Art by Debbie Saenz

Mod Podge Monday: Decoupaged Vintage Trunk, my Goodwill Treasure!

Whenever I have a chance, I love to browse at my local Goodwill store, or actually, any thrift store....yard sales too! I have found some amazing treasures over the years. There are certain things I look for, but really, you never know what you might find.  

When I saw this old decoupaged trunk sitting on the shelf, I must tell you...my heart leaped as I quickly snatched it up! 

I don't know the history or stories behind this old trunk, but I do know someone spent hours cutting out magazine images and carefully decoupaged each one covering the entire trunk. 

The inside too!

I love the old latches and they all still work perfectly! I really wish I knew how old this fabulous trunk is...probably well over 100 years...vintage for sure!

Not only was I delighted to find this awesome treasure, but the minute I saw it, I knew just the perfect use for it. I'm going to use it to display my art prints at art shows. It has tons of charm, it's the perfect size, and even decoupaged inside! I'll keep the top open and place my prints inside. Perfect, I love it! 

And on that note...for all my Georgia friends, here's information about an upcoming event I'm participating in....

For now, try visiting your local Goodwill store, you never know what treasures might be waiting for you :)

   

 

Lots to Share...

I can't believe it's been this long since I've been around here to write. It's not for lack of anything to share, that's for sure. In fact, I've been so busy I've had to lay my blog aside for a while. 

• I've been designing lots of projects for Plaid. (Bummer! I can't show you those until after Plaid publishes them). 
• We had a wonderful visit with my mom.
• I had my first ever art show with a friend of mine who was so sweet to share half of her booth with me. 
• I have new paintings getting ready to make their way into my Etsy Shoppe. Soon, soon, soon!
• And of course, a little travel with my hubby with some, as always, jewelry making on the road :)
• I've been trying lots of new, much more healthy recipes and less processed foods. 
• Oh yea, and everything else in between!

My nephew ordered this for his girlfriend. This is her first year away in college and yes, she's missing her little pup Max. That was sweet of Jonathan to think of this for her. 

I mounted a print of Max  on a piece of wood and added Text to make it special. 

This was a little surprise I made Jonathan to give his girlfriend. I hand stamped a little Max tag and Mod Podged a small picture of Max onto a wood heart and made a keychain. Oh so cute!

It was such a treat to have my mom work in the studio with me. I was able to keep her hands very busy while enjoying her company. She was a huge help in getting ready for my upcoming show... and there was lots to do!  Thanks mom! xo

And then, of course, we had to visit the Yellow Daisy Festival. My daugher and hubby came along too. My mom and I were remembering last year when we went, it was 2 days after I got home from the hospital after having thyroid surgery. I was not in pain this year, but one thing we learned, it's no fun trying to enjoy an outside art featival in the rain! We left very soggy. Ugh!! 

The day finally came for the Suwanee Day Art Festival. I was sad my mom had already gone back home to FL and was not able to be here for my first art show. 

I have new items (You can see some here if you look really close) to list in my Etsy Shoppe. Stay posted and I'll try not to make it a habit of vanishing from Blogsphere for so long next time; and if you are wondering, yes Mod Podge Monday will resume :)

I'm currently working on:

a series of paintings...my goal? 12 paintings by the end of October! so far, 4 down and 8 to go.

I'll show you one at a time as soon as I photographed them. 

 

My New Studio: Revealed

This is an exciting day!

after a ton of hard work,

I can finally say,

it's finished!

Well, everything except my studio easel which is currently in FL at my mother-in-law's house. It will happily travel back home to Atlanta with us next month after our family visit in FL.

We moved my studio from the small bedroom upstairs down to the more spacious bedroom in our basement. Click here  to see what the space used to look like.

Now, enjoy these pictures of my new space...YEA!!

The bathroom is located behind the door on the right. Aww! water to wash my brushes. Maybe I'll take better care of them now? Before, they would sit in water way too long...

The closet is behind the doors on the right is loaded with lots of supplies!

My easel will sit in the corner area between the two windows. I have a large piece of heavy canvas to lay under it to protect the carpet from paint spills and splatters that are bound to happen :)

I added two sets of small eye hooks into the side of the window moldings then strung some picture hanging wire across to create a place to hang my inspiration images and ideas. Before, they always ended up in a pile of papers and were eventually forgotten. No more, now they'll be in plain sight. 

My corner to sit, relax, and pour over my magazines and books. A great place for my quiet time too!

