December 4

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!

December 4

Dexter Blood Spatter Coasters

My husband and I have recently caught the Dexter bug (still catching up on Netflix, so no spoilers!). One of my favorite places to look for crafts to fit whatever my current obsession is, is Craftster, the swaps are where some truly amazing crafts are born.  DesignVigilante made these completely macarbe, but completely cool handspun Blood Spatter Coasters for  Papa Justify in their second Dexter swap.

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December 3

Sci-Fine Art, Humor and Time Machines with Rik Livingston

There aren’t a lot of nice things about living in the desert, at least not until Fall/Winter time, but one nice thing about living here is the amazing Crossroads Cafe and Tavern, where I was having breakfast when the painting to the left caught my eye. I took in the various pieces by the artist I would later discover was the one Rik Verlin Livingston, and I knew I had to track him down and introduce my Geek Crafters to his “Sci-Fine Art“.

We communicated in e-mails a few times before I met Rik at an artist reception held at the Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce, which featured more of his work, to include some really great comic books. He was friendly, funny, and seemed to handle the attention (and the controversy surrounding one of his pieces) very well. I was really excited to be able to ask a few questions about his craft, his feelings on censorship, and of course, time travel.

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November 25

The Big Bang Theory Cross-stitch: Bazinga!

The Big Bang Theory Cross-stitch: BazingaHave I ever mentioned that my husband is a huge geek, yet not your typical geek? He’s obsessed with computers  but does not like sci-fi, comic books, or video games. You can all gasp in horror now. Watching The Big Bang Theory together is funny because I get all the geeky pop culture references and he gets all the actual science references. Everyone’s got their strong points, right? Anyway, I was *thrilled* to see this on Craftster tonight! Lady Leitzen stitched up Sheldon’s catch phrase, Bazinga. The little Star Trek hand is great and she even thought up ways to make this more awesome:

i think i might have to do another one, but if i do, i’d change the “i” in bazinga to a lightning bolt (for the flash), then around the lizard and spock i’d do a yellow rose (for texas) on each side, then the outermost flowers i’d change to double helixes, or atoms or something.

I might have to make this for my husband for Christmas :)