Hello again!

I really haven't been doing much with my blog lately, have I? Between the holidays...my partner moving in with me...preparing for Midwinter Gaming Convention (AWESOME vending experience BTW)...and that whole finding-a-day-job thing, I've been slacking a bit on writing. I promise to be better in 2011. Really.

20% off sale on Artfire!

I've decided to play with Artfire's discount coupons in order to offer a Thanksgiving week sale in my shop.

Now through 11/29/10. take 20% off of any item (or items!) in my Artfire shop.
http://moiracoon.artfire.com

***Use discount code BSNOV2010 at checkout***

Loverly day

I had a wonderful day at TeslaCon on Saturday. While I was only there for a few hours (busy-busy prepping for Windy and MFF), it was enjoyable. In addition to getting a taste of the programming, I had a chance to meet a number of other artisans and costumers.

Among these...

~Antoinette's Atelier
~WhiskerWorks
~Magpie's Masquerie
~CrisisWear
~Xcentricities by Ynhared
~Scoundrelle's Keep
~Rosaline/Freak Leather Fashions
~Parasols By Tamie
~Highwind Steamworks
~Singing Lemur
~Ingrid The Crafty
~Ravenworks
~Steampunk Leather
~Blasphemina's Closet
~Apatico
~Bionic Unicorn
~Steampunk Funk

There were some really clever takes on the steam genre by some terrific talented folk!

Now back to my own work, so I can be ready for the next couple of cons!

Moot political trash (talk)!

I'm glad that the midterm elections are over...NOT because I'm sick of the (sometimes nasty) campaigning. (OK...maybe a little glad for that part). Rather, I'm excited to put a recycling idea into practice and legally, I couldn't do that until tomorrow.

You know all of those weather-durable plastic campaign signs that are covering the landscape? After today, they're useless to the candidate and they're bound for the landfill. What a waste! I've decided that a few of them need to be rescued and repurposed, so tomorrow evening I'm going to venture out after the good citizens have put out their weekly trash on the curb.

I'm going to make some earring display cards!

Step one: Procure plastic signs. For the purposes of my project, I'm going looking for the hard white 4mm thickness signs. The plastic is usually printed on one side with a second panel on the back if the campaign wants a two sided sign. Sometimes, you can find corrugated signs with printing on both sides, which would also work for this purpose.

Step two: Design paper "card". Using my existing graphic and text files, I'm going to design a paper "face" for the earring card. I also plan to add two dots to show where to punch the holes for the posts/wires. Since a good number of the earrings that I make are dangly, I'm going with a 2 x 3 inch card.

Step three: Cut and adhere pieces. I'll next cut both the paper and plastic to the same size. I'll likely need to use a utility knife/utility scissors to cut the plastic, then I'll adhere the paper to the printed side of the plastic with glue. Once dry, I'll use my mini hole punch to punch two holes for the posts/wires and a larger third hole for the display peg.

Cheaper/more customizable/earth friendlier than buying earring cards via jewelry supply sources.

(Please note: in many juristictions it is illegal to remove posted political yard signs. I'm skirting this a bit under the excuse that if they're out for the trash on the curb, they are no longer "posted". If my local authorities disagree, I'm more than happy to put the signs back where I found them. As always, YMMV. If you're the least bit concerned about the odd chance of having a conversation with a patrol officer about trash picking, let your gut be your guide.)

Creeping deadlines!

I just realized that I have less than...

~1 1/2 weeks until TeslaCon (not vending, just attending, thank goodness!)

~2 1/2 weeks until WindyCon (need to finish up my art show entries and get other items ready for a friend's booth in the dealers' room)

~3 1/2 weeks until MFF (need to finish art show entries)

EEEP!

Today we're having extremely high winds, so I really can't be working outside with chemicals and such either.

Prayer For A Dying Signal

I've been playing with tubes again...