[Cross-posted from excessivelydiverting.net]
I’m super excited to announce that Team Librarian will be representin’ this weekend at Detroit Urban Craft Fair!
Things have been crazy busy in my neck of the woods, but I’ll be there in full force not only with my balls (teehee), but I also have pins, bookmarks, and other goodies at the fair.
If you’re unable to make it to Detroit this weekend, you can shop Excessively Diverting on Etsy and get FREE SHIPPING on all orders (including international!). Just use the coupon code DUCF2011 when you check out!
Category: Excessively Diverting
[Contest]: Pick the literacy foundation for donations from Excessively Diverting!
[This entry originated from my crafts blog, Excessively Diverting.]
Back story:
There is a strange phenomena in my family where the men not only don’t read, it is almost always because they CAN’T read. My brother has pretty severe dyslexia. My father, when he met my mother in the late ’60s, had a fifth grade reading level and was working on his high school diploma when he died in 2000. My maternal grandfather, who grew up on a dirt farm in Detroit, had a reading level and education of a third grader. It is also my understanding that tracing back the men in both maternal and paternal lines, the pattern continues for generations.
What makes this a “strange phenomena” is that the women in my family (my mother and grandmother being the most recent examples) were college educated. One could also argue that it continues with me as I have a multitude of degrees (BA. MA. MLIS.) and my husband, who is one of the most educated and well read men I’ve ever met, doesn’t technically have a high school diploma as he was home schooled.1
Watching my father and brother struggle with what I seemingly have always taken for granted has pushed me in recent years to get active in the fight for and access to literacy for all. The ability to read (and by extension obtaining education and comprehension) should not be something available only for the few, but should be easily and readily available to all, regardless of who/where. In the past I have volunteered as literacy tutor2 but I want to do more. It was then I decided that one of the first things I would do is donate 10% of sales from Excessively Diverting to a literacy foundation. I would also keep a tracker of some sort on the blog page to show how much money was raised and donated for that charity.
Contest:
Because there are so many great literacy foundations out there, I decided to crowdsource for suggestions and turn it into a contest. Here is how the contest works: From now until December 5, suggest the literacy charity or foundation you think should get the donations. I would prefer a U.S. or Canadian based (as my father was Canadian) charity. Contest is open to anyone, domestic or international.
Ways to Enter:
- Like Excessively Diverting on Facebook: Comment on the wall with your foundation/charity suggestion AND comment below with your FB username.
- Follow Excessively Diverting on Twitter and tweet your suggestion using #dvrtngcontest: Be sure to ALSO include your Twitter username/suggestion in your comment below.
- Subscribe to the blog: tell me you’ve subscribed in your comment below and don’t forget to include your suggestion.
- Comment directly below with your suggestion with a legitimate email address.
- Blog about the contest, the store, or interview me. Leave a comment below with your suggestion, link to the entry or contact info to set up the interview.
- Link back to main page of Excessively Diverting blog on your blogroll: If you link back to blog, post your suggestion for literacy foundation/charity in the comments below along with the link to your blog showing the link back.
- Favorite an item or store on Etsy: You can either favorite single item OR favorite the store. You cannot do both. Do not forget to comment below.
- If you have already done one (or more) above prior to the contest, please comment below along with your suggestion for the charity/foundation.
Rules
- You may enter up to 7 times (one for each task above) but you may only suggest ONE charity/foundation.
- You MUST absolutely, positively leave a comment IN THIS ENTRY with what you’ve done and your suggestion for the charity/foundation. If you do not comment below, none of your entries count. For example: there is no way I can track who has subscribed to the RSS feed of the blog, which is why it is utterly important you comment below. Just doing the above doesn’t count if I don’t know about them.
- You may comment individually on this entry as you complete them or consolidate them.
- You MUST provide a valid and current email address in the comments for contact in case you’ve won.
- Cut off is December 5th. As long as the date stamp on anything you do has 12/5 on it, I’m satisfied.
- Rules are subject to change without notice.
Prizes:
You’re probably wondering, “Okay, I’ve promoted the hell out of your store and the contest, what is in it for me?” Good question!
- Winner will be announced on December 6.
- Winning charity/foundation, based on most votes, will receive donations quarterly from Excessively Diverting.
