My poem, “The Anarchist’s Cookbook”, is up on issue two of Rivets.  Click here to read it.

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A warm welcome once again… to… me.

I am fairly certain my ‘readership’ has not yet reached the heady heights of two (or more) so I will continue to speak to myself in the second person but if by some bizarre occurrence you are not me, and have happened upon this page, then welcome!  Pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable, and read all two of my posts several times over.

I am sure you will feel riveted to your seat and compelled to stay.

I really love this image for the color and the contrast of the soft upper portion with the coarseness of the rusty lower portion. I also love the accidental find of shooting the number 12 when there are exactly 12 rivets in the image. Totally unexpected.

I bought some vintage vinyl shelf liner second hand a while back. I’ve been working on alternative bags for packing jewelry. I’ve tried to do recycled mail packaging before with very little success. Since it rains a lot here, I like to pack the items I’m shipping in a rain resistant package.

Above is the final version of my packing pouch all closed up. I went through several versions of the pouch before I finally found a version that I though would work for me. I thought I would show you my iterations.

I have two kinds of vinyl shelf liner, the gold and the red. My first version used the gold. I cut long strips of it, rounded off the edges, folded the bottom part up and zigzag stitched around the outside. For the closure, I decided to use paper circles riveted to the flap and pouch then tied with thread. On the first two pouches, I forgot to consider a closure for the bag. The rivets are reversed on them. I finished them then decided to do one more by riveting the circles on before sewing the pouch.

After finishing the 3rd gold pouch, I thought, “Why don’t I just use Velcro?”. So I pulled out some red vinyl shelf liner and made a few more pouches. I zigzagged all the way around, then sewed on some Velcro dots. I put a button on the flap cover up my stitching. I still wasn’t satisfied. They looked so plain!

I thought they would be great with a pocket on the front for my business card. I found some red mesh in my stash. I zigzag stitched a piece of mesh on the front then sewed up the pouch.

Also I decided that I had so many plain white buttons that I might just as well use them to make a closure for my pouch. I sewed a button to the flap and one to the mesh pocket.

Since the vinyl shelf liner is tacky on the backside, I folded a piece of paper in half and put it inside the bag. I can slip my piece of jewelry between the two halves of paper. I can slip my business card in front. Finally I can tie the ribbon around the buttons for a rain resistant package.

As I told you the second damask fabric was for a bag. I have not really made bags before, except for simple things, so i decided to actually buy a pattern this time. The bag went together so easy, it was crazy simple.

This bag have bag feet, a tubular metal bag frame, a plastic grid in the bottom for stability, riveted handles in leather and so on The outside fabric is my handwoven damask fabric and the inside is a black linen fabric, to “take up” the flax in the warp.

I am really really really satisfied with this bag, it turned out great and i truly LOVE IT. In the end not all the symbols that i planned got to be on the bag, but the most relevant is there, the dress makers dummy, the computer and the corset. The crowns are also there, but are not really visible.

All the supplies for this bag, except for the fabric, the buckle, the leather handles, rings and rivets for the handles are from u-handbag.com I am really satisfied with their services, the things arrives so amazingly quick. They are based in the UK and I live in Sweden so the shipping time of just a few days are amazing, I don’t even think that I would get something that quick even if I ordered something from a Swedish web shop.

My shopping list from u-handbag
Silver Protective Bag Feet 16mm
Grid Bag Bottom 6 3/4″x 22.5″
Indygo Junction: The Carpetbag Pattern
Internal Bag Frame 12″ – Tubular

Well, among the other 9,483 things I’m doing for the first time on this model, rivets are one of them. With the wing drying from the latest primer coats, and the stab curing, I decided to experiment on rivets.

Our neighborhood literally full of housewives who are also nurses. I talked with one of them at the bus-stop the other morning and explained what I was trying to do, showing her a few pictures. I wasn’t sure what size needle I needed and she offered to bring me a few samples.

Well, I’ve been experimenting with different techniques and found that using a thicker craft clue (like Wellbond) or carpenter’s glue (like Tightbond) works very well. I originally tried regular Elmer’s, but the rivets looked like dried prunes instead of nice, rounded rivets.

So, using the tiniest of the needles (a 29 gauge), I found the combination I liked. Here you see the result of the first rivets. I used Tightbond and it works pretty well. Also, I can wash it out of the needle with a little work, so I can re-use it for the next application.

As I stated in ” Getting my First Period……. Kit together“  I have been working on a few peice of my armour to get things looking and functioning better.  I am going to start from my lower half and work my way up since I have 80% of the greaves and knees done.

