The Painted Drawer: End of Year Race

Sunday, June 10, 2012

End of Year Race

Another week has flown by. It seems like the end of the year activities have taken over and I am running a race to catch up to the next event and always running late. We spent Saturday on the Mall in DC at the 100 Year Girl Scout Celebration and it was hot, hot, hot! My girls had such a fun time trading swaps with girls from Canada, Florida, Washington state and other girls from distant troops. We left early because my two scouts looked as if they were getting heat stroke in that sun. Tomorrow is my daughter's fifth grade graduation and my seven year old won the "Good Citizen" award (it's a surprise!) and will receive it at another school assembly later in the day. My son's baseball team is about to begin baseball playoffs - always exciting and stress inducing - and swim team has begun. Whew.

In the middle of all of the family activities, I am hard at work on a few projects. The first I finished and actually devoted a whole page to - the French Bombe Chest. I found this piece and initially had to walk away because it was too expensive. I am on a pretty strict budget as far as new finds. They really can't cost a huge amount because by the time I consign them and pay the commission, there isn't too much left for me unless I manage to purchase the piece for a fair price initially. Anyway, a few days went by and I decided to return to the shop where I had seen it and bingo, there it was in the front and it had been reduced. Meant to be!

I brought it home and there it sat until Celeste called and asked for a piece in French Linen. So, there you have it. The French Bombe Chest in French Linen and Old White. I initially painted the entire chest in the gray, then added the white but the white ended up getting all over the gray. So, out again with the gray to paint over the mistakes and then out again with the white for touch ups. Distressed it, waxed it and it looked good. Next day, went into the garage to discover that quite a few places had bled through the top where I had initially added wood filler. Another go over with the sandpaper and another two coats of paint and now I need to wax the top again! It was SO worth the effort. It was fun to work on this and I did learn a lot in the process.

I am now working on a custom order and I need to get together my pieces for the Stylish Patina Barn sale coming up. I have a great bench, a fleur de lis dresser, a french country side table and a few other fun pieces. Spending tomorrow finishing up the custom order and then getting started on a table for Celeste at On A Whim. Plus, I need to ship a coffee table from Maryland to Arkansas. I am using Greyhound for the first time and have my fingers crossed! It's getting packed professionally at the UPS Store so it really is safe.

After driving to downtown DC today to deliver the Rustic Chest to its new owner, Alyson, I spent two hours cleaning out our "never ending full of clutter and junk" garage. It is where I paint and I was getting really tired of crouching in all contorted positions to get a piece done! I should be a yoga teacher by now. I am exhausted! Oh, I posted another recipe on The Kitchen Drawer page. I hope that this becomes a helpful page to all of the busy moms out there (ok, and dads).

Suzanne