I am Back!!!

I have been incredibly busy and have put the blog on the back burner.  If you follow my Facebook page, you will see just how busy I have been.  I continue to do commission work for customer's and fit in my own pieces in between.  One piece I have just finished is this desk with a United States map on the top.

Looks pretty simple right???? Not on your life.  I felt a lot of pressure to get it just so.  I can throw a USA outline on a piece of paper in no time, however once you start adding in outlines of each state,  it is a whole new being.  I took extra care to make sure Iowa was smaller than Texas but bigger than Rhode Island.  As a Nebraska raised girl, I have always been able to pick out that state and make it resemble what I grew up knowing.  Once you have to add the other states surrounding it, not as clear cut.  I am now a fan of Colorado and Wyoming... why?  They are simple in their outline.  I have had 2 additional customer requests for this type of piece.  Due to the time and effort, I have decided to call it "one of a kind.".  I may change my mind down the road, but since it is so fresh and I know I put 30+ hours into it, we will call it rare and unique, and keep it as one!!!!!  God Bless the USA!

Murals!!!!

 I have been a busy girl.  I was lucky enough to get to hang out with a little gal by the name of Carrington for a couple of days while I painted these wonderful murals.  The murals were great fun, but the joy of my job is the conversation that I get to have with customers as I go about my business. Carrington tops the list of my favorites.  She is 3 years old with the oldest soul you can imagine.  I soooo enjoyed her input and ideas about what needed to occur in and around the paintings.  Thanks for making my job the best ever!

Caldwell Vs. Sloan

Prior to buying CeCe Caldwell paint, I tried to find some comparisons and could not find too many.  I went ahead to make the purchase and I thought I would do my own little review.  I have used ASCP for all of my furniture except my latest piece.  It's not that Sloan made my unhappy, I just thought for color's sake, I would try Caldwell.  It is nice to have an additional palette to work with.  Sloan's paint has always rocked my world.  It goes on with ease, over any material: wood, metal, plastic, laminate, etc.  The second coat is goes on with a little more umph, due to the thickness of the paint.  It sands beautifully, and the smooth finish is perfection.  I love Annie Sloan, the negative, not as many vibrant colors to choose from and it is expensive for a small can of paint.

I was thrilled to see CeCe's color palette, so many bright colors to choose from.  Love the eco friendly packaging and it is a smidge (barely there) cheaper than Sloan.  It goes on thinner so each consecutive coat is easy to cover the first, that being said, it took me 4 coats vs. 2 that Annie's usually takes me.  I am not sold on CeCe's for this very reason, the first coat appeared almost transluscent which took me aback.  I was painting laminate, but have used Annie for laminate as well.  I am not counting Caldwell out just yet, it may have been the color I chose.  I have 2 more colors to give a go to see if there is any difference.  Fingers crossed, I would love to be a loyalist, but I have a pretty open mind, especially if we have comparable products with more colors to choose from!!!!

Junk Stock Rules

Sooooo, I had the opportunity to participate in the virgin Junkstock fesitivities.  What a kick.  Basically, it was an art fair for those of us that find "junk" as refreshing as a new pair of good jeans.  It was a 3 day ordeal that was crazy on day 1 ~ a double edged sword of sorts ~ I did so well moving my junque day 1 that I had to raid the cupboards per say for day 2.  What does that mean, I took goodies from my house to help stock up.  Of course I did not take my fav's but I did take some items that I have held near and dear.  The way I looked at it was that if I take this item to sell, I will need to replace it, OPPORTUNITY TO SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  All or most all of my items were replaced.  The beauty of junkstock's success..... looks to bring on another come fall.