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June 28

Maker Faire KC 2015

Photos from Maker Faire Kansas City 2015

Have you been to a Maker Faire? A celebration of things people make themselves, Maker Faires are organized by MAKE Magazine, and started in San Mateo, California in 2006. Now these events take place across the country. My hometown, Kansas City, happens to be one of the “featured” Faires, where more than 200 makers participate. I have shared Faires in the past, in 2011 and 2012, so I figured it was time for an update.

Above is a montage of photos I took – here are the highlights, starting in the upper left corner, and working around clockwise:

  1. 3D printers were big again, as they have been at each Faire I’ve attended. These were some 3D-printed TARDISes and Star Trek Lego figures.
  2. Some more examples of 3D printed items – these were very ornate vases by Sage Kaneko.
  3. A chainmail demonstration by Michael of Amanda Lynn Chainmaille Creations.
  4. The Artifex 2 desktop 3D printer – it printed in the usual hard plastic filament, but also wood and a flexible “NinjaFlex” thermoplastic elastomer.
  5. Eco Elvis performed – he was all shook up about the effects of acid rain.
  6. The Flipbookits were a cool find in the Maker Store – it’s a DIY kit to make your own motorized flipbook, designed by kinetic artists.
  7. Artists from Dare to Dabble were on hand to help attendees create gelli prints with acrylic paints, brayers, stamps and stencils.
  8. I made my own glycerin soap with Feto Soap! It smells like cinnamon and I chose a cute little gnome as the “prize” in the center.
  9. There were speakers scheduled throughout the day, discussing all sorts of interesting make-y type topics. The one I heard was about the use of hydraulics in Hollywood.
  10. Many booths encouraged attendees, particularly kids, to try their hand at a variety of tasks. This booth by Leela Village School for Purposeful Play offered a DIY playground with robots made from found materials. (P.S. Did you know “Leela” means “divine play” in Sanskrit?)
  11. A steampunk dirigible
  12. There was a table for Raspberry Pi Geek magazine – we got my husband one of these little credit card-sized computers for his birthday this year, so I was sure to pick up one of their sample magazines.

There was so much to see, and scrolling through the Instagram feed for #MakerFaireKC, I can see I missed quite a bit! Be sure to allow a few hours at least if a Maker Faire hits your area, if not a whole day!

What have been your favorite things to see at a Maker Faire? Share with us in the comments below!

Links of Interest:

 

Category: Craft, Gadgets, Geek, Science | Comments Off on Maker Faire KC 2015
October 18

The Subject of Towels

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels. A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”

So for any intrepid adventuring interstellar hitchhikers, Nerd By Night has quite thoughtfully created a wonderful tutorial for how to make a towel even more useful by turning it into a messenger bag. Of course, to improve it even further, one should include the words “Don’t Panic” in large, friendly letters across the front. All you need is a towel and some thread!

Don't Panic Towel Messenger Bag

“Partly it has great practical value — you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble?sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindbogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

“More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might have accidentally “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man that can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

Category: Craft, Geek | 3 Comments on The Subject of Towels
May 11

Grumpy Cat Strikes Again

Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat, aka everyone’s favorite internet meme, is back and inspiring more artists this time.

grumpy cat

“…The Grumpy Cat Art Project, a multimedia exhibition and auction event in honor of the Internet celebrity cat put together by more than 30 artists-in-residence at the Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment center in Huntsville, Alabama. According to one of the event organizers Dustin Timbrook, the exhibition aims to show the world that “art can elevate even the sillest subject,” taking advantage of the cat’s internet appeal to showcase the talent of resident artists at Lowe Mill. All of their artworks, which range from sculptures and paintings to stained glass art and soap carvings, are scheduled to be auctioned off online between May 27th and May 31st, culminating in a one-night exhibition at the art center on May 31st.”

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 “Ceramic potter and sculptor Calvin Hubbard’s Grumpy Cat is incredibly expressive and lovable. Don’t you just want to hug him?” This artist and art combo picture really cracked me up this morning. I love how Calvin’s got the Grumpy Cat look on his face.

Category: Craft, Internet Memes | 1 Comment on Grumpy Cat Strikes Again
May 22

Star Trek on Pinterest

Boldly Go - Star Trek pillowHave you discovered the web treasury/bookmarking site called Pinterest? It’s a “place to catalog the things you love.” And since I do love me some Star Trek, I was so very pleased to find this Star Trek “Pinboard” by Edie Rowner. At this time, she has 42 “pins” in this category, all related to Star Trek DIY-awesomeness.

She pinned the fabulous felt pillow pictured at left, some intricate Star Trek insignia socks, some geek soap, a Kirk amigurumi, and a pair of Star Trek earrings.

Have you been using Pinterest? Got any geeky-crafty pins to share? Link us up in the comments!

Category: Geek, Sci-Fi, TV | 6 Comments on Star Trek on Pinterest
May 13

Tetris Friday Roundup

This week I present to you the finest Tetris crafts I could find on Etsy!

First up is this totally awesome cameo style necklace from lsybb.

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Next we have rustic feeling wooden Tetris magnets from Nomad Imps:

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Get nerdy clean with Tetris soap by servas gschaeft:

 

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Get your dad a super nerdy Tetris tie clip for Father’s Day from Geekopolis:

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Maybe Dad is more of a tie tack kind of person. Pixel Party has you covered:

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An awesome twist on the traditional charm bracelet by Nerdy Little Secret:

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Is your fridge lacking colour? These magnets from Homespun Crafting will help:

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Who doesn’t love stamping stuff? Tetris stamps from Something a Week:

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Check out this grown up Tetris keychain from Twiki Concept:

 

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Have gauged ears? BMA Modified makes Tetris plugs!

 

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Hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup! Be sure to check back next Friday for even more geeky fun!

Category: Craft, Geek, Video Games | 1 Comment on Tetris Friday Roundup