Working 9-5 at the studio today, didn't actually know that until last night when I went in. So that kinda screws with my plans for working on the fish today, I do know I have all day tomorrow off though, so hopefully I can get something done there.
Went to dinner with Kevin last night and was able to pick up some caps from our favorite resturant in town, it's also where we had out first date way back when :-) They appologized because they had a bunch and there was some miscommunication and they were thrown out, so they assured me they would keep collecting them for me. On our way to dinner Kevin and I also came to an agreement, if I don't have at least 1 fish done by January 1st everything gets thrown out, it's not just a project anymore, it's a challenge!
Yesterday I also remembered that one of my friends from college lives in this area and he works for his families company that deals with sheet metal, I facebook messaged him and I should be picking up a bunch of scrap pieces tomorrow!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Got flagged again!
Got flagged as spam again at craigslist, that's annoying! Guess I will have to totally change my posting, argh!
My coworker, Sue, let me know about this yahoo groups thing called "Freecycle" which is nation wide and you choose the region you are in and everything is free and you post offer or wanted ads. So I posted my request to that and got a response leading me to a sheet metal business in Lewiston, where they toss out all their scrap pieces. It got me thinking and I think that my friend Dustin either works for the same place or his family runs it, so I shot him a facebook message, we'll see where that leads.
Working both jobs today, hopefully will get to work on the fish and actually start attaching caps this weekend!
My coworker, Sue, let me know about this yahoo groups thing called "Freecycle" which is nation wide and you choose the region you are in and everything is free and you post offer or wanted ads. So I posted my request to that and got a response leading me to a sheet metal business in Lewiston, where they toss out all their scrap pieces. It got me thinking and I think that my friend Dustin either works for the same place or his family runs it, so I shot him a facebook message, we'll see where that leads.
Working both jobs today, hopefully will get to work on the fish and actually start attaching caps this weekend!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday Progress
So I posted to the New Hampshire craigslist, changed the wording up a bit as well as also including a link to my blog to see if maybe people seeing what I am working on will maybe convince them to send/save caps for me. We'll see how that works. I hope to work some more on the fish tonight, but I do have some wedding photos that I have to finish editing, and we have invited friends over for dinner, so fish & bottle caps may not actually happen tonight. I wish I could just take a vacation to work on it!
I talked to my mom last night, and she suggested finishing the wood somehow, possibly with some polyurethane so it looks like besides punching holes in the Coors caps it looks like that's my next step! Then the fun begins with attaching the caps to the board of the fish and bringing it to life :-)
I talked to my mom last night, and she suggested finishing the wood somehow, possibly with some polyurethane so it looks like besides punching holes in the Coors caps it looks like that's my next step! Then the fun begins with attaching the caps to the board of the fish and bringing it to life :-)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Progress 10.27
Posted a listing about wine corks to the Billings, Montana craigslist as well as posted a listing for sheet metal to Asheville, North Carolina. In both I also listed the other things I need (caps, corks & sheet metal), listed both with my katescaps@gmail.com email. Hopefully I'll get responses that aren't people asking if I am trying to make money online, click this link -- which is most likely a virus and will make my computer throw up all over me and my desk.
Oh Boo...
Oh Boo, looks like I have been flagged as spam... I will have to rethink my posting strategy. I only got one email that my "posting has been flagged as spam and removed" so maybe the others are still up... Something to check into but ATM it is time to get ready for work.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Progress 10.26.09
First thing this morning I got a facebook message from my little (younger and very much smaller) sister who currently lives in Australia, she worked at a bar there for a bit and has been collecting caps for me, she said that she is headed to the post office tomorrow (which will be tonight for me) to send out the bunch of caps that she has. Yippie! Can't wait to get those!
Planning on posting to some more areas on Craigslist but have to do some actual work first :-)
1:00pm
Posted to Ann Arbor, Michigan craigslist
Posted to Bemidji, Minnesota craigslist
Got a response from a woman saying she could help, but it may take a few weeks to collect a bunch and will send them along when she gets them.
Got a response from a guy asking what I make and that he could send some my way.
5:00pm
Posted an ad to the Gulfport, Mississippi craigslist
posted an ad to Columbia, Missouri craigslist
Planning on posting to some more areas on Craigslist but have to do some actual work first :-)
1:00pm
Posted to Ann Arbor, Michigan craigslist
Posted to Bemidji, Minnesota craigslist
Got a response from a woman saying she could help, but it may take a few weeks to collect a bunch and will send them along when she gets them.
Got a response from a guy asking what I make and that he could send some my way.
5:00pm
Posted an ad to the Gulfport, Mississippi craigslist
posted an ad to Columbia, Missouri craigslist
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Progress Report
Got another response to the Maine posting.
