iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I made custom #pixelart for the #stardewvalley #junimo prize donation we sent to #sgdq2026. We didn't get a chance to see it on stream, but I'm really happy with how the art turned out, so I'm posting it here as well. I'm pretty pround of this and I'm definitely getting put on a shirt.

A pixel art poster of the farmer from Stardew Valley wearing their default overalls and the red spotted headscarf and holding a basket of purple grapes with a green junimo hiding in it. The poster reads "Star-Dew Pelican Town Sun-Dried Raisins since 1.6"

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Our little #junimo friend, seen here letting my partner help them get ready for their international journey to #sgdq2026, is part of the current prize block. Minimum 10$ donation and on available until around 1pm, so get those donations in to gdq.gg. #stardewvalley #needlefelting #pixelart

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

What stage of capitalism is it when your company throws you what is effectively a pizza party but says they will be collecting $20 for the pizza from everyone a week in advance? Additional $20 if you'd like your partner to attend.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

#sgdq2026 is live. My partner and I sent in another #junimo prize donation, which will be in the #stardewvalley prize block. This time, our #needlefelt friend got into the raisin shipment. I did all the pixel art and box design, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Close-ups on my website.

A green needle-felted junimo character sitting on a box that reads "Star-Dew Pelican Town sun-dried raisins" surrounded by purple felt grapes.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Seems like a good time to repost the design from my favourite t-shirt.

An arm throwing a molotov cocktail with a label that reads "warmest regards".

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

I think I found where Rosanov buys his pillows.

A tag on a pillow that reads "Hollander Sleep Products"

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

This bodes well for my pickled-cabbage-heavy investment portfolio (by which I mean refrigerator)

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

For anyone else who needs this to make the #agdq2026 week feel complete: "Town Life" - djpretzel and Geoffrey Taucer ocremix.org/remix/OCR01495

ocremix.org

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Our little junimo friends are part of the current prize block at #agdq2026. While my partner is going to make individual junimos available on my site, I think the whole set with junimo hut box is only going to be available at AGDQ, so you only have a couple more runs to get a donation in for them.

Three needle felted junimo characters from the game Stardew Valley (pink, red, and blue) with a felted community centre bundle in front of a sewn felt junimo hut box

Three needle felted junimo characters from the game Stardew Valley (pink, red, and blue) with a felted community centre bundle inside the open lid of a sewn felt junimo hut box

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Despite them being fresh from yet another cancer-related surgery, my partner insisted that we send our annual prize donation to AGDQ. I couldn't be more proud of them, or more grateful to them, and happy with what we sent. #agdq2026 in support of #preventcancerfoundation starts today. Go donate.

A small, red, felted junimo wearing a tiny felted Santa hat peeking out from behind a brown cardboard shipping box with a label on it that reads "Junimo Hut".

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Happy small apartment Christmas to those who celebrate.

A realistic spruce tree in a tree stand printed on canvas with lights strung haphazardly over it.

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Reposted by Malcolm Stielow

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

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Reposted by Malcolm Stielow

FieldExplores (Gator Days) @fieldexplores.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Banned Books - Gator Days

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Reposted by Malcolm Stielow

Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

My recent favourite I borrowed from tiktokker kellykozzy, but it's brought me nothing but pain since I heard it, so I'll share it here: What would Obama say if he were a turtle whose home was being repossessed? Michelle

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Peppers are behind, but the balcony herb garden was otherwise a rousing success this year

Large piles of herbs drying on towels on a kitchen counter, including curled parsley, flat parsley, lemon thyme, French thyme, tarragon, Greek oregano, and two varieties of rosemary.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

When you're in the middle of sorting your denim scraps, and your phone says there's a frost coming, but the peppers you've spent all summer growing on your balcony aren't quite ready yet. It seemed reasonable until I actually got them in the apartment. I have this same problem with ikea furniture.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Theft was just the first stage Doubt is the real threat that Ai poses to artists.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Things have stacked for me up this year, and I couldn't send one of my usual prize donations to #sgdq2025. I still donated what I could because I do believe in the work that @msf.ca does and the power of the @gamesdonequick.com community. Still time to get your donation in this evening. gdq.gg

gdq.gg

Games Done Quick

Watch the stream with your best speedrun dinosaurs.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

You could take a fire hose to my whole library, but ever since I started grad school, nobody has seen me walking around and thought: "There's someone who gets a healthy amount of sunlight."

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

I was reading the back of my toothpaste while brushing, and the directions told me to "expectorate". If I need to read the directions on the back of the toothpaste what makes you think I know what "expectorate" means. I only know it because it's one of the things nobody does like Gaston.

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Reposted by Malcolm Stielow

mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 30/06/2025

don’t get distracted! | patreon.com/lubchansky

panel 1
mattie running away from some tentacles
m: WELL, THIS ISN'T GOOD.

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the important pundit shows up
TIP: hey this is just a distraction! stay focused!

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mattie, getting eaten by something
m: a distraction from what?
tip: someone i’ve determined to be more important than you is having a problem, over there!

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mattie, wailing
m: oh no! i’m so sorry!

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

A paradox for the digital age: The more one is asked to verify their humanity, the less human they are.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

It's been about 6 months since I started carrying one of my Cadre wallets every day, and that's when I usually like to revisit my designs. In an effort to be more active on social media, I'm going to write some of my thoughts from my design check-up on here as a thread. #design #leatherwork

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

For anyone that is having a hard day, here's a pretty flower for you from my mom's greenhouse.

A bright red strawflower with a large yellow center. The purple, pink coleus leaves with bright green edges drape both over and behind it.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

After receiving some online encouragement, I've shown Moto GO! to a few people over the last few weeks. So far, the response has been really positive, and people have further pushed me to #publish. I've never published a full physical copy of a #boardgame, so the question has to be asked... how?

Brightly colored rings around large blocky text that reads "Moto GO!". The exclamation point had been replaced with a checkered finish line.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

A close-up of the game pieces I carved for Moto GO!. I'm really happy with this design, that I figured how to have them wheelie and lean so I could include that in the game. A little rough, and in need of some colour, but there wasn't time for everything. #boardgames #boardgamedesign #gamedesign

Three hand-carved wooden motorcycle game pieces on a colourful track. Two of the pieces are standing on their tail to represent a wheelie.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Are you normal, or did you not have a gift for your niece's birthday, so you conceived, designed, prototyped, and packaged a board game from scratch in a week? So anyway, let me introduce Moto GO! A #motorcycle #racing #game for 2-6 people. #boardgames #boardgamedesign #boardgamesky #gamedesign

A brightly-coloured race track game with hand-carved wooden motorcycle game pieces, wooden dice with shapes instead of numbers, a rulebook, and a packaging tube. Many components feature the name of the game: Moto GO!

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I need a better way to prototype game pieces than carving them by hand. At the very least, I should have taken the extra time to find a piece of wood that wasn't oak. #boardgames #boardgamedesign #gamedesign #boardgamesky #woodwork #woodcarving

A piece of wood is being carved to resemble a motorcycle with a rider. The wood is clamped in a small antique vice, surrounded by wood shavings.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Half the fun of learning a new program is relearning it every few weeks because you don't use it enough for the info to stick. The other half is looking stuff up and realizing that everything that has stuck is all just "common rookie mistakes."

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Day 39 of avoiding a design project I'm really stuck on: I made myself a new hat. It's mostly hand sewn and fully lined, so that should give you some reference on how bad my creative block is right now. Newsboy cap, cotton denim and thread, with poly thread in the linen liner.

Interior closeup of a dark blue denim newsboy cap showing the light blue linen lining.

A dark blue denim newsboy cap with variegated yellow stitching. Has four yellow eyelet vents

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Day 36 of avoiding a design project that I'm stuck on: I dusted off my grandma's old bread maker and made bread.

A loaf of bread in an open bread machine. Text in foreground is the operations and buttons for the machine.

