Living Room design decisions ... input welcome

I want to spruce up the Living Room, I've wanted new slipcovers for some time and by the time I decided to go with blue Ikea had discontinued the blue I wanted.  Online search to the rescue and I found a lady who had 2 brand new slipcovers available ... yay!

This is what the every day living room looks like, nope I didn't tidy or dust!

Believe it or not the walls are butter cookie yellow but the current slipcovers don't help the wall colour.

This the a quick peek of the new blue slipcover, with one of my existing throw cushions.

The blue in the cushion matches the new slipcover but it doesn't light my fire, it's kinda blah.

I also have some dark denim throw cushions.

Then there's this exquisite piece of furniture (finger down throat)

I picked it up real cheap, with a matching end table.  It's been waiting for it's reinvention for 2 years now.  What?  I've been waiting on new slipcovers.  I was between the blue or white slipcovers.

Since we now have a new puppy that Frank invites on the sofa I just could not do white, I'd be washing the cushion covers ALL the time!

The PLAN for this table is a grain sack feel with either Red or Blue stripes.

The colour we choose for the throw cushion fabric will determine the stripe and graphic colour on the coffee table.

See my problem, one decision based on the last, if I hold up on one it puts everything on delay.

I've had a love affair with Toile for some time and have not used any decorating this home and I'm still not sure if I will use any traditional toile - you will help me decide ...

Here are my red choices, I was thinking I could do the front of the cushion in toile (left side) or the french stamp option (left side) and the back of the cushion with the ticking fabric (middle).

This gas fireplace is my reason for wanting to add a pop of red to the room.

The other direction I was considering is the yellow/blue toile to pick up the yellow walls.

the back of the cushion would be gingham, I'm leaning toward the blue.

What do you like?  Red Toile, Red French Stamp, Yellow&Blue Toile with yellow or blue gingham back?

Here is the link to the survey

Living Room Cushion Selection Survey

Quick 2 sided sign for mantle shelf

I had a scrap piece of wood that would be perfect for a small sign.  I measured it, then gave it a base coat of van Gogh Chalk paint in Buttah.

While the Buttah (I love that name!) was drying, I went into my Silhouette Studio and started designing what I wanted to put on this piece.  I have so many signs with words and sayings and honestly I could have them all over the house but I wanted a graphic option on this one.  I decided on a couple of birds sitting on a tree branch.  

Once the Buttah dried, I put the painted wood piece on the shelf and felt the yellow might be a little too bright for what I wanted so I put a coat of Muse over it.  Muse would pick up the warmer tones in the faux brick on this wall.  Meanwhile the conversation in my head was bouncing back and forth between a graphic image and a saying (I have SO many sayings I want to paint).  Then a light bulb went on!  Yep, I still have it!  Why not paint something on each side and I can turn it around a show the side I feel like seeing on any given day.  Cool huh?

So, I cut out the saying Believe in yourself and the Birds on a branch image, weeded them, applied the transfer tape and applied the first one to the painted wood.  Once on the wood I stenciled them with the Starry Night.

Then I let the paint dry slightly before peeling back the vinyl stencil

 Once completely dry I applied the van Gogh clear wax ... OMG this wax is heaven!  It smells like honey and had me craving toast with Buttah and Honey! 

I waited til the next morning and applied some dark wax, rubbed it in and called it a day!

Here are the finished signs up on the shelf

I haven't been to any party link ups in a while so I think it's about time, don't you.

I'll update my list as I link!

Hugs,

JoJo

Life is amazing

A year ago I was so disappointed when it didn't pan out for me to become a Mini stockist of Annie Sloan chalk paint. I approach things with a positive attitude and I knew that something better was going to come along. I had no idea it was going to be this good - Yep I'm so excited! Why you ask? The person behind all my excitement is a lady by the name of Kathy Van Gogh. Kathy is a decorative painter who has launched her own line of chalk paints manufactured right here in Canada. I am thrilled and honoured to become the Ontario distributor of Kathy's fabulous paints. I have started playing around with the paint on some of my own projects, I'll soon have a website launched for online sales but I'm also looking to assist Ontario retailers who would like to sell this paint and host workshops in their stores.

