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.

Ball #35

Here's a third ball from my cousin. It was an unattractive shade of maroon, so I painted it white and covered it in a spiral pattern with green and cobalt blue. It sold at the garden center during the summer of 2007.

Ball #34

Aqua swirl balls seem to be very popular. Here's another one that my cousin gave to me. I decorated it in a flower power pattern with clear with aqua cat eye, opaque aqua, opaque white, and small clear. I sold it to a friend as a gift for her mother in law.

Ball #33

Here is another attempt at painting on the reverse side of a large clear glass marble. This time it is my trademark mushroom. I've been doing these since junior high with little variation. (and even less artistic talent!!!) Anyhow, this ball came from one of my cousins who has no idea how it arrived at his house. It was deep green, my favorite color, so I covered it with red and white flowers, large painted mushrooms, and small clear with dark green cat eyes. My friend saw a picture of this ball and said she liked it, so I sent it to her as a Christmas/birthday present.