Private Eye Room Box - An ode to film noir

I wanted to create a replica of Sam Spades office in The Maltese Falcon. I watched the movie, took notes, made sketches. Right out of the gate the box I wanted to build the room in went missing. Then it was just one thing after another, so I pivoted, making a sort of love letter to film noir and the Private Dick genre.

While it's not what I set out to make, there's a lot to love in this tiny 7.75" x 7.75" x 4.75" box. A mishmash of bought, made and altered miniatures, and a dash of details from across the genre.

Let me walk you through some of my favourite details.

The gun: a metal charm that I cut off the hanging loop, sanded the rough edge and painted to look a bit more realistic

The ashtray: handmade stoneware with black glaze. I made a set of these in my microwave kiln before my pottery kiln arrived.

The cigarettes: rolled paper with painted ends and lipstick marks. The ends have been singed to give a true burnt look.

The lamp... we'll circle back to that later.

Above the desk there sits a framed certificate. I had wanted to include some sort of official private eye identification but the closest thing I found was this image of a certification from the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton was a sort of forerunner to the secret service.

The desk and chair were purchased items. I had every intention of making a desk and even bought the wood to do it. It just didn't happen. And that's ok. I don't feel obligated to make every last thing from scratch or make everything to exact scale. I appreciate that others may enjoy the challenge of it, but it's not a priority for me.

The phone and magnifying glass were also purchased.

I made a slew of file folders and printed a whole bunch of old receipts and other miscellaneous notes.

The photographs and newspapers are scrounged from various archives from the 1930's to 40's the shrunk down to size. Initially I was looking for San Francisco newspapers from that time frame (the location The Maltese Falcon is set in) but hooo baby I had almost no luck at all. I did stumble upon a grim story of a killer polar bear at the San Francisco zoo so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

The New York Times would have to do.

Inside the desk drawers are files, handcuffs (purchased), bottles of booze and a bunch of True Detective magazines. The mags can be opened and have a limited number of pages inside. I love the idea of a real private detective reading these magazines.

The parquet floor: little individual squares of stained wood. I'm kinda proud of it!

Beside the desk a coatrack with a grey felt fedora and umbrella.

The coatrack is a snip of wood with deconstructed Lobster Claw Clasps for hooks.

The reward posters are the FBIs most wanted in the era, and John Dillinger. Dillinger was killed in 1934 but I'm fascinated by the mythology of certain criminals of the era so he stays put.

The little felt fedora isn't great. I wanted it to be great but my fingers were fumbly that Sunday and my dinner was ready. Wonky fedora it is.

A few years ago I made a bunch of umbrellas. When I found this in my stash I wanted to include it because it reminded me of the bookstore scene in The Big Sleep.

A filing cabinet sits in the corner. Its made of balsa wood. In a do-over I'd adjust the size and make the drawers functional so that I could fit all those file folders I made inside.

On top sits a camera. A purchased item that I added some paint to. Maybe one day I'll create a handmade version, because this one isn't fantastic.... but it'll do,

The photographs here are all from the period. I can across a whole bunch of crime scene photos but I didn't have the heart to use them. These ones are here are arrests, less gory police pics, and images that appear as though they could have been investigative images.

Next to the filing cabinet is a little era appropriate table.

The table is made of wood, paper, bamboo skewers and has half pearl feet.

The booze bottles and glasses were purchased. The bottles have had their wonky misaligned labels removed and replaced with era specific branded labels. Bacardi rum and gin just like Sam Spade likes.

Above the little table there is a portrait of Miles and Iva Archer. Miles was Sam's partner in The Maltese Falcon. Iva was Miles' wife. Iva was having an affair with Sam! Scandalous! 

I couldn't find a movie still of the two together so I photoshopped the 'happy couple'.

On the floor of the office sits the Maltese Falcon. As in the movie I've wrapped the statue in 1930's Chinese newspaper and burlap. The figure itself is sculpted stoneware. That little guy was the only piece to survive it's firing. Must be lucky or cursed!

The lamp.

