Craft fair chronocide

While today wasn't a complete bust -- I made a sale and got a commission -- it was largely customer-free. Much like the Little Shop of Horrors in the fall, the LoudSpeaker Festival Market lacked promotion but it also ran up against a beautiful day and a half dozen other events, including the torch's return to Victoria ahead of the Paralympic Games and the annual Be A Tourist in Your Own Town promotion.

On the other hand, it was as good a place as any to focus on creative things so I whipped up the felt "Hello" badge that I've been meaning to for a long while -- I will likely start selling these as custom items on Etsy:

I also set myself a goal of writing 100 haiku while I was there. I got to 38 and, while they are not all keepers, there were a few good ones and a few more that could benefit with some polishing. I'm back tomorrow (come visit me at the Victoria Event Centre on Broad St!) and suspect I will get to 100; I'll share more tomorrow.

On a side note, look at these wonderfully-creepy "Beaster Bunnies" from another member of the Monster Etsy Street Team!

Haiku Miscellany is ready for the world

The project I was working on that I didn't want to talk about until it was done is DONE! I think I annoyed hubby because I wouldn't even tell him what I was doing, but the tactic works so I may employ it again.

Anyhoooo, Haiku Miscellany is a collection of 25 haiku poems acompanying 25 photos of 25 of my creations from Creative Miscellany. It's available through Lulu.com in print or as a download.



Next on the to-do list: Craft Market this weekend, followed by spring break, then I can set up my Zibbet shop!

the start of something....

... not sure what yet... but something.

(And, if you are interested, Frazz is for sale in my Etsy store.)

Why I love haiku

1. Because I can write haiku about almost anything (go ahead, challenge me; other people have) in very little time.
2. Because it amuses me.
3. Because it amuses others.
4. Because I can use it to make a teeny bit of money (Coffee haiku book; haiku for the masses stuff on Cafe Press)
5. Because I can use my haiku skillz to win stuff (just today, I won a double guest pass for the Victoria Fringe Festival by submitting the haiku below to the Times Colonist Fringe feed on Twitter (@TCFringeFeed))

after ten minutes
my gut hurts from the laughter
unexpected smash!

heat and other headaches...

OK, so it's officially hot today -- we broke a 100 year old record in the Capital Region. Yay for us. In case you were curious, the great basement bed experiment was a minor (but reversible) fail. Basically, sleeping sideways is not an option and we also need more padding. Noted.

The heat is good for one thing, at least: the garden is spewing forth plenty of green things... (below: scarlet runner beans, peas, zucchini)

At work, the panic over moving desk locations* means I brought home two bagsful of stuff that had accumulated in my drawers and on my desktop and I am by no means done... but there is progress. Also, I may have an actual location for my workspace now -- my assigned space has been virtually moved around the floor-plan at least 6 times since we began planning. (Actually we didn't get to plan; a planner was brought in with little knowledge of what we do or how we need to do it.) On the plus side, the digitization equipment has been set up in its new home in the basement. It will be quiet (there should be few if any, "Hey, what are you working on?" interruptions) and there is even a phone so I could be reached at that workspace -- how novel!

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P.S. My zombie haiku (yes, I was lazy and recycled one) was a runner-up over on BoingBoing.

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*nearly 2 years ago we started talking about moving... last month we were told "after May 18th" but were not given any firm date or any boxes in which to pack things ... last Friday word came down that we would be moving on June 5th. Today, there were still no boxes. Sigh.

Haiku for the Masses

My latest CafePress project: Haiku for the Masses -- my haiku on t-shirts, mugs, and all that other stuff....

I am starting with my popular "Moving On" zombie haiku and I will expand from there. Hopefully the offbeat nature will win over shoppers.

If you have suggestions for haiku subjects you'd like to see on a t-shirt, mouse pad, messenger bag or mug, let me know. I may even hold a contest...