January 2011
3 posts
2 tags
PHOTOGRAPH MY 'HOOD.
Cost: Nada
Time: 30ish minutes. I didn’t walk far.
Headspace: I need to walk around to clear my head. Clearly, the only cure to my anxiety was to grab my camera and roam around a few blocks. I love my neighborhood, and my camera helps me appreciate it a little bit more.
SKETCH A SCIENCE FONT
Cost: Nada
Time: Maybe 45 minutes, spread over many days.
Headspace: I have a secret - I am a giant science nerd. I was the annoying kid at the front of the AP Bio class, furiously taking notes and sketching and obnoxiously engaged in the material. I was also once upon a time a nursing student, elbow deep in cadavers (it’s not gross, so stop making that face). I didn’t set out to...
3 tags
SKETCH A FAREWELL TO 2010
(Yes, this is a bit late going up. I’ve been too lazy to scan.)
Cost: Nada
Time: 20 minutes?
Headspace: I’m really glad 2010 is over. I felt like a lil sketch homage was appropriate. In case you can’t make out my sloppy handwriting, these are the things I was most grateful for last year:
being done with school;
November snow days;
Fallout 3 (late to the game, but...
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
BLOCKPRINT A HOLIDAY CARD
Cost: Nada
Time: 1.5 hours
Headspace: I love blockprinting, but gouge my hands every time (see photo 2). The impetus behind this project is student-loan induced poverty and a desire to give something to my people. I didn’t have the patience to create a block for the text, but I used black blockprinting paint so it had the same texture.
October 2010
3 posts
4 tags
3 tags
Blockprint Design
Technically this isn’t for me, but for a DVD cover for my internship. The film is about Washington’s suffrage movement. “The Fifth Star” is the title (referencing suffrage flags, in which Washington is the fifth star as the fifth state to grant women the right to vote). When I was brainstorming ideas of the cover, blockprinting came to mind. It’s old timey and...
September 2010
3 posts
4 tags
Project Impossible: MAKE AN UGLY ARMOIRE LOOK...
Cost: $26 (latex paint, handmade paper, spray adhesive, handles)
Time: 7ish hours of work spanning 3 days.
Headspace: My hand-me-down armoire was buttugly. It had these twig handles and a horrendous faux wood finish. I’d wager that half my time on this project was simply wearing that high-gloss, high-barf-factor finish down.
I decided that the size of the piece merited a more subtle...
Update-adoodle
In the grand scheme of projects, doing something everyday for a month is a feat. Particularly for me.
This project will now shift a bit, I’ll be beginning a new internship next week and school is starting soon. While this will no longer be a day-to-day blog, I still have many DIY projects planned. Keep your eyes peeled.
2 tags
Days 33 and 34.
MAKE A DUCT TAPE COIN PURSE.
Cost: Nada
Headspace: I like the wallet that I made, but the dimensions are a bit too big. I decided I just wanted a pouch. Plus, I wanted to add some image to the piece, so put a frame of Maggie from the seminal series Love and Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez.
I took a smaller ziplock bag and cut the length down to a card size. I then cut a piece of plastic to...
August 2010
30 posts
2 tags
Day 32.
WATERPAINT A GIANT SQUID.
Cost: Nada
Time: 45 minutes.
Headspace: I think watercolor painting was invented by someone who wanted to test the human ability for patience. Also, maybe the runny and unpredictable quality is to show stupid humans who’s boss.
Anyway, I love cephalopods. Giant squid grab my seafaring spirit like no other. I’m definitely not the only one enraptured by...
4 tags
DAY 31.
MAKE PAC MAN OUT OF MODELING CLAY
Cost: $1.99 for DAS modeling clay
Time: 7ish hours, but only 2 of real work.
Headspace: I’m showing my age a bit, but I love me some Pac Man. I was trying to think of something to make, but my weekend of playing the Scott Pilgrim game has thrown me into a video game time warp where everything old feels new again. Alas, an idea is born.
The scene:
...
3 tags
WatchDAY 30.
LEARN THE BASS LINE TO CREAM’S “SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE”
Cost: Nothing
Time: 30 minutes. (Hey, the bass line is tricky!)
Headspace: I would have never learned this without Drew. He is playing the acoustic. Also, awkward video filming nothing, but if you listen real hard you can hear my bass.
4 tags
Day 29.
MAKE A TRIPPY CRYSTAL CASTLE.
Cost: Nada, as this was a gift from my wonderful friend Renee.
Time: construction time, 20 minutes. Crystal growing time: 10 hours.
Headspace: This set is wild! The post is going up late because the crystals needed to grow overnight.
Anyway, the plastic tray is a bit wobbly, so I’m not sure how long this amazing garden will exist. But, in the interim, I will...
2 tags
Day 28.
MAKE A 3 YEAR OLD A BIRTHDAY CARD.
Cost: Nada
Time: 1 hour.
