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Middle School | Blaker Makerspace | Medfield

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The journey of a Middle School Makerspace.

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6th Grade Explorations Rotating Class
Share their theme/poem painted on a pole to be installed outside of the school.

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8th Grade Spanish Class- used thenounproject.com for images.

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Character CUBE Construct a 3 dimensional robot helmet (head) that would protect you from an internal or external fear. Be able to explain your design decisions of what it is protecting you from. Demonstrate your crafting knowledge and capabilities using cardboard, cutting tools, glues and fastene...

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Intro to Cardboard Engineering

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Tinkering Activity: Dancing Boxes | Exploratorium

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A scissor mechanism lets you give high fives while social distancing! Young builders may need help cutting out the cardboard.

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Elementary & Middle Grade Curriculum

Cyber Arcade: Programming and Making with micro:bit is a fun and creative introduction to computer science and hands-on making for makers in elementary (ages 9-12) and middle (ages 12-14) grade levels with little to no experience in programming and 3D design.

Using a Micro:bit (a pocket-sized computer) and MakeCode (free online coding software), young makers practice problem-solving and teamwork to create interactive arcade games. In each session, makers have opportunities to develop knowledge in computer science, engineering, art, and game design, as well as gain exposure to real-world industry concepts and vocabulary.

Below, you can access:

A curriculum guide offering facilitation and troubleshooting tips designed to encourage makers to use available resources to work through challenges with their peers (as opposed to viewing the teacher as the expert).

The elementary curriculum, available as one document or by individual week/unit.

The middle school curriculum, an abbreviated version of the elementary curriculum, available as one document or by individual week/unit.

This curriculum was designed to be used in a longer term learning environment, both in school and out of school (approx. 20-25 makers), since sessions intentionally synthesize skills learned in previous sessions that results in a culminating project where learners build complex and fun cyber arcade games! However, as each community and learning space is different, lessons are also designed to be modular. The unit structure is intended to be a guide to the lessons and you can adapt and adjust pacing as needed to best suit the needs of your learners.

Each lesson includes:
Click thumbnails to download!
Elementary Curriculum
View the accompanying instructional slideshow for the Elementary School curriculum.
Middle School Curriculum
View the accompanying instructional slideshow for the Middle School curriculum. This curriculum was developed in partnership with afterschool site coordinators in Oakland Unified School District's Expanded Learning Department through an ASES Kids Code grant and in collaboration with Sarah Chung (content), Goli Mohammadi (editorial), and Kim Dow (design).

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Cyber Arcade: Programming and Making with micro:bit

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Cyber Arcade: Programming and Making with micro:bit is a fun and creative introduction to computer science and hands-on making for makers in elementary (ages 9-12) and middle (ages 12-14) grade levels with little to no experience in programming and 3D design.

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'Caine's Arcade' charmed the world with its message of creativity, hard work, perseverance, and community, and how a simple act of kindness could lead to wonderful and unexpected outcomes.

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I've always worked with permission from the relevant authorities who have actively supported and helped with the installation. They also carry the relevant health and safety, public liability cover that we tend to need these days. It's easy (and relatively inexpensive) to get public liability insurance.

My tip is it's well worth having as it's nearly always required before being given permission to install your yarn bomb.

In certain areas it is still considered to be graffiti and therefor illegal and the artist could face punishment for littering or vandalism.

Keep in everyones good books by being considerate when choosing a place for the installation.

Do not obstruct signage, especially parking and traffic signs. Think safety.

Of course you don't have to get permission you could just risk it but it's very likely that your work will be removed almost as soon as it goes up.

Be respectful.

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Ten tips for a successful yarn bomb. | EMMA LEITH

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Whether it be to highlight a cause, create a buzz or simply to brighten up an urban area, yarn bombing can be the perfect means to attract attention. When done with care and consideration it's guaranteed to raise a smile and prompt a selfie!

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Glowforge Customers Training Center - 2D Vector Design

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Physical Computing (micro:bit) + lasercutter

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Physical Computing (micro:bit) + lasercutter

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I designed this project for a special Code Club event at the Clippers basketball arena ( follow this link to see a short video summary of the event). These bots are a fun way to learn to code micro:bits to control servo motors. The bot's two motor-controlled arms can "toss" a basketball attached to a clear acrylic tether.

Materials

Components:

(2x) Flanged ball bearings (3x10x4mm) like these

M3 x 16mm screws

(2x) 9g Servos

micro:bit motor control board (to provide power to the motors and micro:bit separately). I used this one.

power cable for the control board

micro:bit microcontroller

1/8″ in wood sheet (opaque 1/8″ acrylic can work as well)

Small piece 1/8″ clear acrylic

(4x) 12mm M2 machine screws

(4x) M2 nuts

(5x) 12mm M3 machine screw

(1x) 16mm (or longer) M3 machine screw

(6x) M3 nuts

(2x) 8mm machine screws that fit your servo gear (M2 or M2.5, usually, depending on your servo)

Tools:

laser cutter or laser cutting service

screwdriver

LaserCut the Sheet Materials:

Download the vector file from the link below the image. All pieces are in the file named "basketBotAcrylicOnly.svg." Also, the wood and acrylic pieces are saved in two separate files. Follow the instructions in the file to cut the different color pieces from 1/8″ sheet wood and 1/8″ acrylic. Note that the cyan colored lines are intended to be etched.

Assembly

Insert Bearings and Motors

After cutting out the main pieces from 1/8″ wood sheet as shown at left, take the two body-shaped parts, gather the two bearings and two 9g servo motors. The build images show metal gear servos, because that's what I had on hand, but standard plastic gear servo motors work just fine and are cheaper.

Place the two body-shaped wood pieces together so their shapes align. Decide which will be the front layer and which one will be the back layer.

The bearings fit into the circular slots in the body so that the flanged parts sit in between the two wood pieces. The fit is snug, so gently push the narrower end of the bearing down into the wood piece as it sits flat on a table, and apply pressure with a book or some other flat object to insert it fully into the hole.

After inserting the bearings, take the back wooden layer and one of the servo motors. Hold the layer so that the flanged side of the bearing faces you and slide the servo connector cable down through a rectangular hole. Then place the servo down into the same hole with the gear connector located towards the top of the rectangular hole nearest the bearing. Repeat with the second 9g servo. Then place the top wooden layer over the first so that the servo "shelf" protrusions are sandwiched between the layers. Then use the four 12mm M2 screws and nuts to secure the layers together through the holes just above and below the servo motors.

Attach the Servo Horns and Bot Arms

The single-sided servo horns are used to hold and move the player's arms. Most 9g servos come with a variety of horn shapes as well as two pointy screws to pierce and hold the horn and a flat-ended screw to secure the horn to the servo. The flat ended screw that came with my servo wasn't long enough to pass through the wood piece before screwing into the servo motor, so I had to find other screws that would fit. I found M2.5 8mm screws worked for the metal gear servos, but M2.0 8mm screw fits standard 9g servos best.

Before inserting the screws, orient the main servo gears to their middle position. You can do this by slotting the servo horns over the gear, then rotating them manually over their full range of motion to be sure that the horn is pointing straight up or straight down at the stopping points. If that's not the case, lift off the horn and place it over the gear at a different angle and repeat the process. Once the horn is placed so that the servo horn is vertical at both rotation endpoints, manually rotate the servo gear until the horn is in the middle position, then lift the horn off of the gear.

Next, take one of the wooden laser cut arms, a single-sided servo horn, one of the pointy servo screws and the 8mm (M2 or M2.5, depending on which one fits) machine screw for the main servo gear. Slide the machine screw into the hole to hold the center of the servo horn in place, and, using a screwdriver, drive the pointy screw through the wood arm piece from the top and into one of the small holes on the servo horn. It will take a bit of force, and you will have to hold the horn to the wooden arm until it they are securely screwed together.

After the horn is securely attached to the arm, place the arms over the servo so that the gear slots into the horn, and the arms are extended horizontally as shown, and use the machine screw to secure the arms to the servos. If you have flush cutters, you may want to (carefully - use eye protection!) cut the pointy ends off of the servo screws.

Attach the Basketball

Now that the arms are secured, gather the two laser cut basketballs, the acrylic basketball "tether," one 12mm M3 screw, the 16mm or longer M3 screw and four M3 nuts. Manually rotate both of the bots arms until they point downward, to keep them out of the way for this next step.

Next, secure the basketballs to the tether using the 12mm M3 screw and nut through the center holes. Both basketballs are secured on the same side of the tether, stacked on top of one another.

Now place the 16mm (or longer) M3 screw through the hole at the small end of the tether. The screw head should be on the same side of the acrylic tether as the wooden basketballs. Fasten two M3 nuts on the other side of the screw. This will hold the basketball in the correct position for the arms to push it. After both M3 nuts are secured, slide the end of the screw through both of the bearings from the front of the bot. Secure the screw behind the back bearing with the remaining M3 nut. The tether should easily pivot on the screw, allowing the ball to travel in an arc back and forth between the bot's arms.

Attach the Base

Gather the remaining wooden pieces shown in the first image above. The two long rectangles wtih notches form the base that allows the bot to stand freely. You will need a total of four 12mm M3 screws and nuts to secure the base pieces. Take one of the base pieces and slide the center two notches upwards into the notches near the bot's feet as shown in the picture at right. Lay the bot on its side so that the long base piece rests sits horizontally. Place one circular spacer over each hole in the base piece as shown, then slide two of the M3 screws through one of the "figure 8" shaped pieces. Lower the "figure 8" piece over the spacers and carefully insert the nuts through the spacers and the the holes in the base piece. Secure three wooden layers together by attaching M3 nuts to the screws. Now repeat this operation for the other base piece. Your bot is now fully constructed, and should stand freely.

Programming Basket:Bot

To code the basket:bot, you will need to attach your micro:bit (or other controller) to the bot's two servo motors. I used a micro:bit extension board that allows the motors to be powered separately from the micro:bit. Without the extension board, it is difficult to connect Power/Ground/Signal from each motor to the mciro:bit. There are a number of micro:bit motor control boards on the market, and any of them should work fine with this project.

Connect each servo motor to the control board, and attach the micro:bit. In my example I connected the servos to miocro:bit pins 12 and 13. Click this link to view and edit the micro:bit code to control the basket:bot's arms with the micro:bit buttons A and B.

I wrote a set of instructions to guide students through writing the code for basket:bot. You can view and dowload a PDF version of the instructions at the end of this post, or download an editable Word version from this link.

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I designed this project for a special Code Club event at the Clippers basketball arena ( follow this link to see a short video summary of the event). These bots are a fun way to learn to code micro:bits to control servo motors.

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GeekMomProjects: Day of the Day lasercut LED pendant

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GeekMomProjects: Day of the Day lasercut LED pendant

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This Dia de los Muertos edge lit LED pendant is a new design for of the Layered edge-lit Pendant project, and it's perfect for Halloween. The vector files for this project are now included in the original blog post, or you can download just the files for this design from the link below.

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This Dia de los Muertos edge lit LED pendant is a new design for of the Layered edge-lit Pendant project, and it's perfect for Halloween. The vector files for this project are now included in the original blog post, or you can download just the files for this design from the link below.

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WARNING: THIS PROJECT USES BUTTON CELL BATTERIES THAT ARE EASILY REMOVED. Button cell batteries can be fatal to small children and animals if swallowed.The small size of these batteries makes them easy to swallow. Please use caution and common sense to keep your batteries (and the displays) out of the reach of small children and animals
I've written several posts about the Teeny-Tiny Edge-Lit Display and its variants, the Teeny-Tiny Edge-Lit Trophy and the Edge-Lit Pendant. Here is yet another adaptation that is even easier to build and makes a good kids' project. The thirty-seven campers (most in 5th grade) from PS Science made this project this week and it went over very well. Some kids will still need help, but by and large, they can manage it themselves.

Kid-friendly adaptations include:

1. A larger wooden base which allows hand bending of the LED to fit (no pliers or cutting of LED legs required)

2. Copper tape is folded directly around the LED legs before they are inserted into the base, rather than applying the tape after the LED is inserted.

3. Larger acrylic display on which makers can etch their own patterns with a file - for more creative options

Warning: Coin cell batteries can be dangerous, even fatal, if ingested. This project is best for children ages 12 and up. If they have younger siblings at home, please be sure they know to keep the project, and the battery out of their reach.

A time-lapse video of the build is below:

Much of the build description below has been copied from previous posts, but I'm including it all here for completeness.

Super small 2x3x4mm rectangular LEDs. I used the color cycling versions

1/8″ wood sheet for laser cutting

1/8″ clear acrylic sheet

4 x 12 mm M3 screws and 4 M3 nuts

1/4″ wide copper tape, with conductive adhesive cut into two 1.5″ segments and two .5″ segments (approximately)

1 x CR2032 battery

Screwdriver

Scissors

Small file (I used this set from Amazon)

Laser cutter (or an online laser cutting service like Ponoko)

paper/pen for sketching a pattern to trace into the acrylic

Laser Cut the Wood and Acrylic:

The files for laser cutting the wood sheet and acrylic are below. They are designed to fit the LED and CR2032 battery exactly, so do not resize them before cutting. Cut the base out of 1/8″ wood and the top from 1/8″ clear acrylic. In the acrylic, the blue lines are for cutting and the red lines are for etching. Once the pieces are cut, remove any protective paper from the wood and acrylic.

Etch a Design into the Acrylic:

Using the file, scratch a design into the acrylic piece. It's best to sketch the design onto a piece of paper then place the acrylic over the paper, so you can trace the lines you've drawn. If you will be including text, draw the image on one side of the paper, then flip it over and draw the reversed image on the back side. Etch the reversed image into the acrylic. Do this because edge-lit effects look best when the etching is on the back side of the acrylic, which requires inverting the text before etching it. If the image contains no text and you don't care about the orientation, it's not necessary to invert it.

Prepare and Place the LED:

There are three pieces of laser-cut wood in the project. The two identical pieces are the outer layers, and the piece with the open notch on top will hold the LED and copper tape for the circuit. Bend the legs of the LED slightly outwards as shown in the images, so that it will fit in the curved channels in the middle wood layer. The U-shaped slot is about the size of a fingertip, so you may find it helpful to bend the LED around the tip of one of your (smaller) fingers. Test the LED to see if it fits in the slot. The head of the LED should sit in the open notch as shown.

