December 29, 2008

The website is down

Not sure why, but I haven't been able to connect to or view my website all day. I've gotten two orders through it, so I know it must be working intermittently.

I was meeting all day with my accountant, and now it's too late to contact my hosting service provider. I'm going to cross my fingers that they get it up overnight, or I'll be talking on the phone to them all day tomorrow.

Hopefully that phone call goes better than this one.

You can continue to shop from my Etsy shop in the meantime: http://breadandbadger.etsy.com

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December 26, 2008

Urban Outfitters Update


I got the second batch of sample glasses from Urban Outfitters last weekend, and I'm so excited about them! We've decided to go with hi-ball glasses instead of pints, to keep them separate from the cheaper "novelty" pint glasses they have in stock.

They even have my logo and web address on the bottoms, which you can see when you take a drink! I'm wondering now if the decal would look better in white, instead of black, but I love them either way.

These will hopefully go into production right away, and make it onto Urban Outfitters' shelves in early spring. Exciting!

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December 23, 2008

Pumpkin Flower


Finally got to bake this weekend! Also finally got to use the cool silicone baking dish my mom got me for my birthday (back in June)!

This pumpkin flower cooked a little strangely, since it was a double recipe of pumpkin bread (with 3/4 of the oil substituted with unsweetened apple sauce), and it took way to look to get the center to set. It's a little chewy on the edges, and it cracked down the center when I removed it from the pan. It's supposed to be prettier from the underside, but this is the way it worked.

I'm just happy that we have time to cook this week, since we were eating a lot of take-out and frozen dinners last week.

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December 22, 2008

Holiday Goodness

I had a few spare moments this week between making glasses and packing them, and I finally got to put up our Christmas tree! This tree belonged to my Nana and Papa, and I'm thrilled to have it now.

One of my favorite things about this tree is that it comes apart in three sections. Whenever I live in an apartment without enough room for the full tree, I just put together to top two sections and sit it on a side table!

I do really miss the smell of a live tree, which we always had at home when I was growing up. I have a really nice candle that smells like pine, which I burn every night that the tree is up. I also made cinnamon ornaments a year or two ago, which I have on the tree and in a dish next to the candle. It's great!

This is our first holiday with our own cat, and Rupert is having a blast! I was worried he'd try to eat the fake tree, since he loves to gnaw on all things plastic. So far, he's been really good, and only attacked the ornaments once. You can see more great pics of Rupert, the tree, and our other busy stuff on our Flickr site.

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December 21, 2008

Snow Days

So, my car is an ice cube. It's covered in ice, and I don't think I'll be getting into it any time soon. Not that its little tires could drive on this hard-packed snow-topped-with-ice anyway, but I'm just saying.

This means that we can't get to the post office to mail the international packages that are waiting to go out, and it means we can't get to the studio to make anything. We're also out of newspaper again (even after I bought lots of unused newsprint), so we're running out of ways to pack boxes up. What a nightmare!

The good news is that things have slowed down just enough that we were able to finally clean our house, buy groceries (before the ice happened) and put up our Christmas tree! We're getting a little breathing time, which was very long overdue. I think Sean and I were each putting in about 80 hours a week, and we hadn't had a day off since the beginning of November.

I feel bad that so many people are looking for expedited shipping right now to get things by Christmas, but we're just not able to offer it. I have to break this bad news multiple times a day, and I'm starting to feel anxiety about checking my email! Hopefully, our car will thaw out, we'll get more glasses made, and things will become a little more normal after the 25th.

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December 18, 2008

I can haz vakashun?


Today is the first official "day off" Sean and I have taken since the first of November! Yay! It's been completely insane around our place, with work taking over our lives so much that we hadn't been grocery shopping in about 3 weeks, and our living room furniture has been rearranged to accommodate our "shipping center".

I've still been answering emails throughout the day, which I could also use a break from, but it's unavoidable. We're finally caught up on shipping, so orders are going out pretty much the day after their paid for. We just ran out of a few pint glass designs, so we'll be back to work tomorrow making more. But at least we had a few hours of video game playing (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time), fish tank maintenance, and essential errand running, to unwind a little.