Got a response asking how much reimbursement for 20 caps, wanted to know if it was worth it, had to laugh a little to muself, then sent a reply saying that it would probably only be a few dollars since it was so few caps and they didn't weigh that much
I have been having them sent to the PO box for work, don't know if this is really right because it is not work related, but I don't know if I really want people knowing my home address... Maybe I should look into getting my own PO box. Another thought, when sending reimbursements I wonder what the best way to do that is, a check would have my address on it as well, COD usually costs more than is needed. Maybe cash? Maybe a money order? We'll see, besides my friend Ben, only one other person has actually sent me caps, it was the guy in Alaska, he did a COD and I paid by check. My mom is worried about me giving out my address, but I guess that's her place to worry about her daughter. Kevin is complaining that he wants to see some progress besides boiling caps. I am going to have him help me cut the plywood down to size today and possibly even cut out the first fish piece! That is if he ever gets out of bed :-)
1:00pm
Got another response, asked him to send them along if he likes and I will reimburse him the shipping.
Got a response asking how much reimbursement for 20 caps, wanted to know if it was worth it, had to laugh a little to muself, then sent a reply saying that it would probably only be a few dollars since it was so few caps and they didn't weigh that much
I have been having them sent to the PO box for work, don't know if this is really right because it is not work related, but I don't know if I really want people knowing my home address... Maybe I should look into getting my own PO box. Another thought, when sending reimbursements I wonder what the best way to do that is, a check would have my address on it as well, COD usually costs more than is needed. Maybe cash? Maybe a money order? We'll see, besides my friend Ben, only one other person has actually sent me caps, it was the guy in Alaska, he did a COD and I paid by check. My mom is worried about me giving out my address, but I guess that's her place to worry about her daughter. Kevin is complaining that he wants to see some progress besides boiling caps. I am going to have him help me cut the plywood down to size today and possibly even cut out the first fish piece! That is if he ever gets out of bed :-)
1:00pm
Got another response, asked him to send them along if he likes and I will reimburse him the shipping.
Earlier today Kevin helped me cut the plywood into 2'x4' sections, then helped me cut out my first fish! Funny how the price tag worked well for the placement of the eye. Then I sanded down the edges and also started punching holes in some twisted tea caps. I have the most of those (thanks George!) so I figured it would be best if this first fish used them.
Also took some more pics of new bottle caps, added them to my flicker and added them to my photostream. Currently I am boiling more until I have to go to a friends house and also punching more holes.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Mystery Caps
Got a tip from Mr. K of Bottle Cap-o-Rama that the light house one is most likely Cape Ann Brewing, Thanks Mr. K! Still trying to find out what the palm tree one is... anyone know?
Have two Mystery Caps -- Anyone know what these are from?
Responses & Progress
Did my rounds today, went to the local bars I have collecting for me to pick up caps. Came home to boil through some more, finally got through all of the ones that were originally mine and now on to the ones that I have gotten from different people and bars.
Started taking pictures of the caps as well, set them up in groups of 9 then croped each one out and resized them so that they will be good for the web. I am going to play around with a few things to see what's the best way to post them on blogger.
~ Got a response from a guy in Portland who has a cotainer of Magic Hat caps that I can pick up the next time I am down that way.
Started taking pictures of the caps as well, set them up in groups of 9 then croped each one out and resized them so that they will be good for the web. I am going to play around with a few things to see what's the best way to post them on blogger.
~ Got a response from a guy in Portland who has a cotainer of Magic Hat caps that I can pick up the next time I am down that way.
Mental Note
So of the responses I get, many are "I am located [insert town name], where are you, could you pick them up". I should start adding to my posts that I am located in Maine...
Another mental note, seeing as I have a lot of posts out there now, and will continue to have more I don't think I will be able to keep track of which ad the response is coming from, so I will just say that I got a response and color code it to which email address it went to.
Another mental note, seeing as I have a lot of posts out there now, and will continue to have more I don't think I will be able to keep track of which ad the response is coming from, so I will just say that I got a response and color code it to which email address it went to.
Mystery Caps
So I am going to start taking photos of all the caps that I have, one of each kind and posting them on here. There are already some that I don't know what beverage they are from so I'll post those as mystery caps, feel free to help me out with those!
I also found a great resource to help, Bottle Cap O-Rama, this guy is trying to get 3000 different caps by the end of the year, she is up to 2487! And she has as alt tags for each bottle cap image with the name of the beverage it is from, should be a great help.
