If you’ve ever wanted to make something thermochromatic, electrochromatic, or inflatable with laser cut lace, a custom RGB LED silk flower, and antique conductive thread then check out my new 21st Century Fashion Kit collaboration with sparkfun. Here’s a look at what you can make:

The kit was two years in the making since some of the items were hard to come by. So I am excited about the selection of experimental materials it offers. In the kit you will find:

Inflatable Materials- Inflatables are my favorite thing to send down the runway, because they transform and change shape when the blower is turned on. I like to prototype inflatable shapes by fusing together a certain type of plastic tablecloth with a traditional clothes iron. Included is a tablecloth with a lace pattern, battery, and fan. Instructions for creating inflatables are on the kit website.

Sapphire Blue Thermochromatic Pigment- that can be mixed with nail polish, paint, clay, etc. to make colors that change with varying temperature . I chose a very specific shade of blue (similar to Yves Saint Laurent’s #18 Blue Majorelle nail polish), that when mixed with red to create purple or orange to create taupe, or yellow to create jade, will create shades that are on trend.

Electrochromatic Materials for many of the pisces necklace trend- The MOSFET power controller, conductive thread, and battery you will need to make your thermochromatic design electrochromatic (changes color with electricity). Tutorial is also on the kit page.

RGB LED Silk Flower- handmade by a 4th generation, family owned silk flower manufacturer in the garment district.

Laser Cut Lace Leather Skull- Everyone should have the opportunity to play with something laser cut. I designed the lace with holes sized specifically to fit around 5mm LEDs, because laser cut things are even better when blinky.

Antique Conductive Thread- I love to look through trim supplier warehouses for unused antique/vintage stock. I spend the day digging through piles of boxes. One day I found a box of shiny antique thread from the 1930’s that felt cool to the touch, which made me think that it might be conductive. Sure enough it was, with very low resistance! My jewelry manufacturer tested the thread, and believes that it is gold plated. I find it amazing that something from the 1930’s is perfect for integrating technology with fashion today.

And some violet LEDs, coin cell batteries, and needles…

In honor of Field Day we’ve teamed up with our friends at Adafruit Industries, MAKE, and MakerBot to create some special offers for ham radio operators. While we are throwing our ham party for Field Day, our friends will be offering discounts on kits, books, tools, and other goodies. We hope that Field Day will be a great opportunity for the hacker and ham communities to get to know each other.

Adafruit Industries is like the Hendricks of the hacker community. They have fantastic kits ranging from retro Russian display tube clocks to TV-B-Gone a high power remote that can turn off TVs everywhere (like in noisy bars). Adafruit will be offering a 10% discount on their kits from June 26-27 for all licensed hams. Just enter code “HAMS” at check out and in the comments include your callsign.

MAKE Magazine is the hacker’s version of QST. MAKE Magazine has projects, profiles makers, and shows tips and tricks. MAKE is offering a 20% discount off of everything in the MakerShed including books, kits, and tools. From 6/25-6/27 enter discount code “HAMHACKER” and your callsign in the comments (one time use, not combinable, no minimum purchase).

MakerBot Industries is the first place to sell homebrew 3-D printers. And since the printers are homebrew, they are actually affordable (kind of like some of the early radios kits). MakerBot is offering a 5% discount on MakerBots. Email your callsign this weekend to [email protected] to get the discount code.

You can win prizes from Adafruit, Maker Shed, and MakerBot at our Ham Radio Party this Saturday June 26th from 8pm-1am.

ARRL Field Day is June 26-27th, it is a national event during which radio operators promote ham radio by setting up stations and transmitting in parking lots, open fields, etc. To celebrate, we are throwing a ham radio party where we will be making contacts, giving demos, and dancing. Remember, hams were some of the original hackers.

When: June 26, 8pm-1am
Where: NYC Resistor, 87 3rd Ave., 4th FL., Brooklyn, NY
Cost: Free
Drinks: BYOB
RSVP: http://n2ycr-fieldday.eventbrite.com/

Preparty Class:
6pm-8pm: Learn to Solder by Building an Arduino Morse Code Oscillator, cost $90, register http://hamsolder.eventbrite.com/

Demos:
8:00pm – 1am: Transmitting on the HF Bands
TBD: Talking to Satellites
8:30pm: Old School Radio Goes New School Digital
9:15pm: Scanning Fun, listening on local fire departments, police departments, zoos, parks, lifeguards, and airport frequencies
10:00pm: Powering a Lightbulb with Radio Waves
11:00pm-1:00am: Ham Radio Dance Party, Dj Eric Beug will remix beats live out of transmissions made by ham radio operators sitting on the stage

Sorry kids, unfortunately for insurance reasons we can only allow guests ages 18+ and NYC Resistor is not a handicap accessible space.

Door Prizes:
Like all ham events we will be giving away awesome door prizes from MakerBot Industries 3-D printers, Adafruit Industries, and Make Magazine. Our sponsors will also be offering special Field Day discounts for ham radio operators.

Adafruit’s Ice Tube Clock Kit is just one of the prizes up for grabs. In honor to Field Day, Adafruit will be offering a 10% discount on their kits from June 26-27 for all licensed hams. Just enter code “HAMS” at check out and in the comments include your call sign. MAKE Magazine is offering a 20% discount off of everything in the MakerShed. From 6/25-6/27 enter discount code “HAMHACKER” and your callsign in the comments (one time use, not combinable, no minimum purchase). MakerBot Industries MakerBot is offering a 5% discount on MakerBots. Email your callsign this weekend to [email protected] to get the discount code.

Take our vacuform machine class Nov. 16th and create your own machine to make custom shapes like the one above, modelled around the Conga 5090 system.

If you’ve ever wanted to create a quick one sided mold, a nice case for your latest electronics project, a handle for that raygun, or a body for that RC robot that’s lurking around the garage you’ve probably wanted to use the magical powers of vacuum forming. In this class we’ll put together our own vacuum forming jigs using laser cut parts (provided with the class) and learn to use them. We’ll use some heat guns and the assistance of a shop vac to get everything working and we’ll all come back with awesome little plastic replicas that will impress even the most discerning IRC channel. Everyone will take back their own vacuum forming jig but will need a vacuum cleaner and a heat gun to operate it at home.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Class + Material fee is $120 (which is very cheap for a vacuform machine)
Sign up here

Resistor makes 2 out of 4 geek day videos!