pssst

A few years ago I put out a gocco print edition that featured three colorful and boldly patterned snakes. I thought they looked good but I had that edition collect dust on Etsy for two whole years without selling a single one! I remember vowing never to try to sell something with a snake on it again because they don't seem to have any commercial appeal.

Too bad I love snakes. Yes, even the really big ones, the ones that hang from tree branches all creepy and the ones with venomous fangs. So, I broke the promise to my practical self and started printing up another snake design. This one features a harmless green snake with a secret and has just slithered into the shop.

My friend Liz suggested that the snake cards may be an unexpected success since that famous adventurer, the Bronx Zoo Cobra, has used his charm to gain tons of Twitter followers and has surely done a lot for the popularity of snakekind.

This post is gross.

When Justin and I started thinking about buying our first home I read somewhere that renting in general was better for the environment than home ownership. What a buzzkill! So, being the contrary type and the earth-loving type, I have been on a mission to be the exception to that generalization.

Our first act of defiance has recently become my favorite. We purchased an Earth Monster brand compost bin with a green subsidy from our town (way to go Salem!) and have been waste-reducing and good-soil-making ever since. Well, truthfully, the bin did get off to a smelly/fly-infested start. We were making lots of rookie mistakes (not stirring the bin & adding too many veggies and not enough dry material) and I had just about decided to quit composting.

Our compost stopped distressing us when I realized that Hodge and Yoshimi's used bunny litter could be just what the bin needed to balance itself! This was a huge revelation. Bunnies are one of the few pets that makes waste which can be composted because they are herbivores and their poop is nutrient rich for plants! The Carefresh recycled paper pulp and hay we use as litter is perfect for composting too! Contrary to what one would expect, adding the litter to the bin has made it smell so much less and I can't tell you how happy we are about that. The compost bin is located outside our bedroom window and you can well imagine what a rank stank like that can do to seduction attempts. This is especially true when you mistakenly suspect your mate is the source of the stink. Oops!

In conclusion, if you have a bunny... compost it's waste and save your marriage!

Pot-o-clover postcards for a wedding

I spent today printing these simple save-the-date cards for my friends Christine and Nate's Irish-themed wedding. I have never made a custom design for something so important as a wedding before so I made the process harder than it needed to be. I was very critical of all my design ideas and ended up dreading the project a little because I was so afraid of letting my friends down (even though they were very easygoing about the whole thing).

When I finally buckled down, committed to a design and began printing, I enjoyed the process as much as ever.

A moment ago, I went to deliver the cards to Christine and Nate and they were so pleased that I have to laugh at myself a little for being a hyper-critical neurotic. The experience turned out so nicely that I hope to have the opportunity to do special custom prints again sometime!