Wherein Mrs. Morrigan comes home to roost.

You might know that I live in a basement apartment.  Our steps are super steep, so it's a mini-hiking trip every day when I leave the house.  I don't usually look up; I'm generally concentrating to make sure an ill-placed foot doesn't send me back down into the seven foot well that is my entryway.

So when I got about forehead-level with my mailbox and spotted this out of the corner of my eye, I'm not ashamed to say that I jumped.  Just a little.

Unexpected pigeon mail is unexpected.

Luckily, I've loved from afar the Pigeon Post kit from the Letter Writers Alliance, so once my heart stopped racing from the half second of thinking a real pigeon was on my mailbox, I knew exactly what she was doing there.

The view of Mrs. Morrigan from my upstairs neighbors' perspective as they ascended their stoop.

You can read all about Mrs. Morrigan's past life as a fortune-teller here.  However, this week she was helping Kim send a message to me that could not be delayed, nor could it be rushed by false electronic means.

She took exactly the right amount of time to arrive. 

Many thanks to Kim for sending her my way!  I fed her (well, I put her next to the cockatiels' seed bowl, thus terrorizing both Roo and Bigsby, who thought she was real and eating their food), and will let her relax here for a little while before figuring out where she should go next.

Post-Craftacular Round-Up

I know I am days late in posting about how awesome the Bust Craftacular was, but it took me a couple of days to recover from all the fabulosity. (To be honest, I didn't even leave my house on Monday after we got back. It was too cold here in DC and I was too tired after arriving home at 2AM from New York.) This is unfortunate because we leave for our Christmas on Saturday, so being more ready is preferable to less ready.

What was I talking about? Oh, Bust! Righto.

Bust was awesome.

The morning started off with Amy Sedaris and I opening one of the big windows together next to my table. That was when I knew the day was going to be fantastic. I managed to not squee like a little girl while I was perched on a chair unlocking the pane (which is good, as I did not want to break an ankle because I lost my balance because I was freaking out about Amy Sedaris talking to me).

Unrelated story. A few years ago as a shopper at the same event, I got Ms. Sedaris to sign a book for my friend Billy, who thinks she is possibly one of the hottest people on the planet. "Um, hi. Could you sign this for my friend Billy, but make it like you and he hooked up?" She didn't bat an eye. "Oh, sure." It read, "Billy - thanks for last night. You were dyn-o-mite! love, Amy." This is why this woman is awesome.

She is also awesome because she commandeered my box of garbage bags (brought by me to wrap up vintage maps since it was raining; used by her to keep the window open) without asking. Normally that would be a mite irksome, but it's Amy Sedaris, so it just makes her more badass. I will happily mail out a folded garbage bag from that box to anyone who is crazy enough about her to want one. It's too bad she's not someone like Justin Bieber and her fans have a modicum of sense, because otherwise, I'd sell them individually for like, $50 a pop on eBay.

My neighbor on my right was a fun lady named Faune Yerby, whose work is a gorgeous mix of photography and toys and paper lovelies. She was also quietly hilarious, a quality I admire, and we had fun chatting with each other when there was a rare break in the crowd.

The rain poured steadily on all day, which was a bummer, but it kept the normally claustrophic crowds to a more manageable, constant level, which was nice. Getting to talk to people is one of the most fun things about selling in person, and actually being able to hear them is always a plus in that department.

One of the ladies who I got talking to noticed my vintage stamps and asked if I knew of her stamp dealer. As he is my main stamp contact as well, we started talking about him and of the blogs we read regularly that are also fans of his, and then we introduced ourselves. Her name is Mim, and it turns out I've been reading her blog, too! Small world. You should check out her blog and her contributions to the MailArt365 project.

I also was able to do some shopping toward the end of the day and found some perfect presents for several friends. Among them: a squirrel mirror from Bubbledog for my best friend, issue #1 of Remedy Quarterly for her foodie fiancée, and soaps for my aunt from Meow Meow Tweet. I also got to catch up a bit with some fellow DC crafting folk, like Mary (and hubby Tom!) from Herban Lifestyle.

