The Enchanted Forest

    Andrew Crawford December 15, 2024

    Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!

    This holiday card is my take on a popular origamic architecture/kirigami concept. These are laser scored and cut, then hand folded from the Ice Gold stock I have been using.

    A pop up card made from cutting and folding a single sheet of stock depicts a stag standing framed by the convergence of rows of trees receding into the distance. The branches overhead form whirls and spirals. The background is a green textured paper (momigami) with the white card backlit against it.
    Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!
    Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.
    Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.

    I made a two-minute video of cutting and folding these.  No narration on this one but, watch for the jig-in-place technique for scoring both sides of the card in the laser near the beginning.

    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.