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No more chicken feathers!

shakers

FOR NOW…

I picked these up this week: a pair of dark blue glass salt and pepper shakers with metal frames. I thought they were silver plate under all that corrosion (thanks, salt!), but now I have them cleaned up, I believe they’re base metal. Eh, never mind. They’re still kind of pretty and I paid nothin’.

I’m going to put powdered graphite in one and…I’m not sure about the other. Something art supplies-y. I like to use pretty things for painting equipment; it puts me in the moooood.

Here’s a thing. I need a brush rest – it’s a little wooden or ceramic thing with notches in it, to raise the bristles off the table and keep your brushes from rolling around. The best (that is, cheapest) online art shop here is Jackson’s and they have one listed for £3.80.

I go to eBay and search ‘brush rest’ and somebody’s selling the exact same one — he even says it’s Jackson’s — for £4.37. And he’s sold 13 of them.

Do people do that? Buy shit and turn around and sell it for 50p profit?

And, by the way, that’s the cheapest one listed. Similar if not identical plain ceramic brush rests are going from £8 to £13. Screw it, I’m’a get one of the pretty blue-ware ones (Chinese and Japanse use them for those big-ass calligraphy brushes).

Good weekend, everyone!

p.s. Go get Skandia Recluse’s latest book for free. If you like his universe, there’s a lot more.

Comments


Comment from Nina
Time: October 20, 2017, 10:48 pm

Thanks for the link!


Comment from Gromulin
Time: October 21, 2017, 12:45 am

Yes, people do that. I’ve seen used motorcycle parts sell for more than can be bought new. Some people are just nutty when it comes to eBay.


Comment from Feynmangroupie
Time: October 21, 2017, 1:28 am

Why not use those spoon holders for stoves? There must be something out there dainty enough for a brush


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 21, 2017, 1:46 am

You sure that’s not a set of George Washington’s lower dentures?

Couldn’t Uncle B whittle one from some local shrub?
Doesn’t look very complex. Bit of white enamel paint, make good, lovely.


Comment from xul’s fedora
Time: October 21, 2017, 2:06 am

No more chicken feathers? How about chicken sweaters? 😀

http://www.iseeidoimake.com/collection-of-free-chicken-sweater-patterns/


Comment from QuasiModo
Time: October 21, 2017, 2:45 am

Book links added to my list at Amazon :+)


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: October 21, 2017, 4:05 am

Stoatie – I imagine one could whip up an effective brush rest with a suitably sized smallish bolt and a number of nuts threaded on it at convenient intervals. A rusty bolt would be good so the nuts wouldn’t turn easily, or a bit of non-hardening Loctite.


Comment from Bob
Time: October 21, 2017, 5:37 am

something that people do is have a friend or sock puppet offer the same merchandise at a slightly higher price in such a way that both sellers show up in the search results. The higher priced seller rarely sells, supposedly the lower priced seller gets more sales because he doesn’t have the highest price (and may not have the lowest price).


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: October 21, 2017, 9:14 am

Thanks, MS. Sweasel, for the book plug.
Over sixty people have downloaded the book.
That is a scary number for me.


Comment from Ric Fan
Time: October 21, 2017, 2:59 pm

Skandia: Do you plug your books over at AoShq? Sunday is book day. Oregonmuse usually handles it but he is out sick. I’m sure someone else is covering for him. And there is votermom’s blog.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 21, 2017, 3:38 pm

Uncle Al, that is the most ‘guy’ idea I ever heard.


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: October 21, 2017, 5:51 pm

Well, I am a guy!

Let me put on my gal hat (no comments, please). OK. How about an old (or cheap new) hair or fingernail brush, bristles up?


Comment from peacelovewoodstock
Time: October 21, 2017, 8:35 pm

Use the other shaker as a pounce pot!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pounce_(calligraphy)


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: October 21, 2017, 10:33 pm

Ric FAn
votermom at bookhorde.org mentioned the book Thursday or Friday, I’ll make a short comment on the book thread on Ace tomorrow.

I am amazed at the response. I just hope people like it.


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 22, 2017, 12:30 am

Skandia
The only books I’ve bought in the last 6 months have been self published books off Amazon.
Most of em have been pretty decent and adding another author to the list of names I watch for is a good thing.

Cheers!


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: October 22, 2017, 11:30 pm

@Skandia Recluse – FYI, you now have one 4-star review on Amazon.


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: October 23, 2017, 12:13 am

Thanks, Uncle Al. I was on pins and needles, worried that no one would like the story. The bad reviews will be easier to take now.

All I have to do now is come up with another idea.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 23, 2017, 9:21 pm

I thought about pounce, peacelovewoodstock. I used to use it when I did technical drawing. In modern terms, pounce is used to ‘de-grease’ technical drawing vellum, which is a textured plastic.

Don’t have any vellum, don’t have any pounce.


Comment from drew458
Time: October 24, 2017, 9:31 pm

Seems to me a cleaned up old ashtray would do just as good a job as that brush thingy. Ought to be able to find one for a couple of P at any yard sale. A bit of stick would work too, just whittle it flat on one side; cost nothing. That foamy thing women put between their toes when they paint their toenails might do. When I paint (doors and stuff, not art) and have to put the wet brush down, I just rest it over the edge of a sawhorse or something.

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