Who doesn't love Socks?!?

Found a new favorite shop on Etsy: The Missing Sock!
They've got great cards for many occasions (including same-socks marriage)!

Oceans trapped in Glass

I'm a huge fan of glasswork. I'm also a huge fan of aquariums. So it's really no surprise that I absolutely LOVE glass versions of underwater scenes, the ocean, fishies, and other undersea life! I've been trying to get a treasury for the past few weeks on Etsy, but had no luck in my attempts, so here is what my treasury would have been: 12 beautiful glass items each with an aquatic theme. I call it "Oceans trapped in Glass." I've included the links to the items below my photo, so that you can look closer at the awesome Etsian craftsmanship!


Links are listed in order l-r by row (top 1-3, then the next row down, and so on). Enjoy!

Three dimensional dichroic glass pendant by YmirGlassDesign

EVA Aquarium Bead by JeansBeads

Ocean Water Goddess Lampwork Glass Bead by KarenElmquist

2009 Angel Fish Aquarium Scene Pendant, Lampworked Borosilicate (Pyrex) Glass by Mike Warren/OpenFireGlass

Fish and Sea Anemone by MandellaGlass (on vacation until 10/21, so the item isn't viewable until then)

DEEP SEA TREASURE Underwater Focal Lampwork Boro Pendant by HLH Glass

Mermaid Fantasy-handmade lampwork bead focal by GenerationsLampwork

Placid Waters Pendant by ChrysalisDreams

951 - Red Sea Collection - Pendant by Christinaferrari

Lampwork glass art Loving the Sea Octopus Heart Pendant by Midnightskye

Lampwork Beads Ocean Outerbank Lentil Focal by DancingFrogJewels

Aquarium Pendant by DragonfireBeads

35 Questions: 1-word answers

So I was tagged by the Lost Earring to answer these 35 questions with just 1-word answers. It was tougher than I thought it would be for many of the questions, but I hope it still gives you a better idea of who I am! :D

1 Where is your cell phone? Purse
2 Your hair? Brown
3 Your mother? Lively
4 Your father? Smart
5 Your favorite food? Indian
6 Your dream last night? Croatia
7 Your favorite drink? Water
8 Your dream/goal? Non-profit
9 What room are you in? Living
10 Your hobby? Reading
11 Your fear? BEEEEEEEEEEZ!!!!!
12 Where do you want to be in six years? House
13 Where were you last night? Home
14 Something that you aren't? Religious
15 Muffins? Warm
16 Wish list item? Dog
17 Where did you grow up? Boston
18 Last thing you did? Laughed
19 What are you wearing? Comfy
20 Your TV? Cableless
21 Your pets? Cats
22 Friends? Awesome
23 Your life? Good
24 Your mood? Sarcastic
25 Missing someone? Friends
26 Vehicle? Used
27 Something you're not wearing? Kilt
28 Your favorite store? Etsy!
29 Your favorite color? Blue
30 When was the last time you laughed? Today
31 Last time you cried? Yesterday.
32 Your best friend? Kyle
33 One place that I go over and over? Library
34 One person who emails you regularly? Husband
35 Favorite place to eat? Creperie

Some quotes to live by...

I've always been a huge fan of ANYTHING done by Jim Henson. My favorite movie is still "Labyrinth" after all these years (and I will admit that when I saw it as a little kid, I definitely thought that David Bowie was a girl. I was too innocent to notice the bulge in his spandex pants); I'm not a fan of manga, but I've gone out of my way to purchase the new manga series "Return to the Labyrinth" and "Legends of the Dark Crystal" (and they're pretty good too)! I've introduced my husband to some of Jim's lesser-known works, like his "Storyteller" series (both the original and Greek myths); I read books about Jim Henson's creature shop, biographies about him, his work on Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and more!

One of my favorites is a small book called, "It's not easy being Green and other things to consider" by Jim Henson, The Muppets, and Friends. It's a collection of quotes, stories, anecdotes and songs and I always find it inspiring and uplifting to read. I'm not a religious person, and I believe in helping people and always trying to do good things in life. Since I first read this quote by Jim in undergrad, I've always tried to live according to it (sheesh, it's like the Muppets are my Bible!):

"When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a little bit better for my having been here. It's a wonderful life and I love it." -Jim Henson

Now this doesn't mean that you have to do BIG, GINORMOUS, AWESOME THINGS (like Jim Henson accomplished) to make a difference and leave the world a better place. It can be as simple as volunteering every now and again; making donations to your local shelter or food bank; tutoring; reading at night to your kids; walking/biking/taking public transportation; sharing your art with the world; helping a stranger; adopting a pet; and just being kind and understanding! All these things may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but they all make the world a better place little by little. And maybe you'll inspire someone else to do kind things.



