Updates: Weather, Undersized Urbanite, Etc.

It's 2 am, but I feel like it's time for a new post, and I'll sleep better not putting off some things so it's list time again;

1. What is April doing? One day, it feels like summer, then it rains. Fine. Then it's summer again and sunny (^_^), BUT THEN-

Weather, please get your snow out of my sunny day.

Granted, it is really pretty, but I'm done with the cold, thank you.

2. Went to a baby shower, about 1 1/2 hours away, and on the way back was basically antiquing with my mother again, except it was more country stores/gift shops this time. Ended up with a few things, that will probably show up here someday, but my two picks would have to be,

Another witty sign, it's a Dr. Suess quote that you can't argue with.

(This is sign #2. That's it, no more room. Please remind me of that if I post a #3)

&

This ginormous pendant necklace! It's so heavy, it actually hurt my neck to wear it. It was on sale, probably because it's so distractingly big and heavy. Not planning to use it as jewelry. It just seemed like something interesting I could put some where in the Steampunk house. Or save for one of the other houses. It was too cool of a found object to pass up, ya know?

 

3. Undersized Urbanite Update-Last update was me just announcing that I was spending a few days putting together all the finished pieces. It was progressing, but then I got to sections that needed to be painted, or something else that had to be done before the next part could go in. And then I realized that the kitchen/living room didn't have much room for guessing when it came to cutting the wallpaper, and I needed to make doors and floors and back splashes. No I didn't get overwhelmed and end up behind, actually I made a ton of progress, but with most of the gluing happening on the exterior, the inside looks more disheveled than I though it would've at this point;

Double checking the layout here. 

The walls should all be in place next post.

Look, new doors!

Oh, and did I ever tell you the plan for the bedroom? No? Well that's because today was the first day I actually put any real thought into it. Don't worry, I had that mini-panic attack 3 weeks ago (ha-mini XD) but then I remembered that I made some twin beds as part of a temp scene for the Cubebot Challenge that I decided to save just in case, so half the furniture is already done (bunk beds coming soon).

As I said, I'm cutting out the wallpaper for the kitchen/living room and it's a tight fit. The scrapbook paper's 1/4 in. too short, and there's a faux-worn spot that I was planning to cut out of it, which makes it more like a full inch too short. I knew that from the beginning though, and I was also planning to make a backsplash for the fireplace, which would fix everything. So along with making the rest of the doors, that was today's mini project;

It's the same paper I've been using for the roof singles, cut into much smaller pieces.

A little paint, and we're good to go.

4. While I was working on the Steampunk house, my little brother was doing yard work for a neighbor, found some garden snakes, decided to move them out to the nearby woods where they wouldn't bother anyone, but first-

He brought them inside to show everyone...yay...

 

5. The Curious Concepts Project is 89% Funded! 

So, so close. Just $64 short but only 11 days left, so it's really coming down to the wire now.

I'm just going to link to my DA journal for this update (I just posted it); http://kyle-lefort.deviantart.com/art/Only-11-Days-Left-The-Curious-Concepts-Project-367138420

 

And if you haven't found your way to the project on Kickstarter yet, I encourage you to follow this link and check it out; http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/690850738/the-curious-concepts-project

Thank you!

6. ...Is there a 6? No? Ok, well I guess that's it for now. Looking forward to sleeping. Tomorrow's another work on the Steampunk house day, there have been a lot of those lately, and oh hey, it's 3 am now, and I'm just rambling, so bye. :)

Stick It All Together and What Have I Got?

I'm now at the point of this project that I need to start gluing, taping, and touch up painting it all together, and then continue on from there.

There's a dining room table full of finished, or almost finished, pieces waiting to be attached to some part of the house, so that's the plan for the next couple of days. Also, tiny industrial looking bar stools...and maybe some polymer clay pieces. So far, so good.

The Curious Concepts Project, Mid-Campaign Update

Check it out; http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/690850738/the-curious-concepts-project?ref=home_location

The project has 12 backers, and it's been funded 72% !  That means that my project is sooo close to happening, "impossible", can only be used in quotations when talking about this project now. :)

There's little more than 2  weeks left, which means that my attempt to raise funds and start a whole new series of illustrations, is moving into some shaky  territory.  Kickstarter is 'All or Nothing', so not raising that last  28% will kill the whole thing, which at this point would be really sad. We're so close, and some of my backers have been expressing their excitement over the new series-They get to decide what I have to illustrate. And since early on a couple backers gave donations(it's not really a donation thing, but ok), insisting that I don't give them anything in return, my estimated budget went up, and so now backers will be getting postcards!!! ...As long as we reach 100%  funding!

