Author Archives: smythk

Whew!  What a crazy fun day in Union Square at the Somerville Mini-Maker Faire!  Pictures are truly worth very many words, so here are some highlights.

(See full-size versions of these and more photos on the Somerville Mini-Maker Faire Flickr page.)

The Make: Magazine booth, heralding people into the Mini-Maker Faire!
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Arcbotics’ adorable “Hexy” robots on display.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Soldering with SparkFun Electronics.
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Fairegoers creating their own stop-motion animations with Hannah Rossi.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

A young maker/roadie checking out “Bait”, an art car created by Blake Courtney.
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Laser-cut spider and eggs.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Gorgeous laser-cut sphere.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons)

Shiny! At the CEMI Electronic Media booth.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Robot’s-eye view from Dan Lander’s Node.js robot tank.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Fun for kids of all ages at the Mineways booth!
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Maggie McFee showing off the teapot design created using the Mineways program, and printed at her 3-D Makerbot booth (photo courtesy of Eric Haines).

DIY Hacker Junk Mosaics workshop run by Melissa Glick (click on the photo to link to her site).

Hacker Junk Mosaic by Melissa Glick.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons. Click on the photo to link to her site.)

Jason Rossitto showing off his trebuchet.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons)

Huge thanks from the Artisan’s Asylum and the Somerville Arts Council to all of our volunteers, venders, workshop organizers, sponsors, and, most of all, to everyone who came out and packed the square for over four solid hours of DIY maker greatness!

Hope to see you next year!  In the meantime… go make something!

Many of tomorrow’s maker booths will have delightful souvenirs and keepsakes you can purchase to take your own little slice of maker-y goodness home with you!  Here are some enticing examples…

3-D-printed dohickies from CarryTheWhat Replications:

Original artwork, prints, and cards from Imaginary Cartography:

A macro camera lens for your cell phone from Easy-Macro:

Wallets, wall letters, canvas pieces, rings, necklaces, earrings, pins, bracelets, cufflinks, photo frames, and purses from the maker of Tracimoc:

And if that’s not enough to lure you, our makers will also have for sale:

Cameras, projectors, and multitouch frames from the makers of Mesa Mundi,

Animated LED shadowboxes from the maker of The Lightning Tree,

Electronics kits from the makers of wiblocks and iblocks,

and

Small cast items from the maker of Lynwood Designs

See you at the Faire!

We like all kinds of art here at the Artisan’s Asylum.  You might even say we’re a bit crazy for it (har har).

Lately we’ve been especially infatuated with rideable art, and Saturday’s Mini-Maker Faire will feature a number of rideable projects, including Dan Lander’s Node.js wifi-extending robot, Adam Bercu’s all-electric motorcycle, Jeff DelPapa’s reclining Frankenbikes, Paul Carson’s bicycles, Blake Courtney’s art cars aaand… a Giant Baby Carriage.

So come on by and check them out… you may even get a lift.

Node.js robot

Adam’s EV motorcycle parked at a public charging station.

The front half of “Frankenbike”

One of Paul’s elegant bikes.

Art car: “Bait”

Art car: “Fluffer”

and…

A giant, pedal-powered baby carriage.

Fluffer and the baby carriage say hello to each other at this year’s Burningman.