More pom poms?

Since I'm long overdue for another pom pom post - here's some cute pom tutorials from maedchenmitherz! First off is an adorable pom pom bunny! I really like the pictures she's taken for this one (hooray for gingham!) and easter is just around the corner after all...


Second comes a little pom owl for all you owl lovers...such as my mom. Great for all owl-y occasions! Look at those extra cute little bird toes! How darling!


I am oozing with jealousy about her pom pom making contraption too! I can't believe such a pom enthusiast like myself is still back in the dark ages of cardboard circles! I need to get with the times. Another awesome thing about these projects? They're tiny! Hooray for instant crafting gratification! My fav!

Stop Motion Knitting

Yet another instance where I crave learning how to knit:

I totally love how they use knitting as imagery for warming up the house in the morning and am particularly fond of the yarn shower stream! Sort of reminds me of that knit bicycle I spotted back in september in victoria. Allow me to refresh your memory:


I've seen quite a few "knitting graffiti" instruction/picture books during the last few trips to bookland too so I guess this sort of public yarn crafting is the hot upcoming trend! I think I'll stick to geeky wide eyed smile science cuteness for the time being. Unless you think knit micropipette cozies are soon to be all the rage? It does sort of challenge the whole idea of "aseptic technique"though...just saying...

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?

Oh my!

Anthropologie is the most fantastic shop I've ever stumbled across amidst my blog reading! (Well besides etsy of course). I often see cool trendy online clothing stores and can pick out a few items I am fond of, but I like pretty much every single item in this one! Seriously! I just spent an hour sifting through the site and have fallen in love with so many pieces. Here are a few I'm drooling over:


I'm honestly considering driving to Edmonton to shop in their store in real life. It's like every item they sell is one of those awesome, "makes an outfit," statement/investment pieces. *Sigh*. It's too bad everything is so far out of my price range I'll never be able to get any of it. Well, I guess I could use my stellar credit and buy some but I'm just too logical to take that route in life. But fraser, when you get those lottery winnings can I have a good $5000 to splurge on anthropologie goods? Heck - let's fly to their UK store and make a weekend out of it. Sound like a plan? In the mean time, I totally recommend skimming the online pages of fashion glory. Pick something out for yourself while you're at it...

In other news - Happy mid 20's linds! I'm just showering and then heading down to kelowna for our two day bday extravaganza! hooray!

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?

Bloggy Overhaul

If you haven't noticed (which my mom certainly did not), I've been playing around with the new blogger template designs and did a mini overhaul to my blog! I'm so pleased that blogger has given the computer illiterate, such as myself, new easy ways to customize! Hooray!

I still have a few little kinks to work out but would love to know what your response to the design is! I feel like I might have gone a little overboard on the blues but I tried to put enough greys and grey-blues in there to keep it neutral and simple. So what do you think?

Friday Find: Cleaner Science

I saw this item when I was surfing the science geekery listing on etsy and couldn't help but fall in love! Cleaner Science puts their knowledge of 4-way isolation bacterial streaking to good use by making petri dish soap! Check it out:


It's even grapefruit scented! Double win! What could be cooler than washing with bacteria? (Well...imaginary bacteria that is...). Another rad thing about this shop? I'm on their favourites list! Awesome! Science geeks unite!

Me and Moo!

What's better than a little post to cheer you up when you're sick? (Oh - for all you blog readers that don't know me very well - I'm ridiculously sick with a plethora of diseases/infections thanks to the joys of my lupus-y immuno-compromisation! Ick!). Take a look at my most fantastic mail:


That's right! I took my sister's advice and made a custom order to moo.com! (There's even blog evidence in my post nut and bee and moo) . I absolutely love the quirky little messages on their packaging! I feel like this company pegged me spot on! I totally wish all my order receipts rejoiced over our new found best friend status! Plus they use awesomely sustainably sourced paper for their products and are uber high quality. One of my postcards does have a dark green ink splotch on it, but otherwise I've had a fantastic online print experience! Woo woo moo! (to quote my sister - after all she is aiming for my blog to change its name to "scientific culture...and leslie").

So I'm sure by this point you're totally wondering what I ordered right? Well if you've got stealthy ninja investigative skills you could stalk my online moves and figure out, or just be held in suspense for my next few blog posts...your call...

Cycles

Because everyone needs more random giant teddy bears in their life:

Rainbow Pussy Willows

Betz White's fantastic rainbow pussy willow tutorial really caught my eye and I couldn't help but share it with everyone! Seriously! Look how amazingly simple and ascetically pleasing this is:


It really makes me want to go hunting for perfect branches to use! And hey, if you're not the felt ball type I bet you could substitute little pom poms! (and you all know how much I LOVE pom poms!) Once again the whole "I live in my parent's basement" thing puts a bit of a kink in the works since there is certainly no room for any more of my design/crafty endeavors. But a girl can dream can't she? Come on mom! Who needs a kitchen when we could have a rainbow pussy willow arrangement? Wait...you don't need to answer that....

Bonus fact for lindsay - I have had this post scheduled since march 10th so don't think that you sending me a print out of this as "item two" in your pen pal-ery lead to this! In fact it just reassures the fact that we are, indeed, the same person. Hooray for pen pal soul mates!!!

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...

Nothing like gummy bears to perk up your living space

I saw this fantastic gummy bear chandelier on Make: a few days ago and couldn't resist sharing it! Darling little acrylic gummy bears are sure to add depth and interest to any space right? Take a peek:


The colours are amazing but what a ton of work that would be - convenient that you can buy one from jellio online then! And if you like that you should check out the cool giant gummy bear lights they have, or this gummy bear rug! May be candy crafting revolution begin!

Fishies!

Every summer my mom buys feeder fish for the pond in our backyard to munch on the inevitable mosquito larvae population that tends to reside there. Once the season is over, she leaves them out there and they turn into sad little fish-sicles once the water freezes over. One fall I had the genius idea to save the poor fishies and put them in that old aquarium we had in our shed and move them into my room! Well...."that old aquarium" turned out to be super gross so I just bought a new aquarium instead! Hooray!

I soon realized there is a reason those feeder fish are so cheap. They are gross and poo everywhere and once they reach sexual maturation they get gross little white dots all over them that look like they have ick (they also really look like little convex mucoid pinpoint bacterial colonies too...but that's the geek in me talking). After a few years they actually got ick (which I couldn't really diagnose since they had spots on them to start with) and they all died (even my darling sucker fish steve *sob*). I decided to start fresh and leave the mosquito controlling feeders to their icy doom and get guppies instead (and a new sucker fish I named "stevette" since he was much smaller than the original). That was about three years ago. Another thing I've learned? Guppies don't have a very long life span.

The other day I noticed some rotting fish carcasses stuck on my filter and figured it was time to get some new guppies! (Don't worry - even though I suck at feeding my fish...seriously....like ever...stevette is still fine). Off to the pet store I go! And? They don't have any male guppies for sale. Wtf. My fish population isn't going to last very long with only new females! Luckily jim's boss has a plethora of baby guppies and was generous enough to give me a chocolate ice cream bucket full! Success! I have fishies again! I even cleaned my fish tank (which percy very much enjoyed). Take a look:


How lovely! Too bad stevette is so camera shy (he's hiding behind that rock) but I really like the test tubes in the corner there! What a great addition! And just so you know, I've got really good at feeding them. Once a day and everything! Go me!

**Update**

Yes - Today is my sister's 29th bday! Happy birthday les. Can't wait for your interpretive dance 30th birthday next year! Hooray! Also wishing my dear friend lucas a wonderful 23rd. Birthdays for everyone!

Friday Find: that vintage

This week's find is another shop I discovered amidst a morning in the etsy chat rooms. Sophie Hill, a fanatically quirky Australian, makes wonderful laser cut nature inspired accessories out of Tasmanian Myrtle timber for her shop that vintage! Take a look:


I honestly can't even decide which one I like best! Her shop is so amazing and stylish! If shipping wasn't so expensive I'd be tempted to purchase a whole boatload of goodies! Maybe we should all put an order together and split the post cost! Any takers?

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?

Jumping for Joy!

I snafoozed this from just something I made's blog:

It was just too darling to pass up - and so true! Your comments (and awesomes) make my day! Thank you to all my lovely followers and readers for supporting me and my blog! <3

I also just realized that I missed my half-year blogiversary! As of March 9th, I've been blogging for 6 whole months! Hooray!

New Magnets too!

After feeling ridiculously ill for way too long, I decided to try to push the flu/dizziness aside and tackle a few items on my to do list! So with the towels and sheets in the wash, I was ready to make some of my new button sets into magnets! Hooray! Behold the photographic evidence:


Oh how lovely! Now all my sets are available in magnet form in the shop! There was much better lighting than the last time I tried to take pictures of my new sets too. Wonderful! It was curious how I managed to get the photos done so quickly and then realized why that was....here's a hint:

Oh stinkums. Those are some cute little feet sticking out of that blanket. I couldn't resist the under blanket peek:


So cute! If only he wasn't so evil! Now I just need to try to schedule my picture taking around percy's nap times! Theoretically that shouldn't be too hard since he naps like 18 hours a day...but you'd be surprised. That cat is pure evil. Pure adorable evil.

Coolest wall art ever!!!

Bringing a whole new meaning to portrait art, the folks at dna11 combine genetic technique and print to make sweet dna art pieces using your very own dna! Amazingly cool! And it even looks neat:


They're available in a whole range of colours too but that classic black and white is extra appealing if you ask me. Heck, if it wasn't so ridiculously expensive I'd have one of these in an instant! Well when those imaginary lottery winnings come my way you'll all know my first splurge...

Articulate Matter

Nothing says "awesome" better than sculptural squid web comics! Justina Kochansky crafts delightfully entertaining images of sea creatures in all sorts of quirky scenarios on her site Articulate Matter. Here are a few of my favourites:


Crap those are cute! She's even got a flickr site which showcases all of her works too. And if that isn't enough - some of her sculptures are available to buy in her etsy shop! Wowee! Talk about an imaginative and talented lady! I hope these images add an extra dash of awesome to your day just like they've done for me! Which ones do you like best?

Buttons Galore!

At last the pictures of my new pinback buttons are complete! (After I sorted and organized them from their massive nom-tastic pile). Now I just need to sprinkle them into my etsy shop over the next few days hopefully resulting in ample views, hearts, and sales! Woo! Take a look - it's certainly clear to see which set is my favourite (and my mom's too! She's sporting them on her coat right now!!!):


Pretty much every time I try to take button pictures I think, "Boy - do I ever need to get/make another lightbox", especially after struggling with the pin's inconsistent lighting and uber shininess. Ack they're challenging! But overall I'm really happy with the new designs and imagines and thankful to my sis for all her wicked brainstorming! I'm also hopefully going to put some of my pins up for sale at the art gallery in town! Extra exciting!! Now I just need to tackle the rest of my etsy to do list! Oh and turn a bunch into magnets and add those to my "custom magnets" listing. All in good time...I hope...

Friday Find: Argenta Collaberative

This weeks find celebrates the fantastic geekiness residing within every one of us! Behold - Argenta Collaberative, an etsy shop selling cross stitching patterns, felt goodies, and perler bead creations all with a geeky touch of awesomeness. Here are few that I'm particularly fond of:


Sweet, colourful, and totally unique - this shop has something for everyone (well...probably not...but everyone I know anyways...). Just one more reason why I think the world of etsy is fantastic! *sigh*

Nom Nom Nom

Nom nom nom! What yummy buttons! Damn, that cat is adorable!


But you know what this means? My buttons are finally complete! Hooray! Time to restock the shop with all my sold out sets (microbes, scientists, love robots, and mustache kitties) as well as the sweet new ones (geek wear, lab ware, mushrooms, tea, and rain! - veg to come later in limited edition form). Now I just need to find some time to photograph them! Exciting!

I've got some other big plans for my pinback collection...perhaps another giveaway? Hmm...we'll see...

For the love of yarn!

Oh you tube. What will you come up with next?



Sort of makes me wish my yarn balls unraveled this easily...

Pinback Peek (6 of 6)

Time for the final round of pinback button new design adventure! I have special limited edition plans for this set too! Take a look at the veggie line up:


My dear nutritious friends radish, eggplant, and carrot join the button set club! So cute! But this set won't be available like the other buttons in my shop, and instead is going to adorn a new item instead! I designed these little dudes to be showcased on a farmer's market tote bag! Haven't found the perfect material to make them from yet, but I'm thinking light natural cotton (so extra durable and washable) with a pocket or two for added convenience. I'm really excited to see how this project turns out and hopefully sales will reflect that as well! What do you think?

Terrarium please!

I've been wanting to make a terrarium for quite some time now - and no better way to kick start a project then with two lovely tutorials from poppytalk and poopscape projects! Hooray! And in all honesty, they don't even look that difficult! And they look so cool:


You just need the following items:

- glass container (complete with lid)
- pebbles (also knowns as "drainage rocks")
- charcoal (activated = best)
- soil (wonderful dirt)
- and plants! I'm really drawn to the moss one (I love moss!)

As an added bonus you can even make (or scavenge) little goodies to add some visual interest to your mini plant world! And if crafting isn't quite up your alley, you can always purchase some terrarium miniatures - in fact etsy has a ridiculous selection! I'm trying to decide on which little house is the cutest at etsy's the little red door (I have a gift certificate for there I won back in december too)! So excting!

