Tag Archives: Citizens of Gigglesville

A Sudden Burst, Part 2

28 Jun

The carving is at a bullet train pace. The month of June is not even up yet and like a person possessed, I have carved up 26 new Citizens plus a Gnome and a Baby Whale for the township!

There is a reason behind this sudden burst…

A girlfriend was very impressed with my efforts and have ordered some from me. I was reluctant to sell them initially because I felt the storyline for Gigglesville is not perfected yet. I believe there’s still some nitty gritty that I have to iron out.

But she managed to convince me and after much thought to iron out certain details, I agreed. Hence the sudden burst to carve three dozen for delivery! I should remind myself from the perspective that my three dozen Citizens of Gigglesville are mass migrating like the rest who have left and as always spreading their love and giggles, much needed in this sometimes troubled world.

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They can’t fit the tray!

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From a different perspective

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Nothing Goes to Waste

22 Jun

Carving was in full swing two weeks ago. I created a record of sorts when on that Saturday, I carved up seven Citizens of Gigglesville in one seating. Yes, seven! Quite a feat I must say.

And when the tail end of the foot long balsa has an odd height to be a Citizen, it didn’t go to waste because a Gnome was carved out of it.

So after a couple of giant Gnomes, Gnome 13 stands the shortest among the lot. A cute little chappy.

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A Sudden Burst

8 Jun

I have forgotten what it is like to carve balsa having worked on Meranti so much last month. Last night I pushed myself to go back to my Citizens on balsa instead of Meranti Gnomes. And my goodness! It’s so effortless.

So much so, the sudden burst resulted in four new Citizens – one in the morning before going to work and three in the evening after dinner. Yay. Maybe I should stop the Gnomes series for the time being and just focus on Citizens of Gigglesville. After all, their population count remained stagnant at 132 since Apr 24th.

Honestly, working with Meranti wood has aggravated the tennis elbow again. Not a good sign especially if I want to go back to playing golf. I shouldn’t allow this to flare up and if I want to also continue carving I should stick to balsa, a much softer wood. This may be the best balance to have the best of both activities.

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Unfinished and ugly for now but that’s the process

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Identity Crisis

7 Jun

Now that my Gandalf-looking Gnome is painted up, I feel it has an identity crisis! When it was all white with the gesso base, it looked like Gandalf. Now with the lavender shade, it’s looking more like a Wizard.

I was at a crossroad on the color choice. Believe me, it wasn’t easy and I even debated with M2 and hubby on the matter. In the end, I picked lavender.

While it’s a gnome and lives in Gnomie-wood, I felt it shouldn’t don the red cap and blue outfit because it’s of a different shape from the rest. And if it’s all red, it may end up looking like Santa. God forbid if it’s all green, it will look like a leprechaun!

The signature feature of my gnome series with the cone cap covering the face and eyes, and just the nose sticking out maintains the gnome allure despite the color difference.

I guess a variation is good for the gnomes of Gnomie-wood, just like the Citizens of Gigglesville with the many different species either still living in Gigglesville or have migrated to spread love and giggles.

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Gandalf?

4 Jun

Appalled at the realization that the month of May yielded so little carvings, I stayed away from reading the news and carved up a storm two nights before the weekend came about. And thank goodness for the light breeze of both evenings, it was the perfect setting to start on a new piece. I worked on it like a person possessed.

Within two nights, Gnome #12 came around. This time, this fella is really different from the rest. Extremely different in fact. By the end of the weekend, my new carving looks more like a Gandalf than a Gnome of Gnomie-wood! Hahaha… what have I created?

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Big debate on what color should this fella be. Any suggestions?

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Moving Slowly

31 May

Lately the carving stalled because I got side-tracked keeping up with the news on the elections every single night. Citizens of Gigglesville is stagnant at a population count of 132 as of April 24th and the last three citizens, born in April were not even painted up. And since then, there’s no new Citizen. Zilch. Nada.

Sure there were some whales, Apeach, Giant Gnomes and Monuments but that’s about it. Not a single new Citizen this whole month of May. Sigh…

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Bigger and Bigger

18 May

It looks like the flavor of the month has changed. In April, I was carving up Gnomes, this May it’s Monuments that I am doing. And they are getting bigger in size too.

Excited with the result of the 3-Citizen Meranti Monument without a platform, I went on to carve another Meranti piece but with four Citizens. And in between painting it up, I started an even bigger 3-Citizen piece. Soon the house will be full of Monuments!

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The latest and biggest Monument

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Comparing the height of all the Monuments

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Ten Little Gnomes

7 May

The Gnomes of Gnomie-wood are taking over my life! Citizens of Gigglesville took a back seat last month as I found myself carving up Gnomes instead. With so much Meranti wood at my disposal, I was glueing pieces to make big blocks to carve into giant Gnomes.

And each one gets bigger than the previous. With the latest Gnome 10, standing at 5.5 inches tall, I now have 10 Gnomes in Gnomie-wood! But Gnome 10 is not the tallest; it comes in second. Gnome 9, a two-piece Meranti stands the tallest at 7 inches, while Gnome 2, carved from balsa, is the smallest and shortest among the lot at 43mm tall.

It’s been so addictive and fun. More Gnomes to come is all I can say!

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Family group shot

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Gnome 10 before the paint job

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The beginning of Gnome 10

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More Wood

4 May

Aunty Dearest has given me another five boxes of wood last weekend. So much wood, so little time. And I had to sieve through the supply to ensure the pieces are actually good to be carved. I say this because recently I carved a Big Citizen on a block that has a knot within the wood grains. I didn’t think it would pose a tough challenge but it did.

I should have been more careful in the first place when selecting and glueing the pieces together to make the big block. The imperfection was super hard and came out in a chunk, leaving a big gap in my poor Citizen’s shape. I think it will take me awhile to get this piece done up properly.

Meanwhile the five boxes were vetted as pieces that were uneven, cracked and have knots had to be thrown away. In a way it was painful to throw away all the wood but it had to be done for the good of the Citizens of Gigglesville.

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A Great Supplement

3 May

Wood Filler is the next best thing to have for any wood carving enthusiast I must say. I found this tube at Daiso and thought it would be a great supplement to aid my carving. And indeed it is.

There are times when the pressure to shape the wood is too great and little chunks come off, the Wood Filler is then used to smoothen out the mini craters. And after sanding down and paint added, you can’t even tell there was a mini crater in the first place! I love it.

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