Updates, Quotes, and Mushroom DIY

Fast Updates:

Wishing you all a safe and happy August!

We had a blast at our July show and are looking forward to meeting more great creatives and readers at the upcoming conventions in September and beyond!

Event Updates:

Added Sci-fi Family Day, Madison QuadCon, Des Moines Quad Con, Champaign QuadCon, and Saluki Con on the events page.

Resist: A Blood Inheritance Novel is currently featured on whizbuzzbooks.com

Resist : M Ainihi

You can also find my full length books on cravebooks.com

During the month of June “The Blood Inheritance Novels Series Two-Book Set “Endow and Resist” received a wonderful and insightful five star review from Readers Favorite.

To see the full review visit: readersfavorite.com

Later in July, this special edition also received a thoughtful and inspiring five star review from Literary Titan.

To see the full review visit: literarytitan.com

Earlier in the month the single volume of “Resist” was honored to receive an equally inspirational evaluation from The Book Review Directory.

To read the full review visit: bookreviewdirectory

Also:

readersfavorite.com will have three of my available books listed as prizes in the monthly book giveaway. If you are interested in winning some amazing books by great authors you can check out the monthly giveaway here: book giveaway /Rise or/and here: book-giveaway/combo and here: book-giveaway/The Warning Signs

Upcoming Event Reminders:

2023

Concealed Realms will be participating at Quad Con on September 16th and 17th! This event will be held at the Brookfield Square Mall in Brookfield, WI.

Concealed Realms plans to participate at Midwest Monster Fest on September 23rd and 24th . This event is scheduled to take place in East Moline, IL at The Rust Belt:mwmonsterfest

Concealed Realms is participating in a day of family fun at the Discovery World Science and Technology Center located in Milwaukee, WI on October 7th.

We are scheduled to participate in the 8th Annual Indie Author Book Expo on November 4^th at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

On November 18th and 19th we plan to participate at the Madison Quad Con! This event is set to take place at the East Towne Mall.

Concealed Realms is scheduled to participate in the Quad Con which will be held at the Des Moines Merle Hay Mall on December 16th and 17th!

2024

On February 3rd and 4th we plan to participate at the Champaign, IL Quad Con! This event is set to take place at the Market Place Shopping Center.

We are scheduled to participate at the Hall of Heroes Comic Con on March 2nd and 3rd. This event takes place at the Northern Indiana Event Center, located in Elkhart, IN

Concealed Realms is scheduled to return to Saluki Con! This Eclipse Con will be held on April 6th and 7th.

Creativity Quotes and Sayings

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.”

– Maya Angelou

“True creativity often starts where language ends.”

-Arthur Koestler

“Without freedom, there is no creation.”

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Creativity involves breaking out of established

patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”

-Edward de Bono

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”

-Erich Fromm

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think,

is still the secret of great creative people.”

– Leo Burnett

“Every book has to wait for the right time to be read and understood.”
– Kamand Kojouri

“Every act of creation begins with an act of destruction.”

– Pablo Picasso

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

-Albert Einstein

“Imagination is the beginning of creation.

You imagine what you desire,

you will what you imagine, and at last,

you create what you will.”

-George Bernard Shaw

Definition of DIY:

Dictionary.com

Abbreviation, Adjective, Noun

“do-it-yourself: DIY house decorating“– www.dictionary.com

CambridgeDictionary.org

Abbreviation, Adjective, Noun

“abbreviation for do-it-yourself: the activity of decorating or repairing your home, or making things for your home yourself, rather than paying someone else to do it for you” – dictionary.cambridge.org

Seeking A Creative outlet

For several weeks I have been working with a hand specialist to rebuild my muscles and increase my range of motion. As such I have not been doing a lot of typing. I have, however been able to do quite a bit of reading, which is wonderful, but I found that it wasn’t enough to make me feel as if I was being productive.

Finding different ways to express your creativity are important to me, so I felt that I needed to seek another way to flex and stimulate my creative muscles. As such in this post I thought I would try a new artistically challenging project that went beyond written words. The undertaking needed to be something which I could accomplish with minimal assistance. After some research I chose to construct a few variations of cement mushrooms for my recently neglected garden.

Mushroom Project

I decided to create seven mushrooms using two different techniques and three different paint combinations. As such, I have divided the lists of items and supplies below to show general supplies used for all three versions, then made subcategories for the two differing techniques.

Preparing:

After gathering my tools and supplies, in preparation of working with cement and paint, I covered a moderate area of my lawn with plastic sheeting and donned a pair of gloves.
I poured about 1/4th of a 50 pound bag of Quickrete cement into a utility bucket.
I then added water from the hose and used a spade to stir the mixture. I repeated this step until the cement resembled thick pudding.

Version A:

This version of mushroom has a cement top and a wooden stem.

For the stem I used a branch that varied from end to end between four to six inches thick. I cut this branch into twelve and eight inch lengths for the project. Next I drilled a screw size hole in one end of each and set them aside.

For the top, I used two plastic squares which I filled with bagged garden dirt. I then pressed into the dirt to form a mold for the cap (or top). Since I didn’t want the cement to come into contact with the dirt, I used plastic bags as a barrier before pouring in the cement. After filling the mold I placed a six inch wood screw (flat side down) at the center.

I allowed them to dry for twenty-four hours before removing them from the molds. Then I placed the tops/caps in my garage, out of the direct sunlight, for a little over a week. It is important to make sure that the cement is completely dry before applying any coating.

Once I was sure that they were ready to paint, I brought the pieces back out onto the plastic sheeting I had set up outside. I chose two different shades of textured paint and applied one color to the underside of each. After several coatings, I flipped them and applied the opposite colors to the topsides.

Once the pieces were dry, I added the prepared wooden stem by twisting it onto the underside of the cap/top, where the screw had become cemented in place. The pieces of the two mushrooms fit together easily.

Version B 1 and b 2:

This version of mushroom creation has the top and stem molded together from the same cement material.

I used assorted domed containers for the tops of these five mudrooms. Once I placed the containers out onto the plastic sheeting I filled them with cement. I then added cardboard tubes at the center most points and filled those with cement for the stems.

I allowed them to dry for twenty-four hours before peeling off the cardboard tubes removing them from the molds. Then I placed them in my garage, out of the direct sunlight, until I was sure that the cement was completely dry.

Once I brought them to my outdoor work area, I separated them into a set of three and a set of two for painting.

(Version B 1)

For the trio, I decided to use a combination of red and white paint. First I painted then bone white.

Since I wanted spots on two of them , after the coating was dry, I made circular cutouts from a roll of painters tape. I stuck them onto the tops of the white mushrooms, then painted the caps/tops red. Once the final paint layer was dry, I peeled back the tape to reveal the white dots.

(Version B 2)

For the second pair, I decided to use metallic silver and gold paints. I applied one color to the underside of each, then after several coatings had dried, I flipped them and applied the opposite colors to the topsides.

Final thoughts

I had a lot of fun learning how to create these cement mushrooms and I really like the way they turned out. The project also inspired my curiosity in regard to mushroom lore, and I have to admit that since starting this activity, I have been doing a bit of reading on the topic. Perhaps it will be the subject of a future mythology article!