Anticipating Fall….

 

While doing a bit of shopping at Wally World last week, I came upon some pots of mums in the garden center that were just budding out. I admit to being someone who looks forward to fall and cooler weather; so I listened to the call of the Sirens and I bought six pots to plant in the urns in the front entryway.

After a week’s watering, they now look like this-

They’re filling out nicely, I think. I even inserted a few blooming plants that remained from my spring/summer pots. I couldn’t bear to pitch them- they still had pretty blooms on them. I’m not even sure what they are- I picked them up because I’ve just always liked the fact that they looked like little roses.

 

Here’s a closer look at one of them. Can anyone tell me what this is?

 

I like this shot because it shows a bit of moisture clinging to the flower petals and glistening in the sunshine. If you look closely at one of the flowers, you can even see a bit of a spider web across the top of the center.

 

Considering that they were only buds a mere seven days ago, I think the plants have done well, don’t you?

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I am so anxious for the temperatures to fully change so we can enjoy warm, sunny days in the 60’s and 70’s. These 90º temperatures we’ve been enduring here in SW Ohio have been brutal!  Just to let you know how I ‘m rushing the onset of autumn, we actually had a fire in the fire-pit one evening last weekend. It was still a bit warm for it, but at least the smoke kept the mosquitos at bay. Those suckers have been viciously biting me all summer. Here’s to roasting some more oooey-gooey marshmallows and making some S’mores with them.

 

 

 

Linking to:

                  

Anticipating Fall….

 

While doing a bit of shopping at Wally World last week, I came upon some pots of mums in the garden center that were just budding out. I admit to being someone who looks forward to fall and cooler weather; so I listened to the call of the Sirens and I bought six pots to plant in the urns in the front entryway.

After a week’s watering, they now look like this-

They’re filling out nicely, I think. I even inserted a few blooming plants that remained from my spring/summer pots. I couldn’t bear to pitch them- they still had pretty blooms on them. I’m not even sure what they are- I picked them up because I’ve just always liked the fact that they looked like little roses.

 

Here’s a closer look at one of them. Can anyone tell me what this is?

 

I like this shot because it shows a bit of moisture clinging to the flower petals and glistening in the sunshine. If you look closely at one of the flowers, you can even see a bit of a spider web across the top of the center.

 

Considering that they were only buds a mere seven days ago, I think the plants have done well, don’t you?

                                                                                                                ~~~~~~

I am so anxious for the temperatures to fully change so we can enjoy warm, sunny days in the 60’s and 70’s. These 90º temperatures we’ve been enduring here in SW Ohio have been brutal!  Just to let you know how I ‘m rushing the onset of autumn, we actually had a fire in the fire-pit one evening last weekend. It was still a bit warm for it, but at least the smoke kept the mosquitos at bay. Those suckers have been viciously biting me all summer. Here’s to roasting some more oooey-gooey marshmallows and making some S’mores with them.

 

 

 

Linking to:

             

Anticipating Fall….

 

While doing a bit of shopping at Wally World last week, I came upon some pots of mums in the garden center that were just budding out. I admit to being someone who looks forward to fall and cooler weather; so I listened to the call of the Sirens and I bought six pots to plant in the urns in the front entryway.

After a week’s watering, they now look like this-

They’re filling out nicely, I think. I even inserted a few blooming plants that remained from my spring/summer pots. I couldn’t bear to pitch them- they still had pretty blooms on them. I’m not even sure what they are- I picked them up because I’ve just always liked the fact that they looked like little roses.

 

Here’s a closer look at one of them. Can anyone tell me what this is?

 

I like this shot because it shows a bit of moisture clinging to the flower petals and glistening in the sunshine. If you look closely at one of the flowers, you can even see a bit of a spider web across the top of the center.

 

Considering that they were only buds a mere seven days ago, I think the plants have done well, don’t you?

                                                                                                                ~~~~~~

I am so anxious for the temperatures to fully change so we can enjoy warm, sunny days in the 60’s and 70’s. These 90º temperatures we’ve been enduring here in SW Ohio have been brutal!  Just to let you know how I ‘m rushing the onset of autumn, we actually had a fire in the fire-pit one evening last weekend. It was still a bit warm for it, but at least the smoke kept the mosquitos at bay. Those suckers have been viciously biting me all summer. Here’s to roasting some more oooey-gooey marshmallows and making some S’mores with them.

Chalk Paint Workshop

Yes, I am still alive and and am still kicking! I’ve just been doing it all in the background- busy with life and a few projects. But I did something on Saturday that is post-worthy- I hosted a small and intimate workshop for a my blogging pals, Kathy and Debby, along with my friend, Jean, who is a local stockist for the paint.

I’ve been wanting to learn some new painting techniques using Chalk Paint TM Decorative Paints by Annie Sloan.  Although I’ve been using the paint for a while, I knew that I needed some additional instruction as to dark waxing and some decorative techniques.  We ended up having a fun get-together at my house, along with quite a bit of instruction and a good lunch, too!

Here we are- Kathy from Creative Home Expressions, Debby from Cozy Blanket, and moi.   I’m still in my specs- I still haven’t been able to get this darn Rx for my contacts down pat, so I’m wearing my “frou- frou”  red/white/black designer glasses from Eye One in downtown Oakwood, OH.   Love that place. They have the most fashionable frames, so I was finally able to get out of the old tortoise shell frames that I’ve worn for years and years.

 

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Our instructor was my pal, Jean, who has a booth in the Midwest Memories Antique Mall in Tipp City, OH. We met a few years ago when I was shopping at the store where she used to have her merchandise. Seems she had been reading my blog and recognized me from my profile photo. Small world, huh?

 

Each of us pre-painted a piece to finish with the wax technique of our choice. I began with a small table that started out looking like this-

Just a little primitive and distressed, don’t you think?  I think I bought this back in the 90’s at a close-out sale at an antique shop, so I bought it for a song. It’s simple pine construction and would hardly be considered fine furniture.

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And now the table looks like this. It’s subtle! I painted it with my own paint color concoction-  Duck Egg Blue mixed with Graphite. The result was a color slightly darker and deeper in tone than the Duck Egg Blue.  After the initial clear waxing, Jean had me wipe on some dark wax mixed with mineral spirits. After the initial wipe-off, it was still too dark and aged-looking for my liking, so I applied some clear wax to it and took off most of the wax, leaving only a small amount of dark color.  The legs have the same amount of dark wax on them, although they don’t show well in this photo. The light was streaming in from the huge window above the door in the foyer so there is some color washout.

 

Here’s a truer photo - I tend to like a lighter aged look, emulating a lack of cleaning and some gentle wear.

 

 

 

Jean showed us how to apply a Craqueleur finish on top of  Duck Egg Blue.  Kathy worked her magic on this sample board.

 

Here’s my custom color, topped with a combination of Graphite and clear wax. I loved this finish-  it was so easy to achieve a completely different look!

 

We got to play around with a two-color process, as well. We base coated a board with Emile, then added Country Grey on top of it, once it dried. Then we sanded to reveal the base coat; clear waxed; added some dark wax; and finished it off with some gilding wax.   This is such a gorgeous finish!

 

Jean  had each of us paint her plaster statue, using a clouded stipple method. The look was achieved using a combination of two colors on one brush, then stippling them together for a cloudy look. I was not too good at this method. I managed to make the little guy’s face look like he had the pox!  Needless to say, someone went over my mess. Thanks, Kathy!  My talents don’t seem to lie with two-color stippling….

 

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Had to get a shot of Kathy wearing her fun apron creation. She created it using an old pair of jeans, some striped fabric for the gathered skirt, and an out-dated man’s tie for the apron strings. Too cute!!  I didn’t get a picture of her project- she brought a neat item that she had picked up at our local Goodwill Store. She painted it  with Old White and added a bit of dark wax for some light aging.  I’m sure she’ll show it on her own blog soon, so you’ll have to be on the look-out for her post.

 

Here’s one of Debby’s projects- a cool shelf painted in Duck Egg Blue. She kept peering out of the spaces in the shelf kinda like she was peeking out of a window. Silly girl! She brought two items to the workshop, at my urging. I had an ulterior motive- I wanted to see how the color Arles turned out after painting an old sewing machine drawer and then heavily dark waxing it. Of course, we were laughing so hard when I took this picture, that I forgot to have her hold up the drawer. We ended up trading some paint colors with each other- I gave her some of my new Emperor’s Silk in exchange for some of her Arles.  I think we’ll both be happy with our future projects in these colors.

We’ll probably be having another workshop later this fall and I hope to impress Jean with all of the techniques that I learned from her. So if you’re local and are interested, by all means let me know.  Jean was a pleasure to work with- she was so patient in trying to help me overcome my paint failings!. Seems that I’m a bit anal about not achieving a “factory finish” in my painting while using this method of painting. At least I provided comic relief for all of them. 

 

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