A few more pieces before the show....

.....we are all packed up for tomorrow's Farmer's Market....some 60+ pieces. We have been having thunderstorms all day and they are still ongoing. The weather guys says they will stop by 6 am and we will be setting up at 7 am. Now, I don't know how you do math, but for me that is cutting it pretty close!!  LOL  But, watcha going to do??  Anywho, I thought I would share a few of my more favorite creations.  As always, please click the pics to see the details better!!

I LOVE this piece. It is very vintage and very Victorian. Those crystal candle drops are to die for....especially coupled with the silver plate dish. I may have trouble parting with this one.

This is hands down, one of the most unique pieces of ART I have created. The flat white dish is made so elegant with the addition of the white cherub and the 3 vintage cut glass pieces. I especially enjoy the double candle holder.

I have had this double, deep white dish for awhile now. I couldn't 'see' what to do with it. And then, wham.....right out of nowhere I had this amazing idea. (it was sparked by the double candle holder - see above). From the side it looks like a bathtub. :::Smiles:::  It would be equally at home inside with snacks or outside with bird seed and water all in one dish.

Another etched glass mirror....rescued with $2 from a yard sale. We decided on these lines from the hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow". I think it turned out excellent!!  I have another B-I-G mirror to etch yet.....but I am still evolving a plan for that one. :::Smiles:::

Hubs has started making these quite large and dimensional flowers for ARTful Salvage. They are about 42 inches tall, on copper pipe with hand cut copper leaves and tendrils. We have one more for tomorrow's show, but the glue was still drying on that one. We hope to have more made for next weekend.

Hope you enjoyed your peek into our latest creations. I'll share more pics form the Farmer's Market tomorrow afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for no rain!!

More ARTful Glass......

I told you I have been busy making glass!!  LOL  Today I thought I would share some of the more unique pieces I have made. I LOVE the "thrill of the hunt" in finding these one of a kind additions to my glass collection. I have friends who cringe when they see some of the pieces I choose to use in my ART!!  But I think that is what makes my glass totems and bird feeders truly unique!

This totem was our first foray into glass etching. It is very fun and addicting. I made stencils using my cricut expression and some contact paper. Too much fun!!  :)

Hubs found this really unusual red piece. I thought it went really well with the amber glass I was lucky enough to find a BOX of at the thrift store!!

This is truly one of my very fave pieces I have made. Hubs picked the gorgeous bottle at a yard sale. Can you believe I almost told him to put it back?  Geesh.... slap me upside the head!!  It was perfect.....I think the little glass bird really "makes" it, don't you??

This is a large birdbath. I really like the shape of the base. I wish I had more of those components!!

This is our version of a patriotic totem. We liked the eagle and the ruby glass ball. The blue plate has stars on it and a President's face. (No, I don't know which one we got - LOL)

We went to a yard sale recently, just down our street. The lady said, "We don't have much that will probably interest you....just a bunch of glass dishes and some ceramics". I smiled sweetly and said, "can I have a box?"  Come to find out, her Mother did ceramics, having over 1000 molds and her own kiln. Wow!! This cherub is one I just couldn't pass up. I also loved the green dolphin one.

We live in Quail Hunting territory here in the Deep South. I think someone will find this one pretty nifty (or use it for target practice)!!

The 2 most popular requests I get our for birds and for blue glass. Both are hard to come by, especially at a reasonable price. This lovely totem combines them both! I think it will be a quick seller. 

This is my absolute favorite totem that I have made, hands down.

Wow....many days have passed.....

since my last post!! Sorry about that. Seems that Hubs and I have had our heads down working on this new business of ours!! I have tons to share with you over the next few posts. We are gearing up for the next Farmer's Market on May 1st! We're keeping our fingers crossed for great weather. For tonight, I'll just share some of the new pieces in the Touch of Glass collection. If you see something you are interested in.....you can always email me at ARTfulSalvage at aol dot com. I have over 60+ pieces finished!!  Whew!!  I LOVE making glass ART.....each piece is unique. Here are some new bird feeders and glass totems for your viewing pleasure!!  :)

Repurposed mirror into Garden ART

I saw this mirror at a friend's pre-garage sale and thought it was lovely. I was thinking it would be great for display in our booth. She graciously offered it up to me. I was shocked to discover it was plastic!! Doesn't it look like a vintage plaster mirror? So, I was really excited to have it and use it. It, btw, measures 22" x 26".

And THEN.....I started thinking about it. Can you see the sly little grin than was accompanying these thoughts?? Yep, the one that comes when a repurposing idea is forming in my brain. So, what could I do with this for the garden......to sell at the next show???? Hmmm.....then my brain says, "You could etch a design on it." Well, that has potential.....but how to make it special?? Well, anyone who knows me (English and Writing Major) will know that WORDS are everything to me. I LOVE them. So, words it is. But "what" words? I turned to best friend, Google Chrome and began sifting through some ideas. I knew I wanted a quote or phrase. I knew I wanted it garden related and inspiring. I knew it needed more than JUST words. So, here is what I came up with:

"The Garden is a Mirror of the Heart"

Okay.....love that. Enter my SCAL software and my Cricut Expression. I designed the quote, along with some gorgeous roses and cut it from white contact paper. It looked amazing. Now, how to transfer this......this step is NOT for the faint of heart!! LOL Somehow, Hubs and I managed to place this onto the mirror fairly well. This is one of those times where you find out just how well your marriage is working. 2 people, armed with exacto knives, working in close quarters, doing the almost impossible. We (and the mirror) came through relatively unscathed!! :::Smiling::::

So, I covered the rest of the mirror with my trusty blue tape to protect the surface. Hubs put on the glass etching cream.....we waited impatiently for 5 minutes and rinsed it away. My fave part of etching is how it NEVER looks good at first. It has to dry. Then we clean it with glass cleaner and let it dry, again. Then, I stand there, like a 4-year-old gasping in wonder and just how cool it looks!! [Yes, I do this EVERYTIME we etch something.....kind of like shrinky dinks 'ya know].

So, without further fanfare.....here she is? Is she not now gorgeous and so far from her humble beginnings of life at a garage sale??

Our first Farmer's Market

This is my repurposed and salvaged sign for our new business. I took an old cabinet door, turned it on it's side and cut letters from black vinyl with the Cricut. The backing is an old, time-worn quilt, vintage lace pieces and vintage ivory buttons. I can't tell you how thrilled I am with how it turned out. I especially like that isn't perfect and that the glass is cracked!! :) It hangs from our tent.

We were thrilled to participate in our first Farmer's Market yesterday. It is part of the "Georiga Made, Georgia Grown" program, featuring locally created and grown Georgia goodies. Here's a recap of our day:

So, this story began Friday night when I began the arduous task of packing up 30 various totems and bird feeders. This, my dears, is no small feat!! LOL I used boxes, plastic bags, bubble wrap, newspapers, old towels, blankets and tablecloths and my saving grace, a dozen 5 gallon plastic buckets. I only ended up holding 2 on the way there that were just too big for any container. (Image a 40 something woman, riding in a minivan doing a glass totem version of a double fisted Lady Liberty!!).
Then the guys began loading the van. (I, smartly, stayed inside and packed up more glass). We managed to pack in: one 10x10' pop-up shelter, 2 lawn chairs, 2 four foot tables, 2 quilts (tablecloths), 2 large signs, 7 wooden totem stands, 1 cooler, 1 cash box, my purse, 3-4 extra boxes and bags of wrapping materials and 30 some pieces of glass. Believe me, they were whining that it couldn't be done....but the persevered and won the battle!! :::smiles:::


We arrived at 7:30 am (spaces were first come, first served). Yippeee...we were first there and commandeered the spot we wanted. Show begins @ 9. It was simply a glorious day weather wise. There were about 15 vendors and quite a nice steady, but small crowd. It was a good turn out for the first month's Farmer's Market, coupled with Easter weekend. This has been a very poorly attended event in the past, but now they are allowing handmade goodies as well as produce and flowers. So, once the word gets out (newspaper and web) I think the May show will be really awesome. I was even interviewed by 2 papers and on camera!! Yikes!! I'd like to have died!! LOL

We rec'd nothing but positive feedback from almost everyone who stopped by. Most people were just in awe!! :::Smiles::: We sold 7-8 pieces, so I was pleased for the first show. We also made some new friends, met some neighbors and drummed up some business for our yard sale next weekend!! :) One lady is bringing me glass and another has a slew of old windows she is giving me!! Yippee Skippee!! We fill be going back next month and also doing our local town festival show. Here are a few pics of our booth and such! Enjoy!

Side View of our booth

Our newly repurposed sign and a totems close-up

Hubs thought we needed a sign to "explain" that the Totems are "Garden Art". Well, yes, that is probably true. So, since our business is about repurposing and all.....I used an old chalkboard I had acquired. The frame was just plain unfinished wood....ugh!! So, I used a jar of awesome lime green paint and jazzed it up a bit!! Then I cut out some letters from my DCWV "green" stack on the Cricut and glued them down with spray adhesive. I decided I needed to seal the letters down more permanently. I used 2 coats of matte Mod Podge. The white ivy border was already printed on the chalkboard. How cool is that?? :::Smiles:::

The front view of the booth. Next month we will be tweaking here and there, but overall we were happy.

A Touch of Glass....

....my workshop has been filled to overflowing with bits and pieces of shiny glass. I have been very passionately and prolifically making garden totems and bird feeders. I think it is the perfect way to give such simple, everyday items a gorgeous new life as Garden ART. I love these techniques because each piece is truly unique and has it's own story to tell. I hope you enjoy a glimpse of what has been happening in the workshop these past 2 weeks. If you are interested in purchasing my work you can email me at: ARTfulSalvage at AOL dot com.

Please keep in mind that many pieces I share here, may have been sold and are truly one-of-a-kind. However, I will happily create a unique piece just for you. :)