In The Studio – Page 2 – me & mrs. jones

meander on in…

October 24, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

…because the entryway at the studio is finally done (or done enough). i was happy to have a few minutes the other day to sneak in and put the last touch on the stenciling, adding a gilded greek key border at the top of the walls. because i just can’t help myself.

it’s one of a batch from the stencil library that is on its way to memphis…i am thrilled to tell you that we’ll be carrying several of their incredible, distinctive designs including the willow pattern (which, as you may know, is my all-time favorite) that’s on the walls here. the new stencils should arrive soon.

a few process notes: i painted in the pattern first with modern masters’ pharoah’s gold, and then repeated the stenciling using gilding size. once the size was at tack, i applied gold leaf, skipping some spots so that it wasn’t too too perfect. (you’ll find all the details and “before” for the walls here.)

and seriously, meander your way here some time, won’t you?

more than just paper & clay

October 23, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

have i mentioned lately how many nice people come through the door at 889 south cooper street? most know exactly what they are looking for, but some wander in, curious. one such lovely browser lately was brit mcdaniel, whose soft-spoken & petite package holds untold amounts of energy, passion and talent. after prying out of her that she is a ceramicist and artist, kim and i talked her into unpacking her tote so that we could see some of her fabulous work. she obliged, and since we gushed over the bag itself, gave us a short screen-printing tutorial as well…what a total doll!

a selection of her ceramic pieces will be carried exclusively at spruce shop, and will be featured at their holiday open house party next friday night. she’ll also be at the porter flea in december. we’ll be so proud to say that “we knew her when…”!

got milk {paint}?

September 27, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

not quite yet, but we will, any day now…i am thrilled to announce that me & mrs. jones will be carrying the fun new milk paint line by marian parsons…better known as miss mustard seed. she has developed a fantastic palette of twelve colors, inspired by her adventures in flea market hunting and vintage picking. the paint (and its related sundries) will arrive soon, and milk paint workshops will be added to our schedule as well.

to make sure you receive the all the latest news, please click on “contact” above to add your name to our mailing list, or be sure you’re a “like” on our facebook page. miss mustard seed’s milk paint will be a great addition to our offerings of environmentally-kind, easy-to-use options for re-loving the pieces you have – or are just about to find. (and please be assured that lovely annie sloan has given us her blessing to carry this complementary product.)

{photos courtesy of marian parsons, with her permission.}

our first fest

September 16, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

yesterday was the 25th annual cooper/young festival, an the arts & music street party in memphis. since my new studio sits right in the center of the festival boundries, it was time to join in the fun and pitch a tent.

we had flea market goodies, stencils, books, painted frames and furniture, and our paints on offer.

(my talented friend & graphic designer laura beck designed these fun fans for us to give away.)

all teenaged hands were on deck to help…three joneses, two (of three) bennetts, and darling maddie davies acted as support staff for kim, sally, loulou and me. (george & epps were indispensable, too, natch.)

kim’s daughter lillian stenciled and stamped bags for hours to help us get ready. (i truly owe you, lilo.)

thanks to everyone who braved the crowds to come and see us, and for friends who arrived at the end of the day bearing life-saving wine and cashews.

we are already making plans for next year…a double-wide tent is under serious consideration.

workshops

August 18, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

we need to re-name this concept…because, other than having to wash a few brushes afterwards, workshop days at the studio really don’t feel a lot like work. all summer, the loveliest groups have come to learn all about painted furniture techniques, stenciling, gilding, decoupage, and more…

…and to teach us a thing or two, too. what happens at workshops stays at workshops, though – we have sworn not to reveal any of the fabulous secret junking places, chicken recipes, and other secrets that our students have shared.

for those of you waiting for spots to open up: please keep the faith! we will be adding more courses to the schedule every month, and look forward to seeing you soon. in the meantime, make sure you’re on mrs. jones’s mailing list so that you receive the calendar & newsletter every few weeks.

hybrid farm table

July 6, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

here is another table created by my neighbor, gary (the salvage king), from around the corner at gary’s antiques. using a set of reclaimed legs, he built a table for me to use in the classroom at the studio. (it also comes in handy when friends come to lunch.)

