For Nellie Ide Henry

The caterpillar dies so the butterfly could be born.
And, yet, the caterpillar lives in the butterfly and
they are but one. So, when I die, it will be that I
have been transformed from the caterpillar of earth to
the butterfly of the universe.
-- John Harricharan

My 98 year old grandmother, Nellie passed away the morning of August 29. She was the matriarch of my father's family. She had a strong and silent presence. When she spoke, she spoke with honesty and integrity. Many times with quick wit and often with a sharp tongue. She had a wicked sense of humor and loved practical jokes.

She hosted holidays with aunts, uncles and cousins until the family outgrew her small home. Ask any of us and we'll tell how much we loved her homemade noodles with chicken. My father would have raved about her oyster stuffing made special for Thanksgiving. She loved to cook, but most of all I remember her baked goods; pies, cakes and cookies. My favorites were her incredible date pinwheel cookies.

Late in life she became a prolific quilter. Her works were crafted with great care, and always from the heart. I am happy to own one of her beautiful creations, and use it almost every day.

All her life she managed to get by without ever getting a drivers license. There was always someone willing to take her places. We often took her on family vacations. Sitting quietly in the car, she always seemed to enjoy the sights and sounds while tolerating my brother and I bickering in the back of the station wagon. Still tolerating us as young adults cranking Violent Femmes to rid our angst during long road trips.

When my father died I moved away from Ohio to find myself, establish my independence and put some much needed distance between some family dynamics. Unfortunately I didn't make it a priority to get back to Ohio much. When I started my business over six years ago, funds for travel just weren't available. I missed a lot of opportunities to learn about her, and vice-versa. I know she understood why I moved, but I will spend the rest of my life kicking myself for not seeing her before she passed.

Dear Grandma, you will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for inspiring me and showing me how to be a strong and independent woman. May you and dad watch over me as I continue my passage through life.

Small Cabinet Continued...

Thanks for your patience and continued support everyone! I'm getting back on track. My thumb has healed. The weather has cooled. Portlanders don't do well during major heatwaves. Many of us don't have homes with a/c so we suffer through with swamp coolers, spritzer bottles and cold washcloths. Now that it's cooler I can turn the studio lights on and work comfortably. I've also been paying more attention to all the other millions of "to-dos" on my list. But here we are, moving onward!

The cabinet is painted - a nice fresh coat of white. The doors go back on tomorrow. I soaked the hinges in paint thinner to get the layers of paint and grime off of them.

The design for the vinyl has been selected. I decided on a grouping of chrysanthemums which are feminine and work with the feminine curves at the bottom of the cabinet. The design was chosen from a Dover Sampler and I increased the size on my copier to test the scale on a photocopy of a cabinet picture. 150% did the trick.

click on pictures to see larger size

I then traced the design onto tracing paper to visualize how the piece will turn out. I liked it. I measured the width of the design which is 6.5". Then I measured the actual cabinet which is 29.5" wide. Using my handy proportional scale I matched up the original size (6.5") with the size of the cabinet (29.5") and knew my design needed to be blown up 450% to transfer the design onto the cabinet.


450% copy increase requires a trip to FedEx/Kinkos to use their oversize black and white copier. Now I'm ready to transfer the design onto the vinyl.


Stay tuned for more....

What's happened to the cabinet?

Wondering how the progress is coming along? Well, I confess, I'm a pussy when it comes to the heat and just as I was getting ready to work on the cabinet the heatwave hit Portland. Since many Portlanders don't have a/c we suffer through, complaining a lot. Three days in a row the thermostat inside our house registered over 90. So, I'm here, I just haven't been productive or moving much because I'm sick of sweating. Seriously, I don't even want to turn on the studio lights because I know they'll heat up the space. Don't you feel sorry for me? This week looks a lot more promising, forcasting 80s and possibly some rain on the way.

To top things off this week, I ended up in the ER on Thursday after the avocado pit won over the knife - too bad my thumb got in the way. No tendons harmed, and I talked them out of stitches - so I now have steristrips healing the deep cut.



I know, I know... you're going to tell me the best way to remove the pit from an avocado. I've done it the way chefs do it for years... this time it was just too slippery for my own good.

in the meantime....

This brought a smile to my face this morning. See you all soon.

Progress...

Painting is in progress. I know, it looks the same, except you saw pictures of it with primer. This last week did not progress as I had hoped. I dream of a separate spray booth inside my large, expansive and light-filled dream studio. For now, I have to spray in the wild outdoors. Good thing this cabinet has seen better days and I'm not claiming it's a perfect piece of furniture. Each time I had scheduled to spray a layer it would be extremely windy. I finally snatched a few still mornings to spray on some coats. Other moments of free time during the week were spent driving from store to store looking for wood grain vinyl. Who knew it would be so hard to find? Yesterday, Fred Meyer pulled through. I'm sure all the other locals and stores I visited are stocked up now that I've been there asking for wood grain contact paper.

During free time this week I will sit down and map out a design for the vinyl.

In the meantime I have resumes to post, a client to visit, transfer my website to a new host, continue my journey of unravelling, and catch up on my e-course with Marisa.

Survey Results - Vinyl Wood Grain Cut-Outs!

Looks like contemporary vinyl wood grain cut-outs are the winning selection, unless there's another surge of voters looking with interest in decoupage. So... next week I'm going to get crackin' on a finish inspired by these.


Thanks everyone for visiting and helping me make the selection. It was my choice too.

Survey - Refinished Furniture

This small cabinet needs help. It needs your help. Please help me decide what type of finish I should create. This will be fun. You help me choose, and I will take you on a step-by-step journey through its makeover. Are you game? Browse through the inspirations below and select your choice in the survey.

Keep in mind the cabinet has some challenging lines in the front - it's not completely symmetrical in design. The two small drawers on the top left don't align in the center of the cabinet like the doors. The top is enamel so it will remain white, with the black edge dictating the color choices.

Here are the inspired finishes. Click on the photos to enlarge.

A. Contemporary silhouettes with vinyl wood grain cut-outs

B. Stenciled silhouettes birds, people or landscape

C. Decoupage
D. Painted with highlighted trim

E. Crackle
F. Distressed painted finish with stencils in the center of the doors

G. Distressed metallic finish
H. Contemporary bold graphic all over design

Thank you for participating. I'm looking forward to your answers.

Picture sources:
A. Domino Magazine
B. Creative Home & Flickr (Workclothesband)
C. Martha Stewart
D. Domino Magazine
E. Country Home
F. Country Home
G. Metropolitan Home
H. House Beautiful