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.....
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
I recently finished chalk-painting a couple pieces, so I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to……
This sweet little mini curio cabinet had good bones, but really needed help.
Before:
After:
It’s always remarkable what paint can do.
This was not built very well, so I strengthened many of the joins with wood glue.
The door hinges were about as chintzy as they come, and it kept the door from closing flush. So I removed the door altogether, and filled in the screw holes.
Four layers of paint later, along with clear and dark wax and lots of distressing, she’s a little beauty now!
This corner shelf also had great bones……
Before:
After:
I used the same colors as the mini curio, painting the layers in exactly the same order.
The turned spindles and curved shelves gave me many opportunities for artistic distressing.
The middle shelf has a slight warp on one of its back sides, but since it would be flush with the wall, it was still quite redeemable. You would have to be displaying marbles for it to be a problem...:)
![]()
![]()
![]()
The base coat is a deep rosy Pink, followed by a light Spring/Celery Green, then Aqua, and finally a medium Leaf Green.
And as always, clear and dark wax.
I have 3 jewelry chests waiting for their turn with the chalk paint, so I’d better get going.
Hope you all take some time to spread Valentine Love today!
Linking To:![]()
Oh my word! Has it really been a month since my last post? Oy….
Any other year, I would say it’s due to Christmas crafting overload and the fact that January is usually a slow month for my Etsy shop, as well as my birthday month. All those reasons are true, but this time the added reason is that I’ve been painting the interior of my clients’ new home. (Pictures coming soon!)
I’ve just been too busy to do much treasure-hunting, and when I do, by the time I get home from painting, the daylight is gone to take pictures. I’ve just now come up for air long enough to get a few small items chalk-painted for the shop.
So today, I finally have one finished to blog about.
Before:
Burwood metallic gold, resin sconces…..
After:
Hello Gouhgeous!
I’ve painted resin plastic sconces before, and love what chalk paint and wax can do for them. While I could have left them gold for the opulent Hollywood Regency look, I saw way too much potential in the fleur de lis shapes to not enhance them.
I used a few colors, with the base coat being Annie Sloan Emperor Red. Red is traditionally the primer color for gold leaf, so I followed it with a high-pigment metallic gold, which I used sparingly in random areas to mimic gold leaf that has worn off over time. I then haphazardly dry-brushed a homemade Tiffany blue chalk paint to mimic verdigris. The final color added was homemade crisp Moss green, also dry-brushed, to look as if it developed over the verdigris.
I sealed these with a very subtle clear wax. I wanted the wax to appear almost non-existent, because verdigris and moss aren’t shiny. And while I could’ve stopped there, I felt the contours weren’t being accentuated enough, so I painstakingly brushed dark wax only in the deepest crevices. It is remarkable what a difference that made. They look so much richer now.
These resin pieces often show the mold seam marks, so I made a point of scraping and sanding them off, to remove all traces of them being plastic. It was especially noticeable on the front of the candle cups. I really wanted these to look like anything but plastic, and I believe I got my wish.
These are soon to be listed in my Etsy shop. Next post, I’ll have more completed chalk- painted pieces to share with you.
Come Join me on Instagram!
