In Production!

So, I'm getting my Under the Sea Valentine sets printed up tomorrow, and my supplies (SUPER DUPER TINY ADORABLE ENVELOPES!!) are starting to trickle in! I put together a "prototype" package just to make sure everything was going to fit, and oh boy I am SO excited to send these out to people! I think everyone who has ordered some Valentines will be really pleased!

For now, I only have a picture of my recycled thank you tags, which I made out of a shipping envelope I got last week, a paper punch, a stamp, and soon lots of ink with my gratitude in written form! ♥

Yay, recycling!

Tomorrow is the big assembly day, so I will have lots of pictures! There's still time to order some Valentines for yourself & your loved ones before I ship my FIRST batch on Friday! Ya'll have no idea how excited I am. It's a wonderful feeling to have a dream become a reality.

♥ Ciara Kay

Derby Dames

I apologize for the SUPER CRAPPY webcam pics, but I wanted to share some doodles I've been doing of Derby girls, my new favorite sketch subject! My team wanted me to design a new logo, and our name is Viva Roller Derby, so the skeleton/living girl was kind of a play on that. I'll be working on a vector of one of the mug shots this week!

In Other News...

I'm covering some shifts at my old job and starting my new job this week, which means I can A) quit freeloading and start buying my own derby gear & paying dues, and B) start ordering more inventory for Scoutaroo!

There's still time to order some Valentines, which will, of course, help me reach goals A & B even sooner. After Friday I will be able to ship them as they are ordered because I will have all my inventory ready to send. Exciting! Pre-orders are annoying for everybody... It will be nice to have actual inventory on hand to sell!

This week I'll be assembling orders & shipping them off to their recipients! I'm going to post lots of production pictures, haha. I also have a plan for a Grand Opening in the works with some giveaways & sales & other fun stuff... but before all that, I will be listing some new lettersets, which is the whole reason I started Scoutaroo in the first place! It's all about the lettersets!!

Remember those previews from my first post back in December? Those have become fully-fledged letterset designs now, and all I have to do is say the word and my print shop in Chico will make a whole batch! I can't wait!! You can expect an announcement for those next week, after I've shipped off my first orders of Valentines.

So, things are rolling along quite nicely! (see what i did there... derby humor, heh).

Delightedly Yours,

♥ Dead Marsha

My Super Self

As I've mentioned before, I'm proud to be the official illustrator for the League of Extraordinary Penpals (there's still time to sign up for the reduced rate)! Julie and Laura wanted me to do a self-portrait for the website, and I was happy to oblige... my superhero name would be "Lady Stardust" of course (if it hadn't been taken already it would be my derby name, haha!) and my super weapon is my tablet pen!! As far as the super-obvious color theme goes... I have to admit I've been having a love affair with red & blue for the last two years. I just can't get enough of that combo! ♥

You know what I realized? This image is reversed. That's what I get for looking in a mirror! I'm right handed and my part is on the left side of my head. HAH. Oops.

So this is how I like to imagine myself in spandex. And that's all I got for today.

♥ Lady Stardust

Just Because

Lots of happy things to report from today (hence, happy vector bunnies! These were leftover from a design that didn't get used, and I decided to slap a kraft paper texture on them. Yay recycling, haha).

♥ I got hired at Art, Etc, a local frame & art shop downtown! I will be working one day a week in the store learning the trade & helping customers, and I will also be building and maintaining their website and helping manage their Etsy shop!

♥ I got a package FULL of zines from a new friend, TMC! I can't wait to devour them all! So cool! Now I definitely want to do a full sized zine... mini-zines are fun afternoon projects, but these are so inspiring!!

♥ I made my 10th Scoutaroo Paper Co sale and I think I've earned enough to get some lettersets printed!! I met with a print shop just down the street from where I'll be moving, and they're a little pricey but I like them so I'm going to give it a shot... Keep an eye out for new listings soon!

♥ I get to hit girls! I am LOVING Roller Derby! My team is awesome and I just adore the sport. It's so much fun, despite the bruises and 24-hour post-practice soreness, haha. I am hoping my skin toughens up because right now I look like an Appaloosa.

One bad thing, I seem to have lost my camera battery charger... which is super lame because I've been getting some awesome mail that I want to photograph and post! Poo! Oh well. Not everything has to be shared on the interwebz to be legitimately cool.

I'll be getting my pre-orders (and a few extra) printed next week to ship on the first! And if I get a few more orders (hint hint!!) I'll be able to get a few lettersets made! Exciting! I don't have a date set for my grand opening, but when that happens there will be a giveaway, discounts, and of course, lots of cool new stationery for you to buy and write on and mail to people.

Elatedly yours,

♥ Ciara Kay

National Handwriting Day Special!

Ok, so I've listed some full-sized cards in the shop as well now, and I want to give my readers & fans a little incentive and a thank you for your support so far! I've made 4 sales of the classroom Valentine's since last week and I am STOKED and I want to celebrate that too! So, I've set up a little coupon code which I will only post here on the blog for you!

