Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Bead Table Wednesday--Found Objects and UFO's.

What's on the bead table today is a former UnFinished Object: a necklace from my muffin tray that I finally got around to finishing.  

wire wrapped donut


I have a lot of found objects on the bead table too. Last weekend I went to Buchanan's Vintage/Antique Market in Lewisville.  Lewisville is smack up against Dallas, so much so that I can't tell when I leave Dallas and get into Lewisville.  I went with my friend Vanessa on Friday  and tried to help her set up her booth.  She kept shooing me away and telling me to go shop.  


These awesome big buttons came from Vanessa's booth.

vintage buttons


I can't resist buttons.  I'm thinking of using these on bracelets or brooches. Vanessa is on Etsy at Salvage Nation.  Check out the cool letters she has. Some of them were originally made for interstate highway signs.  I also got some cool brass dog tags and other tags from her.







I spent a lot of time in a booth that had things I'd never seen for sale before. It's Mylissa's Garden from Arkansas City, Kansas. Alas, they are not online. 





First I found this...a crown?  No, a container.  

crown container


Inside I put something else I found:

orphan doll eyeballs


Okay, maybe I'm weird but I think the doll eyeballs are the coolest thing, especially the big ones without lashes.  They don't open and close like the others but they do wiggle from side to side. 

cards and tiles


More finds, vintage cards and scrabble letters.

found objects


The small letters are from license plates. The gears and machine parts were in a box labeled typewriter parts.  And I got a few odd pieces of jewelry and a couple of keys. 


I asked the owner how they cut up the plates and I found that they use a shear and Texas plates damaged their shear. Texas plates are made of steel unlike many other states that use aluminum.   I also decided after asking her how she cut the tags up that I'd rather she cut them up than me.  I did save my old Texas plate with the space shuttle on it and plan on using my jewelry saw to cut out the shuttle and put it in a piece of personal jewelry. I'm a space fanatic.  I blame Andre Norton, Gene Roddenberry,  Robert Heinlein and mostly my Dad, who is  a NASA fanatic.  


In another booth, the Red Barn, I found this beautiful blue suitcase (shown as the background in many of the photos), plus a couple of items for the studio.  The block will hold my stamps, and a chicken feeder (not shown) will hold my pliers.  I also got this wonderful 50 foot tape from a tape measure.  It came wrapped around the book.

eyeballs


Now that I'm amassing a collection of found objects I need to start creating with them. 


Take a look at what's on more bead tables:

10 comments:

Laura Twiford said...

Oh My Goodness! Such wonderful treasures you found! LOVE that crown an the eyeballs and the wood block and the cut steel shoe buckle and and ...

Unknown said...

Hi wonderful finds! Old buttons are like trees, they can tell many a story! It looks like you could do alot with them. You have some great things there and can do alot with those things. Look at that old suitcase wow isnt that unique! I remember some things from many years ago they had such a nice feel to them!

Anonymous said...

OMG, Leslie, I am SO JEALOUS! We never have anything like that around Atlanta (or at least I have not heard of it). Yummy. Cannot wait to see what you do with it.
Marcy

Leslie Todd said...

Thanks everyone! Now I just need to get busy.

Marcy, there's a magazine out on the stands now, in the home section that lists the top flea markets. They list one in Atlanta. It may be Flea Market Style or something similar. I'll look it up next time I'm at the store.

Holly said...

Oh goodness! What an awesome collection of stuff you found! Can't wait for the finished products ;)

My Life Under the Bus said...

Holy Moly what a bunch of fantastic stuff!!! Sooooo jealous. I would LOVE to go to Adorn Me but 4 kids and no budget I doubt it will happen. I hope to volunteer for Art is You in October thats as close as I'm going to get to taking a class - I'd be happy to volunteer just to be somewhere creative! I love the colors in your necklace I am using them myself . Enjoy your goodies!

Leslie Todd said...

Thanks, Holly and Patty. I have some ideas percolating on what to do with the stuff. The eyeballs will be technically difficult but that's part of the fun.

Eleanor Snare said...

Hi Leslie! What a cool collection of eyeballs. I really REALLY want to get a fairly flat doll's eyeball so I can bead round it and make an awesome necklace. So no, I don't think your collection is weird at all! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Leslie Todd said...

Hi Eleanor. Ahh, a fellow eyeball aficionado. You might try searching on Etsy. I've seen some flat ones there. And I once got some weird glass ones attached to wires like eye pins.

Anonymous said...

fascinating! I see alot of steampunk ideas! but i have no clue how to design it but i see!it! lol!!
great finds! I love big buttons...i love big buttons on sweaters and like you say bracelets, all kinds of things lol! what fun! janet marie