Time for another update, a lot has gone on.  I did something impulsive today but more about that later.  The biggest breakthrough is a magnetic 3-D printed butterfly body.  Well, butterfly on a stick is pretty fun too.  Also invested in a roll of matte BOPP, making the butterflies more lifelike.  Created a bat sticker for Halloween still working on a magnetic version, should have something soon. 

   The bulk of my time has been spent creating a roller-coaster for the magnetic butterflies.  The first attempt was a hand crank version.

It worked kinda but it had issues, needed to motorize.  So I borrowed a barbecue rotisserie motor and bought 100' of #10 ball chain.  Again it worked but with issues, so I bought some dedicated low rpm motors.  The fix still has a tension issue I need to solve, but creating the tracks for the ball chain has increased my freecad skills. So this last week I've been working on the Timmerman TTwist, created a few more versions, but still not what I know it can be. 

  OK my impulsive purchase, dropped $900 on a new vinyl cutter.  Three times faster, able to cut thicker materials and super quiet.  Plus a laser sensor that's able to scan printed artwork to align the cutter, truly a game changer.  Not only will this speed up the setup time, but greatly increase the accuracy.  So excited.

three player chess and checkers

tis' the season.....Rudolf's Secrets

Fun email  

Hi John,

I sat next to you on your recent Sun Country flight from Seattle to Minneapolis. Just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your butterflies and Gumby, even if I didn't appear very engaged.  We had been up since 4 a.m. in Juneau and endured the 47 minute wait in the Seattle TSA line so my normally introverted nature was exacerbated on that flight.  In retrospect and after reading your Jjoyy website, I missed an opportunity to learn more about a fascinating individual.  

Thank you for bringing a little joy to my trip and for everything you do to bring joy to others.  Our world needs more people like you.  

Pam

End of Summer Update

TAH DAH.........A TimmermanTwist

I carved the Ttwist ten years ago, out of a bass wood branch from a friend.  It was a true inspired work, hours passed that seemed like minutes. Blisters came and went.  I felt so proud when it was done.   Over the year's I've carved many versions of the Ttwist, but never came up with an easy way to reproduce until now.  

3-d printers have given me a way to share this carve with everyone.   It took knowledge of tinkercad and freecad to start my journey to creating digital objects.  That journey is still just beginning, but wow so much fun.

  The scientific proof that sharing a Ttwist promotes joy, is still to be seen.  Yet my preliminary research tends toward increased joy levels.    Currently I am vacationing in Minnesota visiting family and friends, where I've shared over 50 copies of the Ttwist,  The usual reaction is " What the Bleep is this?"  Which I reply " Something to promote your level of joy."  this interaction has taken place many times with the same reaction, a smile.  This could just be a symptom of the Minnesota nice phenomenon 

4th of July Fun

Joyfully crazy, this last month has been personally eventful, but also brought the ability to 3-D print. What has been imagined can be created, amazing. Thanks to tinkercad.com, Ive been able to create a lot of joy in my life.  So too pay homage to sticker folding, 3-D printing and a 4th of July parade.  Created a ring.  Made almost six hundred so far, gave 250 of them to spread in the Midwest with family and friends, another 150 to peeps in California, keeping on budget should be able to make a couple hundred more for the parade.  Not sure how this is gonna work, but feeling the joy is awesome. Hope we met at the parade, please send your pictures to john@jjoyy.org. The person who is the furthest away will get a prize.  Thanks for being a part of my first personally funded event, Wow.  Happy 4th.

oh yea, the butterfly's

Extreme happy days are here, just received a roll of clear BOPP.  WOW every experiment has turned out awesome.  The dragonflies are next level, looking forward to see how this all goes.  Also, brought back an old idea for glashess and are you ready for fingernail bunnies.  May need some work. But the bunny glasses are ready for my brothers Easter party.

Happy days are here again, thanks to my early retirement and supply lines reestablishing.  First I bought a new printer, not the $3500. roll printer of my dreams, but a $200. epson ecotank at Target.  Received a roll 8.5" BOPP white gloss, with the two created some Valentines Day cards/butterflies for my nephew's fifth grade class.

Unfortunately my Craigslist laser printer has not performed as hoped.  Somehow, the heat of a laser printer (450 degrees for 20th of a second) effects the adhesive. Causing the folded sticker to de-laminate along the edges. So a bad investment on the wrong type of material cost me over $200, then a $50 printer that cooks the material.  So need to slow down, can't afford a third strike. But new funding is coming at the end of January. So Happy New Year to all.

Some artwork and designs  by Freepik http://www.freepik.com