Search Results for: geek chic

March 20

Accessories Sold Separately

As promised, I come bearing geekiness as gleaned from Mr X Stitch at the Stitch and Craft show…

I am, frankly amazed (and a little appalled) at myself for never having come across Lord Libidan before. His work is amazing – generally centered around video games, and packed full of original, interesting ideas.

The Transformers, sewn onto plastic canvas, actually transform. Oh yes. There’s Jetfire &  Optimus Prime (as seen here) who of course become a plane and a truck respectively – and also a couple of tapes; Ratbat & Laserbeak, which will fit into the soon-to-come Soundwave/tapedesk. I love that they are based on the original toys, not the new versions – tres retro chic. And (this is the best bit) all of the patterns are all available from his Etsy Shop. Huzzah!

This Pokemon image is stitched stereoscopically – so if you put on red & blue 3D glasses (great fashion choice, btw) it pops out at you. Excuse me while I cry at the awesomeness.

This manbroiderer may not really be a lord, but I agree with him; he should be.

March 18

Gather ’round children, as I weave you a tale of isotropes and kilowicks…

Developed in 1869 by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev to help illustrate commonalities in the various properties of elements, the Periodic Table has been both boon and bane to high school chemistry students around the world (my own experiences fell definitely to the “bane” side.)

Fast forward about 140 years, and we have a more modern version, and infinitely more useful, thanks to James the ComputerSherpa. In his first Visual Design class he came up with this little beauty – the Periodic Table of Storytelling.

Periodic Table of Storytelling, by ComputerSherpa

James really did his research, turning to TVTropes.org for inspiration and information on “tropes” –  which TVTropes defines as “devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” Writers (and Hollywood types) can use these fictional elements to craft endless variations of story lines. Being a wiki, TVTropes has vast quantities of information and discussion threads, so James’ graphical version of the Periodic Table is a real timesaver.

Beyond the concept as a whole, I love the examples at the bottom, illustrating how one might describe certain shows, movies, games, etc, using formulas based on this Periodic Table.  For instance, when you combine:

  •  A Five-Man Band (5ma – made up of a Hero, Lancer, Smart Guy, Big Guy, and a Chick)
  • Conflict (C)
  • The Empire (Emp)
  • Dragon-The Chosen One-You Have Failed Me (DraNeoFai)

…and you get Star Wars. Not sure about the “Dragon” element on this one, but then, I have mentioned my chemistry is not my super power.

James very kindly put the image up for purchase as a poster – it would be fun to sit around with a bunch of geeks and work out formulas for various shows and book storylines. Maybe I’ll have to get one for my son to take to college in the fall, for he will surely find himself a gang of geeks to hand out with, and I wouldn’t want them to run out of things to talk about.

[Via: BitRebels]

February 18

Gardening Mario Style

With the coming of March, my mind turns to starting my container garden. I love working in the dirt, planting seedlings and then cooking with the lovely veggies and herbs that I watched grow. It’s a labor of love for me.

Last year,  the concept of garden art fascinated me and I’ve spent several months thinking about how to decorate my planters. While surfing the Net for ideas, I came upon this and was blown away!

Mario inspired garden art made with Sculpey and chicken wire!

Kalapusa made a Piranha plant, a teething baby Piranha plant, a suspicious carrot and my absolute favorites, some green thumbs! She has also created a video on the making of the Momma Piranha so that you can see the basic steps in her process.

Making Friends by ~Kalapusa.

Category: Computers, Craft, Games, Geek, Video Games | Comments Off on Gardening Mario Style
January 24

Surlyramics; Scents n’ Science

I stayed up last night going through the Geekcraft archives. 224 pages, lots of coffee and a hugely increased level of nerd on my Pinterest later, and I am in shock (okay, there is a small chance it’s actually a caffeine overdose). There is no Surly Amy on Geekcraft.

This is a tragedy, and one I intend to rectify right now.

Surly-ramics started off with our gal Amy making necklaces for herself that proved to be so popular with her friends and colleagues that they would buy them right off her neck. She set up an Etsy store selling her jewellery, enlisted hubby Surly-Johnny for help crafting, and expanded her range to also include bangles, earrings and cuff-links.

Amy is a blogger over at the Mad Art Lab ran by Skepchic, so it’s to be expected that she finds inspiration in science and nature; you’ll find her shop packed with maths humour, scientific symbols and even the occasional Tardis for you Whovians. Her latest range is ‘Surly Scents’ – to which you can add drops of the essential oils that come with your purchase (or your own perfume if you prefer). When you wear them, your body heat warms the ceramic so that the smell dissipates around you.

Surly-Ramics donates to a number of animal charities, so if you purchase from them you get to feel beautiful on the inside as well as looking beautifully accessorised on the outside. Double whammy!

Now what are you hanging around here for? Go check out the amazingness:

Category: Craft, Geek, Girly, Science | Comments Off on Surlyramics; Scents n’ Science
January 16

Unicorn Poop Cookies

Unicorn Poop cookies

I tried to think of a clever title for this post, but really – why bother? They’re UNICORN. POOP. COOKIES. As soon as I saw them in a recent GeekChicDaily newsletter, I had to run right over here and share them. Then of course, I discovered teh Internets have already shared them just about everywhere, including i09, geekologie, GeeksAreSexy, The Mary Sue, and Laughing Squid. OK, so a scoop of geek-crafty news, this is not. A scoop of poop, however, it is. Sparkly, tasty poop.

Instructable-r KristyLynn put together a tutorial for creating your own steaming pile of unicorn poop…cookies, right in your own home.  According to her, the “poop” is made of sugar cookies, rainbow dragees, rainbow star sprinkles, white sparkle gel, and rainbow disco dust, but I think we GeekCrafters know it’s really made of rainbows, Lucky Charms, and fairy dust. Or perhaps you have a more imaginative ingredients list?

Also, while you eat your “mythically delicious” baked goods, you might want to wear this Unicorn Poop t-shirt from NeatoShop:

Unicorn Poop tshirt

Links of Interest:

Category: Craft, Geek, Girly, Myths & Urban Legends | Comments Off on Unicorn Poop Cookies