Don't Stand Still or I'll Paint You

Yesterday Linda from My Crafty Home Life emailed to ask where I've been and it occurred to me that I've been so busy painting that I haven't made time for blogging. The flip side of that is that I have a lot to share! Just not today - have to save some for the upcoming weeks!

Here's what I've painted in the past few weeks:
1) the living room
2) the dining room (including a wall stencil)
3) a small china cabinet in the dining room
4) the downstairs hall
5) the wall going up the stairs
6) the upstairs hall
7) the stair rail and balusters
8) a buffet I bought on kijiji for $75 LAST YEAR that I never did anything with
9) some picture frames
10) a chair in my living room.

Whew! I'm tired just reading that. I think I'll go get my jammies on again because I need a rest.

Before I do, I'll share a few photos.

Ever since I attended the Annie Sloan paint workshop at Kathie Jordan Design in New Hamburg, I've been a painting machine. I haven't put any chalk paint on the walls yet, but that doesn't mean I never will ;)

Today I painted these picture frames (before photo):

Now they look like this:

Sorry about the glare from the glass....no good angle in this room unfortunately.

The art is made from postage stamps. I think one of my relatives made them but I can't be certain. They were at our old family cottage forever and I always liked them so when it sold, I scooped 'em up. Here's a closeup:

Probably not for everyone, but they remind me of growing up at our cottage on the beach so they come with great memories :)

I also finished my stair railing project that I started last year. I started by priming the balusters but it was taking forever and I couldn't imagine having to do up to two more coats of paint AFTER just finishing the priming step. So instead, I got my trusty Annie Sloan paint out and finished the balusters in no time. That paint covers SO well. I was finished in about an hour.

Before:

Next to go is that awful light fixture ;)

 

The railing is Annie Sloan as well - Graphite with a dark wax applied directly on top of the paint (no clear wax first) because the Graphite colour is quite blue at first, and I wanted to deepen it. I think the dark wax worked perfectly because now we have a really nice charcoal colour with a satiny finish. Overall, it's a huge improvement from where we started.

Have you painted anything fun lately??