Saturday, August 2nd, I'll be in York, PA, for an event called Sci-Fi Saturday, held at The York Emporium from 10am - 6pm. A bunch of the Bad-Ass Faeries folk will be there (I think from both books).

http://www.theyorkemporium.com/events/scifi/index.html

There'll be author appearances and book signings, SF bloopers, NASA folks, art shows, and more. I have no idea what the schedule is, or whether I'll be reading or what.

So, anyway, that's where I'll be. Hope y'all can come out and visit.

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/yo_gabba_yabba_cupcakes.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

How great are these Yo Gabba Gabba cupcakes by Flickr user AmandaAhHa? Absolutely adorable.

Related:
• Garth Johnson's "Muno" Shirt
• World's Greatest Grandma?
• Yo Gabba Gabba Needle Felts

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/fashioning_technology_book_eve_1.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Fashioning Technology author Syuzi Pakhchyan will be holding a demonstration and having a book signing at Craft Gym (1452 Bush Street) in San Francisco on Saturday, July 19 from 5pm - 7pm. Come by to meet Syuzi and watch her demonstration, enjoy a drink and nibble on treats!

Here's more about the event:

Fashioning Technology: Come Witness the Future of Crafting! What will our homes and clothes look like 5 years from now? 10 years? 50 years? If the new book Fashioning Technology (O'Reilly) is any indication, it will involve a healthy dose of "smart" crafting--a term coined by author Syuzi Pakhchyan--to describe crafting with "smart" materials that react and change in response to their environment. In this exciting new book, readers can learn how to make: LED bracelets, chandeliers and headphones; pattern-changing blinds; a space invaders tote bag that alerts you to incoming phone calls; a "birdie" brooch that "chirps" to sunlight; and much, much more!

Visit the book site, fashioningtechnology.com and join in on the new smart crafting community where you can post up your own projects, keep up to date with book events, projects, watch videos, and more!

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/shadow_art_fair_in_ypsilanti_m.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

If you're near Ypsilanti, MI this Saturday, be sure to stop by the Shadow Art Fair, featuring dozens of great indie craft vendors, including Molly Mast, Boh Bon Soap, and Clairigami.

Shadow Art Fair
Saturday, July 19 2008, 12pm-12am
@ The Corner Brewery
720 Norris Street
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
Ph: (734)480-2739

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This morning Jim had Jimmy on the changing table.
Jim reached down for a diaper and Jimmy called out, "Daddy!"
When Jim looked up at him and said, "What?"
Jimmy raised his foot to his ear and let a fart rip, giggling madly. (Right at face level too!)

My one-week-shy-of-two-years-old-son has Fart Joke timing down already!
Phear him!

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/handmade_shoes_from_recycled_s.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

From the CRAFT Flickr pool: user seschloss added a photo of her friend Josh's shoes with custom made uppers (and recycled sneaker soles). He does a pretty thorough walkthrough of his process (ups and downs) on the Sewer Sewist blog, and even if the glue's a bit funky around the edges, I still think these new creations are pretty fabulous.

From the pages of CRAFT: 07:


"Converse A La Mod," by Tom Wyatt, pgs 49-51. Preview the article in our Digital Edition. "Shoe Mods Made Simple," by Ivory Eileen pg 66. Preview the article in our Digital Edition.



Subscribe to CRAFT Magazine For just $29.95, get a 1 year subscription (4 quarterly issues) filled with lots of great craft projects and features. [Read this article] [Comment on this article]

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/holly_wales_tape_animals.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Saw these on Modern Craft: Holly Wales is a talented illustrator (check out her "Household Objects" series) who also creates fun assemblages and collage work. I love her animals made from tape.

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/papercraft_crab_and_polar_bear.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Patti @ MAKE points us to two great free papercraft animal patterns:

Papercraft Paradise has links to a couple really neat paper models. Konicaminolta has a wonderful fiddler crab model. There are 2 PDFs - one has the parts, the other has instructions. And Kirin has a cute polar bear papercraft with a wobbly head; also has 2 pdfs. (you have to click through a couple times to get to the bear)

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/movie_theater_seat_makeover.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Spotted on Apartment Therapy SF: KnitSonya gave these tired, old movie theater seats a gorgeous makeover using a colorful array of Marimekko fabrics.

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/heath_ceramics_factory_tour.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Last weekend, I took a quick trip to San Francisco, and was lucky enough to fit in a side jaunt to Sausalito to visit the Heath Ceramics factory for a tour. Peeking behind the scenes at this legendary mid-century pottery house was an amazing experience, which I really recommend you check out if you get the chance. (If you're not familiar with Heath Ceramics, read up on them here.)

Edith Heath was a leader of the midcentury California pottery movement, who started the factory with her husband Brian in 1959. The tour is full of fun stories about the couple, the craftspeople, and especially about Edith and her headstrong, artsy ways.

Edith was a child of the Depression, which definitely informed the Heath philosophies of limiting waste and using local materials whenever possible, a tradition which continues today. The clay is all sourced locally, the clays are fired using a proprietary low-fire method which uses less energy--and our tour guide even described how leftover glaze is scraped off the walls of the glazing areas and the pigment is re-used to make another batch. Heath was into "reduce, reuse, recycle" long before it was a trendy motto splashed on tote bags sold at Wal-Mart.

Even the blue manual jigger pictured above left is a perfect example of how thrifty Heath Ceramics could be--this machine was acquired secondhand when Edith's husband Brian dumpster-dived it (with permission!) from the legendary Wedgwood China Factory in England and shipped it back to Sausalito. Can you imagine?!

Heath Ceramics was purchased by new owners Robin Petravic and his wife, Catherine Bailey, shortly before Edith's passing in 2005. By all accounts, they've done a fantastic job helping to revitalize the company while honoring the traditions of craft Heath is known for. After taking the tour, I defy you not to snap up at least one piece of Heath in the adjoining factory store--especially considering the large selection of seconds and bargain-priced items available. If you'd like to check out the tour virtually, my Flickr photset is here.

Heath Factory
400 Gate Five Road
Sausalito, CA 94965
ph: (415) 332-3732
For store and general inquiries, please call x13
Open daily, 10am-5pm
Tours: Sat-Sun, 11am
(Call ahead for tour reservations)

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/singer_futura_computerized_emb.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Download the MP4 Video or HD Version | Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes

While at Maker Faire in May, I got a chance to get a terrific demo from Vivian Lavinskas of Singer Sewing Company on their Singer Futura line of computerized embroidery machines. Having one myself and being a techie, I can vouch for how amazingly cool these machines are. They connect easily to a PC and allow you to embroider from pre-set designs or in the CE-250 and CE-350 models, you can also use your own images for embroidery!

As mentioned in the podcast, each month a new embroidery motif is available for free download from the projects section of the Singer web site. You can also check out the many great sewing and embroidery projects as well.

My first project with the Singer Futura CE-250 embroidery machine was to test out the CRAFT logo above. The software was really simple to use and imports lots of file formats, then coverts it over to embroidery stitches that the sewing machine reads. Then I used that design template to embroider the logo onto vintage tablecloths which were used at our booth at the recent ICE Atlanta craft fair.

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At first I thought the building was separate from the pic and was photoshopped in with the other pic. To me, it looks that distinct
It looks like a castle and a fountain. Where is this anyways?

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/galya_rosenfeld_reclaimed_puzz.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Apartment Therapy Re-next showcases the puzzle pillows by Gayla Rosenfeld that are made with reclaimed ultrasuede scraps from the upholstery industry. Each pillow is handmade and one-of-a-kind.

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Post Apocalyptic Survival Horror of a particulalry Moorcockian Law (Pure Strain Humans and super technology) and Chaos (Super Mutants and Plant based RadZombies) virulant variety.

Four parts Gamma World to One part Car Wars to One part Deadlands to One part Hawmoon to One part Thundarr the Barbarian to One part Wasteland (I bet you thought I was going to say Fallout, didn't you).

Deadlands: Hell on Earth was thematically similar, but just didn't do it for me. Rifts makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

Anyway, that's what's stealing cycles from my Akashic Masters Science Fantasy campaign dev.

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/handmade_kids_on_the_storque.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

CRAFT contributor and new mom, Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty shares her favorite finds in her feature for the Handmade Kids series on Etsy's The Storque.

If you're in the Portland, OR area on Sunday July 20th, Susan will be teaching the Solo Earrings project from Bead Simple at the final meeting of the Church of Craft.

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/cthulhu_amigurumi.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Flickr user Here Be Dragons made a Cthulu amigurumi and posted a picture of him posing in California. Apparently a Cthulu is a creature from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos. via GeekCrafts.

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/07/how_to_rustic_nectarine_tart.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

Shutterbean was making dinner, got sidetracked and ended up winging a rustic nectarine tart recipe. The pictures look great and she shared the recipe for the improvised dessert.

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Landlords, lawyers and welfare workers are all conspiring to bring me to tears. I find them all despicable and I hate everyone.

I had forgotten how thoroughly awful the welfare system is. They exist through intimidation and are structured to make people feel like dirtbags and thieves. Their premise is that everything you think is yours, everything you've worked for, really belongs to them and that when you request help from the medicare/medicaid system (you know -- the one we have all paid into for all our working lives) you are nothing but a dirty beggar looking for a free lunch.

For those of you faced with looking for care for yourself or a loved one, remember--medicaid IS part of the welfare system and you will have to justify your very existence, with verifiable proof before they will give you any help at all. Most importantly, make sure that you give all your stuff away at least 3 to 5 years before you decide to become ill or infirm. If you don't, your children will suffer. And if you are the caretaker? Set things up so that you get paid for your trouble, so that keeping what is yours doesn't look like a "gift" for which you will have to give every dime back.

AND DON'T SIGN A GOD DAMNED THING, EVER!