Painter Girl

Bring on the Bling!

I had an assortment of items to "bling" as the new year kicked off!

 

Milk can

Lamp

Another lamp

close up

Small basket

with silk arrangement

candlesticks

up close

 

Let 2012 Begin!

Yikes, here we are already at the middle of January so I better get on with posting some new work!  I think I'll start with the most recent job completed and work back. 

My client sent me a link to some wallpaper she really liked and asked if I could do this with stencils instead.  I instantly fell in love with this design and began researching corals.  I settled on six different types of coral and created my own stencil on one large sheet.  At first I thought I might cut the individual corals apart and place them randomly on the wall, but it worked out better to just use them all on the same sheet and stagger the rows horizontally.

 

 

 

Reviewing 2011, Part 3

Ok, here is my last installment for looking back at work done in 2011...and then on to 2012!  I have some very interesting jobs in the works for January that I am eager to share with all of you.  I did not want to overlook this last installment though, because I was quite busy during the last quarter of the year as you will recall when you see the pictures!  I am looking forward to another exciting year with new finishes and challenges and working with all my wonderful clients who continue to support my creative endeavors.

October 2011    

November 2011

December 2011

Reviewing 2011, Part Two

May 2011

Etched glass doors for china cabinet

Floorcloth

June 2011

Master Bedroom

July 2011

Family Room

Dressing Room

August 2011

Folding Screen

Front Hall

Family Room

Kitchen

Reviewing 2011, Part One

I love this week after Christmas and before the new year begins.  I always take this time to look back at the jobs I did during the year.  This year I was especially blessed to work with some wonderful repeat clients as well as some new ones. I felt this year was one of my most creative years, filled with opportunities that allowed me to really stretch my thinking and abilities.  As I poured through twelve months of work, each and every job brought a smile to face.  Since I have chronicled all of these jobs here on this blog this year from start to finish, I thought I would just feature one or two final photos from each job. To start, here is January- April 2011.  I hope you enjoy this review!

January 2011

Accent Wall for Attleboro Kitchen &  Bath

Accent Wall in Family Room

February 2011

Accent Wall in Sunroom

Accent Wall in my own dining room

Introduced PetMats with sayings

March 2011

Back Hall

Daycare Center

April 2011

Master Bath 

Foyer

Chris Smith helping out

Windows at daycare center

Tasha Cough and baby Olson lending a hand

Introduced KidsMats

 

Enjoy the Holidays!

I know I have been absent from this space for most of December, but the good news is I was very, very busy with work and will have a lot of completed projects to show you in the New Year.  Now I'm up to my ears with baking and prepping for my annual Christmas Eve dinner celebration where I somehow manage to seat 10 family members in my tiny dining room.   I will be back in the New Year with an update of the two girls rooms I completed in November, the Peacock and Butterfly Room and the Tropical Room, as well as a very creative plaster finish I did with fellow decorative painter, Chris Smith. 

This year I was very blessed to have some incredible clients who allowed me to stretch my creative abilities.  I am going to pull together a little montage of some of my favorite rooms from 2011 for my first 2012 post.  Until then, I hope you all enjoy some quality time off with family and friends.  Although no longer politically correct... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

– quilted Santa wall hanging by my Mom. :-)

 

A Little Help

So what I basically did for the Peacock and Butterfly room was to stencil the silhouette shapes of the peacocks, vines and leaves.  I created all the large silhouette stencils for this room myself because all I needed was the basic shape, no details.

Here are the 3 peacock silhouette shapes I used:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I had the silhouettes on all of the walls, I knew just who to call to add the details!

Chris Smith to the rescue!  Chris spent 3 painstakingly days embellishing all the peacocks and leaves!  Using a variety of small scale stencils and freehand techniques, the flat silhouettes came to life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't you just love the blue tape all over her top?

Here are some of her creations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I added the gems.  I went all out for the peacocks, but because I had already put about 1,000 (literally!) gems on the butterflies, I decided not to gem the individual leaves.  I just added sets of 3 gems to each stem.  I ordered 1 gross (1,440) of each of the three colored gems I would use  for both of these rooms, so that's 4,320 gems! In the end, I probably had 500 left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

I loved the way this room turned out and truly appreciated Chris's patience with all the detailing!

Tomorrow we will look at the Tropical Room.

