Another craft project from last christmas is this backpack that I made for a loved one. I'd been trying to make it for several years with several false starts of getting most of the project done before realizing major flaws in my design, approach, or materials.

The final product is completely made from scratch, internal construction and all and has an internal laptop sleeve and pairs of D-rings for adjustable straps with arms and legs on the straps and claws and teeth, two sets of three eyes, floppy ears, a ridge down it's back, and, completely unintentionally, some caked up ass cheeks.

As far as projects go I'm glad I took the time to get this one right. It's one of the best I've made, though I'm glad to have it finished so I can go back to working on smaller ones.

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The end of January marked 10 years since the beginning of my medical gender transition and I decided to use the opportunity to have a big celebration with friends and loved ones. I decided to indulge my desire to get to be a princess for the evening and also to invite all my friends into a safe space to experiment and play with gender presentation so the rules were cis folks were required to be in drag to attend, while everyone else was allowed to play with gender presentation however they liked. Everyone really put the genuine effort in and bunch of friends also secretly organised to decorate the space like a trans/wedding themed high school prom night without my knowing. The whole night was completely magical and I just keep coming back to how incredibly thankful I am to be so loved and supported by such amazing, wonderful, fun, strong people.

Ash McAllan shared a month ago

After learning that some indoor plants benfit from being shaken to simulate wind, I decided to automate the process and built this plant shaking machine aka "WobbleBot" as a Christmas gift for a dear friend with a green thumb.

The motor is from an impact drill from a thrift store, the wire basket was from a homewares store as was the mop handle that I cut for the axle and the plastic storage container that protects the motor. The rest was spare bits of wood, a few screws, a bunch of zip ties and a coat of paint.

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Ash McAllan shared 3 months ago

Finally finished rolling the last of the stones for this project. I actually started this while I was sick with food poisoning and then Covid this summer. The burning of the lines on the board was very meditative while I couldn't think straight. Once I had it together I coated it in beeswax, cut a little leather strap clasp from an old belt, and rolled stones from polymer clay. I find that the size of these stones and the grid are a bit awkward to play with, small to pick up with clumsy fingers. Now I understand why standard boards have grids and pieces of a certain size, but I'm still very proud of this board as a thing I made for myself.

Ash McAllan shared 3 months ago

As I age I want to grow into a kind of great Deku Tree or Grandmother Willow, figure that the young-uns can come to in their times of distress and I will give them comfort, then wisdom, and then a knife before sending them back out into the world to cause trouble for dragons and kings alike.