Stuff You Make or Sell (GWJer Arts & Crafts)

More crafty things I made!

These were for the Goodjer craft exchange:

Dice bags:
IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/Dice_bags_zpscdbc210e.jpg)

Dishcloths and tea towels:
IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/teatowels_dishcloths_zps2f7a6039.jpg)

And this was my first attempt at crocheting a wool bag and felting it:
IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/feltedbag_zps4c02abbe.jpg)

Turned out pretty good, though, I learned I need to mark decrease stitches more carefully.

Mimble wrote:
duckideva wrote:

Those slippers are adorable! I have never had much luck with textile art. My scarves become pyramids, my crochet chains look like a spider on acid did them. Sad.

My first crochet project looked like rats had been chewing it, if that makes you feel better. It took me some time to work up to slippers that people could wear.

I tried making soap once. I learned a few things from that experience:

1) I am not to be trusted with lye.
2) Lye burns hurt.
3) Lye is good at cleaning counters and floors.
4) My soap will burn your skin right off your face.

I now buy my soap at craft fairs; made by people who have a talent for crafting it.

Yeah, working with NaOH takes some practice. It's not as scary as it seems, once you have the right tools. The big trick with making soap is the formulations; your formula has to be such that the NaOH will saponify the fats, but not so high that it will leave any residual hydroxide after saponification. I've got some recipes for making small batches that I'm more than happy to share. The problem now is that sodium hydroxide has been classified by the Homeland Dept as a potential tool for terrorism, and so buying it in straight form has become difficult. Once upon a time; you could buy it at Home Depot, now all "retail" lye has metal shavings and other contaminants in.

I've run into this lately, because I wanted to make some soap for Kiri, who sent me the most gorgeous handmade stationary, so I wanted to send her some gorgeous soap in return...and I'm having a nightmare of a time finding lye in less than 50 pound bags directly from the chemical company. (I already have clearance to buy it from the chemical companies, I'm listed as a formulator, my company is recognized by the FDA, I have appropriate licenses, blah, blah, blah...but I don't need, and wouldn't use a 50 pound bag of NaOH unless I was ramping back into full production. I just wanted a couple of pounds. It's been crazy.)

Sounds like they want to make sure you have enough leftover for your terrorist endeavors.

Yellek wrote:

Sounds like they want to make sure you have enough leftover for your terrorist endeavors. :)

Ha ha!!

Ducki, maybe you could invent Asploding Soap - "Blast the dirt off with Ducki's Asploding Soap! It's the bomb!" Or something like that.

And then make them weinerbomb-shaped!

Make lye yourself!

Historically sodium hydroxide is produced by treating sodium carbonate with calcium hydroxide in a metathesis reaction. (Sodium hydroxide is soluble while calcium carbonate is not.) This process was called causticizing.[7]

Ca(OH)2(aq) + Na2CO3(s) → CaCO3↓ + 2 NaOH(aq)

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Make lye yourself!

Historically sodium hydroxide is produced by treating sodium carbonate with calcium hydroxide in a metathesis reaction. (Sodium hydroxide is soluble while calcium carbonate is not.) This process was called causticizing.[7]

Ca(OH)2(aq) + Na2CO3(s) → CaCO3↓ + 2 NaOH(aq)

;)

Funny story about that: I learned how to make soap in the 70's from a woman in the Appalachian mountains. Her family had been there for as long as anyone could remember; they had a still, and all sorts of crazy stuff, and the feds just mostly left them alone because that area was just sort of the last of the mountain people. Anyway; she made soap with "lye" that was primarily wood ash and rain water.

There was the massive tree stump in the yard. The tree from whence it came must have been massive; for the stump was probably 2 feet across, and had been hollowed out about 3 feet deep. Anyway, they would throw coals and stuff from the fire in there, and just let it fill up with rain water. When an egg would float on top of the water; it was "soapin' time", because it had gotten caustic enough to saponify fats.

This creates something closer to potassium hydroxide than sodium hydroxide. Because KOH creates a very, very soft soap if used in the amounts that will properly saponify out; people would use 3-4x the amount of caustic potash necessary so they would get a hard bar. Which is one of the reasons lye soap got such a bad reputation, because there was residual KOH in the product, which is really hard on skin and clothes.

