Luxe leash for less

Latest dive into Pinterest project waters completed.  For a while now I've been obsessing over the rope dog leashes that are all around online.  I love how they look (no shock here, they are slightly nautical after all) and how they feel.  What I don't love is how much they cost! Here is one of the ones that was my inspiration but averaging $50 is out of my desired price range.

  

Now here's mine:

I am kind of obsessed with mine! I'm totally in love with the hardware and the rich look of the final product. It has weight and a great feel.  The only thing I added that is not in the photo is that I wrapped hemp twine around the top part of the handle loop to create a more visible handle piece. 

Forgive me for not taking photos of the process but I can give you a breakdown of the supplies and what it took to get the finished product which ran me an approx. cost of $13 for the leash and it's parts (though more out of pocket for the total amount of rope I actually purchased)

• The rope is a 1/2" diameter pure cotton rope from KarensWeddingShop on Etsy, it was $16.29 plus shipping for 25' of the rope (so I have a bunch left over!).  She uses hers for nautical decor projects but it is sturdy quality rope. This seller is based in Canada so the shipping was steep and brought the total to $36.00 but if you divide that for the amount of rope I used for the leash (approx. 5 ft) then we're still only talking about $7.20 for the rope used, with some left over for more projects. 
• Next were the rope clamps that hold the rope together where it's looped, which I found on Amazon.  They are most typically used for horse tack and to create lead ropes. I got the solid brass ones because they matched the look I wanted but they come in silver as well for a bit less if you want to go that way. They are about $3.00 each. I think you can probably also find these items at a horse tack shop if you have any of those local to you. 
• The last piece was the hook.  I found mine at a local ACE Hardware (one of my favorite places) and got a couple options, again in the brass/gold color. Remember to get one with a big enough loop on the end to fit your rope through.  These are around $2.00 each.

I love the white but realized the impracticality of it so I have plans to get some gray dye to have on hand if it gets too dingy but right now I'm loving it as is.  

Next I want to make a collar to match for Mabel but thinking I may want a narrower bit of rope because this does have more haft to it than would be ideal for a collar. Also, I need to figure out a better way to clasp/clamp the ropes. I'll keep you posted.

Also a next step is to make more using the rest of the rope and get it up on RadBaby.

I dislike that...

Continuing my early onstage grump rants it seems to me that there are a large number of people who are willfully ignorant of socially acceptable actions and unless they are shamed on social media there are no ramifications that matter.

So I've made a decision to attempt to communicate with those in public in a way that they may understand.  When someone does something inappropriate in public, such as run straight into me in the street because they couldn't be bothered to look up from their phone I will make eye contact and hold up a big thumbs down.  I dislike that.

On the flip side when someone does something that clearly shows they are invested in being part of society in a positive way such as offering up their seat on public transportation to someone who needs it more than they do they get a big thumbs up.  Liked!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Ugh, why does this need to be said

I am now firmly one of those thirty-something year olds who laments when things were good. I get it, that's ridiculous and maybe I'm still too  young for nostalgia but nevertheless I have it. Early onset grump as Portlandia called it.

My friend from college who is now a professor at our alma mater posted this image the other day with a comment that she might actually start putting this with her syllabus because it includes items that actually need addressing on occasion - what?!?!  

We went to a highly competitive liberal arts college it is incredibly upsetting to think that anyone who makes it through high school could possibly thing this is okay when communicating with anyone other than their good friends.

Ugh...

Bikini!

You know when you get a puppy and you swear you won't be that weird person who dresses their dog up. But then you realize you can't help it, at all! And then you put your puppy in a baby bikini and you know she loves  you because she's cool with it...oh how far you've fallen.

That fine line

There is a fine line in online dating messaging where you are nice and enthusiastic about a date prospect and you come off as a weird clinger.

It's a bit fuzzy but the line is definitely there.  Anyone who participates in the ever-evolving mating dance that is online dating knows that there is an art to message writing. Some learned Do's and Don'ts:

• Do have a day or two of light messaging with the high level questions 
• Don't ask me to go camping with you immediately following my response of "Hi"
• Do ask about where I live or about something that you read in my profile.
• Don't ask things that require me to write a novel in response 
• Do understand that everyone has a lot of things going on in their lives that are outside of OkCupid - frankly I hope that you are someone who isn't able to check their profile and messages all the time, I won't be.
• Don't get angry or throw a fit if it takes me a bit of time to get back to you.  This does not bode well for our future interactions and I don't actually owe you anything after some messages online.
• Do check your grammar - I know I said this before but dear god please!
• If you want to, do actually ask me out.  Don't just reference the time that we're going to see each other.  Just ask, it's not like it's even a face to face interaction.

Like I said, a fine line, but a line that can tell you a lot about the people you are "talking" to.

Childhood tastes so good

The title is credited to my good friend and is so true. For some unexplained reason our office is currently stocking Ritz Handi-Snacks!

