Kate's Caps

And the Winner is...

2010-06-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

...My Mom! Her guess was 687 and there were a total of.... drum roll please... 680 caps used on the fish!

Thank you to all who participated, custom coasters are still available. Anyone who participated in this contest will get $5 off any coaster order.

Here were the guesses one more time:
Margaret (Mom) G. 687
Rachyl C. 1250
Mara G. 785
Wendy R. 445
Zach B. 500
Caryn B. 625
Alice P. 1234
Patty D. 777
Denise M. 909
Adria B. 586
Kathy C. 578
Kim W. 500
Jessica P. 1326
Katie R. 432
Courtney C. 775
Melissa S. 886
Dottie V. 1025

So mom, what type of coasters would you like?

How Many Caps Contest!

2010-05-09T08:59:00.001-04:00

Time for a contest!!!

I was asked last week how many caps were used in the Fish mosaic. Good question... Can you guess? Leave your guesses in the comments section. Closest guess wins! Winner gets a set of 4 custom coasters. Here are some images of the fish to go from.

I don't even know how many I used, guess I should get counting!

Aussie for a day

2010-05-09T08:43:00.001-04:00

Working away on Mara's B-day present. Here are some pics of the progress:

I am going to finish the "sky" part with silver caps—I hope I have enough!!!

After I finish this I have to search for 18 more Sam Adams Summer caps to finish off a set of coasters I'm making for my friend Kim.

Then making as many coaster sets as I can for the benefit next weekend! Wish I had a fish to donate, but don't think I could make one in such a short amount of time, not with having to work as well.

I've found that with Mara's project it really hasn't taken as long as I thought it would and I think that's because I'm not crimping the edges so that the caps overlap each other like I did in the fish. Getting the right sized nails (not ones that go through the back then need to be cut off) has also been a HUGE time saver! Think I'll do a new fish after these projects are out of the way.

I have four new Australian caps for you, the first two are mystery caps, so any help there would be great! The last two are Toohey's Extra Dry 5 Seed Cider, and Fanta

Forever and a Day...

2010-05-07T07:15:00.000-04:00

I apologize for not posting in what seems forever & a day. It seems life has been about everything BUT caps lately! But I'm getting back in the grove! Some updates since the last post...

• I sold my first set of coasters on Etsy! Sold the Sam Adams Blue & Silver Checkerboard ones
• Kate's Caps can now be found at Roots & Tendrils in Belfast, Maine
• New set of Coasters on Etsy Sea Dog, Set of 4:

• Working on 3 custom orders ATM
• Working on also building my inventory up for both Etsy & Roots & Tendrils
• Also working on getting a bunch of coaster sets made for the East Wave Radio Benefit
• Here is the start of Mara's B-day present -- no caps yet, but you just wait, soon it will be loaded with the caps she brought back fro Australia
• On a non-caps note, also working on a t-shirt quilt for Liam, my soon-to-be-nephew
• Another non-caps note, been riding my new bike a bunch, really liking it, this is what has been taking me away from caps for the most part

So those are the updates for now, I'll try to be more on top of this blog and caps as well! I know I do have some new mystery caps coming your way shortly, they are from the AU batch that I'm going through right now.

Drink up, enjoy your beer, then send me the caps!

"Una Cerveza Mas, Por Favor"

2010-03-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

"One more beer, please"

New set of coasters listed on my Etsy Shop. If you haven't guessed by now, they are made from Corona caps!

Current Unknown Caps

2010-03-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

I have found a few more sites to aid in identifying caps which has helped cut down on the number of unknown caps I have. Click here to view the current unknowns, if you know any of them please leave a comment.

New Coasters

2010-03-18T18:21:00.000-04:00

Been brainstorming on Mara's bottle cap present. Haven't quite figured out EXACTLY what I am going to do yet...

Spring has sprung here! It is beautiful, and around taking the pupper-doo for walks and enjoying the weather I have actually been able to get some coasters done. Also, sold my very first set of coasters on Etsy the other day, YIPPIE!!! Definitely did a happy dance when I got that email. The ones that were sold were the newest ones, Sam Adams Silver & Blue Checkerboard Coasters. Just listed these new ones on Etsy, and have two more sets in the very near finished stage. There are more pictures of the Samuel Adams Seasonal (Summer) coasters to the right.

