Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A Box, A Beach and Au Revoir


I’ve been working on a few items for my etsy shop all in my fav new color – robin’s egg blue – can’t get enough of it! I picked up a gorgeous wood cigar box at a yard sale last summer and decided to give it a French-inspired touch.

I also decided to hand paint an old light-switch cover. It just needed a very simple touch to turn it into a beachy accessory (now I just need the beach house to go with it!)

I’m still working on another box -- in robin's egg blue and black -- a little departure for me from my shabby chic look…stay tuned for that.

This will probably be my last post for a few days as my youngest son and I are off to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. I’m sure I’ll have a few adventures to write about when I get back (and of course, some cool pics to share). So, au revoir for now…I’m headed to infinity and beyond….


Transformation Thursday

Monday, March 28, 2011

Night, night

Sadly, I'm past the time where I can say, "night, night" to my boys. Well, I guess I could, but I would get a lot of strange looks. 
I still read bedtime stories to my youngest, who is 10, but the older boys, well, I go to bed before them! 
Anyway, this post is about night and night photos because I'm linking to Tracy's Nighttime Photo Linky Party. I took a few shots from my front yard and then added some I took at different times this past fall and summer.
These are the ones I took looking out from my front yard...when I cropped them and added an edge blur, I thought they looked kind of artsy and surreal.



These I took in Phoenix:
Yep, that's the moon and it was night...the sun was setting and it really illuminated the red rock.
The one below was taken in the pool that same night.
And, of course, I can't leave you without a sunset...this one in Massachusetts:
That's all for now!
Night, Night.
candlenightpartybutton.jpg

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Uh, I Think I’m Lost

I had a nightmare that I got lost in Washington DC for two hours. Everywhere I turned, I kept running into dead ends and signs would disappear. I would drive to route 50 East and end up somewhere on E street. Except, it wasn’t really a nightmare. It was real.

My sister told me today that I should re-title my blog “Lost” because I would never run out of material. I could post…”today I’m headed to the grocery store…see what new adventures await!”

Anyway, I picked up Andi from Jane of all Crafts and headed to a brunch with a group of 13 other bloggers from the DC, VA and MD area. We met at Melissa MacGregor’s pretty house in Virginia. You can visit it at her blog, http://www.houseography.net. We had a nice time and even though some of us were in different stages of our lives, we all had the love of house and home, crafts, and blogging in common. It was a great idea orchestrated by Melissa and Cassie of Primitive and Proper. You all should try it in your area!
Then we headed home...read on for more insight into my adventure...

Back Row, standing: Katelyn, Kyra, Shannon, Kathy, Angie, Andi, and Felicity

Front Row: Cassie, Amy, seated right behind Amy is me, then Sarah, Laurie, and Melissa. Thanks for the photo Cassie!

Let’s say that Andi got to know my stressed-out side as we navigated the streets of DC…truly “the blind leading the blind.” We didn't actually want to see the Capitol, Union Station, the cherry blossoms, the Capitol, The Mall, The Washington monument, the Capitol, the drug deals, the Capitol, the abandoned warehouses, the Capitol... but we did. When we finally got out, TWO HOURS LATER, I actually took a breath and relaxed my grip on the steering wheel (I think it's permanently indented). I headed to my son’s lacrosse game where they got creamed 11-0, froze my butt off, and then drove with my 16 year old (add another 50 grays hairs to my head) to go out to dinner. Sound fun?

Dinner was nice…really. Great food, a glass of wine, and a couple laughs brought me back to my less stressed self. So, now I sit, able to laugh about this insane day, and yeah, I’m going to bed.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

$5 Challenge

Today I'm entering this frame in the CSI Project's $5 Challenge. It actually cost me under $5, but I'm sure that's okay! I found this wood frame at a garage sale for .50 cents. Here it is before:


It begged for me to take it home, so I did. On the way home, I bought some craft paint (I think it was 89 cents) and then painted it the prettiest shade of pink. It's needed a little more so I added some white paint (had this) and glazing medium (had this) and gently wiped it over the whole frame.
I looked through my stash of vintage jewelry (free) and found the perfect combination ... pieces of a vintage rhinestone and pearl bracelet and two vintage flower earrings.
I glued them with Gorilla Super glue ( I always have this on hand) and then added some extra pearls (from a broken necklace) here and there. I did have it in my etsy shop, but thought it was so pretty that I'm saving it for a special gift. It's just amazing what you can do for $1.39.


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br />Transformation Thursday

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A Little Message Corner



As soon as you opened my front door, my hall entrance used to be filled with a jumble of shoes and backpacks. I tried everything -- a shelf, a basket, a shoe rack -- and still the pile of shoes just grew. These lame attempts just didn't work for anyone and finally, I gave up. One day, after I brought home my second antique typewriter, I set it atop a chair and stuck it in the corner by the front door. It carried the message "merry Christmas" until I came up with something better.
And here's what I came up with... A weekly message center. So, if my kids do something wonderful like get straight As or score a goal in soccer, I can use it to congratulate them. On regular days, I search for appropriate and inspirational quotes to put in my typewriter. 

And you know what? The jumble of shoes and packs isn't there anymore! 
It moved to the other side of the door. Sigh.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Look What You Can Do With Paint


I had three signs to create for a client and I know she likes copper, rust and very earthy colors (in addition to an old world look) so I decided to experiment with paint. I wanted to create an aged copper look using paint on wood. So, I just experimented and you can join me in this experiment by following the steps below (note: this tutorial allows a lot of playing room, so get into a creative state of mind).

Supplies: 
  • Wood surface (in this case a pre-cut pine 1 x 4 with routered edges).
  • paints (I used a combination of paints: DecoArt's Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber, plus some True Value Teal paint I had left over from a project and some acrylic tube paint that I found in my paint drawer.)
  • Sponger applicator
  • Rags or old socks (make sure they are washed first)
  • Chipboard Letters for whatever you want to spell out (in this case, it's "Welcome")
  • Vintage findings to embellish (I'm using a brass "W" that I found at a local flea market and old earrings
  • Gorilla Super Glue
  • Rubber stamp with script
  • Ink
  • Two Eye hooks
  • Matching Ribbon

1. Paint your base coat on your wood. I used a combination of DecoArt's burnt sienna and raw umber. Let dry.

2. Here's where the fun begins. Dab on some raw umber along the edges and sides of the sign and then dab off with old sock.
3. Add a few sporadic drops of paint -- teal, ochre, burnt sienna -- then take your sock an blend it until you like the look. Keep adding paint in areas and blending.
4. This is the result -- a rich, warm background for your sign. Tip: I used some of the teal and rubbed a bit of it on the routered edges of the sign.
5. While the background dries, paint the letters. I couldn't decide between black, burnt sienna or raw umber. In the end, I opted for raw umber. Let these dry.
6. Once dry, you can randomly stamp your script on the sign and letters. I also hand wrote a little saying "Love and faith celebrated" that my client wanted incorporated.
7. I chose to use the backside of the metal W because it had a lot more interest. To make it look even more aged, I rubbed black distress ink along the sides. Next, add letters and embellishments. Using my trusty Gorilla Super glue I affixed the W and then glued the rest of my letters.

8. I wanted to add a little more interest so I decided to search rough my stash of vintage findings. I found these cool copper colored earrings so I took them apart and glued them in an artsy kind of way.
 9. Finally, screw eye hooks into top of sign and add ribbon.
Now you can hang your welcome sign for all to see!
Linking to : 
DIY Club
The Girl Creative
Running with Glitter
Becolorful

Peeling



Why is it so much fun to peel stuff? Seriously, isn’t it fun to glue off of your fingers? Or in my case, this morning, peeling polyurethane off of my kitchen table with a spatula. Yep. A spatula. Why use a spatula? Because it was there.

A while back I refinished my kitchen table with great results UNTIL I put a protective coat of poly on it. I don’t know what happened this time, but it didn’t take and every time anyone moved something on the table, it peeled a little more. So, my kids, when pondering deeply over their homework, would use their fingernails to peel off little patches. My table looked like crap. I hid it through most of the winter under a tablecloth, waiting for a warm day so I could sand it and start over. Today, I couldn’t wait any longer.
I have to say that this was enormously satisfying….the peeling thing. 


Kind of weird, I know, but it felt productive. So now, it sits waiting to be refinished. Again.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Blogger's Day of Silence


                                             Silence doesn't include whispered prayers.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Robin’s Egg Blue


I am in love. Robin’s Egg Blue. Need I say more?
It’s my new favorite color to paint everything. Boxes, light switch covers, trinkets, the dog, the car…you name it! (kidding about the car).

It’s so fresh and bright; it clearly speaks of spring (my second favorite season). No, it’s not on the radar for color of the year, no it’s not trendy and no, I’m not painting the walls with it. 

But, yes, I love it and if you go to my etsy shop, you’ll see a lot of it.

Here’s box that’s for sale at a local shop. 
A light switch cover plate for sale in my etsy shop.
A little block of inspiration (that's in my shop, too)

The photo at the top is a little jar I got at an estate sale. I was going to sell it, but I like it so much after painting and antiquing it, I just can't part with it!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

What about you? What color makes you think of spring?
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