Crafters to me! Other hobbyists welcome.

[LadyShea]

Since most of my crafts are totally stoled, tell me what you are working on!

I found out I hate scrapbooking, but I like the idea of having pictures and mementos in one visible place, so am working on shadow boxes to showcase our travels. Also, I kinda hoard stuff, so I have boxes of "mementos"

Because I A) found the digital pictures that we thought were lost and B) came across my project folder in the file cabinet and C) had an empty poster sized frame, I started with a flat frame collage of all my stuff from the UK trip we took in 2004; brochures, maps, ticket stubs, and photographs. It's turned out great* so far, and now we will move on to having hubby build my shadow boxes.

ETA: *I realized I stated this as if it was completed, but it's not. I have everything but the photographs done, meaning I collaged a bunch of shit. I am still going through the pics to choose the ones to include.

[godfry n. glad]

That sounds interesting, LS. Can you post up pix?

Of course, for me, it's almost obligatory to point out that, after visiting Michael's craft store ('Glue Gun Central'), I figured out that 'craft' was one of those tricky English words where the 'ft' was really more accurately pronounced as a 'p'. :wink:

I've photo albums from many of my escapes, but I've been accused of doing my wardrobe extensions while on vacation...usually by adding new teeshirts and hats.

Sorry, no new ideas here for you, though. I'm not a crafty kind of guy.

[LadyShea]

Many, many craft projects are crap in my opinion, but certainly that doesn't mean every craft is. And really, if others enjoy their crafting, whether I think it's crap or not, that's cool.

[godfry n. glad]

Craft is the eye of the beerholder....uh, beholder.

[LadyShea]

Well, feel free to use this thread to discuss any hobby. Gardening or chicken raising, maybe?

[godfry n. glad]

Uh, thanks, but they get plenty of outlet in their own threads.

Here, I'd be more likely to discuss scrap glass bead-making with a gas-torch. That's about as crafty as I get. Magister Gladi, y'know.

[freemonkey]

I want to try some mosaic. It started out that I wanted to make some custom tiles with pebbles for a patio area I want to re-do.

Now, after looking at some books, talking with a glass artist friend and remembering the Roman mosaics I saw recently at a museum, it's become a much bigger idea.

Now... I want to get a wet tile saw for cutting marble and stone tiles. My glass friend says, "instead of using up my broken stuff, why don't you just make what you want here?"

I did some mosaic birdbaths and planters with broken ceramic tile and crockery a few years ago and gave most of them away. It was crude and crafty looking. But now I am inspired and I have made sketches for mosaic murals and tables and tiles and stuff.

And yeah, Michaels sucks.

[LadyShea]

scrap glass bead-making with a gas-torch.

That's a craft. Tell me about it. I love glass crafts but have no idea how it's done or the equipment needed.

Is a propane torch good enough?

[freemonkey]

Here, I'd be more likely to discuss scrap glass bead-making with a gas-torch.

You do lampworking, godfry? Would you post pics of some of your beads?

[LadyShea]

Ooh, higher level mosaics are a good choice freemonkey. They can go from craft to art. I can't wait to see some pieces

[lisarea]

I recently had to make some new crocheted plastic bags, because I keep giving my old ones away, but I'm through with that for now. (We also have a couple of those ones you buy at the stores, but they're not nearly as durable. I had to resew the seams on one of those just the other day because it started to fall apart in the wash. Ha ha! My homemade ones are better than store boughten!)

I've been meaning to make myself a new wallet, as the cards have started falling out of the one I have now. I could just put some new tape on it, but I'm way too image conscious and materialistic for that. I want a whole new wallet. I just haven't decided what kind to make. Tape? Tyvek? Tape AND Tyvek? What? What do I do? What sort of image, status, and lifestyle do I want to project with my wallet? WHAT SHOULD MY NEW WALLET SAY ABOUT ME AS A PERSON?

I was also thinking of re-recovering my dining room chairs. When I originally did them, I just stripped and refinished them and then upholstered the seats using an oilcloth tablecloth, but I didn't really put in enough batting, so they're kind of hard. So I have some new batting and a few different patterned canvas cloths I could use.

Oh, hey. What about this? ReadyMade magazine has this feature called the MacGuyver Challenge or something, where they feature some commonly available thrift store item, and readers submit their repurposing projects for it. Like the one and only one I remember was a desk phone that the winner made into a little Rolodex thing. If you wanted to do something like that, I'd try.

[LadyShea]

Tape? Tyvek? Tape AND Tyvek? What? What do I do? What sort of image, status, and lifestyle do I want to project with my wallet? WHAT SHOULD MY NEW WALLET SAY ABOUT ME AS A PERSON?

How about using the plastic-bag-melting-together-into-a-Tyvek-like-substance technique?

What about this? ReadyMade magazine has this feature called the MacGuyver Challenge or something, where they feature some commonly available thrift store item, and readers submit their repurposing projects for it. Like the one and only one I remember was a desk phone that the winner made into a little Rolodex thing. If you wanted to do something like that, I'd try.

I'd give it a try :)

[godfry n. glad]

Yes...lampworking. More accurately, I have done. I still have a huge oxygen tank and and accompanying squat acetylene tank in my basement.

I have a tabletop torch with a nice set of tips, which ran me about $150 ten years ago.

I also have a collection of what are known in the custom art glass business as 'test paddies'. They are the test glass from the factory, where my wife once worked as the receptionist. I have a vast rainbow of colors, all of glasses which have been made to work together....their chemistry is all basically the same, but for the colors and additions.

Beyond that, I have a folding picnic table, covered with sheet steel and scrounged ceramic tiles on top of that. On that, I place my torch, with gas lines to both gases out of the way, a scrounged electric skillet half filled with vermiculite, set to about 350 degrees, and a couple of scrounged cubes of some foam, with my prepped rods. I also have a couple of graphite blocks the size of a woman's compact. One is attached to the top of the torch holder, close to the tip. On these, you can work the viscous hot glass.

(Safety note: The table is placed against the concrete basement wall below an open window, with a box fan which circulates air out. Safety glasses should be required, but I think that tinting for the flame is a personal quirk thing.)

The rods are prepped by dipping about an inch into a slurry of mud-like material (name escapes me at the moment) and allowing them to dry. This usually has to be done a couple of times with each rod. Once dried, the encrusted end is your working tip. If this is not done, you will not be able to remove the bead from the rod without breaking, as it will be adhered at some point. The mud allows the bead to come off as a bead.

With this, work with strips of glass (often rods are available at local glass crafters) in the gas flame...the lamp...melting the glass and carefully twirling it around the stem of the coated rod. Once you have the size and shape you want, you allow it to cool in your hand so that the glass is not viscous and then plunge it into the warmed vermiculite.

You have to allow the beads to 'cool' in the warmed vermiculite to keep the beads from cracking while cooling too fast. An hour is usually fine at the scale I was working. Once removed from the vermiculite, they should cool quickly enough to handle with bare hands. (I never worked with gloves...you need fine touch and protective leather gloves are not really necessary...just keep your hands out of the fire.)

Once cooled, plunging the rods in water washes away most of the mud, allowing the beads to slip off the rod. Cleaning the remnant of mud out of the bead renders the final bead product.

This hobby was the outgrowth of my wife's bobbin lace-making hobby, as the bobbins used circlets of glass beads as weights....and she happened to work at a glass factory. Oh, because of all the free scrap art glass, I also had a handmade board setup where I could cut the glass paddies into strips for working in the torch. It was supposed to keep me busy in the rainy months, when I couldn't, or wouldn't, garden.

Pix? Sure. Give me time.

[lisarea]

Tape? Tyvek? Tape AND Tyvek? What? What do I do? What sort of image, status, and lifestyle do I want to project with my wallet? WHAT SHOULD MY NEW WALLET SAY ABOUT ME AS A PERSON?

How about using the plastic-bag-melting-together-into-a-Tyvek-like-substance technique?

Hey, yeah! RevDahlia (I miss her lots) tried fusing bags the once, and it looked fabulous. I need to actually iron some clothes soon, so maybe I'll just mess around with that a little while I have the stuff out.


I'd give it a try :)

YAY! Got any ideas of what the thing should be?

Also, I think participation should be mandatory.

[LadyShea]

Was it Rev, not you? Here's the blog about the technique Practical Craft: My Recycled Farmers Market Bag (http://modcottage.com/?p=109)

I pulled out my iron and some plastic bags recently (like last week), to see how the whole thing worked. I didn't actually make anything, just practiced melting the bags until I got a sheet of Tyvekky stuff. It takes some trial and error, but would probably be a cool wallet.

YAY! Got any ideas of what the thing should be?

I am a big ole copier...I can't think of the thing!

I have a vintage door I don't know what to do with

[godfry n. glad]

Ooh, higher level mosaics are a good choice freemonkey. They can go from craft to art. I can't wait to see some pieces


Yeah....me, too. I picked up an appreciation for tile mosaic work in central Asia. The Far East has lots of tile like traditions, but the Islamic applications are just...ineffable.

[lisarea]

Was it Rev, not you? Here's the blog about the technique Practical Craft: My Recycled Farmers Market Bag (http://modcottage.com/?p=109)

Oh, yeah. I've never tried it, probably because I am just not the kind of guy who has an iron at the ready to do things like that. I've been meaning to for years, but I always get stalled at the 'where is the fucking iron' stage.

But I have to drag it out anyway soon because I have wrinkly linen shirts.

[LadyShea]

Oh I know. I have a cabinet full of plastic coffee containers with lids, like that Folgers and Maxwell House come in. I use one a month for a slops bucket, but haven't figured out what to do with the rest of them.

Also, can I mebbe get a wallet to give to hubby for his birthday?

[LadyShea]

I was also thinking of re-recovering my dining room chairs. When I originally did them, I just stripped and refinished them and then upholstered the seats using an oilcloth tablecloth, but I didn't really put in enough batting, so they're kind of hard. So I have some new batting and a few different patterned canvas cloths I could use.

I needed barstools, so took two wooden stools (non matching except for height. One I got years ago at an unfinished wood store, and one was from the thrift store) and painted the legs the same color as my pantry wall, then upholstered the tops. I used pretty dense cushion foam, and cut it to the right shape, then used some kind of batting I had on an unused dust ruffle (WTF are those about anyway) to sorta hold it down. Pretty soft for flat, hard stools.

Oh, then I asked my BIL if I could have the dumpster dived barstools in his backyard trash heap. I wanted to use them on my porch. He brought them over and he had painted them and recovered the cushions. He went to all that trouble, and so I don't have the heart to tell him he painted them the totally wrong color. So now my cheap, wood home upholstered stools in an earthy goldy-green color with expensive designer fabric are sitting next to very cool wrought iron stools that are a hideous hunter green with natural canvas seats.

[freemonkey]

He went to all that trouble, and so I don't have the heart to tell him he painted them the totally wrong color. So now my cheap, wood home upholstered stools in an earthy goldy-green color with expensive designer fabric are sitting next to very cool wrought iron stools that are a hideous hunter green with natural canvas seats.

Couldn't something, like, you know... "happen" to them so that you had to re-paint and recover them?

[LadyShea]

His wife (hubby's sister. They are related though it still puzzles me) was all "I want them now, I couldn't envision them looking that good". She had originally demanded they be sent to the dump. She has zero imagination I swear. They were heavy, wrought iron stools. They had some rust and some crappy fabric. What's to envision except a coat of paint and nice fabric? If they weren't such good stools I would give them back. But, they are the right height and go with my ironwork and everything!

Oh, she was given a very expensive wicker dining set, and she wanted it taken to the dump because she didn't like the red gingham cushions. I bought some gorgeous designer fabric at a discount store, and recovered them for her new sun porch, and they look amazing. How her brain works that she can't see potential in something that simple is baffling.

