Making It - General Discussion

[LittleIggy]

I thought the train compartment was wonderfully creative and beautiful. They were tasked with creating a space for a specific person. That’s what Melanio did.

[TVbitch]

For fucks sake, this is only the third episode and they're bringing out the weepy letters from home! : D

I think Nick and Amy are way more humorous when just talking to the contestants than they are in their scripted bits.  

 

[dleighg]

8 hours ago, TVbitch said:

I think Nick and Amy are way more humorous when just talking to the contestants than they are in their scripted bits

Since they don't hide the fact that this is modeled after the Great British Baking Show/Bake Off, they ought to ditch the scripted stuff and stick to working with the contestants. We don't see Mel and Sue, or Noel and what's-his-name, show up outside the tent and do a little schtick (other than at the very beginning)

[LittleIggy]

I really can’t stand what’shername the female judge. Melanio’s Halloween hearth was awesome, but she was talking about “hacks.” WTF? She is the hack! 
I loved the Winter Solstice hearth and its reveals. I would have picked it or Melanio’s hearth over the winner. The “neighborhood” looked like a bunch of tombstones to me.

[mertensia]

That New Year's hearth looked really tacky.

I liked Garry but those poorly painted shields were not good.

The not Melanio Halloween hearth was so bare.  It needed a lot.

[dleighg]

am watching the "closet" episode now. OMG can you stop with the overacting about the wind? Please? I don't freakin' care that it was windy. Just get to work.

[ShelleySue]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

The “neighborhood” looked like a bunch of tombstones to me.

I'm Jewish and my husband is Christian so we celebrate both holidays.  Keep that in mind when you read my response.  I feel like Chelsea was chosen as the winner, not because of the quality or originality of her crafts, but because the judges thought it was trendy to have Chanukah incorporated in Christmas decorations.  I'm someone who ensures that I don't "mix" the two holidays when it comes to decorations.  I never put Star of David decorations on my trees but I'm not sure what my children will do in the future. 

 

[akg]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I really can’t stand what’shername the female judge. Melanio’s Halloween hearth was awesome, but she was talking about “hacks.” WTF? She is the hack! 

Her comments confused me at first but I realized she was talking about hacks like life hacks where Melanio used "a usually simple and clever tip or technique for accomplishing some familiar task more easily and efficiently" (like the pumpkin candle holders, I think?) and it wasn't a critique on his skills. She is definitely a hack though and I really wish the show had replaced her.

Other than the tire sculpture, I haven't really liked anything the former baseball player has done (the scarecrow was impressive but I was annoyed it wasn't even his idea). The pictures they show of his non-show work are much better though.

 

[LittleIggy]

21 minutes ago, akg said:

Her comments confused me at first but I realized she was talking about hacks like life hacks where Melanio used "a usually simple and clever tip or technique for accomplishing some familiar task more easily and efficiently" (like the pumpkin candle holders, I think?) and it wasn't a critique on his skills. She is definitely a hack though and I really wish the show had replaced her.

Other than the tire sculpture, I haven't really liked anything the former baseball player has done (the scarecrow was impressive but I was annoyed it wasn't even his idea). The pictures they show of his non-show work are much better though.

 

I know! The tire sculptures he has done are amazing. There was one of a tiger or some big cat that was 😮!

[qtpye]

I think I would have picked the Mermaid for the first challenge.

The hearths were a little disappointing to me…it felt like a lot of people ran out of time.

I like the idea of someone honoring both sides of their heritage but was not impressed with the village.

When the judges keep harping on you mural painting skills and the give you a literal wall with a mantle…for love of God, showcase those skills.

I think his Viking ship mantle would have worked better if the masthead did not fade into the back wall.

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

The hearths were a little disappointing to me…it felt like a lot of people ran out of time.

Unlike the closets last week, where I thought 4-5 were amazing, none of the hearths were really breathtaking. 

