Search results (tags) for: "diy video"

How-Tuesday: Felt Garlands With Littleloveblue

2009-12-11T13:32:00-05:00

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We're bringing this lovely project back from last year, because it's that time of the season! Can you smell pine in your living room yet?

[Originally published December 16, 2008.]

This week, Etsy How-Tuesday presents Cary Walker, a.k.a. littleloveblue. Cary shows us how to make a holly leaf and berry garland out of felt. This simple but elegant project makes a great gift or a holiday decorating project to do with family and friends.

Materials Needed:

Holly leaf pattern
- Download it here, or draw your own
Green wool felt (or felted wool from a sweater, etc. as long as it's fairly sturdy)
Red wool roving
Felting needles
Felting pad
Scissors
Pins
Thread (red for the berries, and a color to match your ribbon choice)
Sewing needle
Tape measure
Ribbon (at least 2 yards)
Small bells (optional)

Steps for Making Felt Garland

Cut out your leaf pattern from the paper.
Pin the pattern to your wool felt and cut out the leaf.
- Repeat this step until you have 12 leaves.
Pull off a small amount of wool roving and then roll it into a ball about the size of a berry.
Using a needle felting needle, poke the ball many times over a needle felting pad, until it holds together firmly in the shape of a berry.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have 18 berries in total.
Thread the red color thread onto a sewing needle and sew three of the berries together, leaving the needle and thread attached to the berries (for now).
Gather two holly leaves and overlap them slightly at the top. Take your red thread through the two layers of leaves, attaching the berries to them. Bring the thread back and forth through the each berry to secure them well.
- Try to come through the same place in the back of the leaves each time, to make it neater.
Knot the thread in the back of the leaves and cut the thread.
- Repeat steps 5-7 until you have 6 sets of leaves and berries.
Measure at least 2 yards of ribbon. Starting about 12 inches from one end of ribbon and using the thread that matches, sew a set of leaves and berries onto the front of the ribbon.
Continue attaching each set, about 8 inches apart on the ribbon, knotting and re-threading your thread and needle for each one.
Make a 2 inch loop at each of the ribbon and sew those in place as well. You can make more sets of leaves and berries, and use longer ribbon to make your garland as long as you like.
Hang your garland and enjoy!

Watch more how-to videos and check out these how-to projects too!

How-Tuesday: Gore-Fest 2009 3D Blood Spatter Effect

2009-10-27T14:00:00-05:00

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We are so excited to be collaborating with Meg, a.k.a. Enderby, of Threadbanger fame for this creepy-cute Halloween how-to! Horror movie buffs and fans of television's forensic blood splatter analyst (and serial killer) Dexter are sure to be inspired. Here's Meg with all the gory details...

This October, let's take on new and unique creepy Halloween decor instead of the same old orange and black motif. In today's How-Tuesday, Etsy and Threadbanger team up to create a 3-dimensional blood spatter effect. These murder scene recreations are blood-chilling decor, and they make a fun and interactive backdrop for your Halloween party's photo booth. This will surely creep you and your guests out and will go over quite well with the serial killers in attendance.

For this project you will need:

Red felt
Red yarn
A needle (with an eye large enough for the yarn)
Red tacks
Recycled cereal box or cardboard for the template
Pen, chalk and/or pins

Instructions

1. Sketch out the shape of your pool of blood and create a template. If you don't want to draw your own, click on the spatter image on the right to open the full size file in a new window. Right click to download.

2. Using the template as a guide, trace and cut out the pool of blood from your red felt.

3. Cut out 50-80 pieces of red yarn that measure 50 inches long, and tie two knots at one end of each piece. The number of pieces of yarn will be determined by the perimeter of your red felt.

4. One by one, thread and pull through each piece of yarn around the perimeter of the blood pool. The yarn pieces should be about 1 centimeter out from the edge, and 1 inch apart from each other. (Tip: We had a little bowl of water on hand to make threading the needle easier.)

5. Take red tacks, or flat-head metal tacks you painted red, and attach your piece to the wall making sure the edges are flat and that all of the yarn hangs loose.

