Downtown Dino Days - Dino Log for Cygnosaurette

there is considerably more to write about & post here but working this week takes priority over journaling ... no surprise.
Check the Dino Log out after Monday Apr 22 - Dino Delivery Date

Epoxy won't set up in the studio/garage temperatures. Heck it wont even pour - think molasses right out of the refrigerator. If this were a restaurant, this work room would be a "legal" walk-in refrigerator. Paint will cure but very slowly. Have to shift the paints out of the work room at the end of the day to keep them "workable" - actually am mixing them in the studio and painting in the garage.
Folks from DCAD were going to be by yesterday - they missed all of the fun and failure. They called and wanted to know if the tutu will have any resin - the answer is yes - when I can get the bloody stuff on it. Have to switch to polyester resin because it "works" easier under the conditions I have. Smells less, and when you are working adjacent to your kitchen that is a factor - dino baby will come inside today even though she still does not have her skirt. No time anymore - and this isn't the AIA General Conditions - I don't get Contract Time extensions for bad weather. The project budget just went over the reimbursable stipend - that polyester resin is more than 2X cost of epoxy resin. Well, still far from being "out of pocket" - I am just spending my "stipend" now. LOL as they say .

Note to Myself:

Next time you want to check your epoxy test - make sure your hair is up - I will be having new "bangs" next week.

The nice weather comes and goes - I have sacrificed one big sweater to the cause. It is now my "work sweater".

Will fill in bits later - this is big work week - lots happening."
But HOORAY for the dollar store. I admit I am a bit uncomfortable about how "green" my project will end up being, and may not be able to face my friends the Dumpster Divers of CARP [ who are the Dumpster Divers? ] with all of the disposables and possibly unbiodegradables this project is consuming. Well as Scarlett O'Hara was famous for saying - I won't think about that today - I'll think about that tomorrow.

A little shaping ....

A little fiberglass patching ....

A little "frosting".... - Pink anyone?

A LOT of sanding....

3/29
Anatomy of a Tutu - Part 1
The Bodice

The evolution of parts:

The first day of spring was this week. Coulda fooled me. There is snow elsewhere in US. There was a time when the indoor temperature in my school office was cold - one Monday morning the thermometer read 38 degF.. I had a rule at that time - if my hands felt too cold to work without gloves it was probably too cold to be in there. Problem with Dino Baby work - for some reason I don't seem comfortable working in heavy gloves - if I am not "touching" the work, for some reason I feel very clumsy. I can't sew with a thimble either- I'd rather put up with all the perforations of my fingertips. The calendar is clicking down - we are in the final calendar month of work. Will have to bring Dino Baby inside this week if it doesn't warm up.

Experimenting with Auto Body finishing projects - not so hard after all. Another pun. Time to stop fooling around and jump in and commit to these wing-thingies.

Made a test pattern for dino-dancer skirt. She has a funny ridge on her back - but tulle is very forgiving - we can smush it around almost any shape. Just cut it a little longer and trim it back to look right.
A comparison of proportions - an adult ballerina has an average waist of about 24" and wears a skirt of 15-17". Dino baby has a waist of 46" and needs a skirt of 10".

Notes to myself: 

• Cut top skirt layer at least 3-4 longer than anticipate you need it. Then can "point" the edge if needed.
• Cut other layers 1-2 in. longer.
• Estimate bottom layers as you go to get stacked look - no way of predicting the "lay" of this skirt. Measure against previous layer - estimate length - add extra. Cut. Pre-gather to a degree and stitch top edge. Lay on form. Make final tucks. Restich at top. Put on form. Trim back. Pour resin layer. Repeat.

About the hat- Its spring - the Easter parade and all that - she wants to wear the hat for now -okay?

Ordered more "Jeush" today - I have decided to do a more Kirov approach to the swan tutu, than the traditional use of real feathers. Marabou feathers and chicken feathers are a total flop when coated with epoxy. They don't look very feathery anymore. Will stick with the feathers on the headpiece. Victor [ who is Victor?] reminded me that once they used tissue paper to puff up swan wings and give them body on a tutu. I had forgotten. Will have nice "wingie" shapes filled in with sparkle material that is a little puffy.

• Wear eye protection in the room - by the end of the day and the basic pour was rough shaped - there was crumbly grit everywhere, I was walking human sandpaper. That is why kitties are on house restrictions but they don't understand.

• Do not leave your Poly-Foam bucket unattended.

