Identity - GLAM blog club July 2017

Getting in at the very end here...

This month's prompt reminded me of this post from Letters to a Young Librarian. It probably covers what I have to say far more eloquently (and with far more depth), but here is my identity story.

When I first graduated, as a newly-minted librarian who had given up another career path and more besides to change directions, I was very heavily invested in that identity. Had you asked me who or what I was and it were not to learn my name, I would have told you that I was a Librarian. It rapidly became the central fact of my identity, even though I hadn't precisely worked in a library yet, and it would be six years before the word appeared in my job title or description. That didn't dull my investment in my profession or slightly overdone enthusiasm.

via GIPHY

Oh dear.

Make no mistake, it's still an important part of who I am still, but that one-factor identity didn't do me any favours, really. When I began to cultivate other parts of myself again - the love of games and stories (both at once if possible) that has always been there most of all - it was beneficial to my state of mind, general happiness and my professional life.

I still have a strong investment in my profession but it no longer defines me entirely. It's important and valuable but it's not all I am. I take part in professional development but I develop other skills and interests for their own sake. If they overlap, that's wonderful but I don't approach with that expectation.

And I am happier and better off for it.

Graphic Novels and French Classics (obviously) (2015 books 16-20)

16 - The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1: The Faust Act - Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson

Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead.

Another brilliant new comic, and one that I am looking forward to seeing more of. The story is engaging, the art beautiful, the characters very interesting. It's been a while since I read this one *cough*catchinguppost*cough* so I've not got a lot more to say.

17 - Lucifer, Book 4 - Mike Carey, Peter Gross, et. al.

This comic continues to be brilliant, drawing on mythology, especially Judeo-Christian mythology, and spinning a fantastic story with it. Most graphic novel volumes take me an hour to read, tops. There's so much content in these, however, that each one might as well be a short novel.

As with the previous, this is a catch up review, as it's not as fresh in  my mind it's consequently brief.

18 - Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass and Sorcery - Curtis J Wiebe, Roc Upchurch

Rat Queens was absolutely brilliant. I read it three times before I had to return it to the library. In the first story, now that more peaceful times have come the town of Palisade is finding the adventurers who previously dealt with the town's problems have become a menace. To avoid exile, each group is set a task, but something fishy's going on...

Centring around an all-female group of Dungeons-and-Dragons style adventurers this hilarious action-filled story has a great deal of potential and I cannot wait to see where it goes next. I'm particularly keen to learn more of Violet's story, though it looks like the next character to get the spotlight will be Dee - not that I'm complaining. An atheist cleric whose family worships an evil god has got to have one heck of a back story.

Not for those who like their stories squeaky clean and their characters well behaved, but if you're not looking for those things then give this a try, it's got an improbably high concentration of fun within its pages.

19 - You Only Live Once - Lonely Planet

I enjoyed this book over some weeks with cups of tea. It's a beautifully made coffee table style book and divided up into ideas based on how long is needed. The majority of stories are very, very brief and don't really give much by way of how, just inspiration really.

There's still a bit of me that now has the urge to walk/cycle a ridiculous distance. Perhaps I could walk across Ireland... or cycle around the country here. Hmm.

20 -  The Ladies' Paradise - Emile Zola

I picked this up at my local library in the 'blind date with a book' promotion, and am glad I did. I doubt I would have picked this up otherwise, as a perceived high chance of a dominant romantic theme generally puts e off.

Instead of what I expected, I was fascinated with a story of the social and economic implications of the arrival of department stores and the prosperity, ruin and upheaval they brought. The romantic plot was there, and unsurprisingly I didn't care for it at all, but it wasn't as big an element as expected. I would heartily recommend this book.

2015 photo post up-to-dating

54 (23rd February) - Fix - I took time to fix this mouse... he's Mum's and was a victim of kitten curiosity a little while ago. PVA glue was all I needed - that and to tackle the job in stages. At this point there are already some sections that have been glued back together. I was pleased with the results, and the mouse is back on the shelf.

55 - 12 O'Clock - I was out on the road, almost at Keith, on the longest distance driving day I've yet had. I enjoyed it more than I expected though wouldn't want to do this kind of thing daily.

