Great prices and variety at Wilde-Ideas.com

Happy Friday! Today's resource is Wilde-Ideas.com, a virtual wonderland of crafty supplies that I lucked upon recently.

Prices: Wow. 'Nuff said.

Variety: Wow again. There are only a few supply sites I've found that have that same I'm-in-artsy-crafty-heaven, kid-in-a-candy-store effect as walking through a big B&M. This is one of them.

Experience: I placed an order several weeks ago and was very happy with the service and experience. Used a debit card in their on-site checkout with no problems (they also offer Paypal checkout) and my goodies arrived in perfect shape about a week later.

Shipping: Okay, so this might be a matter of opinion, but I love that I can choose actual shipping. It's great for small orders and hard to find these days. I haven't placed a large order there yet, but they do regularly offer shipping discounts that would be great for bulk purchases, like the current 99 cent flat rate deal.

Anything else? Like some of the other online craft supply sites, there are affiliate possibilities. I'm not an affiliate member yet myself, but I do see potential for blog and website sidebars.

That's it. Go check it out!

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Save your styrofoam - make your own plastic!

It's Friday, I'm back, and I'm pretty excited about today's find - the ultimate trash-to-treasure Instructable on recycling styrofoam into a useful, craft-worthy material.

I'm building up a nice little styrofoam collection for just this purpose and can't wait to try it out. According to the tutorial, the soft, malleable result is perfect for sculpting or pressing into molds - it takes detail very well and cures to a hard plastic.

Toxicity. This is definitely a grown-ups only project that should be done outside or in a well-ventilated area. The process requires acetone - a fumey paint-stripping chemical easily found in the paint aisle at hardware stores. You don't want to breathe this stuff and should probably avoid skin contact. I'm a safety freak, so I'll probably geek it up some more with safety glasses, dust mask, and gloves for extra precaution against splashes and fumes. (The acetone evaporates as the plastic cures, so your finished piece should be safe.)

Color. The instructable writer used white styrofoam and got white plastic. I have no idea if colored styrofoam will retain it's color after you add the acetone. The tinted stuff is relatively rare anyway, so it will be interesting to see if acrylic or dry pigment color can be kneaded in before curing.

Mega possibilities. I'm thinking this would be great for making plastic cameos, charms, and gems from jewelry molds. Or ornaments or sculpture, you name it. Check it out here and let me know what you think. I'd love to see any plastic treasures you make!

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Blog neglect and creative block, part 2

Okay, so here's what I had in mind. At some point I may start a new blog to talk about creating these new things, and I may transfer posts over when I do. But for now I'll be working on this one. It's been a while, but I've maintained a regular blog before with a small but regular readership (not just me entertaining myself, I promise). (Well, it was partly me entertaining myself, because that's pretty much how I get myself to write. But there were other people reading too, I swear it. :D) Anyway there's no doubt that I can write and post something interesting enough to... um, keep you interested I suppose, and manage do it maybe once or twice a week.

Of course time is an issue, especially right now with the kids off from school for the summer. So I'm going to try to commit to just one teeny tiny post per week. I can probably handle that. ;) For now I'll most likely just be cherry-picking from my resource folder. Then as I find more time or start receiving submissions I'll add in other interesting bits like indie artists and their products.

Now here's the part I'm no good at. I will try to stick to a certain day per week. Bleh. No I won't. Ergh. Yes I will. To be honest, I have a terrible memory for such things, so it's entirely possible that I might completely forget to post if I try to wait for a certain day of the week. "A post this week" is far more likely to occur than "a post on such & such day." But I'm going to try anyway. Who knows, maybe I'll end up being a (gasp) *daily* blogger once again. Or at least something more regular than hit-and-run bursts every couple months. ;D

That's it for now. I'll meet you back here next week, say sometime late-morning-afternoon-ish on Friday? (What time of day is that anyway?) And if I forget completely, you can send me nasty letters and I won't even get mad. (Actually, I would probably be pleased to find out that someone really is reading besides me, because I'm silly like that sometimes. So send me nasty letters anyway, will you?)

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Blog neglect and creative block, part 1

Hello again! My apologies for the lack of posts the last couple months. As I said in my first post, my primary reasons for starting this blog were to share my collection of resources, feature some favorites, and have something to DO while I work through a massive creative block. While I'm delighted to say that I've made some progress with the creative block, sadly I've been terribly neglectful with posting. Luckily I had just barely gotten started with this and certainly hadn't done any promoting yet. So chances are good that I'm the only person who has actually read those few posts. :D

Creative block, artist's block, writer's block... whatever you call it, whatever variety affects you, I think we can agree it's all a big pain in the rear. Mine has not been so much a lack of ideas or even inspiration, but a drought on satisfaction with my own work. I guess you could say this is part and parcel of something bigger and more profound for me - a need for major change, without quite knowing what or how. But I suppose feeling blocked is always a profound experience for people who rely on creativity for their livelihood and/or well-being, particularly if it's a long, struggling battle. (Definitely feels like battle.) Maybe it's impossible to come through something like that and not be changed by it.

So here I am making things, reading, browsing my favorite spots, and taking great care to note what I'm most drawn to, what feels right. It's like starting back at square one: what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do? So far I've managed to rediscover the basics - materials and techniques I'm drawn to and love using. As it turns out, they're very different from what I had been doing, and not so different from things I enjoyed as a child, whether on my own or helping my mom or grandmother. Duh me.

I'm going to take a break before this gets too long, but I'll be back with the rest in a bit.

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