Allow me to introduce you to Noel Cruz, re-painter of dolls. He takes dolls that are mass-produced to look like celebrities/characters and refashions them to look more realistic and lifelike.

While he has (re)created literally hundreds of dolls, from Bette Davis to Robert Pattinson, of particular interest to us geeks is his work on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s characters from Lord of the Rings. Behold Aragorn and Arwen, as recreated by his very precise brushstrokes.

The Before and After shots are very impressive – the Before’s look so flat, and the After’s look like they belong in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Which beloved characters would you pay big money to have recreated in doll-form like this?

Links of Interest:

• Noel Cruz’s homepage
• Aragorn doll on DeviantArt
• Arwen doll on DeviantArt
• More Lord of the Rings crafts on GeekCrafts
• More Tolkien crafts on GeekCrafts

As usual, don’t forget to click on the picture to be taken to the actual treasury.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched the Star Wars movies. Quoting lines from those movies comes as easy as lines from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Of all of the characters, I have to say my all time favorites are the Ewoks. They’re little, furry, adorable and resourceful.
Look at this adorable little Ewok that I found on Etsy!

• Peludossa has a wonderful array of different little stuffies that you should check out!
• Star Wars Ewok Fur Ooak 12cm Dark Red by peludossa on Etsy.

• Nerdigurumi
• Free pattern for Cube & Chell

Here are some things you should know about narwhals: 1) Their “tusk” is actually an elongated canine 2) A highly specific diet limits their geographical range makes them vulnerable to climate change 3) They are highly skilled deep-water hunters.

The unicorns of the sea, could there be a classier mammal? Perhaps with a monocle? A top hat maybe? A jazzy silver bow? Check out these super cute narwhal plushies from Ostrich Farm.  I love sparkly tusks. They are made to order in a number of colors, with a variety of stylish accessories.  Also, strictly for the hardcore, there is a narwhal of the month club.

• The Ostritch Farm’s Etsy shop

Vikwick is an early version 1.2 dodo, without wings – but since they are flightless that doesn’t seem to make any difference to her quality of life. Vikwick has recently been involved in the SpecOps 27 investigation into Adrian Lush, since the TV host recently opened a chain of bath & beauty product stores and is under suspicion of using the strong smell emanating from the shops to disguise a cheese smuggling operation….

Vikwick was made from socks, following the tutorial on my blog (tutorial includes wings, if you want the)  – the Sockie Dodo’s are 100% Jasper Fforde approved (his little daughter has one) and are really easy to make… but be warned, if you make one, they will steal all your marshmallows

Clone Your Own Dodo Tutorial

Balatong discusses briefly how she made them and it is a great starter project for anyone who wants to step slowly into making and creating their own amigurumi. The only difference would be the stuffing inside, polyfil or egg?

Half A Dozen Egg Cozies – CROCHET.

Today I took a good look round the internet for a good geeky craft project to cheer everyone up on such a drizzly day like today (the weather is quite depressing over here today). My efforts have been fruitful! I have found this amazing TARDIS sock monkey made by kwiltykate for skittlebub on Craftster.

Today I would like to show you this amazing steampunk portal gun made by ~batman-n-bananas from deviantart. This is what she had to say:

“I absolutely love building things, especially with found objects or bits of scrap nobody loves anymore. The idea for a Steampunk version came from this as I much prefer rusty cogs to pristine white anyday. A lot of people have asked what this is made from… as far as I can remember the ingredients are:

• 2 antique clock movements
• 1 +1/2 hangers
• Metal teapot stand
• plastic mechano
• plumbing parts
• 1 plant pot
• 1 hair gel pot + various lids
• plastic tub (those ones you get nuts in the the supermarket)
• plastic tubing
• lots and lots of nuts and bolts
• miniature storage box (for the battery compartment)
• pocket laser disc (you can get them on ebay if anyone’s interested)
• 3 lightbulbs
• cardboard tube
• metal covering from an old hairbrush
• AV socket
• tons of odds and ends from my parents garage
• oh and of course the usuals – milliput, humbrol and warhammer paints, hot melt glue and about 6 gallons of superglue

that’s about as much as I can remember… enjoy!”

• Steampunk Portal Gun.
• Batman-n-Bananas at deviant art.
• Portal crafts on geekcrafts.