The Decorative Paintbrush

2011 in Review: Our Top 5

2011-12-30T21:13:00.000-05:00

As 2011 comes to a close, I thought I’d jump on the “year in review” band wagon and give you a look at my top 5, “most viewed” entries for the year.

Number 5: Garage Sale Loving

I took this fun little piece and transformed it into a funky entryway table. It sold this summer at The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival. It was the first time I had attempted a landscape motif on a piece and I must admit this turned out to be one of my favorites!

Number 4: The Benefits of Social Networking

My friend Krissy will be glad to know that her daughter’s dresser made the cut! This piece is actually one of the highest “repined” items on my Pinterest page-it shows up all over-and for that I am honored! I’m hoping I will have the opportunity to get to some larger pieces again this year!

Number 3: A Funky Floral Mandela Table

I've had a lot of people affectionately call this my “Toy Story” table, and you know what, I like it! If my babies were still little, this would proudly be displayed in their room, but alas they are teenagers, dark & Gothic, teenagers, gone are the days of Toy Story and bright colors. Even so, I personally L-O-V-E this table and its primary color pallet, cow print meets floral...it just ROCKS!

Number 2: Where Do You Find Inspiration?

Great piece, but boy, was my hand tired from painting in all those zebra prints on the back! Perhaps that’s what prompted my carpal tunnel surgery this November? Hmmm…

I really liked the blue on blue and the red on red (I did a linen weave faux on the top, which didn’t come out all that great in the picture, but looked really cool in person) then did a gold metallic Polk-a- dot on top-SWEET! Then the feet...Shut the front door! They were fencing post toppers-love it! Sold this piece to the same person who bought number 5! Ya baby!

Number 6: Moroccan Stencils

Funny how the number one, most viewed post on my blog for 2011 isn't even furniture! BUT STAIRS!

As many of you know The Decorative Paintbrush is a 2^nd business for me. Although this year, and hopefully in 2012, it will become more of a full-time career for me. My partner and I own another business called 2 Women and a Paintbrush We do all kinds of painting in & out of people’s homes-as a matter of fact, if you've ever read my bio, you’d know it’s really how TheDPB was born.

Anyway, we were commissioned to paint & stencil a customer’s stairs, and although we have a blog for 2Women and a Paintbrush because I loved how these looked I wanted to share them here as well! I’m so glad I did because it turned out to be the most highly viewed post on my blog since we started in 2009! Too funny, hugh?

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful, safe & happy New Year! Thanks for being a part of my world this year! Your comments are always so uplifting and inspiring! Can’t wait to get painting again-lots of great stuff on tap for 2012! Remember to come follow along on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter!

Be safe! Big hugs & much love! PEACE!

A Hand Painted Rocking Chair

2011-12-21T00:28:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl I had a very small rocking chair that had a tiny music box on the back. Every night when I would get out of the tub my mother would wrap me in a big towel, twist the music box on the back and I would rock to Frère Jacques until I was dry.

It was the first thing I thought of when I saw these chairs from Judy. She had saved them from when her kids where little (the smaller one was actually her husband’s). She wanted them re-painted to match her new grandchildren’s bedrooms.

The smaller one had a music box on it too, but it had long stopped working, so it had to be removed. We patched the holes, sanded some chipping and primed the entire piece.

She wanted to have it match the wallpaper border that they were hanging in the room. I loved the monkey, so I chose him for the focal point. I used transfer paper to lay down a basic outline then painted it in with the colors that matched the border.

Then I put the funky alligator on the back.

I also added 3 circle appliqués to the head rest just to bring in some color.

Then tricked out the runners with checks and polka dots.

On the next chair we had to remove an old laminated plastic cover that had been tacked on with thumb tacks. Then we primed it.

Painting the tiny rings took FOREVER….ARGH!!!!! I was going to rip my hair out! Especially with navy blue on white! I left the seat plain because she was making a cushion and pillow for the back of the chair out of fabric that matched the paint.

Well, besides these custom orders we were busy getting ready for Plowshares, which was amazing by the way! Not only did we see great (old) friends but made some new ones as well! Plus, we sold a lot of "stuff" and came away with even more custom orders!

But what really has been mind blowing is our online store! Our Etsy store has been off the charts! If you've never checked out our store, please do so! About a month ago I said to Maggie, "I might take the jewelry boxes out of the shop, because I'm not sure they're selling as good as I'd hoped." All of a sudden, as if someone had heard me, orders came pouring in! I just mailed out the last one yesterday, just in time for Christmas!-FEW!

As I wrap up 2011, I want to thank you so much for all your support this past year! For reading this blog, for your wonderful comments (you always give this chic a much needed ego boost!) and especially for inspiring me! I follow many of you and find great inspiration on your blogs as well! Have a fantastic holiday and here’s to a rocking, prosperous, CREATIVE, New Year! Oh yeah, that's a wine glass clinging in the back ground-cheers-baby!

Sharing with my many friends on my party page!

Sticks, Pinning & No Sewing Involved

2011-11-19T02:14:00.000-05:00

I often find inspiration…well pretty much…anywhere!

One of my current addictions is Pinterest! I'm trying to create one of the largest painted & uniquely designed furniture pages out there. I’m constantly scowering the internet for new possibilities to add to my library. If you’re on Pinterest, please look me up, I’d love it if you’d help me grow my funky furniture collection. If you’ve never heard of Pinterest, write me for an invite, you'll thank me! It’s a virtual bulletin board where you can collect all your amazing pictures, posts & ideas in one organized place, while sharing and collecting from others.)

One of my most favorite styles of furniture to pin is Sticks! Who doesn’t LOVE a good piece of Sticks furniture, right?

Recently, I was asked to design a small table for a customer that was similar to, but not exactly like, Sticks. It also was going to be for a home in the Adirondacks, so the theme had to be in an outdoorsy/rustic style, as well.

I decided to go with larger folk styled images instead of smaller scenes, which is why I didn’t put too much design into the pictures, because it would have been too busy. I kept them simple, but increased the interest with bold color. (Plus, I just had hand surgery, so I was basically painting with one hand. The less detail the better, LOL!)

With daring color in the imagery, the background and accent colors were done in taupe, tans, and muted colors, forcing the colors to stand out even more. I then went back in with a little brown paint, water and a damp cloth to shadow around the edges of each character. This created a 3D effect. If you have ever used watercolors, it’s a similar technique, yet its acrylic paint. The effect is really nice. The trick is in the dabbing (with your damp cloth dab gently where you have applied the paint; thicker at the edge, more watery as you feather it out).

On the bottom I kept it simple as well, with a log cabin and a message of home. A wooden appliqué was glued on for whimsy.

I did a second piece…but I’ll have to show you that next week. It’s got a totally different vibe, but I think you’ll find it interesting.

Remember, come find me on Pinterest and please help me build my page!

I will be linking to parties that can be found here on my "Party Page!"

Lessons From Teachers and Twits Guest Post

2011-11-16T09:09:00.001-05:00

3 friends since elementary school: Me, Chuck & Renee

Today’s post is just a little something different. I’m mixing it up a bit, taking you away from the painting projects and showing you a little snip-it of who I am. Today, I am guest posting on my wonderful friend Renee Jacobson’s blog called, Lessons from Teachers and Twits.

Renee’s is an English professor, author, mom, and grammar guru, (as a matter of fact she’s probably correcting my grammar as we speak) and her blog is filled with witty stories of life lessons and meaningful narratives that will entertain, as well as inform you. As you’ll read, Renee and I have been friends, well…forever, and when she asked me to guest post on her blog about a “teacher experience” I was honored to do so. Of course my teacher experience had to do with my most favorite art teacher!

Carl Wenzel taught me that one great lesson you will hear me repeat often throughout this blog, “Some of your biggest artistic mistakes will turn out to be some of your best creative work.” He made me love art and want to see things from a different perspective.

So, hop on over to Lessons from Teachers and Twits and read how this remarkable teacher changed my life and influenced the artist I am today. Please, leave me a comment about your “favorite teacher” experience; I’d love to hear it! While you’re there why not leave Renee some love too, you’d be doing yourself a favor, honestly, she hasn’t been my friend for close to 3 decades because she’s boring people! LOL!

Enjoy!

Just Rosey

2011-11-10T13:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever started a project and it turned out completely different then you imagined? Well, that would certainly be the case with this nightstand!

When I had first bought this piece from an auction in Brewerton I had intended to paint the base white and stain the top in a dark stain-sort of similar to pieces you’ve seen around blog land lately, but…that went out the window fairly quickly as you’ll see.

After I sanded and primed the sides, I somehow had this idea to paint the sides green, with big beautiful salmon colored roses! I know where do these ideas come from? No, I don’t do LSD, although sometimes you’d think I did, right! If you were judging solely on my furniture pieces, LOL! Then, I decided a blue fade in the back would look really cool.

This type of faux is really simple. First, line up your paints (you’ve got to be ready to dip). You should probably work with a glaze, (to extend work time for the paint) but because I was working in a small area, I didn’t.

I base coated in one color blue (for me it was the lightest shade), and then worked from the darkest down, fading each color into the next. I don’t even rinse my brush out in between; I just let the colors “melt” into the next while they’re wet.

What’s important with this technique is your wrist motion and hand pressure, everything is flowing and gentle. You want the colors to blend into one other, so don’t apply too much pressure, otherwise you’ll see lines and the paints will become muddy on your brush and canvas.

When all three colors are still wet, rinse your brush out, dab it off a bit (you don’t want drips), go back in and “feather” gently through the areas where the colors meet, softening the lines. This creates a faded/blended look.

I even brought the blue fade into the foot of the piece, just to have balance.

But even with all that...it was at this point that I sat back and went…”WTH!? This does not go together-AT ALL!?” This is where the change came in! I had already applied a crackle finish to the legs too, so that had to all be sanded off as well. Then I just painted everything that was brown-white. Sigh…a lot of extra work but it looked so much better in the end!

Because I had decided to pinstripe the back (bottom) and front in tan & cream I thought I would balance that out and bring the stripe into the top. I didn’t want to do a solid stripe, so opted for a burlap stripe. Again, probably should have used glaze in the paint for this faux (remember people, like I tell my kids, do as I say, not as I do, lol!) but because it was a small area I just worked fast. I taped off my stripes and had at it.

I applied my tan paint and started to rake through in one direction (horizontally) with my Martha Stewart Big Bristle Brush (but you could use any large, whisked brush really, and no Martha didn't pay me to give her a shout out, just got it as a Christmas present and wanted to try it out).

Then I quickly went in the other direction to create a fine linen weave. I loved the look of burlap, but as I sat there looking at it, I felt it just wasn’t done…..It was still too plain for me. Hmmm…I’d seen a lot of crafters doing French labels lately, perhaps I’d try that. So, I jumped on to Graphics Fairy and started looking. Graphics Fairy is the best! They have hundreds, no scratch that, thousands, of amazingly free graphics that you can pick from, to spruce up your projects. Well, you can just imagine how stoked I was when I found one to compliment what I had already started on my piece.

Now, before you go thinking I’m so awesome for drawing this free hand, hold on a minute...I had to rig up this contraption to actually get it on there!

Half on my file cabinet and half on 3 1/2 gallons of paint, the projector was hung down, so the printed out graphic could be blown up and centered onto the middle of the table. I then traced the grapic onto the table top and then painted it in.

I did tweak it just a bit to fit my project (the roses are mine, and the colors are different) but it really was what I was looking for to pull the whole thing together.

Originally this side table (although white & stained) was going to be an Adirondack piece (and the drawers were going to be funky). I had actually painted the drawers first and glued fish to the front of them. I never took them off, but when I was finished I actually thought… “Hugh? This kind of works? “ Soooo, I painted them the same color salmon as the roses and left them alone. I even went as far as to buy crystal knobs instead of covering them up with darker ones. I think it all works in the name of WHIMSY? How about you?

Well, it certainly turned out completely different then I had envisioned it’s actually a different piece then what I usually do all together. Kind of French provincial meets whimsical me! Let that be a lesson…Even big mistakes can turn out to be big accomplishments.

I’m sharing this piece with friends and parties whose links can be found here

How About a Game of Checkers?

2011-10-31T20:29:00.000-04:00

We found this end table during a recent Thrift Store run. It needed minimal prep, which I love, although it did need a good washing. It looked as if someone had left newspaper on the top, it had gotten wet and fused to the wood, but it was nothing that a little warm water, a scrubby and some elbow grease couldn’t cure!

Once that was all cleaned off, we sanded it just to scuff up the old polyurethane and then primed it with 2 coats of primer.

I decided I wanted to make this a gaming table, so I decided to build the design around the checkerboard in the center of the table. I first measured out the square and laid down the faux to match the faux on the legs and the harlequins on the sides. Then I offset it with the cranberry checks.

Then we replaced the dowdy wooden handle with a vintage looking handle to coordinate with the earthy colors of the piece. As always I purchased it at Hobby Lobby ½ off! It only cost $2.00.

I also took the swirly designs from the back and brought them into the flowers.

Here is the final product! I decided to go with more muted tones, which as you know, is different then what I usually do, but I’m liking it!

Here are some pieces that we were lucky to find at the Thrift store this weekend, they all totaled $30! What a score! Look for them in the upcoming weeks.

