Upcycle Project Progress: Enchanted Wine Bottles

Even the best-laid schemes can go wrong from time to time. That’s what occurred with my most recent upcycling endeavour, where I intended to use three wine bottles and fairy lights to create a romantic atmosphere. Despite making some headway on the project, I sadly ran into a problem when I tried to laser cut the wood surface. At first, I had imagined a gorgeous timber surface that was expertly carved and shaped. I made the decision to use a laser cutter to precisely cut…

Upcycle Inspiration: Upcycled Fashion

The inspiration for my up-cycle project is up-cycled fashion which has gained popularity in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is notorious for being wasteful and unsustainable. Fast fashion is a term used for the process of creating cheap trendy clothes and and distributing them quickly so they are readily available to consumers. Fast fashion is a product of our consumerist society and capitalist economy which has allowed business conglomerates like Forever 21, FashionNova, H&M, etc to monopolize the fashion industry. They take trends from…

Final Stretch: Bed Stand

Hello readers, I have fallen behind on my final project but for what its worth I did really well on my midterms last week. The thing is I sacrificed working on this project to study for some applied math classes. Any how, I have purchased the wood for my bed stand. That’s all I’ve done. But I am excited because the lack of progress leaves me an opportunity to work extra hard and make giant strides this week and weekend!   p.s. This was as…

Design Loop: Kinetic Walking Sculpture

I sat down, all my supplies purchased, everything planned out, and a prototype leg even made. But, as design goes, deviations from my planned path arose, and I was forced to rethink my route. I had my end goal, and my starting point. I believe that in design, you have at minimum a vague idea of what you want to have as a product. It can be as vague or concise as you desire, but it is still an end goal. You may deviate from…

Upcycle Progress: Oyster Box

I wanted to create something that had a function, but still looked good.  For someone living in a small apartment, having something that serves a purpose is important.  I decided that I wanted to create a bowl as a place to store items like my keys and wallet, but I was stuck on a design.  While visiting my grandma a few weekends, I noticed that her bedroom had an ocean aesthetic.  She had a window curtain was of an underwater scene, with dolphins and fish…

Upcycle Thoughts: Kinetic Walking Sculpture

Theo Jansen has selflessly given his “11 holy numbers” away for the public to use however they see fit (See my previous post “Aesthetic Explorations: Theo Jansen and His Strandbeest” for more information on his creations). Shown below, the 11 numbers for a linkage system for a leg to be powered by a crank. I would like to use his design to create my own walking “Strandbeest” out of Popsicle sticks (if they are strong enough) or thin wood. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Strandbeest_Leg_Proportions.svg Below is someone else’s attempt…

Pearl Progress 4/13

I made a lot of progress on my project this last weekend and am about to make even greater strides tomorrow and this weekend. This last weekend I laser cut all of my pieces out, the map and the pieces to create the 3D buildings. Then I spent time cleaning them all off in preparation for spray painting them. I got a frosted glass spray at McGuckin’s that wold help give my extremely clear acrylic the more opaque look I was going for. This was…

Pearl St. Progress 4/6

I have both made a lot of progress since my last blog post and made none at all. The things I still need to do in the following couple of days, I wanted to get done this last weekend. I need to order acrylic from Colorado Plastics, but am unsure exactly how that process works. I need to buy my switches from the Electrical Engineering shop for three dollars each. I also need to purchase glue that will glue perf. boards to acrylic and some…

3/30 Pearl’s Progress Report

I have come to a larger roadblock in my design process at this point. I had high aspirations and hopes before Spring Break, but now I am feeling the pressure of time and getting my project done. I wasn’t able to work on my project much over break due to the lack of equipment available to me. I was planning on 3D printing my buildings for my project and letting the LED lights shine through them, but the 3D printing is proving too be too…