Spontaneous Kitchen Attack

I'm wondering if I am the only person who one minute can simply be putting dishes away on a Saturday morning, and the next minute this happens:

I have lived in my little country house for 4 1/2 years now and love so many things 

about it. 

But there's one thing I have LOATHED the entire time, and that's the counter tops. Both the kitchen and the bathroom have been adorned with the most hideous PINK formica.

 You know, the kind with the little silver glittery flecks in it? 

Because I am not the type to actually plan big projects and be prepared and all, most times these things happen spontaneously. 

Like when putting dishes away when the thought pops into my head that i should just rip off the backsplash and paint it. Now. 

So I did. But then that just made the pinkness of the countertops all the more obvious. So before I knew it, demolition had begun. 

The idea has been in my head for a long time, actually. And a few months ago I did a little corner where my junk drawers are, just to see how it would look. 

By the time Monday morning had come, the entire kitchen had been painted, glazed, and coated with 3 coats of polyurethane. 

But of course, now every time I walked past the bathroom and saw the pink counter top in there I cringed. 

So......this: 

Turned in to this:

I am so happy with the change.

And may I just say, don't let a "big" project like this scare you or keep you from making a change that will infuse your room with fresh, new, fantastic funkyness! It was so worth the sore fingers and few days of upheaval! 

And if you are too nervous to do it yourself, call me. I can help....

  

All My (Plates) In One Basket

I am known to be a spinner of many plates. 

I went to the Shanghai Circus a few years ago and watched the guys who literally spin plates on a long stick. It's amazing enough to do one, but they kept adding more sticks and more plates until it was mind boggling to think that what they were doing was even possible. 

As I sat there watching, I couldn't help but feel like this was a metaphor for my life. 

This doesn't only apply in my personal life, but in my creative and professional lives as well. 
There are so many things that I want to do and learn and create and it sometimes feels like I am bouncing all over the place suffering from some sort of
creative-multi-personality-disorder. 

I have managed to narrow things down to my three main categories:
Children & Family Photography, Furniture Design, and Mixed Media Art. 
(Although I do also write a food blog called Swigs and Grinds, 
which I have been seriously neglecting of late).

I have been a boutique children's photographer for my whole adult life, and absolutely LOVE connecting with my subjects and creating artistic, candid, fun photographs that people will treasure forever. It is only recently that I have become a furniture maven, and that by way of clients always wanting to buy my shabby chic furniture that was in my photography studio. 

Then about a year ago, I had an overwhelming need to create simply for the sake of creating, not because an order had to be filled or a consignment piece had to be refinished. This is where I began to dabble in Mixed Media Art, and teach myself enough techniques so that I could have a fun way to create some positive and whacky "art", if you will.

So because I recently felt like I was spreading my spinning plates in so many directions all over the internet, I decided to gather them all and put them into one basket which has found it's home at the new "Fantastically Funky" website.  

There you will find portfolios for my photography, furnishings and mixed media art. 
There is also a Fantastically Funky Facebook Page.

Please stop by and say hello and also keep up with new pieces and specials going on in the studio. 
And THANK YOU for supporting all of the fantastically funky plates that I am spinning!

Amazing Armoire

"Shabby Turquoise" Armoire
$1900

I'm in love. Again. 

I just finished this amazing armoire, and I really think it is the coolest piece I've done yet. 

I needed just the right color, which I didn't have except in my head. 

So I set about mixing paint like a mad scientist until I came up with what I call 

"Shabby Turquoise".

It was pretty amazing to begin with.

But so much cooler, I think, once it got shabby-fied.

The glaze really brings out the details and the grain of the wood.

Now I suppose it's on to the next.... 

Furniture Sale At The Workshop!

Come by the workshop on Saturday and check out what's available!

On the menu:

Desk, end tables, buffet, chair, shelves, hutch, chandelier, chalkboard, etc.....

