My First Salvage Experience

A few weeks ago I was visiting my parents and decided to get into all the old photo albums they had. Well somewhere between laughing at all the funny clothes, haircuts, countless camping trips, birthday parties etc.. I found this little gem. I think somehow this experience must have been tucked away in my memory sub-consciously driving me to this ultimate endeavor. Circa 1974.

What has been taking up all of my time lately

Okay I know I haven't been blogging often enough lately but I've been working on a project at my house that is nearing completion. Finally. I've been doing some DIY things at home that will make my life a little, well, happier and pleasing to my eyes. See I had taken on a project to strip all of the painted woodwork in my house oh about three years ago now. It's been one of those projects that has taken on a life of it's own. I do a little here and a little there but I really make no progress. A few months ago I had received a call from our local paper requesting to "feature" my home and business. Great right!?! Free advertising for the business and the opportunity to show in person what I preach in reusing salvaged items. The problem was my house wasn't ready for this kind of exposure (nor was my husband but that's another story). So I called my dear friends at AAA Demolition and had Doug come over and take a look at my ideas for finishing off all of my started projects. Pretty basic stuff but I needed a professional to jump in and give it their all through completion. My 1930's sink and tub have just been refinished to shine like they did when they were installed. We added subway tile in the bathroom and I had a vintage medicine cabinet installed. We're working on installing fabulous 1940's cabinets that I purchased for a fraction of new. And if that's not enough my floors are being sanded and stained. It's taking shape with just a few more weeks to complete. Hence my departure from blogging. I've been stripping and sanding my fir doors here at the shop and transporting them back to my house for re-installation. They look wonderful.

Tab

Moving Right Along

We just received the final version of our second brochure from our design firm! Tim and Andy at Propeller are the best in the business! If any of you are looking for a superb design firm for websites, collateral, promotions, or branding, Propeller is the answer. When we had just opened our first home for the business in Arlington Heights, in walks this guy and he said to us "I get it. I know what you guys are trying to do." And he did and still does. Tim Meyer has done all of our design work since, from creating the most unique press kit to helping us brand our business. Without Tim and Andy we wouldn't have the look and feel that conveys who we are and how we do business. We're so excited about the brochures that we thought we'd share a glimpse with you. Tim and Andy's other works can be found at www.orangepropeller.com

Tab and Liz

I was working on my next post which was going to be about a set of windows that I was re-finishing. I was searching for an accurate description of the consistency of the paint on one side of the window, the one thing that kept popping into my head was superlastic bubble plastic. So I typed that into my seach engine and found this. The toys themselves and the statistics are frightening the commentary is quite amusing especially for me who actually owned some of these hazardous materials, but without incident. I figured my window story can wait.
http://www.radarmagazine.com/features/2006/12/toys.php

Ameriglaze Vintage Tubs and Sinks

We have been talking with the folks at Ameriglaze Vintage Tubs & Sinks about carrying some of their refinished tubs and sinks in our shop. Today they brought over four refinished original claw foot tubs! We've seen refinished tubs before but these take the cake! The quality of the finish is impeccable. Not only does Ameriglaze Vintage Tubs & Sinks do the refinishing but Mike teaches people from all over the world how to refinish tubs and sinks. Now I may be bias but claw foot tubs are just better than the fiberglass reproductions available today. The cast iron originals maintain the heat of the bath water for longer more enjoyable soaks so you can thoroughly enjoy that glass of wine! In the "Green" environmental conscious society we are living in, why would anyone want to bury these beauties in landfills?

100 Friends Project

So what does Island Girl Salvage have to do with saving the world and helping the poorest of the poor? Well, actually, a lot.

Island Girl Salvage has a special association with Marc Gold of the 100 Friends Project (http://www.100friendsproject.org/). Last June we sponsored a fund raiser for the project and it was highly successful and loads of fun. Another fund raiser is planned sometime in June or July, 2007. Stay tuned!

This small project started 18 years ago, in 1989. The idea is very simple. Every year many people contribute to the project and Marc takes the money to Third World Countries and looks for the neediest people he can find.

He then puts the money to work in the most compassionate, appropriate, culturally compatible, constructive and practical manner possible. You put the donation into his hands and he puts the funds directly into the hands of the needy individual or family, or a small trusted grassroots organization helping them. All donations are tax deductible.

His plans for 2007 are to build two schools, one in Afghanistan and one in Cambodia. He is also planning to help the Tuareg Nomads in Niger with schools, wells, food banks and health clinics. He was in Hanoi and was able to donate $9,000 to three groups helping children with medical operations and educational needs. He also traveled to Kashmir to help families trying to recover from the massive earthquake of October, 2005.

His ongoing work with children rescued from a garbage dump is truly inspiring. Also he went back to Indonesia for a third time last November, 2006 to help orphans from the tsunami and earthquake zones. A short documentary has been shot about Marc’s work in Indonesia.

To find out how you too can help, click on the link to 100 Friends Project!

Thanks,
Tab

Tell Me Girlfriend

If you're a woman and need some guidance for purchases check out www.TellMeGirlfriend.com

This is straight off their "about us" section of their website. What do professionals turned moms have in common? They’re girlfriends, of course! Meet Alex and Suzanne who live in Greenwood Village, Colorado, plus the third original founder, Terri. First they shared friendship, then a love for the unique, the functional, the fun. Now they want to let other Girlfriends in on their fabulous finds.

They've got some great stuff including Island Girl Salvage of course!

Island Boy

It's about time we introduce Island Girls own Island Boy, Mr. Jim Owens. Jim has been with us since the beginning. He's our go-to-guy for all things above 5' 2" tall and heavier than 100 lbs. Jim mans the shop, manages our maintenance crew and keeps us informed on all things sports. Jim is the master hanger here. Anything hung here has been so by Jim. It's always straight even if it's upside down. Seriously, Jim is a huge part of what goes on behind the scenes here at Island Girl Salvage and we owe him a great amount of graditude because we couldn't do this without him.

Duluth Trading Company!

We had the most enjoyable time with the team from Duluth Trading Company this week! Turns out we're going to be in their summer catalog! Ah yes, we are the models for woman in the trades clothes. Neither of us thought we'd ever be models at our age and height but a girl has to keep the dream alive!

We started early on Thursday morning with coffee and donuts in hand. The showroom looked like a prop room on some old studio lot with clothing racks, tools, and lights and cameras and lots of action. We worked through lunch until we smelled a strange electrical odor late in the afternoon. With all of the flashes and additonal lights we thought we had overloaded a breaker but it turned out that our electrical box was about to catch fire. There were all sorts of things wrong with it. We had an electrician come out that evening and we were back on Friday morning. I brought in my beautiful pound puppy, Japhy. He's a dog just waiting to be discovered. He made it into several shots. Needless to say, we were all exhausted but we kept right on working. After we finished the shoot here at the store we all packed up and headed to a home to retreive a bath tub. More photos were taken and we all said our teary goodbyes. Kristi, Greer, Carol, Nick and Pete were absolutely wonderful to work with and it was one of our most relaxed endeavers to date. This company knows what a woman wants.

Check out www.DuluthTradingCo.com

Most of the time we don't get a chance to see the photos that a photographer takes prior to them coming out in a publication, but Nick Berard, our photog on the Duluth shoot was more than generous with his photos and they were great.

If anyone out there needs a professional photographer with talent hire Nick! His website is www.berardphoto.com

I've attached a few photos of the shoot.

More soon,

Tab

Miss Mila

I have a friend that writes stories about her farm down in Austin TX. Recently divorced she's now learning how to manage and maintain her farm all on her own. Since I too grew up on a farm her stories have hit a soft spot in my heart for what she's been able to accomplish. A farm is really hard work. Recently she was telling me about how she'd figured out how to wrap the pipes on the well to ward off freezing. Ah the memories. If you want to check out her stories go to: http://www.missmila.com/

Grab a glass of wine and sit back and enjoy.

Tab