Etsy Window Shopping and Down With The Man

Unless you've been living under a rock (it's ok if you have actually, I've been trying my best to do so), you may have heard about the May Day mass strike of Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart and other workers protesting the companies failure to provide enough basic protection and compensation for putting their lives on the line. I'm not someone who gets particularly political normally, but considering my current employer is in the process of battling with our union to stop additional hazard compensation and take back our most recent raise, threatening to lay off workers if we don't allow it, I've been paying a little more attention. [note: I will more than likely be safe if the layoffs occur, don't worry. Still sucks though.]

I have to admit, I'm one of many who, if they need something, will automatically find my way to Amazon. It's easy one-stop-shopping. Also, as someone with a more limited budget, I know how hard it is to make the decision to switch to solely small-business buying when it often means shelling out more of my hard earned cash. Environmentally sustainable, small business shopping is often a privilege of the more well-off- there's a reason Walmart, Amazon, etc are so massive- so I wouldn't fault someone for shopping at those stores. For me, personally, I've just been making more of an effort to look for other ways to get what I need at the prices I can afford before heading to those places, easier now that I have more free time.

One area where it's super easy to avoid large companies is definitely gift-giving and for that, I often head on over to the well-loved Etsy. As a fellow Maker myself, I like the idea of supporting fellow creative people and I feel like sending your loved ones something handmade just makes it that much more special. There are a ton of ways to support creative individuals trying to make it through this tough time and I encourage you to seek them out if that's something you're able to do but since I've been enjoying a leisurely window-shop on Etsy as I sit on my porch on this gorgeous spring day, I thought I'd mention Etsy specifically and share some cool stuff I've had my eye on recently.

Without further ado/depressing news:

found HERE

Guys, I love a weird stud earring. I find it better to wear studs to work and I just like them in general. The shop Obsessories has a TON of crazy options but I've been thinking extra hard about the ones pictured above (though these moon ones are a close second). *

found HERE

More earrings. I wear some everyday so it's totally reasonable to have a ton, right? This Enterprise pair is too cute and the shop Geek Me A Break has a ton of other super nice nerd jewelry- Star Trek, Star Wars, Zelda, Doctor Who... all classily rendered in precious metals. *

found HERE

I bought these yesterday in "light aqua" but the shop OnceAgainSam has a lot of other fantastic items, from wood laser cut things, to fiber art. They already shipped too, which is impressive. 

found HERE

Alright, last pair of earrings. I couldn't help add these obviously because BOWIE CATS. The shop Danielle V Designs, has these adorable Bowie cats in dangly earring and pin form, but also an adorable assortment of prints and other accessories. *

found HERE

Since we're on cats, LOOK AT THIS CAT EGG BROOCH. I have a deep love of breakfast foods and cats and pins so this really speaks to me. The shop, I Like Cats, has a ton of different items with, you guessed it, cat-related themes. I love the art style behind all the pieces. *

found HERE

This shop sweetandlovely has a ton of super cute and feminist-leaning bits and bobs but I am definitely in love with this pale blue dot/Carl Sagan pin (though this pin with my boy Goldblum is a close second). Definitely a worthy addition to my ever-growing pin collection.* 

found HERE

On a completely different note, here's a cross stitch pattern! If I don't draw them up myself, I get a lot of my patterns from Etsy and this one from the shop KentimaByKonna has been on list for a long time (if only I could finish the million other projects I currently have going...). She has a lot of other geeky and book related patterns but I think this one would look perfect on that blank piece of wall near our door...*

found HERE

Another cross stitch pattern! The shop Stem Stitch only has this solar system bundle and individual planets/sun/moon prints in their shop but I've had this pattern in my favorites for a long time. I think it'd be a really cool art installation to have them all in individual frames arranged on the wall.

found HERE

Do you like brains and also uteruses? Well have I got an Etsy shop for you! BirdBearStudio offers a wide range of ceramic brain items like bowls, trinket dishes and planters like the one above. And just to mix it up they also have the odd uterus knick knack as well. I don't have a logical explanation as to why I really want at brain planter but we all know the mind is not always logical.*

found HERE

Last but not least, this teardrop abstract landscape stained glass piece from CedarAndSpruceStudio. I had a hard time choosing one thing to showcase, all of their designs are unique and beautiful. How pretty would this be hanging in front of a window on a sunny day?!*

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I guess we can leave this at a top 10, otherwise I'll be here all day. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

*I've never bought from these shops but they all have a lot of sales and great ratings!

