New GEEKWARE Blog!

To continue reading Adventures of an E-Waste Recycler, visit:

www.GEEKWARE.ca/blog

Archived posts will remain, but no new posts will be added here.

New GEEKWARE Website!

Yep, Acorn Studios is no more....

Introducing the New GEEKWARE website!

• All new photos!
• Loads of new geeky products!
• (and we kept some of your old favourites too)!
  
  Check it out:

www.GEEKWARE.ca

Sneak peek at new GEEKWARE photos!

Working on a very exciting new GEEKWARE project till the early hours of the morning most nights. Will tell you more in a few weeks....

In the meanwhile, here's a look at some new GEEKWARE photos! The model is Mr Geekware. We'd been gardening all weekend which is why his nails are all dirty in the key photo!! (might have to photoshop out the dirt).

Would anyone like to see our mammoth gardening project? It's what's kept us busy for the last month... and it's still not finished! *note to self: it'll be worth it when it's done*

For those in Edmonton this weekend...

I'll be at the Stop and Shop show from Friday to Sunday so drop by and say hello! The show is at the Transalta Arts Barns, which is next to the Farmers Market. The weather is looking glorious and a perfect weekend to stroll along Whyte Ave and check out Edmonton's up-and-comping designers.

Global TV is going to be shooting at the show on Saturday morning and I think I'm going to be interviewed on air at around 9.10am.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Pixel Street Art

If your city was a video game, you might see this kind of thing more often...

via: make

DIY Charging Station

Make a nifty charging station for your ipod, cell phone, and other devices. Find out how in the instruction video posted by Cara on Juice.

Rubiks Cube Cake

I seem to have cakes and cookies on my mind this week!
Instructions for this totally awesomely-retro rubiks cube cake here.

Stop and Shop Show - May 16-18

Spring Stop and Shop Show in Edmonton Alberta Canada is rapidly approaching. Come check out my latest GEEKWARE creations along with 75+ of Edmonton's up-and-coming new designers.

Line up early - the 1st 25 shoppers each day receive a goodie bag packed with samples and coupons.

Click the image above to view the flyer and print to get $2 off entry.

Check out the Facebook Group: "Stop & Shop Show".

The Stop and Shop website has more info, including links to all the vendors, so you can have an early peek at who will be there and what kinds of exciting stuff you'll see.

Mac Jewelry Set

Show your Mac pride with this totally rad Limited Edition Apple jewelry set .

Space Invaders Notebook

Handbound Space Invaders notebooks made by Etsy artist Airraid . $6 available here .

Pixel Cookies

Yummy! Find out how to make your own space invaders cookies with Eva over at Instructables .

Phone Coil Sheep

Sheep made from old phone cords. Check out the tiny feet! They are the receivers!!

I wonder if the phones actually work?

Via: Craftzine

In with the new for Spring

It was great to meet so many new faces at the Royal Bison Show last weekend.

I've had a bit of a break from blogging lately. We have been Xeroscaping our yard, and I've been working on new products for a photoshoot for the new website. The shoot went great, and I can't wait for the 2nd shoot when we will be using models! Exciting stuff is happing in the world of GEEKWARE so stay tuned!!

Royal Bison Show next weekend

You can find me at the 3rd Royal Bison Craft and Art Show next weekend in Edmonton Alberta Canada! I'll have all of your old favourite GEEKWARE and I'll also be testing out some fun new creations too. Come check it out!

And take a peek at the other talented young designers who will also be there: Royal Bison vendor list and links

Check out the Royal Bison Facebook Group too.

Real Playstation

That's my kind of Playstation! This t-shirt design ROCKS!

Available at Wire and Twine for $20 in sizes from kids - XXL

Bathtub pond

What a great way to recycle an old bathtub! When we renovate our bathroom I'd like to do this with our old tub.

Does anyone know how bathtubs are currently disposed of or recycled? Are the considered C+D waste and landfilled?

We've been doing lots of home projects and I really get carried away looking at before and after pictures like John Peters 1950's home reno on Flickr.

Mac Geek Tattoo

OK, so I have a 'thing' for wrists (all those yukky veins), but I couldn't resist showing you this!
Thoughts?

'Now Serving' with a Mac Classic

Some computer genius has hooked up these old Mac Classics to be Customer Counters. Here's what they say: "there is an imac g3 that handles the basics (acts as a server) but the counters are tied into every single computer so that any employee can correct it manually if the numbers are off."

You don't get that at Lee Valley!

Washing Machine Lamp

I love how industrial this recycled washing machine drum light looks.

via: Make

Laptop Privacy Sweater

I'm not sure quite what to think of this concept, although my first thought is 'how do you breath?'.

Here's what the artist says: "I've been working on a project where I knit sweaters to go from gadgets to your body. They're supposed to be a fun commentary on how attached and concentrated on technology we are, and to highlight the lack of movement that happens when we're engrossed in our laptops, keyboards, PDAs, etc. the one pictured above is for privacy, warmth, and concentration in public spaces while using a laptop.

via: Craft

Busy busy!

Did I get blogged somewhere big? I've been a manufacturing machine this past week, making all your orders and doing runs to the Post Office every day.

My friend Monica reminded me that I've not blogged in AGES, so this one's for you!

Hey, did I tell you that you can now choose the type of keys for your custom keyboard cufflinks?
Black keys,
Grey keys, or
MAC keys!

Yep, so many of you were requesting black keys and MAC keys that I've added them as options on the initials cufflinks page. I've made so many this week that I'm starting to dream about keyboard cufflinks...

Geek Magnets

This set of Geek Magnets is hand-stitched and only $10! That's a lot of stitching, for just $10.


Or how about some recycled keyboard key magnets? Made with super strong rare-earth magnets and vintage keyboard keys.

Funky Robots from Recycled Materials

"Ollie is one tough robot, built to handle a heap of abuse. Rocks and worse just bounce off of his head. Ollie's body armor is bomb-squad certified, he can squat thrust twice his weight. Once, on a dare, he did eleven thousand pull-ups."

"Slim had dreamed of being a surgeon, but over time has come to accept his work as a reptile taxidermist. He takes pride in the craft and fine motor skills it requires. In his free time Slim enjoys backgammon, macramé, and Russian literature."


"Electro sees himself as a ready-for-anything, direct current commando bot: He is visibly proud of his infrared vision, jackhammer boots, and reinforced chest cavity. He would also like you to know that his hands can cut through aluminum, zinc and copper (as long as it's not too thick). Electro also enjoys folk dancing."


These cool robots, and many more, are available at Robot Guy

Diskette Flower Sculptures

This is a recycled masterpiece! Check out the flower petals - they are made from the centres of old diskettes. Love it love it love it. Photozz shows you how to make your own over on Instructables.

Mac pack

A Mac Backpack made from an old macintosh SE computer c. 1988. Ok, so I think this is just a little toooo geeky even for me, but if you want to make one you can follow the tutorial over on Instructables.

Tetris Baby Blanket

Kayster over on Craftster made this Tetris blanket for a new baby. Cute and retro at the same time!

via: craftzine

I entered FFNBT!

Thanks to the e-mails and suggestions, I finally got around to entering Fred Flare's Next Big Thing In Design contest! I decided to enter my best-seller: keyboard cufflinks.

Here's a look at the winners from 2007. They get over 1000 product entries, including entries from past winners of Project Runway (!), so it'll be pretty hard to make the short-list. But oh well, you never know....

I'll let you know how it goes.

Floppy Disk Notebooks

I have been sold out of Floppy Disk Notebooks for what seems like forever!

I've gotten your e-mails pleading for me to bring them back in all their retro-computer-glory and I'm pleased to announce that they will be back in the shop in about 2 weeks!!!

Periodic Table Cards

The perfect card for nerds! Available individually, or as a set of six, over at PinkLovesBrown

Storm Trooper Snowglobes

These caught my eye over at Craftzine. Adorably tiny snowglobes, the cutest being these hilarious pocket-sized Stormtroopers. Just shake one up and it's just like the ice planet Hoth--only this one fits in the palm of your hand. Stormtrooper Snowglobes

Steve Jobs Portrait

Charis Tsevis, visual designer from Athens, Greece created this picture for Fortune Magazine entirely from Apple products. It was originally made in December 2007 and corrected in February 2008 to include the latest Apple MacBook Air, iPod nano pink etc.

More of his work can be seen here.

Pac-Man Interior Lighting Mural

This modular block lighting system lets you create the Pac-Man maze of your dreams!

One of the best aspects of classic video games is the fact that most were 8-bit, meaning they could easily be recreated using modular blocks as seen here.

This wall mural of sorts is on display at the Maison & Objet 2008 show in Paris.

via: Dvice

My Mix Tape!

Nostalgia-tastic!!! I cant remember the last time I made a mix tape.

Want to come to an E-Waste Seminar?

I've been invited to show off my GEEKWARE at an e-waste seminar next week! Why don't you come and join me? Registration deadline is Monday. I wonder if they will let me join in for the tour - that would be really exciting!

