My Cardboard Life volume 6

I've finally got round to making the next My Cardboard Life mini-comic, it's Volume six and I've given it an orange cover, with Pauline and Colin on the front doing silly faces.



I've upped the number of pages in this volume to 24 (20 pages in previous books). It's a bit bulkier than the others, I don't think I could have any more pages than that with this size book and the the thick paper that I use.


My Cardboard Life volume 6 is available in my Etsy shop now. I've also updated the Mini-Comic sets, so there is now a volumes 1-6 set and also a nine book set including the mini stories.

Pink Pat

The newest crochet character, and definitely the widest. I didn't mean to make her so wide, she just sort of turned out that way.



She's not quite as glamorous as Vivian. Perhaps she'd be pretty if her face wasn't so wrinkled.



Here's the back view. To get an idea of the size, each of the pink and white bobbles are about the size of a penny.

Doodles with my new pens

My new Copic marker pens arrived in the post today. Just been playing around with them. So far I'd say that I enjoy them a lot. I just wish I could have all the different colours. At the moment I've got a set of five greys and five pastel shades.

Skeleton Cake

Here's a photo of a skeleton cake I made for Halloween. I know it's past Halloween now, but I've made a guide of how to make it. I suppose you could use it next year, or for another occasion? Birthday maybe? or a wedding? Anyway...here you go.


I made one round chocolate cake for the head, and a tray of brownies for the body. You can use whichever cake recipe you like. Use this one perhaps. Cut along the indicated lines with a sharp knife. Make sure you wait for the cake to fully cool down first, otherwise it will be harder to get the lines neat.


Here's how to arrange the pieces. You can mix it around a bit to see what works best. I went for a short skeleton with little legs so that it would fit on the tray.


The final (and best) stage. I used marshmallows and melted white chocolate to decorate the cake. The teeth are large marshmallows cut in half. Mini-marshmallows would probably look better but in my local supermarket the only mini marshmallows they had were pink or yellow! To apply the white chocolate, spoon it into a plastic food bag and cut the corner off to make an icing bag. Don't forget to leave gaps to represent eyes and nostrils.

Colin's Halloween costume

Here's a few ideas for Colin's Halloween costume, as Halloween is now less than a week away. Colin's going to wear one of these in Friday's My Cardboard Life strip based on which one is most popular (you can vote for your favourite here). At the moment, it's a close call between the pig, the mermaid and the dessert.

San Francisco, APE 2009

The day before yesterday I got back from San Francisco, where I went to exhibit my comics and other things at APE 2009. I tried to take some photos but they came out terribly on my rubbishy digital camera. I'd like to write some sort of review of APE but I was in my usual convention mode of hiding behind my table. I got quite a few comics from people trading with me though, so I might take some pictures of those and put them up here later.

You might have noticed a bit of a gap in updates, that's not just due to being on holiday, it's also because my computer was broken for a while. I've just got it back from being repaired. It's a big relief to have it back!

Original art for sale

I've recently added some new original ink drawings to my Etsy shop


These are along the same lines as the Intricate Dwellings illustrations, but are A3 in size. Plus they are the original drawings done in fine-liner pens by me.



These are my three favourites. To see the other original drawings, have a look in the original art section of my Etsy shop here.

Sketchbook pages

Doodle time

Eclairs

I made these eclair/cream bun type things because I had half a tub of cream hanging around in the fridge and it needed using. I recommend making some, because they're a lot easier than you might think, also they taste a lot nicer than bought ones.


Ingredients:
1 and a half oz butter
1/4 pint of water
2 and a half oz plain flour
2 eggs
double cream (I used half a large tub)
1 dessert spoon of sugar
chocolate

Method
Put the butter and water in a saucepan, and bring to the boil. When the butter has fully melted, take the pan of the heat and tip in the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough starts leaving the sides of the pan. Leave to cool for a while before breaking the eggs into the pan and beating them into the mixture (this is the annoying stage where the mixture looks really gross and lumpy, but just keep going 'til it's smooth).
Grease and line a baking tray and pipe the mixture onto it in whatever form you like. The way I did this was to spoon the mixture into a plastic food bag and snip one corner off. I piped it into short eclair shapes, but you could do small balls for profiteroles if you wanted.
Bake in a hot oven (gas mark 5/6 or 200 degrees) for about 15 minutes.
Leave pastry to cool on a wire rack make a slit down the side of each eclair with a sharp knife.
Whip the cream and add some sugar to it. Use the plastic food bag method to pipe cream into the eclairs.
Melt some chocolate (its up to you how much, I used 8 squares of dairy milk) apply the melted chocolate to the top of the eclairs with a spoon.