We have a huge show December 3 & 4, Plowshares! We are doing some demo pieces for a shop in the Adirondacks (keep your fingers crossed-more info to come on that) and we have many custom orders coming up for the holidays….so life is supercrazybusy, which is why this blog is so short-sorry! But please know A LOT OF STUFF IS COMING!

So, have you done any furniture redo's recently? If so, please share them with me! I love being inspired by you! Post them on my Face Book page! Or if you're a Pinterest ~~addict~~ fan like me, come find me there too! I'm trying to build a really big "painted furniture" page and love to have new additions/followers/ideas/pins!

Happy Painting!

Mary

Sharing this post with my blog friends on my "where we party page"

Heather's Gift

2011-10-08T13:19:00.003-04:00

Two years ago my friend Heather was moving to Boston andasked me if I’d like this cupboard that had been in her basement forawhile. She had warned me that it was inneed of some serious TLC, but you know me…. furniture, TLC….sigh, I love a challenge!Little did I know though, that this piece would be one of my greatest makeover’s. At least as far as before and after goes.

There was a lot of prep work that had to be done to thispiece. We had to remove the back, theinside bottom piece and replace them both with new wood. We had to add newshelves because the old ones were warped and had to replace the weathered hardware. We scraped loose paint, than primed the entire piece, twice. But after somuch prep work for some reason, it just got stored away. I think I wasexhausted :D

But recently I was asked to donate a piece of work to theWilliam Johnson Scholarship Fund and I thought… Heather would be so please tosee this piece donated to such a worthy cause, so I dug it out of storage andstarted painting.

The school colors were black, white & red, so I wentwith that theme, which was actually harder than I thought. You know me, I keptwanting to add COLOR (which I did a little bit…can you see the hint of green,lol, I just couldn’t help myself, I know I have a problem!) but all in all, theblack and white was the overall theme.

I added funky knobs and tassels to give it some extra punch.

I'm hoping this piece does well at the raffle and I hope Imade my friend Heather proud with the transformation. It’s in her honor that Igive this piece to charity.

Last month my dear friend was diagnosed with malignant gliamo.She is fighting hard and facing this monster with great strength and grace. Thetwo birds on the front are a symbol of our friendship. Please keep her in yourprayers
.

Life is short people. Make everyday count and mostimportantly tell the people that are important to you how much you love them.

Happy Painting,

Mary

Sharing this piece with all my friend on my party page

Snoopy and Stuff

2011-09-21T14:18:00.000-04:00

So, I’m finally getting back on schedule with the kids beingback in school and summer officially being over, I’m finally getting back into agroove. I know all you parents feel me! It usually takes about a month beforewe are all deprogrammed, right?

The Etsy store has been crazy busy with orders, which isgood and we have finally moved into a store in Oneida called The Market, wherewe finally have a permanent home for our pieces. I’m working on a cupboard that will be donatedfor auction to The William Johnson Scholarship Fund in October (great cause) so lookfor that story on the blog soon and we have several custom pieces in the works.Plus, without starting to panic, Plowshares in just around the corner in Decemberand I need to start building inventory! Da, Da, Da….cue the scary music! Butwith all the craziness, life couldn’t be better and I couldn’t be happierbecause I’m doing what I love to do.

Like this next piece for example, who gets to get up and createcute little nursery pieces like this for a living! I mean how lucky am I!

Mike had written me and asked if I could paint an end tablethat would match the linens that were in his infant son’s room. He sent me a linkto the comforter and asked if there was any way I could do something similar tothis motif? I’d never done Snoopy before but I thought sure, I’d give it a try.

If you’ve been on this blog long enough you’d know that thisparticular style of table is one of my most popular tables in the shop. I’ve done them in manydesigns. Check out this one for example, or this one, or this one, or this one,or maybe even this one, the list is as endless as your imagination, but thiscute Snoopy stand is a personal fav. Maybe because it’s Snoopy & Woodstock,let’s face it, they’re irresistible.

I’m hoping to have some more pieces to share very shortly!Thanks for sticking around! In the mean time, have you caught the “Pinning”bug!?! My friend Lucy (of Lucy Designs), totally introduced me to the ~~crack~~ (caugh, caugh, I mean...) wonderful worldof Pinterest and I have not been able to stop pinning since. So, if you are on onenight look me up! I’d love to follow you back I’m always up for new stuff/pins! And if you are on Face Book stop on over tomy page and chat! I’m on there to all hours of the night! Hahahaha! Okay, maybeit’s not the kids that keep me from painting! See Ya soon peeps!

Happy Painting (or pinning, or facebooking or whatever....lol!),

Mary

sharing this post with my friends on this link page!

Funky Functional Art

2011-08-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

I saw this idea once on another blog (it was a while ago and I don’t remember where I saw it otherwise I would give props I swear and if you have it on your blog please connect the link somehow) and always thought it would be cool to transform an old frame into a family organizational center ever since then. So when I saw this single mirror, unattached from its dresser at the local Rescue Mission, I knew I had to have it! At $5 it was total steel!

The first thing we did was remove the backing. Then we popped out the mirror and replaced it with luan. We chose Luan plywood because it is more lightweight then regular plywood and since the frame itself is heavy we wanted to elevate any extra weight wherever we could.

Just a side note: Lowes is really nice about cutting the wood to your specific measurements, so if you don’t have the equipment at home to cut it just have them precut the wood for you and it’ll be already for you to insert when you get home.

Okay another side note: The next time I do this project I think I will paint the board separately from the frame then attach the two pieces at the end but we were so excited to see how it looked put together that we assembled it first. This made it harder to paint along the inside edge, for both the frame and chalkboard. Dugh?!

After one coat of primer we applied two coats of Benjamin Moore Baja Dunes as the base coat to the frame and waited for it to thoroughly dry before we began the faux.

So while that was drying we started on our magnet/chalkboard. Before we had screwed the wood on we did manage to sand it down smooth but did forget to prime...oops! LOL! Can you tell we were excited about this! I’m surprised I remembered the pictures! Grrrr! Don’t you hate when you do that, forget a step!

ANYWAY! The surface was smooth and the first coat (of 4) of the magnetic paint went on nicely. It took many coats of magnetic paint to create enough hold to secure even the thinnest magnet, even though the directions say 2 coats are enough. If you wanted to use larger magnets I’m thinking you would have to apply even more coats of the paint. And you can only use one coat of regular paint/chalkboard paint over the top because that too cuts down on its magnetism.

After a couple hours the frame was dry and I decided to start on the faux. I went back in with Ralph Lauren Glaze in Tea Stain ($3 on sale @ Home Depot, which stopped caring it so I grabbed the last cans they had!) and distressed it. Honestly, it looked okay, but I wanted something darker I think, so I went in with actually stain for a more richer, deeper discoloration. I dipped my rag in Minwax (Mahogany) and rubbed that into the sunburst and around the edges for a more weathered look. Then I took gold & bronze Artists Metallic paint and dry rubbed that over the tops of the sun bursts only, just for added effect.

Have you ever used Google Translate? I love it! You just type in a word, a statement, poem or phrase and translate it into one of 20 different languages. I wanted to bring some of the black into the top of the piece to balance out all the black in the middle and bottom, so I thought a cool French statement across the top wood be just the thing I needed. “Life is a Journey” was the statement I chose and once I traced it on the top I painted it in with black paint balancing it all out.

Once the outside was finished we put the last coat of chalkboard paint on the center and conditioned it.

Third and final side note (promise!): If you don’t condition your board the first thing you write on the chalkboard will be “burned in” so to speak. Although you’ll be able to wash it off you’ll always be able to see it on the board. So here’s how you condition: Take any old piece of sidewalk chalk and rub it all over the entire surface of your chalkboard. Make sure that you cover every inch thoroughly with the chalk. Once that’s done take a wet cloth and wipe it clean.

Now onto the bling! I bought a bunch of different knobs from Hobby Lobby (when they where half off). I staggered them in style and size along the bottom to create a “just found” look. I chose smaller knobs to offset the hook on the side for extra storage.

Once we screwed the knobs in we discovered we needed to cut the back off of the screws in order for the frame to lay flush against the wall. Heavy duty wire cutters did the trick.

In order to hang this piece the hardware had to be strong. It did not have hardware from its previous life as a mirror so we had to put our own on the back. We drilled 2 hooks (eye screws) into the back of the frame and ran heavy duty wire through them, securing it around each loop.

We now have a fantastic, functional piece of art for the home that can cost you next to nothing to make. The magnet & chalk board paint are on the more expensive side ($20.00 per qt.) but you only use a little bit for this project and will have plenty left over for many other crafty things. So, get creating people! I know I can’t wait to make another organizational center again, just picked up another lonely mirror this weekend!

Happy Painting!

Mary

I'm sharing this with my friends that are listed on my party page. Find it here.

One Chair, Thirty Different Looks

2011-08-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

A while ago we decided to clean out one of our storage sheds in hopes we could cut down on our expenses (…um ya, it sounded like a good idea anyway). That’s when we got a call from our friend Tammy. “Look ladies I just went through the drive-thu at Wendy’s and they’re getting rid of like 30 chairs, you might want to get down there!” Before she was even done talking I was in the car, pushing some red headed kid out of the way and high tailing my ass into the dumpster. Three trips later we had all the chairs (and about 5 tables) in our newly cleaned out storage shed (so much for saving some money, right?).

Maggie testing out our chairs. Looks like church in the shed!

So, these are the first of the those chairs. What I LOVE is how one chair (style wise) can take on so many different looks, as you’ll see over the next couple months. I'll periodically post "Wendy’s Chairs”postings. They'll be the same style chair but different colors, different fabrics, and different designs creating a whole new look. These black ones we did for the Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festival.

SIDENOTE: We had a great time at The Syracuse A & C Fest (except for the rain out on Friday); we met amazing fellow crafters, artists and customers and learned so much from a variety of people (Thanks Ralph for all the tent help!). Saturday & Sunday the weather was beautiful and the traffic was nonstop. We handed out hundreds of business cards, talked about custom orders with people and made a lot of business contacts (look for our work to possibly be in a shop near you soon). We hope that they will have us back next year. One great prospect that came out of it is this; I will be The Artist in Residence at the NYS Fair September 1, 2011! How cool is that! From 11-3 I will be painting furniture, doing a demo, and doing Q & A, which is sure to be very exciting. (Okay, honestly, I’m really nervous.)

Anyway, back to the chairs…I kept them in the same color palette, but changed up the seat pattern and the design on the back, this way they could be sold as a group or someone could purchase just one if they liked.

The next set I did was white, with red & white seats, very classic looking. Then white chairs with an aqua, tan and white fabric…sigh, to die for. So, like I said, look for these posts soon. I’ll be putting them in as I get them done. They look so much different then the black ones, but they are the SAME style chair-it’s really cool.

Oh, and here’s another B&A (Before & After) that doesn’t require a whole blog post of its own but I thought you’d like to see it. This cute lil’ bar stool sold at the Syracuse A & C Fest as well, and I must admit I was sad to see it go. I really liked it that much. Perhaps I’ll have to make one just for myself. Found the stool at the Thrifty shopper for $2, LOVE IT! Simple, but chic…

Happy Painting,

Mary

I'll be sharing this post with some of my friends at these blog parties and they can be found on my link page.

The Benefits of Social Networking

2011-07-21T14:58:00.000-04:00

When Face Book first came out I wasn’t a believer. I thought I could never get into that, but now it’s like an addiction for me! How about you? I love my business Face Book page and have met so many great people through it. I’ve even added a Twitter account too! Hahaha! I know I sound like a tool! But it's amazing how it can help your business grow!

(My personal page is a whole other story. My kids think I’m crazy and yes they hate the fact that they have friended me and I write, “I love you!” all over their walls!)

Anyway, the reason why I’m going on about Face Book and Twitter, is this, the social media thing…it works! I’ve actually gotten a lot of business from it, my case and point, this beautiful redo right here! Krissy was a friend from high school, we reconnected via FB (how cool am I with the abbreviated lingo), she saw my stuff and “BAM!” (Okay, maybe not that intensely) commissioned me to redo her grandmother’s dressing table for her daughter!

At first we chatted via FB, and then she sent pics via email. She sat down with her daughter scanned my blog and Etsy store for designs, which led to a list of things they might like to see on their dresser. Her daughter really liked this bookcase I had painted for another client, so that was our insperation piece.

I then scketched out some designs (tweeted about them! Hahaha! Joking!), sent the pictures back to her via e-mail and they picked the one they liked best.

Now, some of you are thinking, Mary, this isn’t a very personal way to do business, and I would agree, but in today’s world when people are oober busy, carving out “time” to meet with someone face to face, and coordinating schedules is crazy! Krissy is a working mom, I’m a working mom, enough said people! Sometimes I take care of business at 2 am! This is when social media, e-mail etc…is a total must! If I could have had her fax the actual dresser to me and save the gas, I would have!

The desk was in really good shape despite its age. I did have to do some minor repairs to it. I used (as always) Gorilla glue in the cracks and held it shut with clothespins until it dried.

I sanded it, primed it and turned it on its side to get ready for painting. Just a side note: Always turn your pieces upside down, otherwise you’re always going to be finding “missed spots”, plus my motto is, “If it looks good from underneath, it will look even better from the top.”

