Jewelry and Accessories for Green Thumbs
We have great news that we're really excited to share! Our bike planters will be at select Urban Outfitters in their new Without Walls pop-up shops and available on their website this spring. If you've been looking for a chance to check them out in stores before you buy, now is your chance! If your interest is piqued, check them out online at Urban Outfitters and see if they're available in a store near you.
Spring is finally here, and we updated the look of our seed bombs to celebrate! The illustration on the muslin bag depicts three of the flower varieties in the seed mix, Baby’s Breath, Rocket Larkspur, and Purple Coneflower. We also updated the mix of seeds that we use to make our seed bombs, using a mix of annual and perennial wildflower seeds to guarantee you blooms this year and for years to come. The growing regions for this seed mix are regions 1-10, so they are able to grow in most regions of the US. If you’re looking for a quick way to plant some seeds or need a gift for a green thumb, the seed bombs are available in our shop.
This winter has been really cold and seemingly unending. While the bad weather has been less than an ideal, I've been actually been glad that I've gotten more time than usual to read for leisure lately. Here are some of the best books that I've been reading this winter.
The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands on Living by Wendy Jehanara Tremayne
Part How-To book, part memoir, this book is about the author, Wendy Jehanara Tremayne's, journey to find a more meaningful life. Wendy is the founder of the Swap-O-Rama Rama, and this book details her journey from working in marketing in New York City to living off the land in New Mexico. Inside this book there are also detailed and inspiring instructions on techniques you can use to live more in tune with nature, from making salves from herbs to building your own papercrete dome. In addition to being a great read, the book itself is a work of art with delightful illustrations inside and an unconventional but beautiful stitched binding.
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Best Drinks by Amy Stewart
This book is more than just recipes for cocktails, it gives you stories and history of how humans have used plants to create the alcoholic beverages consumed today.
Garden Anywhere by Alys Fowler
As the title of this book suggests, it is all about creative ways for you to create your own garden anywhere. Whether you have a fluorescent lit office, a window box, or a small patio that you can use for a small container garden, this book shows you creative ways to make the most of your space. To get you started, there are tips on how to test your soil and what to do to compost your food waste to put nutrients in your soil without fertilizers. Once you've got your no garden garden alive and prospering, you can learn from this book how to harvest your crops and make sure you can keep your garden coming back every season.
Fashion Geek by Diana Eng
If you're interested in the current trend towards wearable technology and want to try your hand at making your own, this is a great book for you to check out. It's full of electronics projects that bridge the gap between the sometimes confusing world of DIY technology and fashion. Inside there are detailed instructions and patterns for each project, so even a novice can get started with DIY electronics. Projects inside include how to make your own sparkling ruby red slippers by hacking a pedometer and making a light up purse.
You can find the book here, and it is currently available to borrow for free with a kindle and amazon prime.
This year has been pretty exciting so far, from working on new items for this spring to being a Designer in Residence at the Museum of Arts and Design. I've experimented with learning about aquaponics and taken a few adventures around Atlanta. We were even featured on Boing Boing! Since this winter has been so busy an I haven't had much time to update our blog, here's a quick review of everything I've been up to this year.
Exciting news! Make: 3D Printing, a recently published book from Make Media, features two articles that I wrote about using 3D printing to develop and create products.
The book is an overview of what is happening in the world of 3D printing today. Full of information about home 3D printing, techniques for polishing up prints, and an overview of 3D printed products on the market, it is a good introduction to the quickly moving and exciting ways people are using this technology.
My two articles to the book, "3D Printing Without a Printer" and "How to Dye Your 3D Prints" are about using commercial services to 3D print your products. "How to Dye Your 3D Prints" was previously published on this blog, and gives you instructions on how to dye models printed with nylon or polyamide through commercial 3D printing companies.
If you want to read the book and learn more about 3D printing, Make: 3D Printing is available online at MakerShed.
This morning while looking at Twitter I came across a particularly intriguing find: today is 3D Printing Day*. Obviously it is not an official holiday, but today's 3D Printing Day is a celebration that I can completely get behind. We use 3D printing to create all of our products, so it goes without saying that I'm a big fan and proponent of this technology.
3D printing is an amazing technology. It's been around for a few decades, but is just now coming into its own as a viable means of manufacturing. It has huge potential to change small businesses and local industries as well as the way that we make and consume products. Did I mention the wow factor about it? There's nothing more amazing than seeing something materialize layer by layer in front of your eyes! I think the best way to show off the power of 3D Printing is by showing examples which are useful or bring a smile to your face.
In honor of 3D Printing Day, here are my favorite 3D Printed projects (one of which you can even make yourself!):
* For the curious, the logic behind this is the date is December 3rd, or D3, which is the inverse of 3D.
Images above via shapeways.com, crankbunny.com, and thingiverse.com.