New crochet guys

Finally got round to photographing these mini-guys. Been making them over a few weeks.

These are the best ones of the bunch:


this guy is called Macadamia Nut. But actually, he's a lamb.


A blue bunny.


Pinktop.


Another hanging bee. It's a mini version of the other crochet bee I made.

I've not put any of these in my Etsy shop yet but I may do at some point, so keep an eye on the shop if you're after one.

Messing around 2

More experiments with collage and paint.

Crochet bee

Made this guy last week, and then sold him at that craft sale that I did. I think I'll make more.

More hair accesories

I've been making hair accessories galore for a craft sale which I'm taking part in tomorrow.








I've made a lot of these crochet headband/earwarmer things. Some have flowers on, and some have bows. Personally, I like the bows best.

Doodleguys

Upcoming Events

Three events in the next three months...

Saturday 12th September I've got a table at a craft sale in Southgate
craft-sale.co.uk
Not sure what this is going to be like really, so I'm taking lots of different things with me, such as plushies, hair accessories and greetings cards as well as the usual comic books.

17th and 18th October is APE (alternative press expo) in San Francisco. I've got table 276a.
comic-con.org/ape
I'm teaming up with Joenis Norac and Ali Showkati who are at table 275 because we're all members of TNP press.

21st November is Thought Bubble in Leeds.
thoughtbubblefestival.com
A one day comic convention which is part of Leeds Sequential Arts Festival. I'm taking my sister with me so I won't have to hide behind my table all day.

Crochet puddings

Something I made whilst watching "Brief Encounter" yesterday. It took the duration of the film to make, but I think if I made it again I'd be much quicker.

I'd really like to make a crochet pattern of this so that other people could make it. The trouble is, I really can't get my head round crochet patterns. Reading, or writing them. Maybe I'll attempt some kind of step by step guide with pictures instead.



This is another one, which was a sort of first try. Actually, I planned for this to be a cupcake, but it turned out more like a deformed dessert in a bowl.

Bee doodle

Nice things I found on Etsy and Folksy

hello sailor necklace from Magic Alice. I love the heart details.


Polka Dot Dessert Plate from Akari Glass Studio. I would love to eat a cake off one of these cute and colourful plates.


thepeoplesjewelry has a great range of necklaces and badges with little people inside. There are loads of different characters to choose from. I couldn't choose just one!



Brilliant reversable make cake not war/scones not bombs apron from Purlesque Craft Boutique. I love the fabric. If you find that the phrase "scones not bombs" doesn't rhyme...perhaps you're pronouncing it wrong.

Vivian

Vivian is the newest crochet plush doll. She ended up being a lot bigger than I planned.




I used popcorn stitch to make the spots. It's my favourite stitch (that I've learnt so far).



As you can see, Vivian is very glamourous, and very sassy. Her best friends call her Viv.

Pink stripe bows

More hair accessories. I really liked this fabric so I made some hair combs and also hair clips with it. I like the combs best, but my hair's too short to use them!

Eco Dwellings

I've finally finished the sequel to Intricate Dwellings and Futuristic Dwellings. It's called Eco Dwellings and it's got an ecological/botanical theme. Most of the towns/cities and set in some kind of garden.



As usual, there's a check list of items which are hidden in the pictures. I've tried my best not to make it too hard!



Intricate Dwellings, Futuristic Dwellings and Eco Dwellings are all available individually and also now as a set, in my Etsy Shop

Eddie

Been a while since I made a new crochet plushie. This is Eddie. He sort of looks like a cross between Olive and Laurence.



His glasses are a tad wonky. I think one of the problems with crochet for me, is that you have to do a bit of planning and stitch counting to get something like that very neat, and I just didn't put enough time into it.

This Way!

New zine that I've made called "This Way". All it is, is drawings of various things all moving in one direction, guiding you round the book and back to the start, where you can read it for a second time if you like.



It could be used as a colouring book I suppose. Other than that, fairly pointless. If you wanted a real challenge, you could count all the arrows. I bet there are hundreds!



"This Way" is available in my Etsy shop

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

It's been horrible hot weather all day, and who wants to cook stuff when it's hot? No-one that's who. So I made this cheesecake which is one of those "no bake" recipes. I say recipe, but actually I made it up as I went along. But if you're not baking something, it doesn't matter as much if you get it wrong.



Here's a vague outline of how I made it...

