Friday, September 30, 2011

WHAT SAY YOU?

Craigslist Buffet.  Needs color.  Don't you think?
Therein lies the rub.  I cannot decide!
This is where you come in!
Please vote for your favorite!
I will be using Annie Sloan colors.  As soon as I get your feedback I will commence painting.  It should be complete in a few hours!  Check back to see the final product!

I am changing the contemporary knobs for these French style pulls.


Somewhat casual.  Duck Egg with Old White details, finished in Dark Wax?


Ornate!  Old White with  Dark Wax and gilt details?



Paris Grey with French Linen details?



Something altogether different?




Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Craigslist to the Rescue!

After I painted my dining room armoire with Annie Sloan grey paint I realized it wasn't exactly what I wanted.  I posted it on Craigslist and it sold immediately!  Yay! However, that left me with no place to store my silver and china.  Back to Craigslist!
I found this china cabinet for fifty dollars! This is the original Craigslist photo.  I paid for it last weekend and I will be picking it up Saturday! I may paint it and add toile to the windows.

I also found this giant armoire for a very fair price.  I will be picking this up next week.  I may decide to paint it with the Annie Sloan Paris Grey and Dark Wax.  I really, really like that color!

This Tara Shaw bibliotheque is the paint inspiration for the armoire.



This cane chaise is so lovely!  $300 on Craigslist! I am not sure if I will keep it, though.  I don't know if I like the way it looks in my family room.  It is quite sturdy and beautiful!



I found this set of six Louis XVI chairs for $500.  Not terribly inexpensive but nothing close to what Restoration Hardware charges! This is the original Craigslist photo. I will be reupholstering them and painting them too!

I don't recall where I found this image, it is so old.  I like the numbering on the backs...


This Craigslist gate is finally being installed in our side garden this weekend.  I hope it doesn't rain!


This is another photo whose origin I am uncertain of.  I have another Craigslist chest that I will be painting with this pattern. 
$35 on Craigslist!  It is over three feet wide.  It has some chips but that can be easily remedied!



Huge Anduze urn that I will be using as a coffee table in the living room!

I hope Autumn is being kind to you...

xoxo
Andie


Monday, September 26, 2011

Hello Autumn!



I was hoping the Boston Ivy would have grown over this wall by now...


Whether I am prepared for it or not, Autumn has arrived and I am coming to terms with the fact that I will not complete the gardens until next year.
Hello Autumn!  It really is nice to see you again! I look forward to your melodious winds and your leaves dancing in circles around my feet, to pumpkin patches and apple orchards...We have reluctantly waved goodbye to flocks of birds and bid them farewell until Spring.  Our perennials have grown weary of waking so early each day.  They need their rest, too.  Our long walks are becoming a bit shorter each day. Goodbye, Summer, dear friend.  Thank you for the memories!
Hello Autumn...shall we dance?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lucy, Duchess of Yorkshire

Life has been busy here, as usual.  I want to share some photos of Duchess, who is henceforth known as (da! da! da!) Lucy, Duchess of Yorkshire! We live on Yorkshire Street, after all.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  Everyone in this house has a Godzillion nicknames...
Since her surgeries she has been gaining weight and indulging in random acts of playfulness! Warning!  Do NOT pet the tummy!

Gracie's bed is her favorite place...

This is before I woke her up to play with her!  Is that wrong?  I just look at that little bundle of cuteness and I have to kiss her until she relents and plays with me!

...or falls back to sleep...LOL!


We have a vacancy!  She naps here upon occasion but prefers our beds! This Craigslist bed will be tweaked.  Stay tuned...

I also have the most awesomely awesome tutorial coming!  It will appeal to all!  Promise!

xoxo
Andie

Friday, September 16, 2011

Friend in Need

I opened my blogroll this morning and saw that Karen  at This Old House 2 needs our help! Hilary over at Crazy as A Loom  - see link below - takes in stray cats who wander on to her property in Upstate, NY.  She feeds and care for them, and then if they aren't neutered or spayed, they take a trip to the vet for that too.  This little girl is the newest to arrive and Hilary knows she wants to be a housecat, not a barn or porch cat.  She is a love and would prefer to crawl into your lap than up in a hayloft.  In the next week or so she will be spayed.  If you or someone you know might give this girl a loving home,  contact Hilary through her blog.   
http://crazyasaloom.blogspot.com/2011/09/trivial-but-necessary.html




Blogland is a big place!  I know if we pass this around kitty will have a warm loving home before long!
Will you please help?

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Unsung Heroes, Search and Rescue Dogs of 9/11

Nearly 2,000 dogs and their handlers are expected to be standing at attention tomorrow in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey for a Recognition Ceremony honoring  the search and rescue dogs and handlers who labored mightily in the rubble left when the Twin Towers fell at the World Trade Center.
The emotional procession will begin at the park and end at a site just across the river from Ground Zero.


Dogs and people worked in conditions that were dangerous and ultimately heartbreaking, for there were no living survivors for them to find. Their keen noses did alert first responders to the location of bodies that were recovered and returned to the families of victims.  An estimated 300-350 dogs searched at Ground Zero. Many were owned by civilian volunteers. Others were trained and utilized by police and military officers.

Finding One Another Organization, a co-sponsor of the solemn event which educates the public and raises funds to support search and rescue dogs, their handlers, and veterinary medical assistance to the dogs has identified more than 950 working dog teams who served in search and rescue, recovery and security at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, Shanksville, and the Fresh Kills Landfill recovery site.

Here are a few of the surviving heroes...










Good Dogs, All!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Four Hours Later...

I had some time on my hands this afternoon, courtesy of a very rainy day!  I decided to paint the Craigslist buffet that has been sitting in the dining room since Spring.  This time I chose Annie Sloan Old White followed by Dark Wax...
Craigslist Buffet Before


Inspiration 

More Inspiration, 18th Century Painted French Buffet.

Closeup of Original Patina on Painted 18th Century French Buffet.




Craigslist Buffet After

Craigslist Buffet After Closeup
Look Ma!  No tassels!


Reminder of what it looked like before...


  It looks so small in these photos but it is six feet long.  Not sure if I like it yet...The dining room will be painted in a few days.  Maybe I will like it then?  Maybe the ginormous tassels make it look small?  It does look better than it did before, though.  It was covered in crayon marks and mystery splotches!  It only took four hours to paint two coats, rub and buff the Clear Wax, then apply the Dark Wax.  You have to be quick when removing the Dark Wax!  I haven't quite mastered that yet!

Happy Weekend Friends!




Sunday, September 4, 2011

Annie Sloan Makeover...Finally! Boiserie Style Armoire

Craigslist Armoire Before...
I wanted something more Axel Vervoordt-y.


Inspiration ...From Pamela Pierce...







After...It doesn't look this shiny in "real life"!
Now I need to reupholster those chairs! The walls are going to be painted in a week!



I finally broke down and purchased some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I would not recommend painting the largest thing you own as a first attempt but I'm a doer (translation: I am impetuous).  My husband is the thinker and he was at work.  Good thing too, or he would have tried to talk sense into me!
I bought this armoire on Craigslist a while back.  It comes apart for easy transport.  I am guessing it is from the 1920's or so...
I love the look of boiserie panels in old French chateaus and I wanted to mimic the look.
Two coats of Paris Grey followed by a coat of clear wax, then sanding the buhjeesus out of it. I also used a metal spatula to scrape away paint here and there.  It looked way too pale and I was afraid I was not going to like it! After that I applied the dark wax, immediately wiped it off with a clean t-shirt and followed that with clear wax.  Parts came out a bit darker than I wanted so I mixed some Paris Grey with clear wax and wiped it on over the dark spots. The whole job took about four hours.

What do you think?
Vervoordt-y?


I am participating in Shades of Amber, Annie Sloan Paint Linky,  Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday , Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday and Molly Susan Strong for Market Monday!

Friday, September 2, 2011

New Leash On Life! Howlin' For You!

Think of the word "home".  What comes to mind?  What images do you see?
If you are anything like me, a house isn't "home" without loved ones to share it with.  My daughter will be eight years old this week!  I cannot imagine my life without that beautiful soul in it!  The memories shaped in my home are all the more special because I get to share them with her and my beloved husband.  Stories before bedtime, marshmallows in the fireplace, crafts at the table, baking sweets in the kitchen, board games on rainy days...
I also see images of my kitty, Faerie Princess, curled up on the pink velvet quilt on Gracie's French Campaign bed...Mabel sleeping in her favorite mohair covered child sized chaise longue... Shenanigan finding the perfect ray of sunlight, streaming from the stained glass church window, to warm her... Atticus proudly running up the stairs with his favorite catnip toy in his mouth, placing it gingerly at my feet...Frannie sleeping in the French Marriage Armoire we call Narnia...McGillicuddy greeting every visitor at the door with a rub on the knees, then jumping on the antique jeweler's display cabinet to get a closer look at the new people! Sweet Duchess sleeping on my pillow, under the eiderdown comforter... not to mention our puggle, Napoleon, howling along with the music or snoring away in the middle of the kitchen!
My life is good!  I am surrounded by love.
My animal friends are all former strays.  They all have sad stories attatched to their arrival at our home.  They have shown us what it means to be patient, loving and strong in the face of diversity.  It is because of their strength and love that I am passionate about the plight of all animals in need. Need.  Funny thing about that word. They need us.  We need them.  There is no doubt about it.  I need my fuzzy friends. That being said, I cannot save them all but I will die trying!

Once again, I have entered a random zipcode into PetFinder's search engine, which took us to Ardmore, Oklahoma.

                                            Meet Gypsie!


08/24/10 Gypsie is now 12 weeks old. Gyspsie was found after being dumped on a country road. She had sarcoptic mange which is curable but very itchy. After almost 2 weeks at the vet, she is now in a foster home trying to learn puppy manners. We estimate her to be about 8 weeks old. She has had her first puppy shot and continues treatment for her itchy skin. She also had hook worms and is being treated for that. Not really sure what kind of dog she is, but we are guessing beagle mix. She weighs about 6 lbs and her coat is starting to improve. She is playing with toys for the first time and she loves her new pink elephant. She is getting use to sleeping in a crate at night. She gets along with the other dogs in the house, which are much bigger than she is. She loves to be held and cuddled when she is tired. Her adoption fee is $150 to cover the cost of her medical expenses.



Gypsie's Contact Info



  • 580-221-3824/580-504-2187

PetFinder is an awesome resource for people to find the exact pet they are looking for.  There are dogs, cats, horses, of every breed, every shape, color, temperment.  Please click on the PetFinder link to see how you can help animals in need.


With Love and Hope,

Andie


Here is another option...if we do nothing.


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