Absolutely Small

Time for a fresh start

2010-11-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's time! I can finally reveal to you why this blog has been so quiet lately.
I've picked Absolutely Small up by the roots, shaken it out, and replanted it over here:
http://absolutelysmall.com/blog
Come on over and check it out!
And please update your links and bookmarks accordingly.
This new blog will actually be updated REGULARLY! Like..daily, almost!

Not dead! Just busy!

2010-10-11T14:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the blog silence lately. I'm working on three huge projects at the moment. Annnnd my family's visiting. So things are nuts.
Just wanted to say I'm still here, everything's good, and I will be back with exciting and good news soon.
'Til next time,

Claire (who is learning new camera tricks!)

Feathery winged JERKS

2010-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

It's finally turning into fall over here, and
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Uh...I've been enjoying these local-ish apples
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Where was I? Oh, right, so I've been thinking about schedules and why
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO YELL AT A BIRD.

Woodpeckers are here, and they're worse than ever. From sunup to sundown, they're here. Watching. Waiting. Pecking. All four sides of our house have hundreds of holes pecked into the siding. It's going to take thousands of dollars to replace the siding they've ruined. Most of them were there when we moved in. The little old lady we bought the house from only had 10% of her hearing left, so she didn't hear the constant jackhammer noise of her house being destroyed by birds.
But I do. It's LOUD. Crazy man with a hammer right next to you loud. These birds are devious. They'll fly away if you walk outside and yell at them. Not so much if you just slam the front door. And then. AND THEN. They fly to a nearby tree, and watch you walk back into the house. Sometimes they shriek indignantly as they fly. Two seconds later, it's
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
all over again.
I. Hate. Them.
Allegedly, they are endangered. This is the first species I can think of that I would actively try to make more endangered. And I'm an animal loving, simple living, long time vegetarian. Don't give me the "oh, poor things, their natural habitat has been ruined and they have no choice blah blah blah". There are literally thousands of trees as well as hundreds and hundreds of acres of untouched gorgeous wilderness within a two second flight of my little house. I live way out in the country, remember?
Here's the really curious part: they don't seem to be attacking any of our neighbors. They've got wood siding, too. And trees even closer for the hiding and laughing.
That's right. This is PERSONAL. It's not a flock of birds, it's two or three bad apples.
So help me birds, I am going to

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

!!!

Amazingly, this post was not written at 5 in the morning. It's just that bad.

2010-10-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

So. I was up yesterday at 5 am, and I decided to write a blog post. I had just eaten a bowl of rice crispies*, and apparently one of the side effects is hearing a little voice in your head that says things like "I AM GOING TO BE SO PRODUCTIVE TODAY! You guys! It's only 5 in the MORNING! I'm going to write a blog post!" Except there are no guys, it's just you and the crispies. And the pugs.
Anyway, the blog post turned out to be a total wash. I was going to ~~complain~~ inform you of my camera woes. At 5 am, this takes a lot of words. Instead, here's the gist: My DSLR died. Claire sad. New camera?? DONE.
I did get a new camera. I've been wanting to try a Canon point and shoot for awhile, so I thought I'd just go for it. And it has taught me that the 'ol Nikon D50 actually was doing all the work, and I am not such a good photographer.
See?

Oooh, wait. Vivid mode!

Yeah. So I have some work to do. And a DSLR to buy.

*It was the new generic Trader Joe's rice crispies-like stuff. It is really good. Especially at 5 in the morning.

Winners! We Have Winners!

2010-09-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

It's time to announce the winners of the Craft Leftovers Giveaway. Random Number Generator has spoken!
Commenters 1, 11, and 4! I'll be contacting you by email shortly.

Thank you everyone for commenting and helping spread the word. I'm sure we'll have more giveaways in the future, so stay tuned.

***UPDATE!***
Michelle, commenter #1, I need your email! You've got 24 hours to claim your zine. Email me! absolutelysmall {{{at}}} gmail.com

Sketchbook thoughts

2010-09-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, I found myself strolling through the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Japantown. By chance I picked up a Lotta Jansdotter import that I can't remember the actual name of. It had lots of scans of her sketchbooks, and photos from her life. And it hit me like a lightningbolt. Ah-ha! THAT'S what I'm missing! No, not a huge Japanese following. (Though I wouldn't mind one.) Sketchbooking. Lotta's sketchbook pages were alive with little swatches of fabric and other ephemera. It seemed like not only did it help her work out creative issues, but it also chronicled her life somewhat. But seriously, the fabric bits knocked my socks off. Fabric is important to her. Fabric is important to me, too. Why had I never thought of this before?
Honestly, I've barely touched my sketchbook since this whole pregnancy thing started up.
But this inspired me to try again. Plus, I had a really fun day to capture:

Life's been a creative/headache-y swirl since then, and I haven't kept up with it. But I haven't forgotten it, either. Why are the things that are so good for us (and so enjoyable) sometimes the hardest to do?

So here's my question to you: Do you sketchbook? What about? How often? Are there any sites/books that get you inspired?
Feel free to answer any of those in the comments below. I want to open the discussion! (It's a creative way of avoiding sketchbooking, too!)

What, Me Quilting?

2010-09-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's 6 am, and I'm ironing.
What is wrong with that sentence? EVERYTHING.

Let me back up. Why am I ironing? There's no point trying to hide it anymore. I was...I was...quilting. Oh, the shame of it! I have strategically avoided everything near quilting for years. It's my mother-in-law's chosen craft, for starters, and I don't want to step on any toes. (Don't I have enough crafts?) There's the problem of straight lines and me being the least perfect match since Sid and Nancy. And the not insignificant fact that I know nothing of quilting.
It all started with a blanket. (doesn't it always?) We had one of those machine knitted blankets on our bed, the kind you can purchase at any Target for 14.99. It's our summer blanket. However, this summer it had become a mess. Something to do with pugs jumping up on it, and jumping off of it, and their little curly crochet hook claws dragging huge holes in it.
It was time for a new summer blanket. Of course, a new knitted one was right out. So was microfleece. (Dan hates the texture.) Regular fleece was a possibility, but I work with fleece all the live long day. I longed for something different.
Enter the idea of the thin quilted blanket. Of course, I wasn't calling it a quilt then. I was still in denial. My thoughts were: I had fabric. I like to use what I've got. Why NOT make a giant quilt? (I'm four and a half months pregnant. This is as much thought as I've put into anything lately.)
Everything went really well for awhile. Hundreds of little squares were carefully cut, and then carefully stitched into long strips. I even used the seam guide things on the sewing machine! And there was ironing. Lots of ironing. I was doing everything right. As far as I knew, anyway.
Things started to go awry when those long strips needed to be attached together. Not a single one lined up with another. Despite the hours of careful, painstaking cutting and piecing, it appeared that every "perfect" square was a slightly different size. Sometimes a very different size. I still don't know how this happened. Clearly, there was to be no reconciliation between me and straight lines.
What could I do but continue? I hate unfinished projects, so I plowed on. Many hours later, the finished quilt top, while hardly perfect, was actually sort of charming. (I have a huge tolerance for imperfection.) But now what?

Stay tuned for part two...the finishing.

Fall Chickenpants are here!!

2010-09-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

Allow me to start by saying holy cow, this baby stuff has really slowed me down! It's taken me much longer to put together this brood of CPs than any other that I can recall. Not that I'm complaining, it's just...whoa. I think I may have to scale back a bit on future broods.

I'll start listing them in the shop officially on Monday, but this time, we're going to try something new. Since there are a whopping 38 new Chickenpants this time around, I'm offering a pre-order. I'll be listing them into the shop little by little, in random order. That's obviously going to take awhile, so why should you have to wait? Plus, some will no doubt be going to shows, so they may not even make it into the shop.

So here's the deal. If someone you see here strikes your fancy, email me (chickenwidget {{{at}}} gmail), and I'll send you a Paypal invoice. (Or set up a reserved Etsy listing, if you prefer.) Whatever makes you feel more secure, and less like we're doing something Chicken-y black market. (We're not! It's just that I haven't figured out an easier way to do this yet.)
All the new Chickenpants are $20 each OR 2 for $35. (plus shipping, of course. $2.60 in the US, $3 to Canada, $4 to Australia.)

So, without any further ado, meet the Fall Chickenpannts for 2010!
(click on any photo to see it larger)

Who wants a copy of Craft Leftovers Monthly?

2010-09-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

YOU DO! Or maybe you don't. But it's pretty darn awesome, so I think you do.
I have an article in this month's issue, and Kristin generously sent over multiple copies so I can share the wealth! This month, I have 3 copies to give away. Yay!
This month is all about miniature crafting, something near and dear to my heart. I can just see a bunch of these projects as perfect Chickenpants accessories...or for Blythe!

(photo by CLM, stolen mercilessly by me because hello, still sick!)
More photos and details about this issue can be found here.

So, how do you win a copy of this goodness? Simple! Leave a comment below. Make sure that I have your email so I can contact you if you win. That's it! I'll pick the winners by random number generator on next Wednesday, the 29th.

For extra points, (that is, extra comments + increased chances to win), you can also do any of the following:

1. Blog about the contest! 2 extra comments!
2. Tweet about the contest! 1 extra comment!

To get those points, do one (or more!) of the things mentioned, then come back here and leave an extra comment(s).

Science proves me right, and then kicks me.

2010-09-21T12:31:00.001-07:00

Internet, it's a girl! We have a photo to prove it. Which I shall not be posting. Because, ew.
Hooray! Dancing! Let the shopping commence!
But science decided to give me a few swift kicks while I was at the doctor's office, too. No less than three doctors and nurses sang the praises of the TDAP (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Whooping Cough) vaccine to me. And in the way of these things, they kept insisting it was FATAL to INFANTS if they happened to get it. Whooping cough? Really? Isn't that a victorian disease? NO. IT IS AN EPIDEMIC! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
I don't usually get worked up by this stuff, but I cowed to the pressure this time. And I got a flu shot for the first time, too. You know, infant mortality and all that.
And less than five hours later came the crushing cold. That I can't take anything good for. (Infant! Mor-ta-li-teeee!)
So, my dears, I shall see you again when the chills and aches subside.

20 Weeks

2010-09-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

And today is the big ultrasound! Today we find out the baby's gender. I'm 99% convinced it's a girl. Come on science, prove me right!

Weekly roundup

2010-09-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

I had such plans at the beginning of this week to be a good blogger. I was going to post! Things! And they would be interesting!
Alas, that obviously did not happen.
I've been crafting like a maniac, but I don't have much to say. I've recently undertaken a huge project for myself that has taken a turn for the insane. (More on that later.)
I've been working on custom Chickenpants a lot lately, too:

Yay! Keep those orders rolling in! They're my favorite ones.
And of course, there has been plenty of this:

Laying about. Mostly due to the tons of rib pain. It makes sewing very tough. Lame!

May your weekends be free of rib pain, and full of coffee and booze!

New Affiliations

2010-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, lovelies! I am writing to you today from the land of not-quite-enough-sleep. Delightful place. I've been living there for the past week or so. I should probably just start getting my mail forwarded here, actually.
ANYWAY.
All that is just my way of saying, hey, I have something new to tell you, but on account of the lack of sleep, it may or may not make sense!
Here we go.
Craft Leftovers, my most favorite of zines, approached me to test out something new. An affiliate program! It's new for them, and new for me since I've never tried out anything like this before.
Basically, if you click over to their site from here and wind up buying something, I get a small cut. Woo! Baby needs a new pair of shoes! Shameless merchandising? You bet!
Let's start off with the September issue, which I could not be more excited about.

It's all about miniature crafting! Check out the table of contents:

Hi Ya - Notes from me to you
Smitten Knitten - a knit kitty for your littlest friends
A few of My Favorite Things
Mini Fabric Banner by Claire Chambers of Absolutely Small (hey, that's me!)
Chatting with Denise of Denise's Shop - the maker of the cutest tiny amigruimi creations around
The Crafty Life
Make a Matchbox by Su Mwamba of Tangle Crafts
On the Web
Stitch up a Mini Tie Quilt for your mini bed
Color IT!
Make Your Own Borrowers Rug
Dwelling on Dollhouses
Thrift Kitchen: Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
Mini CLM
Find the Words
Tiny Reading Chair
Knitting on the Smallest Scale with the Smallest Hands
Until Next Time

Fun stuff, right? If you're so inclined, hop on over and check it out! There we go! That was the affiliate link!

Still with me? Ok, cool. I'll be back (hopefully soonish) with more tales of buffoonery.
(Did you know buffoonery is a real word? Me neither. Oh man I need a nap.)

Things I Have Done Recently

2010-09-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

1. I managed to smack my forehead very hard on the back of a folding chair, merely by bending over and not realizing that it was a few inches from my face. I still have a hurty red spot.

2. I got barbecue potato chip dust in my eyes. Here's how it's done: reach the bottom of the bag through diligence and hard work. Tilt bag up to get those last delicious crumbs. Tap bag lightly, so the dust sprinkles your eyes evenly. Burn.

3. I fell going UP a small flight of stairs, and skinned the all skin right off my knee. With skinning. I do not recommend this.

