Gary Lord's Open House 2010

The last few weeks were so busy.  Brenda McPeek taught her RS class for us and it was really inspiring.  I struggle with pretty light finishes-I don't want them to wash out over the surface or seem blah.  Well, her finishes have so much depth and her approach to using the RS products is better then mine!  I am doing three finishes for myself.  And I know 2 people from the class are bidding jobs right now.  I want to add this class again in the Fall.

This is my Florentine Tile.  I like that the marble effect is soft-I tend to make angry marble (and skies).  It is a good techinque for people that struggle with "wormy" granites and marbles. 

The sample below is by Emily Andrews-the class was a birthday gift-nice family!

I am doing the Riveria Sparkle in a lighter version on my floor tile that is ugly orange and set in concrete.

I love the Polished Damask.  We've all seen what I call DDD-Damask Done to Death-but this is so pretty and looks just like a bone china.  I am doing this at our lake home (which is for sale-any takers?) over orange peel walls.

Bomar gave me these great Bees.  I am doing our Wine cellar in the Crumbled Wall finish. I added metallics for a contemporary twist. A good sample is one where you can take it in lots of design styles.  The plaster is crackled and torn. It made me think of honeycomb-just silver and platinum.

These are just a few of the samples.  Brenda is a fun teacher and I am really proud she is also a friend. We also had Red Velevet Ice Cream Cake for Emily's birthday so let's hope someone in the next class has someting to celebrate.

Sue Hon, Ashley and I left the next week for Gary Lord's Open House in Ohio.  I am teaching a Makeover Class there the end of summer (and one here in early summer). Here we are in our booth with our tile, cabinet, and Bomar Mirror Surrounds.  By this time, we have been to a Michaels, Hyde Park district, Rookwood Plaza, Nordstroms Off  The Rack (which I saw from the middle of traffic behind us and could only get to by a mid lane u-turn. Remember what Ed Hardy says-"Fashion Kills" oh wait that is "Love Kills"-really the same thing!) and a rock quarry/nursery in Kentucky-but that was a GPS mistake.

At this point, I realize that I have the whole studio except MY MAIN DEMO BOARD-see the empty wine glass! Thank godness that Ashley and Sue have been with me from Dallas to Charleston and can talk me off the ledge.  But notice the nice samples to my left.  Karen and Liz are coming here-I saw some really good finishes-but back to panic at the Open House.

See the Panic!

This was the well thought-out demo board.  3 ways to use Low Viscosity Glaze for Raku, Shattered Paper, and Anitque Mirror Tile. 

This is Lucy and Ethyl us at the hotel trying to pull another sample out of the amenitites in the bathroom.

In the end, we got it together.  I just put on my Vegas Act during the demo and hoped the audience liked me more then the final sample.  My demo ended with the whole display behind me falling off-I think it will be on You-Tube, labeled-"Girl with Tourretts Faux Paints."

This is Cynthia Davis' booth for Wallsover. She is coming here to work on samples!!! We can't wait to get our hands on some of the new samples. She is very cool.

BUT THE BIG NEWS: Gary's New Book is ready and we saw the first copy. And SUE and Surfaces are both in it and we both have a little sample square on the cover. 

Here is Sue's Square!  We each posed with our fireplace. Scott did a great photo.  Bruce and I look like we live in Palm Desert-very Rat Pack.

Sue has her own chapter of a beautiful bathroom. Way to go!

The book has a diversity of finishes.  Donna Phelps has a very user friendly bathroom chapter and Deb Drager shows you how to apply finishing to canvas art with a colorful chapter-lots of prettty blues and greens.  Copies will be ready just in time for spring. 

I am leaving for Dallas today to catch the FE update and celebrate my birthday with my folks in Oklahoma.  Check us out next week for: 

Fake Housewives and Real Finishes. Faux Finishes for the OC Ladies (if they haven't been evicted or sold) These will be real step-by-step finishes using lots of different products.