inspo-sundays

The Inspiration & Research 🌺

sundays (2026) 🔗 was inspired by the routines of a Sunday. More specifically, the routines of my (Janice’s) Sunday routine. In my curiosity syllabus (for Exploratory Making class), I had wrote down themes:

• bows/coquette (aka whimsy)
• something for people
• something for jan
• flowers???

For the past few years, I have been buying myself flowers, and just arranging them on my apartment floor. Sometimes arranging flowers and giving it to others, other times, buying a flower subscription and sending others, flowers. Or buying premade arrangements for myself. Regardless flowers, and the act of arranging flowers has been a constant self-care, soothing, routine that is the rhythm of a Sunday for me. 🌷 🌼

I even named one of my savings accounts: Janice’s discretionary flower fund

Because I wanted objects to be placed (like the act of floral arranging) in my project, I realized that creating this piece would be about weight.

Colors / Materials / Form 🟣 *I also considered working with real flowers in the beginning of this project, however flowers are not really heavy. Flowers that are heavy, are mostly sunflowers. Nothing wrong with sunflowers, but the act of floral arranging I use a lot of different flowers, and it wouldn’t be the same, just arranging the same type of flower.

Flower Shapes (and Material) 🌷

The shapes of each flower was chosen based on real flowers I personally buy, and have bought over the years (since 2020!) need to attach receipts

• Hibiscus: Malaysia’s National Flower, and because it is *Summer*
• Baby Breath / Blue Thistle: A funky shape (to laser cut), and a flower I love using to add texture
• Calla Lillies: The most challenging shape to laser engrave (cast a shadow in laser cutting)
• Daisy / Carnations: I love carnations! A hardy flower that last 2-3 weeks in arrangements, but a difficult shape to draw/cut, I reimagined them as daisy shape, upon bloom
• Tulips: My mom <3

Material was sourced from salvage acrylic (from Material of the Arts in Queens, NY) and Canal Plastics (Chinatown)

(still wip: need to go into details on colors and patterns)

Form (Analog Sensor: Load Cell + HX711 Amplifier) ⚖️

quick vocabulary terms: there is no such thing as a weight sensor (i will use this term interchangeably) with → load cell + HX711 amplifier (official terminology)

in body weight scales, or kitchen gram scales (if you take it apart), it is composed of a:

• load cell (a rectangular prism brick), and
• a green circuit board (HX711 amplifier) + probably an LED panel (to display the weight)

for some reason load cells are a weak analog sensor, and when you strain (aka push the metal, by placing heavy objects) it sends a signal.

however the signal is not enough, and it needs an amplifier (specifically, a HX711 amplifier)

and then the HX711 amplifier → connects to the breadboard / Arduino microcontroller

* and in my project I was not going to use an LED panel to display weight amounts, that was going to be hidden/only known to me

Assembly / Fabrication 🛠️ 📏

So many issues! Many late nights on the IMA/ITP Floor in Brooklyn. I think it is a 3-part series:

1. Rough Rough Draft (Part 1 | Interface Lab)
2. Still a rough draft (Part 2 | Exploratory Making)
3. Final Fabrication (Part 3 | Interface Lab)

*Just can read Part 3 🔗 (if tl;dr)

Designing Interaction 💥

When participants place a flower (or flowers) in the vase, different colors of light would change, and react. Still WIP (work-in-progress, to expand narrative)

+ incl. easter egg

Thoughts / Reflections 🫧

• I didn’t give up (aka: I kept trying and trying, and I got sick 🥲 , and I still tried) a bit crazy (slept overnight on the IMA/ITP floor for one night), but I am proud for not giving up because this all new forms / material to me! 💗
• A project with 100% completely new-to-me regarding: form / materials

✴︎ Laser-Cutting: I learned to operate the laser cutting machine, for the first time, about 15 days prior.

✴︎ Laser Engraving: Empowered by Exploratory Making class (about experimenting new forms, learning to fail), I decided last minute 3 days ago, to laser engrave, some flower pieces. Using the last pieces of acrylic, that I had, to engrave flower petal shadows (the shadows of a calla lily) If it failed, I would not have time to replace some flower objects for my art piece (dangerous!). It turned out beautiful (I was nervous for about 6 hours, to laser engrave)

✴︎ Analog Sensors (Load Cell + HX711 Amplifier): Attempting to use an sensor (and an analog one), that was not taught in Interface Lab class, but through my growth and bravery, felt embolden to take on the challenge. Because, I really want visitors/participants to do, the act of flower arranging (in which I designed an art piece about weight, → placing flowers = I would need to measure weight)

✴︎ 3-D Printing: Also a new skill! I had never 3-D printed before, and 11 days ago, I wanted to print a purse hook, which later down the line, aided in my creation sundays. I needed to design an item to hold stems, so visitors/participants can place flower stems in my vase.

✴︎ Acrylic Fabrication: Never having work with acrylic before. I learned to assemble acrylic pieces (two-part epoxy) to bond. Drill into acrylic (using drill bits specifically for plastic materials) to create holes, and using the laser cutting machine to cut and engrave acrylic pieces.

In a past blog (Interface Lab), was a difficult class to me, I struggled, and cried. It is beautiful, that sundays 🔗, became my final project, that I am extremely proud of.