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.

Have I told you how much I love Envirotex?

I love this product. I have used it in one way or another for over 20 yrs. Every single family member and friend has something made by me with Envirotex. I love putting it over photographs and other images. It is the easiest product to use. You must mix exact equal parts of the resins. If you look around you can find disposable clear plastic cups that have lines on them. Those are what I have always used. That way you can make sure your measurements are exact. If one cup has a little more than the other, than I use the cup with the most to pour into the other cup. The reason that I do this is because the cup that you poured from will still have resin remaining. I use restaurant chop sticks or craft popsicle sticks to stir with. I like to prop my items up on legos or prescription bottles. If you get bubbles, use your hot air to get rid of them. Literally. Just breathe onto the resin and the bubbles will usually release. If not, use plain wooden toothpicks.

If you have any questions about Envirotex, please feel free to ask. I love it! Give these time to dry and I will post pics of the finished items.

Craft Fair at Lake Highlands Church in Dallas

First I must mention how friendly and helpful the church members were to the vendors and customers. Thank you!


I made about 10 sales. Could have been much better, could have been worse. I looked at todays fair as a trial run for the upcoming sales. I wanted to see what the reactions were to my creations. Now I know what I will try to concentrate on for the larger fairs that are coming up. If you know me personally, you know that will take some doing. I am so ADD, I have difficulty focusing on one project. But I will try. I'll take some pics of my items and post them for your reactions. Be honest, you know white lies honest. Not brutal.


Ellen of http://www.ellenstreasures.etsy.com/ and Shannon of http://www.bijoujuju.etsy.com/ also attended the fair today. Thank goodness. We all met previously at a Meet and Greet for Etsy DFW and it was great to see them again! It can be a long day without good company. Jonathan gets points for hanging out with me all day! What a guy! He never once complained. He hardly ever growled! Thanks to everyone for their support and friendship!

The first pic shows some of my goodies and the second pic is Ellen, me and Shannon. Congrats to Shannon and family on her second pregnancy!

Who should blog?

Probably not me! I'm the worst at writing about myself!

I consider myself "Joatmon". Jack of all trades, master of none. I mean this in a good way! I like to try my hand at creating all types of art. As soon as I get this blog figured out, I will show you some examples of what I like to play with.

Okay, that's it.