Archive | Activity RSS feed for this section

A New Test Piece

12 Apr

When I was recuperating at home last week, the itch to carve got the better of me. As I couldn’t push myself to read and painting up the little Citizens and Baby Whale was very quick, I started carving on Friday when I felt I was strong enough to handle my tools.

This piece is another test piece and took three days to complete. A little different from my other original pieces, this is a copied character. I borrowed M2’s plushie, Apeach, a Kakao Friends Muzi series character and thought that it would be a good challenge test piece.

I wanted to see if I can emulate an existing 3D character with my carving ability. From an initial 2D outline on the wood to carving the real thing into a shapely 3D character, it’s not as easy as I thought! A lot of visualising and planning despite having the plushie in front of me.

I take heart that I was able to shape the body and carve away as much wood as possible without breaking any limbs. Unlike Dinky the Dinosaur who had chopstick limbs added on, Apeach has its limbs intact. Although there were some kinks and unevenness, the wood filler was able to fix these.

I am pleased with my effort.

IMG_3055.jpg

IMG_3057.jpg

Tags: , , , , , ,

Staying Home

9 Apr

For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t go into the office the whole of last week and just stayed home to recuperate. The laparoscopy was successful in diagnosing and resolving the Cyst, Endometriosis and Adhesions issues.

I must admit it was nice for a change to be home the first two days, doing nothing and enjoying the peace (official pet number one was very quiet), napping, resting and focusing on gaining my strength.

By the third day, I contemplated reading the Genghis Khan novel that’s been collecting dust but just can’t seem to push myself to do it. So I ended up painting some Citizens of Gigglesville and a new baby whale that were waiting to be completed. It was good quality me time.

I am back at work today.

Tags: , , , ,

Battle of the Boxes

27 Mar

The one thing Hubby and I have been doing quite constantly is online shopping. Week in, week out, he’d buy something and I would too. Most of the time, he would buy air plants and I would buy things related to carving save for that one time, a toy for official pet number one and an accessory for M2.

I thought I topped it when my purchase of the workbench came in the biggest box ever. Until his purchase arrived a few days later.

An air-condition unit box. My… My… At 32” long, 18″ deep and a foot wide, what did he buy?

A staghorn fern! Gosh, I guess he won the battle of the boxes this time.

IMG_2595.jpg

Tags: , , , , ,

Shaping Up

23 Mar

The carving experiments have taken shape and color! Citizen on a Tree is looking good despite the flat head. The flat head Gnome was painted much earlier and two nights ago, I finally painted up the Citizen.

These few days, carving has been slow because I had to work late, an unusual busy run which is good and I shouldn’t complain.

I hope this weekend, all the queued up pieces will take shape too. Can’t wait for the weekend.

IMG_2844.jpg

Tags: , , , ,

Hammer Time

20 Mar

Last week, I had a short respite in the middle of the busy work week and escaped to the mall for a nice lunch with hubby. And after the meal, we took the opportunity to scout the place for a little bit. I am not quite the shopaholic for clothes and beauty stuff but I love browsing through the handyman aisles at the hardware store.

And I had to buy a hammer to use with my big chisel set! With all that supply of Meranti wood, I felt it was necessary to have a hammer to add on to my tools. Whee….hammer time!

Tags: , , , , , ,

A New Species

16 Mar

Suddenly, the balsa and the little Citizens of Gigglesville are forgotten with so much focus on the Meranti wood and Gnomes.

Feeling guilty, I decided to go back to the balsa. And you know what? I found myself unable to hold it properly. It’s so tiny! How did I ever managed to carve up a village of Citizens, Superheroes and all?

Working with the harder Meranti, my carving strength is so different. I had to reprogram myself to dealing with the soft balsa again. It wasn’t quick work as it used to be but I managed and after its completion, I jumped back to the Meranti.

Even though the big block is glued (two big pieces and two smaller pieces), it’s easier to shape and a new species came long. I think this has potential to be little Citizens. We shall see…

IMG_2761.jpg

Tags: , , , , ,

Gnomes Alert, Part 2

15 Mar

There are now seven Gnomes, all in different heights and sizes, unlike the Citizens of Gigglesville where everyone is about the same size and height. To call the hamlet, “Gnomie-wood” is getting more and more appealing at this point.

The Gnomes currently ‘live’ in a tupperware (whereas the Citizens of Gigglesville live in trays). And with all their hats painted red, one evening I mistook them for being watermelons from the corner of my eyes. Just because we had watermelons a day before. Even M2 thought they were watermelons! Hahaha…

IMG_2775.jpg

Don’t they look like mouth-watering watermelons from this perspective?

Tags: , , , ,

Gnomes Alert!

13 Mar

The box of Meranti is proving to be very fun and challenging. There are so many pieces and sizes to pick and choose. Soon after the flat head Citizen and Gnome, I immediately started on the glued two piece to carve another Giant Gnome. And in tandem another single piece Gnome, albeit smaller and shorter.

The Gnome population suddenly is booming! Maybe they should have their own hamlet instead of crowding Gigglesville.

Gnomie-wood? Hahaha….

Tags: , , , , ,

It Finally Snapped

9 Mar

The inevitable has happened! The long chain of constantly going into the Candy Crush Soda’s Daily Bonus finally snapped on the iPhone. I guess I was too fast to click when the phone was just connecting, thus the 358 days streak was broken! Boo hoo hoo…

Upon realization, I was slower with my actions for the iPad and thank goodness, this one’s record is still intact, at 560 days. Phew.

IMG_2690.png

Back to Day 1… boo hoo hoo.

Tags: , , ,

Box of Happiness, Part 3

8 Mar

After the completion of the Giant Gnome, I began experimenting with the new Meranti wood. And I find its density to be in between the balsa and basswood that I have been working with all this time. It is rather nice and different.

The balsa, despite being too soft and porous, and sometimes comes off easily in chunks if I apply a little bit more strength, has its plus points I must say. After all there wouldn’t be 128 Citizens of Gigglesville, a handful of Superheroes, Gnomes and Monuments to show.

As for the basswood, it is rather hard and needs more effort to carve and shape. So far, I have only three finished pieces with this wood type: Halloween Owl, Dinky the Dinosaur and Giant Gnome.

Now the Meranti wood is something else. Soft yet not too soft, and hard but not so, it is rather easy to work with. Within one hot Sunday afternoon at home, I carved up two familiar characters but with slight variations. A Citizen perched on a tree and a Gnome with a super tall cap. The only thing with this wood is the depth. The width is fine but lacking depth, so the two finished pieces have rather flat heads. That’s why it’s an experiment.

Next project in the pipeline is glueing two Meranti pieces together to give it depth and let’s see how this will turn out! Another Gnome in the making before I plan what new species or character to come out with. With the workbench in place, I don’t mind a drop in my social life as I stay at home nightly to work on my carvings.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →