What to do with a pile of rocks.....

Have you ever looked at a pile of rocks and wondered what to do with them? Let me tell you right now, I do it every day.

You see I love working with rock. More importantly I love building walls out of rock. I have great equipment at my disposal to take a pile of boulders like you see here in this picture and transform it into a beautiful wall. 

It may seem as if I am tooting my own horn here just a bit, but I really do feel as if I have an eye for placing boulders in just the right way to create a wall of rock that appears to have been there for hundreds of years. 

With the my equipment I can take a pile of rocks like this and turn into a wall like that in just shy of 4 hours. Yep that's right 4 hours later we were raking in the finishing touches. So don't think that it will cost an arm and a leg and take a week to complete. With clean up and reloading the equipment we were in and out in just over 6 hours and the customer was ecstatic that his bill came in under $2000.00. Plus we graded out his driveway just because we had some time to kill. Have a super day and I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

Monte Tareski
Cascading Creations

Check out our whole portfolio

Water Features for sale....

Have you ever wanted a water feature?

I know lots of people who do. Imagine that....I build them for a living.

Here are some of the myth's surrounding water features.

1. They are expensive
2. They are hard to maintain
3. You have to tear up your whole yard to install one
4. They only Last a couple of years and then.....

Let me dispel those myth's by telling you

1. Not with us: Usually we can install a 4 tier water fall up to 30 ft long for under $3500.00
2. Not Ours: We design our water features to be low maintainance. No need to call us back for "Winterizing"
3. We Don't: We have modern specialized equipment that does virtually no damage to existing yard. We can work in a 20' area quite nicely.
4. Not these: The materials we use in our water feature installs are top of the line. We DO NOT cut corners to bring you a less expensive end result.

Ok...So here is the deal. I have found that we can generally install a complete water feature in about 8 to 10 hours. We charge accordingly and do not "milk" the job. If you get a quote for a water feature that is over $5000.00 you should really look at why it is so much. Like I said ours are consistently running between $3000.00-$4000.00 using top shelf materials. If in the bid process they say it will take a week to install the feature.....you may want to take a look at that too. Unless you have a massive project their should be no reason for massive costs. Information is king. Have a fantastic day!

Check out our Water Feature page on our website
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Monte Tareski
Cascading Creations

Geting it done with the right equipment

My father was a brilliant man. He told me when I first started my business back in 2005 that you can't do today's work with yesterday's equipment and be in business tomorrow. That is why we spent the money to get modern equipment for the work we do. Whether we are building a retaining wall, sculpting a hill for a water feature or cleaning up your property. We have the equipment to get the job done. Come check out our website to see what we mean!

A repost from The Spokesman Review.

 Too often, women who love to spend hours looking at vintage items at a flea market or in an antique mall do it entirely on their own or they go with a group of friends. They wouldn't think of having a husband around.
    This is definitely not the case with Kelly and Monte Tareski. The couple, who own Cascading Creations, share more than a business. They share a love of junking that has found an important place in their relationship.

    "I have always had a passion for the weathered and worn out item," Kelly told me.  "As a child, I remember going to the Southern California flea markets and spending all day digging, hunting for the perfect piece of junk and at a young age being able to negotiate the 'right price.'"

    Eventually, Tareski wanted more than just fun. She wanted to make a career out of rescuing and re-imagining vintage items. Fortunately, her husband shared that desire.

    "Just in the past couple of years I have had the opportunity to turn that passion into a business. With Monte's passion for the same, it makes it very easy to go treasure hunting and we have so much fun together," she says. "One of our favorites is when we get the call to go 'pick' at an old homestead."

    Transforming a building on the grounds of their Airway Heights stone business, Tareski turned her new project, GardenStone Creations into an appealing and popular place for shoppers. She was able to find a way to combine her love of the hunt, with a desire to own a unique business.

    What came about is an outlet for local artists, artisans and creative types.

    "I am a huge supporter of local artisans and the buy-local movement," Tareski says. "I am proud to say that I have my shop 80 percent stocked at this time with local merchandise from local businesses and artisans. I'm working towards 100 percent."

    But, once a treasure hunter, always a treasure hunter. As proud as Tareski is to have started a business and carved a successful niche in the competitive antiques and vintage market in a relatively short time, what matters the most is spending time with her husband and having something positive and productive to show for it.

     "We not only love the hunt, but getting to hear the stories behind the treasures we find," she says. "Then we love retelling those stories to our customers who purchase the items."

Harvest Treasures
Saturday, August 14 at GardenStone Creations in Airway Heights, Kelly Tareski will present Harvest Treasures, an event featuring hand-picked vendors selling antiques, hand-made crafts and one-of-a-kind items.
Here are the details: For more information call 509.244.0900
Where: 1515 S. Lyons Rd, Airway Heights
When: Saturday, August 14

 

Address: 1515 S. Lyons, Airway Heights, WA
Phone: (509) 244-0900
Website:
www.cascadingcreations.com

 
 

Little did Monte Tareski know one purchase would yield a new business venture, but that's exactly what occurred almost five years ago.  As an owner of a landscaping business, Monte brought home a business sign engraved in rock, and when his wife Kelly saw the sticker price, she was determined to learn how to engrave.  The result was a dynamic second family business called Gardenstone Creations, a 4,500 sq. ft. country store featuring her engraved stones along with clever, fun, and unique handcrafted items from artists throughout the Northwest. 
 
Offering a personalized touch, Gardenstone Creations' customers choose their own decorative rocks from over three acres.  Moms and dads appreciate four-legged friends like Lavern & Shirley, the business's eco-friendly weed control goats, who entertain the kids while they shop.  For their Facebook Fans, they offer occasional Free Mocha Mondays, treasure hunts, and other fun specials. 
 
The Tareskis, both born and raised in Spokane, are deeply committed to supporting their local community and it shows.  From matching funds to building an outdoor classroom for Nine Mile Falls Elementary to actively engaging and advocating the community's Buy Local program, they go above and beyond to support other businesses, education, and nonprofit organizations. 
 
Several times a year they host Girls Night Out giving the opportunity for local artists to showcase their work while providing family-friendly activities, door prizes, and games.  Over 300 attended the first event.  Due to the success and requests for a full-day event, Harvest Treasures was born and the inaugural event on Saturday, August 14th from 9 am to 5 pm will feature local artists and small businesses.
 
So if you are looking for unique gifts and Northwest artisans, look no further.  Visit Gardenstone Creations in Airway Heights, and be sure to grab a cup of joe at their coffee bar, feed the goats, and introduce yourself to Monte and Kelly.  

Mermaids of The Lake and GardenStone

Well then. We have been asked to write an article for The Mermaids of the Lake on outdoor living. The way I see it, that is what I do for a living is bringing the indoors outside. We create living space outdoors, so it only made sense to write about what we know.

In our many adventures around the Northwest we hike, hike, and then hike some more. One of our favorite hikes is up streams; literally we walk up the stream as far as we are able, soaking in all of what nature has put in our path. We sit as a family and listen, breathe and just “B”, at one with the surroundings, at one with the water and most importantly at one with nature.

This can be recreated in a smaller scale in one’s back yard, transforming a once flat ground or fence line into an oasis of serenity. The soothing sounds and calming effects of water are endless in their ability to transform your day from hectic to holistic in mere moments. A cup of coffee, a laptop and a rock patio while sitting next to a flowing stream will invigorate beyond what can be written on paper.

For those of you that have had the pleasure of camping by a stream, far from anyone but your family, you will remember waking before anyone else, starting the campfire and just listening to the sounds around you. This amazing experience can be yours daily, a crisp August morning mingling with the sounds of nature is an unrivaled by anything but what is found in backwoods of the Northwest.

Add now, if you will, a rockscape made to look like a path hammered out of stone by hundreds of years of wildlife walking to get their morning spell of sustenance. Here is where you place your outdoor lounge, surrounded by seating boulders that ring a campfire pit. Now you have taken an outdoor paradise and moved it to the realm of entertainment. No television, no traffic, just friends and family sitting with you and enjoying a meal of skewered meat cooked over an open campfire. What do you do next, you ask yourself. Here is an idea. Run into the house; grab the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate, and in this day of text, email and meals from a box, you share, live, love and laugh. What a wonderful way to spend an evening! All in your own back yard. If you enjoy entertaining, you now have become a gathering place of the neighborhood.

You may, at this point, be asking yourself, what do you do with a big pile of rocks? Well here is where the backyard owner can get really creative. Boulders beg for color, do they not? Let your creativity be your guide. Flowering succulents need little attention and are great for adding a splash of color amongst their hard pan neighbors. Now how about a little movement? Tall growing prairie grasses can, in the slightest of breezes, create an illusion of grandeur in the smallest of spaces. Creative seating colors can be an amazing addition to any set of outdoor furniture

Now bring the wildlife I say! Well placed humming bird feeders made from glass sculptures will be sure to attract those amazing aviary delights. A well placed birdbath stone will attract more of the feathered fare. And yet another well placed bird feeder metal sculpture will bring the rest.

For those of you who have not had the experience of feeding a school of Koi, a properly designed pond at the base of your waterfalls will give you countless hours of relaxation, and wonder, as you feed a small group of red and white marvels that depend on you daily. You will soon find that you will become dependent on them as well!

So what are you ready for? No matter how small or large your backyard space is, it can be transformed. With a little creativity and a budget no bigger than a new hot tub, you can create a small rapture for yourself and your loved ones that can rival a million dollar estate. Many times I have asked customers that have a hot tub, “How many times a week do you use your spa”? Invariably the answer is once or twice a week. How many times a week do you feel you would escape the hectic pace of life by stepping into your own back yard retreat? I’m just sayin’………

GardenStone is a Semi-Finalist for the AGORA Award

See the announcement here. Each year Greater Spokane Incorporated grants the AGORA Award for business excellence in the Inland Northwest. This year, Greater Spokane Incorporated took a particular look at businesses that demonstrated community leadership in the face of tumultuous economic times.

GardenStone is proud to be a semi-finalist in the small business category, along with seven other businesses. We don’t think it’s assuming too much to say that al the nominees share a deep appreciation for Spokane and the Inland Northwest and hope that our work improves its citizens’ quality of life, provide needed products and services, and inject fresh growth into the local economy.

We founded GardenStone Creations because we wanted a business that not only met financial targets, but did so in a way that kept in touch with community around us. That doesn’t mean we’ve ignored opportunities further afield. Far from that! We sell personalized engraved stones and home décor online to virtually anyone able to reach our site and place an order. We have an active presence on Twitter and Facebook (where we can always use more followers and fans!) along with this blog. We can reach the world – but we care about our neighbors.

That’s why the heart of our business is our Airway Heights store, and why that store carries a selection of arts and crafts from local artisans, including consignment pieces. It’s why we organize community events such as the Girls Night Out Spring Fling and have added a café to GardenStone. We want our business to be a true community fixture, where people come to not only look through engravings, arts and crafts, but to get a sense of the neighborhood’s “pulse.” This generates good will and repeat business for us, but it’s also a way of giving thanks to a community that has always been generous to use, both on the GardenStone side and to our sibling business, Cascading Creations.

The award ceremony is June 2^nd. It would be an honor to win, but we’re pleased just to be in the running beside other excellent, conscientious businesses. We’re gratified someone has noticed our mission in action and we hope it’s made a positive difference to the Greater Spokane community.