Rings and Things

Here's a sneak peek at a brand new product I've been working on - rings made from recycled vinyl records! I'm thinking of calling them Rock 'n' Roll Record Rings. But I'm not married to the name so I'd love to hear ideas if anybody has any suggestions for a cool name.

Anyway, I bought a ring mandrel from a seller on Etsy (it was a total impulse buy, she was promoting it on twitter) and have been playing around with cutting up bits and pieces from my scrap pile of broken painted records.
I've been collecting all these scraps forever and just waiting to find a good use for them. Rings are perfect, they are so easy to make, it's ridiculous. And with the ring mandrel, I can make them in the proper ring sizes. I am thinking of selling them for around $10 each. I would love your feedback on the pricing too!

I'm taking a batch in to Tender Loving Empire today, and they will be the first venue to try out the new product. I haven't even listed any in my shop yet, but I plan to make more and get them listed within the next few weeks, so stay tuned. I love feedback so please let me know what you think of this new idea! Thanks!

The Green Room

Yikes! My room has been taken over by green disks!


Okay, that's 50 of each color (green and cream) with the backgrounds done. Today I will begin painting the designs!

Special order for Grasshopper 510

I finished the ten special-ordered Mandala Record Bowls for Grasshopper 510 in Chicago ("eco-conscious without a hint of hippie," according to the October issue of Lucky). I'll be shipping them tomorrow. I sent pictures to Jean, the owner, and she loves them, so I am very happy.

She asked for some designs along the lines of the pieces I am doing for Viva Terra, only in a variety of fall colors. Each piece is a solid color with a simplified ivory-colored design, or the same pattern with the colors in reverse.

I think this black one with the orange in it makes a great image for October:





Next time you're in Chicago, be sure to check out Grasshopper 510, located at 1944 N. Damen Ave., just south of Armitage Ave.

100 records ready to go

I'm pleased to announce that I now have 100+ records primed, prepped, and ready to paint for my big order. It took me one week to get to this point. Now it is time to start painting them!

It's time to prime, prime, prime my records

As I dorkily sang in my "That's Clever!" episode on HGTV, "It's time to prime, prime, prime my records!" (My kids will never let me live that down.)

I have been spending every spare minute prepping records for my big catalog order (100 Mandala Record Bowls) for Viva Terra.

Chuck helped me set up a priming station under my canopy in the backyard, which worked pretty well until the wind blew everything over (while the paint was still wet). At the same time I was dealing with this crisis, our washing machine was flooding our basement! So we were both running around like crazy trying to clean things up and prevent too much disaster.

I ended up moving everything inside and downstairs once the basement was dry. Now the small area at the foot of the stairs is draped with tarps and dropcloths, which Chuck loves. He says it's "totally E.T." He enjoys having to go through lots of plastic curtains in order to get into his band room, where he has been playing lots of guitar lately. By the way, we are playing a show tonight at the Ash Street. Here is a flyer:I still have a couple more batches of records to prime. In the meantime I have been working on plugging the spindle holes of the primed records, which is the last step before I actually start painting them. I have about 64 done so far, here's what they look like in the drying stage:

Still lives (without Woodpecker)

Inspired by a trip to the Farmers Market, I decided to re-take some of my Mandala Record Bowl photos by making little vignettes (ha ha) on my kitchen table. I am liking it. I think it makes them a little warmer and more realistic. What do you think?

Which Record Bowl would you pick?

Here are the six Mandala Record Bowls I shipped out yesterday at the request of Viva Terra, the eco-friendly catalog and website. They are considering my bowls for their Summer 2009 catalog. I'm so excited! This is a really beautiful catalog, full of incredibly gorgeous items. You can view it online here.

I have no idea what will happen but I am very curious to see which designs, if any, they will decide to order. What do you think? I have started a poll here on my blog, over on the right column. Vote for your favorite bowl! Which one would you pick if you were an eco-friendly catalog company? I'd love your opinion. Thanks!

Studio shot and other news

Ages ago, I joined a flickr group called "Studio Shot Tuesdays." But I have never actually participated until today. This is my photo, showing my messy table and some works in progress as I continue to plow through my big wholesale order for Mountain Green Goods, coming soon to Denver, CO.

(The awesome psychedelic coffee cup came from an Etsy vintage shop called Lishyloo...I am so excited about it as I used to have one just like it, but it broke.)

I also have received a request for samples from an eco-friendly catalog company called Viva Terra. They are considering ordering quantities of 100+ of my Mandala Record Bowls!

I am really glad that I managed to meet my goal of creating some new designs this summer before all of this hit! Here are a couple more of my new clocks - I have more in the works but they are on hold until after I finish my orders.


Oh, one more thing - there's a new interview with yours truly up on the Etsy Trashion blog. August is "vinyl month" for the Trashion team, so check it out to learn more about my upcycled vinyl creations! Click here for the scoop.

A New Clock

I created this design for a custom order and now you can have one too! I just listed the Doctor Seuss Clock in my shop this morning.

The colors are a bit different from the standard Eye Pop brights, but I think they look great, and the entire design has a Dr. Seuss feel that would be awesome in a child's room.

The clock features my original mandala design, hand painted using high quality acrylics in golden brown, leaf green, bright white, and lavender, and outlined with glossy black.

This earth-friendly clock was made from an upcycled 12" vinyl LP record.

Here are a few photos of the process:

I love how the outline makes the design really pop! Good thing I have a steady hand...

Bring on the Brightness

I've listed a bunch more bright new Eye Pop originals in my shop!
The painted record above became this Mandarin Orange Record Bowl:



The green and brown painted record became this Treehugger Record Bowl:


I've also added some colorful new cuffs like these two, called Jack of Hearts and Hot Pink, respectively:



Not to mention a whole slew of new Mandala Suncatchers, like these:


I made a new banner too! I had it "bubblized" by a shop that does that (makes your banners pop). It looks like this:
What do you think?

Click on over to my shop and take a look at all the eye popping goodness!