try to do it silently and sans heels

I've still got some tweaking to do but this is promising :)

Instead of a tangle or working with M0rt, I decided to do some organizing. I went through stacks of paper and have organized them by color and print. Previously, I'd peruse a stack and have to pull pages out to see how I was going to combine them. Well, not any more (well, not entirely. There are still a few more that need to be organized but my wrist was starting to hurt).

Speaking of, I had a wicked case of the dropsies today and it freaked me out somewhat. Hopefully it's just a one off kind of day.

I finally remembered what I wanted to talk about yesterday:Shoes. And screaming. We watched Olympus Has Fallen (which was really not as bad as I had expected) and there were so many ladies screaming. And having to run barefoot through shards of glass and smoldering debris because they had to ditch their high heels because they couldn't run/escape in them.

My first thought was (not that I can say how I would act in some sort of shooting/bombing situation - though I can handle my shit in other emergency type situations) "why are you screaming? You are totally going to draw attention to your self." The logical part of me thinks "be quiet. they will aim indiscriminately in your direction if you are making noise."

But then I wonder how I would react to someone shooting at me. I know how I reacted when someone was shooting at someone outside in my neighborhood. I stayed down and didn't move. I didn't scream or start flailing about (or run out into the street from the house to see what was going on like some silly people). Hell, I didn't want to move or make a sound. And I don't think I did until a few hours later. (The one shooting I went to as an emergency responder doesn't count. As much as the "victim" wanted us to believe the shooter was on the loose, it was pretty obviously his lady who was the shooter - nearly taking off his junk.)

As far as the shoe things goes, I think I will be able to flee should I need to. I dropped flip flops (terrible shoes for trying to flee) a while ago (and wouldn't you know, my shins and calves are not all tight any more). I ditched high heels years ago (I still keep a pair for special occasions but in a city where you walk everywhere, I usually end up in flats). I've even ditched rigid soled flats for the most part (you need to get some Merrill Barefoot's. Need them - after the initial break in period which was hell).

My shoes these days are minimal, functional and I could escape almost silently (I've sneaked up on more than a few people while wearing moccasins). That's not to say that some how my overall clumsiness wouldn't give my position away. I'm just covered in the shoe department.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is always be prepared. If real life is anything like the movies, you may need to flee at any time. But try to do it silently and sans heels.

The Mini Figs Have Landed

I did not get around to making my videos this weekend illustrating the issues with M0rt1m3r.

I spent some time in my garden. I made real cupcakes for my husband. I made a spice cake for myself (with eggs and that was NOT the best idea).

I broke down and bought LED light bulbs for the kitchen ceiling fan (and of course, the hardware store had 2 standard and 2 candelabra bulbs on the same rack - Get home and only 2 will work for our fixture.   BLAH). I have to say even having just the 2 is great (though we have only had 1 of 4 bulbs working for lord knows how long).

Put up some shelves yesterday:

And organized our Lego Minifigs today:

I also organized the bookcase. We finally have books on most of our bookcase instead of stuffs. 

I totally had something I wanted to write about earlier but for the life of me can't remember what it was. 

For now, enjoy the assortment of mini figs. Items to note:Gnome, Spongebob (x2), Sandy Cheeks, The Flying Dutchman, some robots, skeletons, and a hippie. 

Golden........

I threw in some silver AND gold tonight.

I can't say I'm thrilled with the time change though. I don't like walking home in the dark. Or walking the dog in the dark when I get home. Point being, I like it when it's light out. The early darkness makes me feel like I should be in bed.

Made the awesome Puerto Rican Pulled Pork recipe that I found in a Costco Magazine of all places (I totally put it in my llama recipe journal). Speaking of Costco, I picked up meat there last week and have been good to go all week!  Yay me. I made a pork roast last Saturday and another today. Did some meals with ground beef (burgers and sauteed veggies with an avocado are my quick go to meal on school nights).

I accidentally over cooked my cauliflower yesterday (it was pretty brown, not quite blackened though) and it was delicious!

I'm settling into a better routine when it comes to cooking and working and making art. While I didn't keep doing a tangle EVERY day after the initial 36 days, I come home and work on SOMETHING just about every day. And I don't beat myself up if I want to go to bed early or read a book.

So I finally heard back from Craftwell yesterday and the conclusion they came up with is "you have your pressure settings too high" so it's your fault your paper is snagging. My pressure was set at 4. My paper was a very heavyweight card stock. I've tried going lower than 4 and it barely even presses in to the paper and does not cut. So it looks like I will be preparing more videos outlining the outcome of EVERY pressure setting, starting at 1.

