The Efforts of a Scientist and Compulsive Crafter

This is my new wallet. Paired down for my reductionist kick. The...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:06:25 -0600

This is my new wallet. Paired down for my reductionist kick. The grey and white curled up on the front is Miss Mollybee, and with a Chickadee on his head is Dr. Waffles. My cats seriously have become one of my biggest inspirations.

Also, I have finally put together a personal website: http://coletteisabella.com I am really excited about it.

By request, here is the prototype for a phone-holder arm cuff....

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:30:32 -0600

By request, here is the prototype for a phone-holder arm cuff. It’s bigger, and a little heavier, but it’s stayed on pretty well so far versus jumping. This one is specifically sized for my iPhone 4, and I put some cards in as well to test out the level of usage. So a little more testing, and an experimental wash, and then I might be able to turn this into a thing for people!

Arm Cuff So here’s my thing lately: Utilitarianism and...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:33:56 -0600

Arm Cuff

So here’s my thing lately: Utilitarianism and simplicity. I’ve been working on pairing down my things, and with this, I just paired down my purse! Most of what I carry anymore is cards, my phone and keys, so I just need to work on a pocket for those, and I’ll be set. I am crazy about lace-ups too, so this covers a few of my creative needs.

Also, I know the dandelion thing is kind of a cliche, but it was my mood, so that’s what came out. Now I just have to take it out for a test run, and see how it goes.

The latest pieces in my Everyday Psychotropics series. The...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:57:35 -0600

March 17th, Citalopram

March 18th, Wellbutrin

Broken Prozac

The latest pieces in my Everyday Psychotropics series. The Prozac decided to stereo itself out of existence, so I made Wellbutrin.

Citalopram is another SSRI, this is one of the many, many Antidepressants I’ve tried over the years. For me, I found that this molecule reduced my creative outlets, and so I opted for a new method. It’s like a two headed Serotonin, which is one of the neat things about this one, fairly simple in its structure, but has a real impact on brain function.

The second, unbroken molecule is Wellbutrin. Rather than an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) Which basically keeps more serotonin floating around between your neurons so it can signal more often before going back into storage, Wellbutrin works to bind dopamine, increasing the affects of norepinephrine, so it has something of a stimulant effect. It also affects the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (the receptor which, in part, makes cigarettes so addictive) So it is sometimes used as help to quit cigarettes. I think these chemical facts are awesome, but this is also one of the few antidepressants I do not have personal experience with. Apologies for the spelling error on the page.

I am taking a new direction this week. I am going to do a...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:04:03 -0600

I am taking a new direction this week. I am going to do a series. Each of these pieces will be for sale on my Etsy site, and they are going to be a celebration of psychotropic molecules. My focus for this series will be Antidepressants and AntiAnxiety Meds. Some may remember that a while ago I stopped taking Citalopram, and to commemorate the experience, I made a necklace of the molecule. For that, I wore it as a badge of experience, not in a negative way, but in my constant pursuit to a better understanding of myself, and a clearer mind, that was not the drug for me.

I recently started a new regimen, with Zoloft for my depression, and Clonazepam for my anxiety. I don’t know if these are right for me yet, but in a celebration of pursuit towards personal betterment, I want to make this series.

I will give a quick note that I am not encouraging or supporting any particular mental health regimen for anyone, just that you have one no matter who you are. I find these molecules beautiful, and the fact that we have them available to help with imbalances is a truly wonderful thing, and on the other side, the fact that we have to have so many because every brain is so different, and every person needs something particular to them is amazing too.

This is the first piece in the series, and I’ll post them as I finish each one. they’ll all be copper wire, and the bead colors will correspond uniformly to the atoms so each piece ties together. Let me now what you think!

Okay, I had to try painting it, and it was super fun. This is...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:36:23 -0700

Okay, I had to try painting it, and it was super fun. This is “Anatomy of a Beekeeper” in circular Galifreyan. Three years since my first post here! Okay. That’s my birthday post. Back to playing Fez and cuddling with my cats.

My parents came to visit for Christmas, and along with some...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:20:16 -0700

Colette Isabella in Circular Galifreyan

My parents came to visit for Christmas, and along with some wonderful gifts, they brought me one of my first jewelry pieces I ever made. The watch face here was attached to a ratty hemp band. I wore it all through high school, but I recognized in the watch face a need for a new life.

