Craftzine.com blog: Goli Mohammadi Archives

Archives: Goli Mohammadi

AT-AT Dog Is Awesome

Katie Mello, a professional stop-motion character fabricator at LAIKA/house, made this awesome AT-AT costume for her pup, Bones Mello. You can check out her process shot on Bones' Facebook page. Katie writes, "From the first time we saw Bones, an Italian Greyhound, my husband and I thought he looked like an AT-AT. He has such an unusual shape. Three years later, I finally made him this costume." Bones has a little hand-sewn and painted "speed suit" topped with body pieces made out of 1/4"-thick foam sheets. Katie ensured that the costume would be cozy for Bones by sewing a soft fake fur lining into the light body piece. The little canons on the sides of his head are too cool, and he's clearly ready for action!

Our friend Bonnie Burton interviewed Katie on the Star Wars blog to get the inside scoop on how the costume was made, how Bones likes wearing it, and what other costumes he has. What a lucky dog!

Inspired to make something for Halloween? Be sure to enter it in our MAKE and CRAFT Halloween contest to win cool prizes. Costumes, decor, food, whatever you create for Halloween, is welcome in the contest.

Read our full contest page for all the details.

Quilt Fit for a Queen

Even though Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is actually on April 21st, today is the Queen's Official Birthday in the U.K. And crafter Sarah Brazier of Bolton, England, is celebrating with a gorgeous quilt that she made for the occasion. She's also offering her pattern in her Etsy shop.

What's super neat to boot is that Sarah sent us pictures of her first quilt ever years ago, and her letter was published in CRAFT Volume 09. Nice work, Sarah! It's wonderful to see your personal style develop over the years.

Geek Crafts: Light-Up Fashion Roundup

LED tank top.jpg

Everyone knows LEDs are the new sequins. Back in 2006, when we started CRAFT, one of the most exciting areas where we saw crafters "transforming traditional crafts" is with sewing soft circuits into clothing. New "smart" materials like conductive thread made it possible to seamlessly blend tech and craft to the awesome effect of light-up fashion. Pictured above is Leah Buechley's LED Tank Top from CRAFT Volume 01. Although quite ambitious for a first-time soft circuit project, we loved that this project showed what was possible: clothing that not only lit up the night, but could be programmed to change pattern. Five years later, the project hasn't lost its cool. Get inspired with the full step-by-step on Make: Projects.

If you're interested in soft circuits and incorporating smart materials in your crafts, Syuzi Pakhchyan's awesome book Fashioning Technology is a great place to start. Syuzi lays out the essentials with simple tutorials on basic techniques, an invaluable image-driven index of materials and tools, followed by an array of projects, like the Rock Star Headphones:

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Exploded Tattoo

Exploded Tattoo is a collaboration between painter Anna Stump, photographer Ted Meyer, and various models with single-image tattoos. For each model, a 9'x8' painting was made to correspond to their body art, then the model and painting were staged for the photos. The end result is an original and stunning interpretation.

How-To: Giant Spin Art Rig

Whether the people you're entertaining are pint-sized or adults, this super simple Giant Spin Art rig from the pages of MAKE Volume 25 is guaranteed to be entertaining. Brothers Bob and Pete Goldstein came up with the rig design in an attempt to supersize the old classic. The frame is easy to build, and power comes from a corded drill. Check out the entire project shared on Make: Projects, get your build on, and let the paint fly.

Bubble Photography Tips and Tricks

I'm completely enamored by Tom Falconer's gorgeous bubble photography, and he was nice enough to share his tips and tricks with us. Tom is a Tahoe resident, so he's blessed by beautiful surroundings and cold temps that make shots like the one above possible. When I asked about shooting frozen bubbles, he said: "Frozen bubbles are easier to shoot than regular ones. Once it freezes, it just sits there. But floating bubbles in the wild are unpredictable and almost always tricky to photograph sharply." Check out this shot of a frozen bubble popping slowly:

The caption for this shot reads: "Bubbles get a bit rubbery when they freeze, so when they pop it happens really slow. It was around 15-20 °F and this bubble took about two minutes to freeze. When it's colder they freeze really fast and will shatter more like glass. This bubble took about fifteen minutes to disintegrate."

The way Tom captures reflections in the bubbles is truly notable as well:

Head over to the Makezine post to read his bubble formula and tips on bubble photography, and be sure to check out the rest of his Flickr stream for more eye candy.

Masking Tape Graffiti

Australian artist BUFFdiss makes amazing masking tape graffiti. Checking out his Flickr stream, it's cool to see how his style has progressed over time, and that he's still devoted to making his signature art using only masking tape. Check out this interview/profile that Upper Playground did of BUFFdiss, if you haven't seen it yet. His take on bringing visual interest to urban decay is fascinating. Who knew masking tape could be so versatile?

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Zimoun's Kinetic Sound Sculptures

Swiss artist Zimoun creates stunning sound sculptures using simple, basic components, like DC motors and wire, amplified in effect by their numbers. One sculpture employs 30,000 plastic bags and 18 fans to create audio eerily like rain. Ever wonder what 400 vibrating motors sounds like? Check out this compilation video of a number of Zimoun's works, annotated by the materials used.

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Saturday, January 22, swissnex San Francisco and Gray Area Foundation for the Arts team up to present Zimoun's first solo exhibition in the Bay. And on January 19, Zimoun performs live with fellow sound artist Jim Hayes.

How-To: School Mascot

Minnesota-based Make: Projects community member David Howard contributed a great how-to for making your own school mascot from scratch, complete with a cooling fan in the head piece to keep your furry mascot from overheating. Maybe your craft club needs a mascot too? Now you'll know how to make one. Thanks, David!

Fifty Cent Macro Lens

Sean Lee wanted to take close-up pictures of his projects, but his camera's focal range fell short. His wife suggested taping on a lens from a pair of dollar store reading glasses. Sean shared this workaround on Make: Projects, and posted impressive before and after shots, especially for 50 cents.

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