Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Toys

 My husband and I used to play around cutting bottles and turning them into things like vases or lamps or other questionably useful items.  This was nearly 30 years ago so I guess we were into recycling long before it was popular!  lol

Well, we were given these beautiful blue wine bottles so we drug out the bottle cutter and I looked online for inspiration as to what to do with them.  I like the look of engraved glass so used an acid etch to put a design on some old bottles for practice but just didn't like the look of it and didn't think it would work on these blue bottles

I guess Santa knew that because I woke up on Christmas morning to find a huge box under the tree!  It had to be from Santa because my husband and I don't exchange gifts - we usually prefer to buy what we want when we want it so the box was a huge surprise!

In the box was a 245 piece rotary tool set with 2 rotary tools, a flexible shaft for detail work and every imaginable bit and doodad ever made for it.  I immediately grabbed up the diamond bits and started in on a beach scene on one of the bottles.  Remember, this is my first try at glass engraving so don't laugh too hard!  I'm told the glass is pretty forgiving so hope I can recover from any mistakes made!

The dolphin and the waves are patterns but the seagulls on the opposite side are free-hand and still in the process of being engraved.  I also plan to add another gull and maybe a lighthouse in the distance. 

What will I do with these bottles after I engrave them?  Hmmmm, I'm not really sure!  I've seen some lovely patio lights made from recycled wine bottles and also some wind chimes - I'm sure something will eventually come to me but if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Monday, December 23, 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  May all your dreams come true in 2014!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Cheers!

We have some wonderful "neighbors" (about 3 or 4 miles away!) who very generously share their garden with us and we trade various flower and vegetable plants with them.  The wife especially likes margaritas so I bought some inexpensive glasses and painted some Mexican designs on them.  We're going to get a bottle of margarita mix and give it to them along with the glasses for Christmas.  I hope they like them.

It was really difficult painting these small graphics and I was so frustrated by the time I finished, that I went to my optometrist's office and ordered a pair of bifocal eyeglasses!  It's been over 2 months since I was able to see everything clearly and I was so tired of it all that I just sort of snapped.  I have an appointment with the surgeon to have a stitch removed this coming week and still have another follow-up appointment with my optometrist in January and I just couldn't bear to wait any longer to see well.  Even if I need to take another route to see effectively, I wanted the glasses for the interim.  They should arrive next week and I will be so glad.  I was looking forward to not wearing glasses at all and my distance vision in one eye is 20/20 so I know I shouldn't complain at all.  And there still may be something I can do so glasses aren't needed but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

Anyway, still not doing any actual paintings but hope to be able to do something in the coming weeks.  I'll keep ya posted!