Bottle Tree!

This past week, I completed another bottle tree for some friends in Battleground, WA. It was so much fun! I have been busy building all kinds of other things lately, that I almost forgot how much I love creating these trees.  

Button quail need a bigger home

Cage Construction Part 1

Last week, two button quail were given to my son for his birthday.  For some reason, he really wanted these birds, and his aunt thought it was a good idea to give them to him.  Side note: I didn't know anything about taking care of these birds, and we all know that I will end up caring for these instead of my son.  

The cage that they arrived in was fine while they were a few weeks old, but its a cage for hamsters.  They spend most of their time squeaking and running around like crazy things in their cage. Now that they are older, when they are out of their cage they fly around.  I think that they should be able to fly a bit in their cage too, although I read somewhere that button quail don't fly and don't perch.  Since my quail do both, I am building a bigger cage so they can continue to be unique to their breed. 

I have some stainless steel bar remaining from my high top counter project, and would like this cage to look decent if it will be in my living room for a few years. I looked around my yard for anything else interesting to add to the design, and found a window, and a cement mixing tub.  The initial plan was to use the tub for the base of the cage, and allow it to be removed easily for cleaning.  The window will be the top to allow light, and for people to see the birds from above.  This is how far I got today. I welded the stainless steel frame together, quickly polished the material with 60 grit, removed the hardware from the window, and scrubbed it clean (btw: it was still dirty in this photo). 

If you can envision it, the next part of this design is to add the wire mesh from the bottom of the window to the outside edges of the tub, a small door (6" square), and paint the window frame.  The window will be hinged to the stainless steel frame in order to attach the mesh to the frame and to make it easy to add large items to the enclosure than through a small door. Stay tuned.

The rain chain was well received at the auction.  That is a relief!  My dad donated an armadillo that was built by a former employee.   I found out at the MS Olympia Walk that the armadillo was hugely popular.  There was a bidding war over it.  Jenn asked if I could make about five more to give to the friends that didn't win the item at the auction.  I can recreate the item with a bit of work.  It kind of cracks me up that such a small item was such a huge hit.  I have said this before...who the heck can anticipate what people are going to want to buy?  I have signed on to making five or six duplicates for her friends.  How funny is that?

Stainless steel project for charity

  

Yep, its me.  I am spending my time this weekend working on a project for my cousin, Jen.  Her fundraiser auction for the Olympia M.S. Walk is next weekend.  I don't tend to raise a lot of money at these events with my metal art.  For example, for three years in a row, I donated a bottle tree to the school auction.  The top year, it earned $80. The market for these trees is between $100-300.  I sold a bottle tree for $250 after hosting a booth at an art festival.  

With that said, I try not to take the low bid price personally. It could be the art or just that the crowd is not really into art, as they are more interested in getting a good deal on car washes or window cleaning.  I took a poll of my friends and asked what I should create out of metal, and what is a popular item right now.  The winning idea was a rain chain.  I have never made one before, but the concept seems simple.  Replace the gutter downspout with a chain and make it look interesting as the water pours down it.  I decided to use stainless steel so that it wont rust, and I have a lot of the material on hand.  The material was given to me by the Pomegranate Center when they were cleaning out their garage, so some of the pieces have an interesting shape.  I chose one that looks like a vine. I will be cutting it more to resemble leaves.  I found blue glass globes from a light fixture at the Rebuilding Center for about $3 each.  They didn't have any chain there that I could re-purpose, so the chain is new from Lowes.  

The final design turned out pretty well, albeit, photographing stainless steel in my garage is not really easy.  It stands five feet with another eight feet of chain.  Spread the word, email me your bid if you are interested.  It is for a great cause!