All of this is just to say, hey, look at me, I'm clumsier than ever now! Except now I'm trying to grow another human! Good times!
And also, it is to say that good blog posts require thinking, and not pratfalls. But pratfalls are all I've got at the moment. Pratfalls, and a jar of delicious peanut butter. I need a snack.

Help Find Lola Chickenpants!

2010-08-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Let me just preface this post by saying that this is actually REAL.

Lola Chickenpants, beloved toy/local icon went missing at the Hollywood Bowl on the 27th. Since then, her heartbroken owner has tirelessly been looking for her. All the usual channels have been tried. (Lost and found, returning to where she was lost, missing posters, etc.)
I realize most of you do not live in the Los Angeles area (I don't, either), but I figure the more eyes we can get to see this, the better a chance there is of finding her.
Why am I making such a big deal about this? Lola is not just any Chickenpants. She is one of the first ones I ever made (three-ish years ago!). She has her own Twitter and Facebook page. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of photos of her on Flickr. She's practically a goodwill ambassador. (And no, I'm not behind any of that content.)
Missing toys tug at my heart, but when it's an unusually beloved and personality laden toy belonging to a friend, well, things get personal.

Here's how you can help.
Twitter: Retweet this message: Please RT! My friend lost a sentimental companion at the bowl. Help find Lola! (This is NOT a joke) http://fb.me/ywnXXEBS

Facebook: Spread the word there, too. I'm posting updates as often as I can to the Chickenpants page. (Which is interestingly causing fans to leave left and right. Huh. Apparently I'm annoying when I'm on a mission.)

Spread the image above however you see fit. There is a cash reward, as well as the reward of one Chickenpants of your choice from my shop.

And thank you for your help!

Links and Lambs

2010-08-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself."
-Henry Miller

I needed that reminder today. Because I feel like I am turning into a clump of random ailments. (Skinned knee for the first time in 20 years? Really? Also: 'tis painful.)
So instead of giving you a list of things that are going askew over here, here's a list of things that are brightening me up. And hopefully you'll like some of them, too.

These lamb photos are knocking my wooly socks off. Er, if I was wearing socks. Made of wool. Which I don't have. Also, it's too hot for socks. Anyway: lambs!!

Photo by YesandAmen. Check out her shop for more farmy goodness.

A post over on Rowdy Kittens called How To Stop Living for Others' Approval
Food for thought!

I found the Rowdy Kittens post through Michael Nobbs' excellent email newsletter, Your Important Work. Are you subscribed? It's pretty great!

What's inspiring you lately?

Some things.

2010-08-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

My butt is growing faster than my baby bump. My roots are growing out faster than my baby bump, too. So now I just look like an unkempt, disheveled woman, waddling about. Eh, that's pretty much how I feel, too.

The last thing I tried to make was a baby blanket. I majorly screwed it up once, and had to rip the stitches out of the whole darn thing. It's almost finished correctly now. But it's August, and 100+ degrees out there, and not the greatest time to work on huge flannel blankets.

I recently managed to bang my forehead on a folding chair hard enough so that it still hurt days later. Then, I managed to get barbecue potato chip dust in my eyes. Awesome.

The heat is causing the bunny to shed like crazy. There is bunny hair on every surface in this house. It's pretty gross. And Mr./Mrs. Spoiled Finnegan refuses to let me brush him. Bunny scratches hurt.

Oh, and Dan broke his toe. Not because of the bunny. Unless what caused him to kick the underside of the couch was slipping on a clump of bunny hair. Very possible, actually.

This collection of assorted snapshots is going to have to suffice as a blog post. Who knew that growing a baby sucked all the creative energy right out of you? I won't even mention the scary lack of Etsy sales. Babies suck the marketing energy right of you, too. Darn babies. Also, I'm not so sure what I should be writing about these days. You guys did not come here for a mommyblog. I'm not at all sure that I want to turn into a mommyblog. Carrying on like nothing's changing isn't an option, though, so now what?

Meeting the neighbors

2010-08-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

This actually happened back in June, but I've been distracted/sick/sleeping since then. Hence the weird dates. Anyway, this is the kind of nonsense that happens around here. Enjoy.

The first time I ever met our neighbor to the back of us, I was looking for our tortoise Henry, who had just escaped his pen. He had just about made it into the next door neighbor’s yard when a be-jumpsuited old man walked down the hill into our yard.
“Hello,” I called up the hill, putting Henry back into his pen. No reply. Maybe he’s hard of hearing. I fiddled with the cage to try and prevent another break out. The man walked closer. “Hello!” I called again. He stopped about four yards from the tortoise pen, so I had to walk up the steep hill to him.
“You’ve been here, what nine months?” He finally said.
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Well, I’m Bill, and I live behind you.”
“Ah. I figured.”
“I’ve lived here for 21 years, well, it’ll be 21 years on July 7th. I’ve been on the board and 12 committees.” He paused so I could admire his community spirit. I should also mention that while we live in the middle of nowhere, we also live in a very annoying gated community. Bar codes are required to get in. There's a manned gate. And a book of rules as thick as a dictionary. It's ridiculous.
“Uh...wow.”
“My wife, Maryanne writes the recipes that are in the Trail Views every month.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” I had no idea there were recipes in that thing.
“And she has been doing that for twenty years now. Well, now some other gal is doing dietetic recipes, so she only has a recipe in there every other month, but still.”
“Wow.” I began to wonder what "dietetic" meant.
“I’m always in danger of gaining weight. She’s published seven cookbooks. Five for the church, and two commercially. And she published one for the family on her 75th birthday, but people in the Trails wanted it too, so we had to publish 300 more. We only have 20 left.”
“That’s really something!” I said, the way you do when you are expected to be impressed.
“So I noticed you have a lot of weeds. I was the volunteer fire inspector here for seventeen years, but I’ve been fighting prostate cancer for the past four, so I had to stop.”
“Oh.” Before I could think of the right thing to say, he just barreled on.
“You need to have all the weeds on your property down to four inches or less. The fire inspector is going to come around soon and give you a citation. Also, you need to trim that tree. See how it’s close to the ground? If the grass was on fire, it would leap up that tree and burn my house down!”
I looked at the tree in question, a good hundred yards or so from his house. “That would be bad, wouldn’t it?” I smiled as he continued.
“I’ve been here for 21 years, so I can show you some things that you may find helpful. Because the fire inspector is going to come around in a few weeks. I used to climb the trees to trim them for folks here who couldn’t afford it. But I can’t do that now. Because I was fighting prostate cancer. But I should be up to full strength again in a week.”
“That’s good! My grandfather actually just died of complications with his-”
“Uh huh. Well, they pay the fire inspectors now, but back in my day, it was all volunteer work. You know what you should do? You should spray the weeds so they don’t come back up. That’s what I do. See my land?” It was remarkably bare and weed free, speckled with trees and overgrown buckbrush. Bare red dirt everywhere. Bare red mud in the winter. Mudslide potential?
“That’s nice.” I said.
“I have 40 trees! So if you have any questions about living here, I can help you.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you. But, um, I was actually just getting ready to leave.”
“Oh, oh, that’s okay then.” He started to back up a few paces. “Maybe I should speak to your husband.”
“Uh...okay.”
“I used to be be with the military, back in Korea. So I surveyed the plot lines here. They’re all accurate. Do you know where the plot lines are?”
“Yes, I do.” And I also had heard that he had moved the stakes several times in an attempt to grab more land.
“Well, I can show you them, and show you some more things you may not be aware of.”
“Er...” I looked back at Henry, who was thankfully still in his pen.
“Or maybe I should show your husband.”
“Yeah, that would be good.”
“I’ve lived here for twenty one years in July. I know things that may be helpful to you.”
“Thank you!” I said, inching backwards.
“What was your last name?”
“Chambers.”
“Oh right. The other neighbor over there said that’s what your name is. And your first name?”
“Claire.” I had the distinct impression that this would come to haunt me later in the form of angry citations.
“Well, nice to meet you. If you have any questions about anything, I’m up the hill.”
“Thank you!” He mercifully turned around and went back to working on his own yard.
I put a rock against the gap in Henry’s fence, hoped for the best, and ran inside.

Once upon a nervous breakdown

2010-08-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not afraid of thrift stores. In fact, I quite enjoy the thrill of the hunt, pushing my way through rack after rack of other people's discarded stuff, sifting for gems. And I often find them.
Which is why it was such a shock to me to find myself breathing shallowly outside a kid's consignment store yesterday. I had to walk through the Beverages & More next door (smart!) to calm down. (Side note: I miss booze now!)
Allow me, kind reader, to back track. It all started when my mother in law said something "Hey, have you gone to Once Upon a Child? You should, you know. They have cribs and stuff there. And it is cheap."
"What an excellent idea!" the husband and I decided. And so we went.
The first thing that hits you in the face when you open the door of one of these establishments is the screaming. Oh, Lord Almighty, the screaming. It bounces off the walls of this tight confined space, and you can hear the babies scream "THIS IS GOING TO BE HAPPENING TO YOU IN LIKE FIVE MONTHS. WAAA HAAA HAA HAA!"
Underneath the screaming, you can hear Disney Princess songs being piped in. You see, there is no escape from their horrid taffeta clutches. Not even for your ears.
Cast a look around, and you will find new cribs pushed up against each other all the way to the walls. The walkways are tiny, and littered with discarded toys. Hey, look, there's all sorts of new furniture. And lo, it is not cheap.
We did find some icky used strollers folded up under a display. But, ewwww.
Teenagers with giant pregnant bellies walk the aisles in ripped jeans.
The walls are lined floor to ceiling with mostly pink clothes. Take one off the rack to examine, and be blown away by the savings and/or stains. Or perhaps just think to yourself "Dang. Baby clothes are expensive." It really depends on what you pick up.
Wander around for a bit, and you're sure to ask yourself "What's that smell?" That smell, my friends, is children. And it is not a nice smell.
Crowded, loud, disorganized, smelly, overly pink...in other words, picture a nursery from hell.
"I do not like it here." I whimpered to my husband.

It took me a few minutes after the sensory overload had died down to figure out that this place preyed on a lot of my worst fears about parenting. Namely, that the rest of my life is going to be loud, disorganized, packed to the gills with crap, smelly, overly pink, and that there will be a Disney Princess peeking out from every corner.
I've been reading a lot of blogs, and growing enamored with the idea that there's more than one way a house with children looks. Even if they all tend to be messy. (That's okay, really! I mean, have you seen my studio? I can handle a mess. Also, pink.)
So if you'll need me, I'll be hunkered down at my sewing machine, crafting up bibs and blankets and whatnot. Savoring these precious last few months of control and good looking things.

And! If you know of tutorials or sites about making baby stuff, PLEASE post those links below!

I can't take you anywhere

2010-07-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today was the semi-monthly toenail trimming appointment for the pugs. It may sound frivoluous to send one's dogs in for pedicures when one's own self has not had one in years. But one's own self does not scream, squirm around uncontrollably, and generally make it impossible to trim one's own toes.
Where was I?
Ah, yes, the vet. There was something in the air today that made the pugs especially excited to be at the vet's office. Was it the sudden delightful coolness in the air? Or could they just sense my exhaustion?
As soon as we entered the building, all heads turned to us. Not because we're such a good looking bunch, but due to the noise:
HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA
HOW HOW HOW HOW
(That's what two panting pugs sound like. It's surprisingly loud.)
The office is very tiny, and was very busy, so their noises took up the whole room.
Behind the counter, one of the vets was trying to make an appointment.
Customer: "Wait, when? Can you repeat that?"
HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA
HOW HOW HOW HOW
Vet: "I'll just write you an appointment card."
The pugs took turns pushing each other off the scale. "I'm fatter!" "No, I am!" The pug not currently on the scale decides it would be fun to wind it's leash around my legs as tightly as possible, constricting all movement. Then they switch!
During these fun times, the pugs are still panting very, very loudly.
HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA
HOW HOW HOW HOW
Finally someone comes to take one of the pugs in the back, and I am left with a far more manageable number. I sit down across from an elderly lady who entered with a walker. "What kinds of dogs are those?" she asks.
"Pugs."
"Oh."
I try to read one of the back dated magazines, but Buster (the pug who will be getting his nails trimmed second) decides it will be more fun to crawl under the chairs and wind his leash into impossible knots. I have to keep putting the magazine down to untangle him.
Then, suddenly, he decides to bark. Yip, really. His high pitched, "I'm so excited!" yip. Why? Oh, no reason. It had been getting quiet in here.
At last they bring Topanga out. I untangle Buster one last time, and drag him out from under the chair. They take him into the back, whining all the way.
Things are uneventful for a few glorious minutes, and I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Buster comes back out, (HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA
HOW HOW HOW HOW) the vet says everything looks good, and I start to gather my things and untangle leashes.
But. Then.
I notice Topanga is squatting in the middle of the floor. Something brown suddenly appears.
Oh no.
Topanga has decided on a grand finale! Pooping in the waiting room! Massively pooping! The smell begins to waft.
I usher the dogs into the car before they can make things worse, and come back in to profusely apologize.
"Ah, it's okay. Poop happens." The lady behind the counter says.
I think she meant to say "Pugs happen".

