Giveaway at Z’s

Do you know my friend Z?

Actually Suzan ( with a Z) of Old Grey Mare

Well not only are you in for a treat when you see her humungo giveaway

but you will fall in love her and her blog.

We met around 2 yrs ago when we were doing White Wednesday.

Back in the day when there was no linky.

Remember that?…ok not all that long ago.

I knew from a few emails back and forth that this was someone special.

Ok I could write a whole post about how I feel about her but I’ll stop gushing because I

really want you to go to her blog and win some of these lovely gifts that these very talented and generous

gals have offered up for grabs.

My contribution is a Jeanne d’Arc Living Magazine.

Amongst all these other wonderful handmade goodies it may not seem to measure up

but for those of you that know this publication you know how beautiful and inspiring it is…… for the others,

you have no idea what you are missing.

This magazine has had a amazing effect on my decorating style and many others.

About half of my home has reflected this style for a long time yet the other half

has been a mish mash of different identities.

It’s been since I learned that my niece from France was coming for a visit this Fall ( hi Vanessa)  that I have

finally decided to tackle some of those projects that have been on my mind for 2 years now

( ok much longer then that)

The guest/sewing room has been a disaster for years now. Disaster is too strong a word.

Well, ok sometimes it was hard to walk around in there without injuring yourself…but

I knew where everything was….and I certainly knew where the pillows were.

EVERYWHERE!

and not all pretty ones either….just ones that I thought I’d recover …..someday.

You know in my spare time while working 7 days a week….ok I digress.

Today I finally finished another piece of furniture.

Whoo hoo!

and I have my friend Z to thank for it.

Yep between her and Martha I made my own chalk paint.

A book from Annie Sloan that hubby bought me yrs ago also convinced me I was on the right track.

At the time I had no idea who Annie Sloan was and that I had one of her books.

Imagine my surprise when the woman’s name that everyone has been talking about was staring right at me.

Well it was exciting for me : ) Doesn’t take much.

Also pays off to clean and organize.

I started with this:

 

No Photoshopping done just to give you the real deal.

If I did I would Photoshop a railing for our deck.

I won’t go there.

You can see it had some damage to the finish but that was a plus. I did no sanding just a slightly damp cloth to clean.

I had taken a photo of it after I painted and sanded but I had it on Manual setting from the day before.

It was overexposed and forgot to look to see if it came out.

I blame it on not having my morning coffee yet.

This is after it was waxed with Butchers wax.

Not sure what all the different waxes make.

I had Butchers so that’s what I used.

I’m  a big believer in using what you have.

It just gives it a finished look and along with antiquing it gives it a mellow effect.

You can see how the damaged grooves helped the look somewhat.

I’m rather happy with how it came out.

This post is getting a bit long…..

are you still there? lol

So I’ll be back with how I accomplished  it and the one I did with talc.

Now don’t forget to enter Suzan’s giveaway

HERE

GOOD LUCK

Oh yeah almost forgot,

joining Kathleen at Faded Charm for

White Wednesday

Thanks for visiting