So...should the zombie apocalypse happen; I can make zombie soap with wood ash, but until the point that we have to start melting our zombies down, I'll keep looking for some pure NaOH.

So, the wool bag in a couple of posts ago? Well, I made another similar one, same browny-grey, but with two deep red stripes, for a friend. My friend took the bag out to do a little shopping and a woman here in North Vancouver who is a buyer for a local artists shop offered to buy it off her for $110 CDN. My friend declined as I'd made the bag for her, but I've been asked to present myself and my little crafty things at the store tomorrow.

People want to buy my stuff. For actual money.

I am completely delighted and flattered.

Mimble wrote:

So, the wool bag in a couple of posts ago? Well, I made another similar one, same browny-grey, but with two deep red stripes, for a friend. My friend took the bag out to do a little shopping and a woman here in North Vancouver who is a buyer for a local artists shop offered to buy it off her for $110 CDN. My friend declined as I'd made the bag for her, but I've been asked to present myself and my little crafty things at the store tomorrow.

People want to buy my stuff. For actual money.

I am completely delighted and flattered. :D

Nice!!!

Nice, thta's a great feeling. My wife has found a couple of popular patterns and is selling 1 to 5 items per week between switch plates and passport book covers.

Not sure if this counts, but I made a couple of prints which you can find here: http://society6.com/FredrikS Mostly I made them for my daughter's wall, but the wife encouraged me to open up a store.

Mimble wrote:

People want to buy my stuff. For actual money.

I am completely delighted and flattered. :D

Wow. Very impressive!

Congrats Mimble! When I had a friend ask me about selling my mugstraps I was like WTF are you talking about?

Thanks for the congrats!

It is a pretty nice feeling when people want things that you just make for fun

Rainsmercy, you should see about selling the straps - can't hurt to put them out there and see what happens.

Mimble wrote:

Rainsmercy, you should see about selling the straps - can't hurt to put them out there and see what happens.

I do sell them, have been selling them for 4 or 5 years now, my friend and his wife go to different ren fests and sell them, they pay me a whole sale price for them. It's just that is what my first reactiion was when my friend asked me to make some to sell:) Its not like its alot of money I make on each, but, shrug.

Rainsmercy wrote:
Mimble wrote:

Rainsmercy, you should see about selling the straps - can't hurt to put them out there and see what happens.

I do sell them, have been selling them for 4 or 5 years now, my friend and his wife go to different ren fests and sell them, they pay me a whole sale price for them. It's just that is what my first reactiion was when my friend asked me to make some to sell:) Its not like its alot of money I make on each, but, shrug.

I'm expecting to make a little on the wool bags, but the dicebags and such, not a great deal. Still, it'll be great to know they are getting used rather than piling up in a bag in my living room.

Found out one of my co-workers does leather working in her spare time and sells her stuff on Etsy and cons, renn fairs, etc. If you like Norse-related items, check out her stuff: http://screamingnorth.com/ She's currently restocking for Anthrocon, but hopes to be back in full swing soon.

Quick plug: I make stuff out of metal.

My Love Letter Heart Tokens have become the #1 board game accessory on BoardGameGeek.

I made a nice speakerbox pannier for Serengeti so he can have his tunes wherever he goes.

My current project is making some drink tokens for UMOarsman's wedding party. They will make nice little keepsakes for after the wedding.
IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5BrhruJWN_I/Ua8p2l2NEBI/AAAAAAAAEg4/iyKBUX1nTKE/s512/martini2.jpg)

So if you need anything made out of metal, give me a yell. Help fund my beer habit.

Fseven, that looks cute! What operations is your CNC machine capable of? Can you do full 3D?

Also, a totally different question -- my kid, a graduating high school senior, is looking for a summer job. Does your shop need any interns / apprentices / go-getters by any chance?

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

Fseven, that looks cute! What operations is your CNC machine capable of? Can you do full 3D?

Also, a totally different question -- my kid, a graduating high school senior, is looking for a summer job. Does your shop need any interns / apprentices / go-getters by any chance?

