Geeky Maker
Handcrafted dice and other handmade things by me.
20/08/2023
Finished up our costumes and went to Labyrinth of Jareth last night. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I love how wonderful everyone looked. It feels rare to go to an event where everyone is so into the theme and costuming.
I definitely had some connection issues with my shoulder piece that were frustrating, it kept coming loose, but overall, I was happy with how our outfits worked out.
17/08/2023
Pieces and props are done being made for my costume. Planning on testing full outfit tomorrow for last minute adjustments.
22/06/2023
Crafting night!
We had some members of the Barony of Altavia over tonight to work on a project for Largesse for upcoming coronation.
We made bottle slings. These are great for when you're at an event, and want to keep hydrated, but don't want to have your hands full. Slip in a glass bottle, a thermos, even a plastic waterbottle. You're instantly hands free and stylish.
We worked with a lightweight leather and a medium weight stiffer leather. The stiffer leather was wet formed and will hold its shape more. The lightweight collapses flat for easy packing when not in use.
18/06/2023
We had a scribal get together at our house today, and I got to work on painting a scroll that had been previously started but not finished. Great project for a scribal day. I got to jump into a project and paint right away.
Fantastic scribal day, with lots of different projects getting worked on.
I've got more work to put in to finish the illumination, but I'm happy with an afternoon's work.
11/06/2023
We helped out at the Koroneburg Driburgen SCA demo yesterday, and I was signed up to be one of the artisans for the morning shift.
This is the belt I made while working and talking about weaving.
I used acrylic yarn, which ended up being a difficult choice, as the yarn wanted to stick to itself the whole time, but I like the way it turned out. It feels nice, and the bright colors are exactly what I was aiming for.
24/05/2023
Last minute projects before Potrero!
The rapier I'm using was VERY open on the guard and I kept getting stabbed through it, so I added on some leather pieces to close it up and help protect my hand a bit.
The gambeson I've been using also needed a bit of help, so I sewed on 6 shiny new buttons and I should be ready to go!
22/05/2023
Had a wonderful time at Wintermist Anniversary this weekend. So many memorable moments that have been written about by many.
I did some crafting prep before the event, made up some keychains and earrings with the snowflake of the populace badge of Wintermist to give to the Baron and Baroness as largesse.
They were also holding a competition to design new Baronial coronets for Wintermist as their current ones are starting to show their age and need replacing.
My entry for the competition is here, on the 3rd and 4th photos, and was chosen as the winning entry! I'm excited to see how they'll take and adapt my idea into the next coronets.
19/05/2023
One of the extra things we did for Altavia Anniversary was prep a bunch of thank you cards in advance, knowing of the tradition to gift incoming Baronials with largesse.
We wanted to be just that much extra, so we utilized the wax seal which we had previously gifted to the Baron and Baroness and which was handed down to us.
Some pretty green wax, thank you cards and silver sharpie and we've got what I think is a neat little personalized touch for handling off thank you cards.
11/05/2023
Belt and beads done!
Altavia Anniversary is so close to being here, and projects are starting to wrap up!
Really excited for Saturday, and so grateful for all the help and support we've gotten.
1 more week until Altavia Anniversary.
Here we have a sneak peek on a few of our projects we're wrapping up.
While my last warped band was neat, and I liked it, it just wasn't quite belt-like enough for me. I wanted something a bit wider. So, I almost doubled the amount of cards and warped up another band after redesigning it. Oh Boy. It's a whole new experience with so many cards. I'm really glad I'm going with a fairly straightforward pattern with all the cards turning together.
it's coming out gorgeous, although the pattern I was intending to make ended up on the back instead of the front. I'm not quite sure how I did that, but I'm glad it's there!
01/05/2023
Prep for Altavia Anniversary in a couple of weeks!
Re-padding the coronets! My lovely roommate was awesome and sewed new padded tubes, which we were then able to stitch to the leather inside the brim of each coronet.
It's getting so close! Less than two weeks, what?!
Possibly one of my fastest belts. Though it may still end up as trim. I love the idea of it, but I really want bolder, more defined patterns, so I redesigned and started warping the loom for the big brother to this one. Hope it works!
