Saturday, October 29, 2011

A French Bergere Chair and Vintage Tables - it's Been a Busy Week for Painting!



New to our Vignette's space this week is this French Bergere chair Denise painted and reupholstered

Two posts in two days- we're on a roll! Another busy week, excitng though to be creating and adding items to our spaces! With our Vignette's space this week we focused on filling the space with smaller items as well as the Bergere chair. Denise did a great job on the paint finishes for these latest pieces, including the chair pictured above and the two tables pictured below.


This vintage  table has great design and shape only enhanced by Denise's application of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint


We have a pair of these oval shaped vintage tables

A few of the smaller items we thought fit well in our space is this French inspired vintage lamp. The last photo features a fun three tier vintage table on wheels- it's a great piece for displaying items.

Next up for us is decorating our spaces for the holidays - I'll take pics and post them in the next couple of weeks.  We've also already started creating pieces for the next Vintage Marketplace which is just around the corner - December 2nd & 3rd!


Urn shaped French inspired vintage lamp with beautiful portrait of a young woman


Fun vintage three tier table. It has great detailing on the sides and it's on wheels!



Friday, October 28, 2011

Transformations for Charity Art Auction

What could be more fun and rewarding than being given the opportunity to create art objects for such a worthy organization as the Salvation Army?

I was asked by the Salvation Army in Riverside (via of two sweet friends Patti and Mona) to participate in a charity event in November.  The charity/art auction event is titled "Transformation Treasures".  The title was to be reflected in the art pieces created by the artists, also representative in the many ways the Salvation Army is dedicated to changing, or transforming, the lives of many individuals in our communities. 
Each artist was given a $100.00 voucher to be spent in a Salvation Thrift store in Riverside County.  We were to purchase items at the thrift store that we could transform into pieces of art that would then be auctioned at their event in November.



The wooden faux leather chair presented the biggest challenge.  It was a sturdy chair but the seat had lost its support.  The design was not typical of the type of chair I usually would have selected, but  having to spend the voucher in one store on a particular day presented a creative challenge that was actually fun.  I saw the chair in two ways, as a "movie director's" type, but for some reason a "cowboy's" chair won the argument in my head.  In sanding the glossy white paint that had been applied years ago, I began to see "cow print" elements emerge and decided not to repaint, but leave it distressed.  There wasn't time in my busy schedule to do an original painting on the seat as I have done over the years to other chairs.  I rebuilt the seat support  and luckily found a cowboy painting (stagecoach and horses)  at a local thrift store and upholstered it to the seat of the chair. 

 

An old horseshoe finished the look.  The piece is artistic as well as functional.  You can actually sit on the chair!


 

The brass swan coffee table was a cool piece ( it had a large round glass table top, not pictured).  After inspecting the table in the store, I saw that each swan was individually screwed to the brass base and could be used along with the brass lamp (see photo below) to stack into a one-of-kind eclectic yet functional art object.

 


 

Transformation of swans and lamp....headed to the art auction!

 

It will be exciting to see if they do well for the Salvation Army.  I happen to love how the "before" transformed into the "after".....very much how life works!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Week of Painting & Pumpkins!

Denise is using the popular Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on some of her Vignette's pieces


We've been pretty busy this week adding more to both our Vignette's & Rustic Sparrow spaces! We're still getting the feel of our Vignette's space- what a fun place- we met a few of the other vendors when we were in on Monday and it really is an inspiring, beautiful store! We added some big furniture pieces and new pumpkins to our Rustic Sparrow space - this Sunday, October 16 is the Escondido Street Faire on Grand Ave. This is a big event for the city each year and we are working on some new pieces as well as creating a new window display. Denise is also participating in the Riverside Salvation Army's charity event, in which she is transforming items from a Salvation Army store into artwork that will be auctioned off at a November luncheon. I'll post the before and after pics of her transformations next week- they're looking great!


 

Fun Assembled Pumpkin



This masquerade pumpkin is sporting a royal spider & crow hat



I liked the woodsy feel of our Princess pumpkin...but we decided to add some feathers and flowers to her-
here's her BEFORE photo....


...and here she is AFTER


 
This past weekend Denise & I came across some fun furniture pieces with great old world style finishes


Our Rustic Sparrow space this week




Monday, October 3, 2011

We're Now in Vignettes in San Diego!

Assembled Angel and Birdcage in our space at Vignettes

Last week we got a phone call from Lori, the owner of the beautiful Vignettes in Ocean Beach, offering Denise a space inside her store! We are so excited! We have really enjoyed having a permanent space at the Rustic Sparrow to display our work and now even better to have a second location! We put a few favorite items in our new space on Saturday and we look forward to adding even more this week. Vignettes is a local favorite for designers, dealers and anyone with a passion for vintage and is just simply a wonderful store to shop and spend an afternoon. Please check out Lori's website www.vignettesantiques.com and her blog www.vignettesantiques.blogspot.com for more info on the store and all of the amazing items and events. Vignettes is open every day 10:30-5pm Mon-Sat, 11-5pm on Sundays and is located on Newport Ave. in Ocean Beach.






We've got this great, fun window space that we've been tossing around ideas on how to decorate





We are simply thrilled to be working with another dynamic store and staff and couldn't be more appreciative of the opportunity to get to create and showcase pieces that we love to transform, create or find! Denise is busy this morning working on a few new furniture pieces we will add to the space this week along with some fun window treatments and display items. We have some new pieces in the works for our Rustic Sparrow space as well, so between the two of these great locations I think Denise and I will be very happily busy in the next few weeks and months!