8am-12pm

Ewa Beach

Glazed Furniture

Buffet in "Catwalk" turquoise with black glaze

SOLD

I have discovered the coolest thing since, well, paintable wallpaper I guess. 

I have heard the term "glazed furniture" before and recently saw some amazing images of the technique. When I acquired this awesome buffet, I knew this one had to be my glazing guinea pig.

I did a little research on the internet and then set off to purchase some glaze. 

This one was amazingly reasonable at $7.99 for a gallon. (which I now realize will last me a lifetime - really a quart is all you need, and even that is probably a lifetime supply).It comes clear and you have to have the paint gurus tint it. They looked at my like I was nuts, but they did it anyway. Not a lot of glazing going on in Hawaii I guess. 

So I painted and sanded as usual and then gingerly painted on the glaze and then wiped it off with a damp towel as instructed.

It was scary.

I was worried I was going to ruin the whole thing, but then I realized that it is actually very forgiving! After all, it's whole purpose is to enhance imperfections, and since I have recently deemed myself an "Imperfectionist", this is the stuff for me.

Since this discovery, I have been glazing everything in sight. 

Vintage end table painted in "Japanese Fern" with black glaze

SOLD

Antique buffet in Robin's Egg Blue with black glaze.

FOR SALE

I love the way the details pop even further with the glaze. It also gives furniture an aged effect that enhances the distressing. 

I also bought some that I had tinted brown, but so far I like the black much better.

Look out world, I'm on a glazing rampage and nothing is safe! 

Paintable Wallpaper

I have made a great discovery.

Paintable wallpaper is the coolest thing out there. 

It comes in a roll, about 21 inches wide and I think about 14 feet, for $15.00.

It was the perfect treatment for the backing of a hutch that I just finished. 

You soak it in water, place on surface and trim to fit. After it dries you paint right over it and it gives an elegant baroque effect!

  

Custom Requests

I am excited to announce custom refinishing services!

I was thrilled to meet the most gorgeous pregnant woman you've ever seen, who happened to be buying my Antique Armoire. 

A couple weeks later she emailed me to see if I would consider doing a custom piece for her if I could find a bassinet or cradle that I could Shabby up to match the armoire. 

She found this piece a few weeks later.

I was able to match the paint color & finish I used on the armoire and after a few days of labor (har har) and her instructions to "shabby it for days!" - which was music to my ears - I delivered her a beautiful shabby chic cradle for her to build her nest for the coming baby. What an honor!

Cradle finish close up

If you have a particular piece you are dreaming of finding, or if you already have a piece that you would like to have refinished, I am happy do your shabby-ing! 

Starting at $25/hr depending on variables from piece to piece. 

You can email for more information or quotes.

Nudist Dresser Project

I went to pick up a night stand the other day and ended up with a dresser as well. 

This is what it was wearing when I got it:

Not horrible, but definitely needing some love. 

Are you wondering why I called it a "nudist dresser"? Well, I started this project with a little sanding. Most times when I'm going to repaint a piece, I give it a light sanding just to rough up the surface a bit and see what's underneath. Sometimes the crazy layers of old paint shine through and I can't even bring myself to paint over it. This was not one of those times.

When I started sanding this one, the paint just started peeling off in giant strips. 

It was crazy. I'm not sure what happened with it's original layer of paint, but that's when I realized that this dresser was a nudist and it was demanding to be stripped. 

Which is something I never do. 

Luckily, my daughter has a crazy, strange addiction to peeling paint. I'm not joking. She was in heaven with this project.

FINALLY, after two days of sanding and peeling and chipping away paint, we got it down to it's birthday suit.

Except for the top, which was just perfectly shabby and I had to leave it alone.

The crazy yellow knobs actually ended up pretty cool with a coat of cream paint and a little sanding. 

This ended up being way more of a project than I bargained for, but I think it came out pretty sweet!

SHABBY CHIC DRESSER OR SIDEBOARD

$250 

Simple Reminders and Subliminal Messages

I am a word freak.

 To the point of dorkiness. I subscribe to Webster's Word Of The Day via email. I am a chronic underliner in books. There are words all over my house in the form of chalkboard messages, painted signs, art made from the pages of books, and of course - books themselves. 

I also love elements from nature. My home also has it's collection of plants, shells, sticks, branches, and yes, rocks. And now... rocks with words on them. 

On a recent stroll with the dog, we crossed a bridge over a dried up river bed. I stopped and peered over the edge looking at all of the river rocks. That's when an image I hadn't seen in YEARS popped into my head. 

When I was a little girl I used to go "rock hunting" with my grandpa. You see, he was a "rock hound". I'm still not sure if that is an actual term for someone who hunts rocks or if it is simply one of those "country" words that are invented in my neck of the woods where I grew up. 

My Gramps would wander around the mountains, knowing exactly what to look for. Usually a nondescript, ugly grey rock that he would lug home to his shed and crack open to reveal a literal gem. He had a collection of rose quartz, geodes, jade, petrified wood etc... that he made jewelery and such from. I loved all of these beautiful rocks, but I had long forgotten about my favorite rock of his. 

It was a long, flat oval river rock, probably six inches long. In bright yellow paint he had inscribed "hello" on one side, and "goodbye" on the other. 

I thought it was genius. 

Sometimes when we were saying our goodbyes at the door he would flip the rock over to say goodbye - which he found so amusing, as did I!

I hadn't thought of that rock in decades until I looked down into this river bed. I wondered what ever happened to it?I didn't say anything as we walked on, but on the way back I had to slither down the side of the hill and into the rocks to take a few home. I could have stayed there exploring all day and probably left with a truck load of rocks, but I settled for a handful as I told the story of my Gramps' rock on the way back to the jeep. 

I knew I was going to add words to my rocks as well. 

Now I have this little bowl of simple reminders and subliminal messages that reminds me not only of how I want to live, but reminds me of my Gramps as well.   

Ladders Everywhere! (a love story)

You know how it is when you have some secret obsession and you nurture it for a long time before it's fulfilled? Like my wooden ladder obsession? Well, since the acquisition of my rickety, termite eaten, later painted blue, now living happily in my garden ladder, they seem to be multiplying. I have seen more on the side of the road that I have passed by, thinking, "that obsession has now been fulfilled and one can only have so many ladders". Or maybe not. A few days ago it seemed I now had more ladders than I knew what to do with. 

I really love when the people in my life start scavenging for me. I get calls or texts saying, "you want a pair of giant doors with tons of windows?" or "I saw a chair on the side of the road today and thought of you, you want me to grab it"?

When my guy walked through the door recently saying, "I have a present for you".... of course, I thought:Flowers? A fabulous bottle of wine? No way, NOT a long awaited written expression of love?... But instead he drags me outside and shows me another wooden ladder. 

"Wow", I thought I said it pretty enthusiastically. 

"You hate it!" Says he.

"I don't! Thank you!" Say I, extra enthusiastically this time. It was cool and I love that he saw it on the side of the road and thought of me. But I have to confess, I was thinking, what am I gonna do with another ladder?!

Upon closer inspection I discovered that this one didn't have termite damage, it was probably abandoned because it would have been certain death for anyone who attempted to climb the thing, which I did not plan on doing. So, I decided it could live inside. The front and back was attached only on one side so I yanked it around a few times and separated the two sides. Which now meant instead of A ladder, I now had two ladder pieces to figure out what to do with.

Both pieces sat outside for a couple of days until a fit of inspiration came to me.

The front half now lives in the wasted little corner behind my TV. 

And the back half found a lovely little spot next to my bed. 

A couple of holes pounded into it now displays some dried roses from the garden.

And there's even a spot for my grandmother's handkerchief and some restful words. 

I realized two things. 

One: you don't need a lot of space to turn a ladder into a unique and fun display.

And two: Sometimes something dragged off the side of the road is a perfect expression of love.