I'd like to thank everyone who braved the icy roads to come out for Crafty Wonderland last weekend! It raised my spirits to see people eagerly waiting in line to shop. It wasn't a record-breaking sales day, but it was great to be there and sell some stuff. I finally got some of my own shopping done too, and it was nice to see so many of my crafty friends!

Crafty Wonderland was our last event of the year, so if you're looking to get some last-minute holiday shopping done, head on over to the Winter Solstice Arts & Crafts Market at PSU! (Check out the details below.) We're going to be doing a lot of wholesaling next year (hopefully!), so we may cut back on events a little. This little business here has grown so quickly in the past few months, I don't even know what to expect on a daily basis. There may be tons of new products in the spring, or we may pare down the line to make it more manageable. Who really knows what the future will bring? I'm just so thankful that we've been so successful this year, and that we have the best customers on earth!!

2nd Annual Winter Solstice Arts and Craft sale at PSU
Saturday, December 20, 2008 -- 8am-3pm
Portland State University~3rd Fl. Smith Center
1825 SW Broadway

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December 13, 2008

Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Holiday Sale


It's tomorrow! Come see us in person even though we are not much to look at right now and will have bags under our eyes! Buy some stuff from us and the other vendors so that packing up at the end of the day will be faster and easier!

We can't ship any more stuff and guarantee it by Christmas, so if you're in the Portland area, this is your last chance to get that set of pint glasses you've been hemming and hawing about for your uncle! We may sell out, so get there early!

Spent all your hard-earned cash already? No problem! We take all major credit and debit cards! There will be 180 vendors with totally worthwhile stuff to buy, so please support your local artisans!

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December 11, 2008

Trunk Show at my House?

Sean and I spent the entire day writing up orders (I hadn't had time to check my email in two days) and packing up what we could. I brought 40 packages to the post office an hour ago, and we have about 40 more to pack up still. Plus the orders we've gotten during the day that I haven't had time to look at. But we're finally catching up!!

I've never heard of Uncrate, but apparently, a lot of other folks have. I was featured in their gift guide yesterday, and it brought about 1000 more people to my website than usual! Orders have been insane, and we're just praying that we can get everything out in time for Christmas.

Tomorrow is my last day for ordering by Christmas, so after that we'll just be makin' and shippin' what we can. Orders after tomorrow may not get shipped out until after Christmas, which I know will be a bummer for some people.

I'm thinking of hosting a trunk show for friends of mine in PDX to stop by my house to shop, have a snack and relax. This would happen on the 19th or later, so we'll have time to make stuff after our last craft fair of the year (Crafty Wonderland!). If you'd be intersted in coming to something like that, let me know in the comments or through email, so I can organize it! I talked to Michelle today, and she thought maybe it would be cool to do a multi-artisan trunk show, right before the holiday, so we locals can get some last-minute shopping done. Anyone interested?

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December 10, 2008

Busy Busy

In case you're wondering how busy things really are at Chez Badger, I'll try to paint you a picture. I should first point out that over the weekend, we sold 96 pint glasses (plus a lot of other stuff) at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle. Normally, I don't even bring more than 24 glasses to an event, and they never sell out. I can confidently say that we could have sold more if we'd brought them to UCU, but our tiny car just didn't have any more room.

Today, Sean and I sandblasted over 200 items--mostly pint glasses, but also spice jars, soap pumps and small tumblers. It took us two days to mask them all, and we weren't able to ship anything out today because we were so busy.

You want to know the real kicker though? Almost everything we made today has been pre-sold online. And that doesn't even count the 40 or so orders I received today and haven't even had time to look at.

So, we're a little bit busy, you could say. ;)

Tomorrow is a ship-only day, where we'll pack up everything we can and take as many trips to the post office as we need to. Everything ordered before the 12th will get to its destination by Christmas, though our shipping schedule is a little out of whack from where I'd like it. And we'll be bustin' ass to make sure we have at least another 96 pint glasses for Crafty Wonderland this Sunday. At least our 13 hr. work days will pay off when we can pay all our bills next month! :D

On a totally random note, I somehow managed to stop by Queen Bee Creation's studio/shop today to work out a trade. I ended up with a fantastic new purse, in the design shown above, only I think the colors are reversed. It's a big "trucker" satchel, which I will love and cherish for always. Or until I get another of her bags, since deciding between them was so hard!!

