Pack Rat Magazine knows not to mess with The Luggage

The subject of this blog post comes via Crafty Crafty

If there’s anything the British seem to know, it’s humor. Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Douglas Adams, the list goes on and on. For all of you über nerds out there, I certainly hope you have read, or are planning to read the books in the Discworld fantasy series by Terry Pratchett (p.s. I just googled über to make sure I was spelling it right, and I read a whole Wikipedia entry devoted to that one word. Talk about obernerdy). The Discworld is a lot like our own…only different. There’s way too much to go into here, but essentially the Discworld is a planet shaped like a disc that is carried on the backs of four elephants who ride atop a giant turtle, floating through space. Trust me, it’s hilarious. I especially love the character of Death, who always speaks ALL IN CAPS and who loves KITTENS AND BAKING.

Anywho, the long and the short of it is that I’m hardly the only person in love with these books. Kimberly Chapman and her husband Corran are also fans and they have expressed their love in the best way possible: cake form. Visit Chapman’s website for the how-to for this scrumptious literary dessert.

Pack Rat Magazine likes to stir the stew

Well, we here at Pack Rat are pretty much across the board omnivores, but we have our misgivings about the meat industry and have nothing but love for our vegan brethren and sisteren. So, coming across the Post Punk Kitchen, a public access show devoted to tasty vegan meals even made me excited. Delicious sounding recipes like black bean and sweet potato stew, brown sugar fruit cakes, and roast squash pasta have me drooling. If you’re vegan this sounds like a sure thing, and even if you aren’t, who can resist a yummy new recipe?

It’s Pack Rat Magazine, b*tches!

Okay, so I know I’ve been awol recently and I’m sure you’ve all be struggling to find the will to live without my sage words of advice (JK) but I’m back and the reason for my prolonged absence and subsequent return is that I’ve been working diligently on producing for you all (or y’all where appropriate) issue numero quatro of Pack Rat. This issue we help the Earth in the spirit of Earth Day by doing what we do best: recycled crafts and lots of them. We also talk with jewelry designer Becky Houle, a.k.a. The Vicious Kitty, look into what this whole letterbox craze is all about and, with the help of Cat Morley from Cut Out + Keep make our own letterbox stampers, hit the thrifts for some inexpensive crafting supplies, and just about a zillion things more. Head over to www.packratmag.com/zine to get in on the action. I missed you all and I’m glad to be back. Happy crafting!

Pack Rat Magazine: we have THE secret.

Came across wikiHow the other day and at first was really excited.  This wiki claims to have 32,888 how-to articles in about a bazillion different subjects.  When I first thought about it, I said to myself how great an idea– to have a wiki for how-to projects.  It makes sense that it would be helpful, right? Since everyone has their niche area of expertise, then if we all contribute what we know to a collective wiki then the amount of useful information should be endless, right?  Well, you be the judge.  My first five “random articles” that I hit on were How-To:

* Survive in the woods

* Do a Step Ball Change Leap

* Make Nacho Snacks

* Seduce Someone with Only Your Eyes

* Understand Philosophical Determinism

I also came across articles that I couldn’t find any conceivable reason for their existence.  For example: How To Choose a Book.  And there was a sad amount of “How To Act Like (insert anime character’s name).”  There were also some things that bordered on totally immoral. Things like “How To Act Sober (Around Parents and Teachers)” and “How To Deal with a Married Boyfriend.”  Most articles don’t include pictures (or at least, helpful ones) so your left with only the writing to follow and it is TERRIBLE as most people don’t have the first clue on how to write step by step instructions.

There were a few neat crafting articles, which is why I even bothered to bring it up here. Someone posted tutorials on how to make bottle cap earrings and a corderoy pants purse, both pretty cool with good instructions and step-by-step pictures.  And there seem to be quite a few helpful guides on how to do certain tech things, like use photoshop applications and what not. But I guess in the end, the utopian dream of people sharing their knowledge is stunted by the fact that most people are intersted in pretty useless shit (myself included).

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

If you craft, then there’s probably one woman in your life with whom you have an extremely complicated relationship: she’s someone you love to hate and hate to love.  No, not your mother.  Instead she’s the mother of all modern diy, Martha Stewart.  Some of us try to pretend that we have escaped the influence of her far reaching shadow, but notmartha.org stands tall and proud, recognizing the Queen’s influence, but refusing to succumb to it.  Like many of our other favorite sites, Not Martha has a bevy of neat-o tutorials, a jaunty attitude, and good photos.  Plus, Not Martha is run by blogger Megan.  Who doesn’t love a Meg(h)an?  Jealous people, that’s who.

