Saturday, September 4, 2010

Giveaway winner

The Lucky winner of the LISA LEONARD DESIGNS $50.00 gift certificate is Angel, comment # 3.

Angel if your out there your profile is not available, please contact me so I can send you the gift certificate. Thanks everyone and thanks again Lisa for the generous prize.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lisa Leonard Giveaway

I am so excited to announce a lovely giveaway for this week.

Lisa Leonard Designs!

Have you seen her jewelry? All her pieces are so beautiful and unique!

You can even get custom pieces made!

 

2009 ornament

large link charm bracelet

 

rectangle keychain

teenie tiny initials necklace

whoo do you love?

 bracelets

 

 

I received this beautiful necklace from Lisa, customized

with my initial, and I just love it.

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 Lisa is offering a $50 gift certificate to Flea Market Trixie readers!!!

So if you win, you can pick out your favorite Lisa Leonard design!

 

2 Chances to Win

  • Visit Lisa Leonard Designs and pick out your favorite piece of jewelry, then come back here and leave a comment telling us which one you would chose.
  •  Blog about the giveaway for a second chance to win.

(Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each chance to win)

 

The deadline for the giveaway is Friday, September 3rd at midnight (EST).

The winner will be announced Saturday September 4th.


 

 

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Painting Technique for cavity caps

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Some of you may remember the mirror I made using cavity caps. 

I received many emails asking me about the paint technique I used.

 

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Cavity caps are used between concrete block cells to stop mortar infiltration.

I also heard from many of you that your local Lowe's or hardware store doesn't carry them, or even know what they are.

I guess it's a regional product, for that reason I decided I would sell them in my ETSY store.

 

 

For my mirror project I wanted the metal squares to look aged and distressed.

The first thing you need to do is wipe off the front with rubbing alcohol to remove any residue leftover from the manufacturing process. This will allow the paint to adhere better.

 

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My favorite brush to use when doing an aged finish is a chip brush, you can find it at most craft and hardware stores.

 

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Because the chip brush has uneven and natural bristles it doesn't cover like a regular paint brush, and trust me this is a good thing when you are try to achieve an aged distressed finish.

Apply one light coat of you favorite acrylic craft paint, let dry. If you impatient like me you can speed up the drying time using a hair dryer.

Once dry, apply a second coat, in the same or different direction as the first coat, doing this will add more texture and  complete coverage is not necessary.

 

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After it's completely dry, rub steel wool over the top in different directions until you achieve the worn look you are looking for.

 

Then liberally apply a one step crackle to the top and let completely dry.

I like to use DecoArt's crackle finish.

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Once the crackle dries, it will have a somewhat shinny appearance (which will disappear once the antique finish is applied).

The crackle is hard to see at this point but will show up nicely once an antiquing wash/glaze  is applied.

I like to thin down burnt umber acrylic craft paint to use as my antiquing glaze. You can also used a purchased antiquing glaze for this step.

Just thin the down the burnt umber brown paint with a little with water and apply with a clean chip brush, let set for just a second and blot off the same way you would blot a stain up from the carpet.

Continue to wipe or blot until you achieve the desired look.  Multiple layers of the antiquing wash can be applied until you get the look you're after.

 

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I applied several coats of the burnt umber wash for this look.

To protect the finish, apply a spray matte or satin clear coat to the top,(this step is optional).

 

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 It's so easy and fun to do this project, and the color options are endless.

 

Remember if your local store doesn't carry cavity caps and you would love to try this project you can find them Here.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Shopping Trip

Well I must say it was fun and I bought a few good things, but one thing in my book that doesn't go together is extreme heat and outdoor shopping.
It was Hot, Hot, Hot and I live in Florida so I'm used to hot weather but nothing like the heat wave they were having.

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We started here at Noccalula Falls Park in Gadsden Alabama.

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P1030939My favorite sales were at peoples houses.

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Check out the view from their backyard.

P1030941I'm a little afraid of heights so I didn't get too close to the edge on this one.

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This house was next door to a sale we went to, it was gorgeous.
P1030943  The scenery was wonderful.

P1030945We passed this and I just had to take a picture.
I'm still stumped on the message they were trying to make on this church sign.


We traveled a total of 1300 miles and saw many beautiful things, our last stop was in Jamestown Tennessee, the town where the 127 sale all started.
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Here are a few of the things I found. It was a lot of fun and we met some really nice people along the way.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Here I come WLYS

I'm so excited to say that I'm leaving for the World's Longest Yard Sale tomorrow. This is my first year going so I'm not sure what to expect, but from what I've seen on HGTV, I hope it will be a ton of fun. We're starting in Gadsden Alabama and hope to end up around the Tennessee/Kentucky  line. Our trip includes myself, my wonderful sweet mother and my lovely sister-in- law.


A hubcap in Grimsley, Tennessee lures shoppers. Most of the sellers are clustered along Route 127.
 
A seller organizes his wares at a sale in Beamsville, Ohio.
 
A seller in Frankfort, Kentucky offers competitive prices on chairs.
 
 
Bargains here we come!!!!

Monday, August 2, 2010

and the winner is....

With only two entries for the modeling paste challenge, it was easy to see how great these projects were.

Cori from Starview Sonnet   is the winner, chosen by random.org

Her desk turned out great, check out the before pictures Here

and

Miss Mustard Seed's canisters are simply fantastic. You can find her tutorial Here

Two very talented Ladies!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Modeling Paste Challenge Linky Party (and Giveaway)

Have you made something with DecoArt's modeling paste?
It's now your turn to brag and show us what you've created.
The winner will be chosen randomly and will receive my custom made frame, plus the great people at DecoArt have offered a prize package of two jars of modeling paste and two Tracy Moreau stencils.  
 
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Party starts today and ends this Saturday at 6:00 pm, Eastern time.
Just add a link below in the Linky box and make sure you link back.
 
 
 

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Gilded Barn

All I can say is wow, this girl is talented! Every time I visit her blog I'm amazed at her talent, she can make anything look good.
I'm talking about Tamra from
Her blog is an amazing journey showcasing the transformation of her home into the most amazing place.
She's an artist and farm girl who loves the city. Just check out some of the things she's done.
I know you will be inspired by her too.

Old kitchen cabinets and an old bookcase transformed into this lovely piece.


She made this to temporarily cover the hole where the dishwasher will be.


This is her kitchen halfway done, it's going to be amazing!





Made this chair into something fabulous.


Check out the sink in her bathroom.



Her motto is "Where Rustic Living Meets Refined Elegance"
so true Tamra!!!

Please hop on over and check out her blog.