Treasury Wednesday: I'd shank a kitten for a slice

Until a couple of years ago, I never actually liked watermelon, so it was always canteloupe and honeydew I got at summer gatherings. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that canteloupes don't exist in America. Technically, they're muskmelons. We just call them canteloupe. Actual canteloupes are only available in Europe and Australia -- where I think they're called rock melons or rockfruit.

Funny old world.

There are some neat, weird things in this treasury, really different and cool. A beautiful collection of Etsy's real best, not Etsy's bestsellers.

'Muskmelon Pleasures' by Scribblegoat

Music and food-inspired designs, in rich melon oranges. What could be better?

Bailey Woodland Whi... baileybowls $19.00	Gallop, Canter, Fox... WildLifePrints $20.00	Upcycled Linen Cant... thehighfiberco $27.00	Acoustic Guitar Per... fionadesigns $20.00
Buy 3 get 4th FREE-... songsparrow $	she heard music eve... corid $20.00	Traditional Turkish... Kitty016 $16.90	Wood Fired Bottle a... earthfired $50.00
ballet russe BalletArt $18.00	Cute Pincushions f... BelleCoccinell... $33.00	Goldfish Cracker Ne... BitOfSugar $12.00	Marble Coaster (Mus... j2studios $9.00
Creamsicle Melon Mu... KarinLorenc $20.00	Sweet Slices an Ori... ArtByTemple $165.00	Citrus - Fine Art p... honeytree $30.00	Cantaloupe Bowl-Set... vegetabowls $72.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Treasury Wednesday: Why was I doing wintry stuff in June?

I guess I figured I might as well follow the front-page style for once. Hmm.

I pay a lot of attention to writing the treasury description when I do treasuries under the Scribblegoat account. Sure, only 8% of Etsy clicks come from internal things like Storque and Treasury, but if I'm doing it for fun anyway I might as well toss myself a bone in the form of free advertising.

'Bleached Vanilla' by Scribblegoat

Along with its crisp but soft greyscale and cream palette, this treasury is all about interesting photography. A visual feast of clear images, well-used props, intriguing cropping, unconventional angles, and perfect close-ups.

romantic collared s... ghostofagipsy $49.00	50pc 4mm bicone gla... craftisland $1.00	White Sequin Mini S... partydressesby... $42.50	Hammered Quartz Ear... heartsabustin $28.00
cast iron sign wood... OldNewAgain $42.00	Earrings In Silver ... casamoda $28.00	The Fox - Original ... BearFollowsCat $60.00	Buttercream Handspu... LondonHandspun $25.00
Small Moon Jellyfis... fieldstudy $19.70	S A L E - Spilt mil... norsola $40.00	Crochet Baby Girl B... inhstyme $12.00	WHITEFAWN felted t... VitalTemptatio... $40.00
40% Anniversary Sal... Maddenphotogra... $15.00	SPECIAL ORDER for K... thecottagepath $	HOT and COLD 8x10 s... bethberg $35.00	Cluster of Fresh Wa... LillyputLaneDe... $58.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Work-Life Balance and a Schedule Change

As I may have mentioned, I've started selling copywriting on both Etsy and Elance, and ... well, it's going pretty well, actually.

The Mafia-themed social media game didn't pan out -- I don't think they liked my character-dialogue audition piece, but since I submitted it without any real idea of the mood or character type they wanted, I don't feel much sense of failure over this -- but I'm currently writing product descriptions for Keys of Paradise, a fantastic spiritual/magickal supply shop, with fantastic herbs and candles and such, run by some fantastic people. Apparently they consider my descriptions fantastic as well, because the job morphed from a fixed-rate 400-descriptions deal to a long-term by-the-piece to a continuing semi-permanent article writing and editing gig.

Unfortunately, this means I've been neglecting the Etsy shops ... but I'm working at learning how to balance the two better. M and I have been making a lot of steampunk assemblage jewelry of late, since I'll be a vendor at Upstate Steampunk in Anderson this year. And I need to contact the awesome purveyor of hair accessories DaringlyDonna, a lovely local who we keep running into at Hancock's Fabrics, about swapping custom hair flowers for teapot earrings.

So we're not dead on the jewelry front! Just slowed while I find the proper equilibrium of the two creative businesses, and I should be finally adding more steampunk like I keep saying I will.


Available here.

Speaking of slight slowing: Since I'm doing so much paid writing, and since I was glancing through the lengthy list of MWF webcomics I read and realizing how much competition those days have got, I'll be switching the blog to a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule starting next week. It's only one less post per week. Also, Treasury Wednesday is becoming a monthly feature, first Wednesdays of every month. I get some traffic and some lovely comments, presumably from Google alerts, on those posts, but they're quite time-consuming and I'd like a better balance of written content, considering, y'know, I'm a writer and all.

And a day-brightening fact (for me, anyway): As I was building the updated APA citation guide for our tech college's Writing Center, I was modeling citations for weird stuff (historic photographs of unknown subjects, letters from university archives, that sort of thing) and it occurred to me that one of the dresses from the Met's "Orientalism in Fashion" web exhibit would be a great example. This led to me finding that my June blog post "Multiculturalism in Victorian Accessories" is, as of Tuesday, the seventh Google result for the terms "Victorian clothing Orientalism." And that, my friends, is sweet.

