Spelling Mutters: First the Rant, Then the Confession

No spelling errors here ... it's a vintage Anagrams game from That70sShoppe on Etsy

Today I am obsessing about spelling.  Actually, working on this blog post calmed me down quite a bit, so the following rant is hardly as cranky as it could have been.

  

Spelling mistakes happen.  Usually they don't matter much.  However ...  when it's important ....  if I am describing my wares ... beautiful things I create with care ... items I offer for sale ....  don't I want to take extra care in presenting them?

As an Etsy seller, I know the competition to be seen.  We want our shops to be found among the thousands of competitors.  Therefore we carefully construct the title, description and tags for each listing with that "s-word" in mind:  SEARCH.

No misspellings here; just a cool pinback button by BaymoonStudio on Etsy

I would not contact Etsy shopowners and give them my opinions about their spelling.  But, over many months, I have snarkily assembled a list of twisted words that appear repeatedly.  (No names, no links, no shop names.)  The examples below are real, but I have combined them for a more satisfying tirade.

No typos here -- just a cool pendant by SnarkyandSweet on Etsy

The Rant:

 If I design rings and baubles, should I call it Jewerly?  Is that how I would tag my Chian Neckless?  Cooper Braselet?  Sliver Weeding Jewlery? 

Let's say I am a confectioner.  Will you find my Choclates for your Valintine?  How about Rasberry Perserves? 

Maybe I work with Farbic.   When I sew a pouch for Cosmatics and Lip Blam, maybe I'll add a cute Aminal.  Yes, I will Put a Brid On It.   

Scrapebooking, anyone?  Lables?  Gfit Crads?  Need Supplys for Crotchet?  Flower Peddles for Arrangments?  Gift ideas for Brithdays or Chritsmas? 

Vitnage shops like mine often feature Cruel Stichery.  Amtique Embrioderied Nakpins.  Souveniers like Coat Hangars.    Frammed Mushroon Pitcures for the Dinning Room.

To Be Fair:

• Alternate spellings are a different matter ... mold/mould, gray/grey.  Choose your favourite.
• People not writing in their native language have an extra challenge.  Find a friend to proofread.  (Hire someone to edit the miced chicken off your menu!)
• Some people spell correctly, and also shrewdly add tags with common misspellings like hankerchief.   Smart!
• And "word people" just have a good time with language.  They are Kreative.  They intentionally post sentence fragments.  Like this.  They randomly capitalize Words within sentences.  They use oddball spellingz.  They actually mean to say Keep Clam and Carry On because it's funny. 

The Confession:

Whew. The rant seems to be over. Now is the time to admit to a couple of my own Etsy goofs.

Misspelled Muffins sold by ThreeOldKeys on Etsy

I sold these old letterpress blocks in December, 2010.  Note their careful arrangement, spelling MUFFISN.

Tea Towels sold by ThreeOldKeys on Etsy

During the same month, I sold two vintage tea towels commemorating the U.S.A.'s 200th birthday.  My listing title included dates, but not the right ones.

Vintage Pair Tea Towels 1976 1977 American Independence and Bicentennial

The letterpress and towels both were sold before I noticed my mistakes.   It's likely that there are more of my gaffes out there, causing gripes and grins.

I feel such a relief ... an occasional rant is good for the health!    I think I'll celebrate with a couple of muffisn and a glass of mlik.

Tongue Twisters: Olympics Highlights

Now that the 2012 Summer Games have begun ... I feel the need to post something athletic.  Didn't I read somewhere that Tongue Twisters are replacing baseball as an Olympic event?  Maybe not.

That's all for today; just a few Highlights.  From 1970.

I'll be spending this sizzling summer Saturday picking six thick thistle sticks. Thank goodness my peck of peppers is already pickled.

Red White and Blue, Independence Day Fun

Happy 236th Birthday to the USA !!!  To celebrate, I raided my stash of game pieces, and made a patriotic parfait. 

And I pulled out my old baseball bear, stitched back when my eyes were younger.   I use this same 4x5 frame for many different holiday decorations that I pop in and out.  Is that lazy or crazy?

