Category: helper cats

Albie, Yucca, Frustration

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Albie_072317

This is Albie, absorbing the morning sun through the studio sliding doors. Our large middle cat, he is a handsome warm inky black, and very difficult to photograph. This one has zero interest in destroying miniatures.

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Re-working the Modern Miniature Succulents + Sundries set a bit. I built a corner planter for specimens, and glued in one yucca tree with the new, narrower leaves. For the rest, I want to keep the plantings fluid and easy to change out, so I devised a kind of armature on the stalks of rolled brown paper for elevation. They are planted to the floor with tacky wax.

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Here’s how it looks planted out, and with other plants massed around, like a typical nursery.

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Still experimenting with colorways on the different stocks. This is the original shape leaf cluster in medium green, with leaf and pine markers. After the glue is set, the leaves are separated and arrayed.

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Here is a similar leaf cluster, scored down the middle with the back of an Xacto knife. it makes it into a whole other plant.

side_by_side

Here they are side-by-side. So much potential!

And now for the frustration rant: Cricut has released a new version of their Design Space app that has inexplicably broken my SVG files — the format for my drawings used to cut all these shapes. I have been in close contact with their support staff for the last two weeks, but no answers, fixes or workarounds yet. I even abandoned Firefox for Google Chrome. It is all very tedious, time wasting and — frustrating.

Fish, Scarlett, Ruby

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1_fish_sketchbook

I have made a new variation of the sketchbook.

3covers_enpaper

Three different covers. Endpapers are cut from one of Recollections “Black Jack” papers. Book pages cut from a nice substantial Southworth paper I’ve had for maybe… *thinks back to the last time we may have actually printed out a résumé* … a really long time. I drew the fish a few years ago when I was dabbling in surface pattern design. So we meet again, eh, fish?

ephemera_pocket

Of course an ephemera pocket.

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I have been gone a lot lately from my home, and Scarlett especially was not stoked. There was some regressive behavior and acting out.

living_roof2

I was reminded, though, of how much I liked the Sea House Warming Hut living roof, and how much I miss having a current build. But then I remembered the fate of the Argo Wool Works…

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… and sighed. Thus far, the room box that houses the set for Modern Miniature Succulents + Sundries is unravaged, cunningly set atop a bookcase, so that will have to continue to suffice for my construction longings. Scarlett is a year old now — a small cat in stature forever! — and although her depredations have diminished considerably, I am reluctant to reengage with my nemesis.

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The reason for my absence is shown above, in this picture taken by my daughter, of her daughters. Here is four-year-old Maddie reacting to the sounds of her 10-day-old sister, Ruby. We are all so in love.

 

 

Anthers, Easter, Stormy, Bunka, Scarlett

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tiny_succulent_flowers

The buds on the recently-noted succulent flower open out into pretty minimalist flowers, but look at all those tiny anthers! Nothing says Spring like pollen :)

easter

Of course, tiny Easter baskets. Undelivered because of a sudden plague at granddaughter’s house (resolved now).

stormy_cats

My husband was biz traveling for a long week, and we’re all very glad to have him back.

bunka_041717

I scored a one-gallon ziplock bag stuffed full of gorgeous, pristine (though moderately tangled) bunka for $5 at one of our local thrift stores. I’m not entirely sure of the implications. The colors are spectacular, and it untangles surprisingly easily. Fascinating stuff.

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At ten months old, Scarlett has mellowed considerably. She spends a lot of time outside exploring and “helping” me garden, and is still incredibly needy demonstrative with her affections and vocal interactions. I texted this pic to my daughter today with the caption, “So sad. My cat only has one leg.”

Same As It Ever Was

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bad_030417psd

The late night sorties continue, despite my best defenses.

alice

This just made me laugh out loud; she so looks like Alice in Wonderland/Grace Slick doing “One pill makes you larger, and…”

chatting_anxiety_footstools

Zilly and Stormy continue to meet up after work, and are really enjoying getting to know one another. Here they are, chatting away, sitting on what I refer to as the “floral footstools of anxiety”. It’s got nothing to do with them, and is a story for perhaps another time? The fabric, however, is fabulous: “London Calling” from Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. I want to reupholster everything in it.

macro

For my birthday I purchased a set of lenses for my iPhone from Photojojo. I’ve not had much time to purposely explore them — it’s not even quite my birthday yet— but here are a few snapshots.

