Inspired

Some days I feel terribly inadequate when I look around the blog-o-sphere at some of the amazing talent out there.  It is mind boggling how in this day and age we can literally peek into the studios and homes of people and see what they have created.  It is even sweeter when they are the type of people to share the hows and whys of their projects in order to encourage us to give it a whirl.  Shelly of Shizzle Design is one of those great people who shares, and let me tell you there is no fear in Shelly!  If you haven't visited her blog go there right after you read this so you can see her amazing furniture.  She also lived in Hawaii, which definitely endears her to me since we did also and I love it when she throws in a Hawaiian phrase or two.  So when you visit say, 'Aloha!'

Shelly worked some awesome magic on a beautiful cabinet and I was so intrigued by her technique I just had to try it out.  Here is my poor attempt to copy her technique.  Her finished product is so much more fantastic than mine, but I'll show you what I ended up with.

This was a plain Jane Octagon side table when we started.  The drawer insets were cheap, thin fiber wood and they were broken.  I replace them with some sprayed decorative metal I had salvaged from another broken piece.  You'll think I'm insane when you see what it looked like with the first coat applied.

Yep, the undercoat is a bunch of fun little colors.  I worked with Versailles, Aubusson, Duck Egg, Primer Red and Graphite in Annie Sloan paints, Amber Waves of Grain and Rushmore in American Paint Company, and some Alaskan Tundra Green in CeCe Caldwell paints.  All are no prime chalk, clay or mineral based paints.  Love them.  Slap them on haphazardly, that is a true painting technique don't you know?!  I used the Rushmore in 2 light coats over the top, though I might have been able to get away with 1.

Using a combination of light sanding and wet distressing (mostly wet distressing) I gradually exposed some of the underlying paints.  Shelly's tutorial shows you in great detail how she does this.  Check it out!

On the top I dry brushed more Rushmore on top of the Graphite.  I dry brushed in both directions and then went back and sanded and wet distressed until I was happy with the results.  I used American Paint Company's dark wax to finish her off.   Here are a few more looks at the project.

What a fun little side table!  Many Ma halo's to Shelly for being so generous with her amazing skills!
A Hui Ho!
Deb

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The Throne

Let me start by saying that I am praying for all the families from the Naval Yard affected by today's tragedy.  It is unbelievable that we are seeing this yet again!  It seems rather bizarre and insensitive to be thinking about anything but that today without at least acknowledging my great sorrow at the suffering so many will be feeling today.  My heart aches for you!

This summer for VBS I (a known picker) was tagged with finding an arm chair which could be outfitted to look like a throne.  Of course, that's all the excuse I needed to get out there and look for a likely chair!  I do wish I had taken a photo of the grungy gal she was, her brief moment as the The Throne for a wonderful week of VBS but then I'm not exactly known for thinking of those things ahead of time!  That's why my posts are one continually lament and apology for what could have been.

So, here you go with the reveal at least.

For this project I was trying a new paint from The Plaster Paint Company.  I was not paid or given anything to tell you about this paint, but hey, I like to my experiences with new products when I can.  First of all this is a latex based paint with a plaster mixed in.  I bought a paint of this yummy green color Mossy Green.  As with many of these wonderful new paints, no priming necessary (Yes!).  So I just cleaned the dust off and went to town.  I did use 2 coats, and in a couple of areas 3, to get it well covered.  I let my project rest overnight before distressing because my experience with just plain latex paints tells me that it might be too rubbery for a time after painting.  I doubt you'd really have to do that, but it just worked out for me.  I distressed with a sanding block and it went very smoothly and easily.

I was very impressed with the ease of putting this paint down.  The marks you see on this piece were due to the pickling/antiquing done to this chair during construction/production.  The paint showed minimal to no brush marks, was easy to clean up, and dried fairly quickly.  

The finish feels nice and smooth and the color is great.  I used wax and a final buff to give it a nice hard finish.  I bought a pint of this paint and maybe used 1/2, or 1 cup, of paint.  In a couple of spots I did get a few little white flecks which I suspect would be due to the plaster mixture they use, but the paint in the can is very well blended and saved me the trouble of mixing my own!  Another plus, low VOC, which is always pleasant!

A fun, funky piece of fabric completed this project and you'll find this for sale at the Prairie Market here in 1 month!  Ga!  I'd better get crackin'!

Have a great week!  Deb

P.S. I went quiet for some time in part because I was working on 6 pieces of furniture to be featured in 2 different homes at the Omaha Street of Dreams!  If you get a chance go tour the SoD where you will see some fabulous homes.  My pieces are in the Absolute Customs homes on the tour.  Enjoy!

She's 17

16 years ago this photo was taken of our daughter Michaela.

We were in Nanchang, China and we met this most perfect, precious little girl , and we were instantly in love.  One of our fellow travelers shot this photo and sent it to us, so the one and only copy is taped down in a photo album.  So excuse the poor photo quality, but I love this picture of her so.

Here she is now, 17 years old today,

still so precious, so serene, and beautiful.  I can hardly believe that these years have passed so quickly.  I can not fathom yet, the idea of her leaving home to go to college in less than a year.  I have no idea how I will live without seeing her quiet smile, and twinkling eyes every day.  I cry too for her birth mother who made a difficult decision and has not had the privilege of watching her grow up into a Godly young woman of great character. A young lady who loves her family, adores all animals, is smart and thoughtful.  God gave us this child to raise, love and cherish and we are so eternally thankful for his gracious gift!  Michaela, we love you and are so proud of you and who you've become.

