Painter Girl

Challenge to All Boston Bloggers

Challenge to All Boston Bloggers!

PainterGirl is issuing a challenge to all Boston Bloggers.  Carol Leonesio (aka: PainterGirl) owner of Paint It!, has teamed up with Bordet Interiors and formed the team Paint It!/Bordet Interiors to sell pies for Community Servings annual Pie in the Sky fundraiser.

We are asking you to join our team and sell as many pies for Community Servings as you possibly can, now through November 14th.  The proceeds from the pie sales go toward providing nutritional meals to 675 critically ill people in and around Boston.   

Pie in the Sky is your chance to treat your guests to a wonderful pie from one of Boston’s best known bakers while helping Community Servings reach their goal of selling over 10,000 pies.  This year’s pie choices are: apple, diabetic apple, pecan, pumpkin, and sweet potato.  All pies are $25 each.

Note:  If you are ordering a single pie or two and want to just order on line, please use the drop down menu and select Leonesio, Carol as your salesperson, or use my sales number:  987.  If you are selling multiple pies, please contact me first to get a number to register so your pie sales can be counted!

 

Now for the challenge: PainterGirl invites you to sell as many pies as you possibly can, between now and November 14th, for our team Paint It/Bordet Interiors.  Whoever sells the MOST pies for our team will win a Fenway Park Billboard mural, hand painted on a wall of your choice.  For more details on how to register to be a pie seller and mural specifics, please email PainterGirl at paintit@comcast.net  Include the words Pie Challenge in the subject line, please.  Here is a sample of the mural:

The size of the mural is approximately 5' h (including the John Hancock sign) and 5' long.  Other logos can be selected, picture of batter is customized, as well as list of who is up to bat next and the date. 

Please pass along this challenge to anyone you know and Thank You for supporting this very worthwhile cause!  The more pies we all sell, the more meals Community Servings will be able to provide (always free of charge!) to their very needy clients! Even if you can buy just one pie for yourself, it will be greatly appreciated!  Remember, the deadline is November 14th.  The winner will be notified as soon as all counts are tallied and arrangements will be made to paint your mural! 

I

Having Technical Difficulties!

I am working on making some changes to the layout of my blog and trying to add a few things.  Of course, what you think would be a quick and easy process, turns out to be hours of time consuming frustration! I will hopefully be back later today!  Thanks for checking in and please stop by again. ;-)

Talk About Inspiration!

While I'm on my "inspiration kick", I thought I'd share with you a glimpse of this project I have had the pleasure to be a part of.  About a month ago, I did something I often do when I want to target a new neighborhood for potential business.  On a sunny afternoon, I walked door to door and left my over-sized postcard in their door. (note to anyone who wants to try this form of marketing... it is illegal to leave such materials in a mailbox, so place it elsewhere). 
 

Here is the front side of my postcard.

And here is the back side.  I can use it as a mailer, or when dropping off in person, at homes, I can write something in the blank space... such as "Get your home ready for the Holidays!" I get all of my postcards and business cards from Vista Print, on line.

I always enjoy this little activity, because you I get to leisurely stroll around some very nice neighborhoods.  Sometimes I get no results, but other times I do get one or two clients out of this.  It really only takes one new client to make this more than worthwhile.

Anyway, on this particular day, as soon as I returned home... I got a phone call!  This lovely woman called to tell me she was just looking for someone like me to help her with this "Van Gogh Bedroom" she was recreating in her home.  She has been working on this room, engaging several different artisans to help her with the elements in this room, for the past 3 years.  I am only going to post 2 pictures, because I know she wants to have this room photographed and submitted to our local media soon and I don't want to spoil that.  When this room is unveiled for all to see, I will post more about this.

This is the painting  of  Van Gogh's bedroom that the room is based on.

One of my projects was to paint this table.  (some else previously painted the walls).
I did do some additional work in this room, but will post at a later date.

I think this bed that was commissioned by a furniture maker in Maine, is the best part of the room!

More to come when the room is complete and unveiled!

I am off to visit a friend in New Jersey for the weekend.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  And of course... Go Red Sox! ;-)

More About Blogging

I would also like to introduce my readers to one of the first blogs I started following when I began my blog earlier this year in March.  Kristen Taylor of Taylor Made Designs has a warm and friendly blog that features designs/products she is working on, as well as her daily life with her delightful family.  She always posts the most incredible pictures and has the cutest children ever!  Kristen also has an Etsy store you can access through her blog.  There she sells wonderful custom designed, silk screened ribbons and some great wine bottle gift tags.  Kristen recently celebrated her 1st year blogging anniversary.  Kristen has been one of my earliest supporters here on my blog, which I will be eternally grateful for!

Meet Kari & Kijsa

This is just one of the reasons why I am enjoying blogging so much.  A short time ago I discovered a blog written by two sisters, Kari & Kijsa.  If you go to their blog and look at this entry on Tuesday, October 9th, you will see a gorgeous nursery that was painted by Kijsa.  Well, as soon as I saw this picture of this room I had to email Kijsa to tell her how this room inspired me to paint a nursery for one of my clients several years ago.  You see, I saw this very room featured in a magazine several years ago, and immediately ripped it out and put it in my reference notebook for Fabulous Children Room Ideas.  Shortly after that,  I had a client call who wanted a nursery done, and I showed them this tear sheet and drew up a sketch for their nursery, using Kijsa's nursery as my inspiration.  I never knew who created that room.  I think that info was not on the sheets I tore from the magazine.  :-( Anyway, I sent Kijsa a note with this story and a pic of the room she inspired me to paint.  See Kijsa and Kara's response, which is listed in my blog under We're Going To The World Series.  It is no secret that I often say, "Sometimes I don't feel like I have a creative bone in my body!"  I can execute the job alright, but I have a very hard time coming up with the concept most times and rely heavily on inspiration from other sources. 

I loved the way Kijsa had "frame" her work, so I used that concept.  This was a very, very small nursery, with little wall space.  The "frame" is done with Melanie Royals
leaf stencil.  The birds, frogs, and rabbit are from Lynn Brehm's line of stencils (I added the clothes on the rabbit and the crown and hat on the frogs). 

Here's a little closer look. I believe the crib bedding had a frog theme w/frogs wearing crowns and pointy hats.

Kitchen Cabinet Job Completed Today

Today I was able to finish those kitchen cabinets.  I almost finished them yesterday, but because it was so humid here, the glaze on the bottom cabinets just would not dry, so I couldn't seal them.  That meant I had to make the 45 minute trip, each way, one more time today, just to seal those base cabinets. :-(  I really like the way they turned out and this quick fix gives the homeowner a new look at a fraction of what it would cost to replace these cabinets.

The lighting is very poor in this kitchen, so getting good shots was difficult.  The top cabinet panels are done w/a multi-plaster finish and have a gold tinted wax sealer. The bottom cabinet panels have a copper metallic glaze over a black background.  These panels were sealed with an oil based varnish.

More top cabinets.

Here's a close up of the top cabinet panel finish.

Here's a close up of the bottom cabinet panel finish.  Big glare :-(... varnish is still wet and poor lighting.  It looks much nicer in person!  The look is almost a metallic leathery look.

A Few More Baseball Related Pics

Ok, I found just 2 more Red Sox related pics from kids rooms I've done over the years. 

The Green Monster.  This is a pain to do because of all the lettering and numbers, but it's a real crowd pleaser! ;-)

Kids/parents usually pick a game that they attended together and use that scoreboard.

Here's another version of the Red Sox shirt, but also note the baseball glove to the right.  This is on the wall with some framed pictures of the Red Sox.

And this concludes my tribute to the Red Sox for now! ;-)

We're Going To The World Series!

Ohmygod....I can't believe we are going to the World Series!  Twice in my lifetime! I am so proud of our Red Sox.  In honor of their win Sunday night, I thought I would post some Fenway Park murals and baseball themed rooms for kids, that I have done for clients in the past. Btw,  not to slight the Indian fans...they were a great match for the Sox and they certainly kept us on the edge of our seats throughout this series!

This mural is in a little boy's room.  The size is approximately 5' wide x 3' high, plus the logo on top.  This client won this mural as part of a fund raiser for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

Here is a close up of the little boy, Kenny. What a cutie, huh?!

This is a hallway of baseballs, leading down to a playroom for the kids who live in this house.  The baseball stencil is from the Stencilled Garden. This is a 2 overlay stencil that works up very quickly.

As you enter the playroom, I painted this wall of sports shirts to look like they are hanging on a clothes pole. I cropped the picture, to focus on the Red Sox shirt. ;-)

This Red Sox shirt was painted over a child's bed. As you can see by all the baseball pillows on his bed...he's a big fan!

This painted Red Sox cap "hangs" on a trompe l'oeil hook in the same bedroom as the red shirt above.

This billboard and Red Sox shirt was done in another little boy's bedroom.  His bed gets moved so the headboard is directly under the shirt.

Here's a closer look at the mural from the pic above.  When I do this billboard, the kids and parents get to pick out which logos will be used.  Typically they choose their favorite fast food places and logos from the parent's work place.

How Did I Get Paint THERE??!!!

Today I began the Kitchen Cabinet Panels job.  I almost forgot to take the "before" picture!  After I began the taping out of the door panels, I remembered...

I will not be doing the drawers.  Those will remain white.  The top cabinet door panels will have one finish and the bottom another.

These are the cabinets at the other end of the kitchen.There are a few on the other side too, surrounding the fridge.

Today I just sanded each panel a little and did the taping.  (Have I used enough blue tape this week????  I put a coat of primer on all of the panels and then the basecoat on all.  The bottom cabinet panels now have a black base coat of paint and the top cabinet panels have 1 layer of tan plaster, rolled.  All had to dry, so that's as far as I could get today.  Even though I don't like to work on Saturday's, I feel I am getting too behind with some upcoming projects, so I will work a few hours tomorrow... 9-1. 

Can I tell you how nice these clients are?  Today they handed me a menu from their local pizza place and told me to order what ever I wanted.  I had a delicious veggie calzone.  Both the husband and wife were home and they have someone else there doing a mural in their living room, so we all sat down together and had lunch!  This is very RARE for me. I do have a few clients who always make me lunch when I am in their homes working, but for the most part.... I eat while I work, resting my sandwich or yogurt on my ladder. 

It is a bit awkward for me, having this other painter there, doing the mural.  The client had told me she already hired this guy to do this castle mural because supposedly that is what he specializes in and that's what she wanted.  The guy is doing a very nice job, but I still am a bit hurt that I was not even considered for this mural when she knows I do murals.  She did say she saw his work some place locally and it was exactly what she wanted, so I should just suck it up and let it go, but gee.. I could have done that damn mural.  Also, in 1999 I did her entire bedroom in a stone block look w/a faux arched window... and she claims she still loves it.  Ok, ok... I'm letting go. ;-)

When I got home today and jumped in the shower, I discovered a big streak of white paint on my thigh!  How on earth did that get there?!  It's not like I was wearing shorts today. I had on my bib overalls.

Stripes...same job

I finished up at noon today, which was nice because I had some studio work that I am behind on.  I only had 2 small walls of stripes to do in the hallway off of the bedroom, and some trim work to finish.  I put all the furniture back in place and took some final pics. 

Here you can see how the small hallway connects to the Master Bath.

Remember...the remainder of this house is all white walls, so this tone on tone is actually a big leap for them.  Both the husband and wife told me how much they really love it. ;-)  It's important to me that the rooms I do reflect the home owner's taste and not mine. 

I have 1 piece of furniture I am working on for a client and I also have to do 2 sample boards for another client, so I was able to get a little work done in my studio for a few hours today when I returned home.  Tomorrow I have a good 50-60 minute commute for a job.  I will be doing a multi color plaster finish on the panels of some upper kitchen cabinets and a copper finish on the lower cabinets door panels.  I'll take some pics and post.