Funky Time Art

2023-03-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

I love these new moulds by Redesign and designed by Kacha. These are just so amazing. They remind me of all of the beautiful old buildings we toured in Italy.

I can envision this Engraved Medallion mould being used either as a center accent piece on a pot or dresser. Or used behind each drawer pull on a chest. Picture Navy and these in gold. I think you could make a plain Ikea dresser amazing using these moulds. The second mould in this release is called Enlightened Etchings. It would be an amazing edging piece. See for yourself.

Here is a chest painted in a periwinkle blue with all these amazing gold accents. Oohh La La it is gorgeous. I am looking for the perfect chest to try this on and the raised stencil. That is a new release too.

Renata is the stencil name. You can use this with plain old paint, you could add a paint color to texture medium or glass beads and create a raised look. The possibilities are endless.

I hope you will stop into my booth, Hive Crafts to see these awesome accessories to take your furniture to the next level. I am always happy to give you a quick tutorial to get you started if needed. I also offer classes to get your feet wet if that is your preference. If you are not local, these items can be shipped.

French Country Lamp Transformation

2023-02-21T11:40:00.002-07:00

I found this pair of lamps in my local thrift store. I loved the detail they had but not the finish. No problem. I love to paint my thrift finds. For this project I used Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Fluff and I added texture to it with Sea Spray.

I pounced this combo all over the lamp. I LOVED it! It needed just a little something, something more to finish it off. I used VooDoo Gel stain in Up in Smoke (Gray) color. I watered it down a bit and did small sections at a time. I then pounced off and wiped back the excess to expose the original Fluff color. It gave the lamp the perfect vintage aged look. I found the shades at HomeGoods 2 for $24.99. That was the hardest part of the project. Lamp shades can be crazy expensive. I now have these beauties displayed in my booth for sale, my fingers are crossed a customer will find them as beautiful as I do. So let me know your thoughts in the comments. Was this a good upcycle? What would you have done!

2020-12-03T11:15:00.002-07:00

Look at this four drawer chest a friend gave me for free. I have to admit I did not see the top until I went to pick it up. Upon first seeing it, it took my breath away. I thought oh no that is really ugly and carved deep into the top of this chest. I smiled and thanked her and off we went. I love a challenge as much as the next girl, but this one was going to push it. I know I wanted some texture on the piece, but to cover the carved Koi fish it was going to take a ton of wood filler. I filled, sanded and filled again until they were not visible unless you knew what you were looking for.

Next I mixed Dixie Belle Sea Spray with a combination of Dixie Belle Fluff and Pure Ocean and covered the whole chest so it would have a visible texture. I let it dry for 24 hours and then the magic started to happen. I layedered on Dixe Belle Paint in Antebellum Blue. I would spray it down with my continuoius misting spray bottle and wipe it back. I did this multiple times so that it had almost a translucent effect that you could still see the Fluff/Pure Ocean from the first layer. Next I layered on Dixie Belle Paint in Bunker Hill Blue, a color close to navy, to darken up the outer and lower edges. It looked like a hot mess.

Once I got the colors the way I liked I waxed it with Dixie Belle's Best Dang Waxes. First I gave the whole piece a coat in clear, then I did the outer edges in black and then brown. It really gave it an authentic aged feel. I am absolutely in love with this piece now, maybe because I know how it started out? I love the blues and greens and think it would be an awesome piece in a beach house or anywhere you want a dreamy blue/green chest. I am going to be selling her soon in my antique booth at Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta GA. If you would like more info or the products that I used in this piece I will link them in my Etsy store. Thanks for following along. What do you think? I would love to know.

Gather sign tutorial

2017-03-20T20:11:00.002-06:00

Here are the steps to create this distressed "Gather" sign. We used 12 inch wide pine and cut it to 28 inches long. I wanted it to be big enough to go over a couch or on the wall of the kitchen. First I painted our board with the color that would eventually be our word color. For this sign I used Dixie Belle Paint in Caviar. Love the color and contrast with the surrounding white color, Dixie Belle Paint in Cotton. You can purchase your paint here.

I then took the vinyl cut out of our word and made some marks on the board and the transfer tape to help me figure out where we wanted the word to be placed on the board.

Now I am ready to peel the vinyl cut and transfer tape off of the white backing paper.

I will then match up the lines and put the vinyl onto the wood. I will rub it down very well so that the paint does not leak under the vinyl. Next I will paint the top color, Cotton to paint over the whole board including the black vinyl. First paint over the vinyl with a very dry brush. Using a gentle up and down pouncing or stenciling technique will help to keep the paint from being pushed under the vinyl. Cover the whole board until you are happy with the coverage.

