Hands on Katie

Frickin' Frigate is addictive!!

Ok, that lasted about a week before I decided too upgrade - there's so many cool things in Frigate that I want to add, so a dozen 4k cameras, number plate, face and animal recognition was going to start straining the CPU.

Added a dual TPU coral chip and packed in a bit more NVMe while the box is open and ... inference rates running at a silky 7.5ms and less than 6% Detector CPU usage.... you know what that means.... I'm going to HAVE to ramp up all the settings to 11!

Ok tell me....

...has one of you ever managed to use superglue without getting your fingers stuck???
Every time I use it, I think 'I'm determined to not get it on my fingers'..... and then I do.... :)

I'm adding this little magnetic board to the Playroom and I've been LOVING the Snapmaker, I'm up to hundreds of hours of prints and it just is a beast! I wasn't quite sure how reliable the toolchanging would actually be, and I'm still not to be precise - it hasn't failed once in thousands and thousan...

Buying a Security Camera? Let’s Make It Easy - ft. the Reolink Trackflex Wifi!

Well I've been working like mad on all sorts of camera projects over Christmas - a lot based on your recommendations!

Firstly - all of you that recommended Reolink originally to me - THANK YOU, they've always been great, but I DREAD to think how hard it would have been to do some of the more advanced things I'm now building, it's a dream!

Secondly - all of you that recommended Frigate - thank you! It too is awesome, I'm only scratching the surface at the moment of my end vision,...

It's game time!!

Been printing, coding and designing like mad this week - looking to tackle the madness that is my board game collection! Got a video planned for this with some super fun ideas!!

Need to work out how to organise them better, neat ideas to make the game more fun, even ways to keep track of everything - it's gonna be sooooo much fun!!

The Playroom is online!

Now that almost all the wiring and electronics is done (had to put some more LEDs in naturally as I figured I was a little short of them.... ;) ), I'm moving onto the automation side.

Been designing a Home Assistant control panel for the room that lets anyone activate various modes with a click!

I'm planning to share a little generator that will let you create your own snazzy templates very easily!

Building something fun!!!

I'm testing something super exciting for an upcoming video/ecosystem - this is a fusion of some of the ideas that have been flying around. And it's a universal solution for some general challenges that I keep bashing up against.

This could be awesome if I can get my head around a last couple of challenges!

More sneak peeks coming on this pretty soon, but I suspect it'll be of interest to almost any maker....

...and no, the cats were zero help whatsoever. Whenever the fire...

It's 2026!!

Hello!!! Blwyddyn Newydd Dda to those Welshies and Happy New Year to the rest!!!
I've been soooo busy over the Christmas period, so I just wanted to pop in at the start of the year to say a huge thank you for being here — and I couldn't resist giving you a little peek at what I’ve been quietly (and not so quietly) building behind the scenes!

There are so many exciting things I'm not even going to cover them all, but I might give you a sneak peak in this photos!

...

Game on.

It was a mad rush to get this ready for Christmas, but I have to say, the kids were soooo excited by it, it was worth every late night, soldered finger, splintered hand and reel of PLA!

openGrid has been super useful throughout this room and I'm super pleased at quite how much I've packed into this tiny space. It's been probably the most combo-craft project yet - 3d printing, sewing, upholstery, electronics, programming, woodworking, design, art and more.

And you know what..... y...

Seven (and a half) DTF Tips: Tricks borrowed from other crafts!

Bit of a Christmas gift-a-thon crafting session, so I thought I'd share a few of the tips I've picked up on DTF printing along the way!

The race is on! <Jingle Bells!>

I'm racing to get the playroom ready by Christmas day (so Santa can take all the credit! 😉).

I think I'm now past the woodworking and sewing stage. Now I'm entering the 3d printing and electronics phase which should come together quickly as I don't need to wait for paint to dry!! I've got a pile of openGrid tiles ready to mount of a scale that Distracted Dragon would be proud of!

Check out his latest openGrid tutorial as an aside, he's covering all the common questions real...

Which laser is right for you??

Ok, I've tried to answer as many as possible of the common questions you've raised here to help you get to the right laser for your own hobbies and interests!

This is a bit a refresh of my video from last year given all the new lasers that xTool have released since then - it's pretty dizzying keeping up with them all!

Hopefully this'll help demystify some of these devices!

Got carried away with my E-Ink Frames #3/3

No seriously, you can call them to take me away any time you fancy..... !

The crazy thing is I'm only stopping because I think you'll truly consider me insane if I share any more.... NOT because I haven't got a pile more photos of mad ideas I've tested!! 🤣🤣🤣

I'll be featuring these kinda everywhere going forward.... oooh my Serverware cabinet, I could generate IP address lists as a poster at the back for permanent reference that I can update instantly!! ANOTHER idea, se...

Got carried away with my E-Ink Frames #2/3

I'm telling you, I'm obsessed (see my previous post!)