The tall striped Thermo-Serv is a lucky yard sale find in June ... I won't say how much it cost, but it was under 30 cents!  It's clean and the glass liner is in good shape. 

The game pieces are both wood and plastic, and I use them a lot as photo props when selling letterpress on Etsy. 

Letterpress HOME - Sold on Etsy by ThreeOldKeys

When I find board games for about $1.00, I often buy them.  Old, incomplete sets are the best.  I always check Parcheesi, because it usually has wood pawns.  I stash the game boards for a future project ... add the dice and pawns to my collection ... save the funny money in a cash box ... and carefully store the game boxes. 

In my Etsy shop, I often sell vintage wood coat hangers from old hotels, tailors, etc.  Do you know how hard it is to find a box suitable for shipping one wood hanger?  Well, it's easy if you have a monopoly on game boxes, and don't have to scrabble around without a clue.  Okay, I'm sorry  for the parcheesi jokes, but I had to risk it.

I always felt bad about ripping apart a game that's in good condition.  It seems so wrong, doesn't it?   Well, I use or sell so much of each game that I have now told myself  "Permission granted".

Happy July 4th to my fella Americans ... I hope you get the day off, and you can play, play, play.  For lots more reds, whites and blues, visit Rednesday!

Elephant Sanctuary, Animal Rescue

It's been awhile. I wonder if they've missed me.

I'm talking about the elephants, of course. I used to check in daily at Elephants.com, the web home of The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee.

Online visits are the only kind allowed at the actual 2700-acre refuge, because it's a true sanctuary.  The resident elephants are all senior citizens.  Some have health problems and sad histories.  They have earned a safe and quiet retirement home, and they are not on display.

But click on one of their 3 Ele-Cam links and you might get a peek at the big gray ladies as they go about their business in their habitat.  Each of the 3 areas has multiple cameras, and I have caught the Girls napping, dusting themselves, and best of all, playing in the ponds.

Elephant Tile 4x4 by CorduroyClay on Etsy.
Artist will make a donation to The Elephant Sanctuary with purchase.

The Sanctuary offers countless opportunities to volunteer, donate, or subscribe to their newsletter, eTrunkLines.  Purchase elephant merchandise from Our Girls' Gift Shop.  And there is a Welcome Center in downtown Hohenwald that is open to the public.

Hand Stamped Dog Tags Made to Order, by StandardPattern on Etsy.
Artist makes a donation to the ASPCA with purchase.

The Sanctuary has been home to lots of stray dogs and cats, along with the elephants.  The kind people in Tennessee really know how to rescue critters.

By the way, have you ever used GoodSearch?  It's a Yahoo-powered search engine that gives a tiny donation with every search.  You can choose where your pennies go.  As of today, The Elephant Sanctuary has received $16,735 from GoodSearch.  The top earner, the ASPCA, has received $45,883!  That's a lot of searches, at about 1 cent each.

There are Etsy artists who make donations to animal rescue groups, when their items are purchased.  CorduroyClay and StandardPattern are two examples.  Creative people find ways to make a difference, even at a distance.

Melon Balls, Bowling Balls, Yard Art

I'm one of those people with bowling balls sitting in the back yard.   I admit it.  Back in 2007, I got excited about the mosaiced balls I was seeing everywhere ... some were covered with stained glass ... some with glass blobs.  My favorites were done pique assiette-style, covered with broken dishes and whatnot.  So I gathered a few bowling balls from yard sales, thrift stores and Freecycle.  But as a practitioner of "slow craft" ... I'm never in a hurry.

For awhile, the balls held choir practice on Thursday nights.

One ball did become a blue and orange glass dazzler.  My mosaic madness subsided ... mostly because of the final grouting steps.   (A great grouter I am not.)

Then my son presented me with a bowling ball he had cut in two.  Wow!  One half became a painted ladybug, who lives most summers on the deck.  The other has been waiting for inspiration, slumbering in the basement with its round companions.

Because I really can't paint, I need easy designs.   Extremely easy designs.   And finally I came up with one.  All I had to do was paint the balls dark green, and sponge on some lighter greens.  Voila ... these watermelons will last for years .  My recent painting binge also yielded Lefty Rabbit, a spice rack makeover and 4 chair planters.

