Designer gown - cork fabric.
Skirt, umbrella and cap all made of cork fabric.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Cork on display in a community's fashion show.
As mentioned in a previous post, the Bridgenorth Beautification committee collects recycled wine corks as a fundraiser. One of their other fundraisers is a fashion show. This year's fashion show included a collection of cork items including a beautiful dress made with cork fabric.
Skirt, umbrella and cap all made of cork fabric.
Skirt, umbrella and cap all made of cork fabric.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Recycling used wine corks helps the environment and community groups.
Bridgenorth is a small, quaint town near Peterborough, Ontario. As with all towns, Bridgenorth grew and changed. It was no longer the quaint little hamlet it had once been. So, in 1994, the Bridgepoint Beautification Committee was formed. This committee works to keep Bridgenorth beautiful and relies on funds from fundraisers to do so. Recently, this committee began using cork in their fund raising efforts.
Cork? Fund raising? How do these tie together? In an effort to keep cork stoppers out of landfills and to assist not-for-profit or community groups, Jelinek Cork launched the "We want your natural corks" fundraiser.
If you are a community group or not-for-profit that would like to help the environment and your group, there is more information about this program on the Jelinek Cork website.
If you are interested in donating your used natural wine corks to the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee and you are in the Bridgenorth/Peterborough area, please visit the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee website.
For other natural cork collection locations, visit: http://jelinek.com/collection_locs.htm
Cork? Fund raising? How do these tie together? In an effort to keep cork stoppers out of landfills and to assist not-for-profit or community groups, Jelinek Cork launched the "We want your natural corks" fundraiser.
If you are a community group or not-for-profit that would like to help the environment and your group, there is more information about this program on the Jelinek Cork website.
If you are interested in donating your used natural wine corks to the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee and you are in the Bridgenorth/Peterborough area, please visit the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee website.
For other natural cork collection locations, visit: http://jelinek.com/collection_locs.htm
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Corks of Art by artist Julie Lee
Beautiful art work created from recycled wine corks. Each piece uses approximately 600 wine corks.
Corks of Art
By artist: Julie Lee
Corks of Art is a tribute to the many celebrations and conversations that have been accompanied by wine. It is a beautiful complex of how the wines have been cultivated and produced, to preserving those special moments into a uniquely designed painting as well as other forms of art.
This concept is a 1st and only of its kind in the world, as well as the many distinctive quality of wines the Jelinek clients have savoured. I wanted to pay hommage to the "art" of making these wines. Every wine cork has been hand selected and assembled to make a "canvas-like" backdrop in order for the perfect painting to emerge.
You don't have to be a wine snob to appreciate this fine art. We all find beauty in different things, through our form of art you'll find the same appreciation and a way for you to individually relate to it.
For more information and additional products, contact Julie Lee at theworldisyours_56@msn.com. The website, www.corksofArt.com will debut in a few weeks.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Start with a cork and end with a bug - Walt's Poppers.
Walt's Poppers - amazing! Though these popping bugs are nice to look at, that's not what they are made for. These miniature works of art are true work horses - what many anglers turn to (and think of) when needing a "bug".Walt Cary began his fly-tying career as a bartender in the 1950s. After he uncorked a bottle of champagne he went to toss out the cork when he thought what a terrible waste of a good material. With that Walt began using old corks, whittling them down and painting them. Over time, Walt perfected the art and created a very successful business. His creations involve a standard cork body which he hand selects. He sands the cork, fills in any cracks, and then puts it through a ten-step painting and finishing process which includes at least seven coats of paint. Truly a work of art - both on land and in the water!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Yard Sale for the Cure hosted by Jelinek Cork and the Cork House
Yard Sale for the Cure: "The stuff you no longer need will help fund the cure for breast cancer".On Saturday May 30, 2009 Jelinek Cork hosted a Yard Sale for the Cure at the Cork House (the Jelinek Cork showroom located in Oakville, ON). The Yard Sale for the Cure is an organization that raises money for Breast Cancer research and treatment by holding a massive series of Yard Sales in selected neighbourhoods across Canada.
The Jelinek Cork/Cork House sale began early with the event setup - tables full of all sorts of items - from cork items to clothing, from kids toys to new designer shoes, from lemonade stands to bbq hot dogs! Many people donated items and time to help with this event.
The day was incredible - a huge success with hundreds of people stopping by to browse, purchase and offer support. Jelinek Cork was very excited to raise $2000 for breast cancer research.
Thank you to everyone for helping support this cause.
