Is This Real Life? Or Just Fantasy?

Real life has been kicking my ass, hard. My hours got slashed, and while one might think that would leave more time for creative projects, such thoughts run aground against the rocky shores financial hard times. Don't expect a sudden rush of projects any time soon.

Most of my recent projects have been edible in nature.  As fitting in the recent heat, we've been trying out various different flavors of Ice Cream.

Jalapeno Ice Cream was good in small doses, but don't expect to eat a big bowl full like you might do with chocolate or vanilla. Kalen and I were the only ones brave enough to eat it.

Sea Salt Ice Cream is a favorite for you Kingdom Hearts fans, and went over quite well with the entire Studio.

Red Bull Ice Cream was okay, but never got a very creamy texture.

Monster Ice Cream was much like Red Bull, but turned out much creamier and more of a proper Ice Cream texture.

Chai Ice Cream was a hit with everyone but Jareth, who promptly insisted it we had created feet ice cream. This did not stop him from eating it anyway.

Cookies with Heart!

So me and some friends got together and created some cookies based on Legend of Zelda heart containers.
They are sugar cookies, with food coloring. They turned out delicious. I just thought I'd share a couple of pictures.

 We just rolled them out, cut out large hearts, then cut out their center with the smaller heart shaped cookie cutter. After that we cut small red hearts out, cut them to the appropriate fraction and stuck them in the middle of the larger hearts.

Now With Extra QR Code!

I decided to use one of the many random online QR Code generators to many a code for this blog. Lets me advertise on image boards and such. I'm also looking to slap it onto my business card. Figure it's a decent way to advertise.

I support QR codes. I make a point to scan any I find, and I believe it's a field of technology that is only going to get more popular with time as smart phones start dominating the market.

Real update will come as soon as I can get the pictures from Jareth.

Casting in Resin, a Guide For the Poor

So, I has some people express interest in how I cast my miniatures. The original are usually green stuff or gray stuff, and I sell resin casts of those.

The method I use for resin casting is very, very simple, and it comes from a guide a friend of mine sent to me. Apparently this guide is getting passed around the tabletop war-gaming crowd as a way to flesh out an army. From what I know, there it's a bit questionable legally when used for Warhammer 40K,  Warmahordes, or any other licensed, copyrighted miniature, but I know it's perfectly legal when casting original sculpts.

That's okay with me though, cause I'm just casting my own creations. The guide, which can be found here, has several tips and tricks you can use to cheaply, and easily cast  your own gaming army.

I personally use the silicone trick, and cast the miniatures in a fast curing, white casting resin acquired from my local Hobby Lobby. The detail has always come out great, although I've had purist insult my technique for not using RTV silicone for my models.

I find that a drop of acrylic hobby paint for every table spoon of pure silicone caulk will cure fast and strong, and using Vaseline thinned with mineral spirits provides an excellent mold release. I use injecting molding to make the casts, and usually find myself with minimal flashing to clean.

It's an easy process, and I highly recommend anyone with an interest in the hobby try it out sometime.

Coming Attractions

So, I don't have anything new to show off currently. Right now most of our projects are works in progress and I don't really have a good enough camera to take shots in the middle of things.

But I can tell you about all the nifty things we've been working on!

Jareth is been focusing on his chainmaile plushies. He's been getting lots of interest and good feedback from them, and it's his current focus.

Kalen is working on plushies of her own. These are made of more traditional cloth materials. The subjects, how ever more then make up for the mundane nature of the the building material.
This is in addition to work she is doing on Pokemon Badges.

I have been working on custom gaming miniatures. Once I get them were I like them, I'll be making molds and selling resin casts to anyone interested.

And the current group project is the Custom Power Coins I mentioned last post. Currently we've go a lion and a hammerhead shark in the works, but Jareth needs approximately 25 customs coins for his fan movie. So this is a big project that's taking up the focus of a lot of the studio.

And that's all the exciting things that I'm not showing you for now. Hopefully next week I can get some pictures up of all the nifty sparklies.

So Let's Try This Again, Eh?

Sorry about the large hiatus. I spent some rough months, but I've finally nailed down a solid, permanent job. It doesn't pay great, and it's only part time, but it should keep the internet on and a rough over my head.

So now I've got some time to put to this blog. As you saw from last weeks entry I'm still trying to keep it on the creations of our local artisan group. I'll post photos of what I can, but I don't have a digital camera anymore, and the one of my phone isn't worth the effort.

Still there should be some nice projects coming down the line soon for me to show off. You should see some very nice custom Power Coins from the old Power Rangers being created soon. And Kalen is working on some Pokemon Badges for resin casting that we should be selling soon.

See you guys next update.

Animals of Chain

I've spoke of the works of Jareth Valentine before. How he makes chainmaile. Well, recently he's been knitting those chains into something very interesting and highly unique. He's been making plushies. Out of chainmaile.

Interesting, eh? I don't know of anyone making such creations. Well, a quick and dirty web search found me a couple of chainmaile teddy bears. And a lot of bears wearing chainmaile armor.

These critters are surprisingly soft and cuddly. Made from aluminum links, and stuffed with standard poly-fill, the end result is huggable, yet durable.

They are limited editions, as well. Mr. Valentine has sworn to never produce two of the same animal, so if there is one you want, I suggest contacting him soon. So far, he has only produced the Cat, the Rabbit, the Frog, and the Snake. A Wolf has been commission already. His email is Stellar_raven@hotmail.com. Or you can email me, and I can relay orders.

As you can see from the pictures a variety of colors are available, as well as the bright aluminum. He can also produce these in a limited range of other metals. These include brass, bronze, copper, steel, and titanium.

And yes, the snake has a rattler. I understand it's crafted from polymer clay.