Friday, January 11, 2013

Power of Red and Mercury Glass

Happy Friday everyone!  What a beautiful day it has been.  The sun is out and the temperature is much nicer than last week!  I'm slowly growing my thick skin back from being out west in sunny California's climate for 6 years.  With Christmas being done and gone, I got to thinking about Valentine's day and what fun pieces I could have displayed in my show window.  There has been so much red everywhere during the holidays, that I thought OK maybe pink.  But then I remembered I just did the antique vanity and chair in Antoinette and Old White.  I have only used Miss Mustard's seed milk paint "Tricycle" for my reds and I REALLY wanted to try Annie Sloan's red which is just a deep gorgeous color called "Emperor's Silk", so that settled it for me, RED it was for the Valentine piece to display in the window!  You might have read about my long time friend Jennifer who has been my cheerleader (when it comes to my work), my babysitter, my 2nd opinion and last but not least my go to girl!  Being a busy mom and business owner,  it is REALLY hard for me to shop for supplies and paint, *enter Jennifer*:)  I can just call my trusty friend and I will have what I need in no time flat!  She was on the Emperor's Silk mission at 12 noon Saturday and by 2 p.m. I had my hands on that amazing paint.  I thought and thought about what piece was small enough to fit in the display window but big enough to stand out.  And then it hit me!  I had bought this really neat mid-century cabinet a while back that needed some spark.  It was a drab dark wood stain with boring knobs.  Well Monday couldn't come soon enough and as soon as my kids were off to school I was paint brush in hand and ready to go!  As I'm painting this stunning red on, I notice how ugly and dingy the inside of the cabinet was.  Washing it down was an option, however I thought a pretty light blueish gray would make it really unique.  So, after 2 coats of Emperor's Silk on the outside, I mixed up some Louis Blue and Paris Gray and that went on the inside, great color choice!  Now for the knobs.  This piece needed something special, something different.....mercury glass, oh yeah!  I always keep a variety of knobs and pulls on hand and was lucky to have just the right amount.  I couldn't wait to finish painting, distressing and dark waxing this piece so I could see the mercury glass knobs on it.
My patience paid off! After the paint, the distressing, the wax and finally the knobs...ahhh Valentine's Day Bliss:)



Enter my go to girl Jennifer again to help put this solid wood piece of yumminess in my shop window and tada, a beautiful piece just for Valentine's Day....ok, not so much it sold a few hours after opening on Thursday!  BUT,  I will be on look out for another cabinet or even a small dresser this time to do and maybe,  just maybe it will last until Valentine's Day!



Noting says WOW like mercury glass!

LOVE the distressing with the dark popping through!