Sometimes I have to break from my science interpretation, to play with someone else’s. I have been a fan of Doctor Who since they showed the old series on PBS when I was tiny. My favorite was the 4th Doctor, scarf and Jelly Babies and all. His hair also reminded me of my mom’s. With the reboot, I have gotten to enjoy what seems like a whole new show, but with many aspects of the old show that kept me loving it.

So as the internet Rules show, if you want it, it’s on the internet. I used http://timeturners.wikidot.com/circular-gallifreyan to translate my name into circular Galifreyan, and now I have a silly new watch which has traveled through time (and space, from Colorado to Washington)

In other news, embroidery is crazy a lot harder than paint, but I like this look more than the flatness that would have come of paint.

I made this series out of a fairly obvious but lovely...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:12:32 -0700

Guanine and Cytosine for Melissa and Val

Adenine and Cytosine for me and my bestie

I made this series out of a fairly obvious but lovely inspiration. In DNA, Guanine and Cytosine always go together and Adenine and Thymine always go together. I made the G-C pair for my sister in law and her girlfriend, who are one of the most beautiful couples I have met, and I made the A-T pair for myself and my derby wife who has stayed supportive of me through out a US wide separation.

The dots between the necklaces represents the Hydrogen bonds which hold together the two sides of DNA. I really liked making these pieces, I was never very attached to friendship heart necklaces, but I liked the theory. I like the variable number of bonds, and the science of it. Anyway, not feeling as poetic and articulate as I’d like, so I give you DNA partner/friendship necklaces.

This is an updated version of my DNA necklace made with my new...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:09:25 -0700

This is an updated version of my DNA necklace made with my new technique and with further extensions out to the back bone. So for example, the top left has the phosphate connected to a deoxyribose sugar to Adenine. The chain represents the hydrogen bonds to Thymine and so on. This was more of a proof of concept than a finished product. I wore it under a jacket, and it kept getting bent, so I think it has to be worn with a clear neckline and likely short hair, as the number of connections are cumbersome. I like it though, it stands up well ultimately if not scrutinized by heavy cloth.

Christmas post! Though I am very happily an atheist, I love...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:56:04 -0700

Mollybee Yoyodyne

Christmas post!

Though I am very happily an atheist, I love love love Christmas. This year is the first year I have been out of my home state of Colorado, but my parents are coming up to Seattle, which has me just a little on Christmas overload. I made ornaments to adorn my rosemary tree, but most importantly I made a Santa hat for Mollybee Yoyodyne. For some reason, she loves wearing it. The rest of my Christmas projects are set to post after Christmas, as many of them would be spoiled for their recipients. :)

Sooo…. I managed to sit on my Kindle, oddly enough, the...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:47:29 -0700

Inspector Sloth and Dr. Lemur

Sooo…. I managed to sit on my Kindle, oddly enough, the day after I had it signed by Cory Doctorow, and destroyed the thing. Yes, I should not be trusted with technology, and went back to the proper form of books. That… didn’t last. having only one book with me at a time seems to make me a little weird now, so I got myself an early Christmas present of a Kindle Paperwhite, and immediately made a case for it.

I am hoping that Inspector Sloth and Dr. Lemur will help me take better care of my toys. And my books, even if I can’t really touch or own them, I’ll read them until I can’t. Once again, I used the packaging from the Amazon box (See the previous Kindle post.) But this time, I made it so I can fold the cover back so I can read without the cover in the way.

These are the earrings I made for the Election party I’m...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:24:32 -0700

These are the earrings I made for the Election party I’m going to tonight. I would like to borrow the Bird Chick’s sentiment when I say that the most important outcome from this election is that my friends can have the same rights I do. It’s also pretty important that women’s rights don’t have the possibility of getting thrown back 50 years, and that science isn’t neutered by stupidity, but I can only worry so much. I’ll be wearing these, my Star Stuff necklace, and my Obama socks.

Okay, catching up on some work I’ve done since I was...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:07:20 -0600

Okay, catching up on some work I’ve done since I was hospitalized.

This is a hip purse I made out of canvas, and since I was hospitalized for bronchitis turning into pneumonia turning into and allergy/asthma aggravated crazy time.

