My Scoutie Girl Giveaway

Check out my interview and giveaway on the absolutely amazing Scoutie Girl blog.

Jan said some really nice things about me-

"Cat Ivins is a very 'cool cat' (shucks!)- her originality & commitment to her ideas, techniques and materials rocks in every which way. she is currently focused on two materials in her work: sustainable cork and recycled steel. using these materials in conjunction with gorgeous artwork and other repurposed items, like barnwood & galvanized steel, she creates ingenius cork pendants, magnetic lockets, earrings, bulletin/magnet boards, pushpins and so much more. when i see an artist who pushes boundaries like this in such simple yet unconventional ways - and do it so well - i can barely stand it! progressive artists like Cat are such an asset to the modern art movement of their/our time. in her words: "I seek to use repurposed, recycled and sustainable materials in new, unique and beautiful ways leaving the lightest possible footprint in my wake." that's passion baby!"

*yes, Jan, your check is in the mail*

Actually I have hung this in my studio to remind my family I am one cool Cat!

This giveaway is double-trouble and includes my favorite GIDDYUP seahorse cork necklace by Uncorked and a TinyArtbyJMullin Locket from my Polarity artist series featuring the gorgeous collage work of Jennifer Mullin. The contest runs through July 5th so drop your barbecue mitts and get yourself entered!

An Obsession Confession

OK- so I admit that the tv show Obsession - at least I think it is called Obsession-

(I always miss the first few minutes of it because I always forget its day and time and channel- I am a very passive-aggressive tv viewer and I have my own little obsessive ritual to perform before watching it)

*just kidding about that last part*

has become my obsession. The strange habits of strangers has me thinking about my own little quirks.

(and, yes, when they belong to strangers they are obsessions, but if they belong to me they are quirks- as in cute little quirks- see how this works?)

The first thing that comes to mind is my cute little quirk (ie obsession) with the shower curtain- as in what is behind the shower curtain- as in who is behind the shower curtain- as in I must open the shower curtain... and check...

Now I really like the way the bathroom looks (in theory) with the shower curtain closed and hubby always closes it, claiming something about it needing to be open to dry and mold and mildew prevention or something that he knows it will be hard for me to argue against, but that closed curtain makes me a little uneasy when I am in there.

(and ... when I have gone out and I know there has been enough time for someone to sneak into my house and find my shower and climb in there and reset up the shower curtain just how they first found it.... well, then I just have to check it... again)

Luckily this cute little quirk (ie obsession) has not extended into my needing to check on other curtains (like say behind the livingroom curtains or the bedroom curtains) because this would really eat into my day.

And luckily for me our other tub does not have a shower curtain or even a shower for that matter and when hubby sometimes mentions installing one... well, let's just say this is one little project that is not top priority on our to-do list.

(If we had a to-do list, which we do not, believe you me- but if I was a list maker and we did have a list this little project would be on page 107)

I have other cute little quirks (ie obsessions) too, but so as not to alarm everyone that I am crazier than your funny uncle (not THAT kind of funny uncle...geez...)- I will move on and hopefully the tv show people don't decide they need a shower curtain obsessor on the show and come to New Jersey (definitely where I would go to hunt down obsessives) and throw a net over me or maybe a shower curtain over me ...

(although I could use a new one, maybe something from Anthropologie....)
1. Shower Curtain by Anthopologie
2. Today's Obsession by YouHeartUs
3. Vegan Clay Mask by LighthouseMinerals
4. Vintage Robe by VonleskaVintage
5. Monogrammed Towel by SpringCartDesigns
6. Aromatherapy Mist by SweetPetula

Put a Lid on It Sister

When the plastic soda bottles that we sort out for recycling get to our local recycling plants- the hard plastic caps are removed (if you haven't removed them). Those caps are made with Polypropylene which gets them a 5 rating and are virtually unrecyclable.

Any hard plastics that you can't squish with your hands get this rating and usually do not end up being recycled. Last Christmas I wrote about a program at Aveda Hair & Skin Care Products to reuse these caps in their packaging and now they have really expanded it.

With more than 3 million tons of pretty little plastic parts floating in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and often being mistaken as food by fish which end up dying of asphyixa and malnutrition, not to mention the gazillion tons of this stuff rotting (well, actually it's not rotting) in our landfills and down storm drains- this is a much needed step in the right direction.

