The Nashville Flood

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged.  I've been busy with those things in life that have to be done.  I'm finishing out our school year and get to pick up abandoned projects that have been patiently awaiting my return.  As most have heard, Nashville experienced a tragic flood in early May.  While we live in a surrounding county, we too experienced flood damage...thankfully not to our home but to my future art studio.  We have a building behind our home that was to someday be my very own art studio.  I have tinkered in there over the past several years but always had to battle cold temperatures in winter or bugs in summer.  My art studio took up residence, on a hopeful temporary basis, in the dining room of our home.  About half of my supplies, books, and projects still remained in the building till renovations could be made to seal the building for warmth and to keep critters out.  Anyway, on Saturday, May 1, the rain began to fall in great amounts and continued till most bodies of water were swollen and overflowing their banks.  We have a farm pond in our backyard behind the building that housed my art things as well as a few of my husband's tools.  As the water continued to rise, I began clicking pictures of how big the pond was growing.  We had never seen it this full in the 5 years we've lived here.  As I would take a picture, thinking "that's the biggest it's ever been," the rain continued to fall and the pond continued to rise.  Within 10 minutes, I would have to take another picture because "that's the biggest it's ever been"...thinking yet again, that was it's fullest.  Well, within the hour, the pond had risen about 10 to 12 feet.  That enveloped 4 vertical feet on my building.  I looked out our kitchen window numb with the thought of what was occurring inside the building.  By Saturday night, the water receded and at daybreak Sunday morning, my husband ventured down the look at the damage.  He picked up a couple of salvageable items then simply shut the door.  His comment to me was "You don't even want to know."  I couldn't bring myself to go down and look.  I knew that with 4 feet of water in the building, everything, EVERYTHING with the exception of the few items that hung on the walls, had been under water.  Later Sunday, the whole scenario started all over again.  What had occurred Saturday, the pouring rains, waters rising, areas flooding...it all happened again!  The poor people who lost lives in Nashville as well as those who lost their homes...I couldn't imagine the grief they felt.  My loss was frustrating but a mere inconvenience compared to so many.  Pray for the people that lost so much as they are still experiencing, and may continue experiencing for some time, the effects of the flood...clean up, tearing out damaged areas of their homes, the loss of their personal possessions, as well as being displaced during all of this. 

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to blog about the flood.  Here are the pictures I took of our flooded backyard and building as well as the damage once I managed to look inside.

"That's the biggest I've ever seen it"

"THAT'S the biggest I ever seen it"

Now, just too shocked for words.

The Aftermath

 

Some of my art books used in the classes I teach.

My little wood burning stove entrapped by the debris

Great Book Giveaway at FaveCraft

Hi friends!  If you're not a subscriber to the FaveCraft newsletter, you should join.  Right now they are giving away a great trading card book using your photos called "Trading Card Treasures."  Check it out here:  http://www.favecrafts.com/sweeps/Trading-Card-Treasures-Book  I haven't made ATC yet so winning this book would be a great motivator.  Anyhoo, I just thought I would share FaveCraft  with you.  Make sure you sign up for their newsletter.  You'll get awesome craft ideas for all ages everyday.  Like I need more ideas...I can't handle all of my altering addictions as it is!  BTW, my jobots are coming along.  Aluminum is not being very cooperative with the soldering so I'm experimenting with other techniques.  Probably just end up grabbing the Gorilla Glue...best thing since duct tape!

Announcing the birth of my first...

JO-BOT

meet

"George"

Well, after rummaging through my husband's toolboxes, antique and thrift stores, junk drawers, and the endless supply of do-dads in my supply cabinet, I'm proud to announce I've "birthed" my first JO-BOT (Junk Objects roBOT).  He's about 8 inches tall and 6 inches wide.  I'm quite proud of how nice he turned out.  I'm not sure of the names of all the parts but here's what he's created from:  vintage Altoids tin, springs, vintage house fuses, an old Christmas bulb, and then that thing that makes his face...an electric part of some sort?  My father-in-law would know for sure.  OH!  And his bellybutton is part of a snap.  

George will be listed on Etsy soon.  Hopefully to find a new home.  There are three more in the works...waiting to be assembled on my work table.  I hope you enjoyed meeting George...he was so much fun to make.

Oh no...another great idea for altering objects!!