Trying out adapting existing patterns and altering them in color, turning patterns and even the threading pattern was tweaked a bit.
I'm hoping this will be the belt for my stepping up garb at Altavia Anniversary in a couple weeks. I'm wishing it were a little wider, but we'll see how it goes. I'll probably wear it double wrapped around my waist, but I may also end up weaving something else. We'll see where my energy and muse go!
02/04/2023
We had a lovely time at Dun Or Anniversary today. It was wonderful seeing friends step down as Baron and Baroness, and more friends step up!
As usual, when I'm excited or happy for something, I made things. A bit of old and new in this round of making. Dice and weaving.
This batch of gifts was for the outgoing Baron and Baroness.
A set of dice, and dice earrings, for other nerdy pursuits, a thick yarn belt I hope will go well with some of their garb, and a pan flute that Griffith painted with the Lord of the Panflute's heraldry, so we can all laugh at inside jokes almost no one else will get.
Yarn! such a difference already in weaving this one. ended up really wide, and is weaving pretty fast, although figuring out advancing the weave with this thick yarn was a little troublesome. doesn't want to slide through the heddles at all.
20/03/2023
Oh this is my favorite card weaving pattern so far. Easy to control and already looking so cool.
17/03/2023
Experimenting with patterns :)
Amabel Radleigh on TikTok Experimenting with creating patterns for card weaving. This was very close to what I was aiming for, but the backside pattern was completely unexpected and very amusing.
05/03/2023
full length band with the crochet thread.
definitely a better thread option.
I experimented with patterning this one out, altering existing patterns.
I was aiming for a honeycomb appearance.
I think it's close :)
I gave it to a good friend yesterday who immediately put it on as a belt and that made my day to see her wear it all day :)
28/02/2023
So, this was my first attempt at picking up pattern threads. I experimented a bit with different patterns, and was still using the thicker threads, was good for finding the right strings, but left me with a very spread out pattern that wasn't quite what is was looking for, and pushed me to go get different supplies for the next one.
The texture! The color! The two sided pattern!
Super enjoying the results of this weave.
The desire for changing patterns has caused me to dive into Baltic Style weaving on my inkle loom. I'm dropping and raising the white pattern strings to create the desired pattern, and the background blue stays nicely tightly woven. It's a bit crazy how much slower of a method this is, but I'm enjoying the results.
I also ordered some cards, so I can try card weaving next, as I get the impression that's a bit faster.
23/02/2023
This band was interesting, because I was playing around with changing the given pattern, and experimenting with what that would do to the result.
Happy overall with how it came out, but got a good reminder to consider which colors will contrast and stand out vs which will blend together creating more of a gradient.
Inkle loom weaving basics.
Crash course explanation on how the inkle loom works. Hopefully this makes a little more sense for those that have never used one or seen one used.
(And hopefully I didn't get too many of the terms wrong for those of you with far more knowledge than I)
Warping my inkle loom!
A brief overview speed run of warping this loom.
Every other weft string is headled, which is the small white loops I'm using to hold them down.
The variation of heeled (tied) strings and unhedled strings is what creates the ability to put the shuttle with the warp string through it.
I'm still brand new at this, but excited to learn and share.
I'll try and go over the process of weaving soon.
On this particular band I'm attempting a new style of weaving, with picking up threads to change the pattern, and oh boy. Haven't struggled with anything quite this hard in a little while. So the next band I'll record the weaving, but this one I'll struggle and hopefully learn.
13/02/2023
Tried out an inkle loom this weekend and had a lot of fun with it. I've been thinking about trying some more medieval type crafts lately, as much as I love the dice and resin I've been working with, looking for something more sca time period.
This was fun, and I'll definitely be trying some more patterns.
25/01/2023
Couple of d10 keychain dice I gave out at Consort's Champion this past weekend. Just little tokens to tell people that we appreciate them. One went to a fighter that had an excellent fight with Griffith and amazing communication throughout and after, and another went to a friend who has been doing amazing service work.