I struggled with lighting for this piece. Normally I don't light my pieces but this room required it. Initially I was going to add a ceiling fixture but it was too bulky for such a tiny space. Not long ago I bough a bunch of tiny battery operated lights for an altogether different project and messed around with using one in the office.

My son ended up giving me some really helpful suggestions for turning the light into a lamp and I am thrilled with it. I love the intimate glow it gives to the space. It was so simple to alter the light into a desk lamp that I'll be posting a quick tutorial because it's too good not to share.

And that's it! My tiny ode to old film noir detective movies. Yes, there are things I'd change or add (there should be a trench coat, no?) but overall I'm so pleased with much of this piece and I've learned a so much creating this piece.

I'll have that tiny lamp tutorial up in a week. For now, I'm going to enjoy the warm glow of the private eye room.

Miniature Book Charms

A while ago I had the brilliant idea to return to YouTube. It's something that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love making. I love helping other people to realize that they can make stuff too. But, I'm not a huge fan editing and technology loves to be a pain in my butt. 

I set myself a lofty goal: two tutorials a month. I planned a years worth of projects. I bought the supplies. I made notes! I did research!!!! I was all set.

And, it didn't happen.

Turns out there are things far more important to me than YouTube, like walking my dog, making home cooked meals, putting fresh linens on the bed, reading a book and drinking a latte with gingersnaps in the afternoon. So I'm setting myself a much more realistic goal of one project every month-or-so. No schedule. No pressure. No "like and subscribe". Just making and sharing for the joy of it.

This 'month-or-so' project is a tutorial for mini book charms. They are CUTE.

Making this tutorial was wrought with disaster. I got sick (I'm sure there's heavy breathing and coughing in the video tute). My ring light crapped out. My microphone was an absolute wiener. And one of my little charms actually go run over by a car! Cross my heart that's true. I attached this charm to my boot strap and it fell off while I was on a walk. Came across it on my way back home and it had been violated by a vehicle... but held up remarkably well.

This project is fairly easy and the tutorial should be a great jumping off point for you to add your own flair and create something that warms your bookish heart.

I made keychains, necklace pendants, bag charms and earrings with these cute little things.

My absolute favourite from this make were these book earrings. Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaids Tale" (my all time favourite) for one ear, and Madeline Miller's "Circe" for the other.

You can find the full tutorial HERE on YouTube

Here are all the supplies I used, all of which can be substituted to suit your own needs:

• Air dry clay (I used DAS)

• Acrylic paint
• Satin clear finish
• Mini printed versions of your favourite book covers
• Mod Podge

• Jewelry findings

• Disposable eyeliner brushes

• Wooden Pottery Rolling Stick Guide

Those linked products are NOT an endorsement of those specific listings/sellers. I simply included them to give you a jumping off point if they are something you're interested in.

Making Mandrake Roots

I think just about everyone knows the screaming baby mandrake roots from the Harry Potter series. But, the lore of the mandrake spans back thousands (Yes! Thousands!!!) of years.

My first brush with the mandrake was in a book of witches on my mothers bookshelf. Those creepy little human shaped roots were the pinnacle of magical herbalism in my young mind.

Mandrake is mentioned in the Bible as a fertility aid. In Roman times there was a ritual in which the harvester would swear, being as rude and lewd as possible whilst gathering the roots. It was during Medieval times that the idea of a nasty screaming root became popularized. It has been used for everything from an aphrodisiac, hallucinogen, anesthetic, poison, to lucky charm. It is far more than a prop from a fictional film series.

The mandrake has a long, complex lore that any weird history nut would find fascinating.

I've made many little mandrake roots over the years and now I'm sharing my process for creating grumpy potted mandrakes so you can make them too.

Pop over to my YouTube channel for a full walkthrough (just forgive the abysmal lighting, I'm working on improving my set-up). You can find the video HERE.

Supply list:

• Sculpy II (feel free to substitute with your preferred material)

• Aluminum foil

• Clay pot

• Acrylic paints

• Faux leaves 

• Glue

• Mosses (real and fake)

Glowing Fairy Cottage in a Jar

While chipping away at some new projects for you, I stumbled upon the cutest project from one of my favourite YouTube accounts, The Miniature World of Kit and Cabooders. Check out their Glowing Autumn Scene in a Jar and see for yourself why I immediately had to create my own.