Hope that gives you a little uplifting boost for your weekend! I'll close with a graduation speech made by Kermit the Frog:
"I really do believe that all of you are at the beginning of a wonderful journey. As you start traveling down that road of life, remember this: There are never enough comfort stops. The places you're going to are never on the map. And once you get that map out, you won't be able to refold it no matter how smart you are.
So forget the map, roll down the windows, and whenever you can, pull over and have a picnic with a pig. And if you can help it, never fly as cargo."

One thing America got Right!

Recently on US public broadcasting, they've started showing a new Ken Burns documentary called "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." Watching it made me think about other great ideas that America has had, and the one that seemed the best in my mind is the public library system.

Cupcake thinks the Portland Public Library card is good enough to eat!

Sure it has its quirks and downsides (nowadays, with funding cut for many towns, libraries can only afford to be open a few days a week. It's 5 days a week here in Portland, but I know in smaller towns, it may be just 2-3 days a week), but how awesome is it that you can sign up for a library card FOR FREE, and then take books, CDs, DVDs, videos, etc. that you want to read home for 1-3 weeks FOR FREE, or spend hours using their wireless internet (or if you don't have a laptop, you can sign up to use their computers with internet access) FOR FREE! Oh, and if they don't have a book that you want, you can request it from another library and they will deliver it to your library FOR FREE (unless it has to come from out of state. Then there's a fee of a few dollars, but still!)!!! Isn't that great?!?

Now I will admit that libraries are paid for by the community's taxes, so they are not truly free, but what we receive from them vastly outweighs what I pay every year in taxes. If it weren't for the library, I'd be paying between $6-40 apiece for the books I take out. I'm always amazed by how quickly libraries get the new and popular books. In many cases, I'll be able to read the book within a few weeks of it coming out! For example, this book: The Plum Pudding Murder came out on September 29th. I requested it on the 30th; it was ready for me to pick up on the 2nd of October! Talk about fast! There's $24.00 that I didn't have to spend at the bookstore!

Cupcake with three of my most recent library books: the "just published" one, the "I'd love to learn about this for free" one, and the "this author sounds interesting. I'll try him" one!

And being able to browse through such a large selection just gives me endless possibilities! I recently picked up a book on wireworking! Would I have ever bought a book on wireworking without knowing if I liked it? No! But since I can get it for free, why not? Or being able to try out authors before purchasing their books! Fabulous! I can't count the number of authors that I first found out that I loved through the local library and now I've purchased quite a number of their books (libraries are great PR)!

I guess I've rambled on enough about how great libraries are. Yes, there are people who will complain about the limited hours, the number of homeless people who use them (to which I have to say, "deal with it. As long as they're not using the library to sleep, they have as much of a right to use it as you do. And I've dealt with libraries filled with LOTS of homeless people in Boston), how they don't have every book that you want, but nothing's perfect! So if you love your library, consider giving a small donation to them every now and then. Trust me, you'll get everything you put into it back tenfold!

Interested in Writing a Novel? Try NaNoWriMo!!!

NaNoWriMo Typewriter poster designed by artist Jason Munn. Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo.org. Poster available here!

I know that a lot of people dream of writing a novel, being able to call yourself a novelist, getting your creative juices flowing, and finally finding the time to put those awesome story ideas/characters you have down on paper and running with it! Well, if any of this sounds good to you, I'd like to invite you to join me in taking part in November's National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short. It's pronounced Nano Wry Moe)! And guess what? It's all FREE!!!!!

This coming November will be my third time taking part in the National Novel Writing Month and I just can't wait for it to start!

Here's a screenshot of the NaNoWriMo website! I love the running man with pencil logo!

Now you probably have a few questions about NaNoWriMo. Things like, "how long is a novel?" "How does this work?" "Can I write non-fiction?" And plenty of other questions. So here I will post the Who, What, Why, and When info from the horse's mouth itself (the NaNoWriMo website):
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National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2008, we had over 120,000 participants. More than 20,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

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So there's the basic info! I've loved every time that I've participated in NaNo, and I'll bet that if you give it a shot, you will too! One benefit is that once you've signed up, you can also sign up for a "home region" (wherever you live! And this is international, so don't fear if you're in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Germany, China, and all!). If you're in the US, I recommend searching by the state name first. If you're international, then search by country name.

