CRAFTOPIA

This is going to be a Rockin' Good Time! Come, Visit, Shop!

NY Here I Come!

Ursula and Olive will be taking a new crafty road trip to Brooklyn, NY this Spring! I hope some of you will stop by and visit me at the Lyceum Spring Craft Show.

Who Humor

I'm vending at a gaming convention in a few days (Templecon in Warwick, RI if anyone wants to come visit). For the convention I've modified/customized several mini nerf guns and "steampunked" them to sell as cosplay items. So today I was making a price sign to go with them and came up with this. I cracked myself up with the 4 hour temporal anomoly warning so I had to share with you all.

New Craft Show in Pawtucket, RI

Let it Snow

We had our first snow flakes of the season last night so we celebrated by lighting the first fire in the fireplace! We're ready for winter now - go ahead and let it snow!

What is it about evil alternate universes and facial hair? Why is a goatee a sign of evil?

I was recently in a Star Trek swap on Craftster.org and my swap partner (ClonedBravo) made me an alternate universe surival kit - I laughed so hard and had to try it on!

Ouija Memories

Do you love being scared? I don't like "horror" but I do like a little fright every now and then. When I was young the cool thing to do at sleepovers was to break out a Ouija Board and see if we could get it to tell us the name of our true love and then scream hysterically when it actually spelled something.


It's been a long time since I used a Ouija Board but I happened to be in a toy store a few weeks ago and noticed that they still sell them - only updated! They had Barbie pink Ouija, glow in the dark ones and even a Bratz Doll version! I don't know which one scared me more!


The glow in the dark one did inspire me to make a new necklace though. This is my version of a glow in the dark Ouija Board. I painted it with two layers of glow in the dark paint before giving it a final coat of resin. Now I need some photography advice. How do I get a picture of the pendant glowing? I tried using my digital camera without the flash and just got a black screen. With the flash of course it didn't work either - too much light. Here is the non-glowing picture. :)

To Blog Or Not To Blog

To blog or not to blog, that is the question! Okay - so do any of the rest of you get blog guilt? I do love my blog but I've found it hard to keep up with it, my Etsy shop, Facebook, Flickr, Craftster, and the zillion other sites I frequent. Now I feel guilty that I haven't blogged.

I used to feel the same guilt with my diary when I was a kid - I'd write in it every day for 3 months and then I'd go to once a week, then to once a month and then I'd find myself apologizing to my diary! "Dear Diary, I'm sorry it's been so long since I wrote in you..." Like the book cared! Now I know a blog is slightly different seeing other people actually read it (or at least that's the goal I think) but do I need to feel guilty for not writing?

Well, I've decided to feel guilty no more! Life is short and my blog is what it is. Thank you to those who still wander in here from time to time and read my ponderings. Perhaps I'll do it more often and perhaps I won't...Just know that I wish you all sunny days, positive thoughts and a life filled with at least a little geekiness!

JUMPCON UPDATE

For those of you who followed the horrible Jumpcon debacle last July, here is an update:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090428/NEWS01/304289925

Looks like Shane may finally get some of what is coming to him and I'm happy to see some justice done.

Gocco Experiment #2

I’m getting better with the Gocco! Yeah! This is Dalek print try #2 and they turned out a zillion times better now that I’m using the paper ink on paper. I fixed the other newbie mistakes as well. I didn’t take the original off the master right away and I used a steady, stable surface to print on.

I tried printing these on a couple different paper types. I took some pages from a Doctor Who book and printed on those. So far it’s my favorite – I love the look of the image over the text. I also printed on some silver card stock. The cards had a bit of a glossy sheen to them and it took the ink twice as long to dry on those as it did on the book pages.

I came up with a great idea for what to do with the prints on the book pages. I’m in a Doctor Who swap on Craftster right now and I’m going to make this for my swap partner so I can’t share it here yet, but if you’re a Doctor Who lover – you’re going want one too!

Go Gocco!

Hello Everyone,
Sorry I’ve been away so long. It was a busy end to 2008 and I overextended myself a bit doing craft shows and burnt myself out. So, I took an extended craft break for the last 2 months and now my creative juices are flowing again and I’m ready to get crafting.

