# Let's talk about our personal creative projects here **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977 "2015-03-02T02:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/81 "2015-03-06T21:47:57Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Can you make a lap-sized one, with a cushion on the bottom? Better yet, two of them? That looks great! Probably; the board is no problem (and there are a ton of design variations/woods), but I’d have to figure out how to attach a cushion. Epoxy, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/82 "2015-03-07T00:12:23Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Very interesting. I’d love to hear what they’d sound like performed. As a keyboard player since the 70’s, the sound of programmed music kinda gives me the hives. Despite that, I found your pieces interesting, with unusual harmony. (I realize the guitar pieces wouldn’t be performable on guitar, at least not as a solo.) That’s a nifty website in any case. Thanks! Yeah I don’t really think much about actual performance when I write… It’s mostly to be enjoyed in playback… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/83 "2015-03-09T19:08:29Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Oh wow, **NoCoolUserName**! > … > I don’t totally “get” steampunk (I am old) but I sure do enjoy looking at it. Here’s my favorite [definition of SteamPunk](http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com/what-is-steampunk/). I’m old too, but I’m having a good time! ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/84 "2015-03-09T19:19:01Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > … > Hey, make me one to put a keyboard (musical instrument) in! [Already done](https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=735158913181198&l=2525539721499275615). Left module is a restored 1910 (or so) church organ (modified with electric vacuum pump) the right side is the keyboard from a player piano (kinetic, no sound) and a MIDI keyboard (semi-weighted). Here’s a [more recent picture](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=886297811400640&l=65a0520136) (still making improvements). Let’s see if I messed up the links this time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/85 "2015-03-09T19:23:56Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > Here’s my favorite [definition of SteamPunk](http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com/what-is-steampunk/). My favorite definition of Steampunk is: What happens when goths discover brown! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/86 "2015-03-09T21:15:23Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > My favorite definition of Steampunk is: > > What happens when goths discover brown! > > 😃 I’ve heard it as “Steampunk is for people who look better in all brown than all black.” ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/87 "2015-03-10T05:12:43Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > I was sure I’d clicked the quote button on your post but evidently I missed it! Excellent work; quite a contrast to my amateurish stuff. I love the sound of the piano you’re playing, too. Did you record this at home, or in a studio, and what were you playing? Sorry, didn’t see this until now! No, I went into a real-deal studio here in NYC. It was called Lofish Studios, and sadly closed shortly after I recorded the album. I like to joke that even my original solo piano CD wasn’t enough to keep them in business. 😉 But the sad reality is, recording studios are dropping like flies, what with all the home-recording options nowadays. But, to me, there’s nothing like sitting down at a Yamaha C7 grand (which is what this was) and knowing that a great engineer is on your side and can give feedback and advice. Anyway, thanks again for checking it out! If anyone else wants to listen, it’s on [CDBaby](http://www.cdbaby.com/brandonsturiale), [iTunes](http://bitly.com/1vrVYwj), and [Amazon](http://bitly.com/1vAZoSD), and you can keep up with where I’m performing on [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/brandonsturiale). I just landed a publicist/producer/pr guy so I hope to be doing concerts all across the U.S. soon, and I’m filming my first music video tomorrow, woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/88 "2015-03-15T18:40:44Z")
Painting a mirror frame: naked cheap pine wood that needed a brightly colored coat of paint. I couldn’t decide between green and blue, so I started this half-and-half diagonal design. While I like the mix, I’m not happy with just how unevenly the green goes on. Some variation is good but this is overboard. I think I gotta sand off all the green and re-primer it, then go for all sapphire. I believe the outer edge will have the emerald for contrast. [http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/fef611551390d9d0512fab7d4827c8dd.jpg](http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/fef611551390d9d0512fab7d4827c8dd.jpg) With gratuitous bonus kitteh [http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/c3d7b3db329ad6dc42413bacc73c1426.jpg](http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/c3d7b3db329ad6dc42413bacc73c1426.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/89 "2015-03-15T19:20:09Z")
Putting the final touches on a second poetry collection. I’m afraid I have no cool photographs, though. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/90 "2015-03-15T21:31:09Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I’ll start us off with my new incomplete project: a beaded cuff bracelet. > > [http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/01/aacf82955a6ff7820fba0eb49d9e3f62.jpg](http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/01/aacf82955a6ff7820fba0eb49d9e3f62.jpg) > > It’s not snugged up at all in the snapshot so the beads are loose. But I still don’t like how the spacer beads are getting pushed out of alignment. I need to restring the silver ladder beads, but I’m not sure how to make it look right. I’m teaching myself as I go along, which is a kind way of saying that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Can you take a close-up of the silver ladder beads? I’m having a hard time figuring out how they’re strung. Also, what are you using for stringing? ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/91 "2015-03-16T02:23:47Z")
