Rocker Redo

A few weeks ago I was commissioned to paint this rocking chair for a friend who is expecting a little girl.  I immediately knew that the lines of this chair would be perfect for chalk paint and some distressing.  The chair had a lacquered shiny finish, so I just wiped it down and began painting.

rocking chair before

rocking chair before

I finished this before we received our shipment of CeCe Caldwell's Paints, so I used ASCP in Old White and finished it with a clear wax.  I gave it a little bit of extra distressing on the arms, and places that would get more wear.  This rocker is super comfortable, but would be adorable with a seat cushion and patterned pillow.  Don't you think?

rocking chair after

rocker after

rocker after

I Linked up to :

Whipperberry Friday Flair Link Party

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

The Perfect Gift

For those that have been following along, you probably remember when I launched my Etsy shop back in October.  It has been such a fun little venture, and I love that people all over the US are receiving these personalized glasses as gifts.  When the shop first launched I was receiving a lot of orders for Christmas gifts and hostess gifts.  Now that it is officially "wedding season" I have been getting orders mostly for weddings or bridesmaid/groomsman gifts.  They are absolutely perfect for a bachelorette party, or for the day of the wedding.    

stemless monogrammed wine glass on J. Kelly Events

In addition to what I carry online, I am often asked to create custom orders.  I have had two unique and fun requests that I thought I would share with you.  The first was an anniversary gift for a wine loving wife and a beer loving husband.  My good friend had seen something similar on another website, but the turnaround time was several months.  I absolutely love the way these tree trunk glasses turned out.  I now carry them in the shop.

set of tree trunk beer and wine glasses available here

The second custom order was a wedding gift for a groom that loved whiskey.  The couple's new monogram would have been "SSS" so we chose to do just one single initial.  I love this decanter with the wooden ball stopper, and the stackable glasses.

If you are interested in a custom order I'd love to hear from you.  Email me at jac06r (at) gmail (dot) com or visit my Etsy shop.  

Hutch Makeover

I promised on Monday that I would start sharing more furniture makeovers, and I figured I would share the beautiful hutch that holds all of our paint in the booth first. 

Michael brought it home as a surprise a little over a month ago, and I knew that it had great potential. I had to look past the metallic silver (yuck) that the previous owner used in an attempt to refinish the piece.  I asked Michael "Who in their right mind would paint this hutch silver???"  He quickly responded, "If you saw the place I went to pick this up, you would understand that they didn't need a reason to paint it silver." HA. 

{top piece of the hutch before}

{bottom piece of hutch before}

 Last Thursday our CeCe Caldwell's paint arrived, and I began painting at 5:30pm.  By 4pm the next day the hutch had been painted, distressed, waxed and put into the booth as our paint display.  Now do you see why I love this paint?  If I would have sanded, primed and painted this piece with normal latex paint it would have taken me at least 3-4 days and a lot more elbow grease.  Instead it took less than 24 hours, and I have that beautiful finish that chalk and clay based paints give.  I painted the hutch in CeCe Caldwell's Antique White (the perfect creamy white) and used her clear wax to finish the piece.  

{the finished hutch...still missing a few knobs though}

So, what do you think?  Are there any pieces in your home that could use a quick facelift?  If, so stop by our booth at the Antique Market of San Jose and pick up some paint. 

We Sell Paint!

Happy Monday Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I have blogged, but things have been busy.  If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably been keeping up with what is going on, but for those who don't I thought I would share what has been happing.

Our exciting news is that we now sell CeCe Caldwell's Paint at the J. Kelly booth.  You all know how much I LOVE to transform furniture with paint, so it just seems fitting.

{just a few of the amazing colors via}

This paint is so fantastic, and there are so many reasons why I love it.  Instead of writing a short story here are some of my favorite things about it...

• It is chalk & clay based, which means that it has surperior adhesion and is self priming. If you are anything like me and hate sanding and priming, then this paint is for you.  
• It is "naturally green."  The paint AND waxes have no VOC's and no chemicals.  I am very sensitive to smells, and usually furniture wax gives me a headache.  I have not had any headaches since using this product.  CeCe Paints and waxes have no chemicals, so you can actually do all of your painting and waxing indoors!  A rainy day won't stop you from that paint project that needs to get done.  
• You have the option to "wet distress." For those that have never used a chalk/clay based paint before, distressing with sandpaper is a cinch.  If you want to avoid all of the dust that sandpaper produces (especially if you are refinishing indoors) then wet distressing is the way to go.  CeCe Paint allows you to take a wet rag while the paint is drying and lightly rub off the paint in areas that you want distresses.    
• There are TONS of colors.  35 amazing color options to be exact.
• Made in the USA.  This product is manufactured and produced in the good ol' USA.  
• Easy Clean-up.  Warm water and a little soap is all you need to get this paint out of your brushes, and if you are a messy painter like me, off your hands, hair, face, and arms.  

