Monday, January 17, 2011

Blogging it Forward

 As derby girls we all know how awesome a team can be.  The support you get from your team on and off the track is something that is sacred to every derby girl.  We do amazing things with our team that we could probably do on our own but the journey wouldn't be half as fun.

We belong to an Etsy team as well.   The support and information that we share in Team Discovery makes life a little more fun and enjoyable while trying to sell in an online market.

I have asked one of my teamies for a little interview.
Jennifer from Creative Cabin happily stepped up to the job. 

HAB: Tell us a little bit about yourself.


JEN: I am work at home mother of 2 boys, ages 6 and 8, as well as a devoted wife. I grew up in the Midwest and moved to NC in 2007. I have always longed to be in the mountain woods and am finally here. This to me is home.



Iced Berries by Creative Cabin

HAB:  What do you love about what you do?


JEN: Photographing nature is more of a hobby than a profession for me. I say this because I just love doing it and never think about if this shot will sell. I just love doing it. Being able to sell my photography is just a bonus that helps support the habit.
However, the photography in my shop is not mine alone. My husband shares the same love of nature photography as I do and the shop is a collection of what have both taken.


HAB:  How did you first got involved in photography?

JEN:  I have always enjoyed taking pictures but hated film cameras because I did not get the instant gratification of seeing what I just shot. But when I got my first little digital camera that held something like 10 pictures at 480x620 (lets just say really small), I was hooked.
I could see my shot and if I did not like the angle, I could take another one right then w/o losing the opportunity. I think that was back in 2000 or 2001.

As far as my husband is concerned, he says he can not remember what sparked his interests as a kid. Photography is just something he has always loved to do.






HAB:  Please tell us quick history on how you got started on Etsy


JEN:  I have known about Etsy for a few years. My mother actually found it and said I should make stuff to sell on there. At that time, I was not at a point in my life where that was an option.
But I held onto the thought of Etsy as a place to do something.
It was only last summer that I opened my web design shop, Bisi Designs, on Etsy.
Then I thought I would do crafting since Mom was still on my tail about selling crafts.
At first I started putting a few things in my design shop but it looked tacky to me so I created CreativeCabin131 in October and put some craft stuff there. That was a flop.

I am one of the leaders of Team Discovery. We have a few photographers on the team and after I saw them selling photography, I thought about it and said something to the hubby.
He said "I have been telling you we should sell our photography, so get to it!" And there it was, shortly before Thanksgiving, I ditched the crafting and listed some of our photographs.

HAB:  What do you find most challenging about photographing nature?

JEN: Not having my camera with me when I see those perfect shots.
I always walk out of the house to head to town w/o the camera. I almost cried one day, it had been raining and on my way home, there is a ziggy-zaggy spot in the road. It was wet, the leaves were peaking in color and littered the road. There was a heavy fog and the road just faded away in front of me.

Banner designs by BISI Designs
HAB:  What do you do when you aren’t working on your photography?

JEN:  I am also a web designer. I create websites and Etsy shop banners.




HAB:  How did you pick nature as your main focus of your photography?

JEN:  Nature is something we both truly love and admire. We have this deep drive to capture it.

We love to eat wild mushrooms so when we go out to find them, we take the camera.
Not everything we find is edible, nor can we identify, but if it looks interesting, we take its picture, same with wild flowers.
Our nature landscapes are really just one of those "Oh Wow!" moments that we feel we just have to capture.




Creative Cabin


HAB:  If you could go anywhere in the world to take pictures, where would you go?

JEN:  I would love to do underwater photography of the Great Barrier Reef but I would probably stop in Hawaii for some surfing first. Then I think I would have to pop down to Antarctica to visit the penguins. They are just some cool guys!

I would like to thank Jennifer for taking the time to answer my questions.
If you like what you see, please stop by Creative Cabin and check out all her photos.
You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter!



