Sunday, October 19, 2008

Ball #19



This is ball four of four from my cousin's mother-in-law. It was turquoise (a popular color for bowling balls) and I covered it with clear, clear with white cat-eye, and clear with aqua cat-eye in a flower power pattern. I put it into my craft club's Christmas auction and it sold for $11.00.

Ball #18



This was ball three of four from my cousin's mother-in-law. It was silver and I covered it with white, black, and clear in a flower power pattern. I had it at a garden center on consignment during the summer of 2007 but it did not sell. I sent it to a different garden center this summer but it was one of two that didn't sell. I've always liked this one, so maybe I'll keep it!

Ball #17



This was ball two of four from my cousin's mother-in-law. It was black and I painted it hammered bronze. It is decorated with opaque lime green, clear with lime cat-eye and brushed with lime cat-eye in a flower power pattern. I gave it to my nephew's wife for Christmas 2006.

Ball #16




This ball was one of four given to me by my cousin's mother-in-law during the summer of 2006. It was black and I painted it hammered bronze and decorated it with 2 layers of pennies, include some Canadian and some wheat pennies. I gave it to my husband, who put it out on our deck so it could get "patina".

Ball #15



My sister-in-law gave me this ball, which belonged to her mother. It came with the original certificate of guarantee, dated 1961. It was black and I painted it periwinkle blue. I used opaque white, opaque periwinkle, clear with white cat-eye, and clear with periwinkle cat-eye in a flower power pattern. I gave this to my niece for Christmas 2006, since it was originally her grandmother's ball.

Ball #14



My aunt gave me this ball. It was a blue swirl pattern and I decorated it with turquoise and clear with turquoise cat eyes in a flower power. I gave this ball back to my aunt to give to her daughter-in-law's mother.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Ball #13



My aunt (the recipient of the giant bowling pin) found this ball for me. It was white and I painted it with hammered silver. It is decorated with large and small translucent green and opaque white marbles in a flower power pattern. It has resided on the north side of the house in the hosta bed for a couple of years.

Ball #12



The fourth ball from the rummage sale was blue, so it did not need painting. I decorated it with marine assorted large and smalls in a flower power pattern. I gave it to one of my dear friends for her birthday in August, 2006.

NOTE: The first few balls I made had all the finger holes filled in with wood putty. Somewhere along the trail I read about leaving the thumb hole open so the ball could be mounted on a rod. Also somewhere along the trail I saw the idea of using a pet food bowl as a ball stand.

Ball #11



Here's the third ball from the rummage sale. It was black and I painted it with hammered green fusion paint. It was decorated with green and amber marbles in a flower power design and has spent two winters and three summers outdoors in my sunflower patch. In that time it has only lost one or two marbles.

Giant Bowling Pin (or - "What Else Can I Glue Marbles On"?)
















My mother found a plastic bowling pin bank at an estate sale and got the great idea of decorating it for my aunt to go along with her birthday bowling ball (#10). I stuffed most of the pin with styrofoam peanuts, and then put a couple bags of river rocks in the bottom to give it weight. I painted the entire thing with navy fusion paint and then decorated it with a variety of blue marbles. It was my aunt's Christmas present in 2007 and is definitely one of a kind!

Ball #10



Here's the second ball from the rummage sale. It was black; I painted it navy and decorated it with opaque periwinkle blue and clear with periwinkle cat eye in a flower power style. It was given to my aunt for her 65th birthday on May 22, 2006.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Ball #9



I purchased this ball at the Lutheran Church's rummage sale. I scored 4 balls that particular day. I've been back every sale since and have found a few more, but never as good as the first time. I never got so much joy out of $5 purchase!

This ball is black and I decorated it with black and orange marbles for my father. It looks like a basketball, which was not intentional, and I'm not crazy about the results. It was supposed to be a meandering black line. Someday I'd like to redecorate it or do another one using the same colors in a different pattern. I had to buy the black marbles on ebay because I couldn't find any in the local craft stores. Since then I have seen them at Hobby Lobby. (which just moved into the area - Hooray!)

Ball #8



This ball came to me from another one of my father's Rotarian friends. It was black and I painted it red and decorated it with "Cupid Assorted" from Michael's. It has clear, clear with white cat eye, red, clear beach glass, and red hearts. I gave it to my step-mother, who's birthday is on Valentine's Day. Cammie is helping me photograph.

Ball #7



This ball was given to me by a co-worker. It was red and I painted it navy and decorated it with marine assorted large & small in a flower power pattern. (Large centers, small petals). I really liked the color and got carried away photographing it. Usually I take 4-6 pictures. There are nine of this particular ball. It now belongs to my lovely sister-in-law. She reported that one day her little neighbor, 3 or 4 years old, was running through her yard, saw the ball, and came to a complete stop in front of it, staring. I know the feeling.....