Make the Copper Tape Circuit:

Once the LED is bent correctly, remove it from the wood piece so that you can attach the copper tape to the legs. Cut two pieces of copper tape that are about 1.5 inches long. Peel the backing off the tape and fold each piece of tape together around one of the LED legs as shown. The tape should be positioned about 3/4 of the way down the legs.

Place the LED back inside the middle wood piece so that the head of the LED sits in the notch at the top and the legs each fit inside a side channel with the copper tape sticking up out of the channels.

Then, being careful that the LED stays in place, bend the ends of both pieces of copper tape down towards the center rectangular hole. Push the ends of the tape through the rectangular hole and gently pull them out the back side of the wood until there is no slack in the tape. You may find a fine-nosed pliers helpful here.

Flip the wooden piece over, and fold the ends of the tape towards the outside edges of the wooden piece. Smooth the tape down and gently crease it at the corners so it wraps around the wood and sits flush at the surfaces.

Place the middle wooden piece containing the LED on a table upside down so that the loose ends of the folded copper tape are on top of the wood. Cut two smaller pieces of copper tape - about 1/2″ apiece. Press the loose ends of the folded copper tape down against the wood, and use the smaller copper tape pieces to stick the ends down on the wood. Lay the smaller pieces of tape vertically along the channels in the wood as shown below. Smooth the tape down so it sticks well to the wood and that it sits as flush as possible.

Test the Circuit:

Before assembling the pieces of the pendant, test the copper tape circuit by placing the coin cell battery into the middle slot of the middle wooden piece. If all has gone well, the LED should light up. Remember that the circuit only works with the battery in one orientation, so if it doesn't light up at first attempt, flip the battery around and try it again the other way. Once you are sure that the electrical connection is good, remove the coin cell battery and set it and the copper tape circuit aside for now.

Assemble the Display:

Take one of the two identical wooden base pieces, and place the 12mm M3 screws into the holes from the outside (pretty side of the wood if there is one) to the inside, then place the piece down on the table so that the screws point upwards. Place the middle base layer (the one with the LED and copper tape) over the screws, and place the acrylic display into the middle base layer so that its "legs" fit into the slots around the LED. Slide the last wooden layer over the screws, and twist the nuts over the end of the screws using your fingers. Once all four nuts are on, tighten them with a screwdriver.

Slot the base into the small stand piece. You may want to add a touch of glue to help the stand stay in the base if the fit isn't tight.

Show it Off:

Insert the coin cell battery into the slot to make the display light up, and place it somewhere you'll enjoy it. Remember to be careful with a coin cell battery around young children. Never leave it anywhere a small child could ingest it.

Here are some examples of the wonderful displays the campers at PS Science summer camp made this year:

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WARNING: THIS PROJECT USES BUTTON CELL BATTERIES THAT ARE EASILY REMOVED. Button cell batteries can be fatal to small children and animals if swallowed.The small size of these batteries makes them easy to swallow.

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MIT MakerLab: using graphic tools /techniques for Vinyl/Lasercut projects

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MIT MakerLab: using graphic tools /techniques for Vinyl/Lasercut projects

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K-12 MakerLab at the MIT Edgerton Center

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graphics tools and techniques for laser and vinyl cutters

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Copy (Select item)... CTRL/CMD + C

Paste (Select item)... CTRL/CMD + V

Delete (Select item) ... Press the Delete key on the keyboard.

Update on Delete: _After the Autosave Settings Saver migration on 01/08/2018, if you delete a part or item from your file it will stay gone when you close it.
The next time you open the file, it will not be there.
If you wish to have a part not process without deleting it, drag it over onto the gray bar area. It will not be processed, but will still be available in the file for the next time, and your settings and placement on other items will be preserved by the Autosave.

Alternatively, create a copy of your uploaded files on the Dashboard before you open it if you plan to make changes to it and want to keep an untouched original available.
(Modified Catalog files can be Reset from the [...] button on the work screen if you have accidentally deleted something that you later need.)
Zoom In and Out... CTRL/CMD + or - on keypad, or use the magnifiers on the top row of interface

Another method of Zooming is to... CTRL/CMD + use the middle mouse scroll wheel.

Move (Nudge) the placement of the image on the material:
Select the object and drag it, or use the Arrow Keys on the keyboard to nudge the object.

Move (Nudge) the placement of the image on the material in large jumps:
Hold down the SHIFT key while using the Arrow Keys on the keyboard.
...(note: the amount of movement for the nudges gets smaller the more you zoom in on the image, making extremely accurate placements possible. Zoom in and nudge.)
Rotate
Drag on the little "circular arrow" handle at the top of a selected object:

Rotate through a fixed 45° angle while dragging in steps:
Click on the handle, hold, press down the Shift key, and rotate through fixed 45° angle clicks.