I started last night. I’ve been wanting a Gocco printing machine forever and I finally broke down and bought a used one on Ebay. For those of you who don’t know a Gocco machine is a Japanese made unit that basically makes instant screen prints. You can print on paper or material and do it from the comfort of your dining room table.

To give you all a little insight into my crafty world I thought I’d share my Gocco experiences with you. I got my Gocco about 5 days ago and even though I’d been yearning for it for so long when it arrived I was suddenly scared to death of it. I’d read a zillion tutorials online about how to use it but when faced with the box, ink and lots of instructions in Japanese I froze!

So, last night I decided the best way to start was to just do it. I made what is called your original – it has to be something either photocopied or drawn with a carbon pen/pencil. The carbon is what makes the whole screen print process work, so you can’t use a inkjet or laser copied item, it must be a photocopier that uses toner.

Seeing I can’t draw very well, I created a digital image and photocopied it. Here is my “original” and yes, that is a Dalek from Doctor Who! What can I say, I craft geek!

Then you take your Gocco machine and you have to assemble all the parts – flash bulbs, batteries, and a mesh screen that will become your master screen. This is what the image burns onto. Here is a photo of the Gocco machine. Sorry I only got 1 angle and it doesn’t show you the screens, or flash bulb housing unit.

I was doing great up to this point. I assembled it all, put my original down, screen in place and tried it – no flash. Guess I should have checked the batteries. Turns out ones that came with it were no good. I replaced the batteries and tried again. Success! I saw the flash and could see the screen had burned an image onto it.

Now came more mistakes – I got too excited at this point and stopped reading directions – so learn from my mistakes and if you’re just starting a Gocco project – go slow.

Your original will stick to what is now your master screen. What I incorrectly did was immediately peel off the original. Then in my excitement and haste I grabbed a tube of ink and started applying it to the master screen. Well, there are 2 kinds of ink. One for cloth and one for paper. I wanted to print on paper but grabbed the cloth ink instead. It was too late once I figured out I had the wrong ink. My master was covered with it so I gave it a try anyway. Here is a print on canvas, not too bad:

Then I tried it on paper. My next mistake was to quickly put a piece of cardstock under it and press down – well, the image came out but I hadn’t thought about which direction the card would fold – so now I have a dyslexic Dalek card that opens backwards! Exterminate it!

That’s it. That was my 1st try at printing Gocco! Hopefully I’ll learn from each attempt and be printing out beautifully geeky images in no time.

Oh yes – 1 little tidbit that was a great hint I found in the Gocco group on Flickr .
My machine didn’t come with any of the official Risso cleaning solution and I did end up with ink all over the place – guess what cleans it up great? Vegetable oil! Yup, good old fashioned greasy vegetable oil. Not only can you cook with it but you can clean ink with it too!

Geek of the Year Interview - Chris Hicks - Sole Artist and Designer of the Mighty Muggs

Okay the Holiday Season has overwhelmed me a bit and my geek of the week interviews have faded into more of a geek of the month so I decided to bring out my last, best interview of the year!

I am lucky enough to be good friends with someone whose husband is the sole artist and designer of the Mighty Muggs from Hasbro. His name is Chris Hicks and even though many of you don’t know his name yet, you’ve seen his work in toy stores around the world!

Without further ado, here is the Mighty Man himself…Chris Hicks (you can hear the crowds roaring).

1. Who are you, where are you from and how long have you been creating art?

That’s a pretty heavy question- who am I? I dunno, just some dude? I’ve been creating art (if you apply a very liberal definition of “art”) ever since I was a little kid. The first grade is my earliest memory of really enjoying drawing. Oh, and I am from Rocky Point, New York. The Most God-Forsaken Place on Earth!

2. Do you create for a specific genre of geek (ie. sci-fi, gaming, horror, math, fantasy, music, etc…)

I work in toys now, but I’ve done comics and gaming illustrations too.

3. What was the first “geekey” craft or artwork you ever made?

Probably drawing up pictures of my Dungeons & Dragon characters when I was a teenager. Doesn’t get much more geeky than that!