1 hour ago, akg said:

Other than the tire sculpture, I haven't really liked anything the former baseball player has done (the scarecrow was impressive but I was annoyed it wasn't even his idea). The pictures they show of his non-show work are much better though.

I'm surprised he's still around. His work on the show, in my opinion, has very little creativity or craftsmanship. 

[qtpye]

3 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Unlike the closets last week, where I thought 4-5 were amazing, none of the hearths were really breathtaking. 

I'm surprised he's still around. His work on the show, in my opinion, has very little creativity or craftsmanship. 

Probably because he is easy on the eyes and the show wants to encourage sports oriented jocks to get into crafting.

[RedbirdNelly]

I, too, felt like the hearths did not blow me away the way the closets did. 

Also feel like baseball guy is not well suited to speed crafting. Based on his off show stuff, he has talent but doesn't seem to have what is needed for this format. It reminds me of designers who can design great clothes--but if you can't sew fast, you will not survive on a Project Runway--it's speed design/sewing, not just designing.

I thought the winning hearth would have won me over more if there was some color in the buildings. Maybe just hints of it.

I'd like to know how much time they have to just ponder what to do. It always appears that a challenge is announced and people immediately have a detailed plan. . . 

[akg]

12 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I'd like to know how much time they have to just ponder what to do. It always appears that a challenge is announced and people immediately have a detailed plan. . . 

And all the supplies they need. There's definitely a lot of prep work we're not seeing.

 

[alexa]

This was a strange episode.  The hearth with the bats was amazing, and they were so not into it...I thought it was the best, and had so much detail.  So many of the designs were very empty and bland.  A few were okay.  The guy that went home has needed to go home for a while...he just hasn't brought much and really didn't in this challenge.  

I thought the costumes were pretty amazing for the short time they had.  Very creative.  

And yes, I have always hated the too frequent comedic bits.  I mainly try to ignore them now so I can enjoy the rest of the show.  

The female judge annoys me less this year... I am okay with her now.  But I didn't like her at first.

[ShelleySue]

I've been giving this some thought and I have a question.  How much of the actual work do the judges see before they do the judging.  For the Faster Craft, the judges didn't enter until the makers were already in their costumes. But for the mantles (shelves) the judges were shown walking around while crafters were building things.  They were making comments to the crafters about what was being constructed. But then they walk in at the end and they act surprised. For example, how did they now know that the Winter Solstice white star unfolded into a lit-up star? Didn't they see it being built? Are they just their for a certain amount of time and then they leave?  On a show like Great British Baking Show when the judges see the baking (not the technical challenge) they might see the baking and decorating, but they still don't taste it until the end.  But here they are only judging the aesthetics, originality and construction -- all things that could be viewed before the actual judging.

 

[mlp]

1 hour ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I'd like to know how much time they have to just ponder what to do. It always appears that a challenge is announced and people immediately have a detailed plan. . . 

I don't know anything for sure but I think they know what the assignments will be before they leave for the show.  In the first episode, many of them had stuff they'd brought from home.  I very much doubt all those people come up with fully formed, detailed ideas in seconds.  I'll admit that I'm not very creative but I'd at least need to stand there and think for awhile.

This was the first episode since the beginning of season 1 that Amy and Nick haven't annoyed me.  They seemed less manic and juvenile.  Or maybe I'm just getting used to them.

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, mlp said:

They seemed less manic and juvenile.  Or maybe I'm just getting used to them.

yeah the "yoga tools" thing was silly but not manic. The wind thing was ridiculous. The "craft or food" thing was mildly amusing.

[leighdear]

I loved Gary's Halloween costume, as it was one almost anybody with some time & effort could make, without a lot of specialized tools and pricey supplies.  Plus it was funny.  But his mantle was kinda crappy.  Points for an obscure "Holiday Celebration" though!

Chelsea's mantle was just gorgeous.  I really loved the asymmetrical swag garland.  Just stunning to me.  But I agree the town was strange, with no color.  And I don't like mixing the holidays either.  

