Pocket Owl Crafts

I finally got around to creating some business cards, so's to make advertising my recycled-jeans laptop bags easier. And of course, if I'm gonna make business cards, then I have to make a website, right? Or at least get my own domain name, and point it to an Etsy account. :) Which is what I've done. Because I'm not nearly dedicated enough (yet) to pay for my very own e-commerce website (which can, apparently, get a little expensive, what with shopping cart software and an SSL license to protect credit card info, and yada yada yada . . .) and really, Etsy is a terribly effective option for selling handmade goods. :) I just had to stick my own domain name on it, so it could look all cute and fancy on the business cards. ;)

Front:

Back:

Overall, the whole shebang took rather a lot of planning and effort. Because my first two or three or six website name ideas were taken . . . and not a ONE of them actually being used for anything! Just sitting there, "parked," being blank-ish web pages. Blegh. (I initially wanted to call it "By the Seat of Your Pants," because they're made of jeans . . . hyuk hyuk. ;) But seatofyourpants.com and all its iterations are already taken. Go figure.) Ah well, the one I finally landed on is cute, and very Me.

www.pocketowlcrafts.com

Check it out! I've only got one item listed so far, because I still need to take super-nice picutres of the rest of the stuff I've made. Then it'll be all pretty and enticing.

I've ordered a handful of the business cards, for giggles and kicks (so I can stop just writing my number on napkins for interested passers by, which I've done a couple times, now), as well as just a couple pens, because they looked so dang cute on the website . . . lol. Here's hoping the printing company is as posh as they say they are, so everything comes out looking nice and professional.

Meantime, here are the pics of the cards I designed. I made them up completely from scratch, sketching them out on paper then creating them in the GIMP.

Front:

Back:

I created this version first, but decided I liked the second version (which I posted first) better, so that's the one I've ordered prints of, for now. Maybe someday I'll do a batch of these ones, too, because I am terribly proud of them . . . ;) But for now I'll stick with just the one design. After all, I have my doubts that I'll *ever* go through even one good stack of cards. But we'll see. :)

New and Improved Laptop Bag, Part 2!

To prove to myself that I could do it, I actually told a girl--who was admiring my denim, owl, laptop bag as she took my information before I donated blood--that I was trying to sell them, and would she like to commission one? She said yes, we agreed on a price (which I've decided was maybe a bit low, after remembering how much time it took to make, but oh well, she'll just get a first-customer discount! ;) ), and I set about collecting the materials for a second bag. It's very similar to the first, right down to the owl appliqué, because it turns out she also collects them. :) I didn't use ties this time, as they're expensive (even from D.I.), and she opted out of that price bump. Instead, I used a rather heavy-duty interfacing, so the bag would still have that solidity. Turns out it might be a little *too* solid . . . but it works, and it's way cute. It's just a bit stiff. :)

I was worried I wouldn't be able to quite duplicate the bag with another single pair of jeans, as the pattern fairly decimated the material, and that was a large pair with huge bell-bottoms. The pair I used this time was an old on of Kyle's, and he's a touch skinnier than I, and doesn't wear flared jeans. ;)

Nonetheless, it worked! :D Not quite as much slant to the leg seam on the bag's flap, but it's cute anyway. :) Besides, each item being handmade out of mostly found

materials, you're going to get a lot of variation from one to the next. :) All things considered, I think it turned out way cute. Love that owl. :D I think on the next bag, the only thing I'll really change is the length of the flap--it came off a bit short, this time.

New and Improved Laptop Bag

I posted a good while ago about the laptop bag I made for my new netbook. Well, it wasn't big enough for my longer trips, when I like to carry not only the netbook and its cord, but also an external hard drive, my iPod and its cord, my phone cord, a book, a notebook, maybe a movie, pens, sunglasses . . . the list goes on. So I made a second, larger bag. :D

Designed around an owl appliqué I'd found at Jo~Ann's

some months earlier, and made out

of an old pair of jeans. The inside's lined with ties, which gives it some extra stability, and a super sleek look. :)

The inside has a laptop pocket padded with a cut-up Yoga mat, and a second floppy pocket on the other side, for random stuff.

