LEGO Stop Motion Animation of Arcade Classics

Youtube user, MlCHAELHlCKOX has created a stop-motion animation video called Lego Arcade that features a whole bunch of classic arcade games re-created in LEGOs. Can you name all of the games? You'll see Frogger, Pac-Man, plus a few more (I'll let it be a surprise for when you watch it!)

If you visit his Youtube page, you will find a whole variety of other stop-motion LEGO videos, including this Donkey Kong one that is also pretty awesome.

[via Offworld]

I Won an Award!

Thank you so much to Ashley of Contour My Soul for this Honest Scrap Award!

There are a few requirements and they are as follows:
- I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it
- I must list 10 honest things about myself
- I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.
- I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links
- I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above requirements.

10 Honest Things About Me:

1. I love music and I have played the piano since I was four years old. I also taught myself guitar, bass, started to learn drums, and played clarinet in the school band. I went through the Royal Conservatory of Music for piano performance and taught piano lessons as my first job. An honest part of this: I haven't practiced piano in ages and I'm dying to get back into it.

2. I used to be in a post rock band. Mostly instrumental: I played piano, guitar, clarinet, and did some vocals. We recorded and released our own professionally-pressed CD and it was distributed across Canada and Japan. We also went on a tour across parts of Canada. For our final show, we opened for the band, Caribou, which was a really big deal for me. Here is a link to the music - the band was called Winter Equinox - I still have a few CDs left so just send me a message if you're interested in obtaining one!

3. I have been a vegetarian for my entire life - I was raised as one by my family. I've never eaten meat before, and I'm not tempted to try! I was given the choice when I was old enough to decide for myself, but it just doesn't seem like food to me! I do eat eggs and dairy. I eat a wide variety of foods and I'm a really healthy eater...except for the occasional indulgences! (chocolate, cupcakes, etc.)

4. I am an animal lover. I had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, you name it while I was growing up. I don't currently have any pets, but I really want a couple of cats. I am notorious for going "aww" and making little squealing sounds when I see a cute animal, whether it be someone's pet or a random outdoor creature.

5. I want to travel around the world someday. So far, I have visited many of the Caribbean islands, as well as parts of Canada and the U.S. I dream of traveling everywhere! Number 1 on my list is Japan, followed closely by Peru, Scotland, and New Zealand.

6. I met the love of my life (Paul) when our bands played a show together - we knew very quickly into our relationship that we would be together forever! We've been together for over 4 years now and we're engaged! Our wedding plans include traveling somewhere amazing (will share those plans later!) and getting married just the two of us, and then coming home and having a big party with family and friends. I've never been the type to want a huge wedding in a poofy white dress.

7. I love to do yoga - I've been attending classes for a while now, but have tried to go at least 2-3 times per week since January. I can feel myself becoming stronger and more flexible, plus it just puts me at ease for the rest of the day. I feel much more relaxed and in a better mood overall when I do yoga at the start of the day!

8. I love video games and computers! I've loved video games ever since I got the original NES when I was about 6 years old (the one with Mario/Duck Hunt), and I've loved computers ever since I was about 4 and my family got our very first PC. Before the Internet, I went on local BBSs, and when we first got the Internet, I used to stay up all night teaching myself how to make webpages and how to use Photoshop.

9. I don't think that I know how to sit, relax, and not do anything. When I have a spare moment, I'm either knitting, making something with my hands, or using the computer. I can't just watch TV - I have to be knitting at the same time!

10. I enjoy teaching and helping others - I originally went to university for an English degree thinking that I might want to be a teacher, but then went to college for Broadcasting afterwards to become a video editor. I love my day job, but someday I might like to teach Broadcasting at the college level.

Here are the blogs I'll be passing this award to:
1. A Little Bit of Everything
2. Monkey Snuggles
3. Red Ruby On Fire
4. TrinKnitty
5. Yours Truli
6. Jessica C.
7. Hypnosis to Transform

Free Amigurami Pattern from MochiMochi

Do you Amigurami? I have always wanted to but admittedly, never have! I've taught myself how to crochet and I've been dying to create a cute little creature out of yarn for ages now...so I might try my hand at this one! The Mochimochi blog is offering up a free pattern of little amigurami weeds. Weeds are usually annoying pests in your lawn and garden, but here they are quite adorable! I would welcome these into my garden anytime!

