- 14:59 4.21 for the cheapest gas in town. Oy vey!
- 17:13 It is so Friday right now.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
Friday, May 30, 2008
How to craft your own time! Sort of.
So there I was: bored to death with the 8.5 x 11 calendar I had printed up only a few months ago. Those tiny boxes, mocking me with their tinyness. No wonder I never got everything done in a day- look how small those boxes were! Black and white, black and white, and the occasional colored ink. So...dull...
I longed for a great! big! wall calendar- something where I could see many months in advance, something colorful and fun. And I happened to have, if not technically the time, then at least many sheets of very large foam core, just sitting there...
I think you know by now what had to be done.
I broke out my ruler, pencil, calculator, and sharpies.
Here's how I did it:
First, I measured. (I do sometimes measure things, believe it or not, people close to me who may be amazed by this.) The sheets were 20" x 30"- 30" long breaks into 15 perfect 2" squares. I figured I needed 5 rows for a month. That makes 3 months to a sheet. And then 20" divided by seven turned into 2.85"...let's just say 2.75 and be generous with the weekend spots. Lines were made with the ruler.
Then, the fun part. I took different colored sharpies and traced over the ruler lines by hand to give it a softer, more human look. A different color for each month. Add days at the top, months...at the top of the month, number your days, and voila! You're all set.
(Here is where I apologize for the crummy photos. What can I say, other than the light in my studio is actually not very photogenic. Oh well. Hop over to my Flickr stream to be able to see the photos up close and to see the extra notes I and other people will no doubt be adding.)
Now do it again, so you have more than three months to look at (if you wish). I made three of these things. It just seemed right.
Then, as previously mentioned in another blog post, my hammer went missing. Eventually I got tired of looking for it and tired of having this great! big! unfinished project lying around, so I just used the spine of a dictionary. Desperate times, and all that. I don't recommend this bit, as it really dinged up my poor dictionary.
And now, the more fun part- I used different colors of sharpies again to mark in stuff- red for when I'd be out of town/ doing a gig, orange for deadlines, purple for shows, etc. etc.
I should also have mentioned earlier that I have a very, very long to-do list. An epic Greek poem length to-do list. Naturally, things get lost in it, and it's hard to find what actually needs to be done on any given day.
(Maybe I should have also mentioned that earlier this year I was reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, and he's all like "only mark on your calendar what absolutely has to be done that day" and while this makes a decent amount of sense it also leaves me with a ginormous to-do list and oh yeah guess what I'm NOT GETTING AS MUCH DONE thank you so much Mr. Allen. That book just boggled my mind a little bit.)
Right. So. I converted my outrageous to-do list into post its. One for each thing that had to be done. And it just so happened that my desk has this nifty white board thing on the right hand side- perfect for attaching rows and rows of post its to. I use a highlighter to make the ones with due dates stand out. When I filled up the board, I put the rest (things with no specific due date) in a spiral bound notebook. Now, if I can just remember to update my board with them, it will be awesome.
And guess what else you can do with post its? Smack them right onto your brand new wall calendar! Tentative show date? Post it notes, baby. Something that has to be done three months from now but not actually on any particular day? Post it!
Pardon me while I do my evil-I-will-conquer-you-chaos laugh.
The weird thing is, making this calendar was actually really soothing. Drawing the year out like that made me feel like I had power over my own time. Hey, look at that- there's lots of time. Look at all those little boxes. Huh. Putting my to-dos on post its made me realize that there is, in fact, a limited amount of them. And while I don't expect to ever see the end of the to-do list, that's ok. That's the secret of to do lists- if you hit the end of them, it pretty much means you are dead. There will always be stuff to do. That's a good thing. Now, go play. All that stuff will still be there when you come back.
So, here is the part where I heartily encourage YOU to make your own sort of calendar. At the very least, it will give you the illusion of having mastery of your time...and that's just priceless! (And if you do, tell me about it! I want to see!)
Update! Go Go Kioko! posted this advice about time management- I thought it fit into today's post really nicely.
I longed for a great! big! wall calendar- something where I could see many months in advance, something colorful and fun. And I happened to have, if not technically the time, then at least many sheets of very large foam core, just sitting there...
I think you know by now what had to be done.
I broke out my ruler, pencil, calculator, and sharpies.
Here's how I did it:
First, I measured. (I do sometimes measure things, believe it or not, people close to me who may be amazed by this.) The sheets were 20" x 30"- 30" long breaks into 15 perfect 2" squares. I figured I needed 5 rows for a month. That makes 3 months to a sheet. And then 20" divided by seven turned into 2.85"...let's just say 2.75 and be generous with the weekend spots. Lines were made with the ruler.
Then, the fun part. I took different colored sharpies and traced over the ruler lines by hand to give it a softer, more human look. A different color for each month. Add days at the top, months...at the top of the month, number your days, and voila! You're all set.
(Here is where I apologize for the crummy photos. What can I say, other than the light in my studio is actually not very photogenic. Oh well. Hop over to my Flickr stream to be able to see the photos up close and to see the extra notes I and other people will no doubt be adding.)
Now do it again, so you have more than three months to look at (if you wish). I made three of these things. It just seemed right.
