Tag: rachel hobson

Etsy + NASA = Super Awesome

Etsy has partnered up with NASA for a new handmade contest that is pretty spectacular! Crafters who have created an original design celebrating space are in the second rounds of voting (through this Monday, December 6th) and the prizes for winners are amazing.

From Etsy:

NASA and Etsy invited Etsy members to celebrate artistic exploration and commemorate the end of the NASA Space Shuttle Program with a creative challenge: Share an original handmade item or work of art inspired by the NASA Space Shuttle Program and space exploration at large.

Prizes include a trip to an upcoming launch as NASA’s VIP guest, Etsy shopping sprees, and cool merchandise from NASA and Etsy. The winning artwork might even be flown on the Space Shuttle!

You can see all the entries and vote for your favorites over here. My favorite is my friend (and friend of geekcrafts) Rachel Hobson‘s High Texture Embroidery of the Moon piece, in the 2D Original category – it’s intricate and amazing. If you’re interested in her process, she’s also made a video about the embroidery work and her passion for space (including her stint at Space Camp as a 12-year-old!), and written a blog entry about it all too.

Be sure to vote for your favorite of all 149 entries by December 6th – any registered Etsy member can cast votes in all three categories of the contest!

Stitching Endeavor’s De-orbit Map

Space geek extraordinaire Rachel Hobson live-embroidered the space shuttle Endeavor’s de-orbit pattern as it returned to Earth this week. She’d already covered the Endeavor’s launch for MAKE: live from Houston, but welcoming it back with live-crafting is taking it to the next level!

Rachel says,

How could I not stitch the deorbit map of the first shuttle I’ve seen launch? I didn’t want to jinx her landing, though, by stitching the first deorbit map only to find that she was delayed or rerouted to some other location.

Just more than one hour before she was set to land, she was given the all clear for weather and the go ahead to execute the deorbit burn that would commit her to landing. I literally jumped out of my chair, ran to my craft room and gathered my supplies. I had one scrap of black fabric, perfect for the background. I grabbed one of my many containers of embroidery floss, and it just happened to have every color I needed. I printed the map, transferred it with carbon paper and was off.

The Handmade Christmas Telescope

My friend Rachel Hobson is a huge space geek — she went to Space Camp as a kid, she listens in to Mission Control chatter and follows NASA on Twitter, and she’s covering the upcoming shuttle launch for MAKE: magazine. Her husband Chris made her a secret, incredible Christmas present this year in their garage: a real, working handmade telescope!

Rachel has more to say about it on her blog… and don’t miss her space reporting for MAKE: coming up!