Halloween Shrunken Head Project

I am moving on with my shrunken head project.  The heads will be part of a larger project: a life-sized figure will be holding the shrunken heads.  I am making the heads from pâpier mâché.  When they reach the finishing stage, the heads will be painted and sealed with spar varnish.  However, I am not that far along yet.

In theory, the project should be able to withstand the weather and be outside.  Old cigar store Indians made from pâpier mâché have stood outside for decades.  The yellowed patina they have is from spar varnish.  If it does not cure in sunlight, it will yellow.  If you have gone to the trouble to make that type of project, you would most likely varnish it inside to keep the dust off of it.  However, I expect that this project should be kept on a covered porch, as it will be dressed in clothing and wearing a long wig.  They might retain moisture if it rains on them.  I might be able to scotch guard the dress, but I don't think I could do but so much with the wig.  I will research that at some point.

The figure is complete, but I have not put on her outfit.  For the moment I am concentrating on making the shrunken heads.  Why shrunken heads?  Mainly because everyone else is using plastic skulls for everything in Halloween props.  I just don't like to be doing the same thing everyone else is doing.  I decided that it would be interesting to use plastic skulls as a base and build a face.  I know a lot of crafters are just leaving the skulls and heads inside their projects, but I prefer to remove mine.  The only thing I really want is to set a basic shape, then I will take it from there.

Once the first three layers of pâpier mâché set firmly, I removed the cast from the plastic skulls.  Just to make it look different from the original, I alter the shape of the head.  (Scroll back to my previous blog post to see more on how the heads were altered.)   Once the heads were shaped to my satisfaction, I started building up the face. 

You might notice that as I construct the heads I added a small hanging hook.  These heads will be hanging from something, probably a chain of some sort.  The hooks will allow me to attach to the chain with a little clear fishing line or some type of clip.  Since the heads are very light weight, I straightened and twisted a paper clip to make the hook.

I build up the lips and nose using bits of foil and tape until I get the shape that I like.  I have found that it is better to build it up a bit and cover the area with a layer of pâpier mâché to see how it looks before building the area up to look exactly how you want it.  Those layers of paper add up.  If you start with it looking just right, it will be too big by the time you get all of the layers of paper you need on it.  Sometimes things don't go exactly as planned.  On two of the heads I had to tear the nose off and do them again to get them to look right.  It may not be that big a deal on shrunken heads, but I want things to look normal even if they are not perfect.  After all, this is not a forensic reconstruction.

The first picture shows three heads in various stages of completion.  The head on the left is ready for sanding.  The head in the middle has just had a layer of pâpier mâché added after being reconstructed.  The third head has also been reconstructed and is in the process of having its nose built. 

The second picture is a closer view of the building of the noses.  Bits of foil and tape were added to create the shape.  Aluminum foil and masking tape were used to make the shape.  When I liked the shape, I used hot glue to hold the nose in place.  The tape helps smooth out the rough foil and creates a surface that the pâpier mâché will adhere to easily.  I add three layers of paper over the nose. 

I have another layer to add to the two heads.  After that, I am waiting for a nice day to go outside to sand the items.  I prefer to sand outside so that my studio is not covered in dust.  So far, if we had a fifty or sixty degree day, it has rained or it has been a very chill wind.  I am hoping that it won't be too long before a nice day.

I will be blogging about the progress on this project as time goes on.  Once the paper layers and sanding are complete, I will be on to painting and decorating the heads.  Now that the paper layers are pretty much complete, the project will be picking up speed.  Check back in about ten days to see the next post.  I would say a week, but I don't think I will get very far in the next few days.

First 2020 Halloween Project

I have begun work on my first Halloween project.  As I blogged last week, I am working on completing a life -size figure.  The figure is complete, but it needs the accessories.  I decided the figure would be holding up some shrunken heads.  I have been working on the heads this week in spite of one hand being in a cast and the other injured in a fall. 

During the Halloween season last year, I picked up some plastic skulls.  They look like skulls, but... they did not seem quite right.  They looked cheap and cheesy and I just could not bring myself to use them in a project.  I decided that I would use them, but modify their shape as I worked towards making the shrunken heads.   

To begin, I covered the plastic skulls with a layer of Press and Seal.  This layer helps prevent the pâpier mâché from sticking to the original object.  After the Press and Seal was in place, I covered the object with three layers of strip pâpier mâché.  The piece will need more layers, but at this point it is rigid enough to remove it from the plastic skull. 

I marked the skull in four places.  Since I was taking photos for the blog I marked them in magic marker.  Otherwise, I might have used a pencil.  After that, I VERY CAREFULLY cut along the lines with a craft knife.  In other circumstances, I might have used a cutting wheel with a Dremel tool, but at this point after hand surgery, I am not supposed to hold anything heavier than a bottle of water.  I will have to experiment with the cutting wheel on some other project.  With a little effort, it worked well, and I did not cut through the plastic.  As I was cutting, I could feel the difference when I reached the plastic.

Once a section was cut free, I was able to pull it off.  Please note that I had to finesse it off.  If you pull to hard, it could rip.  If you have a little patience, the pieces will come off for you.  The Press and Seal actually remained stuck to the skull in most cases.  It will peel off the pâpier mâché with a slight tug. 

After the skull was in pieces, it was time to put it back together, with some modifications.  I wanted the face of the skull to be more upright and the back of the brain to be larger.   I added pieces of cardboard from a cereal box to the sides and bottom of the skull.  I also added some small supports along the top ridge of the skull to help it stay in place.  I used a hot glue gun to glue this project..  Pâpier mâché will fold in towards its center a little bit when it comes off the mold.  The pieces of cardboard help hold its shape while you are putting it back together.  It is better to glue it on the plain cardboard side of the box rather than the shiny side.  The glue will hold better. I also added a couple of extra layers of cardboard in the modified portions in order to build up the area so that there would not be a large divot in the project at those sites.

After the cardboard was glued in place and the skull shape was as I wanted it, I taped over the area with masking tape.  I use a heavy duty masking tape.  It is usually called contractor grade or professional grade.  It is sticky and has a much better hold than some of the tapes made for easy removal.

My next step is to add a nose.  These will be shrunken heads rather than skulls.  At least some of them may be shrunken heads.  I plan to try a different finish on each skull.  I don't want them to all look the same. 

Once the noses are in place, I will give the figures three more layers of pâpier mâché.  I will also build in loops at the top of the heads so I can hang the heads from some type of string or chain.  The life-size figure will be holding a bunch of them hanging from something (as yet to be determined).

That is about as far as I was able to get this week.  I will keep blogging about this project as I go along.  I am trying to start blogging more regularly again.  It is just a matter of finding the time.  Check back next Monday.

My projects for 2020

First, complete this project.

If you are a regular reader, you might have noted that I said I would start posting regularly again.  You might have noticed that I did not post the following Sunday.  At least I have an excuse this time other than procrastination.  Last blog post I mentioned that I had recently had surgery on one of my hands and wrists to remove a metal plate and reattach a tendon.  I was so enthused about soon being able to get back into the studio.  Then another setback.  I tripped and fell, injuring my other hand.  At least it was a relatively minor injury.  My hand was swollen, bruised, and cut, but at least it was not broken.  Four days later, my hand is still sore, but at least it is usable.  I feel up to typing at any rate.

She almost looks real from a distance.

Anyway, all that aside, I am still looking forward to getting to work on my projects.  One of my first plans is to finish a life-size doll.  I worked up to a certain point, and lost interest in it. I want to finish it now.   I painted a leotard on her because it just felt wrong to have her hanging around undressed.    Mostly, I just have to dress the figure and attach the wig.  Other than that, I just have to make a few accessories.

The doll is holding up her arm and hand as if she is holding something.  I wanted to give her a some shrunken heads on strings.  Maybe some beads and feathers with them to make them look like some sort of fetish.  I would use skulls, but there are so many projects out there using plastic skulls that it has been done too often.  I thought shrunken heads might be a bit of a novel change.  I will be making the shrunken heads myself rather than using a purchased item.  I will be blogging on those in the coming weeks.

Other than that, I plan on making pumpkins this year.  I'll be making all sorts of pumpkins and Jack O'Lanterns from pâpier  mâché to hypertufa garden ornaments.  As soon as my hands feel up to it I will be working on one made from paper.  Once spring gets here I will be outside casting the hypertufa.  (Here's hoping that my hand that surgery will be up to it by then.)  I have some interesting ideas on how to make various shapes and finishes for the pumpkins.  As my husband said, "It sounds like it is going to be the year of the Pumpkin."

