Search results (tags) for: "computers"

How-Tuesday: Sweater Computer Cozy From Refashioned Bags

2009-12-15T10:46:00-05:00

When it comes to tech possessions, we all have to try a little harder to express our individuality. I carry around my computer, phone, and mp3 player, self-conscious of the fact that I am merely one in a sea of identical metallic cubes. I may not be able to customize my electronics quite the way I like, but boundless opportunity arises in their accessories. Why spend money on some uninspired plastic case made in a factory halfway across the world, when you can create your own upcycled masterpiece? This week's How-Tuesday comes from Faith and Justina Blakeney's Refashioned Bags, teaching us how to turn a sweater that's past its prime into a laptop's fuzzy best friend.

Purchase Refashioned Bags from Amazon or an independent bookseller

Recycling and reappopriating everyday items into designer accessories is fun, cheap, easy, and oh-so-eco!

But have no fear; you need not be a seamstress or a metalsmith to make it happen. This book, like recycling, is for everybody. With just a few basic tools and a spare afternoon, you'll be making everyday bags, utility bags, totes and shoppers, clutches, and other small bags for special occasions.

So it's time to get creative, clean out the closets, and discover what hidden treasures lie within. Your wardrobe, your wallet, and your planet will thank you.

We all have mini fashion disasters — buttons falling off of coats, stains, and worst of all, shrinking that fave old sweater in the wash. At the Compai Compound, we have learned to see these mishaps as windows of opportunity. So the next time your favorite wool sweater ends up in the wash, don't use it to clean your bathroom floor — hook your computer up with a new winter wardrobe!

Quick Tip: Make sure the sweater is made of at least 80 percent animal fiber (wool, alpaca, cashmere — you know, the good stuff), or it won't felt. Then machine wash your sweater in hot water and dry it on hot in the dryer.

You'll Need
1 old wool sweater
3 yards (2.7m) yarn
1 zipper, about 20" (51cm) long
Pins

Dimensions
16" x 10" (32cm x 25.5cm)

1. Wash your wool sweater on hot so that it shrinks and "felts." Dry your sweater.

2. If your sweater has a zipper or buttons that open the sweater in front, cut them off. If it does not, cut the front of the sweater open anyway.

3. Cut the sleeves of the sweater off.

4. Stitch both armholes closed.

5. As shown, fold the sweater on its side so that one of the stitched armholes lies center-front. Place your laptop computer onto the sweater. Mark the length of the computer with pins on the sweater. Cut the collar and the bottom off of the sweater so that the remaining piece is 1/2" (13mm) longer than the computer on each side.

6. Sew the top edges of the bag together with a clean finish.

7. Pin the zipper onto the open edge of the case, wrapping it around the open corner of the sweater. Stitch the zipper into place and then whipstitch any remaining openings closed if the zipper doesn't reach the bottom corner of the case.

8. The pom-poms on our design were originally part of the sweater that we used, but if you'd like to add pom-poms to your design, wrap the yarn in a figure 8 around your index finger and thumb, in small loops, about 70 times. Pull the looped figure 8 off your fingers, then wrap the yarn around the center of those loops several times, tie a knot. Cut the loops open and throw the pom-pom in the dryer. When the dry cycle is complete, tie the pom-pom to the hole in the zipper pull.

Thanks to Faith & Justina Blakeney and the good folks at Potter Craft for sharing this project with us. For more upcycling inspiration, check out Refashioned Bags.

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Etsy Finds: To My Beloved Geek

2008-11-19T09:03:00-05:00

Today we present a Holiday Shopping List for the geek in your life. We've found nine unique items to make great gifts — perfect for a science teacher, a gadget-obsessed buddy, or anyone who appreciates Geekery!

Microchip cufflinks

Keep your cuffs looking extra smart! By digiBling, $12.

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Blackboard Coasters

Even if you can't solve most of these equations (or even if you can!), these blackboard coasters are pretty fun to look at. By avrilloreti, $14.

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Green One Eyed Alien

This little guy is so cute! By leroylovesmabel, $10.

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Oxidation L T-shirt - Black

I love this fun illustration! Check out Ikyoto's shop for more shirts like this one. By Ikyoto, $15.

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Sun and Moon Mason Jar Night Light

This is by far one of the coolest geekery gifts out there! By GeekGear, $15.99.

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Hyperbolic Marco OOAK Art Doll Monster

As the seller says, this is "creepy but harmless crochet." Very fun! By knotbygranma, $10.

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Fresh Water Fossil Find

What a fun creature from the past! Unusual and amazing! By TheSideStanceLife, $550.

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Electronic Circuit Board Notebook

This notebook is composed of recycled circuit boards. Go green! By susanporteous, $20.

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Some Elements of Sculptural Crochet

A cabinet of crochet specimens, mixing science and craft into awesome! By jpolka, $180.

