A New Project. . . Do You Like Old Fans?

Well hello dear friends...I'm back...with another project.

I just love refreshing/re-purposing old stuff...it is so much fun to see it transform into something beautiful again.

So this is my newest project an old box fan which I calculated is close to 40 years old...and it runs like a charm.  We have been using it quite a bit lately due to all the extremely warm weather we have been experiencing but oh my was it filthy and I won't show you that.

I began disassembling...handles, knob, screens front and back off you go.  Motor, fan out you go (oh dear will this dirt really come off?  It has never been cleaned)  I had to sand this baby, a little rust showing through.

I taped off the 'control' decal, I wanted to keep the original Kmart sticker though I think on my next revamp I will create a new decal.  I also taped off the little white rubber feet on the bottom.

The first coat of paint goes on like a breeze...of course you know I would choose this colour.  ISN'T IT FANTASTIC!!!!  I did do a second coat though I don't think it really needed it...good coverage with the rustoleum.

Et voila!  I am so pleased with how it cleaned up, it looks brand new and matches my kitchen.  I know what you're thinking 'You could have bought a new one for $30' but ah I wouldn't have got THIS colour nor would it have been as much fun.

I have another to paint...do you want to see it when it's finished?

Have a good one...Sheila.

I Have Been Busy, Really I Have.

Well hello one and all, long time no see...talk...well you know what I mean.

I hope you all have been keeping well and keeping busy.  Me?  I have been doing both.

I found in the Spring I was having a harder time keeping my creativity alive, things just weren't flowing as I felt they should and that puts pressure on oneself.  I found I was worrying too much about the business and was loosing the 'artist'.  Thus begins the vicious circle of the dreaded spiral into the approaching roadblock of two of the most important aspects of an artists cycle...passion and creating.  By passion I mean the desire or need to be creative and then the physical task of putting it into action.

So I have been travelling on this road of rediscovery, seeking out what creativity truly means to me.  I began with the basics...asking the question 'What makes me happy?'  The answer that kept surfacing was 'CREATING' in general.  It didn't have to be a major series of drawings for my next great exhibit it just had to be...fun!

I used to sew quite a bit so I made new drop cloth curtains for my living room...well that helped.  I began to look around the house for things to revamp.  

I gave my kitchen light switch plate cover a new, fresh look...cool.  A little sanding, paint and tissue tape.  Repainted a bar stool to now be used as a plant stand...I like this and you remember that cute little cabinet I painted back in March.  I tried photo transfer onto a Lazy Susan I use on our kitchen table...not bad.  I gave a fresh coat of paint to our remote holder...now that's more like it.  This painting/re purposing got me on my way to finding my old funky self, nothing is safe anymore.  

Recently I was asked to paint a sweet saw blade for a neighbour...I remember this, I like this. (I'll show you that another time...it's a beauty)

So now that I've caught you all up on things I haven't been neglecting my blog, I've been busy...creating...really.

Stay tuned, I have a few other things to show you.

Sheila

Love Me Some Paint

Hello my Artsy friends . . . so glad you stopped by.  I must apologize for not posting last week . . . I seemed to have gotten consumed by my painting project and when that happens I'm gone.  I don't know if you find that but I know for me I become obsessed and can only focus on that one thing.

So I've had this little pine bathroom cubby for about 20 years now, I had stained in a lovely antique and it has served well as bathroom storage but it was time for an upgrade.  We are re-making our en-suite so it needed a makeover as well.

I took off the hinges and door.  It was never sealed so I didn't worry about sanding. . . I'm all about the easy.

I rounded up my supplies and dove in.  It's always so exciting to start a new project.  I have so much paint, paint of all kinds I decided to see how it all worked together.

I painted all the edges with soft black because I knew I wanted to sand this piece so as the under coat would show through.

Then I added the first coat of Martha Stewart's Heavy Cream (I love the names she gives her paint) then the second and finally the third.  It took little or no time to re-apply it's the waiting in between that's hard . . . good lesson in patience, something we all could use.  Total time to refinish this piece was 4 hours.

I painted the inside Americana Tea Green, I love this shade, again three coats and then applied Annie Sloan's clear soft wax over the entire piece.  this is an amazing product, it goes on like a dream and polishes up so quick and beautiful . . . you should really try it if you love refinishing furniture.

You can see the lovely sanded off effect here where the soft black shows through on the edges. . . yes, that's the stuff.

I put the door back on and there she sits.  I keep a log of paint type, colour and time it takes to complete my projects because you do forget.  Annie Sloan has a work book you can purchase but I use a multi media art book.

This is the finished product, it is how I had envisioned it to be. . . I love when that happens.  The top shelf if for a tissue box that I don't have on hand right now and will drive me insane until I get it (that's my OCD shining through) the project isn't quite finished without it.

Thanks for being here.  Stay tuned for my next project coming soon.

Wishing you  a good and productive weekend.

Sheila