Basement: Studio

As you all know (maybe...maybe not...but now you do!), I love pottery. Last year, I took the plunge and bought myself a used wheel and kiln. They were previously owned by a little old lady who bought them brand new, so needless to say, they were well taken care of.  I was able to start making things before we sold our house in Scappoose, but was never able to fire anything.  When we moved in with Dad and Mom H, they were stored away (along with all my unfired work).  It wasn't until recently that I claimed my part of the basement to set them up, clean them up, and get them ready for use again!  I'm super excited to start practicing again!!

I love making ("throwing") pots on my humble little wheel. Ain't she a cutie!! She is SO old-school, and not as fast as her brand-new brothers and sisters, but I love her!

Here's my other bestie, my kiln - Mr. Kilny. I haven't used him yet - and to be quite honest I'm a little bit afraid to use him. BUT I went to Georgies on Saturday and talked to the super nice experts there and feel a little better about the whole thing. My first firing will be quite an experience (and hopefully Mr. Kilny doesn't fail me), I am sure!

At Georgies, I bought some new pyrometric cones. I had to get junior cones (for the kiln-sitter) and senior (or "witness") cones. These bad boys help me monitor the temperature my kiln is at. If you REALLY want to know more about the whole cone/firing process, go here to get schooled.

I also bought 25 pounds of clay. Really, that is not a lot, even though it sounds like a lot.  Depending on what you make, you can make a lot or a little with 25 pounds. I buy a clay called "Trail Mix".  One of these days, I'm going to try out the red version of this clay - that will be fun!

Because I had to transport my work UNFIRED from our old house to Dad and Mom H's house, to our new house, I knew that I would lose some pieces...and I did.  When you make something out of clay and let it dry out completely, it's called "bone dry" - which is clay's most fragile state.  It is so brittle I'm surprised only these three things didn't make it.  One other bowl - the biggest one I've made yet - had a little piece of the rim broken off, but I'm keeping it. Here are my casualties:

But never fear! Here's everything else that is waiting for Mr. Kilny to be cleaned, plugged in, and fired! (Look at those sparkly counter tops!! I cleaned them up a bit. They don't sparkle, but they aren't as bad as they were!)

And, for a final parting shot, my pottery studio as I left it tonight. I am really excited to begin working again and firing and glazing and firing again! If I get REALLY good, I'm going to sell things on the Neatest Site ever in the HISTORY of the WHOLE WORLD - Etsy.  It's an all handmade goods site. There is tons of pottery, jewelry, knit goods, clothing, art, etc. - check it out!

It's pretty uninspiring right now, but I hope to change that soon!

Rainy day woes & updates

As is usual for an Oregon November, it has been raining a lot lately.  The previous owners of our house told us that water seeps into the basement when the ground gets really saturated, and we have started to see that happen (basically, it looks like water runs down the walls, then dries up - we don't have standing water or anything like that, but it's still a problem, especially since we want to finish the basement someday).  So, today, on his day off, Mark is going to try and correct what is causing at least some of the problem - the gutter downspouts. He's got a plan - don't ask me to repeat what it is - but basically, the downspouts in the back of the house aren't directed anywhere, so water just seeps into the ground. I think that another part of his fix is going to be putting some "flashing" on the gutters, so the rain actually goes into the gutters, not careening over the edge of them, which is what is currently happening during heavy rains.  Hopefully that will fix part of our water-coming-through-the-basement-wall issue.

Updates:

I - a few posts ago - spelled out three projects that were fairly quick and monetarily painless, so here's where we stand on them:

#1 Living room - My goal was to paint, put shelves up, and buy window hangings for less than $150-200.

We've only tackled the painting and that cost us about $45. We bought two gallons of paint but only used one! I think I might use the other to paint our bedroom when it is finished because it would go well with our bedding.  So, technically, we spent only about $20 so far on the living room.  This weekend, we'll probably do an Ikea run and get the shelves. I will look at window hangings too, but I have been toying with the idea of making my own IF I find a CHEAP fabric that I like.

#2 New Recycling System - My goal was to have a nice easy recycling station, that would probably live in the basement, and possibly buy a food composter.

I originally had the idea to make my own "recycling station", but after determining how much it would cost to make it (not a whole lot, but also my time), we decided to pick up three of these stackable bins with awesome flip up tops from The Home Depot:

They are big enough, plastic (so they are easy to clean) and take up less room than my original idea would.  Plus, I like that even though they are stacked, you just flip up the lid (it's on a hinge) and toss in your recyclables!  Three cost a little under $30 total, so we're doing good so far!  I didn't buy a kitchen composter yet. I want to compost, I really do, but I need to have the outside composter first. 'Cause once that little kitchen bin is full - then what?  I was putting the cart before the horse. So, I'm holding off on this for now.

#3 Cleaning up the basement - My goal here was to organize this beast and to have virtually no $$ leave my pocket.

On Sunday afternoon, we rolled up our sleeves and began this big task and we did pretty good!  I've taken pictures, but haven't posted them yet (sorry). We managed to move things around, broke down a billion moving boxes, swept the floor, and organized a bit.  Mark still needs to organize his tools and work bench and I need to organize my pottery area! (I'm very exited.) We did buy two plastic totes at the Home Depot ($4.88 a piece), so the only $$ we've spent was just under $10. Not bad!

So far, these projects have cost us....

...a whopping...

...$60!!!

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now.