Tuesday 29 January 2013

Spruced up



     Hello everyone - Hopefully a quick blog post today (I'll try to keep the waffling to a minimum!)

       I just wanted to show you what I made for the Frilly and Funkie 'Spruce it up' challenge'

    I was instantly tempted by this challenge as I have been meaning to decorate one of my sets of drawers in my craft cupboard for ages - and this challenge pushed me forward to do it!....It was a long process, well, longer than I normally take, but I think it was worth it. Only problem is, now I want the drawers to store trinkets and treasures instead of ribbons and paint!


 This is the set of drawers - It started out as plain light wood once upon a time and I stained the box and painted the drawer fronts pale yellow and decorated it with daisies.



Then my daughter decided (when she was about 3 or 4) that the decoration could be improved and set about doing her own design.......












My son has added his own decorations (not wanting to be left out....)












 

So it was time to turn it into something nice (hopefully) -

First I re-stained the outside of the drawers....it was marked and faded so it needed a new cover of deep mahogany stain.


   I wanted frames for the labels on the drawers so Alison very kindly cut some for me. I took ages trying to choose between a tarnished silver or bronze....I tried out both but silver won in the end....though I wonder now whether it was just my new crackle paint that scored the extra points for being more fascinating to use than Burnt Sienna acrylic paint!











Once the frames were all crackled and ready to go for the tarnishing, I got some brown and black acrylic paint and dabbed and wiped with a tissue. After this I applied some copper metallic rub-on.












   Cream coloured card was inked with Antique Linen and Pumice Stone DI's and stuck to the back of the frames. Antique style metal brads were added










   I still don't like my handwriting but the alphabet stamps I have weren't right for this and I had no other way of doing the words (printer not working again!) So the handwriting had to do!










   I wanted Roses and Lace to decorate the now paper covered drawer fronts. I didn't have enough of the right size flower shapes so I drew around the one that I had and then cut them all out by hand. I inked them with Antique Linen DI and then dabbed around the edges with Victorian Velvet DI.







   Each flower was then constructed (for a step by step explanation on how to make these - click here)











   I covered three drawers with brown shades of paper and three with pink shades. All were very antique, vintage style papers but I added some extra distressing with Gathered Twigs DI and sanding after each layer of Mod Podge










 The brown drawer fronts all had lace die-cuts at the tops and the pink drawers had roses and leaves.










 






















This paper was very plain so I stamped flourishes around it in Gathered Twigs DI















      So here is the finished set of drawers



         I hope you like it! Bit of a change from my usual tags!!! I'd love to know what you think, so if you have the time to spare please leave me a comment....





   I am entering this into the following challenge -

Frilly and Funkie  - Spruce it up

11 comments:

  1. Your hand (paw) writing is lovely, is it just that we all dislike our own writing? Your drawers are wonderful, we were going to add titles to our newly decorated drawers but knew we'd keep changing our minds about what to put in them!

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  2. You've created a beautiful set of drawers! The crackled and distressed label frames and your hand cut/rolled flowers are perfect! I love how you used different backgrounds on each drawer front and added the die cut lace! I'm sure that it's a beautiful addition to your craft space! Thanks so much for playing along with us at Frilly and Funkie!

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  3. Gorgeous bit of up-sprucing! The bookplates look fantastic and, like Donna, I love that each drawer is different. I'll send A home with some more Tattered Florals tomorrow - anything else?
    Alison xx

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  4. Love what you have done with these drawers Laura. I can see why you want them for other reasons - maybe you could invest in some more? Love that you can put orders in with Alison too! You'll have the rest of blogland jealous at this rate!! Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie with this superb makeover. Hugs, Jenny x

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  5. Your drawers look beautiful and love the muted colour tones , they work so well! Nice to have someone to get orders from!! A wonderful spruced up iced. thanks for playing at Frilly and Funkiethis week hugs trace x

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  6. Absolutely stunning! I love how you treated the frames ... *sighs*
    Suzanne

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  7. Gorgeous results, I love that all the drawers are different but co-ordinate perfectly. I guess the kids have taken their love of art and doodling from you too. My daughter did similar decoration to a wall at the top of our stairs when she was about 2, lol, very cute then, but she's now a very talented artist and photographer. Encourage their creativity too.

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  8. Beautiful transformation Laura ! I love how you've made the frames, the comnbination of the crackle paint and the acrylic paint is fabulous ! Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Sue C x

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  9. Sensational piece of altered art, Laura! So vintage and yummy. And how funny that you don't like your handwriting. It was one of the first things I notice and immediately love it and wished I could write like that - LOL. This came out so wonderful and I'm sure you will enjoy using it in your craft room. I need a couple of these in mine! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Frilly and Funkie.

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  10. Wow, what a makeover! I can see why you'd want them for jewellery but they'll look so good in your crafting space they'll make you happy every time you use them for your stash. Beautiful colour combination. Margie x

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