6. Take the pieces of yarn, and pulling them taut, attach to an old microphone stand or tripod. You can use another piece of your red yarn to tie the pieces together and then to the stand. This acts as the point of contact of the wound that created the bloody scene. Stab away and enjoy!

To see more of Meg's DIY home decor projects, check out Decor It Yourself every Wednesday on Threadbanger.com.

More How-Tuesday Projects

How-Tuesday: Spooky Shadow Puppets by Crankbunny

2009-10-21T16:30:00-05:00

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We're resurrecting this eerie project from last year — crankbunny's shadow puppets are still full of dark delight!

[Originally published October 28, 2008.]

This week on Etsy How-Tuesday, Norma, a.k.a. crankbunny, shows us how to make spooky shadow puppets for Hallow's Eve! MUAHAHAH! crankbunny, a talented animator and artist, often works with layers of paper in her projects. Her animated short, "Robot Gets Its Wings," won 2nd place in our Handmade Moment Contest (and garnered the prize of Community Favorite!).

Today's project is about dead guys and cemeteries! crankbunny has provided the templates for making her signature Gravestone Shadow Puppet and Dead Guy Shadow Puppet. You can use these templates, or come up with your own designs — either way you will most certainly have your own spooky Halloween shadow show.

Things you will need for the Gravestone Shadow Puppet:

Download the template and print it out: Gravestone Shadow Puppet Template
Scissors or Craft Knife (Exacto Art Knife)
Rod (can be bamboo skewer, chopsticks, thin wooden dowel, a stick — the longer, the better)
Tape or Glue (non-toxic please)
Stiff Paper (card stock, cardboard, chipboard, etc.)

How to make the Gravestone Shadow Puppet:

Transfer the puppet template onto stiff paper stock.
- Tip: Print out the template on regular paper, use spray adhesive or glue to adhere the print out onto the stiff paper stock.
Cut out the gravestone puppet using scissors and a craft knife. Remember to also cut out the white areas inside the gravestone puppet.
Attach one end of the rod to the dotted area on the gravestone template using glue or tape.
- Tip: Customize the gravestone shadow puppet by cutting away shapes from it.
By making a few of these, each customized and cut differently, you can make an entire cemetery scene.
Project the shadow puppet by shining a flashlight onto it in a dark room.

Things you will need for the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet:

Download the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template and print it out:
- Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template (page 1)
- Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template (page 2)
Scissors or Craft Knife (Exacto Art Knife)
Rod (can be bamboo skewer, chopsticks, thin wooden dowel, a stick — the longer, the better)
Tape or Glue (non-toxic please)
String (cotton warp, yarn)
2 Brads (paper fasteners)
Hole punch (regular or 1/8th if you want to get specific)
Drinking Straw
Stiff Paper (card stock, cardboard, chipboard, etc.)

How to make the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet:

Transfer the puppet template onto stiff paper stock.
- Tip: Print out the template on regular paper, use spray adhesive or glue to adhere the print out onto the paper stock.
Cut out the puppet parts using your cutting tools. Punch holes over the indicated circles with Xs. Use the punch and cutting tools to create your own eye shape on the puppet's head.
Attach one end of the rod to the dotted area on the puppet's body shape using glue or tape.
Cut a one inch (3cm) piece of straw. Align the end of the straw with the line found on the lower part of the puppet's body shape. Have it rest against the rod vertically and tape it down securely to the puppet.
Cut 2 pieces of string. Each should be 12" (32cm) in length. Tie the end of each string to the outer hole on each puppet arm.
Make a spacer out of some scrap paper. A spacer is basically a small square of cardboard/heavy paper with a wedge cut into its side.
Join the arms to the body of the puppet with a brad using the spacer. Match the arms by each letter, the uppercase letter part always over the lowercase part. Remove the spacer once the brads are fastened. This will make each joint loose.
Run each string through the top of the straw. Make a looped knot to join both strings together. When you pull the end of the strings, the arms should move up. When you release the strings, the arms should move back down.
- Tip: Customize the shadow puppet by cutting away and adding shapes to it. Adding fangs, horns, buck teeth, pirate hats, hooks, top hats, etc. to customize your puppet.
Project the shadow puppet by shining a flashlight onto it in a dark room.
Have a spooky Halloween!

