Wax Seal Stamp

I needed to make a wax seal for my invitations.  I used some 'FIMO Effect' modelling clay by #Staedtler in Glitter Green (though the colour doesn't matter for this particular part of the project).

I cut a small section of it off and rolled it into a ball (about the size of a conker - slightly smaller than a table tennis ball)

I then rolled it flat, allowing 1cm height

Using an ivy leaf fondant cutter, I embossed the pattern onto the FIMO, using a cocktail stick to emphasise the main lines and to add texture.

I made the edges of the stamp slightly cleaner with the edge of a knife, and my stamp is complete, ready to bake.  I did this on some tinfoil in the oven at 110 degrees centigrade for 20 - 30 minutes.

The next stage was attaching a handle to make stamping easier, I had a short length of doweling rod that I stuck on using super glue.  I then melted my sealing wax, which I bought here, stamped my design into it, and allowed it to cool.

Tauriel Costume

<< The premiere of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is this Friday, and tonight I finished my costume!

Tauriel (as I've explained in my 'Plan' post) is an elf of Mirkwood (aka Greenwood).  She's unique to Peter Jackson's films, as she did not appear in the book - in fact, very few/no female characters appeared in the book, so I guess this is a nod to diversity.

This costume took me about a week to make!  Really worth it - it's not just for the premiere, as my birthday party (1st-2nd Feb) is going to be Tolkein themed.  Hopefully I won't break it between now and then!

Making the Breast-Plate (and other armour)

I decided to make my armour out of papier mâché.  I forgot to take pictures (except of the final product) but here is just about how I did it (this is how I did the breast-plate, but I also used this method to make greaves and bracers).  

1. Put on an old, form fitting T-shirt that you don't mind cutting to bits.

2. Cover yourself in duct tape, the whole area that you want to be 'armour' - it should look like you have duct tape armour at this point.  Don't worry about going too tight, just remember that it will need to fit you when you put the final product on.

3. Get a pair of heavy duty scissors and get a friend to cut you out of your duct tape prison - this should be in a straight line from the top of your back, to the bottom - more or less following your spine downwards.

4. Duct tape the back together again.

5. Stuff your T-shirt with sheets, cushions, etc, until it looks the same shape as you when you're in it

6. Papier mâché the form with old newspaper and a PVA glue/water mix - I did about 50/50 measures, but you could get away with less PVA if you don't have much.  Do about 10 layers, and make sure you do them evenly.  Let it dry.

7.  Cut the back as you did before when trying to remove yourself from it, and peel the T-shirt and duct tape from the inside of the shell.  Don't worry if your first layer of papier mâché catches on it, if you have enough layers, this shouldn't be a problem.

8. Paint!  I wanted mine to look like leather, so used a dark brown acrylic paint, but you could make it look like metal if you wanted.  I added a design to it that I saw on Tauriel's greaves on an official Hobbit toy, as I wasn't convinced that I could copy the design of her breast-plate with the materials I have.  I used the same design on my bracers and greaves to tie it all in together.

9. Once dry, use a stanley knife and a knitting needle to punch through holes for laces.  Your armour will be able to be tied onto you corset-style.

10.  I covered it with another layer of PVA glue to make a more leathery effect.

11.  Add laces/string and enjoy!
 

 Making the Dress:

I can't really talk you through exactly how I went about making my dress, as I forgot to take pictures (sorry), but to sum up, I used tailor's chalk to mark out my template for my dress and left room for seams.  I sewed the different panels of the dress together, using a dark green fabric and dark green thread.  (Sorry again that I can't go into more detail).

Tauriel Costume: Plan

Who is Tauriel?  Well, she's an elf of Mirkwood, and one that didn't appear in Tolkien's the Hobbit.  More importantly, she's ginger and female - making her an ideal character for me to dress up as for the premier of the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug on Friday 13th!

My costume isn't going to be exact, by any stretch of the imagination - in fact, I'm just using it as an influence on what I'm going to end up with.  Also - on a budget!  Armour will be made of Papier Mâché and not any sort of leather; and the dress will be made of scraps of material that I find around my house. 

Jane Eyre Cake

Last month, I was asked by my English teacher to make a cake for her book club.  She wanted a lemon sponge with a lemon buttercream, to feed 12 people, and she wanted it to look like an open book with pages of a classic book such as Jane Eyre or something by Dickens.