P.S.: Oh, the fun continues once we get home! Buster threw up in FOUR different spots on the freshly (and expensively) cleaned floors. YOU'RE WELCOME!

I've got your number, pregnancy.

2010-07-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

So, I think I have this whole thing figured out. Pregnancy is one indignity after another, but they all have a purpose!
To break your will so that you're ready for labor. By the time you're that far along, you won't mind pooping in front of a roomful of strangers!
That said, I am having a very good day. Good doctor visit, good lunch, feeling better every day, etc.
But! I can not seem to force a blog post out of myself at all these days. I've tried. Oh, how I've tried. I have scads of unfinished, whiny, rambling blog posts. I am really fumbling with this whole balancing work and pregnancy thing. Suddenly, listing things on Etsy is such a chore. I can't remember to relist expired items.
I thought I would be all over crafting things for the baby. Instead, I am all over the house, napping. Or eating. If I could do both things at once, I would. None of my pants fit any more, by the way. (And I'm only 11 weeks along! This bodes well.)
I hate to admit it, but it's like most of my creative energy has been absorbed by the baby. I'm creating something really big and complicated, and suddenly my brain doesn't have the extra space to dream up new creatures and designs.
I feel a nap coming on, so I need to tie this up. I can't think of a conclusion. Um...things are good, but different, and that is a little nerve wracking. Profound!

Inspiration Friday!

2010-07-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Maybe I only find this funny because I have an entire basement of this kind of stuff, but Bad Postcards is definitely worth a look. http://bad-postcards.tumblr.com/

This is now old, but so cute:

AT-AT Day Afternoon!

Greg Peltz is creating some amazing portraits of Star Wars characters...as old timey gentlemen!

Another animal video, this time it's Tortcam!
Ohhh, I want a camera for our tortoise sooooo bad now. Actually, I really really want one for the pugs. Dogcam!

Four Hundred

2010-07-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

It's really hard for me to not make that all caps. FOUR HUNDRED. FOUR. HUNDRED.
Four Hundred Chickenpants. 400!!
And here she is, Miss 400 herself, Chickenpants Antoinette!
Who can sum up the opulence? the decadence? the general over-the-top-ness of Chickenpants better than Chickenpants Antoinette? Nobody, that's who.

Chickenpants Antoinette sports a lovely blue gown over layers and layers of petticoats. (Okay, layers and layers of tulle. Work with me here.) She's then frosted with vintage fabric and jewelry bits. Finally, I topped her off with piles of fake hair. And hand sewed 22 faux-pearls on to her collar. Yes, she is wearing pants way under there. Let's call them 'stockings' this time, though.

Now, who's for cake?

You can check her out in the coop here, if you are so inclined.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-07-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ha, ha. Yes, I'm still sporadically posting stuff, and I will continue to do so. Especially Inspiration Friday. That's my favorite!

Somethin' awesome is cooking up over at the Bloggess.
Which reminds me, I need to dust off my tiara.

How great is this new fabric from My Paper Crane?

It's based on amazing paper cut stamps she made. Awesome!
And speaking of cool things she makes, check out this plush mushroom terrarium.

This shouldn't be so funny to me, but it is.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Bunny Debacle of 2010

2010-07-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Remember this bunny?

FINNEGAN!

He was given to us by friends because he was a boy, they had a girl, etc. We accepted him happily, and lived in harmony. UNTIL.
Until the Great Digestive Upset of Earlier in 2010. The vet then proclaimed him a girl, as she could not find testicles.
Okay. So, Finnegan's a girl now, eh? Okay. We can live with that. Same old Finnegan. what's not to love?
UNTIL.
Until we went on vacation for the first time in years, leaving Finnegan with a housesitter and her Chihuahua. When we came back, somebody had been a'markin'. We chalked this up to the Chihuahua (of course!). But the marking didn't stop. And lo, it did not smell like pug pee. (Trust me, I know what that smells like.) Finnegan had taken up the hobby of marking. Ewwwww. This had to stop, of course. So we booked her an appointment at the vet's to be fixed. (Spayed? Neutered? Whichever.) I had read up online that this might hopefully cure the marking problem.
Fast forward to the early afternoon after I've dropped her off. I received a call from a confused vet tech. "So, uh, what made you think this was a girl?"
"Er...we thought it was a boy, until the vet told us otherwise last time she was in."
"Huh. 'Cause the vet can't find any ovaries."
"What?"
"No ovaries."
"O-kaaaay. What about boy parts? Does she have any of those?"
"We'll call you back in a bit."

Now, to be fair to the local vet: they've always done a great job treating our pugs. We live waaaaaay out in the country, and it's *just* possible that they don't treat a lot of rabbits.

So naturally, I called Dan. "They can't find any lady parts on Finnegan."
"What?"
"I know!"
"Well then...it's a boy after all?"
"They don't know. They're calling me back."
Dan decided to talk to a co-worker who raises prize rabbits, among other livestock.

"Oh yeah, it can be really hard to sex the rabbits. If you don't know what you're looking for, you won't find it."

Dan called me back, and repeated this (and more!), much to the delight of his co-workers.

The vet called back, too. "So, uh, we can't find her ovaries. Or uterus. So we didn't fix her. My guess is that she was already fixed, and that's why the parts aren't there."

Really? Because my guess is that you don't know what you're doing!

I picked poor Mr./Ms. Finnegan up later in the afternoon. I also picked up a very large vet bill. Because although the surgery wasn't actually performed, poking around isn't free.

And my rabbit still is not fixed. But he'll get a cool scar out of the deal! Oh, and the marking will continue. That'll be $200, please.

Surprise!

2010-06-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Internet, we have officially had a change of plans:

That, my friends, is a zygote. A zygote that has taken up residence in my very own lady parts. Trust me, it's there.
Shock! Awe! Swooning!
Needless to say, the Dan and I are very happy and thrilled about this little change in lifestyle. And it's already turned everything upside down.
The nausea! Oh my sweet Wesley, the nausea! Here is something I did not know about morning sickness: It does not go away after the morning. Nope. Sticks around all day, and on into the night. It is DELIGHTFUL. And it makes getting anything done very, very hard.
So, remember how I was all like "July 1st I'm launching the comics site! And it's going to be amazing!"
Um. That was BEFORE I found out and became so queasy I could hardly move. Suffice it to say, I'm a little behind schedule. Not only behind, but now I'm re-evaluating the project. Suddenly I don't have as much time in the day as I thought I did.
Good grief, I'm already going soft.
Also: squishy. There's a lot of eating of crackers going on.

And now, the 80's Chickenpants!

2010-06-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to taking it easy and not posting on this blog for a little bit? Er...that'll be next week. Today, I want to show you my latest project:

I was given a big bag full of 1980's fabric, and in that moment, I knew what I had to do. (It's so nice when people donate fabric and other goodies to the cause, isn't it?)
Chickenpants 380-390 became the 80's Collection!

Of course I had to make a couple of 80's goths. This is probably offensive, but I find them adorable. (My husband was one! So it's okay, right?)
From left to right: Robert (Smith), Siouxsie (Sioux), and Ian (Curtis).

And finally:

Lloyd Doblerpants.
He sports a handstitched boombox, and a little trench coat that snaps at the top.
You know where you can check them out, if you want to read their little backstories.

The big reveal

2010-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

Eventful week so far! I released the 80's Chickenpants collection on Monday, an interview with me posted on Plush You on Tuesday, and now...it's Wednesday.
You may be wondering what is up with this blog lately. I was so regular about posting! Or maybe you haven't noticed anything amiss, which is hopefully the case.
Well, things are about to get different. As hinted at in the Plush You interview, change is a comin'! Come July 1st, Chickenpants.net is not only getting a full face lift, it's getting a content change. I'm shifting from personal-ish business-y craft-y blog (that vauge, vauge blog that everyone has enough of already) to Chickenpants comics! And some other good Chickenpants stuff. All interesting* content, all** the time!
So, it's going to be pretty quiet around this blog for a few weeks, to be directly followed by loud explosions. Stay tuned!
Okay, so in the meantime, I'm updating the Chickenpants Fan Page on Facebook very regularly, and it's not going anywhere. So by all means, follow our chickeny exploits there if you're not already. Apparently, you don't have to be a member of Facebook to see the page, so that's good. (Facebook still sort of mystifies me. And annoys me. But the fan page is really fun.)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chickenpants-by-Absolutely-Small/
See you on the other side!

*Interesting content may be subject to change.

**Well, by "all" the time, we mean like four days a week.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

It's an unintentionally all video edition of Inspiration Friday. Grab some popcorn.

Found via Danielleorama's darling blog:

(Sorry, I know it's cut off. I can't make it any smaller. Go here to see it on YouTube.)
When is this movie coming out and where can I see it? Their page did not say. Do not make me get on a plane to Poland for this!

The cutest little Blur video you ever did see!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oqXVx3sBOk&feature=player_embedded Alas, I can't embed it.
This song has long been one of my favorites, but I just saw the video the other day. Oh man, when the milk is walking along, swinging his tiny arms, it just kills me!

And finally, what if The Empire Strikes back was an old timey B movie?

(Thanks Geekologie!)
Have a great weekend, everyone!

Schmancy Exclusive!

2010-06-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

I was recently invited to create an exclusive plush for the mother of all designer toy shops, Schmancy. (Home of Plush You!) Naturally I leaped at the chance.
Here's what I came up with. I call them the 2010 All-Bunny Swim Team.

Their ears are all wired, so you can bend them pretty much any way you like.

Of course, they are bunnies, which means they've got these:

And, as previously mentioned, these fellas are exclusively available at Schmancy. They can never be made again. They're not up just yet, but I've heard good things about June 9th.
If we're very lucky, they'll be available on the Schmancy web shop soon after that!

A fable of sorts

2010-06-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what would happen if you connected random photos from your Flickr stream into a story? Me, too. Here's my result:

There was once a bunny.

He was very bored.

So he spoke to a wise dog, who wore the chicken poncho pendant of power.

He told the bunny to visit the kitchen elf for more information.

So he asked the elf, "Kitchen Elf, what must I do to be less bored?"

"You must...throw a party. There should be plenty of snacks for everyone."

The bunny thanked the Kitchen Elf, and went along his way.

He invited everyone in the neighborhood.

"Get off that computer! Come to my party!"

And what a party it was!

There were lots of snacks:

A brawl broke out!

And the bunny made a new friend:

Now that he had a new friend, the bunny wasn't bored any more.

Well...not until the next time.

SO, the moral of the story is, if YOU need some blog content, and you happen to have a ton of photos, link them together! And then tell me so I can read it.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-05-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Let's start the weekend off right:

awesome puppy hat
Originally uploaded by .elsie*cake.

Aw, yeah. Interestingly, this inspired me to create a crocheted hat for Buster, which he stubbornly would not wear, and I have no photos of. Great. But I do have a picture of Topanga in a similar hat I made just for her:

☆ Over at The Bloggess, a true story about trying to sell a camera on Ebay.

As seen on the Dooce Daily Style site, Obsessive Consumption!
Which is a blog!
And a really neat looking book that went straight to my wish list. This book combines so many of my favorites: line drawings, obsessive recording, and shopping.

☆ And speaking of obsessive consumption, http://www.jumblebag.com/ is offering $5 bags of...mystery. I'm intrigued, and a little scared. What good can come out of a $5 bag? I'm also fool enough to try it. Although I haven't (yet).

I don't even have words for this:

Hand embroidered Robert Smith pillow
Originally uploaded by Giggly Mama & Fam

Okay, I have a few words. Awesome. I want!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Go forth and make stuff!

Maker Faire Recap Part Two: The Goods

2010-05-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

If you're not into caffeine and sleep deprived indie consumerism, you may just want to skip to something else. Like...this photo! Of a pug in a hat! Aw, cute.

Okay, onto the scores.
There was SO MUCH good stuff this time around!

From the Plush Team table, I snagged my very own Moon Buns! I have been wanting one for soooooo long. Why did I wait? They are wonderful, people. And as you can see:
They make very nice Chickenpants companions.

Also from the Plush Team, I got my very own ZFLA creation. It is possibly the world's cutest cashmere bunny:

Forgive my crummy photo of it. I seem to be photographically challenged today.

I won't even show you the photo I tried to take of the brand new Ryan Berkley portraits. It simply does not do them justice.
So check out this one from his Etsy shop:

This, sadly, is not one of the ones I picked up, though I certainly would have, had I seen it. I did snag a brand new, not even on Etsy yet portrait of two kittens in 70's tshirts.
I met David Malki of Wondermark, and he happened to be offering $1 sketches. How can someone pass up something like that? I certainly couldn't:

Pollyanna Cowgirl, one of my very favorite jewelry designers, was there with a table full of goodies like this:

How did I miss this piece? That's what happens when you zoom around in a sleep deprived haze.

