why does this make me happy?

I took this photo at large antique show.  This guy was making a butt load of money.  Made me think it was time to sell my old hardware.  I snapped this photo with my iphone.  I'm not sure why, but I love this photo.  So ordinary....it must be the colors and the knowledge of what it feels like to dive in these and look through them.  They are all different.  Some sappy analogy here somewhere, but I won't go there.

I have really enjoyed my iphone camera.  It's a great camera. You've seen some here.  I have a few other places that I share my photos. Instagram and Foap are my favorites. You can buy them on my Foap account.  Click the links to see my galleries. 

Reuse Recycle.....be creative with what you have.

This is a hall tree I made 3 years ago.  It was one of the last doors I had salvaged.....Now people have figured out that they are amazing sources of wood and I have to buy them....



















We went to the beach this summer and parked on a residential street around the corner from Mo's restaurant and found this.  First of all - I LOVE METAL! I even have a Pinterest board with fun metal reuse ideas.  I am big into reusing things for a new creation.  If you can't see...this is a fountain! ( I should of taken a video...dang it ) Super cool!  They also had a great fence made of this metal siding/roofing (seen on either side of the fountain.  I love it that people are getting original I'm so tired of houses painted taupe and looking all exactly the same.

This is a great fence.....Totally original.
Be original.....don't be taupe.

our old farm....

Needless to say there are a lot of rustic and worn surfaces to photograph here on our farm.  We live in Yamhill County.  It just sounds old.  My husbands grandparents bought the farm in the 40's. They had been farming about 45 mins south until WWII and the US Government wanted their parcel of land and many others to create an army training facilities.  So they packed up and moved.  Everything.  Even some buildings. 

 See the Adair Military history here

Although there are endless supplies of chippy paint to scrounge....I do long for some organization and someone to say.."hey, let's do some clean-up!"  I keep telling myself the scrap is like a savings account that the government can't tax. Saving up for the day when we really need the money....so until then it sits......

and I take photos.  If you'd like to

 see my photos - click here.

another try

This one is my favorite.  I salvaged so many square nails and thought I could never use them all...Now maybe I can. This creation is based in a tiny drawer, collaged with vintage papers and some divine paint.  I picked up some divine paint samples at Goodwill....amazing find.  The center wood piece is from a pipe organ salvaged after a flood.  I wonder if anyone can guess what the center black item is?

I've been trying something new...

Have you ever been to an art gallery and saw artwork you thought was ridiculous and wondered "what was that guy thinking?"....Well I guess that's the path I'm on. People are strange as to what they like.  I've always preferred collage.  I really dig assemblage and found object type creations .  Using items that would normally be tossed or using things for a different purpose seems to spark something in me.  Some people might not call it art, but it takes thought and time finding the right combination textures is intriguing to me. Here are a few reasons that I started in this new direction....1) I have the need to create...I needed to tap into that or I was going to go crazy.....2) I've acquired a lot of really cool hardware that I haven't found a need for with the furniture creations. 3) it's butt crack cold out side and my shop is not pleasant to work in. 4) I'm re-applying to a art show that I've done in years past and I wanted some new things to expand with.  The show called "Cracked Pots".  I was involved for a number of years but leadership has changed and I lost my connection with the gal who knew me. Reapplying is a drag but it keeps me on my toes and it ensures a high quality show.  I needed the time off.  Prepping for the show took weeks of work.  I overheard my daughter say "Mommy is in her shop again...."  I felt kind bad.  It was the tone of her voice and it sounded like I was in there too much.  That's when I decided to take a summer off.  We focused on having fun and one summer became two and now I'm back.  She's got her cousins to play with now and she's more independent.  Some days during the summer she's gone for hours playing....what a life.  This farm is such a treasure.  I wish I could of grown up here.  I had lots of outside fun though.  We lived in the hills outside Eugene.  Lots of fir trees to climb.  I had poison oak and pitch on me most of my life.   anyways.......I've been gone a bit from here too.  Now I'm back.  Here is a photo of one of my creations.  I'll post one photo a day.  Kinda funky stuff.......but it's fun.

a little bummed that there's no snow....

Well, the rain has started again!  I was secretly hoping for a big snow storm that would take us by surprise!  No luck.  At least it's not 20 degrees.  I will have to get into my shop this evening after school.  In the mean time I'm planning my next "Knock-off Wood" creation...I wanted to show what you can do if you have a husband that saves trinkets and treasures.  Everything is very cool.  Ticket stubs, matchbooks, Mr. Peanut, guitar pics, Old pens, receipts (from his first Mac-Intosh Computer), old tins, baby books, poker chips, business cards, coasters, patches, lipton tea ceramics, doodles from church.....the list goes on.  I just realized i was finding all these little "treasures" and they didn't have a home.  I'd ask him what it was and he'd tell me that it was from his grandma or it was something he dug up on the farm when he was a kid or it was from aunt Alice or......  Now I totally understand about keeping this type of stuff.  I to have a secret collection myself. But I decided to finally starting a collection together in one box.  When the box was full and I had the perfect frame....these shrines were born.  Theses frames are from IKEA and were very affordable.  Actually should of gotten a few more.  Establishing a background is a important first step when creating a collage / assemblage.  I used photo copies of a few photos and some flat items (like coasters, ticket stubs, or doodles) a craft paper grocery bag and some snippets of note/letters that he wrote to me over the years.  The pair on the right are only 12"x12" and include more miniture type objects.  I created the larger version with more of a photo / flat type item theme.  I attended a crafty girls weekend up at Driftcreek Camp on the Oregon Coast Range.  while the other ladies were scrap booking or quilting..my sister and I arranged, rearranged and then arranged again to get all the ingredients just perfect.  We used hot glue to adhere them.  The photo above was very difficult to acquire with out reflections...so sorry.  But for now you can at least get an idea.  Gotta run and get off to my real job......Art Teacher.  How many days til summer break?

little tiny houses

Add caption

rough cut lumber boxes with hand made metal handles

My Bird house windows are my favorite.  I always sell out at the summer shows.  Each one is different and well thought out.  Switching the hardware and arrangement until it's "just so"....I can't calculate an hourly total to figure the cost. They are labor intensive, but the joy i get in creating them is well worth it.  This summer when I return as "laura's salvage design" and as a vendor to the Cracked Pots  Community hopefully I will be remembered.  I suppose it was foolish of me to walk away.  I had customers looking for me in my "regular" spot....oh well, there will be others.  Also pictured here are my rough cut boxes.  The hubby creates the handles in the shop and I pull the square nails out of the gorgeous 1x12's.  We salvaged the boards from the deconstruction of Aunt Alice's house.  They were a vertical as part of the exterior wall.  I saved as many as I could.  Even the cracked and broken ones.  I cut slats for the bottoms (usually out of cedar scraps) and coat them with clear acrylic.  They are gorgeous for plants and garden tools outside or mail, towels or firewood indoors.  The rough cut marks are sanded a bit but still beautiful.  Lot of history and very multipurpose.