**Purple** , that’s a very handsome kitteh; no cat is gratuitous, really. Cats are essential. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/92 "2015-03-16T23:42:51Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > All right. > > [Pianos](http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j175/muzition/pianosss_zpsoujndffd.jpg) > > [More pianos](http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j175/muzition/crafts/piano2_zps27be967b.jpg) > > [Harpsichords](http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j175/muzition/harpsichords_zps1ednbt86.jpg) One of your pianos or harpsichords would be brilliant in the Victorian dollhouse kit I’ve been building since August. (Photos visible [here](https://instagram.com/dunkel_heit/), and there’s an album of the whole process on Facebook, if you’re that interested PM me and I’ll give you the address.) I got the structure completed by Christmas, and just finished with the furniture and such that came with the kit, supplemented by odds and ends I find at the charity shops, like doilies for rugs and tablecloths. I made fake books for the sitting room and playroom by scanning covers of my own books rather than just making generic ones. Now I need to learn how to make miniature things out of polymer clay, like food and dishes and all manner of other things. I’d also love to carve and otherwise make furniture and utensils and stuff out of wood, and eventually I want to make another dollhouse that’s a log cabin made and furnished entirely out of found natural materials. And fairy gardens as well. I have become properly obsessed with making miniature things. Eats up all my time and thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/93 "2015-03-16T23:47:08Z")
> [@Dunkelheit](#): > > Now I need to learn how to make miniature things out of polymer clay, like food and dishes and all manner of other things. I’d also love to carve and otherwise make furniture and utensils and stuff out of wood, and eventually I want to make another dollhouse that’s a log cabin made and furnished entirely out of found natural materials. And fairy gardens as well. I have become properly obsessed with making miniature things. Eats up all my time and thoughts. I used to make tiny, leather bound books out of polymer clay. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/94 "2015-03-17T00:14:27Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I used to make tiny, leather bound books out of polymer clay. Nifty. I’ve seen other dollhouse sized books made with actual pages, but mine are just covers glued over cardboard with the edges gilded. Except the mini copy of my More Than Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, which opens up to show the page that got signed by the man himself when I saw him give a talk once. I have lots to learn before I’ll be able to actually start making things out of the clay. And a few more tools and stuff to obtain. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/95 "2015-03-17T08:50:42Z")
I’m hoping to put together a chap book of my poetry someday. This one isn’t included, but it’s the only haiku I feel half-way confident about. It’s untitled. spurned, his words settle skipped stones sinking down to the bottom of his heart ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/96 "2015-03-17T21:38:43Z")
I like it, **Becky2844**! I just made an awesome (if I do say so myself!) messenger bag for my son. I didn’t get a picture of it before I mailed it, so I asked him to take [one](https://flic.kr/p/roeWFW). (😃 College dorm room. Can you tell?) He wanted a bag to carry his card game stuff in. I got a bee in my bonnet to make one, and in looking for ideas, I came across a vintage (well, if 1996 is vintage…) Yu-Gi-Oh pillowcase. I used one side for the front flap, which you can see, and the other side for a pocket on the back. Then I took the finished edges of the pillowcase and used those for interior pockets. The body of the bag is black canvas and it has an adjustable shoulder strap. It really turned out well. I didn’t even have a pattern. I just looked at a bunch on Pinterest until I had the gist of making one. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/97 "2015-03-18T04:41:04Z")
Thanks **freckafree**! I came late to the thread but am loving seeing, listening to, and reading about everybody’s “doeys.” Makes me want to toss scarves in the air and “Commence!” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/98 "2015-03-23T03:19:25Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Can you take a close-up of the silver ladder beads? I’m having a hard time figuring out how they’re strung. Also, what are you using for stringing? _shame face_ fishing line :o Let me see what pictures I can post. One moment, please hold … ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/99 "2015-03-23T03:24:52Z")
A close up of the loosened cuff beafs, with the daisy and tube spacers. I think doubling up on the daisies - one on either side of where the tube joins one of the three “structure” wires that go the length of the cuff - will look cleaner and mitigate the off kilter wonky diagonal lay the daisies want to take. Those words made sense in my head, here’s hoping a picture helps illustrate what I mean: [http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/22/41c618b9ca69176641bfb681d2bd9a35.jpg](http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/22/41c618b9ca69176641bfb681d2bd9a35.jpg) I also made another, MUCH simpler project: a new badge holder for work. The green and brown one is what I’ve been wearing, and the blue is the new string: [http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/22/5df29cfb9a8c958cbad8ff405c1efe5b.jpg](http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/22/5df29cfb9a8c958cbad8ff405c1efe5b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977/100 "2015-03-28T17:24:09Z")
I just (finally) finished the end table I’ve been working on. Made from cherry; rails are joined to the legs with pinned mortise and tenons. Cross pieces are attached to the rails by a simple dado joint, glued and screwed, then plugged. The top support rails are 1x1s set into notches and screwed to the leg rails. These give the top the appearance of ‘floating’ between the legs, which extend slightly above the plane of the table top. The two top slabs are held together by the walnut butterflies, which extend 3-1/2" into the cherry. They go all the way through for extra support. The finish is Osmo, which I used for the first time. This is described as a “polyx oil”, which has a wax component. When the finish dries, the wax comes to the top, where it can be buffed to a shine. [Base photo, unfinished](https://www.flickr.com/photos/43200610@N07/16956838585/) [Finished 1](https://www.flickr.com/photos/43200610@N07/16769370070/) [Finished 2](https://www.flickr.com/photos/43200610@N07/16955876121/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-personal-creative-projects-here/713977.md?page=6)