56 - Reflection - after an interview I take time to reflect - on this occasion that meant time at Picaninnie Ponds, a place where I really enjoyed the isolation, if only for a little while, and during the drive. While much of my mind focuses on the road and the route there's plenty left to contemplate life, the universe and everything. The skies were pretty spectacular too. They might not be a literal reflection but they help with the reflecting.

57 - Grow - Something this lobster at Kingston SE did?

58 - Still Life - I took a few more traditional subject photos but wasn't really happy with them. Instead I focused on background and light. Which I need to work on more... but made some progress. This is my favourite of the shots taken, possibly not the best lit but in combination with framing it seems stronger.

59 - Thank you - not so much thank you, as thankful. For the festival season in Adelaide, the atmosphere, buzzing and excited, and for good nights out. This night I caught one of the $5 shows and enjoyed some food, drink and people watching.

60 - Starts with R - R & R and Reading. I've enjoyed a few books with a sociology/psychology angle lately and they've been good food for thought too.



-- From here I decided to take some time off, I don't want to burn myself out, so if I need a break in my creative projects... I'll take them ;) Days 60-74 I'm considering that break though the few photos following I've included anyway. They were taken incidentally rather than as part of an ongoing effort --

66 - Spotted some street art on the way to Yum Cha in the city with friends, these were Chinese donuts, crisp pastry inside, soft pastry outside, tasty sauce. I tried tripe for the first time, the flavour (especially with sauce) I found to be decent but I just couldn't get past the texture and found it difficult to eat as a result.

70 - I made my second batch of jam, this time with peaches. The method was a little trickier but the results were good. It didn't set as firmly as the nectarine jam did but I'm still happy with the outcome. This was also a much bigger batch so I'll have jam for quite a while now.

71 - A night out at the fringe. I saw 'Randy Writes a Novel' with a friend and had a lot of fun doing so. Couldn't take a photo then, so instead, this was my dessert. It was gooood.

72 - Colour - I jumped into responding to a prompt today as it inspired me. Overnight I heard that Sir Terry Pratchett died. His books brought much colour to my life and will continue to do so, I love re-reading these from time to time.

74 - After a huge and wonderful birthday weekend (this mug was a gift) spending time with friends and family and seeing La Soiree, which was absolutely incredible, it was time for a cup of tea. I will keep creating, keeping calm... is a work in progress. Although I'm going forward without prompts for now I'm hoping to resume more regular photography after this break.

2015 in books - first five

High time I got to reviewing/processing thoughts on books again... starting with brief reviews but I may well work my way back up. This year I am to read 100 books, I'm also hoping to improve the variety in them. Titles are Goodreads linked for your convenience.

These books were all enjoyable, I think Crash was the best of them but which I'd recommend would depend greatly on who was seeking the recommendation.

1 - Camelot (Fables #20) - Bill Willingham

There's really not much I can say without spoilering earlier books in the series. This graphic novel series has been great but a few of the volumes immediately preceding it were a bit lacklustre. This was a distinct improvement and I'm looking forward to continuing with the rest of the story which should be finishing up this year.

2- Crash (Twinmaker #2) - Sean Williams

The first Australian author in this year's list. I hope to read more Australian work as I noticed there was very little in my reading last year. In this book the situation starts out badly and rapidly degrades - the sudden removal of something people use daily and take for granted leaves them reeling and drives riskier decision making.
I enjoyed this more than the first book in the series, it felt less... preachy? Not quite the word but it'll have to do for now. With several conflicting points of view, all well presented, towards the end of the book my mind went to war with itself - I think that's a good thing. Making me challenge my own opinions with a new perspective rather than the same-old arguments I hear can help me identify flawed thinking.