Scale an Object:
When an object is selected, a small ruler appears at the lower left corner of the screen...clicking on that will open the Measurements palette and the object can be resized and moved.

Pan :
Hold down the SPACE bar while dragging, or click the little hand on the top row in the interface.

Another method of Panning up and down is to use the middle mouse scroll wheel.
Selecting Objects:

1. CTRL/CMD + A selects everything on the board.

2. You can also drag out a selection rectangle to select everything inside.

3. Partially dragging across an object (or touching it while dragging) selects it as well.

4. And you can hold down the SHIFT key and click on individual objects to select them.

Important notes about Selecting Objects on the board:

1. If there are separate parts of a design that are inside a closed vector shape (like a circle or a rectangle) the GFUI (Glowforge User Interface) will treat all of the parts as a group, and you can click anywhere on it to select the entire thing, no matter whether parts are bitmaps or vectors, and no matter how many colors you have included for different operations. It acts as a single unit when you are dragging it around on the board.

2. But...if the outer shape is not a closed path, each part of the design inside is treated separately when dragging and selecting. So very complex designs with lines that cross over each other can be difficult to select entirely by dragging a rectangle around it. This is especially critical to be aware of when working with some CAD exports, since curves can be exported as short choppy segments instead of smooth curves, and they might look joined, but they actually aren't.

The interface will deal with the disconnected segments without joining them first, but moving it around for placement on the bed is hard if the bed is crowded with shapes.

_To treat a bunch of unjoined segments as a group without having to join them, draw a single stroke rectangle around the shape, give it a different color than your other cutlines, and save the file. Then just set the rectangle to Ignore in the interface. You can move everything around easily.

Adjusting the Pickup on Bitmap (Raster) Images with the Trace Tool:
Couple of keyboard commands can help you to adjust the pickup on the scan results when using the Trace Tool in the interface.

CTRL/CMD + Up Arrow will pick up lighter strokes and marks on the paper.
CTRL/CMD + Down Arrow will reduce noise effects and light marks.

Holding Down the SHIFT key with either key command above gives a Turbo Boost effect.

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Other Things you Can Do in the Interface

See Hidden Thumbnails.
If you have a complex design with a lot of colors and some of your thumbnails extend below the bottom of the viewing area, hover the cursor over the thumbnail column and use the middle scroll wheel on the mouse to scroll up and down to see them.

Change the Order of Operations:
If you want certain parts of your design to cut or engrave first and other parts second, you can change the order of the operations by clicking on a thumbnail and dragging it up or down in the column before releasing it. Operations in the thumbnail column are performed from the top down. If you want to have different cutting operations, assign a different stroke color to the different operations in your design. (Interior lines- red, outside lines - green.) You can also order the cut operations by the specific colors that you choose to use... Custom Inkscape, Illustrator, CorelDraw and Affinity Designer Color Palettes for ordering operations in GFUI.

Set the Material Thickness:
If you are using a non-PG material it is VERY IMPORTANT that you tell the Glowforge how thick it is so that it can focus the lid camera properly. Not doing so can cause a lot of alignment deviation, and your cuts can wind up falling into a hole in the material!
We now have two methods to set the material thickness:

Click on the button at the top of the thumbnail column, then click on Use Uncertified Material and enter the thickness of the material in whichever units you have set up for the display.

You can also use the left Search button in this palette to find the settings for your Proofgrade materials in case of a bad sticker (read error). Clicking on the material name will automatically load the correct settings for your Proofgrade materials into the correct slots for engraving, cutting and scoring.

The second method released on 04/29/2019 is to use the Set Focus button in the Gear settings icon.

Click with the red cross near the item you want to focus on to take a measurement of the thickness there for placement purposes.
Change your Default units to Metric and do some Math:
As of 08/01/2018 you have the option to set your units of measurement to Metric:

Glowforge - the 3D laser printer

Meet Glowforge, the 3D laser printer that makes magical things at the push of a button.

Locating your Design Parts on the Bed:
The thumbnails in the left column of the Glowforge interface describe individualoperations. They can be engraves, cuts or score lines. Each one tells the GFUI that you want it to do something to certain lines or filled areas, and each one is differentiated from the others by using a different color to create it when you are designing the file. You do not have to set five different colors if you have five cuts, you can set one color for all the cut lines in a file, another color for all the score lines, and a different color for the engrave areas. Or any combination of the above. When you are designing, think in terms of how many separate operations you want to perform, and select that many colors to use.

In order to see which lines that operation will be applied to, hover the cursor over the thumbnail in the left column. The Preview on the bed will light up blue for the affected lines or engraves. Everything else will stay pink.

