Painter Girl

Trees

My love of trees is no secret. 

I have birch trees on the walls in my livingroom.

 

Recently had two jobs, back to back, where I stenciled some trees.  I used two stencils that were new to me, which I had been eager to try.

 

First up, is this beautiful Topiary Tree stencil by Olive Leaf Stencils, done in soft shades of blues over a yellow/gold background.  These trees are stenciled on all walls in this dining room. I love this tree.  You will be seeing it in my own home, shortly!  I'm sure I have a wall somewhere that needs this tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, is a fun tree from Cutting Edge Stencils, their Large Tree with Birds.

I did this for my daughter's long time friend, Tanya and her husband, Shant, who are expecting their first baby very soon.  Once the baby is born, I will return and add her name in between the two trees.  The crib will be placed in the center.

The Contortionist

This back splash I recently stenciled, using the Hourglass Allover design from Cutting Edge Stencils, proved to be quite the challenge!  The stencil itself, is a breeze, but the logistics of getting this large stencil into this very small space, was another thing!  It would have been a bit easier had I decided to cut the stencil, but you KNOW how I feel about cutting my stencils!  It's truly a last resort for me, and this is a young stencil in my fleet of stencils, with many more jobs in its future, so no way was I cutting it!



I started out with the easiest part of the back splash, behind the stove, where there was the most wall space.  I used a metallic bronze/gold paint, which does not always show up as metallic in these photos.

 

 

 

 

Ok, now we are getting to the tricky part!  This is a very small, galley kitchen and this corner was very hard to reach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only way I could really reach it was to sit on the edge of the counter and put my feet in the sink.

 

 

 

 

Then, I had to bend my head and contort my neck  and try and stick my hand with stencil brush out at some odd angle to reach the wall and be able to stencil.  It was only about two feet of painful stenciling, but it took me forever to do it.

 

 

 

Once I was out of that corner, I was home free!  You can see all the blue tape I used on this stencil, vs. spray adhesive.  The spray adhesive probably would have been the way to go here, but my nozzle was defective on the can I had with me, and I just did not want to have to go out and get another can, now that I was already here.

The tape ended up working just fine.

 

 

 

 

 

I had only previously used this stencil in a hallway, but I really like it as a back splash!  I do always feel this stencil needs some embellishment, so I add a dot and put a gem in the center where the pattern connects and there is just a blank space. See close up below.

 

 

Right here.  There is just a blank space here on the stencil, so I use a foam applicator that makes these nice little circles, and then apply a gem.

 

 

 

 

 

This small galley kitchen is open to the living room, so this really dressed it up and gave the kitchen some interest!

 

Small Changes

Recently, a client sent me this picture of some vines I had done in her kitchen quite a few years ago:

 

 

She had made some changes in her kitchen and now wanted the leaves to be green vs. their current blue-grey.  She also wanted to bring in some wine colored berries.

 

 

While I was up on my ladder working, I came upon a section where I had signed my name and dated and was surprised to learn I had done this work back in July 2000! 

 

 

This was an easy change to make, just overlaying the stencil used and adding some green, and then the berries.

 

Some off white valances are being made and I will add this same vine to those to complete her kitchen make-over.

 

Finishing Up this Job

Sorry for the delay in posting the final pictures for this job.  I left off with the Lusterstone Diamonds and leather look panels in the Family Room.  The only thing left to do in this room was the fireplace.  Here you see it in it's former, boring white stage.  The homeowners will be pulling out the old brass insert and replacing with something else.

 

Well, this is a bad quality photo, but all I have at the moment and I've adjusted it to death.  I did the mantle with the same leather finish and painted the brass tacks along the edge.  The remainder of the surround is done by striae-ing (is that a word?) layers of brass, copper and gold metallic glazes over an off-white base.  I'll try to get better photos when I return to this house in a week or so.  The homeowners are going to paint the white areas surrounding the panels with an off-white now, which will warm it up and not look so stark.

 

On to the Kitchen/Dining Room.  Here the walls were painted a blue/gray by the former owners and the new homeowners decided to keep it, but wanted to jazz it up a bit.  I used a long time favorite stencil of mine from Royal Design Studios, the Scroll Allover.  I had to buy 2 new stencils, the production size and the regular size, because I've used this pattern so many times I had to finally throw out my old ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And gasp... I ended up cutting my production sized one to make it much easier to do the ceiling line and baseboards.  I know, I know... it was a very tough decision, but in the end, it made the job go much quicker and cleaner.  

 

See what I mean?  By cutting the stencil, I can fit the stencil right up to the ceiling line.  I hate these textured ceilings.  The tape doesn't stick to them and my knuckles get all scraped up while stenciling near them.  Which reminds me... remember my post about my ugly hands?  I've found something that makes them actually look and feel much better!

It's the "60 second fix for hands" by Crabtree & Evelyn!                                          

I digress... back to business here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the pattern above the bay window in the dining area.

 

                                                                   

 

 

 

A full wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, the ceiling in the kitchen area was NOT textured, so I could do a little something.  I used the same Allover Scroll pattern, but just did it in the reverse, blue on white and framed it out with another stencils I have had and used for years from Royal Designs,  Trompe L'Oeil Beaded Molding.  If you do a lot of "framing", this set of stencils is worth it's weight in gold!  Quick and easy and very elegant.

 

 

Here's a closeer look and better color!

 

 

 

 

This shows the ceiling design with the walls in the background.  It really helped to tie these two rooms together because there was very little wall space in the kitchen area to stencil.

