MAD's Alfred E. Neuman

This is Alfred E. Nueman, MAD Magazine’s mascot and cover boy. MAD is a well-known, long-running satirical magazine. It was launched first as a comic before it became a magazine.

I don’t read MAD anymore but I was very fond of it before (I’m thinking of reading it again and, maybe, collecting it, too.) and when I saw this paper toy, I knew I had to make this. Thanks to Elias Silveira for creating the template and sharing it on his flickr account. He also made a Christmas version of the paper toy and I still have to make that one… in time for Christmas this year, maybe?

This fellow’s the biggest paper toy I’ve done so far and he's definitely a favorite! He measures about 10 inches tall including the platform. I love, love, love his “What, me worry?” shirt and I just might get me one exactly like that. Heehee. You can also change his face into one with his tongue sticking out. :P

I’m getting all excited already just thinking about getting the shirt done. I’m also thinking of making a hand-carved rubber stamp version.

2nd Hand-bound Book

Here’s my second attempt at making a hand-bound book. So far, so good. Both first and second attempts were successful and just needed a little improvement (the second one much much better than the first, of course)… It’s a learning process, I'm slowly getting the hang of it and I'm loving it.
Here are some photos of my second handbound book.

 

I’m going to use this book (and the first one that I made) for the tangle patterns, another hobby I have yet to post about. (Now, you’re starting to see how craft-crazed I am! Haha!)

If I’m not mistaken, this one's called Case Binding. The size of the book is 4.5″ x 5.75″ and 0.5″ thick. The inside pages measure 4.25″ x 5.5″. I used kraft paper for the lining and jute for the cover, two of my favorite materials.

You might want to look at photos of my first hand-bound book… you can find them on my Facebook page (You might want to “Like” it, too… I don’t have many friends there, yet. Shameless plugging here. Haha!), link on the sidebar. :D

P.S. I followed the very detailed instructions by James Darrow which you can find here.

Paper Toys

Here's another hobby of mine >> making paper toys. I accidentally learned about paper toys while I was Googling for pinhole camera templates. I thought they're cute and challenging so I gave it a try. Making a paper toy gave me a couple of cuts and made my hand ache but I enjoyed it very much. The very first ones that I made were Darth Vader and R2D2 minis but my nephew claimed them already. Haha! I'll try to borrow them next time so I can take a picture, promise!

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark...

Remember this line? Yes, it's from Michael Jackson's Thriller and this is what my next paper toys are about. I found these templates of Zombie MJ and Wolf MJ and printed them right away without hesitation. Now, here they are...

 

Next are these two severed zombie heads...

 

It was fun making these two and much funner taking their photos. I had to wait until late night to take a picture of these bloody heads because I didn’t want to scare my neighbors and make them think I’m some kind of a nutcase. Haha! Imagine me staging these heads in the middle of the street at around midnight  complete with sachets of ketchup as bloody props.. I sure didn’t scare our neighbors but there was this dog which kept barking and I could hear its owner shushing it. Haha! 

I don’t mean to scare you with this post (Not yet. Haha!), it’s just that I was on a The Walking Dead high when I started this hobby, thus, all these zombies. The severed ones I made in time for Halloween.

If you’re not familiar with what a paper toy is, they’re printed paper pieces that you need to cut and assemble. You will need a printer, cardstocks, x-acto knife or cutter, scissors, cutting mat, glue, exactness or precision, and a lot of patience for this hobby. Also, you’ll need to keep an emergency kit somewhere near your work area in case of emergency cuts (happened to me a lot of times already haha). Yeah, funny but true! So, if you see me with a bandage on one of my fingers, you’ll know for sure that I’m doing some cutting.