I even prime and paint the drawers. First, I think it gives every piece a finished detailed look. Second, most of the pieces I refinish are used, and who wants to put their junk in someone else’s junk, right!

I added cute knobs, all from Hobby Lobby. I didn’t want them to match because I felt it added to the funkiness of the piece. I also added wooden letter appliqués also from Hobby Lobby in the form of her initials on the two top drawers, plus the wings & heart in the center just for some added whimsy.

And just before I finish I sign my pieces now. I wasn’t signing things before, but a good friend (thanks Lucy, AKA Lucy Designs) told me “You have to sign your work, it’s your art!” so now I do.

Krissy also purchased this great mirror from me to go with the set. I just put some black and white checks around the outside and the trio was complete.

I did lacquer it with 4-5 coats of lacquer but you know teenage girls! Mom’s going to purchase either a piece of glass/Plexiglas to cover the top area to preserve it better, plus she can add pictures or keepsakes underneath to personalize it even more.

Hopefully, when Krissy has it all set up in her room she’ll send me a picture and we’ll see what it looks like in action!

So the moral of this story! Social Networking pays off!

And for those of you who live locally stop out and see us next weekend at The Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festivale! All the details are here!

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

Happy Painting!

Mary!

I will be sharing with my friends on my link up page. You can find them all here.

Garage Sale Lovin'

2011-07-01T12:12:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago we had a garage sale. We had been procrastinating about it for awhile. We knew the guy across the street would be getting ready for his annual whoopla soon and we always tried to coincide ours with his, problem was we never quit made it, but this year we were determined. We had been stocking up like squirrels on crack; our living room looked like an episode of Hoarders gone bad. Do you ever notice when you tell someone you’re having a garage sale all of a sudden you inherit their garbage too? But the scary thing is when I went to my Moms to get her “junk” half of it I wanted to keep! Ugh! I have a problem people! Really who needs 2 George Foreman Grills! Hahaha!

Seriously, I didn’t keep the grill but there were some nice lamp shades I scored, as well as some other interesting salvage. So, after a weeklong frenzy of moving, cleaning, tagging, and setting up we were ready for business. It was great because we set up shop in the driveway and got a lot of painting done for our upcoming show while we waited on customers in between, win/win. The lady across the street opened up her garage too, so we drew even more people in, I mean we were rocking, people!

Then it happened… (Cue the cheesy music da, da, da!) I saw her (or them I should say) from across the street. They stole my heart (and my profit, almost) but I had to have them! I made a mad dash across the road. Okay, let’s be real, I’m a bigger woman, I don’t make a mad dash for anything unless it’s smothered in butter, but I wanted that furniture! I was like Daffy Duck in that one cartoon where he grabs the pearl in the oyster and says, “Mine, mine, all mine!” I even knocked some old lady out of the way to get to it! This bad boy was for me and no one else! I would have arm wrestled my own grandmother for it! It was that spectacular! Unfortunately, I had to leave her sister. I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the money (and I spent the next day and half pining away for her from across the street. Secretly sending daggers at anyone who went near her).

All right, so back in my driveway, even though I was working on other pieces I quickly tossed them aside (sorry chairs) and sat her front and center. I had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do with her but I wanted to see what you guys thought. Within minutes of posting my last blog someone (thanks Renee!) wrote back clouds! BINGO! That totally connected with what I was thinking and I ran with it (although the fish idea was pretty cool too). I had also seen a cool plastic plate while grocery shopping (inspiration everywhere, right!) and knew black and white harlequins would be fantastic along the base.

So, without further a due her she is….

And just in case you were wondering…I did go back and get her sister at the end of the garage sale extravaganza. No one had purchased her (she was meant to be mine I think) and I was able to talk my neighbor down in price. So, I did wind up investing a good chunk of our sales back into furniture (big surprise there, right? But I figured with the Syracuse Arts and Crafts Show coming up at the end of July, God willing, I might be able to make that back ;D

Here’s my next project on deck, a custom order, a dresser and bench for a client’s teenage daughter. This will be tricked out in black, white, hot-pink, and iguana green, with funky flowers, stripes polka dots, hearts and wings! You won’t want to miss it!

I will be sharing with these link parties, just click here to get back to your designated page!

Happy Painting!

Mary

60’s Psychedelic Surfboard Table

2011-06-18T10:58:00.001-04:00

Okay, so it’s not really a surfboard, but from the moment I unscrewed the legs it was all I could think of.

This was a curbside find and I actually fell in love right there on someone’s front lawn. The curve of the legs, the large oval top, what isn’t to love! She’s beautiful. Yes, I’m actually swooning over a piece of furniture. I took her home, sanded her down, and primed her out.

I knew for certain that the legs were going to be a zebra print, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do on the top.

Recently, Benjamin Moore Paints was giving away a free coupon for pint size samples (Go to their Face Book page and click on the “upload coupon” on the sidebar, it’s good till June 30th). Can you say SCORE! I totally loaded up! Can I get a whoop, whoop! I had seen this color combination on a sample card in the store and knew I had to have it.

So, now I had the zebra legs & the color palette, but I was still wondering about the design. I don’t know about you guys, but one of the most intimidating things for me is looking at a large, white canvas! Sometimes you just don’t know where to start. I happened to have my last piece (The Funky Chicken) next to me when I noticed the circular flowers on the back. That’s when the light bulb went off. I started grabbing a bunch of circular items and started tracing.

I love when it all comes together. Once that happens I become like a crazy woman, painting, painting, painting, just trying to get the image out of my head and onto the canvas (furniture). I just want to see the finished product.

I decided on stripes for around the outer edge, to balance the spherical forms on top, as well as, the oval shape of the table itself. Then I screwed the legs back on and lacquered her up. As I stood back and looked at it, all I could really envision was a 60’s style surfboard! Hahaha! Don’t lie; you see it too, right?

As you know, or maybe you don’t, I’m participating in The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival in downtown Syracuse at the end of July, so I’m obsessed with getting enough inventory for this 3 day event. So I’m cranking out pieces left and right! The next project on deck is this cute little ditty that I purchased at a local garage sale, so local I just walked across the street! Ha! Isn’t it cute!

I’m curious, what would you do with it? Give me your ideas or color choices. What would it look like in order for you to say, “WOW! I HAVE TO HAVE THAT!” Leave me a comment. Maybe, you’ll see your ideas transformed into a funky piece of furniture!

Happy Painting, Y’all!

Mary

Check her for my link page and all the friends I share with:
http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/p/inspiration.html

The Funky Chicken

2011-06-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

It isn’t often that you can say you love your neighbors, but I do, and the reason I love them is because...they throw away some pretty cool stuff! When I first started curb shopping I usually went at night. I was kind of embarrassed and didn’t want my neighbors to know I was taking their things, but now a days, I actually have people stopping me and saying, “Are you that furniture lady? (Like I’m some crazy cat lady that lives on the end of the street) I’ve got a dresser you can have!” People ask if their table will make our blog, or what we’ll do with this chair, they have even helped me move larger pieces to my storage unit! How awesome is that! I'm like a rockstar on my street, lol! Either that, or people just think I'm plain nuts! I'd like to think the first, but I'm guessing the second.

This, is one of those pieces. I scooped it up from 5 houses down, it was a total score! One night after picking my daughter up from work I spotted it. “If it’s still there when I come back (I was running late as usual) I’ll grab it.” Sure enough there it was. We opened the van door, pulled it in, slammed the door, and squealed off. No one was the wiser and we we're one step richer! When I got a good home I took a good look at it. I knew immediately it was going to have funky chickens on it, I mean how could it not, right! It reminds me of a chicken coop.

But first, I had to do the boring stuff…I removed all the hardware, primed it and sanded it, BORING! Even though the majority of it was going to be white again, I knew being a used piece I better prime it just in case.

I removed the wire from the doors because I wanted to clean up the build-up of paint that had accumulated from years of painting and give it a smoother look, plus I wanted to spray paint the wire black without creating overspray on the door. I popped the staples out with a screw driver, then laid the screens on some card board, and then spray painted them black.

While those were drying, I spray painted the hinges to match. These hinges were really old but I thought a coat of spray paint would bring them back to life. No such luck. They were really crusty looking. I made a mad dash to the hardware store to grab some new ones, but they were out of black ones in the size I needed, so....silver it was (then back to the spray paint). I had to spray paint the screws as well to match. I use a floral Styrofoam square to hold the screws and spray the tops then just touch up with my fingertip after I screw them in (if necessary).

Once I sanded the doors down, primed and painted them I reattached the hardware, plus some really cute knobs from Hobby Lobby (50% off 1.29 apiece).

So, now for the fun part! The funky chickens! I use this great paper to trace my pictures when I want the same thing over and over again. Its awesome stuff and very easy to use. You lay it down (dark side on the bottom) lay your picture on top, trace over the top of your picture with a pencil our any dull object, then peel it back, and voila! Then just color it in. The lines are erasable and do not show through the paint (only sometimes through light colors, like pencil would). You can even use this paper on dark colors.

I then used some really high tech stencils for the flowers on the back. Notice the leaves? They're paint chip samples from Home Depot, but they make great leaf patterns don’t they?

Somehow, I wanted to incorporate a fun basket of eggs into this chicken coop, but I just wasn’t sure how, when this quirky little idea popped into my head one night.

I was lucky to find this bowl set at the local Rescue Mission Store for $3.00 (“Winning!” I could use the one bowl for the piece and sell the other bowls at our next craft show).

Picked up 2 packs of wooden eggs, painted them in wild tricked out colors and patterns, slapped them in the painted bowl, glued them to the top and called it a day! Yaya! Who’s your daddy?

After I did the final photo shoot I did add wheels to the bottom of this piece and magnet strips to the inside of doors (the kind you see on the insides of your cupboards) to keep them from closing in on themselves.

This piece will be going with us to the Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festival in July. I'm hoping somebody finds it as amusing as I do! Hahahaha!

Happy Painting!

Mary

I will be sharing with my friends @:

http://www.504main.com/

http://becolorful.typepad.com/

http://www.dittledattle.blogspot.com/

http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

http://bellabeforeandafter.blogspot.com/

http://todayscreativeblog.net/

The rest of my friends can be found on my "link page" at the top of this page :D

A Funky Floral Mandala Table

2011-05-06T21:35:00.054-04:00

How many times have you started out redoing a piece of furniture and mid way through it just completely takes on a mind of its own? Such was the case with this end table, but I know exactly when my creative process changed gears, this one wasn’t a surprise, it was when my wonderful (online) friend Pam from BeColorful, introduced me to the designs of textile artist Susan Sargent. I immediately fell in love with Susan’s bold designs, especially her flower patterns and knew I wanted to incorporate them into the plan.

See, when I had sketched out this piece originally (and I don’t always draw out my pieces first, just sometimes when I’m stuck) I was going for more of a “country” look but then enter Pam and Susan Sargent.

Immediately I incorporated her flower design, (although not exact) onto the side panel (and yes, I actual free handed it!) but in doing so it changed the mood of the entire piece. I couldn’t do the bandana print or the hen; there wasn’t a country feel anymore it had taken on whole different vibe.

The sides looked great, but I was drawing a blank on the top? That’s when the thought of a Mandala came to mind. Recently, I’ve been playing around with Mandalas in my journals. Have you ever heard of a Mandala? I was reintroduced to them through a webpage called Art-Is-Fun where artist Thaneeya McArdle has created fun coloring pages and designs to inspire you (plus, she has a ton of other fantastic stuff too). So, I knew this piece was calling out for a Mandala, not a real busy one, but a simple one, and that's what I decided to draw on the top.

I did this by using tracers. A few months ago while wondering around our local bargain center I picked up this large box of strange sized file folders (really cheap!). I use file folders to make stencils or tracers. I found a small Mandala that I liked in a chunky graphics book I have that I often use for insperation and drew out the design onto a blank folder. I cut them out and then traced them on the table top. I did this to create a somewhat of a uniformed look.

I then colored in the form with the different patterns that I used throughout the sides of the piece, allowing the flowers to become the center focal piece.

I added a swirly handle for extra fun (Hobby Lobby 50% off $1.50) and my piece was finally complete.

I did decide to keep the cow print and the lone star on the back, a whisper of the previous design, plus in some quirky way it worked.

Have you ever tried creating a Mandala? They are so much fun to color! You’ll have to try them out.

Happy Painting,

Mary

Sharing with:

Skip to My Lou

Between Naps on The Porch

Miss Mustard Seed

BeColorful

Domestically Speaking

Today's Creative Blog

My Repurposed Life

Patriotic Plant Stand

2011-04-24T16:22:00.000-04:00

Recently, my friend Gina asked me to revamp an old highchair she had been storing in her basement. She wanted to turn it into a funky place to showcase her plants. What a great idea I thought, “A plant stand!” How many times do you see a cute highchair at a garage sale or thrift store, but you think…“What the heck would I do with that?” Well, now you know!

From the moment I picked it up I knew I was going to have to remove this cute lil’ doggy decal that was on the back, it seriously had seen better days. I tried scraping it with a razor first, but it wasn’t budging. So, I took some stripper (Peel Away 6; Paint & Varnish Remover), saturated the sticker with it, let it sit for a few minutes and waited for it to bubble. Then took the razor to it again and it came up like butter.