So, Madog and Ivan in my house hold made the greaves from a pattern i sent them, and the knees are windrose armory. They are a straight forward set up nothing to crazy. The knee is a simple soup can like knee and the greaves are basic.  I have been working on a more late 13th century kit.  Kinda English with a slash of Italian.   I have pulled a few different pieces from all over,  I know this isnt perfectly period or correct but int he long run it is what I am hoping will work well for SCA combat. 

If you look at this Italian released you can see the greaves and knees I was going for.  I have taken a few liberties with color and form and moved the greaves a little earlier than most people like.  But, I did this for safety.  I get hit in the shin more than I get hit in the knee or thigh.   This happens because of my fighting style and the way I move with my shield, so I need greaves so I can walk after a fight practice.

I still need to add a leather garters to these, and I am thinking black or red.  Once I make the decision I can build them up and add them to the kit.  I am thinking I might punch two small holes int eh greaves and garters and lace them together.  This way they can be attached but wont be permanent.   At this point it is just a thought?

Finally, I am looking in to foot ware.  I think I am going to go with a Historic Enterprises pair of turn shoes (link).  This should work, and I might even add a mail covering for them.   I personally, need a set of shoes and why not have a set that can be used for both walking and fighting?

-H

♣ Cecilie E

After several FDC posts lately I present you now a new INDI Design’s outfit for women, Tracy. Tracy is a mixture of different styles put together such as neko, punk, streetwear…there’s no exact classification, you can see what you want to see in it.  

Tracy includes:

• 2 sculpted hoods (beige and camouflage)
• 2 sculpted armbelts
• 2 sculpted armcuffs
• 4 jackets
• 2 tops
• 2 sculpted belt
• 1 flexi skirt
• 1 glitchpants
• 1 short pants
• 1 long pants
• 1 gloves
• underwear

There are also matching heels and boots available at my mainstore.

Yours, Jamie Holmer

Belts are really strong in the fashion scene again. For the played down but cool and chick look with chinos and no socks in the shoes – which is one of  the advantages of the spring time I really love!, I would definitely go for the very narrow belt. The minimalistic ones are available in many cool colours – but also the rivets are still essential for the rockability look! I like Chloe’s styling with feminine flounce blouses or military inspired shirt with golden buttons! YouHeShe and Net a Porter have many cool ones. For budget shopping I can suggest Second Hand shops which still have lot of them at extremely reasonable prices – happy hunting!

Marni – seen at NET-A-PORTER.COM

Miu Miu at NET-A-PORTER.COM

Vanessa Bruno seen at YouHeShe.com

Humanoid seen at YouHeShe.com

HTC seen at NET-A-PORTER.COM

White Trumpet’s spring 09 collection plays to the beat of my drum. Like Sofie Hulme’s sequin madness, I’m reminded once again of my old dancing costumes. This designer couple comes from a music and architecture background and I think it really shows in their construction. Like a modern day flapper, dresses are adorned with long hanging fringe. I can almost hear the music play from the movement of these swishing strings. The duo also produce over-sized riveted tops in which the metal holes actually create the design. Their skirts are constructed with folded fabric panels, remniscient of the geometric structure behind the Tate Modern. The color palette of yellow, gray, black and white feels muted, as if to offset the structured ornamentation of each piece. I’m really in love with it all.

White Trumpet clothes are sold on pixiemarket.com right now.

If you take a look here, you see a bunch of rivets on jeans (specifically Levi’s jeans). It is quite impressive that Levi’s has enough history to contain some of most important world affairs. Some of you might be thinking that there is not one connection between the WWII and the Levi’s jeans, but there is actually. Take a closer look at the 6th photo. You’ll notice that the rivet is made out of iron not copper. It is quite doubtful for me that iron was cheaper than copper, but Levi’s did have war supports during WWII. During the WWII, the United States was trying to save as much of resources as they could. Many propaganda and posters were put up to discourage people from wasting resources. “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler.” That’s how important saving resource was back then. Levi’s did a good job in saving resources by replacing copper rivets with iron rivets. And there’s also more that Levi’s did to support the war. The symbolic Arcuate (the arch on the back pocket) was painted not stitched during the WWII. As you see in the second photo of the back pockets, you’ll notice that there’s no arch on the back pocket. Such is because paints wear off faster than an actual thread. I’m not quite sure how saving copper and thread supported the war, but it is quite impressive in their effort. Wouldn’t it be the reason we love Levi’s so much?

