Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Don't give up

Okay so I wasn't going to ever start a blog because I am not a writer and if no one ever reads this it's no big deal but I had to just share my realization today while I was sanding on a piece of furniture. 


I found an antique vanity on craiglist and it was a price that I could not pass up but at the time I did not realize how much work this wonderful piece of furniture was going to need because I was just starting out in my new business adventure.  


Well right away I decided I wanted to paint it a beautiful pink color.  I decided on Gypsy Pink (it's a bright fuschia color).  Then I started reading on the internet about the new chalk paint technique and also that you could make your own.  


The first couple of recipes I tried were not giving me the results I was hoping for plus the vanity is mostly the wonderful veneer finish which I was finding very hard to work with.  So I kept reading blog after blog on the internet and asking other people that paint furniture what I might be doing wrong. 


Finally I tried one last recipe ( I found out when mixing the plaster of paris into the paint that I needed to mix it with water first and that it should be warm so that it dissolves before you add it to the paint).  So I drug the vanity out onto the driveway one last time to put one more coat of paint on it.  


And mind you by this time I was almost ready to give up.  And ever since I decided that I wanted to start painting furniture and painted my first piece I absolutely fell in love with it.  It has been relaxing and I have been blessed to find some really good deals on being able to start this as a new business on an extremely tight budget.  


So when I started I told my self this was something I was going to stick with.  So the fact that this vanity was upsetting me so much that it was not turning out how I had envisioned was frustrating me even more because I really want and need this new business venture to work.  


Thankfully I have a wonderful boyfriend that I can always talk to about problems that arise and he helps me to talk through it and figure out what I should try next or why the paint is reacting the way it is. 


So after two more coats of paint on the vanity I put it back in the garage to sit overnight, it was already looking so much better.  


I pulled it out today to sand on her and to see if she was going to need more paint or if I was going to start completely over.  Well thank goodness as I started to sand her true color finally started to show through.  Her character was coming out everywhere and she is distressing more beautifully than I could ask for.  I am so excited to finish up on the sanding and and then wax her.  


I am so glad I did not give up on her and I can't wait to show everyone the finished product in all her wonderful pink beauty.