Thrifting

I've become slightly obsessed with thrifting...

Yesterday I made my way down to Richmond, hoping to ransack 6 thrift shops.  Alas, that was not the case, but! I did score some great finds!

1900's wood/gesso frame; this was filthy; cleaned up nice!

 

 1950s Italian watercolors

I'm planning on doing the tent sale at On a Whim in Lucketts, VA in mid-August.  It will be my first tent sale; hoping to get on the list for Chartreuse!

Vintage Pumpkin Triptych

Good Morning!

I have been a busy Lizzie...

Here are the 3 pumpkins images.  I used the same technique as with yesterday's Rooster image.

Next project; painting a small accent table.

Vintage Rooster

Heat, humidity, post-surgery recovery and no drinky-poos makes Liz a grumpy girl...

So, in an effort to get out of my funk, I've been working on a few projects:

Combing through my photo files, I found some that had potential and played with Photoshop/Lightroom plug-ins.

I went to Home Depot and picked up a 1"x12"x48" pine board.  I asked the board to be cut into 4 12"x12" pieces.  I don't trust myself with a saw (yet), and the first 2 cuts are free; the last cut was$1.  Works for me!

Here's my rooster.  The original photo was just blah; but with some tweaking I roughed up the image.  I sanded the board to soften the edges/corners; stained the board with fruit wood stain then a coat of provence stain. I used Mod Podge to adhere the photo directly onto the board; then 2 coats of Mod Podge on top of the image.  Then to seal the board and buff up the sheen of the image, I used a small amount of Annie Sloan clear wax.

 

I have 3 pumpkin images that I am working on; should have them ready by the end of the day.

Union Jack Tea Pot

It's now day 4 post-gallbladder surgery (acute pancreatitis), and I am going stir crazy!  I never realized how busy my life is until the brakes have been put on it...and frankly, I am very cranky.  So, I needed a new project.

I am a self-admitted Anglophile.  Gave Mom a list of sundries to bring home (She's on holiday; visiting friends in Woodchester, Oxford and London). I am hoping that William and Kate's baby will be born while Mom is in the UK.....ooooh, to think of all the tacky royal baby souveniers for purchase!

I knew I wanted to do a chubby teapot with the Union Jack flag.  I googled "free teapot template" and found this cute teapot.  I found the Union Jack image on The Graphics Fairy.  I combined the 2 images in Photoshop CS4; then printed the image from home.  I recommend to use a laser printer versus ink jet; less color smearing.  Then again, the smearing worked in "aging" the image.

 Ink jet image:

Cut out:
 

I used a solid side from one of the many veggie crates that I collected from Wegmans. I stained the wood first.

First coat of Mod Podge:

 

Sanded the image to rough it up:
 

Second heavy coat of Mod Podge:

I waxed the dried image with Annie Sloan Clear Wax, then antiqued the plaque with Annie Sloan Dark Wax:

 

Strawberry Moon

This month the full moon is called "Strawberry Moon".  This is the closest the moon will be to Earth, 220,000 miles!  I shot this at around 10 p.m.

 

Vintage Clay Pots

A collection of vintage clay pots; love the texture, nuance of color, and shadows.

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie Louisiana

Keys

When one has a teenager it is not cool for them to have a parent within 50 feet of them and their friends!  So, I have been banished to house whilst they play in the pool.  2 hours later I created this:

Once again, I went to The Graphics Fairy...I think this is starting into an obsession...

<still trying to get a photo of the girls in the pool>

Silverware Decoupage Project

My first blog posting...ack!

We had July weather here in Northern Virginia and Brood 2 cicadas are everywhere; perfect reason to stay indoors and try to get creative.

About a month ago, I was in Wegmans and saw a bunch of these veggie crates that were going to be thrown away. So, I started taking one apart; decided to use one of the sides.

I selected a spoon/fork/knife graphic from The Graphics Fairy. This is a fantastic site that I discovered searching through Pinterest.

I cut out the spoon and tried the "citra-solv" method:

epic fail:

so, maybe a sharpie would help?  Nope.

Mod Podge?

Yes!

 Now all 3:

 After the Mod Podge dried, I painted with watered down silver paint to the "silverware":

I then applied Annie Sloan clear wax to the slats/decoupage. Then darkened with Annie Sloan dark wax; then a final layer of clear wax.

Et voila!

I like it vertical; but it looks great horizontal, too. :-)