3 - The Empire Striketh Back (William Shakespeare's Star Wars #2) - Ian Doescher

These books are made of fun and laughter. I'd love to attend/participate in a reading of this as I did with the first. There were many highlights, Yoda speaking in haiku was one, another is this passage:

Exogorth: Alas, another meal hath fled and gone,
And in the process I am sorely hurt.
These travelers who have escap'd my reach
Us'd me past the endurance of a block!
My stomach they did injure mightily
With jabs and pricks, as though a needle were
A'bouncing in my belly. O cruel Fate!
To be a space slug is a lonely lot,
With no one on this rock to share my life,
No true companion here to mark my days.
And now my meals do from my body fly -
Was e'er a beast by supper so abus'd?
Was e'er a creature's case so pitiful?
Was e'er an exogorth as sad as I?
Was e'er a tragedy as deep as mine?
I shall with weeping crawl back to my cave,
Which shall, sans food, belike become my grave.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves both literature and Star Wars.

4- Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3) by Laini Taylor

I don't normally enjoy books with such a heavy romantic theme, I generally find them insufferable and irritating. This one certainly has a bit of pixie-girl and absurdly-tall-man syndrome but all the same, the book was enjoyable. If you are into paranormal fantasy of the YA variety, I'd definitely recommend this one.

5- A Fork in the Road - Lonely Planet

First travel reading of the year, first short stories of the year... both things I enjoy. I enjoyed the majority of stories in this book, a few were a bit on the self-indulgent side but many of them were insightful or created wonderful images (or flavours) in my mind. It won't be going down as one of the greats of this year's reading but it was well worth the time.

Book Review: Machine of Death (Disposable Edition)

(Photo source: TopatoCo sales page) 

Machine of Death has a fascinating premise, amazing creativity and brings together a diverse group of writers and artists. And that's not even the best part. What really excites me about this book doesn't even involve the content. It's doing things that I've not seen in other commercially produced books.

I came by my copy of this book as a reward from the kickstarter for the releated game which I'm really looking forward to playing in the near future.

The book was all kicked off by this comic and an open call for story submissions. Some of the authors are recognisable, frequently best known for their online work, others are largely unknown. Each story has an illustration from one of a talented group of authors. The stories revolve around the idea of a 'machine of death' which can, with absolute precision and extreme ambiguity, predict how you will die. Stories predominantly focus on how this might affect our decisions, relationships and society. The variety is incredible and some of the ideas are seriously exciting. I'd recommend reading it for that alone, but there is more to love here.

First, applying to all editions of this book with the exception of four specific stories, the book is released under creative commons licencing - while the book has certainly sold plenty of print copies it's perfectly free to copy, email and share with the only real conditions being that the authors are credited and it is not used for commercial gain. You can even download it for free directly from the book's website. For balance, if you wish to buy a paper copy it's sold here.

Given all the DRM and library distribution issues plaguing the industry this is a breath of fresh air. I'm not sure it'd be appropriate for all works but for a book of short stories it might just be a great model for quality new authors to get themselves seen and encourage readers to explore their other work.

Onto issues that some find upsetting. I believe that no modern mass-produced copy of a book needs to be treated as if it were sacred. Some are shocked to see crafts that chop up books, or to see them removed from library shelves - an issue I've discussed before. This book is clearly labelled as a disposable edition. It's really, really cheap even by paperback standards (regarding Australian pricing at least). At the beginning of the book there is a preface explicitly stating that it's okay if you don't want to keep it but would rather give it away, recycle it or whatever else. Like the Creative Commons licencing I find this incredibly refreshing. The section finishes up with a wonderful line 'This book is not a priceless artifact. Its value lies in the experience of reading it and passing it along. Enjoy! p.s. of course you can keep it if you want to.' So for now I'm going to hang on to my copy - but I'm more than happy to lend it to people wanting to give this book a go.

So go, give it a go. Buy it if you wish, or download it for free. Explore fantastic ideas in a work that's exciting for plenty of reasons beyond the brilliant writing.

Five book reviews for the price of one!

Spellbound is the second book in the Spell trilogy by Blake Charlton. I recently read the first book, Spellwright which was seriously impressive. This was still a good book - it opened very strongly and was rather hard to put down, but it didn't quite have the edge the first did. It also used one of my least favourite tropes, but I'd rather not spoiler it for you, and in connection with said trope, something that was stated to be impossible naturally happened and despite the predictability it was presented as a major reveal. Despite some flaws it still comes highly recommended to those who enjoy original high fantasy.
No release date has been given for book three yet. I hope it isn't too far off!

