Origami Boxes and Tessellation!

Ah the wonders of tessellation! As for Origami, I have been intrigued with it for some time, and finally I have been exploring it a bit. If you don't know what tessellation is, it is a repeating of a geometric shape over and over again. And...a little bit of trivia, there are only three geometric shapes that can form tessellation Triangles, squares and hexagons. Anyway, I flipped through an origami book recently that had a few pointers, so I decided to give it a go. Anyway, I worked on a fish. The fins need a little work, and the paper proved to be rather brittle after the prefolds were done. But I do like what is possible. Other than that I have also been working on some origami boxes for Cheryl’s key fobs. I like the way they have turned out so far. The paper is a heavier cardstock, so you really can't fold it too often, but the box folds are fairly simple. I can't wait for someone to buy one of her fobs so I can sent it in one of the boxes. But that is just the artist in me dreaming. Hope everyone has a great week! And hopefully the freezing rain that has been an issue ere for the last several days, will be done!

When Cats Attack! Good thing I'm not a Meteorologist

Moments after I finished my last blog posting....it snowed! Not much, but enough to make me feel like an idiot! Oh well, it didn't stay long and things are back to where they were. The weather channel has been predicting snow every day this week, but it has not happened except that one day. Anyway, It has been nice enough to let the cats out for a few minutes each day to frolic around the yard. Red loves to climb up those trees and on me! It almost looks like he's attacking me! Hiro on the other hand, likes the warmth of the house. He likes going outside as well, but he never goes very far and doesn't like to stay out in the cold very long. I guess that is a good thing. At least he won't wander off like he used to at the old place. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Happy to Not Be in MIchigan at the Moment

As promised, some pics of the missing snow....Actually these pics are several days old, so there is even less snow in that pile behind the cars. The cats have been very happy to , once again, enjoy the outside. Even thought the ground is a little mushy. I have been watching the weather channel and apparently, all the rain we got the last two days has turned to snow in Michigan! Whew! Happy to not be there at this time! I'm hoping that the snow stays away from here for the remainder of the winter. People have been saying that this weather is "highly unusual" ( the snow they mean) They say that it usually gets cold, but not snowy. They said that last summer was "highly unusually hot" as well. these Iowans and their weather. I'm not sure what to believe...did we move here in an "unusual year" or is the global warming messing with Iowa the most? Either way, I'm happy if there is no more snow. But we shall see...

Where Did All The Snow Go?

So yesterday we had a 72 Degree day! And Almost all the snow is gone. Today it is 52 and the snow, what little is left, continues to melt away. Which is GREAT! I went outside to snap a few pics of the phenomenon, and would you not know it, I forgot to load up the pics on the computer. So, To keep this post upbeat and lively, I will post some pics of things that make me happy! In other news, We are back at Panera, and my plans for global domination with the laptop are , once again, squashed as Cheryl takes the computer away from me. I do get some 'Me time" with the computer late at night when she no longer needs it. She allows me to play my games in the corner...Ah well. Hope everyone else it having a great time in the cool weather. All it needs to do now is dry out a bit....we had a lake in our front yard.

The Joys of Flat tires!

Well, Friday was spent getting my tire repaired...again. I must have drove over something on the way back from Iowa City on Thursday. This may sound familiar, because it happened to me once before....and I'm Sure I blogged about it. I'll be brief: Got a flat tire midway between two cities ( 7 miles either way!) It was dark, cold, and I had a flat spare tire that was Frozen in the trunk as well. ( sound familiar?) I'm somewhat of an expert on flat tires by now! Well, I drove home on it and was able to fix it up on Thursday easy! You see, I had three extra tires in the shed...all they needed was to be put on the rim. And BONUS! There was a perfectly good spare tire in the shed left by the previous tenant! Now it is mine ( because the old one was ruined after driving 15 miles on it!) And the tire repair guy in literally a stones throw away from our house ( as is everything in little bitty Wellman, Iowa. So in the end, we stayed home on Friday and I was able to snap a few cat pics and shots of Cheryl hard at work. We have new Items in our shop.....check them out! By the way,, Check out the really cool Claymore poster!

And the Buttons payoff!

All that hard work at the library finally paid off today.. so we were able to go to Panera! I have to say, the internet connection is way better here than at the library. But that means that Cheryl was, once again, able to take over the computer from me. Ah well, It is a small price to pay if we are able to get money. Anyway, I thought I would take this opportunity to post a quick update to keep my blog on the front page of things. I may be back at the Library tomorrow, because we do not want to waste all that new found wealth by putting it all in the gas tank! So perhaps we will limit out Iowa City trips to a couple of times a week instead of every single day. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Back to Etsy!

So I thought that I should start promoting my blog once again instead of this previous year where I did nothing. Since I don't really carve anymore, The midnightcarver may not make much sense to those people just joining me. But, the outwestwoodcarver is catching me in followers and he has been on only slightly longer. Besides, I'm not sure people really care what I have to say anyway. And my tastes in pop culture may be a little odd to the mainstream. Ah well, I have been blogging for three years now and I'm rather fond of it. There is always something really cool to write about...and post pictures. Picture is worth 1000 words, right? Anyway, I listed buttons today. The internet at the Wellman Library is a little slow, but after 4 hours....I managed to get them all listed. ( 4 hours not from the amount to list...but because of the slow connection. If the Etsy site is back up.. Check them out in the specialty section!

Back in Wellman

Well, Today it is finally my time alone with the computer. That is to say, Cheryl is not here to monopolize it and I have a chance to blog. I am back at the Wellman Library instead of Panera so I have a little more time to hang around. However, I just realized I have little or nothing to say. The snow is deep, the air is cold, and this place is swarming with kids that just got out of school. Apparently, the computers double as video games for the kids who do not have PlayStation's. Ah well, at least they are quiet! Much more so than the kids at Panera. It must be the healthy food that sets them off onto a screaming rampage! But I thought I should at least post something with my new found time. You should check out the Allenbritestudio on the right there. I just listed a few new items in the shop that are rather eye catching. Well, Hope everyone has a happy Monday and a great upcoming week!

Surviving the snow storm

So we got dumped on, again... I guess I underestimated the Iowa winter a bit. At first I was shocked that they did not get much show....compared to Michigan. Well, today I have to reassess my first assessment! We got up late today so at least all the roads were clear...most anyway. The plows are still out as we speak. The mall is nice and quite today though. And we were able to get our spot by the outlet so we don't have to worry about the battery dying. Other than that, many classes were cancelled and there are a few people who are at least enjoying the day without the crowds. Even if they are inside skating on the ice instead of outside. I had a little time to make one last origami Beetle before I ran out of paper and I was able to wrestle the computer away from Cheryl. Hope everyone else is weathering out the weather. Or at least is able to enjoy the day for what it is. Cheers!