As all of you know,
it takes a lot of time and hard decisions
to make a plan come together,
but I have never had a struggle
like I'm having
with this room that we are working on now.
The Captain says
we are taking entirely too much time
to get it done,
and while I certainly agree,
I can not let it go
until I feel completely satisfied.
There is a missing link to the picture
and, until I can figure out what it is,
the project will not be worthy,
in my mind.
So...
speaking of the whole picture,
I can let you in on certain aspects
that are completed
and show you how
I achieved them.
Here are two pictures
that received a small amount of work.
As you can tell,
the frames are quite different
and I wanted to make them
look more cohesive...
...here are the same pictures
after a little paint
was applied to each frame.
I used a sponge
with black craft paint
and applied it to the frames,
covering them fairly well...
...then
while the black paint was still wet,
I applied a small amount
of various colors,
with the same sponge
over top.
I just picked out random colors
that were in the paintings.
If one color seemed too much,
I just applied a little more black.
After it was dry,
I applied "Rub and Buff" gold leaf
with my finger,
hitting the high spots
on the frame.
I picked up this lamp shade
at K-Mart.
It was priced $11
but the plastic covering was off
and there was a smudge of dirt
around the bottom edge.
I knew I would be covering that part up,
so I asked for a better price
and I got it for $5.
The ribbon, I gathered and hot glued
to the edge
and applied the small trim to the top.
These two items came from JoAnn's.
The base is one that,
until recently,
was in the master bath.
This really sweet
little plant stand
we found sitting on the curb
marked free.
I am bummed
that I didn't take a 'before' picture.
Although it was in really good shape,
it had been painted a number of times
and was all chipped, dirty and peeling.
I can see
a number of you
rolling your eyes,
but, believe me,
it wasn't the 'beautifully chippy' stuff that you would have been happy to keep.
I painted it with Annie Sloan Old Ochre
and finished it off with Shabby Paints
clear vax and hazelnut re-vax.
Here is a little idea
of how this project
is going...
An old rocking chair
that we have had
for ages...
Oh, No..
Oh, H*** No..
Third time a charm?
We shall see.
And that was just
one
very
minor
issue!
I have had a few good days,
however,
and just so you don't think
I have totally
given up...
I am very pleased
with my little
'historical' sign.
When the kids were small
and we lived in Soquel,
in the house that Tami, Tim and Jake
now live in,
we put a swimming pool in the back yard.
We had to install a fence
around the yard
and the wood for this sign
came from that fence.
After forty years,
Tim replaced some of the fence
and gave me a few
of the old boards...
...the boards still have
the old blue paint on them
and I picked up the chipboard letters
at WalMart.
I started with the same sponge
that I used for the picture frames
and applied black paint
to the letters.
While that paint was still wet,
I applied metallic silver paint
over top
and kept sponging
until the paints were blended
to my liking
and resembled tin.
I also added a very tiny bit
of burnt sienna
to make it appear
that the letters are showing signs
of rusting.
I then hot glued the letters
to the board when the paint was dry
and added a little cottage
for the tiny porcelain birds
that were a gift from Tami
many years ago.
I had ordered something from WalMart last Christmas
and they were unable to fill part of my order
so they refunded me $10
and since I had never cashed it in
until now,
I paid about 43 cents
to make this sign.
So,
there you have a few things
that make up a part
of the whole picture.
I just hope that
'whole picture' will materialize soon.
I promise you
that I will keep
'painting' until it does.
...Judy...
Sharing today at these fine parties...