They obviously know exactly what the challenges are, and what their designs are going to be going in.  99% sure they've all done most of what they're doing on camera already, probably several times.  

Something about Kara I just don't care for.  Everything she does is foam, that weird Aunt Jemima head-wrap annoys me, and her vocal fry is like nails on a chalkboard.  Her Halloween mantle looked like she just picked it up at Party City, put it in the back of her Subaru and drove it to the barn.  So generic.  

[jabRI]

52 minutes ago, leighdear said:

and her vocal fry is like nails on a chalkboard.

I think that has to do with her medical condition. To me she sounds like people I have known who were born deaf, then learned to speak after getting their hearing from implants.

 

Still, agree with you about the head scarf.  Her hair is beautiful, so she probably needed a way to keep it out of the way.

[leighdear]

I don't know, vocal fry has got a grating sing-song thing that I've never heard from the hearing impaired.  My nephew was born partially deaf & had both aids and implants, so I know how the aurally impaired speech comes out, and hers is just different. 

Regardless, I won't pick on her for her voice anymore.  But the head scarf is a choice, and it bugs me.  

[jabRI]

For me, the most underwhelming mantle was the 'cranberry' thanksgiving where she stuffed the fireplace with fabric (?) then but red dye in some jars? I don't get the judges sometimes.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

For me, the most underwhelming mantle was the 'cranberry' thanksgiving where she stuffed the fireplace with fabric

and the guy judge called it "avant garde"?

WTH?

[peeayebee]

9 hours ago, akg said:

Her comments confused me at first but I realized she was talking about hacks like life hacks where Melanio used "a usually simple and clever tip or technique for accomplishing some familiar task more easily and efficiently" (like the pumpkin candle holders, I think?) and it wasn't a critique on his skills.

I knew what she meant by 'hacks,' but I didn't get why Melanio's candles in pumpkins was  a hack. Instead of candlesticks, use a pumpkin? Yeah, all right. I mean, I loved his display. I think it was fine using the pumpkins to hold candles, but I wouldn't call it a hack.

 

7 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I'd like to know how much time they have to just ponder what to do. It always appears that a challenge is announced and people immediately have a detailed plan. 

I've wondered about this, too. On the Great British Baking Show it was clear that the bakers plan for the two challenges but not for the Technical Challenge. Here I thought the Makers had definitely been prepared for the Fast Craft -- with the exception of including stuff from Simon's box -- but I wasn't sure about the second challenge. Maybe they had a day to come up with a plan.

 

1 hour ago, jabRI said:

For me, the most underwhelming mantle was the 'cranberry' thanksgiving where she stuffed the fireplace with fabric (?) then but red dye in some jars? I don't get the judges sometimes.

I liked the idea of the red liquid or resin or whatever in the various glass containers, but there was just too many, imo. 

My favorite was Melanio's. I liked Kara's (?) too, the one with the white buildings for Christmakkah, or whatever it was called, but I thought the execution could have been better. I didn't think the buildings needed color. I liked them white.

As far as the costumes go, when Jess (?) was making her alien abduction costume, I immediately hoped that would turn out as awesome as it sounded. And it did. A well-deserved win.

The video tape costume was not much. The upside-down scarecrow was pretty good, but not original, even in his own family. 

Nick exclaiming about the toilet bat cracked me up.

[LittleIggy]

11 hours ago, qtpye said:

I think I would have picked the Mermaid for the first challenge.

The hearths were a little disappointing to me…it felt like a lot of people ran out of time.

I like the idea of someone honoring both sides of their heritage but was not impressed with the village.

When the judges keep harping on you mural painting skills and the give you a literal wall with a mantle…for love of God, showcase those skills.

I think his Viking ship mantle would have worked better if the masthead did not fade into the back wall.