BIL also puts dumpster dives in my yard...I have a rusted iron palm tree (used to have lights, but that's just tacky LOL) I don't know what to do with now. I am thinking of spraying it all multi colored as you can't see it right now, the brown just blends.

[California Tanker]

Scale models.

Example:

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhcons2.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhconst1.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhconst3.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhconst4.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhconst5.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/pzhconst6.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/Pzh1.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/PzH2.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/PzH3.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/PzH4.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/PzH5.JPG

http://www.panzer-modell.de/referenz/in_detail/pzh2000/002g.jpg

http://www.panzer-modell.de/referenz/in_detail/pzh2000/Bild053g.jpg

http://www.panzer-modell.de/referenz/in_detail/pzh2000/001g.jpg

NTM

[LadyShea]

Those are cool CT. Did you buy kits or fabricate everything yourself?

[Adam]

Nice detail on the plates.

I don't do anything crafty. I bought a ball of yarn once, but I don't think cutting it into lengths appropriate for dangling in front of cats counts as a craft.

[godfry n. glad]

Pix? Sure. Give me time.

Okay...Remember, now...you asked for it.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070026.jpg
My current collection, minus the bowl full of unstrung beads, floating around the house somewhere.

Yes, they are all handmade. They look it. What you see is the remnants. We sold beads to friends, acquaintances, and her sister lace makers. Our objective was to defray the cost of playing with the stuff. We didn't really succeed.

I actually gave lessons to her lace making friends. (The best line was from her 75 year old friend who, after putting on her safety glasses, said, "Gas, glass and flames! Let's...get...DANGEROUS!") Come to think of it, I was roped in to demonstrating before a high school art class (that pegs it as the early 90s, for me).

I was just doing single glass beads. My objective was initially to get to the point of 'home production' of small beads for bobbins. We were almost there. Then, she abandoned bobbin lace for spinning, and I was off the bead-making hook...to become a driver/confederate in the spinning crowd.

Which begs me to ask....aren't there a bunch of knitters. And even a few spinners, out there? I'm not. I was just an innocent, clueless bystander, but I was taught to appreciate nice spun and knit wear. I love to see final products and will demand pix (reciprocity, y'know).

Some closer uppers:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070027.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070028.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070029.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070031.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/waterloopix/P1070039.jpg

I did the pix in a hurry and didn't try to get more natural light in the room. The flash picture is helpful in that it highlights some of the more subtle aspects of some beads, but they are not that bright. There is lots of light reflection.

My personal favs are the ones in the basket, of course. They are cloudy earth colours.

[LadyShea]

Those are lovely beads. You did a good job keeping the size and shape uniform!

[lisarea]

Oh I know. I have a cabinet full of plastic coffee containers with lids, like that Folgers and Maxwell House come in. I use one a month for a slops bucket, but haven't figured out what to do with the rest of them.

Also, can I mebbe get a wallet to give to hubby for his birthday?

Sure. Which kind you think?

I'm going to go mess around with plastic fusing in a minute.

[LadyShea]

I don't care...it needs to be really simple and thin though, like a bifold. Anything you make will be really cool I am sure. I'll pay for the duct tape or whatever ;)

I am broke and none of my crafts are good hubby gifts. He'll dig a lisarea wallet though. I see him eyeballing my Secret Santa hoard sometimes.

[LadyShea]

I am totally going to make the iron palm tree into a coat/bag tree for Kiddo. He's too short to hang his own shit up, and I have all these cool Amish wrought iron S hooks in a drawer. I just had the idea. Maybe I'll do it this weekend.

[freemonkey]

that is really cool, godfry. Nice work.

Have you ever tried making marbles?

[ChuckF]

I have a cool little school-room book cart from the 30s or 40s that I need to stain or paint. It's the kind that has one shelf with tilted sides. I stripped the old lacquer finish off because it was in really bad shape and knocked off the ridiculous wheels. I may add some more tasteful rollers, or just some pads. It is cheaply made and the old wood will need a little rehab but I have $0 in it so far. I'm hoping I can find a little can paint or stain on the returned paint shelf at Lowe's.

I don't have a pic of it but it looks basically like this one, except with no finish and only the top shelf:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/pimp_book_cart.jpg

What do you guys think? Paint or stain?

[godfry n. glad]

that is really cool, godfry. Nice work.

Have you ever tried making marbles?

I tried...but it's a little trickier, even with a marble mould.

[LadyShea]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/pimp_book_cart.jpg

What do you guys think? Paint or stain?

Depends on the decor of your house. If you paint, use primer. Too many people skip this step :proactiveglare:

Have you tried the water based stains? I like working with them because they dry quick and no fumes.

[freemonkey]

What do you guys think? Paint or stain?

If the grain of the wood is interesting, why not try a brightly colored stain?

[lisarea]

OK. I made two wallets. One for me and one for Mister Shea. I think if we have matching wallets, that means we'd be going steady, so it's OK if you and Maturin get, like, matching socks now or whatever.

I fused the plastic, then lined the main wallet part with metal tape (to block RFID!), then attached the fused plastic cardholders and stuck the wallets together with thin black duct tape.

They are pretty ugly, and the pictures are terrible, but TOO BAD. I never asked to be born, anyway!

5606
5605

ETA: I am trying to fix that other attachment, but I DON'T HAVE PERMISSION TO. It's too dark and I wanted to fix it. But I remembered to take a picture of it when I was transferring my stuff to the new wallet. That is my picture on my Costco card that is SO TERRIBLE that they keep offering to retake it, and I'm all like, "FUCK YOU. IT'S MINE." It's even more terrible than it looks in that. It's the worst picture of anyone ever. it is awesome.

[Stephen Maturin]

It's just as well. The Costco card photo is so aggressively ghastly that posting a clearer version would constitute Aggravated Vehicular Criminal Battery with Specific Intent to Cause Death, Permanent Impairment of Body Function, Permanent Serious Disfigurement, Amputation and Severe Emotional Distress.

[lisarea]

OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING READING THIS THREAD?

I AM SO BUSTED NOW.

