Jack-O-Lantern 2024

    Andrew Crawford October 31, 2024

    My 2024 virtual jack-o-lantern was created in Nomad Sculpt, then rendered and animated in Blender. Seen here with my virtual jack-o-lanterns from 2022 and 2023.

    Rendering of three jack-o-lanterns lit up from within with candles. Two are sitting on a brick wall with one below and between.

    Spiral Crystal Light-Up Pop Up Card

    Andrew Crawford October 11, 2024

    Chibitronics asked me to participate in a project they are coordinating with prompts from @5am_popup. My prompt was “reverse.” Thus, the switching mechanism for this card works by reversing the covers of the card, touching the front and reverse sides.

    I took inspiration from a design by the late Professor Masahiro Chatani for the mechanical functioning of the card. The electronics and everything else were improvised as quickly as I could manage.

    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    3/4 top-down view of the Spiral Crystal pop up card. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    Top-down view of the Spiral Crystal pop up card. Four panels with Celtic triskelion designs appear to make a diamond pattern, perched on the edge of a blue card.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card
    A dark blue card with an attached yellow-gold structure composed of triangular panels with Celtic triskelion designs.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card (Half Open)
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card about 85% closed. The pop up portion is a golden yellow lattice featuring Celtic triskelion designs, backed with a diffuser.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card (85% Closed)
    Closed Spiral Crystal pop up card. The side is dark blue with a metallic copper spiral. A ridge is slightly visible under part of the spiral. A strip of black covers the central fold.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card (Closed, side 1)
    Closed Spiral Crystal pop up card. The side is dark blue with a metallic copper spiral. A strip of black covers the central fold.
    Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card (Closed, side 2)

    I made a video with a detailed walk-through of building the card.

    Godar Blot Skull Pins

    Andrew Crawford October 3, 2024

    I didn’t post the wood inlay Mastodon logo pins I made a couple years ago but, they came out so well that I periodically think of other things that would make good pin designs. In the spirit of the season and, since I rarely get around to the “spooky season” projects I envision these days, I made some skull pins inspired by my old Godar Blot design.

    There are two variants: one where white oak is dominant, with walnut for the eyes and nose and, padauk for the spiral on the forehead and, another where walnut is dominant with white oak for the eye and nose and, padauk for the spiral.

    I was making these for friends and family but, I ended up making a few extras. They are up in the shop, if you want one (light or dark).

    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pin – white oak skull with inlaid walnut eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pin – walnut skull with inlaid white oak eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap for scale.
    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale and, the light pin is held between an index finger and thumb.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap and fingers for scale.

    Two minute making-of video:

    ESP32 Ad Blocker with Case

    Andrew Crawford September 26, 2024

    I made a DNS proxying ad blocker using ESP32-S2 with a custom laser-cut acrylic case. This is based on projects by “rubfi” and John Park, who are entirely responsible for the code.

    The case is inspired by one from dsacademy that I modified for my networked USB flash drive. I designed this case from scratch to fit the Adafruit ESP32-S2 TFT Feather boards, which have a nice little integrated color display panel. I laser cut the pieces from 3mm and 6mm thick clear acrylic. I made some little EVA foam feet to cover the screw ends to avoid scratching up surfaces. The case assembles with four 20mm M2 screws with washers and nuts.1

    Below is the design file for the case if you want it for personal use. If you want to do anything else with it (e.g., sell finished cases or incorporate it in your commercial project), please contact me for permission first.

    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case.
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case.
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case (bottom).
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case (bottom).
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case (3/4 front view).
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case.
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case.
    ESP32-S2 TFT Feather running ESPHole in a custom laser-cut acrylic case.

    Short assembly video:

    This file is for personal, non-commercial use only.  Note that, by referencing this, you are agreeing to release any variations you create under identical terms.

    Attribution-Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlikeESP32-S2 TFT Feather Case (SVG)

    1 Amazon Associates link benefits a local arts organization.

    Reputation Tracker

    Andrew Crawford September 14, 2024

    Kira of Cryptid Dicecraft asked me to make a “reputation tracker” for their Victorian era fae-themed table top role playing game (TTRPG). I made a few changes and expanded on their rough design to make this.

    Overall, it is 10cm square and about 3.2cm tall and, made of walnut hardwood. After a fair amount of sanding, I finished it with a few layers of wipe-on polyurethane, lightly sanded between layers.

    The bottom is a box to contain the cribbage pegs used for tracking and, connects to the top with magnets.

    The engrave on the face is filled using silver acrylic paint. I glued a piece of nice black card stock to the back of the top piece. I lined the lower box and put a gasket between the parts with cork.

    I took some photos on my tarnished silver tea service and, made a short making-of video.