Tell Liza there definitely is NOT a hole in this bucket anymore

(ROFL)

Yesterday I chose to make the final "run" for all sorts of bits- mainly because I was waiting for the 50% coupons at JoAnn fabrics to become "good". 40+ yards of tulle need some adjustment in price if we are to afford all the sparklies we want. Found some superb vinyl tablecloth fabric too - fake brocade - just what Dino Dancer wants for her bodice and basque. Its price was verrry nice too and will save so much time in edge finishing of bodice shapes. This is also VERY GOOD.
Yesterday was nice balmy day. Of course today is raining and much colder. On the emergency trip to Home Depot for more buckets (LOL) it was hailing on the way home. Joy. Shiver. Barely had the minimum temperature required to work with PolyFoam. If I appear unusually hefty here it is due to the down vest under my work shirt.

This week just call me BONDO-GIRL or PrimersRMe

Dino Girl is still at Downtown Visions - her actual work is postponed by three things:

1. Need for statue reinforcement - supposedly complete. Need to pick her up - not too much of a problem even though pickup ( pun intended ) has died. In her native state she will fit in the Suzuki. Don't know what to do yet for final delivery - no truckie - yuckie.
2. Health hiatus required - not at a spa - involved sedation, multiple dental extractions, and required lots of Vicodan. No sculpting last week for sure.
3. The design dilemma of the feet. The real problem. It is the first step and cannot be done according to original design. As I tell my design students, you can sketch anything on paper and rarely does a design sketch move to physical incarnation completely unchanged. Little Dino Baby has wide squatty feet. Ballerinas have delicate pointy feet. Molding shoes onto Baby Girl's existing foot shape will give her pink squatty shovel feet. Not the classical line and would definitely look x%x@xx-y. The reinforcing required for statue turned out not to be a real delay ... until this design dilemma is worked out nothing can be done anyway.

The thinking cap has been on big time for the "foot problem". Cutting off her wide toes is not a practical option - didn't want to get into the cutting of the fiberglass inside my domestic HVAC system, and schedule does not permit running around to find somewhere to do this little bit of work. Pink shovel feet are NOT an option. What to do ... what to do.
As it usually happens, when the mind is left to fret on its own over these conundrums, if given some unfettered time to "hang loose", it can reach the "aha-Eureka" moment. Somewhat along the Sherlock Holmesian line of thinking, that if none of the above are solutions, then whatever remains, must be "the truth". Maybe it was all the Vicodan. Whatever - the fog lifts: what remains are the squatty toes literally- if they stay on the statue they must become part of some other form - ergo a bit more molding on the "egg" of the statue in a clever way will disguise the fact that she ever had three squatty toes on her foot to start. This is the concept - the exact inception will have to be figured out "on the fly" when putting up the molds for the FoamyStuff. Sculpt-As-You-Go - in this case not quite as risky as designing in ink on bristol board. The form-making process will allow visualization of the end result.

Dino Girl was taken to DCAD for leg reinforcement. Time to pick her up. Useless this weekend. Removal of multiple teeth has occurred. Was done under sedation - and unfortunately missed the small directive about using ice packs 30 min. on and 30 min off post-extraction. OOPS. I look more like a chipmunk than I like.

Preliminary work has all been in the procurement arena - Shopping! Time to verify availability, cost, in terms of original conception. Have somewhat of a budget to keep, and Dino Baby does want to have lots of sparkly goodies on her costume. "Jeush" - as Arthur would say [ who is Arthur?] . In the theater, especially the ballet, "jeush" is GOOD. The more "jeush" the better. In most cases there can never be enough "jeush".
Have investigated up and down the major costume components. Can't buy tulle/net for ballet tutu skirt cheaper semi-wholesale than I can get it with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn fabrics. Would have to buy more than I need, a whole bolt, and even though the unit price is lower than JoAnn retail, the overall cost to the budget would be higher.
Fortune has smiled on my project - have got all kinds of "jeush" goodies courtesy of eBay. One lady used to make outfits for beauty pageants and had crystal doo-dads on auction. Not often you find these, except made with rhinestones, or sequins and bugle beads. Am confident that between the bits I've gotten and the bits I've got in all my boxes, the Dino Dancer tutu will rate high in the "jeush" category. In actuality, the little costume won't be much bigger than a short tutu for a very short dancer, more child size than adult size. Less area to cover anyway. And she is billed as a coryphee, not a prima ballerina. LOL.

readers may know Victor as Granny in the Academyof the Dance productions of the Nutcracker at the Playhouse. Granny wears as much "jeush" as she can carry.

CARP - Creative Artists Resource Project & Dumpster Divers - our slogan "Making Rubbish Regal"

Lisabeth Mary - my most favorite little girl in the world. (my brother's daughter) pix to come
remember it is "light lavender purple" - not orchid, not rhodamine red, not whatever