Mail Box Bliss

I'm not sure if you're as enthralled by post as I am but mail pretty much makes my day (well...good mail anyways...). So I'm sure you can guess how I felt after running into this:


Hooray! Double parcels! For me! Gigantic ones too! (Please note how annoying Canada Post is and how easily someone could have swiped this) Yay! But it was sort of a mystery what that huge package was since I really didn't recall ordering anything that large. Under closer inspection, it was from the Canadian Broadcasting Company - meaning that wonderful lindsay must have sent our joint purchase to my house! Woohoo! Even though the majority of the goods were hers, it did lead to the arrival of my favourite new fantastic pin. Behold:


I can't wait to casually work this into some every day looks and attempt at becoming CBC Radio 3's biggest fan. Okay...I know I will never actually reach that status - but CBCR3 is pretty amazing! What beats free streaming amazingly talented and catchy independent Canadian music? This is where you answer, "Why yes kate! You are absolutely correct! Give me that link so I can be won over too!" Lovely. Glad you agree. Give it a nice listen then! (link).

In other news - lindsay and I do have some top secret CBCR3 related plans that might actually give us number one fan status...but I'll fill you in on that as it solidifies a bit. Oh, and if you're curious what all that other mail is - sit tight, I'll be posting about my plethora of parcels over the next few weeks while I frantically craft and organize up a storm for my craft show on may 1st! Exciting!

Sprout Card

I've always wanted to experiment with sewing on paper and this sweet "sew-a-sprout" tutorial is the perfect place to start! Look how darling this card is:


How wonderful! I love the simplicity and great greens they chose and the fact that the sewing lines aren't enormously difficult (so I could potentially even pull this one off!). Perhaps once I tackle a few more pressing items on that crafty to do list I'll whip this one up and send them off to a few deserving pen pals (you know who you are!....I think?).

"Egg-stra-special" Easter Tutorial

In grade 9 I had an extra odd Australian math teacher who would:

1) show daily Australian comic strips on the overhead before starting a lesson...which no one would ever get but he would laugh loudly at whatever the joke was ("hahaha! dog ran into the fence!")

2) play Beatles albums in silent reading

3) tell us that if you put something in quotations it is allowed to be spelled wrong. Then he'd try to make every example an "egg-sam-pill"-y spectacular pun. Hence the title of this post, and the quotations, and this prologue to the tutorial...

Now onto the post!

I'm not sure about you, but this picture certainly inspired me to want to make this craft!


But then I realized that (wow another list!):

1) I have way too much on my enormous to-do list after being ill for so long

2) Sending something this large in the mail would cost way too much for what it's worth. Boo Canada Post. Be cheaper please!

3) It's easter today! So even if I did manage to make this it would be a little late...so maybe next year?

So even if I don't get around to making it, I felt compelled to share it regardless. Behold - the cutest eastery pen pal tutorial yet:


Thank you poppytalk for being wonderfully inspiring and such great photographers! But if anyone feels like attempting this and sending it to me late I'd be okay with that...or perhaps I should track down Mr. Walker and send it to him? I wonder if he ever moved back to Australia...

Freebie Alert!

Looks like I'm breaking my "one post a day" rule like crazy today and going for a fourth post! Oh my! This one is really worth it though - craftyFOLK (the awesome etsy shop I used as a friday find way back in november) is giving away 12 packs of her lovely owl stickers to anyone willing to blog about how wonderful her shop is! (Check out the freebie offer here)! All you have to do is write a post about your favourite item from her shop! Well - I couldn't chose one favourite so here are four:


Man her stuff is darling! In fact, I made a purchase from her shop a few weeks ago and am painstakingly waiting for it to arrive! That is one thing about long weekends I despise - no post! I'm sure I'll be doing a post on how much I love my new necklaces when they get here so keep your pants on, they'll arrive soon...I hope...

Friday Find: Postcarden

As you all know (or should know by now), I am a huge fan of post! I'm also quite fond of the wonders of botany and no better way to fuse the two than with a mailable mini living garden from Postcarden! There are three different cards to chose from but the botanical theme is my fav:


How super cool! You'll be celebrating this mail for weeks of interactive enjoyment and all you need is some water and a sunny spot on the counter (which most people have...unless your dad is redoing your kitchen for the last 1.5 months)! If I haven't sold you on how great this is check out some stop motion wonderment:

Is this a casual enough hint for any of my pen pals looking to spice up their next note to me? No? Well it should be...so go buy this for me! Haha....ha....or not?

Mini Moo Order Freebies!

A few days ago my moo order arrived with a wonderfully charming box full of my custom created moo minicards! I had a great time playing with my wide set eye smile characters and transforming them into my latest promo freebie! Take a peek at the mini bookmark/gift tag goodness:


Man they are cute! I'm really pleased with how they turned out and think they will be a great addition to my etsy orders! I'm not so secretly hoping this will be turn into a successful marketing tool for my shop and blog but only time will tell...any thoughts?

A dabble in the world of postcards!

