Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Duck Egg Blanket Box

I fully admit, I have been working on this thing since January.  Do not expect to ever see nailhead trim here again!  It was such a huge project.  I would work on it for a few days, get entirely frustrated with the nailhead trim, want to roll it into a ditch and burn it, and have to set it aside until I wanted to work on it again.  I am not a meticulous detail gal.  That is so obvious for those of you who know me.  Here's the deal with nailhead trim: 
     - you have to make sure each small box of upholstery nail exactly matches in tone.  There is a lot of        variation according to batch.
     - First you have to measure out and transfer an exact pattern from graph paper
     - To nail it in, you have to hold it with needle nose pliers with your left hand while hammering with your right
     - Many of the nails are weak and immediately go crooked and you have to pull it out and start with a new one.
     - For each parallel set, you have to use a level and make minute adjustments with the hammer.  So just know that I used the level about 5 million times.



 I will say that I LOVE the way it turned out... and I put the nailhead trim on front and back so that this piece could go against a wall or be used as a coffee table.  This is Kyle's favorite piece.  It will be for sale at Fredericksburg, but he made me promise to put a ridiculous price on it so that if it doesn't sale we can put it in the cabin.

When I got this blanket box, it was plain jane light colored box with clunky seventies wooden pulls on the sides.  The top was so fun to transform.  I sanded, then I pickled, I took my creme brulee torch and burned streaks into it, I whipped it with chains, dropped tools on it, hammered the edges, and finally put 3 coats of dark wax on it.

The color here is Annie Sloan's Duck Egg with dark wax all over.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Big Announcement!

I am thrilled to announce that I will be at Fredericksburg Trade Days this October 20 and 21, Saturday and Sunday only.  I getting so excited planning how my stall will look, and planning all the pieces I'm going to sell!!  As much as I love doing custom work, it is especially creatively fulfilling to get to do exactly what I want with a piece.  I am still taking custom orders, but you'll be scheduled for after FTD!!  Here's a couple of pieces I just finished for the show:


This is a kid's picnic table, in case you're wondering about scale...