Everything all at Once - Progress in the Studio

I've been chugging along in the studio these last few weeks - slowly chipping away five paintings all at once.  Oil paint dries fairly slowly, so I like to have a lot of things going on at once.  The only downside to this method is that sometimes it feels like I go a long stretch without finishing anything.

I'm almost finished with both of these paintings at this point - I've just got to tighten them up a bit.  Another 4-5 hours on both of these and the'll be done. :)

I'm also making good progress on these tondos - they are a lot of fun.  I've got to add another layer of grey to the background to flatten out the color and get them super-smooth.  

Alongside the paintings, I've also been assembling some stretcher bars.  I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to materials and surfaces, so they usually take me a while to build.  I route the face of the lumber to create a raised edge for the canvas, and then chamfer the edges so there's a smooth transition for the canvas.  I think if I wasn't a painter, I'd probably be a woodworker.  

I'm hoping to do some large pieces - I've been waiting patiently for winter to end so that I can get back to building frames in the garage.  Unfortunately, we're going to be getting snow (argh!!) this week, so for now the cross braces on these pieces will have to wait.

Let's hope it warms up soon - but in the meantime - here's some shots of the South Dakota countryside:

Hope you all have an excellent week.

-Cassie 

Thrifted Recently: Mid Century Goodness

This is how far $55 can get you in South Dakota:

A $10 Danish Modern Chair frame.

I saw her from a mile away.  Someone in the store had thankfully put two of the ugliest giant pillows on this chair to avert any other mid-century freaks away.  She was all mine.  I had her bought and paid for before my husband knew what was happening.  I'm in the process of ordering foam for the cushions, and I've got fabric picked out.  I'm hoping it will turn out something like this chair.

A $40 Loveseat in tip top condition.

I may feel a bit guilty about this one.  My good friend Andre actually saw this after I bought it and tried to buy it only to find out it was sold (to me!).  He jokingly thought it must have been me and told me about this beautiful couch he saw that had already been sold, and I had to break his heart.  It even has a pull-out mattress.  :)  It is going in our living room as soon as we get our new floors put in. Luckily, this couch did not come home on the roof of our car.

And, last but not least, the $5 table and chairs set.

I actually bought this table and chair set a few months back at an auction a couple of blocks from our house.  I just happened to be outside and I heard them starting the auction so I wandered over and ended up buying a few pieces of furniture and a couple of really nice ornate wood-framed mirrors.  No one else even bid on this table, so I came away with it for $5.  The only downside was that Nate had the car that day.  I hauled this set on foot piece by piece back to my house.  I also bought a small bookshelf there.  Needless to say I was a bit sore after lugging the table along.  I'm planning on replacing the fabric on the chairs in a solid color.  It is the perfect size for our porch though - and I love the look of it!

Have you found anything great lately?

Recent Furniture Refinishing Projects

Between starting to teach my class and Bobo getting sick, I made some time to finish up some projects I'd been working on.

The first is a $10 mid-century bedside table that I spruced up using some restor-a-finish.  It was pretty scratched, and worn, but the restor-a-finish totally brought it back to life.

Then there is this table that (shamefully) I've had in the works for over a year!  Here is the before image:

It was really scratched and the finish was badly damaged, so I decided to strip the base, and repaint the top.

Here it is partway through:

And Finished:

The color in the photo is a little darker than it is in person - here is a better pic of the color:

Another piece we picked up recently was this great desk!  I used restor-a-finish on this piece as well, and it looks good as new.  The handles aren't back on yet, but you get the idea. :)  

The cats love it as much as we do. 

We also painted our kitchen this last weekend - we got rid of the ugly country yellow (finally!) and we opted for a light grey/white.  There is a lot of wall space in the kitchen, so I'm hoping to make some big paintings for the walls.  

With school starting, housework, and the cat being sick, we had a bit of a long week.  Good thing we've got a comfy couch.

The New Wheels

My new ride!

It is a 1959 (I think) AMF Roadmaster made by the Clevland Welding Company.  She was a little rusty and dirty, but after finding that you can clean chrome with tin foil dipped in water, I've got her looking much better.  