This! Gary should have painted a seascape background for his Viking ship. 🌊 🌊 

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, leighdear said:

Something about Kara I just don't care for.  Everything she does is foam, that weird Aunt Jemima head-wrap annoys me, and her vocal fry is like nails on a chalkboard.  Her Halloween mantle looked like she just picked it up at Party City, put it in the back of her Subaru and drove it to the barn.  So generic.  

Why doesn’t she get criticized for that the way others are for doing similar techniques they did before?

[SemiCharmedLife]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Why doesn’t she get criticized for that the way others are for doing similar techniques they did before?

I think she did this time.  She told the judges they would see different techniques from her if they keep her around.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Both foam-girl and Dave Kingman's son got called out on being repetitive. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with. 

[Pepper Mostly]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Why doesn’t she get criticized for that the way others are for doing similar techniques they did before?

Because she has the biggest sob story and is Untouchable. 

12 hours ago, peeayebee said:

 

As far as the costumes go, when Jess (?) was making her alien abduction costume, I immediately hoped that would turn out as awesome as it sounded. And it did. A well-deserved win.

The video tape costume was not much. The upside-down scarecrow was pretty good, but not original, even in his own family. 

Jess's alien abduction costume was aces, really clever and funny. 

A friend of mine was an upside down man at Halloween back in the 80's. Not original at all! Why were they all gasping and squee-ing like it was the second coming of Christ? 

Minority opinion, I can't stand Simon Doonan. 

I also dislike how neither Simon nor Dayna can offer any more concrete criticisms than "I need more" or "where's the ka-pow?"

 

[SemiCharmedLife]

It was sad to see Gary leaving without seeing more of his painting and illustrations.  The judges couldn't have made it clearer to him that they wanted to see more, as well.  I understand that he wanted to showcase different skills, in this case - his woodworking, but he could have gone further had he added in more of his painting talent.

I wasn't thrilled with the Thanksgiving mantle- it seemed a bit unfinished.

I loved the winner and thought it was so deserving.  I noticed that behind the village buildings, there was a menorah, also of the same type of wooden pieces.  The garland's extravagance and color offset the village and snowflakes so beautifully.

I also loved Melanio's Halloween mantle and the winter solstice mantle (that one really took me by surprise).

[Dewey Decimate]

22 hours ago, jabRI said:

For me, the most underwhelming mantle was the 'cranberry' thanksgiving where she stuffed the fireplace with fabric (?) then but red dye in some jars? I don't get the judges sometimes.

I was honestly floored when this one didn't go home. Didn't she also do the "tree" costume at the start? Like, where was the optical illusion? Seemed like just a half-finished tree costume. Beardy Viking guy at least had beautiful wood craftsmanship, and I actually thought the unfinished look of the shields could have been by choice. Or "rustic", "primitive", or any other trend-of-the-month the formerly-Etsy woman is trying to sell.

Baseball guy is due to go home. His tire sculptures are amazing and he's a handsome guy, so I'm sure he'll be fine.

UO: I do not like the solstice day guy. Some of his designs are lovely and creative - I thought this week's mantel might be on top, and the ramen/motorcycle club was interesting - but when he talks I just see an unctuous timeshare salesman with a Mumford & Sons veneer. His optical illusion was that the concave ping pong ball eyes follow you? Seriously? That was a very cool Faster Craft overall, but his VHS tape ghillie suit and the "tree" were weak.

Amy and Nick's segments are very hit-or-miss for me: Craft or Snack was funny, and I loved the one where they panned paint colors, but the wind cutaways were so dull, and I really don't want to know that Amy is so anti-bat and anti-snake. Those critters need our help big time. :(

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 7/15/2021 at 3:14 AM, dleighg said:

Since they don't hide the fact that this is modeled after the Great British Baking Show/Bake Off, they ought to ditch the scripted stuff and stick to working with the contestants. We don't see Mel and Sue, or Noel and what's-his-name, show up outside the tent and do a little schtick (other than at the very beginning)

I seem to recall lots of shtick on GBBO, just maybe a tad shorter, and inside the tent.