I met the folks behind (ha. ha.) Bunny Butt Apothecary, too. For the record, they are super sweet and charming. But. Their stuff. Oh my gosh, I'm in love. I am a lip balm snob. I have really, really dry lips, and sadly a lot of lip balms just make things worse. Not so with Bunny Butt! It actually hydrates! And you don't need to reapply it every hour. Nice.

They also have a non Etsy store, if you prefer. **Non Maker Faire related question: what would you think of a Non-Etsy Chickenpants shop? Leave a comment below!**

And finally (though I know I am forgetting many, many awesome things and talented people, and I am sorry!), the most awesome thing ever:

THAT, my friends, is an Amy Sedaris Cross Stitch pattern. Oh yes.

Maker Faire 2010 recap

2010-05-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Annnd I'm back. Maker Faire was great this year! (Of course, it's always great!) It was wonderful to meet so many of you in person, and to meet a whole bunch of new folks.
It was a different sort of experience for me this year, as I was helping out with the giant Plush Team booth, instead of manning my own table:

And boy, was it fun!
I didn't get a chance to take a whole lot of photos, but here's a few highlights.
There was an amazing little steampunk carnival, with hysterical games.

The above picture is of the post-apocalyptic rifle game.

There were art cars! Like this one:

New this year was this giant 1930's B movie style rocket. So cool.

If you're so inclined, there are plenty more photos on my Flickr page. And even a video of a freaky, freaky creature.

Chickenpants at Maker Faire THIS WEEKEND!

2010-05-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be there, Chickenpants in tow, as part of the Plush Team booth! If you're anywhere near Northern California, I heartily encourage you to come by. It's a really amazing fair. And, since I am lazy, here's what I posted on http://theneedle.org:

In case you didn't already have a good enough reason to head to San Mateo this weekend, how does this sound?

Ongoing FREE plush making classes taught by pros!

Shop the plush goodies of 30 incredible creators in one spot!

Meet 8 amazing plushiers in person! Not holograms!

And it's all happening THIS WEEKEND, May 22 & 23rd at the San Mateo Fairgrounds.

For details about the classes and other stuff, visit the Plush Team's own site.

For details on Maker Faire (hours, location, etc.), visit Maker Faire's site.

Be there or be square! And not in a cute squishy way.

LOST Chickenpants...part two!

2010-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

I'm never one to leave well enough alone. A second batch of LOST Chickenpants simply had to happen. After all, there was no Desmond! No Claire! No Sun or Jin! How could I live with that? So I had to remedy the situation. And here they are!
Click on their names to find out more about them.

Hurley! Again! Yes!

Mister Eko!

Desmond, all cleaned up.

And Desmond, all scruffy and sleep deprived.

Aaron! And Claire!

Walt! He is tiny!

Sun and Jin.

I couldn't bear to break these two up, so they're a set.

Another set! This time it's the Man In Black(pants) and the Smoke Monster.

Can't have dark without light, or vice versa, so here's Jacob.

Sayid, gone dark!

Miles!

Libby!

And finally:

Oh yes, Jim LaFleur.

Floundering.

2010-05-18T09:57:00.001-07:00

Hello, hello!
It seems like all I do on this blog lately is apologize for the lack of consistent posts, so I'm going to take a break from that today.
(sorry!)
So close.

I'm working on a few different projects right now, and Maker Faire is this weekend. (Yay!)
I'm creatively shifting gears, and good dog almighty, is it ever time consuming.

I read somewhere that in order to be a good comics artist, you needed to create 500 pages of pure drivel first. This really freaked me out. I always held in my mind the idea of someday, maybe drawing comics. But 500 pages of garbage just to get started? Yikes! That would take forever.
At the San Francisco Zine Fest, I talked with many real comic artists. I confided my 500 pages fear to one of them. He said "Oh, no. 50 pages of crap should do it."
So that's where I am. Churning out 50 pages of crap.
Are they comics? No, not really. Maybe. Sort of. I don't know yet.

The point to this self indulgent post is: indulge me. Bear with me, and hopefully I'll have something neat to show you in about 40 pages or so.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-05-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a dollhouse version of Bilbo Baggins's hobbit hole:

You can check out the details & backstory here. And I suggest you do. Because: it's ah-maze-zing!

In other tiny, amazing news, check out this environment made by the famous Elsita:

You really need to click over there and check it out. Each piece was made by her, and oh! the tiny details! It truly is a work of art.

This culinary gem comes courtesy of the delightful Bumblesweet on Flickr:

If putting sprinkles on something unexpected isn't inspiring, I don't know what is! (Although, it may just be inspiring me to eat more sugary treats...)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

In which there are distractions

2010-05-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

You may have guessed by the lack of recent posts that I am Up To Something.
Or maybe you interpreted the lack of posts as Procrastinating About Something.
Both theories are right.

Yes, I am Working On Something I Can't Tell You About Yet, Because If I Do It May Not Happen. It is time consuming, and it's the blog that suffers. Among other things.

Also, I've had a husband home sick from work for the past two days, and if that's not distracting, I don't know what is.

In lieu of a closing paragraph that ties this whole post together, allow me to offer you the following:

I drew it. For you! (Or for my own amusement. Who can say?)

The LOST Chickenpants

2010-05-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just in case you haven't seen them already:
I finally completed my Lost project! I wanted to make a tribute to the show that's chewed up so many hours of my life:

I took them all to a local park for a photo shoot. It's as close to an island as we're going to get over here.

I carefully picked the fabric and accents for each individual Chickenpants to best capture the spirit of that character. I then carefully applied "dirt" to each one (not real dirt, just pastels), because we hardly ever see these guys clean and tidy unless it's one of those sideways flashes which I wish they would hurry up and do something with, already.

Actually, J.J. Abramspants and Richart Alpertpants do not have any dirt on them. Why? Because J.J. Abrams doesn't strike me as the sort to get dirty. And Richard Alpert always seems fairly tidy and well kept, too. What's with that?
In total, I made 11 characters. There are so many more I'd like to do, though!

You can see a meeelion more photos of them in their very own Flickr set.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-05-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger lately. What is it about coming back from a vacation? Seems like you need twice as long as you were gone to get back to normal.
Anyway: Inspiration Friday!

As many of you know, I have both a tortoise and a hare living with me. I've been asked on occasion: "Do you race them?" Sometimes I'd like to. I wonder how they'd react to each other. It probably wouldn't be as cute as this:

Image via Cute Overload!

An adorable little distraction: Kawaii Not. It's a webcomic of "cute gone bad". It's pretty cute. I'd embed one here to show you, but she doesn't offer that. And I'm too lazy to do it the other way right now.

The newspaper blackout poems of Austin Kleon are fantastic! He recently published a book of them which I am dying to get my mitts on. Check out his blog for a healthy swig of word goodness.

Can this count as our hilarious video of the week?

You can make your own! That makes this inspiration, yes?

She was a showgirl...

2010-05-05T14:45:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the complete and utter lack of posts this week. I'm not sure if it's allergies or what my problem is, but I feel like I've been run over by a bus that was carrying sleeping pills instead of humans. Good times.
Anyway!
I recently completed a custom Chickenpants, and I think you might enjoy her. Behold the splendor that is
CHICKITA MIRANDA CHICKENPANTS!

Making her involved lots of glue gun seared finger tips, but it was so worth it.

She's number 347! We're getting perilously close to 350 Chickenpants, people.

Scandalous!

Inspiration Friday!

2010-04-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

As I have gone on and on about, I have been out of town. And away from all computers. Which means I've had far less time to find delightful gems of the interwebs to share with you all. But I do have some!

Want to start (or restart) drawing your life? Michael Nobbs is here! He's generously released a free ebook about just that: Start to Draw Your Life and 75 Ways to Draw More.

Michael Nobbs has become my new favorite person on Twitter. He has wonderful tweets about the creative life, particularly managing it when you have less than abundant energy. Follow him! @michaelnobbs
Heck, read his blog, too. It's pretty fantastic.

I could just end Inspiration Friday right now, just pass the baton to Michael Nobbs and call it a day.
But no.
I have one more tidbit. One geeky, geeky tidbit:

Who knew there was so much dancing in the original Trek?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Craft Show Packing Checklist

2010-04-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

For way too long, I had pages and pages of possible things to pack for shows. Pages I downloaded off the internet, pages I hand wrote, pages pages pages. All of which just left me feeling panicky that I had forgotten something.
Well, no longer! I finally bit the bullet and condensed all those pages full of things that only half way applied to me, and made them ONE.
And I'm sharing it with you.
Behold! The one page show packing list!
Click here to download the Craft Show Packing List!
It will open in a new tab. To save it, click on File, then Download As. Pick your favorite format, and you're good to go.

A caveat, of course: Look over this list. Personalize it. Everyone brings slightly different stuff with them to shows. Take the time, and your future self will thank you. (It's really not that much time.)

Best wishes for all your future craft shows!

Hey, we're back!

2010-04-28T12:43:00.001-07:00

Let the recap commence!
Sort of!
It turns out I accidentally took 450 pictures at the San Diego Zoo, and roughly none of anything else. It's going to take a little bit of time to sort through all those to find the 5 or 6 interesting shots. So we'll talk about another facet of the trip: Unique Los Angeles!

Look, a photo! Of my table! Taken with my crummy camera, as that is my way.
Unique Los Angeles was wonderful. It was so nice to meet so many of you! And it was great to meet so many new people, too.
We were in between a ceramics artist, and Necessary Baggage, who made fantastic men's lounge shorts. They also had male models wearing those shorts (and generally not much else) hanging out at the table all day. Best advertising ever! You can see some photos they took on their Facebook page.
There is so much more to say, but a persistent headache isn't letting me get to it right now. Just know that I am back, things are good, and my pugs won't let me out of their sight:

More soon!

It's here!

2010-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

It's finally here! Unique LA is THIS VERY WEEKEND. April 24th & 25th aka Saturday & Sunday.
Come on by and say hi! Parking is easy. Hundreds of vendors, crazy hipster chow, and other goodness. I'll be there with ALL 68 CHICKENPANTS in tow.

Here's the site with all the details: http://uniquela.com. Hope to see you there!

Holy cow, I'm on vacation!

2010-04-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

hey...
so, no one’s here right now. they all went to UNIQUE LOS ANGELES and a vacation first. they left me, g.pete chickenpants in charge.
claire wants me to tell you to visit her there. the link to all the UNIQUE stuff is below. it's april 24th & 25th!
http://uniquela.com/

and the etsy shop is closed until april 27th. likewise, she’s not answering any convos or emails ‘till then, either. it’s crazy, I know!

she'll see you all soon, and hopes you still remember her in a week!

Hey, you're not on vacation yet, missy!

2010-04-15T13:12:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the lack of blog posts and new items in the shop this week. Procrastination mixes with a never ending to-do list like gin and tonic. Except instead of being refreshed and relaxed, I'm frantic and tense. Wait, what was this paragraph about?

So. My dryer died yesterday. And now I have wet laundry all over the place. (Which makes it sound like it exploded, but it did not.) And I'm here, waiting for the delivery guys to show up with a new one, and trying to knock things off that famous to-do list.

Things like that (unexpected appliance death) have led to this being the very last post of the week for me.
Also, I need to announce that the shop is shutting down TEMPORARILY tomorrow- April 27th. I won't even be checking my email. Well, hardly at all. Insanity!

In lieu of a real Inspiration Friday post, here's a few links:
I've been enjoying the blog Hyperbole and a Half lately, not just because in my head I pronounce it "hyper-bowl". Especially this here post about "alot".

Here's a very cute comic by Miss Natalie Dee:
Which I can't embed 'cause it's all huge and stuff.

And finally:
Han Solo. In Carbonite. The soap.

You're welcome.

We have a winner!

2010-04-14T11:39:00.001-07:00

And it is....commenter #9! JenMeister!

Thank you everyone for entering!

New goodies? Yes!

2010-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings from thick in the middle of a never ending to-do list! I leave for San Diego in FOUR days. Which means no more putting things off to next week. It also means I'm closing shop for over a week. (On Friday. Ack!!) It's crunch time.

I'm trying hard to keep adding new things to the shop this week...but again, never ending to-do list.
Nevertheless, check out this victory of Claire vs. pre-show chores:

That's right. PROFESSIONALLY printed Chickenpants postcards! They're glossy! They're pretty! They come in a set of four! I couldn't be happier with these little cuties. I've listed a few of them in the ol' shop, if you want to check them out.

(And if you haven't yet, be sure to enter our Craft Leftovers giveaway! A winner will be chosen tomorrow!

Okay, back to the Chickenpants mines.

Inspiration Friday!

2010-04-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, Brandon Bird.
This painting is called "Nobody Wants To Play Sega With Harrison Ford". And you need to see it on his site to fully appreciate the details.(painting by Brandon Bird, of course!)
You and your Bea Arthur wrestling raptors paintings are welcome at my house any time.

The future is...now! Glasses...with a hidden video camera! Thanks Photojojo!

Check out this wicked awesome painting that Ms. Krissi Sandvik did:

Finally! A photo that isn't vague!
Originally uploaded by Skelekitty (Krissi Sandvik)

It's not currently in her shop, but I'm sure that's just an oversight. ^-~

From Flavorwire, a great question: What if Don Draper was happy? Well, then he might look something like this:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Who wants a copy of Craft Leftovers Monthly?

