Day 34: Wire Attacks

Task: Work with wire.

My choice of wire was jewellery wire.

Steve saw that the ends of the wire were disappearing under a sticker at the end of the spool. He couldn´t help taking a peek.

He suddenly discovered the reason why the ends have to be secured the way they were. The coils started to unravel with impressive speed, startling him.

Quentin had been observing the situation. He jumped in and stove the evil spool.

Day 33: Pen on Paper

Task: Use pens as your material.

I went old school with this one, using pens to draw.

 

I don´t draw since I usually suck at it. It´s one of those skills I would like to learn. The one thing I have learned about drawing is that like with all other skills, learning requires patience, and there just isn´t a way around it.

Steve inspected my drawing.

Steve felt honored and I was pleased he approved my portrait of him.

Day 32: Ephemeral

Task: Create something with a material that will dissipate quickly.

I was thinking of working with foam, but then the cold weather came and I realized that if there´s something ephemeral it´s the Finnish summer. It was just a little while ago that the snow melted and the first green leaves appeared and now..

I´m the kind of person who endures winter and lives for the next summer. The autumn breeze can be refreshing but it´s always sad for me as well.

I tried to look normal when we were walking among the dying flowers but I think Steve still sensed the gloom in me. He tried cheering me up a bit by climbing on sticks and talking about all of the upcoming opportunities of wearing my handmade shawls and mittens.

I have to admit, it did work, I felt better. Steve´s got a talent at this kind of stuff. And I bet he would appreciate a nice hand knit cardigan too..

Day 31: Dam

Task: Make a path for people to follow.

I didn´t make this path, but it is too awesome not to share. In the neighbouring town there is an old dam that is no longer in use. Once a day water is let through as a demonstration. I finally got to see it live.

Before water was let through the channel was dry.

Then there was water. Lots of water.

You should´ve heard the roar, it was amazing. Steve thought it was awesome too.

And suddenly the channel was not so dry anymore. The whole thing was definitely worth experiencing.

Day 30: Spot the Octo

Task: Work with toys.

Instead of toys, let´s play a game. It´s called "Spot the Octo".

Yes, that is indeed my desk. Perhaps it would be a time to do some cleaning.

Day 29: Alias

Task: Make a disguise for someone.

Sometimes you have an idea you can´t help but to execute. This was one of them.

Let me introduce you to a new friend, Douglas.

He´s quite the bookworm.

Fooled you! It was Steve! But the glasses make him look even smarter, don´t you agree?

Day 28: Away with the Dust

Task: Use traditional school materials to make something nontraditional.

I do a lot of knitting and spinning. Those produce a lot of dust. Steve has also noticed this.

 

The layer on the shelf made him give me a disapproving look. I pointed out that I wasn´t the only occupant here, so why should it be me doing all the cleaning. This made Steve remark that my duster was about ten times as big as he is.

 

Ok, maybe he had a point.

Fortunately I´m the one who makes stuff. Some graph paper, glue and scissors and he had a duster more suitable to his size. I tried suggesting an apron to complete the set but this time the disapproving look he game me was more ferocious than ever.

Day 27: Mixed Feelings

Task: Use your recent dream as an inspiration.

This is not so much about a dream as a nightmare. While in a book shop Steve and I found a strange cookbook. While flipping through pages we came across something neither of us had seen before.

It was a recipe for a tentacle terrine. I thought it would be quite a showpiece at any dinner party, but Steve felt uneasy. Now, how would you feel if someone made a terrine out of your relatives?

Day 26: High and Above

Task: Make something portable that normally isn´t.

Ditching the task again. Instead some photos from a trip we recently took.

If you´re Finnish you might recognize this. If you´re from Turku you should recognize it.

The tower was dizzyingly high. But Steve was on top of things.

Day 25: Falling Water

Task: Collect today´s materials from your yard or nearby park.

Some time ago Steve and I went for a small trip. During that trip we encountered a small waterfall. Ok, it´s not exactly near. And it´s manmade. But at least the water is a natural material, so I decide this qualifies.

Steve stood on the edge of the little pond.

 And the water just kept on coming.

There was something strange going on with the water that day. Maybe they were washing the waterfall.

Day 24: Message Hidden in Green

Task: Work only with green-colored materials today. Try working on a green surface.