Here's the info:

E-Waste Recycling in Alberta
Date: Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Location: Wastewater Research & Training Centre, Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant, 10977 - 50 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Cost: $75.00
Description: In 1999, Canadians disposed of 34,000 tonnes of electronics waste. The estimate for 2005 was 67,000 (Environment Canada). The proliferation of e-waste and the debate over its end-of-life management have made it a "hot topic" in environmental and waste management circles.

In recent years, many jurisdictions in North America have enacted e-waste recycling legislation. Alberta’s electronics recycling program was the first of its kind in Canada.

At the same time, manufacturers have begun to recognize their responsibility to "design for the environment" and so electronics are becoming more eco-friendly and ultimately recyclable. A new industry is developing to provide the technology and capacity to effectively recycle e-waste.

This seminar will feature speakers from all of these perspectives. It will provide an opportunity to learn about the developing e-waste recycling industry and the challenges and opportunities that it brings. Alberta’s recycling program and its e-waste industry will also be featured, with a special tour of the just-opened e-waste processing facility operated by Global Electric Electronic Processing (GEEP) Alberta Inc.

Seminar Program:
8:30 am – 9:00 am Registration & Coffee
9:00 am – 9:15 am Opening Remarks
9:15 am – 9:45 am E-Waste and the Environment: What are the Issues
9:50 am – 10:20 am - Industry Action on E-Waste
10:20 am – 10:50 am Coffee/Networking
10:50 am – 11:20 am Alberta’s E-Waste Recycling Program
11:20 am – 11:50 am Collecting E-Waste in Alberta: Municipal Perspective
11:50 am – 1:00 pm Lunch/Networking
1:15 pm – 1.45 pm E-waste Processing: The GEEP Approach
2:15 pm – 4:15 pm Tour of the GEEP Facility

For more information and to register:
780.496.4332
ewmce@edmonton.ca
http://www.ewmce.com/

Mystery Packages

I received this exciting parcel in the mail today! Thanks so much Mary!

What do you all think I should make with these keys? What would you make?

Mario Wall Art from Old Diskettes

Rodrigo Barraza made Mario entirely out of floppy discs, and will be making a full mural in his apartment soon. You've got to admit, floppies make pretty good pixels.

Cassette Artwork

Debbie over at CustomInk based in Scotland paints these fun wall art pieces featuring the humble cassette tape. She even adds the title of your choice, to bring back those happy memories when mix tapes were all the rage!

Now what would I choose? Hmmm, I guess "Awesome walkman mix tape for interrailing around Europe 1992 featuring Stone Roses, The La's, Verve, Blur, Radiohead and much more..." might be a bit too long.

TV appearances

I always feel a bit uneasy when I'm asked to do an interview on tv. On Tuesday I was contacted by a local TV station, who wanted to do a shoot with me in my studio the next day. *MY STUDIO* I thought! OMG!!

I delayed them by a day, got a haircut, vacuumed, tidied up and was ready when the crew arrived on Thursday. TV is sooo not my comfort zone, but somehow being in my own studio made it seem a little easier.

The piece aired on Friday (on Shaw TV for the local folks), and reran on the hour for a full 24 hours!! I think it was edited brilliantly, to really made a nice little story out of what I do. Apart from the fact I said "the 80's" a gazillion times. eg "I love keyboards from the '80's, this one is from the 80's etc etc *rolls eyes*.

If I can figure out how to convert it from the vcr tape to post it on here, I'll show you. (any ideas???)

Power Ring

Handmade 'power' ring created by Etsy seller madebymoxie. "The international power on off symbol, entirely needle felted from wool fiber and it sits on an adjustable silver-plated ring base." Available in any colour!

Space Invaders Butchers Block

via: Boingboing

Cute Felt Mac

via: craftzine

Geek protest

via: SwissMiss

Mario Quilt

726 3" x 3" pixels.

via: craftzine

Laziest Guitarist Ever

Thanks for all your concerned e-mails wondering where I've been!

I have not been MIA since arriving back from vacation - I've been obsessively playing Rock Band!!

Pictured above is a very jet-lagged guitarist.

How cool is Rock Star?! It's like the 2008 version of DDR (heck, we even had the dance mats in our apartment back in 1998. I feel bad for the people who lived below us.)

A-M and Mark - I heard it's coming out for the Wii this year! You'll have to get mum playing it :)

A postcard from England!

Hello! I'm writing to you from semi-sunny England!

Having a lovely time travelling all over the English countryside. Just got back from a week in the Cotswolds, and a week in Southampton, and tomorrow I'm off to Bedfordshire.

