Birds nests

In Spring when I was working in the vineyard,sadly we had to remove the bird nests out of the vines.

 Of course I had to take a few home and the eggs and nests preserved really well.

The only thing I did was using a hairspray to keep all the straw together.

A few weeks ago I found some old picture frames with glass at the Sallies for a few dollars and decided to paint a picture of the birds nests in Shabby chic style.

I distressed and crackled the frame and let some of the colours of the frame come back in the back ground of the painting and in the eggs.

Finished painting

Details of the nest

The under painting

I found a dried up rose and I liked to put something of the end of the summer into the picture as well, so the image of the rose went into the bottom corner of the painting.
All the beginnings will end in time and then start again, the circle of life.

Little French table

This little table was bought in a second hand shop and after cleaning and sanding I painted the table white.

Next I used blue paint and mixed it with a little grey for the second colour.

When dry I sanded the table back to reveal the white colour underneath.

Most of the furniture I distress and decorate have three different layers of paint, so my last layer was grey, but I painted crackle medium on first and finished with the grey paint on top.

After the paint was dry I sanded the table and used a waterbase varnish to protect the crackled paint. The image used for the center of the table is from the Graphics Fairy website and I used the modpodge method to transfer the image onto the table.
Full instructions how to transfer images onto furniture are on the Graphics Fairy website,you will find a link to the website on my blog.
 I hand painted the flowers on the sides of the table.

The table is protected with a satin water base varnish.

I took the table to the Shabby Chic market at Beacon Hill and sold it on the market.

Shabby Chic market at Beacon Hill

The second Shabby Chic market at Beacon Hill Estate in Stoke, Nelson.

A beautiful sunny Autumn day and with 25 stalls a lot of variety of all things Shabby Chic.

This time I had my own stall as well and it was great not only to sell my handmade Shabby Chic furniture and crafts, but to have so many people visit the stall.

It was a great day!

a vintage dress near at the entrance of the barn

 Crocheted  bunting

A beautiful display

One of the Shabby Chic stalls