My name is Catherine (Cat) Ivins and I make really cool new stuff out of really cool old stuff.
I live in a little house at the beautiful Jersey shore
I have one hubby, one daughter and one dog. My design studio is called Olive Bites (after my pup, who doesn't anymore) where I design and create 2 sustainable and recycled jewelry lines called Uncorked Jewelry® and Polarity Lockets®.
I want to use repurposed, recycled and sustainable materials in new, unique and beautiful ways - ways people have never seen before - I want to amaze you!
I work with cork and steel and other industrial materials. My Uncorked jewelry is made with cork that is hand-harvested in Portugal (without harming the cork oak trees) and is upcycled in my NJ studio into something handmade and special and just for you.
My magnetic lockets are fabricated by me with love and propane. They were probably once a bridge or an appliance or a steel can and then they were recycled into a part for a car -
maybe a car that carried a newborn baby home from the hospital or maybe a car that was red and shiny and fast and now that little car part is cleaned up and drilled and brazed and sanded by me and fabricated into a piece of unique jewelry.
Yes, your locket has a past I hope you don't hold it against her - and just as our own histories give us our character and strength and passion - your little locket carries all these things with her, too.
It is now a unique Polarity Locket with an unlimited supply of lids available for an unlimited supply of looks - so we can all do more with less!
I want to deliver a unique view of something we have all seen before and hopefully get everyone thinking about new ways of seeing and using the things in our lives!
