Just for fun on a cold morning.

Last week we had a few really cold mornings and the garage was way too cold to go work in or even to go in, for that matter. So, I curled up on the couch with a soft fleece throw, my laptop and a mug of coffee, and just played.
This is what I came up with:

Original

Illustration

Original

Illustration

Since I'm one of those obsessive/compulsive types I want to go through all my images to see which ones can be turned into an illustration. It's so much fun! Maybe on the next super cold morning ......

Sneak Peak!

I'm so excited! I have some fun projects to get started on this week. This first picture is off Craigslist, so it's pretty bad. My Honey and I are picking it up this morning. Look at those sweet details! I can hardly wait!

My new favorite furniture for my master bedroom is this empire style. Too bad Honey is insisting I leave the bedroom alone. He keeps saying not everything has to change. Sigh. No empire furniture for me. Yet. :-)

This big guy will be my first attempt at a huge piece of furniture. I can hardly wait! This is one of those pieces where the "before and after" change will be dramatic.

There is so much more in my storage room and in the garage. I have old furniture stacked up like crazy. Some of it i have to kick myself for bringing home. 'Cheap' isn't a good enough reason. I need to keep repeating that. Repeating that. Repeating that.

Have a terrific Thursday!

A few of my favorite things

Happy New Year!

Yay, 2012! Are you as ready for a new year as I am?
I didn't get much painting done over the holidays. It was a crazy, busy time. We had house guests and parties to attend like millions of others. 


So here's the age-old chicken/egg question.
Which came first ....?

I had the extra time-eater of having to go to town for either transfusions and fun shots in the belly every day. Because we live out past the back of beyond, even the quickest trip into town uses up 3 hours, so painting furniture just didn't happen. So, was I needing treatment because I didn't paint furniture? Or did I not paint furniture because I was getting treatment? Hmmmm.

I feel badly that I have nothing new to show, but I've noticed around Blog-Land that lots of way-too-busy folks are posting their favorite projects. So, here are 4 of my personal favorites from the last year or so. There are so many more that I love that it was hard to choose.


My giant hutch. This was my first chalk paint project.

The Union Jack Dresser. Love it! However, it is for sale to make room for my next dresser project.

My Old Logo Trunk. I did this for myself but ended up selling it when I got an idea for a new trunk. (Still in progress.)

Chick Chair. Cuteness in green! Selling it, too. It's on ebay.

And so many others.
I have a couple things half done that I hope to post soon! So, I guess I better get busy.

Linking to:
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/
{primp}
Power of Paint
my uncommon slice of suburbia

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

My sister-in-law finds the best pictures

I totally love this.

Does he do windows?

Today's Score - Cancer: 1 Girl: 0

Well, crudnuts in a bucket. I'm flopped sideways on the couch wanting to paint furniture, but laying here seems all I can do right now. I'm facing a new phase. All the new doctors I've seen have been astonished (and more than a little disbelieving) when I tell them I've not had a blood transfusion. Not during my transplant, even. Yay me! But it looks like tomorrow I break my 4 year record and have to do the transfusion thing. I'm a little wigged out.


I'm sure folks who've been through it would pat me on the back and say, there there, but seriously. I am so extremely squeemish that I'm bug-eyed with fear. Phobias have no logic.


postscript: my neighbor just told me that people she's known felt on top of the world after a transfusion.


Okay then, with that, back to furniture.

One more time with feeling

I know, from reading other blogs, that I am not the only one to have second thoughts about a project. Sometimes the warm and fuzzy feeling just doesn't come. I've had projects go into the ugly phase, which they all do, but some never come out of it. There have been times when I've wanted to have "Revert to Saved" or "Undo" work in real life.

I've been working all week on redoing some pieces that I just didn't feel the love for.


BAA BAA BAD SHEEP

Remember my hopeless little table? I really didn't like that sheep. There's primitive - and then there's Paleolithic.

So I fixed it.

EVERY WHICH WAY BUT UP MIRROR 

We had a mirror in our entry way that I was tiring of quickly. Then I got my card catalog and there was no place for the mirror. It was in the garage a few months so I thought, oh, what the heck. And I grabbed the chalk paint.

I was going after what another blogger called that "Pulled from a french barn after the fire" look. But I keep thinking maybe this mirror needs to be simply distressed white. There might be another redo in the offing. 
 Hmmmm

or....

GLAMOUR GIRLS GONE BAD

My 'over the top' bench needed calmed down some.

I ended up calming it down a lot!

The redo of the century has yet to be done. Ive been procrastinating, but it might be the perfect project right now since I can sit and work. Plus, no heavy lifting. Cool!

'nuff said.

Cover your eyes! Another Union Jack!

I think I confessed to this obsession early on. I am totally enamored of the Union Jack. (Did I hear someone say "duh"?)

A couple years ago when I lost my hair to chemo, I had an etsy artist make me a cotton headscarf using my favorite image - a watercolor style Union Jack. Lately I've been pondering how to repurpose it. I tried to use it on a vanity bench but I wasn't loving the bench's style. Then I remembered I had this little hooked rug stool, and I thought, hmmmmm.

Easy as pie! I painted the legs brown and sanded them back to show the original metallic gold. I added some foam because the seat was a little hard. To give the scarf more body I applied an iron-on interfacing. It turned out just right.

I attached the fabric to the stool and used jute for the trim and that was that. While I was working I watched a couple episodes of Nate Berkus. :-)

The colors in the scarf are rich and varied. They range from plum to aqua to olive to chocolate and back again.

Finished. All in all, a very pleasant afternoon! And I have another piece of Union Jack furniture. yay

Linking to these creative folks. Go see what they are doing!
primp
somewhat simple
crafty scrappy happy
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ 
my 1929 charmer