I always like to learn something new, so this year I am learning how to make molds and cast my own pieces.   I will be experimenting with different types of molds.  After a couple of experiments in learning how to make various types of molds, I will be making original pieces and making molds of them. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. 

If I should complete all of that, I have an idea for making a translucent skull lampshade.  I saw the technique for making the lamp shade on a craft show years ago.  It has always been in the back of my mind to try it one of these days.  I thought that a skull light would be an interesting Halloween decoration.  

Hopefully, I will be able to get that much done this year.  They are ambitious projects.I will be blogging about the projects as I go along.  None of the techniques are new, but I would like to think that the insights gained as I go along might help someone else along the creative path.

I have some initial pictures of the shrunken head project, but at the moment my hands are too stiff to try to download them from my camera.  I will post them on my blog post for next week (my plan is to post next Sunday.)  Fingers crossed.  If only I could cross my fingers right now.

The Late Reveal of My Halloween Project

I have not made a blog post since August, when I completed weaving a denim rug.  That project took several months to complete, and I felt like I had hit a burn out point.  I needed a break before going on to something new.

Also, I developed a problem with my thumb and wrist.  I have arthritis, and I thought that the weaving was causing an arthritis flare up.  I thought that if I rested the wrist for a while that things would settle down eventually.  After resting my hand and wrist for a long while without relief I went to my doctor.  My doctor recommended that I see a hand surgeon.  I put off going to the surgeon for a while because it was autumn and we travel a frequently at that time of year.  So, after Thanksgiving, I made an appointment with the surgeon.

Over using the joint was a part of the problem, but it was not the problem that I thought it was.  I had a metal plate in the wrist from an old injury.  Moving and twisting my wrist was causing the metal plate to damage the tendon.  So essentially the hand quilting and weaving I had been doing for the last year was aggravating the situation.  After making the appointment, and having an MRI, it was determined that I needed surgery, which I had mid-December.  My thumb and wrist are still in a cast.  Hopefully, the cast comes off at the end of the month. 

During the fall, I was working on a Halloween project,  but did not post anything about it.  I could only work on it for about twenty minutes a day or my wrist hurt.   I was at a point that could work on my project or I had could blog, but not both.  I chose to work on my project.  By the time it was completed, just before Halloween, I really did not feel much like typing at all.

So at long last, here is my Halloween project.  At least part one.  I plan to eventually turn it into a centerpiece by adding leaves and skulls around it.  One of these days I will get back to it.

For those interested in crafting their own piece the basic highlights of how it was created are as follows.

I covered a foam head from the craft store with Press and Seal.  I found that Press and Seal (available at most grocery stores) works well with paper mâché.  The Press and Seal allows the layers of paper to be released without damage to the original form.  My only caveat is that the material is difficult to cut.  I found that cutting strips of it using a craft knife and a cutting board worked much better than scissors or trying to tear small strips using the sharp edge on the package. 

I only wanted the foam head so I could create a basic head and neck shape.  After adding three layers of the paper mâché, I removed the head from the form.  (Specific instructions as to how I removed the paper head from the foam substrate can be found on previous project on my January 21, 2018 blog post.  Scroll through the year 2018 to see how I made a life size doll from paper mâché.and PVC.)

Once the head was removed and put back together, I began to build and shape the head.  I started out thinking that I was going to make a witch head for a centerpiece.  However, the more I worked on it the more it seemed like it should be a devil.  So I went with it. After the face had taken shape I made rings of paper and tape and stacked the rings on top of each other, sloping them backwards to get the curve of the horns to curve.  A word to the wise is sufficient here:  use a level and a ruler frequently to make sure that your horns are staying even on both sides.  It is easier to catch a mistake in the angle early than to try to correct it later.

After the horns, it was only a matter of painting the head.  I wanted the head to have a glow to it rather than being a flat red.  I under painted with two layers of acrylic metallic gold and used three layers translucent red paints to achieve the effect.   In some ways the red seems uncomfortably bright.  I decided to leave it as it is rather than trying to dull the reds.  After all, a devil should make you feel a little uncomfortable.

My burnout phase is over for the moment.  I am ready to get back into my studio and get some work done,  I will be blogging again next Sunday on my projects for 2020.

Denim Rug Project Completed

Finished rug.

