TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA ~ CHRISTMAS CANON

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA ~ CHRISTMAS CANON

"This night we pray

Our lives will show

This dream He had

Each child still knows"

HAND PAINTING STRIPES & A PLAYHOUSE, PICKET FENCE & FLOWERS IN A LITTLE GIRL'S ROOM

HAND PAINTING STRIPES & A PLAYHOUSE, PICKET FENCE & FLOWERS IN A LITTLE GIRL'S ROOM

One time a family was moving into a new home.

The little girl's room was blue and the mom asked me to paint stripes for her.

I drew and hand painted the yellow stripes and green ivy as a border.

Then, I asked if I could paint her a playhouse.  

So, I drew and painted the outline of a playhouse.  Then, I painted the picket fence and flowers.

They placed a little table and chairs in the corner with the playhouse.

The little girl just loved it and her mom said she played near it all the time.

That was a fun project!

~

I found this picture in a stack of pictures of my work and thought it would be great to share it with you just before Christmas, in case it might give you some ideas for a little girl or boy's room.  The playhouse can be any color.  Maybe it could be brown and they could play like it's a fort or a cabin.

Or, draw the outline of a spaceship. 

 I bet they would really love that!!

PAINTING & GLAZING DEBBIE'S NEW ENTERTAINMENT CENTER CABINET

PAINTING & GLAZING DEBBIE'S NEW ENTERTAINMENT CENTER CABINET

Debbie's entertainment center is in her great room.  She had been wanting to change it and make it nicer because you can see it from nearly everywhere on her, very open, first floor.
 So, she designed and told the contractor what she wanted.  

She wanted it more open and she wanted a great big arch above it.

She designed this cabinet for her collection of beautiful pieces of art and asked me to paint it for her.

I used an oil based semi-gloss off white paint for the base coat.  Then, I used a dark stain and brushed on and wiped off, leaving stain in the crevices and streaked it on the flat surfaces.

This small cabinet and shelves were next to the new cabinet and I painted it to match.  The mantel is soft off white stone and my colors tied in really well.

This is Debbie's wonderful Nickie.  He's so friendly.  A while back when I was painting her bedroom, Nickie kept getting on my ladder and I had to call his mommy to get him down so I could paint.  It was funny.

And, little Issy and Bella.  Issy is the little sister.  So cute!!  Sweet Bella is older and blind.  I always think Debbie is so sweet to her.  She knows her way around the house.

This is a view of the cabinets and fireplace.  Before, Debbie thought it didn't look right, maybe cluttered.  Now, with her new design and paint she's very happy.

I love how Debbie decorates her home.  It's so comfortable, yet elegant.

Thank you Debbie!  I always love working with you.

PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING ~ I'LL BE BACK SOON

 PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING ~ I'LL BE BACK SOON

I'm really behind posting and sharing my work with you.  I'll be back very soon.

My clients are preparing for the holidays and needed me to help with a few paint projects.  

The kitchen I'm painting right now will, finally, be finished Saturday or Sunday.  

Then, I will be at the grocery store shopping for our Thanksgiving meal.

Hoping you are looking forward to a warm and Happy Thanksgiving, too.

One of the migrating birds visiting my yard in September.

Not sure what it is, but it was really beautiful and it's tummy was a vibrant yellow-orange.

PAINTING & DISTRESSING PATTI'S BEDROOM FURNITURE TO CREAMY WHITE & GRAYS

PAINTING & DISTRESSING PATTI'S BEDROOM FURNITURE CREAMY WHITE & GRAYS

Patti is doing some major redecorating.

Several years ago, when she was designing and building this home, I spent lots of time doing special paint projects for her.  That wall behind her headboard was one of the projects.  Back then, she wanted her new home and decor to be a darker Tuscan style.

It was (still is) sooo beautiful!

 The black, distressed finish is the original finish and paint colors..  I do love the finish!!

The insets on the headboard and footboard are brown leather.

I almost forgot to take a picture of "before".

Look at that black and beige carpet!!

This is her cabinet "before" I painted it.

It was really nice, too.

Now, years later, she is wanting everything to be lighter.  For her bedroom furniture she chose a creamy white, light gray white and a medium gray.

She showed me a sample of the finish she wanted and here it is.  

The leather, I primed with an oil based primer and painted the soft gray color.

Then, I sanded the seams and distressed a little in the middle.

There are upholstery tacks holding the leather.

Patti asked me to paint those metallic silver.

In this picture, the silver doesn't shine.  But, in person it does reflect the light and is shiny.  

The metallic silver looks really nice with the colors she chose.

(The picture above is more true to the colors I painted.  In the other pictures, 

  my camera made the creamy white look more creamy than it really is.)

Aren't those bedside chandeliers amazing!!

Patti sent this picture to me.  That is sweet Stella.  She looks so pretty snoozing on the new bed.

It's a king size bed.  Her camera angle makes it look like a twin.

Here is the cabinet painted with the new colors to match the bed.

(Creamy white NOT this yellow)

I used a gel stain to paint the inside of the top and bottom and the shelves.

Also, I used the gel stain to paint the cabinet top.

It was a very large cabinet and LOTS of distressing.

This was Patti's husband's grandmother's dresser.  It goes in the bedroom, too. 

Patti wanted me to paint it the same way I painted the darker areas of the big cabinet.

I have worked with Patti for many years and I always enjoy working with her.  

She has such great taste!

As she is redecorating, I'll keep sharing pictures with you.

Thank you, Patti!

MY NEW "HOW TO" EBOOK~PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER"

MY NEW "HOW TO" EBOOK~PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER"

Finally, I have finished my second eBook.  In this one, I have shared my technique for painting faux "antique copper" on kitchen vent-a-hoods.  Actually, you can use this technique to paint just about anything that you want to look like "antique copper"

Here is a link to my newest instructional eBook:

PAINT A KITCHEN VENT-A-HOOD FAUX FINISH~"ANTIQUE COPPER"

~

While you're visiting my blog, here is a link to my first eBook about using gel stains:

PAINTING WITH GEL STAINS

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~THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISITS~

ANITA WANTED A BLUE FRONT DOOR ~ PAINTING ANITA'S FRONT DOOR

ANITA WANTED A BLUE FRONT DOOR ~ PAINTING ANITA'S FRONT DOOR

This is Anita's beautiful home.
The white trim and stained door look very nice.  But, she really wanted a new look and asked me to help her make her front door look more inviting.

She really, really wanted her front door to be blue. 

 Not light blue or dark blue, just a medium happy blue.  So, she and I picked out a blue paint color and I suggested she paint her flower pots blue and plant blue plumbago to enhance the blue on her new door.

This is her new front porch.  She sent this picture to me after she planted the blue plumbago in her blue pots.  It looks so pretty and inviting and she's very happy with her new entry.

I suggested that we paint the frame around her door alllllll the way up, including the arch.

I'm used to climbing on my two story extension ladder and that's just routine to me.  What is a bit harrowing is moving that ladder around all of that glass.

I picked a color that was in the same tones as all of the other light trim on her home, but a couple of shades darker so it would be noticeably different.  

Her front porch looks so pretty, now.

A few years ago, I painted these stripes, this red ribbon and bouquets of flowers all around her guest bedroom.  It was nice to see it, again.  Not painted over, yet.

While I was there, she added a lot of fall decor.  Her decorated chandeliers look so beautiful!!

One day Anita came home and that big rooster was in her yard.  A friend had surprised her and put it there as a tease, but she liked it and it's still there.  It's really cute and colorful.

And, it looks good with her new front door.

Thank you, Anita!

PAINTING A BLUE PLUMBAGO CANVAS FOR KAREN'S FRONT PORCH

PAINTING A BLUE PLUMBAGO CANVAS FOR KAREN'S FRONT PORCH

Remember, I painted artwork on Karen's front door and garage door?

Well, she was looking through my stash of "getting started" canvases and she came across this one.  She told me what she wanted and asked me to finish it for her front porch.

A large piece of plywood is a sturdy backdrop.  

I hang my canvases on a nail and it's a perfect height for me to work.

Karen and I hung this painting on her front porch.  She has blue cushions in those wicker chairs.  When they bloom, her arch is covered with pink roses.  

She wants blue, blue, blue everywhere and it's looking really beautiful.  

She is going to paint those brown porch rails blue, too.

Recently, Karen had the front of her house landscaped with tons of pink, purple and blue flowers.  It really does look nice.  The stair rails and pots will be painted blue.

HERE IS A LINK TO HER FRONT DOORS THAT I PAINTED:

PAINTING BIRDS & NEST ON KAREN'S FRONT DOOR

SPRUCING UP LUZ'S FRONT PORCH WITH MATCHING PAINT COLORS

SPRUCING UP LUZ'S FRONT PORCH WITH MATCHING PAINT COLORS

Luz asked me for suggestions on improving her front porch.

Her beautiful red front doors were the first thing I noticed. 

 She was wondering about painting blue somewhere and I told her how beautiful that shade of red was with her house colors and I thought she should keep it.

What I did notice was that WHITE wood trim above her doors and suggested she let me paint it red.

I was going to paint that tiny white sunburst trim, too, but when I got up there on my ladder I realized it was in between the window glass.  Then, when I stood back and looked at everything, I noticed that her two front windows had white sunbursts, too.  So, everything matches, now.

To me that looks so much better.  It looks really nice walking up to her front doors. 

 It makes it look "grand".

The other thing I noticed and the first thing I suggested to her was to paint her rain gutters the brick color to make them disappear.  They were painted the dark gray of her wood trim.  So many times I notice that gutters are painted like the trim on a house instead of matching and blending in with the house color.  To me, when they're a different color than the house, it looks like they're "featuring" their gutters and that's all I see.  Once Luz painted her gutters, they disappeared and my eyes went straight to her beautiful red doors. 

She asked me to paint a scrollie design on each door.  She decided she wanted less metallic gold and more of the darker color and I forgot to take a picture of the re-do.

These are the wreaths she had on each door.  Aren't the colors scrumptuous!!  

They look absolutely beautiful on those red doors.

This is Luz's beautiful home.  I really like the shade of browny gray she painted her shutters and trim.

Notice how the gutters match the house.  Before, they were the shutter color. 

PAINTING LISA & BRAD'S KITCHEN CABINETS A GLAZED OFF WHITE FINISH

PAINTING LISA & BRAD'S KITCHEN CABINETS A GLAZED OFF WHITE FINISH

Lisa and Brad asked me to paint their kitchen cabinets.  

The cabients had an older pickled/white washed finish on them.  

Lisa and Brad saw some cabinets I painted at their friends' house.  The finish was a dark glazed finish.  I showed them a sample of that darker finish and they thought that's what they wanted on their cabinets.  

Then, Lisa asked me to paint some samples for her that were off white and glazed.

After seeing the lighter samples, she decided to go lighter in her kitchen.  She has lots of white woodwork and thought everything would look better.  

It was a really good choice because her kitchen is really beautiful, now.

Notice the painted switch plate.  It looks so much better than the white switch plate. 

They pulled the refrigerator out so I could paint the cabinets behind and above it.

Since they really liked the darker finish, they decided they wanted me to paint their island that color.  It's such a nice contrast to her lighter cabinets.

They are going replace the tile with a butcher block counter top.

Also, Lisa was looking for hardware for the cabinets.  

I know it will all look beautiful when she's finished.

This is sweet, sweet Belle.  She was a rescue from a long time ago.  She's afraid of the sounds of rain.  Probably the thunder.  So, one day it rained when I sitting on the floor working on the lower cabinets and she kept trying to get in my lap.  Poor baby!  I kept telling her no and she finally laid down beside me until it stoppped raining.  Paint and lap dogs do not mix.

Her switch plates were white and I painted them to match her tiles.  She had some extra tiles and I took them and the switch plates home with me to work on them.  It's better for me to work at home because I'm never quite sure which colors I will be needing and alllll of my colors are in my studio.  Lisa got new wooden switch plates and I painted them with craft paints.  

Then, two coats of sealer for protection. 

This is the glazed finish I painted on her cabinets.  I primed them and painted an off white finish.  Then, glazed and sealed.  Notice that I painted the tiny trim at the top of her upper cabinets and the tiny trim around her door panels, a little darker for an accent.  A subtle accent.  Lisa thought she wanted a "creamy" color and I suggested a more very light browny gray for the glaze.  I've noticed if you don't have a lot of natural light in a room, the "creamy" color looks really yellow.  

So glad she's very happy with this color.

A couple of years ago, I stained her stair railings.  These were pickled/white washed, too.

Remember the kitchen I painted for Kathryn and Sean a few months ago?  Well, they are Lisa and Brad's friends and that's where they saw the darker cabinets.

Here is a link to that kitchen:

PAINTING A DARK GLAZED FINISH ON KATHRYN & SEANS'S KITCHEN CABINETS

Here are the "before" pictures of Lisa's kitchen and butler's pantry.

I love that she mixed the lighter and darker colors in her kitchen.  It really does look beautiful in the layout of her kitchen, breakfast and family room all open to each other.

Thank you Lisa and Brad!

PAINTING TWO MORE BUTTERFLIES FOR KAREN'S GARAGE/CARRIAGE HOUSE DOORS

PAINTING TWO MORE BUTTERFLIES FOR KAREN'S GARAGE/CARRIAGE HOUSE DOORS

Remember the garage door that I painted a few weeks ago?

 Karen wanted it to look like two carriage house doors that open in the middle.

Here is a link to that post:

GARAGE DOORS TO CARRIAGE HOUSE DOORS

I painted butterflies and vines on the door(s).

Karen called and wanted me to paint two more butterflies.

Next time I'm over that way, I'll paint a little more black on the caterpillar part of the butterfly.

I loved painting the butterflies.

From the street, it looks like my painted vines might be a part of the foliage in the pot by the garage door.  In the winter my vine will be the only thing green.

I love working with Karen.