As part of the project itself, this blog and my FB page will be used to gather input from any/all of my followers during the making of the new series. So even non-backers can get involved, but we have to raise the funds first. So spread the word if you want this to happen!

Right now we're trying to decide what postcard design I should have printed. I came up with 6 options, but since this is an extra reward and I have to get them made in 100+ batches, my current budget means that I'm only sending 1 design to the printer.

Click Here to cast your vote (on Facbook)!

And please, "Like" & "Share" too.

----++----

As I previously mentioned, any bloggers willing to spread the word about my project, will get the same courtesy from me in return, and although I don't think she actively follows this blog, Jackie from Bon AppetEats posted my project everywhere she could.

Regular readers may recognize that name, I was hired to design the logo and some web banners for Bon AppetEats, and the project went so well I now consider Jackie an online friend.

My artistic focus tends to be split 3 ways, but Jackie is all about clay miniatures. And it shows, her work is astounding.

I encourage you to check out her gallery on DeviantArt (that's were I usually view it); http://bon-appeteats.deviantart.com/

And to stop by her Etsy shop; https://www.etsy.com/shop/BonAppetEats

In light of the bad, bad thing that happened in Boston, she just posted
Miniature Boston Cream Pie charms, proceeds to be donated the Red Cross because, hey, she's a really  nice person.

Thanks again Jackie, Best wishes for you and your business.

Miniature Riker Mounts

More progress on my entry for Undersized Urbanite, but first a bit of a context;

Nathan, my little brother (he's been taller than me for years, but still) is really into 'Creepy Crawlies'. I have no idea what his online rep. for this is, but I know that people with doctorate degrees sometimes ask him questions, so it would not surprised to hear a lot of people know him. Anyway, he's been obsessed with Entomology (the study of insects) long before he could even correctly pronounce the word, "Entomology". To be fair, he is also really into spiders and reptiles, and small mammals. When alive, these creatures tend to be pets, but when they eventually die, well, he has a lot of display cases full of preserved specimens. And it's not surprising to see him recieve dead animals as gifts. Yes, he is an odd one.

How odd exactly? Several years ago, he had a Praying Mantis egg sack (an "Ootheca", btw) in a little container, which he carried around everywhere for weeks until the eggs hatched (he even hand braided a strap to keep the container attached to his arm), WHICH I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT until he brought it up the other day, because in the years after this egg hatching venture of his, there have been soooo may other weird experiences that my brain decided it wasn't so strange that it has to stick in my memories.

I have a couple of friends who are shocked by how calm my family and I are about all this, my parents have always been encouraging when it comes to our interests, and honestly after years of babysitting Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, getting in to arguments that started with, "I told you to keep you Scorpions away from my Laptop", and a parade of strange creatures handed to me over the years- I think I'm just used to it. Btw, I've seen, that weird spider thing from Harry Potter, in person.(completely harmless)

And putting up with it all, does have it's benefits. Like say, I decide that my Steampunk dollhouse's observatory room really could use some Riker Mounts along the back wall;

(still WIP, but already pretty awesome)

Not only do I know what they are called and how they should look when they're done (these still need some acetate and paint), but I also have free access to several perfectly displayed bugs to photograph and scale down. And since they were already the dead ones I didn't even have to touch any of them. (woohoo!)

Well, my brother did tell me that the size ratio isn't quite 100% (it's close enough though), one was a gift that hadn't been properly pinned (made a point of saying that wasn't his fault), but otherwise I didn't do a terrible job.

I can name about half of these...

I cut out the photos and folded their legs/wings before gluing them in place, so that they'd look more like real bugs. To make my life easier, I stuck with the bigger bugs. How big? I roughly measured the larger ones at around 5 in.

Told you so.

And to give you an idea of how small my little cut outs are;

Real butterfly vs. My mini version.

And while I was looking through my brother's bugs, I found an Egyptian clay Scarab Beetle bead that I had loaned him for a project (it had gotten lost in the shuffle), which reminded me that I had a mummy bead that might look good in this house;

 I also found a broken metal flower pin that might work as decor, 

and did I show off the new skull beads yet?

I bought/found all of those at a rock & gem show that my family goes to/volunteers at thanks to one of my other brothers.

So for future reference, weird family = awesome resources, and one more thing crossed off my Steampunk house to-do list.

Which is good because while I was working on the roof this week, I heard a small *Thud*, which turned out to be the basement ceiling;

Again.

