Happy Birthday, Revco!

I have a teenager now! Revco just turned 13. That's him above, hopping up and down, trying to grab one of the treats I baked for him. It's a new recipe that seems to be a hit! Pain Faux Viende Avec Herbs de Provence...the recipe will be featured on the EtsyVeg team blog soon. They're very hearty, though low in fat. A nice soft and chewy treat. In the mean time, take a look at the team site: http://www.etsyveg.blogspot.com/ Basically, it's a group of people who run stores on Etsy.com who get together to support each other and do some good for animals. Etsy is a great place to shop. If you received a gift from me this holiday season, it's extremely likely that I bough it on Etsy.com!

Speaking of stuff I'm doing on the web, I wanted to show off the card I made for the Simon Says Stamp "Hot Chocolate" Challenge. The theme is pink/brown and of course, the beverage mentioned. I just got this house mouse stamp so I had to use it. Mmm. Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?

Aaaaannnd, I'm super busy and up really late working on cards for a couple of rescue fund raisers. One is a craft show in the UK and the other is the Vegan Sample Bag fund rasier I contributed to a few months ago. Basically Etsy.com stores donate free samples to be put together in pretty hand decorated totes and sold to raise money for an animal rescue. The previous one I was in raised money for a sanctuary for homeless pigs. I've heard that these totes are really cool and a genuine bargain. I know I always try to include a few nice goodies from my store for each buyer. Check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/vegansamples

And, ahem, my store: http://scrappyrat.etsy.com

Well, I'd best get back to work if I'm going to get these cards made, packaged, and on their way!

P.S. One week till my 4th poetry book is released! So soon!

Botanica Box

It's 5:35 a.m. and I am still awake, packing up those tires-squealing, last second, do-I-maybe-still-stand-a-chance-to-get-these-things-somewhere-on-time gifts. Most of these are, of course, the ones I made by hand, so it's not just putting paper around a box, it's also making adjustments, putting this together with that, and I'll admit it, actually making a few of the items from scratch today. I'm relieved, at least, that my craftsiness only extends to side order gifts because if I had to come up with stuff worthy of being the main course, I would never get to sleep all year.

Well, that's not entirely true. This year Scott wanted his gift to his mom to be a floral arrangement I made. He picked the colors and I even managed to drag him slowly through the faux flora section of AC Moore to get him to pick out all of the flowers (or at least pick from amongst several I picked that weren't too absurd--I had to waft him away from the ginormous globular hydrangia puffs he kept picking out since two of them would have overflowed the container he wanted) so in my opinion, he genuinely deserves credit for the gift despite my assembly. And I did that assembly between 3:30 and now. And here I thought this kind of last minute frantic cramming ended when I graduated. I think it came out pretty well, though looking at it from here I see two flowers that are out of place. It's making me nuts to see those two flowers sticking out, but not quite nuts enough to make me get up and fix it just now, I'm so tired.

On to the photos. The pics I've uploaded depict a project I made for the Alphastamps matchbox shrine swap. Alphastamps is a fantastic store full of all sorts of beautiful trinkets, stamps, and collage supplies, quite possibly my favorite out there. The people in the swap group make the most amazing things. They're all quite talented to the point where I feel almost unworthy of being included. Every swap is a great learning experience, and I highly encourage anyone interested in honing their crafting skills to join.

The matchboxes in this swap are approximately 1.5x2.5 or thereabouts. Think of the kind of matchboxes you used to (and maybe still sometimes do, somewhere) find in gigantic fishbowls on the way out of restaurants. In this case, I ordered mine from...you guessed it...Alpha Stamps, where I also picked up the beautiful floral dresden, the momento mori scrap, and the nifty skull and rose (not shown, but used in some of the boxes I swapped away) cubichon that went into collaging this little "shrine").

Some of my readers may not be familiar with dresden and, oh my, you should be because it's one of my favorite things in the world. These are bits of german paper "scrap", generally dry embossed, often metallic, that were popular in the 1800's to embellish family albums, decorate greeting cards, etc. The other item that might not be immediately recognized is the momento mori scrap. A momento mori is any type of personal trinket intended to keep one's dead a little closer in one's memory. Some that are popular among collectors include hair jewelry (though it's not exclusively made from the hair of the dead, it often is considered funerary jewelry). Check it out online. While I'm hair-phobic (Hair is creepy once it's detached from its human. Seriously.) I have to admit, it is quite beautiful. In this case, however, our momento mori is a sheet of photos of taken after the death of a loved one. Because it wasn't common for families to have their own cameras until fairly recently, and because having one's picture made was both an expensive and tedious production (involving standing very still--this is why people's eye often look weird or blurry in old photos. Their eyes moved during the long exposure process), many people didn't have photos of their loved ones around. So, when someone died, more often than not, if the family wanted to ever see their lost one's face again, would need to have a picture made. To contemporary Americans, who don't really have much contact with their dead anymore, but in the past this was not unusal at all. I know if I lost someone and had no photos, I'd have it done rather than have no reminder of their appearance.

