I can write 100 posts, and I will write 100 more !!

So please with myself ! Managed to get the big pine welsh dresser finished and it's a beaut!

I sanded down the top of the base unit and sealed with a wax varnish which I find a bit more hardwearing than Annie Sloan wax. Then painted the base the same as the top, finishing with some dark wax to age. I replaced the brass handles with some coordinating cream porcelain knobs, which looks fab.

Here is the before pic, and I love it so much I am selling the cream one I currently have.

The cream one has an internal light, and the the new one looked quite dark in it's place, so I had to look for a little lamp to brighten it up. Bit difficult as the shelf area is only about 12" high.

Found this pretty little teapot lamp, the perfect size and gives a lovely soft glow. I should have moved the ironing board before I took this pic, sorry.
I had a very productive week and also finished off the two retro pieces. I don't usually go for this style as they are not shabby chic, so it will be interesting to see if I can ake some money on them.

This one is so cute. I have painted the top drawer in a custom mixed soft pink, and the bottom drawer in Original. The legs are also painted with Original and I have added some detail with gold rub 'n buff to match the vintage gold coloured handles. I also sanded down the top removing all the old varnish, and refinished with wax varnish.

The second retro piece is the spectacular vintage dressing table. I masked off the little top drawers which were a bit marked and painted in Original.

I removed the mirror, then sanded the old varnish from the top. I had a slight problem though as I sanded a bit too much on the right edge.

Because it is veneered you have to be careful just to sand enough to remove the varnish and not sand off the veneer, which I unfortunately did! We learn from our mistakes, and I will not be caught with this again.

Only solution was to paint the top, so I used Annie Sloan Original as it is so close to the lovely cream colour that was already on the two wee top drawers. Because I had sanded the varnish off some of the oil showed through the paint, and even after 3 coats you can still see it a bit.

I sanded one of the drawers, and painted the other, and I added some silver rub 'n buff to the handles and metal ends of the legs to freshen them up.

I think it looks amazing! I listed it on ebay last night and already have some interest :)
It is so nice to have space to move about in the conservatory now. I must try not to make it so cluttered again. My last project this week was a coffee table I started over a year ago. I painted in in Old White and added some pretty Laura Ashley wallpaper to the top, but the paper bubbled and crinkled and I had to remove it all (very messy).

I had to use the electric sander to get it all off, and once I had the wood looked too nice to cover up with paint or paper. I gave it a couple of coats of wax varnish, then stencilled with a pretty bird stencil I bought in New York. As you well know I LOVE stencilling!!

I started in the middle and applied slightly watered down Old White with a sponge applicator. I was going to repeat the pattern all over the top, but once I had stencilled the first row I decided to leave it there. Sometimes less is more!!

Couple more coats of varnish and reluctantly listed on ebay (another one I would love to keep). Maybe I should?

Well, that's just about all for this week. Russell is away this week in Cyprus for a medical education conference and doesn't get back till Sunday night. Thankfully we are both off work on Monday as it is a bank holiday here. There is also a bank holiday car boot sale on, so fingers crossed for a nice dry day. Autumn is nearly here and it is now dark by 9pm. Not really had a summer this year, never mind, maybe next year !

Last time I showed you this and asked you to guess what it is -

It is not a tortilla holder, although a good guess :)

It is a pretty lantern. The concertina part is made of a linen type cloth, and I have never seen one of these before, they are usually paper. There is a little hatch on the top to open for you to pop a tea light in. I love quirky unusual things like this !

From next week I am back to full time for a while at work so will have weekends only for my hobby. I have enjoyed all my extra time off.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Rain Rain Go Away !

I had such a productive weekend that I decided to just crack on with things and leave my blog till later in the week. So it is now Friday, and have also been very busy today. We have had torrential rain today and it was lovely working in the conservatory listening to the rain on the roof. Last weekend I finished the chunky coffee table.

I added a nice cream porcelain drawer knob with gold spots. I sealed it with clear wax, and have not buffed this one as I quite like the more matt finish.

My next project was another coffee table. After working on the big dressing tables it is nice to do a few smaller things. The large items make more money, but they are very heavy to lift around. I decided to transform this painted table I bought on ebay a couple of months ago.

The terracotta colour was going to be quite difficult to cover up so I decided to go Graphite!

I removed the drawer then turned upside down to start painting. It only needed 1 coat on the underside.

The rest of the table was given 2 coats of Graphite along with the drawer. I left the inside of the drawer red. I think it's nice to have contrasting colours inside. Nice surprise when you open them.

Once the paint was fully dried out, I lightly distressed then added dark wax. I bought some Rennie Mackintosh handles a few years ago, I have been dying to use, and I think it looks stunning on the drawer. So this one is all finished and currently listed on ebay.

Forgot to tell you that I sold the lovely lemony dressing table. It was collected last weekend :)

So, you would think that I now have a lot of space in my workshop, with the two big dressing tables selling? Well, not really as last Sunday I bought a giant sideboard at the car boot sale. It is solid oak and weighs a ton! One of the cupboard doors won't shut so I will need to repair it. The seller delivered it to the house for me in his van, but how could I resist at £10! plus £5 to deliver. Sorry the pic is not great.

The quirky Alice in Wonderland coat hook sold for over £15 on ebay so I am hoping to make some more items with this theme as it seems popular.

I have ordered some nice hooks on ebay, and will look out for more at the car boot sales. I'll let you know how it goes.
Next, another BIG item. This one I have been looking forward to painting, and I finally have enough space to work on it. The lovely welsh dresser :)

Now I should really have been thinking about what colour to paint this, as I wasted time trying to decide. I also wanted to paint it in a colour that would suit my own house, just in case I fell in love with it and wanted to keep it for myself :) One of my favourite Annie Sloan colours is Provence, especially when you age with some dark wax, so I decided to use this for the outside, and for the inside, I went for a new colour for me - Original.

I absolutely LOVE this colour. It's a soft cream colour, like vanilla ice cream. Wish I had discovered it before. It's not as harsh as Old White. Anyway, turned the top section upside down and started with the inside. It took 2 coats of Original.

The cupboard doors were tricky as they had wooden framed glass. On previous projects like this I have spent ages masking off the glass, but this time I thought I would try something different. I used a small brush to paint the wooden frame, and any paint that got onto the glass was very easily removed with a scalpel knife.

This gave me a nice neat finish, and there was something quite therapeutic about scraping the excess paint off :) Once I had painted the whole of the top section I then distressed with a medium sandpaper.

Then workng in sections I sealed with clear wax, then aged with some dark wax on top. I use a lint free cloth to add the wax, although I know a lot of people use a brush. I feel I have more control with the cloth and I like to rub the wax into the paint.

In the picture above you can see that I have aged the top cornice section. After about an hour's hard work I finally finished the dresser top :)

I also made a start to the drawrers from the cupboard section. I removed the handles and filled the holes with wood filler. I will replace the handles with knobs once it is finished.

The bottom section will have it's top sanded back and revarnished, but it has been so wet this week I haven't been able to work outside. I will hopefully get it done this weekend.
While I had Provence on my brush I painted a couple of picture frames to sell. This first one is the little craved wooden frame I showed you last week.

I painted then aged with the Annie Sloan Provence.

I will print off a quirky picture so buyers can see what it will look like with a pic.
I also painted this beautiful frame on this tapestry picture I bought last weekend at the boot sale. The frame was a lovely old gold colour.

A light brush of Provence gives it a totally different look, more french shabby chic :)

This finish was so easy to create. I brushed the paint on then wiped some of it off with a damp cloth. The paint stayed in the nooks and crannies and you can still see the lovely gold too.

Well that's almost all for this week. I say almost because I bought somethig yesterday that I love. When I showed it to Russell he couldn't figure out what it was, so I thought I would see if anyone knows what it is??

If you think you may know, please put your answer in the comments, and all will be revealed in my next blog :)

Have a great week !!

Cats in Hats etc

Well, I finally started my new half time hours at work last week, and made the most of it by booking a Groupon type deal and heading off for a couple few days. We drove down to Daventry for a 2 night stay in a De Vere Venues country hotel, with breakfast included as well as a 3 course dinner on our first night. Not bad value for £99 all in. We went shopping in Rugby. It reminded me of York, with lots of lovely independant shops and cafes.

The weather was perfect too, and I also got to have a play with my new camera, and managed to take a super shot of the full moon over the hotel grounds. Once I get it off the camera I will post it.
We got home on Saturday night, and got up nice and early on Sunday to hit the car boot sales. I got loads of bargains!!

These two pine dining chairs were so cheap, and the seller said he would be at next week's sale with the other two, so I need to make sure I am there early next week :)

This nice little wooden magazine rack side table was also a bargain, and will look fab painted.

I am being a bit more picky with picture frames now, and love these two carved wooden frames.
I also bought a longer black decorative frame, and I used some silver wax to highlight the detail.

I printed off some quirky old photos from Google images of cats in hats. I love it!!

Everyone was starting to pack up as it looked like it was going to rain, and my last purchase was this really solid wooden coffee table. Would you believe I got it for under a fiver !?!

 Decided to paint in Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue. Turned it upside down, to make sure I didn't miss any nooks and crannies ;) Made of lovely recycled wood.

I also removed the handle on the drawer as it was not in the centre, and things like that just annoy me! I filled the hole with wood filler, and after I have painted it I will drill a new hole and replace the handle.

I will finish this one off at the end of the week. Looks good in the Duck Egg Blue.

I was raking through the stuff in my shed last week and came across this wooden coat rack. It originally had a picture of raspberries glued on the front. I removed the hooks, soaked the picture off and left it to dry out.

Next I decoupaged a vintage Alice in Wonderland Tea Party illustration on the front using Mod Podge. After I attached the image I then Mod Podged over the top, and again left to completely dry out.

I then waxed the whole wooden plaque with Annie Sloan clear wax, and once dry buffed to a soft sheen before replacing the hooks. Looks great !

The big art deco dressing table was picked up on Sunday. The lady that bought it was looking for more bedroom furniture, but I don't tend to do anything larger than dressing tables.

I think I managed to fix the problem I was having with my blog not displaying images for the last week or so. That was the reason I didn't post at the weekend, but it seems ok now :)

Have a great week!