Friday, March 22, 2013

Birds, Nests and Cages for Spring 2013

Steam Punk Sparrow Awaiting Flight- SOLD
 Denise was inspired by other artist's bird creations and had so much fun creating this little guy
from vintage and new metal embellishments. The ironic thing was that she unknowingly picked a vintage tray
to display him on that is engraved from the 1960's and reads "Head Vulture"
Sweet Sparrow Awaiting Flight
 
Sweet Sparrow Belly Shot

Sweet Sparrow Aerial Shot

Whether still on trend or not- we will always be in LOVE with Birds, Nests,
& Cages-the motto around our design center (a.k.a Denise's garage)
is no piece is complete without a bird, nest, or some spanish moss with an egg or two in it!
 
Egg Cups painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint Antoinette Pink and Dark Wax, spanish & green moss,
robin's egg blue eggs on an Vintage Italian Tray with a Porcelain Cutie-SOLD
We've made these vintage egg cups for a few years now and the possibilities with them are endless:
 Darling Name Card Holders for a Spring Brunch
Tea Bag Holders for an Afternoon Tea
Party Favors with a Truffle,Tea Bag or Sweet Saying
They are also quite easy to put together yourself and I usually don't even paint them- however the set above was too bright gold for my taste so the AS chalk paint was a simple and quick solution
 
Adding time pieces to these Egg Cups can have a
deep meaning or simply be a fun decorative element-
I just stuck them in and thought they looked cool- SOLD
Large Vintage Iron Birdcage with Swinging Angel Santos Figure
Angel Santos Figure lounging in her swing 
 
Ok so apparently Denise is not the only one with an affection for cages, I talked her into purchasing this tall beauty earlier this month- we paid way too much for it- but I love the proportions- it's tall yet slender. And of course we thought the seated Santos Figure made the perfect tenant. We've had her displayed at the store standing in a display case, but for the cage we added wings and played around with how to place her in the cage. We finally decided to cut a side out of a smaller wire birdcage we had- transforming it into a swing. The clock face on the bottom is purely decorative but it would be very easy to transform this into a functioning piece of art by screwing a light bulb into the top and making it a lamp or by installing a functioning clock in the bottom.
 

Ceramic Girl Statue handpainted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
 Now I couldn't find a nest big enough to stick this sweet girl in but I did stick her in our booth this week. She was so easy to paint! You can find these ceramic statues just about anywhere now that garden and patio decor is everywhere- she did have a nice smooth pale grey finish to her before I even put a brush to her which really made my job a lot easier. We happen to have all of these shades of Annie Sloan Chalk paint- I should list them- but I'm too lazy to go out to the garage and find them- except for the grapes- I mixed duck egg blue and antoinette pink to get this purple shade. I think I used Coco for her hair, knowing it would most likely darken once I applied dark wax. I only clear waxed her skin, white dress and white hair band before dark waxing the entire thing. I know there are several brands of chalk paint on the market and in a pinch we sometimes make our own, but for us there is no comparison, AS chalk paint and wax is awesome.

Some other finds in our booth this week:
 
Paramount Studios costume piece- mid 20th century-SOLD
Paramount Studios Costume Label
I spent a few hours online attempting to find which movie this hat was in-
What I discovered:
Paramount made a lot of movies in the mid 20th century!
I'm in love with this pair of Hakata Urasaki Geishas from the mid 20th century
 
And of course this Geisha's kimono has the most beautiful hand painted Birds :)!