See more how-to videos on Etsy!

More How-Tuesday Posts | Supplies Category | DIY Made Simple Gift Guide

Halloween Decor Guide | Halloween Category

All Etsy videos are licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike. If you like a video we produced, we encourage you to post it on your website, blog, MySpace, etc. You can help us spread the word about the handmade lifestyle through video by:

1. Clicking the link button on the bottom right corner of the video player at the top of the article:

2. Select the embed tab, then copy and paste the embed code onto your blog or website:

How-Tuesday: VeganYumYum Knits with Marzipan

2009-04-21T17:05:00-05:00

Feast your eyes on this! Lolo (aka Lauren Ulm) is the brains behind Vegan Yum Yum, a food blog with delectable designs that caught the eye of Martha Stewart herself. This week, her beautiful photo tutorials prove that sometimes it's best to let the pictures do the talking (and instructing!). She's here to instruct us how to "knit" with marzipan for a delectable treat that's as crafty to eat as it is to make. Lolo has also shown Martha Stewart how to make these delicious cupcakes. Watch the video above!

How to make a marzipan ball of "yarn" in 14 easy steps.

How to "knit" marzipan:

Thanks to Lolo for sharing this tasty tutorial with us. Head over to VeganYumYum.com for more deliciousness. More crafty project downloads can be found in our How-Tuesday series on the Etsy blog!

Update: Faythe Levine's Handmade Nation

2008-10-29T11:48:00-05:00

We at Etsy are very excited about Faythe Levine's forthcoming documentary, Handmade Nation; so excited, in fact, that we want to share the clips as they become available! (Such as the amazing stop motion opening sequence shown above.)

Not familiar with Handmade Nation? Here's the gist: director Faythe Levine crossed the country to interview hundreds of artisans and crafters to talk about why and what of making things means to them. The resulting film has produced excitement amongst crafters, as it's a handmade production of its own.

Living in Seattle during the punk DIY music scene in the early nineties, Faythe Levine was fully enthralled by the do-it-yourself ethos. Self-publish, produce, reuse, collaborate, indie labels, zines, communal living, art collectives: she's done it all. In 2003 she looked around and saw a powerful and inspiring movement happening within the craft scene. A "new wave" as she calls it, was emerging with energy and inspiration fueled by a desire to embolden communities of makers and reinvent traditional models of crafting.

Check out the trailer for the documentary below! Very inspiring...

For more posts on Faythe Levine and Handmade Nation, check out our previous coverage.

Handmade Portraits: Maya Hayuk

2008-08-15T11:50:00-05:00

(MATURE content in the video: if you're watching this with your child, be prepared to answer some questions about female body parts.)

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(music by Barry London, The And Group, Hold Me)

Muralist, photographer, painter, music video creator... Maya Hayuk prefers to simply call herself an artist, because under that moniker she has the freedom to work in whatever medium she wants at any given time.

Growing up in Baltimore, Maya learned the art of traditional Ukrainian handicrafts from her family. Her parents, both professors—one geography, one psychology—traveled extensively with the family during her childhood and bought Maya a camera at an early age to document their adventures. In high school she started shooting bands and getting attention for her work. After attending Massachusetts College of Art's SIM (Studio for Interrelated Media) program, Maya became interested in environmental art, wherein murals work in collaboration with the surrounding architecture, as well as the community who lives with the art long afterward. Maya also studied comparative religion, which has infused all of her work with a spiritual aspect ever since.

Maya has painted murals around the world, and her work has been featured in magazines, album covers and ads campaigns. Her improvised style and bright colors seem to be part of a new resurgence in psych-folk art that is pinned to a higher consciousness: one that inspires good vibes. Maya says that with her murals, "the narrative can be as simple as 'I like those colors'" and it doesn't have to go deeper than that with her audience. Maya's work has become something more than a precise painting on a wall. It's a part of people's lives, and a living thing that people interact with and tell stories about.