Don't Panic

As the stay-at-home orders continue and futures remain uncertain, many of us are getting more and more stir-crazy and impatient. A normal human reaction I suppose- we don't like change and we hate being told what to do even more, right? There are also many of those dealing with being out of work and having their small businesses closed which can obviously pose more issues than extreme boredom. However, throwing a potentially dangerous temper tantrum is only going to make matters worse (and by matters worse I mean even more people sick/dead) so maybe it's time we accept the fact that we've packed so many people onto this big wet rock that pandemics are a Big Freaking Deal.

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...I'm sorry, I went past my mental-health allotted 10 minute max of news time today. 

To be honest, I've been finding the stay-at-home orders easier and easier as time goes by. I've been working hard to figure out what really bothers me about the new guidelines and I realized I'm more upset that my routines have been altered than temporarily not being able to do the activities themselves (for the most part anyway).

That being said, while most of us love our routines, humans are pretty resilient and can get used to just about anything if they let themselves. I mean, Stockholm Syndrome exists as an extreme example of the lengths the brain will go to be cool with any given situation and while it's probably not great to join your kidnappers on a crime spree Patty Hearst style, I think you can get used to chilling at your house for a while for the good of the entire planet.

I know I'm being flippant here. People have lost jobs. Parents are at home trying to work and also teach their kids. Healthcare workers are literally putting their lives on the line to deal with this. Not everyone has a safe home to be in right now. Not everyone's mind is a safe space right now. I know I'm one of the lucky ones, that though my job has drastically increased my changes of getting sick, I do get to spend a lot of my time out of my house, then come home to someone I love surrounded by things to keep me busy. I'm mostly focusing my ire on people who are blatantly ignoring cautions from doctors and health professionals for the simple reason that they are bored, or that they don't care, or that they don't think covid-19 is a big deal.

Oh don't worry, this is the last I plan to rant. I had to get it out of my system but going forward, I want to- and need to- continue this blog as it was intended- a sort of record of ways I'm improving my mental health, a repository of things that have been making me happy lately. 

What has been making me happier is that I've set about making new routines. Like I said earlier, it's those upset routines that threw me off at first but I'm gradually getting used to and even appreciating my new normal. Walks outside are even more looked forward to/enjoyed. My creativity in cooking is increasing now that I don't rely as heavily on recipes because I don't swing by a store after work to pick up ingredients at-will. I'm realizing how lucky I am to already enjoy a number of stay at home activities.

Going forward, I think it'd be fun to make starter posts for the activities/crafts I like to do that keep me sane in both "normal" times and in a pandemic. This is a great time to start something new and I like the idea of potentially helping someone start a new hobby. I've also got in mind a growing list of serotonin-boosting books and movies... 

I'll end this rambling rant or whatever this was and see you soon with more anger/stress free content. Stay smart and stay safe my dudes.

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Australia

It is a somewhat unfortunate (if not kinda hilarious) trait of mine that I find it difficult to be serious about Serious Things (war, famine, etc) but can be very Serious about Trivial Things Of No Consequence (such as couch cushion placement and put thE DAMN DISHES IN THE DISHWASHER RIGHT AWAY DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN THE SINK THEY'RE INCHES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER FOR CHRIST-SAKE). It is because of this that I had a significant amount of difficulty starting this post. 

So I just did that I guess.

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So yeah, Australia is ON FREAKING FIRE guys. It is not ok. Terrible disasters (man-made and otherwise) ravage this planet constantly and they of course all affect me but as someone who will openly weep when David Attenborough tells us what a shit job we're doing taking care of all the animals and shit (watch this series if you wanna feel ashamed to be human and also if you feel as if you don't have enough sympathy for walruses. Its on Netflix, you're welcome), I've been thinking about this a little more recently. I don't usually, if I'm honest, but I think that's because when Bad Things happen, its easy to dismiss it because what can you do about it? And don't we have enough personal crisis to deal with? 

This time though, my sister recently shared with me an article about the Animal Rescue Craft Guild in Australia that's crafting various pouches, nests, Koala mittens (!), beds, blankets, and more for the many displaced/rescued animals. Their efforts have spread to other countries and this is the kinda thing that 1. makes me feel better about people and 2. makes me feel like there is actually something I can do, even though I'm far away and don't have much in the way of expendable income. 

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JOEY IN A POUCH JOEY IN A POUCH JOEY IN A POUCH OMG OMG OMG

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Bats... unsettle me, but so do most people and I don't want them to burn up in a fire either.

Anywho, there's so much more to say about this but since many someones have already done a better job of doing that than I could possibly do, I've collected a handy link list for you. You're welcome. I'm off to go rummage in my craft supplies.

LINKS!

If your response was "what's happening in Australia now?" read THIS

If your response was "I want to know more but words are too hard and my brain hurts" go HERE

If your response was "tell me more about these animal crafts" go HERE or HERE or HERE

If your response was "finally, something to do with all these bat wraps I made!" go HERE