Life changes on the horizon....

 

Life changes are afoot friends!

 

Big ones!

 

See, there I was, in the midst of my Chinoiserie-Hollywood Regency bedroom makeover, and having a fine time painting anything I could lay my hands on, when I received a phone call.

 

I got dressed like this, went for a comfy chat with a friend...

 

 

...and was offered a job!

 

A real outside-the-home corporate one.

 

With money.

 

Well, I thought about it for a while, because, you know, I've worked pretty hard a being retired and content.

 

But here's the thing.

 

It's a job helping people. A role where I know I truly can make a difference.

 

And it's only for two years.

 

So. Why not? I mean really. I've actually already been performing this role on a volunteer basis. So why shouldn't someone pay me to do what I've already been doing for years?

 

I start very soon.

 

Meanwhile, with a commencement date looming and unfinished projects the order of the day at Maison Mimi, I'm in uber-productive mode!

 

I painted this vintage lacquerware stacking thing a new colour....

 

 

Look! Pretty, isn't it?

 

 

 I painted a $3 thrifted frame pink..

 

 

 

I painted these cranes pink too...

 Then changed my mind and painted them Hermes orange instead...

 

I love them now.

 

I scored a pair of lamps at the thrift store for $6. I embellished them with Greek Key trim.

 

I love them too now.

 

That there underneath...that's my first attempt at faux tortoisehell. More on that later. You may recall me saying I try things 27 times before I give up? Well I'm on my 19th try of faux tortoishell and by jove, I think I've got it!

 

These fabrics are somehow coming together harmoniously for the new bedroom décor. I think my brain almost has that one worked out as well.

 

Thankyou to Judy for that stunning crane print. Isn't it divine?

I admired some Blanc de Chine figurines, inwardly cursing myself for not snapping up the one I'd seen at my usual thrift store haunt for just $7.

 

They I remembered my collection of Willow Tree figurines, gifted over the years. I love their sentiment, but not entirely loving their colour.

 

So, as you do, I painted them with gloss white spray paint.

Behold a new sort of perfection...

 



I adore them now. Honestly, is there anything you can't learn to love with a lick 'o' paint?

 

Back to that tortoishell. Here was attempt number 6. It wasn't quite right either.

 

I gave up on that for a minute and painted my cherry stained desk, satin black.

 

It's rahhhhther glamorous now. Especially after I refinished the handles with a bit of Rub 'n' Buff. It comes in a tiny tube and is a thick cream. You rub it on, and voila! Gold leaf perfection!

 

 

I liked the black desk so much, I painted the chess table black too. It has this lovely carved detail.

 

So I looked at that, and looked at the Rub 'n' Buff, and well, you know what happened next....

 

A bit glam, right?

 

No, not me. This is me in some new corporate wear. Different?

 

In the midst of all that painting and Rub 'n' Buff-ing, I trotted out this Hatchimals cake for Granddaughter number two.

 

It's true my love for the Grandies knows no bounds, nor limitations of imagination or creativity.

 

Here's version 5 of the faux tortoishell. Kinda nice, but not quite the look I was after either.

 

This faux tortoishell with gold overlay got my attention though!

 

 



 Leading me to Version 18 of my attempted faux tortoishell, which, if I hadn't sponged like the tutorial said, would have been almost perfect.

 

Of course with Rub 'n' Buff in one hand, and an old etching stencil in the other, I had brainstormed a way to replicate the above look, no worries at all.

 

 

I'm well on the way with that project now.

 

This needs to be glazed, embellished with flourishes, and preserved under a glass top, and I will be in heaven.

In other news, work has commenced on a She-Shed!

 

The slab was poured just this morning!

 

It's not a pretty back yard one.

 

Mine is under the house.

 

But it will still look a little like this...

 



 

...and this...

 

Nice.

 

Feast your eyes upon my pewter shantung bedspread.

 

$6 thankyou very much.

 

I had admired a similar one for $450.

 

Happy me.

 

And this wee box?

 

I was about to donate it, when inexplicably, one almost identical, showed up in my Pinterest feed.

 

I think it's valuable.

 

Either way...I've rescued it from the 'donate' box and given it pride of place on my bedside table for now, until I find out more about it.

So that's all my news.

 

I'm sorry to have kept you in suspense.

 

Life changes. But it's all for the good.

 

What's changed in your corner of the world lately?