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zone_envy

Thanks to Crafty_lady and her DD.......

17 years ago

I had the most amazing day yesterday! I decided to follow their lead and post on Freecycle for mosaic stuff. I've given away lots of stuff on Freecycle, but I've never posted a "wanted" before. I got three responses right away and I was so excited!

The first lady gave me about 60 or so of those mirror tiles from the 70's. The second lady dropped off some old dishes she had - some solid black and some solid green.

The third lady BLEW MY FREAKIN' MIND!!! She sent me a simple little email that said "I have some colourful tiles you could use for your project" with her name and number. What an understatement! I wish you guys could of all been there with me when I went to pick these up! Take a look at these beauties....

{{!gwi}}

100 tiles nicely boxed up and ready to go!

Here's a closer look...

{{!gwi}}

I'm going to leave the two "tile talks" tiles as is and frame them. I'll hang them on the wall when I get my own workspace. Love it!

{{!gwi}}

It turns out that she designs her own tiles and these were the "rejects". Her words, not mine - I think they're stunningly beautiful! She had a studio set up full of the most fabulous tiles you've ever seen. DH and I spent over an hour looking around in awe and getting to know more about her and her work. She's really great and I'm so happy to have met her.

I'll post the link to her website if anyone wants to look through it. I don't know what her prices are like, but she does ship stuff all over the world.

Then to top it all off, on the way home from picking these up DH spotted a big table of stuff on the side of the road with a "free" sign on it. I ended up getting a little stack of decorative tiles and some quilting and craft magazines for inspiration. I couldn't have asked for a better day, now I just have to figure out what to do with it all!

Cindy

Here is a link that might be useful: Back Alley Designs

Comments (35)

  • 17 years ago

    HOLY DAWG SNOT!!!

  • 17 years ago

    DOUBLE DOG SNOT!!!!(Like, what else can be said?!!!)

  • 17 years ago

    TRIPLE DAWG SNOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

    Wow Cindy, you made out simply fantastic!!!!!! I thought we did good getting as much glass as we did but those tiles FREAKING ROCK!!!!! How thick are they? Can they be used inside and out????

    I'm so glad that, thanks to my DD, you were able to score such great stuff!!!

    Hey, anyone else going to try posting a wanted on Freecycle now too?

    Barb

  • 17 years ago

    Zone: You have hit the mother lode! WOW! So fabulously colorful. Lucky dawg!!

  • 17 years ago

    OH MY FREAKING.... HOLY CROW!!!! those are amazing! OMG! you lucky dawg you

  • 17 years ago

    WOW! I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THEM!
    Too cool! you are so lucky!

    Hazie

  • 17 years ago

    wow, I'd take those "rejects" anyday!!

    BARB -Well, it certainly has me thinking!! Which one did you post on?? (I don't want to infringe on your territory!)

    Maria

  • 17 years ago

    BOYOHBOY - wish I were your neighbor - I'd make you feel guilty for not sharing some of those WONDERFUL finds.

  • 17 years ago

    Woo Hoooo.... a TRIPLE DAWG SNOT and a HOLY CROW!!! Lol, I knew you guys would share my excitement, I couldn't wait to show everybody here. I still can't believe my luck, I keep peeking at them to make sure they're really here. I'm almost afraid to break them up, they're soooo pretty.
    I'm still lusting after your stained glass Barb! I have the perfect GOG project in mind, but that can wait for another day.
    The tiles (except for the round ones) are 4"x4" and are made from different materials. Most of them are the same thicknes as a regular ceramic tile (maybe an 1/8"), the tumbled stone ones are a little thicker. There's also a couple of glass tiles in there too. Some of them can be used outdoors and have even been tested by the Tile Council for freeze/thaw, water resistance etc. She has all the info and test results for each different material on her website. Some of the others can only be used indoors with unsanded grout. Has anybody checked out her website yet? Lots of great pics of the tiles and suggested uses.

