5th Blogiversary!

It's already been 5 years! The traditional gift for a 5th anniversary is wood, so here is a 5-piece collection inspired by the stunning wooden floor of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the UK. Ballroom is available in my shop as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, cut-and-sew patterns, and homewares!

Treillage

Parquetry Chevron

Steps

Parquetry Tangram

Swoosh

Thank you for following my crazy creative dance thus far! Here's to the next 5 years of Creatively Graceful!

Plume Bobbin Pen

Ooolala, this is an ideal pen with which to write a love letter! It is crafted of a re-purposed bobbin from a loom (my textile-loving heart just fluttered) and a glamorous ostrich feather. I bought it at the MVTM.

Piano Makeover: After

Ta-da, the Baldwin is now white! Compared to the dark wooden before, I particularly love how the columns and pilasters are all the more Classical in its fresh new finish. For 118 years old, this piano is looking pretty spiffy!

In the words of interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe (1859-1950) "I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint!" 

Textural

My Textural design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Hygge design challenge!

Piano Makeover: Before

 We're painting our 1900 Baldwin piano! This is the before...a very red mahogany. Before the before it was painted avocado green and orange by my grandma in the 1970s! I love to play it opened up and see the mechanism moving. Also on the inside are little treasures like a pencil note saying it was fixed up on February 16th, 1921. What colour might it be for its next phase of life?

Stay tuned...

MATS Home Décor: Wood

This fifth and final week of Make Art That Sells: Creating Collections for Home Décor is about creating art for wood products. Feel free to check out the product designs I create here and the rest of my portfolio here!

Tangram Marquetry

My Tangram Marquetry design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Tangrams challenge!

Chair-aphernalia

I found this sweet postcard of a little boy poised next to some furniture and swiftly adopted him, as well as this copper and wood chair block from a printing press, both from a local antique store. The chair on which they sit was made by my great-grandpa, who created scale repro Early American doll furniture as a lucrative hobby. 

Tiddleybokken Toy Shop

Tiddleybokken, the mischievous Christmas elf, being oh so industrious in Santa's workshop. (I suppose he may have been inspired by the Leggy wallcovering to put his toes up for a bit!)

Christmas '48

My great-grandmother wrote this on the back of her desk. Note her teacherly penmanship! I absolutely adore finding little scribbles like this--it's insight into past lives, and past Christmases!

Wooden Shoe Forms

I had a "shoe day" at an antique show a little while ago, picking up these 6 forms after previously deciding I wanted to find some for display purposes. When it rains, it pours! The tiny ones are a rare find.

This little shoe is 92!

Tektōn

Tektōn: Ancient Greek noun meaning artisan or craftsman. 

Découpaged Flower Chair

This project began with me hoarding magazine clippings of flowers for 7 years.

I wanted to cover a chair in them, but was waiting for the perfect chair to drop into my life. One day I was driving home and realized it was garbage day in my neighbourhood. I took a detour looking for furniture at curbs and slammed on my breaks when I saw this chair upside down on someone’s lawn. I threw it in the back seat as the neighbours stared, and I smirked gleefully all the way home. The chair has funky mid-century lines. 

I washed it and ripped the decomposing upholstery off the seat; there were 3 layers of atrocity to work through, the crowning glory being this exquisite '70s fabric. Needless to say, ew, that was a task and a half. 

Then I started gluing the flowers to the surface with Mod Podge. 

And gluing...

And gluing...

It took too many hours to count, but it’s exactly the cheerful piece I first imagined oh so long ago!

Here's to the warm and flowery days to come!

Thrifty Thonet

I found a Thonet style chair at Value Village for $7! 

This one could be from the '60s or '70s, going by the wear and tear. 

I love the gentle curves of the blonde wood, the caning (hole and all), and the fact that the chair is super lightweight!

Rustic

 Emphasis on rust.

Mid-Century Modern Chair: Before

I bought this funky chair for $8 secondhand. 

I'm not a fan of natural wood, but I may resist the urge to paint it for a while because it belongs on this design, and has quite a beautiful grain.

After unscrewing the seat I spent a nice summer afternoon painstakingly picking the staples out of the bottom of it, and peeling off the revolting brown fabric and rotting foam. Yum.

I'm going to reupholster the seat in one of my fabrics.

Stay tuned...

Chalk Painted Geometric Chair for Sale

I've had the IKEA chair below since I was 5. It was my desk chair out of necessity, but I never liked its plainness.

Note the name scribbles under the seat.

 So I painted it. I used the X as inspiration to transform it with a geometric print.

 Old White and Provence Chalk Paint make up the light blue, plus I used Graphite, Antibes, and Old White for the rest of the pattern.

 The painted areas have also been waxed.

 It is for sale! Please email me at creativelygraceful@gmail.com if interested!

Finely Carved

My Finely Carved design is in Spoonflower's Wooshop challenge of the week. It was inspired by the carvings on 18th Century commodes.