The Final project to wrap up 09

My last creation of 09: a custom frame for a neighbor; it's a surprise gift for his wife's birthday :) We are going to deliver it tonight while they are out for dinner--I hope she likes it! The photo is 2' x 3'; the frame a bit larger...I used lots of scraps of thin sheet in different shapes for texture & interest, without adding a huge amount of weight.

A letter B: for their last name :) & a few pieces of cable for silver sparkle....

A little detail for the bottom of the frame; a key, a crystal heart, & a little bottle: to be filled with family mementos and/or notes.

And, a set of matching candle sconces :)

My fav. part: a copper vase with some aluminum skwiggle sticks :) This was a fun project & I'm really happy with how it came out. We mounted the photo & glass already; it looks even better with the pic! Will post more pics of the final install....

Happy New Year; looking forward to more fun projects in 2010. Already in the works: a park project for the City of Boise, some giant steel vases for a collector in Spokane, new jewelry creations, more treasure hunting, & a trip to Italy (more on that later).

Amber

S'more Romantic Jewelry; preview pics :)

Made a few more pieces of jewelry over the holiday; here's some preview pics. I'll be listing them on my Esty shop this week--prices range from $52.50 to $72.50 :) Little fuses: so cute :)

This one looks rather vampire-ish to me....

Old brass hotel key--this is the last of these keys: they went fast!

And a meter gauge, with crystals of course :)

The Reuseum: Treasures & Oddities & Surplus Fun!

We finally made it down to Garden City to check out the Reuseum in it's new location: OMG--what a cool place!! The space is much larger, with everything organized & priced; husband & I spent hours there wandering through the aisles & looking at all the cool stuff. There is everything from military surplus: camo pants & shirts, gas masks, clean suits: a nice selection of lab glass, every conceivable electronics part you could every wish for, computers & computer parts, radios, and so much more.....

The place is packed with all sorts of industrial tidbits & oddities: the possibilities for creating are endless....

There are even some useful housewares; including stainless steel measuring cups & mixing bowls, all kinds of storage bins & little boxes, scales, test tubes, peitri (?) dishes, etc...

The selection of lab glass is very interesting; makes me want to turn my kitchen into a laboratory, mwha ha ha ha!

This is my selection of goodies: got some tiny bottles for jewelry, little round glass disks, some nifty industrial stickers, a bunch of test tubes (don't know what I'll be doing with them, but I couldn't resist!), a bunch of tiny light bulbs & fuses for jewelry making, & a bunch of little plastic dishes: for organizing all my loot....

And; my fav treasure of the day; this glass laboratory thingy----so cool!!
I added the colored water just for fun; was also thinking it would make the coolest terrarium ever....

Also brought home a selection of these glass measuring tube things, too much fun!

And these things! Some sort of vacuum tube type things: the bigger is about 3.5 inches tall; love it!And here are all my new treasures displayed on the mantel :) A nice addition to the big letter T (see the last post) I think the glitter & gears go well with the laboratory treasures; what do you think???

The Reuseum is located in Garden City: 108 W 33rd Street. Check out the website for hours, classes, & events: http://www.reuseum.com/

Amber

Big Letters & Glitter

What a find! At the scrap yard a few weeks back, I came across a bin of old sign letters: had to get some :) Purple: hmmmm....well, that can be fixed. They're big too; 13 inches tall and 3 inches deep: perfect for sitting on a shelf or hanging on a wall. So, I gathered up an armful of them, and as usual, got a lot of funny looks from the guys who work the scrap yard: after weighing in my loot & paying, I filled the back of husband's car with old dirty purple letters.

I chose a T to experiment on: decided to glitter-ize it: I thought my fireplace mantel could use a bit of sparkle to go with the chains & rusty steel :) I think it turned out great---love the way it looks silhouetted against the lighter colored wall. Also added a couple other little Ts that I had in a bucket of scraps....Husband doesn't quite know what to think about the glitter, but that's ok....

The rest of the letters are listed on my Etsy shop, if you want one to play with---$15 each. Already sold the A (it got shipped out the Sweden yesterday) and the other T. Still have: S, L, I, & H (2).

Too much fun; I'm already thinking about what else I could do with them in my house; or adding them into some fun wall mounted sculpture for the outside. Will be going on the hunt for more today :)

Amber

Frosty Morning

Cold & frosty this morning....hoping for snow for Christmas :)

Amber

Emerald City: The sustainable eco-polis of the future

Emerald city is a collection of the world’s most innovative buildings, utilities and initiatives into one imaginary eco-topia. CNNGO.com published this article were they looked for the best of what already exists or is in development, and integrated them in one city. This project, apart from giving a nice view to a possible sustainable future, serves also as a good list of "state of the art" in sustainability. It includes at least 22 categories of innovations and initiatives, among which: industrial ecology, smart grid, renewable energy, recycling, urban farming, and much more.

Read more: Welcome to Emerald City, sustainable eco-polis of the future! | CNNGo.com

New Romantic Jewelry Collection

I'm very excited about a new line of jewelry I just started on; finished up the first pieces this weekend. Much more romantic & detailed than my normal jewelry; these are a lot of fun! They still have some of my industrial accents, like tiny lightbulbs, little fuses, & other bits & pieces, but done in a much more feminine way. Check out the pics:
There are some pieces of old jewelry that have been recycled into new designs, lots of freshwater pearls, old rhinestones, & of course old keys.... This one is my fav. of the moment; love the old crystal & the little lock :)

Can't get enough old keys :) This one too! An old hotel key; love all the details on the key itself!

See more pics & prices on my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/REFINERII.
Stay tuned; more to come :)
Amber