Charity

Because Crafty Kitchen is a small operation, we have the flexibility to push new ideas through the prototyping phase right to production. It's one of the great things about working here. If we've got an idea, it can be realized even on the same day...as long as our day jobs don't interfere.

That was the case with these cat beds. They are the happy marriage of one unwanted, unloved Christmas gift sweater and some beautiful leftover Polartec fleece. I cut the front from the back of the sweater and cut them roughly into two squares. Then I sewed them to a matching piece of fleece. Voila! Two beautiful, snuggly, plush cat beds.

As you can see, Grammar is a fan.

In the spirit of the season, the beds are going to be donated to the Toronto Humane Society, along with two others I made of more fleece I had left over from making Christmas presents.

One past-its-best-before date sweater: $30 (?)
Leftover fleece and thread: $5
Making a litter of kittens and their mom more comfortable: priceless.

Reincarnation

Yes, here are Bari's beautiful bathroom tiles again—in a cutting board I made Stacey for Christmas. Paul had a cool idea: instead of storing it somewhere out of sight when they're not using it, he suggested hanging it on the kitchen wall. I love this idea! And it'll look great in their kitchen.

Care and feeding: for my cutting boards and any other wood-based mosaics, never dunk them in the sink to clean them. This will cause the wood to expand or warp and can crack the grout and make the tiles pop off. Just wipe with a damp cloth. I did put a sealant on the grout, so it shouldn't absorb stains from food or wine, but just to be safe, clean up any spills before you put it away. I know...nag, nag, nag. ;)

Jingle bells

These are a few mirrors I made for Christmas presents this year. They're about six by six, and an inch and a half thick, with copper edging. They're made with mosaic tiles, which are 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch, and here I've cut them into smaller pieces. I started a few similar mirrors today using stained glass. They're not quite finished, but they're beautiful already. Stained glass is great to work with—it comes in so many colours and textures, and you get such a nice, flat surface. I'll post pictures when they're finished.

Just say no

My mother-in-law, who for purposes of anonymity shall be known as L, recently had a bit of an adventure at the grocery store.

After dropping husband J off at a bar for a few drinks with his friends, L stops first at Wal-Mart, then heads to the grocery store. At the checkout, when she reaches for her wallet, she notices a small plastic bag nestled in her purse. The little gears turn quickly in her head, and having watched enough TV to know what usually comes in small plastic sandwich baggies, she surmises that what she has on her hands is a bag of marijuana. Someone has planted a dimebag in her purse. A Christmas miracle for you or I, perhaps, but genuine cause for concern for a small-town gal innocently doing her shopping. Oh, what I would pay to have been the cashier to witness the shocked, unconvincing, quickly summoned poker face that no doubt settled onto her visage.

L quickly pays for her groceries, scoots with her cart out to the parking lot, loads her shopping bags, climbs in, locks the doors and speeds off, convinced that she's being followed. She stops to collect J from the bar--for protection. They arrive home and lock the doors.

Never having actually seen marijuana (so she claims), L proceeds to methodically check the contents of her dimebag against the spices in her spice rack, looking earnestly for a match, not wanting to believe. Could it be tarragon? Nope. Oregano? No. Parsley? Sage? Rosemary? Thyme? Not a chance.

J, being the rational thinker that he is, suggests that they just 'get rid of it.' Starting to sound like The Sopranos here. Of course. What else do you do when you find a quantity of drugs that isn't yours on your person? Same thing you do when you find a dead body: you 'get rid of it.' L refuses, saying she needs to 'sleep on it.' I believe that she actually did probably sleep on top of the weed, with one eye open. In the morning, L decides that the proper thing to do is turn it in to the police. So, off she goes with her dimebag to the police station. She files a report with a very unconcerned officer, who is no doubt thinking, 'Sure, lady. Just found it in your purse at the grocery store? Had a bad trip, eh? Sworn off the funny stuff? Sure, whatever, but we'll take it off your hands for you.' (The police department probably already has a file on her anyway, from her crank calls to 911--yet another story.)

