Big Fat Store Update!


Mine!

That particular pair is the one pair of the set I'm keeping, but there's plenty more where that came from.

I would be most honored if you’d check out all the new stuff up over at Corvus corax, the business branch of the whole Corvus shebang. There’s thirty new items listed, including the lovely bits and pieces I’ve scattered throughout this post.


Birdsong

I’ve never done an all-at-once mass update before, and I’m curious to see how well it’s received. I can tell you it’s a heck of a lot of very tedious work to put together, what with one listing after another after another, but luckily it’s only one of several update methods I’m planning to try out and compare over the next few months. I will, of course, report the results for your elucidation.


Now With Eyes!

Please take a look and let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along the link to anyone who may be interested. I’d greatly appreciate it.

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In other news, remember how I mentioned a little yen for a podcast of my very own? Well, while I’m still not going to do it, I’ve continued to ponder the idea as an exercise in thought. This is what I’ve come up with: if I did a podcast, I’d call it Craft(er) a Week (month, whatever). Each episode would highlight a specific craft, be it as broad as “embroidery” or as specific as “making a tea cozy out of a pack of gum, three pieces of double stick tape, a broken radio and chopsticks: a tribute to MacGyver”, and I would try to get my fingers into a representative personage for that craft to interview and talk about said craft with. Presto! Not only would it be cool, but I would also have an excuse for my inconvenient habit of picking up a new hobby every thirty seconds.

And speaking of picking up new hobbies (what? it’s been thirty seconds): I splurged on a bento box! Granted, even with shipping “splurge” means “less than $10 that I spent lots of time and mental effort justifying before I clicked ‘buy’”, but hey, I am college student, hear me budget! Side note: my favorite little every-few-weeks splurge is a three dollar tropical smoothie from a joint up the street. It’s heaven in a Styrofoam cup, believe you me. (This is another hobby I want to pick up: smoothie making. Advice and recipes appreciated.)

For those who could also use some justification to push them along the bento-loving path, here’s my reasoning behind my purchase (and by the way, and I highly recommend the store- shipping was prompt, my box was expertly and attractively packed, and they even included a little extra gift):

A: I need to start eating lunch, that way I don’t just go nuts when I get home from class and eat everything in sight.

B: I do not need much lunch, however- more than the apples I was pocketing for my mid-day meal, but less than what typical American lunch boxes are designed for.

C: A typical lunch box would be too bulky for me to want to tote around campus anyway.

D: Brown paper bags are just a bit too wasteful.

Enter the bento: compact, relatively ecologically conscious and cute to boot. Plus, the more thought I put into making my food pretty –either just in making it all fit neatly into the box, or in full-blown bento masterpieces- the more I’m putting into nutrition and eating healthy at the same time, and that’s a very good thing. Voila: my mad justification skills in action.



And yes, I will be making pretty little food scenes and sculptures and yes, I will post said creations here. I’ve got one dilemma though: I don’t like rice. Rice is a crucial part of your more artistic bentos: it can be sculpted into shapes or just dyed and used as background. What, then, can someone who does not like rice use to fill her sculptural and background needs?

Thusfar the list includes mashed potatoes, pasta with various pestos and the like, omelets and other eggs, and maybe even pancakes. Have any ideas to add?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, people and creatures and credit-card carrying inanimate objects of all ages, watch this spot! Tell your family and tell your friends: the first major Corvus corax update in months is drawing ever nearer! This update will be your first and last chance to get your hands on old friends, dark secrets and long-awaited favorites from the Corvus design family!

Hmm. Clearly, I am not cut out to write advertising copy. I may, however, have a future as a circus sideshow announcer.

Rainy Morning

Today the sun rose and set in rain. I was up before dawn and heard this particular storm start, and walking to and from my first class my jeans and sandals were soaked through.


Soaked

This is due to my unfortunate inability to pass by a rain puddle without jumping in it feet-first, no matter how cold the rain nor how impractical my shoes. It's one of my proudest bad habits.

The Big Fat Store Update (TM) work proceeds apace and eats hours of time I’d rather spend making stuff- that’s okay, though, because I’m low on money for to buy materials to make stuff, and thus it is good that I’m writing up item descriptions, editing photos and calculating shipping rather than crafting (though I should be studying- I’m always putting something or other off). This way, I can afford more materials to make stuff.

