Wednesday, July 29, 2009

maritimes bound

It's been a while since I've posted. I could go on about emergency hospital visits, heat waves and other mundane things, but I'm not gonna. Instead, I'll talk about our upcoming holiday. In just over a week (8 days to be precise), we'll be on a plane to Montreal. Once we've had our fill of bagels, we'll be renting a car and heading off to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. One of our neighbours will also be in PEI at the same time and have invited us to their family cabin on the sea! Sweet. I will definitely need recommendations on what to do and see. If we have time, we might even go through Maine (Bangor rather than coastal, I think), so Maine tips too, please!

Also, because we'll be gone for over 3 weeks, I'll be closing up my etsy card shop. Last day for buying will be August 4th, so if you want something, get it now. My printables shop will remain open, but operating on a "holiday schedule" - so no 24 hr deliverables. Instead, I'll check emails and send them out on a semi-regular basis.

Now, let the heat wave continue.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

the dutchess & the duke



It seems every time we go and see a band in Seattle or Portland, The Dutchess & The Duke are the opening band. They're actually pretty good and I stumbled across this kind of gory video today. Enjoy Monday!!

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Monday, July 13, 2009

shop update & email newsletter perks

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I'm trying to catch up on all the action going on in my etsy shops. Yes, there's action! In my Small Joys printable shop, I created a new design for an art printable: Take a picture. It'll last longer. I felt I needed to do something with my old busted up Pentax Spotomatic (broken light meter) since it was just gathering dust - so I drew it!

In my card shop, last Friday, I held a super secret summer sale for my email subscribers only and it was a blast! An amazing response from so many wonderful customers that I was busy on Saturday preparing packages to ship out. Off to the post office I go this afternoon with a sack full of goodies to send. If you haven't yet signed up for my email newsletter, what are you waiting for?

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A Handmade Nation review & a commitment to community

Last Thursday, I saw the Vancouver showing of Handmade Nation, the documentary that documents the modern craft movement directed by Faythe Levine. I was really taken by The Little Friends of Printmaking, a couple who talked not just about their craft (silkscreening posters) but about the politics involved in the art vs craft movement (plus, I've loved their posters for years). The Buy Olympia guys were fun to watch and I loved how they started their business by the seat of their pants. Jenine Bressner, a glass bead maker, was also a highlight since she was awesomely wacky and she was really great at narrating what she was doing while holding a blow-torch. I found it super inspiring and it reminded me so much of my 20s when I was making zines, making movies, reading Bust magazine, playing bass guitar in a punk rock band, and volunteering at a local underground cinema. The documentary brought up all kinds of nostalgic feelings which is kind of strange since it's a film completed this year.



While I'm definitely a part of the new modern craft movement with my 2 etsy shops & recently participating in craft fairs around town, somehow I feel a bit more removed now than when I was in the thick of it back in my 20s. I guess it's because I do most of my creative outlets by computer now. I work from home running my own business with my husband, I have my popular food blog, I use Illustrator to work over my sketches, I sell online, I respond to people's questions via email and I Twitter.

While I do feel a connection with others online, I'm much more removed from the camaraderie and person-to-person contact that I used to have daily. As a response to that feeling, I recently I made a commitment with myself to meet up with new people - food bloggers, crafters, web designers - and step outside the cushy online comfort zone that I've created for myself in the past few years. And so far, it's been good. I've attended social events, crafty gatherings, and met a host of wonderful people in person. I even got to attend a small but totally rad party to welcome Faythe Levine the night before the film showing. Want to know Faythe's favorite food at the party? My lemony goat cheese stuffed dates! The internet is a great place to bring people from all over the world together and create community, but it's just as important to create those ties in real life as well.

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Monday, July 06, 2009

budget cool crafts

I stumbled onto Dollar Store Crafts this morning. So many fun projects here, like creating budget plant terrarium, a gardening apron or a wall hook out of a fork. Not that I have time to do any crafts right now since work is really kicking my ass lately. However, it's a good resource for others!

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