Last spring Maya headed to Braddock, PA to work with Braddock Active Arts organization to help revitalize a once thriving steel mill town, now part of the forgotten post-industrial landscape of America. Sixteen different artists from all over the world gathered to contribute environmental art that ranged from the functional to the inspirational. With the help of the teens from the Braddock Youth Project, these artists added a little life and hope to this depressed town.

Although Maya makes part of her income from licensing her imagery and painting murals, her bread and butter comes from selling rock posters, t-shirts and books of her designs. Maya's work will be featured at the upcoming Democratic National Convention (Bright Future, pictured below) and at the Mahan Gallery in Columbus, Ohio this fall.

Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and subscribe to our Youtube Channel!

See Maya's website for more of her work: www.mayahayuk.com

How-Tuesday: Knit a Postcard with Knitknit

2008-08-04T15:28:00-05:00

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July's live How-To Month was a smashing success! While we had some Etsy royalty here at the labs we took the opportunity to make videos with them. In this second video, the lovely Nguyen Le, aka Knitknit teaches how to make knitted post cards. If you are teaching yourself how to knit, you will love this video. This is also a great way to use your knitted test swatches to make a special something to send to someone!

We hope you love these quick, fun videos and craft along with us! For this project you will need the following supplies:

Two types of bulky yarn
Hole punch
Scissors
Size 10 knitting needles
Tapestry needle
4" x 6" postcard material

Looking for more Etsy Labs how-tos? Check out what we've been up to!

Art Star Craft Bazaar: Philly DIY

2008-07-17T16:13:00-05:00

The Art Star Craft Bazaar, is an annual event that finished its fifth year this past May. The event was well documented by Street Talkin', Philidelphia's self-proclaimed Internet video channel.

More about Art Star via their site:

Art Star is a gallery and boutique located in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. We exhibit and sell handmade work and limited edition products by emerging artists across the globe. Hailed by Philadelphia Magazine as the “the city's first cutting-edge craft shop," we strive to carry work that is innovative and superbly crafted. We have also created and continue to support a growing network of burgeoning artists. Our exhibitions rotate every 6 weeks and our boutique offers shoppers everything from handmade clothes, jewelry and accessories to dolls, ceramics and prints.

More about the Art Star Craft Bazaar:

In 2003, recent Tyler School of Art grads Erin Waxman (BFA, ’99) and Megan Brewster (BFA, ’00) were searching for places to show and sell their work. They quickly realized that the options were few and far between. They decided to create a new venue for themselves and like-minded-artists in Philadelphia and the Art Star Craft Bazaar was conceived; an open-air market, where emerging artists & crafters could sell their wares to the public. Twenty vendors were chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis and the event was held at The First Unitarian Church over the course of a few weekends that summer. During the show, Megan and Erin met many talented artists who were all looking for viable venues for their work.

Looking for more content related to Philadelphia? Check out our past coverage...

Handmade Music Night 2008.07.08

2008-07-08T11:22:00-05:00

Handmade Music Night at the Etsy Labs is back on Tuesday July, 8th 2008! Brought to you by the usual suspects Etsy, Make Magazine, and Create Digital Music, this mid-summer Handmade Music Night is bound to be a #1 stunner! Here's a video about making your own instruments that features a past iteration of this event:

TUESDAY, TUESDAY, TUESDAY: artists, crafters, makers, musicians, and hackers unite to bedazzle you with chiptune gaming systems for music, strange alternative MIDI controllers and sound-mangling custom software, repurposed vintage synthesizer chips made famous by the Commodore 64, digital visuals, a musical Nintendo Wii balance board, wireless sensing controllers, and much much more! Come on down and check out this F-R-E-E community event, right here in Brooklyn at the Etsy Labs space.

If you have an awesome instrument that you made and would like to share, feel free to bring it on down and share in the community fun, if not just bring yourself and enjoy the festivities!

