Etsy Shops I Know And Love

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I know that it is too late to do any shopping for presents that will come in time for Christmas, but I thought I would recommend these shops hosted on Etsy from which I have bought gifts for myself and others or that belong to people I know directly. These people are doing it for themselves, and they are doing it well.

1. That down there? That is one of a variety-pack of four cards I ordered from Scotia Made.

2. I just bought this gorgeous little number from Annabella Designs.

3. My mother loved this scarf I gave her from Cipolla.

4. My friend Curtis is the man behind Brock Photography, and he is a fine photographer.

5. Knuckle Toes Clothing and Accessories is a purveyor of hippie-wear and accessories, which is run, of course, by my friend Knuckle Toes.

6. Sock Zombie is Erin of Out Of Character fame's shop. I purchased one of her sock zombies for a friend, and it went over like gangbusters.

7. I own a zine called "Beginnings" by Jen Lemen of SoulSister Designs, and it is lovely.

8. Schmutzie on Etsy is, of course, my shop where I am presently selling my photographs. What would this list of Etsy shops be without me pimping out my own stuff?

I am a participant in Holidailies 2007.

Labels: the consumerism, the lists

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When I Tell You To Read "Out Of Character", I Mean It

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Let us say that, when you are toodling around the internet on your computer, the internet category called Weblogs is like an ocean wave coming home to pound the beach that is your literate self. Over 19 million weblogs are all roiling around in the surf, and you are looking for one, just one, today that does not have three hundred crappy widgets slowing up your load time or instant music without an obvious stop button or, gawd forbid, a flash animation splash page to alert everyone around you that you are not working on that woefully out of date manual. That is all you want.

Okay, no. You want more than that. You want them to be funny sometimes, because funny is good. And you want there to be some photographs, because it lends that degree of familiarity from afar, which in most contexts is creepy but is a sign of success on the internet. You want to feel like they're talking to you and not some impersonal mass like some news or corporately sponsored product review website.

You have plucked many a weblog out of the surf, turned it over, and found it left you cold. The weblog looked up at you and said something like I like toast, and you thought well, don't we all, and you threw that bland thing back. Well, I have the cure: Erin's Out of Character.

Her accounts of her remodeling travails are stellar. I cannot say for sure, because I just started reading her this morning, but if you start back in October and read forward, you should catch a good chunk of it.

Her dog, Jake, is supernatural. Or he can fly. Either way, he's alive.

And then, I am not kidding, I was just going to say that the only drawback was that she did not ship her sock zombies from her Etsy shop outside the United States, but I thought I would check to see if she had changed that, and she did, and now I have one coming to me up here in Canada! Erin just gets better and better. This time, by about $17.

I am a participant in NaBloPoMo. Check out the upper right sidebar and vote for me in the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards.

Labels: the consumerism, the metablogging

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Schmutzie.com U.S. Postage Stamps

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Did you know that I made U.S. postage stamps? And I am Canadian, too. That hardly sounds legal, but lo and behold, it is.

Now people all over the United States can drink in the beauty that is my friend, R. He's a handsome devil, that man.

Zazzle custom stamps will work with any size mailing, including greeting cards, invitations, and note card envelopes. It features an original black-and-white photograph, taken by Schmutzie, of an ornery man sticking his tongue out at you. The 2.1" x 1.3" stamps come in sheets of 20 and can be purchases in several types of postage amounts: Post Card, 1st Class 1oz, 1st Class 2oz/1oz odd, 1st Class 3oz, 1st Class 3.5oz, 1st Class 4oz, and Priority Mail.

Click here, and they can be yours for anywhere between $14.87/sheet of 20 (Post Card) and $109.95/sheet of 20 (Priority Mail), depending on the type of postage you choose.

I kill myself.

Labels: the consumerism

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#768: Got T-Shirts?

Friday, July 27, 2007

These t-shirts have a large housefly on the upper right front. Why a fly? Why not a fly? When I was a kid, we used to put them in the freezer, tie dental floss around them, and then keep them as pets on leashes while they thawed out.

The women's babydoll t-shirt pictured above is made of 100% super-soft ring-spun cotton. Made by Bella, it has a double-needle stitched bottom hem, capped sleeves, and a tapered side-seamed body with a contoured fit. The sizes do run extremely small, so order one or two sizes larger than you normally would. You can always use permanent marker to change the label later. If you're a freak.

Click here, and it's yours for $19.95 to $28.95, depending on size and colour.

