Needle Felted Displacer Beast
Crafted & Donated by David Woehr
Adventurers got you down? Do you return from your nefarious exploits only to find your horde of ill-gotten gains plundered? Don’t despair, get yourself a displacer beast! Made from the finest wools and polymer clays, stabbed thousands of times into shape with felting needles over a foam base and semi-poseable wire frame, this extra dimensional monstrosity is ready for all your mauling needs! Perfect for the home, office, or your subterranean death maze, your troubles with noble-minded busy bodies will be gone before you know it.
About the Crafter:
David Woehr has been sculpting for the better part of the last 20 years, and has been felting for the last six. He is a graduate of the New York State College of Ceramics, and spends most of his time building monsters out of anything he can get his hands on; ranging from wool felt and polymer clay to feathers, bones, and fur.
So Long, Egon Print Signed by Dan Aykroyd
Created & Donated by Ash Vickers
Fans everywhere were saddened by the news of Harold Ramis’ passing earlier this year. Our friend Ash Vickers drew an exquisite piece of tribute art as a fond farewell, art that became incredibly popular and made large parts of the internet teary. The art was never available for purchase (and never will be, Ash has declared), but a handful of prints were made for charitable purposes. We have two of those here at Desert Bus, and this is one! Numbered 1 of 15 and signed by the artist, this print is a poignant reminder of fond movie-watching memories.
Due to Ash’s magical powers of awesomeness, this print is also signed by Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd.
About the Donor:
Ash Vickers is the exquisitely talented artist and half of the writing team (along with her brother Steve Dengler) behind the webcomic Megacynics. A longtime friend of the Desert Bus crew, Ash is often begged, cajoled and bribed into drawing all manner of crazy things, and her skills grow more and more impressive with each passing year. Ash has been doing comics and illustrations for a decade.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian brethren!
Our Thursday prize previews have been so much fun that we thought we would spend the last month(!) leading up to Desert Bus offering you a sneak peek on both Mondays AND Thursdays. We have so much great stuff, we just can’t pick which ones we want to share with you – so we’re giving you a whole bunch!
Princess Peach Framed Cut Paper Art
Crafted & Donated by Schala-Kitty
Dedicated to one of video game’s beloved leading ladies, this piece is a unique and beautiful take on Princess Peach’s famed stained glass window. Over 100 precision cut vellum and pearl cardstock pieces recreate the look of stained glass from paper. The artwork is adhered directly to the frame’s multiple panes of glass to create the illusion of floating and can be displayed with either side of the box facing forward: the princess framed by delicate peach blossoms, or with the flowers at her back. Details such as the power-up symbols on the arches, the stylized ribbons, and the sparkling gems add to the artwork’s charm. In addition, the piece itself comes in a shipping box beautifully decorated with Princess Peach marker illustrations.
About the Crafter:
Schala-Kitty is a life-long gamer and crafter who enjoys making fan merchandise for her fellow geeks. She has been a Craft-Along participant since Desert Bus 6, has sold at several Artists Alleys in the past, and currently runs a shop on Etsy. While she sells stationery, notebooks, and bookmarks everyday, Schala-Kitty and her trusty Silhouette Cameo relish the challenge of creating cut paper art made up of many intricate, precisely cut pieces carefully assembled by hand. Everything she makes is full of the fun, joy, and inspiration that comes with being a fan.
Planeswalker Boxed Set (2014 SDCC Exclusive)
Donated by Lady Planeswalker Society
This little black box packs a huge Planeswalker punch, containing limited edition versions of Ajani, Jace, Liliana, Chandra, Nissa and Garruk, in their Magic 2015 Core Set incarnations. Each of these six premium cards is presented in a sleek black-on-black format unique to this release. We’re talking a “never before and never again” scenario here – not something you can just nip over and pick up at your local game store. But we’ll have one at Desert Bus, and it could be yours!
About the Sponsor:
This awesome item is donated by the great folks from Lady Planeswalker Society. LPS is a group of devoted Magic fans, who come together to create a fun, welcoming community for women of all skill levels to play (guys welcome too – LPS are a friendly & inclusive bunch)!
All of our crafters are amazing. But this one slew a dragon. I know it’s not a competition, but she wins.
Head of Drogon
Crafted & Donated by CultureShock007
Drogon, notorious problem child of the Mother of Dragons, has oft been described as the biggest and fiercest of the Targaryen dragons. He’s now the most low maintenance and docile, requiring only the occasional dusting! It was only a matter of time before this fellow met a terrible fate, we just beat George R.R. Martin to the punch! Professionally stuffed by the most talented taxidermist of House Bolton, this one of a kind specimen can now decorate the wall of your own great hall or personal chamber! The Head of Drogon is easily hung from walls by a single nail or screw and is lightweight for its bulk. Specially crafted resin eyes are designed to follow you as you go about your daily plotting to secure the Iron Throne.