2010-04-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

***Update 4/9*** Uh, yeah, so I should probably link to where you can BUY a copy, if you are so inclined, right? Here ya go: http://craftleftovers.com/shop/ Check out her blog while you're there- it's really good!
***

I've got copies to share! The ultra-generous Kristen of Craft Leftovers has given me more copies to share with you.
The April issue is chock-full of awesomeness, and I'm not just saying that because she included a photo of Finnegan with the bunny tutorial I drew up.

36 pages of crafty goodness!

Ok! Wanna win? Here's the scoop:
Simply leave a comment below to be entered. We'll pick a winner on Wednesday, April 14th.

For extra points, (that is, extra comments + increased chances to win), you can also do any of the following:

1. Blog about the contest! 2 extra comments!
2. Tweet about the contest! 1 extra comment!

To get those points, do one (or more!) of the things mentioned, then come back here and leave an extra comment(s).

And I did mention I had more than one of these to give away. We're giving a copy away on The Needle, too! Hop on over there and leave a comment! Double your chances.

Leave me comments. Win things. Yay!

Good morning, good morning! - take two

2010-04-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah. It's the afternoon. But look what I wrote yesterday morning:

It's Monday, it's Monday! I'm a little excited today because I get my car back. No more being housebound! No more relying on the kindness of others to get my packages to the post office! Woo! (i.e. faster shipping times for you! Woo!)

In other news, I just realized that in order to go on vacation (REAL vacation, the other thing I am very excited about), I am going to have to close the shop for a bit. The 16th-26th, to be exact. Which is longer than I've ever put it on "vacation mode" before. Ack! Will you still remember me on the 27th?

That is GOOD STUFF. And I fully intended to get that post out yesterday morning. But then I suddenly needed to go and help my brother get his new car so I could have my old car back, and well, there went the day. When you live very far from everything, you really need to make every trip down the hill count.

So, anyway. As is our Monday tradition, allow me to share with you some of the newest Chickenpants.

Claudette!

Sally!

Hercules!

Behold that glorious vintage fabric. You might remember it from Chickenpants 300. Or not. Anyway, I think you will agree that it is chick-tastic.

Linda Linda Linda!

And new pouches, like Business Time:

Keep your eyes peeled on the coop for more! I've got some new fellas up my sleeve before I leave for Unique Los Angeles. (And some surprises once I'm there! *hint hint come and see me at the show!*)

Inspiration Friday!

2010-04-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's finally Friday!

Turtle's first patio visit
Originally uploaded by craftybeaver

Celebrate like a tortoise on the patio! (Walk in circles and look for green things!)

I am fascinated by Curious Pages. How could you not, with a tagline like "Recommended Inappropriate Books for Kids"? http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/

I recently ate a cake with pink strawberry frosting. And sprinkles! Lots and lots of sprinkles. It looked sort of like this:

Hot Pink Cake Adapted From I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by erincooks

Anyway, it was completely delicious. And now I am obsessed with getting some more. INSPIRATION: Strawberry frosting is still delicious, even if you're not 12.

I don't have an Android phone, but if I did, I would totally download Google Translate for ANIMALS! At last! A way to find out what my pugs are really saying! The picture they have on their site is even better. Using your phone to communicate with chickens...we are living in THE FUTURE!

And now, may I present to you a tiny rooster trying to crow:

Thank you, Cute Overload!

It's Show Season! Get ready!

2010-04-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

The recent realization that all my silver cube pieces are currently being used to bunny proof the house led to this post. What am I going to do for my show set-ups this year? What are you going to do?
First, I like to take a look at what other people are doing. Seeing other people's tables and booths is a great way to learn what works and what doesn't. (Of course, you would never want to copy someone else's table!)
Here are some useful Flickr groups:

Indie Craft Fair Guide

Show me Your Booths Pool

Arts & Crafts Fairs & Shows

Felt Club Event Photos Yes, the last Felt Club was in '08, but that doesn't mean there isn't stuff you can learn.

Another great resource is the Etsy forums, of course. A quick search on craft shows will provide more information than anyone could possibly use.

Now the hard part- digesting all that information and applying it to yourself. Naps help. But more importantly: test run, test run, test run. It's the best thing you can do for your booth.

What are some of your best tips for booth set ups? I'd love to hear them!

Top Ten Things To Do When It Is Suddenly Cold Again And Really Should Just Give Up And Be Warm, Already

2010-03-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

10. Don't work! Go on protest that the cold dries up your creativity!
9. Drink mug after mug of hot liquids!
8. Stay in bed!
7. Weep!
6. Then take a nap!
5. Watch a junk movie!
4. Curl in upon yourself like all those flowers you planted prematurely are!
3. Read something fluffy and stupid!
2. Eat soup, and remember how last week you were eating salad and it was so great!
1. Crank up the heater and pour your self some rum and PRETEND that it is warm!

Some of us don't deal well with cold.

Mmmmmmonday News!

2010-03-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovlies! How was your weekend? Me? Not bad. I found a pair of dark purple velvet Docs at a thrift shop...so fantastic!

This Monday I have exciting Absolutely Small news, though:
I have marked way down ALL the original paintings in the shop. ALL of them. Bad Dog paintings? Framed paintings? Tiny paintings? YES!
I need to free up some space in my studio and shop. 250+ listings is exhausting! I never seem to have the table space for them at shows, either. And I have so many new Chickenpants to share with you.
So grab them while you can. You can find them all in the Creature Closeout section of the shop.

New Chickenpants? You bet! Here's a few of the new additions.
Burt!

Carlos!

William Eggerston!

And some nifty new pouches, including this chicken-y one:

I'll be adding new Chickepants and other goodies every day this week, so stay tuned. (You can subscribe to the shop's RSS feed, if you're so inclined and don't want anyone to snipe you out of a brand new CP!)

Inspiration Friday!

2010-03-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! We all made it through another week!

I don't usually talk about makeup on this blog, but I have recently become obsessed with Glittersniffer Cosmetics. Her colors are simply amazing. Wild and amazing:

(photo by Glittersniffer Cosmetics)
If you enjoy makeup, you simply must check her out!

Behold: the Cutest Photobomb Ever!

And finally, the latest in bizzare Japanese commercials:

So...they're ear shaped chips...that are consomme flavored? And...dog men like them? Oh, Japan.

A little procrastination - good for the soul, bad for the pocket book

2010-03-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is what procrastination sounds like for me(this time around, anyway):

Hey, look at her eyeshadow. I like that. I want that.

I'll just take a peek at this Etsy seller's shop.

(45 mins later) MUST. HAVE. COSMETICS.

($45 dollars later) Ahhh. That felt good. I am so excited to get some new cosmetics. You know, I really needed these. My eyelids have been so boring, my whole life.

You know what else is boring? My blond hair. So...conformist. Maybe I should dye it black, like the girl in these goth makeup tutorials I've been watching on YouTube for the past hour and a half.

Or red. Fire engine red!

I think I need some more foundation.

(after searching on Ebay for an hour) What? The kind I bought at Costco in a sample kit two years ago is now going for $25? That's crazy! If I'm going to spend that sort of money, I'll do it on Etsy.

(After searching on Etsy for 2 hours) So...many...choices. What color is my skin? So many beiges...Undercolor? I DON'T KNOW! I'm an ARTIST and I don't know!!

(Scrutinize face in the mirror, freak out over emerging wrinkles) Oh, that's what color it is. Very...pink.

Hey, the sample kit I wanted to buy sold! There aren't any left in the shop! Poo.

Wait a minute...do I have anything to exfoliate with?

AND SO IT GOES.

(If my beloved custom customers are reading this, fear not! Your custom CPs are well under way, and will be all finished up very soon! Like...later today, probably!)

We're taking this show on the road!

2010-03-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce that the Chickenpants and I will be at Unique Los Angeles this April! It's April 24th & 25th, and you can see all the other pertinent details here. I hope I get to meet some of you in person! That's always an amazing treat.
We were at the December 2008 show, too. Here's a few photos I dredged up:

Note to self: start taking more photos at shows!
More updates later. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Monday Creature Roundup!

2010-03-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

A whole bunch of new cuties made it into the shop last week. Such as:
The NINJAPANTS BABIES!

Chickenpants stickers!

and...pug & bunny stickers! This is such a departure for me, but it's good to try new things, right?

Bones Chickenpants

and two new pompom headed guys - The New Yorker

and Scully!

Click on any of the pictures to be taken to them in the coop!

Inspiration Friday

2010-03-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

One of the constant treats on my contacts page in Flickr:

70/365
Originally uploaded by milk & kisses

Anything by Milk & Kisses. She takes Sonny Angels and Re-Ment and photographs them in such a way that it makes my wallet ache. (With...hunger. For all the spending. On cute toys.)

There is now a site devoted to MST3K Haiku!! And it is quite fun. Although this begs the question: Which is more fun, humorous haiku or limericks?

75
Originally uploaded by bedside diagnosis

Gorgeous, amazing visual journals by Bedside Diagnosis on Flickr.
No seriously, they're amazing. At first glance, they're just inspiring: "Hey! Look at all the fun sorts of things I could be doing in my own sketchbook! Look how much a sketchbook can be!" But after looking at just how many pages there are, and the great variations...honestly, it's just stunning.
Check them out here and here.

And finally, Boba Fett playing the Zelda theme on accordion:

Oh Boba. What happened to you?

I'm thinking...

2010-03-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

I need to go wordless today. So here's a visual snapshot of things right now.

On commenting

2010-03-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this for awhile. Each and every one of us has the power to make someone feel noticed. You can make someone's day. You can encourage them to keep going with whatever it is they're doing. All it takes is a moment, and a few thoughtful words.
And of course, each and every one of us also has the power to crush and maim and hurt...all with a moment and a few words.
I've been thinking a lot about the positive power of commenting. It's really amazing and wonderful that we can touch someone who lives very far away from us, who we've never met in real life, and probably never will.
A lot has been said about commenting on other blogs as away of getting people to come to your blog. I'm not talking about that. This is commenting as a form of reaching out to people authentically.
For those of you who blog yourselves, or have Flickr pages or what have you, you know how good it feels when someone comments. It's practically life affirming. "Hey!" you think, "Maybe I'm not wasting my life online!"
Oh, those lonely, commentless posts. Practically deserts. When you first start blogging, you know it well. (Unless you're one of the lucky ones!) And sometimes, you still know it well, after years of blogging.
Finding blogs to comment on is easy. (Etsy forum posts like "Who blogged today" abound.) We may not be as polished as the big guys who have been doing this for years, but that doesn't mean we won't become polished later. Little words of encouragement along the way help so much.
I'm not the best at leaving comments, but I want to get better. I've set it on my daily task list - comment!!
What are your thoughts on commenting? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

What kind of person forgets to blog?

2010-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Uh, yeah, that would be me. Hi.
I'm in a swirl of making things. The weather has warmed up a little too. We've even started excavating the junk under the house again. Woot!
All this adds up to: forgotten blog post. And this post. Which is so much with the scintillating words.
So! In true Monday tradition, here's a round up of Chickenpants goodness. These chickens are already in the shop.
Have you met Suzy?

Super Pale Terry:

Fancypants!

Tartan:

Cashmere pants!! Sooooo soft.

Marianne:

Vintage pants!

Turducken:

and finally, Morty:

Again with the vintage pants! I am a little in love with this new-to-me fabric.

Inspiration Friday

2010-03-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

If this isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.
ZeFrank has put together a photo contest called Young Me, Now Me. The idea is to recreate a photo of yourself when you were wee. Some of the results are just amazing. Anyway, go check it out! http://www.zefrank.com/youngmenowme/

(photo by Petit Plat)
I love eating macarons, but I've heard (from professional bakers, no less) that making them is nothing but trouble. Leave it to the amazing Emily Martin to find a promising recipie. She declares it to be nearly bulletproof, which makes me *almost* brave enough to try it. Here's the scoop!

I liked this post about diy headboards. Hey, I could DO some of those things! And then maybe the bedroom wouldn't look like such a bleak place.

And finally, Darth Vader riding a cat:

(via Geekologie)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

300

2010-03-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

I'd like to start the festivities by saying HOLY COW. 300! Three hundred. Three hundey! Chickenpants!
How did this happen?
I gave a lot of thought to how I wanted to commemorate this. A special Chickenpants was a given.

(click on him for more info)
I thought about doing a giveaway, too. The problem with giveaways is that only one person wins. I hate picking a winner. I want everyone to win!

So here's what we're going to do. Special surprise-ish gift with purchase for everyone who buys something at the shop between now and next Friday, March 19th. (It'll be either a Chickenpants print, or Chickenpants baby, or something along those lines. Keeping the surprise part alive!) Just mention "300" or the blog in the "Message to seller" portion of the checkout, and you're good to go.

Okay. But what if you don't want to buy something, or it's just not the right time, or whatever? I thought of that too. So here, for your viewing enjoyment, is a brand new Chickenpants video!

