Meet the MagicianI live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with my husband (partner in crime), our beautiful daughter (doing her best impression of a wet noodle in the photo), and our two feline members of the family who never hesitate to grab my seat at the workbench the moment I stand up.
I have been creating as long as I can remember. I have always been that "I could make that" person. In addition to creating, I love collecting. If one is good then 100 must be much better! Those two traits are so firmly rooted in my DNA that I had to find a creative outlet to support them.
Tins come in such a variety of shapes, sizes, and of course, colors! They are a common product that we have little use for after their initial purpose (usually as product packaging). I find the dizzying array of colors and patterns too good to pass up (just ask my husband).
Tin, Tins, and More TinsThere is no shortage of "stuff" that comes in a tin these days and like many people, I just hate to throw them away because they seem so...permanent.
I think I enjoy the thrill of the hunt almost as much as the creative process. The free pile at a garage sale has a magnetic pull for me. I also scour local thrift shops. I am eternally grateful for a wonderful network of family and friends (near and far) that are always thinking of me (saving and sending me their tins). I am always happy to take your colorful tins if you have some you were going to discard anyway...
Once upon a time...A little story about some of my favorite pieces.
While on a long weekend getaway with my family in the lovely Vancouver, BC, I came across the most amazing tin. We had stopped in a small grocery store to pick up a few things for the hotel fridge when I noticed the coffee tin (in the photo). Call me crazy, but I live in Seattle (coffee mecca) and I have never acquired the taste for coffee, but this tin was glorious. Unlike me, my husband drinks coffee (like water) so we purchased the coffee. When we returned home from that trip, I used every square inch of that tin - a sampling of some of the pieces are shown in the photo. I was devastated when I made the last piece. My husband loved the coffee as well!
Then it struck me - I am familiar with the manufacturing process from my corporate life and I knew that anything mass produced has some margin for "error". Meaning there was a possibility that there were tins produced that would not meet the packaging or quality standards and that would otherwise be discarded. So I looked up the company and sent off an email explaining who I was, my story about how I found their coffee, and a few photos of what I had created. To my delight, the amazing folks at Kicking Horse Coffee emailed me back.
As it turns out, this tin was a holiday special designed by the owner's uber talented teenage daughter. In exchange for one of my pieces (one artist to another), I was sent a case of tins that didn't make it past the quality check. It was a match made in heaven!
