Fabulous French Finds!

My friend found this wonderfully made French dresser and asked me to paint it to compliment another French styled chest she had purchased.  How does she get so lucky to find these wonderful pieces?!! 

She pointed out the furniture maker…Garrison Furniture from right here in Fort Smith, AR.  I was told that at one time, Fort Smith was the furniture production capital in the 40’s-late 60’s.  The chest is heavy and well crafted with dove-tail joints and wood sliders. 

I forgot to take a before photo, but you can tell from the cabinet that it was a lighter finish in the honey maple family.  On with the black paint for an under coat! 

  Then the white and finally, careful sanding to reveal the black paint below on the edges, corner and detail areas.  Chalk paint, sand paper and wax took their toll on my manicure!

Now all my friend has to do is convince her husband and son to haul it to the second floor!   And if you ever get tired of that chest, I know someone who would love to take it off your hands!

Technorati Tags: Chalk paint,French Chest of Drawers,Refinished Furniture

The Spring Scene at my House!

Spring Break is here and this afternoon I got together with friends and visiting cousins to paint festive crosses, a heart and boy’s cross!  Three generations came together to beautify their spaces…let’s check it out!

Twin paisley crosses to hang on the kitchen French doors in colors to compliment the decor.

Grandson teaches his grandmother the ombre technique he just learned and lets her have a go at it. Beautiful art work, shorts and bare feet on a 75 degree day…sure beats last week’s rain and the snow the week before that! 

Sure had fun!

Custom Note Cards and House Ornaments on Etsy!

Here’s my latest on my Etsy Store that I wanted to share with you…they make a darling gift for a house warming or just because!  They are my simple Custom House Note Cards and all I need is a photo of the house you want to feature…Google maps can help out with this task in a pinch!  Check them out…

I did these for my friend’s Mom and I hope she likes to write notes…so few do these days!  Here’s how they arrive to your door…12 note cards and envelopes in an archival envelope with ribbon. 

Custom House Ornaments…

I came up with this for Christmas gifts for my siblings and friends…they are real treasures!  Hand painted on wood and double sealed to last a long, long time!   Again, a simple painting of your house for your family or a friend…

You can find them on my Etsy Shop and they are wonderful gifts that can be enjoyed year round…can be hung on a tree, framed in a shadow box, or just tucked on your kitchen window ledge to remember your childhood home, lake house or beach bungalow.

This was the home my Mother grew up in in Buckhead and I painted it the way it looked way back when…now it’s twice that size!

    Thanks for looking! 

Technorati Tags: Custom House Note Cards custom House Ornaments

Paisley Power

This paisley cross door hanger just makes people smile…its happy colors,  joyful loops and swirls bring the promise of spring and warmer weather.  We ignored the snow on the ground and started pouring out bright and happy colors on our palettes and got to work!

Love the colors! Love watching the ladies put their individual personalities into their art.

They did a wonderful job and were eager to hang them up at home to ward off the cold weather!    

Technorati Tags: Door Hangers,Paisley Cross

Lovely Spring Tablescape

I recently had dinner at my friend’s sister’s charming home and was so inspired by her tablescape that I snapped a few pictures…loved everything she did!  And by the way, the dinner was delicious and company was delightful!

She started by draping her large round dining table with a crisp white table cloth!  Isn’t that always a good start?!  The centerpiece was a creamy white Italian urn that she filled with wheat grass nursery packs she purchased at a local pet shop!  I never would have thought of that!  She tucked in white hyacinths to the grass and finished it off with Spanish moss.  She made a simple wreath with a branch of artificial white berry and placed it on the rim of the urn.  The pictures don’t do it justice…it was wonderful!

The next layer was small groupings of votives in front of all place settings with mercury glass, pearl bead and wire, bejeweled and  plain glass…

  and next to the candles she filled simple glass vases with a sprig of a white flower that I can’t identify!   Her china pulled the table together with its thick gold bands.  Loved the upholstered chairs!

The whole table just screamed spring is here!  It was raining cats and dogs outside the entire day, but the dining room (and her entire cozy and cheery house) said c’mon in and let’s visit a while!  And that’s exactly what we did!

  And then there was the daffodil cake…

and a very happy birthday girl!  What a lovely time!

Spring Door Hangers, Note Cards

Like most…I start all of my new designs with a sketch and color it in.  I’ve decided to take the sketches and make note cards with them and sell them on my Etsy Shop along with the big version of them, my door hangers!  Here’s what’s new for spring!

