Pack Rat is PLUGGED IN

Hello! Oh it is SO good to be back from that unexpected hiatus. After reading over my blog from yesterday, I realized that it wasn’t clear what being sweaty and smelly has to do with getting internet. The answer is nothing. I was hot and sweaty, and in a pretty grumpy mood at that, because I was working on refinishing a flea market piece yesterday and it didn’t come out the way I wanted. I’ve had a dime store paperback rack for years that was a bit of a rusty mess. I kept assuring my boyfriend it was going to get a fresh coat of paint and yesterday, in a surge of industrious empowerment, I went to it. Well, turns out that I had enough primer but not enough red paint. After a few hours in the blazing sun, inhaling paint fumes I was a little peeved to find this out. But, then joy of joys, rapture of raptures, my cable guy showed up and that brings us to now, the glorious moment of writing this blog. Sorry if I’m a little chatty, it’s been a long time.

But, on with the show. Today I found a fun site called C00kin9 6y Num6er5. I have to come clean with you about something. The truth is I hate to cook. I know, I know, I’m a bad crafty lady to not love the art of food preparation. I don’t know if you all have noticed yet, but that’s why you don’t see a lot of recipe sites on this blog. Usually if I’m cooking, it’s because I’ve run out of frozen Amy’s dinners and have to scrap something together from the hodgepodge of stuff I have in my cabinets and fridge. Well, Cooking by Numbers seems like it’s going to make this process infinitely easier. The site starts with a check list of kitchen staples. You indicate how much you have of each ingredient and voilá! It provides you with a list of recipes that involve said ingredients. Useful and it’s fun. I like trying to stump it. I have bacon, tinned tuna, baked beans, and a bar of chocolate–Go!

It is official! I am back online. I am hot, sweaty, and covered in paint. I don’t have a clean piece of clothing to my name. I smell like an old sock. BUT I’M ONLINE AND GOD IT FEELS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! More to come.

Pack Rat killed Mr. Body in the study with the lead pipe

As many of you know, Pack Rat has recently moved to New Yawk, and I along with it. Getting set up in the new pad has been a bit of a struggle, but who has ever heard of an easy move? As I have mentioned before, we are having a hard time getting internet and with it, cable television. So thus far, I have been watching mostly PBS and the Olympics on static-y antennae TV (which will end this coming February. I’ll spare you all my soap box rant about that whole thing). Well, the other night I caught a documentary on flea markets strangely titled A Flea Market Documentary. What a gas it was! Rick Seback from WQED narrates this road trip through the cluttered tables, decorated tents, and gaudy displays of America’s flea markets. For anyone who loves this kind of second hand shopping, it is a must see. Even though some of the vendors have a significant amount of teeth missing–and even though there’s enough black face memorabilia to make you squirm in you chair–and even though the camera crew goes as far west as Pasadena, CA to the Rose Bowl flea market, but only goes as far east as Pittsburgh, PA (I mean come on, New England has, like, the granddaddies of flea markets), this documentary is totally fun. It’s not only great as a vicarious shopping experience (the rugs from Afghanistan are breath-taking), but it’s also shows an awesome cross section of the people that make up this nation of ours. Like an anthropological study, it gives clear snap shots of all sorts of different people, such as the retired identical twin brothers who sell vintage coke bottles and cans, or the Italian perfume vendor who sings to pretty women to attract them to his booth. And, as a nice surprise, Frank DeCaro makes a cameo as he checks out some of the flea markets with a (boy?)friend. (Old school The Daily Show fans will remember DeCaro from his “Out at the Movies” segments. Yuppier people will know him from his NY Times reviews.) Although the release date claims that it’s original release date is 2001, the camera work and the fashion all suggests to me that the footage was shot in the early nineties. And to me, early nineties fashion in and of itself is worth the price of admission. Even though I may sound a bit mocking here, I sincerely enjoyed it and recommend you all scour your local listings to see when it will be on a PBS station near you. Who knows, maybe I’ll use their route to plan my next road trip?