[ChuckF]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/pimp_book_cart.jpg

What do you guys think? Paint or stain?

Depends on the decor of your house. If you paint, use primer. Too many people skip this step :proactiveglare:

Have you tried the water based stains? I like working with them because they dry quick and no fumes.
Hey, no need to :proactiveglare: at me. I'm a pro, I prime. I will def. be using water-based if I stain, just because cleanup is so much easier.
What do you guys think? Paint or stain?
If the grain of the wood is interesting, why not try a brightly colored stain?
The grain isn't particularly interesting - it may look better once I sand it with some finer paper - but I like the idea of a colored stain. :chin: The only bad thing about stain is that I can't take it off. If I paint and don't like it, I can just strip it down and start over.

I will post some pikchers this weekend.

[LadyShea]

Why not give one wallet to my man-ho, and one to your man-ho, then THEY can be going steady, and make yourself a non ugly one?

I am a problem solver.

Anyway, I think they're cool. How was the plastic fusing? Yours looks all nice, mine had big holes in it, then I had to patch them, then I tried to like weave strips of plastic and it looked like a mutated mess that said "WalMart"

[Adam]

Those wallets are awesome. When mine finally disintegrates, I'm totally taking the magnet out of it and wrapping it in duct tape and shit to make a new one.

[ChuckF]

Yeah those wallets are p. great and I would totally steal one.

I haven't bumped my bookbinding thread recently but I am still at it and right now I am working on a 1925 first edition of a book Alexandra Kollontai (my second favorite Bolshevik after Caligulette) called Wege Der Liebe that I got for 25 cents. Something went wrong that is not my fault so I made a rage guy about it. I think it is the internet's first bookbinding rage guy, right here on :ff:. If you can't figure out the problem then you're an idiot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/rage2.gif

[Qingdai]

Is internet rage guy a craft?

I've got a secret project a-knitting. Plus I'm kind of at the fussy hard part now and am pretty lazy.

[godfry n. glad]

... and it looked like a mutated mess that said "WalMart"

Wow.

Harsh.

[biochemgirl]

I have a tendency to work on too many things at once. Right now I'm sewing some baby clothes and things for the nursery. Before that I was quilting and doing some knitting though.

[LadyShea]

Nursery and baby stuff is awesome. I want pictures.

Oh and when people tell you that you need 1.3 billion receiving blankets, tell them to FOAD. I am still trying to get rid of them, nobody wants them because they also have mountains of them. They cannot be repurposed either, as they don't work as towels or cleaning rags or anything. It's some kind of conspiracy.

[ChuckF]

Is internet rage guy a craft?

More of an art, I think

[livius drusus]

Please. My toddler could do that.

[Adam]

Yes, but your toddler can't market it like Chuck can, I reckon.

[ChuckF]

Please. My toddler could do that.
omgus give him back to his parents already

[Lauri D]

I like refinishing old furniture.

I want to take up my mom's favorite craft, stained glass, but don't know where to find the space.

[lisarea]

Look around to see if there are any local artist coops, community colleges, or community centers that offer classes. Places like that often have space and sometimes equipment that you can use.

[Adam]

Booooring! Break into a church and give them some new amateur stained glass windows for free. They'll have plenty of space and, if you need materials, you can just melt down their existing windows. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

[Lauri D]

Don't tempt me - I haven't filled my illegal behavior quotient for the day yet (and it's only 10 am here....)

[California Tanker]

Those are cool CT. Did you buy kits or fabricate everything yourself?

Start out with kits of various types. Usually injection-molded (Typical Airfix-type things) but occasionally Resin or Vacuum-Formed. Usually add after-market details, such as the brass etchings on the howitzer. Sometimes I will home-make modifications or pieces if the kit is wrong or I'm looking to do something specific.

Here's a play-by-play I posted on a modelling site.
________________________

OK, so here we are with our component parts.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/pumaconst1.JPG

Initially, I had the Airfix kit, but it didn't come with the extended intakes, so I had to hunt around a bit more. Turns out that the Heller is just a re-issue of the Airfix. Or vice-versa. Both are just as old as each other. I figured this was OK, since as I was planning on hacking away at the parts in order to accurise them, if I messed up, I'd just build it 'stock' and play pretend. A very important feature to note was that the clear sprue came with a bunch of duplicate parts, not least a second canopy. This was to be crucial. Resin sponsons from Whirlybits, Decals from Max Decals.

Right.. Tally-ho.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/pumaconst2.JPG

Start simple enough. I figure you can see bugger-all inside the windows, I wasn't going to waste much effort on the interior. Incidently, the glass for the windows is a half-inch thick, and distorted. Horrible. I took out the trusty Krystal Kleer, and tried to 'span' the largest window. It worked. Thus I decided to simply abandon the glass entirely. Less to mask anyway. (You can always just punch out the KK and apply new windows!). Finding interior pics of Bundesgrenzschutz Pumas (Pumae?) before their modernisation wasn't too easy, but it looks like the entire interior except the dash is a form of grey. Fine so. Apply also a couple of seatbelts and rudder pedals, just for the sake of making the front more interesting.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/Pumaconst3.JPG

The fun begins. BGS Pumas are somewhat modified from the standard. They have extra cabin windows, and the port-side door is equiped with a staircase, meaning that the usual wide windows aren't going to work. A dremel tool made short work of the thick fuselage side, and then the other fuselage side. Something didn't quite look right though. I counted the rivet lines one more time, and realised I drilled a hole in the wrong place on the portside. Bugger. That doesn't bode well.

In the meantime, I went after what I presumed would be the hardest part of the job: Modifying the door. Out came the X-Acto blade, and I cut out an area extending from (and including) the inside rim of the one window, to the other. Basically a single big rectangular slot now existed in the door. Cut off the window rims which were on the cutout, and glue them back into the door in their new correct positions, now leaving a big gap in between the windows. Some plastic sheeting filled in that gap, and a smaller amount the mistaken hole in the fuselage. Add filler, start sanding to suit. I find those Tamiya rattle-cans of spray paint are great for 'test sprays'. If I ever want to make sure I've sanded something down properly, spray a coat of paint and look at the result. It's quick, and it dries thin. Thus the photo above was taken after the use of a tan spray, and I then scraped/sanded down a bit.