Hope everyone is is happy in internet land. I'll be back in the studio in about a week and a half, ready to work on the orders that are coming in.

I just found out that www.remnantclothing.com is closing down on March 1st, and everything is 60% off. I love their recycled creations. I don't know why they are closing, but in any case, it would be rude to not go on a little spending spree in their sale!

Have I missed anything back in Edmonton? Crazy cold weather??

I'm on Vacation!

I am going on Vacation to England! Gotta escape this cold weather!

Any online orders placed February 1st - March 5th will be shipped on March 6th (and 7th if there's lots and lots).

I have so many ideas for new products and can't wait to be on the plane with a sketch book and spend 9 hours finally scribbling down all these plans and ideas. Stay tuned... I'll try and pop in and say hello during my trip.

Sparkly

Busy working on custom orders at the moment. Made a batch of CD Clocks today for a local client - I think they plan to use them as door prizes for seminars.

Ingredients for a Happy Sunday

Take 1 pair of hand knit wool socks

Add one pair of snow boots

Add: long johns, track pants, snow pants, 4 tops, hoodie, down vest, MEC jacket, scarf, hat, mitts and 1/2 tub Vaseline smeared on my face

mix with one kick-ass snow storm

add one happy dog

=

[note: I'm escaping this freezing cold weather in early February for about a month! The shop http://www,acornstudios.ca will be closed during this time. Just a heads up to order asap if you'd like any geekware shipped before I leave]

O . M . G .

Oh yay! Dog walking will not be very fun tomorrow!

What's the coldest temperatures you've ever experienced?

Blog-love for Kitt

I'm dog-sitting! And I've completely fallen in love with Kitt. He looks sooo sad when I go out, that I end up taking him all over the place, including:

- the car wash yesterday (seemed a bit confused by the process)

- the Reuse Centre yesterday (got fussed by everyone there!)

- to a school that was getting rid of all their old keyboard today (wondered what I was doing)

His favourite thing to do is roll on his back in the snow, eat snow, or bury his head under the snow!!

He loves playing with Nellie's Dryer Balls, which are fantastic because he chews them for ages and can't puncture or damage them (yet).

He also sleeps for AGES. Is that normal?

Pong Necklace

Anyone remember playing pong? It seemed so high-tech and exciting at the time!!

Now you can wear your vintage gaming pride around your neck with this pong tribute necklace. Available here: Link

via: Craftzine

What did I make?

Wondering what I made with that stash of calendars, paint chips and catalogues? Oodles and oodles of eco greeting cards!

The brief was: fall colours, nature, Alberta wildlife, welcome to the team and any occasion cards.

Above shows some details on a few of my favourite ones and you can see I have been playing with my sewing machine for this project. I was lucky enough to pick up an old sewing box at the Reuse Centre and inside were some amazing old cotton reels, which inspired me to get out my machine.

Here's a few group shots of the cards. Can you spot any bits from the stash in the cards? (click for a closer look)

Light Bulb Lamps

I discovered a really interesting light bulb recycling concept on this website. They sell a widget that lets you connect together old light bulbs to make a one-of-a-kind lamp! There's some amazing ones showcased in their photo gallery.

Memo Mugs

Link via

Nintendo Wii Cake

You exercise, right? You jump around playing Wii games. That means you deserves some cake! Mmmmmm, yummy.

via w3sh

Mix Tape Cards

Did you make mix tapes back in the 80's and early 90's. I did, I used to make LOADS of them. I remember mix tapes of Blur, the La's, Pixies, Jane's Addiction, Radiohead, and so many more. I think all my old mix tapes are over in England....I miss them....

I stumbled across these retro mix tape cards by InvitaPaperStudio and I'm in love. Aren't they awesome?

Recycling Project

I'm busy working on a project for the Provincial government this week. I'm using old calendars, flyers, birthday cards, paint chip books, and packaging supplies. Here's a few 'before' pics of my supplies:

Check back in a few days if you'd like to see what I'm going to be making with all this stuff!

Scary or Cool?

Would you like your computer to look like this?





Share your thoughts in the comments...


via Ubergizmo

Organising Diskettes

I love organising my supplies. I think I just love organising things in general. This week I have gone through all my boxes of diskettes, and sorted them by colour.... it's diskette heaven!

I love how all the different shades of diskettes look, especially the translucent ones next to the solid colour ones, and how there are so any shades of blue diskettes.

However, the cats we're looking after are not helping at all, and keep knocking over my diskette towers!!

This is how it started:


Riley thought he wanted in on the diskette action, but soon fell asleep behind the curtain.

while he was sleeping, the diskette towers grew...

higher and higher around him...

well you can just image how it ended *sigh*. Diskettes ALL over the floor!!!

