I hope you’ll join me on my never-ending search for beautiful pieces, with history, for your home. Find my curated treasures, in Booth #154, at the Antique Trove, in Roseville, CA. ~ Barbara
Hello and Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Forgive me if this annual past time doesn’t make my heart skip a beat. I couldn’t tell the difference between a running back, or a full back. I do know that the quarter back has the ball and they try to get the ball to the end of the field for a touch down. Impressed? No? You’ll find me at the shop, hoping to put the finishing touches on the sofa I’m painting. Mr. Wonderful thinks it’s perfect for a bordello. (No, I didn’t ask him how he would know! ) I think it…
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Hello Sweet Friends, It’s been a while since we visited the original treasured home. Truth be told, I haven’t been spending a lot of time here, since opening the shop. I don’t know if I showed you pictures of our upstairs, since adding the wood floors, but I love them! For some time, I’ve been on the “look- out” for a bench, at the foot of our bed. Thanks to a recent estate sale purchase, mission accomplished! It’s supposed to be 200 years old! I also got the needle point inserts that were replaced by cain. Beautiful. Boxes are always…
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Hello my cherishables!, If you’ve read “The Paris Wife”, you’ve heard the word “cherishables” before. I’m the last person on the universe to read the book, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it and I’m loving that word! Now, on to more serious matters. Paint and wax brushes. Seriously. Would you try to flip an egg with a salad tong? Or mop a floor with a window squeegee? Of course not! So, why, pray tell, would you wax a piece of furniture for your home, or to sell, with a disposable chip brush? Enquiring minds want to know! Normally, I’m not a…
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Hello dears!, I woke up early this morning, as my beautiful body (!) adjusts back to west coast time. Mr. Wonderful and I just returned from a short, warm weather get-away, to South Beach, Florida. I love the Cuban flavor of the culture. My favorite area was sort of a “little Cuba”, where we ate twice, at a restaurant called Cuba 1957. Another favorite dining destination was the BLT Restaurant, within the Betsy Ross Hotel, on Ocean Avenue. The hotel itself is one of the prettiest there, and the restaurant is wonderful! We had dinner there twice, because we couldn’t…
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Hello, my dears!, As you probably gathered, today is our 14th anniversary and Mr. Wonderful just made me breakfast in bed. We were later in life, before finding our true love. I was a single mom for five years and was trying to just focus on my business and kids. Bob (aka, Mr. Wonderful), was 55 and had never been married! It seemed that we sort of accidentally ended up in a successful relationship. But it wasn’t quite so accidental. Each of us had to grow individually before making it together. Timing can be everything, when it comes to love.…
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Hello dearest!, I hope the sun is shining on you, this Monday morning! What’s new? So sweet of you to ask! Right about now, I wish I lived in Oregon, where there is no sales tax! I need to get my SalesTax filed and paid by the end of the month. You may remember that I dropped out of accounting 1-A, twice in college. Ledgers and the like are not my strong suit! On to more fun subjects, like furniture painting! Did you see this little table that I painted? I should probably say re-painted! Before…dull and boring. Today, I…
Read the rest >>Painting class update for my local friends, I’m happy to report that this weekend’s furniture painting classes are full! I had a lot of fun last Saturday, with a great group of women and am not quite as nervous about what’s ahead. I’ve gone ahead and scheduled classes for next month. February 16th will be the date for free, introductory classes! Join us for the Maison Blanche chalk-based furniture painting class, at 10, or the Miss Mustard Seed Milk Pint class, at 2 p.m. On February 23rd, sign up for a Maison Blanche 3-Hour class, where you can bring in…
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Way back in 2012, I painted this old girl with ASCP, in Paris Gray. As you see, I left the top in its natural state. I was searching for a Nordic look, but think it just turned out boring. So, in my “sell it, or re-paint it” mode, I came up with this new version. Looks a little perkier, don’t you think? The paint classes last Saturday went really well and this weekend’s classes are full! Mr. Wonderful has a three-car garage with room for just one car! He has tons of furniture projects, but his day job and season…
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Hello there! I thought I had better check in before you forgot all about me and Mr. Wonderful! I’m getting ready for two painting classes this Saturday. Since one of them will be covering milk paint, I thought it would be nice to show all of the colors, well at least eight of them, in the Miss Mustard Seed line. I’ve also brought in some painting essentials, every furniture painter should have on hand. Thank goodness I finally found a resource for the round waxing brushes! They arrive tomorrow, and I can’t wait! I will be selling those online so…
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Hello there!, I can’t think of anything better to do on a cold, wintry day, than to paint furniture! I do a lot of that, these days! In fact, I recently told a friend that I think we could have world peace, if everyone had a paint brush in their hand. Don’t you think? The last few days, I’ve been trying my hand at some new techniques. I have a motto, “If it doesn’t sell, re-paint it!” Such is the case with this little table. I use the stencil for the lower shelf and hand-painted the dots all by myself!…
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