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    T Tuesday: minecraft edition

    April 26, 2021 - By 

    Hello and welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday.

    It’s been a pretty standard week for me…work, home and errands keep me busy. I was tasked with a project by Mini-me though. She has been playing Minecraft for 10 years now. If you’ve never heard of it, here’s a very basic explanation…it is pixel and block based building game so everything is square but check out the link if you want to know more.

    She wanted to make the windows in her room look like glass blocks in Minecraft.

    Out came the Silhouette portrait machine. We fudged the blocks slightly so that they would be attached for easy placement. Something you’d never notice on the final product unless I told you.

    My crafty neighbor had gifted me with some white vinyl a while back, I wasn’t sure how it would work but Lord knows I kept it just in case. It actually worked perfectly!

     

    Look at the fun shadows it creates as the sun sets.

    I can’t leave without sharing a sweet photo of Marvin on Caturday Saturday.

    And this is just a photo of Marvin being very helpful as Mini-me works on her classes.

    I’m totally loving my new mugs with one minor issue…I usually bring a cup of coffee with me to drink on my way to work. My new mugs do not fit in the cup holder of my van. Yes, I use really mugs with open tops in the van. I’m a nut, its okay, I’m good with it.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Around home - Art - Blog - Creativity - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: in progress edition

    April 12, 2021 - By 

    I feel like I should have a virtual loading bar on my activities. I have many things in progress and I’m excited about all of them!

    Journal progress

    I gutted a book from the 50s that I knew would never hold up to the abuse that I would put it through. I liked the orange cover and mid-century motif but it was a bit damaged on the back. I decided to cover it with some Tim Holtz tissue and go from there.

    I used some transparent pink paint over top of the tissue for a little better color once I had picked out the inner spine fabric and end pages. Pink is a favorite of mine. I’m so not a girlie girl but I do love pink.

    I stitched in my signatures….

    and now I need to take it back apart…ugh. The book no longer sits nicely. Is it fine? It would work but it would bug me every single time I used it. I should have left more space between the signatures.

    Plant babies

    My seedlings are doing quite well. I’m just about ready to transplant the tomatoes into larger pots.

    The nasturtium seeds I saved last summer are baby plants now! I started a few more plants just last week. So excited for those. I’m planning to try the leaves and flowers in salads this year. I’m also going to save some of the blossoms for tea. I have no idea if I’ll like it but I’ve heard it good.

    Maybe I’ll use these fancy little cups that I can’t seem to part with. They are so pretty.

    My radishes have  sprouted…unfortunately its been cold and there is snow in the forecast.

    They are all tucked into bed now…so punny.

    I also had to share my thrift store score. I got all of this paper for under $5. Stacks and stacks of good sized scraps and three paper pads. Crazy! I’m looking forward to making a bunch more cards.

    Fan favorite- Marvin

    This picture was just too cute not to share. He is laying on his “security bag”. It’s a reusable shopping bag that he immediately claimed. He gets upset when I move it to vacuum. So we have a bag that permanently lives on our living room floor. He’s not spoiled at all. But who could say no to that face.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Minions diorama

    April 11, 2021 - By 

    Creating miniature terrain and dioramas is a passion of mine although I rarely indulge myself in it. Silly, I know.

    I think one of the main issues it that I have to spray paint outdoors and it’s not really warm enough to do that 2/3 of the year. With that said, I was totally inspired to create a diorama after finding a couple Minion figures at the dollar store.

    I have a coworker that is a true kid at heart. She loves Disney. She loves Minions. She loves dinosaurs…especially T-rex. So when I saw the Minions, I tossed them in my basket with her in mind. I honestly was just going to sneak and leave them at her desk randomly. But then I decided to challenge myself to a diorama.

    This was what I came up with. The white structural pieces are a thick craft foam. I also used a cracker box and stir straws. I wish I had taken photos along the way but I get into a groove and don’t think about anything else.

    The backing plate is a plastic card that some game pieces came in from a collectable pirate ship trading card game I believe. It pays to never throw random stuff like this away. I figured that if I fill the various depressions with unique bits that it would appear like a control panel of sorts.

    The spray paint really starts to make it take shape. Provides the cohesive color to tie the whole thing together.

    Next I started on the paint. Adding layer upon layer to give depth and interest. Highlighting some areas, edges and so forth.

    I made a few barrels from paper cylinders that protected spark plugs. I punched circles from cracker box that were almost big enough. I filled the inside with hot glue to take up space then gently settled the cardboard circles in each end.

    This slightly open appearance screamed to have something leaking out of it. I used yellow and chartreuse paint to create some sort of ooze. After the paint was dry I added Diamond Glaze to give it a shiny, wet look.

    I gave some highlights to the goggly eyes and other panel pieces to emphasize the dome shaped buttons or screens.

    I used a plastic plug and the metal button off my jeans pocket to create an oversized control button. I figured the crazy looking minion would be just right to be manning the control while his partner with the hard hat looked on with a dopey smile.

    I love how the stir sticks work so well as piping or conduit.

    When I gave her the little diorama, she almost cried. She was so happy which in turn made my day!