You remember these beauties, the crumbly crackers, the red stick, and the always bizarrely textured yet always delicious "cheese".

Don't worry I tasted them for you, they are still great.

I love this...all of this

Grammar Matters!

"Let's eat Grandma!"
"Let's eat, Grandma!"
Commas save lives!!


As someone who dressed up as the grammar police for Halloween last year you can see why I might think this.  I work in communications professionally, and participate in online dating personally, I cannot stress enough the importance of grammar.  On OkCupid, I sometimes fight the urge to discriminate against someone who can't tell the difference between "your" and "you're" (can't tell the difference or can't be bothered to care) but then realize that while it may be over-educated snobbery it is something that I want.  Not to say that someone needs to have perfect grammar or spelling all the time but I need someone who cares enough to double check themselves and fix it. So, while I now accept that I am okay with not liking someone based on the grammar in their self-summary I have restrained myself from correcting their messages to me (which I count as a success).

On a professional level I'm much less forgiving.  Every program you use has a spell check tool, most have automatic flags for when something is potentially incorrect. It actually takes work to not correct your own writing! Why?!?

I do love scanning the Daily Infographics every once in while and this is one that covers all these rules so nicely (if you can't tell I feel like "silly" is a nice word for what these grammar goofs make you look like):

Stay Creative

Toilet leprechauns

I can't take credit for this thought but these days I find myself more often going down the winding road of over-analyzing what most would assume are straight-forward things in everyday life. It can take you to some weird places but never as weird and wonderful as where this woman goes!

I love her blog and it often just makes me literally laugh out loud and this post was no exception

http://thebloggess.com/2015/04/toilet-leprechauns-probably-the-pandoras-box-of-our-generation-i-added-the-probably-so-they-cant-sue-me-for-libel/

You would make a horrible bulimic

I've recently found a new track of inspiration that has gotten me back to doing some art which is actually a wonderful bit of calm and sanity these days for which I am incredibly grateful. Hand lettering and illustration.  This is not really a direction I've ever explored before but I was drawn to the look of the hand lettered signs that are ever so popular these days and then would be over come by that moment of "ugh, I'm not paying for this, I can make that myself." Only this time I actually did!

I don't think it's that much of a departure because I was also drawn to doing art that was not separate from the human experience. These are less related to the human experience in the abstract and more related to the human experience of me and my friends.

I have two completed, one that I like and show below that are based on either sayings, quotes, or in this case an joke that resulted from a ridiculous conversation. Luckily, I have a best friend who as lists of quotes from years of our hanging out that are just begging to be illustrated.  Here's hoping the inspiration lasts because I really enjoy the end product of this one.

Entitled "Yum", printed on heavy weight paper and, if you're so inclined, is for sale at RadBaby.

Dear Cupid, please help.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here and a long time since I've felt like I had the space and desire to write a blog post. Frankly, I'm not sure I'm there yet but I figured why not give it a shot.

These days when people ask how I am or how it's going I usually answer with a vague "Oh, you know, life". This is not because I don't want to share or don't believe that someone else would get it because I know that others go through issues like these. It's more because I feel like I'm walking a delicate line of being able to keep functioning and if I unpack that baggage right now the dam might break and I wouldn't be able to keep acting like I was mostly ok.

I am still very lucky - one of those things that keeps me going - and the good people still around me in life are what make me feel like I'll actually come out the other side even if I don't know when. I'm just tired. Tired of feeling sad and feeling like I can't actually take things turning around at face value because for about a year now each upswing has been rather promptly halted and sent crashing back to the ground.

Ok, topic change!

What I actually wanted to post about was another observation about online dating. First, let me say that I was inspired to think about the weirdness of dating again because of a good friend's new blog call Tin Foil Knights - always a fun read.  Back to it, there is a newer development that I don't quite understand - not sure that I don't like it but it begs an explanation. I am 31, I'm confident and find myself beautiful, know that as a thick chick I may have a niche audience but frankly it's not a narrow field so please don't read the next as a veiled self consciousness.

Why do more 21 year olds want to talk to me more than men my age or older?? 21 is very young on so many levels. I have a few theories:

1. There is something inherently wrong with men in my generation - ok, ok, this isn't a new theory but it has yet to be debunked
2. These 21 year old youngins grew up with the concept of cougars as commonplace and have somehow translated that to think it's normal
3. 21 years olds these days are just overall smarter and clearly like a better caliber of women (remember how I said I don't lack self confidence)

None of the above stops my gut reaction to a 21 year old asking if I want to hang out from being "No, I'm sorry I can't babysit that night".  There has been so much change between 21 year old me and 31 year old me not to mention my taste in men - while not amazing now it has definitely improved!

In case you were wondering about what my niche is, and it changes periodically, currently it appears to be a relatively balanced mix of older men with children (who on the whole seem nice if not a little beat down by life), polyamorous men (so many polyamorous men), and children (aka 21 year olds).

Dear cupid, please help.