Category Archives: Mixed Media

May 2 2017

Amazing Sign Replicas

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I love me a good sign. And I also love accurate detail, so it will come as no shock that I am in love with Quest Design Canada. They make incredibly accurate recreation signs for the proud nerd in your life to display and use at home. My personal fav are all the Disney park ones (as seen above) which my husband doesn’t know we will one day be getting, lol.

Most of their signs are cast in resin and then bronze coated to keep costs down while still maintaining the desired look, though a few like the Hollywood Tower Hotel (Tower of Terror) are made from cut metal.

Besides signs, they also make some prop holders for displaying your geeky based weapons (lightsabers and laser guns for example) but if you’ve been looking for something truly unique for you SO/Family/Friend that will likely cause their jaw to drop, then I definitely recommend giving this shop a look through. 🙂

Feb 6 2017

DIY Zelda Shekiah Slate

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With less then a month until the release I just cannot contain my excitement for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 😀 So, in case any of you out there feel the same (or just wanna make a really great cosplay prop), today I’d like to share a great step by step DIY video for how to make your own Shekiah Slate.

You will need several supplies to make this excellent looking prop, including:

-EVA Foam
– Hot Glue Gun + Hot Glue Sticks
-Acrylic Paint (Orange, Black, Blue)
-Spray Paint (Gold, Brown)
-Scissors
-Xacto Style Knife
-Clear Plastic Tube
-Sand Paper
-Wood Filling Paste
-Tiny LED Lights
-Wire Cutters
-Electrical Tape
-Plastic Sheet

There are a few more tools you could get to help you make it easier, but as you can see by the materials list, this project is gonna take some time to make. Worth it though for the awesome prop piece you’ll have by the end. ^_^

Jan 31 2017

Woodentek’s Woodworking

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While standard analog clocks seem to be slowly disappearing in favor of their digital counterparts, I for one still love having analog clocks in my house. There’s just a visual appeal to them that digital designs don’t do for it yet, and Woodentek has certainly got their visual appeal down.

Made from expertly cut and design wooden layers, Woodentek has some of the most beautiful wooden clock designs I’ve ever seen. Located in Spain, this company has a commitment to designing not just fandom clocks for the easy money, but a wide range of designs spanning historic recreations to astronomy signs. Their wood is from well managed forests, meaning they don’t just buy cheap lumber to make a buck. Their wood comes from land that grows and replants trees to crate a sustainable resource and is certified by the FSC and PEFC.

If you’re in the market for a reasonably priced change in your decor, or just want an art piece that can also tell the time, you should definitely give Woodentek your consideration.

Jan 3 2017

Naturally Found

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Found art has always been an intriguing medium to me. The ability to take normal or broken everyday things and turn them into something else entirely definitely requires an eye that I do not have. British artist Dean Patman, however, obviously has it in spades.

Living in Bristol, he maintains a small studio space in his garden (aka backyard for us Americans) where he stores his found objects and does all his sculpture work. His passion began with his fascination of the natural world as a child, but didn’t start until much later in his life.

My passion for the natural world was equaled by my love of art.  It was a natural progression for me to study scientific illustration however feeling the need for a more creatively challenging course, I moved to Central St Martin’s. It was during my time there that I started working with found materials forming the sculptural method that characterizes my work today.  In found items I see the forms of the natural world; silverware, shoe-trees and teapots are married together to describe an animal’s appearance and character, making creatures both life-like and humorous .

His sculptures are decently sized as well, most of them starting right around 1-2′ in height or length. If you are fascinated by this medium as well I highly recommend giving his gallery a look through. Perhaps it could even inspire you. 🙂

Sep 13 2016

Glass Water Sculptures

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I have a thing for glass and water. Something about the medium just captures the feel and emotion of water so well, especially when done by an artist with lots of practice. Ben Young of New Zealand is one of those artists.

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All of his work revolves around water in some form, and he uses the glass in combination with concrete and cast bronze to create just beautiful sculptures of nature, as well as moments in time.

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When designing his work, he even takes lighting into effect while he’s working on his final design. Thinking about how he wants the piece displayed or formed to catch just the right image once translated form his 2D sketch into a 3D piece. If you’re a fan of water pieces I highly recommend giving his gallery a look through. While he has no pieces for sale right now that doesn’t stop his work from looking absolutely beautiful. And who knows, maybe it will inspire one last summer piece for you to tackle. 😉

Sep 7 2016

Back to School Crafting

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Hi everyone and Happy Wednesday!