I was playing with the idea of the different ways we encounter flowers, how pretty, innocent, and lovely scented they can be, but also how they can be sad or even sinister. I wanted to have it be a bit of a surprise when you open it, like "eyeew" almost. Like once on the playground in elementary school, one of the girls thought she caught a hummingbird and was completely charmed...until the teacher told her what she was cradling in her hands was the biggest locust she'd ever seen. She shrieked and threw it down. It was interesting how fast her reaction changed, though it was the same thing she had been holding so dearly a second ago.

So, check out Alpha Stamps and give matchbox shrines a try. If you do, please send me a link to your photos. I'd love to see them!

Goodbye Baby Ween.

Ween died yesterday afternoon. He was 17 and a half, but you always hope for a few more years, even when you see it coming.

Over the last year he'd grown thin, and more and more often he'd hit the side of the bathroom counter instead of making his usual satin slick landing when it was kitty treat time (the dogs are less pesky when you're on the counter instead of the floor, after all.)

Lately his back end seemed to be sinking and his knees were turning inward. We debated whether or not we should attempt wresling him into a carrier and sustain his surprisingly shrill howls on the drive over to the vets' office to see if they could offer some kind of medicine that might limber him up a little, but the last time we took him in, we couldn't get close enough to the suddenly armed and ferocious box in the back seat, so the vet had to immunize him like a feral, through the slits in the verikennel. Getting him to calm down enough to prance across the counter and show off his gams just wasn't going to happen.

The organic human-grade holistic joint supplement I ordered arrived on our doorstep today. Oh well.

When Scott brought Ween home, his name was Janice and his head was bigger than his body. We found out later (he wasn't always a threat to veterinarians everywhere) that Janice had an undescended testicle. Oh. So he came home a second time as Tofu-Kitty, but soon his habit of belting out a tune in his Siamese tenor each night (a behavior we came to refer to as "Weening Out"), and his tendency to get into fights with socks--and lose every time, earned him the moniker, Weeny. He was a year younger than my resident cat, Small Change, so we got in the habit of calling him Baby Ween. For some reason he also earned an article and became The Ween, sort of like on Leave it to Beaver. No one can remember why, but it stuck. T.S. Eliot would be proud of this cat.

It's hard. Toulouse, one of my other cats, the one who was best friends with Ween, has been searching all corners of the house and meowing so sadly. It's heartbreaking to hear him crying out and not receiving a response. He knows Ween died, but it probably feels as unreal to him as it does to me. Poor baby. He's going to miss having a friend of his own species that he can groom and tussle with. My other kitty, Weezee, sort of tolerates Toulouse, as cats often do with each other.

Scott took Ween to the crematory this afternoon. I guess I'll put his ashes on the "mantle" (there's no fireplace below it, so I don't know what you call it) next to his old friend Small Change who passed on about 8 years ago from liver failure. It's kind of weird, but Ween dying also stirs up a lot of memories of dad dying just a few years ago at this time of year. It feels like someone's always disappearing. Sigh.

I follow Zen, so I wish Weeny an auspicious rebirth and hope he enjoys shaking off his heavy body, trading it in for a bouncy new one. I hope he maybe finds Small Change again (aka, Mr. Big), his feline big "brother" who smacked him around mercilessly, a beating Ween took with the enthusiasm of the little cartoon terrier who always popped back up, right beside the bulldog announcing, "We's pals, ain't we Spike?"

I hope somewhere, someday soon, they'll be curled up purring like a chainsaw in the laundry of someone who loves them dearly.

Take good care of my boys, okay?

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!

Usagkateer!

I took the above photo to thank lead Fiskateer Wendy Jo for the most excellent Fiskars Valentrio corner punch she sent me. That's Usagi. Unlike Revco, she is not very fond of the camera, being dressed up, or any of those diva-like things. She likes to fade into the background and watch the action, rather than be the center of attention. She's cursed with being completely cute, however, so sometimes I just have to take a few.
Because I have put her in a "sit", and from her perspective, I'm putting a bunch of weird new things around her, then looking at her expectantly. She decides I must want her to do something, though she isn't sure what. We clicker train together, and "throwing" behaviors (basically it's a game of "hot and cold" you play with your dog) to guess what wins a treat is how we start the game. So, here she is slapping the bumper sticker with her paw to see if that works.

