Scribble Nation

Glamour Cross Tutorial

The long awaited Glamour Cross Tutorial is HERE!!! Woot woot. We've donned our chipmunk personalities to show you how to make the kitschiest crucifixes in town!

Daydreamer Self Portrait

Do you ever have days where you are just too creative for your own good?  I am a notorious day dreamer - to a fault!  I have had this idea in my head for years, but lately it just keeps itching me.

The Hat City Scissor Center
I dream of a wide open space nestled in downtown Danbury that would act as an arts and crafts community center.  Monthly memberships would buy local crafters and artisans unlimited studio time and a hefty discount on special classes and workshops. We would have a kickass selection of equipment for sewing, jewelry making, art, you name it. Monthly members would also have access to a craft supply swap meet, fueled by member donations.  And my dreams don't stop there.  I would LOVE to make it inviting to the hugely diverse culture of the area by having bi or tri-lingual staff on hand.  Best of all, I dream of this place being a non-profit operation so that I can make it available to the people who need it most: artists who don't have the means to purchase the expensive equipment they are dying to work with.  I would also have benefits for volunteers, teachers, and sponsors. We could also organize craft shows and events where the artists in the community can try to turn a dime on their creations, auction fund raisers, bake sales, and more. My heart skips a beat when I get caught up imagining this bustling center of affordable and accessible creativity.  If only I could fall into piles of money so that I could start this place up. Le sigh. Someday!

Boot-onnière Bonanza!

Michelle and I were lucky enough to be gifted a very special attic find recently.  Anne from The Scissor Squad found a ziploc full of old Barbie gogo, cowboy, and even army boots during a recent trip to see her folks.  She was kind enough to send them our way and I knew as soon as I laid eyes on them what they were meant to be:

But it was Michelle, (I think) who coined the name. Or was it another brilliant Scissor Squad member?  I'm not sure - they are all so damned fantastic. Who really knows? Anyway, the first batch you see above is already listed on The Scribble Nation Etsy Shop.  Next in line? Michelle's amazing variation below, The Button Boot-onnière!!

Keep your eyes peeled folks.  There are many more to come.

Pssssssst. What the "F" is a Boot-onnière anyway?

Oh darling, I am SO glad you asked.  A Boot-onnière is a charming bouquet of vintage and modern buttons, baubles and beads that has been permanently nestled inside of a reclaimed toy boot.  If Barbie could only see what's been done with her favorite go-go!  Each Boot-onnière sports a sturdy pinback so that you can easily dress up your ensemble.  Even the sorriest lapel will become a fashion frenzy with a Boot-onnière pinned upon it.

Each Boot-onnière is utterly and completely one of a kind.  Though we may duplicate color schemes, the final product will never be the same twice.

What is the biggest challenge of working from home?

You're looking at him. Sure, he may look innocent and adorable, but this cat is not only a villainous mastermind, he is a professional interrupter.  He knocks glasses of water onto electronic equipment, chews through speaker wires, switches off power strips. You name a way to interrupt my flow of work, and I'll betcha he has already tried it.  Sometimes he takes a cuter approach and tries to stop me from typing by sitting on my hands. 

Sometimes he'll simply meow one hundred times in a row for no apparent reason.  His favorite trick is to steal important items from my office than bat them around the house.  Nothing is safe from the orange kitty, and there is no escaping him either.  Recently, he figured out how to push the bathroom door open.  After he gets into the room, he proceeds to meow by the shower door.  Once he becomes tired of meowing, he simply slides the door open and jumps into the shower with you.

Bad Kitty!   

Turtle!

I just got these awesome pics from one of my Dad's latest dives.  This Hawkbill Sea Turtle swam right up to the camera! What a ham!

My Pops is quite the Cousteau. Check out the last picture he sent me, from a close encounter of a very much scarier kind. 

Shameless

This week for Self Portrait Thursday I thought I would do something a little different.  Instead of a macro shot zooming in on my cavernous nose pores I've decided to showcase the current state of my "office".  I'm only one craft show into the season and LOOK at the state of things.  Looks like I'll be cleaning before I can start crafting tonight. Le sigh. A far cry from the last time I invited you all into this room.

