Crafty Bas@ar!s of the Week

And now for our Crafty Bas@ar!s of the Week...deckstool.

Stools and benches out of recycled skateboard decks?  Now them's some crafty bastar#s!



Created by Pennsylvania skaters Adam Podlaski and his brother Jason, Deckstool's and benches are made up of recycled trucks and skateboard decks and run between $175 and $550.  Well worth the cash for a unique piece o' furniture I say.

You can check out their designs on http://www.etsy.com/shop/deckstool or http://www.deckstool.com/

Be sure to go to their Etsy site quick...From now until the end of February they are offering a MID-February Sale.  Through the end of February 2011, all deckstools are $25 off plus FREE continental US shipping! ($175 + $25 off shipping for international orders.) They are also taking $150 off all deckbench orders!

An Open Letter to my Drill Press

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I seriously hate crafting.  Yeah; I said that, SOMETIMES I HATE CRAFTING.  I don't know, I read all the blogs about how great people's wares are, how to build your business and make it better, or how amazing it can be to do your own thing, which is all great and very helpful, but you never really hear about the downside of it.  I'm talking about those really bad days where the last thing you want to do is come home from your day job only to work on your night job and nothing goes right.  Case in point, my drill press (yeah I'm talking to you drill press).  So here it goes, from the top:

Dear Drill Press,

If I could launch you to the end of the earth and back right now I would.  Why do you want to break on me when I have orders to fulfill?  I'm not sure why, you never respond, but here is my response to you, we are through.  I'm replacing you with the Dremel 3 in 1 and I don't really feel bad about it.  So have a good life drill press and take care.

Love,

Management

Okay I feel a little bit better about things now.

Does anyone else have days where everything they do with their business doesn't work out according to plan?  Or you feel like throwing in the towel, yet you don't because there is always that shiny success story at the end of the tunnel?  Well I want to hear from you, but for now it's off to give Skate Pet Feeder making another go....There are still hours left in the day.

Skate Dog Studios presents: Skate It Forward

It's Sunday night, the boys are piled on the couch with me and I think it's about time I talk about my newest adventure...Skate It Forward.

Skate It Forward is a project I'm working on to highlight skateboarding and its riders in a positive way by helping out the community through paying it forward (Skate It Forward).  The way it works is simple, if a person is under 18 years old and comes up with a plan to help your community in some way either through volunteering, cleaning up the environment, donating, anything they think would be a worth while project and keeps their grades up in school, I will provide that person free decks to ride.  When the decks are broken in, I'll take them back, exchange it for a new one, and make the old deck into a recycled feeder...pretty easy right?

Below are some images of my first Skate It Forward recycled feeder

This GIRL skateboard was skated by a youth from Ogden, NC who is Skating it Forward by helping keep the area around the Skate Barn, an indoor skate park in Hampstead, NC clean (www.skatebarn.com)  He makes sure to keep his grades up in school and takes time out on the weekends to pick up trash around one of his favorite places to skate, keeping it nice for everyone else who skates there.

In the weeks to come, I'll be highlighting more riders and what they are doing to help the community, pretty exciting stuff!

If you or anyone else you know is interested in becoming part of Skate It Forward, either through skating, donating boards, or just helping me make Skate It Forward bigger and better, please don't hesitate to call (910) 376-2619 or email me @ info@skatedogstudios.com...a big thanks ahead of time:)

Welcome to 2010 here's your blog?

Happy New Year!  I'm only a couple months late, but to my defense, I was busy.  A lot has been going on since last I wrote.  I packed up shop in Iraq, came home, and have been spending time with "the kids" and friends.  So I call February my New Year because I'm finally back in the States and able to do stuff.

First order of business get rid of this damn snow!  The whole reason I live in North Carolina is for the beaches, ocean, warm weather, and, oh yeah, NO SNOW!  So why am I staring outside looking at white stuff?  Tanker loves it.

Tank in the blizzard of 2010

It was actaully pretty funny to wake up this morning and throw snowballs for Tank Tank.  He runs around in the yard looking for them forever.  Mean?  Yes.  Hilarious? Absolutely.

Tanker running in the snow

One might wonder why I don't have any pictures of Ziggy in the snow...That's because he is ridiculously smart and refuses to venture out in it.  Good boy Pig, good boy.

Ziggy, the smarter of my two children

Besides the snow, I've been diligently working on Skate Dog Studios.  A lot has been happening in the last couple of weeks, all for the good!  If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new and improved website:  http://www.skatedogstudios.com/ thanks to the creative minds of Avall designs.  I love it, it has a clean look and is easy to use.  Users can now see several different photos of the many Skate Pet Feeders for sale and soon they will be able to purchase even more items like collars, leashes, beds, toys, etc.  Ashley and Nick also redesigned my blog and Twitter pages, so everything bundles up into a nice neat package.

But enough about me, I want to know what you guys want.  What are your favorite pet items you like to purchase?  What would you like me to blog about?  To me, 2010 is about you - getting you as much good pet info as I can and offering the best pet products possible.  In the coming months I'll be reviewing several different unique pet items with the help of my head quality assurance reps, Ziggy and Tank.  I'll also be trying out different dog treat recipes as well as other fun D.I.Y pet projects and I promise to keep you up-to-date. So email, call, Facebook, and Twitter me away, I'm home and I'm ready:)