TIMELESS Love

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I am seeing some lovely colors coming up on the walls at home and that has really inspired me with the current project and also keeping in mind some lovely challenges.

Had this boring wooden wall clock for 21 yrs now (wedding gift) and I thought it was high time for makeover. 

This was going to be in the family area and keeping the colors of the room and the flavor of the season I decided to give a romantic touch to this wall clock! I was also challenged by my husband that all my home decor projects have a “feminine” look to it and so I told myself this one is NOT going to be that way! So no floral embellishments!

Step1- I removed all the working parts of the clock and kept it safely. This lovely decoupage napkin with a couple and wine is what triggered the romance actually! I started by altering the round dial. I cut a circle to size from a cereal carton and then covered it with black gesso. Once dry, I covered it with white glue and before it dried applied chalky finish "everlasting".

Look at those cracks...my fav technique for quick cracks. I love the black thru the white. I then adhered the napkin to the round base using America decor decoupage glue. Loved how the couples withstood the cracks, lol! You can see them thru....Inked the edges with fired brick DI and my altered dial was ready...no not yet. I covered the needles with black and red alcohol inks, and also had some black color splats here and there! Done.

Step 2- Now for the hexagonal wooden frame. It was a challenge to do any texture here as it has some natural grooves and the width was very less. I dint want to do decoupage and decided to have some diecuts!

Love is a lifelong affair and not just a one day fling...says me! Hence, an array of words from the Sizzix thinlits die. After adhering them, gave a coat of black gesso.

 Once dry, gave a coat of America decor chalky finish “Romance”. Love the red and then went about distressing with a mild sand paper to reveal the black beneath and also some dry brushing of black in spots. 

When this dried, I took some black gesso in my fingers and rubbed it on the die cuts to highlight them. Sealed it with a coat of matte finish varnish.

Step 3- I wanted a change from the regular clock and decided to give some faux pendulum to it. I die cut the hearts using cereal box carton and TH alterations die! Those twins are adorable. I wanted to give a faux distressed metal look. Ran it thru my new sizzix embossing folder and colored with black gesso and then chalky red. Once dry, applied the archival black ink directly on the raised pattern and also inked the edges with the same. Some splats with brushed pewter DS and my metal hearts were ready to dangle. 

The antique metal chain gave the authentic pendulum look!

Pretty simple steps and I managed to give a new look to the clock except that I cannot decide where to hang it... on the blue wall or the white wall.

What is your choice???

 Thank you so much for stopping by and makes me really happy to read what you have to say about this romantic clock.

I would like to enter the following challenges too...

Lulupu – Heart and arrows ( the heart is obvious and the arrow... have a quick look at the needles!)

Eclectic Ellapu – Pink team, Love

Scrapki wyzwaniowo- Masculine project

LTSCB- have a heart

TIOT- A fine romance

Southern Ridge trading Company- anything love

Frilly and Funkie- enjoy your embossing

Simon wednesday Challenge- have a heart

Deco Art products used-

Americana decor black gesso

Chalky finish paint Romance,Everlasting

Decoupage glue

Matte varnish

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers.

Mars and Venus !

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. Super excited to share my furniture makeover project today! I call it the “Mars and Venus” collection...you will see why.

 

I have been having this laminated bed side tables for over 18yrs now and it was a safe bet to experiment on them! I must admit I was a little skeptical about working on laminated furniture but then there is no harm trying. My gut feel said all will go well with the Chalky finish paints!

And yes...it did...here it goes! 

 

Step1- I removed the hardware from both the sets and sanded them with a lot of patience. This created a “tooth” for the paint to adhere. I started with the blue one as I had to impress my husband first! I mixed a bit of Prussian blue acrylic paint to Deco art Chalky finish Vintage and got this funky blue color! 2 patient coats and there was no evidence of a laminated furniture here!

Step 2- I wanted to try distressing using the dry brush technique. This was my maiden attempt on big furniture and with such bold colors. I decided to give it a go. I used the deco art black gesso here. 

With a dry brush and very little gesso on the tips of the bristle, I gave the professional strokes hare and there and voila, to my surprise, I just loved what happened! I got this blue black textured and distressed look to the table. With a smile on my lips and relief in my mind, I started the next procedure.