Now that the show is over, I'm making custom works for some customers I met there, and then closing up shop after this Friday for a week or so while we head to Florida for Christmas. If you want anything in time for the holidays, order soon! I've posted the remaining bicycle Gocco prints in the shop, so grab one while you can.

This will be my first Christmas ever not spent with my family in upstate New York, which feels very strange. But it'll also be the first Christmas Dan and I get to spend together (after spending the past three years traveling in different directions), which is about the best present I could ask for. :)

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season with your loved ones!

Sunday is the Bust Craftacular!

I'm so excited about this weekend's Bust Magazine Holiday Craftacular! Not only can I barely believe I got in, there are going to be so many other amazing makers there; I'm looking forward to getting all of my holiday shopping finished up.

I know, I know, but as it turns out, when you're hand-making items for one of the largest craft shows in the country, you have very little time to get your holiday shopping done.

Also a casualty: I have left my house twice this week for periods of longer than five minutes. Yes, today is Friday.

Oh right, Craftacular. I've attended as a shopper since 2005, when it was in a comparatively tiny Polish dance hall in Brooklyn, and it is so worth a trip. My best friend and I (and later our fiancé(e)s) made it into an adventure each year, either in day trip or weekend form, and always had an awesome time. You should grab a friend or five and come visit!

I'll be on the second floor of the Metropolitan Pavilion on the left, just as you come up the stairs. Hope to see you there!

P. S. Whisper your favorite tip for cold weather bicycling to either me or Dan and get a free pin!

Reason #6272 to love Etsy treasuries.

While taking a break from my Crafty Bastards application yesterday afternoon, I browsed a lovely teal and red treasury, finding a collage print by Michele Maule that features a twin of Bianca, my bicycle. I explored her work a little more and found what appears to be the parent of the collage print. Dan played for me the song that inspired the title of the work, and I was sold. Then, it was.

Depending on how much space we have left on the walls once we decorate, there may be more purchases from Ms. Maule in the future. In the meantime, enjoy her beautiful work!

Little Bunny Foo-Foo

I'm taking my first tentative steps into the world of plushies. Don't worry, I don't intend to start selling them at {craftgasm} just yet; this little guy is the first of a few gifts for baby-making friends of mine.

Because I know how much everyone loves a crappy cameraphone picture.

I found what looked like an easy-to-cut, easy-to-sew pattern from the lovely Wee Wonderfuls blog. The easy-to-cut part was right on the money, though I've found the instructions to be a little frustrating when one is doing this for the first time and also is cranky because she needs to eat her dinner, posthaste. For instance, after you sew the ears wrong-side together, there is no further instruction on flipping them right side out before sewing them onto the bunny. And the skinny nature of the ears makes it incredibly hard to do that anyway. I winged it by flipping them right side out with a big pin, a pencil with eraser (for inserting the pin), and a lot of tugging and patience. I hope they're not prematurely flipped, but it doesn't look like they are. (If so, I'll deal with that later and let you know.) Also, the instructions call for embroidering after he's sewn up, but my common sense said that would be better done now.

Turns out my sewing machine doesn't like small pieces of cotton jersey fabric (or big ones either, really), and since I was lazy and haven't added interfacing to them, I'm sewing this little dude up by hand as of right now. We'll see if I get frustrated enough to iron some interfacing on later.

In keeping with the {craftgasm} mantra, the fabric pieces are all reclaimed. The solid green and blue were stained t-shirts, and the blue gingham is leftover from someone else's crafting. The little bit of white and pink on the insides of the ears was scrap fabric left over after cutting quilt squares from an old baby onesie. The whole thing will probably be stuffed with fabric scraps when he's done, too; I dislike the feel of polyfil too much, especially for a baby. And since it might be entirely hand-sewn, I don't want the polyfil leaking out the sides after its first round in the washer.

Who could be frustrated with that sleeping little face for long? Probably a good thing, then, that his face was one of the first things I did. I'll try to remember that when I'm ready to set fire to the whole project after I'm all cramped up, needle in hand.

