Top Furniture Projects of 2011

Starting this blog last Spring has made all the difference for me this year.  I have learned more than I can say from some very generous, talented ladies who I have met through their blogs, or who have found me through my blog.  I can not stress how very grateful I am for each and every one who has ever left a comment of encouragement or validation for me!  Truly, this community is AMAZING in all that they do to teach and reach each other!

So, do I have some favorites that I finished this year?  You betcha!  For some reason I got on a buffet binge this year.  Probably because I was looking for some for myself  (look for those reveals coming up soon!) and old tired buffets appear to be plentiful right now. 

One of my favs would have to be this beauty.  When my computer crashed I lost the pictures of her stored within reach so you'll have to follow the link back to see her again.  She was in the sorriest shape I have ever worked on.  My poor husband helped me shore her up and spent hours trying to help reattach laminate tops and fill in holes.  This one was more than I alone could handle.  But she turned out so very, very pretty that it was worth every moment of work.  She found a home with a lovely gal and I'm sure they will enjoy her for years and years.

Another piece that finished up so nicely that I can't help but show you is the Beauty and the Beast .  The top on this one was a mess too but it painted up beautifully.  And those chairs, wow, they may have started out pretty crusty, but they were solid, gorgeous, and with a generous wide seat.  This set was so comfortable that I had a hard time parting with it!  I know the family that bought these were so excited about them. 

Finally, this was a piece that is quite dear to my heart.  Another buffet, I just couldn't seem to help myself this year!  This was part of a dining set that I refinished with a table and 6 chairs that matched her.  She wasn't really in bad shape at all.  Just a tired finish that needed to be refreshed and some minor repairs to make her work well.  I love, love, love her lacy little fretwork, and the oak leaf carved in the backboard made my heart go pitter/pat.  For a long time (until I bought yet ANOTHER similar buffet) she wasn't going anywhere.  But really she needed to be with her matching table and chairs, and I'm happy to report that she recently joined them.  Yeah!  It's even with a dear friend who will probably let me have some visitation rights! 

I'm enjoying seeing all the 2011 highlights out there.  I've linked up a couple of these to:
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2011/12/piece-of-work-wednesday-furniture-link_27.html

I wish I had time to do a proper top ten, but with all my photos floating all over the place on my computer now it will take too long!

Instead I will tell you that 2012 will be a happening year here in Omaha!  I am currently carving out a wee bit of time to work on some of my own home projects.  There is a master bedroom that badly needs an overhaul that is coming sometime this winter.  There are also several more need beauties in waiting in line for makeovers, and some client projects waiting for final instructions/inspirations.  And the Prairie Pickers and Peddlers are meeting soon to shore up our activities for 2012!!!  I can't wait to share more about that too!
May 2012 bring you much Happiness, great Health, a wealth of Inspiration and lots of Love!
Happy New Year!
Deb

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Well, actually I'm surprised but we appear to be missing Tigers!  Years ago, when I was first married my Mom and Dad bought us a Creche.  Fairly simple and we replaced the ceramic figurines for some lovely wooden figures made by a dear family friend.  I loved it and set it up every year.  When our oldest two children were younger my Mom brought in a whole new element to the nativity scene.  She gave the girls some animals.  Every year our animal collection grew...and grew...and now it is quite a group that gathers around to bow before the baby Jesus!

 All three of my girls have grown up loving to set it up and move it around.  Every day it is a new visual treat and an adventure to create.  I watched my youngest this year set it up so that the animals were lined up single file around the stable to come see Jesus.  It didn't last long before she moved them to create a new scene, chattering away with the animals about why they were there and how they should behave. 

If you look closely you'll even spy a couple of frogs!

They gather on the roof to escape the crowd.

We have many animals that do not normally appear in the Christmas story typically, but we think they love being able to come and kneel before the new born King.

I love that my girls enjoy the telling and retelling of the Christmas story to their little animal friends throughout the holidays.

The animals and baby Jesus are even surviving Pepper's curiosity! 

New friends and old, let me take this time to say, from our home to yours Merry Christmas!

Blessings,
Deb

Linking to:
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2011/12/wow-us-wednesdays-45.html

Bright & Merry

I know this title would leave you to believe it is all about Christmas, but it's not necessarily!  After months and months of staring at my "new" table and chair set in the corner of the workshop I finally found a minute, or 150, to dig them out and complete the set! The minute I bought that lovely chunky legged table I knew it would be mine, however you know how it goes with your own stuff.  I will warn you, I'm not afraid of color, really, I'm not.  My kitchen is red until I can convince my husband to paint it for the 3rd time in 2years  for pity's sake.  I actually love surrounding myself with happy colors.  Until I can lose some of this inherited  heavy oak all throughout my house (the 5 year plan) I'll probably continue to go with saturated colors.  So, her she is...

