June 7

Retro Robot Plushie Pattern

Retro Robot PlushIt’s the 21st century, and I have to say, I’m pretty darn disappointed. I thought by now we’d have flying cars, and that every home would have their own personal robot servant. Until the times catch up with my unrealistic expectations, I’ll just have to go DIY.

Luckily, I won’t have to design my ‘bot from scratch, thanks to this adorable Retro Robot plushie pattern from Gulf Coast Cottage. He’s got everything I want in a robot: flexible arms, eco-friendly wind-up powers, and a fully huggable chassis.

For those of you who already have plush robot minions, you should check out the Gulf Coast Cottage Etsy shop, anyway. It’s full of the most adorable felt food and play set patterns (including a super-neat under the sea set) you’ve ever seen!

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June 6

Reader Submission: Light Up Portal Sentry Turret Plush

We’ve seen a few Portal crafts here on Geekcrafts. Indeed, across the internet, portal crafts have become a bit of a meme in themselves.

But when Geekcrafts reader and Deviantartist MelloReflections sent us her light up sentry turret plush it really caught our eye… I mean, what could be more ‘geekcrafts’ than a plush, modelled on a game, with electronic bits!!

I love things that light up!

Have you made something that lights up? Hit us up by filling in the submit a geekcraft form.

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June 5

Use your noodle & make your own lightsaber

With the pools now open (here in the U.S.), you can’t walk into a discount or grocery store without seeing a display of styrofoam pool noodles. And if you’re going to be whacking friends with them, you might as well make sure they are properly accessorized with duct tape.

Make your own lightsaber with pool noodlesWhich brings us to a fabulous step-by-step tutorial from the Jedi Broad Squad for how to make your own light-saber.

So now you can slap some duct tape on your noodle and the Force can be strong with you, too.

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June 2

Giskin Anomaly Detector

Giskin Anomaly ContestIf you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting San Diego’s Balboa Park, you’ll know what a beautiful place it is. With its Spanish-Renaissance architecture and landscaped gardens, you feel like you’ve truly stepped back into another time.

It seems like I’m not the only one who feels that way. The Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC) recently launched an interactive cell phone game called Giskin Anomaly, to encourage visitors to fully explore the park’s historic treasures.

Guests can dial in to hear the adventures of two people who use a memory-sensing device (called the Giskin Anomaly Detector) to retrieve WWII-era recollections throughout the park.  

As part of the game’s launch, BPOC hosted a contest inviting artists to create a Steampunk-inspired model of what this fanciful device would look like.

San Diego-area artist John Hosford walked away with the grand prize. His intricate model, dubbed “Sir Tellabeem’s Tempress Mark II” took him over 80 hours to construct, involving cutting and dying the leather of the glove by hand.

Though there was only one grand-prize winner, the competition was fierce indeed. Check out the Flickr pool showcasing the winners, and the afternoon their costumed creators spent playing with the contraptions in the park.

A moment of full disclosure: I used to take karate classes with John and his siblings, back in the day. I knew he was a creative kid, so it’s great to see how his talent has blossomed over the years. Congrats on the win, John, and keep up the awesome work!

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May 27

Crafts of WonderCon 2011

WonderCon Intro 2If the San Diego Comic-Con is the arena rock star of the convention world, then San Francisco’s WonderCon is the concert-hall favorite. It’s not nearly as big, but much more manageable, and (in my humble opinion) just as much fun.

I attended two days of this year’s Con, where I met numerous writers, artists, and geek icons. My favorite folks to talk to, though, were the hard-working crafters tabling throughout the Con.

Some had made items to promote books and webcomics, others were devoted to selling thier handmade crafts. No matter the reason, though, they were always happy to stop and share a little about their creations.

  Continue reading

Category: Books, Comics, Craft, Geek, Girly, Movies, Sci-Fi, Toys, TV, Video Games | 4 Comments on Crafts of WonderCon 2011
May 26

“A New Hope” Cross-Stitch

Luke Skywalker Cross-Stitch“That boy is our last hope.”

If Luke Skywalker had run for New Republic president, he undoubtedly would have asked Shepard Fairey to design his poster, too.

“Manbroiderer” whateverjames made this detailed cross-stitch of Luke in all his starry-eyed earnestness, riffing on Fairey’s iconic “Obama Hope” poster. It’s roughly the size of a hardcover novel, just to give you an idea of how much work went into this.

Whateverjames is such a fan of Star Wars stitching that he created his own Flickr group for us needlepoint Jedi: Han Stitched First. Looks like he also has plans to expand it into a blog, so keep your eyes peeled for more Star Wars stitchery from this guy!

[Via Mr. X Stitch]

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