Well, I came across some new (to me) objects that just NEED to be altered.  It's your every day household objects such as old aluminum coffeepots, vintage tins, machine parts, fuses, you name it!  I first saw these in Cloth Paper Scissors' "Where Women Create" magazine.  Amy Flynn, a North Carolina artist, is one of the women featured in this issue.  Her creations are amazing.  Her website is: http://www.ifobot.com/gallery.html and it's worth visiting.

Also, if you check out Etsy under Handmade Robots, you'll see what I mean.  Here's one from Etsy's Reclaim2fame:   http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=32155968  They are adorable!

So, since discovering these new creations, I've scoured antique stores, thrift stores, my kitchen cabinets, and my husband's tool boxes for parts.  I have a small one in the works.  His name is George and will hopefully be "birthed" this weekend.  I'll be sure to post some photos of his "arrival" when I'm done!

Well, that's not a long blog but I wanted to share my new discovery.  Hope your area of the world is finding some warmer temperatures right now.  We've finally made it to the 40s!!  Stay warm!

This photo was taken by my daughter one day while out just snapping random shots.  I thought the composition, textures, and colors were very nice so I'm posting it!  Thanks Edie for the photo!

The goodies I found yesterday!

I had to travel to Cookeville, TN, yesterday to meet my sister.  I had been there a few weeks ago and found an antique store that I wanted to visit again.  Well, that visit was pretty much unfruitful.  I picked up a couple of vintage office rubber stamps but nothing exciting.  However, I saw another antique store around the corner that I had not noticed before.  It was on Main Street and I assumed it would be somewhat expensive being right in the middle of downtown...WRONG!  They had the BEST prices...the photos above, which are mainly of Vietnam soldiers in Seoul and a family fishing trip...were 10 CENTS EACH!  I loaded up!  The photos were one of the first items I noticed when I walked in.  When I finished devouring the basket of old photos, I began to notice all sorts of great things.  I kid you not, I'm a freak for vintage aprons and, lo and behold, hanging all around the walls were aprons, aprons, and more aprons...none of them priced over $7!!!  I was in heaven.  I ended up purchasing this sweet red one below.  It was $3!

There is another, black toile apron hanging under my red one, in case you're wondering.  And, ignore the date..those dates on cameras are as annoying as the 12:00s that used to constantly flash on VCRs!  Anyway, back to my goodies.  I am just fascinated by ephemera...old, new, it doesn't matter.  Well, I saw a basket of old valentines and birthday cards.  They were pretty cheap at 50 cents each but as I worked my way through the pile of cards, I began to notice small notebook pages with writing on them.  They were notes about a lady that was expecting...one page was notes on what she received at her shower...another page listed her visitors at home after she had the baby...several were her notes about the baby, named Marjorie or Marjie for short, her first smile, her first tooth, and so on.  It was precious!

I took my goodies to the counter to add to my pile.   (Does anyone else do that? I usually begin finding things at antique stores then take them to the counter and tell them "I'm going to start a pile?"  I guess they know what I mean...I always assume they do as I walk away to find more things to add to my pile!)  When I gave them to the shop owner, she pointed out to me that the valentines and birthday cards were actually for little Marjie...the baby whose first years were recorded on the pages!  Ok, it just doesn't get much better than that.  So sweet : )  Ok, on to more goodies.  The last two items weren't as exciting but I love them all the same.  The first of these was a bunch of vintage christmas bulbs with the twisted flame tips.

And, for the last but not least of my finds...a family of deer.  Actually the tall one is an old flocked deer and the smaller two are just cute, little plastic ones.  I love the old flocked toy animals.  For some reason though I feel a yearning to douse them in vintage iridescent glitter...I hope I can resist! We'll see!

Okay, I sort of lied, there is one more thing I purchased BUT I just got them today...at my favorite thrift store.  Someone had just donated a huge bag of old aluminum molds and I just had to have them.  I hope my hubby doesn't read this post.  He may remember that I just sold a bunch of these last fall at our auction...and yes, I did!  I missed them so much I just had to buy more...who knows, these may even be mine that I sold...I just bought them back!  (Don't laugh, I think I've actually done that before...donated something then saw it months later, loved it, and bought it again!  It's got to be some sort of disorder, I just don't know what!)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed viewing my finds as much as I've enjoyed sharing them with you.  If you ever get to Cookeville, Tennessee, you MUST stop by West End Antiques on Main Street.  They really do have some great finds with even better prices!!