the birdcage

I have been saving some little vintage flocked birds for a special project.
I found the perfect one.
I have been observing some lights/lamps that look like birdcages, I thought that they looked really cool, however, the glare of the lightbulb would be a bit bright.
I decided to make one anyway.
First, I found an appliance light bulb (7 watts?) --it's very cute, and just right for the job.
I got some 0.25 inch wire screen (I think the normal use is landscape related) and looped the cut edges over the opposite edge to form a sort of column, and then secured it to the light cord with some wire.



To form perches, I snipped some wooden skewers to fit the cage, and tacked with a little glue.

for poms

I've been hoarding tissue paper in happy colors to make some new pom poms to hang from the ceiling...

the desk

Today I decided to tackle re-painting this desk.








All done :)
It's rather funny that I would "distress" a piece of furniture on purpose.
I can be very hard on furniture, as I treat most pieces as work surfaces for printing etc.

Brownish Hue

I have some painting projects to do during my holiday time.
I found this paint at the hardware store.
For some reason this color is called "brownish hue".
It looks like a creamy warm off white to me...
I'll find out exactly what color it is when I start to paint my projects, I wanted to be surprised anyway ;)

pom chandelier

Here are pictures of a special light that I've been making for the studio area:


I was inspired by a post that I saw on Dandelion and Grey, which linked to Helena of the "A diary of lovely" blog, which led to the original post:
http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2009/06/30/entering-the-girl-world-the-nursery/
I loved the poms and lanterns that she had compiled and suspended and wanted to make one of my own.


One of the lantern components: A dot+twine garland made with some vintage book pages and cream cardstock.
a tutorial for something similar can be found here:
http://www.marthastewart.com/good-thing/card-garland



I opted to make my own tissue paper flowers/poms. It was a little fiddly at first, but got easier as I went along.


To make the lovely poms, here is the link to the tutorial that I used:
http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/article/pom-poms-and-luminarias


I had used this lantern on a previous light. It had some small tears, which I patched with tissue paper and rosettes.




The completed lantern+pom light.




All of those details with the different white papers really show up when the light is turned on.



To make the rosettes, I used this tutorial+some vanilla colored text weight paper:
http://papiervalise.typepad.com/scissor_variations/2009/04/judging-an-envelope-by-its-return-address-part-1.html

some-I-raided-the-trim shop-lamps

Here are three rather bright lamps that are trimmed as though they were wedding cakes.
I got all of them for a few dollars a each during my antiquing and flea market ventures.
I painted each of the shades. The lamps have been rewired. The first one (the cut crystal) was shredded and bare on the inside (where you could not see it). Since then, I always make sure that the cords get replaced.

the blue ribbon board

I have been painting for hours today...
One of the things that I have been working on is a ribbon inspiration board...

Blue+white+stripes+satin+grosgrain







I took a primed canvas, and painted it with a sort of Tiffany blue (the paint is called "cloudless)
Then adhered/wove the ribbon across the surface.
I tried using staples to attach the ribbon, however, it was causing a lot damage to the ribbon, so I switched to hot glue.

mint chair

Now for the "after" post:
(this is the same chair from yesterdays post)



I painted this chair the same fresh mint color as the vanity and dresser.





The chair with the canvas seat. I like these colors together.



I used my stamps, acrylic paints, and a spotter brush to create a pattern on the front.

the chair, part one

I have been working on this chair today.
I needed to let the paint dry, so the after pics will most likely be posted tomorrow.


{Before}
Grubby.



I opted to recover the seat with stone/grey cotton canvas.
It was so wrinkled after being in storage that I had to iron it 4 times on the hottest setting (if I had to do it again, I'd soak the fabric, then toss it in the dryer, remove when still damp, then iron it)

This is the first time that I have reupholstered anything. Needless to say I kept my fingers as far as possible from the staple gun.



the finished seat for the chair.