When Lightning Strikes

I received a call from one of my clients last week, asking me if I could come and do some stenciling in her kitchen and two baths.  Now, I had just finished stenciling her kitchen and one bath late in 2008, so I thought it was odd that she would want it redone so soon.   Turns out... her house was struck by lightning in April.   She explained to me that the utility pole, at the end of her driveway, was struck and the lightning traveled through the wires that connect to her house.  You can see the shattered pole in the photo to the left. A fire started inside of the walls, causing extensive damage.  Her family had to move out for three months while the walls were taken down to the studs to replace all of the wiring.  Now the house is back to normal, with a kitchen upgrade, but other than that, it looks exactly the same as when I was last there!  They were very lucky that someone was home, just as this happened and could call for help immediately.

Here is the "Before" picture.  I will be doing a stencil design on the soffit.

 

Since the homeowners liked what I had done, less than a year ago, we are sticking with the same basic design, only changing out the flowers to coordinate with the new window treatments.  

I started out by doing this classic Palazzo Scroll design from Royal Design Studios, in two shades of gold.  Next, I am adding this Peony grouping to every other scroll.  I had to reach in the "way back" section of my stencil collection for this one by DeeSigns,(which I could no longer find a website for) but it really went perfectly with this fabric.   Years ago, I had done this sample on mylar, so I used it as my guide for placement, which is why you see the blue tape pieces.  The colors will be deeper, to match the fabric. 

I did manage to get all the flower groupings done, but still need to go back in and add some hand painting with high and low lights.  I will show that tomorrow, along with one of the bathrooms I will  do.

Stools finished and delivered

Recently I was commissioned to redo 2 stools and featured this "Before" photo of one of them.  The two stools were to be put in a Laundry Room I did a few months ago.

 

Here is the "After" shot.  The stools were kept simple in style and color so they would blend in with the room vs. compete with the wall finish. 

The walls in this Laundry Room were done with a Portofino plaster in a color called Butter Cream. 

 

Although the details are not visible in this photo, you can see there is a border running around the room.  That border coordinates with the stenciling on the stool.  You can view more of this project in this previous post here.

The cabinet doors were finally installed in the kitchen, so I took a few more shots of my walls I did a few months ago.  The cabinets were in when I did the walls, but the doors were all MIA for quite some time!

Quick Kitchen

On Friday I completed this small kitchen job.  There were really only 2 walls to glaze and a very small section around the kitchen window and above the back door.  This was the job I had to run out and buy new chip brushes for! 

This finishes uses 4 glazes all applied at the same time, randomly with chip brushes.  I then just use a rag to blend the colors. 

This 2nd photo is a close up look, which also shows the veining that is added last.  The true colors of the walls is closer to this second photo. I like this finish because it looks different throughout the day, as the light changes. 

This was a new client for me, a fun, young couple with 2 small children.  I took some photos of their dining and living rooms, which we will discuss more after the first of the new year.  They were having a Christmas party the very next night after I finishes on Friday, so I just sneaked this little job in under the wire! 

All Done!

The kitchen is done.  This is the view the homeowners see when they come in from their back entry. 

Now onto the fireplace in the Family Room.  The top picture is the Before Pic.  The fireplace was lost on this wall.  It just  blended in and had no presence. This metallic finish with gold accents made the marble pop  and the fireplace now became the focal point of the room.

For this finish, I used Modern Masters Sage Green Metallic paint for the base and stippled on Modern Masters Ivy Metallic paint, once dry.  A few accents of gold were added to compliment the fireplace insert and the framed mirror above.

Here's a closer look at the finish.

So,  my work is done here for now.  I will be returning in a few weeks to add a little interest to 2 of their ceilings.   

I'm in the Final Stretch w/this Kitchen

This morning when I arrived at my clients home, I could see the "deer in the headlights" expression on their faces.  Although I had explained about "the ugly stage" of the walls when I left yesterday, showed them the sample board of how it will look in the end, they just did not get it.  That always happens with my "newbies", bless their un-trusting little hearts.

As you may recall, this is what I left them with the previous day:

                        

Today, I added the glazes and then went back in with a liner brush and added some detail to the grapes and vines.

                               

The pictures are not doing the finish justice, unfortunately.  I think if you click on the pictures to enlarge, you'll be able to get a better look.

Thank God for drop cloths...and the fact that I actually had one right underneath where I knocked over my container of glaze. 

The homeowners now love, love their new kitchen and see the method to my madness. 

They still have that "deer in the headlights look" about their fireplace though. :-(  I will complete the finish on this tomorrow.

I'm Still In The Kitchen

Day 2 and I'm still on schedule, even with the addition of 2 more smallish areas added today to this project.  My clients decided they want this same finish in a small Butler's Pantry and Back Entryway, both of which are directly off of this kitchen.  I was able to do most of the pantry today while I was taking a break from the main part of the kitchen. 

I am adding some grape vines, randomly placed around the room.  Boy, this is one stencil I have used over and over throughout the years.  It has several combinations of leaf groupings and grape clusters.  Years ago, I stenciled each grouping on mylar, so I can tape them on the wall before actually stenciling, to get the placement right.  Stencils by Royal Designs.

After stenciling, I applied a thin layer of joint compound, which I troweled on randomly.  This is to give a more aged look...so it's not so perfect and new looking.  This will dry overnight and then I will seal and apply some glazes. 

Here is the corner all stenciled with the joint compound added.  It's the "ugly stage" of the process, the stage where I always see horror on the faces of the homeowners. :-)