Two-tiered stand, part two....

Hi Everyone.  The other day I showed you a recent find of mine.  The two-tiered stand that I got from the junk shop for $5.00.  It had a little damage on it but nothing that I couldn't repair with a little Kwik Wood.  So in case you missed the before, here it is.

And for the after....

 I painted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.   At first I tried French Linen but wasn't happy with it...

 ...I thought about using Old White (my go to color) but I wanted something different...

 ...so I repainted it in Graphite....

 ...and when I sanded it...some of the French Linen came through...

...which gives it an interesting, warn look...then I waxed it with clear wax.  What do you think?  I'm happy with it and it will be a great addition to the Studio.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
http://missmustardseed.com/2013/07/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-a-link-party-24/
http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2013/07/party-junk-195-a-link-party.html 
http://www.alderberryhill.com/make-the-scene-monday-83/ 
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2013/07/show-me-what-ya-got-129.html 
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/07/wow-us-wednesdays-127.html 
http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/2013/07/rock-n-share-50.html
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/07/186th-power-of-paint-party-popp.html 
http://startathome.blogspot.com/2013/07/paint-party-6.html 
http://staceyembracingchange.com/2013/07/18/creative-inspirations-linky-party-46 
http://madeinaday.com/2013/07/18/made-u-look-linky-77 
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2013/07/catch-as-catch-can-130.html 
http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2013/07/inspire-me-please-linky-party-20/ 
http://www.kammyskorner.com/2013/07/trash-2-treasure-tuesday-link-party_29.html 

Dresser bench...

Hi Everyone!  I meant to share this with you Wednesday, but the weather wasn't cooperating enough for me to get pictures of it.  My cousin had given me an old dresser a few years back that had two broken drawers.  I thought about repairing the drawers but never got around to it.  It sat in my garage for  while, then I moved it inside and used it despite the broken drawers until I finally decided to do something with it.  And once I decided, I went straight to work...without ever taking a real before picture.  Here's the best I can do....once I had already cut the dresser apart...this shows the bottom half of the dresser...

This shows the top half of the dresser....

I cut it apart on my table saw...then added some additional support inside the dresser and a new faceplate where the other drawer had been.

I painted the inside of the dresser in grey paint and then painted the outside in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

I upholstered the top in red ticking material.  I still need to sand and wax it but by the time I get that done and the top reattached, the light won't be any good.

I love the star detail on the drawer pulls.  I have the drawer faces of the two broken drawers that have these same pulls on them...can't wait to do something with those....

I like how the inside is a little lighter shade than the outside...plus it's unexpected.

 This dresser bench will be for sale at the Open House this weekend...once I distress it and wax it!  

I have a little more to finish on my to do list for tonight...but all the big work is done and I've even managed to get a good night sleep every night this week.  My to do lists and plans for what needs to be done and when it should be done by, have really helped me stay on track.  I even put sleep on my to do list...to make sure I get enough of it.  I'm getting excited and a little nervous...I'll be more nervous and anxious tomorrow night...but it's almost here...and I can't wait!  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:

http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/2013/05/rock-n-share-43.html 

http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2013/06/catch-as-catch-can-125.html 

Serpentine dresser reveal and an announcement....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your weekend was great.  I've had a very productive weekend working on my studio.  I'm getting closer to being done with it.  Thank goodness because I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the fall craft season which will be here before I know it.

If you recall, I showed you almost two weeks ago a dresser that I picked up for $20, you can see that here.

 There really wasn't anything terrible about the finish on this dresser.  It had a small water ring on the top but I didn't really like the orange wood look.  I have several other things that are this color that I would NOT paint because they are very special pieces to me.  I know that there are some of you out there that believe you shouldn't paint a piece of furniture like this, so if that's you, then please stop reading at this point!  Otherwise, please feel free to continue reading.  And know that I bought this dresser for the express purpose of painting it. 

 And here it is.  I stripped the top and stained it with dark walnut.  I used a product I hadn't used before, it's a foam stain.  And it worked wonderfully.

 I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I painted the body in Graphite and the drawer fronts in Old White.  For the pulls I used the same barn red paint that I mixed for the the shutters I did. 

 I really like how it turned out.  And it looks great in the studio with the blue and gray wall colors.

 I staged the dresser with some things I've made, but it won't stay this way.  I needed this to house my tv so that it can swivel back and forth between the two spaces.  I like to work in the studio with the tv on and this way I didn't need two sets.

With this dresser finished, I'm another step closer to being "finished" with my studio.  I say finished, but we all know that we're never completely finished.

There's only a few big things that I have left to do and some things that need painted like the table legs that I built, a storage cart and the chairs at the tables but I will probably hold off on painting them until after fair season is over.  But I won't hold off the reveal for those things to be completed.

And now onto my little announcement.  You might have noticed that my header changed.  I did that to update the pics of things I've made and because I wanted consistency across sites like this one, FB and my new site.  I created a website for my business.  I feel like my little business is growing up.  I couldn't buy the domain name that I wanted of fullcirclecreations so I had to settle for www.fullcirclecreationsia.com.  Parts of the site are still under construction and probably will be for  a little while as I start working on building up inventory for fair season, but I'll try to get it done as soon as I can.  Please take a look at it and let me know what you think.  And any suggestions would be appreciated.  There are already a few things I want to change.  Now I need to finish working on a few orders that have come in this week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
http://madeinaday.com/2012/08/02/made-u-look-linky-35/ 
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/2012/08/catch-as-catch-can-83.html 
http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2012/08/link-up-with-me-liz-marie-12/ 
http://www.504main.com/2012/08/tickled-pink-no-109.html 
http://shadesofamberinc.blogspot.com/2012/08/chalk-paint-link-party_28.html 

Headboard bench for a client...

Hi Everyone!  I want to show you the bench that I made for a client while I was in the middle of getting ready for the last craft fair.  My client picked it up last week and loved it.  Here is the before. 

 I just love the delicate lines of this headboard.  It definitely looks very feminine to me.  When my mom and I went shopping for headboards, I saw this and knew that it was perfect for this client.

And here it is finished.  My client wanted it painted this color.  She saw the bench that I had taken to the Labor Day Market which was this same color and loved it.  It is Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Graphite.  With both dark and clear wax.

I think it turned out nice and what's even better, is that I think my client was very happy with it.  So now I need to get finished up with the benches I'm taking to the Red Cross Craft Fair next week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Ethan Allen bench completed....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I was busy finishing several benches and handpainted signs trying to get ready for the craft fair this coming Saturday.  I wanted to share with you the bench I finished for the Labor Day craft fair which was actually purchased by a friend of mine.

It is the Ethan Allen bed that I almost felt guilty for cutting apart (almost).  Doesn't it make a nice bench?

 Here it is in the shop just after I painted it.  I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Graphite.

 Then I sanded it and waxed it using both clear and dark wax.

 In certain lights it really looks grey and in others it has a blue tint.

 I used a stencil to add the saying to it.  I got this stencil several years ago and have used it so many times on so many signs and benches.  It's the perfect saying for a bench.  And since I have the stencil, there's no reason to hand paint the sign on this bench.

 This is just after we got things set up at the Essex Labor Day Market. 

There was a lot of interest in the bench and it sold to a friend that I used to work with.  He let me keep it in the space until after the Labor Day Parade and then a couple of football kids came and took it away.  I did get an order for another bench so now I'm on the hunt for more headboards since my inventory has been greatly depleted over the last month.  Thanks for stopping by.