So I finally did it! It took me several days to brainstorm before the execution. There were some tweaks but certain elements remain the same.
Nonetheless, I would consider this a totally new Citizen of Gigglesville. It would look good in the official five colors. And yellow shoes, it’s gotta have yellow shoes.
Like us humans, the Citizens of Gigglesville are not created equal. They come in all different shapes and colors. But size-wise, they are about the same, given the one inch balsa I use; only their height differs.
There are several ‘types’ of citizens, all sculpted with love. Every time when one is completed, I break into a giggle and my heart is filled with joy and love.
How can one not giggle and love them by just looking at their innocent giggly expressions?
Not too long ago, a friend posted an adorable picture on Facebook which showed a cute little door at the foot of a tree for the neighborhood squirrels. She befittingly named them Mr and Mrs Squirrel, the squirrels that is, not the neighbor. Who made the door, she wasn’t sure but I thought it was adorable and got me thinking.
We already have a bird house for the visiting birds but no ‘home’ set up for the visiting squirrels. And since we have a frangipani tree in our garden, why not—just for fun—make a door just like that posting so that Sammy and Lefty (that’s the name I call our visiting squirrels) can feel more at home.
Maybe I should divert to this if I am still stuck for inspiration for a new Gigglesville’s citizen?
Things have been slow lately. So much so, I feel so sluggish. The weather, being so hot and humid is not helping either.
I am going through a dry spell as far as Gigglesville is concerned. There were two four-day stretches that I didn’t carve anything!
I suddenly have this urge to create a new character but stuck for inspiration. Thank goodness, the side-tracked Octopus I did for M2 kept me busy but after that, nothing.
I need to recharge…
Somehow my M2 is not quite a fan of owls like my friends because when I asked her if she would like to have one citizen of Gigglesville of her own, she declined.
Instead she asked for something else. Maybe she appreciates my carving skills…
Initially, she requested for me to carve her a potato! I thought it was weird and I didn’t think a potato would be nice, so I asked again.
This time, she requested for an octopus. The challenge my child puts me through!
So I carved an octopus for her. Tried my best and this is the end result.
White gesso base
The end result!
I have been asked why a dinosaur and not an owl for my second tattoo as I am so into owls, with all that carving that I do?
Well, it’s because I have been going on and on about the dinosaur era when I reminisce about life in my musings, it made sense to assert my dinosaur-ness with a permanent one. But a dinky one to salute life with a good chuckle.
The owls? They are different and seriously, too many to decide which one I like because I love all my Citizens of Gigglesville. And as I see and create them in 3D, somehow I cannot picture them in 2D.
I have yet to carve a dinosaur and my dinky dinosaur looks good as is, on paper in 2D, it’s apt and a good decision.
Would I consider a third tattoo? Hmm… will give it some serious thought when I get to that crossroad in future.
The square blocks from Daiso are not as easy to carve compared to my usual balsa wood. They are not soft, being harder and more dense therefore, harder to carve.
I started to carve Citizen #64 of Gigglesville but the progress is very slow. Even with sharpened tools, it’s slow. In the midst of it, I diverted to the new balsa wood for a couple of quick ones and Citizens #65 and #66 came about at a much faster pace.
Sometimes there are no shortcuts even at a bargain. I should stay focused.
It took me several hours each time over a stretch of several days to complete Citizen #64. That’s too long compared to the balsa wood which I take only 40 minutes to an hour to carve a citizen up.
Maybe if the blocks are not suitable to carve citizens of Gigglesville, I should consider using them to create other elements to support the township. Something to think about.
Citizen #64, the giant
Citizens #65 & #66
Thrift stores are the best. At a fixed flat price, you can find just about anything from these places. We have Daiso, the Japanese brand here and I must say, it’s one of our favorite haunts.
Every now and then whenever we go to the mall, we must visit a Daiso store. And surely, we will find something useful and at a bargain. Last week, I found some ready-cut wood blocks (8 pieces in a bag) on the shelves and thought the size was perfect for carving. At half the price of my usual balsa wood but three pieces less than what a foot of balsa would yield, it’s a bargain.
Slightly bigger at 1.2 inch by 1.2 inch compared to my usual one inch by one inch balsa, I think I can manage although the label did not mention what type of wood these blocks were. I even discovered a set of diamond files, perfect for filing those crevices!
With the new materials (incidentally, I bought two more pieces of balsa from the art store) and new tools, Gigglesville is set for another boom in the coming days! Whee…..
I finally decided to ‘give up’ two more games on my iPad, deleting them several nights ago. Remember Candy Crush Saga was canned awhile back?
It’s not a total give up but a technical one because I still play these games in Facebook on the laptop (at home) or desktop (in the office). My iPad has been so slow, rendering it almost useless, it’s aggravating.
I don’t have pictures and music on the iPad, so I suspect it’s the games’ data accumulated when I play them and it hordes the space on the device thus slowing it down. With the RAM dropping down to 200MB or thereabouts most times, what can I do? I can’t even read anything on Safari, let alone crush some candies!
So I canned both the Monster Busters apps. This is on top of clearing away other apps that I don’t use any longer. I even deleted the Facebook app!
On hindsight, maybe it’s a good thing to make me less dependent on my iPad as I find myself doing more meaningful things in my free time, like carving up a whole township of Gigglesville citizens!
As I indulge in my free time by carving up a whole township of owls and creating their characters, I am also slowly discovering a lot of information about this creature.
While they may be carnivorous, mysterious and nocturnal in nature, mine are a little bit more fun – cute, giggly-looking and certainly not carnivorous. And I’d like to think my Citizens of Gigglesville do also hold a special place in the hearts of all who appreciates my efforts.
Owls are enigmatic birds and can be lovable or spooky depending on how one looks at it. As 4th of August is International Owl Awareness Day, here’s a good site: http://www.owlworlds.com (there are plenty more) to learn about this fascinating creature.
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