Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 1

 Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 1

Our local Art Shop is closing down due to the gentleman retiring. Let’s put it this way. I bought Fishing Nets from him 40 years ago. Therefore I decided to take advantage of his retirement sale.

Puffin Engraving Art

I have bought an Engraving Art Kit. This is for ages 8 and above for which I definitely qualify. If you ever wonder why I bother blogging Kits it’s so folks have a chance to see what it is going to be like before buying.

Engrave Instructions

The instructions for how to do the Kit are on the back. Needless to say that I have my own way of doing it.

Get a Tray

First of all you will need a Supporting Surface so the Card doesn’t Bend. A Table is best but if like me you don’t have one get a Tray.

Test Piece

Before you start on the Picture it is best to have a go at the Test Piece. They provide you with this so you can try out the Scraper Pen. You will be using both the Sides as well as the Point. I wrote my name using these techniques.

Board

Now you are ready to have a go at the Board. Incidentally this can get a bit messy so a Clothe or Duster is good to have on hand.

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 7

On to the final part. I was getting concerned because I was running out of time. This is day before the Carnival and needs to be ready.

Terrible Geometry

I always have trouble with Geometry. I’m fine with ordinary 2D Shapes but goes all to pot when I need Depth. I did them best I could but I have run out of Time so am drawing by eye rather than measuring. I am supposed to have Two Cubes but they have turned out a bit rough.

I will Trim them up a little when I Cut them Out. I will also add Dots because they are supposed to be Dice.

Backgammon in Play

I glued the Dice in place either side of the Centre of the Backgammon Board. Now to put down the Counters.

I could have done the easy thing and gone for the Starting Position with the Counters. However I thought that would be a bit boring. Therefore I have gone with a more organic feel. I have the Counters in Play including one that is sitting out in the Centre waiting to rejoin the Game.

Too Hot

Arggh it is Too Hot! This is not good. The glue is melting. I am having to reapply it and stick down the points.

Snakes and Ladders

It is the morning of the Carnival and my boyfriend is decked out with the Snakes and Ladders Board. It is Pinned to his T Shirt using gold Safety Pins. I have put one in each of the corners. Hopefully it wont get too windy.

Backgammon Ready

My Backgammon Board looks great against this Blue T Shirt. This has been a very cheap way to dress up and add to the fun of going to the Carnival. 

P.S.

I took some spare Pins with me just in case we lost any. We didn’t and everybody loved our outfits. What is more I only need to remove the Counters and use real dice to be able to play.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 6

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 6

I have Cut Out one set of Brown Triangles. Now I need to do the same with the Grey.

Grey Triangles

Instead of Measuring and Cutting into Sections I am trying a different method. I have tried to draw the Triangles from the Marks so I get more out. Trouble is it made it very difficult to see what I was trying to Cut Out.

Line them Up

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Starting with the Grey Triangles I placed them at the Bottom in an alternative pattern across the Board leaving a gap in the Middle.

Unfortunately the Triangles were very uneven as I had shaky hands whilst Cutting Out. Once the configuration was correct I glued them in place.

Down the Centre 

I place a Black piece of Felt down the Centre of the Board then proceed add more Triangles. The Triangles on the other side are directly across from the original Set. However the Colour Scheme is opposite. I made sure they were correct before gluing.

Mini Circles

Taking a small piece of White Felt which was an Off Cut I began to draw some Mini Circles.

White Set

I Cut Out the White Circles which I will call the White Set. I haven’t got quite enough so need to Cut Out some more. After I have fifteen Circles in my Set I shall do the same thing with Red Felt. This will give me thirty Circles or should I say Counters in total.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 5

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 5

I am moving on to another Board Game

Getting Started

Once again I am going to use Felt. I picked three Colours that I thought would work well together. Once I had those I could get Started.

Fold in Half

The Base for the Board Game is going to be Yellow.  The Light Brown and the Grey are roughly the same Size to I need to Fold them both in Half.

Divide in Sections

After Cutting in half my next task was to Divide into equal Sections. After that I Trimmed off the Excess

Cut Sections

In order to move on I had to Cut the ones that I had Measured in to Individual Sections. I have Eight in total.

Pointy Sections

The next part was to turn those Sections in to what I needed. At the Top of the Section I made a small Mark in the Centre. Then using a pencil and a ruler I drew a Line between that Diagonally to both Bottom Corners.

Once I had Drawn the Outline that I wanted I cut out the Triangle. If you want to get really technical it is an Isosceles Triangle

Oops Bit Short

Now I had one I could repeat the process with the other seven Sections. I needed more than eight pieces for what I had in mind. Taking the other Half of the Light Brown Material I continued making more Triangles.

I am not entirely sure what happened but for some reason some of the Triangles were Shorter than the others. Hopefully I will be able to work around it.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 4

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 4

With the Grid done I can start on filling it.

A Bit Small

Rather than use new pieces of Felt I have scoured my collection for odd pieces I can cut up. This piece however has come out a bit Small.

Much Better

I try again with a Bigger piece. This time it comes out much Better. I have been able to get some twists and curves in. This is a clue to what I have decided to make.