Then, as previously mentioned in another blog post, my hammer went missing. Eventually I got tired of looking for it and tired of having this great! big! unfinished project lying around, so I just used the spine of a dictionary. Desperate times, and all that. I don't recommend this bit, as it really dinged up my poor dictionary.
And now, the more fun part- I used different colors of sharpies again to mark in stuff- red for when I'd be out of town/ doing a gig, orange for deadlines, purple for shows, etc. etc.
I should also have mentioned earlier that I have a very, very long to-do list. An epic Greek poem length to-do list. Naturally, things get lost in it, and it's hard to find what actually needs to be done on any given day.
(Maybe I should have also mentioned that earlier this year I was reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, and he's all like "only mark on your calendar what absolutely has to be done that day" and while this makes a decent amount of sense it also leaves me with a ginormous to-do list and oh yeah guess what I'm NOT GETTING AS MUCH DONE thank you so much Mr. Allen. That book just boggled my mind a little bit.)
Right. So. I converted my outrageous to-do list into post its. One for each thing that had to be done. And it just so happened that my desk has this nifty white board thing on the right hand side- perfect for attaching rows and rows of post its to. I use a highlighter to make the ones with due dates stand out. When I filled up the board, I put the rest (things with no specific due date) in a spiral bound notebook. Now, if I can just remember to update my board with them, it will be awesome.
And guess what else you can do with post its? Smack them right onto your brand new wall calendar! Tentative show date? Post it notes, baby. Something that has to be done three months from now but not actually on any particular day? Post it!
Pardon me while I do my evil-I-will-conquer-you-chaos laugh.
The weird thing is, making this calendar was actually really soothing. Drawing the year out like that made me feel like I had power over my own time. Hey, look at that- there's lots of time. Look at all those little boxes. Huh. Putting my to-dos on post its made me realize that there is, in fact, a limited amount of them. And while I don't expect to ever see the end of the to-do list, that's ok. That's the secret of to do lists- if you hit the end of them, it pretty much means you are dead. There will always be stuff to do. That's a good thing. Now, go play. All that stuff will still be there when you come back.
So, here is the part where I heartily encourage YOU to make your own sort of calendar. At the very least, it will give you the illusion of having mastery of your time...and that's just priceless! (And if you do, tell me about it! I want to see!)
Update! Go Go Kioko! posted this advice about time management- I thought it fit into today's post really nicely.
How to craft your own time! Sort of.
So there I was: bored to death with the 8.5 x 11 calendar I had printed up only a few months ago. Those tiny boxes, mocking me with their tinyness. No wonder I never got everything done in a day- look how small those boxes were! Black and white, black and white, and the occasional colored ink. So...dull...
I longed for a great! big! wall calendar- something where I could see many months in advance, something colorful and fun. And I happened to have, if not technically the time, then at least many sheets of very large foam core, just sitting there...
I think you know by now what had to be done.
I broke out my ruler, pencil, calculator, and sharpies.
Here's how I did it:
First, I measured. (I do sometimes measure things, believe it or not, people close to me who may be amazed by this.) The sheets were 20" x 30"- 30" long breaks into 15 perfect 2" squares. I figured I needed 5 rows for a month. That makes 3 months to a sheet. And then 20" divided by seven turned into 2.85"...let's just say 2.75 and be generous with the weekend spots. Lines were made with the ruler.
Then, the fun part. I took different colored sharpies and traced over the ruler lines by hand to give it a softer, more human look. A different color for each month. Add days at the top, months...at the top of the month, number your days, and voila! You're all set.
(Here is where I apologize for the crummy photos. What can I say, other than the light in my studio is actually not very photogenic. Oh well. Hop over to my Flickr stream to be able to see the photos up close and to see the extra notes I and other people will no doubt be adding.)
Now do it again, so you have more than three months to look at (if you wish). I made three of these things. It just seemed right.
Then, as previously mentioned in another blog post, my hammer went missing. Eventually I got tired of looking for it and tired of having this great! big! unfinished project lying around, so I just used the spine of a dictionary. Desperate times, and all that. I don't recommend this bit, as it really dinged up my poor dictionary.
And now, the more fun part- I used different colors of sharpies again to mark in stuff- red for when I'd be out of town/ doing a gig, orange for deadlines, purple for shows, etc. etc.
I should also have mentioned earlier that I have a very, very long to-do list. An epic Greek poem length to-do list. Naturally, things get lost in it, and it's hard to find what actually needs to be done on any given day.
(Maybe I should have also mentioned that earlier this year I was reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, and he's all like "only mark on your calendar what absolutely has to be done that day" and while this makes a decent amount of sense it also leaves me with a ginormous to-do list and oh yeah guess what I'm NOT GETTING AS MUCH DONE thank you so much Mr. Allen. That book just boggled my mind a little bit.)
Right. So. I converted my outrageous to-do list into post its. One for each thing that had to be done. And it just so happened that my desk has this nifty white board thing on the right hand side- perfect for attaching rows and rows of post its to. I use a highlighter to make the ones with due dates stand out. When I filled up the board, I put the rest (things with no specific due date) in a spiral bound notebook. Now, if I can just remember to update my board with them, it will be awesome.
