly drawn saranwrap look at the edges of resist. Time of sitting may varry, I believe we were using 15-30 minutes. Remove and coat liberally with baking powder to neutralize acid. Scrub, powder, water, scrub, you get the idea.

From this point, personal preference kicks in. I found I liked the look of cleaning it via rubbing alcohol, re-coating the ENTIRE thing with Sharpie, then sanding lightly the surface. This highlights the edges and lets the un-etched segments pop out more. If you don't like the look, you can always re-clean via rubbing alcohol.

Thoughts : Given my short-notice need to come up with an etch-able idea, I found the gear flower adaption worked very well. The font and my grammar are lacking, but when are they not? The gear surface is by far the best aspect of the piece, while the riveted leaf failed to come out clearly. I found the screw heads in the corners added that much needed final touch. If only one corner wasn't bent...

The subject of the gear-flower is only tangentially related to my (fictionalized) Gaslight universe:

The earliest strains were firs breed by Master Lilly Fletcher in the year 1871. There has been much speculation in the community and across the guilds as to how she first coaxed that metallic gear from the flower bud- rusty fertilizer, the grafting of a pocket watch, and brute force magic all candidates depending on who you ask. Though she was known to keep company with several prestigious Physic & Sorcererous guild members, Master Fletcher never offered co-authorship credit to anyone for her work and none tried to take it.

The first varieties which produced wooden gears are not recognized as being especially note worthy- displaying nothing more then excessive topiary skill and being of little use due to structural integrity for actual work. It was only with the revelation of possible uses- and the clear financial benefit- of the farmed gears that the plant was hailed for the marvel that it is.

Project : Blue Fuzzy Cube Monster

2007-07-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Project : Blue Fuzzy Cube Monster
Date : Off and on through May and June
Materials : Fake black feathers, blue fake fur fabric, blue checkered fabric, pipe cleaners, wire, blue yarn, orange embroidery floss, beads, Styrofoam foam, stuffing, thread, magnet
Tools : Needle (straight & curved), sewing machine, pliers
Finished Product:

Given to a co-worker to adorn his cube.

Process: A wedge of Styrofoam for the head, a structure of pipe cleaners, and a bit of stuffing for the torso. The wings were sewn separately as one long continuous piece- though fingers and feathers added after the joining. The fingers consist of a looped wire and two separate sleeves of patchwork blue to cover it, both sewn to the wing. The tail was wrapped in yarn before a separate piece of fur fabric was added to cover the joint. What fabulous thing this fake fur is, it hides every stitch so that segments join nearly seamlessly!

The magnet is tucked behind the the wings where they connect to the breast. After construction, some basic blue beads were sewn into the rump for flare. The eye sockets embroidered with orange (after a failed attempt at gold spots embroidered on the torso) were topped off with white bead eyes. Down the neck there are five little "spines". These consisted of a long bead topped with a small blue bead to allow the thread to loop back inside the long bead for a very clean look.

Thoughts :
There is too much blue and not enough detail. The fur, while fantastic for joining of parts, is too think and irregular to support embroidered patterns. This saddens me though I wonder if it's a matter of scale. The creature is small in order to stay light enough for the magnet. The pose-able fingers, wing, and tail please me greatly. The important thing is that my coworker likes it. The original idea was to have a thicket of pins protruding from the fabric on the rump like spines on a porcupine. The creature softened as they always do during construction and came out almost cute.

C - new owner of creature, S - female coworker, R - me
... the monster is examined ...
S : What is its gender?
C : I don't know...
S : I checked and you can't tell
R : You never can, with birdlike things
... time passes, monster is played with ...
R : Oh! Oh! Put it against the wall, it'll stay
S : It doesn't seem to be staying...
R : Rotate it forward, its got a magnet in its chest
S : Ah, that worked. A magnetic chest?
R : Indeed! Ah! I guess we know the gender now
[R leans forward and stares most obviously at S's chest]

Project: Bullet Bugs

2007-07-01T13:50:00.001-07:00

Project : Bullet Bugs
Date : Weekend of July 1st, 2007
Materials : bullet casings, pins, solder, flux, a tiny watch part, some screw extender part, tiny sliver of copper tape
Tools : Soldering iron, pair of pliers, tweesers, knife, clay
Finished Product:

Process:
You take some pins, bend 'em. You take some casings and slap some solder down. Solder the tips of the pins and then join 'em. Ta-da! Very easy. The "snout" of the silver headed one didn't want to take to the solder so I laid down a strip of copper tape that Trisha had given me from her stained glass supplies.

The proboscis, which came from a watch winder I think, was lost in the wilds of the rug for no short period of time. But I was intent on that look, no other part would suffice! And so I brought over an unshaded lamp and proceeded to examine the carpet. I felt much like a crime scene investigator, waving my magic light in search of that one little speck.

Thoughts : -- will hunt inspiration links down later. Mainly, I wanted to use pins.
Written by Eric & inspired by Rival Guy:

Bullet Bugs:

Due to poor accuracy, mostly harmless in small numbers. But disturbing a swarm will lead to a synchronized attack that showers an entire room with bullets instantaneously.

Afterwards, their surviving kin will come and reclaim their corpses to cannibalize parts for building others. They'll also check the corpses of their victims for munitions to build new members. They can convert nearly any type of round. Large swarms have even been known to convert artillery rounds into their own, leading to the military's abandonment of several bases after their munition stores became infested. There are unconfirmed reports of one swarm attempting to convert missiles...

Everyone else was doing it...

2007-07-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Normally I post to my personal, informal blog- not to be named here. But, as others have pointed out, that's not a very professional medium. So I'll be double posting for a while, but leaving the more "me life" stuff behind as I transfer content over.

I mostly draw, and sometimes create things. Hopefully projects - perhaps with explinations of how- as well as movie, book, concert reviews will be posted here. Maybe even fiction?