olive oil & gocco

Olive oil is magical. Tonight I found out that instead of wasting money buying expensive gocco screen cleaner, I can just use olive oil. It seriously works just as well, probably better. Many months ago someone suggested this online and it sounded to weird to me. I wish I could remember who/where this suggestion came from so I could thank them but I just don't remember. If it was you: thank you!! You've saved me time, money and screens.

foodie magnet set

foodie magnet set
Originally uploaded by space oddities

I finally received the parts I was waiting on for the new button maker! Yay! I spent some of my night experimenting and making magnets and mirrors. The set you see here is 3 magnets made from dictionary definitions - Epicure, Gourmet, Delicious. Perfect set for the foodie in your life.

I also made a batch of mirrors with pretty wrapping paper and will begin adding these designs to my shop this week!

I heart my new button maker!!

buttons, holidays, xmen

I haven't accomplished much outside of working a LOT of hours at my day job this week so far. Last night Chad and I made lots of buttons and prepped a ton of images to make mirrors and magnets when the supplies come in this week. I have Friday off so I'm hoping to spend some of the day with the gocco and button machine.

I was looking at this forum thread on etsy by meringueshop yesterday and it really got me thinking about the upcoming holiday season. Last year's holiday season on etsy was fantastic but it could have been better if I had been more organized and efficent with keeping my shop stocked with inventory. This thread along with a few other holiday related threads on the etsy forums have given me some good ideas/inspiration on how to get my shop ready for the upcoming months. It's crazy how fast it's come again!

Okay well I'll leave you with this xmen pin set. It makes me happy. I know that it's the obvious choice, but I really love Wolverine. He's superawesome.

stuff

I am still waiting for mirror and magnet parts but I got started this weekend making 3" buttons with my new machine. Here is my first creation, a recycled book cover button featuring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. I've already listed this in my shop I love how it turned out! The bigger format buttons are a lot of fun.


















The yard sale was a bust. We were all kind of crabby, got eaten up by mosquitos and only made twenty dollars. The only good thing is that we got rid of a LOT of stuff. At the end of the day I left a ton on the curb and took the rest to goodwill. That alone made it worth it!

new toy

Last week I finally found a 3" button maker for the right price. I just received it last night and I'm super excited to play with it and make lots of new things. I love my one inch button maker but with this bigger format I can make buttons, magnets, Keychains and mirrors and use larger images/artwork and more text. I am waiting on some supplies to come in and once they do I plan to have new items including pocket mirrors and large magnets in my shop next week!

Well, the weekend is here again. Today my sister-in-law and I are having a rummage sale. I hope to unload some of our massive book collection along with a lot of other random things. Rummage sales are great in theory but what this really translates into is an entire day out in the sun chasing 4 kids and negotiating with strangers. Wish me luck!

xo
andrea

my girl, fun finds, reality

IMG_4036
Originally uploaded by space oddities

My baby girl is going to be two in a couple of weeks. Where does the time go?? The picture here shows her frolicking out near my grandpa's farm last weekend at the wedding.

The weekend was alright. The road trip portion of the weekend was a little bit hellish but everything else was okay. The kids got to play outside a lot, see family and eat lots of sugar on Saturday. On Sunday we killed time in the morning at a little flea market/street fair and ended up buying a few fun items including a 1970s Barbie Airplane toy thing. It closes up into a carrying case with a handle and just looks super rad. I need to get a photo and share the awesomeness. The lady was only asking $3 so I couldn't pass it up. Chad got a Battlestar Galactica lunch box and a Pac-Man lunch box. Nice.

Well, what can I say. Things are changing at the Thorson household! Chad is quitting his full time gig! Starting this weekend he will start hunting for a very part time job and start working full force to make Space Oddities and Atom Kid more of a full time gig. We really have no idea what this will mean for us financially and have no idea what exactly we need to do do make it work. We have been brainstorming to try to figure these things out and make some simple first goals to see if we can pull it off. The only thing I know for sure is this: I miss my husband. I'm super excited about the possibility of spending more time with him and as a family. Since my almost 4 year old was a baby, Chad and I have been working opposite shifts to be home with him and our daughter, me full time during the day at a phone company and him full time nights and weekends (6 days a week) at a bookstore. I've had enough and so has he. We are ready for a change and have just decided to go for it.

Now if only I could quit my day job, too.

Someday? I hope! But for now I will just be grateful for every extra moment I can spend with my family.

Magnet sets galore!

These magnet sets are some of the results of my recent crafting sessions

Batman!


















Super Mario Bros.


















And some cuddly forest friends for good measure!


















I also busted out my sticker maker and made some super cute sticker sets featuring handstamped birds on fun dotty paper. I'll post pictures soon.

All of these items will be listed in my shop this week. I am on a making kick! I wish there were more hours in the day!

The weekend has just begun and already I'm SO TIRED! Not a good sign. Tomorrow we're waking up early and driving up to Alma, Wisconsin for a wedding. It's only a few hours away but road trips with my kids always take ten times longer than they are supposed to.