When the paint has completely dried you can use a pin to pull up the vinyl and reveal our first black paint underneath. So exciting to see the reveal.

Now you can leave your sign as is, or take the sander with fine paper to it and distress it. Love it! I looks a bit old and worn now ( kinda like me.). I did go back over a couple of spots with the black, Caviar paint where a bit of the Cotton got under the vinyl. What do you think? Would love to see the signs you create.

You can find Dixie Belle Paint at your local retailer or here.

Soldered Pendants

2016-10-03T17:20:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the latest pendants I have created. Here are some of the necklaces that I made with them. Many are available now in my etsy shop or see them first on my instagram Sassyandstash.

What have you been creating lately?

I have been busy soldering

2016-09-02T18:43:00.000-06:00

I have been gearing up for fall which is by far the busiest for a jewelry seller. I have been gathering great beads and large stones like these.

I have been soldering too, look at some of the new pendants I created this week. I love looking at them all together.

Here is a necklace I created and just added to my etsy store I used the blue Howelite cross as a focal on this one.

Thanks for stopping by! Denise

New at Sassy and Stash Booth

2016-08-26T05:50:00.000-06:00

Here are some more pics of what we currently have in our booth at Queen of Hearts Alpharetta.

These mirrors have been really hot. They make a great addition to most every style of decor, especially the farmhouse look made so popular by the HGTV show Fixer Upper.

This peg shelf was picked in the North Georgia Mountains. This pic does not do it justice. The wood is worn and grooved with so much history. I can envision in a log cabin long ago.

Finally, this eterge is my favorite. It would be great as a center piece with ball jars and flowers, in a bathroom with soaps and towels, or filled with cupcakes for a celebration. Love this! I have seen this particular one on Fixer Upper a couple of times. You can find it right here in our booth you don't have to go all the way to Waco Texas! Thanks for stopping by! Denise

Using Stencils with the Wagner Home Decor Paint Sprayer

2016-08-22T19:23:00.001-06:00

I promised on my last post that I would show you my experiments using my new Wagner Home Decor paint sprayer with stencils. I created these two memo boards!

What do you think? The paint sprayer made this project so fast. I have a ton of stencils, and have avoided using them because it was a slow laborious job. I did 5 separate stenciled motifs in about 15 minutes.

I am thinking about doing a tutorial on how to create these memo boards, would anyone be interested?

Look what I sprayed with my new Wagner Home Decor Paint Sprayer

2016-08-21T08:51:00.000-06:00

Here is the before pic of the side table I sprayed.

This was a gorgeous Henrendon Fine Living end table. Unfortunately, it had a significant scratch on top. No worries a little paint and wax and good as new or even better. I LOVE this Wagner paint sprayer. It is geared to the home crafter that will be using all types of paints, including chalk paint. I bought it at Home Depot. They now have a small section in the paint department geared to crafters. They have two lines of chalk paint, unfinished wood for projects, stencils etc. I bought the Rustoleum brand called "Chalked." The color of this table is Country Gray. I will be using this on several pieces. Here is a bookcase I picked up at the Goodwill. It is MDF with the "wood grain" vaneer we see so often at Walmart etc. I think the Rustoleum Chalked in Serenity Blue looks great on it. I am super happy with the outcome on this one. The other really cool thing about the paint sprayer is there are no brush strokes to worry about. The dried paint is relatively smooth, I am still experimenting with the dilution and amount of product I am spraying onto the piece.

Next up I am going to use it with stencils. Check back for my results! Would love to hear what you think of my latest projects.

Antique Booth Update

2016-08-18T11:53:00.000-06:00

Mary and I have been working hard to redo our booth, Sassy and Stash, at Queen of Hearts Alpharetta. We have new jewelry, some great picked antiques and lots of sweet home accessories.

Inside this awesome picked lobster cage we have some new sweet burlap pillows.

The center medallion is a reproduction, but isn't amazing. We have some others that are different sized and shapes. These would make an amazing collage wall.

Of course there is always new jewelry. Long or short we have some great necklaces for you or a girlfriend's gift. Stay tuned more pics to come! Thanks for stopping by! Denise

What would you do?

2016-08-03T20:03:00.000-06:00

My favorite local thrift store has these coolers that look like the ones you see in convenience stores. I think one on the deck would be great. It has wheels so it could be wheeled away for storage when done. It also has a handy drain tube on the back to easily empty out the water at the end of the party. So my problem is that it is really ugly to me in it's current state. What would you do to make it cute????

