Making The Deadline

I got the last two paper toys completed this week: that is, I managed to prepare a pdf for each of them including assembly instructions. I double-checked that everything worked by building the toys following the instructions exactly.

Here’s a screen shot of the pdf for Trunocchio.

I figured out a better/simpler way to make the rocker eliminating the complicated and fiddley tabs.

The toy rocks well, and I am pleased with the adjustable nose.

 

Trunocchio was entered on Thursday, but I worked pretty close to the end-of-Saturday deadline to get the Punch and Punch Theatre completed. There were a lot of parts and some fairly precise fitting to deal with. On top of that I realised that I had made the front panel too large by thinking eight inches was the same as twenty centimeters, the size limit for entries. (Knitters who are used to stitch gauges which read x number of stitches and x number of rows in 4″/10 cm will understand how I made this error.) Everything had to be re-scaled and re-tested.

I got it all to work eventually. It took two pages for the parts and instructions.

Here’s the mechanism that operates the puppets.

I also did a little work on my entry for weloveyourbooks. My book has a star theme and will also be a DIY project to be posted in early July to celebrate the birthday of this blog.

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In other book arts news:

Lestaret (aka Christopher Skinner) has just released a new book of asemic writing. You can read his post about it here.

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In local news:

It’s nesting season. Apparently some birds do not believe in taking the easiest path.

This is a photo of the ceiling of our garage.

Despite the fact that there were two perfectly functional (at least to human eyes) nests with supports under them, the swallows have chosen to start from scratch. See nest indicated by green pointy finger. (Having a support is more important in this neighbourhood since the soil is pure sand and unsupported nests have been known to fall.)

In case anyone is concerned, we do not close our garage door during the summer.

Despite the fact that there are many smaller natural cavities available, a wren has built a nest in this lovely bird house which is much larger than a wren family needs. The choice  means that, due to the wren’s nest building style, almost the entire interior space will have to be filled with sticks.

Trips with more sticks are frequent, so I might have gotten a picture with an actual wren in it if I had waited, but there were mosquitoes. (And I am not sure my reflexes would have been fast enough in any case.)

While the birds are busy, the plants are too. The oxeye daisies are blooming below the kitchen window,

and here’s a portrait of one of the geranium flowers now gracing the front steps.