Long Time, No Caps

2010-03-09T07:30:00.001-05:00

So I took a little hiatus from caps for a while there, but now am back at it! I blame Pampered Chef, it's a lot of work trying to get a party together, and then when no one shows all that work becomes a waste of time. Beautiful weather may also have been a contributing factor to the slow going on bottle caps. Oh well. Back on the bottle cap bandwagon!

So there has been news since I last posted! The Pepsi Refresh Project finished out it's first month, and although I was not in the top 10, I did make it into the top 100, which meant they rolled me over into March's voting! So there is still time for you to vote! Vote here once a day. Or you can click on the widget to the right.

Along with that Sun Journal, my local newspaper did a piece on me and one other L/A area native who are participating in the Pepsi Refresh Project. You can read that article here.

And last but not least I have a new set of coasters for you to lay your eyes on!

You can see more of this set here or check out the link in the Coasters sidebar to the right. Like what you see? (Of course you do!) Order them here.

I have another set coming along, just need to make a trip to the hardware store before I can finish it. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

New Caps

2010-02-21T16:28:00.000-05:00

Newest caps are here:

New Coasters on Etsy

2010-02-20T13:08:00.000-05:00

New Heineken coasters listed on Etsy.

Also added more photos of the Heineken coasters and a set of Mixed Red & Black coasters in the link set to the right.

Comming to a Monitor Near You: New Caps

2010-02-20T09:49:00.001-05:00

Currently cleaning all the caps that I got from Novare Res where they have 25 roatating taps, 2 hand pump casks, and 300+ different bottles! Went on Thursday for a Maine Tweetup and was estatic when I got the bag'o'caps! It was like Christmas all over again, and about 98% of the caps were new ones to me. Am going to really need the help of Bottle Cap O-Rama for identification purposes.

Also in the ones being cleaner are a Lucky Cola cork-backed cap that I recieved from Lonnie with my Bottle Cap Press -- used to get those pesky dents from openers out. As well as a Three Stooges cap -- is it Larry, Curly or Moe? -- that my professor gave to me.

I suppose while the new caps dry I'll take miss KC for a walk. Look for new caps soon!

New Caps, New Coasters & New Listing

2010-02-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Day 3 of my 3 day weekend, why can't every day be a weekend?

I have some new things to share with you this morning.

Some new caps:

Champagne (Unknown) - Mikes Hard Cranberry Lemonade - O'Douls Amber - Twisted Tea - Aspen Edge

Also have a new section to the right called "Photos of Coasters" check it out, I'll update it regularly with links to new coasters. Currently there: All Coasters, Bud & Bud Light, Set of 4 Coasters, Alaskan & Blue Moon, Set of 4 Coasters (SOLD), Gritty's & Capt Eli's, Set of 4 Coasters (SOLD). Should have some more listed later on today.

Also have a new Etsy listing for the Bud & Bud Light coasters. Should have another one up later today as well.

Fresh New Look

2010-02-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

If you are a regular visitor to my blog then you may notice it looks a little, okay a lot, different. Went ahead and changed the look to be more consistant with my Etsy Shop.

You will notice on the side there is no longer a photostream from Flickr. The photostream has been replaced by links on the right side of the page, these bring you to a re-organized collection of images on Flickr you can choose to view them all at once, or in smaller sets broken up alphabetically.

On the business side of things I have set in place a few things to keep me organized.

Also made the executive decision (I can do that right?) to start scanning in all new caps, this way more caps can be captured at a time, they have a consistant look, and I don't have to deal with the reflection some caps give of the flash.

Let me know how you like the new look.

Busy Little Worker Bee

2010-02-10T10:56:00.005-05:00

I've been a busy little worker bee the last few days.

Been making more and more coasters, set up my Etsy shop and even listed my first item. More are to come they are all just in various stages of finished-ness. Designed a banner for the shop and am thinking I will transform it into a header for this blog, as well as re-vamp the entire blog itself.

Also am done with one of my custom orders and 3/4 of the way through another one. Cleaning & sorting more caps as I go. Changed up my sorting process with more and more caps coming in, seems to be saving me time as well. When I have the space I am thinking of sorting the caps alphabetically. Currently they are sorted by popularity, one off caps go in their own bags in a box, 5 or less go in their own bags in a seperate box, and 6+ go in their own bags in a different box all together. That way I start by sorting through the most popular caps first, then some of the lesser popular ones, and finally on to the most unique.