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Urban Craft Uprising = Total Success!


Yowza! It's been crazy crazy crazy over here in Badgerland the past two weeks, and it doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon!

Last weekend, we vended at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle for two days. It was the most successful craft fair we've ever done! We sold out of half our pint glass designs the first day, and completely sold out of them by the end of the event. We ran out of old fashioned glasses, and almost all our soap pumps and oil bottles. Our car was much lighter and easier to pack for the ride home, but I wish there had been room in it to bring more stuff!

We had a lovely stay at the Moore Hotel, and had great food at Pike Place Market. We've only ever been in Seattle once before, about 10 years ago, and we were only passing through. It was nice to see the city a little bit, and I'm excited about returning in the summer some time.

Another fantastic thing about the UCU fair was the organization. We were inside the Seattle Center exhibition hall, which was large, very well lit, and gave customers enough room to walk around without stampeding each other. There was great music playing all day, but not so loud that we couldn't talk to each other. Volunteers frequently stopped by to ask if we needed anything, and everyone was so friendly! It was an amazingly professional show, and I can't thank the organizers enough!!

I know that it's a tough show to get into, and all the vendors had really high-quality wares. I just hope we'll have another opportunity to attend next year!

[photograph by http://zuppaartista.etsy.com, available for $12 here]

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December 3, 2008

Roadkill Badger Sandwiches


I got an amusing Google alert this morning (on the topic of "Badger Sandwich", which apparently is a real foodstuffs) for this blog post about folks who eat roadkill. No photos, unfortunately (is it really?), except for some excellent quotes:

Fergus is supposedly known as the Roadkill Chef in Europe. He is a self proclaimed vegetarian that only eats meat if it has been killed on the road by someone else.
Back when I first became a vegetarian (when I was 11), I thought this would be a noble way to go. I didn't want to be the person responsible for ending the life of another being. But roadkill and life-or-death situations were totally up for grabs. Luckily, I never had to survive by killing and eating something myself, or scraping something off the road.

If I ever run into a squooshed hedgehog though, I'll keep this recipe in mind:
Hedgehog spaghetti carbonara (serves four)

500g spaghetti, 30ml olive oil, 250g lean hedgehog, 1 medium onion (chopped), 125ml water, 60ml dry white wine, 4 eggs, 60ml double cream, 100g grated parmesan cheese · chop hedgehog into small chunks

beat eggs and cream together in a bowl. Add half the Parmesan cheese

put pasta in boiling water

put onions and hedgehog chunks in pan with olive oil on medium heat until onions are almost clear

add wine and reduce heat

drain pasta when cooked, combine it with egg, cream and cheese mix

add meat, onions and wine without draining fat and mix thoroughly

garnish with remaining Parmesan. Serve immediately
[quotes from http://mrbaggins1.livejournal.com/7474.html, Badger Pastel Painting by http://JeaneNevarez.etsy.com]

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December 1, 2008

News & Events


Holiday shopping is in full swing, and I've been busier than expected! Sean and I are getting ready for Urban Craft Uprising this weekend, which is our first trip to Seattle since moving to the west coast. We won't have time for site-seeing, but it'll be fun to stay in a hotel and be somewhere new. I also hope to get some holiday shopping of my own done!

I haven't had time to post this on our press page, but I thought it was cool that one of the local alternative papers here in Portland decided to include our mustache pint glass in their gift guide. I love the photo they used, and I just had to share!

We also ended up on CHOW.com's gift guide, which is pretty swanky. They sent me an awesome spatula for letting them photograph my glass. How nice is that?!

If you're in the Portland area, we'll also be attending Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Holiday Sale the second Sunday in December (the 14th). You can also buy some of our one-of-a-kind upcycled/reclaimed glassware at Trillium Artisans.

We never got our act together enough to offer new fused glass jewelry and magnets, but we're putting all our older ones on sale anyway! Pendants are now $20, and pins and magnets are all $6 each, while supplies last.

We'll be adding the new fused items to our shop as soon as they're ready, don't you worry!

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November 28, 2008

Thankful

I'm thankful for all my amazing friends and family who have encouraged me to take risks and stick to it when things were tough.

I'm thankful for Tea Time with the PDX Etsy crew, since nothing is better than getting out of the house once in a while to chat and snack with friends. Tea Time has helped keep me sane when life was really stressful!

I'm thankful for my cat, Rupert, who is such an awesome guy to have around. Even when he's knocking things on the floor or head-butting me at 3am because he felt like snuggling. I love spending time with him, and letting him distract me from work once in a while.

I'm thankful to anyone who's ever shared food with us, whether it was dinner at our house or theirs. What is life without good people to eat with?

I'm thankful for my husband, Sean, who not only puts up with my crazy ideas and lofty goals, but he also helps me achieve them.

I'm thankful for our great home and friendly neighbors.

I'm thankful for all the opportunities we've had in the past year, business-wise and personally.

I'm thankful for Cooks Illustrated for putting out amazing cookbooks that have taught me how to cook better food. And for our 7-gallon stock pot that we use for brewing beer and brining turkeys.

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November 26, 2008

Bottling Mead


You may recall that I started brewing a batch of mead way back at the beginning of August, using local honey from one of the organic farms on Sauvie Island. I finally had time to bottle it this weekend, even though it's been done fermenting for about a month.

Bottling is even easier than brewing the mead. You just gather up 10 or so large liquor bottles (I like handles of Seagrams, so that's mostly what I used) or 9 2-liter soda bottles. Sanitize all the bottles and caps with bleach, plus a plastic hose and racking cane. Our hose has a fancy shut-off valve that only opens when it's depressed on the bottom of a bottle, so the flow stops whenever you need to switch bottles.

It was a super-fast process, and now we have 10 big bottles of mead! It needs to age for about a year, but a couple always get consumed before then. ;)

I can't wait to share this at Thanksgiving, and to trade Leah for a bottle of her hard cider!

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November 24, 2008

Brining is the new Frying


I've recently started eating meat again, after 15 years of strict vegetarianism. This is going to be my first Thanksgiving as an adult where I'll be eating the turkey! Sean and I are celebrating the holiday with another couple who lives in our apartment complex, since none of us have relatives close by. There will be so much food, since we all love to cook, and I have the honor of cooking the turkey.

The New Best Recipe cookbook has a great section on roasting turkeys, and I plan on following their advice to the letter. The first step is to brine the turkey, which sounds daunting, but is apparently essential. We've brined almost all the meat we've been cooking, and I gotta say, it's totally worth the salt and the planning ahead.

[This sexy turkey hat and tea cozy are available as a knitting pattern from angelacatirina.etsy.com. Check out the legs that double as a chin-strap! There's also a crochet version.]

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November 21, 2008

Eye Candy


I went from being sick this week, straight to being overwhelmed with pint glass orders, and my head is still spinning! Sean's been an amazing helper through all this, and I can honestly say I couldn't have done it without him (and the sandblaster)!

Since I spent yesterday in a post-illness-fog, staring at pretty pictures on the internet when I wasn't organizing the order roster, I thought I'd share some with you!

Creepy new designer pets

Weird public art sculptures around the world

Keith Thompson's Fantasy artwork


[These all came from Sean, via a planted aquarium forum.]

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November 18, 2008

Toxic


I seem to have caught some kind of super-nasty illness that poses as food poisoning. It's been a rough couple of days, but I'm recovering pretty quickly. I've been feeling really behind on a lot of things, but I think they'll get back on track real soon. Just as soon as I can eat solid food and my sleep schedule stops resembling that of a cat.

[This is a photo of Rupert sneezing, from a few weeks ago when he was suffering from some kind of kitty-cold. He's completely better now, but he looks kind of like how I feel.]

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November 12, 2008

Almost Ready!