Treasury Wednesday: The unsubtle beauties of lipstick red

I've wanted to try on a deep, lush, '40s-esque crimson lipstick since I was thirteen -- and no one will ever let me. Longtime readers will not be at all surprised that makeup is a world I treat with half-dismissive, half-deferential wariness, being not any good at it myself, so I'm not entirely sure why.

This is a tribute to one of my favorite character archetypes: The no-nonsense, sensual modern femme fatale. I like stories where efficiency is made into something that's desirable and hot. Some say this makes me a bad feminist.

My favorite item is that fantastic shoe photo in the first slot. There's a lot of great photography in this treasury, vintage-inspired styled shots and nice crisp white backgrounds. It was a fun challenge balancing all the shades of red across the columns, too!

'I Like to Make You Suffer' by Scribblegoat

Sultry slinky dresses, strumpet-red lipstick, heels and red wine and vixenish behavior. Sexy handmade and vintage-inspired designs.

Hello Ladies- Signe... AliciaBock $35.00	Teardrop cocktail h... hellostrumpet $25.00	Signed print, &quot... Lovinda $33.00	Small Lipstick Trac... Samskiart $40.00
K.Antoinette Signat... kantoinette $40.00	Irony - Natural Red... pdxblacklipsti... $9.00	The Red Stockings E... ArtByO $15.00	3 Lipstick Soaps F... sweetsoaptreat $3.50
Silk Mistress Knick... MistressCollec... $45.00	Skirt Altered Red P... bytheway $25.00	Red Leather Hartman... judeslore $160.00	Framed Real Lipstic... BentheButterfl... $16.00
Killer Heels... Lar... emmakisstina $200.00	Handmade 1940s dres... UnforgettableY... $89.00	Lipstick - Velvet C... thetwistedcow $19.00	Vintage Black See T... ragdollady55 $

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Treasury Wednesday: Everyone loves some tentacles! Also birds.

Part of a series of treasuries I did which took the most overdone motifs in jewelry and found fresh interpretations of the same themes. I wanted to find sellers who were putting time, effort and creativity into working with popular motifs, instead of adding a jump ring and purchased chain to the Hobby Lobby pendant and dropping the result on Etsy with a copyright notice. I realize that sounds very negative; it was less motivated by anger than by a desire to emphasize the many, many real designers who are fashion-attentive but fresh, and whose exquisite work is available on Etsy.

I did red poppies (remember those Ohai I'm Modern Art enameled pendants?)and then the swooping swallows that are absolutely bloody everywhere. This one took the longest; it's so hard to find anything tagged "swooping bird" or "swallow" that isn't one of the same two tattoo-inspired components. The second photo is my favorite; it's the classic shape, yes, but the bird is made of an upcycled measuring tape. So clever! The yellow tee is actually the same tattoo silhouette, but I liked the clever inscription so much it had to go in.

'Motifs, Reinvented II: Swooping and Soaring' by tangopig

Highlighting both newer shops and older ones exhibiting truly unique artistry, a series of fresh takes on old standbys -- no two alike. In this edition, interesting and labor-intensive takes on the ubiquitous flying swallows that speak of hope and freedom.

A custom pair of lo... orlydesign $95.00	Blue Bird Necklace ... yasminellis $64.00	Yellow Blue Stripe ... johnwgolden $12.00	The Tattooed - Wool... woolville $26.00
Content- Bird print amberalexander $18.00	Tree with Birds - V... ModernDecals $30.00	Uzumaki-- Original ... TheStrangeBird $275.00	Blue Bird Glass Pen... APOCALIPSTICKA... $20.00
Yellow and Blue Lea... jewelrybystace... $7.00	Rio - 8x10 redbeandesign $25.00	Violet Swallow Quee... TheNightjar $20.00	Itsy Bitsy Bluebird... DeliciousHobo $13.00
orange/blue/green s... SweetTrash $17.00	Happiness is Perfec... onegearclothin... $18.00	Tattooed Sky- Blue... FACEtheWALL $20.00	Vinyl Wall Sticker ... urbanwalls $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Then I decided it was time to honor those who have rethought the Vernian octopus. I was hoping to find that octopus stamping (yes, the one you're thinking of) somewhere in a really unique and different design, but I couldn't.

'Motifs, Reinvented III: Spectacular Tentacular' by tangopig

Highlighting both newer shops and older ones exhibiting truly unique artistry, a series of fresh takes on old standbys -- no two alike. In this edition, unusual uses and re-envisionings of the long-suffering steampunk octopus.

Ascension. octopus ... schin $18.00	Leather Octopus Eye... SnappingDragon $36.00	Gorgeous Sea Green ... skybirdarts $130.00	Ghost of Cthulhu Mo... ArtsiBitsi $40.00
Reversible Recycled... TrilbyMade $25.00	Monster Coffee Mug ... wildcardpotter... $28.00	Octopus embroidered... audelaine $15.00	SPRING SALE JAPAN D... Leviticus $54.60
Green Octopus Art P... thedreamygiraf... $18.00	TOUCHED In The HEAD... blobhouse $50.00	Small Glass Octopus... EmergentGlassw... $30.00	Celery Squidy Neckl... PurpleToedGyps... $24.00
SALE Giant Pacific ... TileGoddess $20.00	Green Octopus- 8x8 ... karingrow $18.00	Cephalopod Sconce jtopolski $150.00	Jade Octopus Neckla... noadi $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.