And now for another edition of "Be Splendid...

...in which Louise and her very good pal, Siri, visit their very first Steampunk Convention....




I have a confession to make. I love steampunk. I have also spent months lurking on various Steampunk sites and reading many blogs. So, when I read months ago that Steampunk Canada would be mounting a convention in the Toronto area, I, of course, would take the opportunity and have to go. And, I would have to take my good friend Siri along. She, of course, agreed to this venture.




Although, neither of us could do the whole weekend, we opted for the Sunday portion of the program, of which there was still quite a lot going on. We started with the intriguing "Steampunk Around The World: Steampunk Beyond Victoriana" led by Jaymee Goh (silver-goggles.blogspot.com). It was an engaging panel which encouraged much discussion by Goh and the audience members in attendance. For more information on the subject, a recommended website by Jaymee Goh is Beyondvictoriana.com.  Another website that also might be of interest is Multiculturalism for Steampunk .




The Mad Science Fair was fun and quite mad (of course!); I'm not quite sure who won the "Cup", but all the creations were marvelous; from the modded Ghostbusters pack (above) to the mummy-wrapped chicken, which was later to be unwrapped (below).




This is where I and my dear friend, Siri, parted ways, so I implore you that you will have to read her account of this marvelous Sunday as well on the Turtleduck blog .




I attended 2 more panels; "Steampunk Costuming On A Budget" led by Stephanie Lalonde and J.M. Frey. Very sound advice was given as one can be very overwhelmed by all the Steamy accoutrements available. My favorite being (and I admit, I am paraphrasing here) to go slow; start with one good piece and build around it. Very sensible advice indeed.

As every good adventurer, time-traveller, Airship Captain, etc. should have their own journal, the next panel I attended was "Bookbinding- An Introduction To Non-Adhesive Bindings" led by John Morgan. I learned so much in that one hour about simple bookbinding that I have actually made 3 books since then. Thank you, sir!




This day came to a perfect ending with a performance by Professor Elemental ( I could not help myself and purchased his CD and have been listening to it ever since.).

For it's inaugural year, I would have to say the Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition was a success. My only thought as I was leaving was "is that all there is?!". It had definitely left me wanting more. I had a splendid time and I look forward to next years event. And, I hope to be able to spend more time at it.




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50th Anniversary of the First Man in Space Pt.2...

...and more! Once more this gloomy rainy post election day has been brightened by an excellent piece of mail. This time from Tomsk, Russia.



A nice surprise to receive such a lovely print as well.
Brilliant!



"Keep calm and carry on", as they say.
Now, where is my cuppa brown joy?

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I Am The Urban Spaceman, Baby...

"I see Earth! It is so beautiful! "
-Yuri Gagarin, Cosmonaut



This month marked the 50th anniversary of the first man in space; him being Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who completed one rotation of the Earth in his Vostok spacecraft on April 12,1961.



14 artists from The IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists) Postal History Boutique group created a special mailing to mark this historic event at the suggestion of one of it's members. There are still one or two cards to come, but April isn't over yet.

Over and out, Space Cadets!



Follow this link for film footage of this historic event:

http://m.boingboing.net/2011/04/12/video-footage-of-yur.html

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Doctor, Set The Way-back Machine For..."

1979. Or maybe 1980.
Tom Baker was still the Doctor. His companion was the very capable Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and "Doctor Who" was on TVOntario hosted by Science-Fiction writer Judith Merril (who I once had the privilege of being stuck in an elevator with.). The series was always a year or 2 behind what was being shown in the UK and the internet did not exist in the capacity as it does today (Feeling old yet?).



On my most recent move, I had rediscovered a pile of these fanzines in a box. I had made them with my brother and a group of like minded friends. We were all very young at the time; barely in our teens.

