Velociraptor Crate

I'd like to have at least one post each month on here, just to make sure I don't let it slip into the same forgotten state as my previous project blog, but... I let May get away from me.  Luckily, I have pictures of old projects I can toss on here in desperate times!

This was made for a friend's wedding reception back in 2011, which was Jurassic Park themed.  Because who doesn't like dinosaurs?  They needed a fun box for guests to put cards in, and what better way to decorate a box than to make it look like it's meant to contain a man eating reptile?  I looked up some screenshots and a 3D computer rendering of the crate from the opening scene of the movie, sketched out a rather messy diagram on some graph paper to get the measurements right, and then started cutting up some foam board.

Oddly enough, finding reference pictures was the worst part of the process.  The rest was much more interesting, even the tedious gluing of little bits and pieces.  It was seriously frustrating finding anything clear enough to get details and measurements from.  I guess that's to be expected with a fast paced scene that takes place on a misty night in the jungle.  It worked out rather well in the end though.  The sliding door on the front (away from camera) is just a solid piece rather than slotted to match the sides, which is how it was in the movie.  It was just easier that way.

I used candy cane ribbon for the red and white stripes even though it was a little inaccurate. It was just so much easier than painting them, and I'm lazy (see note about sliding door above). The ladders are made out of bendy straws.

Yay, bendy straws! I'm afraid I don't remember how big the thing was.  I guess you can kind of estimate by the floor tiles in the first picture... they're about 18 inches square.

So there's my lazy post about something I actually made a long time ago, which really doesn't make sense since this blog is supposed to be helping me finish more projects NOW.  I have made some things this month... they just weren't terribly interesting and/or I didn't take pictures of them.

Ribbon Shoes, and a "Pros and Cons" Reprise

I like ribbons.  I use them often in jewelry making, I've hung pictures with them, and I even bought a pair of shoes that was otherwise unsuited to me because of them.  It was many years ago, and I was young and foolish... willing to overlook the wedge heel and peep toe for the sake of the frilly bands of satin with which they were tied.  I don't like wedges, and I HATE peep toes (my second toe is longer than the others and kinda pokes out all by it's lonesome... so it looks somewhat as if I'm flipping everyone off with my feet) plus I somehow managed to get one size too big, so they don't even fit me properly.  So in an effort to correct this shopping mistake, I searched far and wide for a pair of shoes to transfer the design element I liked to.  Finally, after a number of years, I found them: neutral colored, open sided, T-strap, spool heel, and most importantly a closed toe.

 

 

I  also liked the contrast in textures on the original shoes, but I was willing to give that up for the sake of eliminating the things I didn't like.  The new ones are a little narrow, so they're still not a perfect fit, but I'll deal with that... at least for now.  On to the modifications!

 

I cut a bit off the center tab for the T-strap, and tucked it inside, holding it in place with glue and a line of stitching.  (Stitching not shown in picture, but that's what the spool of matching thread is for.) I removed the existing ankle straps completely and replaced them with antiqued brass grommets (C) which blend in nicely with the tan leather of the shoe.  I made some staples out of antiqued brass jewelry-making pins (A) and poked them through the sides of the shoe, right by the sole.  I used a large pin to punch holes for them.  To keep them from pulling out, I used some spacer bars, (B) another jewelry thing, on the inside of the shoe.  The super long tipped pliers were absolutely necessary for putting in these staples and bending the ends over, and even with them it was tricky.  The grommets were simple though! I just used a hole punch (Silent Setter by Provo Craft- the funny looking thing at the bottom of the picture) and a pair of grommet setting pliers. (The Silent Setter comes with grommet setting tips too, but the pliers seemed easier.)  It was a snap.

The result was a pair of VERY customizable shoes.  The antique brass blends in well enough that the ribbons can be left off entirely, and since it's just a series of places to loop ribbon through, I can experiment with different ribbons and lacing patterns. They can be altered to match just about any outfit (assuming the tan shoes themselves go with it) just by switching up the ribbons.

 

And as a final... thing.  I'm including the shoes I posted to The Hutch.  The one and only project to be posted there before it was locked up forever.  My altered-logo Doctor Who Cons.

 

 

 

This mod requires nothing more than the shoes themselves, some printable transfer paper (available at Walmart) and of course a computer and printer with which to design and print the new logo.  Easy to do, but be careful ironing the new logo on.  The original logo is very thick and rubbery and it can ooze and burn if you have too much heat and pressure on it.

 

 

 



A Serendipitous Synthesis

All credit for the awesomeness of this necklace goes to Beadtrap and  ColorKissedSingles on Etsy.  They made the lovely glass pieces and hand dyed silk ribbon I used for it.  All I did was fasten it all together.

About a year ago, I stumbled upon a ruffly purple, peach, and cream piece of glass after doing a search on Etsy.  I honestly don't even remember what I was looking for.  It was to be the first of several purchases from that particular glass artist, I'm afraid I became a bit of an addict.  I've always liked colorful glass, and the swoopy unique shapes just won me over.  Plus this particular piece reminded me of an iris, and I like irises.  I mean the flower... not so much the part of the eye.  Though I do quite like being able to see, and some eyes are really pretty, so I guess either one works.

Anyway, I wired some cheap purple pressed glass leaves onto it and hung it from a ribbon.  It was pretty.  It got compliments.  But I wasn't entirely happy with it.  Then I found some fantastic ribbon that was the perfect mix of colors to match the glass, with the exception of a bit of green.  There was a simple way to fix that though, I just had to replace the cheap purple leaves with nice green ones. Sparkly handmade green ones from the same artist who made the freeform piece in the first place.  It was like they had all been made to go together, except they weren't.  Sometimes things just come together that way.  Pity it took me over a year to find all the pieces.

 

Up next, I'm working on a really simple shoe mod (I just need to go buy some matching thread) and I'll re-post the one project (also shoes) that made it into The Hutch before it got locked up.

The Hutch Reborn

So... I managed to get permanently locked out of my original project blog.  The details of how this came about are uninteresting and unimportant, so I'll just leave it unexplained.  That being the case, The Hutch of Chaos will only ever have two posts.  Only one of which was an actual project.

So here I am, staring over with a new blog.  I debated with myself over whether I should even bother with it.  I knew that to do it properly, I would have to put in a lot of time and effort, and that alone makes it kind of a ridiculous thing to do.  I have too many projects, and my solution is to take on another one?  There is a twisted sort of logic to it though, if I look at the blog as a system of organization and a way of enforcing some sort of accountability.  Then the self-deprecating part of my mind kicked in, suggesting that not only would I utterly fail at completing projects and posting them with any regularity, I would really just be making a pathetic attempt to show off.  It's hard to argue with.  It's mean and stubborn and it makes any defense thrown against it sound childish and weak.  "I am not!" or "So what if I am?" both make that nasty little voice feel like it's winning.  Wording aside, what other arguments are there?

Clearly, since I'm sitting here posting in a new blog, I either won the argument in the end or went ahead with it despite having lost.  I'm honestly not sure which.

Naming the thing was another problem.  I tried to think of something else I could use to carry on the "my projects multiply like rabbits" theme, but nothing sounded right.  Eventually I dropped that idea in favor of a single-word title, preferably a word that was made up.  I've been rather fond of the word "tatterdemalion" from the moment I first heard it, and it wasn't hard to change it up a bit. So here we are.

I don't know how long this blog will last, or how often I'll post in it.  I question my own motives.  And I have no idea how to use half the stuff on here.  If it's anything like the coat that I started back in 2006 and still haven't finished... well... I suppose time will tell.  Perhaps I will go work on that coat now.