[carrps]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:54 PM, peeayebee said:

I liked the idea of the red liquid or resin or whatever in the various glass containers, but there was just too many, imo.

It bugged me that they were all pretty much at the same level. Even the shapes were quite similar. She needed to vary the sizes a lot more to make it even semi-interesting.

I like Simon Doonan. His books are hilarious. For some reason, he's really dour on this show.

 

[ShelleySue]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:35 PM, leighdear said:

I don't know, vocal fry has got a grating sing-song thing that I've never heard from the hearing impaired.  My nephew was born partially deaf & had both aids and implants, so I know how the aurally impaired speech comes out, and hers is just different. 

Regardless, I won't pick on her for her voice anymore.  But the head scarf is a choice, and it bugs me.  

 

She was born with a facial deformity and if you look at the left side of her face you can see a scar.  I assume she wears the head scarf and her hair pulled around to hide the scarring, or at least to make herself feel more comfortable with it.

Gary's closet mural with the slides was absolutely incredible.  This week when the camera kept focusing on the sloppily painted medallions on the ship it was obvious he was going to be going home.  He said he had decided to concentrate on his woodworking and that decision is what cost him.  You would think that with his artistic talent he would know that the monotone of the ship against the wood paneling would be a fail.

[hendersonrocks]

I was also underwhelmed by the mantles. My top two were the winner (the use of greenery was beautiful, and I liked the village) and the winter solstice (once it evolved into more than first met the eye). I felt like any of the rest could have sent someone home - they all looked really underdeveloped.

ETA: This episode was so unmemorable I also totally forgot the Halloween costumes. They picked what I thought was the worst one as the winner - Jessie's alien abduction. I would have given it to Kara's mermaid or Blake's scarecrow. Melanio's pianist was by far the prettiest, though!

Edited July 20, 2021 by hendersonrocks

[dcalley]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:44 PM, jabRI said:

For me, the most underwhelming mantle was the 'cranberry' thanksgiving where she stuffed the fireplace with fabric (?) then but red dye in some jars? I don't get the judges sometimes.

It definitely could be fabric; I hadn't thought of that. I thought it was paper. Wish we'd gotten an explanation.

I think the judges thought it was more like part of an art installation than what they wanted, but maybe I'm way off. They spent so little time on it.

[mlp]

1 hour ago, dcalley said:

It definitely could be fabric; I hadn't thought of that. I thought it was paper. Wish we'd gotten an explanation.

It looks like fabric.  I didn't have even a vague idea what that signified.  Still don't.  I didn't understand the red resin or whatever in jars either.  That's the display I would have axed.

[pezgirl7]

I think the winner was well chosen, but I don't think they should have sent Gary home. I think the baseball player is the weakest as far as execution and creativeness. I thought his halloween costume was really creepy and fun, but it wasn't original at all. The photos they showed of his art at home looked cool, so maybe he's just better when he has more time.

[peeayebee]

Thanks for posting that pic, dcalley. I didn't get a good look at it, but now that I do... WHA?

[qtpye]

On 7/19/2021 at 11:03 AM, ShelleySue said:

She was born with a facial deformity and if you look at the left side of her face you can see a scar.  I assume she wears the head scarf and her hair pulled around to hide the scarring, or at least to make herself feel more comfortable with it.

Gary's closet mural with the slides was absolutely incredible.  This week when the camera kept focusing on the sloppily painted medallions on the ship it was obvious he was going to be going home.  He said he had decided to concentrate on his woodworking and that decision is what cost him.  You would think that with his artistic talent he would know that the monotone of the ship against the wood paneling would be a fail.

My brother's violin teacher was a brilliant violinist. He came from a long line of the great violinist, including a person who was world-famous.

However, in his professional life, the guy did everything but the fricken violin.

He wanted to be an artist and even though it is subjective, most people were not impressed with his visual art.

So the city where I grew up did the parade of cows thing and he was selected to do a cow. His cow was often called out as being the worst of the bunch.