Details on the chaos:

1. Storage bins for all my fabric. It seems only yesterday the contents were neatly organized by color and material. Good times...
2. The aforementioned "poop chair". I painted this sucker many years back.  It horrified my father, but I thought the little floater added necessary detail to the piece.
3. My sewing machine safely tucked inside its case (but wearing a random crap hat.)
4. Yes, that is a coconut.
5. Go bulletin board! When I put this up I imagined a collage of neatly arranged swatches, sketches, and clippings. What actually wound up here? Not quite Martha material.
6. My favorite Minks to Sinks find ever, a freaky old cabinet made with cigar box drawers. It hold all of my little doo dads with suck style!
7. This is not coffee. It actually holds all of the little stray strings  from when I sew. They are kept safely inside this cup until so that this won't happen.
8. A giant bag of herb. No! Not THAT kind of herb. Come on, this is a family show.
9. Fabric scrap bags. I may be messy, but that doesn't mean I'm not O.C.D. I have all of my fabric pieces under 1/2 yard in color schemed ziplocks. This particular one is a mish-mash that I put together for a project. The rest are freakishly color coordinated.

And now, the control center!! The messiest place of all.

1. A plate full of kiwi.  Believe it or not, this and the coconut are actually work related.
2. Various Boot-onnière's waiting for pinbacks. Coming soon to a Scribble Nation near you!!
3. Packing tape! Amidst all the chaos I still get my orders out. (And my endless amount of SwapTree swap books.)
4. God damn allergies.
5. Upcycled Envelopes waiting to be sorted into "collections" and photographed.
6. Google Chat - the underminer of all productivity.
7. A golden chicken (and his friend the rubber cow). I don't really know the deal with the golden chicken. According to my Pops it's VERY important though, so I keep it right here on my desk.
8. Kewpie!!
9. Martha's free calender keeping me up to date! (It's even on the right month. I'm SO grown up.)
10. You could call this a cordless phone OR you could more accurately call it the charities begging for money device.  I know this sounds awful, but anyone who belongs to activist groups or has donated money from time to time will know what I mean when I tell you that I get called EVERY DAY by multiple charities. I couldn't possibly have enough to donate to all of them so I wish they would just LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!
11. My lucky Etsy magic candle. I wrote ETSY all over this pillar and I light it every time I list something new. Mojo anyone?

Punk Rock Flea Market!

This Saturday, April 19!! Noon to 5:00 PM / Admission $5.00
Heirloom Arts Theater - 155 Main Street Danbury, CT

Live performances by:
Arms and Legs
James Downes
Toby Goodshank of The Moldy Peaches
Deer Tick
Neil Hamburger

Tons of cool indie vendors including several of our very own CT Etsy Team members:
LAA Designs
Ms Kitty Fantastico
Ornametal
Scribble Nation

Other vendors include:
  CT Roller Girls
Trash American Style
WXCI
  Vegan Pitbull Rescue
and many more!

Craftastic Makes Scribble History!

I am happy to report that Scribble Nation's first craft fair went rather swimmingly.  It was a small show, with a relatively small amount of shoppers, but a great way to get our feet wet.  We sold a fair amount of stuff throughout the day, got to meet many of our fellow CT Etsy Team people, and overall had a faboo time. 

Here's Michelle showing off our fancy table! We didn't get to bring Godzilla this time, but we're hoping to have him fixed up in time for Friday's Sidewalk Sale in Bethel. 

We came up with a crazy idea while setting up to give away buttons to anyone brave enough to model our Scribble Nation Crown. I made this wacky hat one night while I was getting silly with a glue gun. I giggled for hours while I scared the bejeezus out of Scott Bobleo that night. Mwa hahaha. He begged me not to wear it in public, but I said "poo poo to you Scott Bobleo. I'll do what I please." And I did.

Here is Bobleo Senior modeling the hat in question.

And a fetching young lady who tried it on for size.

And best of all, this crazy kid who came with his mom. He had a hilarious joke for every item on the table and was cracking us up the whole time he was there.  We sort of wound him up. Can you tell?

For more pictures of the Craftastic Event please check out The CT Etsy Team Blog.

Crafty Table Test Drive

I tell ya. You never know how much crap you have made until you try to pile it all onto an eight foot table.  I tested out our display the other day. We still have a LOT of work to do before Sunday. We need to sign, tag and price everything. We need to make a banner, and we need to bake the Day of the Dead cookies!! Eye yi yi. We also need to make an inventory of everything we're bringing with us, make vendor aprons, and... oh yeah - thin out the herd! This table is over stuffed. We'll need to thin it down a bit so people aren't overwhelmed. Wish us luck that we can get this all done by Sunday!

Left side: Coloring books, softies, pin cushions

Center: Earrings, manisters, jewelry, cards

Right side: Cocktail hats, toilet cozys, glamour crosses

Popeye

Self Portrait Thursday 04/10/08

 

I yam what I yam. Hyuck Hyuck Hyuck.

Playing with color.