Well, the 8 year old Okidata finally died. While I loved the damn machine and the control I had over it; the frustration that it left me with after each use was enough. So when the control panel repeatedly blinked *change drum*, which I knew would cost me close to $100, the price we paid for the used printer 7 years ago. I knew it was time.

I did a little research and found a inexpensive back and white brother, on sale for $119, Staples offed it up with an additional $40 off, so at the out set with tax I ended up spending $85. They were then offering an additional $20 rebate. I figured that $65 for a new laser printer wasn’t bad. Also a little poking around revealed that the toner cartridges are available for $60 or so and print about 2500 to 3000 sheets. At full retail that ends up being 2 cents a sheet. Which is much cheaper than an inkjet. While the initial cost is higher, the money spent in the long run is much less.

Also the lines that I printed with a laser printer are much much better than those printed with an inkjet. It’s also better for printing postage from online since it doesn’t run if it gets damp.

The hedgehogs that I finished yesterday are starting to get listed up on ebay. I’ll also have 2 up on etsy and another journal up on eBay later tonight.

I royally screwed up on one of the hedgies. When I glued in the pocket in the back I accidentally glued it 1/4 of an inch in from the edge rather than flush with it. Since I’ve been debating if I wanted to keep/make myself one with this particular leather I’ve decided to keep it for myself.

Here are some pics to keep you busy until you head over to ebay/ etsy.

This one is mine:

I just lowered the price for my Jotter’s on etsy to $3.99+shipping.

I also added a new journal to the ranks of etsy.

I also have 2 journals ending on eBay tomorrow.

Does anyone out there have a website host they would like to suggest? I’m currently using DirectNic, which is good or what I had, but now that I’m making a bigger better site,I’m seeing my bandwidth get sucked form the use, and I’ve gone through a lot of bandwidth in the last few months and I don’t want to need to buy new bandwidth every so often, I’d rather just know that my site is always up and ready to work. I’m also seeing that as I’ve done more research that it can get very pricey, especially if you add to the basic services.

I’d like to get ideas of what people use and have good luck with, send me an email (through the profile section) or leave a comment

Ordered pens, watercolor pencils and my favorite drawing pencils ever.

Moleskines will be ordered tomorrow.

If this wesite takes off, this will be the most perfect job of them all, I’ll get to work with rt supplies all day every day. How freakin’ cool will that be?

Here’s a picture of t vise, with 5 hedgies in it’s grip. I estimate that it’s about 1/3rd full. Which means that it can hold a dozen or so hedgies with no problem. Sweet!

So here are some pictures of my laptop stand. #/4 inch plywood, 3 inch rise on the back, some random holes drilled for ventilation and some drilled along the riser to allow for cord maintenance. It works and is very sturdy.

The only modification that I would make next time is to cut the back riser at an angle, so that it sits flush with the table.

The last few days here have been spent doing household chores. It as necessary to paint the stairway to the second floor and get it ready for the final treatment of everything. It will lookwonderful when finished. Also I had to finally rake up the leaves in my yard. it also gave a me a good chance to clean up the sidewalk which has been a mess it seems that when the wind blows down the street the leaves and trash tossed out on the side of the road collect at the end of our driveway. AS such it is always a mess.

To paint the upper reaches of the oddly shaped stairway it required that a piece of plywood be cut to fit into the stairway, so that step ladders and paint could be placed on it, with out the plywood,they were impossible to paint, even with extension rods.

That being said it’s been a slow couple of days for the studio. I did cut 6 covers for hedgehogs this AM a glue them up. Right now they are in the vise drying and waiting for me to trim them and add elastic and a pocket. I use some really nice leather for them and can’t wait to see what the vise does for them! I was able to really crank it down and use some HEAVY pressure. It will be even more nice to see how well they turn out with the added pressure.

So I have 2 journals up n eBay with day left, go check them out HERE!

I’ll post some pics of the vise with hedgies in it and some pics of the laptop stand.

I had a great brain storming session about lead protectors for pencils. I’m not posting anything about it until I get the idea fully worked out, and a few prototypes out of the way. It could be very cool.

anyway, I need to get working while I’ve got the time to do it. Expect some hedgies up on ebay soon!

I just made myself a laptop stand. It will make everything easier. I had made one out of book board after having the laptop for about a month. It had too much flex in it and made typing difficult. Now when I type I notice that the keyboard doesn’t flex and when I ht a key it appears on the screen rather than not doing so. Needless to say that means that entries and working on th website(s) will be that much easier.

Now to do some work on the websites.

I will be ordering Moleskines on Monday. Which hopefully means that you’ll be seeing them on the site by Friday or Monday of the following week!

I listed 2journals on ebay yesterday and I have listed one on etsy.
EBAY
Etsy