I used the same process that I had with my old  table and chairs and painted each chair a different Chalk paint color and the table base in Old Ochre.  The top is stained in Minwax Jacobean and poly sealed. 

I love those legs!  Truly, they've become an obsession.

This cabinet filled with my Fiesta Ware proves how much I like color.  I have 1 place setting of nearly every one of the colors available.  I've been collecting the pieces since 1994.  They are nearly indestructible.  I have enough pieces to easily entertain indoors or out with these dishes by mixing and matching.  Just like me, they're eclectic!

Here is where I waffled, the seat cushions, I chose this fabric because it had some of all the colors I wanted to use on the chairs.  In the end I nearly changed it out for some duck cloth because I felt like I might be getting just a bit too colorful here.  I may still change it out later, but for now, with 3 busy kids sitting here for all meals I will probably let them live here for a while.

The season continues to get busier and busier here at my home, so I would like to take an opportunity to wish you and yours a Bright & Merry Christmas!  May you and your family be truly Blessed during this special time.

Believe!
Deb

http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2011/12/piece-of-work-wednesday-furniture-link_13.html
http://missmustardseed.com/2011/12/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-link-party-2/

Epic Fail

I had a great tutorial post I was going to be blogging about today...but it turned into a big dud!  I am so bummed because I was ready to tackle something fresh and new (to me).  I LOVE all the cloches out there.  So much fun.  I bought myself one of the new glass bottle cutters out there, some great glass bottles, some filled with the cheapest wine I could find, and a slew of lovely Christmas accessories to create some wonderful gifts this year.  I watched every You Tube out there about how to successfully make it work, several times.  I have years of stained glass experience so know all about break lines, cutter pressure, etc.  And none of that did me a bit of good :-(.  All of my bottles cracked in crazy waves, not once on the score line.  So, sorry, no tutorial and no recommendation on bottle cutters.  Now, if someone out there has had some great results with cutting glass bottles with a system I would love to hear from you!  I'm so frustrated I may have to go buy a bottle of good wine this time!

I'm sorry to have been ignoring the blog.  I'd love to share some gorgeous mantle or tablescapes, but I'm still limping around with the Christmas decorating/cooking.  I have been trying to finish the table and chairs that I bought for my family.  It needed some staining and painting, and now the chairs need the some painting and upholstery work.  Hopefully I'll have a nice reveal next week with the set all complete.  Don't even begin to believe I could have it beautifully staged for Christmas!  But I promise to show it anyway.  Now, off to to a bit of shopping and hopefully a bit of shopping for another storage piece for my family room.  I have new furniture arriving soon, and I'd love to pull that room together for a nice photo shoot soon too!  I'm not totally slacking...just a bit scattered these days.

Holiday Blessings to you all!
Deb

Thankful

I am THANKFUL for:
A loving GOD that provides, always.
A supportive, loving family, and especially for my MR. and the 3 Little's (who aren't so little anymore)!
A community of friends who help hold me up when I need it most and bring me so many giggles and laughs.
Included in the above, but deserving of a special mention my fellow Prairie Pickers & Peddlers friends, Kathleen, Tammy, Suzanne, & Kirstin, that probably best understand what makes me tick!
The many Military families who serve with Courage, Dignity, and Strength.  You are ALWAYS in our prayers.
Living in a free Country, with rights and liberties we often take for granted.
A Wonderful new group of supportive friends from so many fantastic blogs all around the world.  How cool is that?!
Being able to realize a few dreams, start some new ventures, vent some creative juices.
A warm home filled with Peace and Plenty.
Good health, both my own and my family's.
Warm & Happy Memories of loved ones no longer here on Earth. 
The unwavering love and loyalty of family pets, well, at least the dog Ginger. I'm never sure how far I should trust the cats not to be plotting a revolt, but I do treasure those purrs.
New projects, new client-friends, and the excitement that comes with fresh challenges.
And many, many things that would take me a lifetime to list.

I wish you all a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.  My hope is that you are able to celebrate all that truly makes life fabulous.  Laugh a lot, hug a lot, love a lot, be Truly Thankful,  and perhaps most importantly, remember those who need us, have lost hope, or are struggling.  