It's pretty weak when a company makes excuses for their product. The eCraft should be able to cut 40 circles on a single page. It should also have some sort of speed control, be it on the machine itself or a speed control in the software. Everything shouldn't be blamed on the user. I have photos of paper snagging back when I first got it and it was doing it even when I was attempting to cut 5*7 rounded rectangles (I definitely would NOT call that a complex cut!).

Insert something witty here......

I decided to change things up a bit today and add some gold into the mix.

Had class tonight and missed out on company bowling night. Booo. And for what? So I could sit in a lecture about how to use the computer and do research at the library.

I guess sometimes I forget that people aren't necessarily willing to "figure it out" themselves (I forget this at work as well). Apparently curiosity is not natural and most people need step by step instruction for everything. Personally, I would rather just be let go with something and figure it out. The way someone tells me how to do something may not be the most efficient way.

I guess my desire to "figure it out" helps me in the workplace as well. I have to look at photos of products that I have never touched and answer some insane questions some of the time. I also have to figure out how to explain assembly instructions over the phone for products I've never seen. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it.

I've got to provide MMR vaccination records to SFSU. Really?! I can only assume I had the MMR vaccination in Placerville somewhere, so I will have to ask my mom.

I'm working on some ideas and will have some cool projects coming up. I'll share them as I get them together.

Photo time!

I worked on a photo project today (I bought 2 photo collage frames on super discount at Blick for like $11 each. They were clearance and the cashier still applied a 40% off coupon). Scissors and the xacto knife are hell on my arm. I wasn't even using either for very long, but now I'm in pain. 

I was going through photos looking for stuff to print and place in the frames. Really though, I think I spent more time reading today. I went to the bookstore. God I miss bookstores. (and coffee houses. Not a flipping starbucks or peet's. Actual coffee houses.)

I also had a moment of thinking to myself that I hate music. I never thought those thoughts would enter my mind, but between all of the noise coming from all sides of me at all times, I think I hate bass. I almost think the relentless beat that sounds the same for hours on end is what has driven me to listen to short, fast and loud punk songs again. 3 minutes tops. on to the next. (oh and probably Jess's Joey Ramona Quimby costume on New Girl). When I listen to music while working it is largely bass free but then I'm faced with the constant ripping noise of packing tape. I've recorded audio because no one seems to realize how annoying that sound is. 

Here are some of the photos I'm going to use. (and a few that I'm not going to use - but I like them anyway. 

The very olden times. 2007

Tangle Time

I tangled today.

We had a costume contest at work. We were supposed to dress up based on our favorite collection. I was set to do retro kitchen (hence making cookies last night) but my dress no longer fits. So I changed things up to be inspired by the Designer's Domain collection. I busted out my art apron (totally different than my cooking apron, which is super cute), some pens, paintbrushes, charcoal, paint and the like. I stuck a bunch of paintbrushes in my hair and put on my glasses.

I showed up for work being comfy and ready to make art. Oh and I brought cookies. Because I'm rad like that. The whole office was able to enjoy them, which was nice. I know a few people have dietary restrictions and don't normally get to partake in treats. My cookies were grain free and vegan. Perhaps if you are lucky, I will eventually share the recipe.

I have to say we had some pretty good costumes for those of us who dressed up. Film Noir, Retro Reboot, Swiss Ski Chalet and even New England Clambake were represented.

One coworker dressed for Retro Reboot and pretty much clinched the title when she busted out her Nintendo Powerglove as her finishing accessory. There were a couple of people who had no clue what it was. Hopefully we can use it for company game night.

I didn't spend anytime with M0rt tonight. Taking a step back and allowing my frustration to subside. When I sent my inital email to Craftwell, I got a prompt response the next day telling it it was likely user error causing my issues. Well, I sent off all three videos (ecraft issues, mtc test and mtc results) and haven't heard anything back from Craftwell yet.

We'll see what happens. That file should not be beyond the capabilities of M0rt. I had a similar issue when cutting our wedding invitations as well and those were 5x7 rounded rectangles. 2 to a sheet of paper. Are you going to tell me that project is too much for it to handle as well? I hope not.

It's well beyond Amazon's return window. Perhaps I should have gone with the Cameo, which was my original plan.

That being said. I still need a laser.

Blah blah blah so mad (at eCraft)

Okay, I'm still working on M0rt issues. While it seems that MTC is a bit more stable using Win7 64bit v 32bit, there are some issues with M0rt himself (or it could be eCraftshop Pro. In fact, give me a minute and I will check that.)

Okay, I'm back. There was still some slight snagging using MTC, but nothing to compared to the amount using eCraftshop Pro. While I can't entirely confirm based upon 2 quick tests to create a video to show a CS rep that I'm NOT talking about paper getting caught in the rollers, it does seem there are some flaws in eCraftshop Pro.


