Back to Star Wars & Fascinating Creatures

Have been busy with other projects but the good news is, it's been going on a more or less steady pace this last week, so I am able to return to crafting. First thing I did was organize my materials in a more coherent manner. I'm tired of spending half the time looking for things. 

After sorting out a new area to gather all craft materials, I cleaned out some box organizers to sort all the new findings I bought in Manila a month ago. I am not a clean freak, but it feels good to sort, organize and clean. For me, it also frees the mind from clutter and gives room for inspiration and creativity to flow in. 

Another new equipment I'm using is a lazy daisy which I found at Ikea! It has a bigger diameter so I have more workspace than the first one I bought from a smaller grocery (and that one doesn't really turn).  

I find that Darth Vader is always great at the ARTE Souq. Dispplayed the broken one at the last souq at Timesquare and it got several inquiries but I couldn't sell it knowing the light saber was broken. And since I did not have enough time to work on new stuff, no Star Wars inspired items on that day. 

Now, it seems I'm going back to Star Wars. I made another Darth V, a human jedi and a Twi'lek Jedi. Today, my imagination was still caught on the Twi'leks - made another Twi'lek Jedi, a Twi'lek non jedi and a baby Twi'lek.

Also managed to make a Harry Potter, Hermione and a UAE-inspired one. Pretty good turnout for the night. They are baking right now in the oven - I'll post photos when they're all colored and done. 

Wonder what creature from the ST world will fascinate me next. :)

The colored Dart V on the right is actually a Mrs Darth - notice the flaring skirt?  

Star Wars set is done!

And just in time too!

I did not imagine it would take me more than a week to create all nine characters. Granted I had stuff to do in between, but I really thought this set would go faster.

I am so proud of my babies - is this vanity? I love each one to bits! I almost don't want to see them go. Doesn't help that I love Star Wars. That's the reason why I created the kawaii versions that I displayed at ARTE Time Square two Fridays ago. That's what my client saw and that's why he ordered a full set.

While I was painting last night and earlier today, I've been listening to Etsy Online Labs - they've got a lot of testimonials, workshops, tips, newbie tips, seller guidelines that are really worth listening to. It was quite cool that I'm finishing up an order and learning how to keep my shop up, specially since I'm a newbie on this selling platform and need all the help I can get.

Alrighty, right now, I'm going to take a break. Well, clean up my stuff first, my computer table is a mess - splattered paints and all. Take more photos of the ST set - this is the last time I'm seeing them :( and pack them up for delivery. Hmm... that break must wait. Quick glance at the clock and it's almost five, and delivery is at 6. Sigh. No time after all. Oh well.

They're done and I'm happy.

Darth Vader

Wow! Darth Vader has been really giving me a hard time. I thought today would be dedicated to painting that custom ordered Star Wars set - but instead, I decided to start my day creating a new Darth V so that he looks more in scale with the rest of the group. Well he does look like he's part of the group of course, but I just want him to blend better.

For some reason, the arms were not working with me... had to redo it several times, and when I finally called it quits, the arm with the light saber had the temerity to one up me by falling miserably down - the arm was torn from the body (if it had sockets, I'd say the arm was torn off from the sockets!) and the light saber looked like it received a good beating. My arm connecting skills today were just off.

So, I left home for a break. Went to a teen bopper break (Happy birthday Tetel!) at the Dubai Festival City Planetarium - short movie about astronauts and a pizza dinner with the rest of the party. I was looking forward to the movie because the last planetarium I visited in Singapore was simply amazing! The 3D effect seemed to engulf us.

Sadly, that's not the case here. It was not a real planetarium to begin with - they had a dome-shaped screen at the ceiling inside a huge corner facility of the mall beside Dino Live show. The Dino Live Show was making a lot of dino sounds that were a bit distracting, the place was not properly dimmed and the projectors did not seem to be all in sync so you get fuzzy outlines on the images.

The fun thing though were the bean bags. The floor beneath the dome were littered with bright orange bean bags, and as soon as we saw them, we zoomed straight to the middle and made ourselves comfortable.

I know astronauts do amazing stuff and all these space research has done so much for technology and our lives - but man, knowing that being an astronaut can give you bone density loss, muscle loss, three-day motion sickness and put you at risk of radiation, that mean, horrible vacuum, extreme cold and  other hazards - you have to wonder who would be sane enough to dream of becoming astronauts (yes the glory! the glory! the science! but the danger, the inhospitable environment, the health hazards!).

That said, it was an over all fun night.

Also dropped by Hard Rock Cafe to check in on a friend's event  before heading home.

Now, I'm waiting for the oven timer to go off and tell me that my latest Darth V is a huge success!

I also started a personal project - a chess set. I don't know how to play chess but since I first saw themed designed chess pieces I've been in love. Star Wars, LOTR, and Philippine-inspired pieces are some of my faves. Last time we were in Cyprus, we bought a Greek gods set for my husband's son. Made in Greece (ha! I love that! The stuff we bought from there were either Made in Greece or Made in Cyprus - none of that Made in China stuff).

For my set, I've decided to go with a Star Wars theme. The number is a bit daunting but I'll work on it one piece at a time.

There's the timer... gotta get my Darth V out now. 

Star Wars set

This is just a quick update on the Star Wars set I've been working on. It's going slow because I have to balance it out with other projects on my table right now, but I'm still happy with my progress. There are only two more characters left to do: R2D2 and C3PO. Yup, left the robots for last.

I found that working on those teeny weapons were quite fun! I also tried something new. I usually form everything together and bake it all together if they are just in one piece - for example, Darth Vader with his light sabler. But because the weapons are becoming more intricate, I was afraid it would droop and become sorry little pieces of machineries and ruin the whole piece. So I experimented with Chewbacca's crossbow first. Here I used plain wire armature to keep the lines straight then I baked and colored it before attaching it to the unbaked Chewbacca. This way I was able to wrap his fingers around the weapon and the weapon did not warp from the pressure because it has already been cured. Worked great! I might do this for other itty bitty details in the future.

Funny thing though, I was so excited about this set that I didn't even realize Chewbacca was not on my client's custom order list!

Hopefully, C3PO and R2D2 will be finished tonight and I can set tomorrow for painting. Then that will give me the time to finally face the video editing I'm helping my friend out with.

Too many projects too little time. But keep them coming!