(watch it on YouTube!)

Finally, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me to get to this point. There would not be 300 Chickenpants if it wasn't for your comments, photos, purchases!, and general awesomeness. Thank you very much!

And the winner is...

2010-03-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Random.org has spoken. It's commenter #12! Mika-Chan!

Thank you everyone for commenting, tweeting, blogging, etc! ^-^

New Chickenpants Round Up!

2010-03-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

It's Monday! Time to account for what I've been doing all week. (Sort of.)
I've started illustrating portraits of the Chickenpants. Have I mentioned that yet? Anyway, here's the latest one:

It's Big Jim Chickenpants, No. 2! My goal with these is to create a portrait of every.SINGLE.Chickenpants.EVER. However, this last portrait has taught me that sometimes this is really hard. So, we'll see. (Click on him to see him larger so you can actually read the poem.) But I did just buy a bunch of new Prismacolor pencils, so I'd better use them. (For those of you who know me well enough to read between the lines, you know that this means: encourage me! compliment me! send me happy thoughts & comments! i'm a total baby! wah, wah, wah!)
To help with this crazy endeavor, I've updated the HALL OF CHICKENPANTS:
the Flickr page where I try very hard to put a copy of every Chickenpants ever made. If you don't see your CP there, it's probably because I don't have his/her photo for some reason. Help me out, drop me a line!
This post has dragged on long enough, so no individual CP recaps today! Several new Chickenpants were released last week, and the total number is perilously close to 300. THREE. HUNDRED. CHICKENPANTS. Holy cow, that's a lot of chickens. Additionally, the shop itself is perilously close to 350 sales. (Again, HOLY COW!)
I think you know what this means. Festivities, fireworks, etc etc. More on that soon. Stay tuned!

(Also, psst! There's still time to enter our Craft Leftovers giveaway!)

Inspiration Friday

2010-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

I am in love with the blog EatYourKimchi.
Two Canadians living in South Korea, and bringing you cultural gems like this:

I love the idea of making a growing mini dioarama. 8 Skeins of Danger's lady made this one, and I think it is perfect:

Dana's Window Sill
Originally uploaded by 8 Skeins of Danger

Fascinating artist Jack Olson took us on a tour of his new studio this week via his blog. Fun!

And finally:
Cutest laundry day ever!

Via Cute Overload

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Craft Leftovers Giveaway!

2010-03-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

I have something fun to share with you! The super generous Kristin of Craft Leftovers Monthly has given me a few copies again to give away to YOU lovely lovely readers.
The March issue is jam packed with awesomeness, including a pattern by yours truly.

Ok! Wanna win? Here's the scoop:
Simply leave a comment below to be entered. We'll pick a winner on Wednesday, March 10th.

For extra points, (that is, extra comments + increased chances to win), you can also do any of the following:

1. Blog about the contest! 2 extra comments!
2. Tweet about the contest! 1 extra comment!

To get those points, do one (or more!) of the things mentioned, then come back here and leave an extra comment(s).

And I did mention I had more than one of these to give away. We're giving a copy away on The Needle, too! Hop on over there and leave a comment! Double your chances.

Leave me comments. Win things. Yay!

Big Rock Ranch Recap

2010-03-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, I got to do something that made my geeky little heart go pitter patter. I got to walk the hallowed halls of one of George Lucas's ranches!
And oh, my gosh, the secrecy! That man likes his privacy. Signing in at the lobby, you have to agree that you will not take any photos. (Or probably blab about it on the internet. I should have read that thing more closely.)
So in lieu of photos, I made this:

And now, unfortunately, we must rely on my story telling skills.
The first thing I noticed was the fence. The county girl in me said "Sheee-yoot. That there fence cost some money. We must be here." It's an extremely nondescript, albeit quite nice, fence. Then there's a nice, but very low profile gate. There are no signs. It would be very easy to just drive past. You can't see a darn thing from the main road.
So, anyway, the buildings. Oh my gosh, the buildings! They're gorgeous. And huge. Huge perfect Craftsman style buildings.
Everything inside was done in impeccable Craftsman style. It was like walking into an art history textbook. The lobby had some amazing Japanese antiques. The hallways are lined with gorgeous old movie posters.
We wound up basically just eating lunch there. In a ginormous, beautiful room. They had a guest chef that day (Indian food!), and all the microbrewed sodas you could shake a stick at. It seemed like everyone ate together. "See that guy over there with the backwards baseball cap?" Our host said. "He's the director."
When I was a geeky teenager, working or Lucasfilm was my number one impossible dream. (Er, okay, maybe that was two or three down the list, somewhere after getting to marry Han Solo, but still.) Seeing it in real life was just...amazing. And I really wish I had photos to show you.

Marchtacular begins!

2010-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hey! It's March! Bulbs are starting to pop up everywhere. Buds are back on trees where they belong.
And Ninjapants are getting back in the coop again. Oh, almost spring!

That's right, Ninjapants are back! And they are in the shop right now. Click on any of the pictures to learn more about that particular Ninjapants.
O. Snap Ninjapants - #287

Haiku Ninjapants - #286

Takai Ninjapants - #288

Sakura, The Deadly Blossom Ninjapants - #290

and finally
Togarashi the Red Ninjpants!

This is just the start of Marchtacular. There will be more new goodies coming soon. Stay tuned!

Inspiration...Hey Wait!

2010-02-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, look. I'm not really here. Right now, as this thing posts I am...
At Big Rock Ranch!
Okay, I know that doesn't mean anything to most of you. And they don't even have cows, so what sort of a ranch is it?
It's...one of George Lucas's ranches! It's right next door to Skywalker Ranch! (So to speak. The George owns an awful lot of land.)
What do they do there? I don't really know! But, I'll have my camera & a Chickenpants handy, and I'll be back with a full report soon.
(The odds are pretty excellent that I'll be posting things to Twitter and Flickr as I go. Live reportage!)
See you next week!

Ode to bread

2010-02-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

I once ate a simple lunch with a friend. Just salad and some nice french bread. My friend took a bite of the bread, and then let out a deep sigh. "Why do women love bread so much?" she mused. If I was Dave Barry, I would say at this point "I am not making this up!" Well, I'm not.

I don't know. In our house, everyone loves fresh bread. The healthy, presliced 12 grain stuff we could care less about. But the gorgeous still warm round loaves from bakeries...holy cow.

We feel like we have to eat the whole loaf in one sitting. "Hey, it won't be any good tomorrow. We might as well enjoy it! It's what the baker would have wanted."

You know the saying "Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"? I think that could just as easily apply to bread. Hey, it's in the bible. "Give us this day our daily bread." BREAD! Not cereal, or meat, or booze, or bacon - delightful as those things may be.

I love bread so much that I decided to try to bake my own bread. In loaves. Whole grain! Because...um...health. It turned out like doorstops. I had two of them. The dog wouldn't even touch it.

I gave up on the whole grain flour and moved on the the hardcore powdered white stuff. Sweet success! After just one try, I made a passable foccacia.

There's a lesson in here somewhere, but it'll take more coffee for me to figure it out.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Tuesday. Chicken Day.

2010-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

I was tempting fate with that post last week. And it makes sense, too. You can't write a post that's all "I loooove you I looooove you I looooove you Sunshine don't ever go awaaaaay" without making Murphy's Law kick in.
Yes, the sun is gone. Winter is back. Unbecoming sweatshirts are back. Open weeping is back, too.

But! I have some awesome things to share with you! First up, I was sent an awesome card by Terry Janes.

Chickens! At work! Ahhh! Yes, my studio needed this.
If you want to see more of her quirky photography, she's got an Etsy shop, of course!

In other chicken news:

I don't have a caption for this. All that's coming out is squealing. Cute Overload's got your back, though.

Stay warm, everybody!

New Chickenpants Round Up!

2010-02-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's that time again. Time to lasso together all the new Chickenpants, line them up, and present them to the internets.
And there's a very special animated treat at the end of the post! Woo!
New this week:

Rocco, #216

Sporty!

Honey, #215

Julian, #212

Gus, #210

There's just something about that belt buckle...

and
Michael, #244

The release numbers are a little odd because these guys spent some time at shows. I've just recently got them back, so now it's really time for their debuts.

And finally, the long awaited new Chickenpants stop motion short: 2 Fast, 2 Furious: Living Room Drift!

You can also watch the video on YouTube or Flickr, if you prefer.

Inspiration Friday

2010-02-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

❀ Cartoons on post its= brilliant. Cartoons on post its about CHICKENS? Love.

✿The Photojojo newsletter brought http://noticin.gs/ to my attention. An online game where you take photos of things around your neighborhood, and then there are scores. I'm on my first cup of coffee here, and the words doing isn't. Is cool!

❀ Amazing article about project planning over at Craft Leftovers. No, seriously. Worth memorizing.

✿Flaming Lips house! Fab! When can I move in?

And finally: the cutest video ever.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

In which there is sun

2010-02-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

We've had four days of perfect, brilliant sun and no clouds. Oh, and it's warm. This, my friends, is the false spring that hits the foothills every year. I will not be taken in this time!
Oh, who am I kidding? I'm taken in every time. The sun sticks around just long enough that you begin to form a fragile sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, winter is over. Maybe global warming is working for YOU.
And somehow, this never works out.
Whatever! I've bought a couple of (cold hardy!) plants, and lo! I have planted them. And, because spring fever has hit me ferociously, I have photographed them:

I need more plants.
I was going to plant some bulbs in the front yard yesterday, when I looked at this*:

I put down my shovel and declared "You have mocked me for the last time, lattice! Nay, you have mocked the neighborhood for the last time! You are done, sir!"
That nasty falling apart lattice has been bugging me ever since we moved in. So yesterday, I put on some gloves and did something about it.
Behold the results of three hours of hammering, breaking, and kicking:

So much better!

Here's hoping that some sun finds you, where ever you are. ^-^

*Photographed right after we moved in. Hence the many trashbags. Believe it or not, the lattice looked even worse yesterday.

When I was little I used to believe...

2010-02-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

That falling in love literally meant two people falling down.

I used to believe that in Chinese restaurants they salted the dishes before putting food on them. I always looked for grains of salt, but never saw any. This was based on mishearing something my Dad said.

I misheard a lot of stuff. Still do, actually. For instance, remember the old Juicy Fruit commercials? The ones where young people would be skiing, or surfing, or some outdoorsy activity, all while chewing gum? Right. I was convinced that the tag line was "Juicy Fruit: the taste is Gunamooga." I thought this was just a word they came up with to desrcibe the flavor of the gum.

I was convinced for the longest time that if you accidentally ate a fishbone it would travel through your bloodstream, pierce your heart, and you would die. No, seriously. I swear my parents told me this. They swear differently. They are wrong. The really embarrassing part is that I believed this until I was 17 or 18.

What did you used to think when you were little? You are all hereby tagged! Please leave it in the comments below! (If you wind up writing a blog post about it, tell me in the comments. I want to read it!)

And if you want to kill half a day laughing until you cry, go visit iusedtobelieve.com It's old, but still one of the funniest sites ever.

And the winner is...

2010-02-15T15:11:00.001-08:00

Random Number Generator has spoken! The winner is...

Commenter #8 who is...holy cow, it's Teddy Started It! The gal who said "THAT CHICKENPANTS IS MINE!" very early on. Well, congratulations, missy!

Thank you for all the comments, everyone! And for helping me to hang in there for three whole years. ^-^ I wish I could send you all gifts!

Also, can I just say thank goodness for Random.org? Because how on earth could I choose? Yikes. Especially with Flickr friends upping the ante with photos like this:

and this:

and this!

You all amaze me constantly. Thank you!

Three years!

2010-02-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

We interrupt Inspiration Friday to bring you something else. Today, as previously mentioned, is the anniversary of the day I opened an Etsy shop...three years ago!
THREE YEARS!
I am not one who is known for sticking with a vocation. The term "serial-temp" has been applied to me in the past.
Well, WHO'S TEMPING NOW? THREE YEARS!
In honor of this milestone, a video:

And that's right, A GIVEAWAY! (I can't stop with the all caps today!) This is my little way of trying to say thank you for three great years.
Simply leave a comment below to be entered. We'll pick a winner on Monday, Feb. 15th.

For extra points, (that is, extra comments + increased chances to win), you can also do any of the following:

1. Buy something from me! 5 extra points!
2. Join the mailing list! 1 extra point!
3. Upload a photo to the Chickenpants fan page! 2 extra points!
4. Join the Chickenpants Fan Page! 1 extra point!
5. Blog about the contest! 2 extra points!
6. Tweet about the contest! 1 extra point!

To get those points, do one (or more!) of the things mentioned, then come back here and leave an extra comment(or...five. or however many. Does that make sense? I need more coffee.) Leave me comments. Win things. Yay!

On learning to be brave

2010-02-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

I am now, and have always been a chicken. Here's the thing about chickens, though: we either see them as scared little creatures or chest-puffed-out, strutting, crowing things. It's always one or the other. Well, I am here to tell you that being a chicken is actually both of these things.

