I had to drive south yesterday, down to Delray to drop off some seats to the upholsterer. Since I was already in the neighborhood of yes.........my favorite thrift shop, I made a quick stop on my way back to the studio. T'was my lucky day! I picked up one, two, three, four chests of drawers, a long lower cabinet (perfect for a flat panel tv!) and a small bookcase. Drum roll please.................$48.

Notice the small chest with the missing knobs? They were'nt missing when I got it. The rest of my lucky day...........a couple came in and bought two chests, one of which was this.....
the chinoiserie chest. And how appropriate, they were a French couple. To open the drawers to this chest you pull from the sides. The couple explained to me that their little girls couldn't reach yet to open this way, so I grabbed knobs from the chest found in the morning (I had none in stock), drilled a few holes and use the knobs on this chest, they matched/worked perfectly.

First off....here's how the child's armoire finished up.....
I spent most of this past weekend (Sunday and Monday when its closed) putting the shop in order. I decided to add some signage in the shop to help the customers better understand all that is done from this space.
Do you LOVE the rug?.........I found it in the dumpster at my apartment building! One beautiful free rug....love free. It really warms up the place.

This is now an area where I will hold pieces that I need to work on. Anyone who owns a shop like this will know that customers are always sneaking/peeking around corners to see what treasures may be lurking in the back room, so I decided to put them out there where they can see them. They are available for custom work if I don't get to them first.
I also gave my little pet portraits a bit of an upgrade, an air of importance by moving them off a table top and into their own little gallery space. These are all painted ones and I wanted to hang some prints of some of my other favorites but my printer is out of ink so that'll have to wait.

These were my two finds on my jaunt out to my favorite thrift shop this past Wednesday.
A $20 armoire that I started working on yesterday and a very cool, and in great shape, vintage clothes hamper.
The armoire will be a forest scene with a few small animals suitable for either a boy or girl. The rest of the cabinet will also get painted....I just needed to do some artwork!
And this piece that I had picked up the week before is ready for its artwork as well.......just haven't decided what yet??

Delivered the animal chest yesterday and spent the rest of day getting some new small pieces out on the floor.

And today?.........favorite thrift shop or pay the phone bill?..........favorite thrift shop or pay the phone bill? Then I remember its Wednesday!!.........senior day at the favorite thrift shop (never thought I'd be happy to say that ;-). Guess which one won.....I'm on my way.
When I get back this is the project waiting at the studio. This one I think will get some artwork on the front....

Ahhhhhhhh.........the flea market

I've got mixed feelings.
On one hand the experience may have been good for future business at the shops, we gave out a lot of business cards.....on the other hand I think our prices may be too high for 'flea market' shoppers. We got tons of compliments on our work, lots of inquiries about custom work, but only sold one piece, my child's dresser with the animals on it.
The women who stopped by our both and bought the dresser told us that they were about to leave because they weren't seeing anything worthwhile until they spotted our booth :-)......best compliment ever!!
That's Jackie and Cricket (the girls from the store next to mine) at our shared booth....
And Jackie taking a much needed break under the shade of the bus shelter.
So all in all it really cost us money just to be there.....u-haul rental, hiring a man to help load the truck the night before and unload it in the morning, space rental, and the other little costs....purchase of the canopy, food and drink, closing our shops for the day, etc.
There were only about thirty vendors there, and some of those I don't think should have been. This was billed as an antique, vintage collectibles and crafts show, but there was one of those $10 tables where they sell sunglasses and junk and another guy selling rugs....not cool old rugs, just store type area rugs. There were several jewelry stands and they seemed to be getting the most attention (and sales).
I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure I'd do it again, we'll see.

I finally hung one of my favorite mural prints properly in my apartment....it had just been stapled up til now. The original mural (one of three panels) hangs in the service elevator in a twenty plus million dollar mansion built by Frank McKinney in Manalapan, FL. I used a nice thin molding with nicely rounded edges to trim it out. I think this is a nice clean way to hang murals that don't go wall to wall or floor to ceiling. I just tacked up the canvas with a couple of staples to hold it in place and then used my brad gun to attach the molding, just in the center and corner (end) of each strip......then trimmed away the excess canvas.