There were 4 issues created (although issue 3 is missing; hopefully to be found in another box somewhere), all painstakingly typewritten and Letrasetted. All, with the exception of #4, were photocopied and then hand-stapled. I even found a "fan-letter" that was written stuck in-between one of them. I sat back and flipped through them delighting in the enthusiasm that dripped from every page. Not great writing but heartfelt for something we cared about and took seriously at the time.

For me, I think I have just re-opened the Pandorica.




Addendum: I found I couldn't post this blog without mentioning how saddened I was about the passing of Elisabeth Sladen last week. She wrote the book for every one of the Doctor's companions who came after her and will be missed.

When Mail Goes Astray...

I received this lovely package back after it's 'round the world tour, courtesy of the Royal Mail. It was sent off to a mail call way back in February. As it never arrived at it's destination and had missed the deadline (I knew this, as the person who was running the Mail Call had kindly been in touch and was keeping me informed by email, of course!), I just resigned it to the Lost Mail Fates.

As you can see, it arrived home safely yesterday with some lovely new stickers ("no such address"). Upon closer inspection, I had indeed forgotten to write a number in the postal code portion of the address.

I guess the saying "measure twice, cut once" goes for sending mail as well.

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50th Anniversary of The First Man In Space

By the way, today marks the 50th Anniversary of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Now that the "blackout" has been officially lifted by "mission control", I will now post these lovelies that I have received. Feast your eyes, folks, on this one by Carla:



More to come...

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I Do Like Surprises...

I definitely thought this day was going to be a total write off this morning when I found myself in the Pediatrician's office with the Boychild, who woke up with a sore throat. Fortunately, the day has gone rather more smoothly than expected due to the mail arriving with this lovely mail-art postcard from "Thom" of the "rainy Pacific Northwest":



It's amazing how something so simple can lift ones spirits.

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Mystery Mail.

After 2 days of just junk mail being delivered to me, I finally got a very cool piece of mail from a mystery someone, who is part of 50th Anniversary of the First Man in Space group mailing (or the "Spaced Out" mailing as I like to call it.). I know I said we were on a "blackout" on this one until April 13th, but a small taste of one of piece of work I've received couldn't really be too harmful, especially since it is mystery mail. And, it was too good to keep to myself. Sooo, here it is;



Notice, it's marked as non-machinable, which makes me wonder if it was hand cancelled? It's all a mystery.


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Listen To The Mail

Yesterday was truly a mail-art extravaganza as I received 4 pieces of excellent mail. Unfortunately, I can only share 2 of them due to The Postal History Boutique's "Space" mailer "blackout", which will be lifted April 13th. So, you'll just have to wait until then, but I promise, it will be worth it.
Onward.

From Lin:





And, a thank you postcard from Nikki who writes the blog "For The Love Of Cats~~Mail Art":





By the way, the "This Better Not Go in The Trash" stamp was on the back of Lin's card.
Wouldn't dare!
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Mail-art and Postcards and Letters, Oh My!

I admit, I am hooked on receiving mail.

About 10 months ago, I joined an online group called "Postcrossing". The idea behind this is very simple. You sign up; then request to send a postcard to a random address that you are given somewhere in this big, ol' world. When it arrives at the said address, the receiver of the card registers it and then you receive a postcard in turn from someone else, but not necessarily the person you sent your card to. Being one who loves surprises, this really appealed to me and I found myself sending a postcard or two (or three) a week to someone in the world who I knew through a random address given to me and their profile page, when I requested it.
And, the best part, is that I would receive postcards in return. Really great postcards. With messages. Messages telling me about what was on front of the card; about the day they were having or a book they might be currently reading. And, great stamps. But, to be honest, I started looking for something more ( I still "Postcross", by the way.).

My next foray was when I had joined a pen-pal group on Steampunk Empire, where one would write letters in their "Steampunk Persona". It was quite the creative writing challenge, which I had enjoyed very much. Unfortunately, it was short lived as I can imagine it became more work then most who had joined realized. Pity.

