Silk Soft Metallic Paint

You know how much I love painting with metallic paints and glazes. One of my favorite metallic paints is called Silk Soft.  It's a much softer metallic look than other metallic paints. It has the sheen of silk. I've used it on walls, ceilings, trim, cabinets and furniture.
Silk Soft is what I used on the ceiling in this previous post. I used the "Autumn Berry" color  on my kitchen ceiling a few years ago.

I randomly brushed the first coat on then added a bit of glaze mixed with the same color and ragged off the second coat. All one color but lots of beautiful variation.
I used "Asian Silk" on the chest of drawers in this post. It is beautiful on cabinets as well. Here are some cabinets previously done using silk soft. This gorgeous Bombay style vanity was done in "Cappuccino" with an "Umber" glaze.

Metallic painted vanity

 



These master bath cabinets were done using "Pale Papaya" and a "Caribbean Caramel" glaze.

 

 

 

These laundry room cabinets were a boring white laminate. The client wanted to add some color and drama. These were done in "Pumice" with a black glaze.

 



I always finish my furniture and cabinets with a polyurethane sealer to give extra protection. However this product is incredibly durable, so durable in fact, that we tried an experiment by painting an outdoor cast resin stepping stone. We painted this frog stepping stone 3 years ago. It's been through hot summer's and cold, icy winters and has held up beautifully.

 

Although this is a sponsored post my opinions are my own. I am honored to promote such an awesome product. There is nothing else out there that even compares to this product. I hope you will explore their website and the many products they offer.

A Much Needed Long Weekend at the Beach and a Green Spring!

I feel like it's been weeks since I had a real blog post. I took a long weekend away last weekend and went to North Myrtle Beach to see my parents and my sister and nieces. My 2 year old niece learned to crawl out of her pack and play, which made for interesting mornings. And I happened to mention that I couldn't believe the mosquitos were already out and I didn't like them because mosquitos suck your blood. Totally freaked out my 4 year old niece! ( I have boys, they think that stuff is cool.) We had great weather and got some stellar photos on the beach. My sister has an awesome DSLR camera that makes me drool.

Lately, my weekends have been for work over flow and things I don't get done during the week. There's always the frenzy to get everything done before you go away and then the frenzy to finish and attempt to "catch up" when you return. A delicate balance that I never seem to achieve. This time of the year my blogging may ease up a bit. I'm working hard to regain my weekends. They are after all for fun, relaxation and gardening (yes, I find gardening relaxing too). Certain gardening tasks must be done in a certain window to be effective. The weeding, mulching and planting marathon has begun.

 

Blooming Dogwood

Red Japanese Maple

Blooming Wisteria

I can't remember what this flower is. I planted it about 10 years ago and this is the first year it has bloomed. Awesome foliage too!

 

My Mom gave me some of her Amaryllis when I was visiting. Already blooming and liking it's new home. The fat dog on the right is Izzy. She was the chewer, now she just eats a lot. We've been instructed to put her on a diet. This should be interesting.

 

I love this time of the year when the sun is bright and everything is vivid green and blooming! So hopefully this explains why my blogging has slowed. I do have some exciting projects to post and some new ones in the works. Stay tuned, I will be sharing soon!

 

Turquoise Kitchen Cabinets with Eclectic Hardware on Houzz this Week

When I saw this article on Houzz, I knew I must share it with you. I absolutely love turquoise! Amazingly, it never occurred to me to paint kitchen cabinets in this color. But why wouldn't you? It's amazing!
They used a mix of hardware which is a little out there even for me. I prefer more consistancy in the hardware. What do you think about mixing several style of hardware?
The phone is busy with calls right now for homeowners wanting to paint their cabinets. Most requests I get are to paint them ivory with a chocolate glaze. It would be awesome if someone would be bold enough to paint them this way! What do you think?

Kitchen of the Week: Turquoise Cabinets Snazz Up a Space-Savvy Eat-In

Houzz- Kitchen Ideas, Bathroom Ideas and More »

Home Designs and Pictures- For Example:

Garage & Shed Ideas · Laundry Room Ideas · Home Office Ideas · Hall Ideas · Gym Ideas · Dining Room Ideas · Storage & Closets Ideas ·

Weekend Meet and Greet Blog Hop #21

I'm always excited to be invited to co-host a blog hop, but to be invited to co-host two weekends in a row to the same AWESOME blog hop is just spectacular! Laurie and Kim are the best hostesses which make for a great way to meet lots of new people! I love linking up with people all over the world! I hope you join us this weekend and find some new blogs to follow!