here is the before:

kim used a dark gray as a base coat on the top, and did a fabulous job on the apron and legs with off-white and a dark tinted wax. i added a little water-spotted wash on top using a soft blue, to give a sort of weathered zinc appearance.

to create this look takes a little bit of trial and error. working one plank at a time over the dry gray paint, i brushed a mix of 50% blue chalk paint and 50% water across the surface, using a 3″ chip brush and long strokes. where the ‘wash’ layer needed a little more softening or blending, i pulled it with a soft t-shirt rag, giving a strie look. in some places, i spritzed the wash with water, allowed that to sit for a minute, and then gently patted those areas with cheesecloth, absorbing the excess water and creating spots.

kim finished it off with clear wax, some streaks of brown wax, and a good buffing.

let me see your stencil

June 27, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

once upon a time, mrs. jones was a timid elementary school student, terrified of two fierce, alpha-type classmates: the l____e twins, katie and consetta…a two-girl gang. to this day, it galls to think how many times (and how quickly!) my mid-day meal funding was surrendered to them…and all it took was a snarled “let me see your lunch money.” writing utensils and other items were taken in the same manner: “let me see your pencil“, or whatever the object of desire might be.

i feel much safer now, (though after checking mugshots.com, not safe enough to use their last name!) the best revenge being not having not missed a single lunch since, and having done my level best to make the world prettier, one renewed surface at a time. i do wish that i had the chance to say to them, “well, let me see you stencil!”

the laugh would be on me, however, as even the l____e twins could – when armed with one of the following, and the correct brush – add fabulous patterns to their surroundings with some of these:

perhaps even bring them to a happy enough place that they would return all my old #2’s.

in the meantime, please drop by the studio and take a peek at these, and more, in person. don’t see something to fall in love with? stay close…more selections are on their way.

scullery table

June 20, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

do you remember the feature in domino – “turn this outfit into a room” – where the editors would choose a stylish ensemble and challenge a designer to turn the elements into a room? well, this ad from elizabeth locke has been at the top of my tear-sheet stack for a while, and so i decided to play a version of the domino game with it.

this sweet old table came from one of my favorite junque-ing stops, gary’s antiques. it was perched out in his parking lot, missing its leaves, and had a broken faux-brass foot. the top was in terrible shape, with the old varnish coming off in huge flakes. with rain headed our way, gary was willing to make a quick bargain, and the deal was done.

here is the before:

kim and i decided this would be a perfect chalk paint™ project to team up on, and that it might be fun to follow the look of the ad and go a little over-the-top feminine, since this is often where an impromptu sort of tea party happens when clients or students are at the studio. (it’s also where you will find the wine or the gin & tonic bar at an evening event here. take note.)

after sanding the top to remove the peeling varnish, we began to apply old white…but the stain, having been released from its vigilant old topcoat, bloomed through. (which is something that has happens on occasion with pieces of this vintage, and with all other sorts of paint too – casein, alkyd, acrylic…it’s a stain issue, not a paint thing. and if it happens to you, it’s not because you’re doing anything wrong.)

two quick coats of clear shellac sealed the stain back in its place again, and after another light sanding, the old white went on without further fuss.

using arles and the large allover brocade (one of my favorites from royal design studio), i added a little pattern on the top.

kim painted the pedestal base in old violet, a nice complement to the arles, and i ran a stripe of it around the edge of the top, too, as an undercoat for a band of distressed gold leaf.

waxed and buffed, it’s now in service in the scullery at the studio, and gary can’t have it back. ever.

free association…the florence version

June 19, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

quick! when mrs. jones says “florence”, you say…

…alabama?

…miss welch?

…italy?

or, perhaps…a new chalk paint™ color from annie sloan?

she has taken her rightful spot on the shelf…

has pride of place on the wall…

and looks extra-fabulous with a little wax & gilded highlights.

so now, what do you think? malachite? peacock feathers? renaissance artwork?

please stop in and meet her soon!