Blessings to you!
Deb

A Bit Wordy

Custom orders can be so fun, but I also think the pressure is amped up just a bit.  I mean someone gives you some prize possession and wants you to freshen it up a bit.  I always worry that they really do have a picture in their mind of the end result...and what if I don't deliver.  Dadada DA. Anywho, D.S. thought she would take a chance on me and brought me 2 antique pieces that she wanted restyled.  I WISH I had thought to take before shots.  These were quite ornate with lots of roses decorating every drawer front, and flat surface, in a very Victorian fashion.  It was quite lovely, but the colors had begun to fade and it was looking a little tired.  I was given free reign once we had decided on the base color.  I have to admit to being a bit intimidated to begin.  The base is AS Chalk paint Paris Gray over Old Violet which was not a dramatic change from the warm gray that had been on the pieces.  Then I knew we needed to redecorate these pieces again.  What to do?  Numbers, stencil, resist stencil, number words, hmmm.  A friend said, "I see words, but I don't know about number words."  That's when the light bulb went off!
How about words of Inspiration?  I'm going to apologize in advance for the photos.  I was in a hurry and to top it all off, when my computer crashed it messed up my photoshop program which I still need to fix.

We reused the clients drawer pulls which were these grand brass and black pulls.  So I opted to use black on the lettering, outlined it with a gold pen.  Then I did use some stencils in other places with antiqued gold rub n buff as my paint.  I sanded both the stencils and the words back so they looked more time worn and fit in with the gentle shabby finish on the paint.  I finished these almost 10 days ago and I swear it took that long for AS Wax to really not feel tacky.  Ack!  Learning curve with the use of that I think!

The dresser does not have the large mirror attached in my photos as we were moving it to prepare it for pickup.  My client hasn't actually seen this yet, so I'm hoping she will approve of the changes!  Beware of giving the painter too much freedom!  (Nervous chuckle) 

I really wish I'd been able to photoshop these photos because it is so much prettier in person.  Next time maybe I'll paint the words "trust" me.
Happy Mid Week!
Deb
Linking to:
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2011/11/piece-of-work-wednesday-furniture-link_22.html
http://missmustardseed.com/2011/11/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-a-link-party/

Liebster Blog Award

Kathy at Petticoat Junktion blessed me with an award this evening!  I am humbled and greatly honored to have been found out here in this vast cyber universe.  When I jumped off my big virtual cliff last Spring I was pretty secure with the knowledge that I would have good local friends that would be supportive.  What I had no idea about was this larger community of like-minded people in blogland who would offer such wonderful encouragement along the way as I continued to experiment and grow with my furniture restyling business.  Thank you Kathy for following and encouraging me and countless others too!  Your blog is so much fun to follow and you are an amazing furniture painting guru!! 

The Liebster Blog Award is presented to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

Liebster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Here are the rules for participating in the Liebster Award:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

So without further ado:

Flo at Go With the Flo
Flo does the most beautiful work on her painted furniture.  She is just so uber talented, but I think what I admire most is her awe inspiring Spirit and Faith.  You must visit her blog to see how generous, loving, smart and dedicated she is.  Her dedication to the children of Uganda is truly moving.

Hollie at I'm Busy Procastinating
Hollie has been busy redecorating her gorgeous home.  She also restyles her furniture with paint in luscious colors!  I think Hollie probably caught me with her blog title.  I can so relate as nothing in my own home ever seems to get out of first gear.  I love how she shares her process.  Check it out, I bet you can relate too.

Colleen at The Painted Turtle
Colleen actually found me as she & I started our blogs about the same time with similar goals in mind.  She has some amazing pieces of furniture that she has painted, and launched a very successful first show recently.  I was struck by how genuinely she offered her support and shared her show experiences so that we could have our own successful sale.  I love that the blogs allow us to make friends around the country who share our same interests and passions.  Stop by and see how Colleen launched her business!

Betsy at Betsy Speert's Blog
Betsy probably thinks I'm some weird kind of stalker because I have never really had much dialogue with her, but I have nominated her for a couple of awards.  She is the most marvelous decorator and story teller!  I follow her blog faithfully and not only gain a lot of great decorating tips but I am highly entertained with her style of writing.  If you've not visited her yet I highly recommend you do so today.

Julie & Sharon at Vintage Shabby Chicks
I have to say that I just "found" Julie & Sharon's blog recently.  They will be big soon, trust me, their furniture redo's make me drool...figuratively, but still!  I see big success for these gals as they build their followers and business.  Stop over there and just look at their portfolio for some inspiration and ideas.  They are Fab I tell you.

There it is, and I wish I could have added about 15 more names.  This is an Awe-Inspiring place we visit every day!!  Thanks again Kathy!

Hope to have some more updated posts here very soon.
Until then...
Deb