Blog RAKs Ahoy!

First, let's get started by announcing the winner of last post's "Crushed Creativity" prize. Jenny, please send me your mailing address, I have an assortment of Stampin' Up goodies for you!

Jenny related her smackdown:

"Well, I was at work and I thought something I had made was just simply beautiful and so I showed it to my collegue! (Steven) He looked at it and said without skipping a beat, "That is the uglist SARC I've ever seen." To say the least I was a little bummed.. I still hold it over his head.. :)"

To curb suicide attempts, I asked that each commenter (commenter? That sounds odd to me.) include a link to something they had made that they were proud of, so Jenny included a link to her blog: http://asecretvintage.blogspot.com/2009/08/burning-heart.html

Very neat, I love the unusual color combination. It's nothing I would have thought of, yet it works. Very vintage, like peeling wallpaper and worn red velvet.

In other news, I was lucky enough to win this great doggie-head lunchbox, which is not only adorable, but also highly useful for the vegan who often attends crops where non-vegan meals are served. I can stuff it full of yummy goodness, like peanut butter sandwiches with black currant jelly, little snack pack cups of vegan chocolate pudding, and itty bitty carrots. Mmm.

Well, I noticed the resemblance this lunchbox has to my own dog, Usagi, and sent her photo to Amy at Easy As Pie, the generous woman who drew my name to win her blog prize. Amy agreed and posted the comparison on her blog, Easy As Pie:

http://blog.easyaspierecipes.com/2009/10/reallife-munchler.html

What do I like about Easy As Pie? The abundance of animal-free recipes. As you can tell by the chicken recipe near the top, her site isn't vegan, though it's handy for those of us who are. The site celebrates foods and thing that do not make people puff up and wheeze, break out in hives, and otherwise aggrivate one's histines. Whether you have allergies or not, check out her site. The food photos are reason enough to visit. Yummers.

I love Etsy!

I've had an Etsy store for a few months, but only recently have I been really using it to its fullest potential. I quit Stampin' Up with the dawn of the new demonstrator agreement*, which inspired me t0 get serious about my store, Scrappyrat Designs. I'm still building up my inventory, a goal which I'm happy to say has been hampered by a jump in sales. Sure the filthy luchre is nice, but I just love how my heart jumps with every sale message that shows up in my email box. My insides get all smiley knowing someone likes the stuff I make. It's second only to the almost electrical zap I get with each acceptance letter I receive for one of my poems or other projects. I'm sure anyone who participates in any sort of creative endeavor can relate.

We really put something very raw and personal out there, which is more than a little scary. In that harsh reality that is kindergarten, we learn pretty quick that we aren't the apple of the rest of the world's eye and that maybe our Sears catalog collage isn't the greatest work created since Picasso's blue period, as our parents led us to believe. Then there's the horror of Junior High and that time the boy you had a serious crush on for months found your super-private notebook you wouldn't even show your best friend and read your most dramatic and heartfelt poem aloud in a crappy "British" accent, much to the amusement of the rest of the class. Remember laughing along, hoping that no one would know that you were the one who wrote it?

It's nice to feel a little redemption. Every time someone picks up something from my Etsy site, buys one of my books off Amazon or Lulu, or an editor sends me a letter saying they want my writing in their magazine, or when a publisher takes a chance on publishing a book of mine, those nasty little memories sting just a tiny bit less.

Here's the new giveaway...tell me one of your creative horror stories, one of those times a teacher or classmate cut you off at the knees artistically. I'll choose someone at random to win some retired Stampin' Up goodies from my stash to make those wounds close up a little faster. :)

Want to double your chances to win? Finish your comment with a link to a project you're particularly proud of.

Drawing will take place in 2 weeks, on Wed. the 21st.

P.S. Check it out! I've been featured in the fabulous Triangle Street Team blog: http://nctriangle.blogspot.com/2009/09/local-featured-seller-scrappyrat.html

*I won't go in depth, since it's likely that you've already read a ton of gossip about it, some true, some not, on a kajillion other websites. If you wish to know more, the best explanation I've seen is on one a blog I read religiously, Craft Critique. While you're there, subscribe to their blog newsletter. You won't regret it!