Maker Faire 2013

Never go to Maker Faire at noon.

Trust me.

This year, we helped out at the annual church cleanup before heading to the fairgrounds.  And although helping out wasn't a mistake, going to the fair right after certainly was.  We should have waited til 2 or so.

There was no parking.  We always park in the surrounding neighborhood so we don't have to pay the ridiculous $20 parking fee, and by noon there was nothing left.  We walked many blocks.

Also, all the halls were so jam packed, you couldn't really see anything up close! It was a constant herd-like moving stream. I was not happy.

I was also not happy because my sister wasn't able to come with us this year.  I found a good home for her ticket, but still! It's tradition and we always have a lot of fun.

So since I'm sounding not so happy at this point - here's the bad:

Why does having a 3D printer automatically get you a booth?  At this point they're old hat - anyone can get one for $2k or less. There were SO many booths with 3D printers. Why not showcase more variety?  I think what threw me over was Yelp having a booth. With a 3D printer of course, because apparently that's all you need to get in?

This one, at least, was printing action figures..

Overall, the vibe I got in the main electronics hall was more corporate and less "see what I made" which is disheartening.  Next year we might try one of the other conventions going on that weekend instead, though thinking about that makes me sad too!

And the good:

They expanded the grounds (albeit by taking up the parking lot).  There was more room for things this year, which was nice.

More room for things like giant daleks!

The sewing section also seemed larger, though Sak was too annoyed by the crowds to want to stay in the tent for long.

Bring in a piece of clothing, then take a different piece and modify into something trendy! Looked like fun!

I really enjoyed the drone attack game demo.  They'd give one kid a visor that showed only what the hovering drone could see via cameras, and have her direct the plane to "tag" one of the other children running around the area.  Very military, but showing how it works is pretty cool. Plus those model drones looked like so much fun to control, I want one!

Drone with a go-pro?

And some more random pics from the Faire:

This was awesome - you burn wood for camp cooking or whatever, and it creates electricity to power your usb devices! How does it not overheat the circuits though? Maybe there's a cooler?

I want to make one of these, so cool with the glowy light!

Delorean. Hovercraft. Enough said!!

Singing fish/lobster car. @_@

Tesla coils shocking people in an cage! I know it's safe, but still, I wouldn't want to be in there!

This was nice, the diet coke and mentos guys gave away their half-empty coke bottles to kids after the show!  Not bad considering a lemonade was like...$4. Crazy fair prices.

Pretty lantern.  I wonder if I could make a smaller one with the silhouette?

Lego theater. I like the little "neon" lights!

The lego train is cool and all, but there's nothing quite the same as a real steam-powered model.

Lots and lots and lots of masking tape.

And of course, Artoo an his buddy Darth Artoo.

We stayed til about 6, after eating delicious paella and listening to a band whose microphones were powered by people riding bikes.

It was a good faire, but we need to never come at peak hours again!

Finish What You Start

One of the reasons I like blogging is because it pushes me to do things.  To try things, to make things. Since I've started blogging, I've done so many new things - and more importantly - finished them! That's definitely something I enjoy. And there's nothing so unsatisfying than never getting to see a blogger's finished product! I think without the blog I'd also be much more prone to sitting around watching anime/tv and doing nothing.    Of course, there is a line between productive and obsessive.  But as long as the process of making things with Sak still involves laughter and ridiculous victory dances, I think we're okay. Hopefully.

That said and all, I have an unhealthy amount of half-finished projects lying about the house. Come on magic blog, help me finish them!

Cross-stitch Afro Gunsou.  Been sitting around for three years now.

Backside of a very fun crochet project.  Been working on for two years now

A bit over 1/14th of the way done! Yaay, rug!

An attempt at actual, normal, clothes for once.

This would be faster if I didn't have to buy one board of balsa wood at a time (40% off coupons *sigh*).

More sushi pillows. 

Do you have a lot of unfinished projects lying around too?

DIY Area Rug: Beginnings!

So I think this may be the record for my most annoying project plan yet.  A fully customized, hand-made rug!

And not just a rug, but a BIG rug! Big enough to cover this living room of ours.

The plan is for a tri-colored, 10' x 6' rug.

I'll need four of these rug forms:

Though we've only purchased one so far since they are $10 each at Joann's and I only buy with 40% off coupons.  Each one is 3'x5' though, so they are already fairly large!

We spent nearly an hour at Michael's deciding on yarn.  Color, thickness, softness - it's all important!  We settled on trying out this dark red, brown and beige combo:

Which, randomly enough, perfectly matched our dining table/chair/tablecloth. I am not even kidding, I did not plan it that way.  My subconscious scares me sometimes.