Friday, May 29, 2009
A little about finishing cork floors with the natural vegetable oil finish.
Q:
Could you tell me a little about cork floor finishes, specifically the vegetable oil finish (Jelinek Cork Comfort Finish Flooring)?
A:
Cork flooring is not impervious to stains and oils unless it is coated with some sort of finish. In fact, an unfinished floor takes stain very well, thereby allowing the floor to be stained various colors before being finished. Once coated, the finish is what protects the floor from further staining. All cork floors need some sort of finish to protect them. The most common cork floor finish is polyurethane. Polyurethane is a fairly flexible finish that allows the floor to provide somewhat of a 'cork feel' while it protects. After that there are more rigid finishes such as aluminum oxide, vinyl, and epoxy (in order of rigidity). The more rigid the finish the more it protects the floor but the less the natural properties of cork are available. For example, one reason people purchase cork flooring is for the soft, warm feeling underfoot. A cork floor finished with epoxy is so rigid that you loose this feeling entirely.
The natural vegetable oil finish is the opposite of a rigid finish. This finish maintains the feel and attributes of cork while protecting against spills and stains. It does not protect against heavy pressure points which can cause indentations (eg. a heavy desk with narrow legs will create an indentation in the floor unless furniture pads are placed under the desk legs). The other nice thing about a vegetable oil finish is that it is a natural product unlike all of the rigid finish products - its main component is "safflower oil".
A floor can be coated with vegetable oil by hand (using a rag to rub the oil into the floor) or by a machine. It does not get heated. Multiple applications of the oil are applied to create the finished floor. If finishing the floor using vegetable oil by hand (can be done at home), 3 coats of oil are recommended. The same method is used to refinish a floor if it needed to be done. However, typically only one coat would need to be applied in order to refinish the floor. Cork floors finished with the vegetable oil finish need to be cleaned with a special cleaner (called Dergos natural oil cleaner, available from corkstore.com) about once a month. There is a very small amount of vegetable oil in the cleaner that enhances the existing finish. By doing this, you generally would never need to refinish the floor (rubbing oil into the floor). In comparison, a floor finished with polyurethane often needs a new coat of urethane every 5 years or so (depending on traffic). Recoating a urethane floor involves abrading the existing finish (using either a chemical abrader or a physical abrader such as sandpaper). The new coat of urethane is applied wet and allowed to dry. It is a day long process. With the vegetable oil finish, this type of recoating is not necessary provided the floor is maintained using the cleaner.
The Jelinek Cork flooring finished with natural vegetable oil is called the Comfort Finish line. Please contact us for further details or you can order online at corkstore.com
For more information on cork flooring visit http://jelinek.com/flooring.htm
Could you tell me a little about cork floor finishes, specifically the vegetable oil finish (Jelinek Cork Comfort Finish Flooring)?
A:
Cork flooring is not impervious to stains and oils unless it is coated with some sort of finish. In fact, an unfinished floor takes stain very well, thereby allowing the floor to be stained various colors before being finished. Once coated, the finish is what protects the floor from further staining. All cork floors need some sort of finish to protect them. The most common cork floor finish is polyurethane. Polyurethane is a fairly flexible finish that allows the floor to provide somewhat of a 'cork feel' while it protects. After that there are more rigid finishes such as aluminum oxide, vinyl, and epoxy (in order of rigidity). The more rigid the finish the more it protects the floor but the less the natural properties of cork are available. For example, one reason people purchase cork flooring is for the soft, warm feeling underfoot. A cork floor finished with epoxy is so rigid that you loose this feeling entirely.
The natural vegetable oil finish is the opposite of a rigid finish. This finish maintains the feel and attributes of cork while protecting against spills and stains. It does not protect against heavy pressure points which can cause indentations (eg. a heavy desk with narrow legs will create an indentation in the floor unless furniture pads are placed under the desk legs). The other nice thing about a vegetable oil finish is that it is a natural product unlike all of the rigid finish products - its main component is "safflower oil".
A floor can be coated with vegetable oil by hand (using a rag to rub the oil into the floor) or by a machine. It does not get heated. Multiple applications of the oil are applied to create the finished floor. If finishing the floor using vegetable oil by hand (can be done at home), 3 coats of oil are recommended. The same method is used to refinish a floor if it needed to be done. However, typically only one coat would need to be applied in order to refinish the floor. Cork floors finished with the vegetable oil finish need to be cleaned with a special cleaner (called Dergos natural oil cleaner, available from corkstore.com) about once a month. There is a very small amount of vegetable oil in the cleaner that enhances the existing finish. By doing this, you generally would never need to refinish the floor (rubbing oil into the floor). In comparison, a floor finished with polyurethane often needs a new coat of urethane every 5 years or so (depending on traffic). Recoating a urethane floor involves abrading the existing finish (using either a chemical abrader or a physical abrader such as sandpaper). The new coat of urethane is applied wet and allowed to dry. It is a day long process. With the vegetable oil finish, this type of recoating is not necessary provided the floor is maintained using the cleaner.
The Jelinek Cork flooring finished with natural vegetable oil is called the Comfort Finish line. Please contact us for further details or you can order online at corkstore.com
For more information on cork flooring visit http://jelinek.com/flooring.htm
Friday, May 22, 2009
The process of making a natural wine cork.
After the cork bark is harvested from the cork oak tree, how does it become a wine cork?
After harvesting the cork bark off cork oak trees, the bark is gathered and placed in large piles waiting to be loaded onto trucks and transported to the processing factories. The health of the cork oaks is not effected …. The same tree can be harvested over and over again every nine years.
The bark is cut into strips by a very sharp knife. The thickness of the strips determines the length of the cork stoppers. In the above photo the strips are quite thin …. about half an inch or 12.5mm. This means the stoppers punched from these strips would be ½” or 12.5mm in length, about half the length of a standard wine cork often used on olive bottles or spice bottles.
In this picture the stoppers are being punched from the bark strips by hand, the strips are about 1-1/2” long or 38 mm. These are wine stopper corks. The operator must be very precise. After the corks are all punched out of each strip the leftover strips (those with the holes in them) are called “cork waste”. This name is misleading because in cork there is no waste. These leftover strips are later ground up and turned into cork grain. Cork grain is further processed and turned into other products such as cork floors, walls, insulating materials, bulletin boards, coasters, and much more.
Punching stoppers out of cork strips can also be done by automatic machines such as the one pictured above. This is a safer and quicker process but not as exact as hand punching.
After the cork stoppers are punched out they are sorted into various qualities – usually seven standard qualities - by expert sorters who can quickly and effectively recognize the difference between each cork. Qualities are determined by the number of pores, cracks, or other imperfections.
Here you can see the sorters surrounded by wicker baskets. They pick and choose the corks and throw them into the designated seven different quality baskets without even glancing up. They seldom miss their shots, even those they throw side-handed or over their shoulders!
Following these procedures the corks are washed, branded with company logos, treated with a surface coating to make insertion into and out of bottles easier and smoother, and finally sterilized and packed in hermetically sealed heavy duty poly bags which are not opened until they arrive at the bottling line.
After harvesting the cork bark off cork oak trees, the bark is gathered and placed in large piles waiting to be loaded onto trucks and transported to the processing factories. The health of the cork oaks is not effected …. The same tree can be harvested over and over again every nine years.
The bark is cut into strips by a very sharp knife. The thickness of the strips determines the length of the cork stoppers. In the above photo the strips are quite thin …. about half an inch or 12.5mm. This means the stoppers punched from these strips would be ½” or 12.5mm in length, about half the length of a standard wine cork often used on olive bottles or spice bottles.
In this picture the stoppers are being punched from the bark strips by hand, the strips are about 1-1/2” long or 38 mm. These are wine stopper corks. The operator must be very precise. After the corks are all punched out of each strip the leftover strips (those with the holes in them) are called “cork waste”. This name is misleading because in cork there is no waste. These leftover strips are later ground up and turned into cork grain. Cork grain is further processed and turned into other products such as cork floors, walls, insulating materials, bulletin boards, coasters, and much more.
Punching stoppers out of cork strips can also be done by automatic machines such as the one pictured above. This is a safer and quicker process but not as exact as hand punching.
After the cork stoppers are punched out they are sorted into various qualities – usually seven standard qualities - by expert sorters who can quickly and effectively recognize the difference between each cork. Qualities are determined by the number of pores, cracks, or other imperfections.
Here you can see the sorters surrounded by wicker baskets. They pick and choose the corks and throw them into the designated seven different quality baskets without even glancing up. They seldom miss their shots, even those they throw side-handed or over their shoulders!
Following these procedures the corks are washed, branded with company logos, treated with a surface coating to make insertion into and out of bottles easier and smoother, and finally sterilized and packed in hermetically sealed heavy duty poly bags which are not opened until they arrive at the bottling line.
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