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Wireframe Diamond Earrings in Daily Candy gift guide!

w00t!! Wireframe Diamond Earrings are featured on Daily Candy's 34 Gifts for Girls guide today. Love it.

New earring design preview

Here's a very rough mockup of a new earring design I'm working on. I'm pretty excited about it. The main "stone" is of course fashioned after an emerald cut, and the others are "pearls." And looking at it on my ear, it has a kind of Victorian feel, but the 3D wireframe aspect definitely puts a different kind of spin on it. In black it's subtle yet surprising.

A new fan

This week, I was sitting in a coffee shop, assembling Wireframe Diamond Earrings for some recent Etsy orders (thanks Andrea and Jesse!). And I saw someone approach out of the corner of my eye. It was a 7 or 8 year old boy holding a skateboard, and he was looking intently at the diamond pieces. I told him how they were made, and he said "I just wanted to tell you they are really cool. I mean really cool." Made my day!

Google SketchUp and Ponoko team up

 

Google and Ponoko have a new contest to promote 3D printing.The challenge is to create some content (text, images or video), explaining how to use Google SketchUp for Ponoko 3D printing, with a first prize worth$1500. Sounds like fun!

 

Ponoko to offer 3d printing

Ponoko has started to offer 3d printing, in partnership with CloudFab. I'm excited to try out their 3d printing services. And I've been meaning to try their laser cutting services. It would also be interesting to try building a lamp I have an idea for with Personal Factory 4, which allows you to combine laser cutting, 3d printing and electronics in one product.

Ply me with pliers

When I was little, my parents bought me a pair of Lindstrom needlenosed pliers, and I always loved using them –- they just felt so luxurious and precise. I still have that pair, but it's rusted up from years of use, and no longer opens very easily.

So I just bought a new pair of chain nose Lindstrom pliers. They are a thing of beauty; expertly machined. Also, the little black plastic piece in the middle makes it so the pliers automatically reopen after you've squeezed them closed. That means less strain on hands and arms from repetitive motion. And the middle piece is adjustable for varying levels of openness to the pliers.

Using these will be a relief, because I've been using the old, stuck Lindstrom pair in combination with a cheap pair, to open and close jump rings for my jewelry, and it has been tedious.  

World's tiniest lampshade

It's fun to see what other people are designing in CAD, and 3-D printing on Shapeways. Recently, I ordered this LED cap by Virtox, to see what it looked like. It's quite tiny -- only the size of a small marble, and kind of resembles a giant spore.

Earlier this year, I took a beginning electronics class, where we put together a circuit that makes an LED blink continuously. Just now, I put the cap on my blinking light and it looks pretty cool. I like the way the light glows through the semi-opaque material, and really highlights which parts of the material are thick or thin.

I have an idea for a 3-D printed lamp that would involve multiple LEDs. It would be a fun project to pursue in collaboration with someone who's well versed in electronics.

A mention of Summerized on the Shapeways blog

Interesting thoughts on venture capital and digital production, promotion, sales and distribution.

Summerized Etsy shop open for business (great holiday gifts!)

Dave just christened my new Etsy shop with its first purchase. How exciting!

I recently photographed the 3 colors of my Wireframe Diamond Earrings, and have posted them to the shop . The EZcube worked pretty well for the shots of the earrings against a background. In the future, I'd like to get some good photos of someone modeling them too.

It's exciting to put them out there. I'll be interested to see which promotion strategies work best.

Stainless steel diamond earrings

This week I received a version of the Diamond Wireframe Earrings, 3-D printed in stainless steel. It's very interesting to look at, because you can see every "pixel" of the metal used to make the model -- the manufacturing process is very evident in the finished product. The design has a lot of texture to it --it's not smooth. Ironically, it reminds me a little bit of metal jewelry and hardware manufactured to look "antique" or patinated. 3-D printing creates a whole new aesthetic with its capabilities and quirks.

I like the way this turned out. It's a little heavier than the plastic versions, and a lot stronger. I'll try wearing it soon to test out the weight.

I'm also interested in creating these designs in a shiny metallic finish. A couple of colleagues have made suggestions on processes I might try.