I do have some more caps to add and maybe will get to those after class tonight.

Am also kicking around some logo design ideas for Kate's Caps.

And that's all on top of working full-time, going to school part-time, raising the cutest puppy ever, and keeping a household!

New Caps

2010-02-05T12:37:00.003-05:00

Here are some new caps.

Michelob Amber Bock (3), Henry Weinhard's (4), Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade, Geary's (5), Crush Orange

Pepsi Refresh Project

2010-02-01T05:18:00.003-05:00

So I know I haven't mentioned this on here at all because I was trying to keep this idea on the down low, but I have an idea, and I submitted it to the Pepsi Refresh Project to possibly get a grant so that I can jump start this idea. I just got an email this morning that my idea was accepted (along with 728 others).

So what is my idea you ask? The Artist Re-Source, thats what.

A three part organization, The Artist Re-Source will consist of a store, studio and gallery dedicated to re-sourcing items, destined for landfills, into "recycled" art projects.

An organization that is multi-faceted in its rewards, The Artist Re-Source will not only help to inspire creative minds but will provide supplies & space to create, all while recycling.

The Store will collect & re-source art/craft materials, supplies & every day items that can be used to create art. The store is where individuals and organizations can then purchase these items at low cost. As well it is a place where unwanted, unused art supplies and materials can be donated.

The Studio is a creative area where different hands-on, how-to workshops will be held for art projects using "re-sourced" materals. It will also be a place where individuals, whom may not have a space at home, can come to create with re-sourced items they have purchased at the store.

The Gallery is a space where "recycled" art can be displayed and/or sold.

This idea came to me while I was looking for bottle caps for my fish and other projects. I came across a similar organization in the mid-west and thought that my community and many other communities could use something like this.

I am hoping to get a lot of response from the schools in my area, more and more of their budgets are being cut, and unfortunately the arts is one of the most common areas where budget cuts are being made. I hope that this project can give students and teachers alike an alternative. It is also to benefit anyone in the community to help nurture and grow creative minds. And to show that art is not just a painting or drawing.

Every day I come across something that is destined to the trash can and think, "I could use that for something". The Artist Re-Source would be a place where all these misfit items could be repourposed as art and given a new life. And not only misfit trash items, but good quality art supplies and crafting materials as well.

Just got a new glue gun, old one works just fine? Donate it to the Artist Re-Source. I know my craft room (if you can even call it that) is filled with miscelanious supplies that I may never get to use, but someone definately could!

How many sketch books and pads of drawing paper do I have that aren't completely filled? All that extra paper is currently sitting idle when someone could be getting much more from it than I.

And what about extra magazines, pens, pencils, t-shirts, wall paper sample books, fabric scraps, anything else under the sun that could be used and re-sourced into something that is not destined to the trash, but to someones wall as a piece of art.

So I beg of you, go and vote, every day, only the top 10 will recieve a grant. Currently I am ranked 83rd, I have a ways to go, but with your votes I can get there! http://www.refresheverything.com/artistresource

3 New Caps

2010-01-27T06:18:00.002-05:00

Here are the latest additions to the collection:

Henry Weinards (3), Michelob Porter & Virgil's

Okay now back to boiling and sorting and finishing up some coasters.

Dog Sleds, Braided Rugs, Coasters and Caps

2010-01-25T07:07:00.005-05:00

Productive weekend, went to the Musher's Bowl on Saturday and watched a bunch of dog sled races and skijorning, really cool, thinking we should get KC into it.

Sunday washed every piece of dirty laundry in the house, isn't that a great feeling? Also worked a bunch on the braided rug, am just about through with the first round of braid that I have.

Also got more wire and put more coasters together. Am currently waiting for the caulking to dry on them, I got different stuff this time, that says it's clear but came out white, hoping it'll dry clear. It's also taking quite a while to dry, not the 3 hour stuff I had at first. I'll put up the pictures of those coasters once they are completely done.

Also organized through some caps and have 4 new ones, Sol, Bass, Big Sky Brewing and Deschutes Brewery 20th Anniversary:

From Bottle Caps to Braided Rugs

2010-01-18T19:18:00.004-05:00

Who said this blog had to be ALL about bottle caps? Oh wait, I think it was me. Well good thing it was me and no one else, because I am going off course with this next project. Don't get me wrong, still doing bottle cap crafts for sure! But wanted to do something different for a change. So I am working on another "recycled" project. I am making a rug. How is that recycling? Because it starts out with old shirts that were not good enough to go to good will but still too good to throw out. And they are on a journey, shall I show you?

They start as shirts, well loved and worn, but with stains and tears here and there.

So they must be cut, and cut they are.

And so they are not alone they are intertwined with others.

Then finally they spoon each other into submission where they are more than happy to be connected to the next for the rest of their life.

Maybe I should go eat something... My post is getting a little loopy with an empty stomach, back in 10.

1 minute... 2 minutes... 3 minutes... 4 minutes... 5 minutes... 6 minutes... 7 minutes... 8 minutes... 9 minutes... BACK!

So since I have been cutting, and braiding, and wrapping, and sewing KC has been by my side intensly watching what I am doing. She got a little nosey a few times and grabbed an end of a braid and would pull it across the room. She is so quite about it that I wouldn't even notice her take it until she got to the end of the line and I would feel a tug on my end. So I took a few minutes out of braiding yesterday and made her her own braided t-shirt toy. She loves her new spider!

Hoping for a productive day!

2010-01-16T15:38:00.004-05:00

So I just got back from my trip out to Bridgton to pick up a bunch of shirts from Debbi! Thanks again! Going through them now and am going to hopefully start on a braided rug tonight!

On the way home took a detour through West Paris to pick up some license plates from this guy named Ben. I left with about 25 and know where I should call if I need more in the future, he has a ton! Of course as I was driving home I thought that I should of looked for specific ones that had the letters of Kevin's last name so they could be attached together and put on top of the mailbox that is going to be refurbished. Oh well, I have Ben's # if I need more.

Just bagged up the caps that were drying overnight and put the finishing touches on the Smirnof coasters. Now I have a few different directions I can go in...

I think I will clean up the office a bit and maybe when Kevin gets home we can re-arrange the living room and the office so that I actually have useable crafting space!

Oh and I have new caps:

Old Thumper

Abita!

Harpoon

Deschutes Brewery

Moosehead Lager

New Projects in the Works, Craft Room Plans & Pepsi Refresh Grant

2010-01-15T17:58:00.003-05:00

So I have a few new projects on the docet. Rugs made from t-shirts, have a few people ready to hand over a bunch of old shirts that were previously destined to the trash. Also have a few orders for coasters that I need to finish up. As well as an idea for a cubbie bench made from two storage cubes I have. Also on the list is to refurbish our mailbox with the help of some license plates. So wish I didn't have to work so I could just craft all day every day!

I am trying to convince Kevin that moving the big desk in the office out into the living room is a good idea so that I can rearrange the office and make a more useable craft space, which is where I will be using my cubbie bench once its finished.

Also today I finished my grant proposal for the Pepsi Refresh Project they will let me know on Feb. 1st if my idea was approved to go into the running (which is voter driven) for one of the many grants they are giving away each month. If, scratch that, WHEN I get approved I will shout it from the roof tops what the idea is and promote the crap out of it on here, facebook, twitter, and anywhere I can. Did I mention it was voter driven? So I am keeping my fingers crossed for that.

P.S. You may notice that there are no longer any ads on the blog, apparently Google AdSense thought that the clicks that were generated from this blog were fraudulent. I have to admit, I did click on an ad that was listed on my blog, but for good reason though! It was a political ad that I was COMPLETELY against and I needed to get the web site address it went to so that I could then figure out how to get those ads and others like it blocked from my blog, it was so not cool! Anyway... there's my gripe, now I'll just live with it.