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Etsy Finds: CNC Beauty from nervoussystem

2008-10-12T13:16:00-05:00

I have a bit of an obsession for art designed by humans that's created with the help of machines. While browsing for robot-enabled art, I found this amazing jewelry by Jesse and Jessica of nervoussystem. The two of them are a team and they make their work with a CNC waterjet. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control and used to be used on industrial equipment to make cars. Now there are all sorts of computer controlled contraptions you can use to make your designs come to life — including sewing machines, lasercutters, cutting plotters, 3D printers and nervoussystem's tool of choice, the waterjet! Fascinated by their work, I asked them a few questions to fill me in on how they do what they do.

Can you tell me about your design process?

We start by coming up with a concept which can either revolve around an inspiration, a form, or a manufacturing process. A few examples would be the forms of radiolarians, aggregations in nature, or using a laser cutter to 3D layered object. When fleshing out this concept, we will come up with system we can work with to realize the design and explore variations. When I say system, I mean this very generally; it can be a construction method that constrains the form or a physical simulation or almost any well defined constraints with parameters we can vary. Often we codify this system by writing a small program. This program can then generate an infinite variety of forms changing based off of parameters that we can vary. After playing around for a while, we pick our favorite results and use a computer controlled machine to realize the design.

Do you collaborate or help each other on your work? Or do you work independently?

Most of our work is collaborative. Of course one person is usually more responsible for one line or another. Jessica primarily came up with the radiolaria line, and Jesse was mainly responsible for the dendrite line. However, in practice we work very closely together, so it is difficult to assign credit for one thing or another. This is not so easy at times since our opinions often differ greatly.

What is the process like to design and work with a waterjet?

We use the waterjet to cut our rubber pieces. Working with any 2D cutting machine tends to be very similar, though there are different dangers you have to watch out for. Designing on the computer makes it very natural for us to use a machine like a waterjet to realize our design. Ultimately, we use a waterjet in particular because it works well with the material properties of the rubber. But since we have to outsource the waterjet (they are very expensive), the process of testing out a new design can take a very long time. In the near future, we may have more direct access to a waterjet, which will be very exciting since you can cut 3D forms out of materials like marble.

I noticed you opened up the sourcecode on your designs: Can you tell me about that?

A large part of our work is about opening up the design process. While crafters are often open about their work, the design world is traditionally much more closed. That's why we have our applets online with the source available. We'd love to have more documentation about our work available as well, but until then people should feel free to ask us any questions if they are interested in how we make things.

Do you have new projects or designs coming up that you're excited about?

We are going to have our first felt products in October, which will be the first chance we've had to add color to our line. We are also building a CNC router, so we are looking forward to some more 3-dimensional products routed from wood.

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Watch our "Process" videos which show how sellers make things.

Storque Posts tagged "Jewelry Shopping"

Etsy Finds: Back To School Laptop Bag

2008-08-24T09:04:00-05:00

TrackandFieldDesigns has a great variety of laptop bags that are perfect for students and people in the working world. Their adorable Japanese fabric patterns say, "I'm young, stylish and ready to learn," while the briefcase design makes one feel as if they are an important business mogul on their way to sign a 10 million dollar contract.

If you are one of the lucky kids whose parents sent them back to school with a brand spanking new laptop, then you will need a bag to protect your new homework helper. If you're like me and your parents sent you to hit the books with the old clunker of a "portable" computer, TrackandFieldDesigns' custom cases will keep that monster stylishly disguised.

See a few more of my favorite items below that I wish I was tra-la-laling back to school with instead of chug-chug-chugging off to work! (Just kidding, I love my job!)

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Etsy Finds: Recycled Circuit Board Key Chain

2008-04-19T14:07:00-05:00

Hey all you lovers out there in the webbed world of intergalactic communication, this is Jakob aka vonmilan. I am new to Etsy and this is my first Storque article, so go easy on me.

My Etsy name is vonmilan and I am the new receptionist/office-manager/office-geologist. I found this super cool recycled keychain by DebbyAremDesigns that looks like something between the cyborg-future and the Dark-Ages-past, kind of like what those kids in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" carry around — records attached to their Gandolf-staffs. But check it out for yourself!

Here's my About Us photo (video and the rest coming soon):

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Etsy Finds: Pnk 20x20 by natzke

2007-12-20T11:48:00-05:00

I have had the pleasure of watching natzke's computer based "generative" art work evolve over the last 7 years, and like a river flowing into the ocean, his art — once seen only online — is now available everywhere, as is this pink painting. When Natzke presents at conferences, people from all over the world pack auditoriums to watch him and be inspired. He captures the excitement that I feel in the air during his presentations in his art work — expressed as a sophisticated and elegant combination of code and design.

I am confident that as time progresses, we will continue to be inspired and to explore his work in museums.

Sew Useful Contest: Interviews with the Winners & OLPC

2007-09-26T08:35:00-05:00

This past summer, Etsy and Instructables held the Sew Useful Contest. It was a pretty intensive process to enter: contestants had to list a useful handmade item on Etsy and create an accompanying how-to on Instructables. The main thrust of the contest was to put your creativity and know-how forward for the greater good.

