Tattered Saints

More Adventures In Furniture Painting...

I haven't posted much lately about my adventures in furniture painting.  I still have several pieces I want to paint, as time and energy permits. 

 This is the bench that I re-upholstered (can it possibly be???) two years ago.    

Here, you will find the "before" pictures:

                                                                                     http://tatteredsaints.typepad.com/tattered_saints/2010/05/deconstructed-upholstery.html 

I've wanted to paint it since the upholstery job, and finally did.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen with a dry brush over it of Pure White.   I love the way it makes the carvings on the wood just pop:

I painted a wash stand with the same color combination, but that's pictures and a post for another day.

Happy Friday, everyone. 

 

Nine Days Later...

I haven't been here for awhile, have I?  That's nothing new in the blogging world...no one seems to update their blogs with current postings lately.  Perhaps blogging has seen its day?  Is everyone tired of oversharing and letting it all hang out?  Maybe...and maybe everyone just needs a break now and then.  Whatever.  My main reason for not posting lately has been that I've been cleaning up the carriage house and getting ready for company.  Yes, the painting and drywall and other crap is mostly finished...except for the tile in the bathrooms...and at the rate that's going, it may never be finished.  I should have hired someone to clean after the drywall mess but I ended up doing it myself, as I always do and as a result, I'm feeling like ten tons of crap and am not a very happy girl right now.  I did it all...moved furniture back into place, mopped the floors, cleaned the kitchen cabinets, wiped down the furniture.  Again, that's business as usual.  Things do look somewhat better...

Even my studio looks a bit more tidy, even though I still have stuff to put away...

 

And I even managed to paint an old pine bar stool...

Isn't that what Fonzie or the Sweat Hogs of Welcome Back Kotter used to say??  It pretty much describes my attitude these days...

I'll be back when I'm feeling more cheerful.  Buh-bye.

 

Keep On Paintin'...

I keep on painting furniture.  With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint it's so easy to do.  And I love the look, of course.  I bought this old desk at an auction some time ago.  I had planned to paint it back before all the hoopla and mess in the carriage house, but it didn't get done.  Yesterday, I had a few free minutes, so I scampered out and started painting...I used French Linen, then went over it in a sort of dry brush fashion with Pure White.  I'll probably wax the top of it eventually, since it will be used as a computer desk.  Here are a couple of pictures...and no, sorry I did not "STAGE" my photos.  I didn't pick the desk up and carry it outside to be photographed in the "garden" with bowers of flowers artfully arranged and bees flitting about.  Nor did I put it in a clean, neat part of the room where an old typewriter and an old fan with a stack of old books just HAPPENED to be sitting on top.  I'm more of a down and dirty, this is the way it really is type of gal...so I apologize to those who prefer their view of the world to be through special lenses and filters and photoshopped into a gauzy, nonexistent realm. There's a band of decorative inlay around the desk that I did not paint.  I don't know if I like that or not, but I can always change it if I decide to:

 

Some details:

Happy weekend, everyone.

The Queen Of Finished Projects...

Yes, I completed yet another project!  Am I good, or what?  Please don't say "Or what". 

Subway art projects are very popular right now, so of course I had to try it.  The piece of furniture I used is a small dresser that I originally bought back in the '80's I think.  I bought it from an unfinished furniture store because I was into stenciling and wanted to try it on a piece of furniture.  It turned out okay, and it spent the next few years sporting the flowers and vines I had stenciled on it.  I eventually got tired of that, and painted it black, with big round knobs on the drawers.   It deserved a 21st century makeover and here is the result...

I'm pretty happy with it.   I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White for the letters, then Graphite.  It got a coat of clear wax and some Rugger Brown wax.  It now resides on the third floor where I plan to use it for art supply storage.    

Sneak Peek...

Here's a sneaky peek at what I've been working on:

I hope to get it finished today, so I'll post about it tomorrow, maybe.

I have to go pick up my new glasses today, so that should be interesting. 

Things have been rolling along fairly smoothly.  The carriage house is still a declared disaster area, but the painting is supposed to start today, so perhaps we are finally on the right track...still a long way to go, however.

Here's a better picture of the completed antique mirror frame turned into a chalkboard:

Disregard my attempt at doodling.  I'm not very good with chalk.

Cheery pip...

 

 

Mission Accomplished...

After debating what to do with the sides of that buffet, I finally decided to use two old grain-type sacks to cover the holes (see previous post).  The sack with "LUNA" on it was the one I bought at the Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain in October.  Anyway, I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out.  I plan to put some type of trim around the edges of the grain sacks (well, sugar and flour sacks to be exact)  but that will have to wait until I can gain access to my hot glue gun (again, see previous post).  I haven't waxed the painted part yet, so I may still do that at some point. 

Ta DAAAAAA!!!!!

 Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

The Return To Furniture Painting...

