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Make a Trebuchet
Make a Catapult
Make a Terrarium
Shoebox Diorama
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Shadowbox Fantasy
Make a videogame
Brew Your own Honey Wine Mead
Make a BoxKite
Easy Paper Castle Better paper Castle Dragon Pinata

STORES

Posters
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Dioramas and miniatures
Classical Guitar store
Telescope Store

My Websites

Castlefiction.com
Epic-Fantasy.com
My Medieval Blog
The Fantasy Guide
Medieval Castles
Medieval Swords
Medieval Weapons
The Knight Medieval
willkalif.com
make-video-games.com
Telescope Nerd

Renaissance Mead Carboy Covers

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Edgar Cayce

Earning money with your website

All Materials, unless otherwise stated are Copyright© 2001-2008
Kalif Publishing and StormtheCastle.com check out my copyright page for information about how to use any work on this site.

Hi, Thanks for visiting my website. My name is Will and if you have questions
or would like to
contribute projects or ideas you can

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Inspire your creativity with projects for your mind and your hands.
Storm The Castle of Creativity!

Third Novel Get a sneak peek at the upcoming novel including some original sketches for concept covers.
The Left-Handed Sword

Fourth and Fifth Novels - I am currently working hard on these novels. One is a horror novel and the other is an epic fantasy novel.

Some of my other interesting webpages

The Philosopher's Garden I have started a little garden this spring and it is where I shed insight into life and it's meaning. The Philosopher's Garden

Fantasy Swords - Our new section on swords of all kinds, movie, medieval and more. Fantasy swords

Lion's Last Kill Novel Podcast -Free Audio
Want to listen to an Epic Fantasy novel? It is totally free and it is one click away with no download necessary. music and sound effects. A new chapter is podcast every friday If you would like to start the novel from chapter one go to the Novel Home Page

• Epilogue - Sep 13 This completes the novel
• Chapter 26 Sep 1, last chapter - but there is an epilogue coming next week
• Chapter 25 August 25 The word is spoken
• Chapter 24 August 18 The plan begins
• Chapter 23 August 16 Return to the castle
• Chapter 22 August 10 Rescue
• Chapter 21 - August 3 Taken to the Brek lair
• Chapter 20 - July 27 Captured!

Note: August 18 - This novel is now available at online book dealers. You can now purchase a paperback copy. Here is a link to amazon.com

Things to think about and explore. "Creativity for your mind"

The Search for the Meaning of Life

Expand Your Mind
Your mind is the same as the muscles in your body. If you don't give it new challenges it grows weak. The potential within your mind is enormous. Did you ever want to learn a new language or a new skill? Did you ever want to learn about Botany or Zoology? Geology? There are so many amazing things to learn about in this world and in this life. If you want to expand your mind boost your creativity, become an artist or musician then go to the "Expand your Mind section."

Ignite Your Creativity
Creativity is a mysterious force of the highest kind. It brings enormous satisfaction and fulfillment. How many times in your life did you wish you were more creative? Did you always want to draw or oil paint or play a musical instrument? Did you always want to write? To create new worlds on paper? If you consider yourself not to be a very creative person then you are mistaken. We all have this incredible ability within us. But just like everything else in this life it takes nurturing. You do have a creative potential within you, and you can achieve it. Imagine the fulfillment and satisfaction you will find. Go to "Igniting Your Creativity"

Change Your Life
Are you stuck in a rut? Go to work, go to the store, pay the bills. Maintain the house, do the dishes. There doesn't seem to be enough time to do the things you really want to do. Are you going to wake up one day and realize that the juice of life has passed you by? Would you like to experience and do some remarkable things in your life? You can make your life magnificent! Instead of focusing on Making a living focus on building a life! Let me help you with this section on "ChangeYour Life."

The Serendipity Engine©
You think in patterns. We all gather information about the world in similar ways and you run the risk of thinking in the same rut as everybody else. The Serendipity Engine© helps combat this. Would you like to expand your mind by finding something totally out of your normal routine. Serendipity Engine

Special Books
There are books that can change your life and the way you think about life. -Books that can change you in profound ways. Go to the section on special books.