New Caps

2010-01-11T18:50:00.006-05:00

Been cleaning and sorting more caps now that the fish is done, have to go through them so that I can start making more coasters, have orders for 3.5 sets already! Waiting on caps for one set, and have to sort through more for the other 2.5. Here are the newest additions to the caps:

1st Row: IBC Diet Root Beer, Presidente, Champange Cap
2nd Row: Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus, Miller Genuine Draft, Leinenkugel Classic Amber
3rd Row: Molson Golden, Slim Chance

Coasters

2010-01-10T15:56:00.003-05:00

A few examples of my coasters. Smirnoff set of 4

Australian Coasters for Mara (photo courtesy of MIG)

Hook. Line. Sinker.

2010-01-10T13:34:00.003-05:00

Bottle Cap Fish #1 is all done! Since the last post, removed the nails from the back (thanks Kev), lined the back and edges with felt, attached eye-screws and wire, hung on wall.

Now taking orders for your own custom made bottle cap fish! $200 + caps & shipping (if needed). Contact me for details.

And now.... Pièce de résistance:

THE FISH IS DONE!!!!... well almost

2010-01-07T07:23:00.008-05:00

To go from this: To this: Is so cool! And I'm not even a week past my deadline, pretty good since for the majority of this fish project I was working 2 jobs and going to school! Imaging what I could crank out if I wasn't crazy busy!

So the biggest, most time consuming, most important part, the caps, are done! There are only the finishing touches to do. I need Kevin's help to remove the rest of the nails that are poking through the back side of the fish:

Can you imagine stepping on that? OUCH!
Also fabric needs to be attached to the back side to hide all the nail ends, as well we need to devise some sort of way to hang it. I'm thinking two eyelets screwed in the back with strong wire between the two, much like how paintings are set up to hang. If this were to be an outdoor fish, or one that I would be selling I would probably spray the caps down with a weather proof sealant. Then last but not least -- The bottle cap fish needs to get hung on the wall! The place I was going to put it, between the stove top and the hood, is not going to work, the fish is just a tad too long, so it will hang proudly above the interior window we have between the kitchen and the living room.

Here are some more shots of the fish in its last stages and once finished. Enjoy!

The face is almost done.

Space for one more cap!

Face & Fish Finally Finished!!!

The whole finished fish.

Close up.

Head Shot.

Blue or Silver....? YOU Decide!

2010-01-05T07:41:00.006-05:00

So I worked on the fish this morning and got the face about 1/2 done. Doing so I ran out of silver Coors caps. I have more, in a bin with thousands of other dirty bottle caps. I do have more already clean, already with a hole punched through, blue Twisted Tea Caps. Now here's where you come in... VOTE! Do I stick with my original plan and make the whole fish face Silver? Or do I save some time and do the top half of the face Blue? Please leave your vote in the comment section, Blue or Silver?

To help you out I've supplied a few visuals:

I'll check back in tonight to see what the verdict is!

And I Quote...

2010-01-04T06:51:00.007-05:00

New Years Eve Day - I got home from work around 3, we didn't have to be out to Norma & Steves house until 6:30, so in my mind that gave me 3 hours to work on (and hopefully finish) the fish. Kevin had other plans though, that involved leaving right away.

So I asked him flat out, "Well this means I won't be able to finish the fish! Does this mean you are going to throw everything out?"

And he said, and I quote, "We'll see, but you have been working two jobs"

"And going to school" I said.

"And going to school" he said, "so I may be able to give you some leway of a week or so, but we'll see."

With the crisis averted we went to the NYE party.

The next day, Kevin was on the couch and I was working dilligently on the fish on the floor and I asked him, "Honestly, did you think I would get this far?"

And he said, and I quote, "HA! No way!"

At this point I think we both knew that it WOULD get finished and not thrown in the dumpster.

I thought I would have it finished this weekend having a long one and all, but with the NYE and NYD festivities and activities, and having to work all Saturday I didn't get it finished, but it's darn close!!! Why don't you just see for yourself :-)

Work done as of Deadline+1 Day (January 1st, 2010):

The body is complete! No more Twisted Tea caps needed for this fish!

Work done as of Deadline+3 Days (January 3rd, 2010):
I started on the face. I went with the silver Coors caps to match the line that goes through the body of the fish. However with my first two caps of silver attached I realized the mountains were not going the same direction as th the line across the body. Oh well.
Edges are difficult to hammer through, so are knots, so when you have knots on the edges it makes things extreamly difficult to hammer through! For example, on the first line of the face I managed to get only 7 caps attached in an hour and a half! It was very frustrating and I ended up with 7 caps on the fish, lots of little sections of wood that splintered off, and more than 7 bent nails! Once I got through that first row however things went a little smoother. Here's the fish face so far:

NO MORE NAILS!!!

