Creators of Habit

I possess an ability to take random ideas, dissect them and alter their configurations into something completely different. I often felt that I was alone in this quirk but over time I have discovered that this is not the case. I have always reverse engineered my surroundings and recently I have become more successful at tracking down my fellow creatures of ingenuity.

Bronze casting is a rather good foot in the door for its ability to take found objects and to incorporate them into found art, molds and sculptural elements through various stages of the sculpting and casting process.

Stepping further outside that realm - these past weeks, these dog days of summer, have led to my developing a devout interest in sites provided by other Creators of habit. These are sites I return to time and again for nourishment when i need a challenge to daydream upon.

I am random, hear me roar. To steal from the maven of random creations, here follow - a few of my (current) favorite things.

Mmm. Fun creative cooking. Tastespotting is a visual feast of Food blogs which is ever changing and inspirational. An example of its delicious spontanaiety are these pancakes with recipe and easy to follow directions posted at makeandtakes.com. Pop Up Pancakes are an awesome idea. These are the perfect size to eat on the run! Mix in a little syrup with the batter and you are good to go!


I could cite 3 dozen recipes and link to a dozen more sites i found via tastespotting - but instead i refer you to investigate the visual feasts yourself.

Moving on... I am learning to weave. Or rather, i am learning to learn how to weave. I tend be very spontaneous with my pursuits.. my resume of handicrafts and hobbies is incredibly long. I want to know how to do EVERYTHING and luckily i seem to adapt well to taking on the roles of teacher and student in most cases.

My downfall seems to be textiles. I adore beadweaving, In the past I shown incredible patience while working with intricate detail work of jewelry making - but I cannot sew. Neither do i knit. My girls insist that they can show me and away we will go. Realistically - this is likely true, so i should clarify. I do not want to sew or knit.

They bore me to tears. the entire concept eludes me. So although i do not want weild a needle or two whichever the case may be... I do wish to achieve creation of clothlike materials for various projects. My solution for slightly quicker to instant gratification is to weave my material and evade needles to my best ability.

I have this daydream which imports value into my hobbies. They are a means to an end - if ever trapped on a deserted island with my sweetheart, doomed to spend the rest of our days alone in paradise, i intend to be well informed in enough skill sets that the world will still be our oyster. I know how to create a kiln, locate clays and sculpt pottery to eat off of. I possess knowledge enough in bronzecasting to make our own arrows, swords and shields to hunt with and protect ourselves. I am skilled enough at carpentry and physical labor to build a hut worthy of Sims Castaway fans acclaim. I can even garden and play a small amount of music to entertain us on an improvised piano made of half filled shells and a mallet - but this would all take place unclothed.
I need to fill in the gap in knowledge. I need fashionable clothing to complete my daydream.

I only appear random - I always start accumalating project knowledge through advance research and then begin the hands on portion of the learning process weeks later. When I became aware of the barbed nature of wool It was enlightening. Online weaving tutorials led to info on Needle felting (which allows for fabric to be meshed together with many needles sans thread), weaving wool together integrates with the felting oncept admirably. I can avoid "sewing" and still make a lot of the items i have had my sights on for so long. MAKE has an excellent information source on many maker projects involving LED's that need fabric to complete - until now i was sidelined by my unwillingness to sew.. but now there is hope. I am also accumulating a lot of knowledge from Instructables.com on how to felt and weave and solder circuits into clothing.

I talk too much... shhhh