House for rent
Remodeling has begun on the home that we will be moving into next month sometime late August in a pretty vibrant part of Denver called South City Park. City Park is more urban and diverse than where we live right now and I’m sort of excited for a change of scenery, though I will miss living 2 blocks from the light rail, Whole Foods, South Pearl Street and Wash Park. We lived in the house we will be moving back into just a short while between 1997-98 and moved shortly after giving birth to my daughter (yep we sort of fled the city to almost the suburbs). Now that we’re getting older, we keep getting closer and closer to downtown and I occasionally fantasize about buying a condo or loft someday (we even looked at a model in one of the Spire condos in May).
Our goal with this move is to eventually shed one of our homes – we’re tired of being land lords and to avoid paying capital gains taxes we will need to live in our former rental property for at least 2 years before we can sell it tax free. In the meantime, we are gaining square footage in the home, yard and garage - but are losing some amenities that we have come to depend on such as those mentioned above. With an imminent move in the very near future, we need to rent out our current home because we’re not ready to sell it just yet.
Want to get a glimpse of the inside of the home we currently live in? Click here.
I am looking forward to having a little bit of fun with the home we’re moving into next month. For example, I plan to paint one wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint – we currently have a small chalkboard in the kitchen that my daughter and her friends draw on and it’s become sort of like a rotating art show. I can’t wait to see the images that pop up by children and grownups alike on a larger scale.
I am also shopping for appliances for the kitchen and am considering replacing the icky electric range with a vintage gas model.
Moving is also a great time to destash! I have a secret fantasy of one day being a minimalist, but am a long way off right now judging from the photos of our home in our advertisement. I would also have to convince my pack rat of a husband that less is more….
Have a good day,
Cynthia
Fabric Printing & Farmer’s Market
Three of my water color crayon drawings from 2007 served as the inspiration for my stamps.
Just for fun, I modified one of the projects in Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin to make some original stamps to print on fabric using only some craft foam, chip board and blank canvas tote bags. The original project called for using acrylic blocks on which to attach the foam, but I didn’t have any acrylic and found some chip board instead. I do recommend using something heavier like acrylic or wood since the chip board is pliable, but it worked in a pinch.
Meanwhile, I spent the last couple of days setting up a little website for the Pearl Street Potters….
Pearl Street Potters
The group is comprised by 12 members (myself included) of the Colorado Potters Guild who have banded together to sell our wares at the Old South Pearl Street Farmers Market every Sunday, now through October 25th. The website has a map to the market and includes a calendar when each artist will be participating. I’m currently signed up for July 12th and August 2nd – see you there!
Have a great weekend,
Cynthia
Looks Like We’re Moving…Cross Town
Fresh cut poppy in a Kate Wasson salt fired planter/vase I purchased at the Potters Guild Spring show.
Despite taking a lot of luxurious naps this weekend, I feel like I’m still recovering from the past month’s activities that started with the Colorado Potters Guild show the first weekend in May and ended with my daughter’s graduation from 5th grade last Friday – and now it’s June already!
5th grade graduation
So, what’s new? My husband has finally talked me into moving into a sorely neglected home that we have been renting out for the past 11 years. He’s been working on getting me on board for the past couple of months now…. We’re going to meet with our contractor (who remodeled our current house) on Friday to go over a few musts and wishes. The house has been neglected the past few years – the yard is overgrown, the kitchen is dated, there is only 1 bath room that leaks, and I could go on and on.
I tried being the voice of fiscal reason, copping an attitude, appealing to his love of the neighborhood, stamping my feet, among other things but I finally grew tired of counter arguing the issue and he won. Unlike the house we currently live in, we will not be remodeling it top to bottom because of budget issues. Our budget is roughly $60,000 which given today’s prices won’t get us far. So, we’re going to tackle some unglamorous but necessary and mostly invisible renovations such as *new and updated plumbing, *new and updated electrical (we cannot currently use a microwave and a toaster at the same time without blowing a fuse – let alone a kiln or two) as well as some more visible changes such as replacing windows, old appliances, changing out the old pink Formica counter tops, landscaping, painting and possibly some tile work in the bath.