The sponsons got their own bit of work, after being put together and sanded, they got a blast of paint (happened to be green this time), and then another sanding. Then glued onto the fuselage.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/pumaconst4.JPG

After the joining of the fuselages, another coat of paint. Also checking the sponson/fuselage joins. At this point, I realised that I was only now getting to the difficult bit. Those fuselage sides didn't exactly fit well together, and mad sanding was just going to sand away the rivet detail. I did what I could, but for the area just behind the intake extensions, I ended up having no choice but to simply sand everything down flat, rivets be damned.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/pumaconst5.JPG

The next problem: BGS Helos are a bizarre metallic blue/green colour. My first attempt using IJN Green, Gun Metal, Light Grey and Green Drab just didn't quite look even close. After playing around with combinations of shades, I just gave up and started the cocktail over.

IJN Green and Blue Angels Blue with a dash of Gun Metal came out a lot better.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/bundespum.JPG

Pull off all the masking from the canopy, looks good. Then I knocked the thing off the table, and it falls to the ground with a crash. At first blush, not too much damage. Tail stabiliser's broken off, and the canopy's snapped off. At second blush, however, the canopy had shattered. Still in one piece, but starred and cracked all the way through. Bugger, again.

Fortunately, Heller provided that spare canopy. Go through all the masking again, and more glueing and sanding (The canopy really doesn't fit very well, I'm afraid) but I wasn't objecting too badly to yet another coat of paint, as I found some more sanding I needed to do anyway.

Add a coat of future, start decalling. I'm not sure if it was the Future, or just the effect of long-term drying, but some of the windows developed pinholes in the Krystal Kleer film. Punch them out, re-apply new windows.

The prototype in this case was a West German Border Guards helicopter which was leased by the Irish Air Corps, and then loaned to the Garda Siochana (Irish police) for one week in Sept 1979 for the duration of the visit of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. (Is this an obscure prototype, or what?) As a full third the population of the country was to be found in one park in Dublin (Fortunately, Phoenix Park is the largest city park in the world), the Gardai decided they might like a way of getting Gards from A to B quickly. The BGS provided a pilot, the Air Corps a co-pilot/navigator. But I digress.

In any case, they left all the BGS markings and German registration on the Helo, and just slapped big "GARDA" markings on the side, making it the first helicopter to ever wear Garda markings. I'm becoming more and more impressed with Max Decals. They're very thin, and go on very well. The only issue with them is if you're putting them on a multi-coloured background, they're transluscent and you'll see the colour change behind the decal. Not an issue on this one, however. Add yet another coat of future. Simmer and serve.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/puma1.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/puma2.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/puma3.JPG

(Everything is really level, I just had the camera held wonky)

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/planes/gardapuma.jpg

http://i2.planepictures.net/53/73/1159528601.jpg

(A lot of BGS aircraft got transferred to the BPz)

NTM

[California Tanker]

Of course, not everything need be camouflaged.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/ec135.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/737fin.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/bae146.JPG

Even if you confined yourself to the miltary, you can still get some colour. Usually on airplanes, but occasionally...

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/bluestank3.JPG

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/Tanks/103b18iq.jpg

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/bluestank1.JPG

Or, sometimes, you get something which isn't camouflaged, but they do it anyway.

http://www.clubi.ie/exalted/images/models/NTM/sd40a.jpg

Household 6 also appreciates that she always knows where I am, as well!

NTM

[ChuckF]

I finally got around to refinishing my little shelf thang this weekend.

I will def. be using water-based if I stain, just because cleanup is so much easier.
I lied. I used an oil-based stain because it was free. Natural oak.

I will post some pikchers this weekend.
I lied again. I never took pictures until now, after I stained it. I was surprised that it generally took the stain ok. You can see a little streaky section over there on the left top corner where it didn't take the stain very well because it was a bitch to sand up under that angle. It's ok, it'll be covered with books.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/-1.jpg

Tomorrow I'll shellac it. It depends on what I can find for free.

[LadyShea]

Has anyone ever used Rustoleum's dry erase paint? Was not impressed with their magnetic paint, but I like most of their products.

I don't want to invest in this if it won't work, but it's cheaper than buying a real whiteboard for the size of the project I am doing and would require a lot less hassle cutting stuff.

[lisarea]

I haven't used that, but there's also like Contac paper that's dry erase, and the plastic for shower enclosures works, too. I worked at a company where they put that shower enclosure stuff on all the walls in the conference room, so I'm assuming that means you can buy it in plain sheet form.

[LadyShea]

Yeah I have heard of that for cheap, large whiteboard use. It's called shower board or something, melamine clad particle board. That was my second choice if the paint doesn't get good reviews.

My mom has a huge craft/sewing table hubby built for her (big enough to roll over the top of a twin bed to hide the bed), and we don't want to replace the top or have to do like construction to it if we can just paint it.

The Contact paper though, that's a hell of a thought. Thanks

[LadyShea]

I found some thin dry erase coated paneling stuff for like 20/bucks a sheet for my mom. Contact cementing it to the top of the table will be much easuer than paint or contact paper.

Okay, now that I have found metal finishes (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20867) I can start planning out my shadowboxes (hanging scrapbooks is the idea using cork boatd and magnets).

I will only being doing the backs, hubby will build the frames to suit.

So I want to highlight our travels, and have the whole hallway to fill, so I thought what I thought was I would theme each box to a specific trip, or repeated location, or year and just add to the grouping as we go.

We have been to NC via Chattanooga TN twice in the last 12 months, so I will be doing a TN/NC box. I plan to include maps with pins showing our ports of call, and maybe string to show our routes, with photographs as well as brochures, room key cards (I keep them, yes I am nuts), souvenirs, maybe a little blow up of a particular attraction....Any suggestions?

