Some pictures I remembered to take of the progress of the game board in various stages of the designing and building.
As you can see in the second image the maps correspond somewhat to the layout of our house and in the evolution of the maps I had to switch up the orientations to make them all fit and make sense as a map. I also tried to make the shapes a bit more natural while still keeping the general idea of them being rooms and doorways etc.
I started out with an idea to move four small, flat, paper boats over several small, flat treasure maps with a boat each for the upstairs, downstairs, garden and heavens.
Then I decided one ship would do, so I scrapped the other three, and one map would also do, so I combined them all into one, but that two dimensions would not do, so I added an extra.
The idea for the fold out clouds concealing a hidden universe came quite late into the process so designs had to be adapted on the fly. A massive thanks again to @addyleewhite for his excellent work on cutting out the clouds.
The base board is made of 5mm plywood.
The land is made from celotex, stripped and carved with a Stanley blade and a hot wire cutter.
The paints are all cheap acrylics.
The jungle trees are made from some railway model material used for making bushes and they were all individually glued down making it probably the longest but most successful part of the whole process.
The beaches are pva glue and covered in finely sifted sand.
The clouds are 5mm and 3mm plywood layered to accommodate the stars, sun and moon (separate post to follow)
And some small buildings imcluding a port town made of chopped up matchsticks.
#map #maps #fantasymap #fantasymaps #3dmap #3dmaps #mapmaking #wip
The making of "The Bella Luna"
The ship's hull is made from stripped cardboard with a coiled up piece of paperclip in the base so that it can be moved from beneath with a circular magnet.
The masts and bowsprit are coconut fibers from a stiff bristled brush I had lying around, and the sails are clippings of receipt paper rolled around a paintbrush handle and glued on with PVA.
The pennant was coloured with a blue gel pen and it is actually glittery but it doesn't show too well on the camera.
#boatmaking #shipwright #tinyship #pirate #pirates #brig
A little look at the not so little game board I made for Abi's nautical themed birthday treasure hunt.
The layout of the map is based loosely on the floor plan of our house and garden.
I wrote a story to go alongside the map to help guide Abi towards the location of each hidden treasure through a series of small adventures and encounters with strange and fantastical creatures.
The hidden treasures being the Sun, Moon and Stars (I'll be posting more about these soon) and also the birthday messages in bottles.
The clouds, cut ever so finely out by @addyleewhite , fold out to reveal spaces in space that magnetically hold the Sun, Moon and Stars after they have been found in their secret locations.
I'll also be posting about the ship that I made to sail these treacherous waters soon.
#birthday #birthdaysurprise #pirate #pirates #treasurehunt #treasurehunting #birthdayshenanigans #map #fantasymap #fantasymaps
A very Happy, Hobbit-coming-of-age, belated Buccaneering, Birthday to my fabulously beautiful Wife, and Captain, @fabulouslyabulous xXx xXx
I have spent the last 2 months creating an immersive treasure hunt / storybook / boardgame experience for Abi's birthday and yesterday it was finally unleashed upon her!
Mwa ha Ha HA! ..
..err.. I mean... "Yo ho ho!"
A huuuuge thank you to everyone who made it possible: my parents for letting me commandeer their dining room table for several weeks, my Nan for keeping me in good company all that time, @addyleewhite for cutting all the cloud shapes out for me (this would not have been done in time without his input), and a big Big thank you to everyone who wrote a message in a bottle for the Captain to find on her birthday.
I hope to be posting more bits and bobs over the next few days so keep a weather eye on the horizon.
#birthday #birthdaysurprise #pirate #pirates #treasurehunt #treasurehunting #birthdayshenanigans
Us for Hastings Pirate Day being a couple of wagging scallys. This was the first pirate day for a long time that @fabulouslyabulous has been well enough to attend and we decided to go down in the fashion of the locals, we still needed the wheelchair all day but progress is progress.
#pirate #pirates #pirateday #hastingspirateday #hastings #fancydress #scallwags #drinkresponsibily #dontgetscurvy
@fabulouslyabulous "In case anyone was wondering why I dropped off the face of the planet for a couple years... here's a little life update for you.
Thanks to everyone who has helped out whilst I was at my worst, and who continue to support me as I'm getting slowly better. I am truly grateful"
I love you so much, Abi! You've done so well and put in a lot of work to be where you are now, I'm very proud of you xXx xXx
#chronicillness #lifeupdate #lookslikemobilityisbackonthemenuboys
Swarm control and frame inspection with my Dad at his Apiary this week. 🐝
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⚠️Trypophobia warning for some of the images later on ⚠️ 🐝 🐝 🐝
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The bees are in full swing making honey and brood and we managed to make a new hive from some of the brood frames with queen cells on them, bringing us up to a round dozen hives! 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝
#bees #🐝🐝🐝 #beekeeping #beekeeper #honeybee #honey #apiary #apiarist #🐝
#bee #hive #hives #swarm
The little guys are done, big guys!
Look how happy they are sitting in their fancy AF living room!
Believe it or not, but we had all of their tiny set decor just sprinkled around our house!
The walls, floor, chair, chests, house plant, hand-painted tiger nesting dolls, globe, amethyst perfume bottle, portrait of old flame, personal correspondence and whatever in the gosh-darned heck that thing in the front left corner is... some kinda half metal, half wood, no function, space taker-upper (our house is 67% full of items bearing this description.)
My favourite item is the tiny camera, it actually works and has a cute little packet of film to go with it. The camera is a 1960's Japanese model called a Minetta and I'm very glad it's finally getting some use, it's exactly the right size! What are the chances!?!
(Please note, no actual tiny photos taken (yet (maybe(😵💫))))
#tinycamera #minetta #livingroomideas #tinylittleguy #puppet #puppetmaking #puppetry #doll #dollmaking #tinypeople
#sculpture #clay #claysculpture #airdryclay #airdryclaycreation #art #artist #artistsofinstagram #finished #finishedartwork #finishedpiece
