I find Pinterest a great source for ideas. The site is very specific in categorizing things and this makes visual research super easy even with cross referencing. It was from here that I diverted to Gnomes from my Citizens of Gigglesville.
And it will be from here again as I find inspiration to fine tune my idea to carve a Gnome home soon. Can’t wait to begin the next carving project!
Within less than a week, Monument 11 was completed! I ought to give myself a pat on the shoulder as it took less time than I anticipated with the usual steps (after carving) of sanding down to shape, patching any unwanted gaps, painting the base coat and applying the finishing colors.
I am finalising my thoughts to begin the glued two-piece Meranti. However, with several golf games lined up this month, one being a tournament, I will only begin after all the golf in case I aggravate the tennis elbow whilst carving away on the hard Meranti.
As for the idea, I am actually contemplating something new, a Gnome home! I hope I can pull it off.
The trays that I use to house all the Citizens of Gigglesville look so empty these days despite a population of 170. Well, when so many of them migrate, 90 to be exact I am bound to have empty nests. I need to step it up to fill the void.
Forget the big Meranti pieces for the time being, just focus on the Citizens and I shouldn’t have any problems to fill up the trays again.
The Giant Citizens, Superheroes and Baby Whales decided to take one tray to fill the void
A friend recently requested for a white colored Citizen of Gigglesville. Now I have never done a white one as the end result because white is always the base before any colors are added.
But I obliged her for special reasons and voila! I now have what I call the Trophy Owl. This could be the beginning of something new or a whole new category by itself. Hmm…
After that creative run to carve up 36 Citizens of Gigglesville, I now find myself suddenly stuck for ideas. I have been staring at this two-piece glued Meranti block for some time already but just cannot figure out what to carve. Another Gandalf-like Gnome? Or perhaps a Gnome abode, something totally different? Hmm…
Actually I am caught in between wanting to start a new piece on a Meranti and wanting to play more golf. Knowing that working on big Meranti pieces will aggravate my tennis elbow will inadvertently affect my golf, the balance is tough.
Then again the itch to carve is strong. That’s why I have continued with more Citizens on soft balsa to preserve the elbow after the 36 Citizens was done.
The block beckoned again. In the end, I opted for a one piece Meranti and started on Monument 11. The block would have to wait.
This is it! All 36 Citizens of Gigglesville are finally packed and ready for their mass migration tomorrow. I hope the recipients will treasure and love these Citizens as much as I do. It has been very therapeutic and satisfying for me carving and painting each and every one up.
Goodbye my Citizens, be good, behave and be happy in your new homes!
Out of the blue, I decided to change the colors of two Monuments. I felt the original colors were not contrasting enough. Also the fluorescent green on the smaller Monument was patchy, I didn’t like it.
The new Martha Stewart Granny Smith green color beckoned and lo and behold, I painted it over the fluorescent green. But I couldn’t do the same for the blue on the bigger Monument because there’s green already. So I used Fire Engine red instead.
I like both the Monuments much better now. All they need is just a final gloss varnish for the finishing touch.
I don’t normally do mass migration for the Citizens of Gigglesville. Every now and then, only one or two would leave with the max being five. The last big migration was back in January when M1 brought nine Citizens and one Friend (Spiny Lumpsucker) of Gigglesville with her back to the US. Thankfully, all passports issued had no problems.
This latest mass migration, a huge one with 36 Citizens, had been very challenging. First, to meet the deadline, all Citizens were carved almost daily. Then they were prepped just about every other night. However, I encountered a major hiccup at the last hurdle.
Sixteen Citizens have no clearance to migrate just yet because the passports issued for them had control issues. The numbers did not tally in other words. The immigration officer must have be sleeping on the job to cause such a boo-boo. The affected Citizens are the orange, red and purple species.
Luckily the next day the problem was resolved and they are ready to join the 20 to migrate. Thank goodness.
The three dozen Citizens of Gigglesville are completed and ready for migration. All they need now is just their passports which I am working on in between preparing for my design presentation. One has to multi-task when the situation calls for it.
I am so proud of this time-based effort. Mission will be accomplished once I meet up with my friend to hand over the Citizens who will go out there to spread their love and giggles.
Last week, I bought a new green color to add to my acrylic color palette for the Citizens of Gigglesville. I must say I have several shades of green, accumulated throughout the years and more added in recent months.
However, lately I felt the choices that I have are a wee bit too dull and predictable. And some of colors are even too old to be used. The Liquitex brand is most obvious having lost its strength (for lack of a better word) because it does not stick well or smoothly upon application. Then again, even the new Neon Green from Apple Barrel does not do too well on wood and I am not sure why. In essence then, only four shades are used on a rotational basis.
I like the new Martha Stewart Crafts’ Granny Smith green choice for a brighter and more refreshing look to add some zest to the Citizens of Giggglesville. Looking forward to using it soon!
Seeing green!
Angieneering 
Remarks