I got to test out my new glass decals yesterday! The results were a little less than stellar, since the designs got kind of mangled inside the glass, but they're pretty exciting anyway. The up-side is that I love the glass colors I have, and I can't wait to make more samples tomorrow!

(Special thanks to Erin of Atomic Glassworks for letting me come over and use her kiln!)

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November 9, 2008

Trillium Artisans Holiday Sale



Trillium Artisans is having a trunk show for its artists this Saturday, the 15th! I have some one-of-a-kind upcycled items for sale with them, and you can use this 10% off coupon in the store or in their Etsy shop.

Make sure to check out the other local products made from recycled or reclaimed materials!

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November 6, 2008

Sandblasting: Day One


Newsflash: my husband, Sean, is now the first full-time employee of Bread and Badger (besides myself), and he's been helping me make our new sandblasting gear operational. Today was our first day of blasting (ever!!), and we had some great results!

We'll be switching over to mostly sandblasted products from now on, with hand-engraving options for one-of-a-kind pieces. There's a lot to do before the transition is complete, but we're working lots of overtime to make it happen.

Check out my Flickr photo set of the day's activities to see more of what went down. It was exciting!

On a side note, I got paid by Urban Outfitters today, so my glasses will be appearing in their stores very soon, if they haven't made it there already. Let me know if you spot them first!

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November 5, 2008

Rick Rolling with Cakes

Holy bejeebus! I just discovered a new way to Rick Roll someone: with a cake! This website has a small gallery with instructions for achieving the feat.

Basically, you decorate a cake with Rick Roll on it. Then, you take a round box (just larger than your real cake) and decorate that to look completely unassuming. After your victim blows out the candles on the fake cake, you get to Rick Roll them by removing the box! How awesome is that?!?

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November 3, 2008

Vintage Ads


I know I just shared the 50 Polish Film Posters website, but I just couldn't resist their 50 Inspiring Vintage Ads list! This mustachioed rum bottle caught my eye (I wonder why), but there are a lot more inspiring ads to see! Be sure to check out the poodle with a cigarette, and some great scooter ads.

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October 31, 2008

Cats that Look Like Hitler


Also known as "Kitlers". Wow. Apparently, people have really mixed feelings about this phenomenon.

These cats don't even have to put on a costume for Halloween...

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October 29, 2008

LOLmeme Continued...


Just had to keep sharing the great coverage of the LOLcat Art Show!

Boing Boing TV! http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/29/lolarts-show.html
Sean Chapin @ YouTube: "LOL Art Show"
http://www.zimbio.com/LOLCats/articles/2/LOLCat+Artists+Raise+Money+Adult+Literacy (this blog has a really cool pic of my vase with some neon backlighting!)

[Image is of "LOLCat Whiteboard" by Josh Zubkoff, which is completely awesome!]

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October 28, 2008

Polish Movie Posters

I was looking for inspiration the other day, and stumbled upon this website for Polish movie posters. The artwork is a little odd to my very American sensibilities, but that's what makes them great! It was fun trying to guess what some of the not-so-obvious movies were, before reading the titles.

Harrison Ford is obviously recognizable, but I still love the rainbow watercolor look of this poster.

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October 26, 2008

New Studio!


Last Friday, I got a shipment at my (nearly empty) studio but I didn't realize until Saturday when I came back to unpack it that it was the rest of the equipment I've been waiting for! Sean and I spent the evening assembling all the shiny new stuff while a costume party went on around us in the building.

The party was actually great, since there was live music to rock out to while we worked, and friendly art fans kept wandering over to my open door to say hi and bring us free beer. I never expected to have this much fun while putting together sandblasting equipment!

The cabinet was a bit tricky, and involved some creative removal of silicone with a box cutter, but it was a great experience overall. Afterward, we hung out on a couch by the revelers, finishing our beers, eating cupcakes, and watching the nude jack-o-lantern-head dancers pass by. Did I mention I love my new studio?

(There are a couple photos of the space up on Flickr.)

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October 23, 2008

Silver Squirrel


So, before I made etched glass, I started a little business selling beaded jewelry at home parties. It was fun, but not very successful. When I learned about Etsy, I decided to start a shop to sell my jewelry while I put my efforts into the glass thing.

SilverSquirrel was a great "starter" business, and it's sort of fallen to the wayside while I focused on other things. I still have a giant box full of handmade jewelry that I don't know what to do with, so I'm re-photographing all the jewelry I have to update my shop and try to sell some of it over the holidays.

There was a slight setback today when I forgot to set my macro focus, and none of the photos I took are usable! So, it looks like it'll be a little while before I have the whole shop lookin' good, but at least it's being improved. I'd love to hear what you think!

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October 22, 2008

Same LOLZ, New Location


The LOL Arts Show has moved to a bigger venue! (Also, check out my vase all big and shiny on their website... *swoon*)

The new location is Coffee Bar, 1890 Bryant St, San Francisco. Tickets are sold out, but you can still see the artwork online (to be posted after the opening, I assume). You can also purchase the I Can Has Cheezburger book, so you can show your favorite LOLZ to people who don't have the internet.

Oh, and sorry this post was late today. I was busy VOTING! Yeah, Oregon voters are lucky enough to all receive mail-in ballots, so we can vote from the comfort and privacy of our own homes, while drinking our morning coffee. I feel like I did something a little bit awesome today.

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October 20, 2008

7 Things About Me

I finally got tagged to answer my first blog meme! My good friend Leah tagged me, so I guess I have to answer it. :)

Here's 7 weird things you probably didn't know about me:

  1. My first kiss occurred while listening to the verdict of the OJ Simpson trial.
  2. I was mistaken for a man inside a rest area bathroom outside of Phoenix (I had a shaved head) which almost resulted in a scuffle with some angry Spanish-speaking men.
  3. I'm left-handed, but I'm right-eye-dominant and right-leg-dominant, which means that I'm left-handed due to genetics (my Grandmother was also left-handed until she immigrated to America from Holland and was forced to become right-handed) as opposed to neurological reasons.
  4. I went to Burning Man when I was 17, where I got my septum pierced in exchange for half a bottle of Kahlua.
  5. I went to public school until 6th grade, then had a year of homeschooling, then went to an alternative school for 4 years. I got my high school diploma a year earlier than if I'd gone to public school.
  6. When I was in 4th grade, getting a tour of the middle school I'd be attending the next year, my 8th grader tour guide accidentally locked us in a closet in the gym. He became the organist for my church a few years later.
  7. I lived in Tucson for 8 months, where I worked as a waitress in a hotel cafe and my best friend mistakenly thought my name was Linette.
Now you know. I actually came up with a lot of other fun facts about myself while answering this, but I guess those will have to wait for another time.

Here's the 7 people I'm tagging:
http://poecreate.blogspot.com
http://eyepopart.blogspot.com/
http://passionknitly.blogspot.com/
http://lolly-tots.blogspot.com/
http://stitchanddestroy.blogspot.com/
http://www.neitherhipnorfunky.com/
http://paulheurich.blogspot.com/

Here's how the cyber-version of tag works;
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

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October 17, 2008

Joanna Newsom


As usual, I've been a little busy. We're celebrating my husband's birthday today, which means I'll be baking pie and cooking food I've never attempted before. Our cat was sick for a while (possible allergy to plastic) but we think he's better now. I'm preparing for my new studio equipment to arrive, and I'm getting ready to be slaughtered by holiday stress. I've got my first gallery show next week, and my first wholesale show coming up.

So it's no surprise that I've become entranced by Joanna Newsom's second album, Ys. I know she hates her singing being described as "child-like", but I seriously don't know how else to describe it. Okay, perhaps "elfin" is a better term, or "mystical-fairy-folk-like".

The songs are dreamy and emotive, making me feel both carefree and despondent at the same time. They ramble through long stories about talking animals and magical landscapes. Perfect for taking your mind off your mundane life for a little while.

Here's a video of an older song of hers, Sprout and Bean, which I don't think is nearly as good as anything from Ys, but it'll give you a good taste of her style.