Handmade Music Night
7/8/08 - 7pm
Etsy Labs
325 Gold St., 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY

Map

See our past coverage of these musical evenings.

Also, if you are in the Brooklyn area and want to learn to make your own guitar, be sure to sign up soon for this class taught by Ranjit of Handmade Music Night.

Making Stencil and Yam Prints with Lotta Jansdotter

2008-06-12T17:49:00-05:00

Lotta Jansdotter just came out with a book about printing called Lotta Prints. I caught up with her at her Brooklyn studio and she showed me some tips and tricks for using stencils and yams to make prints!

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Lotta has created a bunch of stencils that you can rip out of her book and use right away or you can make up your own!

If you've got any yams or potatoes around, you can use them to make prints, too! Upload photos to flickr and post the links in the comments below.

Lotta is having a printmaking workshop this Friday, June 13. If you're in the NYC area, check it out!

Get to know Lotta better with this video we made with her last fall.

Learning How to Make a Rag Rug: a How-To

2008-06-05T18:11:00-05:00

I love rag rugs. I grew up with a beautiful rag rug carpet that had been made out of a variety of red, brown and black wool rags. I've been daydreaming of getting a one just like that, but there just are not that many big rag rugs out there for sale in the world.

In researching rag rugs, I found this great six part series on Youtube that shows how easily these can be made.

Rag rugs are great because they're usually pretty thick, so they are really comfortable to sit on, do stretches or just lay on while watching a movie. They just feel really nice to walk on, too.

Consider making your own rag rug, and if you get hooked, I'd love to see more of these for sale on Etsy!

Fix Up Your Ripped Jeans

2008-05-21T17:43:00-05:00

Last weekend as I was making the roof of my apartment into a squirrel-proof fortress, I ripped the knees of my jeans. After wearing the shredded dungarees around for the rest of the day, I decided I wasn't the type of guy who can rock the ripped denim. The jeans fit me perfect and it seemed such a waste to let them go, so I decided to fix them up. After some research I came up with this solution to my ripped jean dilemma.

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If you have a different way of reparing your jeans, leave a comment or even better, make a video about it, upload it to Youtube and post a link in the comments!

Do you like Etsy videos? Show your love and be the first ones to see them by becoming a youtube subscriber and setting up your iTunes to automagically download the latest videos.

Getting Started in Video: Camera Choices

2008-05-05T19:02:00-05:00

There is something special about video that you can't get from writing or photographs. Seeing someone on video is more personal. I really want to see more links to videos on the Etsy site, so I'm starting up this tutorial series to get you started making your own videos. Making videos gives the world a chance to see the personality and process behind the things you make.

Let's start with some super cheap cameras. If you're wanting to make video on a budget, you have a few options. The simplest option is to use what you've got. You may already have a video camera. Did you know that most digital photography cameras have a movie mode that takes great video? If you've got one of these, you're done looking, start shooting! A lot of time you can even set these to 640x480 resolution which is good enough to make great web videos. If you're buying something, the cheapest option is to use a flip camera. These are pretty inexpensive and they are easy to use. The resolution isn't fantastic, but they are small and light and easy to carry around and shoot things with.

If you're looking to step it up, the next level of video camera is a DV camera. You can find these for around 200-300 dollars. When you're looking for a camera, check to make sure that it's got a microphone jack and a headphone jack so that you can hook up an external mic and listen to the level of the sound as it's recording. Make sure your computer has a firewire port before getting one of these or you won't be able to transfer the video over.

If you're feeling fancy, you can get an HD camera. You can get a camera like the Sony HC1 which records HD video to DV tape (little mini digital video cassette tapes). But my recommendation is that you skip recording to tape. I'm in favor of using cameras that record straight to an SD Card, which is similar to the little card your digital still camera uses. If you've got somewhere between $600 and $1000 to spend, I'd recommend, the Sanyo Xacti HD2 which is a great little 720P camera or the Canon Vixia HF10. I've also played around with this Panasonic HSC1UP camera which is a bit more expensive, but has 3 chips in it which means the colors are a little snazzier. All of these record to SD cards. If you are going to be using iMovie (the video editing software that comes free with Macs), you'll want to get the Sanyo Xacti which records to an easily convertable MP4 format. The Panasonic and Canon SD cams both record to AVCHD which is a wonderful format allowing a lot of hi-res info to fit on a card, but it's not compatible with iMovie 7 at this time.