(image credit to joeventures from flickr.com)

Je n’ai pas pour habitude de parler d’art et pour cause, je n’y connais rien. Pourtant ce week end je suis tombé par hasard sur un livre que je me suis mit à feuilleter frénétiquement et que j’ai adoré : “Ma vie chez les Super Héros” d’Eric Liot.

Eric Liot est un artiste qui fait, entre autres, des assemblages avec des morceaux de bois, de CDs, des bouts d’affiches chinés aux 4 coins du monde, le tout réunis et fixés sur des plaques en bois avec des rivets. C’est coloré, drôle, hyper fourni et on passe facilement plusieurs minutes à décortiquer chaque plaque envouté par la fantaisie et la nostalgie qui s’en dégage.

Je trouve sa série de collages génial. C’est une rencontre entre plusieurs univers, des Marvels à Tintin en passant par Bruce Lee, Belmondo et toutes les figures de marques qu’on a connu étant enfant (Banania, le casque Gitane, le bonhomme Dunlop…). Tout ca dans une ambiance qui rappelle Warhol ou Lichtenstein.

Vraiment un gros coup de coeur et comme un bonheur n’arrive jamais seul, Eric Liot sera en vernissage jeudi soir (2 avril) à la Gallerie Stouk dans le 6e arrondissement où 25 de ses oeuvres seront exposés… pour peu qu’il y ait des ptits fours gratis c’est gagné.

Today I’ve got something new for the women. A sexy black leather outfit with a Goth touch called Hazel.

Hazel includes:

• 1 sculpted shoulder plate
• 1 jacket
• 2 tops
• 1 gloves
• 2 pants ( long and short)
• 1 sculpted belt
• 4 sculpted leg belts
• 1 bra
• 2 strings
• 1 stockings

Yours, Jamie Holmer

Rail bridge over the Regent’s Canal

Das neue Thema bei Saturday’s Workout ist Faux Leather with Masking Tape. Das hat mich neugierig gemacht und so bin ich nach dem ich mir Sandy ihr Beispiel angeschaut hatte zu den Splitcoaststampers hinüber gehobst. Wie ich es mir fast gedacht hatte, gibt es für diese Art der Gestaltung viele Namen. Mir ist sie bekannt als Reißtechnik oder Sticky Tape.  Das besondere an der bei den Splitcoaststampers vorgestellten  Gestaltungsart ist das Embossen des mit Kreppband gestalteten Hintergrundes. Dadurch erhält der Hintergrund einen besonderen Ausdruck und je nach dem mit welcher Farbe man gearbeitet hat, werden die Gestaltungselemente stärker hervorgehoben.

In meinem Beispiel habe ich die Adirondack Pigment Stempelkissen zum Einfärben des Hintergrundes verwendet. Gestempelt ist ein Motiv von Inkadinkado auf Mica Tile, koloriert mit Glaze 3D Rollern.

I have to admit it. I like steel and rust more than shiny pipes and black and white modern design. Thus being so, I grabbed some buckets of rivets and my famous rusty steel and green glass textures.
 
What I wrenched out of my head after 4 days of building was my new headquarter in a 140m diameter cogwheel.

Now, after the rivets have cooled down, I decided to pack that up for sale in a while.

I was asked why I would be not selling it right away.

The answer is fairly easy:
To show off a bit. I behold it to be a somewhat unique structure in SL (yes I know well that there are probably a million unique structures around – but this is my personal-lookwhat-I’ve-done-now-structure ).

But to offer some solace to the people who already asked me about it because of the looks and the somewhat nifty gate-construction, I took the vastly huge entrance hall and converted it into a separate structure, which I called “The Greenhouse”. This is going to be the first prefab of a new line of products, I call Steelworks

The Greenhouse offers a spacious hall, ideally suited as a workshop,
a store, a gallery or simply a stylish home.

The innovative entrance doors open automaticly and with a massive sound to let you in while the external lanterns allow you to set your entrance to the right light. The lanterns detect nighttime and switch on automaticly as soon as your sim turns dark.

