2011

Yikes. It's been a long time since my last post. A very long time. Hey, I didn't say to go look and see when it was! My apologies for blatant neglect.

2010 finished out very well with two big shows The Queen City Craft Bazaar (which is currently accepting applications for the spring show) and The BCA Holiday Artist Market. They both confirmed that I feel ready to try to get into some big stuff this year. I'll be sure to post shows as I'm accepted to them. I also landed on the front page of Etsy twice within weeks of Christmas, sweet!

2011 has started off a little shaky, but only because of car trouble. My plaid covered friend that you've seen in posts past has now made it's way onto another stage in it's life. And, at 16, with almost 191,000 miles (though that's not much for a Volvo) and a long list of quirks and issues that need repair, I think it's for the best. It's especially nice to no longer need a Sharpie to start my car.

Yesterday the big bad snowstorm bludgeoned my neck of the woods with the most snow we've seen in a while. I took this picture of Oscar at about 4:30pm yesterday when there was a break in the snow. It has easily snowed another 8 inches since then. So with the new snow, hopefully this can be a new start to 2011 for me, new wheels, and a new extra job. Back on track for big things in 2011. You might be the last to know if you only stalk me here, so make sure to check Facebook or Twitter too :P

Keep it real spotted seal,

-Coob

Coob Buckles Down

On Saturday, May 8th, I will be kicking it at my first craft fair. Rather awesome indie craft extravaganza known as The Queen City Craft Bazaar. So, I've been hard at work, covering myself and everything in my life with skateboard sawdust. Think of Linus from Peanuts but with a multicolor sawdust cloud instead of a dirt cloud. That's me. So while my shop looks slightly sad and empty I'm up to over 75 new items that I've created for the show this far. Yeah, over 75! Since I plan on selling them all ;) here is a preview of the new belt buckles I'll be bringing along with me. My favorite is the pigeon king from a 5boronyc deck. Now back to work!

-Coob

Vote For COOB!

That's correct, I need your vote! I was lovingly nominated by ArtTales and my swallow pendant made it into The Daily Green's Trash-to-Craft Challenge Etsy Voter! The article here tells a little more about it. The items with the most votes will be featured on TheDailyGreen.com. Help expose Coob... hmmm, that came out wrong. You get the point. So go and vote! (Make sure you're logged into Etsy and click submit after voting.)

Peek for the Sneak

Curious about what's going on in that new apartment of mine? The sawdust is flying, and a new stack of decks with some AWESOME new colors are being demolished and reconstructed as we speak... well, not literally. Man, that would be dangerous! But, seriously, keep your eyes peeled. Some of these bad boys are gonna show up in my Etsy shop real soon.


Happy Thursday Coob-Stalker ;P

-Coob

Let's Hear it for the Boy

Now that I have Deneice Williams stuck in my head... I thought I'd share with you a treasury I created. Quiet helpful and quite awesome. It might help some of you people out there who haven't a clue what to get for the guys in your life. I thought I'd share my insight.

Clearly you need to go check it out directly, click all over the place and comment to say just how awesome it is, you would have been lost without it, yada yada yada.
For the Fellas Treasury Link

That's all for now,

-Coob

Friday Favorites Vol. 2 - KillTaupe

After failing to post last week, I'm here this week to make up for it. This volume of Friday Favorites features a favorite Etsy artist of mine: KillTaupe.

KillTaupe's "original urbanpop art" has a lot to offer. I love the bold and bright colors, the graphic style and nature of the pieces, the added humor, and of course that much of his work is done on wood with acrylic!

Here are a few of his pieces/items currently for sale.


Broccoli Eats Venison - Original


Give me all the French Toast - Limited Edition Print



Chickens Magnet Set

For more by KillTaupe you can check him out at:

http://www.killtaupe.etsy.com/

That's all for now. Happy Friday.

-COOB

Friday Favorites Vol. 1 - RAGGEDedgeGear

In my effort to be a more active blogger, I wanted to start sharing some of my favorite Etsy finds. Frankly, Friday seems fitting. Hmmm, I wonder how many words I could use that start with F... anyway.

This weeks favorite is:

Sailcloth Mini Wallet Bright Orange and Black by RAGGEDedgeGear



RAGGEDedgeGear has a ton of awesome items in their Etsy shop made from sailcloth! They offer wallets in different sizes, bags, folders and more. I'm not doing these items justice. They are incredible. Not to mention durable and easy to clean (you can even toss these wallets in the top rack of the dishwasher). Plus, they come in a wide array of awesome colors too. I'm hoping I might be lucky enough to receive one of these bad boys for my birthday or the holidays. And, if not, I'm gonna have to buy one myself! You can check out their Etsy shop (and I recommend that you do) here : RAGGEDedgeGear Etsy Shop

That's all for this first edition of Friday Favorites.

-Coob

Featured on the Front Page

I've been pretty terrible at posting. And, I'd like to work on changing that! Just wanted to share that the Sunday before last, my skull skateboard pendant was featured on the front page of Etsy!

To see the archive and the other items it was featured with, click the link!
Featured Etsy Front Page Archive
Until next time,

-COOB

A Coob Introduction

It doesn't seem there are very many places I am willing to fill out an 'about me', so perhaps it's best I do it on my own terms. And, if you are reading this, it's likely that I am not twisting your arms behind your back and pressing your face to the screen to get you to learn about me. So, that's on you!

A bit about me and why I started with all this 'COOB' business. After getting hurt and work, and subsequently being unable to work because of said injury, I had disgusting amounts of free time on my hands. I should mention that this is not the time of free time one desires. This is the sit still, with no one around, can't go anywhere, pull out your hair kind of free time. And, since I sometimes like my hair, I decided I'd better find something to keep myself busy.

It started with collecting bottle caps, a few here and there, and now it seems that I have an army of bottle cap collectors. Since they can't be recycled, I figured might as well try to do something with them. Thus, earrings, cuff links, magnets, and a few interesting other items were constructed with bottle caps. Bottle caps led to LEGO's, which were also fun. But, then I have always enjoyed LEGO's.

Yet even with what I suspect is thousands of bottle and LEGO's, there was still something I desired more: Skateboards. Yes, skateboards. Particularly, the kind that no one wants. I have two perfectly good working skateboards, and of course I can't use them because of my injury. So why in the world would I want more? I contacted my local indoor skatepark Talent in South Burlington, VT and proposed that I we help each other out. Every week I make a visit to Talent and pick up the broken, abused, and sometimes mind blowingly old skateboard decks that are headed for the trash. As you may imagine, skateboards aren't small, and aren't breaking down any time soon in the landfill. So, acquiring these broken decks has been a way for me to combine passions.

With the broken decks I tear them apart further to create new things, everything from jewelry to furniture (see lightning bolt pendant photo). I love working with the decks, and finding the life that's still left in them. The seven-ply wood layers that make up most of the decks seem to create many opportunities for me. In my opinion, the scars that tell the story of the life of the skateboard deck already offer some incredible art. And, I often find myself wondering what exactly 'this deck' has seen.

So there you go, that's why I do what I do. But you can check things out for yourself at http://cooboriginals.etsy.com/

And if you're wondering what's up with the name...? A friend of mine came up with it in attempt to turn my initials into a nickname : Coob. Upon giving my first pair of bottle cap earrings as a gift, my friend responded "My first pair of Coob Originals!" And, the name was born.

That's more than enough about me for now.

-Coob