[ChuckF]

bamp

I know that :ff: delights in my constant battle to destroy or unnecessarily improve the things around me, so here is what I am doing now.

I went home for Mother's Day and mom was pissed because one of the new corgis had sat down on the arm of the sofa and chewed a corner off of the end table. Here's what she did:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/IMG_0847.jpg

Ouch. Mom blamed the dog but also Dad, so I said I would take the table, fix it, and refinish it order to promote tranquility. It is overdue for a refinishing anyway:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/IMG_0848.jpg

So today I sanded the old finish off:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/IMG_0849.jpg

And started rebuilding the corner the dog ate. I am using a sandable, stainable wood filler to do that. Since the damage was pretty extensive I will have to do more than one application. This stuff tends to shrink as it dries, so it looks a little too small after the initial fill:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/IMG_0852.jpg

Tomorrow morning I will put on another bit of wood putty to continue building up the corner. I'll sand it down after it dries. Then I'll re-sand the whole thing with 220 grit paper (I used 80 and 120 to take off the old finish, and will use 220 to prep it for the new). I need to work some more on that bottom drawer anyway.

Now the hardest part is ahead of me: choosing a new finish. I think I will go darker than the original because there are a few spots around joints that I couldn't sand as well as I'd like, so the old finish is still there.

[lisarea]

I have a carving knife where the handle got all chewed up, and I started to rebuild it, BUT THEN I GOT LAZY AND STOPPED and I'm like "Oh, well. I will wait for that Sugru stuff to be invented again or something," so I'm just using it all half repaired.

A KNIFE HANDLE. It's tiny. Like maybe half a cubic inch, and I got too bored of it to finish putting wood putty in that.

So you are a better man than I, Chuck, in that limited context. (This concession in no way affects our relative status in any domain other than putting wood putty on things.)

I did have to fix my dining room chairs recently, though. Maybe I will tell that story later. It's pretty dramatic.

[ChuckF]

I am so not surprised that Zsa Zsa chews on carving knives. That is so badass.

[lisarea]

Oh, hey, so I just took a crappy picture of one of my fixed dining room chairs!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4602634796_8b23532c26.jpg

So this is what happened: I bought four of these a few years ago, pretty messed up. So I took them apart and stripped them and replaced all the feet with new ones, then I refinished the main wooden part of the chairs with I think some homemade finish from a formula in one of those formula books. (I think it's linseed oil and wax and maybe something else. If you care, I can go find that recipe again.) Then, I recovered the seats using a cheap 'oilcloth' (not real oilcloth) tablecloth I got for $1 and some batting, and I painted the dowel parts of the chairbacks with (this is important later) a smallish can of mismixed paint I'd gotten that I also used on the coffee table in that room, the legs of a plant table I built, and a plant stand that I'd refinished.

So, a couple of months ago, someone decided to crack their back on one of those chairs, and snapped the top dowel in half. Which left me with a conundrum. A CONUNDRUM YOU HEAR ME! I don't have any of that original paint left, and I didn't want to go try to get it matched because one of my driving home decorating principles is that things should cost about a dollar. BUT if I repainted those chairs, they would no longer coordinate with all the other shit in the room painted that color, and I didn't want to have to repaint all of that stuff, either.

So I bought a new dowel, pried the old one out, and then slowly chipped away at the new one until it fit OK. Then, I went downstairs and found some other darker green paint that I thought would look OK, and painted just the top dowels of each chair that darker green.

But then, once it dried, I realized that the darker green was matte, whereas the original green was semigloss, which offended my sensibilities, so I went downstairs again, and found a thing of clear satin finish, which I opened on the dining room table and it spewed everywhere, and then I slopped it on with a broke-off piece of a sponge and it looks like shit.

And you know, I'm realizing that I took a picture of the wrong damned chair, because that one has the worst looking upholstery on the seat. But anyway, I'm going to replace that part soon too, I guess.

God, that's an awful picture. I think that maybe I hate those chairs now.

PS:Yes, that is actually what happened to that knife.

[livius drusus]

That seat looks like the textbook covers I used to make with wrapping paper in the third grade. Only of course my book covers were cute and colorful despite having tragically bad corners.

[freemonkey]

I like that you keep your hammers on the dining table.

[lisarea]

Not all of them, just the dining hammer.

[ChuckF]

So maybe I am just talking crazy, but why don't you get awesome and just cover those backs when you fix your upholstery job.

Artist's conception:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/zsazsachair.jpg

I really do think you could do that no problem, even without the pibble embroidery. If you're going to get the staple gun out anyway you may as well make it count.

[Ensign Steve]

After reading that story, I think I hate those chairs now, too.

I like Chuck's idea.

[LadyShea]

I like Chuck's idea too, and yeah about a dollar is a good rule of thumb. Oh, and I am better at upholstering than you are, just saying.

Hubby came home with a whole old window... solid wood finished frame, 2 paned glass panels, the fucking box part made from 2x4 that sticks through the wall frames, and nails with pieces of drywall stuck to it.

He was all "I knew you'd want it". Funny thing is, yeah I do, but I have no idea what to do with it.

[Demimonde]

What size is the window? You could always make a shadow box out of it, but I think you already have better plans for that. I have also seen folks build it into a table top, either end or coffee table, with a box underneath in which you can display items. A shop near me did a long entry way table with a French door that is adorable, and they fill it with natural dried flowers, cones, shells, or whatever strikes their fancy for the season.

Also, I've seen folks jang them in a tree near a birdbath and feeder with a perch. The birdies like to look at their reflection.

[The Lone Ranger]

One of my sisters is an incredibly talented artist. Give her a pencil and she'll draw something that you'd think was a black-and-white photograph if you didn't look too closely. Give her some paints and she'll paint something wonderful.

She's entirely self-taught, too. And yet, she has little interest in such things, and hardly ever indulges in it.

Me, I'd love to be able to draw and paint like that, and I can't.


So, what crafting I do is restricted to things that may require patience and steady hands, but no real talent. I occasionally build plastic models, for instance, especially of naval vessels.

