Doctor to me: "You're not sick, you have cancer."

Wait ..... What?

I was still puzzling that one through when he went on to say my blood counts were so poor that I couldn't have chemo. I need another adjective. I'm too _____ to have chemo, but I'm not sick.

Quick, someone, find me an adjective!

This is the Catch-22 of cancer. You can't have chemo if you're too, uhhhhhh, where's that adjective?!? Of course, now that I'm away from the doctor's office I have all sorts of questions. 

Seriously though, we have reached the long-dreaded point where there is nothing more they can do for me. At this time. What I need is for the FDA to approve a new drug or for a clinical trial to open for a Myeloma drug. Apparently there are 2 drugs out there that would probably work for me but the FDA is dragging
its lead feet.

So, I paint! Art is a great healer. Passion and art. I've believed that all along.

The specialist (we call him The Big Guy) that I see every 6 months told me the reason I'm doing so well is because the illness isn't the main focus of my life. He's right. I have many things more important to me than cancer. I pretty much ignore it, actually.

Who says denial is a bad thing?

Now, quick! Find me that adjective while I go out and do some passionate junking!

The stand-in

I love vintage industrial furniture. Love, love, love it. I have hanging cage lights, metal baskets and lots of cool rusty goodness bits and pieces. But I REALLY want this industrial console table from Hudson Goods. 

Unfortunately, $1300 is out of the question, so I researched DIY industrial tables and found some terrific ideas. But, since Mr. Bad Rabbit is doing a lot of traveling right now, making a table won't happen any time soon.

Soooooo. I impulsively decided to make a stand-in. I thought it wise to really make sure I'd be happy with the metallic look before investing time and money. Plus I just had to do something about the bland, outdated table I've put up with for years. I couldn't take it anymore.

I didn't take a before picture, but this is the basic style of the 1980s sofa table I was so desperately tired of.

Boring. 

So I grabbed 3 different silver craft paints and some flat black and got to it!

So much better! Finally, some visual interest!

To achieve the rust stain look, I used these finishes:

They work together to produce a chemical reaction creating "rust." You never know what you will get.

After a quick spray of poly it was ready to make it's debut as an industrial table.

 

Oh, I do like me something shiny!

Wasn't Mr. Bad surprised when he came home from his trip? He really likes the look and is looking forward to doing a DIY table. Meanwhile, I'm content with my stand-in. For a while anyway.

The added bonus is how it shows off Hubby's Olympic Torch, which he carried in 1996. Before, it was lost in all that wood. 

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Ghost table - the rest of the story

I've been getting numerous comments asking how I did the image transfer on my ghost table.

To make it easier for everyone who is interested in the process I updated the original post with a more detailed 'How To'.

You will find it here, just scroll down.

Presto Chango

A girlfriend purchased this amazing vintage ceiling fixture off etsy. Isn't it awesome? It's perfect for her
1800s log house.

Unfortunately, this is the color it really was. It was rather garish, not even close to the picture on etsy. Plus, it arrived broken with more pieces dropping off as it was moved. Heartbreaking!

My friend asked me to repair and paint the light and even though I've never done anything like that before, I agreed to do it. In my box of lamp parts (I am a true junker) I found a cap and a finial that would work. We agreed on a patinated copper look and I got to it.

The first coat of copper spray paint was a little bright. (Yes, I'm using a Puppy Pad as a surface.)

 When the spray paint dried I did a few coats of black wash using black craft paint thinned with lots of water. I dabbed up the excess paint as I went, leaving little pools in the crevices. I wanted the build-up to be gradual.

 Then, when the black wash was dry I went over the entire piece with Plaid brand Glaze Vernis. Again, I watered down the glaze and did 3 coats, dabbing with a rag as I went.

And here is the finished light fixture installed in my friend's kitchen. I love it!

More importantly, my friend and her husband love it. And I got to learn a new technique!

ps. The etsy seller kindly paid for the repair and painting. Sweet!

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The Rural Life

I love living in the country. The quiet, the beauty and the critters all make me happy. The drawback? I've been snowed in since Tuesday night. Mr. Bad Rabbit was on a business trip so I was toughing it out alone. It really wasn't all that bad. The worst was lugging firewood through the snow.

My other problem was our electric gate froze shut. I was stuck even if I dared try to drive down our road, which I wouldn't because I've crashed twice in the past even before getting to the gate. Beyond the gate the road gets stupid steep, with deep drop-offs. It scares people even in the summer.