Anya

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Slow Derbs

Slow derby, as much as we all would rather not see it, as derby players we all know that it can be pretty useful.  To get people out of the penalty box, to waste some time when winning by a smaller margin or to slow down the pack.  I also get annoyed when it becomes a strategy for a whole game. When you see two really great teams that can skate fast and slow and they are choosing slow for  the whole game. 
What also tends to be annoying is when one team is doing it and the other team allows it to happen.
I like to, if I'm at a loss in a game, to pretty much do the opposite of what the other team is doing. So if they start jostling and not moving forward, whether i know why they are doing it i want  the jammers out and skating if only for the simple fact that the other team doesnt want thing this to happen.

There are many ways to stop the slow derby on the line. 
If there is no pack after the first whistle the jammers will be released.  So you can race forward as a team 10 ft. the jammers will be whistled off and you have a bit of time to fall back and get back into the pack so that you are able to hit the jammer again. 

You can really play with this one a bit at practice and force your refs to make calls. 
For example, if you continue skating forward and the other pack doesn't who are they going to call?
 If it's the other team and you have a faster jammer you could hold the no pack for a little longer until your jammer gets past them, forcing some destruction penalties and hitting out of play penalties, and then falling back in time to make a pack to hit the opposing jammer. (obviously this works really well in my head! HA).

Another way to force the jammer whistle is to drop to a knee, no pack, the jammers are released. You stand back up and continue on as a normal jam.  Once the jammers are out, the pack tends to move forward, as long as the jammers move forward.

As for games and fan enjoyment, I think that if you are playing a home game in front of your home crowd and you want your fans to have a good time, you want to use these strategies only in dire situations, for example jammers being in the penalty box, or two blockers in the penalty box.  In inter league or home games, this is your bread and butter for your league, if you used the slow derby as much as they do in tournament play then you may find that you don't have many fans coming out to watch.  Not good.

However, in Wftda ranked game play, these plays, to me, seem  totally acceptable due to the huge prize at the end called WFTDA nationals where there is prize money on the line and sponsorships etc.  Since it is allowable in the rules I would totally do any strategy that was working for me  to get me to that prize. Cause seriously, no one is going to remember the boos when you have that big ol trophy in your hands and new skates your feet. 
The video posted below is a great mini documentary that was filmed and edited by Lisa "Left 4 Deadwards" Edwards- skater for Old Capitol City Roller Girls.  It showcases the opinions of fans, skaters and refs on the impact of Stroller derby.










I could go on and on about my opinion on slow derby and the good vs bad but i wont!
 Despite the claims that fast derby is better and more skilled I do know that good derby skaters need to know how to do both.  I also know that it is a lot easier hitting people going fast and everything, to me, is easier faster but slow derby is definitely not easier derby as a blocker or a jammer.

Feel free to post your opinions either here in the comments or on our facebook page.

peace
anya face x0xo

Monday, January 10, 2011

Kick off the 2011 Season Contest

Hey Everyone!
I know I haven't been blogging it up lately but hoping to make it a habit again!  To kick of our first post of 2011 we are going to have a wee contest.  We will be giving away a free pair of our custom hot pants.

These are available in black, red, blue and pink currently.  You get to pick the colour of the hot pants,
what you want your hot pants to say, you will get to choose your font and colour of font.  How cool is that?








These hot pants are  available for immediate purchase in our  Etsy shop here.


To win:

1 entry: Visit Hot Across Buns on Etsy, browse around, and leave a comment here telling us what your favorite item is! Make sure to include your email address or a way to contact you if you win!


1 entry: Heart hotacrossbuns Etsy shop and leave a comment here with your Etsy user name.

1 entry: Follow our blog publicly and leave a comment here. You can follow by clicking follow in the right sidebar or at the very top left of the screen.

1 entry: Like our facebook group and leave your name here!


1 entry: Submit this giveaway to a linky or link-up list and leave the link here.


1 entry: Blog about this giveaway and leave a link here.



1 entry: Follow Hot Across Buns  on Twitter and leave a comment here with your twitter user name.


1 entry: Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link here. You can tweet once per day and each tweet will count as another entry, just make sure you leave a separate comment for each tweet.


The giveaway will end at midnight eastern time on Monday, January 24.

The winners will be chosen by random.org and will be announced here and he or she will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address. If a winner cannot be contacted or does not respond, another winner will be chosen after 48 hours.

Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. The more entries you post, the more chances you have to win!