You can also purchase other patterns at the Mochimochi Shop.

[via Craft:]

Etsy Blogger of the Month: LazyTcrochet

The featured Etsy Blogger of the month is... Lazy T Crochet! Congratulations! This is a beautiful shop that you can find at Etsy that is full of wonderful crocheted creations! Here you will find an assortment of warm and cozy crocheted clothing, hats, accessories, shawls, jewelry, and more! There's something for everyone here, and nothing beats a handmade crochet wearable!

The image above is the Bold Landscapes Shawl - I just love the bright bursts of orange, balanced with muted shades of green and rust. This shawl reminds me of walking through the forest on an autumn day with the colored leaves covering the ground. This shawl would be great to wear in all seasons, including those cooler summer evenings when you're sitting outside on the patio or walking along the beach!

Head on over to Lazy T Crochet and you can take advantage of her Summer Sale... get these deals while you can! Also be sure to check out the LazyTcrochet Blog.

Etsy Virtual Labs and Approaching Bloggers: It Works!

I think that I'm becoming addicted to blogging. I've been very busy going to work (my "day" job, the term being used loosely since many of my shifts are in the evenings) each day like a person with a "normal" 9am-5pm job and I haven't had much time to blog these days. Today I realized that I'm going through a little bit of blogging withdrawal and couldn't wait to get home to my computer so I could write something! I think that I only went a day without blogging... I'm hooked!

Last week, I had a full week off from my regular job, which really did spoil me. I work as a freelance video editor and it isn't often that I get that many days off in a row. But last week, I had seven glorious days all to myself.

I spent some of my time listening to some fabulous crafting podcasts, like Hello Craft and Craft Sanity (check them out on iTunes!). I stayed up to date on my blogging and tweeted my little heart out. In refreshing my twitter one afternoon, I saw a tweet by Etsy that advertised an Etsy Virtual Labs seminar that was just about to begin! I decided to check it out.


The Etsy Virtual Lab was hosted by Jena of Modish and was all about how to approach bloggers with your crafts in order to promote your creations. This was my first time attending an Etsy Virtual Lab and it was amazing! I think I was totally wow-ed by the technology (being able to chat in real time with the group and with the lecturer on web-cam, and have her respond out loud, complete with audio, to your questions!), but it was also a great seminar, too! Jena gave great advice to the Etsy shop owners. It really sparked my interest - it had been a while since my handmade goods had been featured on blogs, and I had never actually thought about contacting a blogger about featuring my crafts before.

I started to work on a project that I had wanted to make for a while, but had previously lacked the time... Space Invaders Needlepoint Fridge Magnets. While I was making them, my fiance, Paul (who is always coming up with great ideas for my shop!) thought it would be cool if I made a whole level's worth of fridge magnets. This resulted in a huge set of fridge magnets - 56 in total, and hours upon hours of stitching! It was a lot of fun to make these!

I made a list of bloggers to contact that have featured my crafts in the past, or blogs that would be interested in video game crafts. Many of these blogs are ones that either Paul or I read on a daily basis and it would truly be an honor to have my magnets featured in them! This was a huge success - many of the bloggers loved the fridge magnets and were happy to write about them! It also boosted sales in my shop during a time when sales are typically slow (the summer), plus I sold the huge set of Space Invaders magnets (plus a couple of smaller sets, too!)

So, thank you Jena for hosting the Etsy Virtual Lab and posting all of your wonderful tips on your Modish Biz Tips blog! I hadn't heard of her blog until the Etsy seminar, and now it has become a part of my daily reading! Many of the points that she covered in the live seminar are explored in detail in her blog posts, so if you're interested in promoting your shop to blogs, I highly recommend checking it out!

I'm dying to write further about my own monthly goals...but that will have to wait until tomorrow! I'm going to enjoy a cupcake (yes, one of those cupcakes that I blogged about a little while ago!) and a coffee while relaxing on the couch... mmm, chocolate-y relaxation time!

Keyboard Cat....Now in Cross Stitch Form!

Ah, keyboard cat... you are so lovable and cute and funny. You've been going around the internet for a while with Youtube videos and various parodies. Now, thanks to Julie of Subversive Cross Stitch, I can cross stitch you all for myself and display you up on my wall! I believe that this cross stitch was likely created from a take-off of the Keyboard Cat, Super Keyboard Cat Bros., a video that incorporates Keyboard Cat with Super Mario in all of its 8-bit pixelated glory.

