Painter Girl

Yardsale Rejects

About a month ago, I had a yard sale. Two of my bureaus did not sell.  Not one bite.  One, was missing the bottom drawer, but I had been using it, right up to the day of the sale, in my own bedroom.  I had long since removed the broken drawer and replaced it with a shelf that held 2 lined baskets for items.  I thought it looked fine and it was certainly still functional.  Well, it turns out, not only did no one want to buy it for a meager $25 in my yard sale, but it was also rejected by all the local non-profits that take in used furniture!  The other bureau was in good shape, but since it that was so rejected at the yard sale, I decided I would keep it and do a little makeover with both this bureau and the Missing Drawer Bureau.  I needed some furniture for my dining room makeover, and I was determined to make these two pieces work!

I painted The Missing Drawer Bureau with black chalkboard paint.  I only polyurethaned the top, since I will use this as a server in my dining room.  The shelf that replaces the drawer was painted with the same orange that I used on the border of the floor in this room.  I will lay wine bottles on this shelf and hope I find a wine rack at some point that fits in this space.  I do already have a chalkboard in my dining room, but I just can't seem to get enough of this chalkboard paint!  I did see this idea somewhere, in some magazine, I believe....  Oh, I am in search of some fun drawer pulls. I want something bright with lime green and/or orange...the 2 colors that I've used in the dining room.  Please send me any leads! I think I will write on the front of the drawers, with white chalk, what I end up putting inside the drawers.  The sides are also chalkboard paint, so I can draw some seasonal pics!  If you look closely, you will see I added a small, horizontal stripe to each front leg, to tie in with the green stripe on the the wall, the lamp and the floor.  Oh, and that lamp, which I love!, was dirt cheap at IKEA.  Looks cool at night, for ambiance! What is that flower???? I bought it 2 weeks ago and it is still going strong!  It seems to be in the cactus family.  It came w/no identification.

Here's another view. Remember, this room is still a work in progress... need to hang artwork, etc.!

This turned out to be my most favorite piece of furniture, to date!  I simply gave it all a coat of Ben Moore's Linen White and then did this All Over Stencil Design in the same green that I have as an accent color in the dining room.   The stencils is an All Over Scroll by Royal Design Studios.  I love this look.  This will now be the bar area in my dining room. With the 2 bureaus, one as a bar and one as a server, I have a ton of storage inside both.  Very handy since my small apartment has little storage!

Here's a closer look. And to think, I almost let this go for $25, in it's unfinished state.  Now I totally love it and it fills a need in my dining room! Who knew???

                                                                                                               

Yesterday I went fabric shopping, because this room also will need some window treatments.  I'm thinking of making some drapes in this black and white fabric, but I will still need to find another fabric with some color in it to bring some interest to this side of the room.  I want to bring in the orange and green too.  I don't have time right now to run around trying to find more fabric, so this project will have to be on hold for a bit.

Here's the double window that needs some help.  These windows are very old and drafty, and since I can't afford to replace them until next year, I want a nice, heavy fabric to keep some of my heat in!  I may add some color to those Roman shades or else replace w/a black bamboo shade.  The view out these windows is my driveway and neighbors house...not pretty.  That is my other chalkboard on the wall in the background.  These Phillip Starck chairs I bought a while ago on Ebay! They will be extra seating, eventually, and live in my office/guest bedroom.  I want green leather chairs, I think, at the table.  I need to hit the Lottery first!  I was all set to buy my chairs, until my hot water heater broke a few weeks ago, and my electric baseboard heat in my kitchen came on and would not shut off.  Both of those repairs wiped out my "dining room chair fund". :-(

A little Fall flower arrangement!

Last, but not least...here's my Happy Pumpkin I made to bring out to my Mom when I visit her next weekend. This idea is in the current issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  My Mom is an avid quilter and sewer, so I thought this would be fun for her. It's hard to see in this pic, but the noise is a silver thimble.  I love Fall!!!

Jamaica Plain Open Studios

Tasha Cough of FancyPaints sent me a quick reminder about the Jamaica Plain Open Studios which will be held this weekend.  This is a great opportunity to check out some very talented artists and craftspeople in their studios.  Always a fun event!  For a link to Tasha's studio and who will be exhibiting with her go to www.26tower.com
For general info and map about the Jamaica Plain Open studios, visit www.jpopenstudios.com

Please tell Tasha I sent you! ;-) and have fun!

Design Boston 2007

I just returned from spending the last 2 days at "designBoston 2007" at the Boston Design Center. For 2 days I was treated to inspirational and informative lectures, incredible food and drinks, and a great opportunity to network with local designers.  All of this... for free!  Yes.. for free!  I came home at the end of each day loaded down w/fun freebies from all the vendors and my head spinning with ideas from all I had seen and heard.  The first day, Wednesday, I was only able to stay for part of the day, due to other obligations.  But... lucky for me, the morning lecture was Patrick Frey, President of Pierre Frey, presenting French Style/Global Influence.  Mr. Frey was a most gracious and inspirational speaker with just a wealth of information about fabrics and the history of his company, started by his father.  He brought with him, many very old samples of fabrics from his company's archives and explained how these older designs are reprinted and adapted for today's current trends.  This hour presentation flew by and I came away feeling I had learned so much from this man who is clearly very passionate about his work and company! A big thanks to Martin Group Fabrics who sponsored this lecture.

Today, I returned to the Design Center and was able to spend the entire day there. The morning began with a very fun lecture entitled, "From the Runway to the Hallway, The Way Fashion Influences Color Trends".  This was presented by Sherri Thompson, Director of Marketing and Design for Sherwin-Williams.  Sherri had a fun slide show which featured current clothes fashions juxtaposed w/the current paint colors.  Btw, Sherri is one of the people who gives names to all the paint colors. Haven't you ever wondered who has that job?! She claims the first few hundred colors are easy to name, after that, a good bottle of wine helps!

These two lectures were the two that were the most benefit to me.  I have been exploring using stencils in combination with paint, plasters, metallics, textured materials, etc. to mimic wallpaper and fabric in creative ways.  Now I am really eager to get back into my studio to experiment!  Ugh... I just remembered what a mess my studio is in at the moment!  Maybe this will be inspiration to clean it up! ;-)

Did I mention all of the food and drink that was served throughout these 2 days?!  I think I gained 5 pounds!  Everywhere you turned, someone was offering up appetizers, delicious pastries, ice cream, champagne, wine, etc.!

The last presentation, the keynote speaker, was Dara Caponigro, Style Director of domino Magazine.  After some technical difficulties, Dara's slide show featured shoots from the magazine and her take on the design trends featured in domino.  A cocktail reception followed, but I was beat, had clients to call, so headed home.

A big thank you to Marc Bordet, Bordet Interiors, for signing me up for this event and another big thank you to the Boston Design Center for all their hard work!

Dining Room Floor

I was determined to finish the diamond pattern on my dining room floor this wkend.  Well, Sunday anyway... since Saturday was booked w/errands, hair appt., and a few hours of work! It was a lot of taping out, and retaping, but the diamond pattern was already there, from a design I did a few years ago.  I basically just changed the colors and eliminated the smaller center diamond.  This morning, before I left for work, I put on the first coat of poly. Tonight I'll do the second and one final coat on Tuesday morning.  Then I'll be able to move my furniture back in!  Can't wait to show you what I did with 2 pieces I painted for this room...  :-)

Well, I cannot locate my "before picture" which shows the diamond pattern/colors I had painted this floor a few years ago.  Luckily, I did snap a picture while I was in progress repainting this floor.  Here you can see the diamonds taped out.  The former pattern had a smaller diamond in black, where a tan and off-white diamond met.  The border was off-white and then tan. 

The new color scheme is black and white diamonds with a
1 1/2" lime green border, followed by a 3" burnt orange border. 

Here's a close up showing where the border meets my wood floor that leads into my living room.

Here's a full view of the floor. Oh, btw, I still have the blue tape on my baseboard while I am applying the poly.

September NEWBO Dinner Meeting

For those of you who live in the Boston area, I would like to once again, give mention to New England Women Business Owners.  This is a wonderful organization comprised solely of women who own their own businesses.  It is a very nurturing and supportive organization of women in a variety of businesses.  If you would like to learn more about their sponsored events, please visit their website.

This year NEWBO is celebrating its 30th Anniversary Year.  To kick off the new season, last night's guest speaker was local MAGIC 106.7’s Candy O’Terry, creator and co-host of the award-winning weekly radio show Exceptional Women.  Candy shared her life stories, both very moving and humorous with all of us.  She also shared the stories of the many women she has interviewed for her Exceptional Women's radio show, inspiring us with the obstacles these women have been able to overcome.  Ms. O'Terry also treated us to snippets of a few songs, singing accappello with her lovely voice.  This woman is a dynamic speaker, a true inspiration, and an incredible role model for single mom's.  I have to say, she proved to be one of the most engaging and entertaining speakers I have had the pleasure to hear in quite a long time.  Thank you for a great evening, Candy!

Over-scheduled

Yikes... how does this happen???  I am really a bit over-scheduled this week... and next.  The good news is, I seem to thrive in this hectic environment.  The bad news is, I have a lot of unfinished projects in process right now in my house with no free time to complete any of them.  I don't like living in chaos.  I like order, or at least the resemblance of order! 

I started repainting the diamond pattern on my dining room floor last week.  That is half done as I write.  As a result, I have furniture from the dining room, scattered about in my tiny apartment.  My studio is still a total mess and my office-to-be (daughter's former bedroom), is still a junk room. 

This week and next week I am helping out my friend Stacy with one of her painting jobs.  Right now we are doing a lot of the grunt work, like striping wallpaper, painting ceilings and trim and base coating.  The homeowners are living in a hotel w/their 4 kids, while the house undergoes renovation.  There are old floors and carpet being taken up and new floors installed as well, by other crews. It's very noisy with all the banging going on w/the floor work in various parts of the house! 

This week I also have 2 after school programs that started, so I've had to fit those in. As a total diversion from my painting business, I teach 1 or 2 classes for Mad Science.  It is a lot of fun and I will talk about this more in a later post.   

Last night I went over to my friend Tasha's studio for a life drawing session.  Tonight I have the NEWBO dinner meeting.  I have to try to fit in 1 consultation and write up 1 proposal before the week's end.  Because I've had to cut 2 of my days short w/Stacy to make it to my after school programs on time, I will work half of Saturday.  But... my hair is in dire need of a cut and color, so I'll be visiting my favorite hairdresser, Anthony, first thing Saturday morning before I go off to paint! 

I think Sunday I am just going to rest. :-) Right now I need to get to bed!

Stencilers Convention

Over the weekend, I attended the 7th annual Convention for the Stencilers & Decorative Artists Guild (SDAG), in Providence, RI.

My only regret is that I could only attend for 1 of the days.  This is the 2nd convention for SDAG that I have attended.  The first one was 2 yrs ago, in NH.  After each  convention, I came away from the event feeling very honored to be a part of such a wonderful group of dedicated and talented stencil artists.  This group is for the hobbyist as well as the professional stenciler.  While many of the members, from all over this country, have known each other for years, I am a fairly new member.  What struck me at the first convention I attended, as well as this one, was how welcomed this group made me feel and how instantly at ease I am around them!  It's fun to hear what everyone is doing with their work as well as hearing from those who have retired from the business.  There is a wealth of history and information within this group!

The Providence Children's Museum was the lucky recipient of the Philanthropic project done by several SDAG members during the first few days of the convention.  A committee worked closely with the Museum to design some stenciled panels that relate to RI's environment.  I will try to get some pictures of the project and post at a later date.

SDAG has a relatively small membership, and is a very low keyed group.  They do produce a member written quarterly newsletter and host an annual convention.  I invite you to take a look at their website for more information.

What to do next?

At 53, I have been thinking about my future in this line of work.  It's very physically and mentally challenging. I love what I do, and that is why I have been doing this work for the last 12 years.  I am in (knock on wood) excellent health, very fit, and only have a few minor aches and pains at the end of a day on the ladder.  I don't, however, want to wait until I am no longer able to climb a ladder, to think about what other type of work I should pursue. 

There are so many choices, it's hard to focus on one!  Right now, I am researching the possibility of going back to school for Art Restoration/Conservation.  I figure I could start taking some evening classes now and hopefully have a new degree and some new skills at the end of 5 years.  I like a 5 Year Plan.  I still feel there are things I want to accomplish with decorative painting company, Paint It! 

I also like the idea of opening a small shop with a studio room for classes.  I can envision having a living room setting in the front of the store, where people can just drop in, browse though decorating magazines, pick each others brain and mine, for fun decorating ideas.  I'd like to have a Projects Club, like a knitting club, only everyone would come weekly to work on a project for their home or to give as a gift. Or wouldn't it be fun to have a book store that just specialized in Home Decor books and magazines...with the studio space or classes... and a coffee bar. 

Well, these are all things I am thinking about these days.  My friend Rebecca, over at her Cre8Tiva blog site, talks a bit about "coming down off the ladder" today.  Rebecca is in the process of writing a book about this topic and has developed a workshop to address these very issues.

There Goes Another Stencil Great Stencil Company

Earlier this week I learned that Jan Dressler, owner of Jan Dressler Stencils, will soon be retiring after 20 years in business.  When I first became a professional decorative painter, I eagerly hopped on the Jan Dressler bandwagon as I watched her on HGTV, saw her work in several decorating magazines, and drooled over her luscious catalog.  I bought her videos, her brushes, her how to video tapes.  She taught me, right in the privacy of my own home, how to stencil in a very professional way.  Her vast catalog of stencils only grew and grew as the years went by.  Her designs evolved with the times and her ways to use these designs stretched far beyond my imagination.  She has always been a true inspiration for me.  So, I am quite saddened to see the post on her website which now reads:

"Jan Dressler is retiring!
Yes, it's true. Ater 20 years of bringing you fine stencils and great products, I have decided that it's time for me to go enjoy life. Not that I haven't enjoyed this venture, but really, life is short and now is the time!

How will this affect the world famous Jan Dressler Stencil line? Well, get them now, because they won't be around forever. We will continue to cut stencils until November 30. Then it's all over."

I get a knot in my stomach just copying and pasting that blurb.  The trade has seen several smaller companies and not so small companies, quietly fold over the past few years.  The loss of Dressler Stencils will be a huge loss for both the professional stenciler and the hobbyist.  There is not another company out there right now who carries the vast selection of stencils that Jan carries.  Jan also has been one of the biggest promoters of the Art of Stenciling and has given new meaning and new life to this art form during the 20 years she has been in business.  I know I will be buying up as many of her designs as possible before November 30th. 

This year I have really put an emphasis on incorporating stencil designs in the work I do.  I feel it is a very important component to my business and I hope it helps to set me apart from the many faux finishers that have infiltrated the market.  There is a real skill to using stencils, and a great feeling of satisfaction when that stencil takes on my own personal style and helps to reflect my client's vision of their sense of decorating.  I have been involved in lengthy discussions with my peers about the future of stenciling and will be sharing more thoughts and information concerning this cherished art in future posts, articles and interviews. 

Repairing My Own Finish-continued

I finished the repair work in the WiFi Library I was working on.  It was a fairly easy job, just having to re-glaze the 2 walls and do a little blending into the existing finish.  Of course, I had to make the job more difficult for myself by forgetting the main tool I needed for this finish!  As soon as I got to the job site to do the 2nd glaze coat, I realized I had forgotten to pack my "Woolie"!  I had washed the "Woolie" that I used the previous day and left it drying on my back porch. :-( The "Woolie" is a great little tool I use when I want a very consistent glaze finish that will not look blotchy, or ragged. It is basically a piece of sheep's skin that is wrapped around a flat, plastic trowel-like form w/a handle.  It's about 4" wide x 10" long.  I don't use this tool to do a lot of finishes, but it sure comes in handy when I need it!  I find "the Woolie" at Home Depot in my area.  To get back to my story, luckily there was a Lowe's nearby, so I ran over there in hopes of finding my trusted "Woolie" or something similar.  Well, no "Woolie" was to be had at Lowe's, but I did find a faux mitt that was similar and I also bought just a square of lambs wool I found.  The mitt worked, but I found it much harder to use.  It was large and did not fit my small hand very well.  I was able to achieve the same look as the adjacent walls, but I knew if I had the "Woolie", I would have been able to fly through this job in no time. I love the handle on the "Woolie" vs. an ill fitting mitt.  From now on, I think I will stock a "Woolie" in my Every Job Box, which is a rolling crate on wheels I carry with me to each job, loaded with tools and such that I may need in addition to the specific supplies needed for that job.  In my Every Job Box I carry items like screwdrivers, sandpaper, q-tips, various spot removers, sponges, extra brushes, stirrers, rags, paper towels, scissors, etc.  I basically try to bring everything but the kitchen sink!

Here is the final coat of glazes on the repaired wall.  Note how much more sense it makes to have the counters at this height!

Another view of the repaired walls. :-)