Building Blocks

Building Blocks from Vanessa Chan on Vimeo.

My senior film from SCAD. It's a stop motion short with crochet puppets, I had a great time creating this film and I hope you enjoy!

Maple Brown Sugar Ice Cream

It's cooling down, but I'm still making ice cream. It's one of those year round foods!

Dark Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffles

I'm already planning for the holidays and have been practicing some truffle recipes to give away at Christmas. I've always loved those chocolate oranges that you can smash apart and eat, but making your own candy is so much more personal and sweet, so I decided to go with my own orange Grand Marnier truffle!

New Sculpt

I'm working on a new puppet right now, currently in the sculpt stage. For this puppet I used a much harder clay, Chavant clay NSP hard brown, rather than the Roma plastalina I used for this sculpt. I really like the Chavant clay, it takes a bit to get used to since it needs to be heated up to get it pliable, but it hardens up again when cooled. This makes it easier to get more detail and I'm not worried about denting my sculpt. I have a lot more smoothing and detailing work to do, but I can't wait to finish this puppet!

Alphabet Soup

It's cooling down nicely and all I want to do is eat soup and layer up in jackets and scarves. I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables in my diet so I figured this soup would be a good way to do it!

Apples for September

It's September and I've been on an apple crocheting kick lately. 

Lemon Cheesecake

It's summer and it's hot. I've decided the best way to cool down is to consume creamy chilled pieces of cheesecake. Works wonders, especially if you eat it straight out of the pan from the fridge!

I miss Savannah, Georgia so I made pulled pork

I went to Savannah for school and one of the best places to eat was Angel's BBQ. This little restaurant was located in an alleyway right next to my dorm and every time I went I would have a ball with all the sauces that they make themselves. Coming back to New York, I tried to find bbq that would hold up, but nothing came close, so I finally decided to try and make my own. While I still miss Angel's BBQ, I'm pretty happy with how my pulled pork came out, so give it a try! 

Chubby Cats and Party Hats

It was my friend Michelle's birthday this weekend and she has a thing for felines, so I made her this little fat cat! I'm not really a cat person, but I can't resist one in a party hat! I also just like animals that are chubby.

Some New Crafts

My silly desktop has been acting a fool again, but it's finally working, so here are some new crafty things I made for the shop.

Making a Foam Latex Puppet: Part IV

So here's my final foam latex puppet! Instead of painting the foam, I crocheted around it using a fine yarn. Crocheting is awesome and I like to combine it with stop motion. Next one will be painted . . .  and wearing a little bikini. Stay tuned! 

Thing #2 that I shall own one day

So a while back I decided to that in practicing my prop modeling skills, the theme would be things that I wish to own one day. The first item was an olive green corduroy couch. The second, a Dyson vacuum cleaner! Specifically the DC24 Multi floor model. Yes, I'm a dork, but I know I'm not the only one who likes to think about what their future home will look like! I just take it one step further and imagine my future appliances too.

The Sew Weekly Giveaway

Sorry for the late notice, but my turtle pincushion is being featured today over at The Sew Weekly as part of a thirty day pincushion giveaway! You can enter by answering a quick question about crafting and entries will be accepted for twenty-four hours from the time of posting. Check it out and maybe you'll win a sweet pincushion along the way!

The Sew Weekly 30 Days of Pincushions

Making a Foam Latex Puppet: Part III

So my second attempt at foaming was successful, no wrinkly puppet here!

How NOT to Foam Your Puppet

I tried to foam my my armature today. It didn't go that well, in fact it kind of failed, but here's a look at what happened.

Making a Foam Latex Puppet: Part II

Here's a little time lapse video of me making my puppet mold! 

Making a Foam Latex Puppet: Part I

So I'm learning a new way to make foam latex puppets for stop motion and I'm freakishly excited about it! Before, I was creating puppets by layering sheets of foam over the armature and then cutting away using tiny craft scissors to create the shape of the puppet. It was a very slow, tedious process and getting a smooth surface was difficult. But with this other method, you create a sculpt of your puppet, create a mold from that, and then you can foam your armature using the mold. 

3D Printing a Vacuum

Last year I decided to practice my prop modeling skills and that the theme would be things that I wish to have in my future home. The first thing was an olive green corduroy couch, next is a Dyson vacuum cleaner! Specifically, the DC24 model. Originally I thought I was going to make it out of a combo of sculpey clay, aluminum wire, and bits of plastic that I had around, but then I discovered the wonder that is Rhino! Rhino is a NURBS based 3D modeling program, and normally I am not that great with computer programs, actually I'm pretty bad at them, but Rhino was easy to pick up. I did some online tutorials, and then used all the basic commands that I learned to model the vacuum.