Look! I cooked a proper meal

I am not known for my cooking skills. In fact, my idea of 'home cooking' is cutting up some vegetables and putting them ontop of a frozen pizza. Or a microwaved potato with beans on top.

But, inspired by Amanda Woodward, I've decided I want to cook more healthy meals this year, from scratch!

Here I present to you, dear geekware readers, my vegetarian lasagna:

It is so tasty that I'm definitely going to make it again once I've eaten my way though this massive one.

I don't 'do' recipes, but I included in random order:

• 3 bags of frozen tomato cubes from our garden
• organic green (?) coloured lasagna
• 2 bags of mixed greens cubes (spinach, bok choi, mustard) from our garden
• a frozen packet of Alfredo sauce from 2006 (blame Tiffany Tomato's mom)
• and lots of other vegetables, oh and some dried soya stuff I found in the cupboard

Delicious!

Mac Toilet Paper Dispenser

I'm not sure what this small rectangular mac item was in it's past life, but it has been modded into a toilet paper dispenser. Nice and modern looking - I like it! Link

Make your own nerdy cookie cutters

j l larson on Instructables shows how to make your own cookie cutters in any shape you choose. Tested out are: Pac man, one-up mushroom, star trek badge and meeple. Link

Darth Vadar Pizza

MMmm, yummy!
via

Mac Mod: A real Banana Junior

Who remembers the Banana Jr. 6000 from 1980's comic strip 'Bloom County'?

It was a parody of the early Macintosh computer and fritzgutten has made a real Banana Junior from an old Mac Classic!


The comic strip computer inexplicably came with legs could walk and talk, contemplated its existence, but could not stray further than the length of its electrical cord.

A Sunday strip featured this parody advertisement with Gene Simmons.

DIY Paper Macintosh Classic

Do you miss your 'compact' Macintosh Classic from 1990? With it's $1000 price tag, and 1-4MB ram?

Why not make your own paper version, which can sit quietly on your desk and bring back happy memories of times long ago, before iphones and imacs and ipods were invented....

Heck, it's Friday afternoon people! Get your scissors out and print the pdf, it'll speed up home-time :)

via: neoteny

Super Mario and Pac Man Scarves

How cool are these? Custom made hand crocheted pac man and super mario scarves! Ahh, such happy memories :)

Available here

Vintage Mac Monitor Bird Houses

If the CD Jewel Case bird house isn't your thing, how about one made from an old Mac monitor?

Rex Harris, a farm owner in New South Wales uses the plastic shells of vintage Macs as birdhouses, mounting them on poles throughout his farm. "The old Macs are perfect for nesting boxes with ventilation slots along the front, rear, and under the hand space where you lift them"

via: pclaunches

Computer Case Storage Stack

Need more space to store all your stuff?

FoldingJ says " I just couldn't bring myself to throw away 9 perfectly good "empty" computer cases. So I decided to make storage units out of them. I built a rack, bought some plexiglass to cover the front and back (to keep all the dust and dirt out and to allow me to see what was in the box before pulling it down from the rack), and mounted some handles on the front of each box."

Hello there 2008!

2007 was a really fun year. I got to see my 1st grizzly bear up close, hiked under a big waterfall, kayacked across a lake, enjoyed being a bridesmaid at a glorious summer wedding in England. Discovered how to hold down my booth tent during 50km winds and that fridge doors holding magnets bounce in 50km/hr winds. Found that some labels on old diskettes just DON'T ever come off, no matter how much I scrub/soak/scrape them. Learnt how quickly a rain barrel fills up in a storm, and how fun it is to bale water into buckets during said storms so that the hose pipe never needs to be used all summer.

I also found out how much I enjoy making one of a kind items, like the calculator trinket box, or the hint ring. In 2008 I plan to make more one-off pieces, and explore new ways to recycle old computer parts. I don't want to be a manufacturing machine, I'd like to get back more to the art and design side of things, and inventing new creations.

I have lots of ideas brewing, so stay tuned....

image via: swissmiss

Plastic Bottle Creations

Some really innovative creations made from plastic bottles. Nice work Sonia!

Via: El mundo

Dell Flatscreen Mod

How to create an antique monitor, AKA how to ruin your nice new Dell flatscreen...

via: Baraskit

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and all the very best for the New Year.

Thank you for your kind support during 2007.

Please note that Acorn Studios will be closed from Dec 23 - Jan 2... time to rest up and eat cookies (I think I ate about 15 today).

image via foldingj