So, security is a little tighter at J&L's house now. No more unlocked doors during the day. L is probably expecting a strange, scruffy man to appear at the door, murmuring shiftily, 'Mrs. L, you have something that doesn't belong to you, and I'd like it back--or else.' or some such.

Geez, the things that lie just below the surface in these little towns. I'm so thankful we live in a safe city like Toronto.

Aladdin's lamp

Prototype Syndrome Case #2: This was the first lamp I made, and it was Cheryl’s Christmas present last year (geez, I make Cheryl a lot of stuff! I guess you could say she’s my patron). It is made of glass mosaic tiles on an IKEA glass lamp base. When the lamp is turned off, the tiles look dark purple (they have gold veins in them. they’re delicious) and they look all sparkly nestled in the grey grout. But when the lamp is turned on, the tiles have a reddish tinge to them and the blue backing on the gold tiles shines through, and it looks sort of eerie—kind of like a cave. It was tricky to get the grout just right, and thick enough that the light from inside can’t shine through. It’s a weird piece, but so is Cheryl.

A mosaic quilt table mat? Wha?

And this is a table mat I made for David. It looks nice on his dark-wood dining table. The design is based on a quilt square. It's made of glass mosaic tiles with tiny accent squares of real gold, gold, gold. It's done on a piece of plywood, which I did not have to cut by hand. If I were to attempt a quilt square design again, I would put some sort of contrasting-colour border between the squares to delineate them and make them look more like individual squares, rather than a funny design that got out of control. But it looks very professional: nice grout job, good colours, red wine-repelling (very useful at David's house).

Three's company

I made this trio of mirrors as a wedding present. They're about six inches by six inches, and about an inch and a half thick, with thin copper around the edges. They look lovely hanging in a group.

Just to give you a little inside track on some of the weird stuff that happens in the Crafty Kitchen: I had to saw the wood by hand on the kitchen table, using a mitre box and a little hacksaw. Not exactly ideal, but you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might like to have, right? They turned out nicely anyway.

The Prototype Syndrome

Cheryl can tell you that usually the first time I attempt to make something, it turns out the best. I'm calling this the Prototype Syndrome. And Cheryl can model for you a very nice prototype hat, wrap and shoulder bag I made. I appreciate her guinea piggedness.

This was the first time I used smashed-up plates in a mosaic, and my first attempt at a bowl. It's one of my very favourite pieces; I still have it.

So if you want a really nice piece, just ask me to make something I haven't attempted before! It'll turn out nice for sure!

Oooohhh! Exhibit #1

I made this trivet/serving platter as a gift for Bari to thank her for the gorgeous retro tiles she gave me (one of which is in the centre of the trivet). Her cottage bathroom is tiled in them and she had been storing two baskets of extra tiles (for how long?!) just in case she needed them. It has square rubber feet so it's easy to get your fingers underneath to pick it up, and it won't scratch your table. I like it a lot.

OK, I have a blog. Now what?

Oh, great. Just what I need, a new hobby.

Crafty Kitchen is named in fond remembrance of our kitchen, where we used to be able to prepare food before it was repurposed as a craft factory. We live in a small apartment. Therefore, we lack what in the '70s was commonly and quaintly referred to as a rec room.

In the Crafty Kitchen, I make mosaics and I sew. And I'd like to use this blog to promote the stuff I make, with the hope of eventually selling some of it and starting a small business. Because, simply, I like to make things. And because we do live in a small space, we can't possibly keep all the things I make.

So that's where you come in. I'll be posting photos of mosaics and sewing projects I'm working on, as well as general musings and photos of other staffers here at the Crafty Kitchen. There's one already posted below.

So don't be shy. Go ahead and add a comment. Even you moms, honourary moms, aunts and other techno-hesitant folk. It's really easy. And that's the point of a blog, right?

More to come soon, with photos.

So sleepy...

A sleepy Crafty Kitchen staffer.

first post

testing...