And the Website is Up

Konichiwa!  So, before I forget about it, I just finished setting up the informational website for the project.  Here is the link (http://reachingoutgsgogold.weebly.com/ ).  It's not completely finished yet because I'm waiting to add pictures when I get the borders on the murals (probably tomorrow, I hope), but the information is there in case you'd like to look it over.
That's all I've got for now, though, so I'll catch you reader-sans later!


- Turtle-chan

The Light...! I Can See the Light!

Konichiwa!  So, I am insanely behind on updates, as per the usual with me.  Basically all I've done for the past several weeks is work on these boards except for one week in which I was working on a cosplay (if you ever decide to cosplay as Grell Sutcliff from Black Butler and you're detail-oriented like I am, give yourself more time than a week to get it done...  Trust me... -_-) and I pretty much forgot about updating the blog...  Sorry about that...

Anyway, here's what I've done over the past month an a half or so.  I got the critters drawn on the boards like I said I would and geez was that a pain!  Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is my nemesis!  That took hours of drawing and erasing and staring at reference pictures and getting angry and having to leave the room so I wouldn't break anything and coming back and starting over again.  Ugh.  But I finally got it done, so it ended up alright.



You probably can't tell, but this is the outline for the Caterpillar

And Yurtle...

And this is Elmer...

Then, I had to go on an expedition through a couple of different cities to find materials.  That was interesting to say the least.  I went to a couple of different thrift stores to get pieces of clothing that I could use for scrap fabric, I got caulk and sandpaper from Home Depot, and I got a ton of clearance craft supplies and the BEST GLUE EVER from Michaels.  Seriously, if you want to glue something down and for it to never come off, use Weldbond.  It's more expensive than normal glue, but it works really well.

A pile of materials!

So, then it was time to start actually getting stuff done.  I spent hours and hours and hours on these suckers and I was an idiot and decided to start on Elmer first.  I mentioned he's my nemesis, right?  Yeah, that was awful.  I employed all of the help I could get out of my family to get him done because I was seriously struggling to find volunteers.  That's the bad part of working on things in the summer.  Everyone was out of town or busy with other things for the most part.  So Elmer was a family affair and he has turned out to be the most glam elephant to have ever glammed.  I almost feel like I should give him some eyelashes and say he's a Rule 63 version (for those of you who aren't familiar with the geek world, Rule 63 essentially means that there is a genderbent version of any and all characters in some other dimension.  It's a rule I often employ for cosplaying as I cannot crossplay because you can only bind so much...).

Getting some help from my brother O.o

Minion labor!  Er, I mean, help from siblings! (>.>)

My mom helping cut things because this world is not made for lefties

Belladonna the cat decided she'd pitch in, too

Me, working on Elmer.  My hair was so short then...

The next one on my hit list was the Very Hungry Caterpillar and thank goodness he was so easy!  I also managed to get together with another girl in my area who has been working on her Gold Award as well, so we helped each other out on the projects and she had managed to get together a couple of volunteers whom I drafted to work on my project a bit as well!  One of our volunteers was a local Eagle Scout and he was appalled at how much harder our Gold Award requirements are than his Eagle requirements.  We just kind of laughed at him in a sad, resigned sort of way...  I'll finish eventually...

We ended up moving into the shade because it was too hot

Another scout and troop leader stopped by for a while

Teamwork!

And today I am finishing Yurtle the Turtle.  One of his arms is made of plaster, so I'm having to let it dry, but once it's dry enough I should be basically finished with him.  We're also painting the backgrounds again as per my dad's request.  I wish we'd done that BEFORE I glued everything down because now I'm having to paint around the pictures, but unfortunately he was right.  It does look better with painted backgrounds...  Those are almost done.  I'm actually just waiting on them to dry at the moment.

My brother helping me paint.  I got lazy and didn't take many pictures of this process...

