More Jewelry Boxes

Wow--this week has gotten away from me! I can't believe it is already Thursday again! I have been really overwhelmed with completing the 300 pendants for the Global Orphan Project (the final ones are shipping tomorrow!! WOOT WOOT!) and preparing for my new booth at M!LK Boutique...not to mention that my mortgage business has picked up immensely. I tend to work best under pressure so I know everything will get done! **sigh**

This week Carina Gardner has another fabulous release called Fresh Picked Summer. I used one of my favorite papers from the collection on one of the jewelry boxes I posted last week:

Before

After

 On the smaller box, I used a paper from Carina's Birdhouse collection.

I made a quick trip to Goodwill over lunch today and found some great brass candlesticks, frames and keepsake boxes that I can't wait to play around with! I'll definitely post some before and afters! Happy Thursday!

8X8

Kim brought me some great scrap wood in various sizes when she came over last weekend, so I decided to try some other sizes of Studio Girls. These gals are on 8X8 blocks and were fun to do as a change of pace from the 6X12:

Happy Easter to everyone!

Fresh Picked Spring and other goodies...

It was nice to take a break earlier in the week and actually get some scrapping done! I feel a bit behind at this point but I'm having such fun with my little thrift store rework hobby. :) Carina Gardner has a new release this week called "Fresh Picked Spring" and it is adorable! She packed it full of great pinks and purples, as well as some beautiful flowers and stamps. I used some pics of Kendall and her sweet friend, Whitney, out for a leisurely drive:

Ok, so as of May 1st I will have a small space at M!LK Boutique in Olathe. I am excited but a little nervous! (Like what if nobody likes my stuff?? I hate how these insecurities sneak up on me!) They have asked to carry my Studio Girls and pendants, but I am not able to have any of my upcycled thrifted items because they compete too much with two other vendors. Although that's a bummer, I am happy that they will not bring anyone in to compete with me in the future. I will probably be opening a little etsy store in the next two weeks or so to share some of my little projects, such as:

Found items painted with my all-time favorite Krylon paint color: raspberry!

A little cupcake plate...

A little cake stand that would be darling in a baby boy's room...

I love this perhaps in a bathroom for earrings, rings, etc...

A cool old crown that used to be a horrible black and gold...great on a mantle or to hold little goodies.

Thank you so much for stopping by--have a great day!

Some Before and Afters...

Wow! I feel like I was so productive this weekend! My good friend, Kim, and her daughter, Whitney, came to stay with us because she had a dance competition at a hotel on our side of town. My husband was away on business and it almost felt like we had a little getaway ourselves with all the crafting we got done! :) We stayed up late every night and spread out our goodies all over...wish I had gotten some pics of our MESS on the kitchen table!

I completed the two jewelry boxes I bought a few weeks ago at Goodwill and am pleased with how they turned out, given that they were my first foray into refinishing wood pieces. Here's the first one after I took the hinges and lid apart:

The box and velvet lining were in very good shape so it was easy to work with in that regard. I started out by painting two coats of Kilz primer to seal the existing glossy coating, rather than trying to sand all the way down to the bare wood. I then used about 5 coats of a dark pink acrylic paint, and mod-podged coordinating paper on the awful charming tile with the little girl. To age the box a bit, I mixed black paint with water to create a very thin glaze that I left on for about 20 seconds and wiped off with a damp cloth. Once that was dry, I used a water-based polyurethane protectant to seal everything. Finally, I spray painted the brass hinges with silver spray paint, and voila...!

And here is a before pic of the second box upon removal of drawer pulls and hinges:

I went the same route with this box, using Kilz primer, acrylic paint, a watery glaze and a sealant. I wish I had not been as heavy-handed with the glaze as the finish is quite a bit darker than I would have liked, but overall it was a good experience!

And one more thing--I completed Kendall's little chair for her bedroom. Here is the before:

It was in reasonably good shape with some scuffs and peeling paint here and there. A sturdy little chair for $4.99! No magic in this transformation--I simply used a bright green Rustoleum spray-paint called "Ultra Cover 2X". The lable says that each coat is the equivalent of two coats of traditional spray paint. And I have to say that in my experience this claim is true! It covers like a dream.

 

I think my client was pleased!

