Ball #60

My sister and her husband found this ball and #61 on the side of the road while they were on a bike ride. Thankfully both balls were in bowling bags and they weren't far from our house, so they grabbed them and delivered them both to me. This one was a bright green swirl and I covered it with green and plum with cat eye, brushed green, and green flowers and leaves. I sold this ball to my father to give to his neighbor as a thanks for making a perenniel garden for him. (This is another ball I'm tempted to keep - I especially love this color combination.)

Ball #59

This ball was a deep green with sparkles and came from the Baptist Church. It was very tempting to keep it, since it was my favorite color, but it went for a good cause. I covered it with deep green translucent, light green bottle glass, light green with white cat eye, and large light green leaves in a continuous swirl pattern. I donated it to a Silent Auction that my mother organized. The auction took place at a Pig Roast in August of 2008 and was a benefit for a new hospice that is going to be built in our town.

Ball #58

This ball came from the Baptist Church. It was a Monsters, Inc. theme ball and had a huge eyeball on one side. I tried to incorporate it into a design but it was too creepy and weird, so I finally painted it black and covered it with butterflies, large and small peach, and assorted cat eyes of blue, yellow and green. (That was a great marble find from Walmart. The style was discontinued so they were very cheap. I wish they were still available - I utilized the various colors on several balls.) This ball sold at the Rotary Geranium Sale in May of 2009.

Ball #57

Here's another turquoise swirl ball from the Baptist Church. I covered this one with turquoise, clean, turquoise with white cat eye and white stars in a continuous swirl pattern. I gave this one to the Lutheran Church in August of 2008, since the ladies that run the rummage sale there were interested in my ongoing bowling ball projects.

Ball #56

Here's another ball from the Baptist Church. This one was a green and maroon swirl and I covered it with turquoise and clear stripes. It also featured a some flower power made with large clear rounds and ovals. I gave it to my contact at the Baptist church as a Thank You gift in August of 2008.

Ball #55

This ball also came from my friend's son. It was a turquoise swirl, but was badly beaten up so I painted it creamy white. I covered it with irregular cobalt with a white swirl, solid cobalt, opaque white, periwinkle, and clear with a periwinkle cat eye. It is grouped with ball #1 and ball #50 on the window seat in the dining room. This ball is one of my favorites.

Ball #54

This ball also came from my friend's son. It was an eggplant color and I decorated it with flower power purple with clear with white cat eye centers and clear background fill. I photographed it on a cloudy day and none of the pictures do it justice. It sold at the garden center during the summer of 2008.

Ball #53

My friend's son found this on his disposal route. It was red and I covered it with flower power red with clear with white cat eye centers and clear filler. It sold at the garden center during the 2008 summer season.

Ball #52

I purchased this ball at the Lutheran rummage sale for $2.00. It was a turquoise swirl and I covered it in concentric circles of alternating turquoise, clear round and clear oval, accented with large clear and clear butterflies. ( I got a lot of mileage out of the butterflies, flowers, and leaves! They came from the Dollar General. I keep looking, but they haven't stocked them again.) This ball sold at the garden center during the 2008 summer season.

Ball #51

This ball came from the sales rep of a company my employer does business with. It was a deep green and I covered it with orange and yellow flower power and filled in the background with clear round and ovals. It sold at the garden center during the summer of 2008.

Ball #50

This ball belonged to my brother-in-law. At the request of my husband, I painted it white and covered it with all cobalt blue rounds and stars. It sits on the window seat in our dining room with the ball #1 and ball #55.

Ball #49

The 10th ball from the Baptist Church was a pink & blue swirl pattern. It reminded me of bubble gum. I decorated it with large clear round and ovals , accented with red and blue. I gave it to friends as a house warming present in June of 2008.

Ball #48

This was the 9th ball (according to my notes) from the Baptist Church. It was jade green and I covered it with clear red flower power with tomato opaque centers. The filler marbles were red iridescent. This one sold at a garden center during the summer of 2008.

Ball #47

Yet another ball from the Baptist Church. This one was black and I painted it cream white. It is covered with irregular green with a white streak, clear round and oblong, clear butterflies, and clear with a green cat eye. The Rotary Club sold it during their annual geranium sale in May of 2008.

Ball #46

This ball came from the Baptist Church. It was black and I painted it cream white. It is decorated with off-center concentric circles of aqua opaque, clear with aqua cat eye, brushed with lime cat eye, clear with lime cat eye and iridescent lime. I gave it to a friend for her birthday/Christmas present in May of 2008.

