New York Recap, Flip book Update, etc.

Last week I took a mini vacation to New York. It was fun, thanks to friends who put me up, put up with me, and showed me around.

I walked around a lot and enjoyed my subway pass and wore a hat and scarf and ear muffs and gloves on occasion.

I went to MoMA's free Target Friday night, where I scrambled to see the following before running out of time:

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge, which included the video installation of Desire Management by Noam Toran.


The Printed Picture which was a very interesting history of printing, with lots of good examples explaining terms I've never actually seen a hard copy example to go along with.


George Lois: The Esquire Covers

Dreamland: Architectural Experiments since the 1970s

Batiste Madalena: Hand-Painted Film Posters for the Eastman Theatre, 1924–1928

After that I made it over to the Helen Hayes Theatre to see Slava's Snow Show, thanks to recommendation and accompaniment by Blight Productions and co. I think this might have been those most audience-interactive show I've ever seen. Great use of paper scraps, fluff, balloons and clowns coming off stage.

I ate Thai, Japanese, pizza, crepes, bagels, pasta, diner brunch, sample caviar on crackers from vodka salesgirls, and who knows what else. I felt like most of my trip revolved around walking and eating. Both of which are things I like to do when traveling.

I didn't buy too much, though I picked up some things like fred flare frozen smiles from Urban Outfitters, a couple things from Japanese stores Uniqlo and Muji, and some from Pearl River. I also went through the Union Square Holiday Market, where everyone was set up with red and white tents and I tried some hot German fruity cidery drink and tea and looked at a lot of stuff.

Sooooooooo. That's my slightly dull recap. The trip was good in a relaxed way. Now I've been back to work all week and running around, it already seems long ago, I probably forgot something. Too much to remember lately: I've sent out about 9 packages since I got home.

Printed 25 copies of the election flipbook the other day (that's 125 pages that have to be cut into 1,250 smaller "pages" so we'll see if that happens). I plan to very leisurely begin to assemble those. I did put one each of the laser jet and the ink jet in my etsy shop and will see how it goes up until inauguration time.



Besides the on and off etsy restocking, I have important stuff to work on that I'm doing in dribs and drabs. I've been watching a bunch of Illustrator tutorial videos hosted by Deke McClelland and I gotta say I just love that guy, very much for the goofiness aspect. I love to see people be goofy in such a skilled way that they can't help but be successful. Unskilled goofy people can't get away with such things. Speaking of unskilled goofy people, what I really need to be doing now is learning more Flash because I want to make the election flipbook into a little Flash movie. I think I can do that with what I know so far, so hopefully showing some basic version of that will be my next post.

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.

Being bad at the thrift store, plus begonia, butterfly bush and upcoming catnip franchise

I was bad. I totally broke the rules again. Oh well.



Today I got this big box of sewing stuffs at the thrift store. I feel a little odd splaying its contents all over the place, because I wonder what happened to the original owner... but then I think if for some reason that owner can no longer use sewing supplies, I'm sure she'd want someone to have them and be using them. There was also some papers outlining a sewing class, so maybe this box is the sewing class treasure chest.

I kept going back and rifling through this box trying to convince myself not to buy it. But there was so much crammed in there, I had to buy it.



This includes all sorts of ribbons, elastic, needles, fasteners, tracing papers,and so on and so forth.



Some of the more interesting things are: some kind of handmade double measuring tape contraption attached to a wooden spool with a string coming out the end; a blue thimble from Warrensburg, Mo.; a velvety and lacy brown ribbon; a Sears "gift to you from Kenmore" sewing kit; and a strange plastic squeezy bottle of some liquid substance (what is it!?).

So, I will have to use these products to justify the continued stock piling of craft supplies. I need to make some stuff, or else I really have to stop buying supplies.

