A Lovely Birthday from Beginning to End...

I celebrated my 32nd birthday on Saturday. 

Funny, that number sounds bigger when I see it in print than it does when I say it!

My husband handed me a Starbucks gift card and took the little boys so that I could have the entire day to myself.  What a luxury!

I headed out the door early to shop a couple of estate sales!

Have you seen these cute little pink frosted donuts at Starbucks?  I think they're actually called birthday cake donuts!  They are sort of a birthday breakfast tradition for me.  Healthy, I know!  More than anything, I think they're just pretty, and a fun and frivolous birthday treat!

Estate sale shopping was fun, and I brought home quite a few treasures, many of which you will be seeing very soon!  This sweet little wooden dollhouse is one treasure that I am planning to keep! 

I have always wanted a doll house and this one is such a nice size, and I adore the tiny scalloped wood shingles!

I am loving the character it adds to our dining room buffet, alongside the pretty, springy watering can of flowers from my mom!  It's a great romantic cottage home accessory and I can think of a dozen places where it would look good in our home!  Yes, this one is a keeper for sure!

(photo by Solanah of Vixen Vintage)

I've always thought that it was a bit sad that I share my birthday with the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (and Lincoln's assassination!).  It just worked out this year though, as Solanah of Vixen Vintage was hosting a lovely Titanic Tea!  My mom and I dressed up in our prettiest, vintage looking attire and had a wonderful afternoon at the Grant House at Fort Vancouver.  If you love vintage clothing, you will adore Solanah's blog!  She is such a sweetie too, and her tea party was a lot of fun!  There were some amazing costumes at this event and the venue was wonderful! 

It was a perfect mother/daughter birthday outing! 

Later that evening, my husband and little boys met me at home with a takeout dinner, so I didn't have to do any cooking or kitchen cleaning on my birthday! How thoughtful!

A special birthday present arrived in the mail this week!  My dear friend Jessica made this sweet pink felted wool handbag just for me!  Isn't it adorable?  I love the color and the darling row of handmade rosettes!  Jessica recently opened an Etsy Boutique, Made By J where she sells her lovely creations!  Thank you for such a wonderful and meaningful gift, Jess!  I will treasure it! 

That's it for now... I better go grab my paint brush and get to work! 

I hope to have more projects to share with you soon!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Joining these fun parties today:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

 

Art Deco Darling to English Cottage Chic!

The entire Annie Sloan workshop experience was a thrill for me, but I would have to say that the highlight was having the opportunity to pick Annie's brain about a window display I am working on for Camas Antiques.  I have been busily squirreling away special furniture pieces in preparation for this large window display that I will be putting together for the month of May!  My inspiration is Jane Austen and of course everything from mirrors to chairs will be painted in ASCP. 

When I shared my project ideas with Annie and asked for her thoughts on what colors would best represent the English countryside of the 1800's, her eyes sparkled and she enthusiastically spouted off a long list of lovely colors!  I wish I could have recorded our conversation.  I jotted down notes as quickly as I could but I couldn't capture in writing the passion and excitement in Annie's voice as she shared her ideas with me!  It seems I had struck a chord with Annie when I mentioned Jane Austen!  Annie shared with me that many of her chalk paint colors were inspired by the fine art of 19th Century, and of course she was a great fan of Jane Austen novels and movies as well!

I was considering not posting about my project with you until my display was all put together, but I am so focused on pieces for the window right now that I probably wouldn't have anything else to post about this month if I didn't!  So, I've decided to take you on this journey with me.  For the next couple of weeks I will be sharing furniture makeovers and vignettes that will come together during the first week of May for my Jane Austen inspired window!

This lovely cupboard has been in progress for weeks now but it is finally completed and will be hanging out in my dining room for the rest of the month!  I am trying not to get too used to it...but it looks so lovely in my home! 
If you are a lover of wood grain, don't flinch!  That is not solid mahogany...just a veneer!

 

The decorative wood inlays were broken in several places, so I didn't feel too guilty about removing them.  They gave the cupboard a formal art deco feel, as did the flame mahogany looking veneer.  Not that there is anything unappealing about art deco...it's just not the look I was going for with my Jane Austen theme!  The scalloped bottom of this piece is what inspired me to take it to cottage chic with old English appeal!  I like to think that it could have come right out of the dining room of one Ms. Elizabeth Bennett. 

I used one of my favorite finishes for this lovely piece.  I started with an all over coat in Old White with short, varied, uneven brush strokes, followed by one coat in Paris Grey with the same method.  Next, I distressed with a fine grit sanding sponge.  Annie Sloan prefers using small pieces of sand paper and does her distressing after a coat of clear wax is applied.  Sanding before waxing is definitely messier, but I like how easily the chalk paint distresses before it's waxed.  I also feel like a sanding sponge is easier to handle than a piece of sand paper.  This is just my preference for working on a larger piece of furniture.  I completed the cupboard with Annie's clear and dark waxes.

Are you a chalkaholic?  Whether you're just getting started, still contemplating a chalk paint purchase or you've been using Annie Sloan's products since the very beginning, I invite you to follow my "Paint it Annie" chalk paint inspiration board on Pinterest!  I may have even featured one of your own chalk paint projects!  I created this board long before I started using ASCP.  Seeing the colors on actual pieces of furniture really helped me decide which ones I wanted to get started with!  I continue to be amazed and inspired by all of the fabulous makeovers out there in blogland! 

Keep up the wonderful work!

And now, I must go grab some lunch and get back to work myself!  I have so many projects to complete over the next couple of weeks!  I hope you are having a wonderful day! 

Thank you so much for your sweet visit!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

I will be joining in on these fun parties!

Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday with Miss Mustard Seed

Friday Feature Party at Redoux Interiors

Have a Blessed Easter Weekend!

Happy Easter weekend! 

This is my very favorite Holiday and season.  But would you believe that my Easter decorations didn't even make it out of the attic this year?  We've just been so busy!  No one seems to miss them though...  Maybe it's because our house pretty much looks like Easter most of the year without the additional bunnies, eggs and chicks!

I do have these darlings to share with you today.  They followed me home from an estate sale a couple of weeks ago.  Aren't they sweet?

The pretty pink ticking beneath them was a thoughtful gift from a dear friend!  She brought it to me just yesterday and I keep staring at it...wondering what fun project I will use it for! 

Thank you, Rebecca for being such a sweet friend and for thinking of me!

The magnolias are in bloom and their sweet fragrance is so lovely.

Since I didn't get around to doing many Spring projects this year, I thought I would share links to a few of my favorites from 2011.  Maybe there is one here that you missed or that you might like to revisit!

Bunny Epergne, Camellias and Eggs

 

Happiest of Easter Weekends to You, Dear Friends

Girly Pinks...Tutus, Magnolias and Cupcakes

Draw a Bunny - Easter Banner

Easter Baskets on Parade

Little French Nest

Thank you for your sweet visit, friends! 

 I love for you to join me on Facebook and Pinterest if you haven't done so already!  Please follow the links at the top of my right sidebar.  Thank you!

Wishing you a very Blessed Easter!

Amanda

Sharing with Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

A Balancing Act and a Table Makeover

I didn't do a lot of painting last week and I didn't do a lot of blogging either.  My excuse...I had to clean my house for guests!  I don't know about you, but if one area of my life is organized and productive, another suffers.  I am learning to accept that and just do the best that I can!


If you walk into my house and the living room is clean, be assured that the beds are not made and I probably have piles of laundry on my bedroom floor waiting to be folded and put away.  If my space at the antique mall is fully stocked with freshly painted pieces, then I probably have a sink full of dirty dishes at home and I most likely haven't washed my hair in 3 days! 

So, I just wanted to say to you, my readers and friends that my world is happy, but far from perfect!  If you see a picture of a room in my house and everything looks neat and tidy, know that I was busily tidying up and "staging" just for that photo.  Chances are that the rest of my house is in disarray, and that's okay! 
Now, onto the makeover!  By the way, this was completed 2 weeks ago...before I started cleaning house!

Presently, this table is in my living room but I am working on a set of chairs that I think will join it at the shop next month!  In the meantime, it's a great place to set up Monopoly Golf.  I should have left the game sprawled out on the table top for this photo, instead of tidying up and staging!  I didn't know where this post was going until I sat down to write it!

These close-up shots really exaggerate and demonstrate the effect of the waxing.  I think it's interesting, and helpful to see especially what the dark wax does to the finish.

To achieve this finish, I used short, varied brush strokes instead of the traditional long, back and forth painting method.  This is Annie Sloan's method for an old world paint finish.  I loved watching Annie paint at the workshop I attended.  Of course she makes it look absolutely effortless.  I am still working on getting that perfectly imperfect old patina.  I played with a few variations of Paris Grey and Old White on the table top which gave it almost a marbled look...not what I had in mind exactly, but I like it!

Something that Annie talked about at the workshop was the importance of allowing the wax to cure, specifically on a table top before it is heavily used.  She admitted that her own dining table has her son's signiture imprinted on it because he sat down to sign a paper just a day or two after she had finished waxing it!  I think this is a good tip to keep in mind.  I've had a table cloth on this table and it's really only been used for board games.  The finish is holding up great but I am happy to give it time to fully cure before I take it to the shop and cover it with vintage treasures!

Thank you for your sweet visit!  I hope you are having a fabulous week!  I am back to painting, and my house is no longer clean.  Se la vie!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

I will be joining in on these fun parties!

Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday with Miss Mustard Seed