The Last Week in a Post

Okay, okay, I know. I've been slacking horribly on updating this blog.
I KNOW WHAT I AM GUILTY OF.
Thing is, life goes on, and problems arise, problems get solved, and baby birds leap out of nests.

I'll start with the crafts, because that's what most of you followed me for in the first place.
This past week I got my earring posts, so I was finally able to glue my little clay owl heads and paw prints. I'm saving them for my next shop update, which will probably be near the end of next week.
I've also been needle felting a lot, since I got a custom order I need to finish. My thumb and index finger on my left hand look like they have a miniature case of chicken pox, but hey, diabetics deal with pricking their fingers all the time.
Still waiting on the adjustable ring blanks, but once they arrive I'll have about 10 rings to post.

And now for some really great news... I'm employed again!
Craigslist is a blessing, I swear. I managed to find a place in the next town over that needed a dog bather/fluffer that was drug and drama free. I jumped on that offer faster than you can say "wet dog smell."
Let me tell you... It is THE BEST job ever. I come in at around 9am in the morning, wash dogs, and leave at about 1pm.
The dogs are obedient, though sometimes fidgety, but never growl or bite.
My boss is a quirky and eccentric woman who is the main groomer in the facility, though also a dog masseuse.
I'm paid per dog, which is based on its size and difficulty. On most days, it comes down to $10-13/hr, which to me is miles better than the minimum wage I made at the frozen yogurt job.
Best of all, I come home satisfied and happy, though tired and smelling like a wet dog. Nothing a shower and a nap can't fix.
Plus the money I make means more craft supplies! (Next in line are clay pendant necklaces, by the way.)

I'll end with our little bird saga.
For the past few days, my mom and I have been checking up constantly on a cardinal nest in a bush near our driveway.
See, normally we wouldn't go up to a nest and disrupt the natural cycle of bird life, but there's a problem... a little feathered problem.
The only egg that hatched has grown up into a rebellious little fledgling that no matter what, does NOT stay put in the nest.
Again and again, we've found him sitting in our driveway, sitting under the bush, or otherwise in a place where he can easily be spotted, peeping away like he honestly doesn't know how he got there.
BUT HE KNOWS. He jumps out, the little bugger. Then mommy and daddy cardinal call him incessantly, can't figure out where he is. They just end up calling for him until we find him for them, and put him back in the nest.
(And trust me, I've watched the mom confusedly hop around the whole bush trying to find the baby. She couldn't realize that he was not only on the GROUND, but also hidden in a plant.)
We've probably relocated him five or six times now.
Also, did I note the fact that he can't fly at all? He can flutter about a foot forward, but can't gain any real ground or generate any lift. He's pretty much an easy lunch no matter how you look at it.
I'm hoping that he either gains some sense soon, or learns how to fly. The first doesn't seem to be happening, so let's hope those little flying feathers of his grow in soon.

Lastly, the April's Army Shop is OPEN!!!
It opened up at 11am yesterday.
I finally was able to make and submit a donation item before the deadline this month. My donation was a little needlefelted bird, and it sold earlier today for $14. I'm so glad that I was able to contribute to a good cause. :)

Until next time!

So Where Are the CREATURES?

It's been forever since I posted about my Creatures 3/Docking Station worlds, so thought I'd do an update on those little morons.
Why do I say morons? Because they've become stupid from overbreeding... but they breed like CRAZY.
They're also lots of pretty colors!

But anyway. I have been conducting a Feral Run for a while now, after many failed runs.
They're on generation 315 as of today, have an incredible lifespan of 24+ hours, and come in every color of the rainbow.
Here are some screenshots to show you their color development!

A full color spectrum of Norns!

A few hours after the picture above was put together, these two new colors appeared in the population!

They tend to crowd together and keep breeding repeatedly.

The crowd at a different time.

Until next time!

New Shop Items, AT LAST!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Today was thankfully sunny, so I was able to photograph my new items and list them!

Click on the flower pin to check out everything new!

So Where Are the CRAFTS? + GAME TIME!

I know what you're thinking.
It's been a while since I've posted some new things to Etsy.
Have I been slacking? Lazy? Really lazy?