I know I had said this blog post would be online yesterday.  However, the weather was not cooperating.  As usual, I was working up until the last minute.  The rug was not finished until yesterday.  After lunch I started working on the blog post.  I had most of it written when a thunderstorm blew up.  One minute the sun was out.  The next minute it was pouring rain with thunder and lightening.  I had to shut down the computer.  The storm passed and I started working on the blog post again.   The thunder and lightening started up again.  I turned off the computer.  The storm passed.  I turned on the computer and started back to work; another storm.  When the third storm came through I decided to take it as a sign that I was not going to get the blog post up until the next day.  I started again this morning in order to avoid the storms forecast for the afternoon.  The paragraph below is where the post began yesterday.

Raw edges frayed and left a lot of lint.

Folded strips to be sewn on the open edge.

I am excited to be blogging that my denim rug is completed!  It was months in the making.  I worked really hard this weekend in order to finish it before this post.  The photo of the rug is not where it will be used, but in the best place for me to get a good picture of it.

To recap the project, I had seen a denim rug in a magazine.  The magazine had given minimal instructions on how to make the rug.  Basically it was made like a latch hook rug.  The picture of the rug was not a close up.  It was part of a photo of a room.  Once I started on the rug, I discovered that the denim unraveled and left threads everywhere.  I decided that I would try to make the rug in a different manner so that the raw edges were enclosed.  I began looking at different types of rugs online.  Many people have made them, but few gave much information on how they made the rug.  I experimented with couple of options, but my efforts were hampered by my already having cut the strips for the rug to a certain width.  The strips were too wide to work well with crocheting a rug.  I decided to weave it.  I made a primitive loom and made the rug.  It took months, although some of that was due to my traveling.  I did not have as much time as I would have liked to work on the rug.

Strips rolled into 8 foot rolls.

How I made the loom from dowels, clamps and rubber bands.

Last week I said that I would post what I learned about making a denim rug so that all the information would finally end up on one page rather than scattered across numerous posts.  If you are considering making a denim rug you might want to consider whether it will be worth the effort and expense.

I had a number of pair of old jeans that were ready to be donated.  I also asked my friends if they had any jeans they were ready to part with.  I did buy a few pair, but not many.  The jeans were in many different shades of blue.  I thought that using multiple colors would be an interesting experiment.  You could not tell in advance exactly what the rug would look like.

I began with cutting up old denim jeans into two inch wide strips.  I lost count, but I know that it was twelve or more pairs of jeans.  The strips were all different lengths, so they were sewn together to make eight foot (2.44 meters) long strips.  The seams were pressed open.

Final strip was pinned before being taken off the loom.

I chose eight foot lengths because I did not know how much length would be taken up by going over and under each strip.  It actually did not take up as much length as I thought it would.  The finished rug ended up being five feet eight inches (1.75 meters).  I had about two feet (0.61 meter) of strip left on each roll.  The strips were made up of a number of different colors of denim.  I tried to make some strips in graduated colors from light to dark and some strips with light and dark in the middle and the medium colors on the ends.   By mixing up the colors I hoped that I would not get too many of one color clumped in one spot.  There are a few areas on the rug that have too much of the same color in one area, but that is normal when you are working with random colors.  You never know what patterns will emerge from chaos.  (Sorry, I had better not get started on chaos theory.)

After being removed from the loom.

 I started out by making the strips nine feet, but decided that was going to be too long.  I did not go back and cut down the strips that were too long, which caused me some problems later.  Make sure your strips are all the same length.  The longer rolls stood taller on the loom than the others and tended to want to fall over on their sides.

I made the cross pieces several inches longer than they needed to be because I was not sure how much of the length would be taken up.  All of the strips were made the same length.  Not only was I using material while weaving the strips, I also had to account for areas that were bulky where the lengthwise strips were joined together.  It was surprising at how much difference there could be between strips.  Sometimes it would be three inches longer and sometimes five inches longer. 

Bottom edged needed to be straightened.

The raw edges of the strips raveled and left blue threads and blue lint everywhere.  My workroom and my clothes were covered in lint.  To keep down the lint and threads I folded the strips in half and ironed them so that I would have a center line.  Both raw edges were folded in the center line, then folded in half so that there were finished edges on the outside.  The open edge was sewn closed  At first I was pinning the strips, but later realized that was not really necessary.