So ... these days, my back yard has chairs that can't be sat in, and watermelons that can't be eaten.

How else can I paint a bowling ball?   Do you have any suggestions?  Maybe I could get a few more finished, while I'm on a roll.  A slow roll.

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Watermelon is one of my favorite treats of summer ... so I'm linking to Favourite Things Friday at Shay's blog ... (it's winter in her neck of the woods).

And I'm joining all the fun folk linked to Rednesday.  Check out the vintage lawnmower pics Sue has posted!

Memory Jug with a Stone Face

There is a memory jug living at my house right now ... I don't know whose memories it holds, but it's fascinating.

Some memory ware does NOT appeal to me ... I am not attracted to the assemblages that are all about death, including dark Victorian mourning pieces. 

But other examples can be so much fun ... even pieces made to celebrate a lost loved one.  This little jug is covered with happy stuff, all pretty mundane ... except for that one mysterious item ....  Why on earth is a carved stone head surrounded by buttons and trinkets?

Did someone carve the furrowed face 100 years ago?  It does not appear to be an ancient treasure.  What an odd companion for shells, glass thermometer shards, leather shapes and fruit pits.

The mosaic includes a thimble and a jaw harp.  Three woodland-era arrowheads.  A horse and a rabbit.  Plus all those colorful baubles!  Some of these jugs were covered with treasures but then coated with gold or black paint.  I guess playing "I Spy" was not encouraged.

I'm glad there is no paint on our jug.  A worn coin like this is hard enough to photograph.  Maybe that's because it's kinda old:  "Carolus III Dei Gratia 1777" translates as "Charles III, by the Grace of God".  King Charles III of Spain

Next to a shiny pendant is this railroad button with just enough detail left to identify it: "Phila & Balt Central R.R. Co."   The P&BC operated from 1854 to 1916.

Mr. ThreeOldKeys got the jug in Pennsylvania, and we have never removed the tag taped to the bottom.  Chester County is in the southeast part of Pennsylvania, bordering Maryland and Delaware.  The handled jug is 6.5 inches  tall and it weighs nearly 4 lbs.  Whatever kind of putty the artist used, he or she chose well.  It is cracked with age, but there seems to be nothing missing!    We handle it with care, and have never felt a loose item.

This jug is for sale in ThreeOldKeys' Etsy shop. [our motto:  "we can't keep it all ...."]  We would love to know something about the stone face ... have you seen something similar?  Do you know anything about the craft of cutting peach pits into little baskets?  Have you made your own version of a memory jug?

To learn more and see a wide variety of similar memoryware, here are some tips and links:

Common names for the jugs are jars, vessels and bottles (but people use all kinds of objects)
Other adjectives include spirit, mourning, whimsy and whatnot

AppalachianHistory.net
Ames Gallery examples
Illinois State Museum Memory Jug Project; make your own
Laurie Beth Zuckerman artist, author, photographer

Thanks for stopping by ThreeOldKeys, where today I'm thinking about stone heads and peach pits.

Pearson the Printer Plays the Advertising Game



Old board games.  Card decks.  Flash cards.  Wood game pawns.  Scrabble tiles.  Trivia cards.  Does everyone love these as much as I do?

When Mr. ThreeOldKeys showed me this little boxed game at a flea market, I fell for it ... even the name is wonderful:  "Kanned Knowledge, or the Printer's Case".

I like to imagine customers in the 1920s, stopping by the printing shop at 311 Main Street in Worcester, Mass.  Or maybe they telephoned, dialing PARK 1876.  If they placed a big order, maybe Pearson the Printer handed them a free gift, with his compliments.  They could take home the 3-inch box of letters and play a game with their families.



Of course, each of the little cards has a reminder on the back.   Laundry Lists, Filing Cards, Blotters, Auction Bills, Town Reports, Legal Blanks, Show Cards, Dodgers, Gummed Labels .... Pearson the Printer was saying "Yeah, we got that."   (... did you know "dodgers" are fliers or pamphlets?)

There are at least 180 letter cards, each about 5/8" by 1/2". And I counted 38 different messages on the back. Doing quick research online yields a few facts and some tantalizing questions.

