Recycling CD's

Sadly, 90% of my blog posts never make it to my blog. I write part of the post in my head and never find the time to write it down. But this week, I am writing one down.

I received a cool clock made out of a CD by The Golfing Dolphin. It has a U.S. Army motif and the hands of a clock on one side of the CD. On the back, you'll find the battery-operated guts of the clock. That got me started on thinking about CD's and the various ways I have used them.

I have nailed them to things outdoors, such as mailbox posts, because the shiny side is so reflective, it helps drivers see obstacles at night.

I have also used push pins to place a row of CD's along the basement stairs. They will not take the place of a light or night light, but they help draw attention to dark corners and angles in my home.

There have been other uses, but I can't think of them right now. And that's the main reason why I don't write up 90% of my blog posts. I want the complete information included, not some half-assed post that sort of dwindles in mid-sent...

Whatever.

dj runnels

It's official.  Our Zibbet store is now the Life's an Expedition yarn shop.

I have long had a theory that people who knit and crochet do not want to wade through a lot of non-yarn listings when they shop.  Yarn is confusing enough, because the artisan must decide on color, fiber and gauge all at once, all the while thinking about what this new project will be.  So having books, bookends, beads and a lot of other hoopla on the page can be distracting to someone in search of yarn.  On the other hand, I like for knitters to see the neck warmer I made out of Nightscape on the same site as my listing for Nightscape yarn.  So Zibbet is predominantly yarn, surrounded by my fiber projects.  And I am more than happy to name which yarn I used in a project, if I still have it in stock. 

The other part of my theory is that people who do NOT knit or crochet must feel annoyed to see so freaking many yarns on a page when they absolutely cannot use the stuff.  That is why Life's an Expedition on eCrater is becoming the site for old books, maps, sheet music and other paper ephemera. Here, I walk a tightrope.  Many of these items appeal to readers.  Many appeal to scrapbookers, card makers and mixed media artisans who are going to gleefully hack the thing to ribbons. I speak out of both sides of my mouth when I write each listing, since I want to show paper artisans the creative potential without alarming the readers who consider books sacrosanct.

Hope you're all enjoying the holidays.  As always, this blog is read-only, but each blog entry appears on Facebook, where you may comment to your heart's content without having to proclaim me as your friend.

Edited August 5, 2011.

Peace,
dj runnels

Whattaya get when you blend Istanbul with Bangkok?

If you blend a couple of vintage maps of those cities, you get something like this. Part of Istanbul is on the left. Most of the banner is Bangkok. Neither map was quite right for my needs, so I merged them. It turns out that this banner is too large, but I will tinker with it some more. The books have moved to eCrater with a focus on new, used, vintage and rare books, plus old maps, bookplates and vintage ephemera for collectors and artisans who use such materials for scrap booking, card making, decoupage and other papercrafts.

Revised 3-19.11.