Ball #45

This ball originally belonged to a friend of my mother. Mom bought it from an estate sale after her friend's death. It was a green and turquoise swirl pattern. I used large and small clear and oval marbles, clear flowers, and white opaque flower power with a turquoise center. I used an large oval over the engraved name on the ball. I gave the finished ball to Mom and she has it in her sun room, which is aqua and white.

Ball #44

Another ball from my friend's son. This one was painted navy and covered with large and small marine assorted (cobalt, green, turquoise, aqua, clear), butterflies and flowers. It was given to a friend as a birthday present in October 2007.

Spring Haul part 2

This past Saturday Michael's had a sale on bagged marbles. $41.00 later, I hauled in three bags full! Included is this bounty were marine assorted, clear with orange cat eye, clear with turquoise cat eye, white, clear and brushed mixture, periwinkle blue, and a large bag of mixed opaque iridescent. Nothing new or different, but lots to play with. I'm hoping to make a trip to Hobby Lobby soon, since they had different colors available. Last fall Walmart had some nice colors, so I'll have to slide by there also. Stay tuned!

Spring Haul

Yesterday I received a phone call from my contact at the local Baptist church. He runs their clothing closet and rummage sales. A few years ago when he told me that he used to throw away any bowling balls that were donated, I gave him my contact information and told him I would be happy to come pick them up. Since then he has called me several times. This time he had SEVEN balls for me!!! I picked them up this AM on my way to work. There are 4 black, 1 red (really pretty), 1 aqua swirl, and 1 blue with an orange Scooby Doo line drawing. I'll have to see if I can incorporate that into a design. It's been months, but it looks like I'm back in business again. Time to start stalking the local craft stores for interesting marbles!

Ball #43

Here is ball number five from my friend's son. (Spring clean up was very good for the bowling ball business!) It was a light aqua in good shape, so I covered it with large and small marine assorted and three butterflies. (I purchased the marine assorted marbles at Michael's. I'm not sure if they still have that assortment or not, but I especially like it.) This ball sold at the garden center during the summer of 2007.

Ball #42

Here is the fourth ball from my friend's son. This was also a beat up aqua swirl, so I painted it hammered bronze and covered it with concentric circles of iridescent orange, clear with an orange cat eye, opaque peach, and mini orange. It was sent to the garden center for the summer of 2008 but did not sell.

Ball #41

Here is the third ball from my friend's son. It was a very beat up aqua swirl, so I painted it hammered bronze. It is covered with clear red and red with gold iridescence in concentric circles. On the top are 3 large flowers. I was in a counting mood and recorded that this ball took approximately 530 marbles. It was sold at the Rotary Geranium Sales in May of 2008.

Ball #40

This was the second ball rescued by my friend's son. I used this ball to fill an order from a friend of my mother. She told me basically what colors she wanted and this was the result: off white background, opaque orange & lime iridescent flower power, peach iridescent and translucent filler. This commission was in Spring of 2007.

Ball #39

My friend's son works as a truck driver for a disposal company. He rescued this ball and was nice enough to put up with it rolling around in the cab of his truck all day. It was red sparkle and I covered it with red marbles that had a gold iridescence. I also added some glass flower and butterfly marbles. (The Dollar General had some great shaped glass marbles during the summer of 2007.) This ball sold at the garden center during the summer of 2007.

Ball #38

Here's yet another ball that my Aunt got from the bowling alley. This one was also cracked. I patched it with wood putty and touched it up with maroon and blue paint to match the ball, which was a maroon swirl. I decorated it with concentric circles of red, blue and clear. There are also shaped glass flower, heart, and butterfly marbles. I gave this one to my friend who loves patriotic and primitive colors in May of 2008.

Ball #37

Here is another ball my Aunt got from a bowling alley. This one was cracked - I assume a casualty during finger hole drilling. It was black with sparkles. I painted it white and covered it with opaque orange & green flower power, iridescent opaque aqua, and clear with aqua cat eye. I gave this one to my mother for Valentine's Day, 2007. It matches the colors in her sun room, where it currently resides. Because of the cracks it was not weather resistant, so it worked out perfectly to have an indoor place for it.

Ball #36

My Aunt got this ball from a bowling alley. It was pink and yellow fluorescent - pretty hideous, actually. I covered it with opaque white and yellow flower power and then used clear for fill. The marbles muted the colors and the end result was very cheerful and unusual. It sold at the garden center during the summer of 2007.