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I was most interested in the macro and telephoto, but could not resist the fisheyes and filter lenses. Above is EC01 Echeveria, looking fabulous larger than miniature life-size.

moss_spore

These are very lively moss flowers, less than a half-inch tall, growing on the backyard retaining wall, as seen through the macro lens. Who know spores had EYES?!

fisheye

And here is either the fisheye or super fisheye, good for laughs and turning one’s home into a hobbit-hole. In the foreground are the lens boxen. I heartily recommend!

all3_blog

I’m about to go south, and then north, for a couple of days. I wrote and photographed the instructions and listing for the first of the MMS+S Office Essentials, in colorway “Warm” today, but will hold off actually listing them at MMS+S until I return and have a chance to kit and document the whole series.

The south part is to my family in Santa Cruz, and the north part is to a *very* special tour my delightful husband has managed to arrange, of a very special archive of amazing artifacts, all housed on a fairyland ranch that is so sprawling and gorgeous it takes one’s breath away. (And/or, is typically Northern Californian.) Happy birthday to me, and all the March babies!

Yikes

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slippers_022817

The new issue of the newsletter Cut, Fold + Make just went out and I forgot to harangue you to subscribe, if you’ve not already done so. There’s a complementary 1:12 scale vertical file holder template, as well as some inspirational and obscure links of creative goodness. Don’t make my imaginary business coach scold me.

It’s chilly nights here in coastal Northern California— as is seasonally appropriate — and Scarlett is taking comfort as she finds it, in recently vacated slippers.

Teleportation

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teleportation_022217

*While we patiently await documentable evidence of more substantive progress, behold, teleportation!

Scarlett: I can’t even make eye contact with you, no matter how many sounds you make.
Nancy: I know. That’s why you should get down right now, of your own accord.
Scarlett: But then I would have to admit defeat.
Nancy: It’s not a contest. I have already lost.
Scarlett: Maybe if you could just look away.
Nancy: Fine. I’ll just go sit over there.

boring_022217

Scarlett: Fine. It’s pretty boring in here anyway. Also, the lighting is all askew. And the shelves are empty.
Fine.jpg

Scarlett: Can you just go to the bathroom or refill your drink or something while I make my exit? I feel self-conscious.
Nancy: You don’t have a whole lot of choices…
Nancy: Fine.

fine_sleep

Nancy: You made the right choice.
Scarlett: I’m very, very tired now.
Nancy: I’m sure you are. Teleportation is exhausting.

*Translation: I’ve been making stuff, but am happy with none of it.

Colors

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protoypes_021717

It’s late, and the light is incandescent, but here is the first offering of 1:12 scale modern office accessories. There is a horizontal file holder, a vertical file or magazine holder, a cache pot (which means a useful container to catch all the loose things), a rubbish bin/trash can, and coordinating-colored file folders. The horizontal file holder can also be combined to form a two-level multi-purpose holder of things. The first colorway is orange, yellow and gray. Available over at MMS+S real soon!

studio_021717

Scarlett has embraced the warmth and cubby holes of my husband’s music studio, at least in the evenings when he is home. For incomprehensible to me reasons, the noise does not bother her. She bites guitar strings and scales bass traps. And only occasionally chews wires. She’s such a good buddy cat.

New Basket Kit, Stormy, Scarlett

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stormy_wine

This was me last night, after finishing the stormtrooper kit. The beauty and precision of Bandai’s design and manufacturing is so elegant, I was inspired to rethink several of my kit components. I spent all morning redesigning and test cutting, watching the Cricut machine’s performance with each iteration. As a result, I’ve made small improvements to the kit building process and experience, and improved kitting efficiency. When one wears all the helmets hats in a business, small improvements make a big small difference :)

BTS: For instance, the first version instructions for the newly-listed round basket with handle kit had you measuring and cutting parts for the handle. Tricky measurements, too, like 9/16 of an inch. I realized this was contrary to my core value proposition *snerk* of taking the tedium out of miniature building; that’s what machines are for. Now there is a pre-measured and cut handle assembly piece that took me like four tries to optimize for the Cricut. It’s still fiddly to make, but no rulers are involved.

The stormtrooper’s name is… Stormy. He and Zilly have yet to meet.

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I think Scarlett is getting big, with permanently dirty toes. At seven months old, she’s not at that super leggy stage, but who knows?

beach_glass

Oh, and here’s a beauty shot of the new basket. It’s colored W&N Promarker Orchid. (This was my favorite color when I was a young girl, but I called it lavender :)

Boxen

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scene

Gee golly gosh oh man golly, does taking something to market take some time? Answer: yes. Not complaining; I want to get it right as right as I can make it can be.

bts

Up in the MMS+S shop today are three cardboard box kits. Three sizes of boxen, each the epitome of scale fidelity and utility. If you didn’t know you needed these before, well, it will soon become apparent.

I’m pretty much over my basket weaving overload aversion, and am looking forward to bringing the mildly-redesigned Toto basket into production. Priority: next.

Thank you, thank you all for your support and interest. You make a difference.