Crafty Cretin - Things I made Vol. 2

[n_dawson]

Next up, some Dungeons & Dragon bits, and a few more randoms.

A Dungeon Master’s screen. Friend wanted a gift for his nephew, that would look nice folded up and fit like a book on shelf. The main spine uses the hole and tab hinge design from the other boxes, but the ‘extra’ panels are put on with tiny hinges. I don’t like the tiny hinges, because even the teeny screws poked through a bit. Hence the dragons to cover those and be ‘fake hinges.’

Now this one uses the same hinges, but the central panel is a box. Which holds the additional panels. Those panels are held into place with simple slot construction, with skulls on the bottom and dragons on the top. It is a SIMPLE set up, but a bit clunky. The 17 year old who received it was super stoked. And that’s all that matters to me. Oh, and it is that heavy oak again. It be hefty. Lots of ideas for improvements in my head. Search on pinterest and/or etsy for some really crazy DM screen design inspiration. Hadn’t seen one quite like this.

Someone posted a tensegrity floating dragon file on FB. He had designed a platform where this globe is, and it just didn’t do the dragon justice. So I ditched the platform completely and came up with this. This is the prototype, proof of concept. It really needed to be thicker material than this 1/8" to balance the scale of the orb and chains… enter 1/4’ saeple and black acrylic…

I am super stoked with this bad boy. I miss him, as he was sold. But again, MANY ideas in my head for this. Lots of different base designs. Hoping to develop an octopus tensegrity version.

Quick little sign I did for a realtor friend. I do love these slabs. They look lovely, but AGAIN… slow af. BC holder is a slab cut down the middle and glued to clear acrylic.

Did you know you can get wood roses on Amazon? Pretty darn cheap. A few were damaged, but those make for good set-up and testing. It’s a bit convoluted to tape and line them up, but the result is great. Great Mother’s Day gifts!

And a simple tribute to a warrior. (Lowe’s chalk/white board. Cuts at PG draftboard settings. LOVE it.)

Lots more still come! And I sincerely appreciate the continued kind words. It’s encouraging and greatly helps mentally during this pandemic.

[ptodd]

So much inspiration here! Wow, you are really cranking things out!

[n_dawson]

Thank you! Some of these are “old” but yea, BIG variety o’ things. I simply cannot focus.

[eric.hartdegen]

SOOOOO MANY AWESOME THINGS YOU MADE!!! I love them all!

[arh2]

You come up with some really creative ideas!

[davidgal2]

I think the roses that say “I love you” and “I know” are a really nice touch.

[n_dawson]

They go very well in a ‘death star’ themed bud vase.

[davidgal2]

I couldn’t find any that weren’t colored. Are yours the white ones?

[n_dawson]

Yes, “ivory white.” https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Realistic-Ivory-Wooden-Aariels/dp/B01CFNU428

[n_dawson]

Good morning! Here I go again… I have around 40 more pics to get through…

First up, a collaboration, or ‘art appropriation’ piece…

A neighbor artist created this print featuring a clock that is central to our neighborhood. When I saw it, I immediately imagined it as a real laser cut clock. I contacted her to ask if it would be ok, and if I could “license” it. She gets part of every sale, and approval of the pieces I make. She had created the original in Illustrator, which was PERFECT for me (and Jarvis). In the market photo, you can see the different wallpaper samples I put behind it. Sold all three fairly quickly and have orders for 3 more. She has done other local “landmarks” that I plan to create 3D pieces with as well.

Diamond earrings and a diamond necklace in walnut clarity.

I was commissioned to do the ‘trophies’ for the “Favorites” at our neighborhood market. I was really hoping to keep the favorite artisan, but I came in second. Soap guy got first. (He’s a good guy, so I was not terribly bummed.) Another frame, with wood glued to the outside, etched (on the back) acrylic, and wall paper sample under. I switched out the glass to acrylic because the etch on the glass did not show up well enough, even with two passes. Acrylic always gives a nice white etch.

Thought I was being original when I created this ornament. I was wrong. There are lots out there. Still fun. And disappointing that I had to explain it to a couple I gifted one to. (If you don’t get it, I’m sorry. You need to see the greatest Christmas movie ever, and you’ll understand.)

Aaaand back in the house we go…
Original frame was created on a big 24" x 48" Universal laser at FirstBuild (mentioned above) about 4 years ago. But now I can make the new grades (numbers only really now) at home. Can you tell who is excited about school and who is not?

I’ll get into my other obsessions next time… StarWars, a bit o’ Marvel, and airplants! (And combining them with really fun results.)

[JimmyWayneWestie]

You must be related to the Cullens —- since you do not sleep.

[dklgood]

I love the Seuss frame!

[n_dawson]

Nah, these are all from the last year. I mean, yea, sleep is challenging these days, but it’s not because I’m lasering all of the time.

[n_dawson]

Let’s dive into my StarWars chit, chall we?

My favorite character. (Your line is, “I know.”)

