Antenna has all kinds of laptop sleeves/cases from canvas to mock croc to quilted to denim to all different kinds of prints. I’m not usually a fan of the quilted look, but I do love these stylish silver and gold cases, which add a fun little bling bling (I can’t really pull off saying “bling bling”, can I?) to your laptop protection.
I love that these can function not only as a sleeve or a case, but also as a fashion statement! These guys will run you down $33, which, in the world of laptop sleeves, isn’t really that bad.
I just rounded-up some of my favorite laptop sleeves, and in a kind of trick reverse order, I’ll now do close-up profiles of my favorite-favorites.
This “butterfingers laptop wallet” from Hard Graft is both professional and fun, especially for the clumsy. It combines the greatest aspects of an laptop sleeve (thin, sleek, and easy to fit into a larger bag) and a laptop case (a handle for independent carrying).
The only problem? A $130 price tag. The other laptop and ipod wallets, envelopes, and cases are expensive, too, but all are sleek and professional.
I’ve been shopping around for sleeves or cases for my lovely, but naked, MacBook Pro (many of them functional on PC laptops as well).
These are my favorite sleeve finds (this list of places to find laptop sleeves and cases was hugely helpful). Click on the the thumbnails to go directly to the sleeve’s site (right click to open in new window).
Technorati Tags: laptop, case, sleeve, mac, book, pro, colorful, design
This book machine from On Demand Books creates high quality paperback books (see above) from your file in just a few minutes (if you don’t believe me, you can watch a video of the process here). And it only costs about a penny per page!
The machines are only at a few locations right now (I know at least one reader spends a little time in Ann Arbor, and there is one there!), but I am ready to see this spread world-wide, like coke machines!
As a former English major, this is the kind of thing I have had dreams about! One hitch: the inside pages seem to only print in black & white, so not so great for design projects.
Not only is this week’s Donut of the Week stale, but it’s also sold out at KidRobot (which, by the way, is offering me a plentitude of donut pleasures).
PS: I’m still away, but I’ll be back in full-force later this week! Just wanted to provide a brief little update with DOW.
Fruits, veggies, and sweets with faces sit on these colorful cards, ready to remind you of your favorite receipe! Look at that donut in purple! These little dudes are $6 at My Zoetrope’s Etsy Store. How’s that for Donut of the Week?!
Stickers & Donuts is going to post a cool, crafty, pretty, or yummy donut EVERY WEEK! Aren’t you looking forward to that?!
The Donut(s) of the Week are from Yellow Label. They’re colorful, you can chew on them (if you are a baby, preferably) and because they are knit, they are zero calories! If donuts aren’t your thing, you can always get some knit cookies.
Technorati Tags: knit, donuts, cookies, toys, baby, infant, toddler, play, food, stickers, crafts
I could go on and on about The Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn last weekend (in fact, I did sort of already did), but, alas, next week I think I will need to post something new!
So, for today’s final Renegade Finds: Knick Knacks & other things that found no other category.
***
Everyone and their large-mustached-uncle seems to have posted about Something Hiding In Here’s presence at Renegade. Why? Because they’re just so darn cute and original and weirdly obsessed with mustaches. They’ve got a mustache charm, and two different kinds of mustache disguises (felt, for those of us on a low-budget, and wood for those high-class masqueraders). You can buy all kinds of mustaches (and they do actually make other things!) on their Etsy shop here.
Mr. Poncho makes these lovely ipod cases (~$18) in every design you can imagine (subject to the size of your imagination, but you get the drift)! And, the best part is, the wires don’t get tangled because of that clear round thing (very technical term) on the front.
The Small Object makes very small objects, and, by nature, things that are small are often cute (why is that?). My favorite good from The Small Object is the set of Crafty Organization Idea Cards (image above left, from artist’s website) which you can use to organize your most original and crafty ideas! They also make very cute doodle-y stamps (as shown above right, image from artist’s web-site).
And, last but not least, are 31 Corn Lane’s adorable bags (which I suppose should’ve gone in my Renegade fashion or jewelry posts, but my little brain was having a hard time categorizing bags).
“Years later and we still don’t have a mini-pony or a trampoline or a skate ramp, but! We’re finally taking the hot air balloon situation into our own hands” (31 Corn Lane web-site).
These hot air balloon totes make you want to spend a day at the beach in a bathing suit and bloomers. (And do you see the matching jewelry on the left!?) Also, if you visit their web-site, you may want to read those long blurbs next to the product, they’re worth it!
(Coming up soon… a round-up of all of these round-ups. Phew!)
(Part I and Part II are those places.)