The title of this blog is many layered. First of all, it is a classic saying of one Dr. Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast from X-Men (which is the best superhero comic book series in the universe). Also, it is a sly nod at today’s wicked cool website ohmystars.net. Apparently I have been living under a rock, because this craft tutorial site has been around since 1999 and I am only just learning about it now. On the plus side, because I found it now, I can celebrate like its 1999 and that is something I love doing. Anywho, Katie Marcus is our UK connection to a bevvy of attractive craft tutorials. She specializes in T-Shirt reconstruction (I am over the moon about her t-shirt-cum-halter-dress), but also crazy awesome knitting patterns that result in such coolness as a Marvin the Paranoid Android (my favorite Hitchhiker’s character) stuffed animal (pictured below). Not to mention tons of recipes, and miscellaneous craft tutorials. I am blown away by her creativity and talent. My only criticism is that the website doesn’t have scroll bars where it needs them. Some of the content is off screen, but there is no way to get to it. Fortunately, the print option takes care of this little hinderance. Any way, don’t take my word for it, go investigate yourselves!

If you are familiar with this new wave craft movement, this crafting renaissance as it were, then you know one of the main corner stones of most craft fairs today is home made soap. Home made soaps are superior to regular store bought soaps in almost every way. They smell better (you can find ones with all sorts of natural essential oils), they tend to look nicer, and you can be sure they aren’t animal tested. To be honest, they do tend to be pricey compared to, say, a bar of Ivory. But at least if you pay $4 for a bar you know its hard won earnings for the small craft business person, and not just another dollar in the pocket of a large corporation. But I’m getting off track. The point is, hand made soaps are a wonderful luxury that you can make at home. And today I bring you a website that gives you the A to Z in making your own soap. At teachsoap.com, you will find a series of instructions into the basics of soap making, like how to use emulsifying wax and how to render tallow, not to mention recipes for particular scents of soaps and a gallery where people can share their soap creations, like the Jade Dragon and the Sushi Rolls pictured below. What really sets this site apart is that not only its extremely comprehensive range of topics, but the comprehensive writing as well. The articles don’t just tell you the how, but also the why. The section on using emulsifying wax not only explained why it is necessary, but broke down the chemical process that happens when you use an emulsifier so that it was easy even for someone like me, the layest of laypeople, to understand. I’m going to try to work it into conversation at my next social function in order to impress people. I’ll say “Did you know that oil is hydrophobic?” and push my glasses up by the bridge. It’s going to be great.

The hunt for cool d.i.y. continues. Cruisin’ around today and I stumbled (more like fell flat on my face) on to an interesting little website called allfreecrafts.com. Hmmm. Could they really be sportin’ over 500 original craft instructions as they so boldly claim? Or was this just some sort of gimmick, some trick to get me reading, get me hooked and then give me the sucker punch, that to finish what I started I’d have to cough up some dough? I decided to try it out. I clicked on a project, bread crumb beads (dough–bread, pretty good pun, huh? Oh, forget it. Check out the picture below), that I thought looked interesting. I started reading. I kept my eye open for the sales pitch, the catch. I scrolled down. I finished the article. Huh? I went back to the menu and started again, this time with a knitting pattern for a cardigan (also pictured below). It was the same. It is true, they are all free crafts! Now before I get you peeing your pants with excitement, like everything good in life, I have to issue a caveat. A lot of these crafts are a little school marmish. But, with over 500 for free, there seem to be plenty of little jems among the doilies. Take some time to scavange through it. I know I will.

I have many, many guilty pleasures. The one that is the hardest to reconcile with my Pack Rat frame of mind is my love of raw fish. There’s nothing better in this life (and I would guess the next as well) as sushi. I’ve been indulging for over a decade now and there’s no sign of stopping. My love just keeps growing and growing. It’s now reached the point where I have to have it at least once a week. As you can imagine, this is seriously putting a strain on my purse strings. So I was delighted when I came across sushiday.com (”where every day is sushi day!”). This fun website is full of sushi recipes, rolling directions, tips on how to pick out fish and other tidbits and chat about the enchanted world of maki, nigiri, and more. And, sushi connoisseur Allison has plenty of experimental recipes besides the same old traditional fare. I can’t wait to try the Bee Maki (unagi, honey, imitation crab stick, shoyu). While I realize that sushi will never be a “cheap” endeavor, I can only imagine making it at home will help cut down on costs. Also, visions of daily sushi binges are dancing through my head