If you've got a serious budget and you're thinking about shooting broadcast HD, you can get the Panasonic HVX200. We shoot our Handmade Video Portraits on this. This is a professional level camera and it's awesome. There's a bit of a learning curve to dealing with P2 cards though, so be prepared to spend a day or two reading the manual.

A great place to go and learn more about cameras is creativecow.net. The forums there are really helpful and the community is great.

No matter what camera you get, I recommend getting an extra battery and separate battery charger. There is nothing worse than running out of batteries when you are shooting something special.

If a wide-angle lens is available for your camera, get it! I love wide-angle shots to be able to show lots of a room in your frame.

Again, the best thing to get started with is what you've got.

In the forums I asked for camera recommendations and got this message.

My next video is about tips for shooting video. If you've got an idea you can leave a comment, or leave a note in the forums or leave a message at 917-720-4197 and maybe I'll post it with the next video.

Etsy How-to: Make a Miniature Moustache

2008-04-18T16:43:00-05:00

This week, Christine (aka iheartmoustaches) breaks it on down and shows us how to use #6 plastic to create miniature moustaches! (Christine has made a bunch of these in the past, as she is a lover of the moustache in all its various forms.) #6 plastic is not recycleable in New York and so this is a great way to upcycle those strawberry containers and Chinese take out containers and keep them out of the landfill. This project is awesome for people who need a moustache on the go.

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She's also open sourcing two of her moustache designs. You can download "The Professor" and "The Lady's Man" in this pdf!

We did some measuring and the moustaches started out 6 inches wide and ended up 2 1/4 inches wide. That means it shrunk to almost 1/3 its original size!

(music by Barry London )

If you haven't subscribed to our Youtube channel, go check it out and subscribe!

For more how-tos and instructional good stuff, check out Howcast.com! We post videos there, and there's much more to discover!

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

ThimbleScratch's Handmade Story: Video about her Eco-Approach to Making

2008-04-15T11:56:00-05:00

Thimble Scratch makes clothing from old clothes, vintage fabrics and industrial remnants that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Each unique clothing item is created through experimentation and creativity (from my own drafted patterns and designs) - not mass-produced in a sweatshop. Made from eco and 'green' materials, such as industrial remnants, recycled, vintage, organic, and rescued fabrics.

She made this little video about her approach to eco-making. Check it out!

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Making Eco Friendly Bags with Burda Style

2008-03-21T15:00:00-05:00

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(Music by Barry London )

The next time you're asked if you want a paper or plastic bag at the grocery store, you will be able to politely decline and then put your goodies in this handmade shopping bag. Strut out of the store with DIY pride!

Our friends at BurdaStyle gave us a run through of how to make the fabulous open source Charlie grocery bag pattern. This bag folds up into its own pouch so you can carry it wherever you go. You can help keep our planet green by reusing your own handmade grocery bag. It's easy to make, so you have no excuse! Go make one and put a link to a photo of it in the comments so we can see the fabulous creations you've made!

DIY Video How-to: Five Basic Tips for Making a Video

2007-11-05T03:55:00-05:00

Internet videos have come of age, and it can be a great way for artists and sellers to promote their work. Buyers too can show their support for indie artists by creating entertaining and snappy videos (people's attention spans on the web are pretty short!). It's relatively affordable and technically simple (even some still digital camera have video functionality!). Best of all — and contrary to the VHS home movie format of our yesteryears pictured above — digital online videos can reach a massive amount of people.

That said, it takes a bit of practice and below, you'll find some tips on how to get started.

