El Jardin – 2010

Projects, Stuff and Things

It’s that time of year again, garden time! We were distracted last year and had a lack luster harvest. But this year we are both interested in actually growing some vegetables that are worth talking about. So we’ve put in some work on the garden in the last few weeks. I think it could really turn out great this year. We have pumpkins, green peppers, jalapenos, carrots, beets, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, and two unknown things in the pot… I’m pretty sure one of them is a tree. To simplify the process I set up a sprinkler at the edge of the garden so all we have to do is go down and turn on the faucet and it automatically gets watered.  Now all we have to do is remember to do that!

more pictures after the break…

New Skull Door Knockers in Progress

Art, Projects

I’m gearing up for my entry in to ETSY.com selling. I know from my experience at Artomatic last year that my skull door knockers will sell. So I went out and found better and cheaper materials to make them, while still keeping the end product the same. I got a 50 lb bag of art grade [W:hydrocal] from a local art supply store, which should be better than the plaster I had from Home Depot.  I made 2 new molds of the original skull and a better storage system for it so it won’t break down like the last one. I’d like to make a few different designs for the skull, maybe a lion! I just think that a awesome/cheap door knocker really cool.

I need to get to know the rules of Etsy selling. My current plan is to make 30 ‘blank’ door knockers and then paint one in each finish (rust, patina brass, tarnished silver, etc) and when I sell that one then put more up. That way I’m not stuck with ones that won’t sell. I’ll have to get involved in the forums to find out the best approach.

I have currently cast 28 skulls, I have received a box of the raw materials for 50 knockers from Mcmaster.com, and I’ve cut out 30 wooden backers.  I would say that I’m at least 50% along in the process and when I finish I can put them right up on the site for sale.

Pictures after the break…

Navigation Design Changes

Projects, websites

One of my little daily annoyances in reading blogs is that there is no standard way to navigate through the archives of posts. I think we’ve all agreed that there needs to be some kind of links at the bottom of the front page that lead to more posts. But what word to use in that link is where the confusion comes in. Some blogs use the word “Next” to denote that you are moving to the next page in the blog, as if you are digging down into the list of posts. Which is technically correct, but the fact that the posts were published previous to the ones on the first page confuses me some of the time.Because they use previous to get you back towards the front page.

It took me a while but I’ve really come to admire Engadget’s new layout. I think it’s very forward thinking and cleanly designed. So I’m using a version of their OLDER AND NEWER links for my blog design.

I’m starting the Society for the Standardization of Blog Navigation Links.

our mission:

  • use Previous to refer to the older posts.
  • or the simpler OLDER POSTS/ NEWER POSTS
  • that’s it.

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!

*UPDATE*

Turns out that I might be on the short side of the argument with this one. Right now Cinematical uses the opposite PREV and NEXT technique and so does the entire GAWKER network… and the rest of Engadget’s sister sites also… But sometimes a small band of rebels can conquer and entire empire.

The Journey – Wood Recycling Project

Interests, Life

This video caught my attention because I’m interested in reusing old materials. My focus for this summer is going to be “Making it work with what you have”. I’ve been interested in reusing old barn wood for new projects. I have an old barn in my back yard, I just need to find a project! The old wood just has so much character to it. the tree it was made from grew here in the civil war and maybe earlier. It may take more work to use, but I think we all need to realize that being sustainable is going to take a little bit more work.

This is a video from The Journey. A non-funded documentary project that travels around by bike and shoots little videos about sustainable local environmental projects. I think it’s really exciting that some people aren’t out screaming about how bad the world has gotten, they just decided that if something is going to change then we’re going to have to do it ourselves.

via treehugger

Cru Jones Rad Hoodie

Projects, Stuff and Things

Gentlemen, behold!

Look what I have created!

It’s a hooded sweatshirt version of Cru Jones’ Rad Racing jersey from Rad. I know this movie came out in 1986 and it isn’t even popular enough to be released on DVD yet. But I just wanted one. I wanted it bad. I think it’s the right time for something like this. I don’t know what you call this genre of clothing. Adult costumes you can wear everyday? Costume Hoodies? I’m starting to see them out there more and more. Marc Ecko has a Star Wars line that is really awesome (I own the storm trooper hoodie)  A few years ago I thought it would be a cool idea to print out my own version of the “Rad Racing” shirt from the movie. But then I found that someone else had beat me to it. If you do a search for that now you’ll find a lot of different versions of it.  The colors of this aren’t “movie prop accurate” but I thought bright red and blue would be too much to actually wear on a regular basis, which is what I made this for.  I can’t wait for the first time somebody gets the reference and asks me where I got it.

When I was designing this I had all these grand plans to sell them on Etsy.com. I even thought of two company names, High Art Hoodies or Cult Status.  I thought that if I could sell them for about $75 it would make it worth the effort. Everything was going great until I hit the last step, sewing. It turns out that sewing is hard. I did eventually finish but the quality is on par with Old Navy not Marc Ecko. Luckily I was going for the comfortable soft felt vibe. If I do get some response on this I’ll probably have to find some ways to make the process easier. Like having someone else do the sewing! I do have all the templates for the stars and letters ready, so that will save some time. I’m thinking I could get them laser cut from a fabrication shop and then find out how much a dry cleaners or alteration shop would charge me to sew them on. With this being a limited edition product with a small but dedicated I would imagine that someone would be interested in it.

Get your taste of the thunder after the break… and more pictures.