Change a Cut Line into a Score Line
The GFUI automatically treats unfilled strokes as Cut Lines when it loads a vector file. If you want to have that line be scored instead of cut, you need to specify that in the thumbnail.

Click on the Thumbnail, then on the carat at the right

Then choose Convert to Score

Set an Operation to Ignore:
If you need to set an operation to be ignored in the interface, click on the Thumbnail for it, then on the carat, then choose Ignore.

Enter Manual Settings:
If you want to over-ride the default operation settings for a material, or set your own for an Unknown Material, you guessed it, click the Thumbnail, then the carat, then Manual. The most recently selected Proofgrade settings will be populated in the slots for the Proofgrade, and you can make small adjustments easily. When you are using Manual settings, the speed and power values selected will appear in the thumbnails once they have been set.

Upgraded: A recent upgrade to the interface now gives us the ability to save our own settings for non-Proofgrade materials. You can read about the improvements and learn how to use them here:

Refresh the Camera Bed Image:
Click the little gear icon in the teal bar to get a new camera shot.

Get Instructions for Purchased Files from the Catalog
If you purchase a Catalog item with assembly instructions, click the icon shown to make them pop up in a side bar. Click back on the bed to close the bar.

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Access Important Unit Cleaning, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting Information for your Machine:

Click the Support Button. It will bring you to a section that has important troubleshooting steps that you can try to get the machine going again while they are still rolling out changes to the machines. Many of these changes will impact the machine temporarily and make it freeze up or produce unexpected changes, and a lot of these just require a reset to fix the problem. The first steps to try are listed here.

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Glowforge Interface - Tips & Tricks for Using the App 🤔

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The Dashboard: Sign in to app.glowforge.com Keyboard Shortcuts and Maneuvering in the Interface: Copy (Select item)... CTRL/CMD + C Paste (Select item)... CTRL/CMD + V Undo ... CTRL/CMD + Z Delete (Select item) ... Press the Delete key on the keyboard.

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Box Generators For Cricut/ Laser Cutting

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Box Generators For Cricut/ Laser Cutting

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MakerCase generates box designs for laser cutters and CNC routers and outputs SVG and DXF files ready for cutting.

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This week we’ve started the second round of online tinkering workshops with our friends at Cabaret Mechanical Theater. In this workshop, titled Computational Contraptions, we’re exploring the intersection between the digital and physical world, especially connected to automata and other kinetic sculptures.

But we wanted to go a little future to connect with the artists that we’re highlighting in the CMT workshop. Sarah suggested taking some inspiration from Peter Markey’s style of blocky characters for this intro activity. We found that the geometric style worked really well to turn the Micro:bit into a fun character.

The materials that we used for this project included paper, sharpies, 20 gauge galvinized steel wire and masking tape in addition to the Micro:bit board. I also used some scrap cardboard and magazines for collaged clothes, hats and hair for the characters.

For the first step, I cut a piece of wire about 6-8 in long. Then I threaded the wire through the little hole on the right side of the board next to the B button and looped it around the GND (ground) hole a couple of times.

Then I cut a little piece of white printer paper to fit in the horizontal space between the two buttons for the face as well as a larger piece for the body. These can be little rectangles if you want to follow the style of Peter Markey but they can also be all types of different shapes depending on what kind of creature or character you want to make.

For the first experiments, I drew a face with sharpies, attached it to the wire using masking tape and then arranged it so that the LED screen of the Micro:bit became the mouth of the character. You might need to bend the wire a bit so that the paper sits flush against the board.

November 12, 2020

microbit, animation, faces, automata, cabaret mechanical theater, computational tinkering, computational contraptions, expressive coding, makecode, sensors, buttons, LEDs, peter markey, kinetic sculptures, digital tinkering, digital pets

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Micro:bit Computational Characters — Wonderful Idea Co.

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This week we’ve started the second round of online tinkering workshops with our friends at Cabaret Mechanical Theater . In this workshop, titled Computational Contraptions , we’re exploring the intersection between the digital and physical world, especially connected to automata and other kinetic

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Press question mark to see available shortcut keys

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Manual Installation: The ELECFREAKS Ring:bit Car is a small DIY smart car driven by the BBC micro:bit. Manual installation can better exercise a kid's hands-on ability.

Ring:bit Expansion Port: The micro:bit Ring:bit car extends the micro:bit's 3 GPIO ports(3 pins), allowing different sensors and components to be easily attached to the micro:bit.

Creativity: Rich makecode graphical programming blocks allow kids to learn programming from the simplest to more complex. They can achieve making a shape, crazy dance, remote control, etc.

Optional Purchase: Ring:bit Car Accessories (Sonar:bit, Tracking Module and LED Light bar). Your micro:bit Ring:bit Car can achieve more functions like obstacle avoiding, line-following, and light show!