After becoming aware of the male-protagonist-dominated nature of my paranormal detective reading I've been looking for a good paranormal detective series with a female protagonist that doesn't rapidly head down the erotica or maiden in distress route for a long time.
Greywalker by Kat Richardson is the most promising I've sound so far. I like that the protagonist takes some time to get used to her abilities and that this is not done in too twee or convenient a manner - she takes time to start to control her new abilities and by the end of the book she's still got some way to go - a good thing as this is the beginning of an ongoing series. I like that she's got some useful skills but recognises the ability of others and uses the variety of skills that her friends and aquaintances have rather than being a one person solution to the ills of the world. I was briefly worried that it was taking a turn down the erotica route that so many have before but thankfully Greywalker proved me wrong.
Perfect? No. Looking foward to reading book two? Yes. Recommended? Also yes.

'Monday 17 April 8st 13, alcohol units 6 (drowning sorrows), cigarettes 19 (fumigating sorrows), calories 3983 (suffocating sorrows with fat-duvet), positive thoughts 1 (vg)

Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary is one of the very few chick lit books (and movies) that I really enjoy. It's really not my genre, but this stuff is really funny and, reading it (again) as a single nearly-thirty, at times it's absolutely nails things - the quote above isn't one of those things, thankfully. I found this on a market stall while on holiday in Brisbane when I was nearly out of reading matter. With a third book due in October it was well worth the time. I'll have to find the second before the new book is out!

“If you’re brave enough to try, you might be able to catch a train from UnLondon to Parisn’t, or No York, or Helsunki, or Lost Angeles, or Sans Francisco, or Hong Gone, or Romeless…”

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is another re-read from my Brisbane trip. I loved this book and I'm sure I'll read it plenty more times. Don't be put off by the recommended age of the book - it's great for adults too. A wonderful surreal world that evokes a feeling of wonder. A story that takes the tropes, runs with them for a bit and then turns them upside down to make something beautiful. Absolutely recommended.

When interviewed by Erin Morgenstern Neil Gaiman explained 'I told my publishers there was a novella on the way, but then I did a word count at the end, and realized I just wrote a novel by accident!' (source)

I was excited to hear that a Neil Gaiman novel was coming and I was not disappointed. I picked this up at the Queensland State Library bookshop when I was about to run out of holiday reading (again). The ocean at the end of the lane delivers a very different and dark fantasy based on places and events from Gaiman's childhood. Just go read it. Really.

Fallout Vault Boy card - with Instructions

I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas lately and I'm gradually coming to the uncomfortable realisation I may have to own up to liking it more than Skyrim. Which has dragons so that's a huge achievement.

This could make a RADical birthday card with a stamp inside... I'm also tempted to frame it.

I've had a few new card ideas brewing in my head now so it was time to use one of those. The method I used to make this card makes it very difficult to reproduce exactly so there is no full tutorial but I'll give you some instructions, if you've got some crafty tendencies that should help if you're interested in making something like this.

First I found a graphic of vault boy/fallout boy and sized it the way I wanted it. I printed three copies on printer paper then printed a copy of his face with no surroundings - cutting his face in cardboard wasn't plausible but I didn't want full printed outlines.

I chose the coloured card from a set of many colours I have so that everything would have the same texture. You could easily use different textures/patterns to achieve an interesting effect too.

I stuck the printer paper templates to the coloured card just outside the cutting lines for each colour and used my exacto knife (and a brand new blade) to cut out the pieces. The dark blue is the full size of the suit, although you could cut it smaller layering makes one piece appear behind the other. If you start with the big pieces you can re-use each template a few times. To cut the face I held the paper template and card with printed face up to the light to line them up. All the pieces were stuck together onto a piece of black card and then trimmed so that any overhang was eliminated.

The base card is 4x6 yellow card in the same texture as everything else. To make the background I cut a piece of printer paper to 4x6 and sketched the mountain and mushroom cloud. I cut the mountain first then the orange section - the template for which I cut down again to make the red sections and then finally cut the grey. By cutting from the same copy of a template I increased the chances of everything fitting neatly.