Once I had removed the entire sticker and all its residue, I gave the whole piece a good cleaning with some soap and water. I then put wood putty in all the small cracks and holes, sanded and primed.

Gina had pretty much given me free reign over design but she did give me one stipulation, “Make it patriotic!” So, red, white and blue is what I did!

After I laid down the base coats, I started with the stripes. On this piece there were 3 different sizes. I usually always use tape when striping. For really thin lines I use auto detailing tape. You can buy it at any auto supply store. For larger stripes I use either Frog or Scotch Blue tape usually in 1-2” strips. Both are good, but both tend to bleed. Not a problem though, I just go in with a little brush and touch up the bleed marks at the end.

See, I usually use 3 different size brushes in a 3 step process. First, I use my Purdy (love, love, love, my Purdy!) to cover the large areas and get a solid base coat. Then, I go in with a medium brush closing in the gaps, laying down the design and filling in the color. The final go around is with a tiny brush for all the detail work.

Once the painting was finished I added the wood appliqués for whimsy (also to cover some unsightly screw holes in the rear) and wrote the word “LIBERTY” across the back to finish it off.

I usually finish my pieces with a spray coat of lacquer. This piece got extra coats of Poly Lacquer (brushed on), because it was going to be used as a plant stand and I wanted to make sure the seat was sealed extra good (just in case water spilt on it).

So, what do you think? Does this seat get your vote? And how do you like Gina’s creative idea to turn this highchair into a funky plant stand? What would you have done with it? I'd love to hear your ideas...let me know!

Happy Painting!

Mary

Designer Garden Guest Spot

2011-04-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

Hey Everybody! I have been invited to be the guest writer over at Designer Garden today and I am stoked! How much fun is that, to be able to run my mouth about painting furniture on someone else’s page, and get this...she actually asked me! I didn’t have to force her, bribe her, nothing! She just saw a piece of my work and liked it, how cool is that!

see the transformation!

Seriously, Sommer is a total doll, and I am honored that she let me share my newest piece with her and her followers, so please click on this link: Designer Garden and see how I transformed this blah piece of furniture into something sophisticated and funky! While you’re there, why not check out all her great stuff as well; Rocking makeovers, straight-up tutorials, amazing before and afters! You name it, she’s done it, so why not even think about becoming a follower of hers as well, so you don’t miss a single entry!

Remember to tune back in here in a week or so, I have some wonderful pieces I’m working on…just take a peek. See ya soon!

In Harmony With Spring

2011-03-15T13:05:00.000-04:00

I recently decided to give two of my pieces to the Rotary Club of Eastwood to be auctioned off for charity. It’s a cool way to give back to the community. Know, before you go thinking I’m this amazing giving person, it’s also a way for me to get my name out there as well (it’s a win/win). In return for the donation you get your name (and a picture of a couple of your pieces) in their glossy 8 X 10 magazine, pretty fancy, hugh! When you check out their website, oh and I know you will, (http://www.eastwoodrotary.org/) you’ll be able to actually see a copy of the magazine online. I personally picked up 25 copies for myself, not sure who I’m handing them out to, family and friends perhaps? Hahahaha! (I can hear them all groaning now!) Anyway, it was a lot of fun to do the pieces, you know me, any excuse to paint something!

Here’s the first piece. It started out as this "cuteugly" table. Cute when I first did it, but ugly now that I look at it! You know what I'm talking about! You've all been there. My painting has grown and matured over the years, so a lot of my earlier pieces look silly to me now, but I still love the phrase on it though! It’s great isn’t it!

So, as always I primed it down. I had to sand the dots on the legs because they were a bit heavy (she said in a very critical voice). Next, I taped off the areas I was going to crackle (see http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/12/girl-can-change-her-mind.html for a more detailed tutorial). I base coated in a tan, ragged off (painted on the brown with a brush, then took a rag and pulled paint off in a random fashion) with a darker brown (Ben Moore Roasted Coffee Beans 2098). Then I applied the One Step Crackle Medium by Deco Art. Dried it with a blow dryer to speed up the crackle process, then I wiped Minwax stain in Red Mahogany #225 over the surface to fill in the cracks and give it a deep rich leather feel. I did this step on the legs as well.

Then when it was dry I pulled the tape and started painting the center parts. I laid down the base coat first then when back in and started to draw out and tape off where I wanted the designs to be.

I had recently gotten a Cherry Blossom stencil and knew I wanted to use it. Spring has finally arrived here in New York and I really felt like conveying that through this piece and felt like the cherry blossom stencil would really help me do that. The great color palette of pinks and greens coupled with the earthy brown just pulled the look all together. So, when I was looking for a word to go on top “Harmony” just seemed like the perfect choice!

Well, I’m hoping someone will love this piece enough to bid on it. I’m really hoping it brings in some money for the Rotary Club and all the wonderful charities they donate to throughout the year. If you get a chance, really, check out all the other great artists that are participating in the show! http://www.eastwoodrotary.org/ I’m stoked to be a part of it. Look for the second piece next week. Peace!

Cost: Table was free (given to me by my sister-in-law)

Colors Used: Benjamin Moore

Pink Ladies 1347
Island Sunset 1346
Bermuda Breeze 1345
Dark Celery 2146
Olive Tree 390
Roasted Coffee Beans 2098
White Dove

Minwax Stain Red Mahogany 225
Reeves Acrylic Metallic Silver

Happy Painting,

Mary

Moroccan Stenciled Steps

2011-03-14T22:03:00.000-04:00

I love painting furniture! But as you know, my day job is painting inside homes. On our other business blog http://2womenandapaintbrush.blogspot.com/ I usually blog about those projects but this one was so much fun I had to share it here as well.

The customer wanted to do something fun with her steps. She had seen an interesting treatment on another blog and wanted to know if we could duplicate it? Hahahaha! I laughed loudly (and flung my hair wildly over my shoulder) "Of course I can!"

She ordered these Moroccan stencils online and we got started painting the steps in 2 sets of blue and 2 stets of white etc.....

We knew we had to cut the stencils down in order to cut down on "fussing" time. Once we did that the process went very quickly.

2 of the stencils had very thin lines and when you stencil with paint it's very easy for the paint to bleed under the stencil, so when we were finished we had to go back and touch up with a tiny paintbrush just to freshen things up.

The end result was Fabulous! We were as excited as she was! Even though I couldn't stand straight for hours (sitting on a small step, twisted around, does a number on your spine), it was so worth it!

Sing Out Loud

2011-02-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

This was one of the first tables I ever did. It was one of the reasons I started The Decorative Paintbrush. Looking back on it now, it’s amazing to me how much my “style” has changed. It’s not that I didn’t like the first design; I just felt it never matched the fun curves of the table. Even after it was finished (the first time) I always knew I would repaint it at some point. That’s the great thing about paint, especially for a fickle girl like me; you can always change your mind.

So, I sanded it down, primed it and drew out my idea. I had seen a blue on blue leopard print fabric while searching for fabric, for another chair and knew that I wanted to use it in my next piece. Since I had just bought the Blue Lapis & Twilight Blue for the harlequin pattern in the nightstand it was pretty much a done deal.

I had also just purchased two other colors on a daily trip to our local paint store http://www.purcellpaints.com/ Olive Tree & Golden Delicious and felt they would make a great addition to the blue.

So, on and on I went, into the center, creating different patterns, meshing things together and then, I kind of hit a road block? Brain Fart…if you will. I just stood there looking at a white circle. When this happens I usually draw things out on paper. It gives me a visual, something to look at, yet I’m not committed. I drew out four different center ideas and played with them a bit. As you can see from the final product I chose the bird. (It reminds me of my girls who despite not being able to carry a tune, strap on an IPod and sing at the top of their lungs, no matter who’s listening, which I love about them).

I also added a finial and small circle plaque to the center of the intersection at the bottom. It was pretty plain before that and I felt adding the finial would give it some funk. I painted the plaque first, screwed in the finial, then Gorilla Glued the entire center piece to the middle. It really pulled the top and bottom together.

So, this piece was free (it was a side of the road find), we paid $.79 for the plaque and $2.79 for the finial. The paint was probably about $3.00-$4.00, because again I buy small pints and reuse colors as often as possible. Total cost is under $8.00. How awesome is that!

Colors used:

Benjamin Moore:

390-Olive Tree
392-Golden Delicious
2067-40 Blue Lapis
2067-30 Twilight Blue
2077-10 Magenta
White Dove
Valspar Black

Happy Painting!

Mary

The Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

Friday I was pleasantly surprised with a Stylish Blogger Award from Pamela of Becolorful http://becolorful.typepad.com/ Although, Pamela and I are new admirers of each other’s work we are like kindred spirits, both in love with color and funky designs.

So, I was honored when she passed on this award to me, but along with this wonderful award comes the task of coming up with 7 things that are interesting about me! LOL! Now…although, I’d love for all of you to think I live this fabulously exotic, artistically filled, culturally charged life, I’m afraid I don’t. Oh, my life is extremely busy, some days it’s practically insane, but interesting? Hmmmm….

Well, here are the 7 things I could come up with! Hold onto your hats, and have a seat, you my friends are in for a crazy ride….Here we go!

1. I have 5 kids! Yep, you heard me 5! They range in age from 24-13 (2 boys/3girls) You can read all about us in our other blog http://2moms5kids.blogspot.com/ I started writing the blog in order to keep track of all the craziness that goes on in our life, and boy does it get crazy! Actually we should have a reality TV show…Not to be full of myself, but you’d tune in, you really would! We’re that crazy!

2. I love to write! Four years ago I completely finished my first romance novel Vanilla Summer. Its 34 chapters and I loved writing it. It’s partially based on my own life. I think we all have a book inside of us, we just need to get it out on paper! Now, trying to find an agent that’s been the hardest part of the process. I’m also working on a poetry book with my 13 yo., (Mom, Me & Poetry ) she writes amazing poetry and I’m doing the illustrations to go along with it. I’m also pitching another book on, you guessed it, redoing furniture! In the mean time these blogs plus our other business blog keep me writing weekly!

3. My formal education… Although I have an AS in Art, my BS is actually in Psychology/Special Education. I spent very little time in a classroom though, because just after I finished up my education Maggie and I started our 1st business. (That $40,000 degree actually helped me navigate the special education system for my own children though, so it wasn’t a total wash, LOL!)

4. I collect a lot of things. My two favorites are Crosses and Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty speaks to the little girl in me, the crosses are beautiful & symbolic. My kids think its creepy.

5. I’ve started 2 businesses from scratch. 2 Women and a Paintbrush http://2womenandapaintbrush.blogspot.com/was started in 2003 and has raised a family of 7 which in today’s economy, ROCKS! We are women owned and operated which says a lot, since this particular area of work is pretty much dominated by men, but Maggie and I hold our own! We have learned a lot, met a lot of great people and have grown both professionally and personally in so many ways. The Decorative Paintbrush is our love child :D

6. I’m addicted to tattoos! I have 3 (getting my 4th in a couple weeks)! Although I am not brave enough to do a whole sleeve or anything like that, I love little, personal ones. Ones that show up all over the place when you least expect them. You know the kind, on a wrist, behind the ear. I believe they should be personal too, have meaning. The one on my wrist: Kanji symbols for artist. One on my ankle: My favorite bible verse 1 Cor 13:8 “Love Never Fails", I got it for my middle daughter, when we were going through some struggles. Then the one on my arm that symbolizes the 2 most important things in my life: Faith & Family. My fourth one will be on the back of my neck: hearts with wings and “te voglio bene” underneath, which my grandmother used to say to me “I love you” in Italian. I always put the wings and heart on all my furniture too, because it reminds me of her, it’s symbolic for me, she was a great lady.

7. And finally number seven…..I HATE rude people! HATE, HATE, HATE! There is just no reason for it. I have such a low tolerance for rudeness and ignorance; it would blow your mind! LOL! Not that I’m Ms. Susie Sunshine, Rose Colored Glasses Lady, cause I can be as ornery as the rest of ya, but I just think that this world is awful enough on its own , and if we just tried a little bit harder, to be just a little bit nicer, things might be just a little bit better…are you feeling me people :D

Okay, so that’s my service announcement part of the quest!

So, remember to stop by and see Pamela @ http://becolorful.typepad.com/ then make your way over to these 10 fabulous people! I will be bestowing this wonderful award onto them next. Please, if you get a chance check them out, you'll be doing yourself a favor. Some you may have seen before, some you may have not, but they are all worthy of your LOVE! LOL! Later, everybody!

http://2womenandapaintbrush.blogspot.com/Maggie gives great tips, before and after pictures on the redoings (is that a word?) of people's homes!

http://chrissiegrace.blogspot.com/ Chrissie has fantastic, colorful signs, that you will just love! Her book is outstanding and a must have!

http://myrepurposedlife.blogspot.com/ Gail is amazing! Always posting something new! I'm sure you've all heard of her!

http://rasjacobson.wordpress.com/ This blog, although not a craft blog is a wondeful advice blog on school, parenting and teaching. Renee is a dear friend and a wonderful teacher you'll enjoy her stuff!

http://burlapluxe.blogspot.com/ Although my work is wild and colorful, I do have a softer side and secretly love washed out whites and romantic fabrics. This blog speaks to that.

http://chrissiescollections.blogspot.com/ Chrissie does really great things with once loved furniture too!

http://www.junkrestore.com/ Great blog! Fun & funky ideas for vintage stuff!

http://www.inthefunlane.com/ You knew I'd have a lot of furniture redo blogs right! These guys have some really fresh ideas to take a look at.

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ Oodles and Oodles of amazing craft ideas

http://mollysusanstrong.blogspot.com/ Okay, one more amazing furniture artist!

Where Do You Find Inspiration?

2011-01-19T17:08:00.002-05:00

MacKenzie-Childs Chair

Over the years people have told me that my work reminds them of MacKenzie-Childs. Now, I take great pride in that, because their work is amazing, and to even be remotely thought of, even in the same sentence, is hugely complementary.

Every month the catalog comes to my house and I devour it, cover to cover, absorbing it like some type of junkie trying to get a fix. This time around I was inspired by this beautifully overstuffed chair and it’s blue on blue harlequin pattern. Now, I can paint, but I CAN NOT reupholster, so I decided to use this piece as inspiration for an end table that had been marinating in the studio for awhile.

Before we begin, I want to let you guys in on a little secret; I really don’t consider myself an artist per say, not in the traditional sense of the word. What I do on furniture, anybody can do. My patterns are simple. I cheat, a lot. I use stencils and transfer paper to draw (although I could do it free hand if I wanted, it’s just easier to grab a stencil, draw it on and color it in like a big coloring book) and I use embellishments to pump up my pieces (wooden cutouts). I’m more of a Creative Organizer. I know how to mix patterns up, put them together and make them look somewhat decent. But what I’m thinking, is this…I can teach you how to do it too! It really isn’t that hard! So, let’s just start with this piece and go from there, I’ll have you painting funky pieces in no time!

Step one: Prep Work I know, we discussed this before, if there was a way to skip prep work, yours truly would be all over it!

Remove hardware. I decided to keep it and reuse it for this piece, just because it was so unique and fit the piece so precisely.

The beautiful dog in this picture decided she wanted to use the corners as a chew toy so Maggie had to fill it with wood putty (a couple times) and sand it back to its original shape. She uses Zar Wood Patch. (Although it says it takes stain, it doesn’t, so if you’re planning on staining your piece after applying it, don’t, because it doesn’t match up, but if you are painting it works great). It dries as hard as real wood, it’s wonderful.

Then I had to sand the entire piece. I use an electric sander on the larger areas and a smaller individual low grade sheet on the more detailed areas.

Then we prime. I primed the entire piece in two coats of an acrylic based primer. You could use an oil based primer, for best results, but personally, I hate the clean-up, and acrylic works just as good.

Step Two: Base Coating Base coating to me is still a tedious job! Yay, sure, it’s fun to see the colors going on, you start to get a vision for the finished piece but mainly it’s BORING! But good prep work and good base coating can really make or break a piece. It isn’t just the pretty work that sells, its everything, it’s a team effort. So, take the time to invest in this step (Hahaha! when Maggie reads this she’ll laugh me right out of the room! Okay, it’s no big surprise that patience isn’t my strong point, but I’m trying to be a good teacher, remember!)

It’s also important to use good products when painting. My larger brushes are all Purdy. I’ve tried so many others, believe me and Purdy is the best. Its bristles hold the paint the best, giving you a nice cut in line, with less drips. I wouldn’t use anything else. My brushes are very loved as you can see! But here’s a trick, if you put it back in its wrapper (after you have washed it out and patted it dry) it will continue to hold it’s great shape for a very long time. I use a 1.5” chiseled cut brush 95% of the time it gives me the best control.

I also, used Krylon Indoor/outdoor gloss black spray paint to spray the hardware. I don’t always reuse the hardware on my pieces but this piece would have looked silly with any other hardware, so I decided just to update it with a fresh coat of color. Krylon dries fast and is very durable. I just put the pieces on an old piece of cardboard and sprayed away.

Step Three: Pretty Work! Yep, my favorite part! But it can be yours too! Really it’s not too hard! First, remember our inspiration piece…Well, I did the sides in the blue diamonds. All I did was trace a square (from a stencil, didn’t even measure one out) cut it out, turned it on its side and drew each diamond next to each other, each tip touching the next. I knew I would have to repeat that pattern again somewhere in the piece so I did it in the drawer area. I just cut out a smaller square and did the same thing there. Remember, the corners don’t have to match up perfectly because we will go back in and where each diamond meets we will put a circle (this will cover up any lines that fall short).

Next, Zebra print! Got a great stencil, thought it would go well with this piece. I traced it on the back, around the bottom, the drawer panel and on top, and then colored it in.

Then the black and white check, which is usually included on every piece I do. Which is another reason why people find a similarity between my work and MacKenzie-Childs, although her checks are much more classier?

The ball feet were add ons. I had one left over from another project and thought what a cute way to add some Mackenzie –Childs to the bottom of the piece. So, I went to the Home Depot bought 3 more fence toppers at $3.95 a piece, popped out the old metal pieces at the bottom and screwed in the toppers and voila!

I used some Gorilla Glue for extra support because this table would be moved around a lot, and I wanted the legs to be secure. The Gorilla Glue would give it that extra staying power it needed. (I also used Gorilla Glue to adhere my signature heart and wings on the back)

I painted the balls white, cut a sliver (moon) style stencil from an index card and traced it around the balls of the feet to create the black “twist” you see. It was simple.

The Faux Linen top: Painted the base coat in the Deep Rose let it dry. Then mixed 4/1 glaze & Million Dollar Red.

Brushed one coat over the entire surface.While still wet. I took a ball of steel wool and dragged it from top to bottom in one straight row, its’ important to apply the same pressure throughout the stroke. Then start again at the top of the next row and repeat until the end. Turn the steel wool as you go to avoid paint build up or you can wipe it on a paper towel, but that never seems to work for me.

The end result is a soft linen look. I finished it off with the Metallic Gold circles (remember our inspiration piece, look at the seat cushion. That’s why I wanted to create a “linen” base, to emulate the cushion. Man, aren’t I clever :D)

So the whole piece took me about 20 hours (what took the longest was coloring in all the black and white checks & zebra print! Geeesssseeee!) so you can do this people! It can be done!

I loved how it turned out. Maggie was proud that I didn’t “girl it up!” Yes, it could actually be considered a masculine piece! Whoo! Hooo! My first one! I have a terrible habit of “Girling things up!”

Here's the damage:
Dresser: $5.00 (Thrift Store)

Kylon: $3.95 (Walmart)
Fence Toppers: $ 12.98 (Home Depot)
Paint: $6 (I only bought 3 new colors and used only a 1/3 of each)

Just and FYI, Benjamin Moore has pint size testers for 6.95 which I usually buy (unless its black or white) and they usually last me a long time so save yourself some money and space and get the smaller sizes.

Colors Used:
Benjamin Moore White Dove
Benjamin Moore Deep Rose: 2004-10
Benjamin Moore Million Dollar Red: 2003-10
Benjamin Moore Blue Lapis: 2067-40
Benjamin Moore Twilight Blue: 2067-30
Valspar: Satin Black

Happy Painting
Mary

http://thediyclub.com/2011/01/jan-2011-diy-project-party/

Black and Blue

2011-01-07T21:50:00.001-05:00

Y'all know I love to redo vintage/used/tossed aside/old (shall I go on) furniture, but on occasion, like we have discussed in past blog posts, I have to do a new piece.

Okay, I can hear the sighs from here! No whining please! Don’t be disappointed in me. I’d actually be lying if I said I didn’t like to (occasionally) do a new piece. It’s fun, to just be able to prime and then start painting, skipping over a lot of prep work. Come on people, you feel me, don't you?

As I’m sure you’ve heard me say a thousand times, I’m Goo-Goo over a little shop in North Syracuse called Fireside Unfinished Wood Furniture. It’s a Mom and Pop shop, no frills, bells or whistles, but that's what makes it great. It’s chuck full of unfinished wood pieces, and everytime I walk in there my brain nearly has a spaz attack over all the different pieces I could paint. No really, I feel faint if I’m in there too long.

So, in my Etsy store I sell a lot of pre-made furniture, because I can reproduce it in a variety of styles for a diverse group of people. I buy several different tables from Fireside actually, that are easy to paint and easy to ship. This little telephone stand (which my kids laugh at because “…Mom, who uses a telephone stand for a telephone anyway? Like, Dugh?”) is one of my biggest sellers. I’m sure if you look at past posts you’ll see the variety of ways I’ve painted this table for people. Its FUN!
http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-treat.html
http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/05/telephone-stand.html

Well, when Leslie wrote me about what she wanted her table to look like I was excited to get it started. I love customers like Leslie (yet, they also make me a bit nervous too) and I’ll tell you why.

Leslie is an artist herself, a photographer and writer. She knew exactly what she wanted. She sent me pictures (of her home, other art pieces in the room). She described the colors to me perfectly, it was wonderful. I had a perfect visual as to what she wanted her table to look like. Then, the excitement turned to panic. I hyper focused. She’s an artist. She knows exactly what she wants! What if I don’t produce it? Aaaaagggghhhh!

Do you notice a trend? Artists are filled with a lot of self doubt? Ask any of us, it’s a very common thing. Whenever we do a piece of art work, in any form, we are putting ourselves out there, openly exposed, naked, standing in open judgment, to be looked at and….okay, I’m back sorry about that, I was on a therapists couch for a minute, anyway, back to Leslie, I just wanted to get it right.

Later that night I was painting in my head, as I always do, some people count sheep, I paint, hey, whatever works, right? And that’s when her design came to me.

I’ve gotten in the habit of leaving my phone next to my bed, so when I have these brilliant creative brainstorms at 3:00 am in the morning I don’t have to run to the bathroom (with a flashlight and sticky note) and scribble it down, I just grab the phone, let the glaring light burn out my retina, and (with only one eye open under my covers) I type in what I’m thinking. Once the image/idea is out of my head I can go to sleep. So, after I regurgitated this idea from my brain I fell asleep. Got up the next day and started painting.

This piece came together fast after that. If I’m going to be honest, in the past, the thought of putting black and blue on the same canvas would have freaked me out! I think that was what was holding me back. But lately, especially after this breakthrough, it’s really been working for me. I’ve actually used it in a couple of upcoming pieces as well, and I really like the look. Funny, how your color palette changes over time, kind of like your taste buds? I hated seafood growing up, pregnant with my daughter, couldn’t get enough of it, now I LOVE IT! Life is CRAZY, isn’t it!

Leslie loved with her piece by the way (“Few!” She said, whipping her hand across her brow.) If you get a chance you should check out her websites http://www.lesliecarolwood.com/ http://www.gosoakyourhead.com/. She’s got some really interesting and inspiring things, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.

Happy Painting!

MARY

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

A Girl Can Change Her Mind!

2010-12-28T23:02:00.001-05:00

I fell in love with these chairs while we were shopping at our local Thrifty Store.There was a set of four but two of the chairs were beyond repair. When I say beyond repair, I mean this, once a chair breaks in a certain place, usually in the leg area, you can repair it, but more than likely it will break again.

The two chairs that I say were broken beyond repair looked as if they had been repaired one time too many. I could have taken it home, repaired it and made it look beautiful, but if someone is paying a pretty penny for my furniture I want it to be sound, ya know. I don’t want to have nightmares about someone showing up at my door with this beautifully painted chair in one hand, and its broken leg in another, demanding their money back. So my point, I only took two, ugh…but it killed me. I mean look at the detail on the legs! These were amazing pieces! I debated on getting the whole chair and just salvaging the legs but God made it easy on me…we had no room in the car for four, even three chairs, so two it was.

Now, the sprinkles on my cupcake came when I got to the register! See when there are no tags that means "DEAL TIME" and I knew the young girl at the desk knew nothing about furniture."Would you take $2.50 a piece?” She was very serious about her statement, I on the other hand, nearly pee peed my pants! “$2.50? Hmmmm?” I questioned my finger on my chin. I bent down to look at the chair once again. Hahahahaha! Like, I even had to consider the price again. I looked at Maggie, she winked at me, “Okay, I’ll take it!” Out in the parking lot, I was like a kid on Christmas! Jumping around as we loaded them into the van and I tweeted my purchase over the internet! “Can you believe it? What a great deal!” Maggie just laughed at me, “You’re a goof!”

Because I wanted to put these two chairs in our upcoming show I really didn’t have time to let them “marinate” so I was forced to get them done quickly. Just a side note about me: It drives me crazy when I’m forced to be creative, things never really turn out as planned.

I sat down that night and drafted up these quick drawings of what I thought the chairs might look like. I had this great, rich, chocolate, checkered fabric that I wanted to cover the seats in. I knew I wanted the chairs to have the same colors and patterns, yet be completely different. I knew I wanted the back inlay to have a rich leather faux with a crackle finish. I wanted, I wanted, I wanted, but when it actually came time to doing….the pictures…went out the window. First off, because the purples didn’t match at all! And even though I had color matched the brown to the fabric, for whatever reason it didn’t work either…This is when I start to pout and got really frustrated. So, after a downing half bag of potato chips and walking around the chair a million times, I decided to start with what I DID know.