I wake up every day and I think about another cool idea - I've started looking at bluetooth sniffing for this - it'd be amazing if I could broadcast a photo upload from Home Assistant. Play a song, broadcast images of the genre!

Links:
UK: https://tidd.ly/48vBbnZ
US: https://tidd.ly/3XYxFNW 2025-12-02 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Got carried away with my E-Ink Frames #1/3

Ok, playing catch up on all the crazy projects I've been building and got far too distracted by these little devices!

As many of you know, wall art has long been an annoyance of mine - we've automated lighting so you are no longer stuck with the same old light colours. This lighting can also shift the hue of your walls, meaning wall paints are no longer stuck with 'just' Magnolia walls forever.... but all the art, posters, photos and the rest.... well they required manual replacement e...

Katie's Lab #1: The laser that doesn't burn....

Hey all,

Right, I've been grappling with a challenge a bit this year - as you know, I tend to have different categories of videos.

Lots are project videos, where I'm building some mad idea I've come up with - think Underware, Deskware, Serverware, Tiny Tomes, and all the rest.

Others are more philosophical - explaining how I think about home organisation, technology advances and more. This is often what I'm actually thinking about when I'm covering new products - it's th...

Get those smart home devices tidied!!

Video time folks!!! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did making it.... I really can't recommend it enough to get these grotty cablemageddon spots sorted, it's soooo satisfying to be able to just slot in new devices in seconds.... my smart home can breathe again!

Hope you enjoy!

Playing catch up!!!

Right, now that I'm not bed-ridden with a medieval pox, I'm catching up on everything!!

Patron-tier gifts for those amazing first year subscribers are coming out soon (I'll message this weekend - be warned!)

In the meantime, I've been writing little personal messages in each!

Oh and I've got a video to finish!

Serverware almost finished....but a brief aside....

Is this not the cutest little Raspberry Pi case you've ever seen??? It's a mini-mini-PC!

I got it 100% because it was so cute watching those little RGB lights spinning around - I was marginally surprised that it appears to be actually very good! It's got nvme drive slot, OLED screen, can be used for Rp5 or Jetson Orin Nanos......

But it's also hilariously cute!

Aiming for a video on this end of this week - printers and coding permitting!

One of those days....!

Just been recovering from my second bout of flu in three weeks (I didn't even think it was possible to get it twice in short succession!!!)

But back to the making of the playroom - one of those days, did all the hard work in the upholstery, then realised I've stupidly stitched the velcro in the wrong place!!! Unpick and start again in the morning!!

It's going to be pretty fun this chair!!

My most underrated tool??

Hey folks,

This video has on my 'to-do list' for AGES!! I know I mentioned this hidden hero to many of you when chatting about my workshop build - it's saved the day so many times during my workshop build and continues to work away silently saving me money when I'm not directly using it and giving me portable power whenever I do.

So the least I could give my little stalwart is a bit of credit! All the powerstation brands were a bit alien to me when I first explored, but Aferiy ha...

The Race is On!!!

150+ openGrids being printed for the workshop, the cloakroom, the ultimate playroom and more! I've had printers going non-stop printing grids, hooks, shelves, components - get ready for some cool new displays!

I'm organising the heck out of my workshop - next on the list is a painting zone, an electronics zone and a testing zone, so watch this space!

...and I want to beat Distracted Dragon in the openGrid print off!!

Ahhh back with my bots!!

Ok was too excited by how well this guy works, so I had to quickly share!!
The windows needed a good clean, so I bought this little fella to do all the hard work for me!
I got him as we've got so many awkward to reach windows, but he can do loads I didn't realise - glass balconies, bathroom walls, internal mirrors and more!

I've been running around the house looking for things to clean!!
He's got a handy little box that holds everything as well as a battery, so you just whip ...

A few holiday thoughts!

Well I'm just back from a little break! I went to see Harry Potter Studios with my kids as my daughter finished all the books.

I found various ideas for future videos from Harry Potter, but I have to say, staying in a 10th Century castle hotel was even more cooler - I mean, I was basically at home! It was built by one of William the Conquerors buddies who saw fit to put Welsh dragons everywhere, I found some secret doors all over the place and I had my dinner in a dungeon! What more co...

Getting ready for my favourite season!!

And testing the P2S along the way - well I was printing hundreds and hundreds of hours of spooky prints, so I figured I'd try and break it!

Juggling!

Been meaning to install a full 360 camera at the back of the house for a while, so took the opportunity to quickly throw one up (although it took longer than I expected to work out the wiring loop from this old light circuit!).

I'm getting better a juggling the filming whilst actually doing all these projects - so capturing much more b-roll that makes the videos hopefully better!

This one coming soon - Reolink just announced this camera at IFA to rave reviews and awards, have to...

It's dinner time!!!

Ok, I was in my element in this one - lasers, crafting.....and a touch of something else....

Hope you all enjoy it!