2009-12-29T18:31:00.002-05:00

Big bummer! I came home tonight and started to finish the fish, but ran out of nails! And it is freezing out! Don't think I am going to head back out just for nails, so that ends my work for tonight and tomorrow morning :-( Which leaves me 2 days to finish it before January 1st!!!

Here's what I got done before I ran out of nails:

The Pup is Happy I'm Home

2009-12-29T18:20:00.003-05:00

KC is happy I'm home more now as opposed to working 65-68 hours a week as well as taking two classes (I know, crazy right??) She layed with me last night while I worked on the fish. She has also almost gotten knocked in the face a few times when she walks up to me while hammering. She just wants to see what I am doing. Then this evening she was checking out what I was doing once again, Kevin was in the bed room resting and she wanted to play so she kept coming over and dropping her plush Piggy right on the fish. She enjoys coming to check out what I am doing.

The Other Bottle Cap Project

2009-12-28T12:50:00.003-05:00

So the other day I hinted at another bottle cap project that had me going though fish withdrawals because I needed to finish those before Christmas. I obviously couldn't let on to what those were until after Christmas, which is now! I made coasters! Here is a photo of the ones I made for Mara, with a bunch of her Australia caps. She started crying when she opened them, thinking she liked em :-) (Photo courtesy of Mara, you can tell, cus if it were mine, the coasters would all be going the same way)

What a Weekend off can mean...

2009-12-27T14:36:00.006-05:00

Sore fingers, a very happy puppy that her mommy is home, and FISH PROGRESS!!! (which is good since I have a less than week to finish it!)

What the fish looked like when I started yesterday:

And here is what has been done so far this weekend (and it's only 2:40pm!)

Made my day!

2009-12-22T11:14:00.002-05:00

Jokingly today I asked Kevin to bake the cookies I need for my work holiday party and to cut the nails off the back of the fish. To my surprise he came back with "the fish is done". Apparently he had already gone and taken off all the nails that go through to the other side, without me even asking! After realizing this I recalled him hinting about the fish and how I only have two weeks left to finish it (YIKES!). When all along he wasn't doing that to be a brat, but for me to go look at the fish and notice what he had done. This just made my day! Can't wait to go home and check it out after work! But will there be cookies?

Going through Withdrawls

2009-12-15T19:40:00.002-05:00

I am going through bottle cap fish withdrawls! I haven't been able to work on it in what seems forever! I did take yesterday off of work and worked on another bottle cap craft, one that is due for Christmas, that was fun and a nice break but I am ready to start back in on the Fish. Which won't happen tonight seeing as I have a final tomorrow... I have taken the weekend after Christmas off and am crossing my fingers that I am able to get A LOT done then, seeing as the deadline is fast approaching.

Okay, now that I have that out, back to the school work!

Wild Blue

2009-12-08T07:10:00.002-05:00

So I was just looking at some items for christmas gifts on Etsy (which I love love love!) and came across a blueberry beer soap made with Wild Blue beer, which goes with this cap!

Getting there

2009-12-08T06:45:00.003-05:00

Getting there with the fish, will have to grind off the nails that are sticking through on the back pretty soon so that I can continue adding more caps. Next time will look into smaller nails!

Here fishy fishy fishy....

2009-12-03T06:40:00.003-05:00

Do any of you remember that skit from Sesame Street where Burt & Earnie are fishing and Ernie isn't using a pole but has a fish call? "Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!" Believe it or not that skit used to scare me when I was little, the thought of all those fish jumping into the boat....
Anywho... got some work on the fish done last night, here are some updated pictures.

Nail Biting

2009-12-02T16:38:00.003-05:00

Biting my nails in anxiety over whether or not this fish will get done by the deadline of January 1st!

Just got my work schedule for this weekend at the studio and am wondering if I will be able to fit in the fish at all!!

Fingers crossed, but I also have a lot of other things I need to get ready for the Holidays... guess I'll start on that list so that I can visualize what I have done and what I need to get done.

Proud of my Progress!

