Kitchen Progress 3

The entire background structure and all the cabinet units for my kitchen are complete. I made the hutch part and the long lower unit removable because I can image using them in other situations. If you want to check out all the progress updates on the kitchen you can go here and here.

What do you think? I'm thrilled!!!

I have more pictures on my flickr site.

I spent hours looking at craftsman color options and I'm really happy with this combo. I think I'm going to try to share all my inspiration images soon. The research was one of the funnest parts of this whole project.

I know the picture in the window isn't to scale, I just clipped it from a magazine, but it gives you an idea of how the window is going to work. I also promised to show how all the "glass" could be frosted instead of stained or clear. So fun and versatile, I love it.

The back splash and counter tops are a slate laminate peel and tick tile. I was able to buy one tile at Home Depot for $1.08, how's that for "bang for the buck"?

The "wallpaper" on the hutch section is from a scrapbook sheet. I scanned the sheet and reduced the image so that the scale worked for my kitchen. I think it adds the perfect whimsical element to the kitchen. The kitchen was getting a little too serious for me.

This picture gives you a better idea of how the structure works. I haven't cut the window in this picture, but I think you get the idea.


And I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I just can't help myself. I'm in love with my "knobs" on the cabinets. They are a tiny brad by Making Memories, with a tiny square element, I found in the 1.00 bin at Micheal's, glued on top. I fully opened the brad so they looked a little more substantial. I think they really give the kitchen the Craftsman feeling I'm going for.


And now I can get down to the fun business of decorating this great kitchen. And to get a jump start on the decorating I made these little baskets to go in the shelves, on the hutch, aren't they sweet?


And speaking of sweet, the sweet treats in the picture above the baskets, are from Kelly, aka tencats, they are so real looking, you just want to pop them in your mouth.

Well the sink is ready, it will be an above counter sink, the hardware just needs a repaint and I'll be happy with it. I also have to build the butcher block table I've mentioned before, but that is on hold until I can decide on a leg. So in in the mean time I'm happy to start decorating, Woo Hoo!!

The Queen of Hearts

I was able to spend some time in my studio today and I'm thrilled with the results. I finished the "Queen of Hearts" crown. You can find more info on this crown's progress in this past post.

Here it is, WooHoo!!

This did not come out of the kiln as nicely as "Wind Swept". I had to make some minor repairs, BooHoo. But all these repairs went extremely smoothly. And I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This is how the crown went into the kiln.

And this is how it came out, Whaa!!!
Repairs done, Yippee!!

"Queen of Hearts" has ruby briolettes, Swarovski Crystal briolettes and 2.5mm to 4mm crystals in every red color I could get my hands on. They all work wonderfully together to create as much sparkle as I could have wanted on this crown.



I'm hoping to spend some time working on "Wind Swept" tomorrow. I got my bezel cups and I'm ready to solder, solder, solder.

Kitchen Progress

I find it really funny that I'm making a kitchen. I don't use my real kitchen, but I'm making one, how ironic. Any whoooooo....I've made some real progress on the kitchen, so I wanted to share.

All the cabinets are made.

Almost all the cabinet doors and drawers work. I just couldn't help myself.

The stained glass can be changed out, if and when I get bored, if I want another color scheme, or it can all just be frosted glass. I'll show that option in the next progress shots.

Now all I need to do is pick out wall paper, decide to wainscot or not, make the kick boards for under the cabinets, pick a counter top material, make a counter top, add trim, cut window, attache everything, landscape outside the window, and oh ya, build a butcher block table I can't get out of my head....and the list goes on and on. But I'll get there, one little piece of progress at a time.

Do you ever have one of those days....

...when you think, "I just shouldn't have gotten out of bed today"? Well that's the day I had yesterday. I was going to spend the whole day working on my Wind Swept and Queen of Hearts crowns, only to discover I was out of 4mm bezel cups. No problem, I'll just pop downtown and get some. Two hours and many miles later, it turns out you can't buy a silver bezel cup in the jewelry district in down town LA. WHAT!! Amazing but true. Did I mention that it was boiling out and all those miles were on foot?

The trip wasn't a complete loss, I popped over to the garment district, and got some wonderful trim you'll see in a future project.

I'd hoped to have a lot more progress to show, but at least I have this to share. I hope you enjoy.


I'm pretty sure this will be a double crown, it can be worn backwards or forwards. I really like to do this, if I can. Sometimes, I make them so they can be worn upside down and right side up, but for this one, the back will be a second front, so here's the back.

I feel like the asymmetry really held up when the crown was bent round. And the PMC pro bent beautifully. I love the tall simple back in comparison to the swirling front. It all seems to work together really well. I'm so happy.

You'll have to imagine the Peridot, Adventurine, Moonstone, and Amethyst stones sprinkled throughout the crown, because you can't buy a silver bezel cup in the Jewelry District, the Jewelry District. I could've bought a diamond the size of my fist but I can't buy a silver bezel cup. Okay, okay, sorry, rant over.

Queen of Hearts has some issues that I decided my luck was not up to yesterday. But I'll tackle them soon and show an update on the Queen of Hearts, maybe next week.

Oh and by the way, I also melted a ring in the kiln that I've been working on for about two weeks. I just shouldn't have gotten out of bed yesterday.