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(photo courtesy of WQED)

Pack Rat makes new friends but keeps the old, because one is silver and the other’s gold

When I was a wee Meghan, every weekend I would take my $5 of allowance to the closest, tragic little mall that was more of a glorified parkade. There I would spend hours in a home goods and novelties store called “The Hoot.” Towards the back of the store, right as the fancy-pants, fragile home goods (wind chimes, hand made ceramics, etc.) gave way to the over priced kids’ toys, there was a small, rotating display of porcelain animal figurines. Each animal was glued to a small card with the price printed next to it. Over time, I accumulated a Noah’s ark of these suckers. A crazy cat lady even back then, I had plenty of kitten figurines, dogs, a bunny rabbit, a frog, a horse, a unicorn–the list goes on and on. My favorite was a cartoon looking little dragon. He had a baby blue body, pastel pink wings and spots, and an iridescent glaze that made him sparkle like secret treasure. I use to twist and turn him in the light, marveling at his opalescence and gently touching his sharp, delicate wings. It’s eighteen years later, and I’ll be honest, I still love that little guy. That’s why I can’t get enough of these glass creatures created by Pipyr. Shinier than porcelain, more classy then a figurine glued to a card, and reasonably priced ($25 for my favorite, the Boro Flameworked Dragon), Pipyr’s fantastical creations are the kind of thing that I would love my adult treasure chest to be full of. Bonus: you can wear her menagerie as pendants. (Sad epilogue: As I live my life in a Three Stooges-like choreography of clumsiness, not surprisingly I broke off the fragile wings of my porcelain dragon soon after buying him. That’s $8 I’m never going to see again).

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Pack Rat is still alive!

Ahoy my little chickadees! Oh how I have missed you. We have unwittingly moved Pack Rat HQ into a building that, apparently, is NOT internet friendly. So we still are awaiting an Internet hook up. Meanwhile, I will beg, borrow, and steal the e-web where I can. Here’s a quick little blog for you Boston folks. The vendor applications for the coming year’s Bazaar Bizarre in Boston are now available at http://bazaarbizarre. org/boston_ stuff/app2008/ . Always a fun time, this year the BB will be held on December 7th at the Castle, allowing for more room and hopefully shorter (or even no) lines. A great place to get your wares peeped.

Pack Rat don’t know nothing ’bout history, don’t know much ’bout biology, but we do know that we love crafts.

Here at Pack Rat we looooove books (coming soon, Issue #6, Reader’s Delight) and can admit when we have a crush on a fictional character or two. And one of the most enduring, lovable ficitional characters of all time is that original crime fighter, Sherlock Holmes. More satisfying than all the Law and Order type franchises combined, Holmes stands the test of time as the wiliest, slyest, most clever mastermind in literary history. And as we all know, intellegence is incredibly sexy. So we were psyched to come across these coasters inspired by the Arthur Conan Doyle books. Only $10, the set of 8 by Green Chair Press picture a liquor spritzer and this quote from Watson, “With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner.” Thus begins Watson and Holmes many adventures together. Deliciously nerdy, these are a must have for any book worm.

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Photo by Green Chair Press

Pack Rat’s campaign platform is nothing but crafts.

In this highly charged election year, everyone is gearing up for a major change in the way our goverment does business. Show your support for a candidate, or start your own grassroots movement for yourself by making a vector political poster through Vectortuts’ Photoshop tutorial. Design so good, you could get your dog elected. (Editor’s note: Please do not get your dog elected.)

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Photo by Vectortuts

Pack Rat has seen birds do it, bees do it, and even educated fleas do it. So let’s do it, let’s fall in love!

Yeah! another fun recycle craft (our favorite kind) coming at you. This one is courtsey of Elsie Marley. What to do with those large tin cans of soup/Juicy Juice/etc.? Why not turn them into handy around the home organizers? Just whip up a couple of minimalistic cozies with the tutorial that Marley provides. And she offers an assortment of embroidery patterns for both kitchen and art studio designs. You’ll clear your counters and workspace in no time!

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Photo by Elsie Marley

Pack Rat is on a Mexican radio

You know we love all things graffiti here at Pack Rat. Public works of anonymous art? That’s right up our ally. Blogger Carina from Feeling Stitchy is branching out into the semi-nafarious realm of graffiti art by taking her embroidered messages out to the public. Not quite comfortable with the idea of leaving behind something permanent (and thereby potentially offensive) Carina “tags”with embroidery stitched on to removable, sticky sheets of paper. She seems to berate herself a bit for not having the courage to do something more permanent, but we here at Pack Rat believe that random acts of creativity are courageous enough in themselves. Stitch on, sister!

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(photo courtsey of Carina)

Like Kurosawa, Pack Rat makes mad films…okay we don’t make films, but if we did they’d have a samurai

Today I am craving the Aussie designs of Tabitha Emma. Like the love child of Edward Gorey and Martha Stewart, Tabitha Emma is able to make the most lady-like objects (cupcakes, cups of tea, and little birds) have an edge. I am especially taken with her Embroidered Cupcake Brooch.  The prim and proper pinks and florals are shaken up by graphic, bold, black outlines. Feminine and fierce at the same time. For $10 USD I’ve got to have it!

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