Stair rails

I used Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Dark Base Satin Cabinet Paint (tinted "Rustic") to change my builder grade Oak stair rails. Here's the "before".

Here's how they looked after the base paint was on.

Here's how they looked after the glaze and protective coat were finished: 

 The project took me about 30 hours or so. First you have to clean dirt/grease/whatever off the rails, spindles and base plate. Then you scrub the deglosser on, then wipe it off twice. Then you paint on the base color, two coats. Dont get discouraged at the appearance until after you've put on the glaze! The paint color itself was kinda cheesy, but once the dark glaze had been applied and wiped off, they looked amazing. Then you apply the protective coat. Lots of awkward work and very tedious to get in all the round crevices, but it is absolutely gorgeous and matches my cherry floors wonderfully. Totally worth it.

Battlestar Galactica - Eye of Jupiter

The other day I was inspired to make this necklace and earring set, which is based on the "Eye of Jupiter" mandala from Battlestar Galactica.

Adria's Necklace from Stargate SG-1 Ark of Truth

Y'all know I'm a fan of Stargate SG-1. We pre-ordered the new movie "Ark of Truth" months ago, and watched it pretty quickly after it finally came in the mail. I loved Adria's costumes, and in particular her necklace (click for image). So I created a necklace inspired by that costume:

Though I made it more feminine by adding an edging; and I used materials I had on hand instead of trying to match them perfectly, I think it came out very nicely. Everyone that's tried it on loved it too. I listed it in my Etsy store, and my mom promptly bought it. This post has gotten a few hits since then...if you are interested in me making you a necklace like this, you can go to my Etsy store and "Request Custom Item".

Happy Anniversary!

This past weekend I spent a great deal of time lounging around watching TV. Movies like The Marine (DISH gave it 1.5 stars, I'd give it 3 or so), Kuffs (I think DISH gave it 3 stars and that's about right), and some other stuff that doesn't come to mind right now. While watching movies, I engaged in my new TV-hobby, making jewelry, all of which is available for you to own via my Etsy store. Here's what I created this weekend:

This one is a beautiful emerald green and gold lotus bud necklace with earrings.
This is a light blue, dark blue, and gold broad collar, with papyrus umbrel design earrings.
This one is a gorgeous lotus bud necklace in silver-tone with copper-colored and pink gold colored beads. The description sounds kinda funny, but its a really pretty necklace in person. I need to learn how to use my camera better so that I can get even more accurate colors out of it.
This offering had been just a necklace. I added a set of lotus blossom design earrings and got a better photo too.

The first snowfall of the season fell gently today. There were two male cardinals scratching around for food (only one seen here). I gave them directions to SleepyBeth.com for a good feeder.

Being Crafty

Well, I've added a new TV-time craft to my list. I dislike watching TV whilst doing nothing... I prefer my hands be busy with some craft. Currently I'm trying to finish quilting the quilt that my mother started in 1974. I hope to finish it this year. But I also recently rediscovered a necklace that I had made from a kit from a museum. It is a beautiful Egyptian collar, and I found it very inspirational. I ordered a bunch of Czech glass beads from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads and started creating necklaces. These are now for sale in my brand new Etsy shop.

Final pots

Finally, here (and the next post down) are the last of the pots I threw during the pottery class. The last week was tiring, throwing all of these, so they're not all that perfect ... some were not centered well, so they are not level or terribly round. But I was trying to use up the last of the bag of clay that I bought, so I just pushed on through. Then, the firing didn't go perfectly ... my glaze was a bit lumpy from drying out a bit, so it appears that the firing caused some of the glaze to flake off in spots. So most of these pots have little spots that have no glaze. Disappointing, but I'll get over it.

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Final batch of pots from pottery class

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Photo limit?

Huh, is there a limit to how many photos you can have in one post?

Latest arrivals

Here is the next set of my finished pottery. There's one more set of about 6 that I picked up today... they have been bisque fired, and now I need to glaze them.

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Results at Last!

First, a brief note that today's Mega Sudoku at WashingtonPost is an easy 3-star. I completed it in 10 min 27 seconds.

And now, without further ado, I finally have some things to show you from my weeks of pottery classes!







Another one:




Another one:


Another one:


The first pot I threw: