Wedding dress art...

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I was busy finishing up and starting some new projects.  Continuing with the wedding theme from last week, I painted a wedding dress.  Do you remember the ironing board as art I did this summer?  If you missed it or want to see it again, you can find it here.

Someone asked me if I had ever thought of doing that on a smaller scale.  In other words, she liked it but didn't have room for a large ironing board.  So, I remade it.

 

The picture makes the background look too blue.  It's actually a light gray color.

I took a scrap of luan that I had.  I trimmed it down some because it had a bad spot on it.  It measures approximately 16 1/4" x 20 1/2".  I painted it a medium gray color, then put a lighter color that I mixed with white and antique white.  It still seemed too dark, so I white washed it.

I painted the dress white and outlined it in black.  Then added the Dressmaker to the top.

The pictures really don't do it justice.  It washes it out too much.  There wasn't any sun today so the natural light really wasn't doing it and I had to use the flash.

And I added the same dressmaker info to the bottom.  I found the name and address on line.  All the lettering is done in black.

And there it is.  Now all I have to decide is if I'm going to frame it, or build up the edge on the back side to look like a canvas.  I couldn't decide before I started painting, so I'll have to decide soon.  I also took the sander to it and hit all the edges and some of the background.  I just couldn't bring myself to sand the dress or the lettering.

I'm happy with the way it turned out but I'm wondering if it needs a coat of antiquing added to it.  What do you think?  Do you like it as is or would you like to see it antiqued?  Thanks for stopping by.

The ironing board companion piece...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  Do you remember the wedding dress art I did on the antique ironing board? 

Well, I decided to do a companion piece to go along with the wedding dress.  I found an antique ironing board without legs for $5 at the local antique shop.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture of just the board before I started working on it.

 I drew this tux onto the board free hand and then painted it.  In this picture it looks blue, but I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite so it's actually grey.  I did the details in black.  Then added Tailor to the top.

 I used the same logo on this one as I did on the wedding dress but didn't get a close up of it.  Then I waxed the whole board in dark wax.  Here is the logo from the wedding dress ironing board.

And here they are together at the Craft Fair.  Sorry for the bad picture.  We were in a hurry to get some pictures snapped and I didn't get more than one picture of anything.

Well, thanks for stopping by.

Ironing board as art?......

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I wanted to share with you one of the things I've been working on.  Do you remember this antique ironing board that my aunt Barb gave me?  Well, I turned it into a piece of art which Gail @ myrepurposedlife inspired me to do after she put the mannequin on an ironing board.

I got the idea to put a wedding dress on this ironing board and an advertisement for a Dressmaker in London on it.

 So I drew my idea of a wedding dress onto the ironing board and then painted it with ASPC Old White and then I outlined it in black.

 I handpainted the Dressmaker on the top of the ironing board.

And the details of the Dressmaker and address in London on the bottom.

I know it's hard to tell in this picture but I put clear and dark wax on the entire board to age it, but I just couldn't sand it.  So I'm leaving it as is.  I'm going to see if I can get some better pictures of it, but I just couldn't wait to post it. 

Here's a little bit better picture of the coloring of the dress.  Thanks for stopping by.



Fluff and Fold....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I hope everyone is surviving this heat.  My yard is starting to turn brown since we haven't had rain in 3 weeks and the heat has been terrible.  Last night I awoke to major thunder and lightening but no rain.  Not a drop.  And since I don't want to lose my entire yard, I think I will have to begin watering it at night. 

I want to share with you my latest sign.  Do you remember the antique ironing board that my Aunt Barb gave me?  It had two broken legs and I seriously thought about repairing them since I think this ironing board had belonged to my grandmother.  But I decided to make a laundry sign instead.

And this is what I came up with.  I started out by removing the broken legs and the hardware which was next to impossible as the bolts and nuts holding it together where stripped and the nuts were broken.  So I had to get my Dremel out, attach a cutting wheel to it and cut apart the bolts or cut the nut in half to remove it.

Then I glued and filled some cracks and sanded it down.  I thought about not painting the board itself because it had great patina on it, but after further investigation, there was some damage that needed repaired which meant I'd have to sand it.   And then there goes the patina, so I painted it.

I painted the base coat burnt sienna, then a topcoat of white.  Then I sanded it.

Next, I drew on the letters and then hand painted them in black.

And finally, I added the three hooks to the bottom of the sign.

The only thing I haven't done yet and can't decide if I will, is to sand the letters down and give them that aged look.  What do you think?

I wish I had an actual laundry room (my washer and dryer are in my unfinished basement that used to be the cellar until cement was added to most of the walls and the floor).  So it would not be enjoyed as I do not spend anymore time there then I have to.

Now the trivia question for the day:  What movie has a line in it about Fluff and Fold laundry?  Any ideas?  One character says to another, "Fluff and fold, buddy. Soon as I make it really big, I'm going fluff and fold.  I understand the fold but what's the fluff?"  The other character says, "That's what I write for the paper." 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend and be careful out in the heat!

Lastest finds and a sneak...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I wanted to show you the finds that my personal picker, Aunt Barb got for me.  She called me last week wanting to know if I would be interested in some headboards that she found and of course I jumped on those.  Then she came across a few other goodies and she wouldn't even let me pay her for them.  What an Aunt!  My mom and nephew went to see her earlier this week and my mom brought my treasures to me!  I am so blessed!

My mom and the van loaded.  Don't let my dad see this!  He thinks I have enough stuff already.  So as soon as we unloaded the van, I took pictures of my loot and then put them all away.

An antique large ironing board.  What great patina!

A rectangular headboard.  It can be a bench, or signs, or....

 Spindle head and foot boards.  It's hard to tell, but it sort of reminds me of bamboo.

 Two antique medicine cabinets.  What to do with these???  Any ideas out there?  And another headboard.

Look at those extra large spindles.  They are from an antique table.  I can't wait to make something with those.  Two table leaves, I see large signs in their future or maybe a bench, or...

This is a small headboard.  It's pretty short, so I can't decide if I'm going to make a bench or something else from it, like a message center.  Any thoughts?  Well, a big thank you to my Aunt Barb for finding and giving me all these great things, for free!  and my mom and nephew for bringing them all back and helping me unload the van.  I so do appreciate it!  My aunt also had old  yardsticks that she had put out in the trash can at the curb when my mom mentioned I was wanting some and she went out and rescued them before the garbage men arrived, whew!  Thank goodness.  But she forgot to send them, so I'll get them next time!  

I'll get back to sharing new things, but I've been busy with my nephew.  Here's a sneak peek at what he had I have been working on.

I'm working on a tutorial on this one.  Thanks for stopping by.

Free stuff...

Hi Everyone!  Don't you just get giddy when hear those two little words, free stuff!  I know I do.  I am the lucky recipient of some great free stuff!  And how lucky am I.  It was like Christmas!  My aunt came up this past weekend and brought me a load of some really great stuff.  I'm not able to get to garage sales (I work on Saturdays) and we don't have any Goodwill stores around here and I hardly ever make it to the city to go shopping (plus I'm not really a shopper unless we're talking power tools) so I don't normally have a chance for show and tell time.  But today I do.

 My aunt picked up the headboards in Arizona.  She found them curbside while she was on her daily walk, picked them up and carried them back to her house.  She was so excited to find them and I am so excited to finally get them.  And to my surprise, they match the full size headboard I just used on the last bench I made for Wenstrand Farms.

I've always wanted an antique ironing board but I don't think I ever told my aunt that, but look what I got.  One of the legs is broken, but I don't care.  Now, what to do with it?.....

 And of course the antique chair.  It's really sturdy but of course it needs a new seat and some paint? maybe?

And look at these babies.  I actually picked these up, curbside in my parents neighborhood.  One of the really old, big Victorian homes got new windows and I got these.  I have so many ideas....there are a couple more but they were on the other side of the shop and I forgot to take pictures of them.  So what would you do with my free stuff?