2009-11-23T07:25:00.002-05:00

Proud of my progress, especially since I have worked 30 hours since Friday morning and Kevin has invited people over the last three nights since the hot tub is finally up and running.
Got the first row finished and thought about alternating the caps for the next row so that the twisted tea caps were upside down, but that would get tough to keep up. So I kept them the way they were and started on row two. Could have gone all day but my alarm telling me to get ready for work went off.

I haven't had a day off in 3 weeks, so I am very thankful for the 6 days off I will have around Thanksgiving. Might actually bring the Fish home to my parents to work on while I am there, but I'll have to leave it at home for when I am in Florida, don't know how I would get it on the plane...

When Cutting Sheet Metal Use Gloves

2009-11-18T07:10:00.003-05:00

Added on the fins last night. They are cut from one of the pieces of copper my friend Dustin gave me. I learned a few things:
1) when cutting sheet metal use gloves, of course being me there I was cutting sheet metal on the kitchen floor still with my dress clothes on from the work day, to excited to put gloves on--until I cut myself, twice. Those edges can be sharp!
2) Kevin noticed that I was having a hard time hammering some of the nails in so he showed me that if there is a block of wood on either side of where you are hammering then the nail goes in easier. I grasped it immediately, that way when hammering the place where the majority of the force goes is onto the nail head because the two blocks damper and lessen any of the force escaping by vibrating off through the wood.
3) From now on I will attach the fins first, had a bit of a hard time getting the tail under the caps that I had already attached so I had to cut the edge so that it came flush with the already laid caps and not under it.
4) When hammering on the end point of a fin it is possible for the wood to split and splinter off, not ideal, but by bending the copper around the edge of the plywood it can be salvaged.
5) Hammering with the opposite hand is a bit difficult.

So here's the fish so far

As for my other bottle cap projects: coasters and Mara's gift I haven't started but have been brainstorming and have quite a few ideas. I'll be excited to start on those once I get a good chunk of the fish done, seeing as the other projects deadline is Christmas, and this one is New Years.

Ouch!

2009-11-15T16:40:00.004-05:00

With the deadline of January 1st comming closer and closer I decided to jump in and start on actually attaching the bottle caps to the fish! I got a decent start with only hitting my index finger and thumb a few times -- the last thumb smash really hurt! May be loosing a nail here...
Here are some images of my progress.

I got 12 or so attached until the thumb incedent and I also had the issue that around certen knots in the wood it was extreamly hard to hammer the nail through. I think that putting the fins on first would be helpful, so before I get too far I will have to do that. Waiting for Kevin to get home to help me with the two nails I got hammered in 1/2 way. Then I can say he actually
helped me with it, besides drinking some of the beer to supply the caps.

Updated Mystery Caps

2009-11-12T18:29:00.006-05:00

Know what any of these are? Help me out... they are mysteries to me...

From a Facebook Message I found out that this one: is Little Creatures, an Australian Pale Ale, thanks Katie!

Aussie Caps

2009-11-12T07:03:00.009-05:00

First round of caps from Down Under:

From Left to Right: Crown Lager ~ Diet Coke ~ Mount Franklin ~ Unknown (1) ~ Chicago Blend ~ Unknown (2) ~ Hofbrauhaus ~ Unknown (3) ~ Coke Zero ~ Hahn Super Dry ~ Unknown (4) ~ Unknown (5) ~ Unknown (6) ~ Unknown (7) ~ Beck's ~ Unknown (8) ~ Smirnoff (1)~ UDL ~ Unknown (9) ~ Coke ~ Unknown (10) ~ Sprite ~ Smirnoff (2) ~ Unknown (11) ~ Corona

Newest of the New Caps

2009-11-12T06:14:00.003-05:00

From Left to Right: McSorley's ~ Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry ~ Samuel Adams (4) ~ Labatt Blue ~ Beck's Non-Alcoholic

Fingers Crossed

2009-11-12T06:04:00.002-05:00

I posted to craigslist (Maine) again with the title: Items wanted for an art project -- and the body being short and simple: I am in the middle of an art project that calls for: Metal Bottle Caps, Wine Corks, and Sheet Metal If you have any of these items or would be willing to save some for me please contact me, thanks! Kate

Let's hope this gets some results and fingers crossed it isn't flagged as spam!!!

