2009 CRAFT FAIRS - COME ON BY

These collage spoons are new additions for my craft shows. They were very popular at the last church fair. Hopefully in the future also!

Nov 14 & 15

Central High School

9450 Ray White Rd

Keller, TX 76248

Sat 9-5

Sun 11-5

Nov 21

North Garland High School
2109 Buckingham Road
Garland, TX 75042
9-5

Dec 1

Texas Womens University
TWU Student Union Office
304 Administration Drive
Denton, Texas 76201
10-4

Dec 2

Hall Office Park
2801 Network Blvd
Frisco, TX 75034
10-2

Dec 5

Denton High School
1007 Fulton Denton, TX 76201
9-4

My "Playroom"

Oops! Here's my pics! As many of you know, I love to show off my room and then low and behold, I forgot to post my pics! Here you are!

Cloth Paper Scissors - Fall 2009 - Be Part of Our Online Open Studios Event

Join the tour of Open Studios with Cloth Paper Scissors! Stop by their website and check out the new issue!

I can't wait to see everyone's studios! Take a look on October 3rd!

Those little silver tarnished tins...

I love these little tins. If you frequent estate sales you'll have to agree with me that you will find at least one set for sale every time. I don't think I have ever found a set that isn't tarnished. I like it. One of my tools punched holes easily for me to add the rhinestones. I love it.

Thanks to Valerie B. for the polymer clay face. We did a swap one time and she sent me wonderful faces to play with.

One World, One Heart Winner

Du, du, du, duh...(msp?) drumroll please...

Announcing that

Glamgirl of Glam Girl Knits

is the winner of my glass pendant! Yeah! Ta Da!

Yeah Glamgirl! I will be sending your package out in tomorrow's mail!

Thanks to Lisa for all of her hard work with this event!

Thanks so much to all of you who stopped by my blog...I will miss the traffic. Hope to see you all before next year!

I have a following!

Today I participated in the Valentines Show at Texas Womens University in Denton. This was my second show there and I love it! Christy was in charge and eager to help the vendors out with anything we needed. I also had the pleasure of being booth neighbors again with Tyra Sprabary, a Mary Kay Independent Sales Director and Queen soapmaker/crafter Rita with Making Magic.


The students at TWU are the greatest! What a pleasant surprise it was to find that some of the ladies from the last show sought me out and came by my booth to shop and chat. Talk about giving me the big head. They made me feel like a celebrity crafter. They oohed, they aahed, they purchased! I just can't tell you how much I needed all of that positive feedback today ladies, so thank you!


P.S. My thumb feels better today, but it still hurts like heck if you touch it!

Drilled into my thumbnail....OUCH!

Oh and I have to apologize if you read one of my other blogs, because I posted this there also.

Okay, less than a week ago I found out that Texas Womens University was having a Valentines Holiday show. I had tried to get hold of them for the last month to confirm this and was unable to. Just messed up communication. So anyway 6 days before the show I get an application. Yikes. I had nothing ready because the last 3 shows were so successful I was out of everything. Good and bad.So, I'm preparing for the show tomorrow fast and furiously and while working on my silverplate flatware (an upcoming WTHW post), the drill bit breaks and I drill into my thumbnail. No, I didn't scream out "What the HELL!?!, I screamed out the "F" word loud and clear. Now this is the second time my left thumb has been hit by the drill at full speed. The first time the drill bit broke on me was last year and the drill hit right into my knuckle, hard. That was extremely painful and the tetanus shot was just as painful (it takes a day for your arm to get sore). Now drilling into your thumbnail isn't much better. Luckily I drilled the hole in the middle of the nail, to the meat and broke some nail, but my reactions are good, thank goodness, and I pulled back fast. If not it would have been really, really bad. Emergency room bad. Needles into the thumb bad. I probably should have gone, but WHAT THE HELL are they going to do? I already had the tetanus shot. Tylenol actually helped. Some. Where are the leftover pain pills when you need them?

So the point of this story is.....Use the drill press for the smaller pieces so that you don't get your fingers so close. Really. I won't do this a third time. But I just bought the drill press the other day and since time was running out, I didn't have time to figure out how to use it. Big mistake.Oh and make sure you wear goggles! That I do every time.