I lined everything up before finishing but it didn't look complete - I cut the road freehand and then added the road line and the ring to the mushroom cloud.

Some foam tape to add a bit of dimensionality and a shadow and he was done!

I'm very pleased with this guy - I have a few more ideas I'm working on now, including a dalek - I'm not satisfied with my design yet but I hope to bring him (and many other geeky cards) to life soon.

Mini-reviews

The photo project will resume when I have regular internet access again - in the meantime, here are some miniaturised book reviews. I had intended to do more mini-reviews tonight but things did not go to plan - everything is okay, but I had to suddenly leave this and am only back some hours later.

These books are both excellent though unlike some I have reviewed in the past, are not necessarily books I'd recommend for all people.

I read Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey some weeks ago, it's gritty, bloody and pulls no punches. The man character talks hims toughness up, then proceeds to get the snot kicked out of himself repeatedly. Last time I read a book that did that I was seriously unimpressed as the supposedly super-powerful hero proved to be about the flimsiest thing out. Not so in this case. Stark, our serial-car-thieving anti-hero, gets away with this as he takes a lot of damage but just keeps on going anyhow.

An interesting world and a great (if seriously nasty, angry, revenge obsessed and all-round messed-up) anti-hero. I do have a couple small gripes - notably concerning a fictional weapon that just seems too convenient and the fact that I can't help but relate the name Stark to Iron Man and George R R Martin. But on the balance of things I really enjoyed this book. This is very much at the horror end of the urban fantasy/paranormal spectrum - which suits me just fine as I prefer to avoid the romance end of the genre. If graphic violence in books is a turn-off this is not the book for you as it is frequent and intense. If you can handle it, it's good fun and well written.

I've started on book two, Kill the Dead, and while it's good as well it's failing to catch me as much as the first book. I can't place my finger on why, exactly. I'm hoping it'll pick up as despite loving the genre, at least in principle, there are precious few urban fantasy series out there that I enjoy and this has potential to be added to the list.

Volume one of Saga by Brian Vaughan is probably one of those graphic novels that gathers complaints in libraries. Notably from those who open to a page and gasp in horror, not quite realising that it's okay to read comics after the age of fifteen, and thus okay for comics to be adult in nature. Or is that my cynicism showing too much?

This beautifully illustrated comic holds up a sci-fi mirror to some of the long-term conflicts in our world and does so in an original and interesting universe. The characters are well developed - I particularly liked Izabel, a teenage ghost (or at least the upper half of one). I enjoyed this and recommend it for any adult who enjoys graphic novels. If I were introducing someone to comics I'd probably choose something else. A number of scenes are sexually or violently graphic or just... really unusual. But the worst thing about this book? Volume two is not out yet. I want to know where this story goes next!

Review - Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

I want to love steampunk novels. I really do. The style is fabulous and so much fun. But the books I have attempted to read so far have mostly failed to impress. A few I've put down and not found the strength to pick back up. This one was at least quite good, but I've still not found a steampunk book to love here.

I picked this book up in a second hand bookshop in Darwin so I'd have something to read at Yalara and on the Ghan. It was the first line of the blurb that got my attention - I'm a sucker for fantasy books with librarians...

'Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.'

The dialogue was a lot of fun, there were gadgets aplenty and some very good storytelling in places. The degree of action most certainly did not disappoint. Plenty of the characters were a lot of fun too. It had a lot of fantastic things going for it. And yet I still haven't found that steampunk series to love.

The heroine, Eliza Braun, is possibly the biggest issue. The strong man, brainy woman trope has been taken and gender switched. To me that's not turning a trope on its head. It's becoming almost commonplace. It's a trope in itself. The degree of flamboyant feisty violence in full public view is fun but it just doesn't fly in the Victorian setting, fantasy or no. She'd be quite over the top even in modern settings.

In a related problem, some of the devices feel like twenty-first century technology with gears glued on. Not all - some of the devices were great. But enough that it felt like a problem. Modern solutions to the problems - just with more brass.

Also, an Australian called Bruce who speaks even more Ocker than Crocodile Dundee? From an Australian perspective I found this character jarring. He was at least a well fleshed out character, as were most. I found a couple of other issues, but... too spoilery.