And guess what else you can do with post its? Smack them right onto your brand new wall calendar! Tentative show date? Post it notes, baby. Something that has to be done three months from now but not actually on any particular day? Post it!
Pardon me while I do my evil-I-will-conquer-you-chaos laugh.
The weird thing is, making this calendar was actually really soothing. Drawing the year out like that made me feel like I had power over my own time. Hey, look at that- there's lots of time. Look at all those little boxes. Huh. Putting my to-dos on post its made me realize that there is, in fact, a limited amount of them. And while I don't expect to ever see the end of the to-do list, that's ok. That's the secret of to do lists- if you hit the end of them, it pretty much means you are dead. There will always be stuff to do. That's a good thing. Now, go play. All that stuff will still be there when you come back.
So, here is the part where I heartily encourage YOU to make your own sort of calendar. At the very least, it will give you the illusion of having mastery of your time...and that's just priceless! (And if you do, tell me about it! I want to see!)
Update! Go Go Kioko! posted this advice about time management- I thought it fit into today's post really nicely.
I longed for a great! big! wall calendar- something where I could see many months in advance, something colorful and fun. And I happened to have, if not technically the time, then at least many sheets of very large foam core, just sitting there...
I think you know by now what had to be done.
I broke out my ruler, pencil, calculator, and sharpies.
Here's how I did it:
First, I measured. (I do sometimes measure things, believe it or not, people close to me who may be amazed by this.) The sheets were 20" x 30"- 30" long breaks into 15 perfect 2" squares. I figured I needed 5 rows for a month. That makes 3 months to a sheet. And then 20" divided by seven turned into 2.85"...let's just say 2.75 and be generous with the weekend spots. Lines were made with the ruler.
Then, the fun part. I took different colored sharpies and traced over the ruler lines by hand to give it a softer, more human look. A different color for each month. Add days at the top, months...at the top of the month, number your days, and voila! You're all set.
(Here is where I apologize for the crummy photos. What can I say, other than the light in my studio is actually not very photogenic. Oh well. Hop over to my Flickr stream to be able to see the photos up close and to see the extra notes I and other people will no doubt be adding.)
Now do it again, so you have more than three months to look at (if you wish). I made three of these things. It just seemed right.
Then, as previously mentioned in another blog post, my hammer went missing. Eventually I got tired of looking for it and tired of having this great! big! unfinished project lying around, so I just used the spine of a dictionary. Desperate times, and all that. I don't recommend this bit, as it really dinged up my poor dictionary.
And now, the more fun part- I used different colors of sharpies again to mark in stuff- red for when I'd be out of town/ doing a gig, orange for deadlines, purple for shows, etc. etc.
I should also have mentioned earlier that I have a very, very long to-do list. An epic Greek poem length to-do list. Naturally, things get lost in it, and it's hard to find what actually needs to be done on any given day.
(Maybe I should have also mentioned that earlier this year I was reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, and he's all like "only mark on your calendar what absolutely has to be done that day" and while this makes a decent amount of sense it also leaves me with a ginormous to-do list and oh yeah guess what I'm NOT GETTING AS MUCH DONE thank you so much Mr. Allen. That book just boggled my mind a little bit.)
Right. So. I converted my outrageous to-do list into post its. One for each thing that had to be done. And it just so happened that my desk has this nifty white board thing on the right hand side- perfect for attaching rows and rows of post its to. I use a highlighter to make the ones with due dates stand out. When I filled up the board, I put the rest (things with no specific due date) in a spiral bound notebook. Now, if I can just remember to update my board with them, it will be awesome.
And guess what else you can do with post its? Smack them right onto your brand new wall calendar! Tentative show date? Post it notes, baby. Something that has to be done three months from now but not actually on any particular day? Post it!
Pardon me while I do my evil-I-will-conquer-you-chaos laugh.
The weird thing is, making this calendar was actually really soothing. Drawing the year out like that made me feel like I had power over my own time. Hey, look at that- there's lots of time. Look at all those little boxes. Huh. Putting my to-dos on post its made me realize that there is, in fact, a limited amount of them. And while I don't expect to ever see the end of the to-do list, that's ok. That's the secret of to do lists- if you hit the end of them, it pretty much means you are dead. There will always be stuff to do. That's a good thing. Now, go play. All that stuff will still be there when you come back.
So, here is the part where I heartily encourage YOU to make your own sort of calendar. At the very least, it will give you the illusion of having mastery of your time...and that's just priceless! (And if you do, tell me about it! I want to see!)
Update! Go Go Kioko! posted this advice about time management- I thought it fit into today's post really nicely.
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 09:24 Do you ever have one of those weeks where you keep working and working and nothing seems to be getting done? I DO.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
I want to say something sensational!
Something dynamic and random and awesome! That will make people creep towards the edges of their seats in awe, clicking the appropriate RSS feed buttons, commenting...
Yeah, but nothing comes to mind.
What can I say? I'm feeling a bit rushed and blah these days. As I type this, I have several other windows open, and I'm replying to comments that have accrued over the past...week...or two. (I'm sorry! I love all your comments- I'm just a bad re-commenter!)
The other day I was feeling both out of control and unmotivated...so I made a GIANT calendar. GIANT, I tell you. Three pieces of 30 x 20 foam core. Boo-yah. My plan is to attach them to the wall in plain sight...but my hammer has gone missing.