You could paint over the label with chalk paint, or tear off the logo. I just can't figure out to transform it. Let me know what you would do all of you creative people please! Thanks Denise

Salt Wash Painting

2016-07-31T16:18:00.000-06:00

I have been looking for some new paint or techniques to get motivated to paint some furniture. One of the products I found is Salt Wash. It is an additive that can go into ANY paint to get a sun/ sea side worn look.

This is how it turned out. I went pretty aggressive with the distressing, but hey it was supposed to have a "worn look." I love it!

I started with a thrift store coffee table that was really beaten up on top. This made the perfect piece to try this technique on since the heavy texture will hide imperfections. Sorry forgot to snap the ugly before picture. I added the powdered Salt Wash product to my can of white chalk paint. I followed the manufacturers instructions and got it to a stiff cake batter consistency. I then covered the table in a almost pouncing motion causing peaks to form.

You can see the texture it created in this close up picture. As the paint gets to the half way dry point, I took my brush and swept back and forth knocking down the peaks a bit for a more smoothed out look. I then did a top coat in a Waverly Chalk paint called Agave. I thought it was a nice beachy aqua.

You can see I did not go for full coverage as I wanted my base color to show in spots. I then took my obital sander to the table and showed no mercy. This was a very aggressive approach. The next project I think will be using the mouse sander to distress as it is much more subtle looking. Honestly, this sander scares me a bit too, it's pretty powerful and if I don't have my full concentration when using it, I can see me hurting myself.

I went crazy with the sander, but it revealed the undercoat and the dark brown wood which I think made it much more interesting.

It was a fun product to play with and I found lots of other inspiration online using the product. They do have great videos made by the people who created the product. You can find them on Youtube. What do you think? Are you going to try Salt Wash?

Busy Creating new jewelry

2016-07-21T20:17:00.000-06:00

Our family has lived in the same home for the last nineteen years. My husband and I decided we were ready to finally move to our dream home. That is a lot of years to collect stuff. I was on a bit of a creative hiatus until we completed the move. Now though I am creating again. So happy to be back in my studio. Unfortunately my studio is not totally organized, but I will save that for another day! Here is what I have made this week. Thanks for checking it out. I would love your feedback. You can see more of my creations at www.alphaneenee.etsy.com. Stone stacking bracelets. Thanks for stopping by!!

Restoration Hardware Inspiration

2016-07-12T16:47:00.000-06:00

I love these two wall displays. (please ignore the the shot of me in the mirror) I love the symmetry, and the simplicity. I think this could be replicated so easily with cheap frames from Hobby Lobby or Micheals. These particular frames held pressed flowers and greenery laid on top of linen looking fabric. I think this would be easy to do as well. I think variations of maybe feathers would be cool too. What do you think? Any other ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Back to Creating

2016-05-10T06:18:00.000-06:00

I recently moved to a new house. I had to pack up my studio (no small feat) and am now just starting to set up my new studio. I am so excited to have a larger space to work in I hope it helps my creativity flow. Here are some new necklaces I just added to my etsy and some went to my booth at Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta. Let me know what you think.

I call this necklace Summer Loving. I had that song stuck in my head from Grease when I created it! It has the most beautiful pale green rosary chain, I just love that chain.

This necklace did not get a name ha ha. I guess I was watching Netflix at the time. Love the cross on the crystal, kinda has a rocker girl vibe to me.

Here they are all layered together on my mannequin I made. I love creating jewelry it is my favorite creative outlet!

Sassy and Stash Booth at Queen of Hearts

2016-03-23T06:07:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile since I have shared any pictures of my booth at Queen of Hearts Alpharetta. We are in full swing for Spring. It was Spring Fling last weekend so that get's all of the dealers to bring in their best for Easter, and garden decor. We have a bunch of bunnies that are perfect for in the house or out on your stoop. We've also been very busy making new jewelry. Mary has been making the sweetest small scale necklaces. They start at $8.00 what a great idea for someone's Easter basket. I have been making more of these long semi-precious stone necklaces. Either way we have something for everyone's taste and at great prices.

Hope to see you at the Queen!

I'm a wanna be Vegetarian

2016-03-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

I really feel that being a vegetarian would be really good for me. I am having more meals meatless than ever. Here is one of my new favorite lunches. No recipes here folks just some great tasting stuff.

I am loving these Morning Star Chipolte Black Bean Burgers! Then my challenge is to dress it up with really yummy condiments.

I am trying this Guacamole Salsa on it too. Wow it has some good kick to it.

I know, I'm no food blogger for sure with the qualities of these photos. But what do you think would you give the Morning Star Black Bean Burgers a try? If you already love these I would love to hear how you dress your burgers. Bon Appetit!

