Skels – Page 6 – Geek Crafts

Captain Malcolm Reynolds: Man or Mouse?!

Have you ever seen something so cute you’ve actually squealed out loud? Of course you have; you’re a Geek Crafts reader. But seriously, I’ve just had the biggest cute-fest in weeks browsing through Quernus Crafts’ photostream over on Flickr, after seeing this incredibly wonderful mini sculpture:

It’s Mal Reynolds! From Firefly! But he’s a mouse!

I was a HUGE fan of Firefly (why, Fox, whyyy?) so was instantly drawn to this precious piece of polymer clay. But then I looked through some of the other things that Kirsten has made and found there was a goldmine of beautifully crafted figurines, and something for any type of geek. Harry Potter geeks, Terry Pratchett geeks, Comic Book geeks, Torchwood geeks, Hobbit geeks, Manga geeks, Dr Who geeks, Science geeks, Star Wars geeks, or just a geek who likes cute things.

Check out the Quernus Crafts website too, where you can shop or even commission your own Quernus creation. I am now deleting all my Quernus bookmarks though, because I’m scared I’ll just go and buy everything.

Instructable: Magnetic Pac-man Calendar

I love this submission we received. It’s such a simple idea that it’s one of those things you think “why haven’t I seen this before?”. The board is a metal plate, and all the pieces are magnetic so re-positionable for maximum retro-geek fun. I’m definitely planning on giving this a go. We get heaps of stupid free advertising fridge magnets in our mailbox, so perhaps this is a good way of upcycling them!

Head over to instructables.com for the How-To written by ChrysN. And don’t forget to post some pics below if you give this a try yourself! I’d love to see this applied to other games, such as a Space Invader calendar where each invader is a day of the month and you get to blow one up each morning – it would be especially nice to kill Mondays!

Pacman Perpetual Calendar by ChrysN on Instructables.com

Tutorial: Geeky Photography with Flash Stencils

Help! My house is being Space Invaded!

Alright it isn’t – it’s just clever camera trickery in the form of flash stencilling. But it’s a pretty neat effect and a lot of fun, so I thought I’d share with you how it can be done.

You will need:

A camera capable of taking long exposures (30 seconds is about right)
A tripod or stable surface
An external flash (or a very bright torch)
A box
Card
Craft knife and cutting tools
Black tape
White paper

Continue reading Tutorial: Geeky Photography with Flash Stencils

Amazingly Detailed Star Wars Cross Stitch

Check. This. Out:

This is an impressive piece of work. I’m always amazed by the time and care taken over large projects – probably because I have only the patience to stitch emoticons and Space Invaders. This amazingly detailed work depicting Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker really shows that hard work pays off.

Check out the original post on Tumblr. The creater of this piece made the pattern themselves using www.picturecraftwork.com, uploading an image they found online. I’d love to know how many differrent colours of thread were needed!

Skels and her Geeky Bead Weaving

Hey there, geek-crafters. My name is Skels and I’m thrilled to introduce myself as another new writer.

I’m British, but currently living in Sydney, Australia. What makes me geeky? It could be my love of SciFi TV and movies, or my crafty habits as a self-proclaimed “tinkerer”. Or perhaps it’s the months and months of my life that I have invested in various MMOs over the years (sup, EU Argent Dawn WoW?!), or it could be that I’m currently studying for a degree in Natural Sciences in my spare time, you know, just for fun.

My all time favourite TV show is Red Dwarf, favourite game is Simon the Sorcerer, favourite movie is Twister and favourite colour is yellow. I like beading, drawing, photography, piano playing, baking, and jewelry making. I’m also a keen amateur astronomer; my most beloved posession is my 6″ Meade telescope.

I’ve been a fan of Geek Crafts for a while now, ever since discovering how to make pixel art keyrings and things out of teeny tiny seed beads. The great thing about pixel art is that it is so easy to reproduce with loads of different crafts – quilts, cross-stitch, bead weaving, pearler beads, even Lego. And who doesn’t love a little 8-bit nostalgia?!

If you want to find out more about bead weaving there are some really clear tutorials over at BeadItBabe.com. I used the square stitch for my designs, working with 3 mm seed beads and black waxed beading thread. And if you want some geeky designs to follow or inspire you feel free to check out my selection of keyrings and earrings: Click here to see the 8-bit beading set on Flickr.

Until next Tues, stay nerdy! And if you like, follow @Skels on Twitter. Cheers!