Headspace: I love this little girl (and her Mama and the entire family) so much. I wish my art communicated this better. Either way, hopefully this makes her laugh, even if it is at my expense.
Also, this sketch is a close rip-off of a cute comic character named Bumberpup.
2 tags
Day 27.
SUGAR SKULL DRAWING.
Cost: Nada
Time: 2 hours. No joke.
Headspace: I’m kind of, sort of, totally obsessed with sugar skulls. If you don’t know what this represents or why it is used, on November 2nd go attend the closest Dia de Los Muertos event.
Strangely, this sketch became quite personal and therapeutic. There are a few elements in the design that mean a lot to me.
2 tags
Day 26.
CLOSE AN ASS HOLE.
Cost: Nada
Time: 20 minutes
Headspace: D has these pants with a hole in the…er….ass. So, I closed it. Thus, I closed an ass hole.
(Note: this was not the only ass hole I dealt with today, [bud dum psssh]*)
Admiring my handy work:
*sound of drums, obviously.
2 tags
Day 25.
TORTILLA SOUP.
Cost: $3.99 for free-range chicken broth and $1.99 for an avocado. (I had everything else stocked)
Time: 50 minutes
Headspace: This feels like a bit of a cheat, since I cook quite often. But, a cold is creeping into my system, so soup is the only thing I could muster the energy for today.
Ingredients:
Comed con migo:
3 tags
Day 24.
FRIENDSHIP BRACELET.
Cost: $2.40 for four colors of embroidery floss
Time: 1.5 hour
Headspace: I revistited 12 year old me, making a friendship bracelet for no one in particular. Slow going at first, my fingers eventually remembered the rhythm and pattern enough for me to listen to This American Life. This was a particularly relaxing project day.
3 tags
Day 23.
REFINISH A CHAIR.
Cost: $1.99 for the finish
Time: 2.5 hours
Headspace: I found this chair on the street. Normally I wouldn’t grab it, but this project is getting expensive. Free furniture is a way to combat the expenses.
I put the before and after right next to each other because the improvements are subtle. The bulk of my time was spent sanding. There were some scratches in the wood...
3 tags
Day 22.
FRAME A POSTER.
Cost: $4.99 for the frame
Time: 30 minutes
Headspace: The frame I bought was a little too big for the Henry Rollins poster, so I took the sheet of paper that was enclosed and painted the border black. It turned out okay because I used thick layers of acrylic paint.
(Also, the paint taking a long time to dry is why this is posted the day after. Natch.)
2 tags
Day 21.
ORIGAMI CRANE CHAIN.
Cost: nada
Time: 45 minutes
Headspace: Origami cranes, as symbols of peace, are incredibly powerful symbols for me. Every day on my way home from school/work, I pass a statue covered in 1000 cranes. Today, I made a few and strung them on a yarn chain. I hope to add more (in different sizes and patterns). This lengthy and symbolic process appeals to me. Plus, the cranes look...
2 tags
Day 20.
DUCKHORSE SKETCH.
Cost: nada
Time: 30 minutes
Headspace: I’m really tired today, and just want to watch a movie. This will be short.
My lack of motivation was usurped by my daydreaming of seahorses on my bus home from work. But I suck at art, so seahorses are out of reach for me. Thus, duckhorse is born.
2 tags
Day 19.
A DAY IN THE LIFE; A PHOTO ESSAY.
Cost: nada
Time: 12 hours
Headspace: Just another boring day primarily filled with work and public transportation. Only difference is that today, it is documented.
3 tags
Day 18.
FIX A HOLE IN A BAND T-SHIRT.
Cost: nada
Time: 20 minutes?
Headspace: I have this well-loved Pixies shirt. It has a hole. It has been there for a long time. Like, say, over two years.
Display A:
(Brushing tears through embarassing armpit hole)
Scoff if you must, but I’ve never mended a hole before. Now, thanks to the internet and all of its pearls of wisdom, I securely closed the...
5 tags
DAY 17.
CHAMPAGNE ROOM SHADOWBOX.
Cost: nada
Time: 4 glorious hours
Headspace: I have a bunch of Archie McPhee toys around my house. This should not be surprising considering that I live in Seattle and have an immature disposition. Obviously, the only reasonable thing to do with said toys is to make them do something totally inappropriate.
I figured toys should not attend a strip club.
And they...
3 tags
Day 16.
MOONROCK PLANTER.
Cost: $1.50 worth of Sculptamold.
Time: About 1 hr total of work spread over a 6 hr period.
Headspace: This material is wild. It’s like papier-mâché, but much stronger and easier to work with. I learned through deeply scientific and intense research that train model aficionados are huge fans.
There were many steps, which included baking in an oven, wet sanding, spot...
5 tags
Day 15.
STORMTROOPER SCULPEY.
Cost: $3.35 for two packages of Premo Sculpey.
Time: too fucking long (1 hr, 25 minutes)
Headspace: If there was a nerd badge, this should be it (hence, the pose).