I've been drawing, "seriously" drawing, since I was 12. Or writing. Or painting. Or silk dying. Whatever. I did all these things and more. I knew that I wanted to do something creative with my life, but I lacked the guts to actually share my work. I became an expert at getting just about proficient in one media, just to burn out, drop the ball, and jump to another. And then repeat. Repeat. Repeat. For years.

Right. So jump forward a ways. I'm 23ish. I need to find work. I'm not qualified for much except office work, which is so dull it makes me want to die. I answered an ad in the paper for "Design Consultant - No experience needed!". It turned out to be a commission only closet design job. The job was far away, and quite frankly terrifying. I knew I had to take it. I wanted to learn to be brave.

After a week long training course, they started sending me out on sales calls. It was scary. During this time period, the economy started to slow down. Sales calls were few and far between. The pressure to sell on these few precious calls was enormous. I threw my back into it. I read everything I could about sales. I had goals. Affirmations. Palm pilots. Loafers. Everything. I tried my hardest. It was semi-terrible.

I would come home from a sales call, flop on the couch, and cry. Oh! The stress! (I was selling about 3 out 5 calls, if anyone's counting. Not good enough!)
It was one of the most intense learning experiences of my life.

I did not become a sales virtuoso. In fact, I had a breakdown and went back to being a secretary. But somehow, little by little, I did learn to be braver. That was the start. I'm still learning. There's a lot of backsliding. There are also a lot of leaps forward.

A year-ish later, working at a horrible (yet not scary!) temp job, I discovered Etsy.
After the sales job, and during the temp job, I founded Absolutely Small.
Tomorrow, February 12th marks my third year anniversary of having an Etsy shop. Obviously, lot happened in between TEMP and CHICKENPANTS, but that's another long, photoless blog post.

Hey there, new plush.

2010-02-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

This post is being written whilst jumping up every two minutes to check...
and see if those dogs are still in the...
yard. You see, we're having some fence issues. Just yesterday, the neigh...
bor came up and told me that they were around the corner. Escaped pugs!

And I had to chase them down. Anyway!
Hey, new work. Let's look, won't we?
New birds! Made with the goodness of genuine Regretsy fabrics.

New pompom dogs, too.
I am especially in love with the Dingleberry dog. That pompom head of his? Kid mohair yarn, baby. So soft!!
Spoonflower cotton is pretty nice to work with, if you were wondering.
(Pug/fence update: I just checked. They're in the very corner of the front yard. As close to the neighbors as they can get.)

And in case you missed the original Regretsy 5 Chickenpants and simply won't be happy again until you can have one for yourself:

I am now offering design your own Regretsy Chickenpants.

Anyway, you can find all these creatures and more in the Regretsy Plush section of ye olde etsy shoppe.

Now I have to go and see where those dogs are.

Relevancy comes to Etsy

2010-02-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Anyone else scared by the whole Relevancy search thing on Etsy? Obviously I am. I can see it as being a great thing in the long run, but in order for it to not crush me, I need to get with the times. My shop has been hovering around 250+ items for the past couple of months though...so this is a bit overwhelming.
Couple this with the fact that I've been rolling my eyes at SEO anything, and you've got yourself the perfect storm.
However! Not to fret, the internet has got your back.

I enjoyed this article by Handmade Spark on how to optimize your content for relevancy. It really made relevancy seem simple and doable.

And if you're looking for something more in depth, Etsy has your back with a 25 page pdf about SEO. SEO for Etsy Shops.

Statsy is a wonderful tool. You can check what page your items are at with it. (Among many other things!)

This is actually a little far of the mark for Etsy relevancy, but it's too good not to post. It's a very excellent forum post about increasing your blog traffic, and then hopefully sales.

It must be meme season!

2010-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

There have been tags on Flickr. Sunshine awards (thank you Sweet Harper!)
And now, I've been tagged twice for the Kreativ Blogger award, so I guess it's time I actually did this. (Maybe for kreativ spelling?)
Both Teddy Started It and Acrylic and Steel tagged me. Thank you, ladies!
(Un)lucky for you, I've been reading memoirs lately, and feeling wordy.

So, here goes. Seven things you may not know about me:

1. I have a love/hate relationship with routines. On the one hand, I need them to function well. On the other hand, I hate them and they make me feel bored. As a result, I have half filled out calendars and to-do lists and post it notes all over the place.

2. Winter is really hard for me, as I tend to want to hibernate. No, seriously. I start sleeping like 12+ hours a day just to function. It's insane.

3. I talk about the pugs and bunny here all the time, but we also have a tortoise named Henry. He lives in the mister's office, so he doesn't wind up in photos too often. But he is in the new (soon to be released) Chickenpants short!

4. I would really like to work on a low budget tv show, ala Mystery Science Theater.

5. I like the taste of licorice.

6. I don't eat meat, but I think the smell of barbecuing meat is divine.

7. I'd really like to make a comic book some day. But I'm afraid of the fabled 500 pages of pure drivel it takes to get decent. That's a lot of badness!

I'm doing a pretty poor job of following the rules lately, but here are the rules for the above meme:

Here are the Rules to Pay it Forward (If you want to participate):
1. Copy/paste the Kreativ Blogger Award picture onto your blog

2. Thank the person who awarded it to you and post a link to her/his blog

3. Write 7 things about yourself we might not know

4. Choose 7 other bloggers to award

5. Link to them

6. Notify your 7 bloggers of their awards

Passing the torch of memeness to these seven:
1.Art Tales
2.Cabin + Cub
3.Siansburys
4.The Curious Pug
5.Yummy Pancake
6.Art Kitten
7.Fluffy Flowers

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Inspiration Friday

2010-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hey! Remember how I used to update this blog every day? Ha ha, good times. Well, not especially. But anyway! It's been a little bit of a crazy week. Instead of writing blog posts and scouring the internet for goodies (read: wasting time online), I've been packing up orders and working on custom Chickenpants. In other words, actually working.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

♛ Finslippy wrote the most amazing post about fear of putting yourself out there, ever. It just about brought a tear to my eye. In a good way.

Office Task No. 115: Cereal Server
Originally uploaded by Pocket Edward

I've been enjoying the antics of Pocket Edward on Flickr. The caption on this one reads "I spend half the morning just trying to get the bowl to the dispenser."

♕ Tina of the fabulous Hi Tree shared a story about rescuing baby hummingbirds If that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will.

For those of you enjoy the geeky as I do, behold!

It's baby Link! And he's out of hearts AND Lon Lon milk!
Thank you, Geekologie.

And finally: finches playing guitar:

Anything is possible? Eh, sort of.

(Wow. That IS inspiring. I need to go take a nap or something.)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

New stuff round up!

2010-02-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a week so far. Geez. Yesterday saw the release and near immediate sell out of the Regretsy 5 Chickenpants:

Pretty much what I dream of every day, actually. :)
Anyway, the original 5 may be gone, but I'm taking orders for similar Chickenpants made with Regretsy fabric. If the one you had your eye on is gone, no worries. I can make you a similar one. Like magic! Or, robots!

In other news, after an evening spent at Kinkos, I'm happy to announce that the Make a Bunny Head and Squid.RO zines are back in stock. Woo!

And in other, other news I've started to illustrate the Chickenpants:

More about that later.
*Hopefully!* *If I rememeber!* *Comments might help me remember!*

Hamster Car...part two!

2010-02-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's a brand new Hamster Car/Chickenpants video:

(And you can watch HamsterCar on YouTube, if you're so inclined.)

Inspiration Friday

2010-01-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

We talk a lot about Chickenpants on this site. But check out this chicken track suit:

Clothing for chickens. REAL chickens. Insanity! Hilarious, hilarious insanity.

♕ I adore these resolution charts by The Small Object. I am a nut for charts and making things visible in general, so these are pretty much the cat's pajamas. Most amazing still, they're free to download!

candysprinkles3
Originally uploaded by studiolooflickr

I want this yarn. I want this yarn. I want this yarn!
It's by Studioloo, and it's called Candy Sprinkles. It could not be more perfect!

♛ This post by Finslippy is hilarious. Also, short!

embroidery cheat sheet
Originally uploaded by Amy Cluck of Peptogirl Industries

I adore embroidering things, but I rarely remember this. That is, until something amazing like this cheat sheet by Peptogirl jogs my memory. Have you been to Amy's blog lately? It is, quite frankly, aces.

That's it for this week. Have a fantastic, weird weekend everyone!

Avatar: the update

2010-01-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

Remember a week ago, how I posted a post confessing my ignorance of the whole Avatar thing, figuring it was a movie adaptation of Avatar: the Last Airbender?
WELL OH MY GOSH PEOPLE!

It exists! There really is an Airbender movie!
Guess who picked up the...giant stick wielding bald headed kid and made a giant motion picture?
M. Night Shyamalan!

Two things to notice:
1. BLUE. Check out all the blue in that poster. See, mistaking one Avatar for the other is totally reasonable.
2. They dropped the Avatar part of the name. The first part of the name, also arguably the main part of the name. (It's not like it would be any more confusing to have two Avatar movies running around. Just think of all the movie titles last year that involved "9". No, wait, that is totally confusing.)

Right. So this movie = totally my idea. Please send checks here: Absolutely Small, 1 Big Head Lane, Shamelessville, CA. Attn: Tiara Buying Division.

Topanga's Picks of the Week

2010-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, humans. This is Topanga. Boss has hired me to help out with the merchandising around here. She is paying me handsomely in clementines and dog treats*. Mmmm, clementines.
So every week, I'm going to pick out a few things from the studio and share them with you. Then, I'm going to mark those few down. But just for the week. You know, like a sale. More sales, more treats. That's what she said. So, buy stuff, people.

You can help feed this starving pug. (Me, not Buster.)
Here we go:

Those are my picks of the week. Prices good from now 'till next Wednesday (Feb. the 3rd).
I'm going with a dog theme this week.
Let's start with this painting of a handsome fellow:

Isn't he a bit of eye candy? He was $40, but I clawed him down to $35.

Pick #2 is a plush dog named Joanie:

She's pretty. But I've got the pretty dog thing well covered in this house, so I'd like her to move on. Another $5 discount! Now she's only $30. Ha!

#3 is a much smaller dog painting - Underpants Thief:

It measures 4x4. Not that I can relate to stealing human underpants or anything. It used to be $25, now it's $21.50. Come to me, clementines...

Finally, one more plush dog for the road. Molly:

Again - was $35, now she's $30.
Remember, every thing you buy earns me more Clementines. *pug manipulation stare activated!*

You can get a better look at all of them here, in the new Topanga Picks section of the shop.

Come back next week, and I'll have some more picks. Probably not dog themed ones. Viva la...something else!

**UPDATE!** Boss has announced that if any of these things sell this week, she will film me eating said Clementines & post it here. Stay tuned!

Does Renewing on Etsy Work? An Experiment.

2010-01-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

It used to be that you could renew an item on Etsy and receive a bunch of views. Then they changed some things around in the caching process and Etsy got a lot more crowded. Maybe evil elves got involved. I don't know. Point is, views received from renewing went down. Way down. Does renewing still work? I had to find out.

First up, a little explanation. I am not a techie. Nor a great Etsy seller of astounding greatness and sales magnitude. Technical explanations tend to wash right over me like water off a duck that has been rolling in an oil slick on roller skates.
So. Not a techie, not an expert. Moving on.

Now, the parameters.
I decided I would renew, list something new, or relist totalling 10 times a day for 30 days.
- Why 10 times? Because it's a nice round number and easy to keep track of. Also, it seemed like a LOT. (I tend to list/relist/renew only once-four times a day normally.)
- Why 30 days? Because things take time.
- What defines the success of renewing? Ultimately, sales. Views and hearts are nice, but unless they lead to sales they're meaningless.

As you know, every time you renew something, it costs .20 US. It's really not much...unless you do it a lot. By comparison, a Showcase spot will run you $7/$15 a day. (In my experience, I've never got more than a handful of hearts and 50 views from doing that. No sales. Not great.)

I began on 12/28/09.
Here were my starting statistics:
On 12/28/09-
Total Sales: 261
Items in Shop: 245
Shop hearts 12/28: 1220
*GA Unique Visitors: 990
*Visits: 2,171
*Pageviews: 6,504
*Pages/visit: 3.00
Twitter followers: 3338
Fanpage: 168
Blog followers: 140

*These stats are for the past 24 days, to keep things matched up.

I was also featured in one Gift Guide. The item hasn't sold, and it had been there for awhile.

Traffic sources according to Google Analytics (top 5):
Direct (Etsy): 676
Google: 404
Twitter: 277
Craftlandshow.com: 163
craftleftovers.com: 109

Field Notes:
12/29 - Listing/renewing 10 items a day is hard! Low views on the listings that don't make it onto Twitter. (I use TwitterFeed to automatically send one listing to Twitter every 12 hours.) I'm scared this won't work, but Dan encourages me to stick with it. Maybe there will be a cumulative effect.

12/30- Featured in a Chicken treasury. And then a Star Trek treasury later the same day. This after not being in any treasuries for months.

1/1 - Sold 6 items to a returning customer. Sweet!!

