62 | Steel Notes Magazine steelnotesmagazine . com | June 2014
or thrown away after one use ! That ’ s right ... just ONE use !!!
I was a bit shocked .
See ... from what i heard , tennis players call them “ dead balls ”, they lose their bounce . okay .
So I did some more research , and also found out each year , approximately ,
300 MILLION balls are produced .
Which roughly contributes 20,000 metric TONS of WASTE in the form of rubber .
Rubber that is not easily biodegradeable .
I was really shocked . So i came up with my designs , dead buddies were born ... and here we are !!!!
I personally design , cut , drill , prime , and then paint the tennis ball inside and out .
Plus add all the details , such as , hair , horns , or wings .. whatever i need for the personality i want to create . I use felt , feathers , or paper mache ’ mostly . I then clear coat each one . Add a little hanger and voila !!! ALL BY HAND !!!!!! Each one is original . No two are ever exactly alike ! *** PLEASE NOTE ***
All dead buddies are handmade items , and some might come with small pieces attached that are not meant for very small children or pets .
62 | Steel Notes Magazine steelnotesmagazine . com | June 2014