    Reputation tracker open with pegs in some of the holes.
    Reputation Tracker
    Reputation tracker - a wooden box with a list of names on the face, each with a row of holes that accept cribbage pegs.
    Reputation Tracker
    Back side of the reputation tracker showing the Evermore ambigram engraved in the center.
    Back side of the reputation tracker showing the Evermore ambigram engraved in the center.
    Reputation Tracker open with pegs.
    Reputation Tracker open with pegs.
    The Reputation Tracker open and empty.
    Reputation Tracker (open)
    The inside surfaces of the Reputation Tracker - the top backed with a matte black cardstock and the bottom lined with cork.
    The insides of the reputation tracker.
    Reputation tracker sanded but, not finished.
    Reputation tracker sanded but, not finished.

    XOXO Rubber Stamp

    Andrew Crawford August 22, 2024
    A small notebook lying clipped open stamped with XOXO in rainbow colors. The stamp sits next to the impression. A multi-colored stamp pad and a purple pencil are visible around it.

    XOXO is happening one more time in Portland (OR) right now! I couldn’t be there this year but, I made some rubber XOXO stamps and, sent them off to people who will be there. They are using them to encourage community and interaction. If you are there and have something you want stamped, look and ask around in person or in slack.

    I made a short of assembling the stamps. I may do a video on rubber stamp design and file prep, if there is interest.

    Update: I collected some photos of the stamps and impressions from the stamps in the wild (mainly at the festival).  Thank you so much to everyone for sharing your photos!

    If you have any photos that include (intentionally or incidentally) the XOXO stamps or impressions from them that are not here already, please contact me to get them added.

    XOXO stamps, face-up, with flower-shaped rainbow stamp pad and spray bottle on a round table with a grey tablecloth in the park
    Photo by Jeremy Salmon
    Stamped button, blue on white with the date 24 AUG 2024 stamped below, sitting on top of an XOXO festival pass and lanyard adorned with assorted pins.
    Stamped XOXO button. Photo by Booky Margoof.
    XOXO stamp, rainbow stamp pad, spray bottle, paper towels and, 2024 edition XOXO Field Notes on a picnic table.
    XOXO stamp, rainbow stamp pad, spray bottle, paper towels and, 2024 edition XOXO Field Notes on a picnic table. Photo by Simon S Sotelo.
    XOXO stamps with impressions in a small grid-ruled notebook on a granite surface with a rainbow flower stamp pad and fingers with intricately-patterned nails.
    XOXO stamps with impressions in a small grid-ruled notebook on a granite surface with a rainbow flower stamp pad. Photo by Simon S Sotelo.
    Members of the #stationery group wrote and decorated notes at XOXO to send to community members that could not be there.
    Members of the group wrote and decorated notes at XOXO to send to community members that could not be there. Photo by Lorien Williams.
    Artistic shot of an XOXO stamp sitting on a wrinkled paper towel stained with ink. Another stamp is visible out-of-focus in the background.
    XOXO stamps between impressions. Photo by Brad Barrish.
    XOXO stamps with rainbow flower stamp pad on picnic table B12 with a They/Them pronoun pin.
    XOXO stamps with rainbow flower stamp pad on picnic table B12 with a They/Them pronoun pin. Photo by Simon S Sotelo.
    Portrait featuring a Flo Mask whose filter has been stamped with the XOXO stamp in blue
    Photo by Molly McLeod
    3/4 shot wearing a Flo Mask that has been stamped with XOXO
    Photo by Molly McLeod.
    Sketches of the Andys in a small sketchbook becing stamped with the XOXO stamp
    Sketch of the Andys being stamped. Photo by Molly McLeod.
    Sketches of the Andys with XOXO stamped in red next to them
    Stamped sketch of the Andys. Photo by Molly McLeod.
    KN95 masks in blue and two shades of green, stamped with XOXO
    Photo by Molly McLeod
    Wolf Nails pen sketch with XOXO stamps
    Photo and art by Susan Lin
    Book of XOXO festival paper ephemera bound into a small book with Erin McFadden's badge as the covers.
    Photo by Erin McFadden.
    Book of XOXO festival paper ephemera bound into a small book with Erin McFadden's badge as the covers.
    Photo by Erin McFadden.
    Joe Crawford's XOXO badge with pins and stickers on a stamped piece of paper
    XOXO badge, pins and stamp impressions. Photo by Joe Crawford
    Two columns of multi-color impressions from the XOXO stamps fill a page in a small grid notebook
    Impressions from all of the XOXO stamps made on one page.
    An envelope Addressed to Andrew Crawford (rest of the address and return address redacted), decorated with stickers and stamps. A card behind reads hi, XOXO friend!
    The lovely folks in the XOXO group sent me one of their fun decorated letters (front).
    The back of an envelope with XOXO stamped in multiple colors on the flap, decorated with stickers. The corner of a card sticks out from the bottom with a stylized mountain and some pine trees.
    The lovely folks in the XOXO group sent me one of their fun decorated letters (reverse).
    A section of a cork board covered with paper ephemera, pins, buttons, stickers, postcards, small handmade items too numerous to enumerate.
    My letter from XOXO has joined the inspirational chaos of the cork board in the studio!
    A dot grid Field Notes page with a list of places to get tacos in Portland with a stamp from Seven Virtues Coffee Roasters and the XOXO stamp in rainbow colors.
    Photo by David Millar.