WHEN THE DOG STAYS HOME ALONE...MOM SETS UP A CAMERA TO WATCH

   THIS DOG IS NOT SUPPOSED TO GET ON THE BED.

CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SHE LEAVES

MOM SETS UP CAMERA

A STURDY TABLE FOR MY ROUTER TABLE

My New Router Table

My carpenter neighbor built me a sturdy table to hold my router table.

It is soooo easy to use now.

He made it just my height.

It stays in place when I'm pushing on the boards that I'm cutting.

See that little silver latch on the front?  That is to open and lean the table back so I can replace the router bit. 

Isn't this nice!!

This is the bit that I used for these boards. I really like this edge.

That shelf is to hold my shop vac to catch all of the saw dust and it really does catch it all.  Standing so close and leaning over the table, I didn't have to breathe in any of the dust.  He even custom made a little pvc attachment so my vacuum hose would fit the router table outlet.

See those two rollers on the bottom?

See the posts on this side?

He thought of everything.

On this side, I just lift the table and pull and the rollers on the other side let it roll so I can move it wherever I need to.

Being a carpenter, he thought of everything that might be a problem for me using my router.

So easy! 

 And, so nice!

Thank you, Clint!!

HUGE KITCHEN ISLAND & FRENCH "LA PATISSERIE" DISTRESSED PANTRY DOOR THAT I PAINTED

FRENCH "LA PATISSERIE" DISTRESSED PANTRY DOOR THAT I PAINTED

Ok, here is the island in that huge kitchen in the huge home I've been showing you.
I asked permission to take a picture of this kitchen island, but I did not paint it.  My client got all of her kitchen cabinets, island included, from a factory.

The walls and cabinets of this kitchen are so high that she has a library ladder to get to the top cabinets.

How cool is that!!

This is a close up picture of the finish on the island.

Most of us could do this finish, couldn't we??

And, I always worry about my work chipping, but this factory built island had some chips on it and I'm guessing most of the chips were from delivery and installation.

My client asked if I would touch up the chips.  I knew what to do and was very glad to do it for her.

This is a very tall pantry door they asked me to paint when the house was being built.  They brought it to my studio.  It was a white door and she wanted me to paint it very distressed and to look like she had found it in an old pastry or cake shop.  I designed and painted on the glass.  After her approval, of course.  The red you see is the color of her pantry walls.

I took these pictures in a hallway and it was difficult to get the whole door in one picture.

HERE ARE THE LINKS TO THE POSTS WHEN I WAS PAINTING THIS DOOR AND THE GLASS.  I WAS POSTING MY WORK AS I PAINTED EACH PART OF THE DOOR

SEE THE PROGRESS:

TOP HALF OF PANTRY DOOR

BOTTOM HALF AGED & DISTRESSED

DESIGNING &PAINTING ON GLASS INSERT FOR PANTRY DOOR

FINALLY FINISHED PAINTING ON THE GLASS

BEAUTIFUL MANTEL I PAINTED TO LOOK OLD & DISTRESSED

Back to the home where I repaired the black and gold powder room chest two posts back.

This is the mantel that I painted to look distressed and very old.

I have lots of really good furniture finish samples in my studio and my client and her decorator came by and picked out a finish and the colors they wanted on the mantel.

AMAZING!!  I love that wallpaper!

My favorite thing is to make things look old!

Isn't this just fabulous???  That wallpaper is glorious and that mantel is so tall I had to stand on a ladder to paint the top.  Of course, this picture is when I first finished the painting and before the client moved in.

When I started, it was unfinished wood.  

Whoever designed this mantel is a master!! 

I just think it is sooo beautiful!!

Next, I'll show you the kitchen island and then the pantry door I painted to look like it came out of an old pastry or cake shop in Paris.  (that's what she said!)

HOW TO MAKE A RIBBON ROSE IN LESS THAN A MINUTE

This is a great tutorial on how to make ribbon roses in less than one minute.

I'm guessing that means AFTER you learn how.

The instructions say you need 75 cm of ribbon.

I think that's about 2 ft. 5 inches of ribbon.

HOW TO MAKE A RIBBON ROSE IN LESS THAN ONE MINUTE

I can think of lots of ways to use these beautiful ribbon roses.

TOUCHING UP PAINT ON A BLACK & GOLD DISTRESSED POWDER ROOM CABINET WITH VESSEL SINK

 A couple of years ago, my cient was building a new home and asked if I would paint a chest for one of her powder rooms.  It was a chest that her grandfather had built and she wanted to make a special place for it in her new home.

 

 It was stained brown.  She wanted me to paint it black and distressed a little so the brown wood would show through the black paint.  And, she wanted me to paint some metallic gold designs on the front to match the designs in the very beautiful wallpaper.

The distressed black with the wood tones showing through were to match the faux wood vessel sink that she had picked out to sit on top of the cabinet.

Yesterday and today I went back to touch up some water damage behind the sink.  The water was splashing evenly behind the sink in two spots and the paint was wrinkling.  I guess the water was splashing out when the faucet was turned on.

I scraped off the loose black paint, then painted and sealed it and now it looks really good again.

I painted it a little differently this time, but they will let me know if it holds up.

Water should never stand on a painted surface!!

In this case, it is a dark room and black paint so you couldn't see what was happening behind the sink.

I had sealed it really well and several coats of wax, but that didn't hold up.

This is her very beautiful powder room.  

Oops!! I didn't mean for me to be in the picture!

Also, the beautiful wide stairwell is visible, but that wall is not really blue.  It's beigy like the rest of the walls.  Somehow it turned blue in the mirror.  

The glass in the mirror is an antiqued glass, so that might be the reason it looks blue.

This is a hall chest right outside of that powder room.  I painted it for the new house, too.  Today, it had two little tiny scratches, so I touched them up while I was there and resealed the top.

I will always come back and touch up if anything happens to the furniture or cabinets that I've painted.

I took pictures of the mantel that I had painted and her kitchen island and will share them with you next.  You won't believe the size of her kitchen!!  

This is a very, very beautiful 15,000 sq. ft. house. 

It is amazing!!

CHECK OUT MY NEW WIRE CUTTERS~~SO EASY TO USE!

Recently, I went to Lowe's looking for wire cutters.

The sales guy showed me these KOBALT cutters.  

He said he took these home to his wife and she said they were really easy to use.

So, I purchased these for, I think, around 12.00.

They are WONDERFUL!!

I used to struggle, cutting thicker wire and tin or metal things with my really old cutters.  It always hurt my hand.

Using these wire cutters is almost like using scissors.

If you're struggling with your's, check these out.  I bet you can find them at any hardware store.  There is a Lowe's very close to my home, so that's usually my go-to store.