Ingredients:
white chocolate
butter
digestive biscuits (Any sort of biscuit or cookie will work)
double cream
cream cheese
sugar
raspberries

Method:
Melt some butter and some white chocolate. Probably around 50g of butter and around 8-10 squares of white chocolate. Crush digestive biscuits via any method you like. (I just put them in the bowl and smashed them up with the end of a rolling pin). The amount of biscuits depends on how thick you want the base to be and how big the tin is. I measured mine by laying them on the bottom of the tin to see how many would cover it. Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter and chocolate together. Grease a tin with some butter before you tip the crushed biscuit mixture in and press it down with the back of a spoon. Leave to chill in the fridge for an hour.

For the cheesecake filling...
Whisk half of a small tub of double cream. In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix half a tub of cream cheese with three tablespoons of sugar and some melted white chocolate. At this point I also added some vanilla extract and three raspberries (which got crushed into little pink bits). Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, spoon onto the biscuit base and smooth over. Chill for several hours 'til firm.

On top of the cheesecake I arranged some raspberries and chopped white chocolate.

Harry

Another plush guy that I've made. Houndstooth Harry.

More collage robots

These are the last two collage robots that I've made for a new set of greetings cards.







They are available either individually, or as a set of five in my Etsy shop

My Cardboard Life volume 5

The new volume of My Cardboard Life is now finished. Volume 5 of the My Cardboard Life mini-comics includes these strips...

Puppy
Kitten
Ice Lolly
Cardigan
Family Album

and also many more, but they can remain a suprise!



Volume 5 is available here in my Etsy shop




The full set of My Cardboard Life mini-books volumes 1-5 is available Here.

Uglloyd

I made this guy last week. You can see why I had to name him Uglloyd. He might be the ugliest thing I've ever seen. When I started making him out of that hideously ugly fabric, the idea was that he would be able to pull it off by having a cute face. Sadly, that plan backfired beyond belief.



He's too ugly to go on Etsy or Folksy, so he'll have to stay with me. I suppose at least he could be a friend for Sadney

Robot cards

Collage illustrations of robots for a new set of greetings cards I've been working on. Got some more to add later.





These first three are currently available in my Etsy shop.

Blue bow barrettes

I've been making some hair accessories, here are some barrettes. I think I like the denim one best.



I've made quite a lot of these, in various colours, fabrics etc. I will add more pictures soon. The reason I'm making them at all is because I've got a table at a local craft fair in about a months time. Not sure how many I'll sell, but I suppose I can put the remaining ones on Etsy/Folksy.

Crochet legwarmers

I had been working on these crochet legwarmers for so long, finally finished them last week. I think the reason they took so long was that I was only making them for myself, so there was no deadline of any sort. Plus they were fairly boring to make, I just did loads of rows of double crochet, and an edge of single crochet at either end.

Small things eating big things

A new website with some fun illustrations. Small Things Eating Big things is fairly self explanatory. I've contributed a few of the images including the one above, of an elephant eating some planets. Other examples include a baby eating a building, and an amoeba eating an airplane. have a look at smallthingseatingbigthings.com

Eco-dwellings work in progress

Working on a sequel to Intricate Dwellings and Futuristic Dwellings. At the moment, its going to be called Eco-dwellings, but not sure if I'll stick with that. It's sort of environmental, botanical places, with houses in them.

I'm about halfway through so far. This is one of the drawings. I wouldn't like to live in one of those houses, because I imagine the whole place would be crawling with bugs. Mostly those little maggot things you get in trees.

sketchbook pages

Haven't really been paying much attention to the old sketchbook lately, but I did this painting yesterday and I kind of liked it. So here it is.

It's the same sort of thing that I did for Futuristic Dwellings but in this case, instead of faffing around for ages with fineliners, I've just slopped a load of paint down and added some details with a big fat marker pen. If I did it again, I'm not sure if I would use so much pink. As it is, it looks less like a city and more like a disease.

yellow square

Made this with some leftover paint from another painting. I've got a terrible problem with squeezing out too much paint whenever I do any kind of painting, because It just dries and gets wasted. So I've tried to make use of it. I'll try and be more careful in future.

Review: More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

Theodore Sturgeon's 1953 SF Masterwork More than Human tells the story of the next stage of human evolution, the homo gestalt. A group of people with unusual super-human abilities come together to act as one being. By coincidence, a similar theme was also raised in the last SF Masterworks book I reviewed Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (but in a very different way).

Theodore Sturgeon delivers the slightly perplexing concept of the homo gestalt via engaging and emotive stories about the characters. This is not a book full of science-fiction jargon or large amounts of clarification.