Here it is, filled with random stuff! :D

I re-purposed the butt pockets, attaching one to the front of the

bag as you can see above, and sticking a zipper in the other, and leaving it loose, as something of a coin purse that lives in the bag.

The handle is a fairly standard nylon strap, covered in another tie. The pattern used up almost all of the denim from the pants, leaving little more than scraps around the zipper, waistband, and bottom cuffs. The bag itself is probably a similar size to what I would've gotten had I simply cut the legs off the pants and used the top as a purse itself, which I've done once before---this bag is WAY cuter. :D

And, best of all, it's a super easy pattern to repeat, and I *do* plan on selling these bags, if people are interested! :D Just let me know . . . I can also do all sorts of other crafty things, like make a laptop sleeve out of suede (as I did for my brother and his friend), or a custom art portfolio, or whatever suits your fancy . . . I might could dream it up. :D

Time to start biting the fingernails . . . again.

Not that I actually bite my nails when I'm nervous . . . maybe I should twiddle my thumbs, instead? Actually, the main thing I normally do when nervous is distract myself with a book or movie . . .

But ANYWAY. The reason I get to have anxiety for the next several days/weeks/what have you, is that I've just submitted my cover letter and resume to Deseret Book, applying for their summer publishing internship. GAH! Cross your fingers, friends. If this doesn't work out . . . well, I guess I'll have to keep looking. :P But this would be *so* perfect . . . It even comes with a salary. :D

So, yeah. Here's hoping. And praying. And thinking, and wishing, and planning, and dreaming, each night of his charms . . . Oh, wait, different prayer. ;D

Learn Something New--About Cars!

So, the other day I apparently neglected to turn off the lights in my Geo (oh no!), and, of course, it died all dead. :P The next morning I tried to push-start it, mainly because I was curious to see if I could, but that didn't work. Probably because I was doin' it wrong. But as I really didn't have anywhere *important* to go yesterday, I wasn't to concerned. (Actually, I ended up walking around town with Becci, who'd slept in and was late enough for school [especially considering the failure to start the car] that it wasn't really worth getting her there. So we walked up to Subway and back. It was fun. :) )

Anyway, so *this* morning (because, no, of course I didn't think/bother to take care of it last *night,* when people were actually around and had no vital places to go . . .), with many tips from Kyle and Dad (via Skype), I learned a variety of useful things:

1. what the battery charger looks like and where in the garage it lives

2. that there was WAY too much corrosion on my battery's contacts to even get a jump from the Impala . . .

3. how to get corrosion off the battery--a spoonful of baking soda dissolved in water, poured over the mess. Fizzes up like a science-fair volcano, and with minimal scrubbing, comes off like magic. :D

4. how to remove the . . . cable thingies . . . from the contacts and wash *inside* them (or rather, in between them and the contacts, or whatever . . . my lingo certainly leaves something to be desired, still . . .)

And by this time, everyone had to leave, so it was up to me and Meagan (whose turn it was to be late to school . . . these girls. Honestly. *headshake*) to work out the rest and put all my newly acquired knowledge to work.

In the process of all this, I also learned that the bolts clamping those cables on must have been really quite old and corroded themselves, because one of them snapped off as I was trying to tighten it back down. So I had to spend a few minutes scrounging in the random odds-and-ends can to find another nut and bolt that would work. So now the negative side's bolt is a 10mm, and the positive side's is a 7/16. :P Now I just need to remember that if ever I need to do this again, so it doesn't take me so long trial-and-erring to find the right wrench. :D

Anywho, to finish off the adventure, I got everything attached properly again (being careful, of course, to attach everything in the correct order--positive first, then negative, and the reverse when taking them off), then hooked up the charger once more and let it sit for a bit while Meagan and I went in and had some breakfast. Then we came out and voila! The car started! I drove her to school just in time for the beginning of second period, which also conveniently gave me a good 30 minutes of driving around to get the battery all charged and happy again, as I'm supposed to. :)

Now I feel all accomplished. Yay. :D