HUGE one day sale starts tomorrow -- 25% off EVERYTHING in the shop -- These are the best prices you'll ever find at Key Lime Supplies!!! I'm going on vacation so this is my huge blowout sale before the shop will be closed for 1 month -- get your Key Lime goodies now!

Sale runs from 4 am Thursday 8/9 until 4 am Friday 8/10 -- all orders will ship by Monday 8/13.

Online Art Journal Auction -- Saturday Night!

I’m super excited about the Art Journal and Paper Crafting Supplies Auction that I’m hosting Saturday night, at 10 PM EST, at Top Hatter. You do have to be a member of TopHatter to visit the auction, (and please don’t say I didn’t warn you: it’s addictive!) but once you sign up, you’ll have access to some awesome deals on great supplies — like a handmade journal by me starting at $3 (retail is $16!), rolls of washi tape starting at $1.50 each or less, vintage wallpaper samples, kraft tags in a few different shapes and sizes, plus LOTS more — currently have nearly 50 items up for grabs. The great thing about the community auction is you can often get a way better deal than in the bigger auctions where hundreds of people might want the same thing you do! I’d love if you could attend (and if you can RSVP ahead of time, that will mean I can list more items, too!). Plus, if you want to sell anything, you still have time to submit your items!

Washi Minute with Crafty Moira #001

So I started a new video series on YouTube and I'm excited to share the first edition with you:

I have at least 12 videos in mind.. so watch for more soon!

Random: Dear Ihop

I don't go to Ihop anymore, not after a few bad experiences like the one described in the letter I'm about to share. (Plus, I don't end carb-loaded foods any longer!) It's a shame, because I love that they give you a carafe of coffee... unfortunately, the servers tend to just disappear after that. I'm not saying, of course, that everyone who works at Ihop is terrible at their jobs; just that the Providence location seemed to have a higher-than-average number.

I wrote this letter a long time ago, probably about 3 or 4 years ago, right when I first started dating Nick. I wrote this during one of our much-missed writer's nights at Mel & Kat's place. I was going to mail it, but then I forgot all about it until I found it while cleaning last week. I figured I'd share it here instead of just tossing it in the recycle bin. Ahh, memories...

"Dear Ihop,

Thanks to you, I may never know the wonders of the marionberry. Nor will I experience the tantalizing sensation of lightly-lemoned pancakes. No Oregon berries will whet my palate. In fact, I may never eat pancakes again, and it's all your fault.

Yes, Ihop, I blame you, faceless corporate entity of flapjack fame for the false advertising that has left my mouth watering for weeks on end, craving sweet delicious bites of Oregon berry pancakes. 'Yes, I will celebrate the United States!' thought I. 'No, I've never tried a marionberry!"

Today, for the first [and last] time, I came to Ihop. We ordered the Oregon berry pancakes. After being asked to pay in advance, a truly abymssal business practice, I must confess - as why should I be expected to tip before receiving any service? - we were informed that the pancakes we'd ordered were not available. Instead, having already paid for the premium pancakes, we were offered a bland and boring selection of ordinary pancakes. What could we do?

I have but one question, Ihop: what the fuck is a marionberry?"

:)

Estate Sale Haul

Vintage Russian dude embroidery - $8

Giant bag of vintage doilies - $8

Pair of vintage frames - $5

Bunch of rusty skeleton keys - $10

Box of bizarre television tubes - $3

Gorgeous rhinestone necklaces - $4

Vintage rhinestone earrings - $5

Total spent - $43!

The rush of finding a sweet deal? Priceless.

Giveaway Day: Zippers Like Wow!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! 

Congrats to our TWO winners!

Winner #1 will get a 100 pack of zippers.

Winner #2 gets a pack of 50 zippers.

I sent you both an email and will need to hear back from you with your addresses by Monday at noon.

Didn't win? Don't be sad -- you can save 10% on your on assortment of zippers from my etsy shop, Key Lime Supplies, with coupon code: ZippersLikeWow. 

Hurray for Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Days!

The last time I participated, I met lots of great new people, gained some new fans to my blog, and had a blast! I ended up mailing about 10 packages of zippers for that giveaway!

This year, I am giving away a box of 100 zippers in all colors of the rainbow! (Here's my listing on etsy if you don't want to wait.)  You'll get 100 plastic teeth zippers in all colors of the rainbow -- the zippers range from about 10 inches up to 36 inches -- you'll get mostly very long 18 inches or longer zippers! [This is open to anyone worldwide!]  This will be enough zippers to keep you busy and outta trouble for a long, long time!

This giveaway will close on May 25 at 5 PM pacific standard time.

To enter, just leave me a comment telling me about the coolest project you have ever completed -- whether it's sewing, drawing, painting, or anything else!

You don't have to be a follower to win, but I will be super happy if you decide to become one! In fact, if you are a follower or become one, you can get an extra entry by leaving an extra comment telling me that you are!

Want another extra entry? Head on over to the Key Lime Supplies facebook page, like it, and leave a comment telling me the type of supplies you'd like to see in the store. Then come back here and leave another comment telling me that you visited.

Or visit my etsy shop, Key Lime Supplies, then come back here and leave another comment to tell me your favorite item in the shop!

(Yes, you can do all three -- which means you can get up to four entries for these zippers!)

Plus: if I get at least 200 entries, I choose a second winner for a package of 50 zippers!
For every 200 after that, I'll chose another winner for a small sampler package of zippers!

P.S. I have a free 100 year old vintage postcard that you can download.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Free Download: 100 Year Old Postcard

I was sorting through a new batch of vintage photographs in my crafty stash and I came across the above image. Isn't she fabulous? I love her big hat, the details on her dress and, most of all, the expression on her face. Then I flipped the image over and realized that it is EXACTLY 100 years old -- to the day! Wow! I figured that such a serendipitous discovery deserved a little celebration of sorts, so I decided to create  a free digital download to offer here on my blog.

Here is the full image:

And the reverse:

So how do you get the free digital download?

You'll get the a full resolution PDF of the 100 Year Old Postcard including a high-quality scan of the front and back of the card just by signing up for my new mailing list.

Why should you sign up?

• You'll learn about free downloads and new tutorials before anyone else.
• You'll get a coupon code to my new etsy shop, Key Lime Supplies, as soon as you sign up.
• You'll receive special offers and freebies from time to time.
• You'll be eligible for early-bird discounts on new art journal classes, a subscribers-only perk!

Plus you can easily opt out at any time with no hard feelings!

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Vintage Gold-Plated Cuff Link Blanks 13mm Glue Pad 1 pair - $1.50

Got a dapper fella? Spruce him up by making him a custom pair of cuff links -- these gold-plated links will get you started.

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Special Offer - FREE Coupon Code

Use coupon code "KEYLIMESURPRISE" and receive a top secret surprise discount on your next order from my shop!

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Etsy Scandal: Ecologica Malibu

I just pitched this story:


Dear This American Life --

I'm a big fan of your program -- absolutely love it! I have a story
idea that I would LOVE for your team to investigate: I'm sure you are
familiar with Etsy, the handmade marketplace, but perhaps you aren't
familiar with the bane of artists on etsy: the resellers. Basically,
resellers are people who are pretending to be selling hand-crafted
items, and I suppose they are, if you count items that were
hand-crafted in China. These resellers are in direct violation of
Etsy's TOS that all sellers must agree to before opening an shop on
the site. The problem is that the resellers are rampant -- it's likely
that a large portion of the money that Etsy brings in from seller fees
(a listing fee of 20 cents plus 3.5% of the final selling value) comes
from said resellers. Etsy claims to be against the resellers, but a
scandal happened this weekend when a featured Etsian was uncovered by
April Winchelle (aka Helen Killer) of Regretsy fame (or infamy?).
Regretsy.com is dedicated to exposing the ridiculous antics, bad
crafting, and general bad business practices that take place on
Etsy.com. (I'm not affliated with Regretsy; just a fan!). The featured
seller, Ecologica Malibu, sells items that are patently against Etsy's
TOS; with just a few minutes of research, April of Regretsy was able
to find proof of this fact:

http://www.regretsy.com/2012/04/21/the-etsy-featured-reseller-ecologica-malibu/

(Here is the featured seller page on etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/featured-seller-ecologica-malibu/)

People began leaving comments on the featured seller post at Etsy,
hundreds of them, questioning Etsy's choice of Ecologica Malibu as a
featured seller. Usually, such conversations are shut down within
hours on Etsy; they have a "No Call Outs" policy which ensures that
everything gets hushed up quickly. This time, however, the comments
ran all through the night. First thing Monday morning, this comment
was posted by an Etsy admin:

"Juliet Gorman says:
Hi everyone, thank you all for your comments. While it is our policy
not to publicly discuss individual Etsy members, it’s clear that we
missed critical information in our process here. This is our fault,
not the person behind this shop. I ask that you continue to treat one
another with respect and understanding. Our next featured seller is
now live on the site. I am closing comments on this article while we
take the opportunity to investigate this matter more fully. I
apologize for any turmoil this has caused, and thank you for vigilance
in this matter."

A few hours later, the statement was amended to read:

Juliet Gorman says:
Hi everyone, thank you all for your comments. It is our policy not to
publicly discuss individual Etsy members. But I want to note that *if*
we missed critical information in our review process, that will be our
fault, not the person behind this shop. I ask that you continue to
treat one another with respect and understanding. Our next featured
seller is now live on the site. I am closing comments on this article
while we take the opportunity to investigate this matter more fully. I
apologize for any turmoil this has caused, and thank you for vigilance
in this matter.

All of the comments were deleted. Which means that if you happened to
miss that 24 hours or so that the scandal was ongoing, you'd have no
idea what had just happened. I knew Etsy admins would delete the
comments, sooner or later, so I did screen shots of them all and
posted them on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77635269@N08/?saved=1

Although a new featured seller was immediately up on the home page,
Ecologica Malibu's interview was still up, albeit with the amended
comment at the bottom and comments closed on the post, and the shop is
still open and making sales.

What I, and many, many other people want to know: is how can Etsy
purport to be a handmade marketplace when they are obviously allowing
non-artisan goods to flood the marketplace? As an artist myself, I
find this horrifying and have closed my Etsy shop, at least until Etsy
responds in some way. I'm sure other will follow suit. So far, Etsy
has done nothing and even featured Ecologica Malibu on the front page
the next day.

I'd love to hear Mariana of Ecologica Malibu respond to the
accusations of her being a reseller in violation of Etsy's TOS,
especially after reading this blog post by her responding to the
comments (also now deleted, but available at the regretsy link about
the shop above)  I'd love to hear from Etsy's Admin about why they
continue to allow resellers and still claim to be a place for handmade
goods. I'd love to hear from former Etsy sellers who have left, either
voluntarily or forcefully, and I'd especially like to her from April
about the reaction to her post. Hell, I'd love to hear about the
people who REALLY make the furniture being sold in her shop.

I know your readers would love it. And I know This American Life won't
let me down!

Photography: A Photo An Hour

I was inspired by Natty Malik, of Awkward and Beautiful, to create a Photo An Hour photo montage. (Here is Natty's montage). Yesterday, we were on the road traveling home from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania back to Rhode Island, so I set an hourly timer and took a picture of whatever was going on when the alarm went off. Leave me a link if you try this challenge yourself!

 

7:30 - I was awake because the dog in the room next door howled and whined all night long, but Nick is able to sleep through anything. (Jealous!)
8:30 - Everything is better with bacon, especially free breakfast buffets.
9:30 - On the road again...
10:30 - Art journaling on the go -- first time I tried journaling in the car!
11:30 - My, what a strange and pretty ring I have! (Purchased at The Attic in Bethlehem, PA.)
12:30 - Nick is a trooper: he drove the whole way!
1:30 - Exhausted self-portrait, still in the car.
2:30 - We are minutes away from home, so I am much more joyous. Pretty!
3:30 - Baked cheese crackers... mmm...
4:30 - Sebastian is glad that we're home and shows his affection by sleeping on my desk.
5:30 - My love affair with radishes (oh, and butter, can't forget that!)
6:30 - Netflix on ipad; because turning on the tv requires way too much energy
7:30 - Art journal page in progress
8:30 - Smudge looking out the window
9:30 - Nick is exhausted. So is Moira... yawn!

Sad Girl #1 by Moira

Sad Girl #1 by Moira, a photo by literarytease on Flickr.

I'm working on a series of sad girl paintings -- here is the first finished one. I'm really digging the look of the drippy eyes, so I'm doing a whole series of paintings using the technique. I'm also loving the "weird" colors for the portraits -- I'm making an effort to use every color of paint I own... haha! I don't sketch the face first -- I just choose a light color and start painting. After a few layers, the face shows up on the canvas. I keep adding layers until it feels finished. This was painted over the course of several days and changed a lot as I worked!

Recipe: Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Bars

After I discovered that Atkins bars make my blood sugar shoot sky high, I decided that I would learn how to make my own protein bars. I wanted something that I could have on hand for easy breakfasts or meals on the go for those days when I'm completely sick of jerky, cheese crackers, & flax muffins. I found a company, Quest, that makes Strawberry Cheesecake protein bars, and I really wanted to try them, but I didn't want to pay $25 for a case of 12 bars I might not like and the closet store that sells them is over 30 miles away. So I started researching DIY protein bars -- let me tell you: there are a TON of DIY protein bar recipes out there... but NONE of them were for strawberry cheesecake bars! I found pumpkin cheesecake bars, which would probably be delicious, but I wanted strawberry, damnit.

So... I took a look at the Quest Strawberry Cheesecake bars and decided I could make my own version! Their bars start with whey protein and fiber and add in almonds, freeze dried strawberries, stevia, and flavors. I picked up a bag of freeze dried strawberries at Trader Joe's, plus a can of Designer Whey protein powder, French Vanilla. (It's actually cheaper to get the Whey Protein on amazon through subscribe and save, but I wanted to make sure I liked the stuff before ordering two cans... I do like it!)

I just started experimenting, testing as I went, and came up with a DELICIOUS strawberry cheesecake protein bar recipe! I don't have a picture for you, because, well, they aren't exactly pretty! But they taste awesome! Each bar has 150 calories, nearly 12 grams of protein, and 3 net carbs (6 total, with 3 dietary fiber). [I guess, technically, they have more carbs since they are sweetened with a touch of Erythitol, which is a sugar alcohol, but you could definitely swab that out if you are sensitive. I got a free bag recently and have been testing it out -- to my surprise, I like it!]

Moira's Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Bars

• 3 scoops protein powder (I used Designer Whey, French Vanilla)
• 2 Tb flaxseed, crushed in coffee grinder
• 1 Tb + 1 t. slivered almonds, ground in coffee grinder 
• 2 Tb Erythitol (75% as sweet as sugar, sub sweetener as desired) 
• 1/4 cup of freeze dried strawberries, crushed 
• 1/8 c. coconut flour 
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened 
• 1/4 cup water (add as needed, YMMV) 
• 6 drops vanilla flavored liquid stevia 
• 8 drops Capella Flavoring NY cheesecake

Combine dry ingredients, minus 1 scoop protein powder.

Add softened cream cheese, liquid stevia, and flavoring drops. Stir well.

Add water and mix well. Your mixture will be sticky!

Now add in the last scoop of powder and mixture well with your hands. By the time you are done, your bars will be only slightly sticky.

Divide mixture into 6 bars. Freeze or fridge until set.

If frozen, thaw in fridge overnight or for a few hours (perhaps grab one for lunch at work?)

After chilling for an hour, wrap individually and keep in fridge for a week or so or a month or so in the freezer.

The bars are quite chewy and filling!

Serving Size: 6 bars, approximately 3 inches x 1 inch

Notes:

• If you use a different protein powder, you might find you need a different proportion of water.
• Sub in different flavored freeze dried fruits (from trader joes) for a different flavor! I plan on trying blueberry next.. yum!
• Taste your mixture before adding the final scoop of protein powder -- make any adjustments before adding in the last scoop. I wanted my bars sweet but not super sweet -- you might want more sweetness than me -- same goes for the cheesecake flavoring. 8 drops tasted perfect for me, but you might want a few more (or maybe a few less!)
• Each bar has 11 g protein & just under 3 net carbs (There are 2.8 gr dietary fiber, or 5.6 grams total carbs, not counting the sugar alcohol).

Here's a link to the recipe on SparkPeople.

Random: Love Street Image

I was searching for a file this morning and came across this image that I made in June 2006. I think it was to accompany a short story I'd written about a girl waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up. It made me chuckle, so I thought I'd share. Happy Valentine's Day!

Art Journal: 31 Faces of January

In reverse order, here are all of the daily faces that I drew in January. Sometimes I set little challenges for myself (like use only two colors or draw as fast as possible; others I just drew whatever I felt like drawing. I love doing a daily sketch! This month I am doing "scenes" per special request by my facebook friends!

Video: Cat Trapped in Plastic

I have plastic covering my windows because I live in New England and the houses are all old and drafty. Smudge has ripped the plastic covering the window by my desk multiple times, hence all the tape. This time she ripped it while sitting on top of my cubby storage and managed to fall into the space between the plastic and the window. When I found my cat like this, I couldn't resist grabbing my video camera!

STITCHED: Noughts & Crosses Inspired

Loving the classes over at STITCHED! I was feeling sick over the weekend, so I spent the day in bed, practicing my embroidery skills and trying out Jackie Bowcutt's Noughts and Crosses. Here's what I ended up with:

I stretched my finished fabric over and 8 x 10 canvas so I can hang it on my wall.

I love the monoprinting technique and will definitely try it again. I was even inspired to do a few test prints in my art journal! I had everything on hand for this one, except the Dye-na-flow paints, which I used to color the fabric. Love the paints, too, and am already planning projects to try out with my teen students this winter.

Next, I decided to dye some zebra print fabric and just kind of experimented from there. The word is printed on fabric using my own handwriting as the font (cool, right?). I did a sort of variation of needle-turned applique to add the fabric heart and the blue furry trim around it. Loving how it turned out!