 

Happy Monday!

A Fab Goodwill Find!

My friend, Laura, at work tipped me off about a HUGE Goodwill store about 20 minutes away and it was well worth the trip! Oh.my.goodness! Tons of furniture and several isles of home goods. I was in heaven.  I bought 8 or 9 brass candlesticks at 99 cents a piece and a wooden drawer for $1.99 that will be fun to paint...but my favorite purchase was this little beauty for $9.99:

I have always wanted one of these student desks for some reason. Although it is the most horrendous color of yellow with a green glaze of some sort, it has great bones. It's a very sturdy, heavy chair. I told my son I will paint it for him any color he wants...I think he will go with either purple or grey for K-State (hoping he goes for the grey). Laura suggested I paint the desk portion with chalkboard paint which I think is a brilliant idea. (Laura, you have been the idea girl this week! Thank you!)

Then yesterday, while at Joann's picking up some paint, I came across these two little knick-knack/jewelry boxes for $3.97 and $2.97. The picture does not accurately show how UGLY the tiles on the top are. They are really shiny and an awful shade of orange. However, the shimmery silver paint on the boxes is divine. I was able to pull the tiles off without damaging them and am going to decoupage them in fun paper. In their new life they will be adorable on someone's dresser.

Tomorrow's Friday! So ready for the weekend! :)

More Studio Girls...and a Great Digi-Art Release!

I created two Studio Girls over the weekend: one for my sister and one (hopefully!) for a boutique I am in talks with (pls keep your fingers crossed for me!).

A little background on my sister, Shannon: she is deathly afraid of bees. I mean the kind of afraid that requires therapy. However, she also has a great sense of humor about it and doesn't mind talking about how "silly" a fear it is (even though it is very real). Our family has many funny tales about Shannon jumping out of cars and throwing milkshakes on people in an attempt to get away from bees. She even jokes that they know how terrified she is and that they lay in wait for her. So, here is Shannon's Studio Girl...when I sent her pics of the finished canvas she laughed so hard she was almost crying! (Please excuse the poor lighting!)

 "She just could not shake the feeling that somewhere, somehow, a bee was watching her."

Here's the second girl with a saying that I stole borrowed from Anne Taintor. :) Makes me giggle.

"She knew she would be the most popular girl at rehab."

Now, on to a new release by Carina Gardner over at Jessica Sprague. I love the trend I am seeing all over the internet of creating and framing fun digital art. This week Carina had a fabulous digital art release called "C'est La Vie". Easy peasy: just print and frame for instant art! Click here to check it out. It comes in 7 great colors. I chose to print it at 8.5X11 in "raspberry" and then spray-painted an old frame to match.

A perfect match for the print!

what a great weekend!

Wow--the weather was nearly perfect this weekend! A little too windy to get a lot of spray-painting done, but I was able to finish up a couple of Studio Girls and spend some time with great friends. Some of our very closest friends (and actually the couple who introduced the hubs and me) and their sweet kids came to spend the weekend with us. Kendall and Cale loved having buddies to hang with and everyone had fun. They brought Kendall a battery-powered Barbie jeep that they were no longer using and she about lost her mind. She is a terrible driver, by the way. Here she is with her cute chauffeur:

Thanks so much for stopping by--I will post some Studio Girl pics tomorrow!

Another fabulous template and Goodwill!

Linda, the owner of "In the Making Designs" released yet another fabulous set of four digi templates this week! She never disappoints! Click here to take a peek. I used Echo Park's "Little Girl" paper pack, which is a must for any moms of girly-girls! I also lurve the new baker's twine from Splendid Fiins. She has it here by itself  and then here wrapped around journaling cards. I just love this new trend and am so excited that Nisa has created digital versions for us!

Ok, yesterday I shopped for the first time at a Goodwill store. Oh my goodness--who knew there would be so many fabulous things for me to spray-paint and upcycle?? I picked up all of the goodies in this picture for $21! (My husband is so excited to have more of my junk in the garage.) I have big plans for those craptastic wooden sconces ($1.99 ea)...I'm thinking distressed turquoise with some bling. There are also two jewelry boxes ($1.99 ea) that are in bad taste, but in good shape as far as the felt on the inside. The chair ($4.99) is going to receive a new coat of mint green paint to go in Kendall's room and the silver plates (1.99 and .99 ea) will become cake stands with the addition of some candlesticks. I may have to open an etsy store!