Here's a shot of the 11 regions with the highest word counts! Seattle is always tough to beat, but there are a lot of European countries are up there too!

There are NaNoWriMo participants everywhere! If there are enough NaNo-ers, there are even further breakdowns! For example, I did NaNo when I was living in Boston, Massachusetts. In Massachusetts alone there are NINE different NaNo regions: Mass-North Shore, Mass-Boston Area, Mass-Cape Cod, etc. I was in the Boston region with over 2000 members and every week (and sometimes more often) we'd have a write-in at a local cafe, library, college, etc. to spur each other on to reach the 50,000 word mark! Now not all 2000 members met up in person. It was more like 20-40 at write-ins, but lots of participation online on the regional forum. I'm now in the Maine region (there are about 780 Maine NaNo-ers) and we've already got plans for write-ins all over the state (including weekly ones about 15-minutes away from my apartment! Huzzah)!

And they also have various chat rooms, and NaNo Groups in the general forums for people to chat with, get encouraged by, advice, and whatnot. Groups for Newbies, Age Groups (20s, 30, 402, 50s and beyond!), Military groups, and "Virtual Worlds" groups (do you do SecondLife? They have weekly virtual write-ins, if you don't have many people participating near you. Or World of Warcraft? Same there!). So don't let the fear of not having any encouragement keep you from participating! You're never far away from NaNo help!

So I hope you'll consider becoming a part of National Novel Writing Month and experience the fun and chaos that comes from trying to write a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days! In the past, if you win (reach the 50,000-word mark before the stroke of midnight on November 30th), you recieve a coupon allowing you to publish a draft copy of your novel for free! I took advantage of this my first year because I loved how the story came out!

Here's Rosy with my 2007 book: The Melville Conspiracy.

Sure, nobody except for my family and friends have read it (I bought a few extra copies), but it's just such a great feeling to have your work in print!

If I've convinced you, sign up here and feel free to add me as a Writing Buddy (my username on NaNo is Chester.Copperpot). And if you need some more info about it, feel free to peruse their website (I think I've posted enough links to it already, but here it is again) and discover the joy that is National Novel Writing Month!

Stuff Portland Mainers Like! - Coexist Bumper Stickers

I'm a relatively new transplant to Portland, Maine. I've lived for several years each in Southern NH, Boston (Massachusetts), and briefly (less than a year or two) in Central New York (the state, not the city), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Minot (North Dakota) and the panhandle area of Florida. Sheesh. That's a lotta places in the US. No west coast though. Hmmm.

But in any case, I moved to Portland (again Maine, not Oregon) a few months ago, and since then I've noticed a few things that seem unique to the area. Little quirks and habits of Portland Mainers (and perhaps Mainers in general, though I haven't traveled around the state enough to know) that I find funny, bizarre, or just darn wonderful!

So here's "Stuff Portland Mainers Like" #1! Coexist bumper stickers.


That's right. Those Coexist bumper stickers where the letters are all made up of different symbols: Islam, Peace, Male/Female, Judaism, Pagan and Bah'ai, Taoism, and Christianity.


They come from Peacemonger.org, a company in California, just in case you were wondering. Now I know that some people find these stickers smug and obnoxious ("Yeah, it's easy enough to have a bumper sticker that says 'coexist,' but that's not gonna help anyone in the REAL WORLD!") but now I kinda think that they're a nice way to show that you respect other people's beliefs. A way of saying, "you can be you, and I can be me, and that's cool."


I also prefer the Muppets' version of the "Coexist" thinking, which is "Why can't we be friends?"

I noticed this variation on an electrician's truck recently. Apparently this version was special ordered by the Portland, Maine Habitat for Humanity (I guess they noticed Portlanders love of Coexist stickers too) for their Interfaith House project, bringing people of different faiths together to build a green (green as in environmentally efficient, not the color) building. How cool is that? It's a really nice introduction to the kind people of Portland, Maine!

My Halloween Tree Treasury!

So I managed to snag a treasury this evening and I've made it inspired by Ray Bradbury's story "The Halloween Tree." Bradbury's a favorite of mine and he's a perfect read if you want to get into a spooky, autumn, Halloween-y (halloweinie?) mood! I recommend "The October Country" or "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (also a creepy movie starring Jason Robards) or "From The Dust Returned" or... well, "The Halloween Tree!"

Please check out my treasury here! And check out the awesome Etsians who made such spooky stuff!


The treasury is set to expire this Wednesday at 11:54pm, so don't wait to give it a look!

