Friday, October 18, 2013

Laying low, processing what the doctor said.

No matter how positive or optimistic a person is, there will be times when unpleasant news has to be processed. That was me last weekend. I had an appointment with a specialist who told me I might be faced with a treatment that entails repeated rounds of no-fun-at-all. I think my eyes bugged out of my skull.

So, I had a quiet weekend getting used to the idea. I just worked on simple things and dragged some furniture from room to room. I had a table in the corner of my bedroom that was doing nothing but holding up some old clocks and a couple rabbits. Really, the base was the only reason I kept this table. It's old, heavy and ... well, old and heavy. I thought decoupage would be a therapeutic way to spend some time.


There were some old newspapers in a trunk I found at an estate sale and I thought they would make an entertaining table top.


And I thought the newspaper suited the base.



I love old stuff.

Then I saw a photo of silver and glass salt and pepper shakers on a silver tray. It looked great but I only had a seen-better-days gold tray.    

 Like this one.

  I painted it with blackening solution and antiqued the mirror. But the tray looked too dull so I got out the Guilders Paste and put some shine on there.

The tops of the little joined salt and pepper were red plastic. The blackening solution took care of that! Even at close inspection they look metal.

 So much better!

What I used.

Cruising around the web I came across some frames that were done in an old world style using gesso instead of paint. Well, I have gesso and I have frames so I thought I'd give it a try.




And therapeutic? Part of the technique is to whack away at the dry gesso with a wire brush. And whack I did. Whack whack whack. The result is an aged, dug-out-of-Pompeii look that you just can't get with paint. 

Whack whack whack.
Ahhhhh. I felt much better. 

Five days in the hospital?
Whack Whack WHACK

23 days recovering?
WHACK WHACK WHACK

Repeat until my next transplant?
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

sigh ......
Laying low time is over. It's time to step back into the fight.

11 comments:

  1. I love everything on here! Especially the typewriter! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Adding you to my prayer list today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello from Canada,following your blog for about a year.Please keep us up to date on your progress & all the best,Cheers Lorraine

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry about the no-fun-at-all Danae. How is Inspector 19 doing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The inspector is doing great! I'll do a quick post on his progress.

      Delete
  5. A few years ago, I decoupaged a thrift table with pages from a French book. I gave the table to my daughter, who was in college at the time and had just moved into her first apartment. She recently moved into another apartment and I asked if she still had that table. She said "Oh, yes! I will always have the table! It's a family antique!" Haha! It's nice to know that our work is well loved. I wish you strength and peace! My thoughts are with you. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just picked up a base like your table and didn't know what it could have been. I put a large birdhouse on it and it's outside but now that I have seen your table, I know that someday it will be a table too. I also want to try the gesso process...it looks great. Hope your weekend left you stronger to face your health issues. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the newspaper table top!

    Wishing you well in the unwelcome medical bothers to come. Be good to you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Daena, hope you're feeling better and working thru this, I've had some crummy health issues too, I think I'll give your whack therapy a try!! love the table you came up with a great Idea, I'll be featuring this post at Be Inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello Daena! I came from Be Inspired and I love your table. I enjoy decoupage too and have done some jobs with old books and vintage fashion sketches. More coincidences, I have a salt shakers collection and love yours.
    A big hug from Argentina and good luck with your treatment.
    Besos!
    Silvina

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for the feature!! I don't know how I missed this! I was searching through your Favs and came across this post and saw my piece. I was moving during that week so I guess I wasn't reading my daily blog reads as much. office furniture Brisbane really appreciate it :)

    ReplyDelete