Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Monday, November 24, 2014

Changes needed to accomodate new smaller laser cutter

Since getting our new smaller laser, I have had to redesign many pieces to fit the 12" x 24" working space that has replaced our old 15" x 30" working space.  Making larger wall pieces has meant creating a new version.  Above is the new layout - basically about 23" x 23".  In this piece we painted the upper and lower halves different colors.  Sometimes we paint the whole piece the same color, with the curved joint line sort of disguising the fact that it is not all one piece.  The dancers are our regular size - about 15" tall each.  We like it.  Having to rearrange our designs and our cutting layouts has made us re-think a lot of our designs, which has been a nice creative challenge, and has resulted in some new designs.  The main problem has been that if we are working with current designs, we seem to end up with a lot of odd leftover space on the new smaller blanks.  Thus the reintroduction of Art Start mentioned earlier.  Lots of cool creative shapes to be made from the "scrap".  I have posted a picture of one of the layouts below, showing all the miscellaneous parts that end up in Art Start!

Order some of those cool odd parts here --- https://www.etsy.com/shop/louisesdaughter --- and make your own stuff!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

CJ's 5th Birthday Top

 Each of our three grandchildren gets a custom made birthday top each year.  Most recent was 5 year old CJ - Caesar James Sams.  He wanted to have a top with a "squiggle".  I showed him how to draw a "squiggle" on the computer in Corel Draw, and then with some grandpa magic I turned it into a top design, added name, date, etc. and we cut them out on the laser.  CJ chose the colors, and we had this year's birthday top!  Grandpa is thinking about Stella's first top now!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Kissing

I am thinking that I (Don - Cheryl still does not do computers) need to get back to posting on this blog more regularly.  I went and looked at our traffic info, and discovered that 20 or more folks check this blog out each day, and end up getting very old posts!  Thus, this post, and hopefully more.... Cheryl is at the Paradise City show in Marlboro, MA this weekend.  You can check out our things there today from 11 to 4?.  The above piece is a special creation made in response to the Paradise City folks challenging exhibitors to create pieces related to faces.  There is always a new challenge at Paradise City shows, and there is always a special display area featuring the various artist's creations.  Move the heart at the upper left back and forth to see our couple kiss --- you have to be there in person to do that.  Maybe I'll get a video posted when she gets home if the piece has not sold?  Check us out on Facebook too.  https://www.facebook.com/don.olney.9