Elongated Dodecahedra Models

    Andrew Crawford March 28, 2025

    Apropos of nothing in particular, I was playing around with a shape I have seen a bunch of people talking about recently, the elongated dodecahedron. It was easy to create in Blender, and I thought I would share my model in case it was of use to anyone else.

    Elongated Dodecahedron Model
    Elongated Dodecahedron Model

    This is a set of blender and STL files for an elongated dodecahedron. This is a well-known solid that has been modeled and used for all sorts of things, including as 4-sided dice, for decades.

    Size: 264kb
    Download Now!

    7cm Print Frame

    Andrew Crawford March 21, 2025

    I made a frame so I could put one of my Celtic knotwork frog prints up over my desk. The frame is several layers of laser-cut walnut and a square of museum-grade UV acrylic. The back attaches with strong magnets.

    Small Celtic knotwork frog printed in green on a copper square, with a white mat in a walnut frame.
    Framed Celtic Knotwork Frog Print
    Back side of the 7cm walnut print frame showing the four round magnets in the corners and an engraved Evermore ambigram in the center.
    7cm Print Frame (Back)
    7cm print frame, open with the back off, showing the UV acrylic, magnet closures, and the black inside of the back panel.
    7cm Print Frame (Open)
    7cm print frame, open with the back off and the matted print in place, magnet closures, and the black inside of the back panel.
    7cm Print Frame (Open with print)
    Frog Celtic knotwork print in a walnut frame hanging on the wall over a desk with a small clock, a netsuke of a skeleton playing a mokogyo, a silver tissue box, and a few Retro 51 pens standing point-up.
    Framed Celtic Knotwork Frog Print Hung

    There is a 4 minute video about making the frame:

    If you have 7cm prints you want to frame, the cut file for this is in the free Subscriber Archive.

    The Newsletter and the Archive

    Andrew Crawford March 21, 2025

    This newsletter is a better way for you to see all of my projects and other things I am sharing.

    The original idea of social media was that people could share things online that you wanted to see, and you could see them. That’s not how it works now. Now, there is an algorithm, optimized primarily to make the owners of the networks money. Now, it doesn’t consistently show you the things you have asked to see. The people running the big social networks have said that their plan going forward is to try to eliminate that entirely, to make their networks a place where you just passively consume things made by machines. [1]

    You want to see the projects I and others are sharing, and be part of the connections and collaborations they create. To that end, there need to be ways to make direct connections to the people whose projects interest you, not intermediated by for-profit social networking companies.

    You will keep seeing at least some of what I post on Instagram, Bluesky, and Mastodon, as long as those places seem viable for making those kinds of connections.

    Subscribing to my newsletter will let you see everything I share, without a big social media company playing games with your attention.

    You likely won’t be getting email from me more often than monthly. You will almost certainly be seeing me mention things I sell, but that’s not the main purpose of the newsletter. You won’t be endlessly hounded to buy something.

    I am hosting everything for the newsletter myself. Your email address won’t be shared with anyone else, and you can quickly and easily unsubscribe at any time (there will be a link to unsubscribe in the newsletter).

    Composite of two screen shots from Instagram: one says that a post reached 179 accounts, and offers to let you boost the post; the other shows 1,020 followers for the account.
    "Of the 1,020 people who asked to see what you post, we showed it to 179. You can pay us to show it to more people."

    Of course, there is an official Privacy Policy for the website, if you want more detail on my data handling policies.

    Subscriber Archive

    In the process of making physical things, I create a lot of digital assets: pop up card patterns, box patterns, 3D models, laser cutting files, etc. To thank you for allowing me to talk to you directly, I have set up a Subscriber Archive where you can download some of that stuff to use in your own personal (non-commercial) projects.

    Subscribe

    [1] Here are a couple of quotes from recent news articles:

    “Mark Zuckerberg has been clear about his intentions: He believes that the future of ‘social media’ is a bunch of human beings scrolling through and arguing about AI-generated content on his many platforms.” – 404 Media

    “What he is describing, of course, are social media networks that are not even remotely social and which may increasingly not even feature much human-made content at all.” – 404 Media

    And here is a more detailed explanation of how social media got like this:

    With Great Power Came No Responsibility: How Enshittification Conquered the 21st Century and How We Can Overthrow It

    Celtic Design Fabric

    Andrew Crawford March 15, 2025

    I finally got around to making a Celtic knotwork / interlacing fabric design to go with my Celtic key pattern and spiral designs.  This design produces an endless panel of knots.  Getting the knots absolutely perfect to make seamless tiles is a fun challenge.

