My neighbors daughter is a little bit hippie and a whole lot of funny. Her husband is a surfer, so when she asked if I could create a wind chime especially for them; I knew exactly what to do. One of my dearest friends is the same; her husband is also a surfer and I made her a Volkswagen Bus ornament for Christmas last year. For the wind chime, I combined a Volkswagen Bus with a Surf Board. They are a perfect compliment to my neighbors daughter and husband.
The chime was created using a recycled wine bottle and a glass nugget as the striker. Unfortunately, the sound produced by the striker hitting the bottle was awful so, I recommended turning it into a sun catcher or mobile instead. I still think it’s a really fun piece and I hope they like it as much as I do.
The bus and surfboard were created with a combination of specialty beads, millefiori flowers, recycled glass tile with crackle glass beads as the headlights.
The project was particularly challenging because I wanted to make it suitable for outside use. Most of my pieces are for indoors only because they are made on wood bases. I decided to “dip” these in resin to make them weather resistant. And, while I’m happy with how they turned out, my process was far too messy, time consuming and filled with trial and error. I think I’ll couch the wind chime permanently and the sun catcher temporarily until I can come up with a better process. In the meantime, perhaps I’ll continue with the mobile idea for inside use.
I think they’d be really pretty hanging in or near a window, and I have some fun designs already in mind…Bee & Flower, Camper & Camp Fire, Cowboy Boot & Hat, Sun & Moon.
What combinations do you think would be fun to try?