Ball #86

Here is ball three of three. This one is covered with concentric circles in a repeating pattern using clear, clear with white cat-eye, white, translucent red and black.

Ball #85

Here is the second of three red/maroon balls from my sister's friend. I used red hearts, small round red, white, clear, clear with white cat-eye and beach glass in concentric circles of a repeating pattern.

Ball #84

This was one of three balls given to me by my sister's friend. All three were red/maroon swirl, so I worked with that color instead of painting them. This one has a dragonfly pattern of black iridescent body and white wings. The background is filled in with clear and clear with white cat-eye. This ball was given back to my sister's friend in August, 2010.

Ball #78

This ball marks a new direction in my decorating! My youngest sister's friend sent me her old black ball in January 2010 and wanted it decorated with dragonflies. I was mulling over a variety of ways that might be accomplished and I searched through the garden junk site on gardenweb. (A WONDERFUL forum - the people there are amazingly creative.) Someone on that site had posted a picture of a ball she made that had a dragonfly made with marbles on one side. I never would have come up with that on my own, but I'm thrilled with the end result. I painted the ball satin dark green by Krylon. The dragonflies are various combinations of opaque aqua, lime green and yellow. The background is dark translucent green (from Walmart). My sister's friend was happy with the ball also, so I have a paying customer! I completed it in February of 2010. I definitely plan to use this idea in various ways in the future. Yesterday, Little Man's father picked up 5 balls for me that I found on Craigslist, so I'm ready for big things!

Ball #75

This ball also came from the Catholic Church's rummage sale in October 2009. It was red and I painted it with nickel shimmer from Krylon - a really nice color! It is covered with lavender, purple, purple iridescent, and green iridescent in concentric circles, with several lines of mini lavender interspersed. I gave it to the pastor of my mother and sister's church, who had admired the various balls I put into the silent auctions. She likes gardening, so hopefully will use the ball in her garden.

Ball #61

Here's another ball found by my sister and her husband by the side of the road when they were bike riding. It was an aqua swirl and I covered it with white opaque stars, clear round, and clear with a white cat eye. I sold it to my father in May of 2009. He gave it to his sister, my aunt.

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 #6

Well, by now, word was out that I was looking for bowling balls. This one came from my father's fellow Rotarian. It was originally black. I painted it navy blue (using Krylon fusion paint) and decorated it with sky blue marbles in an overall flower power pattern. I forgot to mention earlier that around ball #3 I found GE II in tubes. It's more expensive, but much easier on the hands. All balls from #3 on were made by turning the marbles face down and applying a small dot of adhesive on each one. They stick to the balls just as well as the old method, but there's less adhesive visible. I gave this ball to my middle sister.

Ball #2

This ball belonged to my youngest sister. When it didn't sell at her garage sale, she gave it to me. It was an aqua swirl pattern. The random line was made using clear with aqua cat eye half marbles. The rest of the ball was filled in with small, clear round marbles. Since this was my first marble ball, I used GE II in a tube with a caulking gun. I would smear on a patch and press the marbles into it. I changed my method in subsequent balls. I gave this ball back to my sister and it has been outside in her garden ever since, about 5 years ago at this point in time.