I’ve seen this Dan Beckemeyer piece pop up in a few of my favorite places, and I have to site it as another fantastic inspiration to learn the craft of needle felting.
Beckemeyer gets major innovation points for making this a multimedia project. I’ve yet to see needle felting blend seamlessly with print media.
I would love to see him do more work of this type. Perhaps a triptych of anatomical pieces.
I would absolutely love to see a trend in paleontology embroidery! Etsy seller Donkeywolf has a great example: the Trilobite Triptych.
Wonderful color choice for a uniquely “fossilized” look, and each Trilobite is unique.
Thanks to Evolution I now have my own Trilobite fossil.
A few people who couldn’t make it to my birthday party last month took it upon themselves to send some neat stuff and I’d like to thank them.
The lovely Agmac got this adorable crocheted tummy:
…and one of the more unique fetus ornaments I’ve seen to date. It’s wonderfully shiny, spiky…and unborn. I wonder how people would react if I wore it as a necklace. I could just say it’s an “Earth mother with an edge kind of thing.”
Matt P. found this rare and elusive coloring book. There is almost no info available about it, except for the fact that it was created by Matthew Laznicka, about whom I had previously posted. The images are incredibly fun…I’ll have to feature some of them in future posts:
I was grateful to Julia for surprising me with one of the pieces I had posted about as well. The Aroha Sihouettes laser cut LP book necklace is every bit as awesome as it looked on the website.
She also included some little lowbrow art trading cards.
This next one was a small part of a much larger gift from Matt C. and Steph. Louisa and I were unnaturally fascinated with this confection, so we decided to do some research. Turns out Zitner’s Butter Krak eggs have quite a cult following in the Philadelphia area. Since I can’t eat coconut, I enjoyed this one as an intrigued spectator.
Many thanks!
I want to frame this in every room of my house…not that I need a reminder.
The laser cut notebook version is amazing:
And I’d love to see the logo on a rubber stamp.
Inspired by this 1939 propaganda poster:
You can get a t-shirt too. Creator Matt Jones generously encourages the spreading of this image (but give him proper credit!).
I’m fascinated by random cultural explosions that take place around arbitrary objects. Bacon has become a veritable phenomenon over the past two years, and I’m noticing steady growth of the toast trend.
I’ll refrain from posting images of pictures burned into toast…it’s been done ad nauseum. I will, however, show you this meta-toast mosaic:
It’s not just an emergence of toast products I’ve noticed (such as Tic Tac Toast
Now let’s enjoy some brief nostalgia.
In 1989, After Dark introduced the Flying Toast Screensaver (first for Mac, later for Windows):
Later, Sims Carnival allowed for more intergalactic toast possibilities.
Who can forget the 1990’s pioneer of these crumbly, starchy heroes, POWDERED TOAST MAN?
High-velocity raisins, corrosive croutons, acidic marmalade, flying butter pats…and of course, flight. He had it all.
Years later, we meet Mr. Toast and his mini empire.
There are countless variations of Mr. Toast images and products. Personally, I’m a fan of Vampire Toast:
(Love the shiny cape…very classy)
Slightly more menacing is this toast from one of my favorite web comics.
Never thought toast could be sad? Well, My Paper Crane proves that it can be, if aware of its ominous scorching fate.
If you prefer your toast enraged and screaming, you can now purchase a Mini Toast Pocket Friend:
In fact, angry toast does seem to be all the rage (pun intended).
There was even a design contest based on the concept.
But wait! Not all toast is tragic!
Look at Senor Happy Toast, gleefully self-buttering:
And my own soft toast creations, circa 2006 (and part of a complete plush breakfast) were pretty happy too:
Yummy Pancake’s Mr Toastee flickr set runs the whole gamut.
Happy…
Dressed up…
Drunk…
Whole wheat, original and rye (together in perfect harmony)…
Some modern toast creations include bizarre, counter-intuitive designs like this Soft Toaster Cell Phone Holder, complete with bear face and ears:
(The toast, also with a face, is supposed to “wipe off” the phone…wonder if it’s large enough for touch screen phones)
Are you…
(Image source link now dead)
What are your feelings about the growing Cult of Toast?
I can think of a few vinyl lovers who would appreciate this as much as I do. Michael Rogers Press makes these fantastic LP notebooks with cut records albums, hard bound with black cloth.
I’ve made plush meat products before; bacon strips, a T-bone steak, ham, and of course…the Turducken. But this life sized meat project trumps anything I’ve undertaken.
The South Park Quality Meats installation in San Diego includes salami, different cuts of meat, sausages, frankfurters, ham, a leg of lamb, a tongue, tripe, one goat and two pigs heads, and a side of beef.
All pieces are made from thrift/recycled fabric, and recycled polyfil stuffing.
Check out the store front! Signs were made by a seven year old boy and a nine year old girl.
See a few more pictures here.
I’ve seen some detailed paper cut crafts before, but none quite so stunning as those of Aoyama Hina.
I can’t even imagine the patience necessary to cut these as she does by hand with a tiny pair of scissors.
See more on her flickr page.
Found on Dudecraft.
As someone who has always loved to leave little surprises for strangers (including drawing on the walls behind store clothing racks as a toddler…but I won’t get into that), I’m completely enamored with the idea of the Matchbox Project.
The premise is simple (as stated on the website):
Each week, a decorated matchbox with a tiny present hidden inside is left by a girl (and sometimes willing friends) somewhere in her travels. It’s a random act of semi-artistic kindness aimed at disrupting someone’s day in a tiny but positive way. That’s if they dare to pick it up…
Kudos to these participants! This project has inspired me to conjure up some random acts of artistic kindness. Any ideas?
See more matchboxes here.
Just wanted to share this unique needle felt creation by vivica_mirrors. His name is Squeek.
See more of her projects on her flickr site.
SheWalksSoftly 