knowledge is worse than vampires...

oh, yeh... i am into whittling now. trust me... i am fully aware that i need to be stopped for my own good. 

i bought some 1/8" thick, hardwood boards, and i made the mistake of asking him to cut them down to 1 1/2" wide starting blanks. 

him: why are you even whittling anything?

five minutes later...

him: did you look at those whittling videos i sent you?

i should point out that he is not really a 'splainer, but more of an enthusiastic-enabler. 

me: nope. i did not open a single one of the links.
him: why not? i'm just sharing information and knowledge. 
me: i'm starting to think that maybe knowledge is worse than vampires.
him: how so?
me: vampires wait to be invited in.

then he walked off, muttering something about 'what kind of so-called educator turns down the offer of knowledge'. but, mostly, i know that he was probably going to write that down, because seriously... that was brilliant!

this is hardly whittling. mostly, i needed to taper the edges to prevent snagging on everything. 

by the power of Grayskull...!

then came a few passes with some fine sandpaper, and a quick coat of wood wax to seal.  

it may not look like much, but they will (eventually) be used as pickup sticks and beaters. and, yes... i know how that sounds, because i am a forever-child. unfortunately, it is just bits for loom weaving. then, i started watching videos about wave stick weaving, so i had to whittle some more. 

i want to add a bit of snakeskin texture to this one, soon as i figure out how to make that happen... on my own, thank you! 

have i used any of these objects? of course not, but now i have even more crafting equipment to ignore. 

meanwhile, the animator has gotten back into painting miniatures. he has been stockpiling 3D printed models, like these ones. we tend to take things to the extreme, so the studio will most likely be acquiring a 3D printer real soon.

this is my favorite finished one so far.

next to a can of orange Crush, for scale.

i like that the head detaches from the roboty bit. i would ask what it is called or where he bought it, but then he would start talking to me about miniatures. so... pass!

best part is, now he keeps seeing the potential for "props" in every chunk of wood he sees outdoors. i have never been for walks with a hyperactive puppy... but i can imagine how it goes. 

him: ooh... we should take that one home. you could carve it into like a gnarly old dragon, and i can paint it and add some minis to make it look like an army of troll hunters are trying to take down the dragon. 

it is like staring into a mirror of absurdity. seriously, people... we both need to be stopped!