Wednesday, January 15, 2014

A New Start to an Old Blog


This year, I plan to WILL publish more posts on my blog. I have been busy since my last post. For a long time I kept thinking, "I don't want to stop what I am doing long enough to type out a blog", but I have recently changed my perspective on that view. I need to slow down a bit. I don't mean slow down as in, not do as much. I mean slow down enough to enjoy and document the things I am doing, so I can enjoy them over and over. 

I have been learning a lot about myself in the past year-and-a-half. One thing I've learned is that I am a "fixer" and a "maker".  If something isn't working well or at all, I want to figure out how to "fix" it (which isn't always what is needed, I've learned). I like being an architect, I like being a potter, I like being a wife and mother, and I love to create and make things. It is so exciting to me to come up with an idea for something, create/design it, and build/make it, but only when it is a unique design. I will share some of these ideas, designs, and creations as this year goes along. 

Project One - Handmade Kitchen Light Fixtures

First I want to show you the light fixtures I designed and created for my newly remodeled kitchen that I blogged about in 2012. I cannot believe it has been that long. However, I have also learned that my ideas/designs, and creations don't usually come to me at lightening speed, and sometimes, they go through numerous generations before I am happy with the final product (just like in designing a building). 

This pendant hangs above my kitchen sink. It is make of wheel-thrown and altered pottery that I made, and the electrical parts were from a kit that I purchased at Lowe's (one of my favorite stores) that can be screwed into an existing "can" light fixture.



This chandelier hangs above my kitchen table. It is made up of 4 separate smaller pieces of  my pottery, and the electrical parts were from an old brass chandelier that a friend gave to me. I painted it a matte white, rewired it, and added the chrome chain parts to attach my pottery pieces.




I made two of these chandeliers to hang above my kitchen island. They are each made up of 5 separate pieces of pottery with the larger piece in the center, two medium and two smaller pieces surrounding the larger one. I wired these up and they are hanging from pieces of cable which is connected to the old fixture plates at the ceiling that I spray-painted with a satin nickel paint.



I'm quite proud of these babies. I will work on taking better pics for my posts.

Thanks for reading! Be well.

Patty




Monday, April 23, 2012

It has been quite some time since my last post, and a lot has happened since then. I spent a few days on Kiawah Island, SC with my family for Spring Break. See pics below. The gator was pretty large, and her babies were sunning next to her at Night Heron Park on the island.



Also, I had some oral surgery, which took a couple of weeks to really get over. The kitchen reno is almost complete. Still need to finish some painting and a little electrical work. I need the electrician to come back to install some outlets behind my computer, so the wires aren't coming out the front of my new "office".  As you can see in the pics, a lot of the work was done on the inside of the existing cabinets to "organize" my "stuff", so the kitchen works more efficiently. The doors on my desk area are pocket doors to hide my computer and printer when I'm not using them.  I'm very excited about the new digs, and thankful to my friend Pam Harmon for leading me through it and coming up with her unique and creative ideas (as usual).








Monday, February 27, 2012


Kitchen makeover still in progress. This is my new dressed up island. Today, I puttied, sanded, and caulked the entire thing. Not used to crawling around in the floor that long. My back aches, but it's looking great. If you ever need anything done or built around your house, Henry Cochran is your man. He and I built this last week. Then, on Saturday, we built the refrigerator surround. He does fantastic work. Ready for paint now. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

You just can't find good help these days. Otto's version of helping me strip my 1999 kitchen wallpaper. It looked good then. Now...not so much. I hear wallpaper is coming back, but not yet for this girl!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Wow! Exciting! My first blog post. I just wanted to keep a record of and be able to quickly share the things I have been doing/creating. In this first post, I am showing a pic of the light fixture that I made for my Aunt Mary's new kitchen renovation. It is now hanging over her kitchen sink.

Also, I have been making a quilt for Garrett's 5th grade class to donate to the Sequoyah Elementary Foundation Benefit for auction on March 2, 2012. My wonderful Mom has been helping me..."the Quilting Guru". She's a-maz-ing! First, I had all of the kids in the class make their handprints on an 8X8 piece of white fabric using fabric paint. Then, they could embellish and sign them. After they dried, my Mom and I sewed them together with fabric that had colors that coordinated with the handprint colors. This pic shows where we are now. The quilt layers have been put together and mostly quilted. Next, we will put the binding on, and it will be finished!