4. What inspires you to create?

Movies, comics, video games. Anything inventive and fresh, with a good story and good characters.

5. Where can we find your work (website, shows, blogs, etc.)

I have a lot of my freelance work on my web site http://www.pyroplant.com/ although it’s in a dire need of an update. Also, my comic book “Mister Blank” is available through Slave Labor Graphics or Amazon.

We also know one of your secret identities is as the sole artist who designs all the Mighty Muggs for Hasbro Toys so we’ve got a few Mighty Mugg Questions:

1. What is your favorite Mighty Mugg that you’ve designed so far?

Hmmm, probably one that is so ridiculous it will never appear in stores and I dare not even mention its name. My favorite ones are the ones with a little bit of dark humor twisted in.

2. How did you get such a cool job?

I honestly don’t have the slightest clue. The cliché answer would be “right place, right time” but that seems to slick and elegant. It’s more like a Mr Magoo cartoon where I’ve bumbled and flailed around and somehow landed in a spot with a chance to do something awesome. The details are a blur!

3. Are there any new Mighty Muggs coming out soon that you can tell us about?

I was a HUGE Transfan growing up, back when Transfan wasn't even a word. And I still am. So I was very excited about doing Transformer Muggs. I tried to pump as much of the detail and my memories of those characters as possible. Soundwave was my first Transformer, and still my favorite, so getting to do him as a Mugg was A LOT of fun!

4. How do you feel about people who paint over your Mighty Muggs so they can design and paint their own custom Muggs? Do you consider this a form of flattery or do you hate seeing your Mugg designs get painted over?

Definitely the latter. The whole custom market for Muggs is AMAZING. People are doing some really inventive and cool things out there. Plus they are in the enviable position of being able to make a Mugg of any character or license they want.

Thanks again Chris!

Geek of the Week - The Geekery!

I'd like to introduce you to a new Geek of the Week - The Geekery! Her fun floppy disc coasters caught my attention on Etsy (and yes I'm old enough to remember when floppy discs were really floppy) and I knew she must be a kindred soul!

1. Who are you, where are you from and how long have you been crafting?

I'm Jocelyn from The Geekery. I live in San Jose, California, but I grew up in Las Vegas. I've been crafting off and on all my life. I was big into rubber stamping before rubber stamps were even in Michael's back in the late eighties, early nineties, but I've gone back into my first love: sewing by hand. I started sewing things when I was about seven years old. I picked up a needle and some thread and taught myself how to thread the eye, crafting avant garde clothes for my Barbie dolls out of fabric scraps and whatever materials I could find. My parents took me to a miniature dollhouse show at the library one year, and after that I started making miniature versions of furniture out of things we would toss out. Every room had a lamp made from a used cap of toothpaste and a generic game pawn. I made a rather large dining room table out of toilet paper rolls cut in quarters and a thick piece of cardboard. I used to make all different kind of tableclothes for it with construction paper and doilies. Over the years, I've made various household items from frivolous toys to the practical.

2. Do you craft for a specific genre of geek (ie. sci-fi, gaming, horror, math, fantasy, music, etc…)

I'd say I'm kind of eclectic geek wise as I've got computer-oriented stuff such as the floppy disk coasters, the meeples appeal to gamers and the cthulhu's appeal to the horror geeks. I think when I'm crafting I like to take what's known and give it my own twist. In the future I do want to explore more of the gaming geekery. I'm also creating my own game which I hope to sell on Etsy.

3. What was the first “geekey” craft you ever made?

When I was eight, Devo was one of my favorite bands. I somehow recreated the famous red plastic dome hat for my Barbie doll out of cardboard and red construction paper. I also made her a one piece dress out of duct tape to go with it. My parents thought I was weird, and they were right.

4. What inspires you to craft?

I get inspired nowadays by thinking of ways to repurpose materials. I love to create, but I'm not fond of waste so I get ideas from thinking about ways to reuse materials.

