EPBOT

With Halloween on the horizon, candy aisles are filling up with my favorite color: orange! I love the cheerful look of candy corn and pumpkins, so last week I got it into my head that it would be fun to make some jewelry with actual candy corn.

Well, after a little trial and error, I did it! Check it out:



Those are actual candies, dipped in epoxy resin! It wasn't *quite* as easy as I thought it would be, but it was still a really fun project. If you want to try it yourself, keep scrolling for progress shots and instructions.

First, Jenn of Rook No. 17 made one sweet Star Wars party favor: chocolate Han Solo, anyone?


The best part is that Jenn also shows you how to make one yourself! You just need the Han Solo in carbonite "action figure" (that cracks me up) and some silicon plastique for the mold. Check out Jenn's post for more pictures and details.


I love papercraft, and Rachel M.'s robot creations are some of the best I've ever seen:

Not only is this little guy adorable, he's fully articulated! Check out this video to see all the different ways just his arms move. Amazing!

Rachel makes her 'bots out of index cards and Elmer's glue. Here's another cutie:

I'm going to share a little of it here because I want to add a comment/update on the 2nd question, but after that you should go read the whole thing; Jumble Mash asked some great questions, and I had a blast answering them.


JM: You are crafty. What is your favorite thing to create and how did you become so creative?

Jen: To be honest, my favorite thing is, simply, creating. Anything and everything. If I haven't produced something with my own two hands in more than a few days, I start to go insane. Even if it's just rearranging the bookshelves, or framing a new piece of art: I have to be physically *doing* something to be happy. This has always been the case, but now even more so with Cake Wrecks: working online is producing things in a way, but it's not tangible. I need to hold something and be able to say, "I did this."

Whatever creativity I do have stems from boredom, plain and simple. I bore extremely easily. I don't *think* I'm ADD, but I do plan 10 new projects for every one I finish. I could rattle off a dozen things I want to do for my next Epbot tutorial right now, so it's a little hard to stay on track. My office renovation, for example: I keep getting sidetracked with new art projects or pieces to go in the room, so the official finish date keeps getting pushed back! I also usually have 3 or 4 projects going at once, although I'm happy to say that I *do* finish them all. Eventually. Hehehe.


JM: You have called EPBot your “get-away-from-Cake-Wrecks-stress” blog. Why is Cake Wrecks so stressful?

Jen: Ooooh, how much time do you have? :D

In a nutshell, CW is stressful because it's online and it's popular. That means trying to please everyone all the time, which we all know is impossible. It seems like I'm always walking the razor thin line between humor and offense, as no matter what we do, someone, somewhere, will find a way to be offended by it. (And I'm not talking about the bakers!) Constantly worrying about who we may have inadvertently offended today is very, very wearing.

There are also a lot of demands on my time: besides writing posts there's mostly e-mail, but also everything from handling advertisers to site design, and then also writing the next CW book, organizing/designing calendars, that sort of thing.


[That update I mentioned: Seen today's post on CW? Or the balloon one from yesterday? Those both offended people, to the point that we apparently lost a few readers over it. I like to think we gained far more, of course, since the majority of the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but it's still a stress any time we upset someone. Or when someone e-mails to inform me I'm no longer funny. (Um...thanks?)

Some of the remarks made in the comment section about the Polish flag post also stirred up controversy, to the point that we (and by 'we' I mean 'John') had to step in and sort things out. It really is never ending!]


JM: You speak of your hubby, John, often. How does he handle your internet fame?

Jen: John is truly the most supportive husband, ever. Even before Cake Wrecks, he unfailingly supported my every crazy idea, and was always telling me that I could succeed at anything I wanted to do. For a time I didn't do anything, and he was fine - happy, even - with that, too. When CW took off, John was more excited than I was. Then, when it became too much for me to handle alone, he stepped in and began shouldering the burden with me. I keep waiting for him to get tired of it all, but he never does. He tells me I was always famous to him - that now other people are just figuring it out, too. So, yeah, I have the best guy ever; I couldn't do any of this without him.

Head on over to Jumble Mash for the rest, which includes the secret to my Twitter following, some advice for new bloggers, and lots more.

Ready to see my mystery office desktop? The one John and I have been working so hard on for the past few weeks? And learn how we did it?

Here, I'll ease you in slowly. It all started....[dramatic pause]...WITH THESE: