Weekly Wishlist: ACEOs by Renee Nault

So I think I'm going to combine "Monday Multiples" and "Wednesday Wishlist" into one Weekly Wishlist post, because this blog is threatening to turn into a "cool stuff I found on Etsy" blog, when it's supposed to a "what I'm making/writing/doing/seeing in my yard" blog. (For the "what geeky thing am I in love with now" see my other blog, BFG, and for "what has Niko learned about bones/archaeology/palaeontology" see my other other blog Osteosophy.)

One of the things I've been working on lately (and I'll post more on this in my next post) is an ACEO or ATC (basically, trading cards for artists) to trade for one like this. I've become fascinated with the tiny trading card format, so I started researching ATCs (and ended up writing an article on them for Handmade News). The latest result of this, my newest distraction, is that I've found some wonderful illustrators. One I just had to share is Renee Nault. Here's a taste:


Not only does she make gorgeous ink and watercolour paintings (see her work here on Etsy, here on her own website, and here on illustratedATCs), she's also from my old hometown (inasmuch as I have a hometown) of Victoria, BC. I'm absolutely going to buy one of her ATCs, as soon as I can decide which one. And one of my goals is to get accepted to illustratedATCs (it's a juried site), so I can trade for her work, and the work of some of the other fabulous illustrators who hang out there. Whee!

Wednesday Wishlist: Tiny Robot by Industrial Fairytale

I knew Industrial Fairytale was going to make an appearance in the Wishlist sooner or later, it was just a matter of choosing which marvelous thing to feature. Scrolling through her Etsy shop today, I realized that of course, it must be Tiny Robot. So here is "Tiny Robot and His Cold Metal Heart."


Industrial Fairytale is Sarah Dungan who, aside from making adorable tiny robots, cephalopod pendants and other delightful polymer clay things, also does lovely illustrations (and you can consider her self-published art books on the Wishlist too, even if I didn't include a picture) (actually, most of the stuff in her shop is on my wishlist). She's a fellow member of the Etsy Steam Team (there's a logo link over there in the left column somewhere, if you want to find out more), has her own blog, and co-runs the Cephalopod Tea Party blog. You can find more of her work on her website.

Wednesday Wishlist: Miniature Pocket Globe

I've been eying this tiny globe from Bo Press for some time now.


Bo Press is the work of Patricia Sweet, who designs and prints (digitally) tiny books and globes and maps and binds them using traditional binding techniques. Not only are the books tiny and lovely, but they are full of exactly the kinds of things I like: science (especially the mad sort), maps, folklore, and the like. Please have a look at the Bo Press Etsy shop, where you'll find all this and more.

I especially want to feature Bo Press, not just because Patricia Sweet makes such cool stuff, but because I am also a happy customer and I can tell you that the customer service is top-notch. I purchased a tiny Bo Press book on eBay some time ago. When it got lost in the mail, it was not only quickly replaced, but a lovely bonus was included as well. I will definitely buy more Bo Press things--and I especially want one of those globes. Plus, I've been inspired to make more tiny books of my own (you can see some of my miniature books, in jewellery form, in my Anagram for Ink Etsy shop).

Edit: Also check out the Bo Press website for all the books and globes, and if you feel like buying something, I'd advise buying it from the website rather than the Etsy shop, so more of the purchase price goes to the artist.

Wednesday Wishlist: Octopus Love

So, it's getting close to that love-it-or-hate-it holiday, Valentine's day, and to celebrate I present to you the perfect Valentine's gift for your sweetheart. If your sweetheart happens to be me.


This is the Octopus Love pendant from OctopusME Jewelry on Etsy. Each piece is hand cast in sterling silver from real octopus tentacles, then hand finished. I love just about everything in this shop, but mostly the tentacles.

Monday Multiples (a day late): A Walk in the Woods by Atelier Conti

I was in the big city all day yesterday, and didn't get home until midnight, so this week's Monday Multiple is a Tuesday Multiple.

This time I bring you a beautiful print from Atelier Conti, a printmaking studio in France. Do take time to browse their Etsy shop; it's full of beautiful work. The one I'm completely enchanted with, though, is this:


It's "A Walk in the Woods," a 5-colour aquatint etching. I wish I had a fraction of such ability with aquatint.

They've also got a blog, if you want to see what the studio looks like and learn more about the processes involved. If I ever go to France, I'll see if they'll let me drop by for a visit.

Wednesday Wishlist: LaMech

Part two of promoting art and craft and getting myself blogging regularly is the Wednesday Wishlist. Basically, this is going to be cool, mostly handmade stuff I find online that I would buy for myself if I had the money. Sometimes I will buy them for myself. But if you're looking for gifts for me (hint, hint) here is a good place to start. Or, you know, cool gifts for anyone. Anyone cool, that is.

My first pick is actually something that was near the top of my to-buy-when-I-have-money list, but has now been removed, on account of I'm trading a Flying Machines calendar for one. So don't buy this for me, but do buy it for the other cool people in your life.


This is the Mechanical Companion (LaMech for ladies and GeMech for gents), made by the tremendously talented Haley Moore (aka toenolla) and available for purchase at High London Mechanical. Or if you prefer Etsy, you can also get it there. See more of Haley's work on her deviantART page.

Monday Multiples: Purple Shore Crab by ploverwing

As part of my efforts to promote art and craft, and to get myself blogging more regularly, I've decided to start a series of more-or-less weekly posts. Actually, I hope to do a couple of series focusing on different things. Monday's post, "Monday Multiples," will focus on printmaking and related disciplines. You might find artist's books in here, though I'll probably have a separate day for those. You may even find the odd one-of-a-kind item (like, say, a monoprint or some other kind of art on paper).