Clint Eastwood-Gran Torino

Oh my pumpkinhead! This was the best movie I have seen in a long time. I laughed and I cried. It was excellent. It was racist, it was heartwarming and it was violent. How is it that one movie can do all of that?

Go see it! GO. Now. Well get dressed. Really you have to go see it. I had a crying headache after watching this movie. I'll rent it and watch it at home again. I told Jonathan while at the movie theater that if we would have been at home I could have cried really good. But I had to hold back in the middle of all those strangers. I can't be hyperventilating in the theater. I sure wanted to. Go see it, let me know what you think.

One World, One Heart

Well I thought that I missed the boat by a couple of days to officially sign up for this. But, it turns out she has posted that she will still try to add the blog links for those of us who are late! And of course I can still add a label and maybe get a few extra views out of it!

If you leave a comment on this post regarding my artwork, then on Feb 12th, the big giveaway day, I will select a prizewinner! Anonymous commenters are unable to win! Except for in make believe land.


Here is what you will receive:


The drawing is over and a winner will be announced later this morning. Thanks to all of you who have popped by my blog for a minute or two. I hope to see some of you back later on....

Craft Show Displays

I've been doing a lot of craft shows lately. My booth looked great last time. I always take my camera and at this last show I remembered to take a picture just as I finished packing up the last items. Darnit. This picture is from another show.

I started using Great Grandma's doilies on my table at certain craft shows. At the church and school shows they really attract women to my table. They have to touch the doilie and reminisce.

Joatmon, The Gatherer

I just realized that I haven't posted here about Joatmon, the Gatherer. While making her I was thinking about how I create so many different items. I thought, I'm a Jack of all trades, Master of none. So I wondered what the initials were for that phrase. "J-O-A-T-M-O-N", and ta-da. She was named Joatmon, the Gatherer.

I made her for a Somerset Studio magazine challenge of "nature preserved". After they kept her for 5 months, she was returned with a "Dear Artist" letter. So sad, I had already scheduled my press conferences and had my party planned. Dreaming on.....

Joatmon's body was made from a magnolia pod, her stand and hat are made from acorn hats. I gathered the shells and pinchers from the beaches of Florida.

What do you think?

Craft Room Poem by Donna Roberts

http://donnarobertsart.blogspot.com/2008/11/lace-and-pink-and-gold.html



Check out this blog by Donna Roberts. Her artwork is fantastic! The poem she wrote about clean craft rooms is pretty funny, check it out.

ETC-Etsy Texas Crafters - Maker Faire Success

Kudo's to the fearless and hardworking Team Leader of Etsy Texas Crafters, Milly. Once again she has outdone herself. Thanks to the team members that were able to volunteer to work the event also! Check out these articles and pictures on the team blog and on Craftzine.

ETC-Etsy Texas Crafters - Maker Faire Success in Austin!

Check out this article on Craftzine's blog!

Check out the team store while you are at it!

Silverware keychains

Okay, what do you think? I'm making these to sell at craft fairs this season. Besides keychains, I have also been making pendants with the spoon bowls and forks. Thanks to those from the forum for looking and letting me know what you think.

GMA Tootsies Treasure Chest

We went to Missouri to take Crystal a 14 ft truck full of goodies from Grandma's house. We also took a small "treasure chest" full of GMA's vintage jewelry. Jeslynn loved it! We had so much fun playing with it all. Every morning at the hotel the first words out of Jeslynns mouth were "Can we eat pancakes?" then "Can we open the treasure chest?" Having fun and making memories.

Vintage Hats

Okay, here is what I have fixed up to display in my spare bedroom. I was going to use these to decorate my daughters room, but she wasn't as excited. I also found some cool hangers from a seller on Ebay. Can't wait for them to come in. What do you think?

Tootsie's Vintage Treasures

With the sky lit up with fireworks a wonderful grandma left our earth on July 4th. I guess she wanted to go out with a "bang". She will be dearly missed. Granddaughter NaDonna and I cleaned, sorted and divied up the house for about 3 weeks. 60 plus years of treasures. She inherited and collected many wonderful items over the years. I only wish that Grandma's everywhere would let their grandchildren help them out ahead of time and let them go through their things! This is the second time I have done this type of treasure hunt. My mother passed 4 yrs ago and I cleaned out her house. I love this type of job. Hard work, but many, many rewards. But to have had that person still around to reminisce with would be so special! So come on Grandma's of the world, let your Grandchildren help you now, instead of when you are gone! Please forward to Grandma's!