50+ and counting!

I was so happy to watch my hearts climb upward last night, reaching 50 shortly after midnight (Eastern time, that is). I went to bed super-excited.

So imagine how thrilled I was to wake up and see that people had continued adding me to their faves even after the goal was reached! I'm currently at 52 -- and of course, always welcome more hearts! Thank you so much for your support.

As promised, to celebrate I'm going to host a giveaway of a handmade product of mine. I have been getting feedback about the Recycled Stationery Letter Sets --people love the maps and want more of them in the package. The map envelopes are time consuming to cut, so to keep costs down for customers, I had only included one map envelope in each packet, and used reclaimed envelopes for the rest of the set. But so many people have found the letter sets while searching for maps that I am going to split the product line. There will be a set with all map envelopes and blank labels, and then a set with all reclaimed envelopes with handmade map stickers at a lower price point. This will more accurately reflect the skill and time that go into making each letter set.

I'll be repackaging all of the letter sets this weekend to reflect the change, and I'll post here once they're live in my Etsy shop. However, one lucky commenter will be able to get the very first revamped set! If you want to play, leave a comment here with either a) your re-use resolution for 2009, or b) why you like something in my Etsy shop, along with a bot-proof email address to reach you. (While not required, you are more than welcome to pimp my giveaway on your own blog, linking back to this post.) To celebrate the United States' new beginning along with the new beginning of the Recycled Stationery Letter Sets, comments will have to be received by 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, January 20th. I'll use the scientific method of putting the entries in a box on Wednesday and pull one out. The winner will be posted here (maybe along with some pictures I take at Inauguration?), so tune in!

And, of course, if you want to heart craftgasm you are still more than welcome to do so. ;)

My first blog mention!

A blog other than my own, that is.

The folks over at SuperEco, a blog about green living, included my Recycled Stationery Sets in their green last-minute gifts post on December 18th. I'd have never known if it weren't for Google Alerts, so I'm grateful for that -- and for the fact that I have a new blog to check every day! (Like I needed another one of those.)

I hope you had a very happy Christmas or Hanukkah (or for some of you luckies, both), and that your 2009 is fantastic!

Furoshiki! and other eco-friendly gift wrapping

It's Christmas Eve-Eve and if you're like me, you are about to start wrapping your presents for your entire family before you leave tomorrow night for a six hour drive with your mother and tiny old dog leaving you no time once you're in New York to wrap them before Christmas morning. (OK, you may not be doing it exactly like that, but it's close.) I haven't got a ton of extra fabric that I need to part with, so furoshiki! (the exclamation is necessary) is not going to be my method of choice for last minute wrapping, but it is hella-cool. I imagine you could use some fabric presents as the gift wrap for others, too -- is anyone on your list getting placemats or towels?


Furoshiki Gift Wrapping - Funny videos are here

A pretty basket or box could be the gift wrap, too; everyone needs more storage solutions, and these can be found pretty cheaply new, or better yet, for dirt cheap at a thrift store.

If you are just looking for alternative paper, a newspaper with some ribbon makes quite a pretty picture (and if you don't believe me, I've seen similar at Anthropologie, and they know set-decorating like nobody's business). I'd recommend the classified ads, as all text with minimal disruption reads more like a neutral than headlines covering your presents. And colorful ads from magazines are good for small presents (tape multiple pages together for larger items).

This year, I'm using site plans from my office's recycling bins. I got ambitious last week and colored the fronts of buildings in the site plans with green garlands with red ribbons across the windows, but the black on white looks nice too. Last year, bus timetables taped together worked for me. (WMATA prints them in alternating hues of green, so it fit right in with my extended family's more traditional wrapping paper.) And don't forget just plain reuse of regular wrapping paper. We would use minimal tape and thriftily flatten the paper each year when I was younger to rewrap presents the next year, and it was not a big deal.

Hat tip to 365daysoftrash for the furoshiki! video. Quite a neat and thought-provoking blog he's got there.