Etsy and Instructables also worked with OLPC (One Laptop per Child) to donate proceeds and how-tos. OLPC gives $100 laptops to children in developing countries and we had the chance to interview Lauren Klein who works for OLPC to collect education content for the machines. (Burdastyle is in the interview too, talking about an open-source sewing pattern for laptop cases!)

Following the Sew Useful Contest, Alison and I got in touch with the winners and interviewed them over the phone. What follows here are the stories behind their entries.

Turns out John, aka BlondietheBlond, entered the contest to impress a girl. Unfortunately it didn't work, but his Rain or Shine Solar Charger sure does! Listen:

La, aka caballera speaks about her motivation for sharing creative process behind the Fire skirt: bringing a little beauty into the world "Everyone should have a glow outfit." She actually got a marriage proposal from all the exposure she got from the contest. She politely declined. Listen:

Kerri, aka kerri9494, talks about her drive to make everyday, useful objects for her son. The Hearing aid drying pouch came out of his needs at summer swim camp. Listen:

donovanbeeson explains her compulsive paper-hoarding and her inspiration for the Envelope book. Listen:

Elli, abitabite links her motivation for making the Plushie Personal Boom-box / Goodnight Pillow back to when she was a kid. Her mother had to separate abitabite and the many foster kids they had growing up into two rooms: one for those who liked music while they fell asleep, and one for those who needed quiet. Listen:

Julia of pauljuliadesigns speaks about her drive to help elderly and share her Walker Bag designs with the world. Listen:

We also interviewed Darren of djlz about his Emergency Recordable Bag, which he decided to make after watching the confusion after Katrina. Many people lost their prescriptions, important phone numbers, etc, and the recording device would allow people (especially people who cannot write) to audio record a few quick messages as they weather a storm or disaster. The design ranked high in the voting. Listen:

We were also big fans of rabbitears27's Print Faux-co, her take on the Gocco printer, and wanted to find out how she figured out her design. Listen:

Big congrats again to the winners! We hope you are enjoying your sewing machines.

And congrats to my sister-in-law Kim, aka vanfan, whose entry ranked up at the top but was removed from the running for being a relation. She sold one of her Insulin Pump Garter Belts which are sew useful for diabetics! Oh, and she had a healthy baby girl, my new niece Ramona!

See the original announcement of the Sew Useful Contest winners. You can see all the entries still listed by searching with the tag sewuseful.

Etsy Finds: Computer Guy

2007-09-21T06:30:00-05:00

Eric, aka likeomg, is one of our beloved in-house geeks: he does UI design for Etsy at the Etsy Labs.

In this day and age of deadlines and dates, everyone needs to know what time it is. After all, time controls us and tells us where to be. So if you are like me, you will need to know what time it is in practically every room of your house. I bet you are wondering what time it is at this very moment...right?! Well, clearly it's TIME to buy a clock! I am a huge fan of the GEEKERY category, and while searching through it for the latest gadgets and coolest items, I came upon today's Etsy Find and thought you should know about it. So check it out!

Etsy Alumni: Alex aka alexandersomma

2007-04-02T12:00:00-05:00

Alex no longer works at Etsy, but we still love you and wish you the best in all your endeavors!

[Originally posted April 2, 2008]
Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We are posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). Some of the Etsy admin are new hires, and some have been working at Etsy from the start, or they're somewhere in between. You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

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Alex aka alexandersomma…Where to start? Alex is one of the most unique people I’ve ever met. I look at these photos and think to myself, “Wow, baby Alex with box on head: that is soooo Alex.” He’s type of geek who has a t-shirt that lights up when it sniffs out wifi signals. And he’s a gentleman who always treats people with a conscientiousness unparalleled.

The thing I love about Alex is the way he can go from being chatty and talking about a million things at a million miles a minute (like how he was able to get on wifi for his entire train trip from Montreal to NYC) and then — all of sudden when something important comes up — he is in problem-solver mode in this super-intense way. It’s like he has superhero powers. I think this is why he’s lovely to work with and good at what he does, which is QA (Quality Assurance with Annette. Find out what Quality Assurance is here). Alex has been working at Etsy since December 2006.

Anda recounts the evening that the last people to leave the Labs had no key to lock the door behind them. Alex was the one who invented the way to lock the door from the outside with a mere piece of hot pink string, a Toonie, and some Canadian ingenuity. He totally saved the day, but Anda still wonders whether the Toonie was really necessary.

Here's another example of why Alex is great: we were on the subway in NYC and he had his $100 laptop out and randomly struck up the loveliest conversation with a complete stranger, wherein Alex convinced her to buy one for her young child. He is so patient and loves to teach and encourage people!

Alex fun facts:
Has a lovely Canadian accent.
His father is a goldsmith.
He loooooooves Linux.
He always travels to Etsy Labs with at least one female companion.
Alex has a new gadget to play with everytime he visits the Etsy Labs.
He always gets injured and has to go to the emergency room whenever he visits.
See, he does love cookies. He loved 'em in high school.

Check out the background of this picture. Now imagine how hard Alex would play for hours on end. Now imagine Alex today — exactly the same.

See all posts in this About Us series. Read some of Alex's articles. And here are some of Alex's favorites below...