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  It relates to the ephemeral nature of food, in that this GIF may become outdated in the next year or so and will likely cease to exist in the future.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

cat scan

Came across the The Cat Scan, a hilarious tumblr page that features the scanned images of cat undersides.  So yes, I immediately plopped Ranger on the glass scanner bed and got a couple shots.  Unfortunately I can't scan Darnel because I worry that he would break the scanner.

And a funny one from the site:

picnic: room for four

Found the most fantastic picnic basket at the swap meet for $4.  The small plastic basket cleverly contains 4 of each: cups, forks, knives, spoons, plates, small and large bowls.  Also, 3 serving bowls and a salt and pepper shaker!

With the recent move, there are plenty of lounging boxes for the cats.  Here are the many positions of Ranger (all within a few minutes):

shelter revisited

When I began this blog, my first few post were about shelter... it wasn't until just now (while looking on cuteoverload.com) that I found the very best shelter of them all:

I'm going to start saving for a trip to Cat Island in Japan where these amazing buildings exist.  Oh and there's this one:

And cat shrines:

 Last but not least, the island is covered in cats (outnumbering humans), sounds like paradise!

photos taken from tofugo

waiting to move

The week before you move is the WORST!  I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting to move, I can't pack everything because I need some things and looking at stacks of boxes gives me anxiety.  Why can't I just have two apartments for a month so I can slowly transfer things, day by day?  I'm also the worst at packing because Dustyn and I have so much random stuff that I just write "dumb shit" on the boxes (and no, the stuff isn't dumb or shitty enough for me to get rid of it)!  I love crap.  Lucky for us, our new place has molding about a foot down from the ceiling, so plenty of room for our dumb stuff!  Oh and the building is pink.  For now on, I only live in pink places (and yes, my current place is pink as well).

As I obsessively think about how we will better organize, layout and utilize our new space - I have recently found a few clever ideas and of course more random things:

1.  Better organization & more kitty cats

2.  I'm copying Heather's pot rack

3.  Flat file as coffee table

4.  Color coordinated cabinets

5.  Transform non-functioning radiator into useable surface

6.  I wish all kitchens had these classic GE cabinettes

7.  Eat less pizza... unless it looks like this

(Oops, I forgot where I found the rest of these images).

This accordion cat by Libuse Niklova is fantastic! (Found via designboom).