First, I removed the seats, or what was left of them. They were ancient and needed to totally be replaced with new foam and batting. Second, I primed. Then I started with the faux.

First, I painted my base coat in a tan (Prairie Dust/Olympic) and let it dry. Then with a 1” brush I used a criss cross motion to paint on the Roasted Coffee Beans 2098-20 Benjamin Moore (mixed with a little glaze). While it was still wet I ragged off the glaze mix in random spots, and allowed the tan (base coat) to show through. When that was dry I then applied the one step crackle paint, and with a large brush spread it on randomly over the surface area. In some spots leaving it thicker (which makes larger cracks) and in some spots leaving it thinner (smaller cracks). The tube recommends letting it dry for a couple hours, me I’m impatient, I use a blow dryer and it works just fine. Just remember to move the dryer around. Sometimes when the gel is thick, the air can actually move it and make “waves” in the gel, I tell you this from experience, grrrrrr! When the cracks have appeared and set (dried) take either a dark stain or dark paint on the tip of an old rag and in a circular motion gently work it into the cracks. This brings out the cracks, highlighting them, and giving them an even more aged look.

Next, I played with colors on index cards (LOVE INDEX CARDS) and this was the recipe I came up with, once I decided to change out the fabric. Yes, I decided to change the fabric! For whatever reason the chair was screaming for a cow print! Can you believe it!

I also decided to add in gold metallic. Just another side note on metallic paints. I use artists’ metallic acrylic paints. To me they are more vibrant then regular interior acrylic metallic paints and since I'm working in smaller areas I can afford to use the smaller tubes. I chose the metallic to accent some of the curves to give this piece a bit of a regal appeal and to anchor the whimsy of the prints, it was an interesting combination, don't you trhink?

Well, I was thrilled that these were finished in time for the show and sold almost instantly! They went to two wonderful ladies in two fantastic homes. I love it! And it just goes to show you sometimes things don’t end up how you planned! LOL! Where have you all heard that before!

http://www.skiptomylou.org/category/made-by-you-mondays/

It Makes Me Happy

2010-11-05T18:35:00.000-04:00

We found this great piece at the local Rescue Mission Store. It cost us about $3.00 and needed very littlle TLC just a whole lot of FUNK! Now, like I've said a million times before, I don't often paint the furniture right away. I let it sit around. Look at it awhile. Let it talk to me. I am the furniture whisperer you know.

In the mean time we were painting at a customer's house. I stumbled across this funky little serving tray on top of her dusty fridge. I loved the pattern, it was so simple, yet fun and playful. The colors were popping all over the place like little pieces of pink popcorn and I immediately fell in love with the whole pattern. I knew this was a small bit of inspiration and I wanted to use it somewhere, just wasn't sure where...I clicked a picture with my phone and went about painting the wall.

I always start by sanding a piece. There is much debate as to whether you should sand or not, and believe me if I thought I could really get away with it, I would! I'm always looking for a short cut. I hate prep work, which is what Maggie usually does it, I prefer the "pretty work" but when Mags isn't home and I need to get started on a piece, I need to step up and do the prep, which always meansn a good sanding. {Booooo!}

When I can't use a power sander, say on the legs or small corners, (and I have tried taking huge chuncks out of the sides) I'll use a low grit piece of sand paper to get into these areas (please learn from my mistakes).

Then take a tacky cloth, or if you don't have a tacky cloth a damp paper towel will do, and clean the surfaces of any sanding dust, lint or fuzzies (or in my case Black Lab hair) before you paint.

You will often see me work from bottom to top. People think I'm crazy because who sees the bottom or underneath, right? Well, I am a DETAIL FREAK and if it looks good from the bottom its going to look even better from the top! Believe it or not a piece of furniture can be scene from a variety of angles and painting from bottom to top gives you a different perspective.

It really doesn't matter what color primer you use, unless you're doing a red or deep toned color. Because reds/deep toned colors have more pigment in them than actual "paint" they require more coats to actually give you the color you're looking for. Using a darker primer like gray can cut that process in half. Gray primer actually works better than a red primer. I happened to have Acorn primer left over from another job so I decided to use that up. I use Seal Grip by Pittsburgh Paints.

It's also important to note that my larger brushes are all Purdy. To me Purdy is the best brush you can buy. It gives you the cleanest cut, holds the paint better and grips the piece better. My favorite size is a 1 inch with a chiseled edge. After you wash your Prudy if you put it back in its packaging it will keep its shape and last much longer than normal brushes. Can you tell I'm loving my brush.....

Okay, so once the entire piece is painted upside down I flip it back over, right side up, to start on a second coat.

For pieces that I know are going to get a lot of use, like this table per say, I like to slap a second coat of primer on them. I just think it helps to add some extra superman power shield to it.

Every piece I do gets a folder. Part of that folder is a color card. A "Recipe Card" if you will. This is where I play with color combinations. That doesn't mean once they get on the piece I don't add, subtract, or switch them around, but for the most part this gives me a good idea of where I'm going. You can see I actually liked the Gliddon red better (the one with the star next to it) It just seemed to play better with the group. What do you think? Million Dollar Red thought it was "all that and a bag of chips".

Every piece I do has white and black in it, or some degree of it (cream & brown, white &gray, white & brown, black and cream) I usually lay down these colors first. Its important when doing acrylics to work from the bottom up. You'll need to place your bottom/background colors first and these usually tend to be my B/Ws. Plus, my B/Ws are usually my larger sections.

Then I start to lay the first coat of paint. I start with one color and hit all the major parts where that color will go. Than I'll start with another color. I tend to work in order of colors instead of section at this point. First, I'll do all the red spots, then all the pink, so on and so on....blah, blah, blah :)

Once all the first coats of color are down you can start to see how the piece might look. To me this is when the piece really starts talking. Just spilling its guts! Before you start you have a bit of an idea of what you want the finished piece to look like, but to me, when you get that first layer of paint down, the whole thing can change.

I knew I wanted to use the flowered tray design on the bottom. and I knew I wanted circles around the outside, but pretty much that was it. So, I drew what I knew for sure, first. Then drew the bigger circles within circles, but what to fill them with? The stripes balanced all the circles. The B/W checks balanced all the wild and zany colors. The Kanji symbol for "happy" was perfectly centered, giving the piece a Zen like feel, grounding it, instead of allowing it to go completely off the charts. To mesh the top in with the bottom I worked the flowers into the B/W check and took the B/W checks and placed them on the bottom of each leg, creating a nice flow throughout the piece.

I also like to use a lot of animal prints in my pieces. By far my favorite is the snow leopard print. I love the crispness of the white and black. I think it works well with piece and just added another dynamic of funkiness to the body.

Once I've drawn out my designs I start to color in. When I was a little girl I always wanted to grow up an be a famous coloring book colorer. Don't you wish there was such a job! I could sit with my Crayola's and color forever. Well, although this is acrylics this bares a canny resemblance to coloring in a coloring book wouldn't you say. So, in a way I got to do what I wanted to after all. Let that be a lesson, never give up on childhood dreams, no matter how silly they seem.

So, I'm making progress. Still working with a color at a time.

This is my make shift stand. When I'm working with a piece this large and heavy it can't go on my work table so I'm usually on the floor (or in my chair) working around it. To make things easier, I prop it up on a lazy susan, so I can easily spin it around.

Now, the 2-3 coats are on. Time to flip it over and do the underside.

Usually, I start on the underside first so as not to ruin the design on top but I was so excited to draw out this design first I couldn't help myself. I put a towel down so I would scratch it up and began to paint the lips, and sections I couldn't see when it was flipped around.

I know, you're saying, "Mary, no one is going to see this why waist your time and paint?" Honestly, I can't help myself! I feel guilty if I don't, like I'm not putting out my best work, like I'm cheating you somehow. It just doesn't feel finished to me unless it's done but hey, if it doesn't bother you, skip it! When I'm doing a piece for my own house....As my Nonno always said, "Forget about it!"

I've tried so many paint pens over the years and these just work the best for me. They have great coverage and don't streak when lacquered. They don't bleed, run and last for a pretty long time. You can find them at most craft stores.

I use them to make great polka dots. They are usually pretty juicy and make a pretty even dot.

I didn't put a lot of detail into the legs on this piece because the top and bottom sections were so bold I felt that the legs needed to be understated otherwise it would have been too busy.

Like I said before I did bring the checks down into the feet.

As I get closer to the end my paintbrush gets smaller. The details become finer. I start making smaller corrections and pulling things tighter. During the moving around process things get bumped and chipped this is where I do touch ups and fine tune everything.

Smudge marks get touched up with paint.

I put a big light on the piece and go over it with a fine tooth comb. Funny thing is, without fail, i'll still find stuff every time I bring it outside in the sun to lacquer it! UGH! It gets me every time!

I've been striping (no not stripping, LOL! I had to check that though before I wrote it!) for a long time but I still use tape. This time I did free had a good majority of my stripes and came back in at this stage and cleaned them up with tape. Mainly it was the white area which needed the most touch ups. For this the regular old painters tape worked well enough, but for serious striping Frog Tape is the best. You can also see that at this point I am taking the paint pens and outlining the flowers, lines & circles in black to create an even more eye popping design.

Nip n' Tuck

I spray a couple coats of Lacquer on the surface before I put my coats of Poly on. This prevents streaking or tugging of the paint. It puts a barrier in between.

This is the final piece! I love the colors. Pink, Orange, Red, Green, Black & White, what a really powerful combination! And the Kanji symbol is perfect "HAPPY" because that's all you feel when you look at it.

In The Process

2010-10-28T08:20:00.000-04:00

I hate going too long without a blog post, I feel as if I’m failing you! Some bloggers post something every day. I wish I had the time, let alone the product to do that for you, but I don’t. With 2 businesses, and 5 kids (plus many extra kids they bring home) my life is crazy. But I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t thinking of you. Here are just a couple of pieces I’m working on in my little, overcrowded studio.

This round table is almost finished. It's going to be one of my favorite pieces! It has an Asian flair, with bright oranges, pinks, reds & greens (black & white of course). Sounds crazy I know but they actually work, you'll love it, I promise! Oh, yeah bought it at the Thrifty store for $3.00!

We actually bought this at a garage sale for $5 dollars! Total score! I'm debating about replacing the glass or doing something funky with chicken wire? What do you think?

This was given to us by a friend who was moving. Needed a lot of TLC, but had great potential. We had to gut out the inside and put in new shelving.

Well, as you can see I'm pretty busy! Not to mention our Etsy store is blooming with smaller orders and the Plow Shares Craft Show is looming in the distance! Agggghhhhh!!!! Dec 4 &5! So thanks for hanging around while I get things finished! Kisses & Hugs!

From Dresser Drawer to Fancy Storage

2010-10-13T19:26:00.000-04:00

I LOVE DRAWERS! Any drawer, any size! They’re so versatile and there are so many really cool things that you can use them for.

There are many times I pass an old desk, or dresser on the side of the road that is beyond my tender loving care, but the drawers are salvageable. I pluck each one, no matter what size, and stack ‘um in the shed.

Like I’ve showed you before, the larger ones I use as pet beds http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/07/drawer-full-of-possibilities.html or for bigger storage (pet toys, blankets and magazines) but the smaller ones are created into a variety of storage containers. You can use them for…

• Remote controls
• Incoming/Outgoing Mail
• Jewelry

• Keys & pocket junk

• Potpourri & pinecones

• Decorative Soaps

• Collectables
• Desk/Office Supplies
• Cotton Balls/Q-tips
• Rolled up hand towels
• Makeup/Nail polish
• Recipes
• Fruit/Veggies
• Picnic Items
• Napkin Holder
• Homework supplies
• Small toys (Barbie/Brat shoes & accessories)

• Loose game pieces (or make your own game using dice or cards)

• Create an art center (crayons, glue sticks, scissors etc…)

The list is endless! I get old discarded wallpaper books from the paint store we do business at. These are great for lining the insides of the drawers. You can even decoupage the insides with decorative paper, use shelf lining paper or even tiles. We even did one in corks & bottle caps and used them as serving trays.

So let your imagination run wild! And the next time you pass that old dresser that seems to be unsalvageable, take a look at the drawers. They may have been protected from the elements and are in great shape!

A Halloween Treat

2010-10-10T15:28:00.000-04:00

When you live in Central New York one of the things that you love, (and hate at the same time) is the changing seasons, every one of them distinct, every one of them with their own personality. My favorite is fall, more specifically, October! There is just something about October that gets my senses racing. Whether it’s the crisp weather, I hate the heat, or the fact that my fall/winter wardrobe looks so much better, or even perhaps the changing leaves, whatever it is, it just seems best in October. There’s apple picking, pumpkin picking, baking, festivals, fall crafts, the kids are finally back in school on a routine, the holidays are right around the corner…sigh! I just love October!

So when a customer asked me if I could do a fall/Halloween type table for her home, I was thrilled! I’d really never done anything like that before. Sure, I’d used “fall” colors but never really a Halloween theme.

If you’ve been following me for awhile you know that this is one of my “favoritest” tables to use.

• It’s so versatile. It goes with any décor, in any space. I’ve decorated them in college themes, bedroom schemes, art deco designs and so much more.

• It’s very easy to assemble and unassembled.

