Chicago Comic Con 2011 – DIY edition

As you may have read in my previous post, I recently attended the Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago. While many in attendance were in full-scale cosplay mode (costume-play), some stood out to me because of the crafty–DIY nature of their projects.

I loved this crocheted ode to Dr. Who‘s Tardis. My model very sportingly gave me two views.

And with another homage to the good doctor – a walking Tardis! I’m not sure how much of the con this young lady got to see, as she was stopped frequently for photo opps!

This Scott Pilgrim-inspired couple didn’t seem to think their costume very photo-worthy, but I thought they were great. I loved their little labels on their shirts and the giant mallet. Made me want to watch the movie again. It also reminded me of this fantastic embroidery project, posted on GeekCrafts earlier this year. (And I have seen a girl with hair like that – that’s mine pretty much every morning when I wake up! Except the purple part…)

I had to marvel at this repurposed use of a set of Star Wars sheets, used to create a smart suit for the Mayor of Star Wars Town.

Unfortunately I didn’t notice many crafty things for sale at booths, but then, I was cruising through the aisles at warp speed. I was able to nab a few pictures.

Links of Interest:

Chicago Comic Con 2011 homepage
Comic Con cosplay Google album
“Do you know a girl with hair like this?” embroidery project post
More convention posts on GeekCrafts

Category: Comics, Craft, Geek, Movies, Sci-Fi, Toys, Video Games | 2 Comments

August 28

Bow Ties Are Cool Etsy Treasury

This week’s treasury is brought to you by super cool bow ties!

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August 25

The Doctor Who Experience

Have you ever wanted to lay a big smooch on a cute little Dalek? Anyone? …Just me? Well, just in case I am not the only one, I thought I’d tell you guys about The Doctor Who Experience in London‘s Olympia, where I got to lay one on this little guy (make love, not extermination).

A couple years ago, I wrote about my trip to the Coventry Travel Museums Doctor Who Experience, and that was amazing. I thought this would be a larger scale version of all the awesome I experienced there–hanging out with the Ood and K-9, taking pictures next to the TARDIS, that kind of stuff…

And was I ever wrong. The Doctor Who Experience is truly an experience. Buy your tickets in advance and show up early, because you will join a group, and walk into what is basically an episode of Doctor Who, written for you to play in. Matt Smith (as The Doctor) appears on screen through out, to guide you through Daleks, Weeping Angels, and tons more while you help him get his TARDIS back and defeat the Daleks. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say the two children in attendance were not the only ones having a blast. When you come out the other end of the interactive portion, there are more displays, including all of the Doctor’s costumes, and most of his enemies.

I took a picture of The Silence, because…well, you know.

There was also a great space set aside to show what the Doctor Who writers’ office looks like, and perhaps geekiest of all, an entire display on how the theme music and sound effects are done (and have been done) throughout the series.

There is no shortage of things to make a Whovian go “squee”. I spent at least an hour snapping pictures of all the displays, which include life sized models of four different TARDIS incarnations, a ton of villains, and many of your favorite companions. I can’t recommend The Doctor Who Experience enough. As we were going in, there was a boy about seven years old, dancing in circles and chanting about how excited he was for the exhibition–when we left, goodie bags full from the gift shop, I admit, I was behaving similarly.

It is a running exhibition with dates through (at least) November, so no reason to miss it, The Doctor is counting on you!

The Doctor Who Experience

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August 24

Beaded Tom Baker “Scarf”

More Doctor Who goodness! I love the fourth Doctor’s (Tom Baker) Scarf. But I can’t knit and all of the replicas available on etsy are out of my price range. But this is brilliant: a beaded scarf necklace! España Sheriff made this for a friend, who was getting ready for her first Gallifrey One convention (cosplaying as Tom Baker, of course). She used 15/0 Toho rounds, in a combination of matte, metallic and transparent finishes.

A lot of the comments on the post at Crafty_Tardis said that they loved that it was “stealth geek chic”: to geeks it’s instantly identifiable and when you see one there’s no question that the wearer is a Whovian, but to everyone else it’s just a really cute necklace. Either way, I want one!

Beaded Tom Baker “Scarf” necklace

Category: Craft, Geek, Sci-Fi, TV | 2 Comments

August 22

3D Dalek Embroidery

New episodes of Doctor Who start Saturday! Of course that’s what I’ve been thinking about all weekend, so I give you a 3D Dalek! Britter25 made this for her Dr. Whoopla swap partner (along with an embroidery of Ten…in 3D glasses of course!) over at Craftster. She based the Dalek off of this card. Britter25 said she may start doing everything in 3D, and I can’t blame her–this looks so cool! I wish I had the old red and blue glasses so I knew if it really works (hint hint)