* * *

Prior to my thrift store follies, I visited the farmer's market for the first time this year. I got some delicious citrus soy candles from Pure Light Candle Co., coffee, my favorite baked good by the No Wonder bread man, a begonia plant, sage and thyme, a butterfly bush AND a hanging basket of catnip. The hanging basket of catnip is going to be a hit, I'm sure of it. Patches and her suitor who was waiting outside the door already partook this evening. It's a pretty hefty catnip plant, so I'm hoping I can harvest the catnip and expand my cat related products to include sensory delights.

squirrel with gun, discriminating weirdos, thrift store cat and vigorous zucchini

Disclaimer: this post is just going to be a hodge-podge with no particular theme.



In purchase reports, I bought this cute/ not quite scary squirrel with a gun keychain from MonkeyDogStudio AKA OneMansTrash at last Saturday's Bizarre Market. She had some other cool ones too!

I also just won some screen printing supplies on ebay, though I'm pretty sure this breaks my rules about not buying craft supplies when I already have too much. BUT, I have mixed emulsion and need to use it ASAP, so I guess that's an excuse.

* * *

In other news, the discriminating weirdos at Moe Sew Co. had some deep thoughts on some of my embroideries. I'm very flattered by the term wantable weirdness and also the fact that they somehow managed to work a freakish 1970 commercial into the review. Thanks, discriminating weirdos.

* * *

Speaking of weird, here's that framed cat picture I bought last month at a thrift store. It's not totally clear if the maker was entirely pro-cat, but at any rate, I think it's pretty funny and wacked out.


text:

THE CAT IS always greener on the other side of the fence ◘ a rolling cat gathers no moss ◘ just say "no" to cats ◘ read my lips - no new kittens ◘ I left my cat in San Francisco ◘ frankly Scarlet I don't give a cat ◘ able to leap tall counters with a single bound ◘ four score and seven cats ago ◘ a watched cat never boils ◘ if at first you don't succeed, get a cat ◘ a kitten a day keeps the doctor away ◘ give me liberty or give me cats ◘ kittens should be seen and not heard ◘ she'll be carrying six white kittens when she comes ◘ ask not what your kitten can do for you but what you can do for your kitten ◘ my cat runneth over

* * *

And last but not least, some zucchini is really anxious to grow up. One of them (on the left) punched through the soil so vigorously, he's still wearing a little hat made out of a clump of soil.

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!

Presidents & Pill Boxes

The other week I spent quite a while sorting through a shoebox and basket full of stamps.  I bought 70 stamps for 5 cents each.  Despite my moratorium on shopping, I allowed this purchase because they don't take up a lot of space... and also I had specific plans for them.



In the piles were some stamps from Helvetia, and while watching Helvetica, the movie I found out that is Switzerland.

So, I used 4 of these stamps and decorated two sets of "pill boxes" (these are the kind I make from empty tape roll "cylinders").  Set one is Abraham Lincoln & Lady Liberty:


Set two is George Washington and Thomas Jefferson:
. 

Both are in my Shoppe for President's day. 

Stay tuned for upcoming news from the flip book factory...

dust, scraps, bad habits

organization test week part one


This is all about being organized. One big hurdle is avoiding procrastination. I say that now as I procrastinate further by coming online to talk about getting organized and cleaning up instead of actually doing it.

In a last ditch effort to motivate myself, I've got out that little tray, into which I will place various items as I attempt to clean up some of the mess which is suffocating me. It may be filled to overflowing very soon. I will wait until that time or until the week is up (whichever comes first) and then report on my findings.

As a side project, I absolutely must stop buying things. In particular, things that I don't need or things that I probably already have but can't find (i.e. various art supplies). This is very difficult, because I like buying stuff. The tentative guidelines are as follows:

No-nos:

* Absolutely no craft/art supplies unless they are absolutely necessary for something I am doing THAT day.

* No clothing except things I'd wear to work/shoes, and of course any pants that fit and I don't have to hem (something I actually really need). Avoid thrift stores, as painful as that may be.

* Food purchases are permitted, but focus should be on quickly consumable items. No long term "rainy day" snacks.

* No "beauty products" or toiletries unless I will use the item THAT day and have nothing else to use in its stead.

* NO books, unless I swap out some I already have. (Exception is gift certificate from Christmas).

Things which are allowed: anything which is not a physical permament object.

