Friday, April 20, 2018

C is for...

This week my mind is all over the place, so I've grouped some random thoughts under C to share with you.  C is for comfort food, crochet cat, curated collection, and Chaco.   C is also for covetous creeps who consume my time.  Those are covered under Curate.
Do you have a special comfort food?  When I'm feeling out of sorts, a slice of bread spread with peanut butter goes a long way to smoothing things out.  It's even healthy.  The cute dolly tableware is manufactured at Ceramix, where I sometimes work.  Here in South Africa we have a brand of peanut butter called Black Cat.  It's my favourite.
I haven't had time to crochet anything this year, so I made this little cross looking cat.  I found the pattern HERE.  Hitty likes cats, I think I will let her keep it.

People sometimes contact me when they want to sell their collection of teddy bears, dolls, or related items.
But is it really a collection?  If someone has a box filled with a hundred teddy bears, and the box includes mass produced synthetic Valentines, hand-me-downs with no provenance, and little bears in traditional costume they bought to remind them of their holiday in far flung places, it's a sentimental hoard, not a collection.  Unless the boyfriend forked out for a limited edition bear, or the tatty one eyed bear inherited from a great aunt turns out to be an early Steiff, probably nothing in that box has any monetary value.  In a collection, it's not quantity that counts, it's quality. 

If you want to make sure that your collection becomes worth money, here are some tips to curate it.

What is a curated collection?  It's easy.
  1. Items in a collection have a unifying theme.  It can be as broad as 'teddy bears' or 'dolls' or 'dollhouse', or as specific as 'late Victorian 1/12 scale artisan made English dollhouse furniture'.  If your collection grows too large, you might consider specializing.
  2. Items are organized and looked after.  Not just a jumble in a box.  Make sure every item in your collection is clean, dusted, well maintained, correctly stored or displayed.
  3. Trade up.  Don't be afraid to sell or swap in order to improve the quality of your collection.  If you find a better example of an item you have, trade or sell it, and add on a little extra money to get the better one.  That way your collection will grow better without growing bigger.  Museums do it all the time.  
  4. Weed your collection.  We all have the problem that our collections tend to outgrow available space.  From time to time, go through your collection and look for items that don't fit in anymore.  Maybe you found a better specimen and now you have a duplicate.  There's that piece that isn't quite the right scale.  Your taste has changed, or these days you can afford something better, or your field of interest has narrowed.  Get rid of a few things.   A small collection with good quality items is worth more than a large discordant collection.  It's also much  more pleasing to look at and display.  If your surplus items have no value, donate them to someone who's just starting a collection.  If you think you can get money for it, visit eBay or sell it at a show.  You can use the money to add a quality item to your collection.  
  5. Collections are documented.  Keep a little book and write down where and when you acquired an item, how much you paid for it, who made it and when they made it, and any other information you might have.  You can even add a picture.  If some day your collection needs to be sold, or passes on to someone else as a legacy, documentation to back up the provenance and value of items will be of utmost importance.  
Even my spider collection is curated and well documented.  Each tarantula has a fact sheet where I write down when I bought/traded it, their size, sex, date last molted etc.
Meet Ms Chaco.  She's big as a house, ha ha.  That's a 1/144 scale dollhouse made by my friend Frieda la Grange in 2017.  Ms Chaco is a Grammostola pulchripes aka Chaco golden knee tarantula.  Chacos are native to Argentina, this one was captive bred.  She's 12cm (4 1/2 inches) long.  This young lady will grow to 22cm (8 1/2 inches) over her lifetime of about 15 years.  Because of poor record keeping by her previous owner, I don't know her exact age or how many times she has molted, but we think she's about four years old.  She was a rescue purchase from an owner who had lost interest and sold her entire 'collection'.  When Chaco came to us she was badly dehydrated and looking very sorry for herself.  The first day, she sat with her face in her water bowl for hours.  It made me cry.  Over the next few days she ate voraciously, then went into premolt and just rested and didn't move around much for several weeks.  She moulted two weeks ago.  I took her out of her terrarium today to give it a good clean.  Her new exoskeleton is beautiful and sleek, none of the bald patches and scars she had before.  Now that she's settled in, she's a very calm and docile girl.  Because of their hardiness and friendly nature, Chacos are recommended tarantulas for beginner collectors.




26 comments:

  1. Learn something new everyday! I did not know that about curating a collection or tarantulas. I didn't even know there were different types of tarantulas.

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    1. Sheila, I think we all fall into the habit of collecting something at some time in our lives. After a while, we start naturally curating, without even realizing that's what we do. It is good to work with a plan and be organized though.
      There are thousands of species of tarantula. I collect mostly new world terrestrial specimens. These are not poisonous, and don't spin webs, so they aren't as messy as their arboreal cousins.

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  2. Great advice for collectors. I have a miniature shoes collection. I display only the ones I like. Never thought about curating.
    The kitten is very cute. Thanks for the link.
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Miniature shoes sound fascinating, Dora. Are they to a specific scale, made of a specific material, or do you collect all types? I sometimes see tiny porcelain shoes in antique shops. I think they are meant to be dressing table ornaments or pin cushions. You will need to write a post and show them to us some time!

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  3. Well, I think I've learned a lot today by reading your blog post, Megan, I always say: one is never too old for learning ;)! Hmmm, collecting things....I'm afraid that I'm quite boring, because I don't collect anything.
    Love the little crocheted kitten, Megan, it's so cute.
    Have a nice weekend. Hug, Ilona

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    1. I can't believe that you don't collect anything Ilona! I'm always having to stop myself from starting yet another collection, it's addictive.

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  4. If I ever need to add a bit of class when describing my hoard of miniatures, I am going to call it my curated collection! ;O)
    I can't say I'll ever desire to have any type or arachnid as a pet, but I do find them fascinating! Thank you for sharing. What do you feed her?
    I also find it interesting that in the UK, a black dog is a bad omen, in the US, a black cat is a sign of bad luck, and in South Africa, it is a delicious peanut butter! Funny how our cultures shape our opinions of certain things.

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    1. Ha ha Jodi, you have such nice stuff, it's curated for sure!
      Tarantulas eat insects. I feed crickets, cockroaches and mealworms.
      Yep, it's amazing how people still cling to superstitions in these modern times. Myself, I've always liked black cats, dogs, cars... maybe I can start a collection of black things.

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  5. Hello, Megan - This is an interesting, informative post. I learned some things about collections that I've never thought about before. I also learned a few things about tarantulas, likewise. I let my ten-year old grandson read your post, because he's interested in spiders. He was highly impressed with Ms Chaco and had many questions that I couldn't begin to answer. That'll make a good research topic for him during his Library Days at school. I'm sure that I'll be learning even more (and probably more than I like) about spiders in general, and especially tarantulas. We were happy to learn that Ms Chaco is well and thriving.
    Marjorie

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    1. Thank you for writing Marjorie. I would recommend a tarantula as pet for an older child before most animals like a bird, fish or hamster. Some species are quite hardy and can be handled. Tarantulas are not noisy or smelly, require feeding at most once a week, and the soil in their terrariums need to be changed only about once a year. One of the best websites for information is www.tomsbigspiders.com. Tom has children the same age as your grandson, and he's a teacher, so he's spot on with his advice. He also offers lots of videos and a podcast.

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  6. That must have been a learning curve for you when Ms. Chaco sat with her head in her water bowl for hours but until NOW, I didn't KNOW that spiders drank water!? Very Interesting!

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    1. Elizabeth, spiders get most of their moisture from the things they eat. Although they should always have a water bowl in their terrarium, they will rarely drink from it. An open water source helps to keep the humidity in their terrarium up, which is important. That said, I once tried to take a sip from my bedside waterglass in the middle of the night, at the exact moment that a HUGE rain spider was taking a sip. That was a scary meeting. I now keep a water bottle with a spout.

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  7. Hello Megan,
    That crochet cat is adorable. well done. I am very happy Ms Chaco got a wonderful new home and is well cared for. In terms of comfort food, C is for Cheesecake!
    Big hug
    Giac

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    1. Cheesecake is definitely on my list too, Giac. I love the kind that is baked in the oven, not a fridge cake, and I have a good recipe. Do you bake?
      I'm not convinced about the crochet kitty, I think next time I make one I should try to make the ears a bit more pointy. But it was a fun quick project.

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  8. A nice collection of C's... ;O) It was interesting to learn about Ms Chaco, she's one happy spider lass to live with you now. I too was surprised to hear she put her head in her water bowl for hours... it's always sad when people have animals which are not capable for this responsibility. You've put up a nice list of tips for collections. Here in Germany there's no more interest in collector's bears and dolls, prices are more than low and it's sometimes heartbreaking to see how good bears do end up as a cheap bargain which still nobody buys.