Special thanks to the Windblown Mercenaries, many of whom were slain in the process of procuring the specimen. Nobody really liked them much anyway.
About the Crafter:
Cultureshock007 is a space warlord who does crafting on the side to relieve the stresses of the Space War. Being a space warlord doesn’t exactly pay the bills, so she works as Production Assistant (entry level film wage slave) to fund her campaign of terror from her base in New Vancouver, Space Canada. Her interests include time travel, needle felting, sculpting, casting, video gaming and toturing rebel spies… sometimes by needle felting them.
This year we’re starting a little feature that will provide you with a sneak peak of one of our awesome prizes every Thursday until Desert Bus 8. We want you to be as excited as we are about all the awesomeness we have in store for you! For example:
Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake Dolls
Crafted & Donated by Melissa
What time is it?
Fresh from the Land of Ooo, Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake are ready for swords fights and heroic rescues, with plenty of supplies in tow! This adventurous duo have brought along Finn’s trusty backpack, his golden sword, and most importantly, the like-like sweater given to him by Princess Bubblegum! Wherever their path lies, whether as a child’s new favorite toy or a treasured possession for the kid at heart, Finn and Jake are armed, protected, and ready for action!
The dolls and backpack were adapted from a pattern by Lucyravenscar on Etsy.
Melissa has been crocheting for a very long time and knitting for even longer. That’s what she does whenever she’s not working on a degree in art history and anthropology at California State Long Beach or going to every museum she can find in Los Angeles. She has contributed crafts for Desert Bus in the past, and says she will happily do it again for every Craft-Along in the future.
To all you beautiful people who were hoping to volunteer for Desert Bus 8,
We’re sorry, but all our volunteer positions for this year have been filled. We know that during Desert Bus 7 we promised that we would put out an open call for volunteers for Desert Bus 8. What we didn’t account for was that all our previous volunteers would want to come back. Really guys? You want to do it AGAIN?!?!
We had less than 10% turnover in volunteers this year, and now that we know exactly which volunteer positions we will have available, we know that we can fill those positions with the volunteers that we already have.
We really want to give as many people as possible the chance to volunteer, but we don’t want to push out existing volunteers who have worked so hard and done a great job for us in the past.
That being said… Any of you who would be interested in volunteering in 2015 please feel free to send an email to volunteer@desertbus.org and we will make note of your interest in volunteering for future Desert Buses.
Again, we apologize for not being able to take more of you, but the Moonbase is only so big, and there is only so much Poo-pourri. *ha, poop joke*
Stay classy,
The Desert Bus Crew
Mark your calendars, request your time off of work, and start stocking up on sleep now, the 8th annual Desert Bus for Hope leaves the station at
and we want you aboard.
(There are always so many vacant seats!)
Each person’s preparation for Desert Bus is different. Ashton learns to sleep with his eyes open in front of his computer. Tally works like a madwoman and then gets a manicure. Every crew member gets a haircut, except Alex, who herps the maximum number of derps allowed by law.
So do what you have to do to prepare. Some suggestions include:
- Tell your boss you are going in for invasive surgery on November 14th and you will need at least 1 week to recover. (People don’t like the word ‘invasive’ he/she won’t ask you any more questions.)*
- Begin brain calisthenics. We recommend theoretical physics. You will need all your synapses firing at full speed to come up with the most ridiculous and innovative challenges.*
- Rob a bank. We have some really good prizes this year. And if you get caught, tell them you are making an involuntary charitable donation on behalf of the bank. I’m sure they will thank you and let you go. Maybe you’ll even get a hug.*
- Ensure you have an internet connection. If you don’t, you’re probably not reading this so… yeah, I don’t know what to do about that.
- Tell your friends! Help us make DB8 the best DB yet. The more people, the further our reach, the more opportunities we have to raise money for the sick chillin’s.**
*If you actually do this, we are not responsible for the consequences.
**Actually do this!
LAST CHANCE TO GET
A DESERT BUS 7 POSTER!
Why not pick up one of our fantastic Desert Bus 7 posters? As every year, it is stupendously illustrated entirely by Michael Lunsford of Supernormal Step.
HURRY because the poster is ONLY AVAILABLE until Sunday, November 24 at 8pm PST!
Still pining for more Desert Bus?
As we wrap up, our Gallic friends at Desert Bus de l’Espoir are livestreaming their Desert Bus odyssey from the heart of France … get them on Twitter at #desertbusfr, check out their stream, and donate some Euros for the children! Bonne courage, camarades!
(Actual poster does not animate)