I Need Some Halps!

I'm looking for a great list of blogs to read. That's all. Just more blogs to read. I tend to get stuck in the stand up comedy or crafty goodness blogs but I know there's more out there.


Can you halps me readers? Just list the blogs you read in the comments and I will be forever grateful.


Hearts, 
Rosalie

How Many Unicorn Posters Have YOU Stolen?

None? That's what I figured.


Well Nik is different. A little bit. Not in a Canadian way -- but still different. Plus, although I've never met him, I do imagine that he smells of almonds. Again, not in a Canadian way -- in a good, almond-ey way.


What am I talking about?
I have no idea.


I meant to do a blog post about my latest trade with Nicolas Caesar and perhaps I should just stick to the task at hand instead of talking randomly about the scent of almonds.


I'll try it.

Mr. Caesar, a frequent Sauce trader and the proprietor of Scary-Art.com, traded with me again. 
A two parter, this one included a Unicorn Poster that he stole along with a Transvestite Robot (well, really just a robot, but he included a weird wig in the box that he sent me so I put it on the robot and started calling it Transvestite Robot. It stuck). 

He gave me those in exchange for the Weird Rooster Thing and a painting I call "I Can See Butt."


Are you wondering at this point how you can grab the Unicorn Poster or the Transvestite Robot for yourself? 


All you need to do is get signed up on the bARTer Sauce website.  Once you have an account, you can make offers on any of the items that are currently available. 


What do you need in order to make an offer: A piece of art or an odd object -- and a story. That's pretty much it. 


Of course, I'll make you do other things like taking picture and answering "interview" questions but those come much later on in the process when you've already invested way too much to back out.  
MMMMmwwwwwwwaaaaahahahahahahahaahhahahahahah

Laura George Wins

Laura George Wins. She wins. 

She made a poster that has step-by-step instructions on how to eat a banana. I hung it on the back of my computer so now whenever co-workers walk by, they are treated to a weird print that instructs them on all future interactions with bananas. Sweet. 

I found it at Schmancy (the very best art toy store in Seattle) and got a print for my husband at the same time. 
It's a monster guy that's saying, "Take your pants off." How can you not buy that? 


I did a little research and found Laura's Etsy site, LauraGeorge and her blog, Minutiae that have tons more really hilarious and cute things.


This one makes me smile:

And I'm drooling over this one: 

Like drooling to the point of tears. And quite honestly, this may very well be the first time that anyone has ever drooled to the point of tears. The very first.

Hot damn.

What Do You Get When You Combine Make and BoingBoing?

A new online selling venue for handmade crafts. Why? What were you thinking?

Make and Boing Boing recently announced their new site for handmade sellers: Makers Market. I, for one, have already applied to be a seller. It's a juried process but we'll see what happens.

The fees seem reasonable if they anticipate enough traffic to the site to support the fees: "In the future, we will charge a one-time store setup fee of $75, a monthly fee of $15, and a commission of 8.5% per transaction. (The commission is calculated on product revenue, not shipping.) We are setting a commission minimum of $17/month, meaning our goal would be for you to sell at least $200 of merchandise each month."

They are waiving the fees for store setup and the monthly fee of $15 during their Beta phase.

One great thing that I noticed is that buyers don't have to create an account on the site in order to make a purchase. The payment gateway is each sellers individual Paypal account. That will be great for making sure that people who are making impulsive purchases don't back out before they can check out. Yay! Impulse!

Keep yer fingers crossed my little potatoes!

bARTer Sauce Trade: Holy Souvenirs Batman!

The Sauce did a trade recently with Jessamyn. She rules. She once traded me a brain scan. OF HER BRAIN! What? Yes, it's completely true.

This time she came through with what I call: Holy Souvenirs Batman! It's a bunch of little religious medallions. I like 'em. Even though I'm not religious. They're pretty and the thought behind them is nice. They came in a pretty red, velvet box.

And I must say, I'm pretty proud of my photography here. I like the maroon next to the aqua blue. I like the medallions spilling out of the box. In general, I just like them I guess. There, I said it.

And if you don't agree - leave a comment here and I'll send you some examples of my first attempts at taking pictures for my Etsy shop. Wow. They're really, really terrible. So I guess I'm just saying -- I've learned a bit in the last couple of years.

In exchange, Jessamyn got a carnival horse made from sequins on black velvet. She seemed happy about it.

If you're wondering what the heck this bARTer Sauce thing is - read on:

bARTer Sauce is an experiment in trading for art and odd objects. Whatever I get, I trade for something else -- and everyone I trade with has to tell me a story. I document it all on my website.

Now, trade me something.

Handmade Canvas Floorcloth...say what?

It's not very often that you go to a craft show and see something completely and totally unique. Something that no one else around is making. Something, well, magical. Okay, maybe not magical.

Two years ago at Urban Craft Uprising, I found StyleGarden. She makes all kinds of great lampshades and cake plates -- but that's not why we're here. She also makes hand painted canvas floor coverings. Like carpet, but not.

I bought one with a fleur de lis pattern the first time I found her. It's perfect because our whole house is tile and VERY COLD in winter time. I put it next to my side of the bed so when I get up in the morning my little feetsies don't get quite as cold. Or at least the cold is delayed for a few extra seconds. It's nice.

This year at Urban Craft Uprising, I ran into her again - our booth were kitty corner from each other so I could basically shop while sitting down in my own booth. Ahhhhhhhh....

I bought another one for Doug's side of the bed so now he has warmer feets too.

Another added bonus that I've discovered: the cat doesn't throw up on them. She only throws up on the other throw rugs that we have -- but so far, these have gone through life unscathed. I don't know about you, but that's a HUGE bonus in my book. Huge.

Missing Arrested Development

I'm watching Arrested Development for the third time. My memory is so bad that I only retain the funny for a few weeks after watching and then I start missing references that our Bridge partners and my LA friend make. So I begin again.

I think this might be the best part about having a bad memory. That show is so great and it got cancelled way too soon. But with a bad memory -- every time I watch it is like the very first time. In a way -- I'm blessed.

It always amazes me when people say they haven't seen this show. It is -- by far -- the funniest thing ever put on television. Ever. So watch it now. And watch it in a row. It's way funnier if you can remember enough to understand the callbacks (always a challenge for me).

You may think I am cruel for introducing you to something so special and fantastic when you know that it has already been cancelled. I know. But try to pretend you're European -- they try to end shows while they are still popular -- granted, they also sometimes wear fanny packs but so does my mom. And she's alright.

Take heart though, the movie is in the works.