First, I have to point out that Ollie got mail this week. And it was AWESOME (it’s the postcard above with the evil kitten on top of the demon)! I get lovely mail regularly (like the postcard above on the right) but this is the first time one of our felines got mail. He may be a chair-stealing, crappy intern, but he is pretty dang cute and even you all seem to agree. My students have even started to call him my TA because he sleeps on my work table behind me so he’s on camera for our Zoom class every day (photo below) and sometimes even “helps me” draw.
In other news, the USPS is raising postal rates for the holidays which will require many small businesses to raise either their shipping rates or their products prices or both to absorb the costs. Below is a list of the price increases. Supposedly, these prices will come back down in January.
October 18th–December 27th USPS temporary rate increase:
- First Class Package: 25 cents/package
- Priority Mail (including Flat Rate, Regional Rate, and Cubic): 40 cents/package
- Parcel Select Ground: 40 cents/package
- Priority Mail Express: $1.50/package
On a more (plug-the-firm side), we’ve made some under-the-hood updates to shop this week. We have added Stripe to our payment options. Doing this expands how customers can pay and means you do not have to have a PayPal account to make a purchase. It also means that you can now use Apple Pay (if you are using Safari and have it set up on your phone, iPad or computer). This is all in preparation for our restocking ALL the Col-o-ring products which we are manufacturing now. So, if you are waiting for new Col-o-ring, Col-o-dex, OVERSIZE or DIPPER, hold tight! They will all be listed on the site in the next two weeks or so.
In Link Love news, Mattel released a Day of the Dead Barbie this year which absolutely tickles me. Years ago, Bob and I went to every thrift store for miles around and bought up Barbies, dipped them in white, house paint and then drew Day of the Dead designs on them. Then I think we participated in a Barbie Art Show with more refined versions of the Day of the Dead Barbies. So, to see these available for sale warms my former Albuquerque-dwelling heart.
It’s starting to cool off here in KC so the knit-related links are increasing including one of my favorite YouTube knit vloggers, Constance, who was featured on Fancy Tiger Crafts this week. And of course, it wouldn’t be Link Love without at least one Star Wars link (season two trailer for The Mandolorian) plus a ton of creative and design links, ink, pen and paper links. No pencil links this week but I can say with some authority that progress is being made on the next issue of Plumbago (I did some illustrations for the new issue) so hopefully there will be info in the upcoming week about when it will be available.
ONE LAST THING:
Art Supply Posse is swiftly approaching its 100th episode. If you have been a regular listener of the podcast, or even an occasional listener, would you record a message of support, congratulations or praise to Marcus and Kim for keeping it afloat? Record a message and tell them if you learned something new, were inspired to try a new supply, or maybe mention who your favorite guest was.
You can record a message using the voice recorder on your phone or the built-in microphone on their laptop or computer. Then they hit the share button and email it to hello@artsupplyposse.com
(HINT: You may want to listen to episode 100. I have it on god authority that the special guest is a fan favorite.)
Pens:
- The Best Pens for the Lab (via JetPens)
- Sailor North American Special Edition: Pirate’s Life (via Wonder Pens
- Visconti Medici Rose Sovrano Oversize Fountain Pen (via Gourmet Pens)
- Review: Kaweco Special Aluminium Blue Limited Edition (via UK fountain pens)
- Lacquer Dreams (via Pen and Paper Geek)
- Omas Ogiva Arco Bronze (via Flex & Other Follies)
Ink:
- Robert Oster Sushi (via Mountain of Ink)
- Diamine Violet (via Mountain of Ink)
- Monteverde Monteverde Green (via Mountain of Ink)
- Battle of the Purple Fountain Pen Inks: Not Your Typical Fountain Pen Ink Review (via Pen Chalet)
- Louis Vuitton Rouge Libertin Ink (via Gourmet Pens)
- Tono & Lims No. 8 Leaves Turn Yellow (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Falling in Love With Your Inks Again (via Write Experience)
Notebooks & Paper:
- Pen+Gear Heavyweight Ruled Index Cards (via Comfortable Shoes Studio)
- 7 Dot Grid Notebooks with Smooth Paper (via All About Planners)
- What will your organiser look like in 20 years time? (via Philofaxy)
- The Work/Life Task System (via The Cramped)
- Notebook Addict of the Week (Again): JournalJoy (via Notebook Stories)
- Desk Notes (via Nero’s Notes)
- Clairefontaine Neo Deco A5 Notebook Review (via The Pen Addict)
Art & Creativity:
- Book Review: Shiok, Sia! Sketching Singapore’s Favourite Street Food (via Parka Blogs)
- Scottish Lockdown Sketchbooks (via Notebook Stories)
- 10+ Essential Art Supplies to Help You Draw Comics (via My Modern Met)
- Artist Review: iPad Pro vs Samsung Tab S7+ (via Parka Blogs)
- Sketching While Waiting (via Apple-Pine)
- Book Review: Hand Drawn Vancouver: Sketches of the City’s Neighbourhoods, Buildings, and People (via Parka Blogs)
- Daydreaming in Japan: a colouring book inspired by the streets of Nippon (via Creative Boom)
- Constance’s Florence Shawl (via Fancy Tiger Crafts)
- The Beginner’s Guide to Crosshatching (via The Postman’s Knock)
Pandemic-Related:
- Photographer Tom Skipp explores the effect of lockdown on communities through spaces left empty (via It’s Nice That)
- A Rom-Com Miniseries Made Entirely in Quarantine (via Hyperallergic)
Other Interesting Things:
- Elderly Friends Are Fashion Icons Who Treat the World as Runway (via My Modern Met)
- The Three Phases of a Hobby (via The Temp Track)
- I Miss My Desk (via swissmiss )
- Wondering What’s That Font? This Project Reveals Fonts of Popular Logos (via My Modern Met)
- Pre-order the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV Camera (via Tools and Toys)
- Jellycat — Super Soft Stuffed Animals with Personality (via Tools and Toys)
- Barbie Celebrates “Day of the Dead” by Releasing a Dia De Muertos Doll (via My Modern Met)
- A New Book Chronicles the 125-Year History of the Button, Its Design, and Its Role in Cultural Change (via Colossal)
- The Trailer for Season Two of The Mandalorian (via Kottke.org)
- Rise Up. Show Up. Unite! (via Kottke.org)
- The Trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (via Kottke.org)
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I don’t know whether to be really glad or really sorry that the Desk Store now accepts Apple Pay! It almost makes it too easy. 🙂
Our goal is to make it JUST EASY ENOUGH.
some people would say that I’m too old to have my (small) collection of Jellycat stuffies, but I love every single one I have. Linus the Bashful Llama is currently sitting on my desk helping me work.
I think that’s awesome. I think the plush pencil and clementine might come hang out at The Desk soon. We are never too old for toys.