I am so blessed to have this awesome space and a wonderful and supportive hubby who has been such a trouper through this whole project. I had no idea just how much time and work it was going to take when I first began. 

Some of the projects I tackled in the last few weeks:

• painted the entire room and bathroom
• moved loads of stuff two stories down
• built a custom shelf to hold some of my paints
• painted and distressed 7 pieces of furniture (and then Mod Podged 3 of them)
• upholstered 3 chairs
• made curtains
• organized everything 

....hmmm, I'm sure I'm forgetting something!

My goal was to finish before today because my hubby and I will be out of town all week, in KY, then back home for a short time before we head to FL, then CA, then FL again, and finally back home to GA. Whew! And after all of that, I'll be more than ready to pick up my paint brush! My journal will be bursting with ideas by that time, I'm sure :)

Linking up with my friend Jennifer at Studio JRU:

My New Studio: The BIG Question...

Hubby is having a cow over my armoire. Ugh! I really don't see the big deal with the chalkboard paint on the front. But, he does, so, I would love to know your opinion. PLEASE!! (If you would simply leave me a comment after seeing what we are debating :)

Everytime hubby walks into my new art studio he tells me how horrible my black and white armoire looks and says I shoud paint the chalkboard paint on the side instead of the front then paint or Mod Podge something more colorful on the front. Despite all his complaining, we are actually having fun with this....

I know I haven't showed you the final reveal of the room just yet, but I wanted to completely finish before doing so. I am SO close.

My hubby and I found this antique armoire at a local antique shop and I was so excited. You can go here to see what it looked like before. Yea, it was cute, for a baby's room. However, it is now in my new Art Studio! It HAD to be transformed. 

My hubby and I each took a side and wrote out our thoughts...

AND

Ok, what is your honest opinion? We would LOVE to know!

Tomorrow I plan on showing you how my curtains turned out; and the other chairs. I REALLY can't wait to begin using my new space. 

My New Studio: Paint Shelf is Finished!...and my new friend!

My new art studio is starting to take shape. It's amazing just how much stuff came out of my old studio, the little bedroom upstairs. Now, I'm in the process of reorganizing and giving everything a new home. And that's no small job!

One of my projects was to build a shelf to hold my paints. I wanted it to have lots of shelves, but not too deep. So, I made it myself, and really, I should have built two! 

My other paints will have to be stored in bins. That works anyway since those are paints I don't use too often....like outdoor paints, enamal paints, etc.

It started out with a pile of lumber. The funny thing was I was able to build it in less time it took me to paint it! 

Here's the unfinished shelf before I gave it three coats of paint, distressed it, and then coated it with finishing wax for a nice sheen.

Lots of my paints are practically empty, but I like to use every drop. I cut open the bottle with a razor knife when I can't get more out and then use my brush to lap up the remaining paint that sticks to the sides...which actually it a lot of paint that would otherwise be waisted in the garbage can. 

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Right now, I should be at home working on organizing my studio, but, yes, I had the opportunity to travel with my hubby again. I would be silly to give up that opportunity. Being an empty nester is not so bad afterall! So, I'm back in Charlotte NC after being in Columbia SC yesterday. 

At this very moment, while I'm writing this post, I'm sitting in a really cute little artsy cafe called The Common Market in the SouthEnd of Charlotte. I'm taking a lunch break after soaking up loads of inspiration at local art galleries. Ahh what a blast!!

I just met local artist, John Hairston, who brought in his huge canvas and tub of paints. He set up just 3 feet to my left. So after chatting with him a while I thought I would share his artwork with you here. 

He's getting ready for a solo show called 1962 The Age of Marvels, "Heros Aren't Hard to Find". You can learn more about him on his website,  All City Studios.

 

This is the flyer that hangs on the window The Common Market.

It was fun watching John finish this piece for his upcoming show. I won't be in Charlotte to see his show, but it was neat to meet John and see him in action!

Well, now I'm off to visit a few little antique shops down the street. You never know what might be found for a mixed media piece! I'm gonna go see...

 

My New Studio: An Awesome Find

After hunting for just the right piece for my new studio to help hold some of my art supplies, I found this amazing armoire. My hubby and I were perusing local thrift shops and ended up  in a little antique store. 

The minute I saw this vintage armoire, I knew I had found just what I was looking for. 

I feel especially thrilled to have this piece of furniture after talking to the owner. She said it was in her sons room and held all his little cloths. She shared that her sister-in-law was the artist who painted the front. 

