Pack Rat Magazine has your daily dose of fiber.

If you like citrus fruits and/or crafts, you will probably enjoy this tutorial from Orange Juicy on how to make arm warmers out of old socks. And this tutorial actually requires some crafty know-how. Unlike the arm warmers I made in high school which were just tube socks with the feet cut off (thank you Tank Girl).

Pack Rat Magazine is too legit, too legit to quit.

Hello my darlings. I have missed you. I try not to hamper you all with my personal life very much because really, this blog is about cool finds not a whole lot of navel gazing, but I did want to let you know that I apologize profusely if I am a bit remiss in getting blogs out over the next couple of months. I am doing my best but as some of you know, I’m in grad school right now and frankly this semester has been the most time consuming so far. I just wanted you to know.

Anyway, now on to the interesting stuff.  As I sit here clicking away at my keyboard, I find myself taking for granted such amazing developments in modern technology, such as the backspace key or the delete key.  I was born just as a generation of typewriters  were being retired, so I never knew the frustration of the whited out type-o. But, likewise I never knew the satisfaction of perfect, error free typing, or the gratifying deep clacking of the keys, the ding of the bell at the end of a line, the whir of the carriage release lever.  I do, however, have a great love and respect of all things typey.  I was actually just mentioning to my co-workers the other day how much I like typing, how when I was first learning in school I would go home and copy pages from my library books onto my Tandy 5000 word processing program (my dream was to type out a whole copy of my favorite book at the time, Sorcery and Cecelia.  I wasn’t hip to copyright infringement laws at the time).  Even now, my favorite online time waster is a game called Typer Shark where you have to type words as fast as possible or sharks will eat you.  All of this is lead up to explain why I am completely enamored with the Boston Typewriter Orchestra. A group of dedicated typewriting enthusiasts refused to let a classic, refined piece of history simply drift away to the realm of nostalgia.  Instead they’ve banded together in every sense of the word and have created a percussive symphony (can you have a percussive symphony? Whatever.) of typewriting.  Like the Japanese Kodo drummers, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra layers percussive rhythms of typing keys to create a rich, hypnotic sound that is fully addictive.  Visit their website to hear their full, layered sound and see video of their lively performance.

Pack Rat Magazine. We’re almost as big as the Beatles. No. Seriously.

Hi ho Silver! Crafty inginuity away! Here are some crazy creations my mother emailed me made from balloons of all things. I couldn’t find a link for more information, so here the pictures are just for fun and for inspiration.

You can run, you can hide, but you can’t escape the allure of Pack Rat Magazine.

Hi guys. Sorry I’ve been such a schmuckity poo about getting out blogs. School. Work. Blah, blah, blah. But enough about me, let’s talk about you and your needs. I’m sensing that you need a little craft-meets-science in your life. Am I right? Well take a look at the awesome Knitting in Biology 101 below, by Crafty Hedgehog a.k.a. Emily Stoneking. I originally saw this little guy on a Kaboodle post (shopping blog), but I went straight to the Etsy store source to check it out for myself. And this plush little guy is delightful! You can either purchase the pattern to make your own ($4) or buying the completed version ($59). Hang him on your wall or unpin him and cuddle away.  The choice is yours. Dissection never looked so cute.

Pack Rat Magazine! Now preservative free!

Hi friends,

My appologies for not posting this blog sooner, but to be perfectly frank, it totally slipped my mind.  Which is funny, because I’ve been sitting on this project for months, just waiting for Valentine’s Day to post it.  But, if you know me you know that this is how I roll.  Anyway, Lion Brand Yarn has a tutorial for this darling little woven heart.  And even if you don’t want to give a belated valentine, just let someone you love know that they are special to you.  Love is in the air!

Issue #3, online now!

Okay, I’ve tried to write this post about ten times today, but for various reasons I keep losing it. The long and the short of this is that there is going to be a craft show called “Spring Line Up,” March 30 put on by North Park Craft Mafia in San Diego, CA. Mark your calendars, and if you are a vendor in that area, registration is on-going until 2/22.

Hi kids!  the Feb/March Issue is finally out and rarin’ to go.  Click on the pdf link below!  And remember, if you think you could do better, you’re welcome to show us what you’ve got. Submission deadlines for next issue will be March 20th.  Happy reading.

issue3.pdf

Reading Pack Rat Magazine is easier than churning butter.  And stay tuned for Issue #3, coming soon.

Art.  It inspires, it provokes, and it sure as hell can brighten up a room.  There are many great places to get affordable artwork, and here’s another.  Check out The Art Farmer, a small collective of silk screening artists.  There are six artists, all with vastly different styles and tastes so hopefully there is something for any buyer.  The prices can be a weency bit more than what would be considered “cheap” but they are still pretty affordable (most things fall into the $30 - $66 range) compared to a lot of other places. And unlike, say, buying your art from T.J. Maxx or one of the home goods stores, here you can actually read up on your artist.  Here are a few samples below.