Back in December, I was fortunate enough to find a link to the International Union of Mail-Artists site through the Ning network. I had read "Good Mail Day" (by Jennie Hinchcliff & Carolee Wheeler; an inspiration and epiphany for me.) and I had done some mail art in the past ( Many years before social networks were popular; I had been "invited" to participate on a few occasions.), so I had some inkling what it entailed; you need to send mail to get mail. So, I signed myself up and started sending handmade collaged postcards to anyone who "friended" me. I have sent off things to "mail calls" and have done group "mailers" (I have never received so many great Valentines in my life!). I must send out, on average, 5 to 10 pieces of mail and postcards a week (between that and Postcrossing, which I still enjoy.). Sometimes more (my mail out last week was 14 cards and then some.) The postal person at my local loves me.

But, don't get me wrong. The internet and social networking I will not knock. After all it has made the world smaller. But, receiving "snail-mail", to me anyway, still makes the world more human.




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Two Hands Good

It's amazing how much we use our non-dominant hands. Really.
Finally, after a bit more than a month off with tendinitis in my left hand, I can finally get back to the things I enjoy the most and will try guitar playing in the next week to see how that well goes. But what I was truly amazed at were all the little things I couldn't do because of it, like typing on my computer (sorry, one fingered typing does not cut it), opening a bottle or a jar, using a can opener (not electric), working on my assemblages and collages (a personal disaster I might add), cutting things with an exacto-knife or a kitchen knife (dangerous at the best of times), writing letters (hey, I still need one hand to hold the paper in place, right?), just to name a few things of which really require 2 mitts. Oh, and it was just irritating. Period.
But, that doesn't mean I didn't do anything. I continued my painting class (although making acrylic skins and transfers was a bit, mmm, difficult; fortunately my transfer mojo was working); I even got some mailart postcards/ATC's ready for a IUOMA mailer using my computer, a Wacom tablet and even one using an app on my IPhone (Really!) . So all was not a complete loss. As for my Artfire shop, you know, the one I had been blogging endlessly about? Well, the few items that were going to go in it actually sold (which is good), so I will need to make some more, but since it requires 2 good hands, they will just have to wait. But, I did eventually figure out an easier way to work out the shipping (also good).

So, there you have it. I didn't abandon you, my 10 (maybe 11) dear readers. I was just on a self imposed hiatus due to circumstance and that can sometimes be alright.


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Today I'm thinking about...

...pizza...that's right, pizza. Windsor Pizza Chef pizza in Windsor, Vermont.



And, without risking of sounding too much like a "foodie", it's one of my and my husband's and the boychild's favorite places to enjoy some really scrumptious pie. Not a gooey pizza at all.


Am I making you hungry yet?

Local lore also has it that it was where J.D. Salinger would quell his pizza cravings. So, if it's good enough for J.D. Salinger, it's good enough for me.



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Blogging from the forest...

Why? Because I can, darling, because I can....



Wishing you all a Happy New Year from a forest in New Hampshire...

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Adventures in Online Commerce: Shipping. I don't get it. (Pt. 6)

This will probably be my last post until after the New Year about my adventures in online commerce.

I've discovered that before I can actually post anything for sale in my "studio/store, I need to have the shipping figured out beforehand. No easy task, I have discovered, especially if all your items are different sizes and weights and I need to have costs for "primary" (one item) and "secondary" (more then one item) shipping. Then there is the added task of also figuring out what it would cost to send it the U.S., as well as internationally. Ugh. Too much to think about. So I decide I'll ask my local Postal person, she knows everything and is always helpful in these matters. And, she is helpful. She hands me a brochure on shipping and tells me I should go to the Canada Post website. Should be easy, I think. But, I discover everything seems to be priced from postal code to postal code. And, priced by weight. And, size. Not so easy or obvious as I hoped. Mmm...I'll definitely have to purchase a scale; then figure out what box size(s) will do; then I'll need to do some postal code to postal code test pricing.
But, it's going to have to wait until the new year...

Happy New Year, all!


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