The inspiration. Everyone always asks One Eighty Design founder Tammy Roy where all the stuff comes from. "Sourcing is a huge part of the process," she admits, "and can be SUCH a treasure hunt." Tammy works with various steel manufacturers and collects their waste and scrap pieces that inspire her. "And, yes," she says, "there have been more than a few raised eyebrows upon my requests of rummaging through their dumpsters!"

Tammy's favorite finds come from mountains of twisted and mangled steel at the local scrap yard. "I could spend hours searching and plucking pieces of rebar and rusted machinery. I never know what I'm going to come across and, as a result, I never know what it will ultimately transform into. But the process is completely intoxicating and I can't imagine doing anything else."

Tammy's mantra. Stay centered with God, keep balance in your life, and use your gifts.

More about Tammy. Tammy was raised in Stratford, WI--population 1523. Her parents were, and still are, workaholics who owned several several small businesses including a repair shop, school bus company, gas station, car wash, and the list goes on.

"Needless to say, my brother and I were forced into slave labor at a very young age and worked in the family business." We love Tammy's sense of humor. While her background is graphic design, her interest in creating things out of metal, especially reclaimed metal, stems from her mom's "hobby" of rummaging through industrial dumpsters and scrapyards.

She learned a lot from her mom, who is the "ultimate dumpster diver" and also a recycle-based artist. And, unlike most mothers and daughters, you find see them in the malls, but instead pulling scraps of steel from salvage yards!

After a few welding lessons from her dad, One Eighty was launched and soon bowls and home accessory items started to fill the shop.