None of the above, in fact!
I have been working like crazy to make lots of new things.
The problem is, I'm still waiting on my earring posts and adjustable rings so I can start putting things together!
I like photographing my things and posting them all at once, and right now less than half of my new items are complete, so to speak.
Once they arrive, I will be having a massive posting of all of my new items.
Be on the lookout for some awesome things.

Also, watch me play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat!
http://www.livestream.com/hellointerloper/video?clipId=pla_0321583a-1241-4478-ab75-93f0375ee6bc&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb
Will have a Youtube link later.
WARNING: I swear. A LOT.

Etsy, Rovio... WHAT THE HELL?

I woke up this afternoon (yes, I'm aware my sleep schedule is messed up) to this email in my inbox...

"ETSY INFRINGEMENT NOTICE"

Dear hellointerloper,

We have deactivated some item listings in your shop per Etsy's Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy.
We kindly request that you read the following information carefully. Do not reactivate these item listings or relist these items until the issue has been resolved.
This is a confidential matter, and we request that you not discuss this issue in the Etsy Forums or otherwise violate the confidential nature of this email.

...no, to hell with your confidentiality.

The following item listings have been deactivated:
74985810 - Loud and Angry Little Guy - Polymer Clay Bird Figurine or Decoration

Wait wait wait... what? That doesn't infringe on anything! That was an original figurine! Who could have complained?

Etsy received a notice from Jussi Hakanen (piracy@fondia.fi), Legal Counsel for Rovio Mobile Ltd. The notice said that "The game Angry Birds is developed and published by a Finnish company Rovio Mobile Ltd. All intellectual property rights to Angry Birds are owned by Rovio Mobile Ltd, including but not limited to copyright to the game characters and internationally registered trademarks. Rovio Mobile Ltd's copyright to the Angry Birds game characters and international trademark registrations of the word "ANGRY BIRDS" and international trademark registration of the graphical representation of the game characters provides Rovio Mobile Ltd with certain proprietary rights. This includes the right to restrict the use of copyrighted works and/or trademarks, or a confusingly similar works or trademarks, in association with confusingly similar products or services. Rovio Mobile Ltd's trademark registrations include, but are not limited to registration of graphical representation of game character by European Union Community Trademark (no: 009205221) and international trademark registration in several jurisdictions (no: 1052865) including United States (WO 1052865) and China (WO 1052865). According to the notice, certain material on Etsy is not authorized.

The letter stated that these listing(s) incorporate designs, symbols, language, images, or photographs that infringe upon the concerned party's copyright or other intellectual property right.

What the flying fudgebucket?! ANGRY BIRDS?
Let me put this simply... I did not make a clay representation of anything from the game.

I made a bird. A bird that is angry. You know, A COMMON ANIMAL, AND AN EMOTION THAT EVERYBODY CAN DISPLAY.

I did not, however, take anything from Angry Birds.

This was my clay piece:

And lets take a look at the Angry Birds.

(This is from The Oatmeal, because finding a picture from Rovio would be a bad idea at this point.)

First of all... MY BIRD HAS FEET.

My bird is not a legless ball whose only forms of transportation are hopping, and of course, slingshot.

He also has wings, which the Angry Birds lack.

NONE of the birds have any purple, anywhere.

Oh, but there is a blue bird you might say? Well guess what. THE BLUE BIRD ISN'T EVEN ANGRY.

The Angry Birds don't have yellow eyes either.

My bird is just a bird. A bird that is angry.

NOT AN ANGRY BIRD.

Honestly Etsy, honestly Rovio...

WHAT THE BLOODY HECK.

Is this little figurine really all that threatening to you guys?

You'd think that THESE would be a little more dangerous, wouldn't you think?

But no.

Thanks for picking on me, bastards.

Demented Doodles!

Just in case you haven't heard yet, I have a new blog called Demented Doodles that I've started posting to on Wednesday!
No, this isn't the end of this blog!

Demented Doodles is a blog for... well, some pretty weird doodles!
Between 2007 and now, I have drawn a lot of strange, wacky, and crazy doodles on MSPaint.
Since they aren't doing any good sitting around in a folder, I thought I'd share the insanity!

I will be posting a doodle every day until I run out of doodles, at which point I will start making new ones just for the blog!

Please visit Demented Doodles by clicking HERE!

