My First Etsy Sale

Right now I am so psyched to have made my first sale in my etsy store! A pair of my three little birds earrings is now making its way to Texas! Super exciting news for me. The sale of that item is going towards the adoption of Diablo the melanistic jaguar - a very beautiful, but cranky cat. That's ok... cranky kitties need love too!

Flickred.

I've finally given in and created a Flickr account. Bonus - now I can post my funky pictures from the Nine Inch Nails concert in Hamilton on Friday night! I'm so blowing some of these up as art prints for my apartment!

A Freudian Slip - Easiest Halloween Costume Ever

I had huge plans this year to make an elaborate poodle skirt complete with crinoline as a Halloween costume. I picked out a gorgeous bright pink felt, and I had visions of adorable poodles running through my head. Of course I procrastinated until (you guessed it) October 31, so I needed something a little easier and cheap! My plans were to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show and store-bought costumes were unbelievably expensive, and most were a little on the skimpy side. So I decided to go as a Freudian slip. Definitely an Anticraft-friendly costume idea!

Easy Anticraft instructions:
1. Buy a slip. I chose a half slip and a camisole for coverage.
2. Buy some iron on letters in different sizes/colors from Michael's. Technically it says you're not supposed to use them on 100% synthetic fabrics (like my all-nylon slip), but it worked fine for me.
3. Plan out your design and iron on the letters. Poof! Halloween costume in half an hour!

The best part; it sure does make a comfy set of pajamas when Halloween is over!

Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of doing something Halloween-y, I made this pumpkin for the office carving contest. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. Let's just say this is an Anticraft-friendly craft from the usually not-so-friendly Martha Stewart web site. Basically I followed these instructions and it was a relatively painless ordeal! I didn't have all the fancy wood cutters that Martha suggests, but as you can see, you really don't need them. I used one regular pumpkin and two minis to do all the parts of the owl. For the feathers, I used a regular tea spoon, and then used a paring knife to fix them up a bit. It took about an hour and a half to complete the entire project, and since I thought it was going to take forever, I was pleasantly surprised when I had enough time to make these yummy candy corn earrings as well!

Thank You Etsy for Animals

Etsy for Animals has posted an article about me and the charities I support on their web site. Click here to check it out. Etsy for Animals is a great organization dedicated to making charitable donations to animal-related causes. Each month a different charity is showcased. If you have any kind of talent for crafts and have a love for animals, joining EFA is a very simple way to give back.

Also, if you're not into crafts, but you enjoy shopping, check etsy for crafts tagged "team efa". This year you can buy Christmas, Chanukah, birthday... whatever gifts and give to animal charities at the same time! Everyone wins! Since the efa team etsy store opened in September of 2007, it has contributed over $4200 to animal charities. See a sample of items from the efa team store below, or visit the store for a complete list. I know who I'll be supporting when I'm looking for gifts this holiday season!

The Sharks Need Our Help

Sharks may not be the cuddliest creatures on the planet, but they serve important roles as apex predators in the oceans and have mostly been unjustly vilified as dangerous man-eating predators who kill wildly and without reason. After watching the movie Sharkwater, I know this isn't the case. Due to the rising middle class in several Asian countries, sharks are facing unprecedented danger from overfishing. With no regard for laws, boats send out miles of cruel longlines, catching everything in their wake, including sharks, turtles, dolphins, and albatross. And in one of the cruelest practices in fishing, sharks often have their fins cut off and then are thrown back into the water alive to sink slowly while drowning.

You would think that world heritage sites including the Galapagos Marine Park and Cocos Island, Costa Rica would be immune to these types of practices, but unfortunately, there is very little enforcement and the citizens of many of these countries have very little incentive to protect sharks as finning is a multi billion dollar business. Taiwanese mafia basically control the shark finning industry out of Puntarenes in Costa Rica, and help the locals build roads in exchange for looking the other way while they grossly exploit Costa Rica's natural resources.

The Galapagos Marine Park and Cocos Island in Costa Rica are a couple of the only places in the world that scalloped hammerheads gather in huge schools of hundreds of individuals. Someday I would love to have the opportunity to swim with scalloped hammerheads in the Galapagos, and I hope that they are still there when I've finally had enough training to do the difficult dive. Watch this incredibly moving youtube video to see how amazing Cocos is and how majestic these beautiful animals are.(Ignore the part at the end with the dramatic sinister music.)The second video is one of my favorites and shows the majestic whale sharks of the Galapagos Marine park.

         


If you're outraged by the cruel and illegal overfishing of sharks all over the world, but especially at world heritage sites, there are a few things you can do:

1. See the Sharkwater documentary by Rob Stewart. I promise you will never look at sharks the same way again.

2. If you're an American Express cardholder, you can vote to have AMEX fund Rob's project to educate Costa Ricans on the value of Cocos and the sharks there. Vote here.

3. Go swimming with sharks. No seriously. Shark tourism is an incredible way to prove the monetary and ecological value of preserving the shark populations all over the world. I'll post some links of reputable shark diving tours available.

4. Do not eat shark fin soup. Refuse to eat at restaurants that serve shark fin soup. Most of the restaurants in Toronto are offering shark fin soup that does not come from legal and reputable sources. If you are of Chinese descent, consider a shark fin soup free wedding.

Please Do Feed the Fish

My fish need feeding on a daily basis. Just click in their pond to drop food and watch them swarm!