Wonderful video montage of our first ever Orange County Mini Maker Faire which happened on July 14, 2012! Many thanks to everyone who helped make it a fantastically successful day!

Video by:  Andy Verostek

Music by : The Budrows

It’s a pretty impressive facility, the digs at MakerPlace in San Diego.  They’ve got all the dream machines for woodworking, crafting (sewing & quilting), metal working, laser cutting, electronics and 3D printing not to mention office space, conference rooms and storage for your materials.   So it’s no wonder that at the One Year Birthday Celebration on Saturday May 9th there were some fantastic Makers there showing off their stuff.

I had made plans to meet with Dublin Mini Maker Faire organizer Tomas Ward and we thought this was the perfect place and time to do just that.

We had a great time touring the facilities and meeting the Makers.   Balazs Moldovan had some great whiskey and wine barrel chairs.  You can tell which ones had held red wine in a past life by the cheery rose tint and those that were charred to give a smokey flavor to whiskey.   The hole in the back of the chair is called the bunghole, it’s where the plug went in the barrel for draining the liquid.  This particular chair can swivel and has a reclining option too. Lots of other beautiful woodwork to be seen as well… Pat Downing was there representing blacksmiths with some nice metal work. As well as James Cosimini with his mini portable forge and some pretty knives. There were some nice textile arts on display including quilts and a “painting” made of stitching.   One of my favorite things about gathering together Makers is the fun juxtapostion of odd things like custom made skateboard decks and Halloween quilts.   Gary was there with the beginnings of his Mail-bot.  Gary lives at the top of a hill but, his mailbox is at the bottom so, he’s building a bot that will switch out mailboxes for him.   The brains are made up of a Smartphone and a Nullspace built microprocessor.   Also in the robot area was this cool hand (no one was there to demo it for us)

…and this great Steampunk Aether Wave Disruptor by R.E. Calou.

The great thing is that with all these tools and machinery at their fingertips the Makers of MakerPlace can create all kinds of interesting things.

Light up wall art (laser etched glass):

Steampunk wine cellar doors:

Curiously strange mythical beasts like Grinnus Hexapedus:

San Diego definitely has lots of fodder for a terrific Maker Faire!  If you find yourself in the area go check out MakerPlace, you never know what you’re going to see.

• Four paper lunch bags
• glue (school glue or glue stick will work, just something sticky)

That’s it!  That’s the basics anyway, you can also have materials on hand for creating a cover if you want like felt or sheets of craft foam or decorative paper or what ever material you want.

So, start with four paper lunch bags:

First, keeping them folded, glue the flap that is the bottom of the bag down.

Then fold the bags so that the bottom is on the outside.

Next, you want to glue the bottom panel of one bag to the top part of another bag, do this with all the bags.

Make sure to cover the bag well with glue, especially along the edges.

And there you have the basic book!

Now you can get fancy and make a cover!  The black book is covered with felt and there is a fan of colored foam with sticky backs to make it easy.

Our resident teen artist covered her book with white craft foam then used puffy stickers and paint on it.

They can also be decorated for a holiday and given as gifts or extra fancy cards.  (This one is drying after having hearts applied with Mod Podge.)

We were gifted one of these fun little books with prompts on each page to help encourage them to be used.

And since the open end of the bag is facing out they can be used as secret pockets to keep treasures in!  How about using one as a recipe book.  Recipes can be clipped out of magazines and kept in the pockets while others can be written on the pages.  White lunch bags can be used as well.  Play with it and make it your own!

I particularly enjoyed this S’Mores Clock.  The graham cracker is the minute hand and the chocolate marks the hour.

Design program instructor, Greg Wight, has partnered with a local physician  who creates an amazing Halloween display each year in Huntington Beach which attracts thousands of spectators and media attention.  GWC Design students help to build huge props and displays which include animatronics and walk through attractions on the streets of a local neighborhood.

In 2011 the theme was Scary Tales and included sets portraying Alice in Wonderland, The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, The Three Little Pigs and other stories.   Following is a photo of the top half of Titan from Little Mermaid, this piece stands over 15 feet tall.

The theme in 2012 was The Wizard of Oz including the Wicked Witch of the East and The Great Oz, both of which are animatronic and include sound.

Many forms of design were displayed at the show including lots of artwork, fiber arts, sculpture, 3D printed pieces and this cool model of a concept house…

It’s great to see young people making and creating and the partnership for the Halloween display is particularly special here offering a great opportunity to apply and increase skill

Solar powered vehicle build by GWC Design program students.

.  We hope to see some of Greg’s students showing off their talent at the OC Mini Maker Faire soon!

On Nov. 28th Jinwook Kim from Robotis Inc. invited me to observe one of the Kidslab classes that they offer.   He also provided a free kit for my 12 year old son and invited him to join the class.

The OLLO kit is fun and versatile although, it does contain really small parts that challenge fine motor skills.

Jinwook and I had a long pleasant conversation in which he stressed his strong desire to bring STEM education to as many grade school kids as possible.    His idea for being a part of the OC Mini Maker Faire in 2013 is to showcase kid’s projects from throughout the year.  In future years, when we have a larger venue, he might like us to host area competitions.

“ROBOTIS KidsLab teaches elementary school students math and
science through the use of the educational robot kit named OLLO.”

Miles enjoyed the class and since bringing the kit home he has designed and built many new projects on his own using the OLLO parts.

The friendly folks at DIG  invited us to join them again for their 2nd annual Make Room at the LOSCON39 Science Fiction Convention during the weekend after Thanksgiving.   This year we were in a bigger space with even more Makers and I loved the wonderful comraderie we all shared.  Makers included: Deezmaker 3D print shop, a beer maker from the Maltose Falcons Brewing Club, Tim Lewis the animatronics guy, several tables of Arduino projects, the ThinBot Bartending Robot, Crash Space, Mag Labs, an amazing NAO robot and more.  Larry Burch ran an Arduino workshop and he and Annika from LA Robotics Club were part of an Arduino panel at 10am that was packed!

