Painting on chairs!

I think handpainted chairs are so special! You can take a keepsake...your childs first rocking chair or your fathers chair that he always used at the table and really personalize it. There is something uniquely welcoming with a chair. It invites you to rest, perhaps we will slide it next to that special someone to share some smiles, and an empty chair can invoke anticipation of a friends visit. We can rock in them, sit with our arms resting on them, or watch our little ones squiggle at the thought of being big enough for their own chair. They can be painted to suit well in our nests or perhaps be painted to look perfect in a friends home. I love painting everything from large adult rockers, adult chairs, small rockers, and childrens chairs.

I want to preface this with the fact that you can make it amazingly simple or as ornate as your hands (and patience :) ) will allow. It's up to you. First...if this is a keepsake you are keeping or giving look at it as such. Are you going to use colors and designs that will go along with the memories of the chair? If it's your dads...you can use colors that invoke him and his preferences. Did he like to fish, hunt, work on his car, camp, bbq, construct...use these images and put them on the seat or along the top back of the chair. I like to paint and use pictures to inspire me. If handpainting isn't your thing maybe you could find some images that represent the feelings you are trying to convey and modge podge it onto the chair. You can even modge podge a cut length of fabric from your grandpas shirt or grandmas apron onto the top back of the chair/rocker. For a childs chair you could make it with tiny flowers for a little girl or a race track across the top back down the arms and onto the seat for a boy. For my taste I don't really get into the aspects of decorating with licensed characters. There is enough of that stuff out there to choke a horse. Besides if you are going to go thru the effort of doing this work...why have what someone else has. You can use simple strokes to paint petals, leaves, vines, etc and the end of your paintbrush or end of an eraser for circles or berries. Handlettering is also a nice personal touch but you can use thin paper letter cut outs and modge podge them on if that's your preference.

When you pick out your chair...take a good look at it. If it needs some minor repairs, sanding, peeling paint... get that out of the way. Prep it by cleaning it very well. All the spindles, slats, rockers need to be scrubbed up. If not you will see extra bumps and even dirt/grease rolled in your work. Yikes! The extra attention to the details will make it worthwhile in the end. After you've cleaned it you can lightly sand the entire thing. This to remove the top layer so your paint will adhere nicely to the chair. After completing this you need to take a damp cloth/tac cloth to get in and around all the crevices and it will remove the sanding dust. You can choose to spray prime the chair grey if it is unevenly colored to give it a nice jumping off point. I have done it both ways so it is just personal choice. Decide ahead of time your colors and use painters tape to contain the areas you want to paint. For example if you want to paint the spindles/slats one color and the seat another... tape off areas to keep the paint colors crisp and separate. It may very well take several layers to give adequate coverage. Thin even coats are really crucial to a nice look. Do not use thick layers of paint to hurry the job. It looks blotchy and generally pretty bad. If you are in a hurry.... wait and do it when you have the time. I use my absolute favorite PLAID brushes for painting chairs. They have some larger ones to cover more area, but I love the control of smaller brushes. Yes it takes longer but it's worth it. Believe me... one chair in particular that I painted took me about 24 hrs total. I didn't want to see a chair again for at least a week LOL! It was worth it though in the end. After you have completed the chair and like what you see...you can spray clear acrylic paint to seal it or varnish it with a few light coats. Now...pull up a chair and enjoy having created something that will bring lots of smiles and uniquely yours! I would like to give credit to Renee Mullins for her snowman design that I handpainted on the middle chair seat!! Blessings, Dawn

Can't get my profile picture to show

I'm frustrated because no matter what I seem to do I can not get my profile picture to show up when I am following other blogs! The grey shadow box that currently shows makes me look like I'm in a line up...LOL!! I wish I had the computer skills to get what is in my head onto my blog, etc.... someday??? :)

Upcycled Summer Treasures

Finally we are into a spring/summer weather pattern. The snow has let up for the time being here at nearly 9000 feet. Venturing into town can be an adventure now not for the winter driving skills but for garage and yard sales. Going through the local paper the night before and planning your quest for undiscovered treasures is essential to success. Be prepared with your money separated into different pockets or areas of your purse. You don't want to pull out a few $20 dollar bills to bargain with. Break it up into dollar bills and five dollar bills. Plan ahead. When you have an idea for a project you would like to make write in a small notebook and bring it along with you. For example...if you want to make a shabby chic light fixture with candles... list an old light fixture with several arms. List old/vintage small teacups and saucers. List old chain, spray paint, hardware pieces, old jewelry...on and on... Make sure next to the items to put a notation that you are "planning" on a candle light fixture with these items. If you have a photo you've copied/cut out of a magazine or online...tape or paste it with your list of items needed. If you know that the area you are wanting to make this lighting fixture for needs a 4 foot chain... put the measurements of how much chain you will need.
Open your imagination this summer. Use an old tin camping coffee pot with the lid on it for a birdhouse. Take off the center knobs to reveal a small opening where the birds can come and go from their new home. Tip the pot on its side and screw in some eye hooks on opposite ends of the handles to attach small chain to suspend the birdhouse. You can also use old coffee pots for floral arrangements with electric candles for a pretty accent to your kitchen. The coffee pots can be used for plants as well. They are self contained so nice for things like this.
I'll be going through some upcycling ideas and hopefully some before and after pictures to go along with them. I'd like to do some seasonal things as well.
Harvest your blessings and happy beginning of summer!!!

Looking for inspiration

It comes to me every so often that we all need to be inspired. It's such a personal place that it can be delivered from and taken to. Everyone can state the obvious. They will tell you to think long and hard and just do it. I think it's so much more subtle than this. It's not that it's difficult or that it takes any talent.
Between the washing machine churning, the phone ringing, husbands and children needing our attention, and life in general...it must seem like our thoughts never stop jingling. Just as we take our quiet moments to pray, we can take small moments to refresh ourselves. I'm laughing to myself thinking how I thought I could go into the bathroom, lock the door, and take a long & warm bath to have those moments. Then the knock on the door. Not just one knock. Several over the duration of the now shorter bath experience. A small voice from the other side of the door excitedly asking if she can please wear two different color socks. Oh and can she please make a house for her stuffed animal babies out of my dresser drawer. These are monumental questions that need answered.... right then. Actually these are the small moments I was speaking of earlier. These are my inspirations.
It lifts me when I hear my kids voices (not as they are yelling back and forth in the stairway..lol!) You know what I mean...those voices that bring you to a center point. Enthusiastic, joyful, questioning, insightful, and full of boundless energy voices. That inspires me. I enjoy when I am working on a project and our teenage son comes up to me with a huge grin showing me his latest drawing. Looking over his paper and seeing the amazing detail he creates in his artwork lifts me. Noticing what he thinks is important helps me look at things from another perspective. I tell him how tickled I am that he takes such care in shading or in his line work. A phone call from our oldest daughter excitedly telling me about the beautiful hair bows she is making for her baby girl and to sell. I click on her photos of them and my heart melts. She is inspired to create out of love for her little girl. I know that's a part of inspiration.
Inspiration is in our homes, in our family and friends, in music, in our favorite movies, and often times inside us all along. I remember back to when I was a little girl (yes I can remember that far back :) ) and seeing the perplexed look on my moms face when she saw her decorative rock disappearing slowly from the front flower bed. I didn't think just a few rocks I needed for some projects would be missed. After all...I saw her scoot around her craft area looking for just the right materials for her latest project so it seemed perfectly natural for me to do it. The pet rock craze had taken off and in my simple thoughts I just couldn't believe people paid for a plain rock. I mean... a "plain" rock. That was a canvas for all kinds of things. Ladybugs, turtles, mushrooms, smiley faces, and hearts. I was so completely excited to dress up these silly rocks and couldn't wait to give them and sell them. Hence... the disappearing decorative rocks out in front of the house. It still makes me smile how happy it made me. Those are the moments that I look back to to regain a little bit of my enthusiasm. Why I fell in love with creating things and making people happy with them in the first place.
Be inspired. Go outside and take a walk. Look at the colors. Put on some of your favorite holiday music even in July. My family and friends will tell you that it would not be off the wall for me to be playing White Christmas in June. I'm sure my children will have a fascinating time associating holidays with only certain times of the year! Not! Look through magazines and go into the sweet little stores that have things for your homes. Talk to your friends. Pay attention to the colors you like, the styles that catch your attention, words that describe your feelings. It all matters.
This I believe is the most important part of inspiration.... Be an Inspiration! Rarely do we become artists because it is just within ourselves from birth. It's because of the experiences we've had. My parents were a tremendous inspiration to me. Everything from building little houses out of toys, little Christmas choo choo train out of a Hersheys baking cocoa can, halloween costumes, home remodeling and decorating. Remember... you have someone or perhaps several people who may be watching you. Bring them along! Let them shine. Be gracious and share some of what you know. I am grateful that God has blessed me both with the desire to create and the ability to do so. I want Him to come through in what I do. Everyone can have something special to offer, it's what you do with it! Do it with gratitude, grace, a loving heart and be a blessing!! Be inspired!!