Below I've pasted snippets from Volume 5 of a book by Charles Nutt.  You can download all 7 volumes at ebooksread.com .

If I'm not mistaken, 311 Main Street is part of the Central Exchange Building, built in 1896.  The photo below is from Preservation Worcester's virtual tour of Main Street.

Central Exchange Building Worcester Mass

I wonder ... did "kanned" knowledge have a pop culture meaning back then?

Yes, Mr. ThreeOldKeys and I love discovering old games, but we cannot keep them all.  So this one has been listed in my Etsy shop.  If anyone knows something about Pearson the Printer or Kanned Knowledge, I would love to learn more.

Meanwhile, I'm holding on to my Russian Scrabble and my 1926 Dad's Puzzler.

Rules for Playing "Kanned Knowledge"

Extreme Makeover, Lefty Rabbit Version

Lefty Slowcraft, his Makeover Complete

A few years ago, a Rabbit followed me home from a thrift store.  He was a dusty, half-price, wood-post, porch-decoration bunny, complete with straw hat and satin ribbon.  I promised him a makeover, but I warned him that he now lived with a Slow Crafter.  Nothing happens in a hurry around here. So this patient Rabbit stood around waiting. 

Lefty Before and During Treatment

Then came the Spring 2012 Painting Binge.  I banned my car from the garage and spread newspapers.  I had plenty of paint from previous Painting Binges, and a stack of projects to tackle.

Lefty's Ears had been Glued into his Head

New Fabric Ears with Thumb Tacks

I cannot find all of the "before" pics, although I know I took some prior to tearing off his hot-glued hat and his hot-glued ribbon.  I wrenched his dirty hot-glued ears out of his flat head.  Lefty's hot-glue days are over.

His arms are screwed in place

Slow but Sure ...

Both arms were removable.  Lefty got his name because one paw has a small hole drilled through it, where his makers wired some wood carrots.  They did a great job designing Lefty, so I just painted over their pastels with brighter colors.  I even painted his face all white, knowing I could see through it enough to re-trace his features.

Maybe people who can’t paint well should not paint at all.

But … sometimes I have to do it anyway.

Lefty's Pinwheel and Ears Flutter in the Breeze

There had to be some thread and fabric on this project ... so I added yellow perle cotton to 3 black buttons and glued them to his vest.  And I sewed new ears from 3 layers of rip-stop nylon.  I love the way they move in the breeze.  It's one long piece, thumb-tacked at the top for easy changing.   Lefty is thinking of being a green-eared witch for Halloween, wearing a black cape and holding a pumpkin.

He currently clutches a pinwheel, and his original carrots are freshly painted, too.  He has some eye-hooks for attaching various hats.   Mr. Lefty Slowcraft is ready for anything.

Lefty Slowcraft, at your Service

These painting binges tend to happen every few years.  My car is back in the shaded garage ... whew!  Along with Lefty Rabbit, 4 chair planters and a spice rack, I finished watermelons, mushrooms and various doodads.  Finished projects  ... hurray!  I'll be bragging posting more soon.

I don't know how old Lefty might be.  Was this porch decor popular in the "country-style" 1980s? 1990s?  But there are no Fad Police allowed here, and no trend is too outdated to revive.  

Thanks for stopping by ThreeOldKeys today ... and thanks for putting up with my wacky paragraph spacing.  Who can point me to instructions for spacing in blogger?  Nothing stays put and it makes me crazy.

Linking here:
Favourite Things Friday hosted by Shay at Quilting in My Pyjamas
Sew Darn Crafty with Karen at Sew Many Ways
Rednesday at Sue's, where It's A Very Cherry World

Good Will Bunting for Memorial Day

1 thrift store deck of cards

+ 1 thrift store star punch

+ crochet cotton

+  15 minutes

= Good Will Bunting.

I'm linking this lazy-day paper garland to  The Cottage Craft Room at the Etsy Cottage Style blog.  I think I will make more of these mini-banners ... using playing cards with Christmas designs ... florals ... a company name (office picnic?) ... nautical colors, or any card deck that fits a decorating theme.