Album Tacos

Yes, it's true. There is an entire blog devoted to inserting the image of a taco into a classic album cover. Why? Why not?

WARNING: There is some profanity contained on some of the album covers a few pages in.

Handkerchief Wedding Invitations

 Oh, how boring wedding invitations can be...but not these babies! I would be completely stoked to get one of these in the mail. I'm not sure how you RSVP, but what a fantastic idea.

Design + letterpressing by Kelli Anderson
Fabric printing by Spoonflower
Sewing, folding, ironing, envelope typing, stamping by Youngna

via Swiss Miss

Marie Sarantoinette

Photos by Kristiina Wilson

Check out these massive sculptural wigs by designer, Kate Cusack! Seen big wigs before? Oh yeah? Were they made out of Saran Wrap? Ecological issues aside, amazing, I say.

via Ecouterre

Don Kenn's Monster Post-Its

Don (John?) Kenn writes and directs children's television shows, but in his limited spare time, he draws monsters in nightmarish landscapes on office supplies. Kind of Gorey-esque, wouldn't you say? Nice stuff. Check out his blog for more monster fun. Big thanks to Felix for passing this on.

Cents and Sensibility

Hello Dear Readers,

I thought I'd take a minute here to bend your ear about some changes I'm making to the site, very few of which will have any direct effect on you, save that you might be a little less annoyed when you log on.

Here's the deal: For the last year, DudeCraft has been hosting advertisements that appear at the top of the screen and also in the sidebar. Unfortunately, I have had very little control over what shows up, how much it blinks, and if it's even relevant to my audience. So, the long and short of it is, I've done away with them. To those of you who enjoyed watching the blinking pizza place ads and reading about invisible braces for teens, I apologize and hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me.

So, what happens now? For starters, I've instituted a monthly sponsorship program in which companies (for a ridiculously low price) can pay to sponsor Dude Craft for a month or longer. The fine folks over at Underground Signs were the first ones to take advantage of the offer, and we'd all appreciate it if you'd pop over and at least have a look at what they do (hint: it's pretty awesome).

Secondly, and also for a ridiculously low price, I will be selling twenty (and only twenty) advertising spaces that will appear in the right hand column to companies that I believe in and that I believe will be of interest to you. No blinking, no fluff, just valuable information. I will personally be vetting each company and encourage all applications from companies who think they might have the right stuff to fit in with the Dude Craft aesthetic. Each ad will be 200x200 pixels and, as I said, will be on the cheaper side of things, because advertising should be valuable to both the advertiser and the reader. And I believe that value is way more important than money. If your brand or company is interested in applying for one of the twenty spaces, please drop me an email at: dudecraft@gmail.com

Okay, enough from me. As always, I welcome (really) any comments about the site and would love to hear what you think of this new plan.

Best,

Paul

Matchstick Minas Tirith

image credit: doryfour

You may remember Patrick Acton's work from when I featured his painstakingly detailed recreation of Hogwarts in matchsticks some months ago. Staying in the realm of fantasy, he recently completed an even more impressive feat with this version of Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings. Amazing.

more photos at Kuriositas

Jeremy May's Paper Rings

As I was wandering the web this morning, as I often do, I ran across Jeremy May's incredible paper rings, which are all excavated from books and then put together with a "special" (read secret) laminating process. Well, however he does it, the results are stunning.

via Swiss Miss

Josh Blackwell's Plastic Baskets

I'm digging on Josh Blackwell's plastic bag project that seeks to turn what has become a symbol of waste and needless consumption, into something interesting, worthwhile, and possibly beautiful to look at.

via Design Boom

The Rain in Spain

I'm loving this project by Natalie Miebach in which she first uses weather data from cities to create musical scores, and then creates a sculptural representation of that score. It's one of those ideas that makes you scratch your head and wonder where it came from. No matter. I love it.

via NotCot

Cut on Dotted Line

As you know, I'm not big on pushing products, but I was amused this morning by these "cut on dotted line" decals and thought I'd pass them on. They seem kind of perfect for your sewing room, no? I suppose you could also put them around sleeping roommates and have hours of fun taking pictures.

via Dornob

If a Woodchuck Could Wear Chucks

all rights reserved David Schwen

My favorite new illustration that gave me an ear to ear smile this morning. Thanks, David Schwen

Noah Scalin's Skull o' Brains

I swear, my buddy Noah Scalin gets to do the coolest things. I guess when you write a book called Skulls and you run a blog called Skull-A-Day, you're going to get some phone calls from people who are in need of some serious skull-making skills. Most recently the Mutter Museum rang and invited Noah over for a play date where they gave him dozens of brain slices encased in acrylic from which to make his masterpiece. How cool is that? AND, he got to do it right in the museum. Brilliant.

Angry Rooster

All rights reserved by sew.zinski

Look what I found in the Flickr pool! Angry roosters embroidered on leather? I'm in. Thanks, sew.zinski ! Nice design!

Jellyfish Theater

Architects Köbberling and Kaltwasser from Berlin, with the help of dozens of volunteers have constructed London's first performance space that is made entirely from reclaimed or recycled materials. The temporary space opens at the end of August in Southwark. Any Londoners who can give first hand accounts of the space would be greatly appreciated. We are intrigued.