And my oral chemo couldn't be delivered because UPS claimed 'circumstances beyond their control.' I didn't think that truck was going to make it up here anyway. The driver would have been crazy to try. I'll pick it up at the UPS facility today. I hope.

When the snow let up a bit my neighbors made it down the hill to the mailboxes. They brought me the mail and put it just inside the gate. I got my exercise huffing up and down the hill to the gate, that's for sure!

Today is beautiful. The valley below is snow-free but we still have plenty up here. I am crossing my fingers I can make it down the mountain safely today. I'm supposed to be moving into a second booth at the antique mall, plus I have a doctor appointment. Ho boy. I'll be white-knuckling it until I reach bare pavement.

Here's what my world looked like this morning.

The snow is off the trees and cross my fingers, will be off the gravel road, before I have to head into town. I'm not looking forward to loading furniture in the snow, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Right?

Happy Friday everyone!

Ghost Sign Table ..... finally

If after 7 times you don't succeed,
try another method.

Has anyone else felt woefully inadequate after following a tutorial TO THE LETTER only to fail miserably? Transfers are the thorn in my particular side. I can do an inkjet transfer onto painted wood if it is black only. Transfer onto glass? HAHAHAHAHA snort. I follow the tutorial like my life depends on it but fail every time. I've tried over and over. I really, really want to transfer onto glass.

I also want to do color transfers onto painted wood. I was feeling lucky, I guess, because I gave it a go. On a larger piece of furniture I would hand paint the sign but since this little table is going on etsy I did a transfer to keep the price point down. 

Here are some of my attempts. Need I say it wasn't working? I used Mod Podge. I used water. I used Gel Medium. I used Elmers.
'Cranky' pretty much sums it up.

Geez. I threw in the towel and decided to try an iron-on transfer. Nothing else was working, right? To my surprise the iron-on method worked - after 2 tries.

Here's how I did it.

I used Epson Tee Shirt Iron-On Transfers. 

I reversed the image and printed two transfers - the left side and the right side since the image was
16 x 11 or so. 

I trimmed the transfers so they butted up together into one continuous image. I positioned the transfers on the table and made little pencil marks to mark
where they went.


Then I sprayed the surface of the table with water and put the left transfer down. (This is the do-or-die step. Too much water makes a mess, too little water does nothing at all. I strongly suggest you do a practice piece to get a feel for how much water to spray.) With the transfer face down on the water I covered it with a towel (I found a towel works best. Pillowcases or other fabric is too thin) and ironed according to the package directions. I waited a minute or so then peeled back the transfer. You can't let it get too cold before you pull it off as it becomes
quite difficult.


The same steps were repeated for the right side of the image. After spraying water I used the pencil marks to get the transfer paper lined up to the first transfer. Covered it with a towel and ironed.


It didn't come out perfect and I didn't want it too. However there were holes that were just too big, so I simply painted the image back in those areas.


The transferred image felt rough so I did 3 or 4 coats of poly until it felt smooth.

And that was it.

I have a little ghost sign table at last! The image is from a photo I took of a building near where I live. I love ghost signs and hope enough others feel the same way so these historic works of art are preserved.

I used Annie Sloan Arles with a glaze made of brown paint and water. I used clear wax over that. 

I decided against distressing the table since the glaze and the graphic were rustic enough.

My little table!

I'm already working on Table #2 and I'm skipping right to the iron-on method.

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CeCe Caldwell Part Deux

CeCe and the Three Little Tables
UPDATED!!

Now the the Smokey Mountain tables. I found these tables at different sales over a period of time and when I put them together last week they seemed like they were related. So they all got to be smokey blue.

Aren't they cute? Just look at those faces ......

I used a cabinet scraper to distress the edges since sandpaper wasn't working well for me. I love my cabinet scrapers anyway. They are quick and fun to use.

You can see the brush strokes here. I tried using a foam roller but got little bumps all over. Maybe I should have thinned the paint a little but after the coverage challenge I had with Vintage White I was hesitant.

UPDATED: I sanded down the brush strokes on all three tables and repainted with Smokey Mountain that was thinned with a lot of water. The result is perfection! An absolutely smooth surface. So, despite seeming to be really thin, the paint needs to be thinned for best results.

I have a couple more small tables and a footstool that I'm going to paint with the CeCe Caldwell paint. Now that I know what to expect, I'm interested to see if the results are different. For example, I'll use primer under the white paint next time. And maybe thin the Smokey Mountain a little bit.

Anyone else tried this paint? 

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