Wood Idea: February 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

BRICK MORTAR vintage shopping

In a little town called New Westminister here in the Greater Vancouver area

we have a new vintage shop that goes by the name

BRICK & MORTAR LIVING

New Westminister really isnt a little town but it is one of the oldest.

From the street you are welcomed with fragrant flowers and wonderful window displays.

Many ppl go antiquing in the shops along Front Street,

but Brick & Mortar Living is just around the corner on Begbie Street

The shop is filled with Rediscovered treasures,

and hand made items.

I personally adore this cherry blossom print and have similar photos stored away

in my files. Maybe one day I will be have one of my own to hang on the wall.

It is one of those places you just love to look around at all the creative ideas

and enjoy the atmosphere before you take a little piece home with you.

And Ill tell you a secret ...

the prices are good too.

If you look closely in the picture above

you can see George in the mirror having a chat with the Jenn, the shop owner.

Does this give any of you ladies ideas?

Before I go, let me share a little mental picture that makes my laugh when I think about it.

It includes a vintage typewriter used as a planter (yes Elisa its your story)

If you take a typewriter such as this one below and use it as a planter it looks extremely charming

but do you also realize every child in the vicinity will still hit the keys but now dirt goes flying everywhere.

I just had to share that in the hopes you can visualize it.

When you stop in to see Jenn at Brick & Mortar Living be sure to mention I sent you.

Here is a link with the stores address and hours:

http://www.facebook.com/brickandmortarliving/info?ref=pb

LINEN AND LACE TREE SKIRTS

Some assume this photo is of a coat,

but really it is a tree skirt I have made from repurposed linens.

This is quite large and is made from a set of 4 pillow cases.

It looks amazing under the tree.

This is a no sew skirt.

Below is a medium sized light blue one made from an old duvet cover

A NO-SEW tutorial can be seen here:

http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/how-to-make-a-no-sew-ruffled-christmas-tree-skirt/index.html

and a SEWN tutorial can been found here:

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/12/ruffled-tree-skirt.html

FRENCH ARMOIRE

Its not a classic French Armoire but its heavy like one. Im over joyed to start the new year

with something so grand and beautiful but I didnt plan it that way.

I painted it in ASCP Old White then a second layer done in a pale turquoise mixed from ASCP Florence.

The third layer was a wash of ASCP Old White. All the distressing is done with a sponge.

Check out my wet distressing tutorial here:

http://blogspot.ca/2013/02/the-art-of-wet-distressing-tutorial.html

The interior just didnt look right when I opened the pretty doors to see a dark hole so I put her on a

dolly and wheeled her out onto the top step and carefully sprayed her when the sun was out on the

first day of the year.

Here you can see the classic dark finish from the good ole 70s

I really enjoy distressing features like these to show them off.

There is lots of storage inside and extra room on top for baskets or display.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sorry for being lax in my posts. We went to Vegas last week for another vacay/anniversary celebration.
Ive been in vacation mode for about 3 weeks! But I did get this finished before we left. As usual, I dont have any where to stage this in my house. I am re-doing the living room where this piece will eventually end up. Ive decided on the colors of charcoal, smoke, grays, smokey blues, teals, whites and pops of yellow. This campaign piece was painted in BM "Naples Blue". Kind of a peacocky color. I love it. I think it will make a great accent piece.

Anyway, here is the before and after. To read all about it, scroll down to the post beneath this one.

The actual color is a little more teal/peacock blue in person.

I applied two coats of the satin BM paint. No chalk paint this time. If you havent tried BM Aura, I
highly recommend it. It is by far the best paint I have ever used. I have tried hundreds (Im not lying!) of gallons of Behr paint. My whole house is painted with it. And while it seems fine, after trying the Aura, I have to say that it goes on beautifully! Yes its pricey, but so is ASCP. You get what you pay for.