These Shadow Theaters and Shadow Puppets from Owly Shadow Puppets remind me of the days of yore. (Not that I was alive in the days of yore, but they played with shadow puppets back then for lack of technical entertainment.) Anyway, what’s awesomest about these puppets is that they’re held together with brads, so they bend and move as you move the two sticks. Oh, and, as per the definition of a shadow puppet, they make cool shadows.
The Sea Monster (above) is my favorite, and is only $10.50 on the Owly Shadow Puppets Etsy page. The artist has also got some cool lesson plans for teachers on her website, so if you have kids, or you like to pretend you are a kid, you can make some puppets of your own!
—
My Imaginary Boyfriend had lots of cool pillows, pictures, and, yes, a creature — if a robot counts as a creature, which I think it should. (And by “my imaginary boyfriend” I mean the craft shop, not my actual fake imaginary boyfriend.)
(My imaginary boyfriend would totally give that robot to me for my birthday, by the way.)
Below creatures are adorable. And a little creepy.
I sort of what to cuddle with these creatures AND run away from them! The image above is from the artist’s website, where there are a few more crazy creatures to wonder at. Unfortunately, the store isn’t up and running yet. We’ll be waiting!
The Cherry Box
I couldn’t get enough these deer heads. Usually, big ol’ deer heads on walls freak me out. They are dead animals. Heads. Hanging. For pleasure. But these plush heads mock that tradition, and thus crack me up. These poor plush heads are about $45, but range depending on size & type.
I also loved their hats, which came in many fruit varieties, but I was partial to the creature varieties:
I actually tried on the above hat and almost bought it (only $20… but where will I wear it?)! They’re available online in the “Accessories” section of the Cherry Box website.
Today/tomorrow I’ll be featuring all of my favorite creatures (stuffed, usually) I found at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this past weekend (for all Renegade-related posts, click here).
DIYers really like to make random, sarcastic, ironic, and/or scary/cute creatures. It’s a thing. And these renegade crafters did not disappoint — especially on the random front.
My Paper Crane needs it’s own special call-out for two reasons:
Reason #1
It has stuffed (plush) DONUTS that look remarkably like OUR donuts on S&D! (Not that two chocolate-covered donuts should look altogether very different from one another, but these guys could be siblings, or cousins at least.)
Reason #2
I was told there would be moldy toast (plush, of course) at the fair, and there was (and burnt toast, and regular toast). Apparently, I also told others that there would be moldy toast. Later I discovered that this was confusing (”She is going to a craft fair to find moldy toast? But why? What kind of craft fair is this? Sounds like a science fair!” etc). Luckily I took this picture to clear that up.
Couldn’t let the day end without blogging about today’s most talked about technological advancement (er, I really like macs): the new iphone (much cheaper ($200 for 8gb), but higher data rates from AT&T, so it all evens out in the end, sad, though it is twice as fast!).
I won’t be getting one of these fancy guys any time soon, but you can check some glamor shots over at the mac web-site (even has a white version!).
(PS If you aren’t a Mac-junkie you might not know that whenever Steve Job’s makes a keynote speech bloggers everywhere “live blog” the event, updating their sites continuously throughout the speech so dorks everywhere can catch mac history as it unfolds. Today BoingBoing did a specially fun version of live blogging, covering Job’s speech in the style of a classic play!)
These journals (available at Supermarket, a kind of high-class Esty) pair original design with “sage quotes from The Science of Culture (a stuffy book on etiquette from 1923).”
So don’t forget: “there is danger in emotions aroused by music” and “one must know how to discuss theater intelligently.”
Mostly I think these little books are an example of how to find artsy inspiration pretty much anywhere! (more…)
Sigh. This letter writing KIT (I love kits!) from 16 Sparrows leaves me nostalgic for an era I wasn’t even a part of. More pics after the jump!
“In this era of instantaneous communication, a handwritten letter is a rare and wondrous item. The Letter Writers Alliance is dedicated to preserving this art form; neither long lines, nor late deliveries, nor increasing postal rates will keep us from our mission. As a member of the Letter Writers Alliance, you will carry on the glorious cultural tradition of letter writing. You will take advantage of every opportunity to send tangible correspondence. Prepare your pen and paper, moisten your tongue, and get ready to write more letters!” (16 Sparrows)
Somehow making a cassette tape is so much more artful than mailing tunes over aim or burning a disk that just gets re-burned to an ipod, but that time consuming trend died somewhere in the 80s & 90s. Still, we love to reminisce about our youth, and so for you detailed, artful, nostalgic lovers out there I have collected my 10 favorite pieces & places to carry on the memory of cassettes & mix tapes.
