Indie Squid Kid

My wife makes her Indie Squid Kid debut!

Back in the end of December when I did my Xmas Roundup, I left out one important gift—Ryn’s nautilus necklace!

Ryn loves her nautilus!

You might recognize this necklace if you are familiar with the work of Sheryl Westleigh (aka Noadi) or if you saw my 2009 Holiday Shopping guide. While I was composing that post, Ryn saw the photo of the nautilus pendant and let out an excited SQUEEE! I knew then and there, that I couldn’t let anyone else buy it.

Brown Nautilus by Noadi

Speaking of Noadi’s fabulous cephalopod creations, check out this video showcasing her new line of steampunk-themed jewelery!

Once again we turn our sights on Etsy.com, the nexus of all things creative and crafty on the Internet. A search for “squid jewelry” (for example) currently returns over 400 results, but I’ve isolated three sellers that epitomize the kind of awesome cephalopod jewelry that abounds on Etsy.

Noadi’s Art (www.etsy.com/shop/noadi)

Sheryl Westleigh creates amazing polymer clay and mixed media jewelry and sculptures, and I think she loves cephalopods almost as much as do. (OK, probably more!) Her shop has tons of great items in multiple styles and color variations, so if any of these pieces have sold, I’m sure you will be able to find something every bit as good. Not every thing in Noadi’s shop is cephalopod-related—look for trilobites, horseshoe crabs, and even a festive holiday platypus!

www.noadi.net

Deep Purple Squid necklace ($30)

Brown Nautilus necklace ($30)

Brass Steampunk Octopus necklace ($35)

Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace ($30)

Industrial Fairytale (www.etsy.com/shop/industrialfairytale)

Sarah Dungan is an illustrator, animator, and creator of some fabulous steampunk jewelery.

http://industrialfairytale.com

http://sarahdungan.blogspot.com

http://industrialfairytale.blogspot.com

She is also one of the contributors to Cephalopod Tea Party!

A Victorian Octopus ($45)

Cinnabar Octopus and Jade ($35)

The Nautilus and the Deep Blue Sea earrings ($15)

Octopus Me (www.etsy.com/shop/OctopusMe)

If you are looking for something a little more high-end, how about sterling sliver (and sometimes gold) jewelry made from real octopus tentacles? Here are a couple of examples, but there are many, many more in the shop!

Free shipping on all items until Sunday, December 7th.

Size 4-7 Tentacle Ring ($160.00)

Unmatched Octopus Tentacle earrings ($85)

Inside the deep blue…., originally uploaded by hendradive.

I write a lot about squids and octopuses here, but let’s not forget the lonely and majestic Nautilus. One has to travel to the Indo-Pacific to see a living Nautilus in its natural habitat, the deep slopes of coral reefs. Only six Nautilus species remain, the last representatives of a cephalopod group that has existed since the late Cambrian period (~500 million years ago).

And so International Cephalopod Awareness Day part 2 draws to a close…and yet I am still working on my big Octopus Day post! If I could stop coughing, I’m sure it things would go faster…

October 8th, 2009 marks the 3rd annual International Cephalopod Awareness Day. Of course, every day is cephalopod awareness day here at Indie Squid Kid, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to help in my own small way to make everyone even more aware of the coolest animals in the planet. This year, ICAD is a three day event:

Thursday, Oct 8 is Octopus Day

Friday, Oct 9 is Nautilus Night

Saturday, Oct 10 is Squid Day

So what does this mean exactly? The editors at CephalopodCast.com invite anyone in the blogosphere to participate in the three day celebration. Bloggers, artists, poets and musicians are encouraged to create one or more works to mark the occasion and submit them for aggregation on a special Cephalopod Awareness Days commemorative page. Topics can be scientific, cultural or fictional. As long as they somehow include cephalopod awareness, they will be considered. If you don’t have a blog, but still want to contribute, contact the editors for ways your creation can be hosted on the site.

Additionally, free promotional space is available to artists that contribute to the ICAD campaign. Any artist that creates a Cephalopod Awareness Day badge can have it featured prominently on the site, along with a link to their Web site, Etsy shop or portal. See example above. Badges should not be more than 200×200 pixels in jpg or png format. Badges submitted after October 8 will be irrelevant. See the guidelines on the Cephalopod Awareness Days official commemorative page for more details.

For my part, I plan to use these three days to focus on the biology and natural history of the different cephalopod groups. I’ve been wanting to ratchet up the science around here, and can’t think of a better excuse than International Cephalopod Awareness Day!

cuttlefish…er…nautilus, originally uploaded by able parris.

Here’s another piece of collage art, this time featuring the chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius (although it might actually be a Palau nautilus, Nautilus belauensis–the two are very similar).

The nautilus is, of course, the only extant shelled cephalopod, and the fossil record indicates that it has changed very little in the past 500 million years. There remain 6 species of nautilus (and 2 genera), all confined to the Indo-Pacific, inhabiting deep slopes of coral reefs.

Although this piece is not part of my collection, the original just happens to be on the wall next to my desk at Newfangled Web Factory, and it’s creator, Able Parris, is one of my coworkers.

To see more of Able’s fantastic collage art, visit www.ableparris.com.