The concept:

The flavour of the cake would be as requested, on a silver board with holly and ivy made out of modelling paste in order to give it a festive feel.  I would have got the pages printed onto icing, but after being quoted £8 per sheet in the shop, and not trusting online sellers, I hand wrote the pages onto rice paper with an edible ink pen.  This took me about 2 hours, but only cost me about £2 total for all of the components!  (Preferable to the £16 that I would have had to pay otherwise).

I made my sponges about a week in advance and froze them.  This had the benefit that they were much easier to carve and buttercream once frozen as crumbs weren't flying everywhere.  I carved it into a book shape, added a liberal amount of buttercream, and then rolled on my ready-to-roll icing sheet (which I had coloured so that it was slightly ivory).

Tada!

Leaf of Lorien

I'm starting my LoTR planning by making myself a Leaf of Lorien.  

I'm using FIMO Effects modelling Clay by #Staedtler in "Glitter Green" 

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall" ~ (Aragorn)

Step One:  I printed out a picture of the leaf of Lorien in the size that I wanted it (I went for 10cm x 6.8cm) and roll thin lengths of clay with your fingers to cover all of the veins of the leaf, making the ends of each bit taper off to a point, as it creates a more realistic effect.  I used a round glass mat to work on, but you could easily just cover a book with clingfilm - just make sure that it's not something that your clay will stick on.

Step Two: I did the same, but with longer lengths of clay, building the outline of the leaf.

Step Three:  I put the 'veins' to one side and worked on the body of the leaf next.  I rolled out the clay to about 1mm deep and enough to cover the template.

Step Four:  I used a cocktail stick to engrave the outline of the template into the clay.

Step Five: I cut out the leaf outline (I used a standard kitchen knife, but a craft knife would be a lot easier).

Step Six: Here is where I found my glass plate particularly useful - I flipped the glass over and used it to place the veins on top of the body of the leaf.  Because I could see through the glass, I was able to match them up more or less perfectly.  Without a glass plate, I'd recommend doing it the other way and placing the leaf on the veins, apply a little pressure to get them to stick to each other, and then peel the leaf off of your working surface.

Step Seven:  I added the "stem" and "vines."  These will be painted silver later.

Step Eight: Using a cocktail stick, I added texture to the leaf.

Step Nine: I flipped the leaf and placed a needle on the back, securing it with some more clay.  (This is so that I can add a brooch attachment later.)

Step Ten: Bake!  I put mine in the oven at 110 degrees centigrade for 20 minutes.  Depending on how thick you have rolled your clay, it may take longer - but not more than 30 minutes.

Step Eleven: Paint!  I used green and white acrylic paint (I would have used silver instead of white, but I didn't have any).  

Step 12: I coated the whole brooch with clear nail varnish to give it an enamel sheen.

Et voila!

LoTR Party!

I've started a new project - I'm having a Tolkein themed party for my 18th 

(the party will be on the weekend of the 1st - 2nd of February).

I'm working on all of the props, invitations, recipes, and will bring you along with me!

We're going on an Adventure!

Gap Year Plans

While I'm writing this post, I'm sat in a picturesque location of the Lakeland fells.  I'm in Blencathra Field Centre, completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh residential, at the moment I'm waiting for everybody else to arrive (which they will do at 3.30pm).

I decided about 2 weeks before results came out that I'd really like to complete a Gap Year before going to University.  Law is a really intense course, and career, to go into, so I've decided that if I want to go travelling, I'm only really going to have this one opportunity to do so.

So, I'm going to talk you through a few of my plans. 

Firstly, next year, for a few months the title of this blog is going to change.  I'm planning on walking all 214 of Arthur Wainwright's fells in just over 2 months, wild camping and B&Bing my way around the beautiful Lake District.  And, every week or so, I'll be logging on and talking about the routes I've taken, the weather, the views, etc.  I can promise some stunning scenery!

This is all training.  By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have completed the 3 peaks challenge; have gone to Sicily with my sister to climb Mount Etna; and train up my school's teams for the Ten Tors Challenge.  Maybe I could have another go at the Gold challenge if they need a reserve.

Other things I'm planning on doing are learning to play the violin (something I've wanted to do for years, but have never got around to) and getting shed-loads of work experience.  The ideal would to get a 3 or 6 month contract for a firm, and do basic secretarial tasks (and get paid) but that's so incredibly unlikely to happen.  So, work experience in the day, and a part time job in the evenings to fund the rest of the challenges that I take on.

That's more or less everything I have at the moment :)  Lots more to think about, and I need to get some of these plans finalised.  Most importantly, I'm going to be keeping September 2014 free in order to complete my University application and LNAT.  Excited!