Our plan is to have everything finished and turned in by the end of this week because orientation for college starts Saturday (and lasts until Tuesday -_-) and then classes begin Wednesday, so I don't know how much time I'll have to work on things after that.  I've gotten two and a half of the forms filled out and ready to turn in.  I think I have like three or four and a half more, which makes me kind of want to cry, but I'll get it done somehow.  After that, I need to make fliers about the issue, I'll probably be creating either another blog or a website about the issue tonight and I'll put the link in my next post which I anticipate will happen either Thursday or Friday, and I need to make a poster to turn in to the council.  Other than that, I'm almost done.  Thursday we're going to go and get the wooden border to finish off the boards and our plan is to take everything in on Friday.  I'm almost done, but it feels like I still have so much more to do...

Alright, well, I'm going to go and be productive some more, so I'll catch you guys later.  I'm almost done!  I just have to keep myself motivated for a few more days and then I can rest (sort of...)!


- Turtle-chan

And so it Begins!

Konichiwa!  I know it's been absolute ages since I've posted anything, but senior year with all of my AP classes and a massive research project for Biomed was insane.  But, I've finally got the ball rolling again on my project now that school is out.  I need to get this done before college starts up, obviously, so I have the pedal to the metal!

Over the past few days I got the boards for the project cut out, marked off, and spray painted.  There are three boards with a 1 3/8" strip around the outer edge where I will attach a decorative border.  The border I marked in pencil and then taped over with painter's tape so that I don't have to redo the markings later on.



Blank Board with Borders Marked off

Blank Board with Borders Taped

Then, I took the boards outside and spray painted them with some grey primer just to seal the wood in so that none of the kids get splinters.  For this part, I got a little help from a local Boy Scout (aka my little brother!).

Me Spray Painting and Making a Fashion Statement (Hey, it's summer!)

My Not-so-Little Brother Spray Painting (I made him wear his scout shirt for this!)

All Painted and Grey!

What I'm working on now is drawing on pencil outlines of all the characters to make forming the pictures easier.  I have two of the three completed, so I think I'll be able to post pictures of that step in a few days, depending on the weather (one of the boards needs another coat of paint, but it's been rainy here).  I figure I'll need to contact the council again soon to set up a date I can present the finished product.  I anticipated having it finished by August if all goes well, so please keep an eye out!  Catch you guys later!

- Turtle-chan

I'm Baaaaaaaaakkkk!

Konichiwa!  Long time no see, reader-sans!  Sorry for the long hiatus.  I've been almost literally drowning in stuff to do lately, between normal high school stuff and college visits and applications and whatnot, not to mention that we've had a few familial surprises along the way as well (>_<).  Gomenasai!  *bows*  Anyhow, I believe I owe you all an explanation of my project in a little bit more depth than what I gave you over a month ago, so here it is.
Essentially what I'm planning to do is make a set of three textured murals to hang on the wall of the playroom at the AIDB Regional Center.  To construct these murals, I intend to collect materials of various different textures and combine them to form images which I will attach to piece of plywood or particle board.  The images that I'm currently thinking about using are Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, Yurtle the Turtle (haha!), and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.  These are stories that my brothers and I grew up reading, and I figure that they will probably be relatively recognizable.  Plus, I have to incorporate a turtle in there somehow.  I am Turtle-chan after all!  In case the characters aren't as recognizable as I had hoped, I'm also going to be donating a Brailed copy of each book to the Regional Center as well.
The intent of this project is to encourage blind and visually impaired children to learn at an early age that it is a good thing to reach out and explore their surroundings.  Many blind and visually impaired adults are very dependent on others to help live their lives for them and it is more beneficial to be independent.  Also, learning to discern different textures will aid the children in learning some basics for pre-Braille and that will facilitate learning Braille which will, in the long run, make them more independent and more marketable for jobs.
Now, I obviously haven't really had the time to really get anything going on the project yet, but I do intend to really begin work during the winter break from school.  I'll probably be fairly active on the blog while I'm working on it, so you reader-sans should know what's going on every step of the way!
Part of what I have to do is create either a second blog or a website about the problem I'm focusing on, so whenever I make that I'll be sure to give you all information about it.  I guess that's about all I have to say for now, so I'll take this to say thanks to anyone who has been reading this blog and to let any of my fellow Scouts out there know that I seriously do want to be able to be helpful to you, so please ask me for help if you have any kind of questions!  Turtle-chan out!
Don't forget to keep rockin' and rollin'! (^-^)
- Turtle-chan

