WIP Complete! Check Out These Doors!!!

OMG!!!  I knew when I found these truck doors they could be amazing!

AND

    NOW

       THEY

           ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


THANKS to my neighbor who is truly an amazing artist.  She can draw and paint like no one I know!  So much talent in one little body!!!! 

THANKS CELIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My artistic talent lies in seeing what certain things can be.  In that, I have to assemble already made things into other things.  Celia ... ha!  She just slaps on some paint and voila!!!  HOLY CRAP! 

See what I mean:




I gave Celia the idea of what I wanted
and she made it happen!!!


This is painted giving the illusion that the paint has worn thin through time.  Once this sets outside for a few months to a year, the dirt and moss that should land on this will make this look like it's an original from 1951 when this truck was built.

The reason we picked this name and phone number?
If it doesn't sell Mrs. (Celia) Johnson
will get to keep this!

She lives in her grandmothers house.
Grandma moved in during 1903 and this
was her phone number.

Canary?  For the birds and it's my
mother's maiden name.

My great, great aunt is Calamity Jane
 or Martha Jane Canary.

This is so much fun!!!

When I was little my grandfather used to tell us how he would sit on Calamity's lap and she would tell him all these wonderful stories.  Just this past year I was working on our family history.  We've been lucky enough to find some wonderful and old information on a large portion of our family.  WELL!  In doing this I realized my grandfather was born AFTER Calamity died.  This is according to the paper work we have.  If only he was around to tell me if he joking or if his stories were true.  I've decided I'm going to believe every one of them.  They were sooooo good!

Both of these doors will be at Sorticulture .... I think they'll go quick!

Hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good one!  Shell

The Year of the Chandelier

Okay ,,, some times you start these collections and you wonder why???  It just seems like every time you turn around you find or are given some thing that is similar to some thing you already have and it fits into your new “collection”.  

WELL!  That’s what has happened here. 

NOW!  It’s only a collection of 3 ,,, BUT!  These are AMAZING!!!

Check these out!!!

This little brass beauty needs a little TLC
and it will be perfect for your garden!!!

The details!!!

Another WIP.  Needs a little work
and it's ready for the garden!!!  
DARLING!!!

I love the leaves.

This special beauty could be from
Beauty and the Beast!
It's GORGEOUS!!!

ALL 3 of these beauties will be at Sorticulture for sale.  NO!  They will not be rewired.  Sorry!  I would, but, I don't have a license to do that.

Here's 2 more goodies that will be at the show also!



Green house extraordinaire! 



Yes, it's a work in progress too. 

When I bought this terrarium most the glass was out of the frames.  I found it last fall and since then my cats have been playing in it.  One goes inside while the other attacks from outside.  They've had a ball in there!!!  BUT!  It's going to the show... sorry kitties!!!  :)

This awesome corner section of railing
would be outrageous in the corner
of your garden.

This puppy would be soooooooo good in the corner of your garden with stuff crawling through it and over it!!!

I only got a little done today.  I spent a lot of time collecting and getting ready for the next projects.  I've got a couple realllllllly odd pieces coming next!  YAY!!!!

If you are looking for lights like these - be at the show early.  I do believe these will go fast!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good one!  Shell

Wind Chimes and a WIP

Hi guys!

Well, it rained off and on all day today.  SO!

Between drops I soldered some copper together   ,,,,  couldn't get it done even though I drug it out and put it away twice!!!  Too much rain.  BUT!  I got some of it together.

After getting fed up with putting every thing away so much I headed for the recycle center!  OMG!  SCORE!!!  I found this "giant" copper ball.  It is so stinking wonderful.  IF the weather is better tomorrow I'm going to put it together as another weather vane.  It's just screaming to be at the top of a pole and say HERE I AM!!!

After the recycle center I hung out at We Do Art for a bit,,, it was still raining.  That was fun!

Then I headed home  ,,,,  in the rain ,,,, and pouted.  tee hee hee!!!  Around here we're used to it ... so I'm working on more wind chimes indoors.

I tried to take a couple pics today, but the weather was pretty dark and the wind was blowing ,,, and ,,, OK!  So, maybe it's my eye sight more than the wind!  LOL!

Here's a peak.

A simple little wind chime with small spoons, maybe
baby or sugar spoons, a few crystal beads, a bell in
the middle and a wonderful chain with a
sweet design piece on it.

That sweet little piece made this special.

The oval piece is solid brass.  It had holes, so
I used them. The fork handles are a bit too far
apart, so I spread 2 of the fork tines to hit the
handles easier.  This sounds so sweet!!!

Each truck door got a quick coat of varnish today.

Soon we'll paint an old time ad on them.

Do you remember the truck I tore apart???  These are the doors and I'm working with a wonderful artist who will paint these for me.  We're going to put an ad of some kind on these.  Only time will tell what they'll look like.  With this painter ,,, I PROMISE they'll be great!!!

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by!

It Rained On My Red Ladder!

hahaha!!!

Like the rain around here is any thing new???

SO!  A couple weeks ago Joy and I were walking through the alley and what did we find in a recycle bin???

A can of Cut Ruby Red spray paint!

I couldn't resist!!!  We brought it home and spray painted one of my old ladders.

I have many old ladders that I use for displays and stuff.



I gave this puppy a new look with the paint.
Just one small problem.



The color sucks!!!  :)

The color could be worse ... kind of!!!

I gave it another coat of plain red ,,, it was a little better.  THEN!  I took out the can of black and gave it a few "squirts" here and there.  SORRY!  You'll have to come to Sorticulture to see the end result... UMMMMM!  Some one forgot to take a picture of it!  OOPS!!!

I didn't get much done today.  I made 2 whole wind chimes and the weather was so dark today I didn't even try to get pics.  SOON I will!

Cross your fingers tomorrow is busier than today!!!  Sorry guys!  The phone's ringing too much!  If you really need me ,,, drop me an email.  I'm going to disconnect the phones.  I'm just too far behind.

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Copper Garden Hanging

I do ♥  LOVE  ♥ copper. 

Quite some time back a friend of mine gave me 6 panels of 11 inch wide copper.  I think they are around 36 inches long.  Some one had cut out a fun pattern in them and probably used the pieces that were cut out.  I got to use what was left.  Please realize ,,, every piece that's on here is scrap from some thing.  The only new things on here are the screws I've used to hold the panels onto the plumbers tape the panels hang from.

Here's a peak ...



There's no place left in my flower garden that has
enough room to take a good picture of this.  Sorry!

I like the way the day lillies are growing 
under this hanging.



Copper cut out panels, plumbers tape, copper pennies,
copper fittings and copper pipe ...  all used pieces!

I still need to finish the hanger on here.

I needed a copper washer so the special screw that
holds this together would fit correctly.



A little better picture.



Don't you love the cut outs on these panels!  They are so fun.  They have that 50's look.  They just need some fuzzy finish and need to be avocado green and orange!

OKAY!  I didn't get much done today AGAIN!!!  Time's runnin' out too!  Days like today I go to make some thing and some thing else comes up.

Today I was lucky.  Amy Duncan over at Four Corner Designs helped me out and THEN was "kind" enough to pack a junk bag for me AND send me off with these funky, crusty, perfect corner sections of metal railing.  YUMMY!  YEP!  It's all going to Sorticulture.  Trust me on this one!  IT'S AMAZING STUFF!!!

SO!  Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow and actually get some welding done today.  I did get the welder out of the HOUSE!  Yes, it's in my house for now.  I didn't get it off the back porch though.  HOPEFULLY ,,, tomorrow!

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by!  Shell

From My Sink To Your Garden - A Ferris Wheel

Okay!  So yesterday I made a sink into garden art.  Today, I'll start with my sink and the end project will be a ,,, wait for it,,,,  honest ,,,  A FERRIS WHEEL!

READY???

Seriously!  I had this idea to make a Ferris wheel
and I needed cans!!!

We hit the alley and found a few, but, I decided to make
soup so I could have enough to work with!

Sorry the photo's so washed out.  I made a very
large batch of chili and a small batch of
sausage tortellini soup (click for recipe).

We found 5 steel beer cans in the alley.  These are the BEST!  They are just darling!!!  Churchkey Beer.  Ever heard of them???  I hadn't.  I'm still looking and wishing for more!!!

I cut the tops off all the cans, then I used a nice long
bolt, washer, split washer and nut to fasten these down. 
I put the bolt all the way through both sides of the rim. 
I figured that would be sturdier.

Some one is always getting sick on the Ferris wheel!

This started with a blue bike fork.  I thought it would
be nice to spray paint the rim white and the cans red. 
I added white flowers so you would have
red, white, blue and texture.

It was very shady here. 
Looks like I have another sick rider.



SCHWEET!!!




I still have a little work to do on these.   I'm going to weld a rebar step onto the bottoms.  I also have a couple more to make.  One of them will be with the body of the bike, not just the fork.  If I get it done tomorrow I'll throw it on here.

OH!  NO the wheel won't turn.  It would tear up the flowers.

ALTHOUGH,,, I'm thinking I might make one with very compact flowers and let that one move.  The wheel would be mounted on the outside of the fork, not on the inside.  I think it'll work that way!  Only time will tell!

Hope you liked it!

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by!  Shell

Copper, Flowers and a Nasty Thrown Out Sink - How To

Do you know what happens when an artist like me finds a piece of junk that's so bad not even the garbage company picked it up???

I bring it home jumping up and down yelling "LOOK!  ISN'T IT WONDERFUL!!!"

Wanna see wonderful and learn how to plant a sink???

Here we go!

I found this old sink in the alley.  Because of the
drain hole I used a small piece of old window screen
to cover the hole. 

I covered the screen with coffee filter papers.

Then I filled the sink with dirt, flowers, moss
and fertilizer.  Water thoroughly.

It was dark by the time I finished this.  The flowers are
the Wave Petunia.  They will flow or spill over the
edge of the sink as they continue to grow.

Looks really good during the day!

Remember the scrap copper I showed you yesterday? 
I made a stand for this sink out of some of it. 
It's fun, but not sturdy enough.

So I added 3 cross braces.

This stands 47" tall.  I like the space under the
planter for other plants or garden art.



I like how my garden is shaping up.



This was a fun piece to make.  I love stuff like this in my garden.  Every piece of copper I used on this was from the scrap pile I had.  I've been collecting bits and pieces from any one who wanted to get rid of some.  Even every joint!  The sink and drain hole cover were found. 

The most important part of my art is using "garbage", scrap, junk.  What ever you want to call it.  To me it's making art from ordinary, every day items and making them fun, without using new parts straight from a store.  There are a few items (like hardware) that are necessary at times.  BUT!  The challenge is to use all old, no new!

I hope you enjoyed this sink.  I had a blast making it.

Next ,,, a ferris wheel from a bike!  OR a triptych copper hanging.   I hope!!!

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by!