Gosh, it seems like this post has been a long time coming. Michael & I have spent a good amount of time refinishing a bedroom set that belonged to my Dad when he was a boy, and three coats of white oil paint later they ended up in my room. I have always loved them, but we agreed that they deserved a makeover if they were going to make it into Liam's new room. We finished the first dresser a few months ago and found it "a little" tough to motivate ourselves to start the second one from the beginning. I'm proud to say that they are finally finished & we have a little boy here who loves them! And he is worth every bit of stripping, sanding, painting, staining, & sealing that it took to make these heirloom pieces his own. We just love that little guy!
big boy room progress
It's been a 'little' humid here to get much painting done, but I did manage to finish up the drawers for our big dresser renovation and spray all the hardware. I also found some pretty great vintage globe book ends at an estate sale on our street. Michael is always on the hunt too, and happened to get his hands on an awesome pull down New York State map from a city school that he's working on. We hadn't planned on going with the geographic theme, but I do love what we've found so far!
a dresser, reborn
I haven't worked on a big furniture piece in some time, and i'm pretty excited about this one. It will actually be two pieces: a short and tall dresser. They were my Dad's when he was a child, and my parents gave them a fresh coat (or 3) of white paint for my room as a little girl. My initial inspiration was this Stuart Melrose piece. I have to say, the only thing motivating us to strip these down to the wood and sand them smooth is seeing the end result, which does make me a little giddy actually. Oh, that and being able to move Liam into his new big boy room to free up the nursery for baby #2 this December!!! :D
wavily wayward
Sharing the beginning state of my latest furniture project. I'm envisioning some selective white staining and probably some happy accidents. Can't wait to see how this piece evolves!
more christening creations
My cousin's daughter was baptized last weekend & this was a small piece that I made for her. She had a completely beautiful day. Lately I am feeling very blessed to be surrounded by all these adorable little babies! The doily/dresser scarf underneath was an adaption of a technique that I saw on the purlbee website. I need to refine my process a bit, I think. 
The "star of mommy's blog", himself (found the bib at Target and couldn't resist).
Busy week getting ready for our trip to Cincinnati on thursday. More projects to post later.
2011: la fin
These are some of the last creations of this year, so what better time to share them than on the last day of 2011? The table below is one that I refinished for a most wonderful aunt. The color of the top is best seen in the photo from a few posts ago.
And a final custom calligraphy piece. I wish the metallic inks translated from my scan!
So excited to share some new projects of 2012, including a few wedding ensembles, printable invitation templates, desktop wallpaper calendars, and my greatest creation yet! :)
Happy New Year!
RIT show ready
Here are a few things that I've managed to get together before the Annual Winter Crafts show at RIT tomorrow. It will be in the SAU and fireside lounge from 10-4pm, so stop by if you're around campus!
Still brainstorming my banner on this wreath. I am thinking "be joyful".
Ok, so this won't be with me at the booth - it's a sneak peak of a new piece of furniture I'm working on.
painted florals, polka dots, & print packages
A detail of an heirloom nightstand that I recently refinished for a very good friend. I decided on doing a more contemporary vintage look, with textured crackle sides and a more muted palette than I usually use. I'm really liking the floral motif that I designed for the top. Furniture is always such a fun challenge.
The boxes came in for my packaged ornaments and prints for this year's holiday shows. I'm pretty excited about how they look together, and hopefully shoppers find them to be the 'ready to gift' gifts that I intended them to be. I'm still debating whether or not a ribbon around the box would cover up too much of the print. So many decisions!
additions to houses & families
Gosh. It's been almost a month since my last post. We have been very busy making our new house our home, and I've also had a few projects on the back burner since my paints were buried. I am looking forward to sharing those soon(ish). For now, here is the end result of this summer's buffet renovation. The white was actually quite simple, since the piece had such great detailing to begin with. I love the inlaid stars on the drawer, and we ended up keeping the old hardware so that they weren't covered up.