I have lots of vision for this piece of furniture. It's going to be perfect!

I just love the key hole. It adds so much character and tells it's age...I think somewhere around 100 years old?

Here's the artwork on one of the doors. I hate to do this, but, sadly, I will be painting over this part. I'm thinking chalkboard paint on the doors. 

Sorry Natalie...I'm sure it was painted with lots of love and enjoyed for many years, but it's about ready to get a new life. 

I've already given my new armoire a good cleaning and it's now, after a few alterations, it's ready to be the star of my new studio, which looks amazing now that it's all painted! I'll show you when I do the final reveal. For now, I still have lots of work to do....

This lumber will become the new shelf to hold all my paints. Yup! lots of work yet to do...I'll keep you posted! 

My New Studio: The Before

Painting has begun in my new Studio! My old Studio (shown below) is currently in a small bedroom and it's bursting at the seams, literally. Here are a few pictures of it; this is when it's clean. You should see it after I have been working on projects. Yikes! It's a scary site. Can you picture an explosion! 

This is my beading area. As you can see, the area where a chair should go is used for storage. 

Absolutely no more space in the closet. I have the same wire racks completely covering the back of the door to the room and it's just as full. 

This is the area where I work on my computer....where I write the instructions to all my Plaid projects. NOT my favorite part :(  Also where I write most of my blog posts :)

However, right now, I'm sitting in a cute little coffee house in Charlotte NC writing this post. My hubby had a business trip and I like to tag along when I can. I told myself as long as I got my new Studio room (keep scrolling down) painted on Monday, I would be able to travel with him...and I love road trips. Yes, I brought my beads and made a necklace and earring set on our drive up this morning. 

This is the table where I create. I love sit facing the window where I can enjoy the sunlight pouring in and the views into the woods. In the winter I can actually see the creek from this window. 

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Now that I've showed you my old studio, let me give you a peek of the room that is soon to be my new studio....

This is our guest room in the basement. I have mixed feelings about taking over this space since this is the room where our family stays when they visit. I actually have a different idea of where to relocate the guest room. No, not in my old studio, but I'll show you when I get to that part of the transformation. I'll use my old studio as an office and beading and sewing room. All my paints and mixed media supplies are moving here to my new studio. I think that will help me focus on doing more of what my heart loves, painting! I tend to get so distracted with so many options at my fingertips. I think keeping them sepetate will help me. We'll see. 

There is a bathroom through that door on the left. Perfect for washing my paint brushes! 
The closet is on the right. I think I'll leave the door off and put a bookshelf in there. Maybe.

I'm so excited about this room! There are 4 large windows and two of them face the woods where I'll be able to see the creek. I just LOVE it!! It's going to be perfect.

This was me yesterday. Yea! I finished painting the bedroom. It's now a cool misty aqua color. It already looks so different, so fresh. I still need to paint the bathroom, then I'm going to build a shelf to hold all my paints...and make curtains, etc. I'll be back in a few days to give you an update on my progress! This is going to be so much fun!

Now, off to another art gallery or museum (that's what I do when my hubby's in meetings) then he'll pick me up and we'll go have dinner somewhere in Charlotte. 

 

Mod Podge Monday: Cake Topper

Last week I made a quinceañera cake. Mariana and her family are good friends so I wanted Mariana's birthday cake to be very special. The room was beautifully decorated with lots of musical notes. Mariana, along with the rest of her family, is blessed with musical talent. It was lovely and looked like a wedding reception!

When I couldn't find a cake topper that worked with my idea, I figured I needed to get my creative juices flowing, so I made one myself. I drew my pattern and cut out the numbers with my handy dandy scroll saw! Yes, then of course, Mod Podge was part of my plan. after sanding like crazy, I painted the edges and back teal, then decoupaged the fronts with pretty blue scrapbook paper. I glued them to an oval plaque and added rhinestones. 

Sparkle Mod Podge, even over the painted parts, always adds pizazz!

I haven't made a tiered cake in a while, not since the days when I was making 2 to 3 wedding cakes a week....that's probably been about 10 years ago. I use a family recipe, Hot Milk cake, which was passed down from my great-grandmother. Yum! Deliciously moist. I put Bavarian cream between the layers.   

I wanted to add lights and musical notes to the cake. My idea? I stuffed a vase with battery operated mini led lights and blue iridescent cellophane grass. I closed the opening with tape and inserted it into I hole I cut out of the middle cake layer. 