It's not even that heavy. Looks like I need to re-glue it, and remember to leave the clamps on overnight his time (I knew I rushed through it last time).

Day Trip - And I Took Photos

Thanks to an unintentional coincidence in the timing, the end of The Curious Concepts Project Campaign and the deadline to complete entries for Undersized Urbanite are  both May 4th. So starting after this post, this blog is going to be nothing, but stuff related to those projects until May. I say, "after this post" because, well, did you read this post's title?

My mom, her friend, and I went antiquing on a Monday. Do not go antiquing on a Monday, most antique stores will not be open, but it was just meant to be a wandering around looking for cool stuff kind of day, so it actually went really well for us.

First photo worthy moment, driving through the Alabama swamps (Alabama, NY, btw). It's a great birdwatching spot this time of year (migration birds), and after pulling over to look at the third Great Blue Heron on our way, we pulled into an observation area.

We saw at least five herons, most of them were flying around and catching fish, this is the only one that stayed put long enough for me to grab my camera and get out of the car.

Poor attempt at a close up-you're welcome

Probably the most heron I've seen in an outing that didn't involve a kayak.

So then we went driving around the middle of nowhere, which led to the next photo-op;

Ah, alternative energy

First time I saw wind turbines, it was at night, during a snow storm, just creepy. Up against a blue sky backdrop though, kind of pretty.

That and several country stores, was my day. Ended up with some dime-sized mini Cardinal birds,

Probably too big to be 1:12 scale birds, but home decor pieces, that could work.

And in a world where who you are and what you do can always be defined by a clever sign or two, my mother gave me this;

That sounds about right.

Undersized Urbanite - "Raise the Roof", Progress Update

This week/weekend was work on the roof week, in which I hoped to get a lot farther than I did, but since I still managed to get through one of the trickier parts, I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

Look, the house is upright again! I decided that the stonework has turned out so well that I won't mind gluing it all in place, after I paint a few more spots. So it's pretty much just a masking tape dry fit (sticky fit?), and a little droopy. I've been moving it around the house more than I should've because a curious toddler made a few unplanned after-Easter visits. First visit, the house didn't have it's siding and she left it alone. Second visit, she made a pit stop from looking for toys, to play with the house's chimney, and that's when I realized that the Steampunk house needs to hide when she's here. I'm all for playing with dollhouses, just not this dollhouse.

The front of this house is so flat, I thought it would nice to give the roof more texture by cutting some corrugated scrapbook paper into rounded shingles, it's looking good. I've got another row and some edges to trim for the front, which thanks to that window, should be the worst of it. Then there's the interior side of the cabinet, and the top of the shelving portion. Sounds like a lot, but once I cut up all the pieces it goes fast. Everything needs to be done by May 4th, I'm hoping for the 2nd though, so I have time to take decent photos. Hmmm...

Ready, Kickstarter, GO!

I've been trying to do more with my illustration work. My regular readers probably knew that already though.

"You'll find a publisher interested in your work if you just keep trying", and, "Why don't you just self-publish a book?", are phrases that I've been hearing an awful lot. They're both good suggestions, but the real issues boil down to a lack of people seeing my work and that pesky, 'it costs money to do stuff', thing. 

The Curious Concepts Project

See some cool illustrations, Help make them available online, 

& Take part in the creation of a whole new series.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/690850738/the-curious-concepts-project

It's a small Kickstarter campaign that I've started to give more people the chance to see some of my illustration work, hopefully raise the funds I need to finally make prints of my work available online, and, also hopefully get started on a whole new series-Inspired by fans/supporters of my work. 


I don't think the full series has made it to the blog yet, so here's a mini promo shot;

 

If you want to see the full view of any of these, just fall down the rabbit hole follow the link to my Kickstarter campaign, the gallery link is in the project description, several times.

I know that many of you have found your way here because of my miniature work, but I'd like to think that my illustration work can be just as intriguing. If you agree, once again, follow the link to learn more about this campaign. If you disagree, well it looks like I've got a few weeks to try and change your mind. :)

Want to help me spread the word? Feel free to post a link to my Kickstarter campaign on your site, blog, facebook page, Twitter, Tumbler, or where ever else you would like to promote it. (be nice though, please don't spam). As a thank you, let me know if you've tried to help out, a comment letting me know works, and I'll return the favor here on my blog. :) If successful, all official backers to this project are getting a special, "Thank You", post, so why not extend a similar courtesy to all the nice bloggers out there too?

This Campaign runs until May 4th and I will be regularly posting about it until then, but do not worry about my project for Undersized Urbanite-I'm still working on that too.