So perhaps photos of that will come next week.
Let me know when we hit scintillating.
Until then let me just make some thank yous:
Reware: thanks for the lovely write-up!
KillTaupe: thank you for using my plush as a bit of the inspiration for this cool print/book cover!
(Head over to their blog for info about ordering the book and/or print...)
(I am going to make a much bigger deal about this over on The Needle... but for now I'm just turning somersaults of joy on my own blog.)
Yeah, but nothing comes to mind.
What can I say? I'm feeling a bit rushed and blah these days. As I type this, I have several other windows open, and I'm replying to comments that have accrued over the past...week...or two. (I'm sorry! I love all your comments- I'm just a bad re-commenter!)
The other day I was feeling both out of control and unmotivated...so I made a GIANT calendar. GIANT, I tell you. Three pieces of 30 x 20 foam core. Boo-yah. My plan is to attach them to the wall in plain sight...but my hammer has gone missing.
So perhaps photos of that will come next week.
Let me know when we hit scintillating.
Until then let me just make some thank yous:
Reware: thanks for the lovely write-up!
KillTaupe: thank you for using my plush as a bit of the inspiration for this cool print/book cover!
(Head over to their blog for info about ordering the book and/or print...)
(I am going to make a much bigger deal about this over on The Needle... but for now I'm just turning somersaults of joy on my own blog.)
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 10:04 Food doesn't agree with me lately. Enjoy this important Twitter post!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 10:03 As seen in the makeup aisle: a woman & her young son, singing loudly: bah bah bah BAH BAH BAH- bah bah bah bah BAH BAH BAH BAH BAH!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Saturday Morning Cartoons
In true Chickenpants fashion! Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you the fifth installment of the Chickenpants Adventure series:
It's also up on Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiV_DGY9980
I hope you like it. Have a great weekend, everyone!
It's also up on Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiV_DGY9980
I hope you like it. Have a great weekend, everyone!
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 11:32 must.pry.self.from.computer! Also: found the original, very hard to find Chickenpants fabric online. Hooray!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Treasure! And, ads!
I have hunted all across the internet, in search of treasure: fluffy, fleecy treasure. The kind of fleece that was originally used to make Chickenpants. You may remember it: it had a bit of knappy-ness going, giving the illusion of, well, a fluffy chick.
For example- here's a photo of one of the original Chickenpants:
and his more modern contemporary:
I recieved the precious bundle just yesterday- expect to see more Chickenpants in this wonderful fluffy stuff soon! Of course, I'll continue to make them in regular fleece as well.
ALSO: If you'll direct your attention to the sidebar, you'll notice a new space. We're now accepting ads, via Project Wonderful. I don't know, it just seemed like a good thing to try. (Plus, I've been advertising on AmericanElf.com, and it's just a weird sort of ego boost for me. Maybe advertising here could give you a lift, too. Again, I don't know...after this cup of coffee wears off, this statement could seem utterly ridiculous.) Consider it another way to support the arts, if you will. ^-^
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to work on THE NEXT CHICKENPANTS ADVENTURE MOVIE!
For example- here's a photo of one of the original Chickenpants:
and his more modern contemporary:
I recieved the precious bundle just yesterday- expect to see more Chickenpants in this wonderful fluffy stuff soon! Of course, I'll continue to make them in regular fleece as well.
ALSO: If you'll direct your attention to the sidebar, you'll notice a new space. We're now accepting ads, via Project Wonderful. I don't know, it just seemed like a good thing to try. (Plus, I've been advertising on AmericanElf.com, and it's just a weird sort of ego boost for me. Maybe advertising here could give you a lift, too. Again, I don't know...after this cup of coffee wears off, this statement could seem utterly ridiculous.) Consider it another way to support the arts, if you will. ^-^
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to work on THE NEXT CHICKENPANTS ADVENTURE MOVIE!
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 14:40 So guess what? My teeny tiny mountain town is on fire! And I can't figure out if we need to evac or not. No electricity.
- 15:02 Ok then. Fire is almost out. How do I know this? All from text messaging. Crazyness.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 09:49 The kitten got stuck up a tree. Again. How cliche!
- 16:59 Apparently, we're the sort of people who you can leave giant turtles with. Also: we have a new giant turtle friend.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Daily Photo Project...DONE!
I can't believe it...I stuck with something difficult for a whole year!
Sure, I didn't do it perfectly. Out of the 365 photos I should have taken, I took 267. Whoops. And apropos of the whole year of photos, I'm posting this recap a bit late.
I can't believe just how challenging this project was. It was kind of a burden, honestly. I think because I was already engaged in so many other creative outlets- this was kind of like the straw that weighed the camel down, if not broke her back.
Anyway- here's the last photo: 5/8/08:
(it's so grubby looking because it's a photo of the aftermath of a small kitchen fire)
Daily Photo 05.08.08 - THE END!!!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
And the very first daily photo: 5/08/07:
Tall wedges- 1st Daily Photo- 5.08.07
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
On the other hand, I still think it's a great idea to take a photo a day. It's kind of neat to be able to actually look back at your year, day by day.
