mrsjonespaintedfinishes.com » please note:

varnishing day

stephanie — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:26:01 +0000

unlike the traditional “varnishing day” (below), or those at the salon de paris that deborah davis describes in her excellent, fascinating book, strapless, varnishing days at our little studio are all about cleaning and making sure things are washed, swept, vacuumed, swiffer’d and totally dust-free. (and when using the gorgeous but especially unforgiving high-gloss varnishes and lacquers, we even change out the air filters…it’s that important.) any tiny particles or fibers in the air will find their way into the varnish and mar the finish.

my little dachshund, miss ginger grant, believes that varnishing days are all about her…she loves it when the drop cloths come out of the dryer and land on the floor in a nice warm heap. it’s easy to know where to find her.

april food day

stephanie — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:33:08 +0000

”beauty has no inherent usefulness, and yet without it, we could not endure our lives”.

this quote (attributed to freud) is one of mrs. jones’s favorite ways to justify her work and love of design. but when worried about feeding your family, or not having a warm, safe place to sleep tonight, who could seek or enjoy anything beautiful? so,

if you’ve read anything else online today, you’ll know that there is an action afoot proclaiming april 1, 2009 ”april food day”, encouraging readers to make a donation to feeding america . this extremely worthwhile concept is the brainchild of chris cox (easy & elegant life) and meg fairfax fielding (pigtown*design). every dollar contributed to feeding america provides seven meals, or ten pounds of food! now, mrs. jones is no mathematician, but that seems like an incredibly efficient way for us to help. please consider a contribution to feeding america (or a local food bank or shelter of your choice) today. that would be truly beautiful. no fooling.

a tiny bit overwhelmed by samples

stephanie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:38:55 +0000

nothing is more important to mrs. jones than getting things exactly right for clients. samples are key to this process, and also offer precious opportunities to experiment with colors, products, and techniques. samples, however, entail trips to seabrook (for sample pots or quarts of paint), lowe’s (for other supplies), or (my personal briar patch!), the art center. when stencils or metal leaf are involved, a small sample board might represent a large investment. (hence, my new deposit policy.) depending on the finish, a board might have five or six layers, with each layer requiring drying and tweaking time, so it can take several days to prepare – even with fans running and a late night in studio.

so, thank you, lovely clients, for your indulgent understanding and patience as mrs. jones marches through the process for you, preparing for lots of beautiful projects in the next few weeks.

p.s…note: new stencils from sunny goode! photos of those samples coming soon.

oh, about summer…

stephanie — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:38:36 +0000

you may notice, if you’re paying attention (and i truly thank you if you are) that mrs. jones’s production will dip (slightly?) in the next few weeks. i do have some big fat yummy summer projects lined up, and of course will post them here if they prove to be worthy and exciting, so please do check back. and on august 13th, when the little joneses return to school, things will shift into high gear again.

mrs. jones spills the beans

stephanie — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:25:42 +0000

after being plied with the most delicious chicken salad ever, i just couldn’t help it…i gave away my secrets to the lovely ladies of the oak grove garden club today. we covered “saturday morning garden ornaments”. and yes, i confess it’s true, i taught them a wax-resist method for painting pots, and disclosed the details on how a slip-layer of glaze applied before a layer of muddy green can make their concrete urns look fabulously, instantly mossy. but please don’t judge mrs. jones too harshly. if you’d tasted one of their incredible key lime squares, you’d have told it all, too.

welcome to the journal!

stephanie — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:20:39 +0000

thank you very much for visiting! this is where i will be posting news, notes, inspirations, and photos of some current projects, especially when there is a good “before & after” to show you. it will include headlines and highlights: anything new, or different, or special. (which is what i hope most of my work is!) please check back often to see what’s going on with me & mrs. jones.