————————————————-
Technical Data
————————————————–
Footprint: 36 x 36 meter
Height: about 18 meter
Prims: 223
- Building: 194
- Lamps and lightswitch: 39

Permissions:
Mod/Copy/No Transfer
(Except for the scripts which are no mod)

Price: 1999 L$

See it on SLX: http://xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1248154

Or look for it in my mainstore: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dhaulagiri/223/151/56

I was driving home to my parents house a few weeks ago and passed over a set of railroad tracks in Brookston(Indiana) on state road 18.  This was the usual for a road trip home, but this time i saw some workers working on the tracks.  They were using fire for something, and from what I could tell (I’m going to go ahead and assume) they were burning out rivets.  As most of the time I carry my camera on me when I feel I may get something interesting on my trips.  I went down a block and decided to make a quick turn and head back to get some pics of them working.  They were more than happy to let me take some pictures of them while they worked on the tracks.  It wasn’t anything to exciting, but the picture I had in my head was an old vintage look.  This is what i came up with and I think it reminds me of a blast through the past when you saw railroad workers nailing in rivets to the tracks.

Railroad Workers

Railroad Workers

I am pleased to note that my transfer punch idea worked better than I had expected.  I had to move one hole on account of re-striking the wrong mark, but after fixing that all the holes line up, and none of them are oversize.  As in, 0.156″ holes for 4mm fasteners, so there is basically no room for misaligned holes.

The lesson here is to make sure there is a clear distinction between any marks on the material that were there to begin with, and the marks made deliberately.  Of course if I was working with brand new material with the plastic still on it I wouldn’t have had that problem, but then I wouldn’t have learned the lesson either.

Other than that it was a pleasant (if cold) opportunity to escape to the basement and get some use out of the microstop countersink I bought recently.  I actually own two, one standard one with a wide foot, and a long narrow one as for sinking the inside face of Douglas track.  That particular one came with a nice assortment of 100° piloted cutters, which are quite expensive otherwise.  It feels a little naughty to be using such tools with an electric drill, but my basement contains none of the hazards which would mandate air tools.

I broke the points on two drill bits removing a couple of those countersunk fasteners I bought.  I don’t know specifically what the stem is made of, but it feels almost like iron, of all things.  It is hard like steel, but it feels coarse and brittle.  That reminds me, I need to buy a real 3/32″ pin punch, something of which I am curiously deficient.  Ditto a 3/32″ cobalt drill bit.

Tomorrow, I’ll get the other motherboard mounted, and install some anchor nuts.  I don’t have the jig to do it quickly and precisely, but then for the number of anchor nuts I install in a year, I can live without it.  A small rack of silver clecos would be nice though.  Maybe once I get the holidays paid off I’ll go to the city and see what I can find.

The other thing I need to find is a center punch that doesn’t leave holes that were laid out in a straight line, all over the place.  I obviously have had meaningful education in the use of these tools, though I do hope that their effective, graceful use will come with practice.

In the haul at the post office today was the PCI video card, and the RAID controller I had ordered.  The RAID controller is a lovely piece of kit, even if the cable is a meter long and I’ll have to find some place to hide it all.  Ubuntu 8.10 recognizes it in the kernel, so as far as it is concerned it is one big hard drive rather than a collection thereof.

The video card does what it says it would, but it only does 640×480, and that isn’t much use.  So I spent the money the second time that I should have spent the first time on something a little more capable.  I’m still only out 35 bucks for the two of them and shipping, so it isn’t a big issue.

With the RAID card occupying the sole PCI-E slot larger than X1 (why?  why bother?  PCI-E X1 doesn’t appear to be any faster than plain vanilla PCI, and so it is a waste of valuable real estate) I no longer have room for the 7900GT I had in there.  My goodness, the noise that computer doesn’t make without it!  Even with the fan slowed down it still makes a lot of noise, and I am glad to be rid of it.

The 7900s are going into my desktop when I get it back together, although they and the CPU will be watercooled as they were when I took it apart.  I’m not sure if I’ll bother water-cooling the CPU on the server board, it is a Celeron 430 and isn’t putting out much heat anyway.  I think I’ll get a HSF that will support a 120mm fan, that will keep it quiet and do so with a minumum of fuss.  It isn’t like I’m going for a world speed record, or running Folding@Home on it.

I ordered some countersunk pop rivets, 3/32″ shank diameter, 3/16″ grip length.  These are useful for fastening anchor nuts to things, so that they in turn can be fastened together with screws, requiring access to one side only.  They showed up today too.

So, much fabricating to do.  I’m still not sure how I’m going to pin down all the copper spaghetti, but then I have plenty of other stuff to do first!

Oh boy, oh boy. We need a concept artist, but until then, I will be doing all this stuff so, here’s a new piece of concept art. The first phase of Cyl! Sorta worked out! All detailed like and whatnot! Have a look, comment, critique, give me ideas! Tell me what you think!

Concept art of Cyl Phase 1