I digress. Short story: I wanted to make a stormtrooper out of sculpey. The whole body would have taken too long, so I decided to just do a helmet. It’s far from perfect, but I heart it nonetheless.
2 tags
Day 14.
BANNER FOR WEBSITE.
Cost: nada
Time: 50ish minutes
Headspace: Finding suitable and appealing images from my photographs took the most time. I have a couple fonts that I love, so I stick to the tried and true. The font I used for this banner is called “Tall Films” and it is the shit.
2 tags
Day 13.
SKETCH FOR SHANE.
Cost: nada
Time: 45 minutes
Headspace: While this isn’t a great drawing (because I suck), it was labor-intensive. There is a lot of detail in these little circuit boards! This sketch is for my friend Shane, who is in game development. The board I drew is inspired by a Game Boy cartridge. We’re nerds like that.
3 tags
Day 12.
PAINT A LIGHT BULB.
Cost: $6.35 for two colors of glass paint and a clear globe light bulb
Time: 30 minutes
Headspace: I really should have gotten a thick black glass paint to contain the two colors. This project got messy, fast. Glass paint has a weird texture and smell, and the colors were pretty hard to corral on such a wacky surface (they wanted to run so bad!). But, errors can be...
Day 11.
Frame a map.
Cost: $5.99 for frame at Value Village
Time: 20 minutes
Headspace: I wanted to frame my trusty Metro map from when I lived in Copenhagen in 2008; something about commemorating the experience, and also to remind myself that I have done something cool and ballsy. As an added bonus, the map is rad looking.
I found a lovely frame with the matting already in it (though with some...
3 tags
Day 10.
Paint an atrocious fake wood bookshelf.
Cost: $24.50 for sanding paper, primer, red paint, and brush
Time: 2.5 hours
Headspace: I hate that I have acquired so much fake wood Ikea furniture. Today was the day I tried to make it less obvious. Also, I love painting. Like, LOVE.
In case you didn’t know, painting “wood” requires a coarse sanding to rough up that glossy fake...
2 tags
Day 9.
Natural dye experiment.
Cost: $4.75 for 1.5 lb beets and white t-shirt
Time: 2 hours
Headspace: I was never able to get the red right, but it was a worthwhile experiment anyway. I abhor the idea of wearing gross chemicals, so why not try something a little safer on the water runoffs?
(For the curious, I soaked the beets overnight, boiled them for 30 minutes, and then transferred into a...
4 tags
Day 8.
Jewelry Holder.
Cost: $11.25 for frame, wire, and fancy paper
Time: 45 minutes
Headspace: This was a pretty fun one, because if there is one thing I love above all it is looking at handcrafted paper. Plus, this project lets me move my necklaces off a ugly thumb tack in the bathroom. Also, this project was easy - the only items I needed were glue (for the wire), hammer, paint (for the frame),...
3 tags
Day 7.
Luggage Tag.
Cost: nada
Time: 1 hour
Headspace: Cutting little letters out is tedious, but I like the way it looks. The quote on the back (which you most likely can’t read) is from the back cover of Pulp’s This is Hardcore. It says, “It’s ok to grow up - just as long as you don’t grow old. Face it…you are young.” This embodies my general philosophy...
3 tags
Day 6.
Monster sketch.
Cost: $11.00 (new pens and a smaller sketch book)
Time: 25 minutes
Headspace: Using a highlighter to color is terrible. But, alas, this is what I get for creating at work.
Also, note the Scout Niblett quote at the top. She is one of my favorites, and she quite suits my mood today.
5 tags
Day 5.
LP Bookends.
Cost: nada
Time: 45 minutes
Headspace: This will go down as the week of hard materials. I figured vinyl records would give well under extremely hot water. Oh well.
At least I got to listen to The Books new album The Way Out in its entirety. Life is always better when you get new material by a loved band.
Also! The Books for the books.
p.s. Check out the accidental Latin@...
3 tags
Day 4.
Duct Tape Wallet.
Cost: $19.50 for book binding tape, duct tape, and Xacto knife
Time: 1 hr 45 minutes
Headspace: So frustrated. Playing with tape and a sharp knife for nearly two hours has resulted in sliced fingertips and lost skin layers from adhesive. But, I have a new wallet! And I got to listen to lots of Portishead.
p.s. I used the instructions on the Make blog, mostly because...
Day 3.
Origami Cranes.
Cost: nada
Time: 45 minutes
Headspace: Origami requires far more patience and motor skills than I remember. I listened an entire Yo La Tengo record to keep me chill (their first album from 1986, Ride the Tiger, for the curious.)
p.s. I found that following a video was helpful, in case you are inspired.
Day 2.
Repotted a plant.
Cost: $3.99 for soil
Time: 20ish minutes
Headspace: Not necessarily creative in an art sense, but creating new life for a neglected plant is rewarding.
July 2010
2 posts
Day 1.
A bookmark.
Cost: nada
Time: 15 minutes
Headspace: I’m ashamed. But, at least I did something.