A sketchbook with an odd SW theme. Don’t know where it came from, it just hit me. The contrast on this is better in person. Found the icon on the web, contacted the artist and he was cool wivit. Do that when you can. Most artists are happy to let you use their work.

Not an original idea at all. Friend saw it for sale online and thought we could recreate it with Jarvis. Ta da! He colored it with pencil I believe.

A few cast members stopped by my Christmas market booth. They were all stoked. And came back after touring the show to clear out over half of my SW stuff.

Leather bracelets. Premade, I just etched 'em. Fun and easy. Takes about 5-6 minutes each. Not too bad.

These are fun. Simple leatherette coin trays. A lot easier to do them with rivets, as it’s only four per tray. But doing snaps instead (eight attachments per), allows you ship them flat, and they won’t get mangled/misshapen.

I was makin’ Mandalorian chit before it was “Mando” cool. No, really. But yea, TheMandalorian is pretty rad. I’m diggin’ it, for Mando as much as TheChild.

One, maybe two more posts here before I go back to lurkin’… LOL (I don’t mean for it to happen that way, it just does.) I will try to be more active here. Would like to get my “regular” status back.

[kelley1]

Other than to say, “I’m speechless”, I’m speechless. Please keep the posts coming.

[Pearl]

Yes, your 7th grader is hysterical. (He) might be normal again at around age 28

Fortunately I can tell that Miss Kindergartner is keeping you busy.

[n_dawson]

A quickie just showing a couple of market table shots, and several new. They are kinda scattered, but I do try to group things. I need to add some height, and I’ve GOT to make some better jewelry displays. Setting out and detangling all those necklaces is half of my set-up time. And frustrating. I’ll get that chit rolling with preloaded panels is some form for next year.

I didn’t have much, so I had to spread things out. It wasn’t horrible, but not the best display at all. I fully recognize that.

Still no real height to anything, but more variety and quantity, so grouped items were more congruent. I’ve read many times I should “focus” on something to be more successful. But I just can’t. One, I can’t turn this brain off. It needs to create, and the GF provides an AMAZING outlet for that. Two, I sell something from EVERY section just about every time. And this set-up, which was my only set-up this Summer, I had the best day EVER in 3 years. I sold more in 4 hours than I did ALL Summer last year, of 8 Saturdays at the same market. I know there were lots of other factors, like it was a BEAUTIFUL day, and artisans had not been allowed at the market all Summer, it was the last market, I had lots of “new” stuff that no one had seen before, and people just wanted to get out and spend money on unique stuff. Other vendors reported the same. Super busy, even without a huge crowd. I live in an awesome neighborhood. I believe most of the shoppers were ‘immediate locals’ if you will. I enjoy this type of sales sooo much more than online. I honestly seems easier. Isn’t that crazy? The physical work is of course more, but the sales are much easier. And the immediate satisfaction/reward of the work is definitely more gratifying.

[n_dawson]

Alright, my latest obsession… Airplants! Easy to care for, and making things to hold them… STUPID EASY! Be artsy fartsy. Be simple. Go crazy.

My first design. Second cut though. As I forgot to change the color of the square outlining the slat cut outs. Which I fixed by doing…

This!

As much as I love PG walnut, I love this thick oak version much more. Has some heft, so I felt better selling it for $15. (Material was cheaper, but more work to get, and had a minimum order, so it was a wash really when you factor in time.)

I killed the succulents that came in these concrete planters. I couldn’t figure out how I mucked up the measurements so bad that the sides stuck up above the 'crete. Seriously, it was a couple of hours before I realized I had just put them on upside down! Neurosis fail. LOL

I love this one. The plant shelf is just a slotted piece, so it can be removed and then you have a lovely plantless Frank Lloyd Wright wall hanger.

When I dove into staining, I really liked the walnut and barn red stains… So how about a REVERSIBLE wall hanger? With multiple plant shelves, that can be placed in any of the nine squares, or removed of course. These got lots of compliments and sold the two I made.

See, stupid simple. Acrylic rectangle. Shelf cuts out of the rectangle. Predrilled agate “necklace charm” for more color. Made for a thank you gift to our neighbors. Add some slotted feet under the shelf and this could be a desk/shelf planter, rather than a hanger.

While working on the DM screen above (the skull feet for the panels), this idea popped in my head. 15 minutes later I had a finished piece in my hand.

And the crazy combo! Sooo many possibilities! I have many more combos coming. This was just the first one. Remember the notebook above? Same artwork.

Alright, so you are pretty much caught up with the Crafty Cretin. I hope something inspires you, and I hope you’ll share it with us. I hope you create for the sake of creating, not just to sell.

Be safe. Be well. Wear a mask. Aspire to BE more.

[dklgood]

Your contributions here are inspirational Reversible, modular wall hanger/plant shelf. So simple, so clever. Thanks for all of these.

[arh2]

You have so many wonderful designs and your display makes one want to look at everything in detail!