Literally From Rags to Riches with SK

Exacting every ounce of creativity from a woeful old chair.

Featured on The Graphics Fairy and SK's Little Poppy Chairhttps://sksartell.blogspot.com/2014/07/literally-from-rags-to-riches-with-sk.html

SK's Poppy Chair

This little office chair was bound for the dump.

Poor baby, she had given her all for many, many years.

She was on her way to an anonymous end. Unexpected things happen in my sub-consciousness when I see an old miserable piece of furniture. The swirls of "what Ifs?" start zipping through my mind. Can it be saved from a woeful end and what could I do to brighten it's future?

Could she be loved again?

I brought her home against the better judgment of hubby.

I bought two painters canvas tarps planning to try my hand at reupholstering....Who was I kidding?

After painting a couple of yards with a large damask stencil I starting to strip the old chair. I love the creative process more than the actual work of getting the chair recovered.

Carefully trying to take each section off in the reverse order of how it was previously attached.
It made sense to me to try to use these pieces as my pattern. As this was happening I found the pieces were in such dire straights they just shredded. Sooooo.....I had to make my own pattern.

The arms were covered first, then  the seat, the front bottom of the seat, each side, the front back and finally the back piece.

I wanted a very eclectic look. So the painting came as I finished each section. I added a damask here and a free-handed poppy there. Filling spaces with French lettering, butterflies, birds  and swirls from The Graphics Fairy

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   Using simple acrylic paints I started to paint in my outlines.

As I started to complete the basic drawings I couldn't wait till the actual painting began.

My poppies are a favorite subject. And I wanted a very hot pop of color to balance the cream and the black damask.

The Graphics Fairy Supply me with endless graphics. This site is far my most favorite haunts.

Design balance is important in a crazy piece like this.

It had to be fun but the heaviness of the black damask needed a strong balance or the chair would feel off balance and whacked.

I am going to add buttons to pull the back into a diamond pattern.

Thanks The Graphics Fairy for inspiration.

Thanks for visiting. sk on elderberry

SK & Modern Masters Paints

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Ice Cream Parlor Of Yesteryear

Antique Soda Fountain Parlor Set Reclaimed by SK Sartell

Heidi's Ice cream Parlor History

Heidi's History of The Ice cream Parlor called McGuire's in Harlem, Montana

Saved Antique Details Of La Chicken

This poor baby was rescued for pennies. After I researched this little heavily built table, I discovered the hand carved front drawer panel was from a destroyed cabinet.

Smoke and burn marks are apparent. I envision this being in a old, beautiful and much loved cabinet. When the fire was extinguished, this little carved piece was all which could be saved.

The cabinet is built like a brick, well-worn and used. The body, legs and T-support were built from old wood. The builder wanted to save the hand carved drawer panel, so he built the entire table to showcase this feature.

I am excited to see The Graphics Fairy has featured this fun table. You can visit The Graphic Fairy story here:

Beautiful Farmhouse Table – Reader Featured Project by SK Sartell

Thanks Graphics Fairy. I love your work and use it as often as I can.

Painting Stripes With SK

I love striped walls.

 I just hate the whole taping process...So...I just made it easier on myself and still got the results.

These walls are very heavily hand textured. Trying to stripe them with any taping method is almost impossible. The tape will not stick to the nooks and crannies of this texture.

I painted the whole room with a satin based paint. I let it dry overnight. This particular color is called Satin-based Svelte Green from Sherwin and Williams. I also had my paint store mix a quart of the exact color in semi-gloss paint. This will be my stripes.

Using a 6' level, I taped the level into the corner of a 8.5 ft. piece of ninety degree metal corner. This metal corner is usually used in the application of sheetrock corners and corners of windows before taping and texturing.

I wanted my stripes to be 6'. I measured around the whole room, and with a pencil marked every 12".

With the level taped to the inside of this metal corner it now became an 8.5 ft. level. This makes it possible to lay this long homemade level on each mark, making sure it was plum and straight. I must say this is easier with two sets of hands.

Using a 6" paint roller, I run the roller filled with my semi-gloss paint along the outside corner edge of the metal.

Because of the heavy texture there is a hit and miss pattern that I really like.

This almost there look, is Imperfectly Perfect. My best effort of creating. Easy, fast and never being quite perfect.

Thanks for visiting. sk 

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Smiles and Groans

There are certain days it should be a law that you just stay in bed.  I have these just once in a blue moon, but this was certainly one of the days I should have taken precautions and at least stayed away from the old glue gun.

This old lamp shade has a great shape, but an old and stained silk fabric.

I thought I would try something new and clever. Oh Dear. Little did I know how difficult it is to create a nice lampshade. Maybe I should have done some studying up on the craft first. Naw. Not me.

I love the pattern and colors of  paper. Hey, thats a great idea cover a concave surface with something that cannot go with the flow. 

Looked horrible. But wait, maybe if I add some embellishments to the bottom and top it will look great. NOT!

I lived with it for maybe a half of a day. Nasty. I couldn't convince myself it was cool. My lifes work and creative skill is in jeopardy right now.

I made the monumental decision to start over. It took more time to strip the frame than to cover it in the first place, due to my exuberant glue gun techniques.

A razor knife and a few blue words latter I got it stripped. Paper, silk and glue flying.

 I had to use a razor knife t clean the frame Ok. Really it's that important to me to get this right? My pride and honor are at stake.  Found some quilt fabric left over from a more extensive project so here goes.

I don't like cutting fabric. I can never get it just right. So I tore these pieces in 2.5" wide lengths.

I had planned on gluing the fabric on the frame. Then I had the recollection of the last glue disaster. So thought tying might be a better option. Then if I hate it, I can remove these strips of fabric with ease.

                             
I pulled the strips up from the bottom of the frame and proceeded to just tie them in a little knot on top.
The more I added the more fun it became.

  

I started adding beads and turquoise rocks to the ends of little ribbons. This gives it a little sparkle.

Not an amazing project, but something I needed to do to fix the horrific aftermath of the first try. This might not last long, but for right now it makes me smile. Now I can call my life complete....

Thanks for visiting.

sk

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