This giveaway is open worldwide.

Thanks kids! We cant wait to make your hot pants!

Anya and Sufferjet







Tuesday, October 19, 2010

66 sleeps, 12 hours, 38 minutes and 9 seconds....

until Christmas!!

Our good friends at RollerBug and Cardinal Skate shop are going to make this the sweetest Christmas yet!
They are brining us the “All I Want For Christmas” Draw!
For every 50 dollars spent you will get one entry in the draw.  This is available for instore, phone orders or online orders! How much easier can it get?
The only tough part about this is holding yourself back from buying it all!
The list of prizes is pretty incredible as well!
They will do one draw per day starting on Dec 13th.


Dates and Prizes

December 13th, 2010: 1 Pair of Criss Cross Skate laces. (your choice of colour from what is in stock) Retail Value $5.99 CAD

December 14th, 2010: 1 ½ fl oz bottle of Bones Speed Cream Retail Value $7.99 CAD

December 15th, 2010: 1 Winter 2010 Issue of FiveonFive magazine Retail Value $7.00 CAD

December 16th, 2010: 1 Powerdyne bearing tool Retail Value $15.99 CAD

December 17th, 2010: 1 set of Super cushions by Sure Grip (duormeter appropriate). Retail Value $10.00 CAD

December 18th, 2010: 1 pair of RollerBug booty/practice shorts Retail Value $19.99 CAD

December 19th, 2010: 1 set of 16 Bones Mini Logo bearings Retail Value $29.99 CAD

December 20th, 2010: 1 Lucky 13 “Give Blood” Women’s T-shirt Retail Value $22.99 CAD

December 21st, 2010: 1 Cardinal Skate Co. T-Shirt. Retail Value $19.99 CAD

December 22nd, 2010: 1 set of 8 Atom Poison wheels Retail Value $65.98 CAD

December 23rd, 2010: 1 set of 8 Atom Stinger Slim wheels Retail Value $109.00 CAD

December 24th, 2010: 1 pair of Riedell 1065 Siren roller skates including 1(one colour change) Retail Value $761.00 CAD

Over $1075.00 worth of prizes to be won!!!

Head on over to their website for full contest details and to check out the latest inventory. 
Plus you should really like these kids on facebook, they have a lot of great deals that you dont wanna miss out on!

And if you are at a loss of what to buy to get an entry feel free to contact anya face cause she has a bit of a wheel fetish and has a list that needs to be taken care of!

lotsa love Anya Face





photo by joe mac
 at midnight matinee



Monday, October 18, 2010



The good people over at Frozen Coldbase made us, what looks like is going to be an exciting roller derby video game for the nintedo wii.
Just from the little clip alone it's a fast paced game full of whips and hits, a kick ass soundtrack and the voice of roller derby's beloved Dumptruck

You get to pick from real current Wftda roller derby players and you can play regular tracks or if you would rather, a more racetrack type track with ramps, oil spills etc.

Plus you dont have to go to the store and track this game down. It is brought to your home through the internet with nintendos WiiWare option. 

I can not wait for this to come out! 
for more information click here for a review and game clips by nintendolife.

Anya

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

New Products - The Scarf!

With so many bouts and games and derby stuff going on, Sufferjet and myself, pulled an all nighter right before our game against the Hamilton Harlots and made some cool scarves for our refs and visiting refs.  We are now offering them on Hot Across Buns.  We can take your league acronym and print it on a super long jersey scarf.  Also for a little extra fun we  throw on a cute little mustache.



We can print the mustache and the acronym on the scarf in neon pink, neon green, blue, red, white and very shortly yellow!  All for a mere 20 dollars! 
So jump on over to Hot Across Buns and check out the new gear!
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Love Anya Face

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Whip Me Into Wednesday!



I was just stuck in a you tube vortex. You know, when you type something in and just start clicking on the suggested videos on the side panel. It usually leads me into bizarre half human half fish videos or men with tails, that amaze and disgust me. This time it brought me to an amazing whip done by Anya Heels to her team mate Wile E of the Rat City Roller Girls Check out the awesomeness at about 8 seconds in!!! I want Anya Heels to whip me anytime


 
 love Anya Face