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ELECFREAKS micro:bit Ring:bit V2 Car Kit (Without micro:bit Board)

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Manual Installation: The ELECFREAKS Ring:bit Car is a small DIY smart car driven by the BBC micro:bit. Manual installation can better exercise a kid's hands-on ability. Ring:bit Expansion Port: The micro:bit Ring:bit car extends the micro:bit's 3 GPIO ports(3 pins), allowing different sensors and components to be easily attached to the micro:bit.

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Yarn4Hope Fence Weaving Hearts for Ukraine

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Yarn4Hope Fence Weaving Hearts for Ukraine

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Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

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Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

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Sewing Mastery | Master Your Sewing Machine

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With a few guidelines, sewing or embroidering on paper is quick and easy. Whether you are teaching kids to sew, embellishing blank greeting cards, or adding color to scrapbook pages, sewing on paper is a CHEAP way to be creative.

OESD Essential Sentiments #12282

Decorative stitches sewn with variegated thread add an amazing pop of color to any paper craft. Try out a variety of stitches and paper types while testing machine settings to find the best results.

If using an embroidery machine, select embroidery designs without tons of fill stitches. Many embroidery companies create specific collections designed to be stitched out on paper.

Follow these helpful tips for successful stitched paper crafting using a sewing machine or embroidery machine.

OESD Essential Sentiments #12282

1. Needle Selection for Sewing on Paper

This is the most common question we get when users want to sew on paper. What needle should I use? First, determine what thread will be used - thick or thin - then match the needle to the thread. It is recommended to use a sharp needle such as a Jeans, Topstitch, or Microtex needle to achieve a nice hole through the paper.

2. Selecting the Right Paper

Experiment with different weights of paper. Cardstock, construction paper, and handmade papers are great places to start for stitches. Each is a bit sturdy and can support having holes and thread punched through them.

3. Stabilizer

With both sewing and embroidery stitching, it is best to add a layer of tear-away or cutaway stabilizer behind the stitching to assure the stitches do not tear the paper. This gives a layer of support and gives the stitches a bit more to secure themselves to.

4. Take Your Time

You will quickly realize that every stitch taken makes a hole in the paper. These holes are permanent and can not be undone.

OESD Essential Sentiments #12282

5. Stitch from the Right Side

Stitching from the right side of the paper will give the best results.

6. Do Not Use Pins

If you are in the need of securing the paper in place before stitching, consider using a dab of glue to hold the layers together.

7. Machine Stitch Length for Sewing on Paper

It is wise to lengthen the stitch length to longer than normal setting to make sure the paper is not perforated. Avoid stitches that are too close together to keep the paper from falling apart.

8. Cleaning Your Sewing Machine After Sewing on Paper

Sewing on paper is no worse than sewing on fleece or flannel. The extra lint and fuzz left in the machine after sewing on paper should be cleaned out prior to starting a new project.

9. Embroidering on Paper

As stated above, many embroidery companies offer embroidery collections designed to stitch out of paper or greeting cards. Use these examples to learn which embroidery designs you already own that would be good choices for your own paper-stitched embroideries.

10. Kids Love to Sew on Paper

When kids want to sew on your sewing machine, but you don't want them wasting fabric, hand them paper! Better yet, print off basic mazes or dot-to-dot pictures to have them practice their new sewing skills. You don't even need to put the thread in the machine for these fun exercises. The needle will create a line of holes in the paper to see where they have been stitched.

Sewing on paper can be simple, fun, and CHEAP. Next time you need to test out a stitch, try reaching out for a piece of paper instead of a piece of fabric.

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10 Things to Know About Sewing on Paper | Sewing Mastery

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With a few guidelines, sewing or embroidering on paper is quick and easy. Whether you are teaching kids to sew, embellishing blank greeting cards, or adding color to scrapbook pages, sewing on paper is a CHEAP way to be creative. Decorative stitches sewn with variegated thread add an amazing pop of color to any paper craft.

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This tutorial is on creating wonderful and fun dictionary art using paper embroidery.

I have printed on dictionary paper before, but this time I wanted to go one step further with embroidery. The trouble with dictionary paper is that it is fragile and difficult to stitch by hand without tearing.

Stitching on paper with a sewing machine is relatively easy, especially if you use the right needle and large stitches. I recently used a machine when stitching some map paper moths. Stitching on paper by hand is much harder, as it's easier to tear the paper.

Embroidery on Paper

Most of the examples I could find for stitching on paper by hand were of large cross-stitches. The holes are pre-punched into the paper to form a pattern, which is then cross-stitched. Many of these examples involved more heavy-weight paper than fine-thin dictionary paper.

I love old maps, many printed on cloth paper, making them more robust and great for crafting and upcycling. That's when I got the idea for making the dictionary paper more like old maps by using muslin.

This enabled me to create my hand-stitched free-form embroidery dictionary art by turning the dictionary pages into fabric paper.

Dictionary Art Ideas

I can't remember the last time I used a physical dictionary. These days almost all my writing is done on a computer. Like most people, I use a digital dictionary. It's the same with maps; nowadays, most people use a Sat Nav rather than paper road maps.

I have an extensive old dictionary which I use for arts and crafts. Like maps, dictionaries become outdated and need to be updated. Routes change as new roads get built like language evolves and changes as new words are developed.

I illustrated a word on a dictionary page for my latest dictionary art project. I printed and embroidered an image on the dictionary page related to a word on the paper.

Sometimes my images and words match, such as with my leaf dictionary art, are obvious. Other times the match is not instantly apparent, for example matching the word crest with a cockatoo or conical with a shell. Part of the fun of this craft is deciding what dictionary word and art picture to use.

Dictionary art was created by adding texture and highlights to the images with embroidery.

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What You Need

How To Embroidery on Paper and Make Dictionary Art
Preparing the Paper
Step1: The first thing to do is choose what page from the dictionary you want to use for the dictionary art. The idea is to match the image you embroider on the paper to a word on the dictionary page. Once chosen, carefully tear the page out of the dictionary.

I know some people are squeamish about tearing up dictionaries. For some, it just seems wrong. You can always use a photocopy instead if you are one of these people. However, this embroidered art does work better on the original, thinner book pages.

Step 2: Next, tape the dictionary page to printer paper. Then put this paper into your printer's paper feed and print the image of your choice onto the page. Print a dummy run first to ensure that the image prints the right way up and is to scale.

I made a mistake when I first printed the poppy seed head onto the poppy dictionary page; the image was printed upside down. I had to reprint the same image again. This time on a dictionary page with the word seed on it.

Step 3: Once the image has been printed onto the dictionary page, remove the masking tape. Then place the page image side down onto the clingfilm (plastic wrap). Next, paste the back of the page with Mod Podge.

Step 4: Cut a piece of muslin slightly larger than the dictionary page. Then lay the muslin onto the pasted Mod Podge page, smoothing it out as you go. Then brush another layer of Mod Podge onto the muslin.

Step 5: Leave the dictionary page to dry. Once fully dry, remove the clingfilm (plastic wrap) from the front of the dictionary page. The paper is now ready for embroidery.

Embroidery on Paper

Step 6: Thread a sharp embroidery needle with embroidery thread. I used all six strands of embroidery thread. The idea with the dictionary art was to enhance the printed images with stitches on the paper.

Just pick a particular element in the picture to stitch over. For example, I just embroidered the red stripes on the hot air balloon and left the others.

You can still see some of the printed images, and dictionary words, under the embroidery.

I used short satin embroidery stitches to fill in sections of colour on the images. To outline an image, I used a chain stitch. I used a few French knots at the top for the poppy seed head. But I do need to practice my French knots a bit more!

Top tip: Use a sharp embroidery needle to pierce dictionary pages easily. Sometimes embroidery/cross stitch needles are blunt, designed to go through the cloth with pre-stitched holes.

When the paper embroidery is finished, cut away any excess muslin from the paper.

The Dictionary Art Embroidered Images

I am so excited that I have worked out how to embroider on paper that I made five of these dictionary art pages, and I plan to make more.

Hot Air Balloon

I choose a dictionary page for the hot air balloon with the word hot. The balloon's outline was embroidered with a chain stitch, and the red stripes were filled with a satin stitch.

Leaf Dictionary Art

The veins of a tropical leaf were embroidered with a satin stitch on dictionary paper with the word leaf printed on it.

Poppy Seed Head

Initially, I was going to print this poppy head on the dictionary page with the word poppy. But as I already mentioned, I messed up the printing. I fixed this by printing the poppy seed head on the page with the word seed instead.

A simple chain stitch was used to outline the poppy head. French knots were embroidered at the top of the seed head.

Cockatoo Dictionary Art

A crested cockatoo was printed on the dictionary page with the word crest. Only the cockatoo's crest was embroidered with a satin stitch, using three colours.

Shell Dictionary Art

A cone-shaped shell was embroidered on the page with the word conical.

I enjoyed this craft; creating the dictionary art was fun. I will be stitching more dictionary pages, enough to make a gallery wall. Now that I have worked out how to hand embroider paper, I'm on the lookout for other book pages to use to create more unique and fun stitched art.

You might also want to see how I turned my children's old artwork into a large keepsake embroidered memories piece.

There are many examples of stitching on paper on the site, from making personalized map treat bags to paper bag advent calendars and even paper vases.

You will find Christmas embroidery ideas here and tip tips for watercolour embroidery.

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Paper Embroidery and How To Make Unique Dictionary Art

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This tutorial is on creating wonderful and fun dictionary art using paper embroidery. I have printed on dictionary paper before, but this time I wanted to go one step further with embroidery. The trouble with dictionary paper is that it is fragile and difficult to stitch by hand without tearing.