I’ve been a huge fan of the space program since I was a little kid. Here I am playing as an astronaut with my spacesuit, headset, and maneuvering backpack:
I wanted some space program ornaments for my Christmas tree and couldn’t find what I wanted, so I decided to make my own. A little time in Illustrator, some prototyping on the laser cutter, and voila!
First created in 1860, the Erlenmeyer flask has come to symbolize chemistry, and by extension science as a whole. I wanted to use that symbol to create an item of functional decor, and what better for that than a lamp, with the relationship between the light bulb and the “aha!” of an idea?
For over a decade I’ve had kicking around in my garage’s attic the cases from a couple of old original-style Macintoshes, waiting for just the right project. Fishtank? Nah, been done. Embedded Raspberry Pi and display? Maybe, but not now.
One day, after staring at them stacked in my office, I realized that they had a similar form factor to the classic bullet-top garbage cans with the swinging lid. I could give one of these a new (slightly unceremonious) life as a garbage can!
I’m sorry that it’s been over nine months since I posted here. I’ve been busy building in that time—some projects, but mostly a new life after the end of an eighteen year relationship.
The latter project is not the type I’m used to or enjoy, and it’s distracted me greatly from the former. After moving, it was almost four months before I got my shop set up again and could even think about working there, and I still have trouble finding parts I know I have somewhere around.
In that downtime, a flock of doubts swept in, and they’ve been heckling the creative parts of my mind from their perches in the rafters.
They don’t light up like a lot of my other projects, but the collection of Portland, Oregon bridge clocks I just launched has been a great way to test the Kickstarter waters. They’re laser-cut from bamboo, and you can get one of every bridge in the Rose City. Check them out for yourself here:
The Portland Bridge Clock Series
I’ve been going through a moon phase recently (pun absolutely intended), and thought it would be fun to make a wearable or totable that displayed the current state of the moon. There would be a bit of hardware involved, so a purse seemed like the perfect vehicle—you’re already carrying a load of other things, so there’s no harm in the addition of a small battery pack or a pile of LEDs.
What’s eight feet across, has 90 teeth, and makes beautiful designs? Not a shark with an art degree, but this giant version of the classic Spirograph drawing toy. Chalk is the medium, and streets and sidewalks are the canvas.
LED candles not radical enough for you? How about some revolutionary chic in the form of an LED molotov cocktail! Let’s call this number two in my series of bad ideas sure to draw the attention of the local constabulary, the first being the screwdriver key that lets you “steal” your own car. Read on and learn how to make your own.
Up up down down left right left right B A Start… Who of a certain age can forget that code? I make no guarantees that this laser-cut mirror necklace will get you extra lives, but it will get you some extra attention.
Since there isn’t a whole lot to share in the how-to of the final product, instead I thought I’d share the meandering process of getting there from the initial idea. So often, project write-ups only focus on what worked and ignore the many failures and missteps along the way, and there were many failures and missteps in this project, spanning over a year.
If you’d like a necklace, you can buy it in my Etsy shop and help support my further creative endeavors.
The Exploratorium in San Francisco recently released a book called The Art of Tinkering. They describe it as
a celebration of a whole new way to learn by thinking with your hands, working with readily available materials, getting your hands dirty, and, yes, sometimes failing and bouncing back from getting stuck.
Sounds like exactly what I enjoy!
I’m excited and proud to be a part of it, with a section on Pumpktris right on page 73, sharing a spread with littleBits and the folks from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, among others.
Order your copy at the Exploratorium store or at Amazon.
