Travel - Germany

I call the teddy 'Bucky'.

So as many of you may have guessed, I went to Germany!

My friend and I saw Rammstein at Waldbühne! <3 
I was really close to the stage and lost my voice (because when someone plays music that you like, the logical response is to scream at them)

We also saw the Brandenburg Gate, Victory Column, Schloss Charlottenburg, Sachsenhausen, the Berlin Wall memorial, the Bodyworks museum, and an underground bunker. 
I highly recommend all of these things.

And we went in 'The World' balloon! It's full of helium!

Then S flew home (because of her stupid job making her do things) and I went on to see some friends and family.

My friend Pumpking (who very kindly let me come bug him) has two young children, one of which had made a gift for me <3

It is mostly a collection of magazine clippings, but I love it!

The daughter is (in my mind's narrative) a sorcerer-to-be. 
I will henceforth call her Pumpkin le Fay.

A nod to Morgan le Fay.

She was always combining things, looking for plants, and making new creations.

Exhibit A.

I do not doubt she will grow up to be a strong and powerful sorceress.

The son is FAR to good at archery!
I will call him Robin Gourd.

A nod to Robin Hood.

If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, I know who's company I want to be in!

And of course, I saw the famous pumpkin patch!

Sorry about all the censorship, but a man has to have his secrets.
Plus it adds a nice air of mystery.

Pumpking and his family took such great care of me, I am forever thankful and hope to return the favour one day.

Then there was all the great food:

Drinks:

Schnapps!

Subatomic particles:

And sights:

I cannot wait to return to Germany!

Art break - Pumpkin Carriage for Pumpking

Whilst on my recent travels, I went to visit my friend Pumpking (it isn't as dirty as you may think, he just really like pumpkins).
So I thought I would bring a vision I had for his home-grown pumpkins to life.

To begin this little art journey, we need some air-dry clay and clay tools.

I don't have a kiln and I don't think I want one.

The centre needed to have good structural integrity while being able to support windows and a doorway. To do this, I molded the core in two parts using yogurt containers as molds.

The bottom one has the beginnings of the seats inside the carriage.

Once dry enough, they could be freed from the molds to dry fully. One advantage of air dry clay is that it shrinks as it dries, naturally pulling away from the sides of the molds.

This time I was smart enough to put down baking paper to limit the mess I made!

Then the two parts just had to be glued together.

This one looks kind of dirty atm...

Just craft glue will do.

Together!

To create the texture of the pumpkin surface, I stuck on rolled 'worms' of clay. Like a prize ham I did not take a photo of this bit. I also added a stem and began to paint it all.
I used acrylic paint in various shades of orange and green.

See the 'worms'?

Done!

Then we have a pumpkin!
Now we need the wheels and frame. For that I used floral wire. It is green and very easy to work with.
I also used a green ribbon to make the leaves.

I put craft glue on the ribbon to make it stiffer (hur hur hur) and cut it into leaf shapes.

Big ones and little ones!

I then added a little interest by painting the centres light green...

... and adding some veins.

These leaves were then glued to the frame and the whole lot glued to the pumpkin.

Final result:

On the road!

In nature!

Verdict: I believe he really appreciated it :D

Selsun Gold

This one is for you, Pumpking!

This is a more potent version of Selsun blue. This can be used as a topical treatment for rashes (my doctor said that to me, but check with yours before you do, mine may just have been messing with me... the Hippocratic oath is now optional... Never mind, it says you can do it on the bottle, sorry for doubting you, Dr S!)

This soapy-scented shampoo beauty contains 25mg/mL of selenium sulfide, is yellow in colour (truth in advertising!) and works a treat when my scalp is derping it up.

Price: 2/5 (rrp $12.99 for 200mL)
Scent: 2/5 (not pretty, not gross)
Effectiveness: 5/5