Each strip was 1/2 an inch (1.27 cm) wide and eight feet (2.44 meters long).  I made all the strips for the length and crosswise before I started weaving.  Each of the long strips was rolled up into a roll and tied with string to keep in from unraveling. 

I made a loom using three 3/4-inch (1.90 cm) dowels, four rubber bands, two small clamps, and dozens of long straight pens.   I slipped one of the dowels through the center of each roll of strips.  The rolls were set on top of the two other dowels and rubber bands were used to keep tension on the upper dowel.  I also used a clamp on each end to keep the rolls of strips tightly against each other.  A picture is worth a thousand words on this.  (Hopefully, you will be able to see what I am talking about rather than going into a long explanation.)  A straight pin was sunk into each roll.  This helped keep the rolls from unspooling too quickly.  There might have been easier ways to make a loom, but this method only cost $3.89 for the dowels.  I already had rubber bands and clamps.

Once the loom was set up, I sewed on the first cross piece.  It had to be hand stitched to each of the long pieces.  There may have been a way to machine stitch it, but given my work area, I could not configure the loom to set up to the sewing machine.  The rest of the cross pieces were only hand stitched on each end.  The hand stitching was just to hold the pieces in place until everything had been woven.  I just did a basic over and under weave.  Once the weaving was finished it was machine stitched all the way around.

Every row had to be tightened down to the one before it.  Since my loom did not have a shuttle, I used a crochet hook to grab each section of the fabric and pull it snugly to the strip before it. Snug is a relative term.  You want it as close to the previous piece as possible without pulling so hard that you deform the shape of the strip.

I wove until I had used up all the strips that could be used without bunching up one color at the end.  Since I was working with a lot of donated material I had to work with what colors were available.  I was truly ready for this project to come to an end by this time.  If I had equal amount of all colors, I could have made the rug another foot longer.

When I was ready to take the rug off the loom, I used straight pins to hold the last row together.  I did not want to cut the remaining strip material until after I had taken the piece off the loom in case it needed some adjustment somewhere.  Something might have been pulled too tight or left too loose and needed tightening up.   There were a couple of places on the first row that had pulled up a bit and needed a little adjustment, but I did not have to move any of the pins to release more of the strips.  Still it was better to be safe than sorry.  Once I had the rug adjusted, I basted the last row, removed the straight pins, and took the rug to the sewing machine.  I sewed all the way around the entire rug to make sure that the ends were all sewn securely.

There was a lot of hand sewing to attach all then ends of the cross pieces.  I was sewing through eight layers of denim.  I used finger covers to help reduce the pressure on my fingers.  They worked well when I was moving the straight pins around to release the tension on the strips on the loom..  They did not work well for putting the straight pins back.  The ends of the pins poked holes in the rubber.  By the end, I was using my leather thumb thimble with a plastic thumb thimble inserted inside for further protection.  You will need these to protect your fingers from pressure damage.

One final thing:  I had to clean my sewing machine twice during the project.  The lint build up was worse than on any project I have ever worked on.  Now that the project is over I will give the machine a good cleaning and oiling.  I have an old machine and I do the maintenance on it myself. 

That is the end of this project.  Next blog post I will be writing about my next project.  Check back next Monday afternoon.

Close to Completing the Denim Rug

Today is just a quick update on the denim rug project.  I have been weaving a lot since my last blot post.  I think I have about a foot left to go.   I have several colors of denim in this project and I am soon going to run out of most colors except for the darkest indigo.  When I reach a point where all I have left are the darkest strips, I will stop.  I don't want to cut up any more jeans.  The rug is long enough that I don't want to add too much more.

I don't have any new pictures.  The rug is very heavy and I had to use a large plastic container to support the it.  As the rug lengthened, I had to keep folding it up on top of the container.  You can't see how long the rug is.  I can't pull the rug out because it will change the tension on the strips.  It would be a lot of work to get things back in place if I move them.  Just imagine the picture above about three feet longer, and you will get an idea of how long the rug is right now.

I think that by next week I will be finished with the weaving.  I will be blogging about my method of removing the rug from the loom.  Also, I will blog about what worked and what did not work well on this project, so readers will have the best practices all in one  post.

I probably won't be able to get the post up until late Sunday afternoon.  Things have changed on my schedule, so Sunday mornings are not available any more. 

