... the lazy blogger has returned from the deepest, darkest winter...
So sorry I posted and pooped out. I didn't forget about you, gentle reader and fans! Work was so busy last year that it seemed that all I did was work the 9-5 or buy, buy, buy... and take a vacation out west.
Our winter here has been so long and was so bitterly cold, it has been too cold to paint and prep in the basement - too cold for me to work down there and too cold for the paint to cure properly.
We have seen a couple of hiccups of spring in the past couple of weeks and I have spent every sunny, warmish day finishing some projects, prepping, and trying out some new finishing techniques and project prototypes.
There is so much inspiration out there for new artists, and I am soaking up everything I see and will translate my inspirations into some future projects.
I'm posting some more finds that I'm working on for you. Yes - there is a finished piece in here: A small 50-cent mirror from Goodwill that I painted a pale green aqua color. After sanding, priming, painting with some satin-finish paint, I wanted to use furniture wax as the finish. The satin paint left a "chalky" feel and had a very matte, dry look to it.
I used Johnson's paste wax on a rag cut from an old t-shirt. I applied it liberally and wiped it off. The paint finish soaked up the first two applications of wax. The third and fourth coats were the buffing coats. I love the finish - a nice, smooth matte finish - not shiny. I am looking forward to applying this technique to some future pieces.
Here are some recent finds. They are in the midst of prep right now.
The Wallace Woods Community Yard Sale was today and because the chairs needed more time to "cure", I decided to shop the sale rather than participate.
My budget was $21 and some loose change. I headed down the lane and looked at sales in front of two houses on my street - not much, but I found an old wooden paper towel rack for 75 cents that has possibilities.
I walked up another street and found a large metal planter wrapped in sea grass for $1, two mirrors for a total of $3 and, one of my favorite finds of the day - a large collection of turn-of-the (20th) century sheet music. Original price was $10 and I picked it up for $5. This is really great, one-of-a-kind, decoupage material.
I walked down the other side of the street and found an old suitcase for $2. Great finds for $11.75. I picked up another item for personal use, and still stayed under budget. A good day!
Some information about my prep process…. All wooden pieces are left out in the sunshine for a minimum of three days and put in quarantine in order to check for bug infestation. If the piece does have bugs, it is discarded. NOT ONE PIECE HAS HAD BUGS!
Next, the items are cleaned with an environmentally-friendly TSP substitute and Murphy’s Wood Soap and warm water until the water runs clean. I work with environmentally-friendly materials whenever possible.
I use water-based latex paint and primer and mix my own chalk paint; even the paint sticks are reused for other projects. My goal is to create as little waste as possible. Even rusty hardware is reused for accent pieces, shadow boxes, etc.
The fabric I use comes from upholstery samples, vintage fabric from old clothing, and my own collection. I have a fetish for textiles. :-)
It’s time to get busy sanding and painting!
The past two weeks have been great ones in terms of finding interesting and, in some cases, vintage furniture pieces. Some of the items include a set of kitchen chairs with rush seats, vintage aluminum bar stools, a storm window frame from a 19th century house, a silverware box, and a low round coffee table.
I was also fortunate to find two console TV cabinets. I am ALWAYS looking for wooden console TV cabinets – even the ones from the 50’s and 60’s. I can’t wait to show you how these are being transformed!
Below is a sneak peak of some of my finds "before" transformation.
Next, I'll write about my prep process.