- The winner of the contest will receive a completely customizable gift pack from Excessively Diverting! So far this includes a pin and a ornament, but will also include other goodies that will be completely customizable on quotes, colors, everything. Keep this for yourself or customize it for your favorite lit geek, the choice is yours. Gift pack will be shipped by 12/13 to arrive just in time for the holidays.
Okay, that should cover everything. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to comment below or email me.
Good luck!
P.S. Thanks to Bewhiskered for the contest entry suggestions!
1. My husband is the exception and not the rule as he has a rather high-up position at global corporation we jokingly refer to as TheMan. It does pay, seemingly quite well, to be a geek.
2. I’ll be getting back into this once we settle in a definite geographical location.
[Excessively Diverting] Excessively Diverting is open!
[This entry originated from my crafts blog, Excessively Diverting. ]
My store opened this evening, a day earlier than planned, and I’ve been spending the evening uploading stock to the store. No one ever tells you this stuff takes FOREVER, but it does. I don’t think I’ve moved from my chair in hours.1
I will have more writerly-type content in the next day or two on what I’ve been doing. But in the interim: Check the store often as I will be uploading new stock for days to come! Convo me if you’re interested in a different author/book/ quote pin or ornament. To promote my shop, I’m offering FREE SHIPPING until December 16. Also, if you use the promo code JASNA in the “message to seller” area, I’ll take 20% off your entire order.
You can also find Excessively Diverting on Facebook and Twitter.
Now I slumber.
x0x0x
1. Erm, I sat down at 8am and it’s oh, now? Midnight.
[Excessively Diverting] First it begins with an idea…then all hell breaks loose
[This entry originated from my crafts blog, Excessively Diverting. My Etsy shop of the same name opens up this weekend. ]
A couple of weeks ago, I got this brilliant idea of repurposing used books, specifically books that were in the open domain1, into a variety of different ways. After discussing this with several friends of mine who are huge crafters/Etsy sellers and doing research across the intarwebs/Etsy, I realized my idea is awesome and that I had definitely hit upon a niche market. The response from my friends, from conversations and showing them prototypes, was overwhelming – not only were they enthusiastic about the idea, but they were also future consumers. The timing was also perfect since it is the beginning of the holiday season and as such, was a perfect time to test out the idea.
The one thing no one told me, however, is that having a great idea is awesome but pushing it out to fruition is a lot of damned hard work. Not only did I end up creating various batches of the first product to nail down the process (an example is shown to your right), but I also have to do my own business plans, marketing and support.
For the last week I’ve been working during the day on the marketing and promotion aspect and at night, on the actual crafting. The other interesting thing is that each of my friends that I spoke to about their own Etsy shop, all do their selling and promotion differently. So tips I’ve learned from one, I’ve reiterated to another and so forth while streamlining it all in my own head. While our apartment is currently a mess as we’re in the midst of packing for our move, I’m also in the process of streamlining everything and getting the Etsy shop up this weekend.
The purpose of this blog, then, is to document my process, talk about crafting in the 21st century, use it as a forum to announce new products and services, and last but not least, keep the customers engaged with the me about the shop. More details coming soon. Welcome to Excessively Diverting.
1. Books in the open domain are books that were published before 1923 and/or have lost their U.S. copyright. See Project Gutenberg for more details.
Wanted: Your (used, well loved, weeded, no longer needed) books
Librarians! Booksellers! Bibliophiles! I am in the process of doing a fairly large project that will be heavily dependent on used books. I am currently scouring local charity shops, used bookstores and library book sales for my needs, but thought I’d put the call out to the internets. I’m looking for a particular types of books, so if you have anything you think might be of interest to me via the list below, contact me via email, Facebook, Twitter or comment here and let me know what you have.
I will pay for shipping of the materials.
I am looking for:
- Classic authors (think Austen, Brontes, Melville, Dickens, Joyce, Tolstoy, etc) whose works are in the public domain. If you\’re unsure, email me for clarification or see if their work is available on Project Gutenberg. I’m not picky about the author or the title, just as long as it is in the public domain.
- Books by Ian Fleming, mainly James Bond series.
- Not terribly picky about edition, publishing house or locality. Will accept non-US based English and also foreign editions.
- Preferably hardcover but will accept paperbacks depending on size/condition.
- Would prefer and love large print versions, but not necessary.
- If the cover is ripped/torn/damaged, but the majority of the interior text is clean, I still want it.
Mwah!