So my very first ever Monday Multiples pick is this Purple Shore Crab by Amie Roman (aka ploverwing) on Etsy.


I really love her whole "BC Bestiary" series, and if I had a bunch of extra cash, I'd buy them all and make a special hand-bound album for them. Or put them all over my wall. She's from Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island, which is almost spitting distance from where I lived in Duncan. Sometimes I miss BC terribly.

Amie Roman is also only of the organizers of Printsy, the Etsy printmaking team, which I recently joined (I'm working on getting better images of my prints to add to the Flickr group). To search for other members, just type "printsy" in the searchbox on Etsy. And if anyone just happens to be gift shopping for me (yeah, I know, it's months till my birthday), you can consider Monday Multiples posts to be part of the Wednesday Wishlist. Which I haven't even posted about yet. Hah!

More Wishes

Wel, I went and updated my Amazon.ca wishlist (it's linked over there on the left somewhere). There were a few things -- a couple books and some PSP games -- that I'd forgotten to remove. And I've added a few things, but I keep forgetting things I thought of during the week and haven't added. Sigh.

Anyway, a few more things to add to the wish list below . . .

Practical Things

• knife sharpening apparatus -- for keeping my leather paring and bookmaking knives sharp, now that I spent a couple of hours in my teacher's studio getting them sharp. I'll need medium and fine ceramic stones (Spyderco makes nice ones that should be easy to find, or there's these ones from Lee Valley), and probably a coarse Diamond stone eventually, in case things get really messed up (here's the Lee Valley page on Diamond sharpening things -- the 6" is plenty big). Because the knives are flat on one side, kitchen knife sharpening apparatus are not generally good. Oh, yeah, and a strop. The most important thing is a strop and the grit that goes on it (once again, Lee Valley to the rescue).
  

Fun Things

• Inu Yasha season three box set DVDs. I already have the first two seasons and all the movies.
  
• The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana by Jess Nevins. MonkeyBrain Books, 2005 (official web site is here). I'm actually collecting rather a lot of Victorian fiction (especially science fiction), fiction set in Victorian times, nonfiction about Victorian times, and nonfiction about the history of magic, as reference for a novel that's been growing in my head for some time now, and is going to need to be started soon. I hope. To that end, movie versions of Victorian sf are also welcome. Jules Verne, especially. Even old black and whites. Maybe especially old black and whites. And The Illusionist and The Prestige, whenever they come out on DVD.
  

That's all I can think of right now. I think there was more, but it's gone now.

Holiday Wishes and Travel

I figure it's probably about time I made my holiday wish list, in case, you know, people don't know what to get me. Of course, no one has to get me anything. I'm quite happy just having you all around in the world. These things here listed are not in any particular order, by the way.

Practical Things

Of course, in my world, most practical things are also fun, so don't worry about getting me something practical when you want me to have fun. These ideas are both.

• art supplies -- I'm most focussed on book-making and printmaking right now (I have Intro Printmaking next semester), so things like paper, printing ink, bookbinding odds and ends, or gift certificates to art supply stores (Opus and Island Blue both have mail order, and of course there's Talas, but I don't know which if any of these do gift certificates) would be lovely.
  
• books -- Specifically books on bookbinding and books on books. I'll try to add all the relevant ones to my Library Thing list so people can see what I've already got. And I'll try to get my wishlists updated, too, so people can see which ones are at the top of my list. Or there's always the gift certificate route. Amazon (either .ca or .com), Chapters, Powells -- they're all fine (Powells has more used/antiquarian).
  
• light meter -- So I can figure out exposures for photography. I need something that has incident metering, but I think most of them do both incident and reflective these days. The ones we use at school are the Sekonic FlashMate or similar. I certainly don't need anything more complicated.
  
• PlayStation 3 -- Yeah, okay, no one's going to get me one. I'd be surprised if anyone can even find one any time soon. But I'd like the 60GB version just in case someone has too much money lying around. And it's in the Practical list because I can use it for work as well as play (on account of it can interact with the PSP).
  

Purely Fun Things

• books -- Yeah, books are fun. Niko likes books.
  
• Nintendo Wii (the console formerly known as the Revolution) -- that's pronounced "wee" if you were wondering, and yes there have been many jokes. I want to play Legend of Zelda in the worst way. And the Wii is backwards compatible, so I could play GameCube games, too. Alternatively, a GameCube would be cool, and cheaper, but won't play the newest Nintendo games.
  
• games -- EB Games certificates are good, or Futureshop, or you can get me the box set of all three Devil May Cry games. Or, if someone gets me a Wii or a PS3, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (or LoZ: Windwaker, which is GameCube, but Wii is backwards compatible) for Wii or Genji II for PS3. Also the Legend of Zelda game for DS if it comes out by xmas.
  
• DVDs -- I still don't have any Angel past season one, or any Farscape besides a few odd discs from season one. I'd really, really like the new Doctor Whos, though. The ones with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor or David Tennant as the tenth Doctor (though the old ones are cool, too). Those classic versions of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff and Dracula with Bela Lugosi are tempting, too.
  

I'm sure there are other things which I have forgotten. Maybe even important things. So I will update this list if I think of anything else. Plus, there are always those cool unexpected things that I hadn't thought of but which are perfect. There always seem to be lots of those.

Oh yeah, and travel. I'll be arriving in the Nanaimo airport on December 13th after an obcenely long cross-country flying marathon, and will be leaving from the same airport on December 31st 29th. So if you're on Southern Vancouver Island, I might see you over the hols.

Now This . . .

This is a watch I'd rather like. Pocket watch, roman numerals, mechanical (which is to say not battery-run, as in you have to wind it), chrome (not a big fan of gold, I), window for peering in at the gears working away . . . Very cool.