5. Where can we find your crafts (website, shows, blogs, etc.)

http://www.thegeekery.etsy.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thegeekery/http://www.facebook.com/pages/thegeekeryetsycom/20219259081http://www.thegeekery.livejournal.com/and recently featured in Gizmodo:http://gizmodo.com/5075458/please-insert-drink-5-of-12-to-continue-alcoholism

Handmade Arcade Rocks!

Our roadtrip was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who came out to see us at Handmade Arcade and thank you to the organizers of the event! We had a fabulous time and we hope they let us come back and do it again! Pittsburgh Rocks!

Road Trip

I can't belive it's almost here but my roadtrip to Handmade Arcade in Pittsburg, PA is this weekend! My good friend Fruitcake and I are leaving on Friday for the show and I can't wait! Just think of us as a cross between Martha Stewart and Thelma and Louise!

Happy Halloween

May

Your

Halloween

Be A

Peaceful

One!

Oh No Sulu!

Sadly I just found out that Sulu (George Takei) will not be attending the New England Fan Experience Convention in November. It sounds like he was offered a role on a new TV show and will be filming during Nov & Dec and thus unable to attend the convention.

I wish him the best of luck with the new show and I hear that NEFE may be announcing another guest soon so stay tuned!

Forget Jumpcon - Try a Real Con - NEFE!

Okay all you folks like me who were rooked out of money by Jumpcon and are a bit gun shy of trying other cons - let me tell you about a real con!

The New England Fan Experience is coming up in November and it is run by a very reputable fan based broup that has been doing cons for many, many years now. I attended one of their cons 2 years ago, got to see William Shatner and had a great time. The con is reasonably priced, well run and I promise they won't disappoint!

Here are the details;

The New England Fan Experience is coming to The Hyatt Regency –Cambridge (across the river from Boston)FIVE conventions in one!!!
One ticket / membership gets you intoeverything. Weekend advanced tickets only $49 / teens ½ price, under 10 free(with adult purchases). To purchase tickets log on to www.nefe.us
Mail in cut off is November 7th. Or register online before November17th.

Sci-Fi Experience Guests:
Peter Davison (Doctor Who)
Robert Picardo (Stargate: SG1, Stargate: Atlantis, Star Trek Voyager)
Morena Baccarin (Firefly, Stargate: SG1)
Mark Goddard (Lost in Space)
James Cowley (Star Trek: New Voyages / Phase II)
Andrew Probert (production designer, artist, illustrator also videogame artist)
Clifford Bowyer (author)
Marc Vun Kannon (author)
Mark Lund (writer producer First World film)

Pop Culture guests:
Kellen Lutz (Twilight, the new 90210)
George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes also Kaiju & video game voice actor)
Gary Sohmers (King of Pop culture / Appraiser)
Clive Young (Author / independent film producer)

Anime Kaju Experience Guests:
Johnny Yong Bosch (anime & video game voice actor, and the BlackPower Ranger)
Vic Mignogna (Anime, kaiju & video game voice actor)
Don Frye (Star of Godzilla: Final Wars and UFC champion)
Bob Eggleton (Godzilla Artist, Hugo Award winning SF artist & cardgame artist)
Ikeda Katsu (J-pop band)
The Slant (J-pop Band)
Sid Narged (Author)
Steve Horton (techniques of manga writer)
Sam Ramero (manga & webcomics creator)

Gaming Guests:
Rob Balder (Game designer & webcomic creator)
Mecha Software (Anime and SF gaming designers)

Science & Technology guest:
Jeffery Hoffman (Astronaut) – Friday only
Story Musgrave (Astronaut)
Don McCasland (Director of the Blue Hills Observatory)
Dr. James Prego (Holistic Medicine)

Please help spread the word about the show to other fans through anyand all related websites and boards! I hope to see you all there! I will be set up as a vendor in the dealer room on Saturday and Sunday.

Geek of the Week # 5 - Spamberly

Geek of the Week #5 – Spamberly

My mother taught me how to cross stitch when I was a young girl and I remember getting very bored very quickly doing samplers so I stopped doing cross stitch. Well, I found someone who makes such fun funky cross stitches that it makes me want to pick up my needles and give it another try. Let me introduce you to Spamberly!

