Gunderson Residence / Listening Post Seven-Gamma

Our art shanty is built, and it's survived two weeks on the ice. I'm having a really good time with this, despite the wet and cold. Here's John and Alex tracking down a suspicious creature:



We've got silly things going on here and here.

How to Make Apple Cinnamon Whiskey

This is one of the easiest and most rewarding projects I've done. Flavoring alcohol, that is. Assuming you're buying your whiskey and not distilling it on your own, it takes about a month to finish.

In order to make, you will need:

• 1 bottle, whiskey (your favorite)
  
• 1 bag, apples (fresh from the orchard)
  
• 1 large, empty wine jug (Carlo Rossi)
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• cutting board and knife
  

Get all your ingredients and tools together, except for the cinnamon, which you won't need til much later. Clean out the Carlo Rossi jug with boiling water and wash those apples.
Pour the entire bottle of whiskey in the jug and start chopping those apples. Cut them small enough that you'll be able to get them back out of the bottle eventually.
Once the apples pass the whiskey mark, you should be all good. Shake it up and put it in your closet or pantry, out of the way. The next step is to wait. About 4 weeks. It's good to check in on it every now and then, take a taste, so how it's coming along.
After that whiskey is nice and apple-flavored, it's time for the cinnamon.
About 2 days should be plenty for the cinnamon flavor to soak in. And although the apple slices now look like delicious little whiskey snacks, it is a lousy and awful idea to eat them.
Lastly, enjoy your Apple Cinnamon Whiskey in the most Festive of Spirits.

PS - Pumpkin rum is also quite good.

Art Shanty in the Works

Hoping we get some funding.



UPDATE: Yep, we got it. Get ready for adventure.

How to Make a T-shirt for Yourself and Your Friends

Saman made this is design as a birthday present for Erica and I turned it into an actual shirt, also as a birthday present for Erica.


The next few steps required:

• a blank, navy American Apparel ladies' T
• 8.5 x 11 freezer paper and a digital printer
• x-acto knife
• electric iron
• scrap paper and cardboard
• acrylic paint, brushes and fabric medium

From Saman's design, I created two stencils in photoshop. One for blue and pink, the other for yellow and white. Printed them out on freezer paper (the unwaxed side), along with a color guide.


John and I had some cold-pressed coffee & beer while I spent the next hour or so cutting out the stencils.



With the stencils ready, I prepped the shirt and paint. Stuck a piece of freezer paper inside the shirt to stop any paint from bleeding through, along with some pages from a magazine. All of the paints were acrylics mixed about 1:1 with fabric medium.

I did a couple tests on paper to make sure they looked right and worked together. Ironed the first stencil and put on a new layer of paint every couple hours. I let the whole thing dry overnight before starting the next layer.



I needed to heat set the first layer before doing the next, so I ironed the design while covering it with paper to prevent it from melting. Everything seemed to be going well. It was then that I realized that the second stencil no longer matched up quite perfectly.

John helped stretch the shirt to get it to match up as well as could be. There's a little warble in the final design, but sometimes that handmade aesthetic isn't such a bad thing.

Recognition: Animation and Furniture

Got part of my short film in Animation Mentor's Summer Showcase:


Pretty exciting. Secondly, somehow, the painted couch from last year got featured on Apartment Therapy. I think it's some of the best trash we Northfielders made.