I started yesterday with a tiny little mural job in a little boy's bathroom for a client who I had done work for a few years ago. This was the job I did then (when her boy was just a baby)........
and this was yesterdays, escaping fish over the toilet (the idea was the clever mom's, and the baby is now four)...........
Back to the studio, I started working on the leather topped, kidney shaped desk I bought for $15. I got the drawers painted and stained and just have a second coat to do on the body, stain and it'll be done.
And I got my things set aside that I'm taking to the flea market on Saturday (the shop looks so empty now)....
This piece will also be going (but its in my window right now)........
and of course all the stools I made...........
Took the canopy outside too and with the help of Cricket from the shop next store, practiced setting it up. It was tougher than I thought, but several shots of silicon spray later, things went a bit smoother :-) Don't think it'll be something I can do on my own though.......wonder if there are any tricks??
Not the brand I bought but similar design......I'll give this a try :-) Trick seems to be instead of trying to pull the legs open, go inside and push up the center.

What do you think of this chalkboard/clock? I got it at my favorite thrift store for $3. I was attracted to its cleverness. Its not old of course (it wore its Home Goods label proudly on the back), but it just looked like something I could easily replicate and that might be popular...........well, I like it.
Today its back to my favorite thrift shop (its senior day, a 25% discount:-) and then back to the studio to finish up the desk.
I've also still got two small mural jobs to sketch up!!
Did I show you all this upcoming mural job? Its a music shop in my little town of Lake Worth, this is the side of the building that is seen from the main street of traffic....
and with only a budget of $500 I had to come up with an idea that could be done in a day. The original founder of this shop was a sax player, and his son who currently owns/operates the store is a guitar player, so they wanted those elements in the mural......they also have a room full of beautiful pianos so they asked for a keyboard.......the other issue?.......disguise those ugly pipes. Here's the final sketch they chose.......
What could be faster than a silhouette mural! We're still waiting on the cities approval, but I hope to get on this in a couple of weeks.

Got the big brown chest done today. it'll be going with me to the flea market.....
I liked the color so much that I decided to do that small bedside table too.
And here are all my foot stools ready to go
Also picked up a canopy for the flea market this weekend.

Started yesterday with a trip out to my favorite thrift shop and took the girls from the shop next door with me. We were looking for a few more things that could go with us to the upcoming flea market. Not much luck with that, but we each found bargains. I picked up a couple of small night stands at $5 each and three $1 chairs to go with a table thats been in the shop for awhile. I've been looking for chairs with a similar leg as the table for months. I'll change out the seat fabric and paint the chairs to match.

And I got the first set of stools finished and two new styles drawn out, some cut and will spend this weekend finishing them up so I can concentrate on getting some furniture painting done.

I've become obsessed with doing a bunch of little stools for the upcoming flea market. Aside from needing to get the tops on three of them, I've gotten four of one design done and would like to do at least three other designs. I confess I love making these......I'm happy when they turn out looking authentically old and worn.
I want to get them all done by the end of this weekend so I can focus on painting the last two pieces that will be going to the flea market with me.
The chest I bought a few days ago.......
and this wonderful leather topped, kidney shaped desk that I found on Wednesday....yes....at my favorite thrift shop for $15. I felt very lucky to get this desk, it was being circled and inspected by lots of folks there. I can only guess that they could not see the potential in this piece because other than its being a bit distressed (which we love!) its construction/bones were in near perfect condition.......lucky me :-)
The girls next to my shop and I are all meeting up at the thrift shop this morning to see if we can find some small collectible items to use in our vignettes (and to sell) at the flea market.

Wow....have I got some work to do! I don't think I've ever looked at my blog stats before now............I get a whopping 10 to 20 hits a day at best.........that's not acceptable.

Change of plans. One (of two) of my landlords stopped by the studio yesterday and through talking with him I was convinced to stay on at the studio. I realized that with my participation in the new West Palm Beach flea market I will be opening myself up to a whole new bunch of potential customers, most who will be introduced to my work for the first time. Its a great opportunity to market and tell people about the studio and what it offers.

I got all ten of the chairs finished and they were picked up yesterday. I've got two mural sketches to do and a ton of work to do to get ready for the flea market on the 16th. I have the furniture pieces picked out that will go with me and now I have to focus on the little things.....turns out there is no canopy to borrow so one will have to be purchased. I plan to be at every flea market they have so renting a canopy doesn't seem like a good option. I also want to make a large sign and I'm going to be making several painted/distressed stools/benches, similar to this one I made a couple of weeks ago.......lots to do.

Ahhhh.........here's the chest I picked up yesterday. I'm thinking a soft pale blue/grey and distressed of course.
I'm almost finished redoing all these chairs.....oiy! This is the table that the client saw and wanted the same finish on all her chairs.
And here are most of the chairs before.........
And here are the chairs after........only two more to do!