This code will be effective from 12AM to 11:59PM on National Handwriting Day, Wednesday January 23rd (give or take a few minutes! I'm not a machine, haha). So go buy some discounted Valentine's for the awesome people in your life!

→ Use the code over here ←

And make sure to write some handwritten notes & letters tomorrow as well!! ♥

Look Over There!

----> I got to guest post over at the Snail Mailer's blog!!

Yay! She asked if I would do a tutorial about zines for her "Make it Monday" series, so I did! And the zine is about none other than David Bowie. ♥

So go look at that!

Also, I'll be posting a special coupon for my shop tomorrow which will be available for use on National Handwriting Day (Wednesday) only!! This blog is the only place the coupon code will be posted.

Also also, today I'll be listing my "full-sized" Valentines in the shop, so if you liked my designs but not the classroom Valentine-style, these are for you!

Dead Marsha out. ♥

A Few of My Favorite Things

Oh man, if I had a million bucks I could easily spend it all on Etsy. These are just a few of the things I've added to my Etsy favorites... I'm so proud to be in a community with these talented people!

This Roller Derby Mini Messenger Bag

$64.50 by Zoe's Bag Boutique

SUPER CUTE... Just what a derby girl like me needs to carry around my notebooks & pens!

This Mini Letter Set

$15 by The Fox and the Teacup

Stephanie Fitzer Coleman is my hero. Her shop is the gold standard for what I hope for Scoutaroo Paper Co. to become! And I LOVE space-themed stuff!!

This Hand-Carved Stamp

$9 by Fresh Baked Paper Goods

I am starting to fall in love with rubber stamps... and this one in particular is so charming!

These Kraft Paper Stickers

$5.50 by Papered Thoughts

Rin Dawson's handwriting is amazing! And I love her designs... lots of maps & washi & kraft paper & neon. ♥

These Notebooks

$10.93 by Little ATae

I've been on the lookout for my next commonplace book... Ideally I would like a letter-sized notebook, but I love Isabel Reyes Feeney's designs!

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Last night's derby practice had positives and negatives.

- I decided to run for my pre-workout, which meant my legs were not working properly once I got on skates (running is my mortal enemy)

+ We had a short practice!

- My bruise left me favoring my left and far less willing to hit people.

+ We hung out in the hot tub & sauna instead of skating longer!

- I had to drive home in wet clothes...

+ ...but I'm still glad I went. Good bonding time.

Tomorrow afternoon I am taking my littlest brother roller skating! He's eleven and I'm twenty-one... so we don't hang out all that much. It's a shame, really. So I hope this is the first of many sibling excursions. I'm also looking forward to going skating just for fun! No mouthguards or whistles or teammates around to give me bruises on top of my bruises, haha. Jamie & I also have some plans with friends from out of town and family over the weekend. It should be good.

Any exciting weekend plans?

♥ Ciara Kay

Happy Mail Day!

My mailbox is fat & happy with new mail coming in every day! And it's about time I posted my outgoing mail as well... I keep forgetting to take pictures. Anyway, here are a ton of pictures of MAIL!! ♥

Incoming Mail

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From Kelsey in New York

A zine from Viviana (swap-bot.com) 

A neat puzzle of sorts from Melissa (sendsomething.net) 

(Above & below) From Kay in Mississippi - awesome handmade envie and a super cool zine!

Letter from a very old & dear friend!

Package of goodies & a letter from The Snail Mailer!

(Above & Below) Mini-zine swap from Christina (swap-bot.com)

Letter from Brittany in Indiana!

(Above & below) Another little note in an awesome handmade envie from Brittany!

Jamie's niece sent us a beautiful card she colored! That kid deserves some mail for sure!!

(Above & below) A delightful package from Laura of the LEP as a thank you for being their official illustrator! This totally blew me away & made my day!

And now for some...

Outgoing Mail

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Lovely piles of outgoing mail!

Inside out security envelopes (from the Snail Mailer!)

A bit of an experiment... has anyone tried to send stickers like this?

Another experiment... a tracing paper letter! It worked out better than I hoped! I just hope it's not too frustrating to read...

A dip-pen letter swap (swap-bot)

Letter to my cousin just for fun!

Letter to a new-ish penpal using my cool new stamp-printed envies!

Card to a faithful penpal!

In other news... I got my first roller derby wound!! I'll spare you the photograph, but the bruise just keeps getting more and more beautiful! It's the size of my fist, and I got it by falling flat on my hip. I'm so proud of it... but I am a bit anxious about practice tonight because if someone hits it or I fall again I will probably cry. Such is Derby.

I do have a few fun things coming up! Special post on Monday, and I have a little surprise on National Handwriting Day (Jan 23). Stay tuned!

♥ Ciara Kay

Scoutaroo Paper Co. is Now Open!

