Jewelry Chest Makeover in Aqua Turquoise Chalk Paint & Italian Paper

After many months of distraction, I finished another chalk-painted jewelry chest. After conquering some Putz houses, I was wondering when I would finally commit to the time and patience of designing more chests. 

Obviously, I never tire of Aqua, Turquoise, & Gold 

Layered in 2 shades of custom-mixed Aqua, the top layer being similar to Tiffany Blue.

The darker accent color is a rich, slightly muted Turquoise/Teal. 

I highlighted the hardware and trim with metallic gold and bronze paint, given more luster with the addition of gold pigment powder.

The hand-painted graphics I designed, as well as the paint colors, were dictated by the interior paper.

I wanted graphics that complemented the interior, without competing with it, so I designed simple rosettes, in gold & bronze, highlighted and shaded for a 3-dimensional appearance.

The drawers are lined with a stunning and vibrant Italian paper in deep Turquoise/Teal, light and dark French blue, cream, and metallic gold. It is sealed with satin water-based varnish.

And as always, I distressed all the paint, then finished with clear and dark wax.

Up next? I think maybe I can finally finish another fabulous spice chest!

TTFN, Maria

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@MagiaMiaEtsy



LINKING TO:

Chalk Paint Before & After: From Retro to Renaissance

Earlier this year, I blogged about this retro plastic sewing storage/jewelry box, made by Lerner.

Did I really say it would be a treat to not have to design any graphics on this? Well, what replaced the time-consuming effort of designing, was the time-consuming painting of each and every raised design.....Oy.

Before:

After:

I love how it turned out, but no matter what order it was painted in, it was very labor-intensive.

Before:

After:

The base coat is Tiffany blue chalk paint, and the scrolls were painted a warm Ivory, then topped with Creme. Then to really give it the royal treatment, I accented it with a very high-pigment metallic gold. I then sealed with clear and dark wax.

Before:

After:

I love how the original texture was meant to mimic wood grain, because the dark wax really enhanced that.

Before:

After:

The interior of the drawers was craptastic red velveteen, so I stripped them and added gorgeous Italian art paper. The scrolled design was just made for this piece!

I really don't know for sure if this piece was made for sewing or jewelry, but it's now a beauty for displaying.

Well, Christmas projects are waiting, so I'd better get to it! 

TTFN, Maria

Linking To:

Aqua & Red, Baby!........Chalk Paint Makeover

Aqua and Red, Baby!

Y’all know how much I adore any shade of Aqua, and paired with Red, it’s perfect!

Before:

After:

This poor little jewelry box had great bones, but really needed cosmetics to accentuate the positive.

It was also musical, but the mechanism was broken. So, like I’ve done in the past, I removed the chime parts, and filled in the holes.

It also had/has a chip on the bottom front corner of the top drawer. Since I planned on distressing this piece, I chose to leave it, rather than repair it, as it would add more authentic charm.

While my typical M.O. is to layer several chalk paint colors, this piece was more about the hand-painted designs and the good bones.

I started with a base coat of warm black, and then Annie Sloan’s Emperor’s Silk Red. After that, I spent hours designing and re-designing the graphics and placement of the Aqua, Red, and Black topcoats.

The gorgeous Aqua is a custom mix that resembles a deep Tiffany blue. Need proof? Here ya go….

After stripping the drawers’ interiors, I lined them with gorgeous and vibrant Italian paper. I was looking for a design with Red and just-the-right Aqua, and found it in a paper that I ended up having to order from an Etsy shop in Germany! How’s that for being ultra-picky! 

The paper’s graphics truly dictated my hand-painted designs, thus making this project especially challenging. I really wanted them to gel with the style of the paper, so my choices had to be somewhat geometric, without looking modern. While it might seem like a no-brainer to design a modern piece that could have more mass appeal and sell easily, I tend to only create for my own taste, and modern is not it. I think it’s safe to say I always gravitate towards Medieval or Old World, which seems to be an obvious indicator I lived there in a past life…..:)

I drew shapes that slightly echoed the shapes in the paper, without looking too matchy-matchy. I even added that shape behind the drawer knobs, as sort of trompe l’oeil rusty escutcheons. It just gave the plain knobs a little more visual interest. I’m a big fan of adding the illusion of objects and architecture using only paint. So cheap, yet so effective!

Okay, so I said my next project was going to be the spice cupboard, but since the Italian paper was waiting for me, I felt obligated to finally use it. Since I’m planning on a really time-consuming design for the cupboard, I may end up working on it simultaneously with a couple other projects, so I don’t feel completely imprisoned. I say this because whenever I’m focused on one painting design, depending on how long it takes, I feel completely liberated when I finally finish it. I think since the sun is finally shining and Spring is in full bloom, the chicken wire creations keep calling me back. We’ll see what I finish first……:)

Come Join Me on Instagram!
@MagiaMiaEtsy

Linking To:

A Chalk Painted Junking Gypsy's Tarot Loving Dream

I’ve been remiss about blogging as of late, but I’ve been tackling some painting projects. I have the piece de resistance to share with you right now……
  I know I say this every time, but I do believe this jewelry chest is my new favorite. After painting the map-inspired chest, I knew I wanted to re-visit this color combination.


I gave it a major makeover, from the finish to the interior. So many attributes to list. I say attributes now, but that’s not what I was thinking when I hand-painted and waxed each individual lattice X, front and sides, and everything in between.

I transformed this piece with inspiration from the paper I’ve lined the drawers with. I found this fabulous Italian art paper featuring small images of antique Tarot cards. My love of Old World is evident here, and I imagined this piece to look as though it had lived in a gypsy wagon, perhaps holding the fortuneteller’s tarot decks and amulets. I chose to not darken the paper to keep the images vibrant.

I layered the exterior with several chalk paint colors. Base coat is red, which I continued with the interior of the body. Next coat is orange rust, followed by teal/turquoise, and finally moss green here and there to keep the weathered look. Warm black is added to frame everything in for a striking appearance.


A great deal of detail went into all the carved lattice X’s, and with all the same colors used, but finished with metallic bronze and gold paint, plus a transparent layer of caramel alcohol ink to give them more patina to mimic a warm bronze metal. I also hand-painted the X’s with black detailing on their fronts to give the illusion of more contour. I highlighted the metal pulls with some bronze paint and ink to coordinate with the X’s.





The final touches were the hand-painted elegant stars on top and sides, plus 4 corner accents on top. I designed these to echo the tarot style inside, painted in red & rust, highlighted with bronze and gold metallic paint, and outlined with dark warm black. Everything was finished with clear and dark wax.

This was originally a musical jewelry box, but the chime was broken, so I removed it and filled in the screw holes. The bottom drawer isn’t as deep as the other drawers, as it was built to allow room for the chime, but now the space behind it can be used to store or hide little treasures. It was great fun working with this gorgeous paper. I may have to stock up on it! I have a valet jewelry box version of this with a rolltop section. Haven't decided the game plan for it yet, but I'm pretty sure it won't have the gypsy vibe. Less lattice should make it a great deal less challenging though.....