November 29

DIY Star Wars Canvas Wall Art

Star Wars canvas by Kimbo West

Got a Star Wars fan on your gift list? Check out these cool DIY Star Wars wall art canvases by Kimbo at A Girl and a Glue Gun!

Her tutorial walks you through her process, from painting the background of the canvas, to where she found her spaceship clipart, to creating a galaxy and explosions. Cool effects!

This would be easy enough to adapt to any space-based fandom (any Trekkies or Browncoats on your list?).

What holiday gift crafting is on your to-do list? Share with us in the comments below!

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November 23

Amazingly Intricate Papercraft Microbes

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Yes, that image above is PAPER. Artist Rogan Brown specializes in paper sculptures that explore (in his words) “patterns and motifs in the natural world.” And you must check out his portfolio, because the pieces are incredibly intricate, detailed, and breathtakingly beautiful.  You can see up-close, detailed photos of the above piece on Makezine.com (where I found the image above), but definitely check out his portfolio to get a sense of the breadth of this artist’s work too.  I can hardly believe it’s paper.  What do you think about the unusual medium and subject matter? Let us know in the comments!

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November 22

Geek Manicures: Nerd Out with Nail Art

Battlestar Nails by Jacki-Adventures in Acetone

With all the interest in unique manicures these days, I love seeking out ways to add geek flair to my nails. So does Jacki at Adventures in Acetone. She has put together a variety of geek manicure tutorials, from the Battlestar Galactica-inspired Starbuck’s mandala seen above, to cute aliens, to multiple Doctor Who-inspired themes, to a cool galaxy.

Each tutorial walks you step by step through the process, with detailed photos and a list of specific nail polish brands and colors.

Have you tried out any geek manicures? We’d love to see your results! Share a link in the comments below!

Links of Interest:

 

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November 22

Happy (Almost) Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving soon here, I thought I’d take to Etsy to look for some fun holiday-themed jewelry with everyone.

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First up, this cute pair of pumpkin pie stud earrings. They are made by Zebranas in Haarlem, The Netherlands, and sell for $12.04 per pair. Made out of Fimo silver plating, the earrings are 20 mm x 8 mm.

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Next up are these Butterball turkey earrings, perfect for the hostess with the mostess! This offering comes from Rubiotomus in southern California. They are made of surgical steel kidney ear wires, polymer clay and silver plated french hook ear wires, and sell for $16 per pair. The turkey itself measures 3/4″ long.

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But if you get earrings, don’t you really need a nice ring to go with them? GiraffesKiss of Torquay, England might have the ring you need then: a roast turkey ring, with cranberries, carrots and peas. Made of polymer clay, this ring comes shipped in a tiny roasting pan, for the finishing touch.

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But if funny clay food jewelry just isn’t your thing, then this necklace might be more up your alley: a Thanksgiving pumpkin snowglobe on a chain from Priyasha from Santa Cruz, CA. This adorable and sparkly pumpkin snowglobe necklace is filled with a tiny blown glass pumpkin and gorgeous glitter fall leaves in beautiful autumn colors. The glass snowglobe pendant includes a 20″ gold plated chain with a large lobster claw clasp for quick fastening/unfastening, and it’s available for just $27.

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November 15

Finding Star Trek Crafts in the Weirdest Places

Full disclosure this weekend: somehow, I’ve ended up sick again, so I’ve been binge watching Star Trek fan films on You Tube. There’s a lot of interesting ones, and a few not so good ones, out there. And because I was in a Star Trek frame of mind for my entertainment, it carried over into my entry for today.

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First up, a “Live Long and Prosper” clock from…Wal-Mart!

Made from red oak, this clock stands 8.75″ tall and 6.75″ wide. It’s available for $46.89. Now, if that’s your mantra in life but you don’t have almost $50 available but you still need something for your home, the phrase, “Live long and prosper” is fairly dominant over in the home and living section of Etsy.

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Next up is your very own Galileo from the USS Enterprise, in necklace form.

Given that you’re celebrating you anniversary with your girlfriend or just that you finish modifying your retro class F shuttle-craft, and you need to treat yourself on this occasion or to accessorize your uniform. Whether you’re off duty or on, this Pennsylvania designer, “Paul Michael Design” beautifully crafted this shuttlecraft. It comes either in gold or silver, with a customizing of what type of gem stones to be “seated” inside the shuttle when it’s open up to see the interior.

The length of the pendant is least 22mm, and is available for $395. Paul Mitchell Design is located in Pittsburgh, PA.

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November 15

Geek Girl Brunch + Comic Book Ornaments

Geek Girl Brunch

I don’t think I’ve yet shared the awesomeness that is Geek Girl Brunch. I discovered it via the Female Geek Bloggers G+ Community, and was immediately intrigued. Ladies getting together to share brunch, drinks, and geek-talk? Sign me up!

The group started in New York City, with its own meetups. They had so much fun together that they decided to roll out chapters, not only across the U.S but worldwide! Sensing I had found my geek tribe, I signed up to be notified about news of the Kansas City chapter. I got an email a few months later notifying me that chapters were forming, and would I like to be an officer to help launch the KC chapter? Because I love my hometown and want to nurture its geek culture, I said yes!

We had our first brunch in July – an informal meetup at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by Star Wars Day at Barnes & Noble. In September we gathered at the Renaissance Festival and strolled the grounds together. Other chapters have enjoyed a wide variety of themes, from a Zombie Crawl to a Xena-themed yoga session to a Pixel Perfect ode to video games.

Next week is KC’s third event, with a “Let’s Get Crafty” theme. My co-leader, another brunchette, and I are each leading a geek-craft. My craft is comic book ornaments, as seen in the examples below. I figured it was an easy introduction to decoupage, but infinitely customizable to whatever comic brunchettes might favor, along with whatever ornament base they might choose.

Comic Book Ornaments by Angie Pedersen

Basic instructions:

  1. Select ornaments in shapes that will showcase an identifiable amount of comic art, in shapes that should be easy to cut out.
  2. Page through your comics for images that will fit your ornament. TIP: If the image you want is too big, you can scan it and resize to fit your ornament. That’s what I did for the Dr. Horrible cube above.
  3. Place the ornament on top of the comic page and trace around it. Cut out with scissors.
  4. Brush Mod Podge (I used matte, but glossy would also work) on the ornament and position the comic cut out on top. Smooth out any wrinkles (a brayer helps here).
  5. Brush a coat of Mod Podge over the surface of the comic image to seal.
  6. Optional: embellish the edges of the ornament with decorative washi tape (see Buffy example above) or acrylic paint (see TARDIS example above). For the Dr. Horrible cube, I colored the top of it with a bronze metallic Sharpie (top not shown).

I hope you will check out Geek Girl Brunch and join in on the fun! If you’re in the KC area, stop by and say hi!

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