Recycled Plants, Recycled Bottles

I'm posting a picture, apropos of nothing, of my summer planters at the shop. They are composed of plants that I chose under self-imposed pressure (for some reason I allotted about 20 minutes at the garden center to pick out plants that I would be looking at for 3 months). As a centerpiece of each planter I recycled an ornamental grass that we already had. It even survived the hack job I did of dividing it for each planter. I'm not usually drawn to sweet peas, but I'm glad I chose them for this summer. It cheers me up to look at them, and we could all use some cheer in '09. And speaking of recycling, I just got these recycled glass bottle lanterns in the store this week.

A simple idea: cutting a circular hole out of the side of a glass bottle and creating a tin well for a tealight or votive candle at the bottom of the bottle. These bottles would look very cool hanging from branches for a little out-of-doors ambiance. And to those of you who look at the bottles and say "I could make it myself" I say: knock yourself out. First, you'll need to drink lots of soda or wine - don't forget to clean out all the sticky junk at the bottom! Then it's just a simple matter of acquiring a glass cutter with a circular bit (be sure to wear your commercial-grade safety goggles while cutting into the glass). Next you'll need to get out that pair of tin snips you've been saving for a rainy day and craft a tealight-shaped holder out of tin. After which you can head to the hardware store for the correct adhesive for attaching metal to glass - preferably one that will withstand high heat - and glue the parts together (in a very well-ventilated room, mind you! This stuff is toxic!). Next you'll get out your tool box and pull out the ol' wire cutters and a pair of hefty pliers so that you can twist 20-gauge wire onto the bottle - make sure the wire is mounted evenly so that the bottle doesn't list to the right or left. And that's all there is to it! Now you just need to hang that bottle in your backyard tree, light a candle and enjoy. It has cost you a weekend and half a paycheck, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did it yourself. Unlike all those other slobs who simply walked into the store, grabbed a bottle lantern and slapped $8 down on the counter. Suckers.

All sarcasm aside, whether you make them or buy them, these recycled glass bottle lanterns would be a very cool addition to your outdoor (or indoor) life.

If Summer doesn't come to you...

...Then you have to make it yourself.  Summer, that is.  The weather - cold, rain, fog, and more cold - still isn't cooperating, and it's all anyone can talk about here in coastal New England, ad nauseam.  I feel the pain myself.  After suffering through our raw winters, the least we can have is 90 days of relatively moderate weather.  But not this year.  This year we have already lost the possibility of a happy June, and are now in the process of ruining July.  I need to move on from this topic, however.  I mean, how long can one complain about lousy weather?  I refuse to find out.  And to help myself along, I'm posting a picture of an electrically-painted antique piece that will provide the viewer with a jolt of summertime color.  If I can't have summer outside, then at least I will have it inside.  And I promise: no more complaining.  Until it gets too hot, that is.  Then I'll be sure to have something to say.

New Project

Usually I leave the personal stuff out of this blog, except for the occasional rant, but I just couldn't resist sharing this latest creation.  It took a lot of work - but here it is, coming in at 8 lbs, 2 ozs...

p.s.  So far he's not nearly as cranky as he looks in this photo!

Past Projects...

Yesterday a couple came in with a photo of a canvas they bought from me a few years ago. For a while I was painting these canvases with designs in the negative, putting blocks of color around the image I wanted to create, which was usually left as raw canvas. It was a bit more time-consuming, of course, than doing things the other way around, but has a great effect. Anyway, here it is, recorded for posterity, assuming that is, that posterity will care. So thanks, Customers (who shall remain anonymous), for bringing the photo in - it's nice to know that past projects have lives that extend beyond the shop!

June in Rockport

Things are quiet here in Rockport. We seem to go directly from a sort of April chill (with a few sunny days thrown just to remind us of how people live in other places) to the pavement-melting heat of July. It is technically June, almost technically summer, yet here I am ensconced in a sweater. And I am not alone. Most of the (very few) people I see passing by my window look dressed for another season entirely. I have had just three people in the shop today, two of whom looked dazed and confused, as if they meant to go on summer vacation in a nice little coastal town and ended up here instead. But just wait, I tell myself - in a few weeks, these same deserted sidewalks will be teeming with scantily-clad people who should, by all rights, be ensconced in sweaters. The shock of so much naked flesh here in Ye Olde New Englande juxtaposed as it is with what had been, just days before, chowder weather, is a lot for anyone to bear. Yet one must, in the retail business, take the bad with the good. Or, in the case of the current climate, economic and otherwise, the bad with the bad.

So on to the actual purpose of this post: Handpainted Wooden Boxes. These are useful creations, all one-of-a-kind, although the general themes do get repeated. The images are hand-cut from vintage paper and mounted on handpainted boxes. Here a few to spark the imagination. The rest of our current stock is shown at both our real store and our virtual one.