The first thing I notice is that MTC slows the cuts WAY down. It also seems to prioritize cuts in a different manner and cuts closer to a row formation than jumping back and forth between front and back of paper. For the life of me, I can't figure out how eCraftshop Pro prioritizes cuts. It doesn't make a difference if you select the prioritize cuts check box or not.

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything awesome in a few days. Well, that is in part due to the issues I'm trying to resolve. You can't do work if your shit isn't straight.

 I don't want to get all snippy with the CS person because that doesn't really make things better. But to tell me that I have way too many objects in my file (40 circles with a line half way through) is ridiculous. If there are object limitations, please be honest with it. Don't allow your software to work on anything over ___ number of cuts. I certainly wouldn't have purchase it if that were the case and they were honest about it.

In fact, here's the email I got:

"I can see why it snags. There are over 40 images on this one file!

The machine most likely will snag on already cut portions of the page when repositioning and moving the paper / trolly around, not when it is making the actual cut.

Realistically, there is no real solution to this other than to decrease the amount of circles your are cutting.

If you have multiple images already cut and they run across the trolly enough times, its gonna snag them. It's simply physics.

I would recommend just putting your tab settings to the highest possible before starting the cut.

The tabs should help keep the already cut circles in place (for the most part) and help your cutting.

Or re-create the .svg so that the eCraft cuts in order from left to right, top to bottom. "

I was pretty specific that the snagging occurs when the blade enters the paper in my initial email. It snags the paper on the first cut. You can't say that's "physics".

This would all be absolved if I had a laser. Then I would just risk burning the paper edges (which could be a really cool effect).

I did make cookies tonight. I was going to dress as Retro Kitchen for work tomorrow (we're supposed to dress as our favorite collection), but I think I'm going as Artists Den instead.

Nothing to see here

today.

After last night's frustration with M0rt, I spent some time in the kitchen today. I made broth (a Sunday activity for me), home made sausage meatballs, harvested some volunteer collards and arugala from the plot that is slated to be a compost plot, planted kale, swiss chard and lettuce and researched laser cutters.

I'm currently testing how M0rt, Make the Cut and eCraftshop Pro work with Lappy. Perhaps it will all work better with 64 bit v 32 bit?  Who the hell knows. All I know is that if I am to produce quality work of any sort with M0rt, things better start acting straight. Or I will get lasers. Seriously. We're LaserGnomes with no lasers at the moment.

I seriously spent some time researching laser cutters/engravers. I would love to have one in the Gnomery. It was the main reason for going to techshop, but these days it's neigh impossible to get time on the laser since everyone and their brother is running a business out of techshop AND people are booking far more than 2 hours at a time.

So far MTC seems to be okay running on Lappy, but the first cut almost always runs all the way through. The problem usually occurs on cuts 2, 3 and so on.

The real issue with eCraftshop Pro is the speed at which it runs M0rt. MTC runs a lot slower, which allows for fewer issues with delicate cuts. Neither offers speed control and there is no speed control on M0rt himself. This is a fatal flaw. Running full tilt isn't so much a problem if you are cutting 5x7 rectangles (which I was for my first project of wedding invitations). But high speed and small cuts don't mix well. Same with the laser. You don't want to run full speed, especially if you are doing delicate detail work.

The prospect of a laser cutter would open up a lot of doors. I wouldn't be limited to paper products, fabric and the like, as I would be able to cut items up to 1/4" (some models 3/8" thick). I would also be able to glass etching as well.

Last night in all of my frustration, I busted out the scissors and started cutting (I know I said I could have cut my pieces faster than M0rt by hand, but that was clearly an exaggeration on my part). I still can't use scissors. I have regained A LOT of use of my hand and arm back, but scissors are still NOT one of those things. My arm burned and hurt so badly and I really only was using scissors for about 15 minutes. It was frustrating. That compounded with M0rt issues and disco disco made me feel ready to punch somebody.

I have days where holding a pen is difficult as well (like Friday, I'm not sure what was up, but I really hope my instructor doesn't grade based on penmanship - it was atrocious). Luckily those days are fewer and farther between than they used to be.

M0rt is currently 82% through the first cut in MTC with no problems. We'll see how he does on round 2

Ah projects

So, I've obviously missed a few days of my zentangles. But I'm okay with that.

After a lengthy discussion with Justin, it feels more important to create in general every day rather than be tied to a specific project.

I was stressing over not getting tangles done. I was going to bed too late because I had to make dinner, walk the dog, go to the store, actually spend time with my husband etc., and lo and behold it's almost midnight and my tangle wasn't done.

