Flowers make a nice gift to the friend that needs a smile or for that special someone in your life. Roses are even better. But sometimes even roses don’t cut it. Sometimes you need something a little more non-cliché, something…extraordinary… Sometimes, you need BACON.

Bacon Roses [instructables]

In New York’s Hudson River Valley, craftsman David Rees still practices the age-old art of manual pencil sharpening. His artisanal service is perfect for artists, writers, and standardized test takers. Shipped with their shavings and a “certificate of sharpening,” these extra-sharp pencils make wonderful gifts.

Traditionally people mail in their pencils to be sharpened; however David now offers a new service: He will provide the pencil.

IS THIS A JOKE?

If you start a pencil-sharpening business, you can expect to hear this question a lot. The short answer? No, this is not a joke. You pay David Rees money and he sharpens your pencils. It actually happens.

If you think it’s a joke, why don’t you poke yourself with your newly sharpened pencil? Or better yet, don’t — because it’ll really hurt. In fact, every pencil David Rees sharpens is shipped with a signed and dated certificate authenticating that it is now a dangerous object.

$60 gets you a sharp pencil and the poster you see here. Only want your pencil sharpened? That’s just $15.

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening

This is the INTIMIDATOR Puzzle Sculpture from GarE Maxton.

The INTIMIDATOR breaks down into over 125 separate pieces. In addition to standard notched pieces, the puzzle includes cap screws, springs, threaded parts, cylinders, hex bits and numerous circular borings to obtain the locking fit for two different assembly procedures.

There are some special parts within the puzzle sculpture that create an altogether different assembly…..

The INTIMIDATOR PUZZLE PISTOL is is a single shot 45 caliber muzzle loading pistol; a unique offering for personal self defense.

The sculpture includes everything required for assembly of the puzzle pistol. Integrated into the sculpture are a customized set of tools, all necessary hardware, 45 caliber bullets, a standard sight, a laser sight, a cannister containing black powder pellets, a secure storage area for 209 shotgun primers, a spent primer removal tool and a ramrod for loading the bullets.

The INTIMIDATOR- by GarE Maxton

Scott Wade creates beautiful artwork on dirty cars.  Check out his photo gallery and the video below.

Dirty Car Art

There are two parts to Martin Skelly’s Playlist Player: the player, and the record box containing five different colored covers. Once the playlists are chosen and synced to the player with a memory stick, the user customizes the outside of the sleeve with artwork of their choice. It could be photos of a memorable night or person or typed and hand drawn tracklists. Once the record is placed on the player, the music begins and the outer ring of lights illuminates. As the playlists plays rings of light visible through the translucent record move towards the centre of the disc, like a needle tracking on a record. These lights represent time and not the number of tracks, meaning your music must be enjoyed from start to finish with no distractions like the temptation to skip tracks, fast forward or rewind.

The design comments on digital music and the instant and all-too-often unfulfilling ways that we interact with it. “It’s easy to add lots of music onto iTunes, but hard to navigate it effectively and set aside the time to respect and love your music,” Skelly says. “Digital music can be rushed and tracks skipped far too easily.”

Martin Skelly’s Playlist Player [Martin Skelly]

Alexa Meade thinks completely backwards. Most artists use acrylic paints to create portraits of people on canvas. But not Meade – she applies acrylic paints on her subjects and makes them appear to be a part of the painting!

Meade is an installation artist based in the Washington, DC area. Her innovative use of paint on the three dimensional surfaces of found objects, live models, and architectural spaces has been incorporated into a series of installations that create a perceptual shift in how we experience and interpret spatial relationships.

. . . . .

“I paint representational portraits directly on top of the people I am representing. The models are transformed into embodiments of the artist’s interpretation of their essence. When captured on film, the living, breathing people underneath the paint disappear, overshadowed by the masks of themselves.”

See 15 pictures in the article, and more at Alexa Meade’s website.

Hyper-Realistic Acrylic Body Painting [My Modern Metropolis]

Enough said.

Color By Numbers Toilet Paper [Walyou]

South America + Africa = Tyrannosaurus Rex [Geekologie]

A) No, so dont put it in the dishwasher

Q) Is this case flammable?

A) If you light it on fire it is

Q) Will this case make me awesome?

A) I think that goes without saying

Q) Is there a warranty?

A) no, it is cardboard afterall

Q) Can I get a paper cut on my ear while using this case?

A) My first guess would be no, but anything is possible, we dont promote unsafe use of the recession case

These are actually for sale.

iPhone 3G / 3GS recession case [Case-Mate]

Papierarbeiten [Simon Schubert]