We have a Trumpf 1030 Laser. Can't do 3D as it only cuts sheet metal. My last place had 6-axis Haas mills, waterjets, and other 3D capable machines up the wazoo but my current place of employment makes hospital furniture so nothing but sheet metal.

I'll ask the VP about a summer gig for your son although to be perfectly honest I'd advise him to stay far away from the manufacturing industry. As a parent this is the only rule I have for my own kids. No manufacturing.

Thanks, man!

The manufacturing is a summer gig idea, yes. I think it would enrich his life experience. With regard to the career track, he is going to do Broadcasting / Media Production in a 2-year AS program at BCC and then see if BA in Communications at Montclair or Rutgers is right for him.

Speaking of sheetmetal -- I have this variation on a Jesus fish bumper sticker in my mind which I wanted to for a long time! Can you produce something like that?

FSeven wrote:

Quick plug: I make stuff out of metal.

My Love Letter Heart Tokens have become the #1 board game accessory on BoardGameGeek.

I made a nice speakerbox pannier for Serengeti so he can have his tunes wherever he goes.

My current project is making some drink tokens for UMOarsman's wedding party. They will make nice little keepsakes for after the wedding.
IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5BrhruJWN_I/Ua8p2l2NEBI/AAAAAAAAEg4/iyKBUX1nTKE/s512/martini2.jpg)

So if you need anything made out of metal, give me a yell. Help fund my beer habit. :P

That's sexy. How big is it?

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

Thanks, man!

The manufacturing is a summer gig idea, yes. I think it would enrich his life experience. With regard to the career track, he is going to do Broadcasting / Media Production in a 2-year AS program at BCC and then see if BA in Communications at Montclair or Rutgers is right for him.

Speaking of sheetmetal -- I have this variation on a Jesus fish bumper sticker in my mind which I wanted to for a long time! Can you produce something like that?

I feel much better about seeing if there is a summer gig. Both you and I would never forgive me if he worked the summer and then decided to pursue a career in manufacturing. If he goes to Montclair (my alma mater) I'd be happy to be a resource/point of contact for you. I live literally 5 minutes away right next to Brookdale Park.

I can definitely come up with something for your Jesus fish. PM me or email me some ideas and we will work something up.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

That's sexy. How big is it?

I tell people 10 inches but my wife would only vouch for 8.

The martini token is about 1.5 inches tall. Just a little token.

this is not mine nor is it mine to sell but I thought this was very cool
IMAGE(http://img1.etsystatic.com/015/0/6688433/il_570xN.448641245_pplc.jpg)

From

http://www.etsy.com/listing/12924751...

I've learned to make little monster/octopi/creatures!

IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/monsters_zpsfa4ca6da.jpg)

and a close up:

IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/monster_zps6e852f26.jpg)

Bah, I keep thinking, with my wife wrapping up each SwapBot crafting project she does, that I would post some of her work here, but keep forgetting. This last one was a Sherlock (BBC version) crafting swap where she made Richard Brook's press packet, a slide case with a false bottom, two clay bee Christmas ornaments (one Sherlock with the scarf, one Watson with the cane) and a few other small things. Next up is a zombie swap, so I'll try to remember to take pictures for that.

My first ever crocheted teddy bear. Kepheus named him Lord Freddie Bigglesworth (no idea where he comes up with these names...)

I'll take some better photos with better lighting at some point.

IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/LordFreddie_zps1fc73599.jpg)

The sheath is done, after several week break.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a280/rainsmercy/1229868_10202205592048295_1394360239_n_zpsbdb5740d.jpg)

Just finished this as a wedding gift for a friend. I told her about it so she could pick the colour that she liked best. Here's how it turned out:

IMAGE(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/Mimble75/Crafty%20Things/afghan_wedding_gift_zpse7a25ec7-1.jpg)

My wife helps run a Humans vs Zombies game on campus, and since the school is mostly a commuter college, they go out of their way to plan "missions" as excuses to get humans and zombies together. She asked me to put together a little something that the humans might find handy - a "laser tripwire alarm".

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/6m5cIsp.png)

Now to just solder everything to a full board, and stick it in an enclosure.