This long-winded story reminds me of Gary.  I imagine that he is a brilliant muralist but he just wants to showcase some of his other skills. However, the judges were practically begging for more of his painting.

3 hours ago, dcalley said:

It definitely could be fabric; I hadn't thought of that. I thought it was paper. Wish we'd gotten an explanation.

I think the judges thought it was more like part of an art installation than what they wanted, but maybe I'm way off. They spent so little time on it.

Lol, it reminds me of those tiny New York City apartments where people have to get creative with their storage. I knew a lady who would store books in the oven because she never cooked or baked. It feels like...might as well store my extra linens in this unusable fireplace.

[jabRI]

14 hours ago, qtpye said:

I knew a lady who would store books in the oven because she never cooked or baked

I worked with a number of Indian-Americans in NYC, great fun folks, that never used their dishwasher, so used it to store all their pots and pans in their tiny apartments.  Loved it!

[Shermie]

I'll never understand people who won't use their dishwasher. My sister never did either, but complained how busy she was.  My mother wouldn't use hers even after a big family dinner because it was "too much trouble".  Oy. I use mine every damn day for every damn dish, and run it when it's full. People be crazy.

I didn't think Gary should have gone home, although I would have focused on painting three shields perfectly rather than rushing through painting six shields sloppily. Maybe he's a muralist who can't paint a good mural without committing several days to it.

I agree that the weird fabric stuffed fireplace lady should have gone home. I had no idea what she was going for and it looked unfinished. 

Love the show though. I wish there were more crafting shows. Anyone remember Craft Corner Deathmatch hosted by Jason Jones? I think that show was ahead of its time, a lot of people didn't get the snark of it.

[Maverick]

 The fireplace challenge warranted a multiple elimination episode....not even including the one who actually went home.   The baseball guy needed to go.   He didn't notice the errors in the color pattern?  Really?  And the whole display--including the flag mural--looked cartoonish.  I also thought the Thanksgiving one was awful.    The colored water was an interesting idea, but that intense red said Christmas not Thanksgiving, as did the floral...thing above the mantel.   The other problem is, with no variation in color or height it just looked like a big red blob sitting on the mantel.   I would have sent both home.

[Kawaiiko]

On 7/16/2021 at 8:58 AM, dleighg said:

OMG can you stop with the overacting about the wind? Please? I don't freakin' care that it was windy.

I thought the "extreme wind" bits were hilarious... 😅

I must be the only one who likes all the comedy bits.

Nick and Amy are absolute pleasures. And I'm not liking (former) Etsy lady.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Kawaiiko

[tennisgurl]

I quite enjoy the comedy bits, Nick and Amy just crack me up and I love all of the cute felt animals they use for their skits. My only complaint about them is that they take a little too much time away from showing the crafting, if they just cut the sketches a tiny bit they would be perfect for me. 

I am sad that Gary left, I think it should have been foam lady or baseball guy instead. It sucks that his specialty, painting murals, takes such a long time, which isn't very helpful for a timed competition. He just seems like a fun guy to craft with.

[dcalley]

What was with the show giving one woman custom artwork of her pet while another gets hard-boiled eggs???

[NotChristine]

I wasn't impressed by any of the costumes or mantles in last week's ep.

[mertensia]

Blake was the right choice. He was doomed when his swing's cables started giving way. That said, I loved that door.

Becca's stuff didn't impress me much. I don't know why she won.

Loved that bird lamp!

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

Blake was the right choice. He was doomed when his swing's cables started giving way. That said, I loved that door.

Becca's stuff didn't impress me much. I don't know why she won.

Loved that bird lamp!

Me either! A lot of her work on that porch looked sloppy with uneven edges. The lines weren’t clean on the zebra or llama. 
I thought Melanio’s Japanese lantern was gorgeous.

[alexa]

I agree…I thought the winner’s porch was very lacking.  They keep overlooking Melanio and his work has been first rate.

Edited July 23, 2021 by alexa