Five Years of Blogging...

This month marks the five year anniversary of my first blog post!  Blogging has truly been a wonderful experience for me.  I have made friends in this blogging world that I will cherish forever.  The encouragement I have received from readers and followers has motivated and pushed me forward at times when I doubted myself.  Thank you!

I have learned a lot and come a long ways in my photography and writing skills and yet there still seems to be so much more to learn.  I am so grateful for the wonderful support I have received from other bloggers who have been willing to share their experience and insight with me.  

You have blessed me!

I look forward to continuing this wonderful journey.

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Dresser Face Lift & Thinking Outside of The Stencil

It's been a while since I've shared a furniture makeover here!  But that doesn't mean I haven't been painting!  I am always painting...always!  In fact, I have a backlog of projects waiting to be photographed!  So, be sure to stop back by soon!

This little vanity has been shuffled around quite a bit and finally sold last week!  I painted her sometime ago and had decided to save her for the Street Faire.  When the weather forecast showed wind and rain for the faire, I decided against bringing her to the outdoor sale.  So, into my booth she went late last month and now she's off to a new home.  This left me with some empty space to fill in my booth, so I put all other projects aside this week for a quick dresser redo!

This simple, wood dresser just needed a little face lift!  The color is truly a bit more blue than it appears in the photos.  Please don't ask me how I arrived at this color.  Honestly, it was a matter of mixing up the little bits of blues and greys I had left at the bottom of my Chalk Paint® cans!  I do believe I had 6 cans of Chalk Paint® open at one time only to arrive at something that is probably very comparable to 1 part Paris Grey, 1 part Louis Blue!  Nevertheless, it is a very pretty grey blue!

Here she is all set up in my booth at Camas Antiques.  This photo shows off the actual color much better!

For the drawer embellishments, I manipulated the Floral Scroll stencil from Artisan Enhancements into a slightly different design.  This is easy to do.  Just turn the stencil, flip it over, use it in part, etc...  There is no rule that says you must lay your stencil down and use it straight on!  Be creative with your stencils...take them beyond the original design.

I painted the knobs in Graphite.  I typically don't choose a contrasting color for knobs but I had seen a photo on Pinterest of a vintage dresser similar to this one painted a grey/blue with black knobs and I liked it, so I decided to give it a try!  I used a sanding sponge to distress the corners and edges before apply Annie Sloan's clear and dark waxes, and then she was complete!

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've likely seen this beautiful bloom!  It's called a Cafe au Lait Dahlia and although I wish I could say I had rows of them blooming in my own garden, I don't, I discovered these beauties and many more gorgeous varieties at a flower farm just up the road from me!  Check out Petala Flowers on Instagram and tell Sharika I sent you!  Her flowers are amazing and I am so lucky to have her close by!

Thank you so much for your sweet visit today!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Sharing With:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

 Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Street Faire Success!

I am so behind in posting and I promise I've had the best intentions but life has just been...well, you know!  It's all good...just busier than ever!  I wanted to quickly share a couple of photos from the Street Faire before I move onto other posts.  

The event was super fun, very windy (as is evident by the scattered leaves you see in the photos, adding to the Fall ambiance) but overall a great success!

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to see me!  You made my day!

With this event behind me and the kids settled into their school routine, it's time this girl gets back to painting!  I have some fun projects in the wings and can't wait to share them with you!

Stay tuned!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Follow Me to the Faire!

With just a few more days left to prepare for the Downtown Camas Vintage & Art Street Faire, I am getting butterflies in my stomach, hoping I can pull it all together!  This will be a brief post as I have designated this day for project wrap-up...and there is lots to do!

I took this photo of my daughter yesterday in an old rusty wagon that was previously red and now Antoinette pink!  The wagon is one item finished and ready for the Faire!  And here's a little tidbit for you if you're now thinking you might paint a wagon with Chalk Paint®!  It's hard to tell in the photo but I wanted a "dirty pink" so I used lots of dark wax over the Antoinette.  Now, we all know that wax is not recommended for outdoor use and I wanted this wagon to be usable outdoors, so after giving the wax a couple of days to cure, I sealed the wagon with Artisan Enhancements exterior grade Clear Topcoat Sealer.  Yes, Clear Topcoat Sealer can be used over wax!  In fact, it can also be used under wax.

Okay, back to the Faire...

I love being a part of this fun event!  

Here is a peak at some fun smalls I will have with me at the Faire.  I've been busy embellishing felted pumpkins!  So much fun!  And the concrete cherub is so precious!

I shared a little bit about the history of these wooden drawers on Facebook last week and though they will not be for sale, they will hold lots of little treasures that will certainly be available!  The drawers were built by my husband's grandfather and he made them out of the shipping crates that carried his and grandmother's belongings out west in the 40's when they moved to Camas from Tennessee!

I have quite a collection of beautiful mismatched plates to bring to the Faire as well.  Though these did not belong to my grandmother, this photo was inspired by her.  

On a recent visit with my grandma, she shared with me that as a young mom she could not afford a set of china. Determined to have pretty dishes to use, she collected mismatched china plates from garage sales and thrift stores. My mom chimed in to say how much fun setting the table was when she was a little girl. She loved choosing which unique and beautiful plate she would use. My grandma embraced shabby chic before it was trendy!

Thank you for your kind visit today!  If you live in my neck of the woods, I hope you'll stop by on Saturday and say hello!  Now, wish me luck wrapping up all of those projects today!  

Hopefully I will have more to share later in the week!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Sharing with...

Amaze me Mondays at Dwellings

"LOVE"ly Hand Painted Wall Display

Just a quick post today to share a wall display I finished up yesterday for my shop display!

I am loving the new Vintage Alphabet Stencil set from Artisan Enhancements!  If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you have probably already gotten a glimpse or two of these stencils in use!

Aren't these gold arrow drawer pulls fun?  I'd love to find a cabinet to use them on!

This sign is now up in my booth at Camas Antiques, sweetly displaying a few darling little vintage tops!

Many more treasures were just recently added to my booth!  Fun fun!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Sharing With:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

A Beautiful Dressing Table...For the Broadway Starlet

 

 

I love love love the pretty details on this beautiful vintage vanity and thought long and hard about how I might accent them in a unique way. 

 

 

 I knew I wanted to brighten up the overall look with a lighter paint color and after much consideration eventually decided on Old Ochre Chalk Paint®.

 

 

I had a small jar of a pretty blue Chalk Paint® color that I had mixed up long ago that turned out to be just the accent color I had in mind for the carved details.  Unfortunately the jar wasn't labeled, so I can't be certain but I think the mix was Aubusson Blue, Old White and Paris Grey. 

 

 

I used a small brush to quickly paint the blue over the details and into the carvings, then immediately wiped it back with a baby wipe, exposing the Old Ochre on the raised edges.  By applying a little more pressure with the baby wipe I was able to lightly distress the carvings as well, exposing the original wood and bringing out the details even further. 

 

 

The distressed details on the leg carvings really added a whimsical element to the overall look, don't you think?

 

 

Always looking for an excuse to go fabric shopping, I painted a small sample board in Old Ochre and added some splotches of my custom mixed blue and set off to the fabric store for bench upholstery.

 

 

This unique and interesting fabric was nothing like what I had imagined for the vanity bench but when I saw it I just knew it was right!  I think it has a real 1920's abstract Parisian boudoir feel to it which totally suits the style and era of the vanity. 

 

 

The hardware was lovely and complete, so no replacement or alterations were needed.

 

Once painted and distressed, I sealed everything with Annie Sloan's clear wax and took this beauty out into the backyard for a photo shoot!

 

 

Unfortunately I don't know the history on this beautiful piece of furniture, but I love to dream up stories, so... 

 

Let's just imagine this pretty vanity backstage on Broadway in the dressing room of a young starlet, where she sits at the end of opening night, surrounded by piles of pink roses... The very dressing table where generations of stage actresses before her had stopped to quickly reapply lipstick between scenes, practice a line or two in front of the mirror, or just sit down for a moment to enjoy the reality that their utmost dreams were coming true.

 

Thank you so much for your sweet visit today!

 

 

Find me on Instagram at onegirlinpink for more photos from this shoot as well as many others!

 

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

Sharing With:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

 Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Booth Display Update, Roses and Projects!

I have so enjoyed my roses this spring and can hardly believe it's almost time to trim them back!  I am always a little sad to do so, but it helps to know I will have more to look forward to in just a few weeks, and the hydrangeas should be in full bloom any day now!  Everything has been a little on the early side this year!  I am not complaining!

At least once a week I have been taking bouquets into my booth at Camas Antiques.  

Not only do I feel they add something special to my display, but they seem to sell too!

I also recently added more cute little vintage baby dresses to my space and created this painted sign with hooks to display them on.

The little piano just sold!  I am so happy that it's found a new home!

I will soon have a few more beautiful slips to add to my pink wardrobe!  This has been such a fun addition to my business!

Here we have a little cast-off nightstand updated with Versailles Chalk Paint®.  The drawer was stenciled with Artisan Enhancements Floral Scroll and a new glass knob was added in place of the old brass handle.

This unusual little side table was painted in Old Ochre.  I used Artisan Enhancements Transfer Gel to adhere the pretty Paris papers and sealed the whole piece with Clear Topcoat Sealer.

Both of these tables are new to my booth as of yesterday!

Thank you for your sweet visit today!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Sharing With:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

 Friday's Unfolded at Nancherrow

 Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants