New Vintage Finds

A little while before Christmas we bought an espresso machine and this morning was a perfect day for a nice hot cup of espresso and a biscotti cookie.  Woke up to cold and foggy morning.

This last weekend was our local vintage market for the month.

This month's theme was "New Year in Paris".  Lot of cool French stuff throughout the building.

My finds were mostly French inspired, too.

I plan to  use this cast iron Eiffel Tower to hold my bracelets.

And this gorgeous cherub bisque plaque is going to hang in my downstairs half bath that I have

plans to repaint and redecorate in the near future.

I have already added some white dry brushed paint to this heart lantern.  I think it will be perfect for Valentine's Day.  Maybe I will add a big red bow.

Happy Shopping!

Week in Review

Monday

Storm of the Decade and Weekend  Finds

    

Wednesday

Large Calendar Finished

Thursday

Faux Aged Candlesticks

Friday

Faux Aged Pedestal

Happy Weekend!

Faux Aged Pedestal

I am attempting to rid my house of anything that its bright shiny gold.

I used the same process as I used on the two tall candlesticks.

I decided to also give this piece the look of rusted aged metal.

 Here is what I used to make my aged finish.

The first thing I did was to paint the piece black and let that dry.  Forgot to get a picture of that.

Then I added a coat of white chalk paint.   Leaving some of the recessed areas black.  Let that dry and added drops of the alcohol ink and dabbed that with a paper towel to smear and smudge.

And lastly I brushed on the gray chalk paint to lighten any areas where the colors needed blending and highlighted a few spots with the bronze Stickles.

I used the completed pedestal to elevate this bust and placed it between the two matching candlesticks.

Happy Crafting!

Faux Aged Candlesticks

 For this project I was going for the look of rusty aged metal pieces.  Something that would be found in the dark back corners of a French Antique market.

Here is what I began with, two very shiny bright gold candlesticks. These measure over a foot tall.

One even had a chip on top.

These are the products I used to create the look of aged rusted faux metal.

I first painted them black with regular craft black craft paint.

And when that was dry I painted them with white chalk paint, leaving some recessed areas black and let them dry.

I must be out of the habit of taking pictures because I missed that step.

After the white was dry I dribbled the alcohol ink onto the surface and quickly dabbed and smeared it with a paper towel.

The chip is no longer visible with all the aging on the piece.

  I used the gray chalk paint to mute any areas that were too bright.  Next using a small brush I applied the Stickles to a few areas that might have formed salt or metal crystals as they aged.

And here they are dressed for Valentine's Day with candle bobeches and red crystals.  After Valentines day I will trade the red crystals out for clear crystals.

And I see a peak at tomorrow's project.

Happy crafting!

Large Calendar Finished

Well, I finally finished my large 2017 calendar.

I found this calendar on one of my favorite Australian blogs, Shabby Art Boutique.  I printed the 12 pages on 8 1/2 by 11 inch card stock.

Next,  I used Japanese pearlized watercolors to add a different colored wash around the boarder of each month.  Love to use these for a little shimmer when painting a picture with regular watercolor paints.  Sometime I will add a little shimmer to things like sun rays in pictures.  Fun watercolor paints to experiment with.

Here is the printed calendar.

I painted a light color wash the border on each month and let them dry.

Next I highlighted the flowers with different shades of Stickles.

And when everything was dry I punched two holes at the top edge and hung my new calendar by a length of pink dyed seam binding.

Happy Crafting!

Storm of the Decade and Weekend Finds

Wow,  the storm of the decade is upon us and another on the way.  It has already been eventful.  High gusts of winds are playing havoc with our yard.  There will be plenty of clean up when this is over next week.  And temperatures are unseasonably warm with highs and lows being the same.  Some temps. up to 63 degrees.  The weathermen call this the pineapple express as moisture moves in from the tropics bringing high chances of flooding to the region.

We are in for a series of storms all week.  Well, we wanted a change of weather patterns for California.  But not to the point of evacuations and flooding.

This is a good week to stay indoors, hunker down, hope the electricity stays on and have a cup of tea. Good time to craft, too.

I have been loving the look of mermaid fabric.  But most of it has a very high price.

While browsing awhile back on Amazon I spotted a pillow cover that was a great price and a good color especially for Valentine's Day.  I decided to configure a pink heart on a gold background.

So cool.

Over the weekend I bought some thrift store finds ready for makeovers and craft supplies, too.  Stay tuned for the makeovers.  Here's a look at my finds.

I found a couple of grapevine wreaths that will be getting makeovers later.

Lots of craft supplies, laces, ribbon, rickrack, plate chargers and faux flowers.

Cute little lamb for Easter, a branch candle holder and a gray rose patterned dish. And lots of glass candle holders for making craft items.

With thoughts ahead to summer I picked up this shell pot and metal coral frame.  I thought the violet flower bowl will be nice for Easter decor, too.

I always pick up any rose dishes that I spot.  This one is from Germany.  I have a wall of rose dishes on dish hangers.  This one will be added to the wall.  The little dish with lid in the back is very shallow and hand made.  The markings on the back says it was made in 1978.  I think I will use it for a jewelry holder.

And finally this metal piece.  It measures about 48 inches by 12 inches and was made to hang vertically on the wall.  I plan to paint it with colors to match my kitchen turn it sideways, horizontally,  and use it as a metal valance over my kitchen window.  I will post pictures as I complete this project.

Happy Shopping!

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning!

I hope everyone had a good New Year's and stayed warm and dry and not in any of those terribly long lines at the airports across the nation when the immigration computers went down.  

Not much time for creativity this week.  I am off to grocery shopping today to restock everything after the Holidays.

I seemed to have had a bug for a few days which has made me a little behind.  So, now that I feel better time to get busy.

The the rest of this week I will be sorting and putting away all the decorations.  Then giving the house a good cleaning.

It is funny how after the holidays are over we can't wait to get the our houses back to normal.  And have all the tinsel and ornaments gone from sight for another year.

Today is quite chilly with the snow level pretty low in elevation.  Just about a half an hours drive up the mountain the snow is still making a good show of itself.

I did work on finishing my calendars, yesterday, for the year and will post pictures of the last one I completed. 

But for now it is off to the store.

Happy Cleaning! 

SaveSave