The Global Orphan Project

I mentioned a bit ago that The Global Orphan Project asked me to create pendants for their Mother's Day capital campaign this year, using art from a sweet girl, Viola, in Haiti. I am so excited to announce that these pendants are now for sale on their site (click here). I am so blessed to have been working with this amazing organization for over a year now, making logo pendants for their on-line store. Please take a look and consider purchasing one for your mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, friend...all of the proceeds go directly to help the orphans in their care.

Here's some info about the pendant directly from The Global Orphan Project's website:

GO Mother's Day Pendant

The GO Mother’s Day Pendant was designed by 13-year-old Viola for her House Mama, Islande. The hand-crafted glass tile necklace is a beautiful gift, and also a great way to share with others the importance of Mamas. The hand-made pendant comes on a light blue organza strap with silver clasp that matches the bright and colorful pendant. The purchase of this pendant will help provide House Mamas, like Islande, with their own Mother’s Day pendant.

Beautiful Islande--just one of the incredible House Mamas.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Frightening to Fabulous!

And my spray-painting obsession goes on! At Hobby Lobby last week, all of their polyresin home decor items were 50% off so I picked up a tall, black "bouquet" of daffodils for about $12. In shiny black, I found these flowers to be, well...REALLY creepy. I mean, who wants a bunch of  flowers that look dead? (Perhaps a funeral parlor or haunted house? I suppose there is a chance that black flowers are really "in" right now and I missed the trend!) Anyway, I had just purchased some Krylon paint in new colors over the weekend at Wal-Mart and thought there was some potential to create a fun spring/summer piece. I wish I had taken a photo of the flowers before I started in with the primer; however, as I am the queen of instant gratification, I had that sucker in my backyard, sprayed, within 5 minutes of arriving home.

Here we are after the first coat of primer--can you get an idea of how weird this was in black?

I used MANY coats of this spray paint. There were lots of nooks and crannies in those flowers!

And here is the finished product! Once the Easter decorations come down, this little beauty will have a home on the table in our foyer. :)

Happy Wednesday! Hope you're having a great week!

Spring in KC!

Oh my goodness, the weather has been crazy these past few days! Yesterday was a beautiful, balmy 80 degrees. Around 9pm a storm rolled in with golf-ball sized hail and even 40 mph winds. We truly thought the windows in our house were going to break for about 10 minutes as the hail (or "hazel", as Kendall calls it) slammed into us. We lost power for about an hour and the kids were pretty freaked out! There were trees down and some families near us actually did have broken windows. I'm just sure we have roof damage. Now this morning, it is sunny and 45 degrees. I mean, from 80 to 45 in less than 12 hours?? Welcome to spring in KC!

I went to THE most amazing place ever on Friday morning: Good Juju! My friend Betsy took me and I seriously thought I might lose my mind (in the best possible way!). Good Juju is a fabulous antique/vintage market that is open the first weekend of every month in the West Bottoms. They have incredible home furnishings and decor at crazy cheap prices. Most pieces are truly old and salvaged items that have been spruced up with a fresh coat of paint and some new hardware. I could have spent tons of money, but summoned up some serious restraint by telling myself that I can go back next month! I think I spent a grand total of $116 and picked up these goodies:

Vintage kerosene can that I am spray-painting white and distressing. Tried to wrap up the spray-painting project yesterday but was quickly deterred by that crazy wind!

I have been looking all over for an old window like this...will be madly searching home decor blogs for ideas on where to use it!

This old toy box was a must-have for Kendall's room! It's really sturdy and has just the right amount of distressing--YUM!

This vintage wash basin and stand were probably my favorite purchase of the day ($18!). The stand was originally cream but I felt that there was not enough contrast with the bowl, so I pulled out my trusty black glossy spray paint and fixed that right up. Over the weekend I found some darling pears and apples covered in strips of newsprint in the dollar bins at Michaels and they have found a new home in the basin. Love it!

This is a really fun old apartment mailbox that I picked up for my mom. I can just imagine rows and rows of these in an old high-rise.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great week!