I also like to do the occasional counted cross-stitch project. I recently bought a neat pattern called "Waiting for Parsival," and I'll probably start on it sometime this summer. It's a beautiful-looking pattern, but it has over 307,000 stitches. Yikes! That'll take some time. When it's [eventually] done, though, it should look rather nice.


http://heavenandearthdesigns.com/images/jonathan_earl_bowser/Waiting.jpg

[I get the occasional strange/surprised looks when I go into the local crafts store. They don't expect a guy to know what DMC floss is. Sometimes, they ask if I'm shopping for my wife or girlfriend.]

Cheers,

Michael

[LadyShea]

I applaud you TLR, needle or yarn work makes me insane...though I wish I could go all Zen and relax into it I just can't. I couldn't even finish a hook rug.

Oh and good bump because I did some crafts for Mother's Day. Target didn't have any plaster of paris so I got this stepping stone kit thing that had extra plaster. I made the molded stone from the kit, just in case my REAL idea didn't work...Kiddo decorated it and it was cute for MIL.

Anyway my real craft was I got a bucket of sand from the beach and packed wet sand into a flat box, then I dug out a heart shaped depression, stuck a shell in it and filled it with plaster. Some of the sand stuck to it, so it looks like a sand sculpture. That's in my moms garden.

I made a round one too, but it cracked because I pulled it out too fast, and I also made some sand candles, but they weren't great (need to experiment with heat of wax and sand moisture levels I think). One of the candles is on the cracked plaster stone on my porch with some shells stuck to it.

I bought some plaster of paris and am gonna make more garden art.

For Easter I made blown egg ornaments and put them in a paper mache nest.

yeah I am kinda pathetic, but my crafts relax me kinda.

[Gonzo]

one of the new corgis had sat down on the arm of the sofa and chewed a corner off of the end table.

http://analogartsensemble.net/blog/ep2_stray_dog_strut.jpg

I think it's time to blow this scene...

[lisarea]

I like Chuck's idea too, and yeah about a dollar is a good rule of thumb. Oh, and I am better at upholstering than you are, just saying.

So so mean.

I'm actually not that bad at upholstering. Like I said, that is a cheap vinyl tablecloth and batting, and that was only intended as a temporary measure until I found something I wanted to do permanently. Plus, that's the worst one of those chairs by a long shot.

I can do better than that:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4604002327_2a3d7ee078.jpg

And the headboard, which is like 15 years old and I really need to redo soon, or make a new one maybe:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/3960957774_135f791714.jpg

[LadyShea]

Aww! Okay once job on the upholstery, maybe you don't suck at it like that dining chair implied.

[livius drusus]

I'm not sure this qualifies as craft so much as construction, but I read this article (http://small-scale.net/yearofmud/2009/09/12/build-your-own-20-outdoor-cob-oven-for-great-bread-and-pizza/) yesterday and now I'm completely obsessed with building my own el cheapo outdoor wood-burning pizza oven. I have to research it thoroughly before even taking the first step because a) I want mine to be bigger, b) I want mine to be way prettier and c) I don't want no stinking cracks marring the pretty dome.

[ChuckF]

This talk of outdoor ovens reminded me of when my mom and dad took a pottery class. Dad got all into it because it was something he could do self-sufficiently. He built a kickwheel (I almost broke my finger on it because the base was poured concrete and it was impossible for an eight year old to stop once it got going), dug some clay out of our pond, and built a kiln out of dry-stacked fire bricks. I don't remember if they actually fired any pottery in it but I remember it being cool. It has since been dismantled and I think the bricks have been re-purposed as a walkway.

[Crumb]

There's a pibble on your bed! :freakout:

[BrotherMan]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/3960957774_135f791714.jpg

That's totally cheating Mr. Pea. Zsa Zsa makes everything look better.

[ChuckF]

It's true.

[Chris Porter]

(snip)[I get the occasional strange/surprised looks when I go into the local crafts store. They don't expect a guy to know what DMC floss is. Sometimes, they ask if I'm shopping for my wife or girlfriend.]

Cheers,

Michael


http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/1x0100004x/en_US/Stephen-Beal.html

An old friend of the family, Stephen Beal, did a book of poetry about DMC floss. He's a needlepointer, not a cross-stitcher.

Oh, and in looking up this stuff, just found out he recently died. :( That was unexpected. We didn't keep up with him after he moved to Colorado.

Once, when he was out visiting my parents, he brought some of his art along. I asked him why there were clouds in every tapestry. He didn't know, and was bemused at the observation. Later, I got a gift from him, a small needlepointed pillow in the shape of a cloud, with a needlepointed cloud image on it. Still have it. My parents have a large tapestry by him, showing a grid of windows depicting clouds over water at various times of the day.

[freemonkey]

I will have to build one of those pizza ovens.

[ChuckF]

I only today got a chance to finish my table thing. Mom said she wanted to paint it instead of staining it. I re-sanded it with 220 grit, primed it, and then put on two coats of a blue paint so light that it is indistinguishable from white. I used the orbital sander and a sanding block to shape the wood putty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/ChuckF/005.jpg

The reconstructed corner is there on the right.

[wildernesse]

I'm crocheting a baby blanket for a family member, and have gotten farther along than usual on a craft project. I have a few more blocks to make, then getting the blocks all ready to put together. I think I might be finished by the end of the week, and then I'll put up a picture. Hoping it turns out well, but if not, I will just make something else.

[Demimonde]

While talking in chat LS and I got on the subject of projects for holiday gifts she could do with kiddo. I fondly remember making marbleized paper (http://www.ehow.com/how_2122454_make-marbleized-paper.html) with my mom as a kid.

Customized stationary! Actually, come to think the joke at last year's family Xmas was monogramed everything. Mebbe I should make some myself? :chin:

[ceptimus]

I'm making a clock. I'm designing it with a CAD program and making the parts using woodworking tools. So far I've used plywood, some short bits of steel rod and brass tube left over from a model aeroplane kit, and some dressmaking pins. I won't know if it will work and keep time till I've finished making parts and fitted them together - that will take another few weeks.