I never knew that GMA had a collection of vintage hats and purses! I found so many pictures of her younger days and she was quite the looker! I picked out some hats and purses for my daughter to make a wall display with. I'll have to take a picture later. Here are some of the hats I'll be using-

I'll post more pictures later of the display I'm making.

Thanks Grandma and we'll miss you!

Etsy Stores BELOW on my Blogspot!

I was so proud of myself today when I added my Etsy stores to this blog the way I did.

I have all 3 stores listed on the bottom of this page with at least 20 items from each store. It's really cool. I think it is a better preview than my actual store. What do you think?

Blogger Help

I've added a third column! Go here to learn how. Tips for New Bloggers. Very easy! I just need to read up on how to fix the colors.

New Etsy Store!

Okay, I opened another Etsy store. It seems crazy, but if you offer too many different types of items you don't really have a choice.

My new store is Attic Memories and I will be listing vintage photographs and memorabilia. I will be listing some vintage baby books, autograph books and more. So heart me and check back often.

I have so many cabinet cards, cdv's and other types of photographs that I need to share with the world. I've been working on making of cd of images to eventually sell. It was so much more time consuming than I ever imagined.

I will also be selling reproductions of the photos I have. I have been reducing them to use for other altered art and collage type projects. I use the smallest pics in watch backs for pendants, charms and embellishments.

So stop by and check it out. Let me know if you are looking for something in particular. I may have it.

Zipper Art

I love using different things to create art! One of the super talented ladies in Dallas Stampers makes such clever artwork using zippers! Sammye was nice enough to share this great technique with me. I'm anxious to know if others have seen these or have used this themselves. I have used watch backs to make the centers. I would love to hear from you.

New Etsy Listings

Okay I have finally added some new items to theAlteredBlackSheep store! I added a whole lot of watch parts, especially backs. I think that I may have the best prices on the watch backs. I have bought them in bulk and will pass the good deals on to you! I love the backs. I use them to make pendants and charms. I added a couple of my silverware pendants, some fabric kits, and some tarot cards.

So if you are in need of supplies for your altered art, please stop by! If you are looking for anything in particular just let me know!

Great American Scrapbook Convention

I'm tired!

Every year I volunteer to work at the scrapbook convention in Arlington, Texas. I usually work from Thursday morning to Saturday evening assisting instructors in classes or doing grunt work. This year I also worked on Wednesday. It is tiring but mostly loads of fun. So many of the volunteers, shoppers, students and vendors return every year and so its fun to meet up with them again. Of course my group of friends were there this year. Suzanne, Jamie, Clarissa and L'Ann all showed up this year. Gina was sorely missed. School was still going on and so many people were unable to attend. My friend Margaret came and shopped on Saturday. Margaret helped make many vendors happy.

I assisted in lots of great classes this year. My first instructor was Lauren Nwachukwu of EverythingAltered.com, I helped her with 2 classes. Everyone loved her, she's a great instructor with so much energy! I loved the projects that she taught. Next I had another great lady, Kim Mock of Keller Creations. Kim is someone you want to be like when you grow up. Self employed small business owner and Mom. Keller Creations is named after her proud and joy - her son Keller. This lady is so organized! I didn't even get to work in her classes! She had every single thing done ahead of time. Really, everything. This gave me the chance to listen to her wonderful stories and get to know her. If you ever need to know about how not to get back across the border, she knows a little bit about this. Both of these ladies must have drawn the short straw because they stuck them in the Sheraton Hotel classrooms. There was no air conditioning. The management promised to correct it all day, but it never happened. Not good.

Friday I played undercover cop on the showroom floor. Business was very slow for the vendors this year. There weren't many customers all morning and so I didn't get to catch a shoplifter. But that is okay, we really didn't want any shoplifters. Next I volunteered for Michelle Granger of Quick Quotes. Michelle had huge classes, there were around 65 students in each one. I was able to stay in her room for 3 classes. Michelle was able to keep her classes rolling. There was a lot to be done and she kept the students going. Just with the other ladies, these were great classes. I appreciate all the class kits that I received from the teachers. The class kits are a nice perk. If you have the opportunity to take classes from any of these ladies, do it!

Volunteering for the convention is fun. I really do enjoy it. Consider doing it next year, you will get to meet many people from all over the world! Oh and I was able to meet someone from one of my Yahoo groups. Karen Beavers is a member of Organized Studio and also Artist Crafters Trading Supplies. She let me know that she was going to be at the convention and so we had the chance to meet. It was great to meet someone who you have met online. Karen will email me a pic and so I will post later.

Love of supplies!

I came across this blog post regarding the love of arts/crafts supplies. I just have to share her thoughts with you.

http://donnarobertsart.blogspot.com/2008/05/glamour-of-beautiful-art-supplies.html

Vacationing in Florida

We just returned from a week long vacation in Florida with Jonathan's Mom. As usual she took excellent care of us. Translation...It's time to eat!!! We are still full! We started off at the house with cornish hens, cauliflower, asparagus, sweet potatoes (thanks Aunt Marilyn), a beautiful salad and much more. This was part of the food fest: chicken parmigiana, shrimp bisque, pasta fagoli, salads, chicken rollantini, chicken marsalas, lamb chops, deserts and so much more! Thank goodness the condo has a nice area for walking!

We also visited the beach daily. Poor Jonathan is probably the only person who gets more sleep when working than he does on vacation. Each day we are at the beach before 6:15am. I know it sounds crazy, but this way we can spend 3 - 4 hours at the beach before the heat sets in. If you haven't been to the beach early in the morning to watch the sun rise, then you just don't know what you are missing. It is magnificent. Jonathan took some great pics. I love walking up and down the beach and collecting shells. I found some more shark teeth and teeth from other unknown critters. Those are some of my favorite finds.

I spent one wonderful afternoon at Butterfly World, surrounded by soothing music while butterflies fluttered around me. It's absolutely beautiful. We took a short 3 hour cruise, a 3 hour cruise. The Jungle Queen stopped at a small island that had some animals. I was able to hold a small alligator.

Jonathan and I enjoy going to the wetland parks in Delray Beach. There are two nature centers that have a huge variety of wildlife. Our favorite? Alligators. We were lucky enough to see a rare treat at the Green Cay Wetlands. One of the alligators was doing a mating dance and I caught it on video. Watch it. It is a site to see.

Update on Junk Jewelry Acquisition!

Okay, the total weight is closer to about 150 pounds! Wowzer! My back hurts. My neck hurts! I have 4 auctions set up right now. I'll straggle some more out. Some will probably he held out until mid summer.

Finders Keepers!

Okay, I hit the motherload this weekend at an estate sale! I picked up (and earned a sore back) about 120 lbs (maybe more) of junk jewelry! Yes, NO LIE! 120 lbs! I'm listing on EBay as we speak! Now if you know me you know that I love junk jewelry, amongst many other things. So, heres how it works. I bring it all in the kitchen. Then I have to pull out my big empty plastic containers and then the sorting is on. The biggest container is sell, next are the containers for what I want. Beaded, charms, danglies, themes, glass, pieces that look like heads, vintage, wood, loose beads and I'm sure that I missed a few. One of my favorite thing in life is sorting. I could sort for days, and I do sometimes. It took me about 8 hours to sort, divide and conquer. This is what it looked like when I got home.

When I got done dividing it all up, the next step is to seperate up into flat rate boxes.

Of course there will be at least 2 more boxes to list on Ebay. A total of 9, maybe 10. After I get done preparing for Ebay, I'll start to put my goodies away and I'll end up taking out more to get rid of.

Now, I know you are wondering, what did she pay? Can't tell. But, you would die! You would cry! What I saved for myself was more than worth what I paid for the entire lot. I also got some craft supplies, cool jewelry findings, sequin trims, a box of magnets, appliques, drill bits and 6 packages of gold foil! And yes all of that was included in that one great price.

I wish these sales came around every weekend.

"I'm a crazy Nana - But it's a good kind of crazy"

Jonathan and I just got back from visiting the girls in Missouri.

This trip was quite exciting because we took the boys with us.

For those of you who don't know, the boys are Westies. They were pretty good considering they were closed up in a car. Jonathan drove and the boys and I took turns moving from the front seat to the back seat. This picture says a thousand words. Poor Bones is the cushion. Maverick is the boss.

Now of course having the boys with us, we were "forced" to make extra stops. Needless to say I happen to know where the good antique shops are on highways 71 and 69 in Oklahoma. I like to take the back roads (instead of the toll roads) because I want to experience the ride. We use the same road map each trip and so I have marked where to use the facilities, where to eat and for sure where the good antique stores are at.

The highlight of the trip is our arrival in Lamar, Missouri. THE GIRLS! Crystal is 26 now, Jeslynn is 3 and Baby Kenzi is 9 months old. It's hard when family moves so far away! I would love to be able to squeeze my grandbabies daily! Look at these little faces, you gotta love em.

I like to be the "Crazy Nana". Well, actually I don't limit being crazy to just Nana. I tried to explain to 3 yr old Jeslynn that "I'm a crazy Nana - But it's a good kind of crazy". I'll probably have to explain that a few more times. But then again, she's a smart kid, she'll figure it out. They know that Papa is the sane one. He sure loves the gbabies. They're lovin their Papa also.

Look at this picture, I think that Baby Kenzi kinda looks like her Nana. Maybe it's because we both have baby fat faces! The visit was short and sweet. We can't wait for the next one!

Princeton Onion Festival

Yesterday I had a booth at the Onion Festival in Princeton. Yikes! I have to say my sales were awful! Quite a few other vendors weren't making many sales either. I had a total of 6 sales. I barely made back my booth fee. The customers were friendly, sharing positive comments with myself and the booth next to me. But dollars were not trading hands!

Beth and Lorraine of Variety Venue were at the booth next to us. They had great displays and great products! All handmade of course! They were selling covered clipboards, post it pad booklets, magnets, fabric wine bags, the coolest clips and some beautiful lights! I met Beth through Craigs List. I'm so glad that we were able to have our booths next to each other. It sure makes the day go by when you have someone to chat with. Poor Beth and Lorraine had to listen to me ramble all day though!

How did you make that?

I posted some comments about my silverware jewelry the other day on Craigs List. So now someone has asked for details on how I made them. I'm curious about your thoughts on this? Some of those nasty people on CL attacked the poster. I admit sometimes at craft fairs someone will ask me how I make something and I think to myself "how rude". But online the question seemed different. I answered her questions without thought. There was so much work involved when I was learning to make those silverware pendants. Why not give someone else a little help. So what do you say when they ask you your secrets?

Macy's in Valley View Mall is closing!

Well, personally I really didn't care. But.....they are selling their fixtures and display cases. I found a couple of revolving jewelry towers for real cheap, a couple of bracelet holders and the best deal of all was a card rack. TOO COOL! I really needed the rack for my cards. You really can't sell at a trunk show unless your items are displayed properly! I was so excited to have found these items!

So, I went back the next day and found some other goodies! I found the coolest items that were used in displays. Check these out!

Etsy Dallas Valentine Trunk Show

EllensTreasures
KathyDKeith
MarysMadness


Wow! Did I mention Wow! Etsy Dallas held their 2nd trunk show and it was a major success! I shared a booth with Ellen who is quite the seamstress, making beautiful purses and baby accessories. We had Kathy sitting to the right of us. She makes the most clever candles, notecards and journals. We had a great day, lots of sales and a great group of people to chat with, sellers and customers alike. There were over 40 Etsy vendors at Southside on Lamar Street in Dallas. It was so fantastic! I have to say thank you, to Southside management for allowing us the opportunity to sell our wares and expose Dallas to Etsy! I hope that we will have this opportunity again!

Thanks to all of Etsy Dallas who worked so hard putting this trunk show together! Tefi and Carrie put a lot of time in making this show a success for us! There were countless others who did their part also.

Buyers were able to find a little bit of everything at our show! We had t-shirts, hats, kanzashi hair ornaments, doggie treats, jewelry (of every style ever thought to be made & those you didn't) and so much more!

And a special thanks to Funky Finds , a creative exposure blog for artists, crafters and designers alike.

Hope to see you at the next Etsy Dallas Trunk Show!

Treasures from First Monday in Canton

Yesterday I went to Canton. Wow, that is a one of a kind place. It has everything. The variety of an estate sale and the qualities of a garage sale. I'm usually not a barter, but I will barter at First Monday. I like to shop outdoors, because I am looking for a deal. I figure that the more the vendor is paying for his spot, the more money he will want from me. I want cheap.

I found everything that I was looking for. Junk jewelry, watch stuff, a glove mold, an arm and forks and spoons. The pendant above is way cool. Those are actual teeth around the edge. The pendant was made on a coin from Peru. There is a camel on the back and the words Un Sol Deoro. The pendant cost me all of one dollar.

First Monday, you gotta love it.

I'm Baaaaaack......

Hey there fellow crafters! I'm back. It's a new year and I'm ready to get on the ball. I have been cleaning my playroom and sorting out things to get rid of. I sold 16 lbs of junk/good jewelry on EBay already and will be adding more soon. My EBay name is MarysMadness. Imagine that....I have a lot of cuff links, drug rep goodies, jewelry findings, decals and vintage QSL (ham radio) cards to get listed today. I'll add a link.

I've been working on button flowers for Valentines and also some charm bracelets and necklaces. I've been breaking flatware with no injuries thank goodness! I found a bunch of souvenir spoons on EBay and then I 've picked up soup spoons here and there. I find it harder to find cool forks than spoons. If you look at my shop http://www.theAlteredBlackSheep.etsy.com you'll see examples of my work.

I have also been scanning like a mad woman. I have been scanning cabinet cards, CDV's, tintypes and others. I plan on (eventually) making a CD and selling them on Etsy. A very time consuming project.

Okay, off to get some work done, will post some pics later...

Happy New Years to all of you and your families!

Just my luck!

After opening up a small factory in my house to make craft items for 4 craft fairs, I ended up catching the flu (yes I had a flu shot) and then I got a horrible sinus infection! I missed 3 of the craft fairs! I lost out on the entry fees and all the sales! What kind of luck is that? Now, I am listing items in both of my Etsy stores.

http://MarysMadness.Etsy.com

http://theAlteredBlackSheep.Etsy.com

Please stop by and look around!!!

So, what is it?

I am an estate sale addict! I love going and digging into someones stuff for goodies! The only problem is sometimes I don't know what something is or what I am going to do with it. This is where you come in. I'll occasionally post a pic of an item and will want to find out "What is it?

Let's have some fun!

Sample shopping.....Freebies Galore!

Sometimes I just want to go and get crafty supplies to motivate me. But I don't really like the supplies that you find at the megastores. I'll take them if you give them to me, but I really really like different supplies and embellishments to use.

My first stop is usually the home improvement stores. You can't imagine what a great source this can be. I discovered this when we had a house fire and I had to remodel the house. Please don't go and take bunches of the samples at one time. They are there for people who are remodeling and such. I thank them for having them there for me when I needed them. Here is my list of freebies: siding chips, formica chips, paper paint chips, stain chips, stain overlay chips, carpet samples, wallpaper and border samples, shingles. They also carry window blind samples but they aren't free. They are 50cents, but they are worth it. Refer to my photos of what I collect at this one store.

On my next stop I usually head to fabric row. I live in the Dallas Metroplex and there are tons of fabric stores. I do love fabric! What I love even more are the fabric samples! By the time I have finished collecting those, I am covered in strings! REALLY!

So what do I do with these items? I'll show you.....Pendants, keychains, magnets, shadow boxes, birdhouses, ornaments. The ideas are endless!

Trashion! Is there any other way?!

Okay, I save everything and try to actually use it! Here are some fun pins, ornaments and pendants that I have made recently for some upcoming craft fairs. Old bottlecaps and lids from biscuits, crescents and cinnamon rolls. Let me know what you think.

Family for dinner?

Okay, I have many a fetish. I really like junk jewelry, old silverware and photos. So here we go...

HOOT! HOOT!!

Here are a couple of my owl friends. I love these adorable little guys. Let me know what you think.