Aside: Why the heck do fairies and jars go together so well?

I grabbed that inspiration by the hand and created my own version. It's not exactly the same, but created in the same spirit as the original. Everything I used was on hand, with supplies already in my stash. 

Now, I'm not saying don't go out and buy some adorable fairy jar supplies... I'm just saying that sometimes it's really nice to just use what you have, to make do, and not have to run out to buy more more more.

In my version I used the following supplies:
• glass jar and lid
• battery powered tea light
• small piece of foamcore (corrugated cardboard would work too)
• florist foam (use a sponge in a pinch) 
• Sculpey oven bake clay (you could make your cottage out of anything at all!)
• a twig and other accessories (acorns, tiny paper leaves, wee mushrooms)
• faux grass/greenery (i.e. flocking, moss, wool fiber, felt, ribbons, fabric)
• glues of various types
• paints

This project comes together really quickly, rather easily, and the end results are just adorable.

To see my tutorial for this project pop your cute bum over HERE to my YouTube channel

Have a lovely day, my beautiful friend.

Fossilized Fairy Footprints

 

Oh my word.

Being a gal who loves history, folklore, artifacts and making magic, this project is the bees knees. I hope you think so too.

First I made tiny feet, then pressed them into clay (DAS) along with some leaves, let it dry, painted her up, then tagged and framed the artifact. 

I mean, how sweet would this be as gift to a believer in the fair folk?!

To be honest, this isn't where I intended this project to go. I had other plans. Perfectly good plans! But, as often happens, my project took me elsewhere. That's kind of a great thing though, as now I have a couple of extra projects in my back pocket for the future, and a perfectly good reason to keep those little fairy feet I created safely tucked away. 

(I realize putting things in a safe space is actually the very worst place to keep them as they always go missing, but we'll cross our fingers this doesn't happen.)

And as sweet as the framed artifact is, how freaking magical would it be to allow someone else to discover, uncover, one in the wild?!

 

Imagine stumbling upon fairy footprints nestled in a bed of moss. Or maybe just poking out from under the earth, dusted with soil. Sure, you'd have to take extra caution so that the elements didn't destroy your artifact... but oh the magic of it!

If you'd like to jump on the crazy wagon and make one for yourself you can find the YouTube tutorial here. Just remember to keep your fairy feet for future projects!

Have a splendid day lovely internet friend!

Comparing Craft Clay - From the sublime to the disastrous.

I've been plotting a crafty return.

I've been making and filming and editing.

I've made many, many trips to the craft store.

Standing in said craft store, staring at an entire wall of air-dry and oven bake clay, was like visiting a buffet filled with unfamiliar dishes. I had no idea what the differences were between them. So I did what any craft nerd would do: bought a bunch, brought them home, compared and contrasted.

And, because I want to set you up for success, I'm going to share what I've learned with you ahead of my new crafting vids. Here is the list of the products I tested:

• Crayola Air Dry Clay 

• DAS Modeling Air Dry Clay 

• Creative Paperclay 

• CalPalmy Foam Clay 

• Original Sculpey 

• Sculpey III 

• Super Sculpey Ultralight

**Please note that I will not be linking directly to these products but I am posting pics of the exact product that I'm using. Amazon pricing is outrageous (eg. Crayola Air Dry is $9.99 at Michaels vs $32 on Amazon) and they're readily available in most craft and art supply stores at a much lower price.**

If you don't want to read though this massive post, you can get the gist on YouTube right HERE

Now, let's gooooo...

Crayola Air Dry Clay

Yes, this is categorized as a children's product, but we all know better than to turn our noses up at that sort of thing, right? There are some great finds in the children's art and craft aisle that cannot be dismissed.

This non-toxic material is the consistency of thick cookie dough. It's ready to go right out of the plastic tub with no prep or working necessary. It felt nice to handle and wasn't messy at all.

