Happy New Year and One Week!

Happy 2014! I hope your year is getting off to a fabulous start and I hope everyone had a wonderful December holiday. It seems that the late Thanksgiving made it a challenge for all. It was frantic for me since this was the first time in about 20 years that I worked a "day" job and didn't take Christmas week off or have down time to get all the extra Christmas cheer completed! And my Mom treated me and my sister to a long weekend in NYC! It was awesome! I was hoping to post about it last month but would it be weird if I post in a few weeks? So of course, my apologies for no Christmas cards and no baked goodies. I'll do better next year!
I know my blogging is still taking a back seat but I'm finding that working full time and doing some weekend "Painting the Town" and "Savard Studios" Etsy stuff is about all I have time for. I do think I will find a better balance in the coming months so please just bear with me. I truly love all of my jobs and I would love to even post about my new career in medical devices. Would you be interested in hearing about that?
I'm still slowly working on my master bedroom makeover. I had to change direction a bit but I'll post on that later.
I've been working on some painting jobs but nothing too extravagant. I do have a few fun painting projects coming up and will be sure to post those too. I have some furniture makeovers as well and am hoping to do a showcase of furniture before and afters. This piece sold on Etsy and it is in process.

 It's a simple makeover but it will be gorgeous! I was tempted to keep it for myself!
This dresser is also in process.

I'm planning to do a simple white with cut glass knobs.

I found these knobs on Etsy. I'll leave the option to the buyer to have it distressed for a cottage look or to polyurethane it with a high gloss finish for a laquered, hollywood regency look. Which style would you choose?
I really miss blogging and interacting! Please nudge me occasionally to remind me someone is anxiously awaiting a new post! Stay warm!!

Cream, Turquoise and Copper Nautical Compass Table

A few years back, we decided to update the stair spindles going up to our bonus room. Being pack rats environmentally friendly, we saved them for some future purpose. They looked like perfect table legs, so my husband used a 24" round precut pine table top and added the spindles. It took me a while to decide how to paint it. I considered another clock face, since that seems to be my thing. In the end, I decided to go nautical! A compass for the top! What do you think?

Nautical Compass Table

I primed the table using a brown tinted primer. I used a dark bronze metallic paint as my undercoat. I love the crackled look, so I used crackle medium topped with white crackle paint. Once the paint cracks, the bronze shows in the cracks.

I found a compass image online and printed it large enough to be traced. To see how I trace, you can go to this posting. http://savardstudios.blogspot.com/2012/06/red-and-cream-clockface-table-how-to.html

I began to fill in my colors and outlined everything with a paint pen. To complete my perfect circles, I used a push pin in the middle of the compass with string attached. Once complete. I glazed the entire table with a chocolate glaze to tone it done and give it dimension. Here are some photos of the process.

Since I never have time to paint pieces for myself, this unique table can be found in my Etsy store. http://www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios?ref=si_shop  

What unique ideas do you have for transforming an old piece of furniture in your home?

Red and Cream Clockface Table How To

In my last posting, I gave you a sneak preview for this post. This is my favorite clockface table so far.  I actually had someone from New Zealand contact me about shipping it to New Zealand! Very exciting for me to have someone on the other side of the world want my little ole table!

So anyone with a round table can paint it with a clockface. This is what my table looked like before.

Before

The top was pretty worn so it was a perfect candidate for painting. As always, I sanded it just to scuff the surface. Next, I rolled on a good quality latex primer, a slightly creamy tint since I was using antique white for my base coat.

I let that dry overnight and then applied 2 coats of a antique white satin latex. Once that dried, I located the center of the table and stuck in a push pin. I cut a string long enough to reach the inner diameter of the red border. With a pencil secured to the string, I lightly sketched a circle. This was the line that I hand painted the red border to. Hand painting is never perfect, but in the end it's fabulous! I blended two shades of red and applied 2 coats to create my red border. You can also see the picture of the actual clock face that was my inspiration for this table.

After several days of dry time, I printed out my lettering on the computer. I used tracing paper to transfer the letters to the table. I used my hand cut stencil for the roman numerals.
These were also hand painted once the letters were transferred. To add a little something extra and to clean up the painted edge where the cream and red met, I used a gold paint pen and my string to create a thin gold circle. Once everything was dry, I used a hard rubber sanding block with sandpaper to create some random distressing.

I loved this effect on a previous table, but after the fact felt like this table was busy enough that it didn't really need the distressing. Oh well, too late to change it back...still learning after all these years!
I used a raw umber glaze to age all the colors and give it some depth.

The top was finished with an acrylic varnish. I blended equal parts of flat and satin so that it wasn't too flat and not too shiny.
The iron base was previously black but needed some touch up. I sand and scraped and loose paint and spot primed. I spray painted the entire base red and let that dry. Next, with a mineral spirits ladened sponge, I began to spray the base black, wiping edges with the sponge to reveal flashes of red. This was the final effect.

Check out the final piece in my Etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/99902582/breakfast-table-clock-face-hand-painted.  It's also available locally at the Dilworth Blacklion in Booth 409, Eeeklectic Town.
Does anyone have any furniture pieces you are tackling this summer? I'd love to see what you're doing or give you some input if you have a project in mind!