I don't hate elephants, but...

Wow, check out this phenomenal coat rack I just found, you can get it at blahblahblah.com.
Just kidding! Actually, I found this coat rack in my living room, it lives at the the bottom of the steps; I loathe it.
I purchased this coat rack back in aught one, when I was employed at a Eugene, OR Rite Aid. One day I was walking around the store in my proud blue vest and khaki pants when it appeared to me, on the bottom shelf of the home decor/candle aisle. I knelt down and studied these exotic elephants, observed the sweet price of $9.95 and bought it with my employee discount. I took it home and it totally blended in with my papasan chair and tapestry decor.
It's traveled with me..there was a time when it had a lot of elephant friends in my living room. One time my brother-in-law was over and he said "you guys really like elephants!" I don't hate elephants; they're pretty crazy animals, but once it was pointed out, I thought "what have I become?" One too many trips to Big Lots and suddenly I found myself watching TV in some sort of safari oasis. I began systematically removing elephants and wicker from my collection of crap. Things were looking up. But the coat rack remained. I think it has survived purely out of it's functionality. We have to hang our coats somewhere. But it's so ugly. And soon, I hope to replace it with one of these non-elephant racks:

Acanthus Coat Rack by Chuckleberry.

Antique Iron Coat Rack Coatracks.com .
Yes, there's a website just for coat racks.

Embossed Ceramic Hook, Set of 2 cost plus world market.

And of course, no post of mine would be complete without the token Urban Outfitters item. These branch hooks would look pretty awesome along with those cost plus hooks above.
OK, well...that's it. Have a nice Saturday.

oooh...invitatations....

So, I was at work one day and I was all "does anybody know where you can get a perforating wheel?" And my co-workers were all "it's right here in front of you, and it's only $4.00!" Then they rolled their eyes at me in disgust. Not really, but you know, they could have.
And then I bought it and took it home and it sat in this dusty little nook in my desk next to my external hard drive for about 3 weeks. But I knew it had great promise. This what it looks like:

tonic handheld perforator
So, today I finally worked up these new wedding invitations, which are an A7 flat card perforated halfway down the page, so that you can have your invite and your RSVP in one handy card! No more crazy pieces flying around your envelope, potentially jumping right out and paper-cutting your future wedding guests. That's dangerous.
So, the RSVP card detaches, and then slips right into a coordinating 4 bar envelope.
So far, I've made them with my peacock feather motif and my prairie weeds motif. Here they are:





They're in my shop, duh. So get married already.

Makin' Out

Hooray for the Handmaiden's Make Out Goods show! It's was about 10 below outside on Sunday, but it was smokin' inside the James Ballantine VFW. I can believe I just typed that. I cannot stress enough how much I love this venue and this event. The VFW feels so homey, like someplace your grandpa would hang out, and maybe take you for Shirley Temples once in awhile or something.
Joj and I both got some awesome chiyogami earrings from i am not fruit designs. Hee's Joj wearing hers:

And here's me at my booth. Just follow the red arrow:

Other wicked Make Out Vendors include:
-My buddy Hett, aka A Boy Named Coy. Check him out for Re-purposed vintage books, bracelets and wallets made out of old neckties.
-Visit Pursecution.etsy.com and have your mind blown by fabulous leather detailing on perfectly structured purses.
-Fresh Stationery and Prints byVanessa Kimball.
Check out the Handmaiden's Blog to see all the vendors.
I can't wait for the next one...

SALE!

Fine print:
Please enter the code "newcomputer" in the message to seller box at the time of checkout and wait for a revised invoice before paying through paypal. Discount does not apply to custom business card design or other custom services.
Go shopping!

That's all I've time for today, but I do want to point out that I really don't like Fountains of Wayne before I sign off. I just want to be clear about that.

I love having Saturday off.

It's a snowy Saturday almost-afternoon in Minneapolis, and I'm super happy to be sitting here in my cozy (read: disastrous, messy, encroaching) office. Of course, soon I will spring into action and start packing up my gear for the make out goods show tomorrow. But for now, I'm enjoying staring out the window and listening to Neutral Milk Hotel on the Current. Scratch that, I was listening to them when I was conjuring that sentence, but now they've started playing that Fountains of Wayne song "traffic and weather." "We belong together like traffic and weather." Repeat. Again. I can see belonging together like...popcorn and beer? That's much more romantic, because both are tasty and desirable. But traffic and weather? I mean, traffic usually sucks and weather is totally unpredictable and out of control. I'm excited for when that band stops coming up with "clever" lyrics.
OK, sorry for the bad vibes.
Onto something better:
Co-Operators of The Third Street Gallery, Rebecca Sefcovic Uglem and Amy Jo Lyste have been filling their Etsy shops with all sorts of fabulous stuff.
Amy just opened hers and here's a selection of totally awesome stuff she has to offer:

Crochet Green Bunny, $12.00!!

Monkey with Banana, $18.00

Pink Bunny, $30.00
And there's more at amoyjoshandmade.etsy.com. Go be her first sale!!
Rebecca's shop has been around a bit longer, but she just added a bunch of new items like these:

Classic Name tattoo transfer, $9.00. Put your baby's name on you or your name on your baby! P.S. That's Becky's super adorable baby.

Fingerless Gloves, $10.00

Paper Doll Gray Dress Digital Print, $13.00
And more at beckaboo.etsy.com

Also, it's JoJo's Birthday tomorrow, and what better way to spend it then helping me with my booth!!?? She's been goccoing away and will be sneaking these spectacular deer cards into my single card suitcase:

Happy Birthday, Joj!
So, I guess I better get packing. I've started to use some of my booth displays as furniture in my house...not a good idea. There's going to be a lot of stuff on the floor tomorrow.

The me post

Hello! I just got back from a whirlwind weekend in Grand Fork, ND, where I was participating in the North Dakota Museum of Art's annual silent auction and benefit dinner. I got dressed all fancy and ate sorbets and cheeses, it was pretty cool.
And while I was gone, all this awesome stuff was happening in Minneapolis! First of all, Altered Esthetics' Bitter Fruits Show made it to the A-list in the City Pages, and they mentioned my name! You can read it here:
City Pages!
So, Altered Esthetics has this online gallery where they have photos from the show, which looked pretty fun. They also have an online gallery of the exhibit, where you can check out all the work AND vote for best in show! So, you should go there and vote, you know, not for me, but for whoever you think is the best...
So go here and do that.
In other news, the Grand Forks Visitor's Bureau has come out with their new promotional book thing. Why do we care? Because I was in a steamy summer time photo shoot for it where I had to make funny faces and pretend to paint. And we also care because I love Grand Forks. Here's my favorite picture from the shoot:

I think I look pretty good out of focus!
And here's the one they used for the cover:

I don't know why it's uploading all green like that. It actually just looks like a normal photo. If you really want to see what it looks like, you can go to visitgrandforks.com and click on "2008 visitors guide." You can also have them mail you a copy so that you can put it in a frame on your nightstand.
OK, this post with it's "me, me, me" attitude is really starting to gross me out. I promise next time I'll blog about something less self-involved...like fashion? Oh, but one more thing:

OK, bye!