Slithering

I have Cut Out a variety of Colours of Slithering Snakes and Glued them on the Grid. This of course is going to be the old time favourite Board Game Snakes and Ladders.

Place Ladder.

I have Cut up some Thin pieces of Felt of different Lengths. I Glue them over the top of one of the Snakes. I will continue to do this with other Colours.

Hey Presto

Hey Presto I have a completed it. If I had more time I would have Overlapped the Snakes and Ladders more.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 3

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 3

Well now I have calmed down after last weeks fiasco I am ready to try again.

Start from Scratch

Since I am now out of the Blue Felt I have abandoned Connect Four and have got some Yellow Felt and Starting from Scratch.

Measuring Again

As always it is back to Measuring to make the base from which to work from. 

Full Squares

I am going with another Grid Pattern so the Yellow Felt is Full of Squares.

One to a Hundred.

Although the Felt is Full of Squares I do not need all of them. Taking a Ball Point I number them starting with One and going up to One Hundred.

Trimmed and Labelled

I have now Trimmed and Labelled the Grid with a Start and a Finish Point

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 2

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 2

I have to confess that it has been quite a while since I took the photos and think that some went astray so bare with me.

Start Trimming

I do not need the Full Grid so I start Trimming to get rid of the Excess Rows

Seven by Six

Rather that looking this up I am doing this project from Memory. I am therefore not quite sure how many Square that I need. So far it is Seven by Six. I will definitely have to check before I cut any more off.

Fold Through Centre

I have Folded the Felt through the Centre Point.

Diagonal Snips

Taking a Pair of Scissors I make some Diagonal Snips along the Fold. This forms a Triagonal. Some are bigger that others but I am not overly worried as I will even them up once I open it back out.

First lot of Holes

I now have my First lot of Holes. These are Diamond Shape. Once I have repeated the process with all the other sections I will Trim them to make them Circular.

Calamity

I love my boyfriend dearly but at this moment I could strangle him. He distracted me at a vital point. This means instead of the Holes being cut in the Centre of the Squares I have actually done it across the the Line.

I am so angry I could spit. The problem is that not only have I messed up the Top but also the Bottom Felt as they are Pinned together. This is one instance when doubling up has worked against me.

No matter which way I look at it this time there is no clever way to cover up the mistake. What was going to be the Board Game Connect Four has now become Connect Calamity. I am going to have to completely rethink this.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 1

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 1

Every year we have a Carnival in summer. Each year is a different Theme. This year the Theme is Board Games. I thought it would be an excellent time to play Dress Up.

Starting Square

I have quite a bit of Felt left from other projects. I pick a nice large Blue Square to Start with.

30 Centimetres

I take a Ruler and Measure the Length. It comes to 30 Centimetres.

Middle Line

I Measure Half Way to 15 Centimetres and make a mark in Chalk. I Measure the same distance on the Opposite Side and make another mark. I then Draw a Line between the two points. This is my Middle Line.

Centre Column

I have taken a Second Piece of Felt and Pinned the two together with the marked one on top. I then take the Middle Line and place my Ruler directly over it. I then Draw a Line either Side of the Ruler.

Once the Ruler is removed the two Lines have created my first Column. This is the Centre Column that I will be working from.

Nine Columns

Starting from my Centre I move the Ruler either Side to create additional Columns until I have Nine in total.

Grid

I spin the Felt around and then using the same technique add more Lines. This had given me a Grid with Small Squares. I have Nine Columns and Nine Rows in total.

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 11

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 11

The final furlong of this Project.

Cast Off Fin

I have finally Cast Off the Fin. I now need to Sew in all the Ends.

Inside Out

For the next part I needed to turn the Bag Inside Out. 

Attach 3 Places

To get the look that I want I needed to Attach the Fin correctly. I Sewed in three places. Two of them were in the Outer Edge and one directly in the Centre.

Sewing Folds

Sewing the Folds in Place was difficult. I needed to make sure what ever I did on one Side I matched it correctly on the other.

Frilly Fan Fin

Once I had Attached the Folds at the Bag I next continued the Fold to the end of the Fin. I sewed along the Fin to make sure that the Folds stayed in Place.

So there we have it. A Mermaid Blanket complete with with a Frilly Fan Fin.

N.B.

I know it could look even more Finny but I didn’t want it to be a Trip Hazard.

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 10

 A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 10

I am continuing with making the Fin.

Blue Continues

I have now started on one Side with a Blue Colour. I am Continuing with the Increases. When I have finished doing the Blue on this Side I will do the same on the Opposite.

Light Blue Marker

After the Blue I added another Red and a Light Blue. This Light Blue is a Marker. After this I will start Decreasing at the Outer Edge.

Annoying Stitches

I have noticed that  the Pattern I have created is leaving an Extra Stitch on the Returning Row. I find this Annoying so will have to see what I can do about it.

Sewn Over

I have Sewn over the Extra Stitches with Red Yarn. This not only has Covered Up the Stitches but has also helped Define the Edge.