Gone The Sun

My favorite time of the day. 
Evenings on the lanai relaxing and sanding down some edges on Cottage Shabby Chic wood working projects.

Watching the sun go down on another Florida Monday.
Day is done.

Anne

Shabby Chic Finishing Part 2

Putting the final touches on any project is usually the most fun.
Today I am waxing, polishing and cleaning the jewlery box started yesterday.

Step 3.  Applying wax.

applying the wax

With a soft rag apply one thin coat of wax to the wood surface. If the item you are waxing has glass or mirrors on it tape them off so you don't get wax on the glass.  It is hard to remove.  I like to use beeswax like this product. link  There are many places on the internet where you can buy beeswax.  My niece is raising bees and I wonder what she will do with the left over combs after she extracts that deliscious honey! 

Olver Honey Combs yummm

Of course you can also use a manufactured furniture wax like Minwax Paste wax link
Once the wax is applied allow it to dry for a minimum of 10 mins. 

polishing with a soft hand towel

Polishing... with another soft cloth begin polishing after the wax has dried.  This just takes elbow greese.  Lots of elbow greese! I like to go in one direction and really rub hard until I get a luster going on.  If wax is caked into any little tight spots I use an old soft toothbrush to get at it.  The wood is going to start feeling like a smooth beach stone.  Wax dries to a hard durable finish. 

Step 4.
Cleaning the inside compartments of the jewelry box.  My method is to knock out what ever I can.  Then I use 2" wide tape do get the job done. Wads and wads of tape.  I stick it on and press it down firmly. I use the pointy end of an old paint brush to get the tape into little corners and seams.  Voila when you pull the tape off the dirt and most of the grime comes with it.  This takes awhile when there are lots of little drawers.  It is worth taking the time to do it right.

tape pulling out the grime

As you can see this drawer was pretty dirty. The red velveteen fabric had a lot of dust and grime on it.

dust in all the corners using a stick to get it pressed into all the crannies...

The sides and corners were full of dust and lint.  It took alot of tape to get all that up.  A small stained area remained after the dust and grime was pulled away. 

cleaning with stain remover

A paper towel with some stain remover will get that stain out.  I have used this stain remover on all colors of velveteen linings and never had a mishap with it. I have sprayed it directly onto the interior of the box as well as a little on the paper towel. 

looking new and clean

 

I just dab away at it until it comes clean and look what a great job it did.  It looks new.  This is also a time when you can glue down any loose lining.  If the lining is so badly damaged that you cannot get it clean pull it out. You can always reline it with fabric or paper.
Once my jewelry box is painted, polished and cleaned I like to set it in the sunshine for several hours.  Sunshine really cleans.  It removes any lingering odors and does wonders to freshen up your project.  Good old Mr Sunshine.

Seven clean drawers in the sun!

I love the way this turned out. The Paris Gray paint is so rich and pretty. It is just the way I imagine Paris to be on a foggy spring night when the street lights come on.  Romantic ...Well a girl can dream...

 

 

 

ready for jewels!

available in my Etsy Shop here:  link

Enjoy some Shabby Chic !
weelambie/Anne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shabby Chic Finishing Part 1

I was in a gray mood today. Paris Gray.
While the rest of Florida was preparing for Isaac's arrival I was busy on the lanaii painting.

I wanted to try and do some dry brush painting that I had heard of.  I had a large wooden vintage jewelry box to refinish. 
This is my version in the new technique.

Step 1.
I lightly sanded the wood and painted it with white paint.  The trick is to put very little paint on your brush.  The wood got a quick covering in white and dried quickly in the Florida sun.  I also had time to wash the brush and let it dry.
Step 2.
With gray paint.  I am calling it 'Paris Gray' and again using very little paint on the dry brush I covered all the white paint with gray. 

 

You can see how streaky the white paint is on the side of the box.  The top has a coat of gray.  I should have taken a close up picture for you.

 

  

 

Step 3.  With a little piece of sandpaper I lightly sanded the piece. I like to sand off just a little paint at a time.  In this way I can be in controll of how much of the underlying white paint shows through as well as the original stain and the wood. I sand primarily on the corners and around any knobs.  I want it to look like it was worn away over time with lots of use.

 

This box has a red velveteen lining.  It is almost perfect.  There is only one drawer that has any staining in it.  I will attack that in tomorrow's lesson.

 

 

 

I also had time to put a coat of  Paris Gray on this candle stand.

 

In my next post I will cover cleaning the drawers and waxing for the perfect finish to this Shabby Chic project.   

 

'Paris Gray' 

 

Gray is a trendy color right now.  Here are some major gray pieces from my friends shop's on Etsy. 

 

 

Vintage Stetson Fedora Hat

  

  Vintage Stetson found at The Inspired Trader you can shop for it here...

 

 

Vintage Grey Linen Skirt

Natalia has this sexy skirt for sale in her shop located here,

 

You just might want to add a splash of color to these pieces and there are plenty to choose from here...

 

Olympian Blue Art Deco Brooch

Visit Gail's shop The Vintage Funkery for this great pin...
 

