Before I move on with today’s regularly scheduled programming, I just want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment on my last post. It was greatly appreciated. You may have noticed that I didn’t really ask for ideas or suggestions for changes to the blog, I just wanted to make sure that there are some real people out there reading my blog. I’m not looking to make big changes (aside from my recent addition of a logo) or add anything new. I’m already doing what I love, so I can’t see making any changes any time soon. So now I know that there are real live people behind those random numbers on my stats page and that you do like what I’ve got to offer. So if you’ll keep reading, I’ll keep posting. Deal?
So, onward …
My friend Terri has an uncanny ability to get things just a little bit wrong, usually in a rather funny way. She gets sayings mixed up all the time. For example, she’ll say things like “that opened up a big ball of wax!” She also hears things just a little bit off. Here in Minnesota we have a casino that is run by the Mille Lacs band of the Objibwe. For years she thought they were called the “relaxed band of the Ojibwe” (for those of you not local, Mille Lacs does kind of rhyme with relaxed). She just thought they were really laid back. She never fails to crack me up.
So, recently when I asked if she wanted to meet me in Hastings to check out the new shop I was going to be selling stuff in, she said sure.
I gave her all of the info over the phone. Later, she told me she thought “I Can Be Refined” was kind of an odd name for a shop.
She was close, but Eye Candy REfind is so much better, don’t you think?
I’ve been working like a dog getting a bunch of things ready for Eye Candy REfind’s grand opening of their Hastings location this weekend. I wanted to pull together a collection of pieces that really epitomized my style, so each item I’m bringing to Hastings was selected especially for this event. I just finished up the last piece of furniture that I’m taking down there, the hydrangea cupboard.
Isn’t she lovely?
My sister and I drove out to Minnetonka to pick this one up. It was the morning after some storms had come through the Twin Cities, and we ran into all kinds of problems. Stop lights weren’t functioning, roads were out. It was a mess. But we finally got there and I was happy to take this cupboard off the seller’s hands. It originally seemed like an antique. However, after I got it home and did a closer inspection, I decided it was an antique knock off (much like my own Rooster cupboard) or as Mr. Q calls it, a ‘faux-tique’. Here were the clues; the hinges don’t look old, the routing around the glass looks too modern, that curvy detail just below the glass doors looks a little bit 80’s. In addition, the drawer pulls that came on this piece were too clean and new (I have replaced them with genuine antique pulls).
I think there is a possibility that the bottom half of the cupboard is genuinely old and maybe just the top half was added later. The drawers look quite rustic inside.
But then again, maybe the whole piece is newer than I thought.
I did my best to make it look old though. I painted it with an undercoat of Miss Mustard Seed’s Shutter Grey, then two coats of French Enamel. I used my new method to encourage chipping, putting tape over the paint and pulling it off again (like waxing your brows, thank you for that analogy Lacy!) and once again it worked perfectly.
And finally, I couldn’t help but add my own special ingredient, some vintage hydrangea wallpaper.
The wallpaper is just tacked into place, not permanently adhered. I know that some potential buyers might prefer to display pretty things inside and be able to see them through the glass, so they can easily remove the wallpaper.
Oh, and that reminds me of yet another reason why I’m sure this is a faux-tique, the shelves are adjustable!
It seemed appropriate to use some hydrangeas for staging this piece and my Vanilla Strawberry are just starting to open up. They start out white but gradually turn pinker towards late summer.
In addition to furniture, I have some great small pieces at Eye Candy as well. Some painted suitcases, hatboxes, books, vintage cameras, some clean Balls (jars that is) and lots more!
I hope that some of my local readers can join me this Sunday for their grand opening extravaganza!
Where: 218 2nd Street East, Hastings, MN
When: Sunday, August 2 from 2 pm to 5 pm
What: brats, hot dogs, beer, wine, live music, fun activities for the kids, and some fabulous shopping for vintage eye candy!
I’m pretty sure I can be refined, how about you?
q is for quandie 
Antique or faux-tique, it’s beautiful now 🙂 makes me want to break out my milk paint again! Excited for your new shop venture, and swooning over your lovely hydrangeas. It’s July in Texas, so all of my pretty flowers are wilted now 😦
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I can imagine that this is a rough time of year for a Texas garden. Even our Minnesota gardens aren’t looking that great. If it weren’t for my hydrangeas, my garden would be a sorry sight!
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Sweet piece Mrs Q – but because you are so prolific to remind myself which piece you painted was named the “rooster cabinet” I had to go backtrack thru the blog and take a look. Both are winner nice options to cover the glass or not.
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Your comment makes me wonder if you know that I usually insert links to pieces when I refer to them. In other words, if you click on “Rooster cupboard” (which is in blue in the text) that will link you directly to the original post about it. Yep, just another service that I am happy to provide at q is for quandie 😉
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Yeah I knew that yours is a “full service” blog after all. Too many projects on my plate right now. My puny mind and my keyboarding skill are not copacetic
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Very exciting about selling in a shop! Congratulations! Enjoy the opening!
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Thanks Kristin! Lacy, the owner of Eye Candy REfind is really enthusiastic and has lots of exciting ideas for her shop, so I’m looking forward to working with her both this weekend and in the future.
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I’m no furniture expert, but I felt pretty smart when you said that maybe the lower part of this piece was older than the top. That was my initial impression! Now that you’ve ‘quandified’ it, this piece looks like a unified whole. Beautiful!
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That lower half just has an ‘older’ look doesn’t it? I find it hard to put my finger on exactly why, but there is just something about it.
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Stunning as usual!
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Thanks Susan! Gotta love that milk paint 🙂
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So in love with this piece and I love the color! congrats on the shop!
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Thanks Darrielle! I am a big fan of the French Enamel at the moment.
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Loved todays blog…and my friends Penelope and Chloe will too! LOL
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LOL! I was going to mention them, but couldn’t figure out how to make it come across in writing 😉
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Yes, blue and hydrangeas…definitely a winner. Great job as usual. I wish I had the courage to paint some piece of furniture blue. 🙂
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Go for it Linda! I can put my money where my mouth is on this one since I have the aforementioned blue rooster cupboard in my own house (and I love it!), and I also have a buffet painted in Kitchen Scale (a teal blue). If the rest of your room is neutral, the pop of a saturated blue piece can be fab.
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That color is just so striking without being annoying if that makes sense! Great job!! I must try the tape distressing on my next project!
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Ha! That is exactly how I feel about it. The color does seem brighter in photos and I can see where some might think “oh my gosh, that’s a lot of blue!” but really it’s exactly as you say, striking without being annoying! I love it.
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Your comment on faux-tiques made me remember my Dad who created his version of an antique item and we always joked “is it real or a wayne-tique?” Now my daughter does the same when I create my version of an old item still calling it a wayne-tique. Case in point an “old” seed box.
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Ha, love that! Wayne-tiques. And I have to say it sounds pretty cool that your Dad was into creating faux-tiques.
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Oh my goodness! I was crying I was laughing so hard … I know Mille Lacs Lake very well .. we had to drive around it to get to my dad’s cabin in Cross Lake …SO wish I could make it to your grand opening — I’ll share your post with family members who still live in Hastings. GOOD LUCK to you!
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LOL. So you know all about the relaxed band of the Ojibwe! Thanks for sharing my post. The shop is really darling, and hopefully some of your family can make it out for the grand opening.
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It does look lovely; it’s an inspiration. I need corner cabinets!
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I do occasionally see corner cabinets on craigslist, but not very often.
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I love this!
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