This is another baby shower invitation that I recently made. I am pretty happy with the lacy look of the inner envelopes. It folded in around the actual card, and felt appropriately sweet for a little baby girl. I also used my custom logo stamp on the luxe blush envelopes, which ended up being a pretty subtle way to go about branding.
changing season creations
I am loving this weather! It's always so refreshing to be comfortable in jeans and a tshirt or sweatshirt outside, and it's perfect for furniture refinishing. This piece we came across at our favorite church flea market, which I mentioned a few posts back. We had been on the hunt for a buffet, and this happens to match in a quite extraordinary way to the china cabinet that we got from the salvation army a few years ago. Can't wait to give this a good sand and polish it up! We are planning on white for the top and sides, and sanding down to the natural wood grain for the front. I'll post progress photos as we get working on it.
The most recent invitation that I've done, for my lovely cousin Molly. She is accenting a very classic black and white wedding with tiffany blue and an eggplant purple, which I think will be so elegant. I loved the different elements here, especially my new baker's twine & metallic teal ink envelope calligraphy!
This is a sneak peak to something that I'm working on for my fall and holiday shows. I've been making felt ornaments for a few years now, and thought this year that I'd create designs to coordinate with some of my more popular prints. I plan on selling them as a packaged set, with some sort of gift wrapping. I will post more of the combinations next week.
Still keeping up with tiny little baby creations. This one was knit from a (free!) pattern on the lion brand yarn site. I attempted making this after being inspired by the adorable blabla knit stuffed animals.
masters & milestones
Where did the time go!? It seems like not all that long ago we were anxiously awaiting Michael's financial aid offers, and now he's a Masters Architecture graduate! He is an amazing man and husband and deserved every bit of celebration from this last weekend. I'm so proud of him and all the time and hard work he's put in to this program over the last 2 years!
As long as I am sharing all of the excitement of our lives, we do have another bit of news:
.....we are having a baby! Expecting our first little blessing's arrival at the beginning of the new year- so so thrilled to be an almost mom :)
piano bench reno
Just a quick update to share my most recent furniture renovation. This piano bench was a great find from a church flea market last summer. I wish I had a photo of the inside of it, but I haven't reattached my hinges yet. The storage part of the bench is lined with cork, which i'm really pleased with! I got a bit bored with the labor intensive faux bois sides, and opted for a more modern treatment for the top.
show love day
I love today. I am such a fan of pink and red and hearts overload. I was a little late on getting any decorating done, but I did manage to take these flea market find cups out with my doily. So fancy! The stage for my valentine's display is our newly distressed road side desk, which I finished up a week or so ago. Another surface to cover with miscellaneous studio clutter. Yay! I 'm still trouble-shooting the underside of the desk... I think darker maybe?
Go on and do something lovely and pretty today, Valentine!
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snow marks my 100th post
I am so excited that this blog has reached 100 posts! Thanks everybody! I spent all night anticipating 16 inches of snow this morning, and awoke to maybe 4. At least I was prepared.
These are the drawers to a desk that I salvaged from the garbage a few weeks ago, and decided to give a distressed refinishing touch. Ill post the finished piece once I manage to get the new hardware on.
I've had a busy week so far getting prints made for the Hearts&Crafts show this weekend. Stop in to the Gibbs St Javas in Rochester between 11-5, because I'd love to see or meet you!
new season, new projects
I thought I'd celebrate the first day of fall by sharing some projects that are active in my studio right now. Some crochet pieces that are nearing completion.
A sneak peak of this upcoming weekend's project: a very exciting large scale calligraphy opportunity!
And finally, some furniture refinishing. This table was previously black with a copper sheet covered top. The new cork tiled surface and bright steel blue is refreshing for a change!
celebrations!
Hello! Wanted to catch everyone up on things I've had on my plate before heading out of town for Memorial Day weekend. First is an invitation I did for our Father's Day celebration: wedding showers, baby showers, graduations, birthdays, oh my!
Last weekend during our beautiful 80 degree weather I managed to spend a few hours finishing the sanding on the wardrobe I purchased a few months ago. I love the painting part the most (big surprise), so I'm anxious to get some color on and finish it up with shiny new hardware.
And my most recent project, an anniversary gift for my friend's parents. Watercolor and colored pencil on illustration board. Calligraphy done with india ink and a dip pen, 11x17".
Off to have a great time dancing and well wishing at dear Emily's wedding! Happy weekend!
a pretty day
Firstly,
I spent most of today outside, painting the drawers of my wardrobe. The photo is before the second coat on the face. Having them painted makes me very excited to attach the hardware.
This is a small painting that I plan to use those fabric flowers from yesterday's post on. It is 5x9", acrylic on masonite.
This is the idea:
I would love to find a nice thick frame to spill the flowers onto, also.
many things; an overdue update
I haven't posted in a while, so I have many little bits of things. Some are finished pieces, some are in progress, and most are just parts that I still need to find a home for. With wedding season coming up, I won't be showing everything that I'm working on either. I got two really wonderful books out of the library last week; "Folk Art of Rural Pennsylvania" and "The Decorative Arts of Sweden". They were very fun to look through. Lots of ceramic painting, carved furniture pieces, and birds. I spent all afternoon sketching my favorites. They remind me a lot of the save the date that I was working on a few posts back.
Next Wednesday I am going to be one of the featured artists at the WAM event at the Stillwater. It starts at 7pm, it's free, and there is live, local music! I am very excited to be a part of this month's 'creative mixer'. Thanks Erica!
To update on the children's wardrobe that I'm refinishing, the hardware I bought came in! I found these beautiful knobs on the anthropologie site, and I love them! They are made in India out of carved resin, but I like to pretend they are jade.
Last week we had great weather, and I was able to spend a good amount of time outside stripping and sanding the drawers. I finished a lot of the top and sides of the wardrobe too, but didn't take any photos. I got a little ahead of myself thinking about painting already, and went to Home Depot to check out swatches. I decided on "kiwi squeeze" (a light green), for the outside, and "pooh bear yellow", which is actually a light orange, for inside the drawers and cabinet area. Bad timing with the week of rain we are seeing, but now I'm prepared!
To satisfy my need for crochet in the evening, I have been using up some leftover yarn on this small lap size afghan. I've never done this ripple pattern before, and I think I like it.
Also, the start of a large scale doily that I've been working on from one of many pattern books of my Great Aunt Mae's, from 1980. I have a lot of fun working on doilies.
Lastly, things that don't belong. Yet.
I plan to use those flowers on small paintings and on frames for finished calligraphy pieces. I finished one last night, and really love the idea of the artwork spilling onto the frame. Each flower is hand cut and stitched together with beaded center.
redecorating and refinishing
This is my latest commissioned piece, done for my friend Kory's mom. She recently redecorated her bathroom with an outhouse theme. The painting is 8x10", acrylic and watercolor on illustration board. I also brought back my technique of painting over collaged fabric, this time using swatches of burlap. I thought this added to the rustic theme.
I'm currently working on refinishing an old children's wardrobe that I purchased a few weeks ago. It is a great piece. I will post some photos of my progress later on. I am thinking of painting it a light orange or coral color, but I'm still not fully committed to that yet. I have time. I am fairly attached to some hardware that I saw at anthropologie though.
red trees and red wines
The time has come again, for the annual photo of the tree in my parents' front yard. This is always the first tree on the street to change colors, and it always turns the greatest shades of red and orange. I really love it.
I was in Rochester this weekend for my friend Kristin's bachelorette party. We went on a wine tour on Seneca Lake, on a very perfect weather day. I am so excited for her wedding in a few weeks with all it's lovely ivory laces, toffees, and browns. So classic and elegant. Several days ago I finished her gift and promised images once she had received it; so here we are!
