On Saturday I had planned to work on photographing and listing new items, but someone got my panties in a bunch (and not in a good way). It wasn’t anyone close to me, but rather someone who I had gone out of my way to accommodate/do a favor for and they flaked out, not once but twice. It really gets under my skin when people either take advantage of your good nature or don’t respect it.
Anyhow, I had to do a last minute run to the post office and since I was now cranky, I left in a hurry (and distracted) and left my prepaid shipping labels at home in the printer and as it was, I got to the post office 5 minutes short of closing. So by the time I got home, I was downright pissy and in no mood to do administrative tasks for my shop (my least favorite part of having/running an online business).
So I channeled my emotion into being creative because I knew that painting would make me happy and turn my grumpiness around. It worked, and I accomplished a lot (David even joked that I should get mad more often!).
I was a bit tired of painting girls/hearts/cakes on canvas and decided to work on items that I had picked up at antique shops/thrift stores or even new pieces that were waiting for their turn with me. And I’m so glad I did, it was such a great way to calm down, let my crankiness go and swell with happiness.
First let me share with you my proudest piece – an upcycled frame turned chalkboard:
This antique store find was an open frame that had been painted a stark white. I distressed it giving it a shabby chic look and added the words, antique skeleton key and embellishments at the bottom. It’s simple but sweet and I really love it (now I’m just waiting to get some chalk to start writing on it!)
During that same trip, I had picked up some super-cheap barn wood frames, one of which I painted over with some crackle medium to give it that worn/aged look:
And to it I added a small picture of my most recent girl
While playing with my crackle medium, I decided to try it on one of the recycled paper mache boxes I have:
To which I added one of my prints to the top (still not sure if I like this or not, but I love the crackling!)
And while I was in a painting frenzy, I painted over/distressed this little clunky chest with drawers (once a hideous forest green/red combo):
This is definitely not polished…has more of grungy look to it but I kinda like it and plan to store small art/craft embellishments in it.
And finally, I worked on this fun number:
It’s a whimsical wooden box that I’ve had for a couple months but couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with it. I decided to embellish the top with a heavy, metal antique door spring (I love how ornate it is, hard to believe it was once a door spring from the early 1900′s!)
And around the box I decoupaged a fabulous quote from Joseph Campbell: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were walls.” I love that.
Phew, it was a busy day, but I’m glad that a cranky start to my day ended up being a productive and happy one.
Thanks for checking out what I’m up to! ♥