You can see what it looked like before here:

I bought it for $15 at a garage sale this weekend - along with a $5 NES for my husband.

Of course we had to set it up right away when we got home and try it out.

Thrifted Recently:

I've been having excellent thrifting luck recently, here are some of the goods:


{ Deer Skull - this bad boy sits above our TV, and I love it.  I'd been looking for the perfect one for a while, and I just happened upon it at a junk shop downtown.  It was $15, and I rode home with the antlers sticking out of my backpack! }


{ I love lamp!  Mid-century Lamp Base - $1 !! - This also came home from a garage sale in my backpack. }

{some great dishes that will be hung on the wall in the kitchen - $1 each}


{ $5 Retro Ottoman/Stool.  I've got big plans for this! }

{ A giant straw bag with leather handles - $5 - I've been looking for one of these for a while! }

{Beautiful typewriter in pristine condition - I LOVE it! }

{ Conte crayons }

{Belts! 25 cents a pop! - I wanted more high waist belts as I've recently bought a bunch of dresses that need to be belted. }

{ Lovely owl necklace!! $2 }

There was more too, but I'll save that for a later post.  :)

Refinishing Project

I'd been searching online for easier ways to refinish furniture after purchasing a desk that had a damaged finish.  As you know I'm big into mid-century furniture, and most of the pieces I've bought have had minor damage - watermarks, chips, scratches, etc..
The same was true for this piece:

It is a beautiful solid wood magazine rack that I picked up for $1 - but unfortunately the finish was not so great.
See:

But, I'd been hearing good things about Howard's Restor-a-Finish, so I thought I'd give it a try, and it worked amazingly!
See:
So much better!

I also used Feed-n-Wax to give it that extra glow once I was finished.  Honestly, I think I would marry this stuff if I could.  I'm going to get a few of the other colors to try on some of my other furniture.  This little project would have been a major pain in the butt to refinish - with the Restor-a-Finish it literally took about 15 minutes to apply with 000 grade steel wool, and another 5 minutes for the wax finish.

I thought I'd share my findings with all of you other mid-century or antique fiends out there. :)  If you have any questions about it - let me know!

Simplicity

Sometimes it is good to have a simple and relaxing day.  Yesterday was that day for me.
Painting:




Making a terrarium using a thrifted glass container and a tiny plant I found in my yard.


And a simple dinner of Salmon and Red Potatoes.


I'm waiting for corn to be in season so I can do a shrimp/potato/onion/corn boil!  Even though it is hot as hell outside, I'm really loving this summer so far. :)

Thrifted Recently:

I love this casserole dish.  I'm collecting robin's egg blue retro cookware for the kitchen, and this piece rocks.
 

Some lovely glass jars to be made into tabletop terrariums.


And the icing on the cake - these lovely leather heels.  I lusted after the same pair for a year in the store hoping they'd go on sale, but they never did.  Amazingly I found the same pair looking like they were only worn once, for two bucks at the thrift shop.


Lucky day!

Revamped Dress

I've been busy packing to go to Wisconsin/Chicago tomorrow, but in between my errands I had a chance to revamp a thrifted dress!
You like?

This dress cost me a whole dollar!  I really liked the cowl neckline, but color and length were all wrong:

Completely unflattering.  I am about 5'10", so this supposedly full-length dress was a full 6" off the ground.  So, I cut off about 20" and then hemmed the bottom with a simple straight stretch stitch on my sewing machine.

But I still didn't love the color.  I remembered I had some dye that I had picked up a while ago for cotton yarn, so I used it on the dress, and it worked great!

Those last two pictures of myself make it seem like I am somewhat photogenic.  I assure you I am most certainly not!  Proof:

Nate told me to do a foxy pose, and that was what he got.  Fail! 

Thrifted Recently:

I have been having great luck at the thrift shops recently, there is some furniture coming my way on Friday as well, but I'll keep that a surprise until then.
For now there are these lovelies:

These tiny houses are adorable, they are perfect for a project I am working on.

Another Deer

I found two of these wonderful mid-century antelope.  

And the icing on the cake - these beauties.  I'm pretty sure they were never used.  They have glass handles. :)