 

Step 3-For this funky mars collection I chose the macho papers from Tim Holtz ‘Lost and Found’ paper pack. Just what I wanted, blacks, blues and hints of red! I decoupaged them using the Deco art decoupage glue and as I waiting for it to dry, I worked on the handle. I gessoed it and gave it a red and black combination. Once all of this was dry, I gave 2 coats of matte finish varnish and my mars collection was set to go!

 

I have to admit, my husband was super happy to see this and said “I love the oil and grease look here”...well, I was just taken back. Oil and Grease...wow! now that’s a new term for the dry brush technique.

 

I was so happy, I overlooked the little goof up of having the bingo panel upside down! Oops...but then who says BOTTOMS UP is wrong...its fun!

Step4- I move to the twin now with peach colors. I mixed a bit of orange to Deco art  Lace chalky paint and gave 2 coats again. Here I was going to have the lipstick and lotion streaks... (Yes after the oil and grease)...that made sense. I went about giving dry strokes with greens, peach, white and brown to create the distressed look. Not as good as the oil and grease...but my back ground was set.

 

Step 5- For this, I used the Tim Holtz ‘Wall flower’ paper collection in subtle tones of browns and peaches and decoupaged the same.

 

 For the top of the table, I decoupaged a napkin and did some random stamping too. The handles were given a green brown effect and when dry, I gave 2 coats of matte varnish. The utterly feminine set was ready!

 

They were no longer identical twins now! When each of us have such contrasting personalities, why not out furnitures reflect that??? Now these are statement pieces at home and my husband doesn’t want to part with these in the guest bedroom! Do you know what that means...I get to work on MORE furniture at home!

 

Yes, each room will have a statement piece now...they WILL speak a different language! Wait and watch....but as for now, I want your honest opinions here and if you do have a favorite here, let me know. Mars or Venus????

  

Thank you so much for stopping by today and with all these experiments with furniture, I have concluded that “anything” is possible with Chalky Finish paints! Give it a try.

Deco Art products used-

Chalky finish paints Vintage and lace

Decoupage glue

Matte finish varnish

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and recycling.Cheers.

My Sunny Entrance

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I haven’t been blogging for a few weeks now...just not up to it with so much happening in my home town, Chennai. The rains have played havoc there and most of the city has had problems with it. With so much happening and rain lashing I decided to add some sunshine in my project.

I had a scrap wood piece lying around and decided to make a mixed media wall decor for my entrance. Here are a few easy steps...

Step1- I painted the scrap wood with a heavy coat od black gesso. You can actually see how weathered the wood piece is, with some holes already on it! PERFECT for my kind of project. I then applied Vaseline in random spots where I wanted some distressing to be done.

Step2- I applied a coat of white chalky finish paint ( Deco Art Everlasting). It dried in minutes and then I started sanding and in places where the Vaseline was there, the paint peeled off easily to reveal the black color beneath. I had a lovely distressed wood piece to play with now!

Step3- I made my own texture paste and added some white sand to it to make it coarse and grainy. Also added some black gesso to give it a cement like color and as I ran it thru the TCW bricks stencils, it just looked like cemented bricks!

Step 4- I decoupaged some flowers using  modge podge and also added pieces of washi tape in complimenting colors to the panel .An empty glass jar was given a bright yellow color and I added a resin butterfly to it for added interest.

 As the bottle was drying, I added a POP rose flower with flourish on the top of the panel, which I painted white and dry brushed some black gesso for some distressing. 

The base of the bottle has the same washi tape...doesn’t that look cool?

Step 5- Added some script stamped here and there Bo Bunny stamps and tried my hands with some carpentry here! I drilled a few holes to hold the bottle and ran a natural twine (thick) around the bottle to keep it secure on the panel. I hot glued the bottle before tying it with the twine and now it was ready to take up the weight I had imagined!

Step 6- I gave the entire panel 2 coats of varnish as that was drying, I decided to have this little quote to spruce up my mood and entrance. That’s it now it hangs pretty on my entrance wall!

Next time you visit home, do take time to notice it, else I am going to intentionally delay in opening the door, lol ! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and hope your lives are filled with love, warmth and sunshine.

I would like to enter this panel in the following challenges...

Lulupu- Home Decor using modge podge and washi tape

We Love To Create- Ag mixed media

STAMP lorations Ch blog – Mixed media
Inspiration Destination Ch blog- Ag

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and re cycling,

Cheers.

Canned Flowers

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. We are already nearing the end of this year...gone by so fast!

