Nicole Alderman

Tereza Okava wrote:

Nicole Alderman wrote:Do you have a rotary cutter, a fabric mat, and clear rulers?

I have a cutter, but none of the rest of the goodies (like the sharpener???

They make a sharpener for those?! I think I need to put that on my Christmas list. Mine has one spot that is dull, so I usually have to manually snip the uncut bit with scissors.

Tereza Okava wrote:Nice rugs there Christopher!!

Christopher Weeks wrote:I cut them into strips,

Any suggestions on how to do this less painfully? I had a sofa delivered a few months ago and it came in a giant fabric sock, for lack of a better word. It's crap fabric (certainly polyish) but i'll be dagnabbed if I'm going to landfill it. But just thinking about cutting this monster (the size of my car) into strips has me on the floor in a puddle. Of course, it's knit jersey and doesn't tear (that would be too easy). Every so often I put on an audiobook and give it an hour but, damn. And I can use scissors with both hands, so I switch off.

I was going to suggest tearing. I've ripped up a bunch of old t-shirts that way. I just cut little notches at the base of the shirt, however many inches wide as I want the strips, and then *rip* the shirt to the top. It looks like you're saying that it doesn't rip, so that's a huge bummer.

Do you have a rotary cutter, a fabric mat, and clear rulers? That's how my mom would cut all her quilting fabric. Line the clear ruler on top of the fabric at the width you want it, and put the rotary cutter next to it. Then, slide the rotary cutter next to the ruler until you come to the end of the ruler. Then move the ruler the next distance and repeat. It's faster than cutting with scissors, at least!

I'm a bit lost. Could there be a translation for those of us who don't know the tool colors/brands well enough to follow the discussion. I'd like to know the pros and cons of each brand to inform my own purchasing. We always had John Deere (green) tractors growing up, and my dad used Sthil chainsaws (orange), and I see him with both DeWalt (yellow) and Milwaukie (red) tools.  

Blue = Kobalt (at least that makes sense. Cobalt is a blue pigment)
Blue= Bosc (it's a dark blue with red lettering)
Teal-ish Blue = Makita
Green = John Deere, right? They just make tractors and lawn mowers, so maybe this isn't right. Hitachi
Yellow/Green: Ryobi
Yellow = DeWalt?
Orange = Ridgid (Home Depots house brand)
Red = Milwaukie (they have stuff labeled FUEL)

EDIT: I'm going to try to update this when new info comes forward.



From this article:

Folks in the field commonly think their favorite tool brand beats everyone else, and they refer to it by color. For example:

Yellow = DeWalt
Red = Milwaukee
Teal = Makita
Orange = Ridgid
Blue = Bosch
However, things get a bit murkier when it comes to multiple tool manufacturers using similar colors. Take Red for instance. It really depends on what tools Pros use. Instead of Milwaukee, those using framing nailers or staplers might think about SENCO. For rotary hammers or demo hammers, Hilti comes to mind.

Having attended a number of manufacturers’ tool events, the product managers and marketing folks also refer to the competition by color.

I'd like to say Mod Podge is made from PVA/Elmer's glue. But, I'm not sure. Let's look it up!

*Returns from googling Mod Podge* The results I'm seeing say it is basically watered down PVA/Elmer's/plastic glue, maybe with some sort of proprietary resin or something added to it.

A lot of my friend have been having A.I. generate caricatures of themselves. I prefer not to give out my information in that way, and I thought it'd be fun to throw caution to the wind and make my own! It's kind of fun to just not care about how good the perspective is or how perfect the lines are. Just have fun doodling things you like!

The sketch I made took 30 minutes, and I probably spent about an hour painting it. You don't need to be this fancy. Draw a stick figure of yourself and some stuff you like! Color it or don't--it doesn't matter!

I think the key is to just have fun thinking about what's important to you. I tried to make mine a caricature...but I'm not good at caricatures. But, I don't think that matters. What matters is taking some time to reflect on what's important in your life.

I tossed caution to the wind, pulled out my hand-made watercolors, and painted my caricature! I really enjoyed painting my shirt (and other details) with the cochineal lake paint I made. It's so pretty!

A ton of my friends are doing the "Ask AI to draw a caricature of me based on what it knows about me and this picture" thing. I thought it might be more fun to draw my own caricature. Of course, I've never drawn one before. And I doodled this in about 33 minutes. But, it was still a lot of fun to think about the sort of things I like to define myself by and how I could incorporate them in. This totally isn't done. Maybe it never will be. Maybe I'll paint it for fun. But, for now, here's my quick art share!

Maybe you want to draw your own non-AI caricature!

Nancy Reading wrote:It's hard isn't it? On the one hand we want our clothes to last well and wash well, on another we want them to be affordable, and another side to be useful or at least not harmful at the end of their lives (let alone during them!).
I have a wardrobe of clothes gathered over the last 30 odd years and many of them aren't really suitable to my life now, or don't fit me well enough to wear. We just have to make the best decisions we have with the knowledge, time and money we have. I'm washing them less - no one really notices if I wear the same top two or even three days in a row. Only buying 100% natural fibre if I do buy new. I can't do much about gifts, but not 'feeding the monster' I think is one way everyone can make a difference.

This is my general philosophy. If someone gives my kids clothing (that they like) that has polyester, I'll take it and use it. I hate the microplastics in the water and dryer lint, but I also don't want to be the parent who denies them gifts that others gave them. I refuse to spend money buying new clothes that have polyester--I don't want to feed the monster. Sometimes, I'll buy clothing with synthetic fibers at the thrift store--usually because I just can't find sweat pants (for my son) or pretty dresses (for my daughter) in 100% cotton in the thrift store...and I can't afford to buy a wardrobe worth of 100% new cotton sweatpants and dresses.

In the end, we do the best we can and reduce our impact as best we can. I know more and more people who are trying to buy 100% natural fiber clothing, but it's even harder to find new than it was 8 years ago. And, the thrift stores are largely full of plastic clothing, too.

Chris McClellan wrote:Don't bother with the sand just get your clay really wet and sticky and beat in the shredded paper mechanically. Fill it with microfibers. Without sand you need a lot more fiber. Clay is just glue. It has little compressive strength and tends to expand and contract so much with humidity changes thst it csn turn itself to dust without structure (aggregate) to stick to. Fiber or sand will work as aggregate. For daube fine fiber is better than sand as aggregate.

I have a bunch of raw cotton fiber. Do you think that would be good to add to the daub mixture? (We're building this houses again this year--this time as fairy houses!)

When we made them five years ago (thread here), my kids actually realized that the tip of another feather fit quite nicely as a handle:



I actually brought some feathers into my history class (we've been learning about the Renaissance) and showed them how to make paint brushes. They were really into it and all wanted to make their own. I sadly didn't have enough feathers to go around, as my goose hasn't molted yet. (And the other feathers I'd saved up were all used up by the class to make feather dusters...)