1. Who are you, where are you from and how long have you been crafting?I’m an Upstate New York girl who moved to Boston in 1997 for college and I decided to stick around awhile. My mom was a quilter and always encouraged creativity, so I’ve been crafting since I had hand-eye coordination. Cross stitch was probably one of the first needle/thread crafts I did seriously as a youngster. I began with pre-packaged cross stitched kits but they got so boring. I wanted to make stuff for my friends that pushed the envelope a little. So I began designing my own patterns with a pencil and graph paper. I got super serious about designing work to sell when I broke my leg and had a few months to sit on my ass and think about stuff.


2. Do you craft for a specific genre of geek (ie. sci-fi, gaming, horror, math, fantasy, music, etc…)Yeah, I’ll watch Star Trek if it’s on. I don’t, like, seriously plan it out or anything. I get that Uhura is hot. I don’t dress up like her on weekends or anything. I get that Bones is always trying to get in on Kirk and Spock’s friendship. Poor Bones. He’ll never infiltrate that shit!My work probably attracts people who are a lot like me because if I don’t get some kind of personal satisfaction from a particular piece, I would never have made it in the first place. My work is a reflection of my life and interests and if another person taps into the same, that’s cool. If not, please don’t send me hate mail. It’s getting old.I managed to land a great job at the geekiest university in the Western hemisphere. It is vibrant and youthful and full of socially awkward people who get off on math equations like the one Matt Damon solved in that movie. It’s a diverse and supportive place to be and gives me a lot of ideas for new stitcheries.


3. What was the first “geekey” craft you ever made?This question is impossible for me to answer. Too many years of weirdness coupled with too many odd crafts. There’s just no way to know the true answer and I cannot consciously lie to you by giving a cutesy tale of my very first oddity.

4. What inspires you to craft?Cross stitch is a very old, traditional craft and I like the idea of giving it a new voice. Although I don’t deliberately focus on it too much, there is a political aspect to what I do. Cross stitch has been fused to femininity for a long, long time. I really enjoy putting little cracks in that traditional image. I want to stitch words or pictures that are provocative in some way. I’m looking for a reaction from the viewer – from giggles to utter disgust.But, in a more general sense, my own everyday life is what inspires me most. Conversations with friends. Rock Operas. Water. Connections. Rejection. Fear. Protest. The Golden Girls. Anger. Legislation. Gleaming the Cube. Europe. Yard sales. Love. Jim Henson. Dark alleys. Hunter S. Thompson. Guilt. The woods. Neil Young. Honesty. Bombs. Victimless crimes. Moods. Sex. Silence.


5. Where can we find your crafts (website, shows, blogs, etc.) (Please note some of Spamberly's creations do contain mature content)
Etsy: http://spamberly.etsy.com/
Flickr: http://flickr.com/spamberly


6. Anything else you'd like to share?The most accomplished feeling I can think of is to begin with a small idea and make it into a tangible, physical object that expresses me in some way. The reason I am so passionate about cross stitch is because it is a marriage of my skills and my opinions. It goes from idea to pattern to finished piece to its home on a wall or tabletop or Christmas tree. An idea becomes a physical object that will most likely last several lifetimes. Whether many crafters are conscious of it or not, their work is probably going to be part of this world long after they have left it. There is something morbid, beautiful and strange about that that keeps me doing what I do.

Cemetary Geeks - The Gravestone Girls

Hello Everyone,
I don’t have a geek of the week interview this week but instead I wanted to introduce you to some “cemetery geeks.” The Gravestone Girls!

http://www.gravestonegirls.com/

The Sutton Historical Society invited the Gravestone Girls to give a talk and cemetery tour of one of Sutton’s many graveyards. I went and had a great time. I learned about the different types of stones that gravestones are made of. I learned about some of the symbology on the stones and I never knew that there were headstones and footstones. Literally just like a bed – or as the Gravestone Girls said, “your bed for eternity.”

I learned a lot more than just that, but I’ll let you go check out their website to get the info yourself.

Oh yes, the GG also make some incredible artwork from the stones - Check them out!