I’m a guest blogger on CraftHackers today!  My name is Lindsay and I own a small business called Stamps & Stitches.  I’m a general crafter as in I do a little bit of everything – card making, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, and knitting.  You can see what I’m up to on my Facebook page!

Today we’re going to talk about crafting for back to school.  It’s a great time of year for everyone to learn something new, not just the kids!  Learning different crafts is in my opinion the best kind of learning!  It’s also never to early to inspire your kids with a bit of extra creativity and get started on those teacher’s gifts that you might give out at different times of the year.

Let’s start out with the teachers’ gifts.  How adorable is this apple clay jar?  All you need is a clay pot, some paint and either some clay or a marble for the top.  And don’t forget the leaf!  It’s the finishing touch!  Here are the instructions and don’t forget to fill it with the teacher’s favourite goodies!

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Next up, I am sure your teenager would love to decorate their lockers to make it their own and unique.  How about some hand-made bottle cap magnets?  You and your teen can decorate them to fit their specific style and interests!  These instructions include graphics to turn your bottle caps into super cool clocks but get out your paintbrush and any design will do!

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Finally, how are you going to keep your kid’s space or even your crafting space organized?  Take some old cans (especially those that don’t have sharp edges), decorate them with some pretty designer paper and glue them together into a cool shape!  For this particular craft, all you would need is some empty cans or containers (try to gets ones that are all the same size), some decorative paper, paper adhesive, hot glue to glue your cans into whatever shape you like and your imagination!  Having each container hold a different type of item is the perfect way to keep your kids organized and have them WANT to put away their pens and markers!  I know I’ll be using this one in my craft room, nevermind the kids!!

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I hope you’re all enjoying the silence with the children off to school and are getting some crafting done!

Craft on and make sure to share with us what you’re working on!

– Lindsay

Aug 30 2016

Stained Glass Planters

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While not a huge fan of taking care of plants indoors (I tend to forget about them and kill them, my bad) I do love the sight of having them around. Even better is when it’s done in a beautiful or creative way. Such as with the lovely glass planters made by SNLCreations.

Based in Minto, Canada, artisan Susan Napper-LeDuc creats these beautiful planters out of stained glass and soldered metal. They come in quite the range of sizes, but most tend to stay under 6″ meaning they can be placed in almost any home. If plants aren’t your thing, she also has a lovely collection of stained glass decor pieces and really her whole store is worth a look through as it’s just lovely.

Jul 5 2016

Giant K’nex Machine is Giant

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Made by youtuber Shadowman (of working K’nex Skeeball fame) this massive machine is a work of art and engineering. It took years to build and according to the builder features ‘more than 45 new elements, 5 different lifts, and 2 new path separators that separate into 17 paths. It’s also themed, with Knex men all over the place working on it, giving it a factory-type feel with catwalks and stairs. There are 3 total motors, one of which powers all 3 floor lifts’.

My build level for these has always just been follow the instructions like the lame-o I am, so this sort of creativity is always a bit like witchcraft to me. The video of it in operation is definitely worth the 15 odd minutes of your time.

Jul 4 2016

Happy Independence Day!

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Happy Treason Independence Day to all of our American readers out there. As it is a holiday for me I’m afraid I’ve got nothing too exciting today as I’ll be spending all day cleaning to get ready for guests and family to celebrate with tonight. So I shall instead direct you towards this fun last minute looking craft to add to your own celebrations today.

From the lovely ladies at laurenconrad.com, the only part you may need to buy to make these are those plastic cake/push pop devices found in most craft store wedding sections. The rest is simply varying combinations of paper, tinsel and tape. Good luck and have a fun (and safe) holiday.

Jun 28 2016

Extreme Crafting: World’s Largest NERF style gun

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This is what happens when scientists get into crafting. You go big or you go home.

That is former NASA engineer Mark Rober showing off the new toy he built. A NERF gun so large that it requires toilet plunger heads attached to pool noodles for it’s ‘foam darts’. The canon can shot them at around 40MPH. If I was his neighbor I’d want all demonstrations fired away from my house, lol. It would also be considered cheating in all my family NERF battles. No mods allowed. Definitely worth seeing in action though.