Thursday, February 28, 2013

Gloomy Weather Projects

The weather has been yucky here these past couple days.  We've had rain, hail, snow, and ice.  I'm trying to ignore the gloom.  I've been tending to business, painting, making pretty little things, and going through my stash.



I pulled out some of my vintage books, of which I have many. One of my earliest books is 175 years old.  It's some sort of journal, but I have no idea what it says.  It's in German.  I know it's dated January 8th, and it belonged to someone named Anna. That's about it.




It's beautifully handwritten, and held together with twine.




I love the cover.



I COPIED some of the pages.  Yes, let's be clear about this.  I would never rip apart a nearly 200 year old book.




The paper I used to make the copies are old sheets of stock paper.  So, it's basically vintage-on-vintage.  I tinted one of the sheets blue. The other I left natural.  They make great bundles, wrapped with hemp twine, and sporting a dried rose bud.




I have a ton of loose French book pages.  They're NOT 175 years old, so I don't mind tinting them.









I tweaked my plaster cherubs.




I wanted more depth, and color.












Old metal flowers made a nice bouquet for my alabaster vase.




I made a cute vignette, and




went back to painting.



Clay rose fragments got a few layers of color,









and so did a couple plaster plaques.












I came across this faded cluster while going through one of my boxes.  I remember finding it in a basket I purchased at an estate sale.





I love the colors, on both sides.




I think I'm going to use these colors on my next project.



Okay, as you can see, I've been going a little stir crazy.  Snow is in the forecast for the next few days. Ugh.


Monday, February 25, 2013

I've Been Painting

I'm getting really good at taking blog breaks.  Which doesn't mean I haven't been busy.  I have. Painting.



















Lots of layering.
















I shared this frame several posts back.  It has a mirror, and it was gold.




I left hints of gold.
















Enhancing details.



















Thursday, February 21, 2013

Curbside Mirrors and Indecisive

I seem to be in an indecisive mood today.  My husband picked up two mirrors curbside a while ago.  I worked on one of them, but I'm not sure I'm finished with it.




My living room changes constantly, because I either sell something in it, or I keep changing my mind about what I want in it, or how I want things to look.

This is the before.





I gave it a couple coats of white paint, followed by a little antiquing, and a bit of distressing.

However, I'm thinking about doing a finish similar to the frames I shared with you.





Hmmmmm.  Should I change it?



I gave the table it's sitting on the same finish, but I'm starting to hate it.  I may just switch it out for a different table, or stand.  I have a couple in the abyss.




I'm also thinking about doing something different with the other mirror.  Maybe a chalkboard, sign......, not sure.

Here are some of the other frames I'm working on.







See the one in the middle?  I kinda reconfigured it.




I turned it upside down, added a clay rose, and attached an architectural fragment.




I'm not sure if this finish will stay, or if it's going to be a message board...... Decisions, decisions.


Sharing With:
Thrifty Decor Chick: Before and After
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground: Be Inspired Friday