Life happens. And it was staring to feel like I was sacrificing other projects I wanted to do so I could get the tangle done.

Like this one:

I have had this project on my radar for ever. Seriously. From the day I got M0rt I wanted to do this. It's not working out exactly as planned (M0rt is choosing to be difficult), but I'm trying a variety of ways to work through this project.

It's really time consuming. I have to make sure the files are appropriately layered for cutting. I've spent countless hours working on the AI file itself over the last how ever many months. But the zentangle project was basically relegating things like this to the weekend. If I am home and not busy with other stuff.

M0rt doesn't seem to take kindly to really intricate scroll work (neither does the Cricut). He chews the paper. He gets his blade stuck and cuts over the same area twice. So that sort of put a damper on my idea intricately cut paper scroll work for this project.

So my next inclination was to cut a template and ink the scroll work using that. I figured if M0rt didn't want to work with cardstock on this, perhaps he'd cooperate with some Bristol. Nope. Not having it. He threw a fit. He didn't want to cut through most of the time (I started at a 6 pressure and went up to 8). When I increased the pressure, he stabbed the paper with his blade and snagged the edges. I wasted a few pieces of bristol in this process.

I got frustrated and was like "fine. be that way M0rt. See if I use you as much for stuff" (maybe he doesn't want to do work and this is all a part of his plan). I decided to hand ink after all. But then Justin reminded me of the Grafix Rub-onz sheets. So I inked the rub onz sheets and am attempting to transfer that way. The only issue I have with that is that there is a slight sheen around the placement because it would be really difficult to remove all of the non inked adhesive.

Ultimately I plan to put this in a 12x12 scrapbook/shadowbox style frame, so the glass will have all sorts of glare that will likely obscure the sheen of the adhesive. I'll let you know how that turns out.

My skipping tangles started on Tuesday with good reason. We went to Sacramento to go to the annual Bristol Hospice Remembrance. I have to say I was really glad I postponed my midterm (first time in all of college I've ever asked to reschedule a test). It was awesome to be somewhere with people who were so highly impacted by my brother. Sometimes it feels like people don't remember he ever existed, but even almost 3 years later the hospice staff tears up when they talk about Jesse. It was also really great to see some of the people who have inspired my desire to provide art as therapy for hospice patients and their families.

365 Days of Zentangles - Day 37

Day 37! I did it. And a bunch of other stuff this weekend too. I swear sleep was what I needed. It was the first weekend I didn't feel stressed about work, which made my weekend that much better.

I battled ants yesterday in the garden. I tried to make muffins (fail). I succeeded in making tiny pumpkin pies. I doubled down on the tangles yesterday. I did something else but am not entirely certain what it was.

Today I got up and did yoga for an hour. I made coffee. I sat on the porch and drank said coffee while reviewing for my Contemporary Art midterm that is tomorrow night. I made a slideshow of all the pieces I may be tested on for that class (not sure why people make flashcards anymore, putting together a slide show is much more efficient). Started this project:

I've had this vision in my head for a couple of weeks now. When it is finished, I am going to mount it in a shadowbox frame.

This is where I got today:

I'm using M0rt for this project. I read a lot of people's complaints on the forums over at Craftwell. "it's not mat free. You have to use something." "It's ripping my paper." "It doesn't work right" "I should have kept my Cricut"

Having used a Cricut for work and having used M0rt, I have to say I like the e-craft (M0rt) more than the Cricut.

First things first, the cutting mats. e-craft is a "matless" cutting system, meaning it doesn't require consumable sticky mats that are a proprietary design and you don't need to buy a new one every couple of projects. Cost aside (they range from $7-$12/ea), they stink. They have an odor I cannot stand. It's repulsive. If I had to smell that every time I wanted to make anything, I'd get rid of the machine. Paper stick to the mats horrendously (I ended up losing a large number of cuts to the mat alone). Hair sticks to the mats. Dust sticks to the mats. It's gross.

The e-craft (M0rt) is matless in the sense it doesn't require a sticky mat. Some materials will need a "carrier" though. Light weight paper, fabric, cellophane, things like that will need a "carrier". What's a "carrier" and how is that different than a mat? The carrier can be anything that is thicker and sturdier than the paper in question. When I need a carrier, I just use the chipboard or lightweight cardboard from the back of a paper stack with a bit of Scotch "blue" tape (removable tape) to keep the edges down. I'm re-purposing materials, which is a big part of LaserGnomes.