Finally! The Denim Rug Project Moves Forward.

The woven rug so far.

I know that I have not been posting regularly lately.  This project has been taking a long time to get to a point that I had something new worth showing to my readers.  Before I went too far on making the rug, I needed to get my strips made.  They took a long time to make.  I had to convert a pile of cut up denim jeans into strips and make them into folded strips with the raw edges on the inside.  All in all, I have made 480 feet (146.30 meters) of 1/2 inch wide (1.27 cm.) strips.  It took a long time.  

The top row needs to be pulled closer to the row beneath it.

Also, early in the project I completely changed directions on this project.  What started as a simple hooked rug changed into a woven rug.  Once I realized just how much the denim frayed and unraveled, I decided that I really did not want a rug that left so much lint and bits of thread all over the floor.  The picture in the magazine looked nice, but it was shot from a distance.  Up close it did not look like something I would want in my house.  I decided that I really needed to change the plan, which caused this project to take much longer than I thought it would.

Keeping the ties on the rolls turned out to be a bad idea.

Readers that have an interest in making a rug like this can scroll back through my earlier posts to get more detail on how to make the project.  For this post I want to relate some of the things I have learned along the way on making the project since the last few posts.

A small portion of the strips needed for the project.

I had made a makeshift loom to hold all my strips.  It is still working well, but there have been a couple of small modifications.  I added a clamp to each end of the bar holding my rolls of strips.  As I released tension on the loom to pull down on the long strips, the strips on each end tended to loosen a bit and the rolls fall over to the side.   The clamps help hold the rolls of strips upright.  It is just an extra precaution to keep the rolls from becoming too loose.  I need to keep the rolls tightly together in order to keep the width of the rug accurate.  While I am on the subject of adding clamps, I intend to use some clamps to hold the loom to my work table.  It has not been a problem yet, but at some point the rug is going to be heavy enough that it could pull the loom off the table.  I have lost count of how many pairs of jeans I have used, but it is at least twelve pairs of adult size jeans.

I found that it is important to measure the width after I wove in each new strip.  I want the edges of the rug to be even.  I also had to tighten down each row on a regular basis.  I want the rug to be tightly woven so that it will not shift when it is walked upon. 

Between weaving, tightening and measuring, each strip takes about thirteen minutes to complete the process.  I have timed it a number of times.  My best time was twelve minutes and fifteen seconds.  Every inch of length takes about half an hour.  My estimate on weaving the rug is seventy-two hours, and that is if everything goes right.  Sometimes things can go wrong.  At times I have missed a strip while weaving or I ran into some trouble when trying to loosen the strips.  (More on that in a moment.)

If you have been following this project all along you might remember that I started the project with all the rolls tied.  That turned out to be a mistake.  It worked well for a while, but since each roll was tied as I rolled it up the rolls did not have the ties in the same place.  At about eighteen inches (45.72 cm.) into weaving the strips, things started to become snarled.  I ended up having to take out all those binding threads.  I went back to using straight pins to hold the rolls of thread together, which was part of my original plan, but something I gave up when I thought the tied rolls were going to work by themselves.  At this point, I am back to using a straight pin in each roll.

As I weave the rug, I have to loosen the loom and release a little bit of length on the strips.  I have found that I can only release about three inches at a time.  If I do more than that the tension does not hold the strips in line and the strips start falling over onto other strips making it hard to figure out which strip should be the next in line.  I learned this the hard way.  One time I had the bright idea of trying to release six inches or seven inches at once.  It was a real mess trying to get everything sorted out.  I lost about three hours trying to set things right.  Now that the strips are no longer tied I have to take off all the straight pins and gently pull on the bottom of the carpet to release the rolls.  It is time consuming to take out and replace all the pins, but I think that it saves me time in the long run by keeping a proper amount of tension on the threads and by keeping them in line.

I might also add that I had underestimated just how hard this project was going to be on my hands.  If I work an hour at a time my hands will be sore for hours sometimes even overnight.  Arnica gel helps with that.  At this point I am trying to limit my work time to no more half hour a day.  This project is still going to take a while.

Since I took the rug photo I have actually added a couple more inches.  The project is moving forward toward completion.  No doubt I have more to learn along the way.  Keep checking back on the blog and I will let you know what else comes up.