The Peacocks and Parrots Series

Oh, yes... I know I have once again shirked my blogging responsibilities, but I have just been too over scheduled to find a minute to pull together a post.  I have been dying to show you the latest rooms I have had the pleasure to work in though, so I vow to carve out an half hour each day this coming week to put my fingers to my keyboard and write this Peacock and Parrot Series!  A long time client of mine recently had twins and needed some extra space in the house, so the attic was reconfigured and two huge bedrooms for the oldest girls in the family were created.

One room, I refer to as the Peacock and Butterfly Room and the other is the Tropical Room, featuring fish, parrots and palm trees.  I'll start by showing you the Peacock and Butterfly Room.  These rooms are big.  I spent three weeks between the two rooms, so I will need to break the work down in sections as I post. By the way, over 3000 gems were used between the two rooms, so get ready for a lot of bling! ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above, you see the "before" shots.  At each end of the Peacock and Butterfly Room, there are these sloped walls.  They are not mirror images, but both have the slanted walls.  The photo to the far right shows how the room connects to a Jack and Jill bathroom, with the Tropical Room on the other side.  I started by putting a soft glaze over all of the walls, which you will vaguely see in photos to follow.

For both end of the room, where the walls slant, I used Cutting Edge Designs fabulous Butterfly Dance wall stencil.  This stencil has a great placement of small to large butterflies, making it perfect to scatter on a wall, very quickly.  I used metallic paints for all of the butterflies, and applied gems to each. I did initially try using some foils, but found this too time consuming for this particular project, so abandoned that thought after doing a few! 

The color in this photo is truer to the actual rom color.  This shows a good portion of one of the slanted walls.  Later, you will see a full shot of these slanted ceilings, when I show you the Peacock and Vines on the adjacent walls. 

Peacocks and Vines tomorrow!

Two Girls Rooms

The project I am currently working on is just too much fun.  The entire attic of this large home has been converted into two very large bedrooms with a connecting hallway and Jack and Jill bathroom.  I hope to have these two rooms done by Thanksgiving.  The pink room has a butterfly and peacock theme.  The blue room has a tropical beach and fish theme.

The pink room has some very interesting ceiling lines!  Btw, I don't know why the contractor before me did not clean up his mess.  The nice thing is, there is only a sub-floor down now, so no need for drop cloths and no furniture in the room to have to move or work around!  I had the slanted ceilings painted a dark pink, while the flat ceiling piece and the walls are a light pink.  A soft glaze will be applied over all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the opposite end of the room.  I have already added the glaze to the darker pink slanted ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The blue room has only one area with a slanted ceiling.  I had the entire room base coated in a light blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the opposite end of the room. This will be the sleeping area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using some flex tape, I have taped out a band all around this portion of the room where a wave will be added. I glazed the walls in the entire room starting with a very light blue at the ceiling line, progressing to a deeper blue at the baseboard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Cutting Edge's Fish Scale Allover stencil, I created the wave. I have had my eye on this design for some time now and am thrilled to finally be able to put it to go use!  I love the way Cutting Edge packages their stencils.  The stencils are large and sturdy and come with a topper and a small singe stencil on one scale... all for a great low price!  Having three sizes of the same stencil included in one package makes it much easier to stencil those hard to reach areas without having to cut or bend the heck out of your stencils.

 

The opposite end of the room will be the study area and have a tropical beach scene.  I have taped out the bottom, again using the flex tape, for the beach. 

I have miles to go with these two rooms!

Stenciled Silk Tie and Scarf

I recently stenciled a scarf and tie for a local charity event.  Each year artists are given black or white silk ties and scarves and asked to be as creative as they wish.  The items are then put in a silent auction.  The money raised is used to improve the South End neighborhood of Boston, helping to revitalize and preserve this area that is home to many artists and small businesses.

I used Royal Design's Oriental Floral Vine Elements , which I can't seem to get enough of!  This design is very versatile and I have used it on walls, furniture and accessories. It comes in a set, with 5 different one overlay designs.

 

 

I kept the colors simple, golds and silvers, adding just a fine line of read on the flowers.  It's hard to see, but I do have some clear Swarovski crystals on the flowers for a little extra sparkle. 

 

For the tie, I used another Royal Design stencil, Ikat Zig Zag, small.

I don't do a lot of stenciling/painting on fabric because one mistake and you are in trouble.  I find it too nerve wracking, like glass etching!