There are some great days ahead of you daughter!  There will be tough times too, but look to those who love you and with God's help we will find the sunshine every time.  

I wish you great joy today and every day of your life!  Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Love, 

Mom, Dad, Madison, & Ellarie

professional photos by Laura Cejka Photography

Here I Am!

AWOL again.  Actually I have been closer than normal.  I am hermiting a bit here at home to meet some upcoming deadlines with work.  Custom projects that took longer than expected, unexpected work (it's really a good thing), and family time (a very good thing).  It always gets crazy this time of year with the kids heading back to school, new rhythms to establish, 2 September birthdays to celebrate, new activities to support, meetings to attend, yada, yada, yada.  I've determined that most of you just handle all of that much better than I do!  It's OK, and if all it means is an occasional knot in my stomach, lump in my throat, tear in my eye, and a date with a glass of wine at the end of the day then it's all good compared to all the other things happening in the world right now.  

Here I Am Lord, is one of my all time favorite hymns.  I think a listen to those words would be a good idea for me here.

I shall return with some sneak peeks and hopefully some more fully finished projects soon.  Thanks to those that haven't totally given up on stopping by the blog!
Deb

Lonesome Dove Dresser

Does everyone have these strange moments when you are working on a piece of furniture and you know just what the post title will be before you even finish it?  Hello?  Hello?  

Well Lonesome Dove here started out as a good idea that ended up being a hot mess.  Really, I was doing this awesome job of brushing paint on every which way in a pile of "complimentary" colors.  Ha!  It was pretty bad, and what do you do when you think it's bad, but you really don't want to start completely over...Distress it...a lot.

And then you end up liking it.  It's now not a hot mess, but rustic.  Viola!

It's a combination of ASCP in Old White, Old Ochre, and Coco.

Love these big ole wooden knobs.  Sweet.

Huge, deep drawers and solid wood construction.  Does it look familiar?  I've had others just like this one that came out of a sorority house remodel.  I have more too...yee haw!

You just never know sometimes how it's all going to turn out.  And sometimes that's the best part.

Goodbye Summer!
Deb

Rockin' Robin

So many bird titles, so few bird pieces.  I shall have to work on that.  Anyway, back when the Paint By Number inspiration overcame me I had 3 pieces of furniture pulled out to try it on.  #3 has already been tagged to try something totally different on at a later date.  But #2, well it made it to the race so to speak.
This is a wonderful vintage bench, solid oak, that I purchased from a neighbor's parents after they contacted me.  I adore this piece, and almost didn't paint it at all.  But something kept telling me that it needed a bit of something to take it's next step.

So I set out to paint it and then drew a bird on a branch paint by number to float around in the inset.  At first I painted this without all the clouds and it just did not jive at all.  Then I added a background to it.  Meh... It seemed too bright, too in your face.  I did what I always do when I get stuck on a piece.  I took a photo of it.  Something about looking at it on the camera screen and the computer makes your problem areas shout at you, and I usually know what to fix.  Actually in the photo the clouds looked better than they did in person.  But I did solve my problem.

When I had finished this piece I had really distressed the entire piece heavily.  The inset looked too finished and did not go with the rest of the bench.

So I distressed the heck out of it to match the rest of the bench and viola', I was quite happy with it.  It's not perfect, but then what PBN ever was?

It now has a more rustic, time aged feel to it.  I love it a lot!  Do I say that too much?

Here's the entire bench in all her new glory!  Rockin' the pretty little Robin with her Duck Egg Blue paint.  I think it is perfect now, and want to keep it so badly.  The Mr. is balking at moving the piano though.  I get it, but I'm not sure I'll give up on him yet!

At our house it's a Musical week.  My youngest just finished Summer Musical Theater with 2 amazing performances by the 50 talented kids at the Elkhorn Valley Community Theater!  My 2 Sr. High gals are wrapping up a week of Band Camp and are sure to wow us with a fantastic performance at the Band Expo tonight!  Good luck girls at the Drill down!

Thank you to the Ladies at Elizabeth & Co. for featuring my Paint By Number Dresser!  I LOVE their party and see so many inspiring pieces and recipes!  Go visit them!

Have a great week, dwiddly diddly deet...Rockin' Robin!

Deb

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Sittin' Around

I finished this chair ages ago, but simply kept forgetting to take any beauty shots and share her.  Does that mean I'm really getting old?  As long as I don't get "funny" too, because I have a promise with the Mr. that we can not get old and "funny" acting both.

Look at her 'Queenly' curved back, lovely!  She's pretty with her Old White paint and indigo and off white fabric cushion.

It does not get any better than comfy and curvy both.  Love this one a lot, she makes me happy.  Just shabby enough to be interesting.  She actually looks kind of lovely in the garden.  Hello purple cone flowers. :-)  They make me happy too.

And if her curves are not enough for you, she has pretty little claw feet too.  She's for sale, just let me know if she belongs to you next!  I'm warning you though, the longer I sit and look at this piece in the workshop the more likely I am to move it into the house and find a spot.  Just sayin'.
Have a super week and enjoy these last few days of summer.  Here we go August!
Deb
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