I'm tired of waiting (and not very good at it in the first place) so here goes nothing!! I am pleased to announce that you can now order my "Under the Sea" Classroom Valentines on Etsy!

Click Here for the Listing Page!

Go check it out! They come with envelopes & stickers, too! Unfortunately all I can offer are pre-orders, so you'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get your order, but the time will go by faster than you know it, and then one day your mailbox will have a delightful package of adorable Valentines made by yours truly inside of it!!

Consider this a soft opening... Once Jamie and I are operating like functional adults and not living in our parent's spare bedrooms, I'll have lots more merchandise to advertise! I am oh so excited for that day to arrive! It's taken a bit longer than I thought it would to get settled... but it'll happen soon enough. And then before I know it, we'll be moving again!! Gee whiz.

I'll have a listing for regular ol' cards featuring these four designs up later in the week! Just some info on that in case you would like to hold out and order those: Single cards will be $4.50, Packs of four cards will be $16. These will come with envelopes (of course) and blue heart stickers as well.

Tootles!

♥ Ciara Kay

Zine: The Care & Keeping of Pet Rats

I made a little zine a couple weeks ago for a swap I hosted over on swap-bot.com! I think I'll make this into a series of zines about some of my favorite "exotic" pets and sell them as a bundle... definitely going to do one about hermit crabs, maybe one about betta fish, and probably one about leopard geckos or bearded dragons. I miss my menagerie!!

"The Making Of"

The finished mini-zine!

Going out into the world!

I also carved a stamp of my logo out of an extra eraser we had around. It turned out pretty good!

Incoming Mail

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I've received quite a few letters & swaps since I took these photos... I'll post them in the next batch! ;)

Finally I'm an official member of the Letter Writer's Alliance!

Awesome bundle of goodies from The Snail Mailer!

I just sent out a ton of mail so I'll be posting about that next week!

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In Snail Mail News: January 23 is National Handwriting Day, February is LetterMo, and if you join the LEP before February 1 you get a discounted rate! So much is happening in the Mail Universe!

In Life of Ciara News: I'm still looking for a job! Still waiting on that second interview... on Monday I'm going to submit my resume to a few cafes & bakeries downtown to see if I can get some backup plans rolling. Some Good News: we have a couple of leads on a place to live. The Bad News: we can't move in until February... Being a vagabond is not as fun as you'd think... Though, being on permanent vacation is not so bad.

via

I've been holding out on announcing this because I wanted to be sure I was going to stick with it, so here goes... I'm joining a Roller Derby team! I've taken "Dead Marsha" as my moniker and 379 as my number... ten points to anyone who gets the reference (without having been told by me previously, cheaters!!). Anyway, derby is WAY fun and I am loving it so far! I'm already able to practice with the rest of the team (though I'm pretty slow at some of the footwork drills, and I'm not as in shape as the rest of them) and I can't wait to have a job and money so I can buy my own awesome (purple!) gear.

You can definitely expect to see some derby-themed stationery in the future of Scoutaroo Paper Co.

-- Dead Marsha

The League of Extraordinary Penpals WANTS YOU!

I had the pleasure of illustrating the official logo for The League of Extraordinary Penpals, a new project by Julie of Penpal of the Week/La Papierre and Laura of Please Deliver To! The LEP launches today, and it's a super penpal club for extraordinary penpals!! If you join you get to be a part of an awesome community and you get cool stuff every month in the member newsletter:

♥ Printable
♥ Snail mail challenge
♥ Organized swap (letter or stationery related)
♥ Giveaway
♥ Superhero-themed interview with an extraordinary LEP member
♥ Article on a topic of interest
♥ Featured snail mail related website
♥ Access to a private stationery subscription service (SSS)
♥ The chance to receive a letter or a card from your LEP hostesses

I get to be the club's official illustrator and I am stoked! The member fees are really minimal for all the awesome stuff you get. Plus, if you sign up before February 1 the cost is even less!

So what are you waiting for?? Join today!

♥ Ciara Kay

Fascination

Today is a very special day. My dad turned 49. Also, David Bowie turned 66 AND ANNOUNCED A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT THIS MARCH!! WOOOOO!!! I may have to skip ahead in the lineup (I'm supposed to get the Tin Machine albums next) and buy it when it comes out...

To celebrate this momentous occasion (and because I need to brush up on my Bowie-drawing skills for a special line of stationery...) I doodled some of my favorite Bowie personas. I love that guy. ♥

Happy Birthday David Bowie!

One of these days I'll make a Bowie-zine, mostly to try to explain why I am so fascinated, but also because I need an excuse to draw more pictures of him...

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As I mentioned very briefly, today is my dad's birthday, too! And my mom's was on Sunday. I made them cards because I'm broke...

My nicknames for my Mom & Dad (I'm a quarter Mexican... and that's about as much Spanish as I know, haha)

I hope everyone's January 8th is going well. Today my task is to catch up on letter-writing!! My favorite thing!

-- Ciara Kay