Although I won't be doing this again, and I'm relieved that it's over, I'm discovering a kind of hole in my day. Every so often I think, aha! Here's my daily photo for the day! And then I remember: this project is over. And the photo does not get taken, and doesn't get posted... So I miss my little excuse to post random things to the internet. Oh well, there's still Twitter.
If you haven't personally tried something like this, I actually do recommend it. For awhile I was tinkering with the idea of doing a post it note a day, or a drawing a day, a painting a day... I'm sure you could come up with some fun variations on your own! The point is just to creatively challenge yourself- that's always rewarding. So start something big today...you never know where it might lead!
If you are so inclined, you can check out the whole batch here.
Sure, I didn't do it perfectly. Out of the 365 photos I should have taken, I took 267. Whoops. And apropos of the whole year of photos, I'm posting this recap a bit late.
I can't believe just how challenging this project was. It was kind of a burden, honestly. I think because I was already engaged in so many other creative outlets- this was kind of like the straw that weighed the camel down, if not broke her back.
Anyway- here's the last photo: 5/8/08:
(it's so grubby looking because it's a photo of the aftermath of a small kitchen fire)
Daily Photo 05.08.08 - THE END!!!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
And the very first daily photo: 5/08/07:
Tall wedges- 1st Daily Photo- 5.08.07
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
On the other hand, I still think it's a great idea to take a photo a day. It's kind of neat to be able to actually look back at your year, day by day.
Although I won't be doing this again, and I'm relieved that it's over, I'm discovering a kind of hole in my day. Every so often I think, aha! Here's my daily photo for the day! And then I remember: this project is over. And the photo does not get taken, and doesn't get posted... So I miss my little excuse to post random things to the internet. Oh well, there's still Twitter.
If you haven't personally tried something like this, I actually do recommend it. For awhile I was tinkering with the idea of doing a post it note a day, or a drawing a day, a painting a day... I'm sure you could come up with some fun variations on your own! The point is just to creatively challenge yourself- that's always rewarding. So start something big today...you never know where it might lead!
If you are so inclined, you can check out the whole batch here.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 17:01 Chickenpants held in a chokehold by a luchador? Yes. www.flickr.com/photos/smallchick/2488310460/
- 20:21 Dear Toys R Us: since when do you suck?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Just a quick post to say
I just finished up a batch of Chickenpants Babies! There are
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Links and Lovin'
Or something like that.
First, I just have to share with you this amazing Wooliture that was made of Topanga!
"Topanga" Pug Wooliture
Originally uploaded by rosethistleartworks
It was made by the very talented Rose Thistle Artworks. It is even more adorable in person! The above photo is hers...I've been a little lax in the photo department as of late. (well, at least with my own personal photos. More on that later, hopefully!) She has a great talent of really capturing the personality of the individual creature in her sculptures. I just love my tiny Topanga sculpture!
And I don't know how I managed to not mention this earlier, but one of the cool things that happened at Maker Faire was that I got to meet Ms. Plush You in person! She didn't forget to mention it, though, and you can see a geeky photo of me on her blog. Can I just say that she was super, super sweet in real life, too? Although somehow, in my mind I always pictured her as a glasses wearer, like myself...hmmm...
Toycyte gave the Chickenpants a very nice writeup! They are part 2 out of the 5 part Maker Faire recap. Thank you, Toycyte!
(The blindbox toys he mentions I made just for Maker Faire...and out of 20, I only have two left!)
KLEAN Bath and Body gave us a Digg on her blog, too. It's basically just a link back to the post I made earlier, but I'm mentioning it because oh, my goodness, do her products smell amazing! I am so hooked.
Yet another very fun thing about Maker Faire was getting a chance to meet some people I know from the interwebs IRL! Such as Pollyanna Cowgirl. And Tokyo Bunnie...Isby Blue...just to mention a few!
Also! Through the Etsy forums, I came across this new start-up blog: A Blog For Blogs. She's setting up a sort of directory of Etsy bloggers. PLUS, she's offering free advertising, so you may want to hop on over there if that's the sort of thing you're looking for...
And on that note, I am hereby wrapping up this terribly long post. Thank you for reading all this. I'll be back soon with a new brood of Chickenpants Babies!
First, I just have to share with you this amazing Wooliture that was made of Topanga!
"Topanga" Pug Wooliture
Originally uploaded by rosethistleartworks
It was made by the very talented Rose Thistle Artworks. It is even more adorable in person! The above photo is hers...I've been a little lax in the photo department as of late. (well, at least with my own personal photos. More on that later, hopefully!) She has a great talent of really capturing the personality of the individual creature in her sculptures. I just love my tiny Topanga sculpture!
And I don't know how I managed to not mention this earlier, but one of the cool things that happened at Maker Faire was that I got to meet Ms. Plush You in person! She didn't forget to mention it, though, and you can see a geeky photo of me on her blog. Can I just say that she was super, super sweet in real life, too? Although somehow, in my mind I always pictured her as a glasses wearer, like myself...hmmm...
Toycyte gave the Chickenpants a very nice writeup! They are part 2 out of the 5 part Maker Faire recap. Thank you, Toycyte!
(The blindbox toys he mentions I made just for Maker Faire...and out of 20, I only have two left!)