NAO robot J2 performing Tai Chi.  This robot was fascinating to watch, it can dance, sit down and stand up and even recognize faces.  Handler Jay Jay (Danilo Napalan)

The ThinBot Bartending robot by Kevin Roche, the bell notifying you that your drink is ready is a perfect touch.

Tim Lewis, Tim Laren, James Howarth and Larry Burch,  whom I bemusedly dubbed The Arduino Geek Squad for the weekend.

Larry Burch holding the beginnings of a gun made with Arduino.

Half of Darth Vader’s 3D printed head from Deezmakers.  Bequi asked for the castoff in order to see if it would work as a Mason Bee habitat.  Mason Bees are stingless native pollinators in North America.

Hats made by Bequi, Amanda and two by Pam. The little one on top by Hvitr.

Two on bottom by Bequi, one on top by Hvitr.

Have you been working on anything lately?  Share it with us!

photo by Goli Mohammadi

Located in a small strip mall right off the 210 freeway on Hill St in Pasadena, this place was brought to life with the passion and enthusiasm of Diego Porqueras, the financial support of his dad, Romulo, and lots of moral support from many friends and family members who were all there to celebrate the beginning of a wonderful and unique thing.

Printbl.com’s PLA filament available at Deezmaker

Diego first heard about 3D Printers from a CNN report on the MakerBot, afterwards he went to CrashSpace and attended some MakerBot Monthly meetings and was hooked.  Soon after he purchased and built his first 3D Printer which was a Prusa Mendel kit from RepRap and that led to the development of his own 3D Printer the BukoBot.   Diego wanted a machine that was more easily expandable to accommodate larger print jobs as well as inexpensive and easy to build.

Diego (right) checks out a 3D printed car shell at the Grand Opening.

A year ago the pieces started coming together and Deezmaker began to take shape, you know things are meant to be when that happens.  The new shop has a very comfortable feel sporting both a roomy area for workshops with two pull down screens and a corner for relaxing stocked with a growing library and a guitar.

Currently the shop is open for the purchasing of parts and filament but, once it’s fully operational it will be open for 3D Printer rentals, as a Hackerspace and will offer a variety of workshops and classes as well as a place to purchase 3D printers and parts.  One of the best things about being at the Grand Opening was seeing the people who had come from just down the street as well as people who had traveled up from the depths of Orange County to support this endeavor.  It was good to see many familiar faces and to make new friends in the maker community.    I was especially pleased to see a Likeame photo frame which had been purchased by Diego, it served as yet another physical reminder of how this community supports one another.Something to watch for in the next few months is a 3D Printer Kiosk opening up at the Irvine Spectrum in Orange County in January 2013.  Imagine being able to go to the mall and have your design printed up while you wait.  Or you can place larger orders and pick them up later.   Brian may also host a pop-up store at OC Mini Maker Faire 2013.

The 3D printer is growing in popularity, more and more people are finding amazing uses and building better, faster, bigger machines.   One day 3D printers will be as common as ink and paper printers, Deezmaker is a step in that direction.

For more information on Deezmaker contact Diego at:  (657) 333-MAKE or email: Deezmaker@gmail.com.

Now, if that’s got you excited and you want to learn more here’s an opportunity to get in there and do some hands-on learning!

Trish Tsoiasue, through her Lemonade Game Project, has arranged for Sparkfun to come to Long Beach on October 15th & 16th and offer Arduino classes at the  Long Beach Sea Scout base,  5875 Appian Way, Long Beach, CA 90803.

Oct. 15th, 2012 ~ 1:00pm – 5:00pm ~ $35.00 or $70.00

Halloween LED Light Up / SparkFun Electronics

Sessions on the use of the LilyPad Arduino. It provides the capability to add lights and more to your sewing  projects. This is an introduction to artists, sewing inclined, home costumers.  It involves learning about sewable electronics components and the LilyPad.

Ideal For

• Middle and High School science educators interested in learning how to use sensors, do basic programming with a microcontroller, and find many resources to take classrooms in different directions.
• Programmers who want an introduction to the Arduino.
• Artists who have some technical ability and want to make their art move.
• College students in Engineering and the Arts.

OCT. 16TH, 2012 ~ 9:00AM – 6:00PM ~ $145.00

TOOLS FOR MAKING THINGS MOVE/TAKE HOME ELECTRONICS/SPARKFUN  SESSIONS #1 & 2

This is an introduction to the Arduino for the technically inclined.  Some small exposure to programming is preferred, but not required.  In the event of low registrations, Session #2 will be folded into Session #1.

Session #1 - No soldering will be performed. Session #2 – Soldering will be performed in this session.

Take Home equipment value $125. A SparkFun Inventor’s Kit, Additional Arduino compatible dev board.

Space is limited.                                                                                                                              For more information or to sign up for a session visit Trish’s blog                  Handmade Penguin.

A little more about trish and the lemonade game

Trish Tsoiasue is working to grow the Maker Ohana in Long Beach as creative Handmade Penguin.
She has a degree in Computer Science and has worked in a technical field for over 30 years. She is committed to community, and is a co-founder of 501c3 non-profit Shared Science which works to bring engineering and technology programming to youth with current focus in the Long Beach area.
Trish attended the San Mateo MakerFaire in 2012 as an Education Day volunteer, a MakerCorps volunteer and as media.  She has continued in her quest to bring Making to Long Beach as a Blogger for the Belmont Shore Patch.  Since June 25, she has been blogging daily about Makers and Creatives in Long Beach in a game she has created called The Community Lemonade Game.