The Most Awesome Profile on Etsy

Can't say that I've had anything from my store purchased by this awesome person, but I discovered that I had an item "hearted" by someone with an awesome Etsy name: RainbowCrayon. Being a lover of rainbows and people who like my stuff, I clicked on them and then beheld the most awesome Etsy profile ever. If you think you can handle the greatness that is RainbowCrayon's profile, click here. And check out her favorite items list while you're at it! This kid has fabulous taste!

Stuff I'm really proud of

These are some of my works that I've been really proud of. Some are for sale, some aren't, some were actually sold (huzzah)! Since I'm not a trained artist (unless you count those drawing classes I took in 3rd grade, which consisted mostly of the teacher having us copy images from old Nature magazines. I imagine it's much like what Andy Warhol's trained crew of artists had to do), I get a little overly critical of my work, seeing little flaws and getting down about them. But I still love what I do, and sometimes, just sometimes, I think that the stuff I make comes out practically perfect in every way (to quote Mary Poppins)! These are some of those items. Enjoy!

This painting is one of the first large acrylics that I've done and I still can't get over how awesome it came out. "Saturday In The Park" is actually the name of this painting, done before I even had joined Etsy and he's now the banner for my Saturday In The Park store. And yes, it's a line from the Chicago song.
I wanted to do something funny, colorful and relatively easy (note to all artists : Manatees are very easy to do. Grey blob, add cute muzzle, big eyes and fat flippers, double chin and boom! Realistic manatee) and I was inspired by Bren Bataclan's work (click here to see his awesome paintings). Bren Bataclan did a "Smile Boston" project while I was living there (leaving free paintings around Boston, telling people to take the painting as long as they can make people smile throughout the day. What a cool idea!) and while I never found one of his works, I was definitely influenced by his style. And I love love how it came out!

This is one of the first pendants I made. I call him Swirly Gold Sheep. Fairly simple, but I love the look of it. His swirly golden fleece (much more easily attained than the mythical one) and big ol' green stone eyes! So cute! I'm a big fan of knitting, though I haven't sold any of my knitted wares yet. I tend to foist those on family members. This sheep reminds me of the two times I went to see sheep being sheared when I was in grade school. I passed out at the sight of blood both times. But I also got to be the first one to pet the lambs afterwards!

This is Hercule, the Dapper Cockroach. My husband and I had to deal with a mini cockroach infestation when we moved into one of our apartments and it inspired me to create a larger version of this painting. I figured if I could think of the cockroaches as silly mustachioed gents with bow-ties and monocles, I'd be a lot less scared of them. Amazingly enough, it worked! I'm still not a huge roach fan, so thankfully the exterminator got rid of them all. All except for Hercule.

This guy is a bit more "Mature" so if you're afraid of things that loosely resemble male genitalia, you should scroll past this next work.

This is Jareth, the Knob-lin King (a phallus pendant parody of Jareth the goblin king from the movie "Labyrinth")! Geeky phallus pendants/magnets are actually how I started out selling on Etsy. I made a bunch for a friend's bachelorette party and she, knowing how much I was a fan of buying stuff on Etsy, suggested that I could sell them! So I have. Jareth is one of the pendants I've sold so far, along with "Dildo Baggins" a Lord of the Rings parody. I think I have WAY too much fun making these guys. :)

This green Cthulhu pendant is one of the creepier items I've sold. If you don't know about Cthulhu, a tentacled, winged evil ocean god created by the writer H.P. Lovecraft, I highly recommend reading his horror stories! This little guy came out just perfect! Perfectly evil!

This is a sketchbook I've topped with a design I call "Mr. Blue Sky" (yes, from the ELO song). Made from mushing a whole bunch of blues together, stamping with script, glazing over it with a silver paint and then adding a rainbow, clouds, beautifully shiny dichroic glass stones (if you've never heard of dichroic glass, check it out! It's become one of my favorite forms of glasswork on Etsy! So shiny and sparkly!), and a silver key charm. I wasn't entirely sure how this would look until it was done, but the writing across the sky and the bright eye-catching rainbow and key just sealed it as one of my faves. Makes me feel like I had a little extra magic in my hands while I was making it. If only I could buy more magic on Etsy...

And lastly, this little lovesick robot. He's not for sale. I made him for my fabulous husband. I was inspired by all of the awesome robot creators on the Etsy website. There are just so many and they're all so talented. I don't think I'll ever get into making lots of robots, but this little guy just warmed my heart as I was making him (probably because of my feelings for the recipient of this robot). Who can resist technological romance?