I plan on looking through her caps to see if there any that I have that she may not and offer to send them along :-)
Yes, I am hooked :-)
I also found a great resource to help, Bottle Cap O-Rama, this guy is trying to get 3000 different caps by the end of the year, she is up to 2487! And she has as alt tags for each bottle cap image with the name of the beverage it is from, should be a great help.
I plan on looking through her caps to see if there any that I have that she may not and offer to send them along :-)
Yes, I am hooked :-)
What I'm Posting
• Posted an ad to the Baton Rouge, LA craigslist
Here is what I keep posting to all these different Craigslists:
Drink Beer? Got Caps?
I make artwork out of bottle caps, also known as crowns.
You know, the metal ones that come off of glass bottles of beer/soda.
I need WAY more than beer/soda I can drink myself and I have local bars and restaurants collecting them for me as well, even then they seem to trickle in less frequently as I would like. So I am reaching out, to the world of Craigslist.
If you have bottle caps laying around taking up space send them my way and I will reimburse you the shipping charges. At the same time, this is an ongoing project, so if you save them for me and then send them that's cool too.
Happy drinking! Kate
PS I am also collecting wine corks and small pieces of scrap sheet metal, 6" square to 18" square of you have any of these items let me know :-)
• Posted ad to Maine craigslist
• Posted ad to Annapolis, Maryland craigslist
• Posted ad to Boston craigslist
Here is what I keep posting to all these different Craigslists:
Drink Beer? Got Caps?
I make artwork out of bottle caps, also known as crowns.
You know, the metal ones that come off of glass bottles of beer/soda.
I need WAY more than beer/soda I can drink myself and I have local bars and restaurants collecting them for me as well, even then they seem to trickle in less frequently as I would like. So I am reaching out, to the world of Craigslist.
If you have bottle caps laying around taking up space send them my way and I will reimburse you the shipping charges. At the same time, this is an ongoing project, so if you save them for me and then send them that's cool too.
Happy drinking! Kate
PS I am also collecting wine corks and small pieces of scrap sheet metal, 6" square to 18" square of you have any of these items let me know :-)
• Posted ad to Maine craigslist
• Posted ad to Annapolis, Maryland craigslist
• Posted ad to Boston craigslist
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Boiling, and Boiling, and Boiling
So from the beginning I have been boiling the caps so that they get cleaned and so that I can remove the plastic liner under the cap. I use sharp tweezers, an old pot, slotted spoon and an old dish rag, started out a little rough, but I have gotten the technique down and have learned which caps are easy (older Budweiser caps), which ones are difficult (Blue Moon caps—too bad they are one of Kevin's favorite beers) and which ones are near impossible (Magic Hat caps—I don't even bother to try anymore!)
Then this morning I woke up with the thought that I was still going to boil the caps, but would pass on removing the liners. Since I am intending on nailing the caps to the board for the fish I really don't think the liners will matter in the least bit. Why still boil them then? To get them clean, and not smelling like beer. If/when I do make coasters though I will re-boil any that still have liners in them and remove the liners because I will be gluing slices of wine corks to the bottom of them to protect any table tops they may be put on. I figure gluing straight to the underside of the metal cap will be much better than gluing it to the liner that can potentially fall off.
Then this morning I woke up with the thought that I was still going to boil the caps, but would pass on removing the liners. Since I am intending on nailing the caps to the board for the fish I really don't think the liners will matter in the least bit. Why still boil them then? To get them clean, and not smelling like beer. If/when I do make coasters though I will re-boil any that still have liners in them and remove the liners because I will be gluing slices of wine corks to the bottom of them to protect any table tops they may be put on. I figure gluing straight to the underside of the metal cap will be much better than gluing it to the liner that can potentially fall off.
Tools
Went to Lowe's on Saturday the 17th with the Kevin's, got a sheet of plywood, some nails, and a scribe awl. Kevin is also letting me use some of the other tools that I will need.
Progress so far
• Received a two gallon bags of caps (mostly Twisted Tea—guess I'm getting him a case of those for Christmas) from Kevin's brother George early on.
• Received a bag from a college friend Ben early on.