Beyond Harry Potter
So your kids are reading the Harry Potter series and they really love it. This series of novels has done wonders for getting kids enthusiastic about reading and you can keep this enthusiasm going! Here is a hand picked selection of books in the vein of Harry Potter that your kids will love!  -Beyond Harry Potter

Epic Fantasy If you are a fan of Epic Fantasy you should Check out our sister site Castle Fiction Epic & Heroic Fantasy Resources

Ever thought about getting a telescope? This is a wonderful and rewarding hobby. Go to the Storm the Castle guide to Telescopes and astronomy.

Celestron Powerseeker 60 Telescope

WORLD OF WARCRAFT FOR PC- The Massive Online Role Playing game that has taken the world by storm. (It has over 5 million subscribers) If you don't have this game and you are a fan of online games then you are missing out! If you play this game then here is a list of resources to help you improve. Check out my information and resources page.

Art and Drawing
If you always wanted to draw or paint now is the time to start. Here are some things to get you started, get you inspired, and get you more creative. Art & Drawing

For Fantasy Writers
Are you a writer or aspiring writer looking for tips and advice. Here is a series of articles on the craft of writing. Written by Will and focusing on the genre of fantasy in word and in video games. The Fantasy Writers articles The Latest essay in the series:

Webmastering
Creating, Designing, and improving a website is a challenge for both sides of your brain. It takes writing skill, design skills and artistic ability to do well. We have tutorials, tips and hints on all these aspects of having a website -Including some great stuff on how to make money with your website. The Creative Webmaster Section

Want to make money with your website? (The honest way) Check out my tutorial- Nothing there for sale. No pitch just honest information on how to make a website and earn some money with it. Everything you need from start to finish. Earn Honest money tutorial

Specific items

willkalif.com

The Knight Medieval site Information about medieval knights, how they lived, their history, their weapons and more.

An Interview with the director of the Dark Ages Film

I have had the opportunity to get a little bit of advance exposure to the History Channel's New film about the Dark Ages. This includes an interview with the Director! Read my interview and learn more about the upcoming film!

Make a Fantasy Shadowbox - This project shows you how to make a shadowbox out of an old picture frame. The scene it depicts is called Women Warriors prepare for battle. Go to the shadowbox project

The Warcraft Virtual Reality Pod! I have built my own personal pod for playing warcraft - right in my living room. It is complete with the bucket seat from a car, a mini fridge, telephone and two computers. See more pics and learn about the project and the game of Warcraft here.

Firefly Diorama

This is a great little shoebox diorama that uses tiny blinking lights as fireflies. Battery operated and you can make it. See the project tutorial and the video of it in action Firefly Diorama

Free Hands-on Tutorials and Projects. "Creativity for your hands"

My Newest Projects:

Make Miniature Trees
This is a new tutorial in my series of Diorama Making projects. Traditional tree making and some great ideas for creative tree making. Make Miniature Trees

Make a Paper Castle (Neuschwanstein)
This is nice paper project where I give you all the plans, You print them up and put them together , Not too hard and looks great - Paper Castle

How to Make a Traditonal Kite

This is an easy kite to make. Just two sticks, some plastic and tape and you are ready to fly it - Make a Regular Kite

How to Make a Box Kite

A Boxkite is a unique kind of kite that is easy and fun to make and really flies - Even though it doesnt look like it can fly - BoxKite Tutorial

The Backyard OGRE Catapult

This is a powerful two foot long catapult. I have complete instructions and tutorial on how to build it here The OGRE

Little Wonders book of Star Gazing

Enjoying the pursuit of stargazing, easy to find nebulae, galaxies and more. Simple star and moon charts you can print out and use. Star Gazing Book

How to Make a Dragon Pinata

All it takes is a balloon, some paper mache and a little creativity and you have a great themed pinata. Add a sword and your party is transformed! How to Make a Dragon Pinata

Free Paper Game: Storm The Castle an adventure..

Print, make and play this adventure game. You are a knight and you have to storm through the castle and overthrow the King! Along the adventure you run into guards, wandering beasts and more. Totally free game that you can print up, assemble and play. Including a paper dice if you don't have one. The Paper Game

I now have a newsletter that you can sign up for. In it I give you lots of tips, tricks and hobby projects in a variety of different areas. I also will keep you updated on projects that I am making. Totally free and one click subscribe and unsubscribe. In upcoming newsletters I will be covering themes like Rubber Band Projects, Rube Goldbergs, and Making things with Paper. Going to be a lot of fun.

How to Make a ...

Scrounging around on the internet looking for some new and fun projects I realized that there are a lot of potential projects out there! Lots of people are looking for how to make something. So I have started a section of my site called the How to Make a... section. I take the most popular requests for how to make and I do them. There are easy projects and more challenging projects. If you are looking for a new project to do you might want to check it out here: How to Make a...

How to Make a Volcano

This is a nice little project that has some improvements over the typical volcano. It is less mess and easy to clean. The bottle in the middle comes right out so you can clean it and do it again. It is also in a nice little box so the magma stays controlled - Less Mess How to Make a Volcano - New: The Mentos and Diet Coke Volcano - Fires a stream high into the air!

300 Diorama - Battle of Thermopylae

I am currently working on a three foot long diorama of the battle of the Spartans inspired by the 300 movie. It is wired for sound and lighting ( A night battle scene will be great) - I have also made it into a tutorial so you can see how I make this big diorama and you can learn how to make your own great looking dioramas. 300 Diorama

Make a Paper and cardboard Castle

This is a fun project - I give you all the drawings and plans you need to make this castle thats ready for painting - Make a castle

Model Rockets!

Model Rockets are an inexpensive and fun hobby. You get to build them and then launch them. There are lots of ways to have fun with them and there are even rockets with onboard video cameras that you can watch on your computer. I have a whole new section devoted to model rockets

Brewing Mead

Mead is a thousand year old wine brewed from honey and water. It is truly a medieval drink. I have embarked on the adventure of brewing my own. See how I am doing and learn how to brew your own mead! Mead Brewing

Ocean Diorama

This is a unique little ocean diorama shaped like the porthole of a submarine and made out of a cookie tin. I have full instructions and artwork for you to print and make. Easy and fun project. A new take on the ocean diorama. Imagine looking out the porthole of your submarine and discovering Atlantis! Now you can. Ocean Diorama

Stop Motion Animation

All it takes is a cheap digital camera and a computer with Windows XP and you can make your own animations! You are only limited by your creativity. I have animations that I made and a tutorial that shows you how to make your own animations. Stop Motion Animation

Milkshape 3d tutorial How to Make 3d Models for your video games Start here This is part of my series on making video games. This tutorial is comprehensive and goes right up into animation of characters.

The Bicycle-wheel and Bowling Ball Trebuchet - This thing is crazy. The base is three feet long and it seriously throws projectiles! Was a fun project. See the tutorial and the video. But don't build this siege engine without the help of an adult!

Rainforest Diorama. This easy project uses the concept of the 5 layers of the rainforest canopy as its building structure which is a nice way to learn about the rainforest The Rainforest Diorama

Storm The Castle Catapult Game - Build a Popsicle stick catapult and hurl paper balls at the castle. How to make the Game and the catapult are here

Miniatures and Painting Miniatures tutorial. Learn how to paint miniatures. In the tutorial I paint this warhorse. Painting miniatures tutorial

The Table-Top Troll Catapult Build this miniature catapult from materials found around the house. It's an easy project and the catapult really fires projectiles! Catapult Project

Fantasy Art School
Learn how to draw fantasy creatures, knights, armor and all sorts of fantasy and medieval things. I have just begun this series of art lessons and will be adding lessons daily but you can check out what I have - Fantasy Art Lessons

Build This Trebuchet called "The Little Dragon". Complete instructions with pictures. Made from materials found around the house and hurls a small object 30 feet. Build The Little Dragon Trebuchet

Terrarium Projects

How to Make a Terrarium. This section has tutorials and instruction on making several different types of terrariums- complete with lots of pictures. Terrarium building home page

How to make video games
Are you looking for a way to express your creativity? Making video games is a great way to do it! Wouldn't it be great to make your very own video game? It could be anything you want. The only limit is your imagination and you don't need to know how to program. There is plenty of software available that will do that work for you. You can make your own video games! In the video game design section you can find lots of materials on designing, creating, and playing your own video games.

You can also look through lots of books and find the one right for you.How to make video games

Classical Guitar
Learn How to Play
If you never played and want to learn I have a whole section that will get you going including which books to get, selecting a guitar, how to tune your guitar, how to string it and some introductory lessons.
Learn How to Play Classical guitar

How to Make a Diorama

Dioramas are a great way to express creativity. You work through manys stages of the creative process. You conceptualize then design a scene then you work with the materials to make it a reality.-great tutorial that shows you how to make a diorama from start to finish. It walks you through all the steps and techniques.