I always seem to have more than one thing going at a time, which for sure keeps me busy. Today, I pretty much wrapped up three things, which made me feel comfortably accomplished. First…the little acrylic trees which I have posted about before. Tried making one with the green PG acrylic, and while very pretty, it’s not nearly as festive and sparkly as the clear. I fooled around with the tree topper. The angel is pretty, but too large and not enough definition to make it recognizable as an angel. I’m burned out now on acrylic trees! The last one I made, was to send to my son and daughter-in-law in Delaware….along with one of the mirrored turntables. I painstakingly glued on a bunch of ‘bling’….including the round off-cut ‘holes’ from the green tree. I must say…I’m a pro at making those trees, now!
I’m not a ‘cat person’….but my son and his wife have a cat, so I’ve concluded that there is click bait, there is cat nip….and that this spinning tree will certainly be cat bait. Don’t know how long it will remain intact……but whatever….c’est fini!
My second project (PG cherry) has been to make tiny music box for a dear friend for Christmastime. I’m not ‘into’ music boxes per se, but it was a small challenge for me. I’m sure he’s not ‘into’ them either, but I know he’ll like it for what it really is……something I made especially for him. I bought the music box mechanism on Amazon (of course) for $8. (Funny to me…the name Sankyo sounds like ‘thank you’…but fun that there’s an ‘S’ on the little key…my friend’s last name begins with an ‘S’)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SK4FRYW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Since it has to be wound, I wanted to design it so it looked pretty sitting down flat….so it can be wound, remove the key, and let it play. Then I thought to make the delicate key holder, so the key doesn’t get lost. I cut and glued together two pieces, one with a tab to fit into the side of the box.
In looking at this project, there are probably things I would have done differently, but it turned out so well that I’m going with it. Everything is a big learning experience though….and that’s just the best! I very much like boxes that are just plain glued together rather than finger jointed, so I will be making more in the future. The most difficult part of this was being patient. Waiting for glue to dry can be excruciating! But, I gritted my teeth and let it be.
The last project will be remaining ongoing, but I meet certain challenges along the way. My older brother and I are collaborating on engraving fine art (his) onto wood……but now I’ve discovered LaserTile that many here have also found. The PG cherry piece was done with dark graphic, which looks good at first, but added too much char and subsequent bits coming out and leaving light spots. The second one I did (no photo) was much better with regular graphic.
I think the tile will prove to be amazing. I have this tile stuck temporarily in a makeshift frame with masking tape, just to take a picture. I have circled an area that needs to be cleaned up in the file before any permanent engraving is done. This was sent to my brother to show him the possibilities……which are exciting. This is a drawing he and a friend put together in about 20 minutes, and I use it a lot for prototyping stuff.
Ding, ding, ding……on to the next round!