Does this count as a craft, or is it more like engineering? :chin:

[LadyShea]

Clockmaking prolly goes beyond "craft", but I don't know a proper word for it.

I made a stepping stone using beach sand and shells, and plaster of paris-
dig the shape from damp sand, press in shells, pour plaster of paris, dig out when dry and spray with polyurethane so sand sticks. Easy and cute

I may try some ornaments :)

Also, I love to decoupage, so may try the marbleing for paper for that

[livius drusus]

OMG I loved marbling paper! We did it in art class in elementary school and it satisfied me on a profound visceral level.

[Demimonde]

Ornaments! That reminds me that I bought wood blanks for Contra to paint for family ornaments but we never did it last year. He loathes acrylics and sticks mainly to oils for wood panel, so there wasn't enough dry time. I need to label and peg those puppies on a big mat board so that he can get started on them and work little by little. Thanks for the reminder!

[LadyShea]

So I thought the relatively expensive red dye would actually be, you know, red. But I got pink....so any ideas on what I can do with a 4 ft diameter round piece of pink swirl tie dyed sheet, since it won't work for Kiddo's tree skirt?

It still makes me happy, that I got the pattern I wanted and all, it's just pink.

[Qingdai]

Gay pride parade banner?


I bottled my cider this last weekend. Now I have 10 bottles to shake until March.
I hope they don't explode in my closet!

[Ensign Steve]

Pink theme tree! (http://www.google.com/images?q=pink+christmas+tree)

[LadyShea]

I already have my themes! I wanted the skirt to resemble a peppermint.

[LadyShea]

I considered signing up for this, in fact I had myself all talked into it and was ready to subscribe, but in the 10 days it took to get the invite, I rethought it. I already have too many things and not enough places, and I am trying to not spend money unnecessarily

Still a neat idea for others maybe

http://www.whimseybox.com/
Every month we collect a careful assortment of new and best-selling craft products samples, package them up in our signature reusable gift box and ship them directly to you.

[Ensign Steve]

I donated most of my crafting supplies when I moved to LA and just didn't have room for them. Now I have a bunch of mementos and cool stuff that we've collected since we've been married and nothing to do with them. But I don't want to start all over.

IOW, no! no! no! no! no!

Though I am tempted.

[lisarea]

If you have a local freecycle list or something similar (lol there was drama with the freecycle name and stuff, so there are splinter groups!), that seems to be a really fertile ground for no-cost crafting supplies.

People will come on there, post a WANT for some super-specific thing including specific crafting materials I've never heard of, I lol and say, "Yeah, like everyone's got those lying around to give you for free?" then BAM, I see the RECEIVED message saying, "Hey, thanks to CrazyPersonX for that weird and super-specific thing I asked for!"

[Ensign Steve]

That's actually how I got rid of my stuff. Literally hundreds of dollars of high-quality stuff (I try not to think of it in those terms, but it's hard... same with all my too big designer clothes I donated). This woman posted that she knows she's not supposed to post requests, but she kept just missing the giveaways so she was coming right out and asking and she has an autistic son and blah blah blah and I'm like, lady, you hit the jackpot. Bring your truck. And she did.

I think I might make some shadow boxes now that I'm thinking about it.

[livius drusus]

Crafters, now to me! I have a very specific need and a very infinitesimal budget, which is where you pros come in.

I bought my mom a vintage postcard I randomly found on eBay that has a picture of the hotel she lived in when she was in middle school. Her father was the chef at the hotel's restaurant, and this postcard was sent during the time they lived there just a year before he died.

So I really want a frame for it, but I need both front and back to be visible so she can flip it over and see the date on the postmark. If I had two dimes to rub together, I'd get her something in silver to accommodate her fetish (yes, my mom is that lady who is thrilled to get the silver picture frame present), but I don't so I need to come up with something else.

I just started Googling and there are some acrylic and wooden frames (http://www.hobbyframes.com/Postcards.htm) hobbyists use to display their postcards. They aren't very interesting though, and since this is such a personal thing I'd rather make something custom for 15 bucks, even if it's simple. Ideas plz? :beg:

Oh, and it has to be archival quality, so acid-free mats and the postcard can't touch the front or back windows.

[LadyShea]

Keyword sandwich glass frame (glass doesn't fuck with the paper does it?)

Amazon.com: SANDWICH GLASS FRAME, HORIZONTAL - Picture Frame: Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/SANDWICH-GLASS-FRAME-HORIZONTAL-Picture/dp/B002CK8AVC)

Sandwich Glass Frame,Engraved Photo Frame,Glass Frame,4x6 Glass Photo Frame Personalized (http://www.onepassionplace.com/sandwichglasspicframe.htm)

You could probably make something with two pieces of glass, clips, and maybe some kind of swivel hinge on a post, but I would have to think of a design and find hardware if it's even made

[livius drusus]

I've seen those, and although I like them I find them a little austere for this particular gig.

[LadyShea]

Leather?

Chocolate-brown COSMOPOLITAN STITCH FLOAT leather frame - Picture Frames, Photo Albums, Personalized and Engraved Digital Photo Gifts - SendAFrame (http://www.sendaframe.com/new_fgallery/items/8058.shtml?category=245&DoNotFilter=on&)

[livius drusus]

Ooh, I like that! That's definitely warm.

[LadyShea]

If you want to get crafty, find a floating frame that's too big (Target has some with cherry frames), then put faux stained glass where the matte would usually show.

Buy small transparent colored glass pieces (sold for mosaics), clear glass adhesive, and black grout. Tape off the center where the post card will show and the edges where the wood frame goes. Glue the colored glass right to the top of the frame glass and grout (which requires some cleaning and sponges and stuff)

[livius drusus]

I love that idea. I have grout and thin set from when I tiled an unfinished hearth. I could get super obsessive making a mosaic.

[LadyShea]

I am doing this on some old windows I have, to make picture frames.