These were made with a double casting method, where I cast the blanks first, with the blue whisps first. Then, added decals to get the white patterns and cast the whole thing on clear, too add on the numbers. Inked in the numbers, added the caps on top and the keychain connectors by drilling and gluing.
More dice, earrings and keychain goodies.
This set of gifts was given to the incoming king and queen. I especially enjoyed the earrings on this set, with the glass beads accentuating the dice, and playing off the geeky voice of dice with the much more historical glasswork of the beads.
now I just need to figure out lampwork and I can do the whole project!
Largess I created to contribute to the Altavian gifts for the outgoing King and Queen and coronation this weekend.
A nice blue and silver set of earrings, two jumbo d20s and two black and white keychains.
08/01/2023
Dirty Dozen submission for coronation today.
Leather roll-up dice trays that look like scrolls when rolled up. Each one comes with a pair of handmade CAID themed dice.
I thought this was a fun way to bring my dice making and my leather working together, and give out little sets people could use.
Dice games are always fun to play in encampments or at events, and these look like they fit in, and don't break the character of an event.
07/01/2023
Coronation is a neat event, and a great time to step away from the busy pace of tournaments to see other aspects of the game. One of the parts I enjoy is the Dirty Dozen. Anyone can enter, and there are no requirements for documentation. A dozen of something are entered, to gift to the incoming royalty for largess to distribute in their upcoming reign.
I've participated 3 times in the past, with leather pouches, silk painted fans for each of the baronies and leather mug holders and matching skirt hitches.
Tomorrow is another coronation and another round of dirty dozen submissions.
&s
31/12/2022
Lovely set of earrings and a keychain that went to a friend. The skulls and the color were perfect for her, and I was so pleased she liked them.
I enjoy pairing the skulls with beautiful settings, totally changes the feeling of them.
Winter wonderland dangling d10s.
quite happy with how these custom dice turned into elegant earrings.
24/12/2022
d10 horde to turn into earrings.
New d10s finally ready for the final step.
Earrings incoming!
Xmas Eve crafting and suprise find.
I made these dice last year and started turning them into earrings, but didn't finish for some reason.
So, now they're Xmas earrings! Fun splash of color. Some people do Xmas sweaters, I do Xmas dice earrings 🎄
Clear shells around the blanks turned out good. No bubbles or voids, and they clarified the blanks.
I'm looking forward to turning these into earrings.
I think the last time I did a bunch of earrings was last time around this time. something about the end of the year inspires earrings apparently.
18/11/2022
Finally polished up my dice masters. These are the first group I have printed myself and gotten polished to casting level. Hoping to cast molds for these next week.
One of my favorite things to do is make things for my friends, especially make things for other makers, as they appreciate and understand all the work that goes into projects.
This particular bag I actually finished back in May, and handed off at Potrero War, but I had tried using acrylic paints and a clear sealer that was meant for leather and acrylic, but it didn't work at all and started flaking almost immediately.
Eventually we coordinated enough to get the bag back, and I stripped the acrylic paint off and used Angelus leather paints, which seem like they are lasting much better, and not cracking or peeling so far.
I love how this bag turned out so vibrant, and while all the extra red lacing around the edge was a pain, I'm so happy I decided to go for it, as it really helps the bag pop with color.
I was able to get this bag back to it's recipient this weekend at Great Western War, and was thrilled every time I saw her walking around wearing it on her belt.
07/09/2022
I am just absolutely in love with this set. Black and blue are kinda my colors, and I may have to remake this set for myself.
This set was created for and gifted to a friend, and as much as I hate to see them go, I love to give them away. My creative muse is a fickle one that loves to gift to friends and people who inspire me.
This incredibly shiny brilliant black and blue set is *almost* captured by photos, but really shines in person. I took some video of them as well, and I'll get that up soon. Hopefully it'll catch some of that brilliance the photos don't quite do justice to.
Finished bee dice! They polished up nice, and I love the way they sparkle.
I keep trying to get the lines on the blanks crisp, but that seems like it's just not my kind of precision. I'll have to try a new technique or accept it's not my style.
Still loves the way these came out, and I'm so glad I put the mylar in there with the gold.
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