None of these problems were abandon-the-book or throw-against-the-wall bad but they did hold a good book back from being an excellent one. I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll read the next book in the series. With so many books I plan to read I'm not sure I have time to spend on a series that's less than excellent. However, if you're a lover of steampunk books this one is worth a read.

If anyone wants to make steampunk reading suggestions, fire away! It might take me a while to get to them but I might just find that amazing author.

Tutorial: Bigger-on-the-inside TARDIS card

Time for the promised TARDIS card tutorial! As an added bonus this tutorial shows you my method of making standard card blanks. This is the first tutorial I have made, so if you have any feedback do let me know so future tutorials might be improved...

In order to avoid sounding like a broken record I'll let you know right here that you need to be quite precise here. It'll really show in the results. On with the tutorial - Allons-y!

These are the tools used. With one exception - the glue marker. How I could forget such a useful object is beyond me.

Tools and materials:
TARDIS blue cardstock - A4 or 12" square
Black cardstock - scrap is OK
White cardstock - scrap is OK
White printer paper
Self-healing cutting mat
Clear quilting ruler
Metal ruler
Rotary cutter
Craft knife
Bone folder
Glue stick
Glue marker
Glue tape
Fine silver paint or gel pen
Black fineliner - 0.1
Pencil

The first step is to make the card blank. Start by cutting an 8"x6" piece of TARDIS blue card. Keep the scraps, you'll need them later. The best way to make the larger cuts is with a quilting ruler and rotary cutter. The cuts are kept straight and it's very easy to line things up precisely (don't use a craft knife with a quilting ruler, you'll kill the ruler).

Using the bone folder, score a line at the 4" mark on the long side. If the paper is textured, score on the side that will be the inside. Fold along the line and, with the card folded, run the flat of the folder along the crease to sharpen it.

Cut the top inch from the side that will become the front cover, and prepare for one of the trickier sections.

Keeping in mind you will need to erase later, rule a pencil line one inch from the top in line with the previous cut(not shown in the picture). Measuring up from here rule a line at 3/8", 1/8" and 1/8". This should leave 3/8" at the top.

As per the lower left section of the picture above, n the lowest ruled section draw vertical lines 1/4" from each side. In the next section draw lines 1/2" from each side. In the top section draw lines around a 1/4" section at the centre. Join this to the tier below with a diagonal line.

Cut around this outline using a metal ruler and craft knife. You may find it easiest to cut small sections away. Erase the remaining pencil lines.

Cut a section of black cardboard 1/4"x3.5", or slightly shorter if you prefer (see right side pictures). Write on the card with a silver paint or gel pen as shown. Stick in place with glue stick or marker.

Cut a 1/4" square of white card. Stick to form the light at the top of the card. That's the top section complete! Next, on to the front.

Cut four 1.5" squares, four in blue, two in white.

Cut a blue strip 1/8" wide and at least 4.5" long. Don't worry if it curves a bit, that's fairly unavoidable. Cut it into three 1.5" sections.

Using a glue marker, stick the strips on to form a window pattern.

On the front flap of the card, stick the blue and white squares. They should be 1/4" from the edge of the card and 1/8" from the top, bottom and other squares. You can use any kind of paper glue here, but glue tape doesn't have a drying time so you can continue on without fear of shifting things. Repeat for the other side.

Cut a piece of white card or printer paper 1"x3/4" and write on it with a fineliner as shown. Glue it to the centre left panel. While you're at it, why not add a silver doorknob?

Congratulations! The front is complete. The rest should, by comparison, be very easy.

The pop-up that will form the inside is a map fold. There's a great tutorial for it on this website (link replaced Feb 2015) which I doubt I can improve on. Use an 8"x8" square. The tutorial uses a rectangle, but squares are fine.

If you put it in your card you'll likely find it's marginally large. No worries! Cut off 1/8" and get the added bonus of an extremely tidy visible end.

Use glue tape on one side and stick the folded paper in with the centre line 2.5" from the bottom. Be sure to get the point right into the fold of the paper. Put glue tape onto the other side, press the card firmly shut, then re-open...

