item #21: FREE glass cat (treasure hunt in LA) + David Mack Goldfish Pool print.

Item #21 is a two parter.

hidden (in plain sight) in the courtyard of the CoffeeBean in the 90027 zip, is this glass kitty cat.

Free to any human that finds it.

note: actual cats NOT included.

this cat with a goldfish in his/her belly is very heavy & quite beautiful. The treehouse is just no longer the right home for him/her, so go and find!

if someone reading this DOES finds it, and sends me a photo of it, I will send this person a free signed-by-David-Mack limited edition print of Neil's brilliant coming-to-Hollywood story GOLDFISH POOL.

If you haven't read it, it is in the SMOKE & MIRRORS collection of short stories, and one of my favorite Neil Gaiman tales, ever.

here is a photo of David signing the prints for me.

here is David at ComicCon this last summer, what a cool cat he is.

to find out more about this limited edition print, CLICK HERE. We've got them signed by Neil as well.

having fun with the Swallowing Diamonds project, stay tuned for more action. Going to NYC next week and will be hiding things there too-- **Tomorrow will be some Boston-based tour swag.

item #20: AMERICAN GODS House on the Rock mementos

2010 was such a year of magic.

first, i toured with Lady Gaga & made some lifelong friends.

while on that tour, i planned our wedding.

Me n' my still-dream guy got married on the water in Baltimore (Charm City, hon!) while he was touring with Roger Waters' THE WALL.

our honeymoon was a trip to New York to see one of my favorite albums of all time come alive on stage, as Drew had to return to his tour.

then we went to HOUSE ON THE ROCK in Wisconsin for the 10th anniversary of Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS. Costumes, everywhere! and the venue was everything I could have imagined and more.

then Neil turned 50 and we threw a giant SUPERFUN party for the boss. down in New Orleans, we even stayed in a haunted hotel.

then Neil got fake-married on the street to AFP (she was a gorg statue!) here is my video on you tube:

here are a few mementos from that time at HOTR:

* bookmark commemorating the event

* signed by Neil HOTR notepad

* pen from HOTR that Neil used to sign the HOTR notepad

*AMERICAN GODS sticker by actual Viking: Jouni Koponen

*Neverwear lucky writing pen

CLICK FOR THE EBAY LINK HERE.

the proceeds from this auction will go to benefit our tiger friends at VALLEY OF THE KINGS, in Wisconsin.

I am going to phase out posting these anywhere but this Swalllowing Diamonds journal in a couple days- time for a new Neil mailbox and more things on the other spots. thanks for following-

item #19: FREE! all the way from Japan...

Last year, my forever dream of visiting Japan came true. I shall always love the Slipknot camp for taking me there.

definitely some cool cats on that team, and it's great music to clean your house to.

I fell in love with the terrific attention to detail and the turn of phrase that the translation from Japanese to English often brought. I studied Mandarin in college but that sure didn't help me here...

Everything looked bright and new to me. I brought back so many little presents.

The food was, bar none, my favorite of the world, even down to the crazy convenience store eggs, cooked EXACTLY like I like them, I can't wait to go back.

is my visa still good?

to the person who tells me their favorite food of the world, in the comments, I will send this little Japanese note pad, which includes this quote of perfection:

How many do you know the beautiful language which conveys a feeling?

and I'll throw in a free Neverwear pen:

tomorrow: item #20 will be from HOUSE ON THE ROCK, for all my fellow American Gods fans....stay tuned!

ps. WINNER OF Item # 18: Donielle Gross, for every time I watch WORKING GIRL and wonder why have I never ridden that ferry-- thanks, girl! message me your address--

item #18: FREE sparkly bits...plus a 3D Jesus keychain-

I used to have a little shop in Baltimore, right down by the water in Fells Point. It was called 9th Life and it's how I put myself through college without student loans.

Many of my friends were artists, I would sell their pieces there- I scoured thrift shops back when you could really find treasures.

Homicide:Life on the Street was filmed right across the street and there was many a joke centered on "Homicide: Life without parking" because production could take up everything. Many of my friends worked in the union in Baltimore on the different shows and films being shot in and around Charm City and once they were going to film in my shop, but it was deemed "really too small"-- and it was. Here's me on my birthday one year:

anyway, I used to go up to NYC every month on buying trips, and would hit the wholesale markets, looking for sparkly fun treasure on the cheap. Yesterday I opened a box of things from the store. My item 18 is a little pack of New York City street sparkles:

a pair of wooden and rhinestone hairsticks, a sheet of eye-glitters. and since Husband is off in Sacramento lighting a Jesus convention, in his honor, i added this 3D Jesus & Mary keychain to the pile. (if you've ever seen Husband, they may think he IS Jesus)

*a batch of barrettes on cards that I would print up with whatever words were on my mind at the time.

just leave in the comments, what you believe I should see/do/buy while in NYC next trip (end of Jan)- i will pick a winner in the morning.

Will ship off to anywhere on this big planet! ps. Thanks to @spacedlaw for donating the dollar amount of her auction win of the Neil mug to save the kitties at @AvaloCats.

pps. If you see me on social media ANYTIME after this, tell me to GO FINISH MY SCRIPT. today is writing day. *scrams.

item #16 and #17: two RARE Tori Amos tour tee shirts.

WOW, it's been a busy couple of days, good busy, but busy.

playing catch up here with two items (which will be one auction).

ah, miss Tori Amos, how you have set the course of my life on a royal-flush mission. It was on her tour, that I got to meet mister Neil Gaiman, back in 2003.

I was lucky enough to tour with Tori on three different runs.

Every night, different magic.

The first tshirt is from a tour i was not actually on, but I did go see the show in Boston at the beautiful Wang Theatre, Rufus Wainwright opened, oh man. It is a 100% cotton size large, with the tour dates on the back.

I started touring with T in 2002, did the Scarlet's Walk tour and the 2003 Lottapianos with Ben Folds and then The Beekeeper tour in 2005-- such a terrific crew on that tour. I even got one of my stories published in the epic Tori tribute book: COMIC BOOK TATTOO edited by Rantz Hoseley, you can read my account of it HERE.

The second tshirt (size XL 100% cotton) is one that we handed out to the local crews every night after they finished loading us back in the trucks for the haul to the next city on the tour. I part with this one a bit sadly, these were never available for sale, only given out... but that is what this is all about, right? Making room for more magic in my life.

CLICK HERE FOR THE AUCTION LINK.

This auction is only offered in the USA, sorry overseas friends, I just can't send a replacement if it goes missing. Thanks for being part of my Swallowing Diamonds project.

*ps, IF i can find it, I think I have a set list around here somewhere, I will throw that in. happy bidding, ask me any question and I'll do my best on the answer.

pps. THANK YOU to my two-hats-to-Rickert & Beagle-customers winners: Ann and Bryan! hats are on the way. tomorrow's item will be a freebie as well...stay tuned!

Item #15: 2 x FREE Neil Gaiman "make good art" fleece hat--**ATTN: PITTSBURGH!

Every so often, you meet a gem. Chris Rickert of RICKERT AND BEAGLE BOOKS is a superhuman lady. I have known her only a short time, and have never met her in person, but I have watched her rise, comet-like, in the world of indie bookstores. She makes the magic knit creatures and I hope she does this pint glass again, with her new shop name on it!

She sells my magnets and jewelry there, and I plan on doing an art show in her shop, sometime in the fall, date still to be determined. So excited! I love Pittsburgh, and will find any excuse to go there. I am still such an east coast girl.

so, the hat.

oh, the truth in this three word statement.... "make good art."

this is one of the main messages pulled from Neil's powerful commencement address in May 2012 to the graduating class of the University of the Arts in Pennsylvania... words for the artist in us all.

I wanted to wear this little verse and so i thought, maybe a little black knit hat, with the words embroidered in a ghostly white-silvery thread.

We went back and forth on the font, the lettering, how to present it. Neil, in his wisdom, said, put it to a vote. And so we did. The block font prevailed in the tumblr universe, almost two to one.

We did a small run of block font and then a small run of cursive font. Those both sold out almost immediately. So I did another small run of them, in a Garamond font, on a supertoasty fleece cap like so:

to claim this absolutely FREE super-warmy fleecy hat, embroidered with Neil Gaiman's most sage advice: send me proof of a receipt from today, Tuesday Jan. 14 or tomorrow Wednesday, Jan. 15 from Chris's cute book store. I prefer you go in the store, in Pittsburgh, but I will accept an online order receipt.

I will give TWO of these hats away, to the first two responders.

here's me with Neil's miss Lola when we were doing the Blackberry shoot last winter:

please send your "proof-photos" to me: Neverwear@gaiman.net

I will also be sending Chris a thing or two to have in her bookshop to give away in future. Thank you for supporting the independent book sellers of the world.

These hats can also be found HERE!

item #14: BATMAN tshirt plus comic book magnet

Oh Batty, how we love ye.

This is a vintage style tee with mister Bruce Wayne, heading out on a crime-fighting mission. It is a smallish tee, even though it's marked medium on the shirt, it looks to be unisex but it's fitted for certain, and in a Prince-approved purple hue. This is a Junk Food brand tee, they are so fine.

Also with this shirt, I throw in one of my glass comic book magnets, where Batman is looking for...someone.

I started making these tiny art pieces when I lost a bunch of comics in a flood and couldn't throw them all away. I dried them out and saved a few of my favorite panels. Now people are sending me their damaged comics, i love giving the panels new life.

I am making Escape Pod Comics a batch of these magnets to sell. They are also selling at the lovely Rickert and Beagle Books in Pittsburgh. woOOOooooOOOoo!

CLICK FOR EBAY LINK HERE

and tomorrow will be a giveaway thing, hmmmm... let's just say, Pittsburgh people, keep your ears on. I'm going to try something different...

Sorry to say that I am not shipping overseas on this auction, as i can't replace the item if it goes missing in the post. Let me know if there are any questions. enjoy! Cat