Quickly she switches touching it with her nose, another "answer" that often earns a treat. Oh, but then her attention is caught by something else. *Sniff. Sniff.* "What is this thing anyway?"

*Nibble Nibble* Maybe just a tiny taste. Is that glue? Yum!

"So, um...you weren't actually *using* this for anything right? I mean, say, if I was to take it, you wouldn't, oh, chase me now, would you?"

"Chase me? Now? Would you?" Check out that tentative look in her eyes. She *wants* to take it and run, but she's not sure if she'll get away with it or not.

" Clearly you don't want to play and you don't have any treats, so I'll just take this thing away and chew on it. If you'll just, um, let go of it, please." *Tug tug*

"Yay! Mine mine mine mine mine!"

See how quickly taking pics with her degenerates into "hey, let's play!" Even when they seem to pose so nicely in the picture you see, they're nuts in the photos you don't. :) You can't take the dog out of the dog (and why would you want to?)

So, thanks from both of us, Wendy Jo!

P.S. Winners of the tote bags mentioned in the previous email are Mardi and Leesa! Thanks to everyone who left a message! There will be more giveaways to come.

CKC 2009: An Exploration into the Scraposphere (and a prize!)

Attention reader! You may already be a winner (provided you have a time machine). If you don't, it's okay. You still have the power to change the future! Keep reading or just scroll to the end for instructions. (Sure, I understand. You don't have time to read blogs all day. My self esteem won't be completely crushed by the fact that you find me too repugnant to spend five minutes reading what I spent hours putting together. No, really, don't feel bad.) The winner will be announced September 15.

A couple of years ago I went to CKC with Jen K's Table Scraps group (before it was called that) with absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I'd signed up for a couple of classes, and I knew you could shop there, but I had no idea how much goofy fun one craftnerd could have there. Since then,I've been in love with the Creating Keepsakes Convention though I still think "Creating Keepsakes" is a really unfortunate name. It sounds like a place where we all get together and sew eyelet lace onto doilies or lovingly hand-bronze babyshoes--no offense to those who do sew eyelet onto doilies and the like. It's just really not something I can imagine myself doing.

After that first completely exhausting day, I decided that a hotel room was a must from then on. With my spine, I don't have a choice. Last year was hard. I was in really bad shape the first night there and nearly missed the crop, but this year I was pretty proud of myself for having scheduled my events with several hours rest time between each. It made all the difference. Sure, I had to leave the crops early, but I still got to go and honestly, I've kind of come to accept that I generally won't be able to make it through a whole crop anyway. On one hand, it's a little sad to have to lower my expectations, but on the other hand, it's a lot less depressing than constantly being disappointed.

Speaking of crops, part of the reason the CKC crops rule is all the people you get to see who you normally don't. I love running into my friends from various message boards and whatnot, not to mention enjoying the company of people I happen to meet serendipitously at the convention, like the girls pictured above. We had so much fun Friday (despite the really awkward make-a-card game I think we all found disturbing) that we decided to do it all over again Saturday.

Here's Barbie at one of the SEI classes we took (I loooove their classes though it takes me an eternity to actually finish their ginormous projects.) I swear you cannot take a bad photo of that woman. I was really pleased with all of the classes I chose (the other two were a Technique Tuesday card class and a Rusty Pickle mini album one. I highly recommend any class you can take by either company.) which was likely facilitated by the early registration code I received from CKC this year so I was actually able to get all of my first choice classes. Always a plus.

The photo of Barbie, above, was taken just minutes prior to her annual injury. Last year she fell down the escalator, shredding her scheduled-for-surgery knee. This year she sliced her hand open changing the beyond-razor-sharp blade of her Fiskars rotary cutter, nearly causing a pass-out worthy bloodbath and panicking not only the SEI assistant and the CKC workers, but also security and anyone else within view. I would have followed her out as well, but I was afraid we'd exceed the women's room maximum capacity. Oh Barbie. I don't know if the Convention Center's insurance company is going to let you return if you keep this up.

Gentle reader, if you would like a nifty canvas mini tote (think purse-sized) emblazoned with those bright orange scissors we're all so familiar with, hand-stenciled by yours truly, leave a comment on this post (if you're lucky, there may even be some neat Fiskars goodies inside.) Due to the nature of this prize (by that, I mean orange), those who include their Fiskateer number will get two entries (A Nelson-style, "ha ha" to everyone else.) Keep in mind...anyone can be a Fiskateer if you wish really hard and go to www.Fiskateers.com and tell 'em I sent you. No, I don't get anything for recruiting you other than an extra bowl of low-protein mush from The Leader and the satisfaction of bringing another crafter into the cult--ahem--uh...group I mean. :)

P.S. If you look closely, you can a similar tote in one of the photos, above. :)