The men's American Apparel t-shirt is skin-hugging, ultra-soft, and fitted. It is 100% baby rib cotton, combed for comfort, with a double-needle stitched bottom hem. The sizes run small, so order it one size larger for a looser fit. It will show off those hot abs and firm moobs you've been rocking ever since you started reading weblogs.

Click here, and it's yours for $22.95 to $31.95, depending on size and colour.

The children's basic American Apparel t-shirt is the softest, smoothest, classic medium-weight t-shirt. It is 100% fine jersey cotton, combed for comfort, with a flattering, stylish fit on any body type. You could use this t-shirt to teach them the joke where you point at their chest, say You've got a fly on your shirt, and then hit them in the nose with your finger. It'll be a riot.

Click here, and it's yours for $21.95 to $29.45, depending on size and colour.

Labels: the consumerism, the metablogging

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#762: Got Mugs?

Friday, July 20, 2007

I've been busy.

Click on the mugs to get your very own at my Zazzle shop.

UPDATE: I have opened up shop! Check it out.

Labels: the consumerism, the metablogging

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#759: In Which I Give Away Free Advertising Because I Love Her Wares This Much

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

front view

That, my friends, is a happy find. I wanted a purse that was not coloured leather with rusching and unnecessary metal embellishments. I wanted a purse that was large but not large enough to fit everything I carry with me plus a small accessory dog. I wanted a purse that was sturdy but did not look like something soft and young had died so that I could put my copy of King Dork inside it.

front detail

And then I found it at Persnickity Design's Etsy Shop. (They can also be found at their home address.)

side view

It has taken me a long time to find a bag that could hold my camera, a book, and a small knitting project while still looking stylish and holding its shape. Although I have owned this purse for exactly one day, it has restored my faith and saved me from going the backpack route.

inside view

Just to drive home how much I like this bag, here is a list of things I like about it:

It is naugahyde, and what child of the seventies doesn't have a secret like of the vinyl?

It is large without looking oversized.

The straps are made of some super durable material not unlike soft seatbelts but more ribbony.

The sides pucker in but can be undone to create a larger, rectangular tote.

There are three medium-sized pockets inside that will keep me organized without allowing me to fall back into packratting.

Everybody and their aunt Susan does not own this purse, so I get to be cooler than other people.

I e-mailed back and forth with Ms. Persnickity herself, Rebecca, and the customer service is excellent. She will even work with you to create the custom colour and design combination of your choice for a mere $5 extra!

Before I sign off from promoting for the wonderful Rebecca, which I would like to repeat I am doing for absolutely free, because I paid for that purse and it was worth every penny, I want to point out for you knitters out there her Knitter shoulder bag, which can be ordered in different colours and designs. The black one with french blue dots is keen as all get out.

..............

PS: My friend, Knuckle Toes, has an Etsy shop that you should also check out. Her stuff is all handmade, and she's an individual who is absolutely worth supporting: Knuckle Toes' Etsy Shop.

Labels: the consumerism, the photographs

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#741: Baby Got A New Pair Of Shoes

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Look, I've got lots of preparations to make before this whole hysterectomy thing goes down on July the 3rd and my recuperation begins. Today alone I bought curtain rods, washed our curtains, ironed them, and hung the curtain rods and curtains in the living room. I moved a queen size mattress and non-collapsible bedframe into the living room, and I moved a cumbersome sofa into the bedroom. I drank a beer. I patted myself on the back for being able to move all that furniture all by myself when I haven't worked out since 1989.

In the coming two days, I am doing about six more loads of laundry, cleaning the apartment top to bottom, drinking a beer or two, buying groceries, and attending my pre-op bloodletting-and-scary-facts session before heading to Cosmopolis to see the great Cosmopolians before heading back here to meet my fate.

I'm nesting. Does anybody have an elevated toilet seat to complete the task?

Man, is this ever stimulating. You're doing laundry? You don't say? That's faskinatin'. Tell me, do you also eat food and sleep? Faskinatin', indeed.

I did get a new pair of shoes, though, and not everyone can do that. Some people are too poor for shoes. Some people are in comas. Some people don't even have feet. In my less tragic life, I am able to purchase for myself fancy schmancy rubber shoes. Here they are on the veiny feet of one Schmutzie who took so fecking long with the photograph that the blood pooled in her extremities. C'est très sexy.

I got wise and lied on my back with my feets in the air. Nice, no?

What is truly sad is that after all my heavy furniture moving, I got all cricky, and now I won't be walking to very many places in them until I uncrick. I am consoling myself with wonton soup on my living room bed. And my curtains smell nice. Like Tide. And that rolled right pantleg picture above? That was for the photo only. I am not yet so old that I must wear my trousers rolled. Or something like that.*

* Despite my having shown you Crocs and mentioned Tide, I was not asked to endorse either product. Why I am telling you this is unclear to me, but I felt I should. There.