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October 15, 2008

We're all winners

Thanks to everyone who voted on our poll!! I can't wait to have another one. ;)

As you can see from the poll results on the right sidebar, there were a few clear winners, and a lot of close-calls! To keep things simple, I narrowed it down to the most popular tree, the most popular octopus, and two others (the Seahorse and Nautical Star designs!).

These are being added to the designs I was already planning on using, so you can see the first batch of images above!! So exciting! (Sorry about the watermark text, by the way--I just have to protect my copyrighted designs as much as I can, but I had to show you what I've been working on!)

These will be appearing on fused pendants, earrings, rings, magnets and pins very soon! Runner-up designs may be produced sometime in the future.

I also just got news that I've been accepted into Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Holiday Sale, which is fantastic! I'll be doing that show (Dec. 14) in Portland, and Urban Craft Uprising the weekend before (Dec. 6-7) in Seattle. Busy, busy, busy!

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October 13, 2008

LOLart: i does it!

I finished my submission for the LOLcats Art Show in San Francisco!

The show is being held at Varnish Gallery (77 Natoma Street at 2nd Street, in downtown San Francisco), and the opening is October 23rd. I'm not planning on going to the opening, since it's a bit of a drive for me, but I really want to!

I'm really nervous because I feel like I interpreted the objective less creatively than most people. A "lolcat" picture is basically a found photo of a cat in a silly pose (not known for its artistic merits as a photo) with some less-than-grammatically-correct-English text over it. So, to bring that to a 3-dimensional level, I took a found vase with little artistic merit of its own, and applied one of my favorite silly cats plus text.

May not be as original an idea as what some other artists are coming up with (although, I haven't seen anyone elses' work yet), I'm hoping it makes at least one person smile. It was really fun to make! And this is what I spend all my days doing anyway: drawing on glass. Very fun! ;)

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October 10, 2008

The-Strange-Carafes

I want one!! This is not only a beautiful wine carafe, it's also an amazing glass sculpture. You can purchase one for me here.

Also, please check out my previous post about our new designs, and vote for your top 5 in the poll on the right side-bar!

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October 7, 2008

New Design Poll!!


I've been working on new designs for pendants and things recently, and I'd love to hear your opinions! The new fused glass jewelry line is going to use decals of my pen-and-ink artwork, but I've got too many designs to choose from! This page only represents about half of the designs I'd like to use, but these are the ones I need your help choosing between.

Select your favorite designs on the poll to the right, and try to limit it to about 5-6. You can click the image above to see a larger version of it.

By Wednesday of next week, I'll be able to narrow down the most popular designs, and you'll soon see them on pendants, earrings, rings, magnets and pins! There may even be cuff-links and belt buckles in the works. ;)

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October 5, 2008

ROFLMAO

Okay, I know that's a really dramatic title for a little announcement post, and I'm not actually rolling-on-the-floor-laughing at all. :)

The big news is that I've been accepted into the LOLcats Art Show in San Francisco!! Yay! I don't know how many artists submitted proposals to I Can Has Cheezburger, but I feel really fortunate to be able to participate.

I'm hand-engraving a reclaimed vase with one of my favorite cat macros, the Interpretive Dance kitteh. I hope it turns out well, since it'll be displayed alongside some other amazing artists' work, and then auctioned off for charity.

Here are some progress shots of the vase, since it isn't finished yet, but should be this afternoon. I get to wear that super-chic respirator too, since I'm working with my face a lot closer to the glass dust than usual with this larger piece. Now you know how glamorous my work really is.

Studio Progress: I'm ordering my sandblasting equipment today (or at least, I'm talking to the saleswoman again), and I'm researching cheap glass kilns. My studio is going to need some rewiring for the voltage these big boys are going to need, but it will be totally worth it. The agreement with Urban Outfitters is coming along nicely, and I'll let you know when their glasses hit stores. Right now, I'm just trying to get all my stuff together for holidays, which are coming up like the pavement after a freefall from an airplane when your parachute doesn't open.

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October 3, 2008

B&B + Urban Outfitters


So, the big news of the year that I've been dying to announce is that Bread and Badger is collaborating with Urban Outfitters! That's right, the big UO heard about our mustache pint glasses last month, and decided they'd like to carry them in their stores!

