Category: craft

Geek Trees

December 22nd, 2008

Although most of these have been circulated online quite a bit by now, I’d like to give credit to the best geeky Christmas trees I’ve seen this year.

Recycled Gadget Tree

Apparently this one was created by a librarian using old computer parts the library was going to discard.

Recycled Gadget Tree #2

I love to speculate about the technological wonderland that would have so many spare/disposable parts for Christmas tree use.

Dalek Tree

I *love* the use of the laundry basket and other household objects! The color scheme is also pretty spectacular.

Knit Christmas Tree

Massive knitting endeavors like this never cease to amaze me.

Book Shelf Tree

A bit minimalist for my taste, but it gets points for design and use of one of my very favorite things.

Charlie Brown Tree

Not exactly geeky, but oh-so endearing. This tree needs me.

(Apologies for lack of sources)
Luna Parc

December 20th, 2008

Think you’ve seen the most uncomfortably themed jewelry ever created? Nope…not until now, you haven’t. In case some of you are at work, or prefer not to look, I will simply direct you to:

ENEMA EARRINGS AND PINS (the design is actually a marvelous replica of the antique apparatus)

Then there is the Colon of Joy, which I happen to love:

But WAIT…

DO NOT let one pair of enema earrings and a colon deter you from exploring the rest of the Lunaparc website, where you’ll find some of the most amazing hand crafted metal miniatures out there. Ricky Boscarino is a veritable genius.

Some of my favorite things (art, sewing, anatomy) are included in his collection…

The kitchen sets are phenomenal too.

And check out the pottery section for amazing creations like this:

Luna Parc is a five acre wonderland in northwestern New Jersey, home to Ricky’s impressive array of art, sculpture, jewelry, pottery, stained glass and other eccentric projects.

I really want to take a tour!
Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks

December 10th, 2008

Where were these when I was a precocious little toddler? I would have loved a set of laser etched Young Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks!

Letters and corresponding images cover essential mad scientist lingo such as

A – Appendages
B – Bioengineering
C – Caffeine
D – Dirigible
E – Experiment
F – Freeze ray
G – Goggles
H – Henchmen
(the rest here)

Ah, these make me nostalgic for my youth. Remind me to tell you about the time I discovered there was no Santa Claus…by use of forensic evidence.
Urban Knitting

December 5th, 2008

I thought a post involving some guerilla knitting would be a nice complement to Outrageous Architecture Week.

I have never set eyes on such a complex “graffiti” project. I won’t even hazard a guess at how much collective time the gas station covering must have taken.

If only an unruly band of stealth knitters would come and deface my property so magnificently!

In addition, guerilla knitting appears to be a feat of agility and acrobatics! One group, Knitta Please, made a short film about their work. There’s something marvelously surreal about seeing these lovely ladies speak about their gangster-like activities.

Check out more projects by my kind of rebels.
Via Neatorama
The *Original* Turducken Ornament

December 4th, 2008

Deck the halls with loaves of poultry!

All the turducken buzz this year inspired me to make:
*THE ORIGINAL TURDUCKEN ORNAMENT*

(It really loses something in the photo, sadly)

The moment anything hits the internet, profitable imitations start to surface. I may be opening a gigantic Pandora’s Box of turducken crafts (a comical idea, for sure). For once I’m staking claim. All too often, someone emails me with an etsy link saying “Didn’t you make this last year?”

If you want to order one, handmade with love and painted stuffing, contact me and ye shall receive…at least until my fingers cramp up from the sewing. ($15 US)
The Brain Cube

November 29th, 2008

I’m intrigued, impressed…a little bit in love…with this incredible MRI-style brain image puzzle.

Like an actual scan, the puzzle contains “slices” and cross sections, creating a three dimensional rendering of the human brain.

I want to dig in…

Source
Lyndie Dourthe

November 26th, 2008

Since I tend to make multimedia projects instead of two dimensional art, I find Lyndie Dourthe’s work positively inspiring (particularly the Anatomie series pictured below).

My head is spinning with ideas…

Multimedia loveliness
Sewingstars’ Plush

November 5th, 2008

I’m very touched by this sweet little duo.

I personally prefer a world bespeckled by pretty, lumpy gumballs.

Isn’t that the way love goes? Our beloved’s perceived imperfections shine as celebrations of their uniqueness.

More wonderful plush creatures and crafts in sewingstars’ photo sets.
Art of Skulls, Altars and Altered Boxes

October 31st, 2008

I am really impressed with Art of Skulls Dia de Los Muertos inspired designs.

You can see a variety of her work on Flickr and they are available for purchase on her Etsy site.

I love these little skellies (I feel that’s the best word to describe them) from Altered Boxes:

Her work makes me want to delve in more box/diorama/curio cabinet crafts.

The altars set up for Dia de Los Muertos are often intricate, elaborate works of art themselves:

One day, I WILL attend a traditional celebration of this holiday.
Zombie Plush

October 28th, 2008

The wide world of zombies offers so much material that I have to carefully narrow my topic or I could easily spin this into a separate blog altogether. Therefore, I bring you my personal favorite finds in the arena of zombie plush, mostly because I would be churning out zombie plushies of my own right now if I were home in NY with my craft supplies.

Penguin Zombie gets bonus points for unlikely animal choice:

Zombie Bear is very well done, particularly his removable intestines [*wink*].

Cuddly Rigor Mortis Zombie is actually available on amazon:

Life, craftiness and everything else posted this army of zombie mice last year (definitely best displayed in large numbers!):

And my all time favorite plush zombies EVER: Pinkerton FX zombie hamsters, which come in a lovely variety of colors

They are also available in a less squishy form:

Pinkerton FX will be getting a separate post soon.

(This tiny collection submitted for the approval of writer/artist/fellow zombie lover Johnny Zito)