pottery — Page 9

Collecting: New Pieces of Miniature Pottery

February 3, 2013 at 9:52 am by Claudia

Good morning! It’s Sunday morning and there is a bit of snow on the ground that will need to be shoveled. Thankfully, just a little – less than one inch – though we might have a bit more tonight. It’s a gray day, at least so far. I have several projects in the works and the challenge of the day will be deciding just where I should concentrate my energies.

I don’t care about the Super Bowl.

There, I’ve said it. Do not care. I’m not even sure who’s playing. And, frankly, I think football needs to be re-assessed. Our increasing knowledge of chronic head injuries and the dire toll they can take on players should be a wake up call. Junior Seau was the quarterback when I was living in San Diego. This man who was normally happy and full of good cheer took his life recently. And the examination of his brain confirmed that he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that is linked to chronic head injuries. When the NIH autopsied the brains of 34 former players, they discovered that 33 of them suffered from CTE.

Food for thought.

On to something cheerier.

My friend Linda who blogs at A La Carte, knows that I have started a collection of miniature pottery. She sent me a lovely present that arrived in yesterday’s mail:

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Oh. My. Goodness. Three beautiful pieces of pottery! Aren’t they lovely? And a heart!

Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! (as Gilbert and Sullivan would say.)

I am entranced.

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I’ve added them to my shadow box shelf. I love the pop of color that the yellow and peach pieces bring to my display.

How can I not smile when I sit here in my blogging chair, pause in my typing, look up and see this?

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I can’t. I’m smiling.

Thank you, Linda, from the bottom of my heart.

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In other news, the earrings are flying out the door! I have a lot of wrapping and packaging to do in the next 2 days. Thank you so much! If you are interested in a pair, I would suggest you think about buying a pair sooner rather than later. Some colors are almost gone. Meredith is thrilled, by the way.

Happy Sunday.

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What the Heck is in that China Cabinet?

October 10, 2012 at 10:00 am by Claudia

First of all, why do I decide to do these kinds of posts on a rainy, gloomy day? Don’t answer. The truth is, taking a bright sunny photo in the den would be all but impossible on any given day. Even though there are lots of windows, the big window is tucked under the porch roof, so we don’t get any bright sun until the end of the day. So, using Aperture Priority, I’m attempting to take some fairly decent photos of this cabinet and its contents. (Note: I need a new camera.) And eliminating the television from this photo would entail moving a few pieces of furniture and that’s not going to happen. Trust me, this photo would have been a lot worse if I hadn’t painted the inside of the cabinet a pale pink.

This china cabinet, which is on the petite side, was one of the first things I bought for my apartment in San Diego. I found it in Ocean Beach, my favorite place to hunt for vintage anything. I bought it to house my collection of Fiesta, which I ended up selling a few years later. I love the different tones of wood and the inlays along the sides. I’ll never paint it. You can see the Hendryx birdcage and some of my Roseville on top. Let’s take a peek inside, shall we?

Shelf One

1. aqua bulb bowl – McCoy, 2. my great-grandmother’s syrup jug with pewter lid, 3. platter from my favorite set of of Edwin Knowles china, I wrote about them here, 4. creamer and sugar found in Orange, CA, 5. small dish from my great-grandmother’s set of Haviland China (the rest is still stored at my friend’s house in Detroit. I know.) 6. pale pink depression glass plate that I won in a giveaway 7. French china pitcher, found at Vignettes, 8. French china plate, also found at Vignettes 9. One of my first pieces of McCoy, a lovely green vase (I have 2 of them) 10. hat pin holder, 11. vintage hat pin

Shelf Two

1. McCoy bird dish, 2. McCoy vase in peach/coral, 3. McCoy pot (a present from Brenda) 4. beautiful plate, made in France, that you can’t see very well (from Vignettes) 5. Hull pitcher (a present from Betty) 6. my grandmother’s baby shoe, 7. my pink hobnail vase (found in the neighboring town) 8. a goose egg cup

Shelf Three

1. two teacups from that set of Edwin Knowles china, 2. a bowl and a gravy boat from that same set, 3. a little platter – same set, 4. McCoy vase, another one of my first finds, 5. a beautiful egg cup in my favorite colors, unmarked (I found it at Vignettes) 6. McCoy Arcature vase (one of my all-time favorites) 7. McCoy bulb bowl in aqua, 8. hat pin holder

I think I need some larger plates or platters in the back, don’t you?

I’ll take you on a tour of the kitchen cabinet (also full of china and pottery) on another day.

Thank you for all your beautiful, heartfelt comments on my post about Riley. I can never thank you enough for the compassion and love you’ve sent my way and for the love you’ve sent to Riley. Bless you.

Don’t forget the book giveaway! It ends tonight. Scroll down three posts and you’ll find it.

Happy Wednesday.

Topping it Off & Etsy

September 24, 2012 at 10:19 am by Claudia

This is the top of the white hutch in my kitchen. (Gosh, it’s hard to take good photos of the tops of cabinets and hutches! It seems to be so dark up there – at least in my house.) I used to have a rather large Fiesta collection and on the left are 3 of the pieces that I saved when I sold it. The heart is from Monica. The sheep are salt and pepper shakers that my sister gave me. I have a vintage pitcher under that wire cloche. The little guy is a fishmonger from the days when we collected the Dickens Village pieces from Department 56. Don added him to the display because he thinks the fishmonger looks like him. And on the right is an old ice cream bucket filled with dried hydrangeas.

Once I had taken that photo, I started looking at the tops of my other cabinets.

This is my hutch in the den. The birdcage on the left is vintage Hendryx. I bought it at Vignettes in San Diego. And you can see some of my pieces of Roseville pottery. I love Roseville. Hidden behind the pottery are some vintage books, including my dad’s schoolbooks.

Then I traveled on to the top of my big old white cabinet in the living room:

The ceiling in the living room is low. More pottery, mostly McCoy – the piece on the left doesn’t have a maker’s mark.

What about the kitchen cabinets?

Fortunately, our kitchen ceiling is high and I can display my pottery. On the left are two Fiesta coffee pots. The other four pieces are McCoy. That chartreuse vase is one of my favorites – very clean lines and sort of Art Deco/Moderne handles. On the other side of the kitchen you can see these:

More McCoy.

I like using the tops of hutches and cupboards and cabinets for display space. And, frankly, I need it. I have so much pottery around here that if I limited my displays to shelves and the inside of hutches, I’d be in a sorry state. Do you use that space to display things in your home?

Shop Update:

There are 2 more Obsession Scarves in the Etsy Shop – I just added them.

Update: Sold out. Thank you!

Another former student of mine won an Emmy last night – Abraham Higginbotham (Writer and Executive Producer on Modern Family.) Yay, Abe!

Happy Monday.

Collecting: New Pieces of Miniature Pottery

What the Heck is in that China Cabinet?

Topping it Off & Etsy

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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