Anyway, we're going to latch hook this rug! And it's going to take...forever!

One hour later..hopefully it gets faster as you go?

But when we finish, it will be awesome, and custom, and hopefully cost-effective (though I'm not holding my breath, we need over 9 miles of yarn according to Sak's calculations).

I'll share more details on pattern and exact measurements later depending on how this goes! Wish me luck!

Have you ever latch-hooked before? It's my first time!

Virginia Love

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of drawing for Jeana from My Dream Life.  She blogged her own beautiful wedding around the time I was blogging my own, and now she's continued on to help other brides-to-be in her region. So Virginia brides, look her up at Star City Weddings! (You can see the pic I did over at her site too *winks obviously*)

Jeana was (literally!) so sweet and sent me a big package of local Virginia chocolates, as well as her own home-made jam! Sak really likes this art-trade hobby, I wonder why? :P

Anyway, this piece of chocolate, set in a Virginia-shaped cookie cutter, is so ridiculously clever:

It's like..food now, useful tool for more food later! Haha. I would think it'd be fairly simple to DIY, so now I'll be on the lookout for cute cookie cutters to make into sweet gifts.  Christmas is coming up sooner than you realize, you know!

And Sak says I now need to start collecting the rest of the state's cookie cutters, in order to one day make a cookie-map-of-the-USA.  That would be pretty awesome, no? Dibs on Texas or Alaska, since they'd be the biggest.

Bed Head...Board!

Now that May the insane is over, I can get back to newest-pretend-profession: interior designer!

Kidding, Actually I'm still scared stiff by all the design blogs I look at now. But we'll start small and work our way up, eh? 

How about the bedroom? Surely that can't be that hard.

Okay. Maybe it can be that hard. The only thing good going on up there is the pretty duvet that my aunt gave us as a wedding gift! 

Anyway, let's ignore the fact that I need new pillowcases and that only one of us gets a bedside table. I'd like a headboard. Specifically - a shoji screen headboard.

(source)

But shoji screens are expensive! I've seen anywhere from $70 - $200 for one, and I'm too cheap for that.

So we'll make our own, and see if it comes out cheaper.

But before I go out and find materials and such - I need to come to a decision on the design.

Here's some options:

They aren't all that different - same idea with three panels and such, but hopefully you can help me pick through the nuances!

If you'd like to help me out, vote for your favorite (or tell me in the comments if you have a better idea!)

Do you have a headboard? Do they serve a purpose other than to look pretty?

Maker Faire 2011

Marking our third year in attendance, Sak and I hobbled down the hill to attend Maker Faire, our town's annual claim-to-fame.  This time my sister came with us, so you know it was a good time. And uh, since the Faire is always so diverse and visually overstimulating, this is just going to be a big hodge-podge picture post of very-interesting-things.

Robotic Droid. He was so cute! And pretty well made considering he had to balance on two wheels only.

The Artoo-Detoo club was back again, whirring and beeping their cute little astromechs to entice me into joining.  But at $2k-$10k an Artoo (not mentioning the requirement of power tools), I'll have to save my pennies for a while.

We watched a show on constellations in the Chabot Space and Science Center's portable planetarium.  They have a Bill Nye exhibit going on right now.

This machine was carving wood into Han Solo-Carbonite-esque reliefs.  Could you imagine hanging one of yourself on your wall? So cool!

This...sculpture(?) is called the Colossus. It was so funny watching all the little kids trying to move the big rocks around in a circle.

Motorized arm chairs.

Motorized cupcakes.

Motorized high heel.

Garlic fry break!

A giant Lite-Brite from one of my favorite websites - instructables!

DIY Halo armor. I was surprised to see borderline cosplay at Maker's Faire, but I suppose even cosplay has to be made at some point!

This is genius. Until your kid accidentally cuts their leg on the mower blade. Then not so genius.

Now this is something truly genius, and definitely something I'd like to get into. LED "thread", for lighting your fabric! So awesome.

LEGO Caltrain. That's me there in the second car, top level. Sak just about died and went to heaven with this one.

..Or maybe he died here, at the LEGO truck of awesomeness.

Mission Impossible laser trap obstacle course! Penga-Sis made it through without tripping the alarm!

Faire-famous paella! YUM.

Steampunk! (The really-really-good kind!)

I saw these pearl stickers at one booth and thought they were awesome. An easy way to add bling to things, I would think!

And touching moment of the day - Sak taught Penga-Sis to solder! Brother and Sister in-law bonding!

They made a Simon-Says game with a kit they bought.

Works! (Until she sat on it later that night and broke the sound button. Oh wait. That's a good thing!)

As usual, Maker Faire blew my mind and made me feel like I should be um..making more things! You too! Go make something awesome!