Ta-da! It's bigger on the inside!

 With Adelaide's famous Christmas Pageant on tomorrow and as I'm also preparing a lot of work for a stall I'll have at St John's Anglican Church Christmas Fair (Friday 16th November, 6p.m., Church Gardens at 379 Halifax Street, Adelaide) I'm in a very Christmassy frame of mind. I twisted together sparkly pipe cleaners and made a wreath to make a Christmas TARDIS.

That concludes my first tutorial! I hope you liked it - I expect I'll make more in future. If you use this tutorial, either as-is or with modifications, I'd love to see what you do!  Please do not use this to produce items for sale.

Do, however, feel free to share the tutorial further. By all means use the first or last image as a link, but please link to this blog for the rest of the tutorial.

P.S. The link marked as replaced in 2015 was changed as the original site was now just throwing particularly dubious looking ads. Sorry about that, and hopefully the replacement will stay... if it should fail again, search 'map fold tutorial', there are quite a few about - Heather

Tardis card is bigger on the inside

I was invited to a Doctor Who party last weekend, and I got the idea of making a TARDIS card that was bigger on the inside. The exterior design was simple enough to come up with - I didn't find an existing design I particularly liked so I took a good look at the TARDIS and the needs of my card and came up with this. The magnets are not part of the card, just holding it closed for the photo.

I knew that the interior was doable because I've seen folding maps that pop out larger than their covers. After searching about I found what's creatively called the map fold - there are any number of tutorials on it but I found this one particularly straightforward. With a little modification on dimensions it worked beautifully, and there you have it. A TARDIS card that is bigger on the inside.

Just a tiny little bit proud of this one.

I'm making a lot of other cards at the moment in preparation for a fete, I'll show some of the best of them later but there are only so many photographs of cards I can justify blogging in one hit.

Oh, and excuse the clumsy watermarking. It's a just-in-case so if anyone shares it on without, heaven forbid, linking back, the photo will do that for me.

P.S. As I intend on making another of these and there's been some interest I'll look at making a tutorial for this card soon, likely after I return home in early November

Update: The tutorial is now available in this blog post!

Sad Wolverine with T-rex

Paper wolverine appears to be a little sad about something. Maybe because his claws are so much smaller than robot-skeleton-t-rex's?

I made this paper toy from one of the patterns available at the Mini Papercraft blog a little while ago and have realised I never shared a picture of him. Fixing that today. Parts were a little fiddly to cut out with an x-acto knife but I love the results. The newest one there is Batman. I will absolutely be making one of those in future.

I'll be doing a lot of house-moving in the next week but I'll try to post at least once or twice!

Matryoshkas and Melbourne

Quite a few things have happened since my last post, and some things that I had made but could not yet show off can now be shown.

There have been two farewells from work and I made cards for both. One card was very much like those in my previous post, the other quite different. I modified an image from My Sparkle's matryoshka doll ornament tutorial to make it suitable for stitching into a card.

I do love making cards, but I hope not to have to make another farewell card TOO soon.

I also took a trip to Melbourne - travel is another thing I love, though this time going on a grand adventure was not an option. I saw many sights and relaxed for four days which was well needed. I went to the Esplanade Market at St Kilda where I found these fantastic geeky earrings. There were many single earrings to choose my pair from, but this pair just worked so well?

Of course, the food in Melbourne was amazing too. I had meals from all corners of the world and even found a cupcake bakery with more than twenty varieties of cupcakes, that decision was a hard one! The best meal I had was from Xpresso Mondo in Degraves Street. Such a small restaurant that there were no indoor tables, but on a clear night the outdoor tables were very atmospheric. Braised lamb shanks from the specials menu were absolutely delicious and cooked beautifully. I might have missed out on Mum's Sunday roast, but this went some way to making up for it!

I did many other things in Melbourne - visited ACMI and played fantastic games at the Best of the Independent Games Festival 2012 display and got to call it a cultural experience! I also visited NGV, wandered around the Fitzroy Gardens and generally had a wonderful time.

Now I've got some knitting to do - I bought some sashay yarn at Clegs and am working on making a fabulous frilly scarf.

Until next time!