Awesome work, Julie - this is such an adorable cross stitch! I think I will be stitching up one of these for myself. Hopefully you will, too! Here is a link to the pattern on Subversive Cross Stitch.

[via Craft:]

Complete Level of Space Invaders in Needlepoint Magnets

I'm really excited to share my newest handmade creation with you - a complete set of Space Invaders Fridge Magnets, made completely in needlepoint! There are 56 fridge magnets included in this set, enough to reconstruct an entire level of the game. Included in this set are all 50 aliens, a UFO, a laser cannon, and four bunkers.

These took me a really long time to make as they are all fully stitched by hand, felt is applied to the back to hide the stitches, and a sturdy magnet is attached to the back.

I hope that you enjoy viewing these fridge magnets as much as I enjoyed making them!

Etsy Teams Profile: Etsy Twitter Team

I am a proud member of the Etsy Twitter Team simply because I love Etsy and I love to tweet! The Etsy Twitter Team brings together members of Etsy who want to create an awareness of handmade goods on Twitter and connect with other members of Etsy who tweet.

The official mission of the Etsy Twitter Team is "to bring Etsy sellers together who use Twitter to become the authority on Twitter for all things handmade".

Think that this team might be right for you? Be sure to visit the team's blog and check out the Participation Policies. To be a member of the team, you must participate each month...otherwise, there really isn't any point in joining unless you are an active member. The policies are not difficult to follow - you either have to tweet about the group four times per month, post a blog about the shop of the week once per month, or create a monthly treasury. Sounds pretty easy, right?

Since the Etsy Twitter Team has been so popular, they have limited membership. Recently, membership was opened up for 25 new members, but the spaces were quickly filled. If you're interested in joining, be sure to follow the Etsy Twitter Team blog for updates and I'm sure that more spaces will open up in the future!

Ninja Gaiden Paper Craft Diaroma

A ridiculously detailed scene from the 8-bit Ninja Gaiden game made completely in paper! You can make your own paper craft diaroma by downloading the PDF file by The Paper City. So cool! [via Offworld]

Nintendo DS Cakes From The UK

From Kotaku, UK's Tesco chain store has started to sell these Super Mario Nintendo DS cakes. These cakes are in the shape of a Nintendo DS, with a decorative cardboard piece that folds upwards to represent the top portion and screen, and a fully edible cake underneath. With 14 glorious servings per cake, this treat is certain to satisfy any gamer's sweet tooth!

Etsy Bloggers' Blog Carnival: Summer is Here!

The topic for this week's Etsy Bloggers' Blog Carnival is summertime! Summer officially arrives on Sunday, June 21st this year and I will be celebrating since I love the summer! One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to go on roadtrips and go to the beach.

A summer would not be complete with a trip to Wasaga Beach, Ontario. This has been one of my very favorite summer trips since I was a kid and we would take family vacations there. I remember staying at cottages with my family going "up north" as we like to call it. This was also the place where one of my best friends in high school and I travelled for one of my very first vacations away from home for a few days without parents. All in all, my trips to Wasaga Beach each summer have created so many amazing memories!

The beach is one of my favorite places to relax in the sun and read a book. When you're starting to feel a little bit warm, you're within a few steps of the water where you can jump into the waves. Wasaga Beach is fantastic because it seems like you can keep walking out forever and still be able to touch the bottom. And with 14km of white sand beach and paranoramic mountain views across the Bay, you can't go wrong!

Wasaga Beach is also home to some of the greatest sunsets. There's nothing like walking along the beach with the sun setting before your eyes, disappearing into the lake at the horizon. The sky is filled with streaks of pink, orange and red before nightfall, where millions of stars stretch from one side of the sky to the other.

Of course, there are always the annoying things about the beach, such as forgetting to apply sunscreen somewhere and coming home with a bit of a sunburn, or having sand stuck to you for the rest of the day. These are the small sacrifices that we make for days at the beach, I suppose!

If you live in Southern Ontario, I'm sure that you've visited Wasaga Beach before as it is very popular. If you're looking for a fun day trip or a place to spend the week and would like more information, be sure to visit the Wasaga Beach Tourism website.