Welcome back to the Meet & Greet Blog Hop! Join in, meet some fellow bloggers, greet them with comments, and grow your blog with new friends!
Interested in being a Co-Host? Send an email to 2justByou@gmail.com with "Co-Host" in the subject line for consideration and include your blog link!
 

Meet Everyone! This week’s get to know you question is:
 What is the funniest thing you have heard a child say?
*Hosts* Kim - from 2 just B you: Well, we all know that kids say some crazy things...I can't really think of one thing right now, though! It's been a busy week, I guess. LOL

Laurie - from Created By Laurie: A friend of mine was introducing her 4 year old to his new brother at the hospital. When he saw his brother he asked, “Where’d you buy him?” A very cute moment

 *Co Host* Sandy – from Savard Studios: My 3 ½ year old niece told her mother that she broke up with her boyfriend because he held her hand and messed up her nails. Where do they come up with this stuff?
 
*Featured Guest* Noor – from Noor’s Place: The funniest thing a child said, well that was for me. A little girl, she said I looked like Angelina Jolie in front of my whole school. That was quite shocking because I do not look like her. I laughed so hard that everyone else was trying to figure out what was the matter. I looked a thousand times in mirror to make her statement truth. But of course, it was the funniest thing for me :)
 
What is the funniest thing you have heard a child say?
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Decoupaged Washer Necklaces and Variegated Gold Leaf Washer Necklaces

I typically hope to inspire you by posting about furniture or wall and ceiling projects that I've been working on but I do enjoy other small, low key "projects". For whatever reason, I love to paint and craft with washers. I love the graphics on scrapbook papers and many of them create really cool washer necklaces. I thought I'd post a few of my most recent ones and a few of my more popular ones.

 

Vintage Map Decoupaged Washer Necklace

Black Sheet Music Washer Necklace

Vintage Look Playing Card Diamonds Washer Necklace

Pink Chevron Decoupage Necklace



Blue Chevron Washer Necklace

 

I hope these new additions will be popular too. Which one is your favorite?

These are my two most popular decoupaged necklaces.

Off White Sheet Music Decoupaged Necklace

French Script Font Washer Necklace

 

This is my most popular "painted" washer necklace. It's not really paint. It variegated gold leafing. If you've never seen it, words can't describe it. This necklace uses the blue variegated leafing.

 

It is my understanding with variegated leafing, that they take gold leaf and expose it to heat and it creates the varying patterns and colors. I have mostly used the black and the red in the past but I had some samples of the blue and realize it is my favorite. The colors are so amazing! Like a sunset meeting the ocean. I really makes a unique piece of jewelry as well. You can see these and other decoupaged and painted washer necklaces online in my Etsy shop.

A few years ago, we did an entire dining room in red variegated leafing. This is such a dramatic finish and is absolutely stunning in old world style homes. I am planning to do this finish on  my foyer ceiling so I'll make sure I show it step by step.





 

 



Lacquered Furniture - Black Armoire and White Console

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter and I hope you are finally enjoying some warmer weather where you are. I enjoyed some down time but am back painting full speed ahead! Here's a few completed pieces that are shipping to Vermont this week.
I'm sure you've all seen the lacquered furniture that is becoming increasingly popular these days. I had black lacquered furniture in the late 80's. Black is popular today but the bold, bright colors are really trending. I recently had a request to lacquer a few of  pieces I had in my Etsy shop. One to transform into a white console, the other piece to transform into a black armoire. I thought they turned out awesome.


Vintage White Lacquer Console with Bright Gold Hardware

 

Black Lacquer Armoire with Bright Gold Accents

I let a trusty cabinet guy spray lacquer them for me. The client wanted bright gold hardware so, I transformed the existing hardware with gold leafing. I used a metal spray primer and hand applied the leafing adhesive using a small brush. They do make an adhesive spray but I find it a bit messy. You can also use gold metallic spray paint but in my opinion nothing compares to the sheen of leafing.

Bright Gold Hardware



Bright Gold Chunky Hardware

They really are stunning! And what a transformation! What do you think of the before and after?

Vintage Console - Before

Vintage Console - After

 



Vintage Armoire - After

Vintage Armoire - Before

Here's some bright lacquered pieces I found on Pinterest.

These pieces are definitely eye candy! What do you think about these green lacquered cabinets?

You know how much I love gilded pieces... Check this out! Gilded and ombre! There is a piece in my future that I will be doing this on. Maybe pink faded to black or aqua to navy?