The Paisley Cross…

The Wellie and Flowers…

The Bunny Basket… 

Variations of Shamrocks…

       

 

Technorati Tags: Paisley Cross,Paisley Cross Door Hanger,Note cards,Bunny Basket Door Hanger,Wellies and Flowers,Door Hangers Etsy Shop

Spring Can’t Arrive Soon Enough!

Cooped up in the house again for another snow day and found the cure to the winter blues is to look at the calendar to see that March 21st is not that far away…that and opening up a bunch of bright colors to splash around on a white background!  This is the Paisley Cross that I knocked out this morning…I’ve got a class this week that will be painting their own.   If you would like one, visit my Etsy shop and get the details here…https://www.etsy.com/listing/224255496/custom-painted-spring-easter-paisley?ref=shop_home_active_4 

Technorati Tags: Paisley Cross,Door Hangers Etsy Shop

How I Survived Storm “Sparta”

These winter storm names are ridiculous…we didn’t really expect anything from this front moving through except for a little rain.  I always expect the migraines that come and go with every low pressure cell that passes through the Arkansas River Valley, but that’s life for me.  I would have named this storm Excedrin because I had to take quite a few of them this past week to keep the head buzz to a dull thud.  Mother Nature laughs last. 

I started out prepping wood bases on my deck for a few Etsy orders on Friday afternoon and hadn’t realized the temperature had dropped a lot!  I had to come in after cutting out each board just to warm up my hands…the temp dropped to 23 by 1 pm.  I came inside and base coated them, took a shower and when I came back to the kitchen, I was amazed to see everything was white outside…huge flakes coming down!  And it didn’t stop until Saturday night…ending off with frozen rain and sleet.

We cooked together…’cause that’s what you do!  We made hot chocolate and slept in late.

I worked on a few projects…painted a mirror…

finished painting my Etsy orders…ironic to paint neon colors on flowers when it’s gray and icy outside. My husband and I did our fair share on binging on “House of Cards – Season 3”…of course, we finished it up in one day in between cooking and painting!

created a photo box and started shooting pictures of note cards for my store…

    

we cooked some more, finally got out of our jammies and I started the big kitchen clean…like clean the toaster oven, coffee maker and inside of drawers kind of clean.  Now it’s time for a nap while the boys watch boy movies!  Have a good day!

Don’t You Just Love Before and After Pictures?

I love this iron mirror…lovely, whimsical and regal!  But my friend is putting it in another room and needs it to be silver!         Et, voila!Lovely, whimsical, regal and silver!

GrOoVy!

My cousin Kathy sent this to me the other day…a real treasure! Atlanta’s own Howley sisters in 1979 or early 1980!  Ellen (l) in her lovely velour sweater, Ann (m) and me ® in our preppy button down shirts and Chino pants.   I was a high school senior, Ann a junior, and Ellen was in 7th grade. Let’s not forget John Travolta on the poster…he was king back then…now a Botoxed, hair plugged oddity of the world.  But then again, aren’t we all world oddities?!   I won’t let my kid hang posters on the wall today…they have to be collector’s items and nicely framed!

I haven’t seen a picture of my teen bedroom that I shared with Ann since I left it all those years ago and have studied it closely.  It has released a tidal wave of memories.  I don’t see the Spring Hill College pennant I bought during my late January 1980 visit to the campus when my host took me to Gulf Shores with her friends to hang at the beach!  I hung it over my bed after I chose to attend Spring Hill after my campus visit to St. Mary’s in South Bend on March 28…there was 8” of snow on the ground and was still snowing and I couldn’t get past that, so made up my mind that very day!  It was the right choice for me!  Loved every minute!

I see my tiny bulletin board with my high school spirit ribbons and Notre Dame stickers and pins, knick knacks on the shelf including my piano jewelry box, swimming trophies and  other dust collections.  I remember being very proud of the preppy plaid bed spread (comforters and quilts were not popular back then,) color coordinated blue rug on the floor and finding the plastic Parson’s tables in the perfect shade of yellow to match the bed.  I remember my Dad took me to Pier One on Peachtree Road across the street from Phipps Plaza to pick them up.  I felt such happiness at how the room looked and especially after my parents bought my sister and I small matching dressers at the House of Denmark furniture store on Piedmont Ave.

It’s the beginning of my future…just waiting for high school to be over so I could start out on my own life.  My oldest is enjoying this time in his life right now…so many possibilities, experiences, friends and memories to make!  But family is always where it’s at!

Thanks for the memories, Kathy!