Today I share my DT project for Rhedd’s Creative Spirit where the challenge is always “Anything Goes” ...Mixed media or altered art. The team has some amazing inspirations for you, do hop over and play along.

I had been keeping this empty tin can, actually a liquor bottle packaging for  long time, not knowing what to do. 

Then it struck me that I could make it into a mixed media vase to hold flowers and that what I did and gifted to my aunt who recently celebrated her birthday!

Here is the process..

Step1 -It was long black tin which already has some embossed script and flourish on it, I further added some more texture with Deco Art stencils and embossing paste and covered the whole tin with black gesso.

Step2- Once dry, I colored it with Deco Art Chalky finish paint “everlasting”. It’s a lovely white and dried in minutes!

 I distressed with a sand paper to reveal some black color here and there and my background was ready.

Step3- My first attempt on image transfer using Deco Art matte medium was a success! 

I did a small image for starters to gain confidence...the focal image and the little border running at the bottom and 2 small bows hanging on the side. 

I was keeping this theme just 2 toned!

Step4- Did some random script stamping, bg texture, some butterflies and rubbed the prima chalk edger tin can all around for some depth.

 I left the tin to settle down for a day and then coated it with Deco Art matte varnish. In fact I gave 2 coats as this could carry water!

That’s it...I decorated it with some flowers and my canned flowers as a birthday gift was ready. Hope you liked this and looking forward to seeing you all play.

I would like to have my canned flowers enter the following challenges...

Crafty Sentiments- Black and White

The Crazy Challenge – Vintage

Simon Wednesday Challenge- Ag

Decorate To Celebrate- Ag

Shopping our Stash Ch Blog- Go paperless
Catch the Bug Ch blog- Black and white and pop of color
Deco Art Products Used-
Americana Chalky finish paint- everlasting
Deco Art stencil- Victorian Baroque
Deco Art Media Matte medium
Deco Art Matte Varvish

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers.

Ageing Gracefully !

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome today to my page. I have a REAL project to share today.

If you are thinking I am going to share some beauty tips, lol...No way!

As I told you in my previous post about being a member of the Deco Art Blogger Outreach program and receiving those dream goodies and actually using them on my old furniture’s at home...ITS A DREAM COME TRUE!

Yes, I finally laid my hands on my Kitchen buddy for 10 years which I thought should get a makeover.

This is how the old one looked...

And hers’ how she has aged gracefully, lol! Perfect isn’t it???

Just a few steps and you can get this look.

Step1- I removed all the hardware from the set and voila ready to give the first coat of paint. Yes, its that easy. No priming or sanding...just a clean surface and you are ready to go.

 I used different colors of Chalky finish paints for the trio. Before the first coat, I just rubbed some candle wax on the areas I wanted some distressing and then gave the first coat. Once dry, the second coat. For impatient soul like me, this actually dries VERY fast!

Step2- I love this..DISTRESSING! I had a blast working my Ideology sanding block and scraping paints off from areas. You can actually get carried away here...as to how much you want to distress.

 But I told you I love it...so some extra scrubbing to reveal the wood beneath and this is so easy bcos of the wax.

Step3- A coat of the clear wax. I gave a generous coat of the clear creamy wax and yes, waited patiently for it to dry. No risk here. Once dry I dint think twice to coat it with the dark wax. 

I love weathered and aged stuff and its just magic how instantly on applying this it just changes color! But, you need to apply and wipe off the dark wax before it dries. It’s amazing how it just settles down in the grains of the wood and lends that beauty to the ageing process!

Step4- I was not keeping them plain. I decided to do some decoupage on this with some vintage flower napkins. I tore out portions of flowers and adhered them with the matt gel medium and one dry have a generous coat of the ultra matt varnish too. For the tray, I did some stamping of butterflies and script..its a habit now, lol!

 But I liked the final look! Time to fix the hardware’s back.

That’s how EASY it is!

What was 10 years old has aged beyond so gracefully and beautifully! I hope I made the trio happy. But, I am happy how it looks in my kitchen now. PERFECT...all set to be noticed and complimented.

I already have my eyes and hands set on the next piece of furniture !

Waiting for your comments too.

Deco arts products used..

Americana Decor Chalky Finish- Timeless, Vintage, refreshing, lace (love the names)

Americana decor cream wax- clear and dark brown

Deco Art media matt medium

Americana Decor Ultra matte varnish

Have a great day.

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and recycling.

Cheers.