button tufted concrete

This is my second attempt at casting concrete, trying to make it look like upholstery.  I posted process photos of an earlier project but it didn't turn out so well :(  Rather than working from a found piece of furniture, I made this one from scratch.  I created a tufted bench in Rhino (3d software) and then pulled the negative from that and cut in on the CNC.  I then took textured fabric and gathered the areas where the buttons would be and then stitched it up around a box.  I poured concrete into this mold and shoved the plywood base into the concrete while it was still wet... it's not going anywhere!  This probably isn't making much sense, I will post more process photos as soon as I get back from holiday vacation.

This is the mold:

Unfortunately the fabric did not pull off as well as the samples, so I torched it while Vince pulled with all his might and some vice grips!

Thanks for walking by and taking some photos Shane.

 Vince and I mixing concrete for a different project.  Looks like I'm just supervising his hoe-ing skills, but don't let this fool you... I mixed 3 bags myself and was incredibly sore the next day!!  Thanks Vince :)

Thanks for the photos Matt.

bday camping

All I wanted to do for my birthday was go camping... so I did!  We went to Idyllwild, CA up in the San Jacinto mountains and it was a blast although really short (I can't be gone from the kitties for too long or they may die).  I ate thanksgiving leftovers and a TON of smores, drank a little too much, tripped on a log, cut my leg and smashed my nose with a hula hoop!  Luckily Dustyn took oodles of photos.

he found harry potter's wand

led hula hoop

nose smash

To top it all off, Dustyn surprised me with a cake that he made to look like cat doodoo and put it in a litter box (new and clean).  It's a combination of vanilla cake, chocolate cake, pudding, cookies and tootsie rolls.  It was really weird eating from the box.

work in progress

Currently I am casting upholstery.  Took one of my favorite chairs (which was ruined by Ranger) and am casting the backrest, seat and arm rests in concrete and setting them back into the chair frame.

Next I will make the 2 part mold, pour concrete and then figure out how in the hell to get it back onto chair!

Upholstering with carpet is really hard... but I went ahead and did it anyway and hand stitched it all together.  The chaise needs a few changes: I don't like the way it spills onto the floor, the rug underneath needs to be larger and there will be no carpet under the seat.  Some progress photos and where it sits at the moment:

And the cats!!!

plasticat bed

I want this my cats wants this:  kitty meow by Studio Mango

retreat

word a week

This is a 5 week project.  A word is given on Thursday and I have 1 week to respond by way of a small project (any media) and a written component.  And then repeat - 4 more words, 4 more pieces.

First word: Trifle

As a lover of sweet foods and colorful arrangements, I opted to go in the direction of the dessert trifle rather than the varying other meanings i.e. 'something of little importance or value' or a 'small amount'.  Though I really wanted to make the actual dessert, I decided on a virtual trifle that can never be physically consumed or enjoyed.  So I watched an instructional YouTube video and made a GIF.  It's really quite ridiculous that this thing only exists on this interface and provides little to no function, other than maybe a few laughs.  It relates to the ephemeral nature of food, in that this GIF may become outdated in the next year or so and will likely cease to exist in the future.  Some might even say that I turned a delicious dessert into something of little value!  Non-the less it was an enjoyable process.  So here it is, my amateur efforts and lack of computer skills:

quick projects

A few weeks ago, we (my fellow furniture grads and I) were asked to show 3 photos that portrayed our summers and were then given 2 weeks to produce something from those photos.  Since most of my summer was spent in the classroom teaching children how to saw and hammer, my first photo was a snapshot of about 60 painted birdhouses lined up to dry.  My second photo was of a cat print dress that I've been obsessing over, and the third was from my recent trip to Penland School of Crafts; it was a ball of wool roving.  In a nutshell, that was my summer... pretty boring!

So what did I make from these photographs...?  Stools.  I wanted to make a furniture item that was quick and playful (in honor of kids) and that was reminiscent of the wool roving.  The cat dress doesn't fit in so well, aside from the fact that my cats would LOVE tearing apart these stools.

I shaped the seat on the CNC, turned the 10 legs on the lathe and bundled them up in some cotton piping that I've been dying to use.  Here are some process photos (excuse the poor studio shots, will post better photos in the future):

UNFORTUNATELY, today I was shown some stools that were just featured at London Design Week and they look strangely similar.  Total bummer :(  They had colorful seats that spoke to crochet and needle work (beautifully done), but only 4 legs (I personally think that 5 look better).  At least I only spent a week designing and making these or else I would feel completely defeated.

sew cute

 sewing cat gif