• 9/14 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/3 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/5 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/5 got a response to the Maine craigslist from a woman who is going to have her grandson and a friends granddaughter collect caps for me
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Auburn, Alabama craigslist
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Anchorage, Alaska craigslist
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Flagstaff, Arizona craigslist
• 10/7 got four responses from the Alaska craigslist ad, replied to all, nothing yet from them
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad to the Fayetteville, AR craigslist
• 10/8 got a response from a guy in Alaska who is a bartender and had a 1/2 beer case full
• 10/9 got a response to the Auburn, AL ad, sent my address, haven't seen anything yet
• 10/10 got a response to the Auburn, AL ad, said to go to my local bar
• 10/10 posted a wanted ad to Eastern CT craigslist
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to San Fransisco craigslist
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to Delaware craigslist
• 10/14 got a response to the San Fransisco ad, he wanted me to pick them up in person, that's not going to work :-)
• 10/14 received caps from guy in Alaska -- bunch of cool ones I haven't seen before
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to Boulder, CO craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Albany, GA craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Daytona, FL craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Delaware craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Washington, DC
• 10/18 got a response to the Washington, DC ad, she will send them to me when her basket at her bar gets full and not charge me shipping, she "consider(s) it worthy recycling"
• 10/20 got a response to Delaware posting, she will email me when she gets a bunch
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Bloomington, IL craigslist
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Honolulu, HI craigslist
• 10/20 got a response from a local photographer there who knew another artist that made glasses out of bottles and suggested maybe he would have some for me. Replied that I was in Maine and it would be a bit of a Saturday drive, he suggested I make it a business trip -- what a good idea and such a nice guy :-)
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Boise, ID craigslist
• 10/20 got a response from Boise, ID (?) ad, said he would email me when he got a bunch and then would send them to me
• 10/20 got a response from Boise, ID ad, has a 1/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full, waiting for a reply back
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to the Guam craigslist
• 10/21 got a response to HI ad, wondered if I made jewelry and inquired about a trade, explained I was going to be making fish and coasters, suggested maybe coasters for trade
• 10/21 got a response from the Boise, ID ad, this woman is part of ReUse Market which collects and redistributes used, semi used, and recycled items for art projects for teachers, students, artists, and youth groups—WHAT A GREAT ORGANIZATION!!!! I actually told her that I would prefer her to keep the caps that she had so that they could be used by others locally who take advantage of such a great organization! I also emailed my Mom the link, definitely something I could see her and I doing, so cool!
• 10/22 got a response from the Boise, ID (?) craigslist ad asking what I make and possibly about a trade, I told them about the fish and suggested maybe the coasters would make a better trade
• 10/21 got a small bag full of caps from my co-worker Heather, the majority of which are new ones to me, Thanks Heather!!
*color coding is so I know which email address I used. Yellow = kc, Pink = kl, Green = ccl, White = klp
• Received a bag from a college friend Ben early on.
• 9/14 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/3 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/5 posted a wanted ad on the Maine craigslist
• 10/5 got a response to the Maine craigslist from a woman who is going to have her grandson and a friends granddaughter collect caps for me
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Auburn, Alabama craigslist
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Anchorage, Alaska craigslist
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad on the Flagstaff, Arizona craigslist
• 10/7 got four responses from the Alaska craigslist ad, replied to all, nothing yet from them
• 10/7 posted a wanted ad to the Fayetteville, AR craigslist
• 10/8 got a response from a guy in Alaska who is a bartender and had a 1/2 beer case full
• 10/9 got a response to the Auburn, AL ad, sent my address, haven't seen anything yet
• 10/10 got a response to the Auburn, AL ad, said to go to my local bar
• 10/10 posted a wanted ad to Eastern CT craigslist
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to San Fransisco craigslist
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to Delaware craigslist
• 10/14 got a response to the San Fransisco ad, he wanted me to pick them up in person, that's not going to work :-)
• 10/14 received caps from guy in Alaska -- bunch of cool ones I haven't seen before
• 10/14 posted a wanted ad to Boulder, CO craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Albany, GA craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Daytona, FL craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Delaware craigslist
• 10/17 posted a wanted ad to Washington, DC
• 10/18 got a response to the Washington, DC ad, she will send them to me when her basket at her bar gets full and not charge me shipping, she "consider(s) it worthy recycling"
• 10/20 got a response to Delaware posting, she will email me when she gets a bunch
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Bloomington, IL craigslist
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Honolulu, HI craigslist
• 10/20 got a response from a local photographer there who knew another artist that made glasses out of bottles and suggested maybe he would have some for me. Replied that I was in Maine and it would be a bit of a Saturday drive, he suggested I make it a business trip -- what a good idea and such a nice guy :-)
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to Boise, ID craigslist
• 10/20 got a response from Boise, ID (?) ad, said he would email me when he got a bunch and then would send them to me
• 10/20 got a response from Boise, ID ad, has a 1/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full, waiting for a reply back
• 10/20 posted a wanted ad to the Guam craigslist
• 10/21 got a response to HI ad, wondered if I made jewelry and inquired about a trade, explained I was going to be making fish and coasters, suggested maybe coasters for trade
• 10/21 got a response from the Boise, ID ad, this woman is part of ReUse Market which collects and redistributes used, semi used, and recycled items for art projects for teachers, students, artists, and youth groups—WHAT A GREAT ORGANIZATION!!!! I actually told her that I would prefer her to keep the caps that she had so that they could be used by others locally who take advantage of such a great organization! I also emailed my Mom the link, definitely something I could see her and I doing, so cool!