Sculpting this was a bit... clunky. It's not as refined as some of the other materials I tried. That said, it rolled, stamped and worked well in a press mold.

Once dry is was the most brittle of all the products I tried. The clay also reactivated really easily when exposed to moisture/water. Even applying paint to the surface after two weeks of drying reactivated the clay.

Conclusion: If you want to create something with fine and delicate details, something with durability, you might want to pass on this product. If you just want to play with clay with no illusions of making a long lasting memento, have at it!

DAS Air Hardening Modeling Clay

This stuff has been around since the 1960s. It's an air hardening modeling clay that is certified non-toxic, acid and gluten free. 

This was much more moist than the Crayola clay, and might benefit from being exposed to the air for a few minutes to help with workability. It sculps well, rolls, stamps and molds just fine.

My only real criticism with this product would be that it was the messiest of all the products I used. Handling it left a chalky white residue on my hands. Some might suggest that you should expect to get messy while playing with clay, and others might appreciate a heads up to avoid messy hands. It is what it is.

The product turns from light grey to white as it dries. Once dry the DAS samples were more durable than the Crayola ones. DAS was the heaviest of all the clay.

Conclusion: If you don't mind messy fingers, and have time to dry your masterpieces, DAS might be for you. It has a slight reactivation when wet, but a coat of sealant would probably fix that. Just keep in mind that this is not a lightweight clay, your finished pieces are going to have some weight and heft to them.

Creative Paperclay

Full disclosure, I love this product and have been using it for years. 

Compared to the other two air dry clays on this list, this product is a bit more stiff. It does not have a traditional clay texture so it might take a bit of experimentation to get used to. It's sort of a mash up between clay and super fine paper mache.

It sculpts, rolls, molds and stamps fine. 

This product does have a tendency to warp and shrink when drying. Once dry it is lightweight and cuts, carves and sands really well. It reactivates when wet, but not as readily as the Crayola product. Where this product really shines is painting. It accepts colour beautifully and you can achieve water colour effects on the surface. And, because of the fibrous nature of the material, it won't smash/shatter to pieces when dropped.

Conclusion: Sure there's a learning curve, but getting the hang of Creative Paperclay has it's benefits. If you want a lightweight air dry option that readily receives paint... this is it.

CalPalmy Foam Clay 

One word: disaster.

I've seen people work with foam clay so I know it works for some people. Unfortunately, I experienced nothing but frustration.

I will say, I enjoyed handling the material. It was like a weird lovechild of wet marshmallows and slime. So much fun. But that's where the enjoyment ended. 

This stuck to alllll of my tools. Silicone, plastic, acrylic, unfinished wood, metal... stuck to all of it. I would be terrified of getting this near upholstery. What a disaster. Every piece I created slumped and wilted and became a globulous mess after a few minutes.

Once dry it had massive shrinkage, was difficult to cut and, weirdly, absolutely filthy! I was refinishing my floors as this dried so maybe it was dust in the air? No idea, but none of the other clays dried DIRTY.

I did leave the clay in a mold to dry to see if that would improve it's performance, and it did seem to work ok, but I kind of felt like that was too little payoff for the amount of pain in my butt.

Conclusion: There HAS to be a way to use this so that it's lightweight flexible qualities can be best taken advantage of. I feel like I'm missing something. Like there's a trick I'm not getting. A secret key to success perhaps? This is a hard pass from me.

Original Sculpey

I don't work with polymer clay often because my hands run super hot and make the clay too soft and melty in my hands. That said, the initial work up with Original Sculpey is a workout. Getting this pliable enough to work with will take some effort. Something to consider if you have arthritis or diminished strength in your hands.

One of the things that makes Sculpey so incredible is how well it takes texturing, stamping and molds. This quality also makes fingerprints show up on the surface quite easily. This can be frustrating if your concerned about such things. It also picks up on dust and stray hairs. Lupin, my dog, does not care if his fur is imbedded in my work, I however would like to avoid that.

