Scrool Happy!

These pieces may look Black but are actually Slate in color in Matte finish, waxed for the final sheen for some of the sanded edges to reveal the original wood tones of the furniture.
The original hardware was HEAVY Brass....not the right color for the look, so opted to redo in Nickel finish from Krylon.

Hand painted scroll design worked on paper first, then using a fine-liner brush, I painted over the watercolored light blue pencil I used to draw on the scrolls. Once dried, I dried brushed an asphalton medium from Lowes to soften the bright metallic finish.

Before....the pieces needed some TLC, I repaired the veneer, sanded and primed for new finish.

Yes....I've been a bit scrool happy or crazy lately as my husband has mentioned recently.

....and as any other Winter Bound artist.....I have opted to share my craziness for Scroll design with my clients.....and one in particular I think has caught the "bug" as well.

Robin has been a wonderful client-friend who has let me infect her new refurbished Master Bedroom with a bit of this "Fever" flavor.

We have been browsing Craigslist like many others who have time to read and look at all the postings during dreary weather and found just the right two pieces for her room.

Just enough drawer space for both and perfect in style.

Best of all .....the quality was unmatched, super heavy pieces that needed to 2 strong men to move.

The carving details on the sides of the dressers gave me the idea to share my love for scrolls right now, so both of decided to add a bit on the front and side of her dresser.

Perfect little punch hand done in metallic silver paint.

More pictures as promised

Here is another example of the repurposed furniture I'm doing for our Den. This larger piece was part of dining set. So I decided to redo it in the same style as the end-tables I finished for the den. I have plans for it do hold the TV boxes and dvd's, this will be our version of an entertainment center.

After prepping the piece...sanding, filling in gauges, priming and painting....the aging process will be the last step before sealing it.

Yeah....I think I'm going a bit crazy with the scrools designs, but they can be addictive and fun to do!

2011 A few projects completed

This is a fun project I completed for a client who wanted to update her typical Builder grade stove hood....she felt it needed something, so why not Faux stone?
After measuring, for the grout and size of stone, the mixture was troweld on, dried 24 hours before I hand painted it.
So now she has a new hood to match her little stone tile trim....a perfect solution with the all the contractors or masons.
It was so much fun....I brought the idea home and adapted to some ideas my husband was playing with....I'll post those pictures soon.

Process of after measuring for the stone blocks and trim.

Before picture of the plaing Hood

Never to late to wish all a Merry Christmas!

I hope all who find themselves here enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day with family and friends.
After all the chaos of finding gifts and wrapping them until fingers were numb from masking tape or paper cuts.....we're almost headed to the finish line people!
Happy to report....I think my fingers will recover LOL.
But before I forget completly, I wanted to share a few pictures of our Holiday decorations.....it will take a while to find the right pieces or create them for this home, it's size is just to much to try to do in my first year in this home.

Anyway, its fun to check other creative Bloggers and try to re-create some delightful decor for next year.
So before I wrap them up....here are a few pict's.

Dining buffet with a few vintage AnnLee dolls.

The Den mantel decorated in whites and Mercury glass

Formal Parlor Mantel, decor in Golds and Glitz

Foyer Table decorated with Silvers and Whites....frosty.

Making New & Fun Again

Looking around my home, I found some interesting areas that needed some help.....or added fun with a redo or new color.

So why not work with some furniture for now.

Never one to be scared of trying something new with paint, I decided to take this old beat-up table and begin the process of bringing in new color tones to our den.

My husband needed a bigger end table to hold all his controls and glass of tea....so why not start here.

It wouldn't hurt?

Table 1

Step 1.

Clean, sand and remove old veneer that was peeling....redo surface with filler and prime.

....Took longer than I expected to peel the veneer!!!!

Painted a combination of colors along with Bronze metallic.

The top needed something else????? O.k. what about some swirls?

Yeah!!! Free-handed some scrools designs for that extra punch I felt it needed.....this is all the painting before I aged the final piece and top coated it.

I'll show the completed piece along with 2 others when I post the other pictures in a few days.

Enjoy your weekend.

Redoing our Fireplace

Before pic. with uneven plaster hearth and bright red metal surround

Re-done Fireplace with Bronze metal finish and Faux Marble technique in Sienna tones and new remote control fire.

Close-Up of Croc plaster finish for hearth

Quircky finish I thought would be ideal for uneven floor of hearth to resemble other furniture

View of Croc on hearth

Gray tone plaster Croc before painting in browns

Well, after sitting and staring at our Den fireplace for almost 9 months since I moved into our home....it finally dawned on me to get some of my artistic tools out and begin the process of creating something fun and yes... a bit unusual finishes for our own home.

Looking around the room, my husband is surrounded with warm tones, leathers and skins that add more browns with the hard wood floors that are found in the home.

So I took note of that and decided to play it up and have fun with the finishes I have done for other clients.

My husband has been wonderful by encouraging me to play with our home and make it ours with our personality....and wants me to paint to my hearts desire. So slowly I will be creating finishes as the room dictates....I'll be posting as the changes continue.

Enjoy the weekend.

Fall Mantels

Well with the change in the air and colors starting to swirl in the Fall hues, it was time for me to try an bring a bit of Harvest decor inside my own home.

This will be my first time decorating my new abode in this historic home, a bit of getting used to but willing to try as I gather ideas from other Bloggers.

The 1st picture is the formal living while the 2nd White mantel is in the Den.

Being older mantels, the depth is not large enough for bigger foliage like I'm used to, so smaller and longer floral picks is what I went with.

I used an a square gray and red bird McCoy vase as my center piece for the white mantel since it fit just right on the depth of the mantel and added the picks on each side.