I've been scrambling to get things together for this big order, but I'm still way behind on my production capabilities. If I were to hand-etch each of these glasses, they may not be done for many months! I've decided to license my artwork to Urban, so they can produce as many as they'd like, and still be able to get them this fall. They'll be carrying Robot, Mustache and Bicycle pint glasses, made from my designs!

They tested out the robot design with two production methods: one is sandblasted, and the other is a "simulated-etch" permanent decal. (From left to right in the photo above: original hand-etching, sandblasted, sim-etch.) I actually preferred the sim-etch (it'll stand out nicely in their stores and will still be different from my own glasses), so it looks like that's what they're going to produce. It's a little weird to see my design on something I didn't make, but I think they're going to turn out awesome! They also aren't limited by size, so the robots can fill up the front of the glasses nicely.

I'm still trying to outfit my new studio with sandblasting equipment, so I'll be ready for the next big order (cross your fingers!). It's a slow process, learning about all the necessary tools and machinery, so it still might be a ways off in Bread and Badger's future. This has all been a fantastic learning experience for me, and I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity to grow my business, and to grow as a business owner!

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October 1, 2008

PDX Indie + The Sampler

I'm a member of a new cooperative for Portland artisans called PDX Indie. We're an Etsy Team that became our own legal entity (the first to do so!) so that we could start collective advertising and a mentor group for ourselves and other local artists.

Our first awesome group activity was to organize a special City Sampler for Portland! We've collected around 1000 sample products from a variety of artists and craftspeople in our wonderful city, which will be available for purchase here, starting today! Get a sampler box of the PDX crafty goodness while it lasts, or visit our members' shops for more amazing handmade products.

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September 24, 2008

Much needed mini-vacation


My parents are coming to visit me for the first time in Oregon! They're coming tonight and staying for a week, so I'll be on hiatus until Wed., the 1st of October.

This is their first trip to the Pacific Northwest, so we're crossing our fingers for sunny days. Sean and I will be showing them around the city (Farmer's Market, Saturday Market, lots of shopping areas) and driving out to the Gorge so they can see all those great waterfalls in person. If we have time this weekend, we might take a trip out to the coast, since none of us have ever been there!

If you have any suggestions of stuff to do in Portland, please leave a comment! We won't have a car for two of the days they'll be visiting, (since Sean needs it for work and I thought we could get around on Trimet and on foot). If you know of any good, relaxing stuff to see in the SE or on a busline, please share. We have some great ideas already, but it never hurts to have extra options.

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September 22, 2008

Cicada Mania


This blog just featured my new Cicada Bottles, and I just had to share the awesomeness that is Cicada Mania! Their post just before my Cicada Bottles is about the Bottle Cicada from Australia. Who knew?

There are some seriously beautiful photos on this blog, not to mention pop culture occurrences and scientific info (including a wedding guide, in case you're worried about insect swarms ruining your big day)!

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September 19, 2008

Jesse Reno


Jesse Reno is another artist whose work is displayed at the salon where I get my hair cut. His paintings are colorful and energetic with a primitive feeling to them. Layers of paint and words and symbols make his work fascinating to stare at for hours on end. It's also complimentary to Lana's work, making their side-by-side displays somehow seem grander than the sum of their parts.

Maybe their work plays so nicely together because they both live above the salon, and they feed off each other's inspiration? I couldn't tell you. But I know that it's beautiful, and I look forward to sitting in that chair just so I can catch another glimpse into their artistic souls.

Check out Jesse's website for a cool video about his process and a little peak into his studio.

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September 16, 2008

Donnie Darko is still cool

If you haven't ever been to the Donnie Darko website, then you should check it out now. Web designers are becoming more video-savvy and sites are more interactive than ever, but this was still a monumental website when it came out, and it still is.

Turn your pop-up blockers off, your sound on, and sit back for a memorable experience. It helps if you remember details about the movie, but it'll be fun even if you're just clicking around.

http://www.donniedarkofilm.com/

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