If you're in a pinch and need to finish up a project super duper fast, it sure is handy to be able to pop your work into a oven for a few minutes and have it ready to go in no time at all. But, I did have something odd happen this time, it got toasty. Like, it actually browned. It was sitting in the same dish, at the same time, side by side with my other polymer pieces but the Original Sculpey was the only one to brown. 

Once baked it can be carved and sanded, if not as easily as the other clays. It's plastic like texture isn't ideal for painting, kind of repelling the paint on the surface, but I'm sure there's some work around or tips to help with that.

Conclusion: I totally appreciate why some people love this product. It takes details beautifully and is quickly finished in the oven in no time at all.

Sculpey III

I picked up three different Sculpey products not having any idea what the difference was between them. Turns out there was a big difference!

Sculpey III was so much softer and pliable out of the package. There was almost no working time to make it soft and smooth. I also felt that despite it being softer, it didn't pick up on my fingerprints quite so much.

No complaints with the sculpting, rolling, stamping or molding.

Once baked it was lighter than Original Sculpey. Sculpey III was also a much brighter white. Carving Sculpey III was much more plaster-like than plastic-like and it sanded well too. I still found that the surface was not ideal for painting, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by this product.

Conclusion: Sculpey III is whiter, lighter and softer than the OG. It has all of the beneficial qualities of Original Sculpey with the added bonus of being easier to handle.

Super Sculpey Ultralight

Soft and malleable right out of the bag. Cross my heart, it's just a real pleasure to handle.

One of my very few grumbles about this product is that there is fallout. Tiny specks of this product flake/tear/crumble on to the work surface as you use it. It's not completely awful, the specks are tiny, but it's there and it's prevalent.

It sculpts, rolls, presses and cuts a treat. I will add a caveat that you might want to stamp pieces before cutting them out because the material is so soft that pressure to the surface will cause it to squish.

Cutting into this once baked was like carving butter. It was indeed ultralight, so light that baked pieces actually float in water (that's gotta be good for something, right??!!) The Ultralight was strong when baked too. I couldn't break the sample disk that I made and there was a bit of bend and give. Unlike the other Sculpey products, this painted up really, really well.

Conclusion: Bright, light, durable and beautiful to paint. If you want some weight to your project, this isn't it, but if you need a super lightweight something this is for you.

Top Pics

My favourites? As someone who dabbles in every craft imaginable, I feel like these three materials would cover most of my bases.

DAS is kind of the perfect play clay. A bit more grown up and serious than the Crayola. While messier than the others, its durability sold me as being a solid addition to my clay stash.

Creative Paperclay remains a favourite. Yes, it has it's flaws, but it also has unique characteristics that make it stand out. It's lightweight quality and paintability keep this firmly in my roster.

Finally, Super Sculpey Ultralight. I gotta say, I was not expecting a new favourite to emerge from this bunch, and definitely didn't' expect a Sculpey product to leap out at me, but here we are. It's lush to work with, paints so nicely, and I'm determined to take advantage of its insane lightweight quality. A bit of fallout is a fair price to pay for its other amazing qualities.

Did your favourite make the list? Do you have tips for using the disastrous foam clay? What should we try next?

I'm feeling really optimistic about my recent rush of inspiration and I cant wait to share my new projects with you.

Have a great day, you gorgeous human being <3

The Swear Jar

I saw a post on insta suggesting a reverse swear jar. Instead of putting money into a jar every time you cuss, you take a swear word out when you feel the need for vulgarity.

While I understand that some people are offended by swearing, they feel that it cheapens language and displays a lack of imagination... I am not one of those people.

I am a fan of the blue streak, the way it emphasizes, expresses and punctuates.

So yeah, I made the swear jar.

Just a regular old pickle jar, some bits of paper, cloth and trim. This was a down and dirty quickie of a project.

I rolled the swears and tied them with twine and filled that jar up!

If you want to make your own swear jar, you can use the image file below for non-commercial purposes. You'll probably need to print two sheets to full a large-ish jar. While that means each swear is repeated, it also means that your chance of pulling your favourite swear is doubled. Huzzah!

Having trouble with the above file? No worries!

You can grab a PDF HERE or a PNG HERE

Enjoy!