Where, oh where...

does the time go?  Let's see if I can list some of the ways I've been spending my time recently.  Since we (meaning Honey) decided that we needed to lay down the sod immediately (in 100 degree weather), we've spent many early early mornings and evenings hand watering the lawn (about 3 hours a day). And trust me... you get a lot of thinking time when you water the lawn for that long but your painting and typing time somehow reduces significantly.  Luckily, we got our new sprinkler system put in.  So while my watering days aren't completely over, they are certainly reduced.

What else have we been doing?  Well, we've gotten new windows put in to the front part of the house, we've unpacked about a gazillion (yes, that's a lot) of boxes, I've decided where things will go and then moved them around a couple dozen times, I've been up to the Boston and Maine, I've painted the guest room bed frame (with bookshelves and armoire still to go), and we hosted our niece for a week.

So many details to share about all of these things, but I will focus on my trip to a local water park with my niece.  Let me start and end by saying there is a reason you don't see adults on big water rides at water parks.  And... it's not because they are scared.

It's because zipping down a water slide is not anywhere near as much fun when you are afraid you may flash the teenage lifeguard with a sight that will either cause him/her to go blind or scar them for life.  You also get quite a pounding on the thighs if they have a little less elasticity than they used to and/or if they are slightly bigger than they used to be.  Not that I learned these lessons myself the hard way or there is a young made in North East Dallas still walking around still saying "Why me?" or anything...  Just speculating what could happen to someone else.

Moving on...

I continue to post my Cannon SureShot photos and look forward to the day when I'll look back and cringe.  Kind of like when people post pictures of me from high school with some big 'ol hair on social media sites.  You know who you are people...

The difference now is that I'm proactively cringing.  In high school, I thought big hair was hot to trot, and it would only come to me in later years that my use of aerosole hair spray was probably responsible for a hole in the ozone layer about a mile wide.  Oh, and the hair on my head was never intended to stand up vertically for long stretches of time.

Now, we really are moving on...

A dear family friend requested that I paint a set of chest of drawers and their king size headboard.  Today is a view of the chest of drawers which I painted with Annie Sloan Old White as the base coat and Arles on top.  If the color varies in picture to picture, you'll just have to trust that it's my photography skills and not my painting skills.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  It's hot as all get out, so the windows are up and the air is on high!

Busy Bees

We have been busy bees the last several weeks as we've been preparing the house. Luckily, my sister Kitty has been a gracious hostess and has allowed us to stay at her home while we finished the plumbing, floor refinishing, and painting. Yes, we outsourced all of these activities. I would have loved to have refinished the floors and painted the walls, but bringing in the professionals helped to maintain our sanity since we are both also working full time.

Now, on to some fun painting scoop!

This Anthony dresser and matching side tables were so much fun to paint.  I used a base coat of Annie Sloan's Old White and CeCe Caldwell's Smokey Mountain Grey on top.  For the tall dresser, I decided to leave some of the original wood peeking through and painted the doors with Old White.

Sadly, my iPhone pictures don't do these pieces justice, and they actually sold very quickly at the store so I won't get any second chances.

The side tables have a very monochromatic look and feel with some distinct distressing to show off the Old White underneath.

Below is an unclose of the carved wood and knob.  The wood underneath and the Old White actually blended with the Annie Sloan dark wax to provide an almost golden hue.

All in all, the project was a lot of fun, and I was very excited with the three toned dresser and monochromatic side tables.  

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  It's going to be a short one today because I have a custom paint job that I need to finish up.

Linking Up on Monday:

http://betweennapsontheporch.net

Thankful

I don't know about you, but I had an amazing Memorial Day weekend.  I was able to spend time with family and friends while remembering all of the service men and women who are sacrificing for us every day.

The last few weeks have been a real whirlwind for us as we moved our belongings and are now in that waiting place while we finish some activities prior to moving into our new home.  I've been able to spend a good amount of time in the Ladycave sanding, priming, painting, and brainstorming.

I recently finished these Poppy side tables and oh boy, did they go through a transformation.  At first, I thought I would paint them black with a glossy finish, but I wasn't absolutely in love with them when I was done. So, like so many of my projects, I let them hang around for awhile, and I ruminated for a bit as to what should be done.  I finally decided to paint over the black with CeCe Caldwell's Vintage White and then distressed it so you can still see quite a bit of the black.  I also went on a mad spree trying to find the perfect handles and pulls.

