I know I'm not tired of it yet

Cause I just still love Arrested Development. I made this multi-block lino cut.

Buster and Gob Play Chicken

I kind of made this on a whim, and it really reminds me of the work I used to do before I discovered etsy. That place gets into your brain. But anyway, I love how Gob looks like an old school little people sitting there in that front loader. I'm hoping to eventually do this print again in pink or something similar, onto fabric and make a skirt...just to announce to people that I'm still amused by a show that was only on the air for three years.

non-resolution

Find my creativity again...wherever it may happen to be hiding.

We've been invaded

We discovered a pair of communist birds have moved into our home. At first we were mad to have to share our hard-earned shelter with these lazy freeloaders, but they made some really convincing arguments. We decided we had no choice but to let them stay and share our wealth.

Assemblage made by Marcia Wood and Andrew Mertinooke; a communal effort.

Apple Tree Yarn Bomb

I had this idea a couple of years ago and never followed through. I've got some encouragement now so I'm thinking a revival is in order!

My plan is this:
1. Recruit others (and myself) to make knitted/crotchet apple cozies.
2. Collect
3. Wait for apples to grow
4. Find a lovely tree whose apples seem to need a hug
5. Cover as many apples as I can with cozies
6. Take pictures and share
7. ?????
8. Profit

Okay, 7 and 8 aren't really part of it but I felt I couldn't leave them out.
If you're interested, email me at sparegus@yahoo.com

Free cozy patterns:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/2008/08/apple-cozy-pattern.html
I've used the above before, and it works really well. The large is really large if you use red heart, but that isn't always a bad thing. We get some monster apples here in NH

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/adorable-apple-cozy
I haven't used this one because I can only crochet squares and rectangles. Anything more complicated comes out a disaster. But I hear it's a good pattern. If you have any other free pattern suggestions, just leave them in the comments.

I can't offer and monetary compensation but everyone who participates will get credit in the final photos.

Here comes the 180

Celebrating our 100th sale was amazing! I'm so happy that so many people participated and that we got to share our tees with more people.
Now comes the hard part. We've had to make a very difficult decision. We've done fairly well for what we've put in to spareGus Ink, but it has come to the point where we had to decide if it is worth continuing. Anybody that knows Andy & I will know that while this business isn't exactly what we planned on, we grew to enjoy it and had some really great times doing this. It is unfortunate that our life situation has taken us to the point where it just isn't feasible. We're planning the close to be in the next 30-60 days, providing we can find a buyer for our equipment. It may be sooner or it may be later, but it is going to happen. We love and appreciate all the support and customers we've had the pleasure to know and sell to.
Thanks again!

Drumroll....

Winner of the shirt from SpareGus Ink is AntB! Congrats! Please convo me on etsy to let me know what you'd like!

Time for a Giveaway!

So I said on the facebook page that I'd do a giveaway when we reached 100 sales on etsy. That moment came yesterday afternoon, so here it is!

This giveaway will be for one shirt, any size, any design available in the shop. The majority of our shirts are organic cotton and all of them are Alternative Apparel. These shirts are soft, stretchy and fashionable, not your regular old tee!

To enter:
1. Follow this blog and comment
2. Follow our facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/spareGus/340797356814 and comment *here*
3. Re-blog, tweet, or facebook post this giveaway (one entry for one or all three) and comment here
4. Favorite SpareGus Ink on etsy - http://sparegusink.etsy.com and comment here

So, four ways to enter. You've got to leave a new comment for each way you enter so that when I use the random number generator thingie you get as many entries as you made. You can enter until 12am Eastern time on Friday July 1st...so that's a whole week! Heck yeah!