Custom Pac-Man Coffee Table

Syd Bolton, curator of the Personal Computer Museum in Brantford, ON commissioned a custom painted Pac-Man coffee table to be made out of an old generic wooden table. The result? Pure geeky awesomeness complete with a giant Pac-Man and a screenshot from this classic arcade game. Artist Erin McFadden did an excellent job of transforming this table into a work of art. For more photos, please check out the Destructoid article about the coffee table.

The Lab Rats recently visited the PC Museum and Syd's amazing video game collection, and you can check out the place where this coffee table lives along with Syd's massive game collection by watching The Lab Rats On Deck at the Personal Computer Museum. You can also see some footage of the PC Museum for yourself by watching The Lab Rats On Location at the Personal Computer Museum. The upcoming episode of The Lab Rats at the PC Museum is released on Monday, June 22nd at 5pm EST, so stay tuned.

Tetris Ceramic Pots

Check it out - TETRIS POTS by artist Stephanie Choplin. These are colorful ceramic pots inspired by the video game, Tetris. Stephanie created these pots in 2007 at a ceramics course at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. I just love the bright colors on the inside of the pots and the clean white exterior. Most of all, I'm a huge fan of Tetris, so they would look great anywhere in my home. Hopefully these will someday go into full production so I can buy some for myself!

Custom Work - Phoenix Wright Needlepoint Patch

Here is a custom order that I completed last week - it is a handmade needlepoint patch featuring the video game character, Phoenix Wright! This is a patch with felt on the back - the person who ordered it from me is putting it on their laptop bag. It was really fun to figure out the pattern and the colors for the needlepoint work, and I really enjoyed making it!

I have made a couple of larger needlepoint creations of video games in the past, including a larger Super Mario one, a Pac-Man one, and an Earthbound Nintendo DS case (a present for my fiance).

Cute Tin of Pac-Man Candies!

I was out for a walk a few days ago and stopped by my local Microplay video game store to pick up the new Punch-Out game for the Wii (a get-well-soon present for my fiance who just had his appendix taken out!) By the counter, they had these adorable little tins of candies that are Pac-Man themed! I managed to get the last red ghost that is filled with little red sour cherry candies inside shaped like little Pac-Man ghosts. Aren't they cute?!

I can put the tin with my little growing collection of Nintendo candy tins (I think I have a mushroom, a star, a Nintendo controller, and a Wii remote now!). Couldn't resist buying this one though!

25 Years of Tetris at CNN's iReport

CNN's iReport has a feature called 25 Years of Tetris where they are asking fans of the game to post their special memories, photos and videos of the game. I submitted my love for the game through my memories of playing it as a kid (and now!), and how I have combined my love for crafting and gaming through my creation of video game crafts - including my Tetris Needlepoint Fridge Magnets.

If you have a special memory of Tetris, you should go to the site and post it there, or at least share it here in the comments section! It is one of the great classic games that continues to be popular today.

Update: This has now been marked as being featured "on CNN" and is in their featured iReport area!

Fun with Twitter - Friends' Blogs!

Twitter is so much fun! Writing down whatever comes to mind, meeting new people from around the world, and sharing similar interests like your Etsy shops! I've decided to compile a Blog List of my Twitter Friends! So if you're looking to do some new online reading, check out these blogs!

And if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, please check out my page! And if you'd like to check out my other blog, please visit The Adventures of Poolie and Loolie (our travel blog).

1. Fauxrealz - http://www.gloisoap.blogspot.com/
2. TiffanyHoran - http://www.inspirationalcoffee.blogspot.com/
3. missknits - http://missknitsetsy.blogspot.com/
4. BunniesNBuggies - http://adventuresinblueberrypancakes.blogspot.com/
5. Selana1505 - http://handarbeitslram.myblog.de/
6. Carronera - http://carrion-marionette.blogspot.com/
7. onarollcozies - http://onarollaccessories.blogspot.com/
8. hjmart - http://hjmart.blogspot.com/
9. glitterstar - http://glitterstardesigns.blogspot.com/
10. contourmysoul - http://contourmysoul.blogspot.com/
11. Clanoxie - http://soldierprincessandme.blogspot.com/
12. Jesskiri - http://jesskiri.blogspot.com/