My friend had a birthday a few days back. I was intending to crochet a long chain with some wool yarn and sew it on the cardboard, but when I finished making the preliminary needle holes the card looked so nice I left it like that. You may have to squint a bit but the message is there.

Merry Birthday, P, from all of us!

Day 23: Yesteday´s News

Task: Dig in a recycling bin for today´s material.

The recycling bind had just been emptied so I had to fall back to a very traditional medium, an old newspaper. I´ve never actually made a woven basket before so I decided that would be my project today. The weaving was quite fiddly at first but when I started using paper clips to steady the strips it became much easier. The end result is surprisingly sturdy.

Quentin came to investigate the basket, not realizing Steve had beaten him to it.

True to his nature, Steve didn´t have the patience to stay hidden very long.

Steve got out of the basket to give Quentin a chance to try too.

Turned out that hiding in the basket was a bit problematic for Quentin.

He still thought the basket was pretty cool.

Day 22: Tea Party

Task: Create a bridge: connect two things in a creative way.

This bridge is called "Tea and Cake"..

..and what it´s connecting is two new friends. With tea being green and cake being strawberry and chocolate.

Now doesn´t that look good?

Are you wondering who Steve´s new friend is?

Meet Quentin, our new friend. And in case you were wondering, he´s not an octopus but a squid. A teeny tiny giant squid to be precise. Welcome aboard, Quentin!

Day 21: A Love Story

 Task: Write a ten-word love story and illustrate it.
 

They meet.

Two cephalopods.

Different species, still friends for life.

Day 20: Ready for a Tea Party

Task: Buy or make clay, then use it like you never have before.

I tried to make the flour clay but somehow it became too sticky and fragile to use. It might have something to do with the whole grain flour I used in the lack of normal flour. So, instead, I dug up some fimo clay from my crafts stash and used it instead.

A result: a tea set with a tea pot, two smaller plates, one bigger serving platter, two tea cups, a cake server and two forks. It´s not exactly color coordinated but I wanted to play with the colors. And a matching set would´ve been too boring anyway.

Steve inspected the set. He told me he wanted to invite someone for tea, but he refused to tell anything more. So secretive all of a sudden, I wonder what he´s up to..

Day 19: Water Lilies

Task: Create something that floats on water.

I´m always assigned setting up the table and napkin folding in family events. I remember that years ago I learned how to fold the napkins into water lilies. This time I tried it with parchment paper, the kind used in baking. I can now tell you, slippery isn´t the quality you wish the paper to have when you´re doing origami.

Despite not being 100 per cent precise I think they turned out pretty beautiful.

I have a strong flashback concerning a glass of water in a similar situation a while back..

..But since there was no way Steve would tip a 5-litre-bowl filled with water, I let him play too.

Day 18: Watch the Wheel Spin

Task: Work with the things you find in your car.

It´s Tour de Fleece again, and this time I´m able to participate, thanks to a friend who lend me her spinning wheel. And how does this relate to the day´s task? You know, spinning wheel. Wheel. Cars have them. What do you mean, of course it counts!

The faster the flyer spun the more Steve got interested.

 

And of course as soon as I had to stop to do some predrafting he climbed onto the flyer.

At some point I noticed Steve running away with a tuft of fiber. Maybe he´s building a nest or something.

Day 17: Aye Aye, Captin!

Task: Make something inspired by and/or that goes over an eye.

It´s not the International Talk Like a Pirate Day for another three months but on the other hand it´s a beautiful day for a dreadful octopus pirate to sail the Caribbean seas.

 

"Yarrr, fear me sword, ya bilge rat!"

"I´m sure I left me loot somewhere on this wretched beach, aye.."

P.S. Again very irregular updates, but mark my words, I will not give up on this project, no way.

Day 16: Potato Print

Task: Make a unique print by cutting up a potato and use it to stamp on a material of you choice.

New potatoes (potatoes that have been grown this summer and are just off the ground) have been in shops for just a couple of weeks now and I´ve eaten tons of them with butter and herring. Gotta catch them while they´re fresh! I put one aside before boiling to make my stamp.

Paper, paint and a potato, the p-trinity of potato stamping.

Nananananananananananana - Batman!

This was more tricky and more fun than I expected. But next time I´ll use a bigger potato!