Favorites of 2011

Wow!  What a year 2011 has been!!  For both me personally, and for Twice Lovely.

I began 2011 completely out of commission with morning sickness at the start of my 4th pregnancy.  But thanks to the postings from my good friend Cara and the loyalty of my lovely readers, we all made it through until I was able to pick back up with the refinishing at the end of February.  There was a flurry of projects through mid April, when things began to really slow down as I (and baby) grew larger and larger.  I came to a screeching halt with the birth of baby Alek in the beginning of August, but have ended the year feeling rejuvenated, inspired, and reinvigorated in my furniture refinishing.  I have high hopes and high expectations for this blog and my furniture business in the new year, and I hope you’ll join me along the way!

Here’s a few of my very favorite projects from the past year.

#5 – The Fancy Desk

#4 – Wardrobe for Baby

#3 – Chevron Dresser

#2 – Metallic Herringbone Desk

#1 – Damask Dresser
(Certainly an internet favorite, and mine as well.
Ironically, it was the most difficult piece for me sell.  Go figure!)

But, of course, this guys wins the prize, hands down, for my best work this year…

Can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store!  Happy New Year to you all!

Ebook Winner!

A big congrats and happy Christmas-come-early to Erin from Carolina Country Living for winning the “Guide to Furniture Finishes” Ebook from Stories of a House and European Paint Finishes!!!

If you didn’t win this time, you really must pop over and pick up a copy of your own.  I can’t speak highly enough for it’s contents.

Thanks to everyone for entering and a very special and hearty thanks to my good friends Christa and Keeley for letting me host the giveaway.

Guide to Furniture Finishes Ebook Giveaway!!

I’m very excited to present to you “Guide to Furniture Finishes,” an Ebook born of the refinishing expertise of some good bloggy friends (and fellow Arizonans) Christa from Stories of a House and Mike and Keeley from European Paint Finishes.

I was lucky enough to get my little paws on a copy of this comprehensive, well-composed, and interactive ebook that is absolutely chalked full of great product recommendations, application tips, video demonstrations, distressing techniques and loads more.  Even being someone that’s “in the biz” so to speak, I have to say I learned a great deal and am excited to give some new products and techniques a try!

Christa and Mike are the real deal, professionals and artists when it comes to recreating some incredible pieces of furniture.

Are you feeling inspired?

Together, they’ve logged hundreds of hours in the workshops, honing their craft, and they’ve put together their collective knowledge in this incredibly informative Ebook so you don’t have to learn by trial and error. 

Great for those of you who may be considering “going pro” with your furniture painting, or pros who would like to step up their game.  Or maybe you just want to be able to achieve a professional quality finish on furniture for your own home.  This ebook is going to set you on your way.

And they have graciously offered a copy of their Ebook (a $30 value) to one lucky Twice Lovely reader!

Here’s a few ways to enter:

1) Be a follower of Twice Lovely, and leave me a comment below.

2) Be a follower of Stories of a House, and leave me a comment below.

3) Be a follower of European Paint Finishes, and leave me a comment below.

4) Facebook, Tweet, or blog with a link to this giveaway post, and leave me a comment below.

The giveaway will end and I’ll draw a winner on Sunday evening, December 18th.

But you don’t have to wait until then to get your own copy!!  Hop on over a pick up your copy right this minute, and if you are the winner of the giveaway come Sunday, they’ll refund you the purchase price!

I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to Christa, Mike and Keeley for putting out such a great resource.  I know they worked so hard on it, and it really shows in the final product.

Good luck everyone!

Mirrored Chest

I rescued this cute little 2 drawer chest on the side of the road a little while back.  I’m still shocked at what people are going to just throw away!

Sure, it was shabby, but that baby had obvious potential.  Am I right?  And I knew almost immediately that it was screaming out for some mirrors.

 

I painted it a high gloss gray, and had mirrors cut to fit at the local glass and mirror shop, which cost about $25.  They’re affixed with some heavy duty epoxy.  I added some swirls with the same silver paint pen I used on the Metallic Herringbone Desk on the upper center panel.  I painted one of the original pulls with silver spray paint, then distressed it so the brass showed through.

I moved it over to Livy Lou’s this afternoon to hear that the Metallic Herringbone Desk had sold!  Yay!  More motivation to keep on keepin’  on.

Hope you like it!

Linking to:

Primitive and Proper, Domestically Speaking, Finding Fabulous, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring

New Blog Design and Cutting Edge Stencils Winner!

Good morning!  It’s frosty and snow covered here today.  It makes Christmas start to feel like a reality.  It’s difficult to get into the holiday spirit when it’s 70 degrees out like it had been last week.

I spent most of the snowy, home-bound day yesterday working on a little sprucing up of the bloggy digs.  I was feeling the itch for clean, crisp, more modern update, and I’m very happy with the results (and pretty proud of myself for doing all the design and executing it live on the blog in one day!!)  If you’re a Google Reader regular, hop on over and tell me what you think!

In other exciting news, the winner of the $50 credit to Cutting Edge Stencils is…

#52, Dana!!!  Congratulations Dana!  I sent you an email with details.  Have fun picking your stencils!

Happy Sunday!

Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway

I’ve got a fun giveaway for you today from Cutting Edge Stencils!  They have one of the best selections of stencils out there!

I love their all-over patterns as a great alternative to the wall paper look that is so popular right now. Whether you’re looking for a bold geometric print…

A dramatic paisley…

An ultra-hip Moroccan motif…

Or a more tradition floral…

Cutting Edge is bound to have a great stencil that’s just what you’ve been looking for!

They were gracious enough to send me a few stencils to try out, and I was overwhelmed by the amount and quality of the designs they had to choose from.  For my furniture rehabilitation purposes, I chose some stand alone stencils.

One that I picked, and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of great use out of was the Zinnia Grande Stencil.

I had this pair of chairs sitting out in the workshop (finished up) for quite a while.  The side table that I had paired up with it sold on its own ages ago, so they needed a new one to be united as a set once more.  :)  I had this sturdy little maple Ethan Allen side table also sitting around for far, far too long, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to break in one of my new stencils!

I applied the Zinnias randomly all over the top of the side table after painting it with some Satin Ivory Krylon Dual Spray Paint using three colors that tied it in with the upholstery on the chairs.  I added a funky vintage lamp I found while out thrifting.  With the addition of some paint on the lamp shade and some fabric rosettes made from the same upholstery fabric, we have a seating ensemble!

The generous folks at Cutting Edge Stencils would like to offer one Twice Lovely reader a $50 credit to use at their online shop, so you can give their great stencils a whirl yourself!

There are opportunities for 4 entries! (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one!)

1) Be a follower of the Twice Lovely blog and leave a comment below telling me.

2) “Like” Twice Lovely on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me.

3) “Like” Cutting Edge Stencils on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me.

4) Blog, Facebook, or Tweet to help spread the word about the giveaway, and leave a comment below telling me. (Only have to do one)

Giveaway ends Saturday, December 3rd.  I’ll draw a winner in the evening.

If you’re trying out stenciling for the first time, Cutting Edge has some great tips on their YouTube channel that you should definitely check out!

Thanks Cutting Edge for sponsoring this great giveaway!