Vintage Redo

Remember the last post of this fantastic find from Queen of Hearts Antiques and Interiors? I finished it and it is fantastic I must say.

It was covered in rust and some paint splotches, which I was fine with. I like the old rusty look. However, the rust was getting on my hands when I touched it and messed with the drawers.

 

I took all of the drawers out. 99 of them to be exact, 10 rows of 10. I pulled out the crusty papers that were in some of them and started cleaning up the dirt and some of the rust. As I pulled drawers out to clean them I found some interesting things.

I found some jewelry molds from the 1930's. Most of them are unusable as they are dried out and not flexible anymore. But a fun find non-the-less.

I even found a jewelry key that had the date on it. Which is how I knew what era they come from.

Some of the drawers had some major damage from the rust. The rust had eaten away at some of the metal leaving "lesion" type marks over the entire front of some of the drawers. So I had to come up with a way to cover the bad damage without covering the entire piece in paint. What about a checkerboard pattern? I fell in love with the idea becasue it would be a reminder of my LOVE for Alice in Wonderland.

I didn't want to have to go buy more product to finish this piece. I am on a budget. So I went through the paint I had and decided to use the grey paint I used on the cubby bookshelf piece from my last post.
I sorted through the drawers to pulled the ones with the worst damage and dry brushed the paint on. After the paint dried I put a layer of sealant over every drawer and the shelving that houses the drawers.

Here it is finished and in place, in my almost finished studio. It was missing 1 drawer when I purchased it. Which is probably why I got such a great deal on it. I figure I could have a drawer made, find one in an antique shop, or make one out of wood myself and paint it to match. Either way this piece is fabulous and I just adore it. I will use it to hold all of my bits and bobs for my art and jewelry.

I am now one step closer to having my studio done. I have 2 more furniture pieces to finish and then I can unload all of my boxes and fill my little drawers and shelves.

In my next post I will show how I used gel stain to update a 1980s handmade hutch from a honey oak to an espresso finish.

Starting Over In Georgia

If you haven't heard already, we have moved back to the Atlanta area. Since we have moved lots has been going on and things have been busy with personal things like doing some remodeling in our new home, birthdays, and getting ready for the next school year at new schools.

As for business and creativity, well, it has been crazy there as well. 

I have been photographing random things to practice my editing skills, since my studio isn't up and running yet. I have been working on trying to get it in order as soon as possible becasue busy season is coming soon.

 

I have been working with digital add-ons, overlays and textures for my photography. I think I still like to make the actual items for my photo shoots, but I know if I can't get it in real life I can add it later.  

Digital wings added

Now onto the good stuff. Here is this fantastic, vintage, bookcase? Shelving unit? Whatever it is, it is fabulous. I know it is at least as old as I am because it was in my closet when I was a child. My mom was an extreme couponer before it was a thing. We are talking the 1970's couponing here people. She had boxes FULL of proofs of purchase from all kinds of food items, to send in for coupons. Every cubby had a box and every box was full, and organized. I told her if she ever wanted to get rid of the bookcase, I would take it off her hands. Now I will use it in my studio. But before I use it I wanted to fix it up some.

 

The piece has several coats of brown paint on it, several layers of dirt and dust (from being in a garage for 25 years, after being in my closet for 10), and several screws and nails in it. I patched up the holes and cleaned up the dirt and dust. 

  

I really didn't want to paint the entire piece and I wanted to keep some of the original color so I decided to dry brush a medium to dark grey over the entire piece to blend the browns and hole fixes. I also added some bun feet to get it off the floor for easy cleaning of the floor. This is how it came out. I love it and it goes perfectly in my new studio. Which, by the way I will do a post on my studio reveal when it is finished. 

 

Beautiful, right? I put a coat of clear furniture wax to seal and protect the finish. I have several pieces I am repurposing. The next piece I am working on is this amazing piece. I found it at a local antique market while shopping with a friend. I had started pulling out all of the little drawers when I remembered I needed to take a "before" picture. There are drawers that fill the entire piece. I'll be posting soon on what I did with this piece and the fun things I found inside some of the drawers.

   

I am also happy to say that I have some space at Woodstock Antiques. Located in the metro-Atlanta area Woodstock Antiques and Consignment has some great finds that now include my Lily Mairi line of jewelry. I have other exciting news that will come later too! Follow my blog and like my Facebook pages Lily Mairi on Facebook and Jennifer Griffin Fine Art Photography on Facebook to keep up with all of the new adventures and projects happening.

 

Design, Artisan Craftsmanship and Mess

I keep just about everything, broken jewelry, bits of paper and fabric. I just can't help myself. Fortunately, I am fairly organized so I kind of know what I have on hand when I get an idea for something.

Jelly jars to hold my bits and bobs, like Victorian era buttons and vintage gears

A tea box to hold my small works in progress pieces

The boxes that I store my personal photos for scrapbooking

I reuse lots of different things to store my stuff. However that doesn't mean it doesn't get messy. When I am actually designing pieces and crafting them I make a HUGE mess. I tend to get bored or stuck artistically, so I move to something else and just leave where I left off on what ever it was that I was working on. Because I do this it tends to look like all of my neat little boxes and jars just got dumped in the middle of the floor by my toddler. I assure you, it was me. Though my home is fairly tidy, my creative space it very messy. I have to pause and clean it up when it gets to the point that I can't find anything in the general area where I left it. Kind of like it is right now actually.

What my floor looks like when I am paper crafting

If it wasn't for my mess making I wouldn't be able to create my products and art pieces. I turn this mess into these beautiful things.

Yet to be listed bridal necklace crafted entirely out of vintage brooches

In teaching my children to value creativity and the things of the past, we read lots of literature together and look at artwork of all sorts. Some of our favorite stories are, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Through the Looking Glass-and What Alice Found There and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Well at the World’s End and Phantastes, and the artwork and illustrations that have been created by others inspired by these literary pieces.

Fantasy and whimsy have always influenced me and my creative process. This influence shows in my work. Steampunk, Victorian color palettes and a hint of our Celtic roots, myths and all, flavor my pieces. I pour a little bit of my heart, soul and history into everything I create.

I pull from my ancestry and the world in my head to create my Woodland line of products and fine art photography. It is the world I lived in as a child. When I create these pieces I am literally creating the images in my minds eye. I see these people and cultures, and see their lives, where everything has meaning. Which is why most of my pieces have a title and a story behind them. I photograph my woodland pieces in a story. It is my joy to create these images. It is my way of painting what I see. My way of honoring the One who created me. Using the Gifts I have been given to encourage others and tell stories, even the messy ones. 

Be Still- Merka of The Elves of the Woodland Realm series

A Pawn No Longer

I say, if your mess can help you create pieces that speak to you and to others, then have at it my friends. Makes mess, design, create, live life on all of it's roads, and only look back to remember that you have lived, even if it is messy. 

The Weaver