Yee Haw...Texas here I come!

I have been savin...my money for months...and months and months now all for my BIG trip to Round Top Texas! Now my dream is about to come true in 13 days and counting....A few of my gal pals , Karen Decapite, and Charlene Gray and I started off my talking about going to Texas for the Big Roundtop antique show in the spring and now this has grown into an awesome event with a whole group of us them there refined' ladies...heading out for some jukin! Karen and I are driving so we have lots of room for all of our junk! Charlene will also drive as she lives in Texas...now the group is up to about 7 of us..I think. I haven't even met most of these ladies but I just know from all our little chats back and forth we will be the best of friends by the end of this trip.

 Sandy Narravo will be joining us from so cal also...and my Friend Barb Solem who Karen and I met in Oregon at Terri Brushes Art camp....(so sorry Marianne won't be with us this trip) also Karen Valentine from AZ, Diane Cook from Texas and Rita the Redhead...can't wait to met all these crazy ladies!

So I will be packing up my boots..grabbing some jeans and my cowboy hat, and I can't forget my old leather belt with my blinged up buckle....Oh and my trusty ole shopping cart, and headin out of town for some GOOooooood times!

Ya'll check back for some fun pics after...

"What the heck are you going to do with that?"

"Don't worry ....honey , TRUST me it will look cute when I am done......" of course my husband thought I had totally lost my  mind! Really you paid how much for for that chair? I wouldn't have given them 2 cents for it! MEN..they just don't get it........

I had my vision and when I saw this old chair at a yard sale I haggled a bit (they wanted $25) and got it for $15. I have been checking out a few blogs about refinishing old furniture, and well...thought I would give it a try, after all it didn't cost much and I have alot of paint on hand so...why not?

The bones where good, love the cane and in perfect shape too! I just needed to paint it and replace the gold velvet cushions.

I striped off all the fabric and took off the bottom seat, leaving just the wood chair. I did sand it a bit because it had some dents and scratches that were deeper than I wanted.

Next I spayed it with Kills white primer all over.

Then two coats of creamy white paint. I got one of those sample paints at Lowes for $1.25..PERFECT!

Next I did a little distressing with a sanding block, they are the best.......

Now the fun part, also the messy part....I used Minwax stain to age the finish. First you wipe it on with a rag, then you quickly wipe it off with a clean dry rag. It gets into all the nooks and crannies and gives it an aged look...don't forget to wear gloves during this process ( I learned that by trial and error)unless you want to ruin your manicure...

I love how the stain makes all the details in the chair show .

Moving on to recovering the cushion and adding the back to the chair. The fabric I used was left over drop cloth scraps from another project. These are great...you can purchase them at Lowes or Home Depot and they are packaged in different sizes. The one I got was a larger one , I can't remember the size but I am thinking it was something like 9 x 12 and I paid $8.99 or something like that, anyway cheap and you get alot of fabric. I washed it because it is very stiff when you get it and by washing it you end up with this beautiful nubby fabric. I first cut a piece to cover the seat bottom and foam (the most expensive thing I had to buy was this foam) Then I pulled the fabric over the foam and chair bottom and stapled it all around...done.

The back was a bit harder to do as I had to make a front and back panel. The back was easy just cut and staple, but when doing the front part I had to add some foam backing and try to hold it in place while stapling it tight...OK so I need three hands...HONEY....can you come help me? Got it, now how do I want to cover the staples????? I did not want to go buy anything so I looked around to see what do I have that I could use...I need some trim, Hey I can make a ruffle out of the rest of the fabric! Yeah!!!! I love how this came out, I pleated and glued with a glue gun as I went around the back of the chair.



 

 I added a ruffled skirt to the front of the bottom seat also to finish ....WOW..I think it came out really cute, perfect for my guest room redo..which is almost done.

I made a small pillow out of left over fabric and added this jute webbing and vintage red buttons for some added color. This is also the color scheme of my guest room. I think it gives a little pop of color.

All in all not bad for my first attempt at a project like this...but best of all my hubby LOVED IT TOO! He was so proud of me !

I am linking this post to Faded Charm : White Wednesday

Terri Brush in the House......

I am so excited that Terri Brush is coming to my home on May 14th & 15th for two awesome classes....I tried last year but our schedules seemed to have clashed...but now we worked it all out and she will be coming...YEAH! We have a couple of spots left if anyone is interested just follow the link to see the pics of classes and to sign up. Terri's classes are always fun, the attitude is calm and I have met so many wonderful ladies through her events and classes.


I met Marianne and Barb (above) at Terri's Fall Art Camp and Marianne so graciously asked me to come stay with her at her home in Arizona for Terri's class in January. Her home is simply amazing (but that's a whole other story...

Karen and CeeKay also attended this AZ class.

All these sweets ladies that I can call my friends now.....



There is just nothing more SEXY that women with tools...right????

If you have been wanting to learn tips and tricks for soldering this is your chance....

heres the link: http//www.terribrushdesigns.com/News.html

BAG LADY.........Now for Sale *SOLD

I have been dubbed by some as the "BAG LADY" and rightfully so......I love bags...handbags and totebags of any kind, I just can't get enough! So in preparation of my upcoming trip to Roundtop Texas for some great junkin...well I had to have a shopping cart......right? Of course that crummy old plastic liner that they try to sell you just wouldn't do for me, it had to be cute, it has to be vintage, it needed a ruffle and of course my signature flower........my mind went to work and this is what came out.......I LOVE IT!















All set and ready to fill with wonderful treasures....................................




Now this was my proto type I had to practice on some fabric that I had just in case I mess up. But it turned out perfect, so I will be making one for me out of some really cute vintage looking fabric that I purchased. Of course I told a few friends..and I have orders for a few already...but you can have one too! Just contact me and let me know what colors or fabric you would like yours made from and I will be happy to make for just for you! Happy junkin...........Note: This is now listed on my Etsy site click here to see: http://www.etsy.com/shop/joykcampbell *SOLD*you can email me if you might be interested in one as I have a few under construction!

Our Sweet Chase......

That time to make that oh so hard decision had come for us .......our sweet Chase who was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Eve was just not doing too well and I knew the trip to the vet was not going to be good news. We tried some meds which did help for a bit..but at what point does it become selfish to keep him suffering? At times he seemed happy ..but lately he just paced around , I think trying to get comfortable ...it is just so hard to know what they are feeling they try so hard to please you ..even in the end...

Our sweet boy passed on Sat. February 5th.....

You will be missed ...by all of us!

Creamy..Dreamy....

I had some requests for some cream/white tone on tone bags....SOooooo this is what I came up with.....

Creamy vintage lace and hand stamped flowers with a beautiful vintage rhinestone brooch.

A little hard to see the difference in the textures and fabrics in the pictures but the white on white bag is a wonderful textured white upholstery fabric on the base and the flap is made out of a beautiful white on white damask print that I found in a vintage shop. I added the tan trim for a little bit of color.

The tan and cream bag is another find of a creamy damask fabric with a tan upholstery fabric base and tan trim, along with vintage laces and hand stamp flower.

I just loved how they came out so creamy...and dreamy......

Both these bags are sold.....but I am working on some more. Stay tuned!

A New Year...A Better Year...

Sorry about not posting for a while now ..but all I can say is GOOD BYE to 2010...so ready to see you go! Guess you can figure out it was not the best of years for me. Don't get me wrong I had some great things happen, and I attended some awesome events in 2010....but also had some sad things and frustrating things too! I am not one to post the sad things I deal with in life but sometimes you just need to share with your family and friends and I consider you bloggers to be my friends! On that note my husband and I spent part of Christmas Eve (till 2 am Christmas morning) at the Animal Hospital ER with our adopted lab Chase. After our evening with 20 of our family members he just couldn't get up and I just knew something was wrong....he stayed till late Sunday night and the tests results revealed cancer, which is what they had suspected. So I have been kind of out of things just dealing with all of this and taking care of him and all the meds he needs. Of course they can do chemo but very..very ..expensive ($15,000and up) and of course no guarantee it will cure. Seems so cruel to have to make a decision like this but all we can do is love him and spoil him for the time he has left........you just get attached so quickly and he really has been just the perfect pet. But for now I am in crisis mode for awhile....



So for me I am ready for a new year of new adventures and events, and I am starting out the new year with my first trip to AZ next week for another one of Terri Brushes classes...this time I will be making a bracelet. I will be staying with one of sweetest gal I met at Art Camp in the fall , Marianne. Her and her sister in law Barb were just the sweetest ladies, and Marianne invited both Karen and I to come stay with her for this event.....so I will be on my way next week. As for Karen she will be driving and staying with one of her good friends there and both of them will be attending Terri's classes. What I great way to start off the New year..Oh and I will get to see my sweet friend Maija there too! YEAH...AZ here I come!