Labels: the consumerism

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Miserable Failure, Good Shopping, Being Crafty, Bahumbug, And Greeting Cards

Sunday, December 14, 2003

Type “miserable failure” into Google, hit the I’m-Feeling-Lucky button, and me oh my! (You have all probably seen this one before, so my apologies if I am only perpetuating the same, old, boring funny from last week).

For all the best in Christmas shopping, these are some of the coolest places to go online for stuff with style: French Kitty, Wackyjac, Exit9 Gift Emporium, Damned Dollies, Ruby Goes Retro, and sparklecraft.com. And for your craftier loved one, go to Sublime Stitching. The Fiery One says that I should have done this earlier, because then he would have had time to go through the list and figure out what I wanted. Well, tough luck, Fiery One! If it is cutting it too close to Christmas, then you can always think ahead to birthdays or housewarmings. Or, you can do what Starcat and I do, which is forgetting about each other until mid to late March, and then sort of tossing something over the table and saying “Happy Christmas” or “Merry Birthday.” (If you are a reader of the magazine “Bust,” then you will have noticed where I have picked up some of my online shopping habits. There is some pretty good shopping at their “Boobtique,” as well).

I have been all crafty lately, what with the scarf-knitting, and yesterday afternoon I added a new skill to my repertoire – journal-making. Out of a shoe box, twenty-five sheets of paper, beading wire, paisley cloth, and glue, I created a fairly believable journal. What I mean by believable is that my journal doesn’t look too much like an imposter. So often when I make things, they turn out kind of clumsy-looking, as though they are trying really hard to be the real thing but can only dream of being so genuine, like the nerdy girl in high school who just would not accept her nerdiness and instead tried to pull off popular-girl clothes in a miserably unsuccessful fashion. This journal, though, is oh-so-popular, and it is wearing its journalness with finesse. For my next project, I would like to learn to crochet granny squares so I can make myself a nice backpack or satchel.

This has been a weekend almost entirely devoted to hanging around in my orange, tropical-themed housecoat and avoiding all household duties. Even my poor bunny has been forced to live in his dirty cage for a few hours longer than usual. Why, you might ask? Well, I have given this some thought, and I think it might be because, although I am not an out-and-out Christmas-hater, I do not like many aspects of this merry season, and so I am determined to dig myself in and not come out until it all passes by. For example, I have always found greeting cards annoying (aside from the homemade variety, because they actually mean something). Christmas cards fill me with this sense of obligation to those who sent them. I am supposed to display them, and they take up space and clutter things up more than they already are, and they are a waste of trees since there are only about twelve words on them, and they lack intimacy. Another example is Christmas shopping. I am horrible at this particular deed. I seem to lose my sense of orientation in areas devoted to shopping, and I completely forget whatever ideas I had about what my mother, brother, or anyone else might have liked as a present. Multiple family dinners are another evil. I don’t mind having a family dinner with the Fiery One’s family, and then having a family dinner with my family, and then calling it a holiday, but my family wants me for at least three family dinners, which only serve to make me drink a lot immediately afterwards. I do look forward to presents, though, (and not just mine), and sitting around in a warm house while it’s almost perpetually dark outside (at this time of year here you will find that you often go to work before the sun is up and come home after it is already down), and eating good food, and going to visit friends and family that we don’t get to see enough of. So, you see, I am not a Christmas-hater. I just hate the ticky-tacky parts and the personal-sense-of-obligation parts.

Greeting Card Facts and Links:
* The tradition of sending greeting cards dates back about 200 years.
* From the early to mid-1800s, greeting cards were expensive and were sent mostly by the elite and wealthy. The printing of the world’s first postage stamp in the 1840s gave rise to their popularity, and by the 1850s affordable cards were on the market.
* The oldest known greeting card is a valentine dating back to the 1400s that is now in the British Museum.
* Visit the Postcard and Greeting Card Museum.
* Send your very own virtual Russian history greeting card here! They are a great way to cheer up anyone’s day, especially if you pick the upbeat Wagner tune to accompany your greeting.
* Here is a brief history of the greeting card.
* Even greeting card publishers have their own association. I just don’t get why they have that creepy guy befriending a kid as the main picture for their website. Shouldn’t it be a greeting card or a store or an artist creating a greeting card?
* Carlton Cards Canada was founded 83 years ago!
* I like the simplicity of the braille greeting cards. I think they should also market these to the sighted. They would enjoy these just as well.

Labels: the consumerism, the lists, the miscellany

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