Archive

Palm Springs Rubik's Cube (7/25/22)
Life With A Brompton Part 1 (5/22/22)

Palm Springs Rubik's Cube

7/25/22
Back in June, I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube for the first time ever. It took me over 5 hours to figure out my first solve and now I'm down to just a few minutes using beginner method. The only thing more fun than cubing? Collecting all kinds of cubes! After I got the hang of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube (and yes, my first cube was the *dreaded* Rubik's brand), the next logical step was to collect MORE. Better 3x3s. 2x2s. A 4x4! And even...gasp, the clock! But naturally, I wanted to combine two of my favorite hobbies- architecture and cubing. I have a whole book on breeze block which inspired me to make a Palm Springs (breeze block) inspired cube.

I whipped up a quick mock up in Photoshop to see what my cube could look like. At first I used copy-pasted art from the internet, but I went back in and updated my mockup with custom SVGs I created in Photoshop. For the colors of this cube, I definitely wanted to go with something fun and midcentury modern inspired while still being similar-ish to a regular rubik's cube color layout.

After creating the mockup in Photoshop, I printed out the mock up and taped it together into a cube shape to get a feel for what the cube would be like while playing with it. Once I was happy with the colors, it was sticker printing time.

The blank cube I went with for this project is the ShengShou Legend 3x3 Unstickered. I am a fan of the ShengShou clock, but personally I find this 3x3 has a very "sandy" feeling out of the box. Considering this is more of an art project, I'm not too concerned with the feeling overall. For the stickers, I created the sticker sheet using my Cricut software and then cut them out with the machine.

And this was the result after application! It's not perfect (there's a little extra white on one side of each sticker). But of course the first thing I had to do was a scramble!

And here's after the solve! I'm pretty happy with the final result and love this little crossover of my two favorite things.

Life With A Brompton Part 1

5/22/22
One of the great things about owning a Brompton is the flexibility to pop into a coffee shop without any stress. Today I decided to spend a Sunday at the coffee shop. The route is about 2.5 miles (~15 min) with 80% of it being a trail. This was my first time on this trail and it was really fun! The ride is next to the canal and it's cool riding next to the water. There were plenty of people fishing when I rode by. The last little bit of the way to the coffee shop was a little difficult though. I rode on a very skinny sidewalk since the road was reduced to one lane and it's a bit of a stroad. The sidewalk is pretty close to the road so it does feel a bit scary at times, but thankfully it's only a few blocks. Once I arrived to the coffee shop I took a quick picture!

I popped in and ordered a rose matcha latte and a chocolate muffin. The Brompton sat cozily next to me.

I did nearly forget to unfold my pedals when I was riding away, but now I won't forget to do it in the future.





									Archive Palm Springs Rubik's Cube (7/25/22) Life With A Brompton Part 1 (5/22/22) Palm Springs Rubik's Cube 7/25/22 Back in June, I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube for the first time ever. It took me over 5 hours to figure out my first solve and now I'm down to just a few minutes using beginner method. The only thing more fun than cubing? Collecting all kinds of cubes! After I got the hang of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube (and yes, my first cube was the dreaded Rubik's brand), the next logical step was to collect MORE. Better 3x3s. 2x2s. A 4x4! And even...gasp, the clock! But naturally, I wanted to combine two of my favorite hobbies- architecture and cubing. I have a whole book on breeze block which inspired me to make a Palm Springs (breeze block) inspired cube. I whipped up a quick mock up in Photoshop to see what my cube could look like. At first I used copy-pasted art from the internet, but I went back in and updated my mockup with custom SVGs I created in Photoshop. For the colors of this cube, I definitely wanted to go with something fun and midcentury modern inspired while still being similar-ish to a regular rubik's cube color layout. After creating the mockup in Photoshop, I printed out the mock up and taped it together into a cube shape to get a feel for what the cube would be like while playing with it. Once I was happy with the colors, it was sticker printing time. The blank cube I went with for this project is the ShengShou Legend 3x3 Unstickered. I am a fan of the ShengShou clock, but personally I find this 3x3 has a very "sandy" feeling out of the box. Considering this is more of an art project, I'm not too concerned with the feeling overall. For the stickers, I created the sticker sheet using my Cricut software and then cut them out with the machine. And this was the result after application! It's not perfect (there's a little extra white on one side of each sticker). But of course the first thing I had to do was a scramble! And here's after the solve! I'm pretty happy with the final result and love this little crossover of my two favorite things. Life With A Brompton Part 1 5/22/22 One of the great things about owning a Brompton is the flexibility to pop into a coffee shop without any stress. Today I decided to spend a Sunday at the coffee shop. The route is about 2.5 miles (~15 min) with 80% of it being a trail. This was my first time on this trail and it was really fun! The ride is next to the canal and it's cool riding next to the water. There were plenty of people fishing when I rode by. The last little bit of the way to the coffee shop was a little difficult though. I rode on a very skinny sidewalk since the road was reduced to one lane and it's a bit of a stroad. The sidewalk is pretty close to the road so it does feel a bit scary at times, but thankfully it's only a few blocks. Once I arrived to the coffee shop I took a quick picture! I popped in and ordered a rose matcha latte and a chocolate muffin. The Brompton sat cozily next to me. I did nearly forget to unfold my pedals when I was riding away, but now I won't forget to do it in the future.