    Greetings
    Birgit (who agrees with Giac - C must of course also stand for cheesecake)

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    1. Thank you Birgit. Seems like lots of comfort food starts with C! I've been making teddy bears for nearly twenty years, and I have to agree with you, there is not much of a market for collectors bears at the moment. But these things go around in cycles, and the time will come again when we can't keep up with demand. We must not stop making teddies, there always needs to be someone to set an example for the ones that come after us.

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  9. Wow! Ms Chaco is most impressive. And your kitty for Hitty is a dear; I'm so glad you made one :-)

    warmly,

    Beth

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    1. Thank you Beth! I enjoyed making the little kitty.

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  10. Hehe.. Kitty for Hitty.. love it. :) Interesting information about collections Megan.. I feel I need to start curating my artisan miniatures immediately. I need to buy a notepad. Even though I have previously stated my arachnophobia I was very sad to hear that Ms Chaco wasn't treated well by her previous owner. I am an animal lover and even if there are types I don't want around I'd never want to see one suffer. The poor dear, with her face in her water bowl all day.. I'm so glad she lucked upon you as her new owner. I find all this tarantula information fascinating. I had no idea they live for such a long time. A bit like Jodi, I wonder what they eat but then wonder.. do I really want to know?? lol.. Why is keeping record of her moulting so important. Is that how you know their age? Your posts are going a long way to making me feel some understanding and respect for the beasts.. just so long as they don't live in my house.. And as much as I'd like to come and raid your fabric stash.. now that I remember you have tarantula's in the house, I might pass.. lolol.. My comfort food C is Chippies! Hot/cold in any format. :) I would of course follow that up with Giac's Cheesecake. :D

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    1. You have some lovely things in your collection, Sam. It's worth documenting. And the things you make are awesome. You should keep a diary of that too. They are the valuable collectibles of the future!
      I like to think that neglecting a tarantula is not as bad as neglecting a mamalian pet, but all animals can suffer and caging something and then not looking after it is unforgivable. Fortunately we don't see that too often in the tarantula hobby. Because people interested in keeping arachnids are a bit quirky, we tend to know who the others are ;-) Molting is part of the tarantula's metabolic cycle. It tells us when she's going to be hungry, or not want to eat, and when she's likely to be more active, or lazy and just sitting around. If you don't know that your tarantula is going to molt, you might panic if it just sits around and refuses food. If one wants to breed a tarantula, knowing the date of molt is very important. Tarantulas don't molt a specific number of times in their lifetime. When they are very young, they molt every few weeks. By the time they reach their full grown size, they might molt less often than once per year.
      I'm watching your blog to see how your couch develops!

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    2. Oh and P.S. Seems like lots of comfort food starts with C. I love chippies and cheesecake too!

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  11. I enjoy learning about your tarantulas, thank you for the post. I'm glad Ms. Chaco found you. Please tell us more about her and her curated compatriots when you have time.

    Thank you too for the reminder that I need to update my miniatures notebook. I've got a couple years of receipts stuffed in it.

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  12. Seems like you are way ahead of some of us, Keli, if you already have a miniatures notebook. I always think I will remember, and then forget! A while ago I unpacked some boxes and discovered a miniature oil portret of myself, obviously made by an artist. I recognized the photo that it was copied from but had NO IDEA where it came from. How could one forget something like that? When I showed it to my mother, she said that it was something she had commissioned by my cousin (who I don't know very well, my mother is more into family than me) and was a birthday gift to me seventeen years ago. At the time I was going through some stressful changes, and a move. I must have packed it up right after receiving it and it completely slipped my mind. I really felt like an ungrateful wretch for forgetting about it.
    Now that I've 'come clean' about my tarantula habit and discovered that people are actually interested, I intend to slip in a little note about them at the end of some of my posts.
    Thinking of you and the changes ahead in your life this year. I'm sure it's going to turn out for the best!

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  14. I read the bit about Ms Chaco aloud to my husband, as her "face planting" in her water bowl was tangentially relevant to a conversation we were having, it led to observations that we don't think of spiders having needs, responses, etc. and the psychology of....I got interrupted and lost my train of thought. Anyway...yes, more tarantula posts, please.

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    1. Ha ha Keli, I don't know much about the psychology of... but I have learned a lot from my tarantulas. Would be delighted to share a few insights from time to time.

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