Before and After

You really cannot tell from the photos but these  Craigslist fellas have a pearlescent finish which does not really jive with  my decorating tastes.  

I decided to paint them to resemble the look of aged terra cotta.  I have many architectural salvage pieces so I thought it would "go".

Some inspiration...

I spent about two hours studying the different types and colors of terra cotta clay as well as the way they aged in different climates and regions.

The color I chose replicates the painted terra cotta I have seen in and on various buildings in the Chicago area.

I spray painted the putti with orange primer then drizzled watered down white acrylic paint over it...

First try, after 7 layers of paint...eh!

The trio...

In the light of the dungeon  basement...

I tweaked them about 7,562 times and I am still not done...

I think I will streak some watered down grey paint to resemble years of grime and rain...then fleck the putti with black paint, very subtly...

More on this as it develops!

I am participating in Debbiedoo's Color My World Party!

Reliquaries? Monstrances? Or just plain 'ol candle holders?

I came across these items, listed as "candle holders" on my local Craigslist.  I'm not certain, but I think they are actually reliquaries?  What do you think?  Any help would, as always, be greatly appreciated!  I apologize for the poor photo quality, I uploaded the photos directly from Craigslist.

Should I?

This grotto stool is lovely but I am thinking it would look better if I gold leaf it?  Any other suggestions?  I have no other black accessories in the family room and it stands out too much, I think.  

Egad!  Those orange floors!  Looks like Halloween!

Maybe today is the day Handsome Husband helps carry the carpets in from Ye Olde Garage?

To the left of the stool, on the floor, is a trio of reproduction cherub architectural brackets that I want to paint to look like aged terracotta. More on those in a bit...

Just to give you an idea of the environment surrounding the stool...need to make drapes.

Antique, gilded grotto stool that I found online.

And now the cherub brackets...I found them on Craigslist this past summer.

They are each about 3 feet long and 6 inches wide.  Right now they are a pearlescent-y-ish finish.  I don't like it.  I was thinking about painting them to replicate the look of aged terracotta, as if they came from an old city building?

Like this...?

Please help me decide!  I appreciate your input!

Room For One More?!

I met another lovely couple on Craigslist.  Initially I purchased the "Winter" garden statue and two GINORMOUS urns on plinths. I knew right away that I would get along swimmmingly with the post's author because the Craigslist posts he wrote were HYSTERICAL!  While I was visiting with Tom and Pam I noticed these beautiful pieces on the walls. Tom told me they belonged to his mother who had passed and he would be willing to sell them since they were moving to a smaller home and didn't have the room. Since neither of us knew the value of the pieces Tom brought them to an appraiser and we waited. ...and waited...and waited!  Well, the time has come to bring these little urchins home with me!

I wonder what this wheat carving embellished long ago?  It is a large piece, about 15 inches across.  Any ideas?

I wonder if these adorned a piece of furniture?

Close-up of the CUTENESS!  *smooch!*

See Vanna?  Look familiar?  This putti is "Winter", I wonder where his siblings Spring, Summer and Autumn are?  Probably on vacation...somewhere warm!

This is about 15 inches across.  Kinda' on the large side.  Where do you think it came from?  Hm?

These putti look like middle aged accountants but I love them still!

See?  He is willing and able to prepare your taxes for the 2010  tax season!

I wonder if these pediments were from the same piece as the large wheat cartouche?  See the wheat bundles?

Once again, Craigslist has fed my addiction!

All hail Craigslist!

Can You Guess Whose Room This Is?

Okay, here's a hint: this is the only thing I can afford from this designer!  It took me 6 months to buy a set of 12 salad plates!  LOL!

What Would You Do?

Plan B

Yesterday I posted a tutorial (kinda) of a book cover I made in haste for the Carl Skoggard book entitled Rooms. When I finished my new book cover  I realized I had glued the cover on upside down!  Well, I really wasn't in love with the cover anyhow.  It looked lumpy to me.  Not so much in real life,  but definitely in the photographs. Plus, what was I thinking? Velvet?!  I have six cats!  (Why do you think lint brushes are made of velvet, after all?  Cat.  Fur.  Magnet.)  So I did what I always do. I dwelled on it all night to the point that I couldn't sleep.  Really. According to the news the world is falling down around us and Andie loses sleep over a book cover.  I know.
So here I am.
I changed it.  Again. Well, if Skoggard had put a better cover on it in the first place I would still be sleeping now!
I had an extra giclee of  The Ascension of Christ just lying around the house.  (Doesn't everyone?) so I decided to apply it over the velvet.  I carefully cut the antique vestment applique off the front first to use for another project, then simply cut and applied the canvas to the book in the same manner as the original dust jacket.  I left the edges unravelled so that, in time, the cover would take on the look of an antique painting remnant.  It wasn't long enough to cover the back so I simply folded it and allowed the red velvet to show.

Before...

After...

The back...

Funny, it doesn't look that lumpy in real life!?

Rayon velvet is really difficult to photograph!

I may antique it with a dark glaze or I may change it altogether!  I'm so capricious!  I'm still using my ostrich feather bookmark, though!  At least until the kitties discover it!

I really like the idea of using a canvas to cover a book.  I purchased about 20 canvas giclee reproductions on ebay a few years back.  Many of them are 11x14, which is a bit on the small side for this house of ginormous proportions.  I am looking at my other decorating books to see who's next!

This Won't Do

I think everyone here is familiar with Vanna, of delusions of grandeur.  If not, you really should be!  Vanna introduced me to a book entitled Rooms,  by Carl Skoggard.  When I first saw the cover I was not impressed.  The cover is reminiscent of sixties, Andy Warhol-esque Post Modernism.  Not my bag, not at all.  I know Vanna's taste and I am certain she would never buy a book from that genre.  Nothing wrong with it, mind you.  Just not our thing.

Imagine my shock and awe when I saw actual photos from the book!  Nothing like I expected!
Rooms such as this abound...

I purchased the book and studied each and every page and then I studied them again!  Glorious!

But the cover...oh the cover!  It would not do.  Not at all!
So, a velvet remnant left from Gracie's nursery bedding...

Plus an antique vestment applique...

Duct Tape...

Then... (Fabri-Tac rocks!  It dries in seconds!)

Finally...

Ten minutes in all.

What do you think?

A cover worthy of the book?

 (In the spirit of full disclosure I just realized I glued the cover on upside down!  LOL! Too late now!)

To Paint Or Not To Paint?

This a lovely pier mirror that I recently found on my local Craigslist. I cleaned it up today, it was really, really dirty (really)! I am contemplating painting it the slightest dove grey or off white. What do you think?

Here are some photos of the mirror with my cherub bed crown wired onto the top...What if I painted the body of the mirror dove grey and gilded the carvings and columns to match the cherub bed crown? Too much?

*Please note that the space behind the pier mirror is an odd opening from the living room to the front staircase, a rectangular gap with an ugly orange builder's oak railing.   WTH?  It will be gone in the Spring when the drywall guy comes!

The mirror came from Indiana. The owners brought it here themselves. Very nice people. That is one of the reasons I love to shop on Craigslist, I meet the nicest people. Plus I can get the history of the piece directly from the owners...and that's kinda neat.
Which reminds me, they told me about the history but I already forgot! I don't think they would mind if I called them again!