I have to say that both M0rt and the Cricut actually aren't that rad for cutting really detailed pieces. Both end up having a bit of blade drag (which I have observed a way around, but can't exactly figure out what the eCraftShop Pro does to calculate a cut path). That being said, as frustrating and wasteful as it sounds, you ultimately need to have a new blade every 5 sheets of paper or so. In one of my art classes, we were told to use a new x-acto blade for EVERY CUT in order to attain the best results and cleanest cuts possible. Mind you, we were masking areas off with frisket for renderings and that takes a ton of cuts. This is the equivalent of that.

Cricut blades are about $10 for a 2 pack, whereas e-Craft blades are $22 for a 20 pack. This makes switching blades out a lot less painful.

There are some other reasons I really love M0rt that I will get into another day. It seems like a lot of the people who complain that it's not a Cricut are people who just want to push a button and choose from predetermined designs. Not how I want to craft, but hey, to each their own, right?

365 Days of Zentangles - Day 31

I've had skulls on my mind all day. I have this brilliant project I want to do but I have school on Monday and Tuesday and I need to study for midterms next week. BLAH BLAH BLAH. so mad.

This is my collection of black pens (I think there are about 20 pictured). And this isn't even all of them. I have more. I have a really great set of Rapidographs ($200 for  set of 5 pens? Yes. But they are refillable. And you can buy new nibs). I got them during my drafting class. Microns were recommended but seriously, they didn't get the job done for that class. Construction lines ultimately need to be hairline and even the finest Micron could get it right.

Of course, I go look up that same pen set now on Utrecht and it's on sale for $89. If you draw, get this. If you need a gift idea for me. Get this. I'll be honest, I'm really trying to run out all of my black pens. This project should be perfect for it.

Oh and where was this set when I was 12 and OBSESSED with calligraphy?

Oh, my amazon subscribe and save shipments arrived today. That means pie can happen this weekend. I've got sunflower seeds and arrowroot powder (oh and coconut milk, shredded coconut and coconut flour).

My Quad Copter~

Justin is obsessed with quad copters.  The joy he gets from his tiny quad copter and his plans to get a more advanced one are great.  He asked last week "what is your quad copter?"

I have to say I found it. At least for now anyway.  I can't have an Epilog Laser in my room.  I wish I could. Seriously.  That would be the most bad ass thing ever. I have laser envy. We went to visit Type A last week and I saw they got the Fusion. I wanted to hang out there forever (once they got it working!).

Well, tomorrow I'm getting a new toy. The Craftwell e-Craft.

I have used the Cricut and was super disappointed that it doesn't work with Sure Cuts A Lot anymore (Provocraft sued the pants off SCL because it was a way to circumvent the stupid cartridges and allowed people to cut their own designs).  Obviously, I am going to want to cut my own designs. It would be stupid to rely on cartridges. 

I was going to get the Silhouette Cameo.  I saw it a few months ago at Blick and thought I'd wait until a 40% off coupon came out.  Well, I did that, and lo and behold, they put the dang thing on sale the same day the coupon started. No Coupon For YOU! 

I started looking at the e-Craft when I saw it on Joann.com.  I found a 15% off coupon and was ready to head over after work to pick one up.  Wouldn't you know. Coupon is IN STORE ONLY and the e-Craft is online only. 

Seriously, the world was conspiring to keep me from having my craft cutter. 

I go to Amazon because Amazon loves me and always has what I want and I get free 2 day shipping with Prime.  But really I want the cutter like yesterday.  I need to cut my wedding invitations, RSVP cards and maps and get everything sent out this weekend.  

One of the perks of living in San Francisco is Amazon Saturday delivery.  For only $8.99 I am getting my e-Craft delivered to me tomorrow.  No $20-$50 shipping and still not getting it until the middle of next week.  I paid $8.99 and I get it tomorrow. 

For me, one of the selling points is the fact that it's mat free (and there is a roll feed attachment).  What does that mean? All of the other craft cutters utilize sticky mats to hold the material in place while cutting.  It's a pain.  The mats are pricey. They smell something awful. All your parts get stuck to the mat (I think I've ripped more paper trying to pull it off the mat than anything else using the Cricut).  

e-Craft can be used with a mat (from what I've read) but it leaves tiny tabs to hold the cuts into place without a mat.  I'm totally cool with that.  Some other bloggers totally bitched about these tiny tabs. Seriously?  You can clean them up. No big deal.  I've got enough tools of various types (cutting, grinding and the like) to remove a tiny nub. 

I will post more as I figure it out (consensus seemed that there was a bit of a learning curve - but there seems to be two camps: the scrapbooker that wants cartridges and artists who are willing to figure it out. Guess which one I am?). 

All I can say right now is "I'm Ready! I'm Ready! I'm Ready-eddy-eddy!"