LSD, Coffee & Tea Parties!

I often talk about how you can find inspiration in everything around you.  For this piece, it came from three different sources. When the three ideas combined, it created a unique and funky trio!

The first source:  I recently saw the movie "Alice in Wonderland".  I loved the animation, the bright colors, and the mear fact that I felt as is I were on LSD, without actually taking the drug! LOL! But really, I was inspired! So, when I thought about my next piece, it was that inspiration, that I drew from. 

Second source: It's funny because I am not a coffee drinker at all. I think I've told you that before, but I can't reiterate it enough!  But a lot of my pieces have a "coffee" theme to them.  I like the idea, I think? Sitting in a Starbucks and writing, it seems very "chic".  Sipping on Espresso, hammering away at the keyboard, while being consumed by the hearty aroma of coffee...are you there with me? Inhale! Agh, you smell it don't you!

Third source: As a little girl, as most of you have I'm sure, I would set up my stuffed animals and play "Tea Party"; Grape juice, cookies & dresses required.  I could play for hours.  When my little girls were born, they too carried on the tradition of Teddy Bear Tea Parties. And now as a mother, I could watch for hours, at the beauty of these little cherubs dishing out delicious treats and talking in their "munchkin voices" to there pretend guests. Siiiggggghhhh!

Okay, back to reality, my girls are now teenagers, I'm not going to Starbucks (to much painting to do) and although the LSD trip sounds promising some days, I need to get back to my point! This piece! Take all these three sources, throw them in a blender, pulse two times, and voila; this cute little table and chairs!

The table and chairs were not a set, but we made it one.  Using browns and pinks & white, as well as, similar patterns, made the separate pieces look as if they were always meant to be together.  All three pieces were found at the Thrifty Shopper, and painted with two coats of Benjamin Moore Paints (my personal preference).

So, the moral to this story, don't do LSD, drink coffee instead, and find insperation where ever you go!

Discarded to Distinguished

We found this piece in the back corner of the Thrifty Shopper, because the drawer was broken, it was sadly overlooked, but as always we saw past that, and anxiously scooped it up! After getting it home it went right into "Santa's Workshop" (that's what we affectionately call Maggie's spot in the studio).  This is where Maggie performs her magical transformations. Creatively fixing anything, and priming things for me, so that I have a wonderful canvas to work on.  In our house Maggie is MacGiver! She can fix anything! And furniture is no exception. She went right to work and quickly repaired the drawer, removed the old hardware, sanded it down and primed it with two coats of primer.

I started by painting a majority of this piece in Navajo White and trimming it out with Ralph Lauren Regent Metallic in Golden Candlestick.  I wanted to create a certain look. I wanted it to look like a piece that had been found in an old Italian Villa.  The color palette consisted of plums, golds, browns, and hunter green.  The harlequins on the top were "weathered" with a brown wash, and connected with the gold metallic paint at the corners, giving it a regal feel.

The sides and bottom shelf were then coated with Delta's Crackle paint, and again, brown paint was washed over the corners to make it looked aged.  See, once the crackle dries it creates small cracks, the brown paint is then washed over those cracks settling into the crevices. It's different then regular Crackle Paint, which is a 3 step process (base coat, crackle, top coat) and allows the base coat to show through the cracks. This is just like a glaze.  If you use a blow dryer it makes the cracks even finer, which once washed over, looks like aged porcelain.

As you know, I love filling up all the spaces with patterns but, Maggie encouraged me to keep this piece a bit more simple. Just some circles, checks and stripes.

I checked the knobs and added a tassle to the bottom drawer.

I loved the finished product!

Grandma's Chair

On a recent trash run, Maggie and I scooped up this wonderfully old chair...Wait, let me back up. Whenever we are driving around (with 5 kids, you seem to do that a lot) we are always on the look out for furniture. Well, Maggie looks for furniture, I see anything on the curb, remotely looking like furniture, and I begin salivating, before we even get close enough to see if its even salvageable.

Hence, grandmas chair.  I saw this on the side of the road, picked it up (disregarding Maggie's rolling eyes and arched brow). Okay, so it needed work.  You see, since we have two fully packed storage units full of furniture, I promised Maggie, I would only pick up stuff that was really decent, that didn't require a lot of work., but I CAN'T HELP MYSELF PEOPLE! Its like a drug for me. 

I promised her I would paint it right away (I always say that), and even though she knew better, as always, she indulged me.  This chair sat in our hallway for awhile.  Our cats found it to be very comfortable, that's why the kids called it "Grandma's Chair" because the fabric was shabby and out of date, the wood worn, and the cats sat on it all day (as if on Grandma's lap).

I love MacKenzie-Childs, and how she uses black & white checks, so immediately I was drawn to this fabric when I saw it! I bought a bunch, not really knowing what I would do with it, but I knew I'd use it at some point (just a side note, I have a room FULL of things, I'm going to use at some point).  Anyway, when I started on this chair, the first thing I did was redo the seat. I dove into my bucket of fabrics and decided this black & white check was what I was going to build this chair around.

I chose the pinks & greens, for no other reason then, I think they look great with black and white, and vola, no more Grandma's chair.   I purchased some wonderful fringe from a local craft store, and dressed it up even more.  To my delight, I sold this chair on Etsy, just a couple weeks ago!

So you see, this is why Maggie indulges me, she allows me to create, even when she doesn't always see where I'm going with it! She trusts in me to make something old, look new again....Awwwwweeeee! Thanks Mags!