Great questions! I wasn't sure how detailed I should get in the initial post. Here are 2 rough diagrams of the first 2 projects I'd like to implement.
First up: the large ceramic wall hanging mug shelf:
http://vantiki.com/arduino/arduino_1.jpg
LED clusters B and C in the eyes and mouth will flicker like fire using a sketch like this one:
when motion is detected (by someone sticking their hand in the mouth) at C, the flame effect brightens and the blue LEDs in A begin to glow. After a period of time the blue glow fades and the flame effect returns to normal in the eyes and mouth.
I see this being plugged into a wall. I have both a full size arduino board, as well as a pro-micro arduino from SparkFun https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11098 - whichever is easer to code/setup. I can make either one fit.
Project 2 needs to be smaller and battery powered - I see this requireing the use of the SparkFun pro-micro https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11098
Here is a rough sketch:
http://vantiki.com/arduino/arduino_2.jpg
2 RGB eyes flicker red/orange like fire. When user places finger on the pulse sensor, the RGB LEDs pulse in relation to the user's heartbeat - with the color being determined by the pulse rate (perhaps blue for lower pulse ranging to yellow for high pulse). When user removes finger, LEDs revert to fire flicker. power switch is on bottom of arduino/battery enclosure. I'd love to have the option of powering this setup via the micro USB as well (if possible)
Let me know if anyone has any more questions!
Henrik "VanTiki"