So save your rigid plastic threaded caps for the Aveda drop off location near you (any retail location)!

8AM Tuesday....

Locked myself out of the house in the rain
(well it looked like it could rain)
Climbed through a window
(scraped my elbow on the sink)
Fell onto the floor in a graceless heap
(granite; well, the cheaper stuff, but hard as granite anyway)
Ate some cookies
(felt a little better)
Olive licked my face
(felt alot better until I realized she just wanted the cookie crumbs)
*sigh*

Some Tuesday Love on Etsy:
1. Bendy TUESDAY By TangleAndFold
2. TUESDAY Morning By CrimsonPeachyArt
3. Lonely TUESDAY By Krize
4. Ruby TUESDAY Earrings by LittleBrownBird
5. Liesel Print by TUESDAYMourning
6. Vintage Pasteurized TUESDAY Mirror by ClutteredMind
7. TUESDAY Cloche by Tissage
A. Peanut Butter Cookies by TheHotCookie

some random stuff I LOVE

After spending a few hours (yes, HOURS) on the floor in my studio untangling computer and equipment wires I am thinking about my floors again (like how I really need to keep them cleaner- the dust bunnies are overrunning the place and how I really need to stuff those cords into some old vacuum hoses) and how I need a change and maybe a change from the bottom up would be a good thing.

I headed back to the Flor website to ogle their goodies as well as some cork flooring (can you believe all these color choices?) I have been pining for and some amazing little t-shirt covers by Sartoria Vico that are totally adorable (and have nothing to do with floors, but I can't just sit around and think about floors all day now can I)!

If something HAD to crash...

So, I arrived home from my great Oregon adventure two nights ago. After some hugs and "missed ya's" and hints of parties that I just don't want to even know about I was finally able to sneak away from my family and head to my studio

(aka the room that used to be called the garage)

which felt oddly quiet with the computer screen blank and I felt oddly disconnected after only 4 days away (more proof that this room is starting to feel alot more like WORK and alot less like fun these days).

I pushed the start-up button on my Gateway and waited to reconnect with the world... and ... NOTHING happened... before I had time to analyze the situation (ie PANIC) hubby caught up with me (it was after midnight) and demanded (ie pleaded) for me to go to bed with him -

(totally NOT what you are thinking)

he confessed that he had tossed and turned all night without me (I did NOT confess that I had slept like a rock without him), so I went off to bed convincing myself that pup Olive had pulled a plug and that my life was not about to implode.

(how long ago HAD I backed anything up, anyway?)

Fast forward about 7 hours and $70.00 later and I am on the phone with a Gateway tech named Tommy.

Now, in the normal, real world I would NOT be taking advice from anyone who called himself Tommy- well, not since 6th grade anyway and would likely be trying to get past Tommy to a Tom or a Thomas or a Thomasina but in the techie world the people named Tommy and Billy and Jimmy are king and I am immediately convinced that he knows what he is doing.

(Note- I never trust anyone over 30 with my computer and drive my hubby crazy when I ignore his advice for that of my 12 year old neighbor Lucy)

Dead motherboard (really bad), maybe dead harddrive (really, really bad), since all of Tommy's diagnoses (is that a word?) involve the world "dead" as in NOT COMING BACK TO LIFE - this is all very bad news.

I wish I could wrap this up with a happy ending, but right now I am still in the middle of "the crash" and using a VERY old computer and my laptop in some strange combination with each other that has me tripping over cords and attempting some leftie mouse maneuvers AND doing really fast research on a new system. Luckily, I do have ALOT backed up on my external- unluckily I do NOT have everything backed up.

Looking at the bright side of all of this-

(yes, I am a very Pollyanna type personality who always looks on the bright side in case you hadn't noticed this about me before)

at least this crash didn't involve the airplane I was on the other day because to be honest with you I never listen to those crash procedures and would be looking around for a 12 year old to tell me what to do- they always seem to be paying attention ....





Me meeting my new little mini me in Oregon pre-crash (Elise daughter of ButtonEnvy's Miranda)






Some Etsy crash survival gear:



1. Lost by YaelFran
2. Crash Pin By Hariette Estelle Berman
3. CrashTest Dummy Shirt by DesignedThreads
4. Crash and Burn Notecard by GramkinPaperStudio
5. Crashing Waves Pendant by Chickory
6. Laptop Vinyl by Vinylville