• It comes with its own packaging too, which is great for shipping purposes (If you have ever tried to ship furniture you know how awesome this really is).

• I buy the table from an unfinished wood furniture shop right around the corner from where I live, so it’s convenient. (Like I’ve said before, I love to reuse and restyle furniture, but every once in awhile I break down and have to buy a piece, but the good news is even though they are all the same style of furniture ever design is totally unique)

How I achieved this look!

I used a color fade for the background, which is sort of hard to do in acrylic paint. When I first started painting years ago it was in watercolors. A fade is so easy to achieve in that medium because the paint is really wet and the colors blend easy. In acrylics, not so much, so I’ve learned an easy way to do it. It’s a gradual fade. I use a bunch of similar colors, for example; Ruby Lips (red), Fireball Orange (red orange), Tangerine (orange) and finally Mac and Cheese (yellow orange). I do each color in a 1-2 inch strip, then quickly run a dry Chinese brush (soft & fuller bristles)over the areas where the colors intersect, smoothing the transitions between the lines. This is the technique I used in the background on this piece. Then once that was set I drew out the moon and black silhouettes. She wanted to keep the “cutesiness” to a minimum, so I had to resist the urge to go all girly on it and stick to simply designs. So I didn’t add polka dots or roses, just some spooky eyeballs to the legs keeping with the Halloween theme. I painted the top boarder gray, made different sized rocks all the way around, and then with a small sea sponge, sponged some paint (green and black mixed together) around various areas creating a mossy look. Took a bat wood piece, painted it black and attached the embellishment to the back for added interest.

I’m really pleased with the end result. I hope she will like the way it turned out.

We were featured!

2010-09-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

Today Etsy sent me this notice; "I've got some great news from the Etsy Marketing team. We've been working closely with Parenting.com on a special feature with your attached item from Etsy. We are happy to let you know this item has been selected and is appearing in a Parentingslideshow all about personalized nursery decor right here: http://www.parenting.com/gallery/Baby/Cute-Personalized-Nursery-Decor" We are so excited that our custom name plate/coat rack was chosen to be featured! How cool is that! Please take a moment and check it out! There are 13 other shops that were chosen along with ours and they have some really cute things too! So, if you know someone who is looking for a unique shower gift, birthday gift, or just because gift, please pass on this web link! Here are a couple more similar signs we offer!

A Cute Couple

2010-09-14T19:42:00.000-04:00

This cute little couple was designed as a custom order for a customer on our Etsy store (See our ad on the side bar). She wanted two pieces for her daughter’s room that would complement the colors she already had on the walls, as well as, pieces that would grow with her daughter through the years. These two pieces are sure to become beautiful heirlooms, that she can pass down to her children as well.

The bookshelf was a piece that I actually picked up at my local AC Moore. With a store coupon, it only cost us half the original amount. It has two deep buckets on the front to store toys also, which makes it a more versatile piece for a child’s room. The color palette is one that I use often. I love these colors together. Brown is the new black, I think, and it’s the warmer choice of the two (but I still think black is a very powerful color). The browns, pinks, and greens, complement each other perfectly and the brown makes it not so "bubblegummish". This particular brown was actually off the “Oops!” rack at LOWES and I love the way it looks like melted chocolate. Whenever I open the can, it’s all I think of! It’s as if you want to drudge a juicy strawberry right through it! I really think the yummy feeling that it evokes transfers to the pieces I put it on. This shelf and end table are no different.

Mom also wanted “Believe, Create, Imagine” on her pieces, to remind her daughter to always think beyond herself. Although in recent years these words seem to appear everywhere, I still think they are very strong in meaning. They are three words I aspire to daily, and found it great that this mother wanted to pass that ideology onto her daughter.

A Peace Offering

2010-09-14T16:12:00.000-04:00

Every piece I do has a story behind it, and this piece is know exception. The story of this piece started many years ago; about 30 years ago to be exact. I was a pretty good kid. I stayed out of trouble (for the most part, those of you who know me, ssshhhhh!) I had good grades, and I was friendly with everyone.

There was this little girl who rode my bus home every day and a lot of people picked on her. She was quiet and quirky, and for whatever reason everyone picked on her. I thought if everyone was doing it than so should I, after all I was cool too! So one day, I got on the bus and started in…a few minutes into it, she started to cry, and I felt awful. I sat down in my seat and vowed to never make fun of anyone again. It didn’t make me feel cool it made me feel like an idiot. I never apologized to her and life went on.

There were so many times over the years that I thought of her though. Anytime someone was bullied, or picked on, I thought of her and how sad she must have been and how cruel I had been. Especially when it was my own children who were being bullied, her plight took on a whole new meaning.

One day I was on Face Book and her name popped up, you know the statement, “So and so is friends with so and so, would you like to friend her too?” I felt so convicted to write her and apologize for my stupid 13 year old behavior, but was afraid she’d either tell me to screw off or think, “Who is this crazy person”, so I put it off. For weeks it weighed on my conscience, and after talking it over with a mutual friend (someone who knew us both) I decided to go for it. I needed to rid myself of this guilt, plus I wanted her to know that what I did was not right, it was not acceptable, and I took responsibility for my own stupidity. I wrote her a long letter, to which she did not respond, she just “friended” me and I whole heartedly accepted. I knew she had forgiven me and I felt humbled.

A month or so later she asked me if I would take her small kitchen telephone stand and turn it into something creative! Once again I was humbled, and honored that she would ask me to do a piece for her home.

So, I drafted up 2 separate drawings and she combined certain elements of both and together we created a beautiful focal point for her home.

I used a crackle finish on the sides, painted two wood embellishments to match the design in her kitchen tiles, and then glued them over the crackled finish. The kitchen and family room were in close proximity so we had to incorporate colors from both rooms to make it a cohesive piece that worked with both color palettes. She opted to have a uniformed stripe going down the front and I decided to have vines and berries adorn the legs.

I’m so delighted that this story had a happy ending. I’m so glad she could look past the elementary school antics and forgive me. And I am so pleased at the way this piece turned out.

The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Examiner

2010-08-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

Recently I was awarded the position of The Syracuse Arts and Crafts Examiner for an online publication called the Examiner. If you follow me on Face Book you probably already knew this, but if you don't, well sit back and be prepared to be dazzled! Hahahaha! Really though, it's kind of a big deal. I actually get paid to write about Arts & Crafts, Artists & Crafters! It doesn't get any sweeter than that!

In addition to writing about people, I'll also be writing about great craft ideas, awesome craft books & interesting websites, all in a variety of mediums. I'll be listing all local craft events, arts & craft shows, and local studios & galleries. Pretty much anything you can think of in regards to this venue!

I'm so excited to be able to be doing this. I'll still be posting on my blog, because the Examiner is about the bigger stuff, the blog is all about me! LOL!

If you have the opportunity please stop by the site http://www.examiner.com/arts-and-crafts-in-syracuse/crafts-for-your-pet hit the subscribe button under my name, type in your e-mail address (you aren't limited to Google or Yahoo like with the blog) and your finished. Anytime I load an article you see it first, delivered right to your (e-mail) mailbox!

If you have any ideas, stories, web pages, books etc... that has to do with crafting, or know of anyone locally (Central NY), that is an artist or crafter, please send them my way! Either post here, e-mail me: thedpb@gmail.com or find me on Face Book under the Decorative Paintbrush!

Take Your Best Shot

2010-08-05T13:20:00.000-04:00

Going on vacation is always a mixed bag of emotions! On one hand you’re excited about your impending trip; what you will do and what you’ll see, but on the other hand you’re thinking about all the work you are putting on hold for when you get back. So while I’m painting my brains out to get ready for a few upcoming craft shows and finishing up a slew of orders that came in while I was on vacation, I thought I would share some advice (don’t roll your eyes, lol)…..

I had an amazing trip to Provincetown this past week! On a personal note…I got married! LOL! Again! To the same person but it was still very romantic! (Check out my other blog http://2moms5kids.blogspot.com for more details). And although that was the highlight of my trip, the inspiration for creativity was a very close second.

Whenever I go anyplace, I look at it as sort of an adventure. I always have my handy bag full of goodies to create with, and or read, AND I ALWAYS HAVE MY CAMERA. My camera is like an appendage of my body. It’s not just to take pictures of the people I love for a family photo album, it’s a creative tool!

When looking through a lens you see the world in a whole new light. Everything becomes inspiration for your next creative project. The simplest flower, some rocks, the sky, even a line-up of chairs becomes art.

While on vacation our car needed some repairs, and if we didn’t get them fixed, I’m not sure we would have made it back to NY. Where most people would complain (and I did a little) I saw this as an opportunity. So, I grabbed the two most important things; my credit card and my camera, and off we went on the half a mile truck into town.

On the way I took pictures of everything and anything that moved me in a certain way. A shadow, a fence post, a flower (and there were plenty of them), a sign and who wouldn’t be inspired by small glimpses of the ocean between Cape Cod houses! That trip down Commercial St. became a wonderful experience (even though my feet were killing me, never hike in flip flops).
On our last night there, Maggie and I raced from spot to spot trying to capture the last sunset of our trip. It was huge and had the most amazing colors blazing through the sky. I knew I wanted to capture it from one vantage point on top of this hill, but by the time we reached it, the sun had set. I was pretty bummed about it, but still captured the radiating sky that the setting sun had left behind. Oh, well perhaps next year.

Next time you go out of the house, don’t leave without the camera! You never know what you might miss. Let the world around you inspire you!

A Drawer Full of Possibilities

2010-07-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

Our cat Tic Tac really has nine lives, although he's cashed in on some of them already!

Life #1: Tic was born behind a wall! Yep, you heard me right, a wall. His mother, who was crazy by the way, snuck behind our basement wall, under the stairs and decided to give birth there. We had put up paneling to create a finished basement but apparently there was a little space near the edge where she had snuck in. I remember coming home one day and hearing these faint little cries. I knew that Em (mom) was pregnant, so I immediately went on a frantic search for the kittens, but couldn't find them any place and began to panic. I could hear the cries closest to the first floor hallway, and as I watched my dog sniff around the steps, I realized their cries were coming up through the floor. I ran downstairs with a flashlight and discovered the kittens all curled up with their mother under the bottom step, behind the paneling! They were up high on a ledge and I didn't want them to fall into the dark damp crawl space below, but how would I get them? I knew I couldn't fit back there, so I had to go and get the smallest person I could think of capable of squeezing behind the wall, that person, my daughter Kate. I grabbed her out of school, told them it was a family emergency, or something like that, and off we went. Without hesitation she squeezed in and rescued the kittens!

Life #2: When tic was about 3 months old he was attacked by a dog. The dog had chomped down on his back end and shook him violently. We didn't think he would make it. I remember Maggie standing in the driveway, tears in her eyes, as I took him to the vet, to have him put down. (Tic is Maggie's cat) But believe it or not, the vet said he'd be okay. The dog broke a disk in his spine, but he would heal. He didn't do damage to the bladder or any other organs, so there was no reason Tic would grow up to live a full and happy life. Only problem, he would never have full motion/range of his tail. To this day his fluffy orange tail drags behind him like a limp piece of sausage! But he's still a bad ass!

Life#3: Around 2 years old Tic became really pale, his once bright orange fur started to look more like a creamsicle then a juicy tangerine. We took him into the vet. $600 dollars later (UGH!!!!) we had our friend back. He wasn't processing his food right and crystals were forming in his bladder. Now he has to have special food and all is good!

My point in telling you all these stories, is the way I look at it, Tic is a bit of a good luck charm. I like when he curls up in my studio, I often find him sprawled out amongst my pieces. One day I found him curled up in an old drawer under my table. The drawer was full of puzzle pieces. I had been working on a collage piece and was using puzzle pieces for fillers. I had dumped them in the drawer for storage, never even thinking they would be great for bedding! But Tic sparked an idea…

Drawers are great! The possibilities are endless. There are countless times that I will see a dresser on the side of the road and perhaps not like "it" but salvage the drawers for other projects. Thanks to Tic one of those projects is now pet beds! Although, I have swapped out the puzzle pieces for a comfy pillow, the idea is still the same.

You can remove the hardware or keep it on; you can add decorative legs or wheels. If you're adding wheels make sure you add wood blocks on the inside for the wheels to screw into. We used a traveling pillow and hand sewed a pillow case to cover. Needless to say my sewing skills are not as good as my painting skills! That's when I knew I needed DEBBIE! My friend from Deb, http://www.sweetlemonadedesigns.com/ is an amazing seamstress. Recently, I started painting purses for her to sell with her fantastic and funky dresses, so I thought instead of paying me why not trade her! No, not trade “her” literally, but trade skills. So, know Deb sews for me, and I paint for her! It’s a match made in heaven! The pillow cases that she creates are so much more wonderful and sophisticated. The flap peels back for easy removal and washing. It's awesome!

I sold one at the last craft show, and am so excited to do more! Tic had a great idea didn't he! We use larger drawers for bigger pets, but remember to reinforce the bottom for extra support, if you’re trying this at home.

Please, look for more exciting ideas with drawers! I'm curious...what would you use them for?

Martini Time

2010-07-12T12:30:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big drinker, never have been. Not for religious or personal reasons, I just don't like the taste. Although, I have been known to have a fun fruity drink, (Mmmm, strawberry daiquiris!) from time to time, for the most part I don't drink. But...I do love the "idea" of having a nice relaxing drink by the pool or in a cute little cabana someplace, buff men fanning me while I partake!