Some work we will do ourselves such as landscaping, painting and cosmetic changes – but the big stuff like windows, plumbing and electric will go to the pros.
Why move? I had originally told my husband that I was done moving when we fixed our current house up, but when faced with the hard realities of the current real estate market and incurring capital gains taxes if we sell our rental (we’re tired of being land lords) it just makes fiscal sense. You see, if we live in our rental for 2 years, we can sell it without paying capital gains. We are going to rent out our current house for at least a year (this is something I don’t relish – my lovingly tended landscape going to pot) and more. But, there are 5 houses for sale on our block alone right now – that’s not conducive to selling. We will re-evaluate in a year’s time whether to sell or hang onto it. To tell you the truth, the house and location are great, the yard and square footage a little too small. Our rental is much bigger and has a larger yard, but is not in as desirable a neighborhood as our current home.
My conditions: On the one hand, I’m going to be sad to leave our home and start over. On the other hand, I relish the creative challenge of bringing a little more sparkle to the old house on a tight budget. I’ll be too busy to cry and moving into the old rental will makes both a puzzle and dare at the same time. I am also insisting on doing this greener than we have remodeled houses in the past. We are going to repaint the kitchen cabinets instead of replacing, recycle furniture, replace the windows and appliances with energy star rated products, add insulation where necessary, use low VOC paints, I am looking for eco-friendly kitchen counter options, am going to turn our front yard into an “Edible Estate” – and am also looking into keeping some chickens in the back yard.
Chickens
The past 2 items made my husband just a little nervous, but his desire to avoid paying capital gains is over riding his fear of an urban farmstead. I also want to revisit selling our current house next summer, something he doesn’t necessarily want to do. He envisions us moving back here in 2 years – but seriously, I’ll be in my last year of grad school by then and I might not want to move back, and my emotional investment in the remodeled house might be too high by then.
In the meantime, I’m looking forward to crafting our new home and think it might just make a nice little side blog – what do you think?
Cynthia
Colorado Potters Guild Fall Show and Sale Invitation
Colorado Potters Guild Fall Sale Invitation
Reverse
You are cordially invited to the Biannual Fall Sale featuring work by members of the Colorado Potters Guild.
Late last year I applied to become a member of the Colorado Potters Guild located on Old South Pearl Street in Denver, CO and was juried into the Guild as one of its newest members in early 2008.
The guild boasts 38 active and 10 associate members and we host a large pottery sale twice yearly. The Fall Sale opens on Thursday November 6 and closes Saturday, November 8. It’s a great place to find handmade pottery by local Colorado artists just in time for holiday shopping. Guild members staff the sale in shifts – I will be working Thursday evening and Friday & Saturday mornings if you want to stop by and say hello – especially if you know me through my blog. If you have friends who appreciate handmade pottery, please pass this invitation along.
If you are a potter, the membership chair will be available to talk with you about becoming a member of the Colorado Potters Guild. Openings occur occasionally and Marta Rodeheffer will be glad to provide more information about how to apply to become a new member of the Guild. The guild’s facilities include 2 30 cubic feet gas kilns, 4 electric kilns, 1 vapor kiln, wheels, glaze mixing area, electric slab roller, extruder and a congenial group of people dedicated to clay. The Guild also hosts workshops with nationally and locally known potters on occasion.
The show hours are:
- Thursday 6:00 – 9:00pm
- Friday 9:00am – 9:00pm
- Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm
The Guild’s facilities cannot meet our space needs for our sales so we rent space for the weekend at:
First Plymouth Congregational Church
3501 South Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80113
(Huge church at the SW corner of Colorado and Hampden – follow the signs)
In the meantime, as much fun as it is to prepare for shows, I’m looking forward to a more normal slower pace to return and hope to catch up with everyone later this week.
One last thing – thank God the election is over – and GO OBAMA! It was so exciting to see the results start trickling in last night. I was alternating between glazing (yes I’m pushing it up to the last minute!) and watching the results until about 11pm last night. Around 9pm, my daughter came bursting into my studio and exclaimed that Obama is the new president – I thought it was premature, but lo and behold, I came inside the house just in time to see McCain concede. Wow.
Lots of things to do yet for the the sale and I have some exciting news on the horizon!! Stay tuned….
~Cynthia