KLEAN Bath and Body gave us a Digg on her blog, too. It's basically just a link back to the post I made earlier, but I'm mentioning it because oh, my goodness, do her products smell amazing! I am so hooked.
Yet another very fun thing about Maker Faire was getting a chance to meet some people I know from the interwebs IRL! Such as Pollyanna Cowgirl. And Tokyo Bunnie...Isby Blue...just to mention a few!
Also! Through the Etsy forums, I came across this new start-up blog: A Blog For Blogs. She's setting up a sort of directory of Etsy bloggers. PLUS, she's offering free advertising, so you may want to hop on over there if that's the sort of thing you're looking for...
And on that note, I am hereby wrapping up this terribly long post. Thank you for reading all this. I'll be back soon with a new brood of Chickenpants Babies!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Chickenpants Does Maker Faire Part Three: Everything Else
OK- brace yourself for the blog post to end all blog posts. (Meaning: it's going to be a long one) Best of all, towards the end, there's a photo of a luchador. Without any further ado, take it away, Pauline and G.Pete!
Make: Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Hello, folks. You may be asking yourself: "why such a long pause between posts?" Well, it wasn't our fault. We were totally ready to go on this last week, but boss was all, ooooh, deadlines, leave me alone!
Anyway: Let's start with the Diet Coke and Mentos fountains!
Prepare the diet coke and mentos fountains!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I, um, didn't get to see them go off. I had an appointment.
Pauline: He was scared of potential loud noises, so he hid in the bushes.
Nature?
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Thank you Pauline. That was not at all embarrassing. I'll have you know I was not afraid, but instead, urging this fellow chicken to get out of harm's way.
Giant metal guy, reaching for a metal chicken
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
*pluck*
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Let's go!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: But enough about that- let's get on to the main event- ROBOTS!
I got to meet R2-D2. (built by the guys of artoo-detoo.net)
Pauline got to meet a real, live R2-D2
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: I tried to interview this fellow, but he only wanted to speak in beeps.
Classic bot!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
These two chaps were much more talkative.
Ro-bros
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We discussed literature. Well, instruction manuals.
G.Pete and the Robot
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: A giant, and very talkative giraffe was cruising around the grounds, as well.
G. Pete and the Giraffe
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: I got to meet the guys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. With such an adventurous name, I thought maybe they went to space or something. Instead, they protect the rights of people in the digital world.
The guys from the EFF explain blogger's rights to Pauline
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I had questions. Madame Ovary had answers.
Hmmm....Pauline is intrigued
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: But Maker Faire was about more than just cool robots and technological advances. Also, there were Chickenpants sized trees, which I found very refreshing.
A Chickenpants sized grove
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
This artist was even looking out for others with her state of the art affordable artist housing!
G.Pete had to check it out
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Starting in the mid-100s, it was a steal! Thanks,
Dystopic Horizons!
Afordable artist housing, at last!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: Perhaps the highlight for me was meeting this luchador! So exciting!
Luchador, Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Well, that's it for our recap! Thank you for reading all this. To see more photos from Maker Faire, be sure to visit our Flickr set.
Going home
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Make: Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Hello, folks. You may be asking yourself: "why such a long pause between posts?" Well, it wasn't our fault. We were totally ready to go on this last week, but boss was all, ooooh, deadlines, leave me alone!
Anyway: Let's start with the Diet Coke and Mentos fountains!
Prepare the diet coke and mentos fountains!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I, um, didn't get to see them go off. I had an appointment.
Pauline: He was scared of potential loud noises, so he hid in the bushes.
Nature?
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Thank you Pauline. That was not at all embarrassing. I'll have you know I was not afraid, but instead, urging this fellow chicken to get out of harm's way.
Giant metal guy, reaching for a metal chicken
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
*pluck*
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Let's go!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: But enough about that- let's get on to the main event- ROBOTS!
I got to meet R2-D2. (built by the guys of artoo-detoo.net)
Pauline got to meet a real, live R2-D2
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: I tried to interview this fellow, but he only wanted to speak in beeps.
Classic bot!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
These two chaps were much more talkative.
Ro-bros
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We discussed literature. Well, instruction manuals.
G.Pete and the Robot
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: A giant, and very talkative giraffe was cruising around the grounds, as well.
G. Pete and the Giraffe
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: I got to meet the guys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. With such an adventurous name, I thought maybe they went to space or something. Instead, they protect the rights of people in the digital world.
The guys from the EFF explain blogger's rights to Pauline
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I had questions. Madame Ovary had answers.
Hmmm....Pauline is intrigued
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: But Maker Faire was about more than just cool robots and technological advances. Also, there were Chickenpants sized trees, which I found very refreshing.
A Chickenpants sized grove
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
This artist was even looking out for others with her state of the art affordable artist housing!
G.Pete had to check it out
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Starting in the mid-100s, it was a steal! Thanks,
Dystopic Horizons!
Afordable artist housing, at last!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Pauline: Perhaps the highlight for me was meeting this luchador! So exciting!
Luchador, Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.Pete: Well, that's it for our recap! Thank you for reading all this. To see more photos from Maker Faire, be sure to visit our Flickr set.
Going home
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 08:42 Maker Faire recap part two is up: tinyurl.com/65p4bl
- 08:43 And actually has been up for days. Deadlines on *actual* *paying* *gigs* are keeping me from my beloved internets.
Monday, May 12, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 09:47 Waiting in the car while Dan walks in the ditch, looking for a tortise he spotted from the road.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 17:16 I haven't had an energy drink since red bull was fashionable. Now, suddenly, the grocery cart is full of them. Deadlines loom at eye level.
Friday, May 9, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 17:28 A watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot will totally explode in balls of flame. PS: I almost burned down the kitchen.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
peep, peep
little bleats from absolutely small
- 08:49 Part one of the Maker Faire Chickenpants Extravaganza is up! absolutelysmall.blogspot.com/ Crafters! Artists! Photos! Chickenpants!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Chickenpants Does Maker Faire- Part Two: And Then There Was Steampunk
One of my favorite parts of Maker Faire was the amazing people watching. And probably my favorite part of the people watching was the Steampunks! (Although I really did love seeing all the Think Geek, Cute Overload, and Strongbad t-shirts go by!)
What is Steampunk? I'll let my own personal Chickenpants, Pauline and G.Pete tell you:
Pauline: I looked on Wikipedia. This is what is says:
"The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.
The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies[citation needed].
"Steampunk" fashion has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. This may include Mohawks and extensive piercings with corsets and tattered petticoats, Victorian suits with goggles and boots with large soles and buckles or straps, and the Lolita fashion and aristocrat styles. Some of what defines steampunk fashion has come from cyberpunk, and cyberlocks have appeared being used by people adopting a steampunk look."
(honestly, boss can be so lazy! How hard is it to cut & paste?)
But enough words! Onto the photos!
This lady stopped by our table. Isn't her outfit great?
Awesome Steampunk Lady and Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
This guy had an amazing outfit, too. I wonder where they find such great clothes...
(p.s. try looking on ETSY!)
Steampunk, camera, tophat
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: If you're quite done discussing what people wore, I'll post some photos of the giant steampunk vehicle.
G.Pete Chickenpants and the steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
It was huge!
The giant steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: They even let me take the helm while no one was looking! Although "let" is probably not the right word.
Pauline at the helm of the giant steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: I was very impressed that they had an escape hatch. Most houses do not have those anymore.
Steampunk lovely and escape hatch
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: The view from the top was great! Best view of the life sized mousetrap in the whole fair.
The view from the top
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: Also, there was a steam powered vehicle. It seemed to also be somewhat human powered.
We have steam!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
And they also had a neat stage at the Boiler Bar:
Dancer at the Boiler Bar
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
It was like something out of Indiana Jones!
PAULINE: And finally, to wrap this up, is a photo of me in this flying machine built by Michael Cooper. At least, I think it was a flying machine...
Pauline and the flying machine
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
That's all for today! If you have links to any of these amazing things you'd like to see included, please leave a comment below and I'll add them. Also, please visit our Flickr site to see even more photos from the fair.
Tomorrow's post: Maker Faire Part Three: Geeks and Everything Else! There will be a photo of a luchador holding a Chickenpants.
What is Steampunk? I'll let my own personal Chickenpants, Pauline and G.Pete tell you:
Pauline: I looked on Wikipedia. This is what is says:
"The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.
The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies[citation needed].
"Steampunk" fashion has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. This may include Mohawks and extensive piercings with corsets and tattered petticoats, Victorian suits with goggles and boots with large soles and buckles or straps, and the Lolita fashion and aristocrat styles. Some of what defines steampunk fashion has come from cyberpunk, and cyberlocks have appeared being used by people adopting a steampunk look."
(honestly, boss can be so lazy! How hard is it to cut & paste?)
But enough words! Onto the photos!
This lady stopped by our table. Isn't her outfit great?
Awesome Steampunk Lady and Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
This guy had an amazing outfit, too. I wonder where they find such great clothes...
(p.s. try looking on ETSY!)
Steampunk, camera, tophat
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: If you're quite done discussing what people wore, I'll post some photos of the giant steampunk vehicle.
G.Pete Chickenpants and the steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
It was huge!
The giant steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: They even let me take the helm while no one was looking! Although "let" is probably not the right word.
Pauline at the helm of the giant steampunk vehicle
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: I was very impressed that they had an escape hatch. Most houses do not have those anymore.
Steampunk lovely and escape hatch
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: The view from the top was great! Best view of the life sized mousetrap in the whole fair.
The view from the top
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: Also, there was a steam powered vehicle. It seemed to also be somewhat human powered.
We have steam!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
And they also had a neat stage at the Boiler Bar:
Dancer at the Boiler Bar
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
It was like something out of Indiana Jones!
PAULINE: And finally, to wrap this up, is a photo of me in this flying machine built by Michael Cooper. At least, I think it was a flying machine...
Pauline and the flying machine
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
That's all for today! If you have links to any of these amazing things you'd like to see included, please leave a comment below and I'll add them. Also, please visit our Flickr site to see even more photos from the fair.
Tomorrow's post: Maker Faire Part Three: Geeks and Everything Else! There will be a photo of a luchador holding a Chickenpants.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Chickenpants Does Maker Faire Part One: Crafty Like Ice is Cold
I hardly know where to begin! Maker Faire was so amazing. There was a staggering amount of things to see and do. The people watching was utterly fantastic. Even better, I got to meet a whole bunch of really awesome artists and crafters. So that's where we'll start: Crafty People! Pauline and G. Pete Chickenpants, take it away!
Getting ready for Maker Faire 2008 was a snap for us! We like to travel light.
And of course the Chickenpants are ready to go too.
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Our boss, however, was a bit stressed out.
Daily photo 5.2.08
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Fortunately, she got over it in a hurry.
me, again
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
While she manned the table, we went out to meet people. First up were the awesome folks of Spicy Brown. They manned the table directly across from ours. They had really great t-shirts and robots...alas, none in Chickenpants sizes.
Spicy Brown & Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Emiko of Reware and her friend Shana of Shanaastrachan.com stopped by the table. They were really nice...and had such great jewelry!
Emiko & Shana & Pauline & George
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We were naturally quite interested in the felted eggs that Nifnaks had.
Best hair award goes to...
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We got to visit Planet Tokki as well. We loved her plush tofu!
Chickenpants visits Planet Tokki
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: "Pauline, what did you do to Red Sheep?"
PAULINE: "I...uh...seem to have blocked this part out."
Red Sheep
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Klean Bath & Body had the most wonderful smelling goodies! Watermelon...Peach...Grass...we just couldn't decide what was best.
Klean Bath & Body
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We also met some of the nice folks behind Craft Con. They came all the way from the east cost for this.
PAULINE: Did they fly? That's impressive! I can hardly fly at all.
CraftCon
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I also made a new friend: a bluetooth compatible infrared keyboard opossum!
Compu...possum.
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
He was made by the same lady who made the Compubeaver.
G.PETE: We were endlessly impressed with this. Maybe someone could make a computer out of us one day. Or maybe just an Ipod.
The lady behind Compubeaver.com
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We also got to meet the textile artist Teresa Mak.
Chickenapants and Teresa Mak
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: I really liked her work!
Pauline and the work of Teresa Mak
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We met so many other great artists and crafty sorts...Bored Inc., Jaime Zollars, Roxycraft, Mr. Funky, folks from Instructables.com...and the plush rockstar, Miss Kristen of Plush You!
G. PETE: So...why are we ending this post with a picture of Chickenpants Babies?
PAULINE: Because they're so cute!
G. PETE: ....
PAULINE: And I couldn't figure out where else to post them.
G. PETE: There we go.
Closeup on the Chickenpants Babies
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Be sure to check out even more photos on our flickr: Chickenpants Does Maker Faire.
That's all for today! Come back tomorrow- we'll be posting more about Maker Faire...and it's going to involve Steampunks!
Getting ready for Maker Faire 2008 was a snap for us! We like to travel light.
And of course the Chickenpants are ready to go too.
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Our boss, however, was a bit stressed out.
Daily photo 5.2.08
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Fortunately, she got over it in a hurry.
me, again
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
While she manned the table, we went out to meet people. First up were the awesome folks of Spicy Brown. They manned the table directly across from ours. They had really great t-shirts and robots...alas, none in Chickenpants sizes.
Spicy Brown & Chickenpants
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Emiko of Reware and her friend Shana of Shanaastrachan.com stopped by the table. They were really nice...and had such great jewelry!
Emiko & Shana & Pauline & George
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We were naturally quite interested in the felted eggs that Nifnaks had.
Best hair award goes to...
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We got to visit Planet Tokki as well. We loved her plush tofu!
Chickenpants visits Planet Tokki
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
G.PETE: "Pauline, what did you do to Red Sheep?"
PAULINE: "I...uh...seem to have blocked this part out."
Red Sheep
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Klean Bath & Body had the most wonderful smelling goodies! Watermelon...Peach...Grass...we just couldn't decide what was best.
Klean Bath & Body
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We also met some of the nice folks behind Craft Con. They came all the way from the east cost for this.
PAULINE: Did they fly? That's impressive! I can hardly fly at all.
CraftCon
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
I also made a new friend: a bluetooth compatible infrared keyboard opossum!
Compu...possum.
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
He was made by the same lady who made the Compubeaver.
G.PETE: We were endlessly impressed with this. Maybe someone could make a computer out of us one day. Or maybe just an Ipod.
The lady behind Compubeaver.com
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We also got to meet the textile artist Teresa Mak.
Chickenapants and Teresa Mak
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
PAULINE: I really liked her work!
Pauline and the work of Teresa Mak
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
We met so many other great artists and crafty sorts...Bored Inc., Jaime Zollars, Roxycraft, Mr. Funky, folks from Instructables.com...and the plush rockstar, Miss Kristen of Plush You!
G. PETE: So...why are we ending this post with a picture of Chickenpants Babies?
PAULINE: Because they're so cute!
G. PETE: ....
PAULINE: And I couldn't figure out where else to post them.
G. PETE: There we go.
Closeup on the Chickenpants Babies
Originally uploaded by absolutely small
Be sure to check out even more photos on our flickr: Chickenpants Does Maker Faire.
That's all for today! Come back tomorrow- we'll be posting more about Maker Faire...and it's going to involve Steampunks!
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