Build in public, vol. 1

Welcome to my first ever blog post! I would like to start with the disclaimer that English was always my worst (and least favourite) subject, so if I don't have the prose of a poet, please forgive me. The grand vision for these posts is to document what I've been getting up to every 2 weeks, both to inspire others and to keep myself accountable. If there's one thing I've learned about myself recently it's that community keeps me motivated ❤️

What I'm working on

So many things! I get ideas for different projects popping into my mind constantly. I tried to make a gantt chart to map out how I could get all of them done, but the gantt chart deleted on me, RIP. Here are the two main ones:

Orchid shoe charm

I've been seeing high heels with gorgeous delicate flowers over the toe area all over the various social media platforms. I love the idea, but I personally don't want to spend the money on a pair of shoes I might wear thrice, especially if they're just trendy, not timeless. I have an orchid plant in my kitchen that unfortunately lost its flowers the other day, but then I was struck with the idea to use it to make a super lifelike CAD model. Hopefully next time you hear from me it'll be finished...

Fridge magnet

This one is pretty simple - my roommate has been getting so many wedding invitations lately (ok popular!) and we simply don't have enough fridge magnets to hold them all. I'm making something that slides over one corner and holds the paper in place, with the goal of covering as little of the invitation as possible. After all, wedding invitations are expensive so they deserve to be fully displayed (might also help you remember if you ordered chicken or fish)!!

What I'm learning

My whole engineering life I've learned/used SolidWorks as my CAD software of choice. Yes I know other ones are better but this was what I knew best so I stuck with it. I recently downloaded fusion onto my macbook, because using my work software for personal stuff is no bueno, and oh man am I being taken for a ride.

This first iteration of the fridge magnet would've taken me maybe 3 minutes in SolidWorks #flex, but it took me 30 minutes of frustration in fusion 🥲🥲🥲

My patience is really being tested on this one, but all for the better (please send a bottle of wine to my apartment)!

Where I'm stuck

So far I haven't been 'stuck' per se, more that I have so many projects I want to get through and I haven't been scheduling myself accordingly, so things have been falling by the wayside. Now that I've started this bi-weekly blog commitment, I'm hoping I will feel a bigger push to stay focused and get things done. Who knows though, maybe this will just be one big lesson on discipline vs motivation.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and please reward yourself with a well written book, or a nice tik tok scroll for those who don't read. I aim to keep these short yet informative because my attention span is non-existent and I type less than I talk (you're welcome).

See you next time!