 

Hurricane Isaac is heading up towards the Gulf of Mexico and I am getting ready to 'hunker down' as they say here on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  We have bottles of water, candles and batteries and food supplies all ready. 
The schools have been notified to stay closed on Monday and the RNC is being delayed one day.  
Pray it is just a lot of rain and some wind. 
Anne

 

Shabby Cottage Chic Picture Frame

I enjoyed my yard sale hunt this am. It was very hot and I melted quickly, but I did get some good finds.
It was picture frame day as that is what I found the most of.

This vintage metal frame was in amazing condition. It must be from the 1950's.

  I love the silver metal peaking out from the white finish.

Easel frames are very graceful.  This one also has the old picture wire attached so that it can also be hung from the wall.  Faded black velvet in good condition still covers the back of the frame.  I didn't change the frame a bit.  It was perfect just the way it was.

I didn't like the frame to be empty so I had some fun making a mixed media collage.

Pretty lilac paper, some pearls, a vintage ecru crochet doily and a black and white vintage snap shot were all tucked together.  I added lace and ribbon and stamped a key design on it.  I think it is the key to the hearts of this loving elderly couple.

Weelambie/ Anne

Shabby Cottage Chic Jewelry Box

Shabby Cottage Chic...what it looks like to me...
decorating in soft tones...lots of white...vintage....chippy... distressed wood....worn and loved fabrics....greens....blues....pinks....browns....all the pretty soft colors of a spring day misted over with dew and soft sunlight.

Sea Breeze Blue jewelry box... black velvet lining...lots of storage room for all your favorite jewels.
This box is a heavy wooden box from the 1980's that I found at a thrift shop.  I love the black velvet lining and the heavy black wrought iron handles and latch. 
It has been upcycled by me and painted with this lovely soft blue paint.  I sanded and then waxed it with bees wax by hand to bring out a soft satin patina. 

WeelambieVintage Shabby Cottage Chic jewelry box. 
How do you like my little collectible  Avon Lamb?  It still has some perfume in it.  I think it is the sweetest little lamb and I couldn't resist getting it to ad to my shop pictures.
Anne   https://www.etsy.com/listing/105977743/shabby-cottage-chic-jewelery-box-chippy

Upcycling Shabby Chic / Vintage

Works in progress upcycling vintage to Shabby Chic with paint, bees wax and elbow grease. 

VINTAGE SHELF BEING MADE INTO HANDMADE SHELF??

Etsy Vintage vs Etsy Handmade
When I tried to list my first upcycled vintage jewerly box on Etsy I ran into the problem of classifying items correctly.  I thought if something was vintage when I started repairing, sanding, painting it that it would still be vintage when I was done.  I was wrong... apparently. " Vintage is vintage and handmade is handmade"  or so I have been told.  This still mystifies me.  Many old vintage and even antique items have been repaired, painted, fixed up, given new life over the decades.  We still call them antiques and vintage.  If you do it on etsy you have somehow falsified the 'vintage' aspect and made something else, something new, something handmade.  I might even be brave enough or foolish enough to call it OOAK... an Etsy anagram for One Of A Kind. 
Now I have to come to terms with this as Etsy is inflexible on some points while it flexes wildly on others. 
I don't plan to rock the boat.
I just do. I step in a new boat...this time the boat of 'upcycling vintage' and the boat tips.
My survival will depend on how I manouver in this new boat.  The boat will not change it will still  float.  I will be the one tossed about and possibly drown.  Well isn't that a little melodramatic, but that is me always with the drama. 
I still call it upcycled Vintage. After all that is exactly what it is.  I will list it under handmade and tag it with both.  I just can't add my favorite teams tag to it as that has too much Integrity in it to go on something once vintag(still vintage) and now handmade.  I was told this today.   Remove the team's tag.  It stung like a slap in the face.  I have never been good at following rules.  It is in my nature to see things from many aspects, many angles, in many lights.  I am terrible at black and white, right and wrong, I always find other ways.  I am tolerent of others.  I am forgiving to a fault.  Something my mother told me could bite me in the butt. 
I probably should have been sent to a military school...gotten the rules drilled into me.  Instead I grew up Unitarian with some Quaker tossed in here and there.   So I give in and bend allow them to have their views of what is vintage and I will live with mine. 
This is my latest finished piece of Upcycled Shabby Chic

Upcycled Shabby Chic Vintage Jewelry Box

My recipe.
lightly sand
paint,
sand,
x 2
lovingly rub in bees wax and polish to a rich patina. 
Add TLC
decorate with pearls
photograph

be true to your God and your own compass it is probably pointing you in the right direction as God guides you on your way.
Anne

all hung with pearls and jewels

Shabby Chic Furniture Painting

Sanding down various jewelry boxes, shelves, trinket boxes...
Painting with antique white paint and sea breeze blue paint...

Antique White Paint Magazine Rack

Sanding and rubbing in bees wax for a soft lustrous patina.

Sea Breeze Blue Jewelry Box