Following is the chart with available colours in van Gogh Chalk Paint, I will be working on some hand painted swatches that I will share once they are complete.

This week I cracked open the paint to do a couple of small projects.  I repainted my mantle shelf, painted my barn star and did a little 2 sided sign for the mantle shelf.  I love that this paint sticks to all surfaces without priming!

Here's my barn star in progress

First coat of Patina VGCP to star

Patina coat complete

 Here it is complete, with a coat of Starry Night over the Patina then I rubbed a damp cloth over the edges to expose the Patina coat, once completely dry I gave it a clear top coat.

I'm going to show you the sign I made in another post - stay tuned!

Hugs,

JoJo

Today's Guest Blogger - Miss Molly Brown

Hi!  My name is Molly Brown.

I'm 11 weeks old today and my human parents think I'm pretty smart.

I'm learning so much, like there is this big white thing with doors in the kitchen that my humans keep opening and food comes out of it!  How kewl is that!  This morning I tried to open it myself by biting it but that didn't work.  Sometimes when it's open I can run in and lick the bottles on the bottom shelf.  And and there's this big square thing in the middle of the room where my humans sit all the time. they put food and drinks on it, I think Mom called it a coffee table, well the other day I was able to put both of my front paws on it but Mom said "Off!".  That's just weird, if Dad can put his feet on it, why can't I?  There are a lot of rules around here but I'm doing really good learning them.

I have lots of fun stuff to chew on and attack, don't tell Mom but I'd rather chase Dad's feet and pull his shoelaces. Well, it's better then pulling his finger like some kids do with their Dad ... ewwww!

Well, I gotta go, I'm sleepy.

2012 the Year of Change

2012 will be a year I remember forever!

I haven't posted lately and haven't worked on any projects for a while.  Come Fall I will have lots to share! I want to take the opportunity on this post to update the year so far.

The end of March we said good bye to our best friend and companion Buddy.  We've had Buddy since he was 3 years old, he was a rescue dog.  The term rescue dog is often misinterpreted, if you choose to adopt a dog from a shelter they will spend the rest of their days rescuing you! 
Buddy the miracle dog was diagnosed with Bladder Cancer in 2005 and we were told to take him home, make him comfortable since he only had about a month left with us.  I use to love burying my nose in the fur on his head when I hugged him, I know it sounds odd (especially to people who find dogs stinky) Bud had a perfume scent to his fur. No really, he did.  We can learn so much from our dogs, Buddy didn't know the vet said he had a month left to his life so he lived 7 years after being diagnosed.  He was good most of the time except for the occasion flare up of whatever was going on in his bladder.  If I had a dollar for every time Frank wanted to give Bud a special treat like ground beef with his dinner ... Frank would say "he's not well you know!"  haha! 

We miss you Budman, you will always be in our hearts!

Bed and Breakfast Sign Knock Off

I pinned this sign recently, I loved it and knew I had to make one!

This past weekend I was going on a Ladies Weekend to a friend's cottage and had been trying to decide what I would take as a hostess gift.  (insert light bulb turning on here) This sign would be perfect!!!
So I set out to start designing my version of this using Silhouette Studio.

This is a screen capture which shows how the type fits into the shape I was working with.  I had cut out half of the sign outline and traced it onto press board.  Frank used the Jigsaw and cut out the shape for me, he also sanded the edges for me.  When I cut the lettering out I left the sign outline so I would have a guideline for lining up on the wood.

In the meantime, I painted the board out in black, then gave it a coat of watered down elmers glue so the next layer would crackle.

I painted over the black with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Old White, let it dry so it would crack.  When the paint was still a little damp I scraped some areas for heavy distressing, then sanded the whole sign and focusing on the edges.

One of the best things I have learned for script fonts especially is using good quality vinyl for my stencils and the right cut setting is key to fast weeding of the vinyl.  I also like using a dark vinyl so I can see the weeded letters better.

I forgot to take a picture while painting.  Here is the painted sign propped up outside so I can varnish.  Boy do I need a studio space!

Here is the final sign hanging in it's new home!

I'm linking to

 and

Great Milk Paint Give Away ...

Head on over to Stiltskin Studio's blog for a fantastic Milk Paint Giveaway!

Stiltskin Studios Milk Paint Giveaway