Thursday, October 23, 2014

Girl with the crystal chandelier

 
Isn't it just amazing how a great paint job can totally transform an entire look and style of a tattered piece of furniture?

I started with a really good cleaning! A couple to be exact-

The exterior of the dresser is painted in APC's (American Paint Company) Navajo white-2 coats, it's just a really nice crisp clean look!


The front frame and interior of the drawers are painted a lovely purple tone to give it a nice contrast, polished & finished look when the drawers are open-it's really important to pay attention to these hidden details, it gives your pieces that extra designer look that only comes from custom hand touched work!

Now...Possibly the hardest and most time consuming thing is trying to narrow down all of those creative thoughts that are racing through an artistic persons head! 
But once you get a clear focused idea -there's just no stopping you!
I started with a light graph that I sketched out with colored chalk-just to keep my angles fairly identical on each side.
Once again using the APC's paint- "Crushed Tea"  I began the design.



I looked at a few different chandelier designs to get a feel for what style I liked before starting and just kind of customized a personal design that I think fits the size and shape of the dresser.


This is the final look of the design, I really do love how the APC's, "crushed tea" almost looks like a watercolor painting!
The original handles were painted with a hammered metal finish, I think they fit in to the new look and style just perfect!
Until the next project, keep those brushes wet-n-flowin'!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Door Envy!







Do you ever drive past a home and just say "WOW"? There's just something about a beautifully painted front entrance that makes a home just stand out among the rest, you know the one, the one that has that flair and character. Makes you just know that there must be a very interesting story and family that is beyond that door.




This is the inspiration photo that I used to come up with the color, in particular the bright vibrant green and the rich purple of the wall. This homeowner has a deep love for the Mexican culture and is just moved by all of the rich colors that embrace the Mexican heritage. She wanted to be reminded of that feeling and wanted her entrance to reflect her personality and love for color!



I first layered the door with a bright pop of a green/yellow base, I would call it almost chartreuse in tone (it looks a bit more yellow in the photo than in true life) I matched it up close to the color of the chair so I would get that bight layer peeking through once the top layers are on.


Next is that deep rich purple tone just like the walls in the inspirational photo. I did a "dragging" dry brush application on this particular layer still leaving areas let uncovered allowing the bright tone to show through.

Time to glaze!!! This is where the magic happens! I just brushed on the dark glaze with a brush working in small sections, and immediately wiped it back off. I work very quickly when doing this stage so that the glaze does not dry out trying hard not to go back over it and overwork any of the areas. This will cause your glaze to pull back off in areas and it gets clumpy, so try to ignore that urge to keep going back over a section once you leave it.

So this is the final outcome, once your glaze is applied you can go back in and add little areas of the two base colors here and there if you want just to add a bit more dimension. This dimension is what gives the feeling that it has been painted years ago and is weathered naturally through the years.


This beautiful Red door was created for a local Holistic center, they requested a healing "chakra" color, a color that "gets to the root of the problem".......the interpretation is that of an antiqued barn finishe with just a hint of golden metallic for that extra shimmer that just slightly cathes the light. Just beautiful!



 Here are more "door envy" projects I have created in the past, this particular door was for a brand new home, the homeowner here wanted the door to look as though it had been there and had aged gracefully throughout the years, I think it turned out beautifully!


You would never have even noticed the door on this house before it's door envy makeover, see what that extra attention to your front entrance does? Just amazing!


This "door envy makeover" is still one of my absolute faves! The homeowner here said she needed something that would coordinate year round with her oversized cobalt blue planters. I immediately knew it had to be a bold purple/with a little fusia undertone. But how could I properly relay how this will look to my customer? Luckily I came across this photo of a beautiful bridesmaids dress that had the exact colors I had in mind! My brave customer said "yes, go for it".  And I must say it turned out GORGEOUS! Don't ya just love it when a plan comes to fruition??





Would YOU like to have a "door envy" makeover?? I'm booking appointments now, contact me to discuss details. This same technique can be made to any piece of furniture too! Have something you would like made over? Just give me a yell :)
See you all next time, and remember to keep those brushes wet!!!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Thanksgiving Giveaway

It's a Thanksgiving Giveaway! You must visit my Facebook page to get entered, please like and share (remember to share publicly so I can see your name to enter it into the drawing).
Good luck friends!


Hand painted wineglasses that are sure to bring that festive "pop" to your holiday decor or table arrangement. Add tea lights or votives, light and enjoy!
Best of luck to all who enter :)

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Danielle Loves Nostalgia

Dedicated to a dear, sweet and extremely talented photographer and vintage loving friend of mine "Danielle"  





This is what she looked like when I started off, yep, I've seemed to have gotten myself I to yet again another veneer stripping project!



It actually went much quicker than I had anticipated and that was a welcome surprise. I used a very hot iron and a cloth, (just some layered paper towels in this case since it was a small job). I worked in small sections leaving the hot iron sit for a bit while I chizzled away on another area. It actually worked very well and was fairly painless doing it this way.



After a good cleaning I covered the first layer in APC (American Paint Company) beach glass, it's still wet in the photo but it is one of my favorite color they offer.



Sometimes I like to paint late, midnight here to be exact, when the house is quiet and calm. I thought this was kinda funny because all the decor was still up from my daughters birthday party, looks festive huh??
The main white color is again American Paint Company's "Navajo White", two coats, smoothed and lightly lightly distressed edges.
I totally missed taking photos of applying the beautiful nostalgic camera fabric to drawers but I simply measured out fabric to drawer bottoms, applied an even thin layer of mod Podge to drawer surface, gently laid in fabric using a credit card to smooth out, then another application of mod Podge over the top to seal.
And taaaa-daaaa!!! "Danielle Loves Nostalgia" is ready to live her new life!


See all of Girl UPcycled's items on Etsy
www.etsy.com/shop/girlUPcycled

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Look no further Charlie Brown!


It's the Great Pumpkin!






My husband had recently pulled up our water reserve tank that we had in the depths of our spring and said he was getting ready to chop it up and take to the dump. I had just mentioned, about half jokingly, "oh wow... too bad we couldn't do something with it?" And then immediately I could clearly see that it was a pumpkin Jack-o-lantern just waiting to be finished. I mean really... isn't that totally normal thinking??? Well it is if you are an "UPcycler".








So that afternoon away we went, our whole family jumped in and got involved! We started with painting the base coat pumpkin orange (but of course), next I just sketched out a funky classic Jack-O-Lantern face with chalk and we all stepped back and let my husband take over doing the pumpkin carving with a chainsaw. Our daughter said, "Boy, I bet nobody's daddy but mine is carving their pumpkins out quite like this!" I had to laugh!!! But she was right!


We then actually found some bright yellow, the same yellow they use to get your attention when road workers want you to be "cautious" yes... brightest of brights! The inside was painted a couple of coats and wow what a huge impact that made, it kinda had a glowing effect even with out any lights inside it.






We used a big stump that still had some of the root formation as the stem, I think it was the perfect addition for the top!


And this is what he looks like at night from the road. Why did we spend all this energy on something so silly??? Well, we simply like to spread happiness! So if you happen to be driving along a curvy country road in Muskingum County, you might just see a big ole' Jack-o-lantern greeting you with his quirky smile!