Olive Bites Philadelphia (crunch!) - some pics from Art Star Craft Bazaar

my "kindred spirit" - Noelle from the amazing shop Xenotees and my girl Kella!

1. Country Pine Furniture

2. The Door Stop

3. Seelamade

4. C is for Cardboard

We had the best weather and I had the most amazing customers- didn't get a cheesesteak but I did slug down half a gatorade that someone had left at my booth when I was dying of thirst and couldn't leave .....(please don't judge me)

Come See Me at Art Star this Weekend in Philadelphia!

Megan and Erin have put together an amazing show this Mother's Day weekend and I will be in Booth 18, at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing in PA, so if you are in the area stop by and say hey!

I will have a gigundo selection of cork necklaces and rings, locket necklaces, bracelets and rings and some amazing recycled wine cork awesomeness!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

no fishies were harmed in the making of this post

Hubs and I are needing a little break and going away for a couple days - we'll be back at the end of the week.

For those who have been following our saga with David - we are pretty much back to square one or square minus 276 depending on which one of us you are talking to and whether or not there is any chocolate in the house.

(now I know that we are never really back to square one with any situation because although the situation looks familiar as in "how the hell did we get here again?" we have changed - this isn't a linear journey after all but more of a spiral and I know we have all spiraled to a higher place)

We just need a little space to reflect on what we must let go of here - asking for the strength to let go of what is not retrievable and the ability to see what remains that we can work with.

I know we always have the power to change - we just have to remember how to do that ... xo all - have a wonderful week everyone!

* gone fishing sign by kingston creations

Upcycled Paint by Number / Clipboard Tutorial

I picked up these amazing pups

(painted by Aunt Goldie in 1959 - I wish I had an Aunt Goldie - I think I will just start calling my Aunt Betty Aunt Goldie - I don't think she will mind)

at a vintage shop in Asheville last fall. I finally decided to add some clipboard clips to them and make gigantic clipboards.

 This one is easy-peasy, as mine always are!

You will need: a paint by number (of course you can paint your own), you can also use a puzzle - glue it down first - ack, clips (these can be drilled off old clipboards, just drill into the rivets or purchased new), screws, drill, screwdriver

1. Measure for center and mark your drill holes 2. Drill holes 3. Add screws - now I have a grinder to grind off the back of the screws like I do with the clipboard corkboards that I sell, you may need to add a back buffer of cardboard, wood, etc if they stick out too far - TIP - holding the clip opening while working with the screw hole takes the strength of 10 crafty mavens, so just do like I do and shove a book in it to hold it open.

These are super simple and are the perfect place to hold my growing (sorry hubs) people and their dogs picture collection!

why didn't I think of that? - new series for jealous makers

Too tired to blog a sensible sentence

(more on this later)

but I wanted to kick off my jealous maker spring Tuesday series with this sticker -

this is going to be hotter than those annoying dog owners bragging about their genius retrievers

(olive snickers at those)

also here is a picture of George Clooney as Batman for your bedroom wall girls .... (you're welcome)

GIVEAWAY - Wallpockets by Ampersand - CLOSED

Ampersand is the Ohio studio of Tim Karoleff -

an industrial design student who was inspired by clusters of barnacles and simple geometric shapes.

Tim's die-cut cardboard wallpockets are part wall art, part ingenious storage solution!

Recycled cardboard cleverness - what's not to love here?

We are so lucky to have a set of their Ampersand's amazing wall pockets for this week's giveaway!

WHAT YOU GET: One lucky winner will receive a set of Wallpockets!

HOW TO WIN: It's easy, peasy - leave your contact info in the comments section below!

For additional entries:
(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone!

DRAWING: Enter by midnight on May 13th! Good luck everyone!! Winner will be announced on FRIDAY!

Recycled Key and Keyhole Jewelry Tutorial

Now this is an easy-peasy

(just the way I like 'em)

way to repurpose old keyholes into jewelry. 

Sometimes you have to add some paint

(if you do use a light sealer - varnish or wax)

and sandpaper to give your keyhole the kind of character that starts screaming at you

"do something with me!"

You will need : old keyholes from cabinets, cases, etc, old key, chain, doodads

I don't think we need a step by step for this one.

Once you get the keyholes the way you would like them just add some large jumprings to the screw holes and head into your stash of doodads, beads and junk and have some fun with them.

Don't be afraid to mix your cool and warm hardware here - upcycling works best when it's eclectic and messy (in a good way) and all about us!