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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, September 14, 2012

A Yabba Dabba Do Time! Visiting Bedrock Industries

If you've attended the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, you've probably seen the Bedrock Industires booth but visiting their store is one of my favorite things to do in Seattle.  If you're too far away for a visit, you can order quite a bit of their merchandise from their website.  For me Bedrock is a great place to get materials and ideas.

Mixed tumbled glass
 or single colored glass makes a far out mulch in potted plants.  It's also pretty cool in pathways!
 
 
Slightly damaged statuary.

Some of these great blue glass slabs came home with me.  Don't know what I'll use them for yet but they sure are swell!
 
 
These  glass light fixtures make great tables especially when filled with glass!
You may have guessed that Bedrock is all about creative recycling.  Here's a little bit about them that I lifted from their website:

Bedrock believes in living on earth responsibly and acknowledging that the planet’s resources are limited. That’s why we make all of our tiles by hand in our own plant from 100% recycled glass. When we say “100% recycled,” we mean just that — all of our tile is made from recycled glass only. We do not use pigment in our glass.
We are proud to say that we have recycled literally hundreds of tons of material that would otherwise have gone into landfills.
We use 100% recyclable materials for product packaging and shipping. We have established and continue to operate several community-based programs including a bottle drive, student tours of our plant and a special bottle drive for the parents and students of a local elementary school. Earnings from the school drive have helped to pay for student field trips and other educational activities.
Bedrock is a for-profit business, which is the most exceptional thing of all. We are not a foundation or an agency. Bedrock works very hard to be a shining example of a for-profit organization with a total commitment to sustainability, good employment practices, and responsible community service practices. This is not the easiest way to operate, but it’s important to us to demonstrate that creative recycling can stand on its own right here in the United States.
Recycled fused glass is a specialty at bedrock.  So many possibilities ...
Bedrock makes and carries a full line of fused glass tiles.  Imagine a shower done in some of these...
 
There are always new bargains to discover like these vitreous glass tiles for only four bucks a sheet.
 
 
Always love the lollipops!
 


Glass traffic light lenses - Fun!
Broken column anyone?
 Bedrock has all kinds of rock from fabulous hunks of marble countertop to pebbles in a variety of colors and sizes.

Drilled rock ready for a water feature.
 Cloches made by cutting the bottom off of gallon wine bottles. 
 Everywhere you turn in this place, there is creative re use of materials.
Warning!  give yourself a lot of time to explore this place.  It's not horribly huge but there are so many things tucked in that you might miss a lot on a single walk through. 


 Are these people cute or what?

 And speaking of a whole wall done in those glass tiles...voila.  I'm in love.
 In addition to the great outdoor merchandise, Bedrock carries a huge line of fused glass dishes and other indoor treasures.
 This stuff just screams to be used in mosaic applications like this faboo lamp.
You can even take classes at the Bedrock Academy of Mosaic.  These are all samples of work created in classes.  Pretty impressive!

 
This collection of glass blobs reminds me of hard candy!
 Wouldn't a few of these look stunning atop a gravel mulched potted something or other?

The Garage Sale Room is full of fun finds.

 
 
I hope you enjoyed our little visit to Bedrock enough to make a trip there yourself.  I never leave without finding something amazing here. 

18 comments:

  1. Oh my, My creative juices are flowing. What a terrific place. Wish I had something like that here.

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  2. Too bad the wine that comes in gallon sized jugs is often so bad...otherwise I could have myself a nice little collection of cloches! This looks like a fun place...I'll have to check it out someday!

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    1. You could always stroll the alleys on recycle day and shop for bottles.

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  3. Love this place, so many ideas and possibilities. I could spend hours there and would find plenty to buy for so many projects. The lollipops really caught my eye.



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    1. I love the lolliposps, too. And everything else they carry.

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  4. This post is just in time! What a cool place! I fear I could spend a lot of time (and money) there. I'm going into town today for the NHS sale, so I may have to go a little earlier than I planned to visit here. I've been looking for tiles to make mosaic pavers. And they do mosaic classes...You are an enabler.

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    1. Cool! I hope you have fun at the sale and at Bedrock and can't wait to see what you buy! You'll post about it, right? As for the enabler thing, you are so right! You could also take mosaic classes in the Tacoma area if that would be more convenient for you. (Mandarin Stained Glass in Lakewood)

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  5. That's a great place to visit! You could make some awesome mosaics using those things. Seattle reminds me from my husband's favorite program: Frasier...;O)

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    1. I always have fun there. Frasier is one of my favorites, too.

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  6. Sooo much fun! I love those garden cloches

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    1. The cloches are great. You'd better start drinking now so that you'll have enough bottles to make them for your garden next year. At $12.00 each, you could maybe buy one or two and save your liver. Decisions, decisions.

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  7. I love this place. Now that I've seen them I don't think I can live without the glass traffic light lenses. Must figure out a way to get my boss to send me to Seattle on business...

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    1. The traffic light lenses with the arrows are a lovely way to tell people where to go. I believe you need to do some Pacific Northwest market research of some sort.

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  8. You must have had a fab time at this place Outlaw, with so many colorful and interesting things to look at, i think i might just fly over there tomorro and have a squiz. In my dreams, LOL.

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    1. When I win the lottery, I'll send you a plane ticket! It's fun to dream...

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  9. What an awesome place!! I love mosaics and could spend some $$ there!!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.