Etsy Bloggers February Feature: Donna Pool

Donna Pool's Etsy Shop has a lot to offer. From cards, to buttons, mirrors, photos and handmade plush toys. As a plush toy maker, I have to really admire her toys, completely handmade (no sewing machine used!!!)

Cuddly teddy bears!!! Great for Valentine's Day!

...and how about some brain working puzzle balls!!!I am amazed at these! Nicely intricate, beautifully handsewn!

Want to get to know this crafty artist??? Check out her blog: http://ddpool.blogspot.com

Take a Lunch Break for some shopping!

We Are Wedges and House of Hsueh will be there!

Countdown to Fan Expo 2008 - DAY 4

A few days ago, we introduced Squido the librarian. Today we're proud to introduce Sluggo, a sea snail who lives at the bottom of the Wedge Sea. Sluggo is a window cleaner, but has been unemployed for several months. We're all for skilled trades, but he may have wanted to consider that there are very few windows to clean at the bottom of the ocean.

Sea snails are gastropods. We were going to steal a general overview of the class from wikipedia, but the following really jumped out at us, so we're going to focus on it:

"Snails are distinguished by torsion, a process where the visceral mass of the animal rotates 180º to one side during development, such that the anus is situated more or less above the head".

Wait a minute, what was that last part? They have butts on top of your heads? Headbutts? Needless to say, our Wedge tribute to all things gastropod is not entirely anatomically correct. No headbutts. Sluggo is however pretty much adorable. Not a showboat like Octo, Sluggo's content without pesky appendages, just slinking across the ocean floor, feeding on whatever floats his way.

Watch for Sluggo soon in the Wedge Shop!

Countdown to Fan Expo 2008 - DAY 6

With just 6 days to FanExpo 2008, it's time to start rolling out some new Wedges! Over the next several days you'll get to know the new members of the Wedge family, Squido, Sluggo, and Octo!

Squido is librarian at the bottom of the Wedge sea. She spends her days sorting her books and lobbying for much needed public funding for expansion of the oceanic wedge libraries. She is very efficient and is an effective public speaker.

Squido made us promise to give you a refresher course on the Dewey decimal system, so here goes. Melvil Dewey invented the Dewey system in 1876 (pff, not even as old as Canada). It's comprised of 10 main categories, which are further subdivided to narrow down your search for books on a specific topic. The top-level categories are:

• 000 – Computer Science, information, and general works
• 100 – Philosophy and psychology
• 200 – Religion
  
• 300 – Social Sciences
  
• 400 – Languages
• 500 – Science and Mathematics
• 600 – Technology and Applied science
• 700 – Arts and recreation
• 800 – Literature
• 900 – History, geography, and biography

Personally, our library is 99.4% science fiction fantasy, so we're a bit heavy on section 813. And hey, if Dewey isn't your thing, Squido understands. Maybe you're more for the Library of Congress classification system, or maybe Universal Decimal Classification system? The fun never ends!

Poor teddy bear

Oh, hi guys, I'm just chillin' by the recycling bins over here. Just checkin' out my belly. My owners? Oh, they're just hangin' out inside right now, they told me to stay here and guard their favourite Ikea LACK table. They said it was really important to them, and I should stay out here even if it starts raining, and if anyone comes along with a giant truck and tries to steal it, I should get in the truck too and follow the thieves. I'm sure it really means a lot to them especially since it's a discontinued colour, making it pretty collectible.
















MILLIONS OF OUR STUFFED FRIENDS SEE THIS SAME HORRIFIC FATE EVERY YEAR, AND THE NUMBER IS GROWING.

Or shrinking. We're not really sure. But we thought it was a good picture. Look at him, he's so sad!