Plaquettes

I have been a busy bee for the last few weeks designing my lovely new vintage style Plaquettes. These beauties are mini wall plaques with a difference.  They are all handmade, unique and unusual and there are no two identical.  They are made using beautiful colours and designs combining découpage and various artistic techniques. They would make an impact in any room and would be great gifts for any occasion (don't forget mother's day on 15th March!).  The framed ones include a peg which allows the attachment of a photo of your choice if you wish but they are equally as nice just as they are.  There is no end to the colour and design choices that are possible in this range. Measurements approx. 20cm x 30cm in most cases.

Here are the first few and you will be delighted to hear that they are even nicer in reality than they appear in the pics below. Click on each photo to make bigger.

Pink Floral Plaquette (with photo holder peg) €25

Blue-Green Plaquette with photo attached 

Blue-Green Plaquette Pink Frame (with photo holder peg) €25

Grey Victorania Plaquette €20

Le Bain Plaquette €25

Dusty Roses Plaquette (with photo attachment peg) €25

Home Plaquette €15

Vintage Birdcage Plaquette €25

Vintage Birds Plaquette (with photo holder peg) €25

Pale Pink Vintage Plaquette

My plaquettes can be made to order. A specific colour scheme/theme can be requested and the lead time on this is 7 - 10 days. They are also for sale here on the blog and over on my Funky-Junk Facebook page.  If you see something you like, just fill in the form on the right hand side of this page or go to the Contact Tab at the top of the page and click on the link to email me.  Don't forget to include your email details so that I can reply to you. National and International shipping is available, contact me for prices.

Love them!!!

Happy Halloween

For anyone who missed my earlier posts here are all three painted Halloween plates.  Baked for 30 minutes at 150 deg.  Happy Halloween!

Pine Bedside Lockers - Revamp Completed

I'm delighted to finally post pics of the finished bedside lockers.  I decided on a deep red for the drawer fronts and couldn't find the right red.  Eventually, I mixed a deep plum with some fire engine red and came up with this colour which is exactly what I had in mind.

I thought long and hard about what to do with the drawer knobs, I thought about découpaging them like I did for the Chest of Drawers revamp which really turned out great but in the end I decided to do something different  and hand paint a design onto them - a very steady hand was needed for this and let me tell you, I don't have one!!   To say the least, it was quite a challenge, so they're not perfect but I think that just adds to their overall finish rather thank taking away from it.  I used a pencil to outline the design and then filled it in with a very small paintbrush.  I suppose I could have used a marker but it would have felt too much like cheating.

For the finish I used a dark French antique wax.

If you would like a piece of furniture finished in this style, please contact me by email.  The details can be found on the Contacts tab on this Blog.  Please scroll down to see all of the photos.

 

Bedside Lockers - Distressing & Drawer Lining

You learn a lesson from every piece of furniture you remodel, no matter how much experience you have.  I have been restoring and revamping furniture for many years and I'm still learning today.

I didn't use a base colour before I painted these lockers beige and because they were a natural pine, which was very close in colour to the paint I used on them, when I distressed them, the effect was quite subtle. In this case, this is what I wanted however, if you did want a more pronounced distressing it would be best to darken up the furniture by painting a quick coat of a darker colour before you paint on the intended colour so that when you sand it there is a contrast.  I'll use a dark wax to finish these and that will intensify the distressing some more but I want these finished with a lighter distressing than ususal.

You'll need to click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

I painted the insides of the drawers using the same paint but without adding the Plaster of Paris as I didn't want to seal the interiors with wax as these lockers will be used for clothing and a more 'satin' finish suited best for this.  I also lined the drawers as you can see below with this great vintage fabric that I picked up.  I bought a metre and have some left over (for another project) as the drawers are quite small.

Bedside Lockers - Painted

I've painted them! I had to mix up four different beiges/creams to make up enough to cover both pieces as I didn't have enough in any one colour and when I am in the mood to paint I need to do it right there and then and not wait around for paint to be bought.  Again, I added my usual mix of Plaster of Paris to make up a nice chalk paint.  I've left the drawer fronts as I'm doing them in another colour like I did with the Chest of Drawers.  I think they look better already!

Let me know what you think below or go to my Facebook page here to 'like' or leave a comment.

Chest of Drawers Revamp - The Result

I'm delighted to say that my chest of drawers is complete and I am very happy with the result.  It looks great in my room and has received the thumbs up from friends and family that have seen it.

The final finishing of this little piece really made the difference and gave it an appropriately aged vintage look.  Here are some pics of how it looks now and how it used to look - a big change for the better:

I hope you enjoyed following my progress with this piece of furniture, drop back soon to see what I have in store for two bedside lockers that have seen better days.  Let me know what you think of my work on Funky Junk Facebook or at the bottom of this post.

Chest of Drawers Makeover - Découpage

My chest of drawers revamp is going well and since my last post I have distressed the drawer edges which has made a difference but I haven't been entirely happy with the drawer pulls. I went shopping to check out if there was anything nice out there that would suit the style but came upon nothing.  I checked online and wasn't happy with anything there either so I decided to try a little découpage on the originals to see if I could make them look a bit more unusual - time to take out my box of paper scraps and get cutting.  This is what I came up with...

Drawer Découpaged with Roses

I decided not to do all four drawers the same and choose this 'lace' cut out for two of them.

Drawer Découpaged with 'Lace'

All four together...

They've still got to be waxed to 'dirty' them up a bit and to seal them but they're almost done and I'm pretty happy with the result.   I Hope you enjoyed looking at my work, don't forget that anything you see on my blog can be commissioned, I can revamp a piece you already own or you can let me know what you want and I can provide it finished to your specification or finish it similar to what you have seen on Funky-Junk.  Your feedback is always welcome so please leave any comments below.

Easter Eggs - Découpaged & Painted

Easter is not Easter without a few painted eggs and this year is no exception.  I went the extra mile with these ones adding 3D paint, découpage, bows, and finally glitter sealant.  I think they'll look pretty as a centrepiece on my table or sideboard to celebrate the coming of the Easter Bunny!

All eggs can be purchased for €5 each - click Here for more details.

Here's what I used if you want to make your own:
Foam eggs
Chalk paint (homemade)
Acrylic paint
3D paint
Découpage cut outs
Mod Podge
Ribbon/bows
Paint brushes (one small, one very small)
Acrylic spray
Straight Pins
Empty cleaned out small yoghurt container

First, take two pins and insert them into the egg on each end so that you have two 'handles'. Believe me, this is an important step and will make decorating your egg much easier as they are light and roll around a lot.

Paint your egg in whatever colour you like - I used neutrals.  To dry, balance them across the top of the yoghurt containers using the pins.  Once completely dry, take your pencil and outline your design around the edge of the egg and then paint over it using the very small paint brush with a colour of your choice in either acrylic, chalk or 3D paint. Again, place back onto the yoghurt container to dry.  Next choose your découpage cut outs and very carefully, using the mod podge and the bigger brush, paste them onto the egg on each side.  Back to the yoghurt container to dry again for a while and then another coat of mod podge (or two).  Last but not least when fully dry, spray with acrylic spray (mine had sparkle).  Alternatively, coat with gloss finish mod podge.

Happy Easter!