Once I started distressing, I was disappointed that many of the places that I either sanded or used a wet rag, the black sheen was very dull.  In order to reclaim a bit of that shine that I wanted, I used an eraser on the Vintage White.  Guess what!  It totally worked!  And... I'll be adding that cheap little tool to my toolbox from now on.

I only have a couple of photos from my iPhone because I was painting early on Sunday morning and running late for church.  Most of the photos are of just one of the Poppy side tables taken early in the morning outside of the Ladycave.

Poppy Love

Do you see what's a little off yet?  I'll give you a hint.  You can't see it in the picture below.

A little closer look at Poppy

If you haven't guessed yet, the thing that's off in the photo is that this is still a work in progress.  I haven't finished the distressing on the bottom so it's a little brighter than the rest of the table.

My photo of both Poppy side tables has really bad lighting, so you'll just have to trust there are two of them.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  The mosquitoes have been crazy lately, so bring your bug spray with you at all times.  Honey B and I have that woodsy smell going for us these days.

Linking on Tuesday at:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Control

If you are anything like me, you see that word and in the back of your mind you are singing the old Janet Jackson classic.  For some reason, I have a mashup of Control and The Right Stuff**  by New Kids on the Block (Uh uh O O, Uh uh O O...).  Fortunately for you, I'm not sitting beside you to sing it.  Unfortunately for Honey, he is within range and wishing he wasn't.  Lucky man, l-u-c-k-y man!


Anyhoo... my sister Kitty mentioned to me earlier in the week that she had heard that control is America's number one addiction.  Apparently, not everyone struggles with queso the way I do.

Speaking of which, a quick sidebar on queso seems in order.  My dear friend Kdog comes down from Chicago several times a year to visit.  After one of these lovely trips, she was sharing the story of her trip with some ladies in the office and telling them that Texans serve queso with every meal.  One of the ladies (who had in fact lived in Texas for several years) gave KDog a bit of a quizzical look and told her that this wasn't the case at all.  She then went on to reveal that Dallas does in fact have several lovely restaurants that don't serve queso at all.

That's when KDog realized that it's not that everyone serves queso in Texas.  It's that I only drag her to places that do.  DOH!

Ok... back to control.  I don't know if control is or isn't America's number one addiction, but it seems logical that it could be in at least the top five.  If queso isn't numero uno for everyone else, it should be.

So, I've been thinking of control this week and realized that this is one of the key reasons that I enjoy painting furniture so much.  I get to control every facet.  I get to decide how much to sand or not to sand at all, what color or colors to paint, how much to distress or not to distress.  I get to decide how to fix small repairs, on and on.  It's like I'm the furniture doctor, and I get to fix it up and send it back out into the world with a whole nuther (yes, I know that's not a word) look, feel, and outfit of choice***.

When I step into my Ladycave, I'm in full control and I love letting my creativity flow, my sense of accomplishment during the process and when I complete a piece, and my ability to relax and unwind as I go.

What about you?  Why do you like to paint?

Mr. Plum, in the mercantile, with the candlestick

** Which is apparently really titled "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" which you'll see if you google it like I did or you can just trust me.  The bold typeface is also apparently part of the name... weird?  I think so...**


*** A nod to the ever popular Toddlers and Tiaras***

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I've busted up the sunshine theory and am typing on a rainy day.  Jump on in, we're on our way to the cleaners before they close.  Yes, Friday nights with Mimi and Honey B are always this rocking'!
Linking to: napsontheporch.net

Jimmy Olson

Today, I feel a bit like Jimmy Olson. Remember him? Of course you do! He was the cub reporter and jr. photographer that followed Clark Kent around in the Superman series.


(*Disclaimer: I didn't research Jimmy's journey with Superman, so if he turns into some evil person in the comic books, please just work with me here. Remember, I'm still supposed to be packing and can't go galevanting around making sure he turned out to be a good guy*)

You may asking, "hhmm... Mimi B, why do you feel like Jimmy on this lovely Friday?". The answer is that I just found a wonderful website called PicMonkey.com and when I'm on it, I feel like a jr. photographer.  Pair that with my cub reporting skills, and waa la, I feel like good 'ol Jimmy.

If this is website is old hat news for you, scroll on, but if not, check it out.  You can add words to your pictures like I did, there are graphics you can add, and a host of other photo enhancement options for free.  That's right, you get to reinvent the photos.  How wonderful is that?

If you forget their website name like I did, and type in "monkey pics", you'll just get to see a whole bunch of monkey pictures.  So, remember, the pic part goes first.