I really wanted to see Batman at the drive-in tonight but there was just too much to do. Hopefully we can pull it off on Sunday night. Instead I did laundry, got the kids sort of packed for the weekend, and found some 'fancy' clothes for them to wear to the wedding. As far as me...I have no idea what to wear. I think it's going to have to be super casual because it's going to be hot! As super casual as a wedding will allow, anyway.

well, that's all I've got for tonight. I'll leave you with a few fun new things I've made this week.

Fruit of the Oak Picture Frame













Alphabet Magnet Set














Lord of the Rings note card












Have a lovely weekend!

Geek.kon 2008

I just got word that I'll be vending at Geek.Kon 2008! I'm thrilled to have snagged a spot for year two of this convention after it's awesome first year success in 2007. What is geek.kon, you ask? It's a 2 day convention in Madison, Wisconsin featuring "all things geek." It's a FREE event so if you're into sci-fi, anime, gaming, or anything else one might consider geeky, don't miss out! Last year's con drew nearly 2000 attendees and even managed to appear on CNN. How cool is that?!

This year I plan to bring pins, magnets and note cards featuring images saved from damaged comic books, screen printed shirts and cards with fun original images (think robots and unicorns!) and lots of other Space Oddities goodies! I'm hoping that Chad will be able to take the weekend off to vend with me, but even if he can't I will definitely bring along some of his awesome goodies.

This year's con is on September 27 & 28.

!!

thirty

When I was an angst-ridden teenager I most seriously believed that I would be dead before I reached 30. I thought that the Bell Jar was dreamy. I never imagined getting married or having children. I thought I'd just enjoy things for awhile - travel, see lots of good shows, meet people. I was totally ridiculous - sort of dark and brooding yet optimistic and goofy.

Well somehow I managed to turn 30 this week.

It was a nice birthday. I had a delicious dinner with my husband and kids. I ate cake. I got some nice gifts including flowers and unbelievable handmade chocolate from the amazing Gail Ambrosius. I didn't stick my head in an oven and barely feel a year older. Life is good.

In other news, I finally registered a domain name for Space Oddities. All of the most obvious names were taken so I'm going with www.space-oddities.com. For now this domain will just go directly to my etsy shop. Eventually I hope to develop a lovely site that will be an all encompassing stop for everything space oddities. But yeah, that may take awhile.

I would leave you with a photo of 30th birthday treats but my computer is being wonky and does not want to let me upload it. Maybe tomorrow?! Good night!

slow going

I was cleaning and organizing my basement tonight, getting prepared to revamp the whole area and make a studio space. I have already found so many supplies and scraps that I forgot about. Love it! Of course finding stuff to play with made my organizing a little less productive, but I did make some fun things with my findings.

Here are a couple of cards I made tonight. This one was made with an image saved from a vintage childrens' book



















And this card features a removable flat magnet. A card and gift in one! The image is from a 1960s sewing book.



















I found tons of flat magnet supplies and lots of blank cards and card stock that I had completely forgotten about. I also have loads of fabric that would be great for a few simple projects. If I keep digging this stuff up I'm not going to get much done in the way of organizing, ha!

self induced sleep deprivation & the ultimate duel

I've been getting back to my bad habit of weird sleep patterns. I haven't slept for more than about 3 hours at a time lately and it's beginning to wear on me. My agenda for tomorrow night is a good night's sleep! Tonight I fell asleep when my kiddos did and woke up around midnight to start working on some things. I ended up making some buttons, listing some items in my shop and getting orders ready to ship. I feel like I accomplish a lot more in the quiet hours of the night. I just wish I didn't have to get up at 6am every morning!

I made another batman vs. superman pin set tonight because I dig them the most and think they would make for the ultimate duel. I really like both of these superheroes so I have no idea who I'd choose to win in an actual duel. When I was in Texas last week I watched Batman Begins with my brother-in-law. It was amazing! I loved Christian Bale in the role and I think he's my favorite Batman yet. And Tom Welling (Smallville) makes a pretty awesome Superman.
















Well, enough about superheroes, I guess I should get some sleep. This weekend I plan to gut my basement and set up a dedicated studio space. I'm super excited and hope I can accomplish lots. I'll take pictures when I've got it all sorted out. I'm very excited to finally have a sort of organized space for space oddities!

road trip etcetera

Well, I just wrote a long post about what I've been up to the last week but it was just too much I couldn't even stand it! So here is the last week in review...the long story short, the way I like it:

*road trip to Austin with my dad

*lots of fun food, good record stores and did you realize how huge the Whole Foods in Austin is? Sheesh!

*house hunting, job searching, busy busy craziness

*two queasy flights & I was reunited with the fam in madison, long talk with husband, decided we are staying put in Madison for now

*wishing my car wasn't 1200 miles away in my brother-in-law's driveway

*fun 4th of July celebration with my brother's family. my kids dig fireworks the most

*successful yard sale but I need to have another for sure

*made some vintage comic book sticker packs, aren't they pretty?




















Well, it's 2am and it's back to reality (work!) for me tomorrow. Have a lovely week!