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier that she wants me to send pics of whatever I end up doing with them. She wants to put the pics on her website to show people what can be done with the extras. She also offered to put the stuff I make in her studio to SELL if I want to. Good Lord talk about pressure! I'm having nightmares trying to come up with a project that's worthy of them, lol. I did explain to her that mosaicing is brand new to me and she seemed fine with it so we'll see...

    Cindy

  • 17 years ago

    Slow we were posting at the same time!

    I think if we were neighbors, YOU would be the one in trouble, lol. I'd love to get my paws on your stash of glass! I could just see us bartering over the back fence...

  • 17 years ago

    Wow! What a find! Sounds like you've not only received a lot of great tiles...but an outlet, too! What a variety!!!
    Congratulations!
    K.

  • 17 years ago

    Could I BE any more jealous?!? Wanna trade something?????

  • 17 years ago

    Maria, Colleen just posted to the Detroit one, she was going to post to Ann Arbor since she works out that way, but when I told her you asked what area she'd posted on she said you could post on the Ann Arbor instead.
    Good Luck!

    Barb

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks Colleen!!

    Maria

  • 17 years ago

    Maria, I forgot to tell you that Colleen said you have to split whatever you get with us!!! LOL

    Barb

  • 17 years ago

    I am soooo envious..I am going to go on freecycle in the next hour and try it out!!! Maybe I can get lucky too!!!

  • 17 years ago

    Ok. I'm in. Except I couldn't get signed on to Freecycle, so I posted on our community website. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

  • 17 years ago

    Hey zone envy, I officially have TILE ENVY!!! I checked that site, very nice stuff! Using those designs is gonna be fun! And I too, would love to get my hands on Slow's stash of stuff. She uses the coolest things in her artwork!

  • 17 years ago

    Oh man, I have some seriously good mosaic karma goin' on. It just keeps getting better and better! I just got another e-mail from a lady who owns a local flower shop. Turns out they also do stained glass stuff and she said they ALWAYS have leftover scraps. She has 3 large coffe cans set aside for me to come pick up. I have to wait until Saturday afternoon to go pick them up because tomorrow (actually today now I guess, lol)is our 5th anniversary and DH has the whole day planned out. I'm so excited I could just burst!!!

    Cindy

  • 17 years ago

    Almost forgot to wish everyone else the best of luck with their Freecycle posts! Good luck everybody I hope we'll be seeing lots of happy posts soon- with pics of course, lol.

    Cindy

  • 17 years ago

    Wow Cindy, looks like there are some nice people out there. That's a terrific offer you got.

    Is there anyone else from the Memphis area here? Someone just posted a message on my local freecycle asking for stained glass supplies. Coincidence? :)

    anotherchris

  • 17 years ago

    Boy, talk about another "meant to be". You really hit the jackpot. I'm so happy for you. Oh, happy day for you today on your anniversary, and so much to look forward to. I can juuuuust imagine your excitement.

  • 17 years ago

    I have to say, I'm green with envy! Good for you!!! I don't even know if my area has "free cycle?"

  • 17 years ago

    Stjohnsgypsy: Just go to the site below which is the main freecycle site and do a search for your city, state. But.. you have to search on each town individually because the list that comes up is not by area.

    Or... go to this part of the website:
    http://www.freecycle.org/display.php?region=US+Southern\
    and look first for your part of the country... then your state and close towns.
    They are Yahoo Groups... but you may find your area easier through the web site.
    Katie

    Here is a link that might be useful: Main FreeCycle page

  • 17 years ago

    That is fantastic! Some great looking tiles you got there. Very kind people here, indeed. ~: )

  • 17 years ago

    Wow!! Those are spectacular!! I posted on my Freecycle and hope I do half as well as you did.
    Have a good one!
    Ann

  • 17 years ago

    Barb - tell Colleen that's the least I can do!! Be happy to split if I get anything good. Have to tell you though I posted last night and so far the only reply was someone suggesting Craigslist. I may post on the Ann Arbor one.

    Maria

  • 17 years ago

    HEY, ZE! I'm only about three hours away over in north central ARKANSAS so it will be NO BIG DEAL for you to run half that over here to me!!! WHAT A SCORE!!!

  • 17 years ago

    That is a butt load of psychedelic tile! Lookit it! OH MAN!
    This is the stuff of my dreams, that I have been searching for. I'm going to this gal's website to see what else she can do..

    Zone Envy, you must be in Barrie. I grew up half in Toronto, half in Victoria Harbour :)

    GGG

  • 17 years ago

    chris2u- I am 273 miles from you. I looked on the sign today!

  • 17 years ago

    Chris - We just moved to this area and the people here are so amazingly friendly and generous. You wouldn't believe the stuff that people put out for free here. We went out yesterday to pick up the stained glass and stopped at a few garage sales along the way. We got some really cool stuff - I'll have to start a new post though, this one's getting kinda long, lol.

    Slow - Thanks for the anniversary wishes! We had a fabulous day. Went for an afternoon cruise on Kempenfelt Bay, aboard the "Serendipity Princess", then DH took me shopping for a new outfit and out for a scrumptious dinner at a really cool little bistro that we've been wanting to try for a while now. He's such a sweetie and I feel incredibly lucky to have him in my life.

    Stjohnsgypsy and Katie (and everybody else!) - Another free classifieds site I've had really good luck with is Kijiji. In Canada it's www.kijiji.ca and in the US it's www.kijiji.com Good luck, I hope everyone finds some new treasures!

    Hrsg - Thanks, I can't wait to start using them!

    Ann - Thank you, I hope you have TWICE the luck!

    Ronnie - I looked on Mapquest and it's 1112.50 miles from Barrie, Ontario to Harrison, AR. Three hours - how fast do you drive woman?????? Guess I'll have to hang on to your half for now, lol.

    GGG - Isn't it awesome? I was practically drooling in her studio and definitely plan on giving her my business in the future. I think I just might do some Christmas shopping there this year. She also takes old, damaged photos (or new) and puts them on tiles. These aren't decals, the way she explained it, it's like an ink tattoo on the unglazed tile and then she does the glazing herself after. I think it would be so cool if her good deed generated some business for her. Hope you find something you like!
    I am in Barrie, how neat that you grew up in the area. Wow, you sure ended up moving a pretty good distance away!

    Whew, this is getting pretty long-winded again! Sorry for rambling on. As soon as I take some pics, I'll start another thread for the new stuff.

    Cindy

  • 17 years ago

    ZONE, guess I got you mixed up with whoever is in northeast Arkansas! Who WAS that?? I'll have to check out the list of where folks are.

    Did you see though on another thread that I told you we HAVE eaten at the Sundial Restuarant in Barrie numerous times? We used to live just east of Buffalo NY, and vacationed EVERY summer up near Southaven, on Fouke/Spring Lake. It has been tradition for my husband's family for five generations to vacation at the same two little cabins up there, AND to eat breakfast at the Sundial on the way up :)

  • 17 years ago

    What a fantastic find for you. I am in Illinois and I go on the Freecycle for our area. I asked for any type of tiles and about 3 days later I got 4 boxes from a lady. BUT I didn't get the bonanza you got. Those are all fabulous tiles. You are one lucky gal. Good luck crafting with them, and then let us see your work.

  • 17 years ago

    Welcome Crafter Cheryl, hope to see some pictures from you soon!

    Barb

  • 17 years ago

    Ronnie - Thanks for clearing that up,lol. If you ever decide to head up this way again, just let me know.

    Cheryl - Thank you, I'm pretty excited about them. I'm working on a little sun face right now, I'll post pics later. Four boxes of tile is an awesome score for you! Can't wait to see what you do with them:)

    Cindy