These guys/gals are awesome and make updating photos both fun and easy.
(*Another Disclaimer: I don't know anyone at this company and this is not a paid advertisement. They're just great, and I'm sharing the good word.*)

So, check out a couple of my before and afters of my "Summer Time is Here" collection. I found these matching wrought iron Parisian cigarette tables at a garage sale, and they were just screaming to be painted a bright shiny red.

I painted them with 2 coats of Annie Sloan's Emperor's Silk and then coated them with two layers of Minwax Gloss Fast-Drying Polyurethane.

I know the exposure is off, but the sheen is what it looks like in person.

It was hard to get a good angle of both of them, so I focused on this one. I loved how they turned out, and I had fun playing with PicMonkey to get some different looks.

Playing with PicMonkey, adding my logo in Polaroid style. 

Native photo.

Moving forward... Nothing says summer more than a great adirondack chair except for... mosquitos, watermelon, and going to the pool, of course. Since my days of laying out and baking in the sun are sadly over and I like to avoid mosquitos at all costs, let's focus on the adirondacks (in the shade, of course) and some watermelon.  Sounds like fun, right?
This children's adirondack was in need of a good paint job when I found it, so I decided to give it a bright green custom mix layer involving Antibes Green with Napoleonic Blue on top, some pretty serious distressing, and topped off with clear wax. Say that fast 3 times...

Monkeying around...

Fun side view at the shop

Another Polaroid...

Ok, enough funning around. I have to get back to packing! Thanks for coming along for the ride, another sunny day, and I'm starting to suspect I only post on sunny days. We'll analyze that later...  Jump on in while I run some more errands.

Linking with:
Between Naps on the Porch

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2012/05/wow-us-wednesdays-66.html

To pack or to paint? That is...

Well, it was the question a couple of days ago.  Today my question is what happened to this post?  It disappeared... into thin virtual air.  I am genuinely perplexed.  I'm hoping that I can find a way to recapture the original content, but I'm supposed to be packing.  Remember?  I'm glad you do because it is something I'd rather forget.

I'll do my Detective Doolittle work later to figure out where my content went.  In the meantime, on to the pictures with very little creative content this morning.

Introducing Stephanie... she is a lovely reinvented side table made of sturdy wood, with Anthropologie pulls (I couldn't resist them), and harlequin design.  Stephanie's favorite activity is sitting in the living room near the couch.  When she's not by the couch, she likes to sit near the bed.

Isn't she lovely?

Stephanie with some fun pillows in the background.

Up close of the pulls.

Up close of the harlequin.  I was very happy with the way it turned out.

That's right, another up close.

Work in progress mirror.  Can you tell the dog had just jumped off the couch?

See what I just did?  I introduced the side table like she is a tot on a beauty pageant.  Lucky her, I didn't throw her into a tanning bed.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  We'll be playing detective later today so bring along your magnifying glass!

Linking with:
http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2012/05/short-or-tallplease-help-me-choose.html
http://todayscreativeblog.net/ideas-for-crafting/

Miss Mustard Seed

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/

http://www.atthepicketfence.com

http://www.504main.com/

http://www.redouxinteriors.com

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com

http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

Reinventing our new home

We recently purchased a new home, and I'm thrilled to say that we will be moving in later this month.  I did a walk through today, and my action list is growing and growing.  Luckily, I plan to take a week off to paint and plan/execute some of my DIY projects.  We'll need some help on some of the bigger projects, but I just can't wait to settle in.

I don't have any before pictures to share yet, so in the meantime, I'll share some incredible pictures that my lovely friend Jessica took of the Reinventing booth this weekend.  I'm so lucky to call her a dear friend.  Along with her mad skills behind the camera, she is just as lovely in front of it.  Stop by to say hi to her at www.thewarriorgazette.blogspot.com.

We look forward to seeing you at Booth #1501 at the Frisco Mercantile!

Do you have some furniture you need reinvented?

Custom painting cards with pricing on the back.

I just love these scroll side tables with the lovely Provence pop inside the drawers.

Side view of the "Scotty" scroll side tables and "Violet" dresser .

Matching "Violet" side tables that match the dresser.

Love these Bee and Lady Bug pictures.  They will look great in a guest bathroom.

"Violet" dresser.  The inside middle drawers are painted to match the outside accents.  

I told you she is lovely!

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I am suffering from seasonal allergies that doesn't mean we can't go for a fun cruise around the city today!

Update: I finally figured out the linking function :).
Linking to: