This Weekend, A Wedding, and A New Blog

I’m so glad it’s Friday!  Granted, I don’t work in the traditional sense, but I structure my week as if it were.  So, by the time Friday rolls around, I’m ready to relax with Dr. B.  As I type, I’m sitting under the hairdryer, which I absolutely cannot stand!  Do you know how long it takes locs to dry.  I normally let them air dry throughout the day, but I have a lot of things to get done today, and the last thing I want to think about is a head full of damp hair.   It want it look really nice for my brother-in-laws wedding!

He and his fiance are Buddhist, so the wedding will be a traditional Buddhist ceremony.  I’m expecting it to be visually picturesque, hopefully something like this

and this

Lastly, I started a new blog called The UpTown Atelier!  I wanted a home where I could share my off-the-grid home decorating ideas, inspiration, and DIY.  Atelier is pronounced At-Ti-Ya…it kinds rhymes with ALL Day 🙂  An Atelier is a French term for an artist’s studio or workshop. We live uptown of Downtown Orlando…hence the name The UpTown Atelier.  I was reaching huh? 🙂  Anyhoo, stop over and say hi!  Today I posted some before and after pics of my Dorothy Draper inspired entertainment center.

How are you going to enjoy this weekend?

I’m No Artist…

I’m no artist by any means. But, I thought it would be fun to create textile prints for some of the furniture I plan to upholster. I didn’t come up with this idea off the top of my head. There is a website called Spoonflower.com, where you can upload an image and they will print that image on fabric. It’s sort of like Ebay for fabric, in that anyone can set up and hop on Spoonflower and sell their fabrics. I’m not sure what percentage of the sale Spoonflower gets, but it sure is a creative way to add personality to your home decor projects.

One of the drawbacks is that you can only upload certain image types, which are mainly created using a graphics program. So ,me being me (whatever that means) I found an inexpensive application called ArtRage that has some powerful drawing and painting tools that I can use to create images to upload to Spoonflower.

Last night a spent an hour or so going through the basic tutorial which used the tracing to tool to create painting of a rose. The application, has a lot of bells and whistles that I have to learn.  Overall I really liked this application as it can help a non-artist like me create useful ‘art’.  I’m excited about doing some abstract images which will translate in to some funky fabrics 🙂

Check out my rose (I use that term loosely) that I created.  I really doesn’t look like much, but I’m kind proud of it 🙂

Have you heard of Spoonflower.com? What would you design fabric for? Home decor, clothing, gifts?

Friday’s Treasure Hunt

Yesterday I visited two of my favorite antique furniture shops. There was so much to take in, as both shops had load of new pieces.

I was hunting for a new desk for my office.  I saw two that I absolutely loved.

This black and gold vintage Lane Furniture desk with a Merlot colored leather top!  Sorry I didn’t take a picture of the top 😦

Look at this beauty! It in near perfect original condition.

This cute built-in side shelf desk

I'm not feeling that pink panther paint color

She would need a good sanding and a fresh coat of stain.  I really love the styling of the front molding.

I didn’t buy either…yet.  I’m still trying to decide which one I like more.  The black and gold desk costs about twice as much as the pink desk, but the owner said he would work with me on the price. 🙂

But, I did buy were these club chairs with cane backs.

These twins need some serious TLC.  I think I can pulled something off like Mandi over at Vintage Revivals accomplished with a similar chair.

Before:

Before

After!

Mandi’s before and after were featured on Apartment Therapy.  What do you think?  I think I’m going to stain my chairs a dark mahogany, or black.

Have a great weekend!

Related articles

• Make a Great Study Area on a Budget (homeandgardenideas.com)
• My Secret Life As A Treasure Hunter – Vintage Shopping Happiness (ichoosehappynow.wordpress.com)
• DIY: Industrial Dining Table (dewofthedesert.wordpress.com)

I saw this…

I saw this:

Tree stump table featured in Apartment Therapy

and this…

Kate Cunningham tree stump table

So now I’m working with this…

Tree stump from the back yard of our old house

and this…

I’ll let you know how they turn out. 🙂

I used this….

Shark mini sewing machine

To make these…

My DIY pillows

Today I brought this…

Heavy duty Singer sewing machine

I hope to make something like these…

Pillows by Furbish Studios

and this…

Ottoman by Furbish Studios

This newlywed is knee deep in home decor DIY and loving it!

BTW…I used the iPhone application Hipstamatic to take the pictures. It’s an app that takes pictures like old film cameras.  Check it out if you have an iPhone.