    I posted some bags I made (pouch with green spirals, pouch with blue spirals, and an azuma bukuro style dice bag) with a few of the fabrics I made before.  I hadn’t posted about the fabrics specifically, though.

    I have been adding these to my list at the fabric printer in case anyone else has a use for them.

    Fabric with an endless pattern of intricate Celtic knots in shades of blue with yellow stars on a darker blue field lying flat with a bright orange-red and bronze 20-sided die with black numbers.
    Endless Celtic Knot Panel Fabric in Blue
    Four pieces of fabric arranged like shingles: a field of spirals in shades of blue, a Celtic key / maze pattern in an almost-black on blue, the same key / maze pattern on a warm brown, a different key /maze pattern (like squared spirals) in dark on a minty green. A bamboo body pen sits at an angle across the stack (for scale).
    Celtic Art Fabric
    A piece of fabric adorned with a Celtic key / maze pattern that looks kind of like spirals but square in blues, red, and gold lying flat with a marbled blue 20-sided die with metallic copper numbers.
    Royal Squared Spirals Fabric
    Fabric with an endless pattern of intricate Celtic knots in shades of blue with yellow stars on a darker blue field.
    Endless Celtic Knot Fabric Blue
    A piece of fabric adorned with a Celtic key / maze pattern that looks kind of like spirals but square in dark green on a pale minty green with white stars.
    Squared Spirals Fabric in Green
    Close-up of a flat piece of fabric with a field of spirals in shades of blue.
    Spirals Fabric Blue
    A small fantasy/Medieval belt pouch. The main body is cotton fabric printed with interlocking Celtic spirals in various shades of blue. The front, bottom, back and flap are black faux/vegan leather. The flap is decorated with silver spirals and, there is a sliver spiral triskelion on the front below the flap.
    A small fantasy/Medieval belt pouch. The main body is cotton fabric printed with interlocking Celtic spirals in various shades of blue. The front, bottom, back and flap are black faux/vegan leather. The flap is decorated with silver spirals and, there is a sliver spiral triskelion on the front below the flap.
    A small fantasy/Medieval belt pouch. The main body is cotton fabric printed with interlocking Celtic spirals in various shades of green. The back has slits to accommodate a belt.
    Green Spirals Dice Pouch (Back)
    A small fantasy/Medieval belt pouch. The main body is cotton fabric printed with interlocking Celtic spirals in various shades of green. The front, bottom, back and flap are medium brown faux/vegan leather. The flap is decorated with black spirals and, there is a black spiral triskelion on the front below the flap.
    Green Spirals Dice Pouch (front)
    A small fantasy/Medieval belt pouch. The main body is cotton fabric printed with interlocking Celtic spirals in various shades of green. The front, bottom, back and flap are medium brown faux/vegan leather. The flap is open, showing a green braided kumihimo drawstring with brass aglets and a brass magnetic closure.
    Green Spirals Dice Pouch (Open)
    Azuma Bukuro Dice Bag (open)
    Azuma Bukuro Dice Bag (open)

    Knotwork Frog Print

    Andrew Crawford February 23, 2025
    Frog celtic knotwork design printed in green on a copper square on white toothy paper being held up by the corners

    I finally got a chance to play with my new Open Press Project Postcard Printing Press! I cut a plate with this new knotwork frog I designed, and got some pretty good results after a little fiddling. After starting on this, I noticed that frogs seem to be bubbling up out of the collective unconscious a lot right now. I wanted to join the Open Press print exchange, but ran out of time to get prints to them. Maybe next year!

    One minute printing video:

    Celtic Key Pattern Heart Pepakura

    Andrew Crawford February 14, 2025
    A pepakura (low poly) 3D paper heart covered in Celtic key/maze patterns in shades of purple, red, blue, and metallic gold rests on a cream-colored handmade paper background.

    Following up on last year’s Valentine’s day heart card, I wanted to do some paper craft with the new washi tape. I thought the wider key pattern would look good on a low-poly-style pepakura paper heart.

    I also made a one-minute video of making it: