painting furniture

we found this cart at a recent estate sale. (i am not sure how much it was since it was bundled with several pieces of midcentury modern.)

with all of this furniture painting that i have been adoring on the internets, i immediately saw some colorful potential. the piece is solid wood. in case you are wondering, i had no guilt about covering the wood. i have so much dark wood around, i needed a break from it. also, its intended for the girls room in the log home where there is plenty of wood.

it did take me much longer than i anticipated to paint, what with all of the coats and sanding and snow. fortunately, there was a good deal of golf to keep me going.

detailed painting guide to come with photos of the finished piece.

can you guess what color i painted it?

while you are waiting for me to put the hardware back on, here are some fabulous redo's to enjoy:

 life begins at thirty

chairs before

chairs after

bon temps beignet

plain ole wooden box before

 

ziggity goodness

life love larson

very sad dresser

coral goodness

these gorgeous projects were discovered via centsational girl's paint link party. my favorites are always the pieces that are painted brightly to add a big pop of color. BTW, centsational girl has a terrific blog. let me tell you, that girl is not afraid to lay down some paint.

creative -- anxiety?

This morning on the snowy (?) drive down from Nederland, I listened to a great interview that Alison of Craftcast did with Eric Maisel, a creativity coach and author of Mastering Creative Anxiety.




I had many, many takeaways. Here are a few:

• Making a choice induces anxiety. Any choice - even a tiny choice. Creativity is all about making one choice after the next, go figure! This is why there is so much ambient anxiety associated with the creative process.
• Having our ego bruised is the thing we like the least - it brings on dread. This is really hard to talk ourselves down from. The solution is to take away the importance of each individual decision. 
• The truth of the creative process is that some things don't work. We get it intellectually, but we don't want to believe it applies to the thing in front of us. 
• It's helpful to use cognitive behavioral techniques. 

1. Recognize what you say to yourself. 
2. Dispute utterances that don't serve you.
3. Substitute affirmative language. Get better at saying kind things to yourself. (I am safe.)

• Excitement can be mistaken as anxiety. Be mindful!
• In the trance of the creative process, there is no anxiety. If you are having trouble cracking through on a daily basis, try this. Crack an egg into a bowl. It helps you crack through. Often this allows you to start. If you pop out of the creative trance, try stirring the egg in the bowl to calm yourself down so you may return to work. 
• Develop a discipline of showing up and not becoming attached to the outcome.
• Eric encourages a morning practice for creativity because . . .

1. You get stuff done. 
2. You can use your REM sleep thinking.
3. You will have the experience of having made some meaning already. Even if the rest of the day is unproductive, you have already built up some "meaning capital."

• When you set up this habit, it sets up our brains to "want" to be working on our project every day.
• When anxiety strikes: In addition to the cognitive techniques, try deep breathing, preparation, re-orienting, silent screaming, relaxation techniques. (There are a bunch more in the book.)
• As a creative person, make sure you "own" at least three techniques/strategies to deal with anxiety.

I am one who flees when I begin to feel some anxiety. I usually call it "taking a break." Perhaps next time, I will be able to take some deep breaths and keep going. I will let you know.

What do you do when you feel that anxiety building?

a little ruffle

 i finished this knitting project recently and wanted to share with you. it's called a little ruffle. isn't it pretty?

lucy wanted to try it on . . .

she was a pretty good model until she became a bit fidgety.

it's grey and thundery here. hope the sun is shining where you are.

orchids - wow!

a few weekends ago i visited an orchid greenhouse in Colorado - they were having a free class. (a class seemed like the right idea - i am "0" for one with the orchids so far.)  

i'd like to have a few more plants around here, but who wants a greeny when they can have something like this:

 

can you even believe these flowers? it's just row after row after row of gorgeousness and color. i left empty handed - but for the photos - but i know i will be back in the fall, after the gardening season.

do you keep orchids?

neocolor bliss and a quote

what a great weekend watching the Masters. i mean i watched the Masters. every moment from Thursday through Sunday. since childhood, golf on tv is a relaxing way to while away a weekend afternoon. and, it makes the perfect accompaniment to any project.

this weekend, i had out my latest obsession, Neocolor II crayons. they are water-soluble crayons so they turn magically into watercolors when you wet them. so gratifying to blend colors and mop and reapply more. i love the way the colors blend. if you are interested, i will tell you more.

what is your favorite way of getting the color on the substrate? acrylics? colored pencils? crayola?