More at Design Boom

Idea A Day

I'm loving this Tumblr blog that I found yesterday via Swiss Miss. The concept is simple. Two young designers come up with one idea per day. Are they all brilliant? Uh, no. Is it fun to watch them take on such a monumental challenge? Yes. Check it out.

Fantasy Tree House

While "whimsy" is not my middle name, I think that if I were a kid, I'd be pretty stoked about this fantasy tree house that is part of a larger, rural theme park in British Colombia. Pretty amazing. Check out Dornob for more pics.

Darth Vader Tai Chi Lesson

Star Wars Tai Chi from John Leo on Vimeo.

Worn out from your weekend? No better way to get the blood flowing again on Monday than to take a lesson in Tai Chi from The Dark One. Just don't tick him off!

Why do people make stuff like this, you ask? Who cares? Awesome needs no reasons.

Creative Cards

I'm diggin on this latest card set from Black Rock Collective that features artwork from over thirty different artists. Gin rummy was never so fun.

via NotCot

Urban Nests

I'm digging this creative beautification/installation by Luzinterruptus in Madrid. Usually, I'm lukewarm on whimsy, but I like this a lot. This from the site:

"Walking through one of the most commercial areas of Madrid, Calle Preciados, our attention was drawn to these yellow ballswhich are put in place to avoid accidents with scaffolding joints.

There were so many of them installed that the gigantic, threatening metal tube structure had acquired, thanks to these striking points of color, a much more pleasing aspect and therefore we had the urge to stay and investigate the strange objects that people walking by were introducing into the holes.

And one warm night in July we decided to make them more visible so that people would notice, like us, what these insignificant, common objects brought to the aspect of a street under construction.

For our installation Urban Nests, we only had to populate the balls with 130 colored birds, that we left looking into the street from their makeshift homes in the scaffolding and of course light them, to achieve a warm, cozy atmosphere throughout the scaffolded area, inviting one to remain and contemplate such an unusual habitat."

via Wooster Collective

Washi Tales

There's a brilliant piece on the making of Washi Paper over at the Upon a Fold blog right now. Fascinating stuff, if you're into process. This from the site:

"Recycling: washi tales is a performance based project that explores the aesthetic and spiritual values of recycling paper. I came across this site via the always inspiring Awagami Factory, and it really blew me away. I have always wanted to see how washi paper is made and now I have, thanks to the team behind this production.Four tales of paper making from different periods of Japanese history unfold on stage, alongside a magical set created by renowned paper artist, Kyoko Ibe."

more here

Reimagining Reid Miles

Hi-Fi from bante on Vimeo.

I love this video that, at once, pays tribute to one of my favorite graphic designers of all time, and at the same time, playfully re-imagines his iconic portfolio.

The Book Art of Jacqueline Rush Lee

As you probably know, if you're a longtime reader of DudeCraft, the crowd around here is evenly split on art that uses book alteration. Some think it's sacrilege, some think it's slammin'. I gotta say, in the case of Jacqueline Rush Lee's stuff, I fall on the side of slammin'.

via Web Urbanist

I Love the Zipper Boat!

A brilliant little idea by artist, Yasuhiro Suzuki. Best if viewed from the air, obviously, so the wake appears to be fabric being unzipped by the little boat. I love it that people make stuff like this.

more of the story over at Inventor Spot

Painting With Pantone

the original by Manet

Loving this Pantone version of of Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergeres by Tim Fraser Brown.

via Badassical

Retro Futurist Social Media Ads

Love these fake social media ads that my friend Jeff pointed me to over at Laughing Squid. The future looks way more awesome in these than it actually is! Why doesn't the iPad look like the thing the guy in the Twitter ad is holding?

Paper Sk8

Skateboardanimation from Tilles Singer on Vimeo.

Fellow Durhamite and squirrel taxidermy enthusiast, Phillip, has been killing me with his links lately. I'm loving this paper skateboard animation he sent over. Tip o' the hat, sir!

Boxel

When the students at the University of Applied Sciences in Detmold, Germany were asked to conceptualize and provide a 1:1 mock up of a multi-use Summer pavilion, Henri Schweynoch designed this free flowing beauty. Then, his team built it out of 2000 beer boxes, using a slat system to invisibly hold the whole form together. Awesome!

via Design Boom

You + Me

A little obvious, but well executed and happy, that's the important part. Nice work by Nick Schmitz.

via Swiss Miss

Ghost of a Dream

I think we've all done it at one time or another, purchasing a lottery ticket and temporarily tying our hopes to the possibility of instant riches. It's a fun fantasy to have. Now, a pair of RISD grads have taken what's left of those dreams, the useless tickets themselves, and recycled them into real life art objects for a show called Ghost of a Dream. Brilliant.

via Web Urbanist

The Bookish Camera

What a find! As I was making my daily rounds around the interwebs this morning, I just happened to luck upon the site of Erin Paysse, a trained architect who spends most of her time making pinhole cameras (like the one above, made out of an old book) and custom woodworking pieces. Nice, nice, beautiful stuff! Check her out.

via NotCot