The book is made up of three parts, which were originally separate novellas. Each part has its own unique angle and quality. Effectively, the first part covers the initial creation of the homo gestalt when a 25 year old telepathic simpleton called Lone meets telekinetic Janie, a pair of twins who have the ability to teleport and a baby with the mind of a computer. In the second part, the homo gestalt develops and suffers setbacks. Lone dies, and is replaced by Gerry. This part of the book is written from Gerry's perspective. In the final part of the book, the homo gestalt is completed via the addition of Hip Barrows, who acts as the being's conscience.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading More than Human. Some original ideas were raised and the story was captivating. Actually it made me feel like I would like to evolve into a homo gestalt. Shame I've got no super-human abilities to speak of. But I suppose it's never to late to learn.

Illustration Friday: Modify

Here's a strip from My Cardboard Life which I thought really suited the theme for this weeks Illustration Friday. Modify. Cardboard Colin's in a unique position here because unlike most people, he can modify his own head and body to serve various purposes.

Actually, now that I think about it, I suppose most people CAN use their bodies for other purposes for example, using your hands as a footstool/stepladder to help someone climb over a wall, or using your face as a sort of gallery to display some carefully applied makeup.

Come to the My Cardboard Life website if you want to see what else Cardboard Colin has been up to lately. mycardboardlife.com

Plush Dice

Actually, you're supposed to call a singular dice a die, aren't you. But it always feels a bit weird to me.

I made this using some really thick woven silk which was a bit of a nightmare to sew. At first, it was going to be one of those cube-headed plush robot guys that I make, but the fabric was so annoying that it was practically impossible to make a little body. I was left with a cube head and decided to make it into a "die".

The buttons, I bought ages ago on ebay and I think their colours go really nicely with the fabric. I'm not putting this one on Etsy, I'm keeping it for myself. I'll have to think up some fun games to play with it.

My Cardboard Life: mini stories collection

I've made the three shorter My Cardboard Life mini books into a set of three which can be bought together as a collection on Etsy.

It seemed like a good idea, as they have sort of matching pastel covers and are each around 12 pages long.


They are available in my Etsy shop if you'd like to see more info.

My Cardboard Life: new characters

Here are some new character ideas I've had for My Cardboard Life. Some I prefer more than others, but I'm not saying which (don't want to hurt anyone's feelings).

If you can see a favourite amongst those, you can vote for up to three of them here in the My Cardboard Life forums

Messing around with collage

Experimental animation: Faces film

Faces film from The Juzzard on Vimeo.

I made this film from some black and white photos of my face doing different strange expressions. It's a bit weird! Was fun to make though.

Super Colin!

This is a new My Cardboard life mini-comic that I've made. It's a collection of all the Super Colin related My Cardboard Life strips. (including the power Pauline and Polar King stuff)



Just put it on Etsy...here it is

Colin brownies that went wrong

I tried to make some Cardboard Colin brownies, but the faces turned out all wonky. Oh dear! Thought I would share a pic of them anyway. At least I tried! And they tasted alright too. I think if I tried to make these again, I would use icing instead of melted dark chocolate for the face. The dark chocolate was just too liquidy.

Review: Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon

It's been a while since I read one of the SF masterworks books (which I claimed I would read all of) but finally I've got back on it, and have read Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.

If you were looking for some characters, and an actual storyline, this is not the book for you. In fact it is a history of the entire universe from beginning to end told from the perspective of a man having some kind of out-of-body experience.

A really interesting and certainly a thought provoking read, although I've got to say, bits of it were a tad dull. The parts which followed individual planets and the history of their occupants were lot more enjoyable and entertaining than the long sections about flying through the cosmos etc. I would definitely recommend reading the book anyway because the whole concept is so huge, and so different from anything I've read before, I think anyone could read this book and find something in there which makes them think about the universe in a new way.

My Cardboard Life books now available as a set of 4

The My Cardboard Life mini-books are now available as set of four. I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to do this, Volume 4 has been around for a while now!

Anyway, the set is listed in my Etsy shop.

Illustration Friday: Unfold

This isn't anything new, but I thought it was particularly appropriate for this weeks Illustration Friday.

My Cardboard Life cards and prints

New greetings cards! And these ones are Cardboard Colin themed. I've used some of the three panel My Cardboard Life strips to put together a collection in my Etsy shop



The strips included are...
T-shirt
Puppy
Diet 2
Pan-pipes
Bubble bath



As well as the new greetings cards, I've also added My Cardboard Life prints to my Etsy shop. And by Prints, I mean a print of any of the My Cardboard Life strips in the archive. here is the listing

Dogtooth Dave

This is my new friend, Dogtooth Dave.

I really like the dogtooth fabric that I used for his head. The pattern was pretty busy, so I added a strip of white to go behind his button eyes and his mouth. Looks kind of like an eyemask or something.


Dave is now hanging around in my Etsy shop...here he is