Insect or cat fabric? If you had to pick one to wear...

These fabrics would be horrifically clashing if used to make one item:


bug fabric


cat fabric

But used separately, I think they will be great. Yes, I went to the fabric store yesterday. I had my reasons, but I will not go through the motions of justifying all my purchases at this time.

So the question is: Insect or cat fabric? If you had to pick one to wear...

* * *

In other news, a customer in New Zealand wants to order 36 (thirty-six) of my flip books, so I am hard at work assembling those. The probability of x-acto injury resulting from making 36 flip books in a relatively short period of time seems quite high. So I sought out what up until recently I had not really even been aware of: that is the rotary paper trimmer. Thanks, S., for the idea.

I got one of these little cutting platforms with a rotary cutter built in. So far the cutting is pretty good, very even, but the only thing I didn't expect was the way I have to pull up and click down the bar every time I want to reposition the paper. And I need to reposition the paper a lot, so I need to minimize the number of repositionings, because lifting the bar up and clicking it down wastes a few seconds, and is a little loud.

You also need to push down and slide the rotary blade carriage with some strength behind it, so it's not something I can do for hours at a time (it's tiring to the wrist, though not nearly as bad as equivalent X-acto use would be). I'm interested in getting the scoring blade, then I can expand my envelope-making and box-making capacities. There is also a perforating blade, decorative blades, and who knows what else.

if your father's a robot or a caveman, now's your chance

I'm trying to cater my goods towards holiday shopping hordes and groups who want to buy stuff. I guess that's called marketing?

My newest attempt is to make two (so far) themed flip books for Father's Day gift options.



This one is called Father-Daughter Robot Dance. This is the first time I made a flip book primarily using Illustrator, and the program practically had a heart attack because of all the 3-d effects I was using to make the robot bodies. Luckily it saved without crashing.



And here's Cave Dad and Son, my second cave man themed flip book.





I sliced off a little bit of my finger when I was making this one. I'm having a challenge dealing with the cutting portion of the flip book assembly procedures. It's what slows me down the most. That, and drilling. I use an x-acto knife to cut, and a drill with a really thick needle as the bit, and so far there haven't been any catastrophes, but it's slow going. Considering the first flip books I started out with I poked the binding holes by hand, this is faster and more efficient by leaps and bounds. I guess I just need to refine my techniques and perhaps figure out a quicker and safer way to cut out the sheets. I know die cutting exists but I don't really understand those machines or their templates or if such things are customizable.

So, I'll keep doing what I'm doing until I find a better way.

Spring Bada-Bing Loot!

Sunday's Spring Bada-Bing at the REST table was a success. I had the pleasure to hang out with:

Psychic Power Projects Karen Maiko and Jkadesigns

Although I didn't sell much of anything, I bought a few lovely things (I'm not including one which is a secret gift):


End of the World Switchplate by Wonder Wares

Anatomical Mouth Switchplate by Penguin Love, who also made some really snazzy little notebooks which were in the swag bags.

Moss Pin by Arthur Hash.

I also bought some I ♥ Alpaca stickers from Made By Tess at her adorable and colorful display.

So, of course I scrambled like crazy to get a lot of stuff done for the event, and I think I knew I was going overboard... I made 250 mini promo envelopes for the swag bags, though I didn't get them all in on time.


They included a tiny Catalog of Goods, a sticker, a coupon and either a 100 Random Square Inch Drawing magnet, or a teeny flip cat shrinky dink "bead".





I used my absolutely last sheet of Frosted Ruff & Ready Shrinky Dinks, Colorforms ©1975. I'm wondering if I can find this old style Shrinky Dinks anymore. The other sheets I had were modern and not at all Frosted Ruff & Ready. Check out the cool packaging:




So... next up is Bizarre Market this Saturday!

a much needed makeover - though I wish this involved my face and wardrobe

So.  I'm recuperating from Bronchitis.  And I've barely done anything that I needed or wanted to be doing all week.  I did finally finish On the Road (still conflicted on my feelings about the Beats) and started  Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell of which I have read 126 pages.

Other than that...

Well, I was lucky to randomly become subject of an etsy online shop critique.  That occurred because someone else was absent and I raised my virtual hand. 
I had recently redone quite a lot of my shop photos as I knew for a while I needed to, and finally had a new camera that I could work with.

What follows displays an example of the three part (and to be continued) makeover.  There are more than these, and also more to be worked on.



(hosting courtesy of flickr.) larger version here.

The first column is the way the photos appeared originally, when I was painstakingly clipping out the crummy backgrounds and putting in a gradient backdrop.  I didn't really like them, but the camera situation was making it very tricky to get good shots.  And a lot of these were actually object scans done with my old scanner.  It was time-consuming, with unsatisfying results, but it was either that or not list new products until I had better photos.

The second column shows my self-imposed makeover, when I finally got out the new camera, experimented with natural light by the window, and messed with some funky backgrounds (most were handmade or other strange papers I had).

The third column shows the result of the suggestions during the etsy labs critique.  I either totally redid photos with new backgrounds (they were too "busy" or did not provide enough contrast), or I used a different shot I had already taken that might be more dynamic or eye-catching than the first thumbnail I had chosen.  I also tried adjusting the white balance as suggested by etsy staff.  It worked... though I need to reread the camera book to figure out exactly how to use the function.

In addition to photo alterations, I also changed my avatar from the Frog Prince embroidery (which I was hesitant to do because I had had it up so long), but I agree it's better changed into something more relevant/eye-catching (plus, cat-related). I also edited down some of my superfluous text in item listings.

So, the main lessons learned are:

1. Yes, use natural light.  And in my case, the most successful photos came from a move from the original window I had been using.  That was causing shadow problems all along, and I had been too lazy to move.  Once I moved, it was a lot better.

2. Learn to use the camera (White balance, focus, etc).  Still need work on this.

3. Work in batches.  Saves time in the long run because of set up, etc.  Better for consistent light and coordination of backgrounds.

4.  If you question something... just change it.  I knew this all along, but it's really easy to just settle, or take what you "can get."  I knew I needed/wanted better photos, but I just couldn't find the time/resources/motivation to get it together.  This idea applies to a lot of stuff.  I'm trying to remember to keep this in mind.  It's really easy to ignore out of habit or convenience... but when you know it needs to be changed... just make time to do it.

5.  I need more time/patience to do this stuff. 

to market, to market...

If you didn't know already, this Saturday, Oct 13th from 12-4 it's Bizarre Market at Chop Suey Books.  Benefiting Art 180.
Visit chopsueybooks for more info/address.

If all goes as planned, I will be there with Halloween-themed items and the usual assortment.  Check out my etsy shop for a preview of some of my goods, including the Halloweeny pouches as shown above.


... Gotta go... more later...