Thursday, July 31, 2014

The Middle Child

Pin It
Thank you for the prayers for Ellie's surgery!!  It went well and we are hoping and praying for a successful outcome, though we won't know for a while.  Before the surgery I managed to grab a piece I had purchased for my middle daughter and get it base coated.  Stress management painting, it works for me!  A couple of brief work sessions later it is finished.

My middle daughter is a lot like me when it comes to decorating and color and changing things up.  She and I like to 'redo' perfectly fine rooms.  Hers is just getting a bit of a tweaking since she finally seemed ready to part with the Hot Pink bedding and zebra striped accessories!  Yes (insert fist pump here)!  I had already painted her room a neutral color a soft beige.  Her bed is an antique iron headboard painted black, it will stay, and for now so will the black desk, though she has managed to beat the front to death with her rolling office chair so it will eventually get a tweak too.  We are just beginning and until we get "Oldest child" off to college  and the Prairie Market and band commitments out of the way it won't be finished.  One of the big changes is replacing her old dresser with something new.  New being a relative term in our house, right?!

I am notoriously bad at remembering 'before' photos, but that's OK this time.  It's not hard for you to imagine a blond mid-century modern oak dresser right?  Everyone's parents or grandparents had them in the 50's and 60's.  The best part about them is that they were usually made to last forever!  They are heavy and well built for the most part.  This one had a few veneer chips out of some drawers that were easily filled since I planned to paint.
Other than that, it was clean as a whistle.  Maddie chose Beach Glass, which is such a pretty teal/turquoise color.  She was torn between coral and teal, but I think she made the right choice and she will be adding in some coral with accent items.  The room will have an eclectic gathered feel, because that's how all my other rooms are and it is what we do around here.  Nothing too match, but hopefully somewhat cohesive in the end.
The nice thing about mid-century modern pieces are the flat, simple lines.  These flat drawers were the perfect place for some stenciling.  This is a floral lace furniture stencil.  I love how it has an almost batik feel to it.
I kept the original hardware which was kind of funky cool.  I resprayed it as the old finish was 1/2 worn off so it is nice and shiny now.
I think this will be a nice piece that will serve Maddie well for a long time to come.  Or until she talks me into another room makeover...

Have a peaceful end of the week!
Deb
Linking to:  

Furniture Feature Fridays
Elizabeth and Co.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Versatile Wardrobe, Meeting YOU, and Prayers

Pin It
Happy Monday!  I've got a new reveal for you today.  I've been working on lots of littles lately and they are mostly at all kinds of stages of the process.  Here's a pic of 2 of them.  Nice big chalkboards made from the doors off of my display cabinet at the Brass Armadillo.
I actually used some APC Top Coat on these to make them more wipeable for the chalk markers.  Regular chalk still works too.  These will be available at The Prairie Market, but I may do one more to put in the Brass Armadillo soon.

I also finished this HEAVY duty piece.  It is super sturdy and extremely versatile.
It was a nice pickled oak from I'm guessing the 80's or early 90's.  It's clean as a whistle and has oodles of great storage potential.  Look!

Cubbies, shelves, drawers, oh my!  Where would you use it?  The Home Office, the Craft Room, the Family Room, the Nursery, the Play Room, the Kitchen, the Bedroom??  Seriously, this piece would fit everywhere.
I even kept it pretty neutral and painted it in American Paint Company's Rushmore over Dollar Bill.  It is waxed and buffed for a nice finish.  What do you think of it?

The Brass Armadillo staff has told me the paint is really taking off and that several of you asked to see me.  Unfortunately I'm not able to be there every day, though I do stop by a couple times a week to restock and fluff the space up.  I would LOVE to meet all my new paint customers though so if you  let me know, and I can make it work, I will meet you out there to talk paint and projects and questions.  In the meantime, take my card and call or email me and I'm always happy to help.  There are new classes listed at the Armadillo and they can also be found up above if you push the APC Paint Classes button.  Hope to talk to you soon!!

And on a personal note, I would gratefully accept prayers for my little warrior Chickie as she undergoes surgery tomorrow.  She is a brave, strong, smart little girl, and I know she will bounce back from this procedure quickly, but having the prayer warriors among you out there whispering her name is always welcome and appreciated.  So, keep Ellarie in your prayers!
Love you to the Moon and Back Baby Girl!

Have a beautiful week!
Deb

Friday, July 25, 2014

New Workshop Dates posted

Pin It
Happy Friday everyone!!  I have been having an awesome week helping at our church's VBS and Ice Cream Social.  Hope your week has been joy filled also!

This adorable table is from my last "Paint-a-Piece" painting workshop.  It turned out amazing!  So, I wanted to let you know that I have posted a bunch of new painting workshop dates.  You can find them under the 'APC Painting Workshops' button at the top of my blog page.

If you are wondering what we do here is a brief recap.  First of all APC stands for American Paint Company.  This is a line of made in America paint with a Clay, Chalk, & Mineral Base.  It is NO VOC (harmful chemical pollutants), easy prep, superior bonding on all surfaces paint.  In the APC 411 class you learn about the paints, several ways to use the paints to create unique finishes, we use many of our fabulous finishing products, and you walk away with your own sample pots and painted samples to continue working on some projects at home.  In the Paint-a-Piece class you will actually bring a small (can be carried with one hand or two hands easily) project and we will paint it and finish it for you to take home that day.  You should have already taken APC 411 or have some previous furniture painting experience for this class.  You will also leave with a high quality brush as my gift to get you started on your own amazing transformations.  This is just a brief synopsis, click the button to get more details and contact me to reserve your spot in the workshop for a class.

If you don't see a time that works for you, contact me anyway and we will see if we can work out something.  I will be adding a few more classes to be held the end of Oct. and early Nov. very soon so keep checking back!

Have a super weekend!!
Deb

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Omaha, Omaha!

Pin It
A piece almost always seems to tell me how it's going to look before I even start it.  Most of the time it even works out that way.  I have to say I had a plan, and then the plan went sideways.  At the same time I was talking to a friend and she encouraged me to do another Omaha Subway art piece.  Perfect timing/divine intervention do you think?  Of course it was!  So I took this dresser/console piece and here it is...Omaha Subway #3.

Remember the NFL playoff games and Payton Manning's famous "Omaha, Omaha" calls?  Yeah, around here we got enjoyed that a lot.

This is a Kent Coffee piece from "The Fanfare" line.  It had a few minor nicks that needed filled and a couple of chips out of the top, and it was a bit tired looking from lots of use.  Those 6 drawers are nice, deep, dovetailed, and really clean.  It has a 1951 stamp on the back.
Once again, I picked lots of different historical or significant fun buildings and areas to highlight.  It is by no means a complete collection, but hopefully some that will stir some pleasant memories for many.
It might not really make sense but I love to vary the fonts and size to make this a really fun piece.  Some day I might try symmetrical, but I'm not really sure if I'm a "symmetrical" kind of gal. Ha!
I'll let you know later just where to find this piece if you are interested.  Unless it ends up in my house because one of these days I'm going to keep one of these Babies!!

Have a good week.  Hope to keep adding some new things to look at as we are now entering the gear up for the Fall Prairie Market Sale!  Details on that in the button at the top of my page.

Deb

Linking to:
Elizabeth and Co.