Sneak Peek at my New Kitchen Colors

Yipee!! The painting is done.  I am loving my new kitchen colors!!

We only had a couple minor mishaps. The painters said they were done last monday, they packed up their supplies, left me a small amount of left over green and gold paint and said they had used every drop of the red.  Before they went merrily on their way they told me to leave the cabinet door open for 24 to 48 hours..... so I did,  I turned on the ceiling fan, closed the kitchen door and waited....

Finally the paint was dry and I closed the cabinet doors...... wait a minute, I don't remember standing on my tippy toes to open the doors above the sink.... what the heck... did I shrink?  Ah ha, the doors are upside down.... well damn!! I sit down at the table to look up the contractors phone #... I glanced at the cabinets and what to my wondering eyes should appear but unpainted areas under the two cabinets next to sink and the little one by the window.... now I am really upset.  Those damn painters!! And they seemed really nice to, I even talked about them doing more work for me.   The undersides are primed but not painted. Remember they ran out of red paint?.... I guess if you run out of paint that means you're done.

To make a long story short, I called the contractor to register my complaint.  The range hood was to be delivered on thursday...( that is another story!!)..... the contractor would come on friday to install the hood and "take care of the touchups" which he did, and now it is done.  I still have to hang things on the walls and put out more of my doodads... I have lots of doodads, I like doodads.... here is how it looks now.  It is so nice to cook again. There is green beans and ham hocks simmering in the pot on the stove, when they are tender I will add new red potatoes... it will be yummy!

 See the white chickens in the window, for many years they sat in my grandmothers kitchen window. I was rummaging around in the attic and found them in a box, now they are in my kitchen window.

This is my granny cabinet that sits on the wall opposite the cabinets. It is dark and dreary outside, snowing yet again, so I couldn't get a very good photo.  I have a long antique print that I want to hang over the granny cabinet. It will have to wait until Roger heals from a tendon injury in his shoulder.... poor old guy.

I collect vintage tins. My friend Pat thinks it is weird that I have old tin cans sitting all over my house.

I will get back to claying soon. I need to make outlet covers and fan pulls for my kitchen.  Thanks for stopping by.

Trying Out the New Premo Colors

I have been distracted by the work going on in the kitchen, hopefully they will be finished soon.

The older I get the more I like bright colors so I decided to do something bold in the kitchen. I have for many years wanted painted cabinets and now I do, or I will when they are done.  The walls are "Yellow Squash", The woodwork is"Green Saddle" and the cabinets are "Red Garnet".  I will take photos when everything is back together again.

I did get a little clay time in, I made a few pieces I want to show you. All the new Premo colors I have tried have been soft and sticky, much softer than the old Premo.  I like the colors but had a difficult time working with the mushy clay.  I finally mixed it with Kato Pearl which helped considerably.  I also mixed the New Premo 18K Gold Pearl  with old Premo red Pearl and got a pretty terra cotta.  I still had to add a little Kato to give it body.

Here are a couple pieces I made with it.

Here is a closer look at the plaid piece. As you can see the clay was still hard to work with, It was difficult to get clean lines. I usually put a piece of parchment paper over the top and burnish but the clay was to soft to put any pressure on it.  I did cover it with the paper and gently smoothed as best I could with my finger. 

I made a Skinner blend flower petal to make the flower piece. I made the golden background by mixing Premo gold 50/50 with Kato Pearl.  I placed the petal in a pleasing pattern, burnished the flower smooth and ran it though the pasta machine on the number 2 and number 3 settings. I then place it on layers of terra cotta red and the light gold and cut a shape I liked. I slanted the blade to get the border I wanted. I always enjoy sanding and buffing any piece that contains Pearl clay, I like the shimmer on the petals.

Here is a closer look at the flower piece.

The painters will be back tomorrow so I'm not sure how much claying I will do. I am going to work on some wire pieces tonight, maybe I will have time... and energy... to blog about them tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your comments. I would love to know how others feel about the new Premo colors and the consistency of the clay.

Polymer Clay Fairy Door and New Tin Can Art

My muse went on vacation after the February Thing A Day. I've made a few beads but nothing to write home about. I do want to show you my Fairy Door.

I am a fairly new member of the PCETeam on Etsy. This months "Stretch yourself" challenge is to create a Fairy Door. That sounded like fun so I gave it a whirl.  I made canes for the little flowers and leaves and the vine was easy enough but the little vases and bird not so easy, my "all thumbs" fingers did not want to cooperate..... and drawing that spider web  on the glass made me crazy!! I'm still not happy with it but after 20 tries I gave up..... it looks pretty good in person. So without further ado, here is my Fairy Door.

Now, what I really want to tell you about is Heather's newest creations.

We have added a new line in our Etsy shop.  Tin Can Alley Art.  Heather makes these wonderful pieces from old tins, the kind that have pretty patterns and once held candy, cookies or fruit cakes.  A lot of them have dents, scratches or rust and she has "up-cycled" or "repurposed" them into interesting works of art. She also embellishes with vintage hardware, buttons, sewing items, keys... all kinds of odds and ends.  See for yourself....

The first is a cute Owl Wall Hanging

"Circus Act" wall art piece, created inside an old wooden box.

This one is my favorite. Cat and Mouse Wall Art .... on  the bottom of an old cheese box.

 

Raven on the lid of a wooden cigar box. 

She is working on a Cow jumping over the moon that I really like too. Heather has been giving new life to old an damaged items for over 20 years.... long before recycling became such a craze.

I still want to tell you about the new Premo colors.... I haven't forgotten.  Dealing with insurance adjustors and contractors keeps getting in the way.