Working now on a few more photos to add to the photo stream then going to start taking pictures or Mara's Aussie caps... still trying to figure out what I am going to make with them for her. Have a few ideas... but of course cannot share them here until after x-mas. Sorry Mara, it's not going to be that easy to find out what you are getting for christmas :-p

Recently Added to the Photostream

2009-11-11T17:50:00.006-05:00

Recently Added to the Photostream:

Naraganset Brewing Company

Unknown Izze
Dos Equis

Mountain Dew

Seagrams Wine Cooler

Geary's (4)

Shock Top

Michelob Pale Ale

Progress however slow is still progress

2009-11-09T09:42:00.008-05:00

Working 7 days a week has severely cut back on my available bottle cap time so I try to squeeze it in whenever possible. This weekend I was able to boil up some more, I'll post the new ones sometime tomorrow hopefully.

As I was sorting through the cleaned dried caps I mentioned to my friend, Callie, "It's funny but I can now recognize which ones are new ones to me" and she replies, "You are crazy... but I'm happy you have a hobby... a weird one... but at least it keeps you entertained."

I finally received the long awaited bottle caps from Australia (Thanks Mara!) I however promised her that I would reimburse her the shipping — I had no clue it would be $52!!!! I started to clean some of those last night, I am going to make something special for Mara with those for Christmas, but there are a lot of new ones to me, most of which I have no clue what type of beer/soda they are from, so I'll be posting more mystery caps soon. There are a lot of Corona caps — which I wasn't expecting — they are like the ones you would get here except that on the underside they have "Australia" — kinda cool!

Some Shots

2009-11-07T17:50:00.007-05:00

Here are some pics of my progress. Enjoy.

Some caps boiling away...

After they boil for 10 minutes I lay them out on the towel to dry for a few hours, I try to keep similar ones together, but sometimes that's not possible without moving a bunch around...

I'll post some new bottle cap pictures now as well :-)

Updates... Updates...

2009-11-06T12:23:00.002-05:00

Got some caps in the mail last week from a guy up in Old Town—I have a hunch that some of the beer he bought was from Tim's Little Big Store—a store I frequented while I was in school up there because of their cheep prices on semi-old beer—I recognized the 6 for 4.99 price tags on the top of the caps.

I have also been in contact with the gentleman from Bottle Caps-o-Rama and there is possibly a trade in the works for some of my unique caps for some of his surplus generic caps.

Last night I boiled some more caps as well as took some pictures of new caps—I should be able to post them later tonight after working both jobs—I also took some photos of my process, I'll post those as well. I also punched holes in more of the Twisted Tea caps, hopefully will be able to start attaching them this weekend!

What to do with an extra hour today...

2009-11-01T14:42:00.001-05:00

I used the extra hour granted by daylight savigns to go into town and meet up with my friend Dustin from college who had some nice pieces of sheet metal for me, copper, and steel.

Also used some of that hour to go to Lowes and get so water based sealer and a paintbrush and painted one side of the fish.

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T07:18:00.001-04:00

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!

Got flagged again!

2009-10-30T08:05:00.001-04:00

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!

Thursday Progress

2009-10-29T13:19:00.001-04:00

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 :-)

Progress 10.27

2009-10-27T12:47:00.001-04:00

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...

2009-10-27T07:28:00.004-04:00

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.

Progress 10.26.09

2009-10-26T10:17:00.006-04:00

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

Progress Report

2009-10-25T09:37:00.008-04:00

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.

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.

Mystery Caps

2009-10-23T21:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-23T20:40:00.005-04:00

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.

Responses

2009-10-23T09:21:00.002-04:00

• Received a response from a guy saying he has 20 caps, I replied asking if he was willing to ship, waiting a response
• Received a response with a tip to a link where I can purchase blank gold and silver caps.

Mental Note

2009-10-23T09:04:00.001-04:00

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.

Mystery Caps

2009-10-23T08:26:00.002-04:00

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 :-)

What I'm Posting

2009-10-23T07:20:00.004-04:00

• 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

Boiling, and Boiling, and Boiling

2009-10-22T17:19:00.000-04:00

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.

Tools

2009-10-22T17:18:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

• 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

Starting Out

2009-10-22T10:10:00.000-04:00

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.