iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

said i was gonna do this months ago and then promptly forgot LOL anyways, here's a rundown of how i made the leather armour for my LARP character, Adelaide!

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part of a well-balanced breakfast!

thank you!! i don't think im saying anything new but it has all been super on my mind lately, and i was excited to have an opportunity like this to let it out!

gnat @scaribidae.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Reposted by bird tools

i made a visual novel for this year's #toxicyurivnjam gnatjb.itch.io/antipersonal... it's about a plural trans girl being anxious about liking her best friend, getting hatecrimed, dissociating, and risking it all for a chance to clock in at the fumble factory.

visual novel screenshot of three paper-cutout animal girls on a background of a photo of a couch. text at the bottom reads: "Alice: I need to die I need to die I need to die I need to die."

a "page of wands" tarot card is centered on a backdrop of the backs of many tarot cards, with a blue fabric background. Text reads: "Alice: er, I suppose you could interpret it that way..."

visual novel screenshot of an alley at night, with two paper cutout doggirls in the foreground. Text at the bottom reads "Jess: (you're such a clueless lesbian, do you know that?"

neon and transparent hands facing palm-up, over a background of an alleyway next to a house at night. centered text reads "my body is not my body."

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sorry, reposting because i forgot the hashtag! thank you for your patience, i've never published a game before

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gnat @scaribidae.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

What do we do when all the work we put in is for nothing? Well, we still have the work. And we still have each other. DILLETANCE FOREVER, my submission for the #mixedmediavnjam, is done! It's a quick read, but I put my whole gay heart into it, and I hope you like it crowpo.itch.io/dilettance-f...

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Reposted by bird tools

Magpie Plays Raven's Game is a visual novel that I made for the #mixedmediavnjam It's got: - 1.4k word story about two lonely birds - lively animations and lush compositions - songs by me on guitar and piano gnatjb.itch.io/magpie-plays...

gnatjb.itch.io

Magpie Plays Raven's Game by gnat

Will two lonely birds find love, or will one be dinner?

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thank you!!! im very proud that my first foray into making VN-related things was for something so personal

bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

cool new craft thing: making paper feathers with watercolours! these were done for LARP but it might be fun to do a series of this with real birds! the two in the pic are an owl and a phoenix 🐦‍🔥 🦉

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all of this was truly infectious. she doesn't use bluesky, but shoutouts to her! couldn't have done any of this without her

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i don't think i would have ever gotten into this kind of craft (or even got this enthusiastic about it) if not for my incredible girlfriend Auri, who originally introduced me to LARP and leather working. working on this stuff is what originally brought us closer together, and her enthusiasm for...

and that was the work that went into every single one of these pieces! im really proud of myself for all the effort i put into this. and im excited to make even more stuff next year when i start a new character at a different LARP.

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with some of the more simple pieces, i was able to go straight to finishing them off with riveting. which is essentially just using a hammer and bowl-shaped anvil to secure pieces to each other. mostly used for securing leather loops and buckle straps, but i also used this to secure layers together

all of the above steps needed to be done before i could start actually assembling all the separate pieces. parts of the armour that had a lot of curve needed strong stitching to hold their shapes. this was probably the most intense part of any of the pieces, especially for the corset (3rd pic)

because of likely exposure to sun and rain, the top/front of the leather couldn't be sealed with the gum. i used Fiebling's Resolene, a medium glossy acrylic finish, to protect the top of each piece. you can see the difference in gloss after the first pic, and how it makes the colour pop!

with the dye and carving done, i needed to start the steps to seal the leather and waterproof it. step 1 of that was to burnish the edges and backs of each piece with tokonole burnishing gum, leaving a smooth glossy finish on what was originally pretty rough surfaces. it was a major arm workout lol

probably my favourite part of making this armour set was taking a risk by engraving some of the pieces. i wanted the original beige colour of the leather to pop out of the dark brown, so i acted as if the leather was a block of linoleum and carved away the layer of dye! i ended up loving the results

after cutting the pieces and sanding the edges, the next step was to dye! the dye needs a lot of time to dry, so this step (for the pieces pictured) took about 2 days. i played around with a lot of different shades of brown, and eventually i settled on using Angelus Dark Brown

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every part of the set began as patrern pieces cut out of big cuts of ~3mm thick leather. for the chestplate, pauldrons, corset, and bracers, i used paper patterns purchased on etsy, but for the "easier" (:P) pieces i designed my own patterns

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the set has 9 pieces, and was made over the course of about 11 monts. here are the different pieces in separate images, and i'll go over the basics of the steps to cut, dye, engrave, seal, and rivet a piece

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

said i was gonna do this months ago and then promptly forgot LOL anyways, here's a rundown of how i made the leather armour for my LARP character, Adelaide!

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cute lil quilt block i made today. thank you that is all 🫡

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

ive been working on a thigh garter book holster (because im a nerd) and its close enough to completion that i feel okay posting it!! i cut, dyed, and treated the leather myself 💪

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

i keep doing risky craft things like "freehand engraving leather that took me hours to cut and dye" but i never make mistakes ever and im never punished for my hubris so whatever

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

im seriously starting to understand what old timey artists meant when they said they had a "muse" :P

bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

laser cut this picture frame to hold a very special pic of my gf and i. the gear on the right is a nod to the book that she got her name from. i love making stuff and i love being gay!

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

another quilted bow is done! that makes three that i've made so far

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

quilted shiny furret bow is done! hit some potholes while working on it but it come together 👍

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

bag progress! just need to add buttons to the front, attach a strap, and topstitch the opening

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

thanks! i haven't done hand embroidery in a while so i was really nervous, but it turned out pretty nice!

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

i have a functioning sewing machine again so im making a bag! here's some pretty embroidery i did on it 😤

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bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

hey everyone! over the next few days I'm going to be posting some big overviews of some big projects i worked on over the summer and fall! keep an eye out, they're gonna be big threads :3

bird tools @crowmake.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

hosted a fun architecture model making competition for students at work today! im definitely doing this again, the kids had a blast