{our display}

{chalkboard display}

{using clothespins to display the colors}

Side Note: I mentioned above that the paint has no VOC's or chemicals, and this was a huge bonus for me.  With my mom's history with non-smoker's lung cancer she has not been able to do any painting projects with any of the other paint products I have used in the past.  CeCe Caldwell's Paint was designed so that people with respitory issues can use it.  How exciting is that?  I am thrilled to find a paint that my mom can use :) 

I am looking forward to revealing some before and after projects done with CeCe Paints.  Get ready for some amazing transformations.  If you are interested in purchasing the paint go visit our booth at the Antique Market of San Jose located at 1507 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207

We will also be offering paint classes beginning early June.  If you are interested leave a comment below, and I will get in touch with you once we have more information available.  

 

Thankful, Grateful and Honest

{Via Lara Casey ; if you haven't read her blog, you should}

Well this weekend was crazy to say the least.  It all began on Thursday when Michael came home from work.  I was grumpy, frustrated and in an awful mood.  My mind was filled with fear, doubt and uncertainty.  A few thoughts I had were...

"What if no one likes our booth?  It is SO different than the others"

"What if we don't sell anything?  All of this time and money will be wasted" 

"I am not equipped to run the finances of this business;  all of these legal documents with my name make me a little nervous."

If you didn't notice, the common themes of my worrying stemmed from approval of others and finances.  The start of our booth was kind of on a whim, and this was the first time I really thought about failure.  What if I fail?  I soon realized that I was tying to do everything on my own, instead of relying on God and trusting in his goodness. 

That night I begged the Lord to remove my fears, and give me clear direction.  I desperately needed Him to let me know that I was in the right place.  Now I smile and laugh at how clear and direct God can be.  Friday morning my Etsy shop blew up.  I had over 20 glasses ordered in 2 days, and not to mention another 12 ordered yesterday.  The booth had HUGE sales over the weekend, and the table that I refinished sold.  While we were restocking the booth on Sunday we received tons of complements, and several inquiries for interior design consulting and furniture painting.  The cherry on top was that we will be getting a RETURN on our taxes!!!  I think God made it pretty clear that I am right where I need to be.  When doubts and fears begin to creep in (because in all honesty, they will) this will be a time that I remember.  

God is faithful, and I am so grateful and thankful that I get to do what I love everyday.  

With all that being said, our booth has a new set-up since so many things sold.  Here is a look at the space...   

{Bailey is excited about all of the new accessories}

{This old workbench would make an amazing kitchen island}

Our Booth

I mentioned in this post that we were getting a booth at the Antique Market of San Jose.  I am pretty sure everyone thought my "Exciting News" was that I was having a baby.  The funny thing is that when I titled the post the assumption everyone had never even crossed my mind.  So no baby yet, but I am super excited about this new venture.  I wanted to share some pictures of the booth.  Of course it is still in the works, and will take a little time to fill it completely, but its coming along.  

The space had these awful stripes and they were a high gloss finish with a gold undertone.  Definitely needed an update.

{before}

{before}

3 coats of paint later the stripes were finally covered up!  I went with BM Swiss Coffee for the walls and BM Sandy Hook Gray for the floors.  I absolutely love the way the colors came out.

{after paint}

 I used a natural fiber rug from World Market to define the space for the table and add some warmth.  I am planning to do a full post on the table and chairs this Friday.  I am SO happy with the way they turned out.  The lantern is one that we originally planned to use in our house, but it works perfectly in the space.  It needed to be rewired, so Michael and his dad worked their magic and now we have light.

So far it has been really fun, and it is a constant design project.  As things sell I am able to restyle the space, which is both good and bad because I could be up there every day changing things around.  :) If you are in the area I'd love for you to stop in and see our work.  

Why I love March 1st

Today is a special day to me for two reasons...
First, it is my sweet momma's birthday!  I am so blessed to have such an amazing mom who is truly my best friend and a great encourager.  The past two and a half years have been hectic and crazy(I think crazy might be an understatement) but I am so thankful for all the special times we have had together.  I think we have both learned the true meaning of relaxation and taking each day as it comes.  Mom, you are such a great role model, and I hope to be just like you when I grow up.  With four children, you have always been so selfless and I admire that so much.  I love you more than you know, and even though you are feeling yucky today I hope you know how grateful I am for you.

{I love this picture of my mom and I}

I am also grateful that 10 years ago my mom let me skip her birthday dinner to go with friends to the Monster Jam.  I was 14 years old, and had a crush on this super hot guy who happens to be my husband now.  It was that night that Michael "asked me out." (Im laughing right now thinking how old school that sounds.  Now people probably ask if they can make it Facebook official.)  So 10 YEARS AGO we started dating and boy am I glad I went to that Monster Jam.  It has been 10 years full of great memories, vacations, learning and growing together, and I know the next 10 are going to be even better.  I love you Michael Paul Kelly and I love doing life together.  A few old pictures...Ill pull some really old ones out, but none of those are on my computer. :)

{Freshman year of college}

{Exploring the castles in Germany during college}