* Food, movie theatre, barbershop quartet/whatever is ok.

* Gifts for other people, though preferably not something which is a physical object.

* A hair cut, self improvement of some sort.

* Cleaning supplies/household items and such which are not duplicates of something I already have. Better idea is to follow recipes to make some "non toxic" cleaning supplies out of materials I can buy (i.e. Baking soda, vinegar, borax, etc).

* A car if the one I have doesn't survive this weekend.

Other tasks:

* Collect old batteries, light bulbs and other stuff to recycle.

* Find out where/how to recycle number 5 plastic containers.

* Take bag of stuff (more discard clothing/etc) to thrift store (but don't go in).

* Throw away coupons or circulars offering discounts on prohibited items (i.e. JoAnn fabric monthly coupons).

Duration of this torture: a month if I can stand it.

Rewards: peace of mind, some free space, save money for car and household repairs and necessaries. If I don't break the rules for a month, I can have some form of edible or experiential celebration at the end.

tea inside a lemon slice, lemon slice inside a bird

There's something I really really like about this combination of items.
One is a lemon slice tea strainer (often seen in "tea ball" form).
The other is a bird shaped lemon slice squeezer. A little confusing, but it's true.

Call it silly, but I somehow find it comforting that these things can exist in the same universe.

This is the type of parallel relationship between items which I seem to seek out.

I can't wait to make tea with lemon and use both of these fine utensils in one go.

In other news, thanks to some rave reviews, I joined facebook and am already losing my mind with the possibilities. Maybe now the kazillion fragments of my online tinkerings will be united in one mass of coagulated nonsense and show and tell.

Shopping Online: A Love/Hate Relationship

So, today I was out all day, then at work all night, then I got home and my NEW second try version of ordering a digital camera online had been delivered.

It's a long annoying story: basically the first one was not as advertised and then I had to mail it back and then had even worse trouble shopping locally, then finally found what I wanted in refurbished (read: discounted) on ebay, and then kept losing the auctions, and then finally one ended on one of my night's off. So then FINALLY it was on its way. So... great, I thought.

But they left out the lens cap. So, once again, something to worry about. I already emailed them asking to send it, and I just hope they do. I'm getting tired of the whole thing. But I've gone too far to give up now. Plus, if I had had a decent camera, I could have taken a good picture of the little chirpy baby bird I found on the ground today (I didn't touch it and it was gone by the time I got home from work).

In another online/shopping event, I checked on my on-the-verge-of-expiration etsy treasury (see previous post), and a bunch of people commented that it had been on the front page. And that's exciting, but hey! I didn't get to see it. That's what I get for staying offline so long.

And the reason I was offline so long was because I was trying to be constructive. I spent the past couple hours organizing my fabric supplies (too much) so pretty much all of it (but one box) is in one location, and in proximity to the sewing machine. I organized the fabric sort of by themes such as "shiny," "fluffy," "theme/patterned" and so on. Some of the fabric I know I'll never use (maybe due to sheer lack of time before I die), so I hope someday to get some people to make a giant pile of fabric for a mountainous swap.

you might find it here

I decided to take a screenshot since the treasury will expire before everyone gets to see it.

clickety-click

Turnips!

I just ate the most delicious turnip ever.  I'm not sure that I even remember eating a turnip ever before.  I bought these white Japanese turnips at the farmer's market courtesy of Amy's Garden.

As for my own garden, the hollyhocks have finally bloomed after a full year.  I'll have to take a photo soon.  I've also re-discovered how wonderful fennel is.  The pea vines are wilting/drying up, and maybe that's normal, but I don't really know.  As with everything else, there is way too much research and learning to be done.  And as with everything else, I just take mental notes, mostly consisting of don't do that again, I can't seem to remember the details other than what not to do.

Some non-organic projects are coming along.  But I really need to get cracking on a few things.  Finally sold another item on etsy but I am totally thrown off by the new postal practices (after I finally figured it out and even had a scale) so I have to go to the P.O. and see if I can make heads or tails of it.  Hmmm.