Some things you might recognize that’ll be going into the update include a kilt pin from this post, the lovely aventurine set from this post, vintage bottlecap necklaces that have been languishing in boxes forever, all sorts of joy from this post and more. I’m also proud to announce that I’ll be using this update as an opportunity to add international shipping rates to Corvus corax items. These rates will be for USPS no-frills-no-thrills First Class (which makes me wonder- there is no Second or Third or indeed any other class, and while First Class is about as basic as it gets, so why the name something-special?), though I’m willing to get insured/tracked/expedited service if international buyers would please message me first for a corrected shipping rate. Thus far I’m trying to hit some major countries as far as Etsy presence goes –Canada, the UK, Australia- and some which have been requested, like Singapore. I’ll add others as they get requested as well.

Note to self: include that information in shop announcement. Yes. So much to do, so much to do! I’m a little white rabbit with a pocket watch in hand, skittering along with one paw holding my head to my neck.

Onward, then, towards that very important date.

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People take pictures of me. It's like a little treasure hunt every time I google image search "Colorado Renaissance Festival"- find my friends, find myself. Tis all part of the glory and glamour of being a pirate. For real.

Those are good pictures. I wonder if I could get my my little pirate hands on a print or two?

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The vintage quickie earrings I sent off to the Sampler garnered quite a lot of (largely positive) comments, so guess what I've been up to?


Pile o' Charms

Ther entirity of my usable "vintage charm" stash is in that picture and once they're gone they're gone, so that's another reason to keep an eye on this whole shop update thing I've been waving about like a white flag at Appatomax. The first ones off the pliers were quite simple:


Red Giant. Get it? Stars, and red and so red giant? *is geek*

I've got four more pairs made as of this instant, and will probably be able to eke out a good handful more before my well runneth dry. I'm also working on a bracelet in a new style that rather fascinates me- if it works out, I see many necklaces and bracelets and such like this in the future. Unfortunately I haven't photographed it, and with the cloudy skies we've got going on right now, won't get good lighting to do so before sunset. Alas, you shall have to wait until tomorrow to see what this newest little diversion is.

What all are you crafting, my friends?

Goal #3: Clean


Sunrise off the Back Deck

I'm proud to report that, for the first time since the day Tigger died (which was coincidentally the day before my two classes and two jobs, which consumed seven days a week this summer without exception, began), my room is more than haphazardly clean and organized. This is important to me, as not having time or energy to keep my lift in order post-classes-and-works was really grating on me. Home = sanctuary and all, you know.

Goal #2: Craft


The Business End of Things

I am not made for wholesale manufacture. Sure, I like revisiting old designs and playing with similar themes, but I can tell you after working through a batch of the above earrings to send to the Sampler, repeating the exact same design over and over in one sitting just blows the joy right out of it. I thrive on creativity, and while making my hobbies and escapes repetitive and boring for a time may help fund them in the future, it's still not something my brain manages without complaint. That's okay, though- it's for a good cause, for getting the word out. And I'm not only creative as far as crafting goes, oh no- my creativity extends to keeping myself entertained even in the most repetitive of situations. You should see what I'm capable of in amusement park lines.

Anyway: they're little and cute and they even match my business cards! I'm proud, as I don't always do well with simple and cost-effective designs.

Goal #1: Travel


Icon: San Francisco

My first stop will be San Francisco. I've been to the city a handful of times before, though only once in memory- I was actually born nearby. I plan to totally live it up. I plan to eat (and drink) well. I plan to walk everywhere. I plan to stop by knitting and fabric stores, like the fiber geek I am. It will be glorious.


Observation Car

I'll then board the Coast Starlight and ride the tracks twenty-two hours up to Seattle. I have rigged this so that I ride through the night of the 12th, which is the peak of the Persied Meteor Shower. Expect to find me in the observation car throughout said night, staring open-mouthed at the sky and returning to my seat to sleep only once the sun burns the night away.


Icon: Seattle

Seattle is a much more familiar place to me, what with my sister and nephew living there. I'm going to approach the city from a different angle this time around, though- vacation, not family get-together (though rest assured I will be getting together with said family, and often). I will be here on the 14th, which is my 22nd birthday. I will return back to Fort Collins on the 17th, at which point there will be cake and ice cream and booze at my house for whomever thinks my getting older/getting back to town/getting ready for fall semester is rreason to celebrate (and really, what isn't reason to celebrate?). You have been notified.

I'm taking two small knitting projects on this trip, one of which you have seen and one which you have not. Rest assured I will flood you with progress, pictures, and stories galore when I return.

Ciao, lovelies!