I've finally returned to furniture painting.  The Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I've purchased has really gone a long way.  I've mostly used the Old White and Old Ochre and I still have paint left in both cans.  I never did get around to ordering the three new colors I wanted...I'll get that done one of these days.  The buffet/server/sideboard thing I mentioned a few posts back got a coat of Old Ochre today.  I'm VERY happy with it so far, but I'm not finished with it yet.  It will get another coat of paint and then some sanding and probably some waxing.  I also have to figure out what to do with the three holes on each side.  I meant to fill them with wood putty, but I forgot to do it and once I started painting, I didn't want to stop and mess around with filling the holes and waiting for it to dry and sanding it.  I'm thinking about covering the sides with old book pages or something.  I have several ideas for hiding those holes, I just have to pick one and do it.  Anyway, here it is so far...I love the look of leaving the top unpainted.  Heck, it's so easy to paint with the ASCP that I didn't even have to remove the stuff I have sitting on top!!

In other news, I'm still suffering from studio withdrawal.  Everything remains a big mess out there.  I wanted to make a ruffled tree skirt for the Christmas tree, but my hot glue gun is in a cabinet that has so much furniture piled in front of it, I can't get anything out of the cabinet. 

I have quite a few other things to keep me busy, so I'll try to chillax until I can get into the studio again and start working on some plans I have for that area. 

Happy Thursday.

One Of These Days...

I'm still here.  Just not blogging much.  It's only a little after nine in the morning and I'm exhausted.  I'm cleaning and getting ready for company to arrive at the end of this week.  I've made countless trips back and forth from the carriage house, done about a ton of laundry and I still have to try to clean the floors, tubs and sinks out there.  One of these days, I'm going to have to seriously consider hiring someone to do the cleaning.  We worked like dogs in the garage bays over the weekend and things look much better.  We flattened and hauled away about a ton of cardboard from boxes...I suppose I should stop buying stuff on the Internet...although it isn't ALL me...hubby buys alot, too.  I ended up cutting my thumb with a box cutter.  I thought it was going to need stitches, but I taped it up tight and so far so good.  Fortunately, I'm a quick healer. 

I have lots of furniture I want to paint and I need to order more Annie Sloan.  I want the new pure white color and graphite and French linen.  That'll be another box I'll need to get rid of...

Here's that little stand that I painted recently.  The "before" picture is around here someplace on a previous post...

Not much else to gab about, family drama and problems getting prescriptions refilled notwithstanding.  Guess I'd better go tote that barge and lift that bale.

Buh-bye.

Painted End Tables...

I've had these old end tables for years and some time back I tried painting them with black paint.  It didn't work out very well, because I didn't take the time to sand, strip and prepare them.  Enter Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...no sanding, stripping or prep work necessary! 

I actually took a before shot this time of one of the tables, believe it or not.  It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but trust me...it wasn't a very good paint job.  The surface was kind of scratched up and the black paint didn't cover very well.  One table had some damage to the original finish:

 

These tables are being used as night stands for the guest room, so I wanted to perk them up a bit.  I used Duck Egg Blue...

 

 

I think I'll wax them, to help protect the paint.  That might change the color a tad.  I'm happy with the way they turned out. 

 

The Same And Not The Same...

The title of this post makes me sound like Rainman. 

Some things are the same around here.  The heat.  My annoyed attitude toward the new keyboard.   Yes, it's still very much like typing on a rodent sized piece of equipment and I'm still making lots of mistakes.  I am hitting the backspace key a little more accurately, though.  Woo Hoo!  Yay, me.  I did not end up putting all my dolls in their boxes and hiding them away in a dark storage area.  I did some rearranging and cleaning and I think I'm less frustrated than I was...I am going to sell two of my dolls, but I had decided on that action some time back, I just haven't put the thought into reality yet.  

I'm also giving journaling yet another chance.  Yeah, I know.  I've been down this road before a couple of times.  My main problem (besides the glue not sticking) is that I can't find enough paper and bits and pieces of interesting stuff to use.  I can hear you saying, "Well that's a hard bit to believe, with all the magazines, old books, ephemera, and scrapbook paper you have" but I swear it's true.  I've found a few things, but not nearly enough to fill a journal, much less two or three of the blasted things.  I'll keep at it, pinky swear. 

I finally have a lovely, huge, very heavy work table in my studio.  Last October when we got a new granite top for our kitchen island, I made the outrageous statement that I wanted to turn the old island top into a table.  Well...time passed, continents drifted and fossils formed and we finally bought some table legs at Lowes last weekend.  There's more to the story, but I don't wish to cause your eyes to roll back in your head so I'll just show a picture of the finished product:

 
 

I painted the bottom part and legs with Old White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and left the top the way it was.  I'm happy with it. 

The only other thing happening is a 12x12 inch board I've been working on:

 

I can't decide whether to wax it, or seal it with a spray sealer.  I'll think about it. 

Stay cool, everyone. 

 

p.s.  I fixed the frozen game on my iPhone all by myself!  Double yay me!