What started me down the road of the "Martini" theme were actually the cute little olives. I know, "cute olives?" But I had seen them on another project and thought they were awesome. These small wood eggs, cut in half, painted green and red, to create a faux olive, how creative is that! So, when it came time to create my own olive themed piece I had to go with the thing that is synonymous with green olives? Yep, Martini's.

So, I Googled Martini's (Love Google, she sings loudly!) and low and behold there were a bunch of great recipes, for all sorts of Martinis. Just in case you ever needed it, I enclosed a traditional Martini and strawberry one (just because I like strawberries). I've also included the link, just in case you wanted to try out more fun Martini recipes! http://www.martinirecipe.net/

Classic Martini Ingredients
Approx 2+ 1/2 oz Gin
Approx 1/4 oz Dry Vermouth
1 green olive OR a twist of lemon peel
6 ice cubes

Classic Martini Directions

Into a mixing glass, toss a handful of ice cubes (about half a dozen), then pour in the Gin and the Vermouth.
Stir well. Some may prefer shaken! Strain and pour into a martini glass. To finish, either drop a green olive into the bottom of the martini glass OR arrange a twist of lemon peel on the edge of the martini glass.

Strawberry Martini Ingredients

Approx 2 oz Vodka
Approx 1/4 oz frais de bois (optional)
Approx 1/4 oz sugar syrup, or to taste
5 strawberries (fresh is best)
8 ice cubes

Strawberry Martini Recipe Directions

In a cocktail shaker, crush 4 strawberries using a bar spoon or muddler. Add Vodka, frais de bois (optional) and sugar syrup. Add ice. Shake well. Pour and strain into a frosted martini glass. Garnish the rim of the martini glass with the remaining strawberry

Okay, now that we are all half loaded, let’s talk about this table!

Back to the wood olives. I wanted to use a lot of them, not just one in the glass, so I decided to create a sort of "clock face" with them (12, 3, 6, 9) I was going with the premise, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" Then between them I wanted to set different types of Martinis (which started me searching Google for different types). I went with the green and red color palette, (from the olives of course) and then funked it up, the dpb style!

I sold it this past weekend to the women in the booth next to me at the craft show! She bought it as a house warming gift for her daughter. The daughter had just purchased some funky Martini glasses and mom thought they would look fabulous displayed on this table. Awwweeee!!! What a great Mom!

A Sports Table With a Twist of Cuteness

2010-07-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Like I’ve said before, most of the furniture I paint is salvaged, but this little telephone stand that I discovered at an unfinished wood store is too cute to pass up! There are so many things you can do with it! So many styles! So many themes! So many…okay, so I need to calm down! But really, the possibilities are endless!

Recently I had a customer from the University of Oklahoma e-mail me and ask if I could do a table based on a college dish, (yes, like a plate you eat off of) that she had fallen in love with. Yep, I get strange requests! Well, I am always up for a challenge, so she sent me a picture of the plate and off we went. Just to mix things up even further she sent me another e-mail that said, “Hey could you put some Zebra print in there as well, because that is what my room is mainly decorated in.” “No problem!” I said, as my face twisted into a grimace. I always say sure, without really thinking about it, but when it comes time to actually sit down and paint, I’m like, “what?”

I found myself in the same position as the country table I talked about in my last blog post. I had all these funky elements, and needed to put them all together to create a wonderful side table for this customer’s dorm room! So again, the “blender” treatment! Throw everything in, pulsate for two to four bursts, and then pour it out! All her requirements, colors and patterns, mixed into one consolidated and cohesive piece!

This piece came out looking so cool it got me thinking (no smart comments about how much it hurt me). What if I actually offered this as a “sports” themed piece in my store? I could do college, professional, and heck, even little league! I have a craft show this weekend, thought it would be a great place to try this piece out and see how it does. I went with a Syracuse University theme (seeing as I live in Syracuse). Maggie wasn’t happy that I “dolled” the table up, but hey, there are female sports enthusiasts, right? She thought it should be more masculine (really, I don’t have any “boy” stuff). When she saw it she said, “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” “I can’t!” I shouted (in sort of a whining, 5 yr. old voice), and we both started laughing.

I love the “heart & wings” it shows up on a lot of my things, like my checks and circles, it’s something that is sort of a trademark of mine, and although the table started out masculine, I had to (couldn’t control myself actually) put wings on it!

But, if you wanted to purchase one in the shop, and wanted it masculine, I would refrain and not include the wings, or perhaps Maggie might have to actually hide the hearts and wings!

Stars and Stripes, Part II

2010-06-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

When I finished the second part of a pair of end tables, the task was bitter sweet. The tables had been cumbersome and took up a lot of room in my studio. They weren't my normal style and color choices, but honestly, I was sad to see them go. When I'm working on a piece (especially two matching ones) I really develop a connection with it. A lot of hours are spent looking at it, touching it, thinking about it, and creating it. After all, I'm pouring a little bit of myself onto the canvas. Every stroke, every color choice, and every combination of pattern, is me. I'm invested.

Okay, so before you think I've gone off my rocker, let me explain. My studio is a large room, off the back of my house. Every morning after I shower and have breakfast, I head back to "my room" to begin my day. I'm lucky to be able to have a designated space where I can create. My uniform consists of cut offs and a t-shirt (at least it isn't my PJs), each sporting every color under the rainbow. I usually will start with an hour on the computer (answering e-mails, blogging, etc...) than, I crank up the music (loud) and paint. For the most part, I'm with myself (and the furniture) until the kids arrive home (during the school year) around four. With only the mild interruption of my Black Berry (a “crack” berry as my family so lovingly calls it, because I never leave home without it) I am basically in my head. I think about the pieces in front of me, the ones I have to do tomorrow, and the ones I'll need to do for an upcoming show, or even a new piece I just discovered. You can see how the furniture and I really develop a relationship! LOL! When something is as labor intensive as these two pieces have been, it’s really hard not to think about “what” you’re painting.

These two particular pieces have made me think a lot about country, about freedom, and about all the service people, who protect us/me, and allow us the freedoms we have. For me that meant painting, what I want, when I want, and how I want, all in my modest back room. It means I can wear cut-offs and a bad t-shirt. It means I have the freedom to listen to whatever music I choose, or read and write, whatever I want. We owe so much to them.

The customer I did these 2 pieces for was a colonel in the army. She’s retired now, but still loves all that the army symbolizes and she wanted to convey that in these pieces. So, even though these tables were infringing on my small space, I realized if we didn’t have wonderful people like the colonel, then I might not even have a space to have them infringing on. “Stop complaining!” I said to myself, “…and just remember how lucky you are!” Yep, I talk to myself too, now you really think I’m crazy. Perhaps I need to get out more and socialize with people rather than furniture! LOL!

So, that's how I'm feeling today. It was sad to see them go. They provoked a lot of emotion, but I am excited about the next piece (and having my space back)! I have room to move, and moving to do, but it’s nice to know that another little piece of me has been sent out into the universe.

The Little Things

2010-06-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

Just a little blurb in between bigger things. I have been swamped with work, but as I say all the time, I AM NOT COMPLAINING!!!! I'm finishing up the second half of a couple of end tables, an extra large storage unit, a large coat rack for a customer in CA, and a telephone stand for a college student in Oklahoma.

In between these large things, are the little things. My friend Deb Mc Master of Sweet Lemonade Boutique (look for her shop on Face Book) or her web site; http://sweetlemonadefashions.webs.com/ has asked me to paint little purses, and matching sneakers, to compliment the dresses she sews. I just finished one that will be paired up with her Sock Monkey dress, and it turned out pretty cute!

I also have finished up 2 signs for a customer who has a friend that is a race car driver. She wanted to make something special for his kids, and loved my "Race Ya" sign. The green is the color of his car, and each child had a different colored star with their name in the center (Thanks, Yvette!).

Next was a stool. A lot of the smaller stuff I do have to purchase, but I always use a 1/2 off coupon (I never pay full price!). She wanted it to match the storage box I did for her kitchen. It turned out pretty funky! It’s almost a shame to step on it.

I will be doing the 51st Annual Antiques Show, in Skaneateles, NY, July 9-10th. I have purchased some cute little pieces. I haven't painted them yet...give me some feedback! What colors should I do them in? What would make you stop and go, "WOW! I have to have that!"

Stars and Stripes

2010-06-07T14:53:00.001-04:00

There are many times that I get the opportunity to create something for an individual. Instead of someone purchasing something from me, already made, they come to me with a once loved piece of furniture, desperately seeking new life. Recently, I had a customer contact me in regards to this very thing. She had seen my work at a show, loved it, and wanted me to do something for her. She had two end tables that she cherished, but they were outdated and used. She wanted to bring some color into her home, and thought these pieces would be a great way to do it.

My first step, when I design a custom piece, is to talk with the customer. I like to get a feeling for who they are, and what they like. As they talk I just make a huge list of things they say to me, sort of like an idea chart. After I nail down a few key things, I then sit down and draw out a few (3-4) sketches, (various ideas, concepts and colors). Then I pick out color chips to go along with them. I enclose a variety of color chips (of the colors they want, because we all know, red doesn’t just mean red). Colored pencils don’t always convey the vibrancy of the colors I use, so the color chips give them a better visual of the paints they have available to them.

Now, let me just say this, I don’t intimidate easy, but this customers “list” was far away from what I normally do. I know that as an artist you should have the ability to adapt to whatever your customer wants, but for whatever reason this time I felt intimidated. Let me show you why; this was her list;

Retired Coronial in the Army
A lot of “Texas” and patriotic décor
Symmetrical, tailored, and detailed
Loves the leather faux that I had done in other pieces

Wants red, white and blue, as well as, the black and white checks

So, with all that, I sat down to draw. I sat, I sat, and I sat some more. I had a creative block!!!!!! I was panicking! All these different elements sat in front of me. How was I going to make something fantastic out of it? Then I thought of my grandmother.

When I was a little girl I would watch my beautiful, five foot tall, Italian grandmother, cook. Scattered in front of her on the counters would be a mish mash of ingredients, different spices chopped up, a variety of meats and pastas, you name it. She never used measuring cups or spoons, just grabbed different items with her thick little fists, and threw it in a pot. All while Frank Sinatra blared from her 1950’s stereo. Like a small conductor commanding Beethoven’s 5th symphony she commanded those ingredients to play how she saw fight... Soon the house would smell fantastic, and those once scattered ingredients, became a beautifully prepared dish she would serve with pride. To my Nona, food was love, and she loved the process of creating it!

So, as I sat there, trying to figure out what to do with all these different “ingredients” and I thought of Grandma. I put a little country music on, plugged in my I-Pod buds, and started mixing it up. On the other side of the page I wrote this;

Texas, equals cowboys, bandanas, and cow print

Army equals patriotism, stars & stripes

The faux leather, a well worked saddle.

Circles and checks me

Simple design

I decided to keep things a bit more conservative then I usually do, because that was who the customer was, but I did include the circles, as well as, the checks because that is who I am. I took all of these interesting ingredients, hers and mine, and with my hands, threw them all together to make something I (or grandma) would be proud of.

See to me, creating is love; just like grandma, I create something beautiful out of a variety of different ingredients. I hope they love the finished pieces as much as I loved making them!

A New Look for Adirondack Style

2010-05-26T10:47:00.001-04:00

I have the good fortune of living just about an hour and a half from one of the most amazing places on Earth. I have been drawn to the Adirondacks for decades, and never grow tired of its splendor. Every season brings new delight, and breathtaking scenery, that just astounds me. Its sights and smells are unique, and the people are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Every year my family and I travel to the Adirondacks for a family vacation. It started out as tenting, but then one day I said, "My body is to old for this. I'm an adult, and I want a bed!" So, now we rent a cabin, and the experiance is ten times better!

When it came time to decorate my bedroom, it was just an obvious choice as to what I would decorate it with. Yep, you guessed it, an Adirondack theme. I have quilts on the bed, which have bears, paw prints, evergreens, and maps. There are moose, and fish, even a piece of fence for a head board. We brought in tree limbs (white spruce), adhered them to the ceiling (with fishing line) and adorned them with fake leaves. It gave us the impression of sleeping outside, just in the comfort of our own bed.

Originally, I had picked this piece up to become and end table in my room. I even started decorating it to match, but when I was done I thought, I can't keep this in my room, who will ever see it, or enjoy it, besides me? So, I decided to sell it. I was hoping someone else would love "The Adirondacks" as much as I did and enjoy having it in their home.

Just a side note; I am always scouring the "OOPS" rack at any paint store/home improvement center we enter into. I have found some great colors, that were someone else's mistake, but my gain. The green in this project was actually just $.50! Usually, a quart of paint sells for around $10-13 (I usually buy name brand paints, because it makes the piece and my work look better), and I got this can for just .50 cents! I also, picked up 3 other colors that day, for .25 cents a piece! I was so excited! My daughter thought I'd lost my mind when I came home and told her about it. She said, "Mom, get a grip! It's just paint. Who cares!" Teenagers. If it had been a sale at Hollisters, she would have been the one screaming! Sigh...That's why I blog, hopefully someone else will care!