• 10/22 got a response from the Boise, ID (?) craigslist ad asking what I make and possibly about a trade, I told them about the fish and suggested maybe the coasters would make a better trade
• 10/21 got a small bag full of caps from my co-worker Heather, the majority of which are new ones to me, Thanks Heather!!
*color coding is so I know which email address I used. Yellow = kc, Pink = kl, Green = ccl, White = klp
Starting Out
So I have this project... Making fish out of bottle caps. It is a project that seems like it has taken a bit of time to get rolling, but I am still as excited about it today as I was when I first had the idea.
Since college I have collected bottle caps, you know, the metal ones that twist off or pop off of soda and beer bottles. I always assumed I would do something with them, but what? So about a month ago I searched "bottle cap crafts" on Google and saw some pretty neat things out there that people are doing. Everything from jewelry to tables to lampshades to coasters. Then I came across the Web site of John T. Unger. He makes these really cool fish out of bottle caps! Each bottle cap represents a scale so they can get pretty big—which means lots of caps needed. I love the looks of them and there is the freedom to get pretty creative with the designs too.
Since seeing his website I have been on a mission: to make bottle cap fish like his!!
I knew right off that I would need WAY more caps than the 3 growlers I had full of caps. So before I could start on the fish mission I would have to work on a collecting bottle caps mission. I have a bunch of my friends collecting them for me, my boyfriends sister purposely buys beer now that have cool caps. I also have asked a few local restaurants to collect them for me and I swing by regularly to pick up what they have. As well I will post things to my twitter page and facebook page every now and then. Besides the bars and restaurants ciraigslist has actually been a good source. I post every few days to different states in hopes to get different caps that I wouldn't usually have access to here in Maine. I just got about 4 lbs from a guy in Alaska, which was totally cool!
So I am collecting, and collecting, and collecting. I have a large tub full currently plus a bunch of sandwich baggies and a few gallon bags full of ones I have already cleaned. Always looking for more though :-) I have come across some really cool ones, as well as ones I have no idea what kind of beer/soda they came from. Which is one of the reasons for starting this blog... to post images of those mystery caps and see if anyone out there knows what they came from. I am also going to keep everyone updated on my progress and add images of the different caps I get as well.
I should mention a very special thank you to my boyfriend, Kevin, who has put up with bottle caps overtaking the kitchen. We have recently come to a compromise that he won't complain about "all those darn caps" if I keep them out of sight out of mind while I am not working on everything.
Since college I have collected bottle caps, you know, the metal ones that twist off or pop off of soda and beer bottles. I always assumed I would do something with them, but what? So about a month ago I searched "bottle cap crafts" on Google and saw some pretty neat things out there that people are doing. Everything from jewelry to tables to lampshades to coasters. Then I came across the Web site of John T. Unger. He makes these really cool fish out of bottle caps! Each bottle cap represents a scale so they can get pretty big—which means lots of caps needed. I love the looks of them and there is the freedom to get pretty creative with the designs too.
Since seeing his website I have been on a mission: to make bottle cap fish like his!!
I knew right off that I would need WAY more caps than the 3 growlers I had full of caps. So before I could start on the fish mission I would have to work on a collecting bottle caps mission. I have a bunch of my friends collecting them for me, my boyfriends sister purposely buys beer now that have cool caps. I also have asked a few local restaurants to collect them for me and I swing by regularly to pick up what they have. As well I will post things to my twitter page and facebook page every now and then. Besides the bars and restaurants ciraigslist has actually been a good source. I post every few days to different states in hopes to get different caps that I wouldn't usually have access to here in Maine. I just got about 4 lbs from a guy in Alaska, which was totally cool!
So I am collecting, and collecting, and collecting. I have a large tub full currently plus a bunch of sandwich baggies and a few gallon bags full of ones I have already cleaned. Always looking for more though :-) I have come across some really cool ones, as well as ones I have no idea what kind of beer/soda they came from. Which is one of the reasons for starting this blog... to post images of those mystery caps and see if anyone out there knows what they came from. I am also going to keep everyone updated on my progress and add images of the different caps I get as well.
I should mention a very special thank you to my boyfriend, Kevin, who has put up with bottle caps overtaking the kitchen. We have recently come to a compromise that he won't complain about "all those darn caps" if I keep them out of sight out of mind while I am not working on everything.
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