...my jeanne d'arc style, rose-Mary rocking chair makeover

...the rose-Mary rocking chair...

hello dear readers

today is the reveal of what i did with the

faux grain sack fabric from the previous post.

this is a bit long

 but,

this chair,

 has a story to tell.

~

this,

 is my jeanne d'arc living style,

french rose-Mary rocking chair...

back in May,

i stopped by a promising yard sale ~

please understand that where i live,

we are allowed to have a yard sale only twice a year

one in May and one in October

sooooo

sometimes some really nice stuff is out there ~

...such as this rocker

  

now,

you must also understand,

i was

NOT

seeking a rocking chair ~

i did

 NOT

want a rocking chair ~

(been there, done that!)

and more importantly,

i had

 NO-where

 to put a rocking chair ~

but

...it found me...

i purchased a few vintage crystals and fabulous lace bit pieces

from the woman at the yard sale

(she revealed that she had once owned a bridal veil shop and made them)

so i felt thrilled with my new

f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s bits!!

(expensive mind you

but

fabulous none-the-less)

anyway,

as i was walking away with my stash o'lace bits and sparkles,

she asked me if i'd please take this rocking chair.

an awkward silence followed ~

i paused for a moment

and pondered...

she sensed my apprehension and said "it is from France"

"hhhmmmmm, it does have the potential to be lovely" i thought

but

it reaaaaallly wasn't what i was seeking that day

and the color was way to dark for me

as was the HIDEOUS tapestry on the seat

(wished i had taken a photo of that!!)

and

WHY was she trying to give it away???

but

she was persistent ~

i tried to be gracious and suggested

that if it didn't sell by the end of the day,

i'd be happy to give it a home. 

she said

"no, i want YOU to have it NOW"

(i'm thinkin' "really?? me?? you don't even know me")

((whyyyyy!!))

then the little voice inside my head said,

rosemary, this is just for you...

make it beautiful!

so,

i  brought it home

  

above is a picture that began my inspiration thoughts.

i let the colors and image steep awhile

like 6 weeks to be exact!!

and then,

then this vision came... 

i first painted my chair

with a base coat of the "quiet rain"

(doesn't the sound of that soothe you already??)

then i dry brushed it with "toasted white" 

next,

the faux grain sack cloth.

the seats have a horse hair lining

i covered over this twice with muslin before putting on the "grain sack"

can you say S-C-R-A-T-C-H-Y??!

after the front seat and back seat were complete

i had envisioned putting that image of

 Mary smelling the roses on the front.

but when i finally got to that step

she quietly said no...

not there...

 where then??

as my heart was really set on using that image ~

 the back of the chair then revealed how it wanted to look...

make me into ~ a memory board!

with a ruffled pocket no less,

so my bible would always be within reach..

i love to look at it...

wouldn't you?

  

a special place to put inspirational pretties :)

  

and you know how

 i need my ruffles!!

lace

and even Mary liked her surroundings

all i heard from her was...sigh...

  

a miniature whimsy flower bouquet...

rosemary and lavender

one of my paper clay sacred hearts...

aahhhhh ~

a lovely transformation...

"but wait!"

the chair said!!

"you aren't done with me yet!"

it's true,

it wanted more...

the entire back piece is now Velcro-ed

so that i may pull it back and place my spirit's desires beneath

spirit secrets...

  

there are three sections.

 i have chosen to put my favorite verses in the first section,

prayer request's in the second,

and the third

is my section for gratefulness

i guess you could say that this chair has really "rocked" my world!!

(oh, that was bad!! lol!)

can you see why i call it the rose-Mary chair

besides the visual carved roses

and the Mary image??

because ~ little touches of me are infused into it,

within it,

all

the

way

to

it's

core...

and that my dears,

is how He inspires me...

all the way to my core!

i hope you are inspired 

 with how you can transform an object

into something more,

something meaningful and lovely for your home! 

sigh

i'll just be over here ~

in my rose-Mary rocking chair,

thinking about just WHERE i am going to put it!

but my guess is,

 it already knows!!

sharing this over at:

Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage's: Feathered Nest Friday

Freckled laundry's: Air your laundry Friday

Miss Mustard Seed's: Furniture Feature Friday

the diy club's: 31-days-of-painting

here's to when things, somehow find ~ YOU!

...my tube sock stockings!!

...hello my little gumdrops!!

I feel it only fair to warn you ~

I am feeling a little ornery today:)

I blame it on the holiday punch!!

you see,

I've

been

a

very

d

i

r

t

y

girl...

HA!!!

yep!

I just couldn't help myself...

do you think Santa will maybe let this one thing slide??

It all started in that $ tree

when I was picking up MORE "holy candles"

(((big hit I tell ya'!)))

and went downhill from there!!

  

I shoulda' left those darn tube socks on the rack...

but NOOOoooooo!!

I saw potential in them,

I think I heard them whispering:

"aahhhh, come on Rosemary,

just ONE more project isn't going to kill ya'!"

~ so home they came with me!!

  

I knew that these humble tubes of cheap cotton

could be spun into

oh-so-lovely stockings

with a few supplies I always have on hand!!

  

first, the lace got sewn on all random like,

as everyday elegance is what I am after:)

Then,

(this is the dirty part!)

I grunged em' up real good!!

paper tags,

 handmade cotton roses,

torn strips of cotton for ribbon,

snowflakes ~

nothing was safe

and all went in for a dip!

When it came time to embellish them a bit further

(I know, but it's in my contract, I'm part crow!!)

I sprayed some silver glitter all over them

...

eeewwwwwwhh ~ purrrrrtttttyyyy!!

but

NOT enough!

So I added a happy jingle bell fleur to the toe

nice!

but the "girl" stockings said

"yah, NO!"

"you're sooo going to have to do better than that!!"

humph!

can you imagine?

dirty girl stockings talking to me like that?!!

so...

I gave them a little extra bling:)

they must have liked it,

 as for the rest of the day

the only thing I heard outta' them was the words to "Santa Baby!!"

LOL!!

I put a white sparkle initial on each of the stockings tags

so "Santa" Baby" 

ie. ~ hubby o' mine

would know whose was whose

as he is the stocking filler upper:) 

((this alone is h-y-s-t-e-r-i-c-a-l! and something I have come to really look forward too!!))

each stocking dangles from a hand stamped ribbon that simply says

Find beauty in all things

well, I think that I can check this off my list!

for today anyway!!

~ sharing this over at:

Common Ground's: ~ Vintage Inspiration Friday ~

Freckled Laundry's:  ~ Air your laundry Friday ~

My Romantic Home's: ~ Show and tell Friday ~

Come see all the inspiring things that are going on!!

here's to cheap, dirty ~ tube socks!!!