Fellow Crafters and Art Fans... Have you seen this piece of embroidery?

Have you seen either of these art pieces?

These two works were stolen from The Drake Hotel in Toronto following an art exhibition called Wrap Your Head Around This. The artist, Jenny Hart, has obviously put a lot of hard work and love into these two pieces, and her attempts to find them have been fruitless.

If you have seen either of these art pieces, you can contact Jenny at jenny@jennyhart.net.

Her original post is here: Embroidery as Art

If you are attending any art shows, keep your eyes open for these two pieces, and know they are stolen material!

A Taste of What's to Come!

I'm back from visiting Jon in Delaware! I had a great time, as usual!
We went to the mall, the supermarket, went for walks, watched the first two Lord of the Rings movies, and played videogames.
I didn't get to catch any frogs sadly, but we got to watch egrets, barn swallows, geese, red-winged blackbirds, bluebirds, and turkey vultures! We even saw a lone killdeer.

But don't worry, it wasn't all fun and games and bird-watching.
While we were there, we also visited craft stores.

Now that I'm back at home, I can finally put the supplies I purchased to good use!
So, what am I going to be working on next?
Here's a teaser list!

• PINS!!! Yes, I bought a nice bag of pin-backs to attach to two clay flowers that I've already made, and will be making more soon! Don't worry, I'm not going to just make more flowers... Expect some fun and possibly geeky pins too.
• ACEOs!!! I got my blanks in the mail, complete with protective sleeves! They're sturdy and nice quality paper, so they'll be perfect for whatever I decide to do with them.
• MORE EARRINGS!!! I bought some more dangling earring hooks, all silver-plated and ready to attach clay charms to! Since summer is here, expect more fruit and bright things. Even better, thanks to the awesomeness of eBay, I will soon be making post-style earrings! The posts will be silver-plated as well, so no worries about nickel allergies.
• NEEDLE-FELTED ANIMALS!!! I have two that are ready to sell already, but I'm waiting until I have a good bunch before posting them. The bluebird that I originally made for Jon will be sold, since I stupidly forgot to bring it with me to Delaware, and ended up making a whole new one on the train ride there. I also made a turtle while I was in DE, and started a parakeet on the way back home.
• AND MORE CLAY THINGS!!! Jon, being the awesome person he is, bought me a nice set of colored clays! I finally have black, brown, and tan clays to work with, so I may finally make some animals. In addition to that, I also bought some glow-in-the-dark clay that was on clearance. I'm going to have a ton of fun with all of those clays. I also just made my first clay cane today! It features a glow pawprint with a purple and blue border. I need a razor blade to cut it with, but hopefully I'll get one this week.
• PRINTS!!! I still have to finish my owl-person drawing, but after that, I will be scanning in some of my old drawings and editing them on the computer to add color, and also to eliminate any imperfections. Once I figure out the best method for printing (and most cost-efficient, seeing that I'm just a fledgling crafter and all) this will finally become a reality!

To put it simply, keep your eye on this blog for new crafty developments! :)
Until next time!

Pokederp #4

We'll start this post of Pokederp with a few plushes that aren't messed up. Look at them closely, because you'll need this for comparison.

In birds, the soft, fleshy part above the beak is called the "cere." It usually has two holes, which are the bird's nostrils.

This Pokemon, Pidove, clearly has a pink cere.

Now...

Here are the offending plushes.

Chinese bootleggers don't really care about facial features, as long as they are there. Pink blobby things above the beak? Can do, and we'll attach them with one piece of pink thread. Who cares if they look like facial testicles.

How much for one of these? $8.



Where does its face end, and body begin? Honestly, who knows? This cheaply made Pikachu will put an $8 dent in your pocket, if you have a thing for awful toys, that is.

This Pokemon is Munna. Nothing wrong with this plush.

BUT...

...you see, Chinese bootleggers are greedy people. If their items are defective, they still want to sell.

This, too, is supposed to be Munna. You can see the outline of where the head-gem-thing is supposed to be, but there is nothing there. In other words, this thing is just a light pink blob with eyes.

The worst part is that these morons have the balls to ask $9 for this piece of trash. I guess they assume it'll be your next DIY project, or something.

Until next time...