Damn cold humidity

Here in Pennsylvania its cold. And humid. And those two things together really, REALLY suck. Not just for me but also for my furniture. Now, I know it's been awhile since I posted anything but that's just because I've been stopped dead in my tracks. By the damn cold humidity.
I was working on my nice china hutch on a particularly cold day and didn't think of one important thing. Paint (apparently) freezes. Yes paint freezes and when it freezes and thaws, it lets moisture into the paint, and warpes it beyond my ability to smooth it. The paint went crazy. And this paint is very good at resisting my sander unfortunately. So here I am hoping for warmer weather, unable to work on furniture because the paint goes crazy and for fear I might loose a finger to hypothermia. Bummer.


But on the bright side... I get to continue collecting furniture for warmer weather! And that, I'm ok with.

Update

Yes it's mint! Looking good I think.

Update

Yes it's mint! Looking good I think.

My new roomier workshop

I got a little tired of having squeeze myself around my workshop so I took a few hours and tripled my space. Plus some color choices for the hutch and my cat. Very productive day. Tell me what you think of the colors

My newest project

This china hutch is my next victim. I found it at a Salvation Army thrift store. Originally it was $70 but with markdowns I got for $10. A great deal. The people there were also kind enough to load it into my truck for me. It's about my height, so a smaller hutch.

Final dresser

Here it is

It's finally done!

Yep that's right I finished the dresser. It's completed! My first big project done. They picture I have now is terrible but I was so excited I had to show it off. It's dark but here it is! Better pics in the morning

Polished brass

I was putting the handles back on my dresser to finish it up finally and something was off. The paint was shiny and nice but the handles weren't. They were this dull grey/brown color and very unappealing. So I took a few things of sand paper and polished them up! It's amazing what a little elbow grease can do! I have to remember this trick for later. They look completely different and brand new! Before and after

Blue

I finished painting the dresser a nice shade of a darker blue. (Sorry pictures will be in my next post, I'm not getting out of my nice warm bed to take them.) aside from a few touch ups on the feet and a final hard top coating its done! My first professional piece! Yay!
In the process I found out that my workshop/garage is housing a family of pretty noisy mice. They leave me alone and i leave them alone but this has shown me that I really need some music while I'm painting. And I learned that when it gets cold paint takes a million times longer to dry.
I know I have a long way to go but any advice would be much appreciated.

Blue blue blue

I finally got the paint to finish the dresser and its going to look soo good! Pics to come

Welcome to my workshop!

Yes this lovely detached beauty is my workshop. Complete with a working door and everything! Well except no heat...and as you can tell by the picture taken less then 20 mins ago, it gets kinda cold. Now if this was Colorado (where I'm from) and 32 degrees feels like 32 degrees, working would be fun and easy but here, in Pennsylvania, it's different. It's humid. Like, I feel like I can swim through the air sometimes, humid. 32 degrees here, feels like -32 degrees. It chills you right to the bone. Fast. I have a small heater that's working valiantly to do its job but sadly it's not enough. Despite the cold I'm going out there when I'm done with this post.

The dresser you see in the middle of my workshop is my newest project. I found it 3 days ago on the side of the road with a broken foot. I fixed the foot, sanded it and now it's waiting for a fresh coat of paint. I'll keep you all updated on how it goes.

I would have way more space if I got my lazy butt up and moved all the boxes but for now it's fine.

About, how and why.

I'm maranda. I love art and creative things. As a twenty-something I'm naturally confused. About everything. After studying zoology, I want to make furniture. Seems logical.
It all started when I moved into a hugely unaffordable apartment with my best friend, that no twenty-something's could ever dream of affording. But we managed (barely) and aside from making rent and living off ramen and McDonald's we had no extra money to buy furniture, non the less nice furniture. But luckily, less then a mile away was a goodwill. They were a friendly bunch and despite my friends unwillingness to go into a thrift store, we needed furniture. Bad. So in we went and we came out successful with a cheap pair of dressers and a mirror. They were chipped and quite frankly kinda gross. They needed some TLC. We got them home threw them on the deck and went and raided my parents garage. We found a tiny sander and some black paint. Then we went to work. Two days later, we had Two much better looking and mostly ding free dressers and a mirror. I was hooked. I loved the fact I could take a beat down old piece of furniture and make it look pretty good. It was a good feeling.
And now here I am, two years later, living back with my parents, with my own "workshop" experimenting with furniture. No classes, no supervision, and no knowledge of what I'm doing. Just a few bucks, my instincts and some Internet advice. Lets see how this goes.