and Twitter.
Always wanted to start a gang but couldn’t get past how to make ID cards for everyone? Problem solved! Big Huge Labs have a nifty little web-tool which can help you make hot looking ID cards for your club, gang, workplace or pets using your Flickr photos! It’s not free unfortunately, but, there’s always that 3 day pass, FREE, wink wink. Say goodbye to secret handshakes!
Badge it!: Badge Maker
Anyone buying presents for kids knows it’s a giant pain in the ass, especially when what they want is an Elmo or ridiculously impossible to find Nintendo Wii. But fear not, one of the coolest presents this year is readily available and is much cooler than those electronic brain drainers anyways. What I’m talking about is the Gloomy Bear Plush Arm pillow set available over at myplasticheart. 2 GIANT plush arm pillows, shaped like everyone’s favorite homicidal (hopefully!) bear, the Gloomy Bear! The pillows slip over your arms, allowing kids (or you) to annoy the hell out of people, pets and grandparents alike. After your killing spree is over, you just slide them off and lay down for a relaxing nap.
Buy more: Gloomy Bear Plush Arm Pillow
For those who haven’t kept up, the arts and crafts scene has evolved. Crafts no longer means 80 year old ladies going to Michael’s (or comparable stores) to buy new crocheting patterns of the grand canyon or the American flag. Younger and younger folk are getting involved, twisting and turning traditional forms of craft-wizardry into fresh new styles and directions. Our favorite for today, the Punkey Monkey dolls from crafster Clarity Miller. Featuring heaps of punk attitude, safety pins and dyed hair, the ‘Sid & Nancy’ pair of the Punkey Monkey series is brilliant for any fashionable punk these days. The dolls are stuffed with 100% polyester and aren’t recommended for children. Well, maybe for punk children.
Read more: Punky Monkeys at Elsewares | More from Clarity Miller
Rebound Designs make some amazing crafty fashion for nerds and those they love. For Rebound’s amazing series of crafty purses, they take hardback editions of some of the greatest works in literary history and bring them back to life as elegant purses. Tea party fashion is definitely in and it’s only a matter of time before the celebrities swoop in and start ruining all the fun. Featuring selected purses from titles such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Crime and Punishement, The Great Gatsby, Little Women and over 95 more, I couldn’t think of any greater gift for the book lover in your life (who would carry a purse).
Read more: Rebound Designs - Hand crafted bling
A crafty husband and wife team decided to start a project to create a minature fast-food burger meal, turning the ultimate art form of cooking, into a bite-size wonderland of greasy art. The project was inspired by a recent article in Martha Stewart Living, is completely edible and features the cutest little bite-size ingredients I’ve ever seen, all packed together on a polymer clay tray. This is perfect finger food for a Super Bowl party!
Read more: Bite-size buger, fries and a soda
Shaw-Han Liem, also known as I Am Robot And Proud, has created a fully-featured co-op shopping portal for indie musicians, artists and craft-makers, named The Blue House. A one-stop shop for some of the best fringe music and crafts (1″ buttons, hand-screened posters and artwork), fans of the independent arts are able to purchase items from sellers around the world, through one easy interface, with all money going directly to the artists (via PayPal). A digital-distribution section, where customers will be able to directly purchase whole albums and singles via MP3 (and possibly OGG or other formats) is currently in the works, hopefully being completed by years end. (?)
Artist, musician and all-around crafty lady Susie Ghahremani, creates lovely nature-inspired crafts and artwork which she graciously hand-makes and offers for sale through her website. Highly recommended are the ink-squirting octopus to-do pad (Get Things Done folks!), the finch stationary and the starry owl canvas tote bag to carry them all around with.
August 2nd in 