A very square loaf of bread on a cooling rack.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

I'm just going to hype my mom for a minute: She grew a #pineapple in the middle of a north-central Alberta winter. I don't think there's anything I else I need to say about that. #greenhouse #gardening

A pineapple plant growing in a large round pot. There is a ripe pineapple at the top of the plant.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Good evening to everyone who isn't the person who ripped the door handle off of my car.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I love that I got here just as the great ceramicist migration was starting. It's been fun to see a lot of the people I know, either irl or by reputation, pop up on my feed. As big as the craft communities are, it always amazes me how small they can feel.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

I like the idea of Monster Hunter Wilds, but I'm not sure I can play it. All the creatures look friend shaped, and hunting them makes me a bit sad. Is there a Monster Gatherer Wilds?

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Whomever decided uppercase "i" and lowercase "L" would be the same did not forsee a future in which AI exists alongside people named Al.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

I recently had to find a new printer to handle larger #prints of my Hy Art #paintings, so now I have mediocre test prints hanging around that aren't good enough to sell. This "Pipe Dream" one can liven up the work table for now. Wish I had room for a large format printer in our little apartment.

A green and red abstract digital media painting print is hastily taped to the wall over a messy workstation.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

People say Trump practices divisive politics, but I would argue he's great at uniting people. Almost entirely against him, of course.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Trying a new thing where I'm not allowed to be on social media unless I'm on a treadmill. It helps to slow down the treadmill first, but we live and learn.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

One strange part of being a self-employed designer and craftsperson (aka. underemployed) is how easily I lose track of long weekends. I guess I'm not shipping this order of prints today. See you tomorrow, locked post office.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

TLDR: the loophole is late-stage capitalism

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Me at every family gathering. Except I'm part of "they" in this scenario.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

We need to come up with unique country codes for political parties like they have for airports. I'll see someone upset at Tories for their a liberal labour policies, And I'm left trying to figure out if we're talking liberals, Liberals, libs, labour, Labour, and which freaking Tories.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I usually do all my social media posting at one of two times: When I should start working or When I should start sleeping Although it is nice of this app to keep receipts to remind me which I'm not doing enough of.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

My partner and I made a cake for my grandmother's 90th birthday. I had to share because I genuinely think this was the best #cake I've ever had. This thing had over 1.2 kg of #darkchocolate in the #chocolate sponge, salted chocolate swiss meringue #buttercream, and dark chocolate #ganache.

A three-layer, one tier chocolate cake with dark chocolate humming bird and flower decorations, chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, and a dark chocolate ganache drizzle. The cake sits on a glittery, gold cakeboard in a messy kitchen.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I find it oddly comforting to find keywords from my thesis on these lists of banned words that fascists keep publishing. Reminds me why I started the work in the first place.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I was otherwise occupied today, but I went and watched Kendrick Lamar's halftime show after the fact. Bookending the performance with"the revolution will not be televised" and "turn the TV off"? Phenomenal.

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Malcolm Stielow @mstlo.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

My Glyph Morse Code pendants. Originally part of a request to #design #jewellery for someone who was visually impaired, Glyph is now my most popular collection. The 7 pendants one is a #haiku, there's a closeup of the titanium bail, last one shows off the #anodizing colours for the #titanium.

Seven titanium bar pendants strung together on a silver snake chain. The pendants feature a haiku spelled out in a unique notation of Morse code that designer Malcolm Stielow calls "Glyph".

A closeup of a titanium bail and chain on a Glyph Morse Code pendant. All three are made of titanium, the bail and pendant have been left grey, but the chain features some anodized colours.

A Glyph Morse Code tie bar featuring a distinct anodized rainbow colour pattern.

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Reposted by Malcolm Stielow

Reid Southen @rahll.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

🔴CALLING ALL ARTISTS🔴 Christie's NYC is planning an AI art auction expected to bring in over $600,000 to creators who've used models trained on copyrighted material from non-consenting artists. If you object to this, please sign and share this open letter. openletter.earth/cancel-the-c...

8 February 2025
Cancel the Christie's AI Art Auction

Nicole Sales Giles & Sebastian Sanchez

Christie’s, New York

Dear Nicole and Sebastian,

We are writing to express serious concern over your upcoming auction of AI art at Christie’s.

Many of the artworks you plan to auction were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a license. These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them.

Your support of these models, and the people who use them, rewards and further incentivizes AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work.

We ask that, if you have any respect for human artists, you cancel the auction.

Yours sincerely,

The undersigned artists

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