And just in case you doubted my moss loving ways - here's some photographic evidence! Here I am checking out the darling little sporophyte and gametophyte generations of some moss on a spirit lake walk with my sis in the charlottes last june! Yup - that's some dedicated moss love:


Now spring/summer just needs to get it's act together and arrive so I can do some moss hunting! Which also means road trip!! (since kamloops' semi arid desert ways aren't good for ample moss selection). Hopefully by that time I'll have a kitchen again and there will be a lovely counter to house my terrarium (and a kitchen sink to water it for that matter)! Yay! Only a mere 4+ months to go! Anyone have any ideas on where to get a cool glass container?

Pinback Peek (5 of 6)

Bring on the science geekery with round 5 of my pinback button design sneak peek! A perfect addition to the "scientific culture" line of adorableness - behold: Lab Ware!


Extra cute anthropomorphic tools used for advancement in science! We've got bunsen burner, glassware (including graduated cylinder, erlenmeyer, and beaker), and my personal favourite (who everyone I seem to show has no idea what he is) micropipette (with lil' buddy epindorph tubes)!! How charming! I'm really hoping this set is popular with the scientist crowd, since that is the niche market I was originally aiming for when I started my shop (hence my shop name...and banner....and items). But I am pretty lousy at guessing which sets will sell best. So I guess only time will tell...

Simon's Cat

Just in case you haven't seen this video yet...



Simon's cat is pretty much the cutest cartoon kitty on the internet! And if you've enjoyed this one there are six adorable videos to fill up your morning! Enjoy!

Friday Find: Fleurografie

I came across the charming etchings of this Belgian graphic artist Ronald Ceuppens in an etsy chat room! His little crowned bird avatar drew me into his Fleurografie etsy shop and also happens to be my favourite piece! Take a look:


He has whole collections of works based on different animals and often adds little pops of colour making his works spectacular and original. I'm especially fond of his larger etchings in his deer series! I would love to have a few framed pieces of Robert's work someday...perhaps when I actually have a house...minor details...

Pinback Peek (4 of 6)

Time to take a peek at new set of pinback button designs that were yet another idea of leslie's but also conveniently fit into that "alice in wonderland theme" I was discussing in round 3. This set is especially close to my heart, since I have a long time love for the beverage - Tea!

Adorable little tea pot, tea bag, and tea cup to enjoy! I decided to do a little bit brighter of a background on these ones to add some visual interest to their simple (but still uber cute) designs. That little tea pot makes me feel so happy I just can't help but smile when I see him! And bonus fact - it happens to be my dad's favourite design too (next to the squid from my sea life set)!! I told him he'll have to wear his new purple-y pink tea buttons to work at the pipeline and be my tea pinback spokesman....not sure if I sold him on that though....I'll have to keep trying...

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:

Pinback Peek (3 of 6)

Hooray! Let the pinback buttons adventures continue with round 3 of 6! (recall round 1 and round 2). I thought I'd break up the "I chose all of leslie's design ideas" trend with one I came up with! Mind you - I didn't come up with it all on my own - the idea grew out of a post I was reading on etsy's blog "the storque" on potential upcoming trends for the etsy world! It forcasted that alice in wonderland themed items will be all the rage as far as crafty trends go, so I figure I'd jump on that bandwagon and do some mushroom buttons! The fact that I've sold out of my mushroom and gnome mycology finger puppets quite a few times further supports my decision on selecting these adorable fungi - and hey, mushrooms are awesome!


This set includes everyone's favourite ascocarp (morel) joining his basidiocarp cousins for the dikarya subphylum reunion! The middle momma and baby fungi are psilocybins (magic mushrooms) and the cute spotted red guy is a classic toadstool (amanita)! Whee! Science is so much fun! And so are these buttons! What are your thoughts?

Hello March!

With February quickly behind us it's time to celebrate the month of march and the potential arrival of spring! (Er...I mean the wonders of leslie's birthday?! Yeah...that's it....). We can also celebrate national crafting month (thanks jacob), a very lindsay inspired new playlist (I love you Adrian Glynn!!), and the march installation of my kittens inspired by kittens inspired calender:


Here's to hoping this month of full of me successfully sticking to my goals and to do lists! And maybe even get those etsy sales up while we're at it...sounds great! I'm also enjoying this free march desktop calender from wild olive! Nothing beats super cute wide set eye smiles - even if they're on a mossy rock. What march things are you excited about?