As I strongly hinted towards on thursday, I've taken my sister's advice and made some sets of scientific culture postcards! I've been slowly introducing them into my shop over the last few days, but in case you haven't caught them here's a nice montage for you to drool over:


Yay! I'm having a really hard time deciding which set is my favourite, especially since I chose the five designs that are closest to my heart, but I think the love robots may be winning the competition. I love how fantastically professional and high quality the printing at moo.com was and am in love their super glossy finish! Now you can celebrate post and keep mail alive with a set of anthropomorphic geeky postcards wonderful for sending to friends, family, strangers, or keeping for yourself! Hooray! I mention in my item descriptions that these are all "limited edition" cards, but let me reiterate just how limited these cards are - I only made one of each set. So I guess I'll see how they sell and if it is worth my while to reprint! What's your reaction?

Do you have a card?

When I decided to open up an etsy shop I figured one of the first things I'd have to do is brand myself. Once I decided on "scientific culture" as my shop name and niche (in attempt of a play on words sort of? No? Am I the only one that gets that?), quinn helped me come up with a banner for my shop and sweet business cards. She told me to keep my eyes peeled for cards I am fond of and what it is about them I like. Being the overachiever I am, I started picking up business cards like no other! This craze quickly grew into a full fledged collection which I ever so neatly organize with those baseball card holders they sell at the dollar store. Behold my current abundance of business cards:


I love flipping through my binder of them and fondly remembering where I picked up each card. It's sort of like a photo album/journal where I can recall great road trip and etsy purchases I've had! It's also like an added perk for going to new places and shops in hopes of discovering new business card gems! It has almost reached obsession stage since I'm really craving a trip down to the states for some renegade craft fairs solely for the purpose of picking up cards from their amazingly talented crafters! Okay...that isn't actually the only reason I'd go - but it certainly adds to the appeal. Next time you buy something from a cool shop take a look at their card and while you're at it, send it my way. I've got loads of space left in my binder...

the cutest sneeze in the world

Not too long ago, fraser and I road tripped to the wonders of salmon arm! (Why yes, I love going to salmon arm - just like I did here and here in fact!). Yet again I didn't manage to take any super fun road trip pictures, but I did manage to buy a boatload of cool stuff! I think this is the first time I've actually ever really gone there when it wasn't sunday (when half the stores are closed). Bonus! I actually may have over splurged a bit at my favourite salmony store, the lake effect, but hey - that's half the fun right? My best find? The most percy like postcards ever:


Talk about perfectly illustrating a cat's personality! Wowee! Super cute too! There were 30 postcards in that sweet deal package but I figured those 4 best describe typical percy behavior. Especially this panel:


Hahaha. Check out those teeth. Too funny.

I also managed to pick up a bunch of fantastic necklaces I can't wait to work into my wardrobe. You may even be privileged enough to catch a glimpse of them if I ever get around to being a bloganista. For now you can just imagine how awesome my outfits are though....that's just as good right?

Finest Yeti Packaging!

As you may remember, I featured a few of finest imaginary's acrylic pendants at the beginning of february in a friday find. Clearly writing that blog post was so thrilling that I gave into internet etsy retail therapy temptation and purchased two of the pendants I showcased! Well my awesome pendants have arrived and they are even more darling in person! Best of all? The super fantastic waving yeti on the packaging! Take a look:


She looks like a darling little sister of my own thumbs up yeti and everything! Just when I thought my love for that shop couldn't get any bigger! I love well packaged items so much - I think it's part of the etsy purchasing mystery/experience. In fact I think I may need to purchase something else on etsy soon...hmm...

In other news, my lovely felt feather brooch made it into the MSOE feather challenge treasury! Catch a glimpse here (I even have some wonderful flattering comments! How lovely!). Or if you weren't speedy enough to see it live - here's a picture:

Cozy Mail

Remember how I won an apple cozy from a giveaway UnravelMe had on facebook? (Of course you do - link). Well it has arrived! Here it is snuggling up to a gala of mine:


How darling! Thanks again UnravelMe! I love it! And hey, we all win because while I get the joys of toting around unbruised apples you get the pleasure of reading about it? Er...yeah...something like that...

More mail!

Remember how my mom won that giveaway of ink and buttons a while back (which, p.s. I totally signed her up for)? Well it arrived! And she should totally give it to me! Haha! Take a look:



What a super awesome brooch! And in a neat little cotton bag too! And better yet? The entertainment of percy (el gato diablo) trying to sneakily catch the first glimpse.



Stinkums - sorry dude but your lack of opposable thumbs gives me the clear advantage. You can have the box though...

Mail!

At long last my spur of the moment etsy purchase has arrived! A gorgeous ruffle clutch from made by hank. This is one lady's shop that is in high demand. Seriously. I've discovered that if you ever want to purchase an item you need to keep an eye on her blog. She'll post when she's listing new items in the shop at which point you can sneak your way in there to snafooze what you'd like! She's also an etsy featured seller! And to top it all off she wonderfully packages her sales (which I've photographed below...ok...so the first one is her picture...but the other ones document my clutch opening):




I can't wait to nonchalantly work this into my wardrobe. Because, you know, I'm cool like that...