The musical note "chandelier" I made using a piece of thin Plexiglas cut into a circle. I made 6 holes evenly around the edges and added beads and musical notes. After lots of brainstorming and looking for musical notes I could hang (which ended up being an unsuccessful search), I decided to make them myself. I bent blue wire into treble clefs. I was able to make them the size I needed and hang them on jump rings. I think it worked perfectly!

I glued the entire "chandelier" part to the vase. But then I had visions of little people bumping the cake table and the cake tumbling down! I needed to figure out a way for the cake to sit securely on top of the vase. Velcro was my answer...I simply glued some velcro strips to the bottom cake plate and to the top of my "chandelier". Wa-la! Perfect! It was secure, but also easy enough to disassemble when it came time to cut the cake.  

I made this plaque to go on the cake table. I Mod Podged hymnal pages to the background and used the same paper for the "M" as I did for the numbers. A few embellishments and sparkle, sparkle! Yes, I used Sparkle Mod Podge on the painted edges and the letter. I sealed the background with Gloss Mod Podge for some contrast.

This was such a special and very fun party! Mariachis, dancing, great food, a pinata, a even lots of family members who flew in from Mexico for this special day! My favorite part was the beautiful ceremony celebrating Mariana's transition from being a little girl to becoming a young lady. She came out in flat shoes and no accessories. After her family members presented her with special symbolic gifts, she was shining with heels, all her accessories and even a new Bible! It was very special!

I must show you the thank yous that were on different tables throughout the room. Cecy, Mariana's mom made them. Chocolate bars wrapped in scrapbook paper with a little hand stamped tag and a pretty bow. They turned out so cute! 

So, next time you need a cake topper, you can make one yourself! Mod Podge to the rescue!

Happy 15th Birthday Mariana! 

More on Chico, Our Little V-Day Puppy

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day Celebration! My hubby and I had a date at home that started in the kitchen... we cooked together then enjoyed our special meal with music and candlelight. Ahh! The entire evening was wonderfully romantic! 

 ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ 

Now for a little puppy love, since it was Chico's birthday on Valentine's Day and I did, in my previous post, promise to tell you more about him! Chico is now 7 years old and around our house he's still considered a puppy! We got Chico while we lived in Mexico; he was only 15 days old. He's a Schnoodle, a mix between Poodle and Schnauzer. His eyes had barely opened and he still couldn't walk. The sad story is...his mom died after eating a chicken bone. But, but, but that wasn't the end of his story!

Our daughter Sarah bottle fed Chico warm milk and even rolled him around in a baby carriage. As Chico grew, she carried him on her hip and he would lay his head on her shoulder. He often got special oatmeal preparations with apple and potatoes. Even homemade dog treats and cakes on occasions! I would say, spoiled is the word!

Our son Nick taught him how to sit and gave him his exercise with "rough play". Chico likes to keep Nick's bed warm too! In fact, Nick's bed is the only furniture he's allowed on, however, Chico seems for forget that on occasion. Humm, Humm....

This is my favorite picture of Chico. I took this one on Christmas day about 4 years ago when he was nice and groomed. 

Nick is Chico's personal groomer now-a-days...and well, he pretty much is always sporting his fur coat. And no, he probably really didn't need his red sweater. But he looked cute and the kids thought he needed it.  He has since chewed a hole in his sweater after carrying it around like a rag when he wasn't wearing it. 

Nick actually does a very good job grooming Chico. It's a big job and with all that hair it take about 4 hours.  

Chico's favorite thing to do is drag his many toys out of his toy basket and carry them all over the house. It seems like I'm constantly picking up after him. His favorite is a stuffed Pluto. Yea! for garage sales, can't beat 25 cent toys! When he rips open his stuffed animals, Nick sews them back up. I knew I taught my son to sew for some good reason! 

This was his birthday outfit two years ago. I made him a Party hat with a matching scarf. 

Happy Birthday Chico! 

Oh yes! we have a spoiled little puppy...and I only told you part of it!

Finally Learning Photoshop!

I'm so excited! While perusing the internet the other week, I discovered Kim Klassen's Photoshop Skinny Mini eCourse (and registration is still open!) I signed up right away! It's sad, but I've had my Photoshop Elements program practically sitting dormant for almost a year now! Yes, I am more than excited to learn this program. Finally!

Well, here it is, my first homework assignment! I learned how to  crop and add text. I like it, I like it! The photo is one I took several years ago when we lived in Mexico. 

On to the next lesson...

Blessings,

Debbie xo