iseecerulean

Four original paintings and three prints, by Rebecca Hymes.

Thanks to Kat, who found her first.

Friday's rain and Saturday's snow have turned to Sunday's sleet.  Ester and I are still cuddled up on the couch, sewing.

I read somewhere to use aluminum foil as quilt batting so it will hold whatever shape you'd like.  I used four layers.  It works great.

While the storm is doing its thing Ester and I are doing this...

and this...

 The floor plan I plotted for this build has the kitchen cabinetry corner removable and set back half an inch in depth from the main walls.  I designed it that way so that I would have access for my hands, and for a camera, to the inside of the build.

I'm now wondering if that's necessary.

If I don't glue in the windows I can reach through those openings, like I did with the Mobile Studio build.

I'm also wondering if I can hinge the roof to have multiple sections open.  The two ends on the kitchen side and the middle on the bedroom side.

Thoughts?

The copper cabinet hardware I selected yesterday didn't appeal to me today.  I want to showcase copper pots in this kitchen, and thought copper hardware would be...competitive?  distracting?  matchy-matchy?  I installed silver hardware instead.

In the background, in the jig, is the countertop assembly, behind that, compressed in the clamps, is the kitchen sink.

While I was waiting for glue to dry I played with a copper pot.  The notion of discoloring with heat was still piquing my interest.

The handles on this pot have always troubled me; they're unrealistic.  I tapered the ends with a file....much better.

Then I got out a new candle....cranberry sparkle....Susan sent it to me a few years ago in an October box.  It was in a colored cellophane bag with, surprise, lots of pink glitter.  Now my studio sparkles.  (I hear you snickering, Susan.)

Heating the pot didn't do a thing.  Then it occurred to me, since it wasn't tarnished, it obviously had a protective coating that needed to be removed.

Sanded and heating....

The glitter sparked countertop finish ideas so while the pot was cooking I continued to play...

My results were not appealing.  I've ideas for improvement, but not the interest to continue on with this experiment.

This is what the copper pot looked like after I took it off the heat, next to another clean pot.  Um....hmmm....did I make a mistake?

It looks gorgeous after being wiped down. Yay! It's more distressed than I intended, but I did leave it over the flame for quite a while.

I was going to discolor the bottom of the other pot, just a bit, but when I started sanding I discovered it's only copper plated, so I ceased monkeying.

Now that playtime is over and the glue has dried let's make sure the countertop and sink fit before I start painting. 

Oh, thank goodness.  I do need to fuss with the sink hole a smidge to square it up, but that's easy enough.   Not tonight though, I've got some out-of-the-studio tasks to get accomplished.

I extended the base to the right length, I'll hide the seam under a cabinet door.

I'm planning to use some lovely veneer Nancy gave me for the cabinet doors.  I need to pick a color to stain the base behind them...

Latte.  Definitely Latte.

I ordered stove and extractor fan kits from ELF Miniatures for this build, and added a kitchen cart kit to my order on a whim.  I'm glad I did, it's the perfect place to display one of Charlene's estate pieces, a copper stock pot. 

Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?

Teapot by Jason Feltrope, mugs by April Wright, blueberry muffins by Liz Brown, owl trivet by Pierluigi Pirovano, towel by Carrie Lavender.

You probably noticed that the right front leg is too short.  I need to pull the top off today to tinker with the legs, obviously I didn't have that one lined up correctly when I glued them on.  Oh...it's more likely I was too exuberant when I sanded paint off the top.

When I first got the copper pot I was going to wash it, it was very dusty and dirty, with what appear to be fingerprint whorls etched into the copper.  I did wipe the dust off, but am going to leave the 'patina' alone, it gives it character and makes it look used.  I'm afraid if I make it shiny it would look fake.  I wonder though, if I can heat discolor the bottom a bit...hmm...probably best not to monkey with it.

I wanted a different look for the top of the cart, a thick cutting board, so I made my own from cross grain slices of a scrap of pine with great knots.