The over-flap is a heme. This is one of my favorite molecules. I literally got giddy when we learned about this in biochemistry. The binding of Oxygen to a heme in your blood is what keeps you alive by providing O2 to the Krebs cycle which breaks down sugars and produces ATP. Seriously. Coolest thing. And that Fe2 is what turns your blood red when it is bound to Oxygen.

Also: One of the tests I went through to check my Oxygen absorption involved having me breathe a little Carbon Monoxide, because CO binds better to the heme than O2, so they tested to see if my blood was taking up Oxygen by having me inhale the CO then see how much came back out. If the same amount that went in came back out, then they could see I was not taking up enough Oxygen. Soooooo cool.

Also, the pouch is lungs. The little specs at the end of the branches represent alveoli which are the tiny bags which actually take up the Oxygen you breathe. That’s all I really have on lungs. Once you get bigger than molecules, I get a little confused and vague. But oh man, hemes.

So… stress sends me into creative overdrive. If I am too...

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:45:27 -0600

So… stress sends me into creative overdrive. If I am too busy to do anything, then all I can do is make stuff. I guess I decided I needed a new wallet somewhere around midnight a few nights ago. Then it needed to be painted. If you know me, you know that the cats re mine. The grey one is Dr. Patrick Fibonacci Feynman Waffles, and the grey and white one is Corporal Mollybee Yoyodyne. I’ve been wanting to do an homage to them forever, but I didn’t expect it to be a wallet…

The inside card was made by my roller derby coach Eriic Bilagody. I figure it needed a special place in my wallet, not tucked in the pocket anymore.

The only thing I need now is a good, flexible fixative. Anybody know of one?

I traded in my old iPod Nano for a new one since my old one was...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:54:07 -0600

Bees, bees! Squee!

Owlios!

My Square card reader

I traded in my old iPod Nano for a new one since my old one was holding its battery for about half an hour at a time. The new one is adorable, and got me instantly concerned I would lose it. I also have a Square Reader for taking credit cards on my phone, so naturally like a normal person, I went to Amazon… no. No I made a phone case for all my needs out of canvas.

Oh wait. Then I had to paint it.

I am actually unbelievably happy with this piece. I haven’t done any real painting since a year ago when I made the Slytherin badges for my friends. It has everything. Bees, owls, more bees, and everything fits!

I need to paint more.

Photo

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:17:00 -0600

A little messy for my usual perfectionist ways, but I felt like...

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:04:00 -0600

A little messy for my usual perfectionist ways, but I felt like I needed a merit badge for coming off of Citalopram. So this is a Citalopram molecule, but I’m not a patch person, so I made a necklace. Pretty typical SSRI shape, but this one’s special to me.

There are certain phrases or ideas which sometimes need...

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:51:20 -0600

We

Are

Star

Stuff

There are certain phrases or ideas which sometimes need reminding. Just to keep us sane, to remind us what is important. This is We Are Star Stuff in Amino Acids. This is a big one for me, a reminder from Carl Sagan that we are all made of the same building blocks, and the same amazing pieces. Not only are we made of the same stuff, it is particles of the universe. This is a reminder of not just how insignificant an individual is, it’s a reminder that every individual is a beautiful and brilliant thing. It’s so awesome that a person, made of the same thing as everyone else, manages to carve out a unique and original existence. This is a reminder that being is pretty much the coolest thing ever, and should never be taken for granted.

A similar rumination which follows this has been Neutral Milk Hotel’s “How strange it is to be anything at all.”

But that’s another project.

These are the skates I made for some lovely girls on my roller...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:55:26 -0600

These are the skates I made for some lovely girls on my roller derby team whose birthdays were this past week. I really like this new beading thing, so I am excited to make more!

This is under the category: San Francisco. Yes. I am a geek, and...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:55:57 -0700

This is under the category: San Francisco. Yes. I am a geek, and pestered my poor husband for hours about how excited I was to get a picture at the Golden Gate bridge with Starfleet insignia. I think this picture almost depicts the amount of squee, despite the sun directly in my face.

I made this purse to go with a nice dress for the night we went out on a fancy date. There is a jacket I made to go with it, but the picture isn’t uploading, so I will have to get another of that later. The material is suede, and I am really happy about the design, I made it to go with a blue dress.