Help Hanging Wall Art

2016-03-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

I found this wonderful blog post on "The How To of Decorating" by Ballard Designs. Ballard Designs happens to be one of my favorite sources for home decor and inspiration. I love how this post gives some "rules" for how to choose your artwork and how to group it so it looks appropriately sized etc. It's a great resource. Check it out here.

Great Upcycled Entertainment Center

2016-03-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

I found this photo on Kingman County Recycling Program. Isn't it a great upcycle of an old entertainment center? I love it. It could be used for older kids too with shelves for books below or baskets for toys. Great job!

Super Simple Shiplap

2016-02-29T10:28:00.001-07:00

I have a friend who I decided is a genius. She is making a shiplap wall out of Luan plywood(super thin 1/4"). She is buying the Luan in 4x8 sheets and having it ripped down into 6" wide strips. Why is this genius. Well it's affordable around $12.00 for a 4x8 sheet. It's lightweight so it would be easy to hang with just small brads. I asked her how she got her lines so straight when cutting the plywood. I know for myself this is not my strong suit. However, she said she got them to do the rip cuts for her at the store. They did not even charge her for all of those cuts! I don't think this is the norm for most stores. They are just too busy to do this many cuts without charging for them. So if you still want to try this method I found this great tool that I am going to be purchasing myself. It's the Kreg Jig Rip Cut. It gives you a guide to get perfectly straight cuts everytime. Check out the video with the step by step instructions here. I will get some pictures for you soon!

Farmhouse Style

2016-02-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have our home on the market and are searching for a new home. We probably will end up in a resale, but the new construction near us is so beautiful. They have some great farmhouse details. My question is would you go for something that could become trendy looking down the road? They have shiplap, wood in the trays, and really stripped down style.

Love the trim and how they painted out everything the same color of trim paint in this dining room.

What do you think about the kitchen? Love it or not your style?

The Master Bathroom was gorgeous. My favorite feature was the flooring. It looked like marble done in these extra long strips making a herringbone design. Love it!

I know no matter where we end up, I am going to use some of these ideas in my new home!

The best $2.50 you can spend!

2016-01-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Ok $2.50 is not big money, but this little item can save you tons!

I have now saved myself several hundred dollars I believe by using this little "drain zip." I have a 20 year old home and clogged drains happen. Yesterday our shower was not draining, and was starting to trigger a bigger problem of the shower possibly over flowing the shower floor. No problem, and definetly not calling a plumber. I unscrewed the metal drain cover and saw the nasty accumulation of muck. Now this part is nasty, but part of the fix. I took my drain zip and repeatedly put it up and out of the drain, snagging all of the nasty stuff clogging the drain. I was done in less than 3 minutes , no plumber and no harsh chemicals. I put the drain cap back on and today my husband commented on the drain was flowing great. Also works great on the bathroom sinks! So next time you're in Home Depot pick up your drain zip or here on Amazon.com

Restoration Hardware Atlanta

2016-01-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the Restoration Hardware Design Center in Atlanta. I was looking to get inspired to redo our Master Bedroom. Well, I did get inspired for sure. The place s beautiful. When you drive up in back of the store they have an estate garden display complete with water feature and burning fire place.

Inside I found room after room of inspiration. I took plenty of pics, so I could go back and get re-inspired, as needed. This room looked like a place I could stay all day, loved it all.

And I did find bedrooms with plenty of inspiration. Which do you like best, the wooden beds, or the upholstered? I am having such a hard time deciding on a style!

I love the mirrors they used on either side of the bed in this gallery. It gave the room height and such big presence. I love it! I am hoping to replicate some of these looks with itmes I have around the house. I will keep you posted on my redo!

Woodburning Video

2016-01-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

I found this great video on Youtube by ClaCali, showing how to do wood burning on a cutting board. Looks pretty straightforward. Check it out and then get your 40% off coupon and go to Micheal's for a woodburning tool. Check it out here.

How to add fabric to a bookshelf

2016-01-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

I decided this little bookshelf I chalk painted needed an extra something to give it a little punch. I decided to add some burlap to the back of each shelf. To do this I first measured the rectangular space at the back of each shelf. I then measured out the exact size in foam core board.

Since I knew I was using burlap as my fabric I went ahead and painted each of the pieces with brown acrylic paint. Why do that? The open weave of the burlap shows the white background if you don't and it looks BAD! Very much a rookie mistake. Won't do that again.

I wrapped the fabric around each of the foam core pieces and hot glued it to the back making sure it was straight and smooth. Finally, I placed each of the foam core pieces into the back of the cabinet and nailed upholstery tacks into each corner for a bit more "pizzaz."

Love the way it turned out, and now it is offered in my booth at Queen of Hearts Alpharetta!