My Kids Rooms.

As you can imagine, my kid’s rooms have been painted several times.  Jake was my first born and while pregnant with him (not knowing if I was having a boy or girl) I painted my first mural.  This is what started my love for painting.  I painted the nursery with a colorwashed blue sky, grass, picket fence, tree, flowers and Suzy’s Zoo characters. Unfortunately, I can’t find my pictures of this right now.

While pregnant with Jess, Jake moved to his big boy room which was painted to look like Bikini Bottom from SpongeBob.

 

 

 

 

After a few years with SpongeBob, I changed Jake’s room to Herbie cars.  I don’t have pictures of this, because I was never very crazy about the way it turned out. 

Currently, Jake’s room is painted to look like cinder blocks with graffiti on it.  I also painted a large area with chalkboard paint so he can add his own graffiti. As you can see, other people like to add to it too.

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Jess had the Suzi’s Zoo room for awhile, we added a rainbow to one wall.  Then, a couple years ago I decided it was finally time to paint over it and let Jess express herself.

Jess’ room is dark pink, light pink and black.  I painted a harlequin pattern on her headboard wall and she added some stick on Bratz wall art.  

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Yes, it is very bright.  I fits her rockstar, girly, diva attitude perfectly.

Kids rooms are my favorite to paint.  I love to get the kids involved and have them help decide some of the key features.  Even if we adults don’t agree, I think it’s great to let them have it their way (to certain extents).

I designed their current rooms to hopefully last awhile.  Since the business is picking up, I don’t have as much time to repaint theirs as often.  I think they each have a room they can live with for several more years.  Although, I’m sure if they came up with another cool idea and asked me to do it I would… it’s fun to paint.

My Cabin Bathroom

This is my bathroom.  I started this project because I wanted to test painting over linoleum.  I told my husband I wanted to paint tree stumps on the floor with leaves scattered around it.  His comment was “you want to do what”.  Fortunately, I’ve yet to do something that he hasn’t liked, so I’ve still the freedom to paint as I please. 

 

 

We have a cabin in Northern Wisconsin and I just love all the cabin decor you can find.  So, to go with my tree stumps I decided to make this my little cabin away from the cabin.

On the walls, I stenciled some dragon flies with Venetian Plaster.  Then, I applied three more coats of Venetian Plaster over top.  This makes them very subtle.  Can you see it next to my towel hook?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the work was all done, I got to embellish the room with my cabin items.  I absolutely LOVE this room, it makes me smile and reminds me of Up North.

The only thing I STILL need to do is add a picture of our Cabin to the wall about the towel bar.  I haven’t decided if I want to paint one or just do a drawing.  After that’s done, this room will be perfect.

The Lindy’s project…

Here is some work I did at a restaurant in town.  The place started out as a little neighborhood bar.  A couple years ago, they did a huge renovation.  Now, it’s one of the most beautiful buildings in town (in my opinion).  It’s also got an amazing view of Bangs lake.

This is the faux brick wall I painted along with the billboard sign with their logo.  It was a lot of fun painting the brick while the real brick layers were working on the brick columns shown in the same picture.

 

 

This is a close up of the billboard I painted on the brick wall.  I woodgrained it and gave it an aged look.  We wanted it to look like an old sign.

 

 

These columns behind the bar are also faux.  They wanted brick columns, but the bar wasn’t strong enough to hold real brick.  I got some pretty funny looks carrying in these brick columns.  People thought I was really strong.  It was pretty funny.

 

 

Finally, here is a picture of the ceiling I did for them.  It’s got an aged patina look.  It really finishes off the space.

Luckily, I was able to work on it at home and have it installed by one of the workers.

This is one of those jobs that you don’t get much recognition from, because most people think it’s real and not painted.  A couple of the waitresses get a kick out of telling the customers that it’s actually paint and not real brick.

Keep your eyes open.  You never know you might be looking at something painted instead of the real thing.  That’s what makes faux finishing so much fun.

Taxes, cleaning and painting…..

Ok, I’ve gotten sidetracked once again.  No, it hasn’t REALLY taken me this long to clean the studio.  I had the studio clean last week.  Then, I had my taxes than really needed to be done.  There was also a painting job thrown in the mix and preparing for kids getting a week off school for spring break.

I can actually see what paints and supplies I’ve got now.  I love when it’s clean, but why doesn’t it ever last???????

  I must confess… part of the reason I didn’t post sooner is because I wash hoping to get the sides of this desk finished first.  I did get the panels stained.  I just haven’t been able to get them cut down to size.  One of these days I’ll get them done.  I did however build this rack to hold my sample boards and other items.

Hopefully your projects are getting done quicker than mine these days.  Soon, it’ll be even harder to stay inside.  I think spring is finally here after this last snow storm.

I FINISHED THE SIDES OF THE DESK…Finally!!!!

Sometimes all it takes is admitting you don’t know when you’ll get it done.  Yesterday while the kids had friends over playing, I finished the sides for the desk.  What as difference it makes.  Unfortunately, the kids broke my camera yesterday so I can’t take a picture yet.  If that is the worst that happens over spring break, it’s not too bad.  My camera has been slowly dying anyway, I guess they just helped it along.  Hopefully, I’ll be going out this weekend to pick a new one.  I really need to be able to take pictures of my paintings. 

My Studio – before the cleaning

I can’t believe I’ve let my studio get so messy.  It usually gets messy when I’m in the middle of projects, but this time it has gotten WAY out of control.  Look, you can’t even see my desk because it’s buried.

One of my favorite things in the studio is my sink.  What a luxury it is to not have to run to the garage to clean my brushes.

So, my current project is to get this studio back in order.  I started on it yesterday and plan on finishing it today.  I need to have room so I can get started on some sample boards I need to do.  Also I am procrastinating a little. I’m supposed to be working on getting my tax stuff ready.  John if you are reading this, I promise I’ll work on the taxes tomorrow. 

I’ll post the completed project…hopefully later today.

Sadie Wellington Salon

This is a salon I recently did some work in.  It has a very warm feeling when you walk into it.  One wall is exposed brick.  I just love the feeling exposed brick adds to a space.  They requested that I frame in the mirrors to bring some warmth to that side of the room.                                             

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Before pictures of the two mirrors.  The larger mirror is 30ft. long and the smaller one is 5ft. long.

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Here we are in action, applying the copper base for our faux finish.

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Finally, here is the finished product.  After removing the tape, I stepped back to inspect the job.  I must say, this was the first time I ever got the feeling that the finish product had always been there.  It fits in so perfectly to the space and really frames the mirrors nicely.

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These before and after pictures sure show how a faux finish can transform a space into something wonderful. 

If you are ever in the area, check of this salon.  Sadie Wellington Salon is located in Barrington, Illinois.   For more information about them, check out their website http://www.swsalon.com.

My EXPO booth.

 

 

 

 

 

For weeks I’ve been creating columns, painting panels and refinishing furniture.  All this in preparation for our local business EXPO.  Well, last weekend was the EXPO and it was VERY successful.

I was very happy with the way my booth came together.  I’d visualized it in my head for months.  It’s awesome when my visions actually become reality (there are many times I can’t get that to work out).  I think this years booth looked much more put-together and professional than last years.  I’m already thinking of a few minor changes for next year, but for now it’s done.

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photos by Joyce http://perfect-beginning.blogspot.com/

The EXPO was very busy this year.  There were 900 adults that came through the first day alone.  I never heard a final count for Sunday, but I would guess it had to be at least 500 people.  I got a lot of positive feedback and many leads.  I offered a drawing for a gift certificate toward a faux finish and got 33 people that entered.  Last year I think I only got 7 or 8 entries.  That’s a pretty good increase if you ask me.

I enjoy doing the EXPO, and love that my husband John joins me in the booth.  He really believes in me and it shows when he talks to people about my work. 

The booth is all packed up and ready to be put away until next time.  So… now the fun begins.  It’s time to start making those follow-up calls and schedule some appointments.