1/2 - Another sale, this time a Squid.ro (generally slow selling, just relisted 12/31.) Also in another treasury.

1/3 Another sale! Another new person.

1/4 - My South Bay hoodie guy gets featured in a Squidoo lens by someone I've never met before. Recently renewed items sometimes get new hearts. (Thanks, Statsy.org!) Older items do too, of course, but at a much slower rate.

1/5- Here comes a hiccup. I got word from the lovely lady of Regretsy that the pillows I made for the book were going to be featured on the site the next day. Listed 6 extra listings today for the Regretsy pillows, in anticipation of the article tomorrow.
STATS: 271 sales, 1251 shop hearts at end of day 1/5.

1/6- Regretsy article posted. 278 sales, 1268 shop hearts at end of the day.

1/7- Featured in a treasury...the item featured was just renewed, but it was also tweeted, and the treasury was made by a twitter person.
Also featured in another treasury about monsters. So 2 treasuries.The item in question was renewed 12/31.
ALSO: Made it onto the Etsy front page...with a Blythe hooded capelet, which was renewed 1/4...it was in a special Etsy made treasury.
ALSO, ALSO: My spreadsheets were featured in the Etsy Success email, huge traffic boost to my blog. And also my shop apparently. Lots of new hearts, but so far no direct sales (yet!). The image they used in the email was one of my dogs...which was renewed on 1/6.

So holy cow, did this experiment ever have some one stick their finger in the petri dish. Two amazing things happened, two days in a row. (And they had absolutely nothing to do with renewing.)

1/8- Small feature on an etsy blog that was new to me. Nice.

1/11-1/17- Sales slow to a crawl. Only 2 sales all week. 1 to a new person, 1 to an existing client.

1/18- Sold 2 items to a family member who I had just seen.

1/19- Sold 2 items...2 vintage items which were on the verge of expiring.

1/20- Honestly, not much has happened since the Regretsy/Etsy Finds email week. Renewing/listing 10x a day is a chore. I feel like I'm chained to the computer, as I need to renewed something basically every hour. Which means I have to stop whatever I'm doing, come back over here, and renew. And likely get distracted by something or other. And at 1 item every hour, I am totally chained to the computer ALL DAY. My productivity is way down. My internet shopping is way up. My Twittering is way down. (As are the hits coming in from it.) I am really not sure that this is working, and I am terrified to look at the bill. EXPERIMENT OVER! EXPERIMENT OVER!

TOTAL DAYS OF EXPERIMENT: 24. So close!

On 1/20/10-
Total Sales: 290
Items in Shop: 268
Shop hearts 1/20: 1380
GA Visitors: 2,084
Visits: 7,639
Pageviews: 26,409
Pages/visit: 3.46
Twitter followers: 3,529
Fanpage: 206
Blog followers: 258

Traffic sources (top 5):
Regretsy.com - 2,379
(direct) - 1,356
bronto (etsy success email) - 1,040
google - 662
twitter - 400

Sales not definitely from Regretsy/Etsy finds/other known source: 8
Now let's look at some charts.
Here's the view of the month o' renewing. The blue line represents this month's traffic, the green line shows last month's. Click on the images to actually be able to read them.

And here's looking at an entire year:

Does renewing work to increase sales?
For the first 9 days, it really seemed to. I was in treasuries! Sales from new people! After that (taking away the Regretsy/Etsy Finds days of debacle), things seemed to fall off entirely. This month wound up being far from average. Even if you take away the Regretsy & Etsy Finds numbers, views went up a little. Was this due to Twitter, blog posts, or other normal marketing efforts? It's very possible. I do those things every day, and have been for a long time. Looking at my Google Analytics data for the past year, I can see views very, very slowly picking up. If I squint.
Interestingly, views coming in from Google itself went up by about 200. That's got to be directly related to renewing. Over time (more time than a month!), that could really be something.
Bottom line: If your goal is to get into treasuries, then renewing works. Then again, so does hanging out in the forums and joining treasury teams. If your goal is increased sales...renewing constantly may help a little. But it's going to cost you.
I listed/renewed a total of 212 times. (That's $42.40. Uh, ouch.) (Listings: 55. Renews: 157)
Honestly, you can get better views on your items if you promote them yourself. You'd be better off spending your time and money developing a solid social network and marketing. Renewing alone is likely to be a disappointment.

Renewing frequently as a short term marketing blitz might still be a nice injection of views and energy to your shop, however. Think of it as running an ad- seeing the same ad over and over and over again makes you block it out, if not actively hate it. On the other hand, a cleverly crafted ad run once in awhile for short bursts can make you pay attention.

If you decide you want to try your own renewing rampage, go for it! And let me know how it works for you.

Best wishes for you and your Etsy shop!

New Absolutely Small Goodies

2010-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's Monday! Which means I get to foist my latest creations upon your unwilling eyes. Mwah ha ha ha ha!
I think you'll get a kick out of what I have to share this week, though:

Pets! On leashes! For Chickenpants, Blythes, G.I. Joes, Barbies, and action figures of all ilks. The idea of Chickenpants befriending tiny creatures as pets is one that I've been toying with for awhile. What sort of creature is tiny enough for a Chickenpants to befriend, you ask?
Frogs, for one:

Tiny chenille chicks:
Is this politically correct? Do chickens even have political correctness?

Ladybugs:

Tiny dinosaurs:

And one truly inexplicable character:

They're all in the shop, and they're all just $1.50 each. Shipping on them is FREE with any other purchase. Ka-ching!

Finally, something that is not on a leash. Snuggies: they're not just for Humans, Dogs, Blythes and Chickenpants anymore.

Inspiration Friday

2010-01-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

Let's start this Inspiration Friday off right with some eye candy:

Macarons
Originally uploaded by Tinymeat™

I could really go for some crazy colored macarons right now.

This video is called "Girls are bad at sound effects", but I think it's pretty awesome:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Pew pew pew pew!

Speaking of...sounds behold this comic of a chick doing impressions...

of other chickens.

Today, in the I WANT THIS category:

Pretty hairpins by DawnWillBreak.

I can't get over how beautiful this rooster is:

Chicken Crossing The Road
Originally uploaded by Bob Jagendorf

Click on it! You've got to see it big.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hamstercar!

2010-01-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

I've previously mentioned on this blog my love of the amazing Hamster Car made by Raggy Rat. She's kindly allowed him to come visit the Chickenpants here in California...and he's here!

I don't know what happened with the uploading process, but things are all grainy. That's what I get for trying to film at night, I guess. Anyway! Working on some new Hamster Car related fun right now. You haven't seen the last of him!

Hamster Car's Creator: Raggy Rat. Check her out, she's awesome!

In which I start ripping on Avatar

2010-01-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

First, a disclaimer: someone let Snarky Claire out of her cage this morning. The following post is going to be a mean spirited tirade about all that is wrong in the ~~world~~ movie. Don't read past this cute photo if you still want to think of me kindly, or absolutely loved the movie Avatar and think that it is "better than Star Wars!". Better than Star Wars? Better than STAR WARS?
***PUG BREAK***

Where was I? Oh yes:
It turns out that I am completely out of touch with popular culture. This is not really a shock or even news, but it's all come to an interesting head with AVATAR.
First of all: the name. Up until about a month ago, I was convinced that they had made a movie out of the animated tv series Avatar: The Last Airbender. I have never seen The Last Airbender. I have no desire to see The Last Airbender. And honestly, Airbender sounds like a fancy word for a fart. So why would I want to see a movie based on said flatulence? How was I to know there were no blue people(?) in said animated tv show? And why did James Cameron get involved?
I was calling Avatar "Air Bender" up until very recently. Actually, sometimes I still slip up and call it that.
So, just for the record:
THIS is Avatar: The Last Air Bender:

and THIS is AVATAR, no Air Bender:

I can tell the difference now! Interestingly, if you search Avatar Images on Google, this is what comes up. So at least it's not just me who's confused.
This poor movie really never had a chance with me. Maybe it was the McDonald's tie in commercials. You know the one, where the guy turns to the other guy and says "Since when do mountains float?!"
Since this:

1986, Studio Ghibli
and this:

(also 1986, Studio Ghibli)
and this!

And oh, say 1726 or so when Gulliver's Travels was first published. We won't even mention the whole "phantom cities" phenomenon that gets mentioned in those "unexplained mysteries" type of books. Not that yours truly is suggesting for a moment that said phantom cities have any basis in reality, merely that the concept has been out there floating around (heh) for a few hundred years.

But that's just one random comment in a McDonald's commercial. McDonald's commercials are known to be wildly out of touch and awful. (Remember the "I'd hit that" burger commercial? Good work, fellas!) It's not James Cameron's fault!

But this little tidbit from the hallowed halls of Fail Blog is pretty interesting:

And finally, the "better than Star Wars" line. Better than Star Wars? Them's fightin' words, mister! Okay, the newer three kind of sucked, and had numerous flaws, so maybe. But the older three?

Rant over. Okay, let the flame-y comments commence!

Absolutely Small Goodie Roundup

2010-01-18T11:14:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you're enjoying a day off.
I've got a practically idyllic day ahead of me: the husband is home from work, it's amazingly stormy outside, and I just made a batch of ATF Gingerbread. Which said husband refuses to eat. (Too gingery!) So it's all mine. Sweet.
Anyway, onto the promised new goodies:
"Well, hullo there ma'am. Saddle your horse for you?"

That's right: tiny hats for Chickenpants! I've been hoarding tiny hats for years. It all started with another chicken based project*, actually...but I digress.
Choose from:

The Southern

Perfect for fanning your face with as you drink a mint julep and try to avoid catching "the vapors".

The Huck Finn

Mischievous Chickenpants need to keep the sun off their heads, too, you know.

The Mini Minnie Pearl

HOW-DEEE!

You can check them and many other neat-o accessories out in the Doll Accessories section of the shop.

I am racing to get this post posted before the storm takes out our power. No, really. Apparently, the power company did not plan for things like "rain" or "wind" when they built the lines. So I'll have to wait to tell you about the new creatures that will be added to the ol' shop very very soon. (New Jack the Jungle Pup! New CPs! New new accessories! Stuff!) Stay tuned, and stay warm everyone! ^-^

*Chicks in Hats- the live action short film. No, really.

Inspiration Friday

2010-01-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

This week in decor: tiny paper cut bunnies in a row, sprucing up a lampshade:

a tiny row of paper cut bunnies
Originally uploaded by super ninon

I recommend clicking on the image to see it larger. This tiny shot does not do it justice.

I have no idea if this is real or not...but it's hilarious either way.
Peter Boyle IS Poochinski!

(found via Finslippy.)

If this isn't inspiring, I don't know what is:

Edie Christmas Jello
Originally uploaded by Victoria Belanger

All the classic inspiration ingredients are here: tiny environment, cute animal, jello.
Interestingly, the lady who took this photo is a modern day jello making genius! You can check out her blog here.

This stop motion Mario makes me want to bust out the camera and get crackin' again:

So cute!

And finally, the thing that inspires me to ~~bake~~ eat:

ATF Gingerbread, featured in the Storque a little while ago, but not forgotten. At least not by me. Maybe this will be the week I attempt to make it.

If you've got inspiring things to share, please post them below! I love to check out new links.
Happy weekend, everyone!

Artist Chow - Quasi Indian

2010-01-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

I love to cook...but I love to create things in fleece more. Cooking usually gets shoved way to the back burner (no pun intended), especially when I've got deadlines.
Fortunately for me, it's winter, and there are only two humans in the house. In other words: SOUP. Which we can then live off for DAYS.
Here's one of my new favorites. It's adapted from a rather good cookbook about fast cooking with whole grains that I can't recall the name of. This recipe is great for many reasons, one of which is the 10-15 minute gaps of time in the cooking. I like to list things on Etsy while those are going on. Or watch videos on Youtube. Whatever. Now, about the spices. If at all possible, don't buy those overpriced jars in the shop. If you've got an Indian grocery nearish by, swing by and they'll hook you up.
This soup is kind of spicy. You might want to add some plain yogurt as a garnish to tone things down. Also, there are no photos of this soup. It is not a looker. Tastes great, though. Okay, enough disclaimers:

Curry-ish Lentil/Rice Soup

2 tab. peanut or coconut oil
2 tab. minced dried onion
1 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
2 tab. garam masala
2 tab cumin powder
1 tsp. granulated garlic
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup lentils
1 cup brown rice
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 12 oz. pkg frozen spinach
salt

In a 6 qt. soup pot, heat the oil over med. heat. Stir in the onion & cumin seeds. Toast until the onion is lightly browned, 1 - 2 mins. Turn off the heat. Stir in the garam masala - garlic, and let sit in the hot oil for a few seconds.
Stir in the broth, 2 cups of water, lentils & rice. Bring to a boil. Cover & cook for 15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes & the spinach. Taste & adjust seasonings if needed. Cover and boil for 10 minutes. Break up the spinach block, if it hasn't done that already. Add salt to taste. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
That's it!
Serve with toast or nan or triscuits or whatever. Or nothing.
Serves two quasi grown ups 3 dinners.