Before you press that record button, here are a few DIY Video tips:

#1. Know what you're going to say or do. Do a little scripting or plan out what you want to say. This can save time and make the whole process go more smoothly, especially if you are working with other people. Plan beforehand!

#2. Prepare your equipment and the area for recording. This means making sure your camera has enough battery power, enough stock (or tape) for what you want to film, batteries for your audio equipment if you are using a separate microphone, and lighting your subject in the area you will be shooting in. Make sure your shooting area is quiet and you won't be interrupted.

#3. Lighting is extremely important. A good lighting set-up can really add a professional quality to your videos and make them easier on the eyes. Especially on the web, where the image quality is much poorer than what you're used to on TV or film. Check out www.3drender.com/light/3point.html for a quick tutorial on 3-point lighting and examples of what certain lighting techniques look like.

#4. Audio is equally important! Make sure you test the levels (how the audio sounds) in your camera before you start recording. If you are hearing any fuzziness, it usually means that your audio levels are set too high and your audio is "overmodulating." Most consumer cameras have audio settings in the on-camera menus. Also, if you are using an additional microphone, make sure it's on! Even seasoned professionals can sometimes forget about this little step in the midst of filming. Remember that the best place to record is in a quiet area that can be closed off from additional noise.

#5. Start recording! Have fun, experiment and just have a good time. The beauty of video is that you don't have to get it on the first take!

Here are some links to Further Resources for producing videos for the internet:

youtube.com/video_toolbox

http://blip.tv/learning/

http://vimeo.com/131510

There's also this cool zine we found on Etsy! Ms. DIY Guide to Film and Video.

Grinding Down with the Gotham Girls

2007-10-16T10:59:00-05:00

We knocked on the door of an old cigar factory in the middle of Queens after hours. A woman who goes by the name of Ginger Snap let us in and we immediately found ourselves in the heart of NYC's roller derby scene. As we tried our best not to get knocked over and keep our video equipment safe, dozens of helmeted, mini-skirt-wearing, bad-ass women flew around us on rollerskates, smashing into each other as they got down to their practice scrimmage. The four teams that make up NYC's female roller derby league, The Gotham Girls, meet here in what they call the "Crashpad." It's a remote location, but with New York's rental rates, it's what the league can afford.

Ginger Snap (her real name is Natily Blair) told us that most of the women just go by their derby tags when they're together and some of them don't even know their real names. With aliases like Ariel Assault, Bonnie Thunders, and Bitchie Slambora, the Gotham Girls raise hell at a roller rink in the Bronx each month with their bruising, and sometimes bloody, roller derby bouts.

The Gotham Girls are one of over 40 leagues across the nation that take part in this gritty sport, and are divided into 4 teams: The Manhattan Mayhem, Queens of Pain, Bronx Gridlock and Brooklyn Bombshells. Women of all ages and athletic ability participate in the bouts and take pride in developing skills as tough as their names. Tankerbell, a team member from the Manhattan Mayhem, told me that she broke her nose in her debut bout. Ouch! Ginger Snap and the other ladies we met, explained the dedication of the women, their coaches, and their fans. There's such an intensity to the sport, in its hardcore athleticism and in its the camaraderie. We hope the video below conveys it!

Roxy Balboa gave us some insights into the role of fashion in roller derby. She's responsible for designing all the costumes for the NYC-based teams, though she says it's all about the ladies adding their own personal flair. She's also got an Etsy shop, roxybalboa, but roller derby has taken over all her free time!

Li'l Red Terror, an Etsy seller who goes by kellyk17 on Etsy, volunteers to help run the roller derby organization in addition to her fulltime job. Roller derby is totally DIY and member-run—everything from renting their space "the Crashpad" to putting on games, referred to as "bouts."

Do you know how to skate? Comment below and let us know!

Further Resources:

http://gothamgirlsrollerderby.com/

http://gothamgirlsrollerderby.com/photos/

MAKE zine: Kit It Out!