Mission Impossible: Possible

Yo!  I'm back again and this time with good news: my project was accepted!  And on the first try, no less!  I'm pretty proud of that, I will admit.  The picture below is a screenshot of the e-mail I received today, but it doesn't look so hot right now, so I don't know how it'll look when I post it.  Basically, it just says that I'm approved as  long as I agree to their terms which are listed in the e-mail and I have to get it done by next September because I'm a senior this year.

Now, I don't really have enough time tonight to go into detail on my project and I kind of want to do a separate post on that anyway because it's a pretty tough project to adequately and concisely explain, but I'll give you reader-sans a basic idea of what it is.

I'm going to be creating three textured murals to be hung in a playroom at the AIDB (Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind) Regional Center.  The title of my project is "Reaching Out" and that is because the textured murals will, hopefully, encourage the blind and visually impaired children who go to the regional center to reach out and explore their environments.  As part of my requirements given by the council, I will be creating a second blog or website solely for discussing the issues my project deals with.  Whenever I start work on that, I'll make sure to let you guys know so you can check it out too!

Well, that's all I have time for right now.  I have to go and do a bit of homework, but I'll try to give a more in depth explanation of my project within the next several days.  Don't forget to keep on rockin' and rollin'! (>0<)

- Turtle-chan

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Konichiwa, reader-sans! (^_^)  I, Turtle-chan, have returned from my date with the Spanish Inquisition, a.k.a. the Girl Scout council.  No, it wasn't bad enough to merit calling them the Spanish Inquisition, but I couldn't resist the opportunity for a Monty Python reference (if you aren't familiar with the skit I'm referring to, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI )  Unfortunately, the council is not permitted to tell you whether or not you got approved while you're there; I'll be finding out via e-mail at some point tomorrow, if you're interested.   Anyway, I'll give you a quick breakdown of how things went for me.
So, I got there a little early and was asked to sit in a waiting area while we waited for the other council members to get there.  After that, they pulled me in and took a picture of me to use as my headshot for the archives.  Once that was over with, we all just sat down and they started firing questions.  Now, you are permitted to have your paperwork and stuff with you and I'd also recommend bringing a writing utensil to jot stuff down with.  I'll admit that it's a little hard to start off--and that's coming from someone who does really well with presentations--but it gets easier as you go.  They'll guide you through whatever they want to talk about and you just need to kind of make sure you identify any possible questions they might have based on what you've sent in before you go if you want to be really prepared.
After we talked it over and they asked their questions and made some suggestions, they sent me out of the room for about five to ten minutes while they talked it over between themselves.  After they were done, I was called back in for another couple of minutes and they just made sure that I understood what we'd talked about and that I knew to check my e-mail tomorrow for the results.
Personally, I feel pretty good about it.  I think I basically nailed it, so I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  There were really only three things they commented on for alteration or addition, which, from what I've heard and read, is pretty good.  I'll try to update you guys on my situation tomorrow and if I got accepted, I'll make sure to start explaining my project.  The project itself is quite simple, but the problem it's geared toward is kind of hard to understand.  With any luck, you'll see what I mean soon.  Oh, and I think I've fixed the site to where anyone and everyone can comment if they want to; you don't have to be a BlogSpot member anymore, so bring on the questions, comments, and concerns.  I'll do what I can to give you help and answers!
Anywho, see you on the flip side and  keep on rockin' and rollin'!
- Turtle-chan

Update

Alright, I'm back for just a moment.  I wanted to let you reader-sans know that, as of right now, the date for the interview is 25 August.  That's next Monday, and the time is 6:00.  I'll try to post that night after the interview if I can, but if I have too much homework, you guys may have to wait a day or two.
That's all for now.  Keep on rockin' and rollin'.


-Turtle-chan