If you happen to be in Exeter, England over the next few days, you should make a beeline for the Craft Festival on the Cathedral Green.

Click on pic for a larger image. Photo by John Evans.

Exeter’s Summer Festival, which organizes the Craft event, runs until the 10th of July. There are a number of highlights on the Art front.

Internationally famous artist, Theo Jansen will exhibit his world famous “strandbeests” at Princesshay and the Spacex Art Gallery.

John McDermot and Raya Herzig will also show their exhibition Aftermath at Exeter Castle. And there are several excellent exhibitions at Exeter Phoenix too.

In conjunction with the exhibition of Theo Jansen’s work, Spacex has co-produced a major new piece by the artist.

This work is a twin version of his last work, named Ventosa Siamesis. Each of the twins will be approximately 45 feet long. Under the guidance of the artist, this enormous creature will explore Exmouth beach from 25–27 June, before arriving in Exeter’s city centre, to be part of Exeter Summer Festival.

Theo Jansen will be present to demonstrate how his new creation works throughout the weekend. The work will be sited in Princesshay Square from 11am – 5pm each day. At times when he is not present, others will be operating the sculpture.

The artist will also be giving a talk about his work on Friday 2 July at 7.00pm at Exeter Central Library £6 (£4 concessions). Tickets will be available through Spacex. Booking is essential: telephone 01392 431786.

Here’s an interesting use for recycled leather. Make a pouch for your mobile phone.

I don’t know about you, but the official holder supplied for my BlackBerry is virtually useless as it has to be carried in the pocket. What looks like an embryonic strap for a belt is stitched up and unusable.

So head on over to ecouterre.com for a tutorial on how to use recycled leather to make a case for an iPhone — or any other mobile device.

LINK

NASA has a great little project online to keep the children busy over the holidays. how to build a paper rocket that really takes off using fizzing tablets, such as Alkaseltzer antacids.

You’ll need the following materials:

* Paper, regular 8-1/2- by 11-inch paper, such as computer printer paper or even notebook paper.
* Plastic 35-mm film canister (see hints below)
* Cellophane tape
* Scissors
* Effervescing (fizzing) antacid tablet (the kind used to settle an upset stomach)
* Paper towels
* Water
* Eye protection (like eye glasses, sun glasses, or safety glasses)

See how to, at NASA Space Place.

For a fun bouquet or just something to add a little pizazz to gift wrapping, these tissue paper carnations are a unique way to give flowers.

The project is incredibly easy and inexpensive. My 12-year-old made these in under half an hour.

The materials are simply:

Colored tissue paper

Decorative pencils

Pencil Eraser Caps

Small elastics

You can use any color of tissue paper, even white – or layer different colors for a rainbow effect. Lay out your tissue paper in layers of 4 – 6 sheets. 4 makes a loosely petaled flower, 6 is a bit tight and harder to work. We found 5 sheets were about right. Then measure a rectangle of about 5 – 6 inches wide and about 10 – 12 inches long. This will determine the size of your flower but the great thing is that it doesn’t really matter if you are exact or if you eyeball it. The edges don’t even have to be particularly straight as when you fan out the paper, these inconsistencies will only make it look more real. This makes it a great project for kids who may not be as meticulous about measurements and straight edges.

Once you have your rectangle, start an accordion fold at one of the ends. Fold on the short side, not the long. Fold over and over as if you were making a fan. Each fold should be about 1 inch width. When you are done, fold it over to find the middle, then unfold and place an elastic around the middle of your now 1 inch wide folded fan.

Take a pencil and wind the elastic on the pencil end, just under the metal band that holds the eraser on. Placing it here keeps it from slipping off easily. To ensure it doesn’t slip off, place a colored eraser cap over the eraser. This also makes the pencil more useful as the owner will be able to erase with it without removing the flower.

Now fan out both sides and grasping the edge of the innermost tissue paper layer, start pulling it up towards the middle. Once you have done that, do the next layer and the next and so forth. Pull each layer on both sides towards the middle until your carnation is formed.

You can make several of these and give them like a bouquet of flowers. Alone, these tissue paper carnations can be attached to gifts instead of bows for a unique decoration.