2007-09-03T20:00:00-05:00

While there are certain folks who consider themselves "crafters" and others who would call themselves "techies" — I really consider all of them makers. Anyone who works with their hands, has boundless curiosity and wishes to bend technology in ways they see fit spans across multiple groups of creators. What's interesting is the intersections between normally separated groups — at our magazines (MAKE and CRAFT) we see a lot of projects combining electronics and what would be considered a "traditional" craft, like sewing. A few examples...

In MAKE 09 we have a great article on how to work with carbon fiber — originally used in aerospace, carbon fiber is extremely strong, but extremely light. So what would you do with it? Make your own iPod case with it, of course. Makers can form, lay up and cure their own high-performance composites. Making advanced materials and then using patterns (like the iPod pattern we supply) is becoming more common. Heck, you can even make kevlar using this tutorial! I fully expect to see a series of handmade artsy carbon fiber iPod cases on Etsy very soon — before Etsy there really wasn't a place where Makers could put their goods out there for exactly the right buyers.

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In our premiere issue of CRAFT we featured twenty three projects with a "twist" — embroider your skateboard, light up your clothing, knit your own boots, stitch a robot...My favorite piece is The Electric Tank Top by Leah Buechley. It uses silver-coated thread and a microprocessor to make programmable LED clothing.

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We (MAKE) are pleased to have a place on ETSY (make.etsy.com) where we can showcase our homemade projects (like the carbon fiber iPod cases, LED shirts ad more). I'm hoping to see a lot of projects we've covered in our pages made and remade and then showcased on Etsy for everyone to enjoy.

As we roll through 2007 with a place on Etsy for more "techie" goods I think there's something else we'll see — kits, and lots of them. You see, in the early 1900's and up until maybe the 70's, DIY (do-it-yourself) electronics were pretty much the only way a lot of projects were created. Millions of people built their own radios, and later kit companies came along and created a wide variety of electronic kits mostly aimed at the hobbyist. While kits have always been around somewhere, their popularity fell off the map some time in the 1980's.

Low cost goods from overseas, decreasing free time and the smaller number of people with the skills to solder or build really made it difficult for a lot of us to get excited about the prospects of new kits coming out.

However, something has changed in the last two to three years. People have started taking things apart and figuring out how they work, voiding warranties or simply exploring something that was broken. (Since everything breaks more now.) Also, the internet really took off — and I don't mean connectivity, but blogs, RSS and easy-to-publish sites where information about all this stuff was cataloged. As more and more people started tinkering, it became clear that building electronics again just might be something folks would consider fun — a newly re-discovered hobby.

For me, the best example is the MintyBoost USB charger kit we carry at MAKE — it's an extremely simple kit to build, but it's powerful, literally — it's better than any other iPod charger out there (it uses power more efficiently than every single iPod 9V battery charger) and you build it inside an Altoids tin, which we all have laying around somewhere.

Here's a video we created that shows you how to make one (along with how to make your own MP3 player, too!)

Building an iPod charger certainly isn't like making your own FM radio or robot. It's really unclear where all of this making is going, and whether we're in a renaissance of "making things" again. However, I'm sure this is how something like that would begin!

- Phillip Torrone, Senior Editor, MAKE

Some words from maker Etsy sellers:

GeekGear:

"Many of the ideas that inspire me come from Instructables, Makezine, Gizmodo, Hackaday.com and the new Hakzine.com...I think that part of the reason that my Etsy store has been somewhat successful is because there are not many 'tech' sellers and my items tend to be unique (I hope)...Most of the items I sell are given as gifts to husbands and boy friends."

blinkybug:

"I do periodically browse the 'Geekery' category and drop people a line if I like their stuff. I also meet a lot of like-minded people through various communities in the San Francisco area, e.g., Dorkbot, the SFMicrocontrollers group, the Burning Man crowd, etc."

Etsy Labs: Make a Donation. Use a Donation.

2007-03-25T20:00:00-05:00

Mary is overwhelmed.

Note: This was originally posted in the Etsy Garden.

UPDATE: We received so many donations...that we don't really need more. Please email Julie@etsy.com to inquire about donations.