iseecerulean

I just added a photo album for 2008's Hallo present...you can see it in the left sidebar.

I haven't done anything else since I finished the project (anything arty anyway).  I've been relaxing while I try to decide which of the 87 projects I want to do is going to command my attention next.  I've read a book, visited my parents, took my niece's senior portraits, and caught up on some housework.  Mostly I've been putting off cleaning my studio again ;)

I've been thinking about the whole of the project now that it's done.  What parts I liked, what parts I didn't, new things I tried, what I learned for next time, etc...  Expect a reflective post or two soon, after I finish my break.

It's all boxed up sitting here waiting for DHL to pick it up!

In the box is a little thing of black paint, in case it needs to be touched-up.

There is also a loose "lantern".  After I got them all in I replaced one with a little light up ghost I got at the dollar store...it's hanging toward the back, there's a white button on the back of it to turn it on and off.  The lantern is to replace it if you think it's tacky or when it dies.

By the time we got to my parent's house yesterday Frankie's right foot broke.  His left foot, which is bearing his weight, is fine though.

Everyone thought the project turned out great, and thought my presents from Susan were even better.  Apparently Mom has been printing out blog posts and bringing them home to Dad to read...he thinks they're boooorrrrring...I stuck my tongue out at him...told him I was writing for Susan, not him.

I let Kate drive two-tracks and dirt roads half of the way home yesterday (bumpity, bumpity, bump) and nothing else jiggled loose...and I didn't have it stuffed with fiberfill then either.

So...now I've got to fix Frankie's foot again (which means the floor again, too) before I can send the box.  I think I'm going to send a little container of black paint along with it, in case any repairs or touch-ups are needed after it arrives.

I'm going to put some gorilla glue on his foot this morning, let it dry all day, then paint tonight.  Hopefully I can ship tomorrow.

I found a heavy duty cardboard box that's just the right size to fit the project if I ship the project on its back. 

I'm concerned about not keeping it upright, but it was pointed out to me that boxes aren't always kept upright during the shipping process anyway (which made me even more nervous).  I debated whether I should stuff the project with fiberfill or not, to cushion the contents, even though they're glued down...I'm most concerned about gravity not being good for Frankie and Imelda, since they're glued down by only their feet.

I'm taking the project over to my parent's house today to show them how it turned out before I send it to Susan on Monday.  I decided to do a dry run packing and unpacking it since it was going on a little trip.

I put the project on its back in the box and started putting in the fiberfill...it worked very nicely holding all the dangling lanterns apart...but when I tried to put in a handful behind Imelda I knocked her right off the floor.

I gorilla glued her back down...now I've got to fix the floor around her feet this morning.

I should still be ready to ship it tomorrow though...provided nothing more disastrous happens during the dry run.

...is finding a box to ship this in. 

A sturdy box that's also the right size is not easy to come by.

Now that I've got the box sitting under the bright lights in my office I can see a few things that need to be touched up.  There are a couple of dings on the outside of the box where the paint needs to be touched up and some spots on the floor need to have the matte and gloss varnish touched up.  Neither is a big deal and shouldn't take but a few minutes tonight.

I'm surprised the ends of the pergola slats don't need to be touched up.  I had the box sitting on top of an ottoman with wheels while I worked on it, and I can't tell you the number of times I was bent over scrounging for something in my supply drawers, then backed into the box and jabbed myself in the butt.

The girls love it...especially the Super Secret Surprise Part.  I pointed out a few of the flaws that are driving me crazy and they rolled their eyeballs at me...apparently I'm too picky and the flaws aren't that big a deal.

I'm done!

I think so, anyway.  I'm taking the box to work today so show the girls...not only do they want to see it, but it means there's a few more sets of eyes to make sure nothing looks funny and needs to be fixed before I mail it to Susan.

When I look at the box all I can see is the dozen or so little things that I wish I had done better but can't change now.  I won't list them out, because I don't want to influence how others view the piece...though a few of them are so glaringly obvious to me that they have to be noticeable to everyone.

I got the box finished in the morning, so I spent the afternoon getting out my Halloween decorations, doing a bit of cleaning, and coloring my hair (purple this time).  I really should have been cleaning my studio again, but I think I'll put that off for a few days...I already have an idea for next year's Halloween present, and I don't want to start so early that I accidentally have it done by this Halloween...then I'll feel compelled to send it early and will have to come with something else for next year.

I could cry.

I glued Frankie down with Ultimate then let him dry...then I glued the front part of Miss Skelly's foot down with gorilla glue and let it dry....

Because Miss Skelly is just a plastic skeleton and needs more support than just having her feet glued down, she is leaning on Frankie (so to speak)...

In the process of getting the top half of their bodies in sync so that I could glue them together Frankie's feet came up.  They didn't come unglued and up...the very bottom layer of paint and clay was still attached to the floor...they came broken and up.

I rebalanced Frankie a bit better, sanded the mess off the floor where his right foot was (since it moved a little and didn't go down in the exact same spot), then used gorilla glue to adhere his feet to the box...I figure he needed a bit more support than I gave him the first time. 

I also had to glue the heel of Miss Skelly's shoe down.  I didn't think I'd need to, but she was a bit tipsy...she must have had too much orangemallow punch.

Today I've got to tidy up the gorilla glue foam and fix the floor around their feet.  Then I will be done...I think...provided nothing else goes wrong.

I'm this close to being done.  I've got everything glued in the box now.  I'm waiting for the gorilla glue on Miss Skeleton's foot to dry, then I've got to fix the floor around her foot and glue her hands to Frankie.  Then I will be done.

I thought it was going to take longer to glue everything in, but it went pretty quick.  I had to do some floor repair after I gorilla glued (and nailed) Mr. Skeleton in, which was time consuming, but I was able to use Ultimate for everything except the two skeletons.  (I learned when I did last year's box that Ultimate doesn't work with plastic well.)  Frankie, Imelda, and Ichabod are all balanced to stand unsupported, so I don't need glue to hold them up, just to keep them in place, which is much easier.

I had to put new buttons on Icky's vest...I thought I made them out of black paper, but I accidentally used a scrap of adhesive backed paper instead...the black paper buttons slid off their backing, leaving white buttons that looked like crap.  I found the perfect little buttons at the scrapbook store a few days after I finished Icky (of course), and picked them up for the next time I needed them.  I'm glad I did, because I needed them today.

It took some work to get the cello and bow in...I used a lot of mummy colored and invisible thread to hold them in place.  It would have been much easier to attach them to Mum before I glued him in the box, but since I'm a dork I had to do it the hard way instead.  I keep waiting for the magical birthday where I'll finally be old enough to know what the heck I'm doing.  When does that happen?  42?  54?  With my luck it's probably 123.

I have now officially crossed over the line from preparing stuff for the box to finishing the box....I fixed Mum and both he and Ghosty have been glued into the box.

When I fixed Mum I superglued all the knots so that he wouldn't come untied and unraveled...and when I cut the excess yarn off I accidentally glued my favorite pair of scissors shut.  Argh!  I'm such a dork.  I was able to pull really hard to get them unstuck (thankfully, only the tips were glued shut), and sanded the superglue off the blades with an emery board.

Right now I'm stuck on room decorations...I've got a pile of mini pumpkins and squash on my worktable but can't come up with a pleasing arrangement for the focal point at the middle of the back wall.  I made a little corn stalk thingy but it didn't look good there (too tall)...I think I may try to make a pot of yellow chrysanthemums.