A Boat a Day (no.8)

Boat no.8
8 Origami Sampan's

As today is day 8 I made 8 origami sampan boats and sailed them in my back garden! Taz (my sister) joined in the making and the sailing which was great and a little more exciting.

I'm not sure where the eighth ship is but it's there! :)

A Boat a Day (no.7)

A Boat a Day no. 7
H.M.S Pennywhale

Another random depiction of a boat made from coins! It is a bit stumpy, though perhaps it is in mid turn. There is an assortment of English shrapnel, old and foreign coins from a collection I have had since my childhood. I think this is the first time they have come out of the jar in about a decade!!!

A Boat a Day (no.6)

A Boat a Day no.6
A Catboat!

Today I made an adventure playground for my cat, it is a boat! I made this before I went to work this afternoon, and since then he has only disembarked the catboat for snacks and toilet breaks!

The ultimate Catboat, complete with scratchMast, Captain's tunnel, climbing frame, sail, forebasket, below deck and many jangling balls!

A Boat a Day (no. 5)

Good evening!

I have spent many hours on today's boat, in truth I started it yesterday thinking it would just take an hour or so....7 hours later I have finally made and tested my Mechanical Paper Sailboat!!

I fear my photos and video do little to show just how much work went into it. 

I found this little kit in the museum gift shop the other day, and of course, I had to have it for my project. I had not expected it to be so complex, but after the first three hours I had just the base and mechanism for the crank. I have to say if it wasn't for my cute little rotary blade scalpel I think I would have given up. Even for my stitching, weaving and typing fingers this was tricky! I can't imagine how my sister is going to get along with her mechanical Samurai and two young girls. but I still think it was worth all the work. What do you think?

A Boat a Day (no.4)

A Boat a Day no.4 Towel Art Attack!

It's late and technically Saturday but I'm still awake so it count's! This is my first attempt at an "art attack" so don't laugh...please, I plan on doing a lot of these and I'm sure they will get better. I've decided this even has a bit of a setting, as the dark stone gives the impression of a heavy storm. It's been arranged from towels, cotton buds and tea lights, basically all the things I could find in my bathroom. 

Not the exciting ship I promised but that is a little more technical than I originally anticipated, so will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Dream sweet...

A Boat a Day (no. 3)

Boat a Day no.3 Ironbridge Coracle from Gloucester Folk Museum

Today's boat is a photograph of a coracle I found in Gloucester Folk Museum. With the help of my nieces and sister we found a number of boats and ships today, but the coracle is my favourite.

I have returned to my home-port for a few days, it's been a long time and everything seems to have changed! I did the tourist trip to two museums which have been transformed since my childhood. We went to the City Museum first where they had really explored Gloucester's Roman heritage in an interactive display with costumes you can try on, audio-points and reconstructions of old ovens and various machinery.
Upstairs, which had always been a bit drab before had much of the same exhibit's except now as I walked through cabinets of skeleton clocks and grandfather clock's I was in Steampunk Heaven! But it got better with the automota exhibition. Fantastic!

Another ship at the Folk Museum,
just because it's cool!

The Folk Museum was much as it had been but better, I always loved it as a child, they have Victorian classrooms and a mock shoe-shop, which are still there, in a building fit for the task. And there was a whole room full of boat's and giant salmon traps!

Oh and I have something quite exciting to make tomorrow...
:)

A Boat a Day (no. 2)

Ship of the day: Stitched from scraps

Today's ship is a squishy soft pillow, it was meant to be a soft toy, but it's a bit floppy. I was inspired by the red and white striped toweling which I've been wanting to use for ages, the sails are made from blue and yellow fleece and the port holes have a small amount of shiny silver inside.
 

I might give this to my sister who is due to have a baby soon, though my cat is rather attached to it. I should probably not keep all the ships I make over the next year, or I'll be over run by boats! I think part of the plan here for me is to try and use up the odd bits and pieces in my studio.


While bumbling along the internet last night I found an instructable for Building a Ship in a Bottle! It looks amazing, but a little bit pro for me, perhaps I can gather all the things I need over the next few months while I learn a bit more about ships in general.