(photo credits: florence welch from young.hip.scene, florence, italy from greenwich mean time.)

having a bad chair day?

June 15, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

what a fun workshop today…four lovely students brought challenging chairs to make-over. here are the befores:

they chose a paint finish to learn and apply that suited their style and played up the details of their particular piece, and got right to work. after lunch (and giving the paint time to dry), each waxed and buffed her chair frame, and then chose a stencil and fabric combo, nailing down the fabric-painting process perfectly after just a short tutorial…did i mention this was a gifted class?

here, karen uses the double-overlay roundabout, a favorite from cynthia davis’s wallovers line:

(did i also mention how much i love our new stencils? these are just a few of what we have to offer…)

everyone there was just wonderful…i love my students! these adorable sisters were such a treat to get to know. linda (on the left) won the prize for student traveling farthest, hailing from windsor, ontario. {yes, with her chair.} she and diane (on the right) have a whole weekend of painting planned.

our special guest speaker arrived mid-afternoon…my darling friend, the covered-up-in-clever lauren anderson stone (she of gathering moss and crazy upholstery skills) stopped in to instruct the group on finishing up their chair seats with professional polish. power tools were involved, as was a staple gun, but it was mainly lauren’s expertise and experience that got the job done.

finally, the almost-afters, and the details:

diane chose gray washed over with white, and dark- and gilt-wax accents.

linda’s caned-back beauty got new life with blues, reds, dark wax, and pewter touches.

debbie used an antique white paint to create texture, and dark wax to highlight the details on her chair, while karen employed a rustic finish in a happy green with dark wax, which contrasted perfectly with her modern stencil choice and played up the circular motifs on her piece.

a job well done by everyone! mrs. jones has put all four on the honor roll.

are you picking up a vibe?

June 9, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

mrs. jones will confess right here, right now, that she is very jealous that kelly wearstler came up with the concept of a vibe tray first. do you think she would mind very much if we referred to these xxl tear sheet displays at the studio as “vibe boards”?

the boards themselves are bargains from the pottery barn outlet. we painted the frames in chalk paint™, old white. i owe a huge favor to my super lovely friend, karen, who was able to defy gravity and help kim and me get these on the wall, securely and perfectly level!

(just in case you’re wondering what the crazy little handwritten tags are…i’ve tried to approximate the closest color in annie sloan’s chalk paint™ palette for some of my favorite looks.) (so maybe we will call them “get the look” boards and not tread on ms. wearstler’s snazzily-shod toes.)

candy vs. jewelry

May 21, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

which do you prefer? each of the new knobs that arrived this week is so gorgeous on its own, akin to a brooch or cocktail ring.

the whole array is almost too much to drink in…kind of like too many dark-chocolate-covered almonds. i can’t seem to get anything done for picking one of each up to look at with color samples. please, come get a handful, and save me from myself.

it was grand

May 13, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

thanks to everyone who came by the studio this weekend to celebrate our opening and say hello! (distractified by all the fun, i only had the presence of mind to pick up my camera at the very beginning and end of each event, so please excuse the lack of actual guests in these photos…the proof is in the recycling bins.) it has been such a beautiful, fun weekend.

and just like at home, setting the dates for the parties was great motivation to get things finished up – there is just one room left to go.

(the gorgeous flowers that lovely jeniffer church sent look just like the ones on the cover of annie sloan’s book, don’t you think?)

i am so grateful to my family and friends for helping me pull everything together…hanging gigantic bulletin boards, hanging lights, hanging light fixtures (all mainly at the 11th hour), for arranging and sending gorgeous, happy flowers, bringing yummy food and celebratory-type gifts, hauling and icing down drinks, and just generally for being there for me over the past months as i’ve prepared to take this leap.

in other late-breaking opening news, i am so excited about my wonderful new neighbors! sew memphis has just opened around the corner, and midtown massage & bodywork is opening on may 28th right next door. when you come to cooper/young, please pop by and see them too.

b.y.o. brass class

May 8, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

we had a super-fun workshop last saturday…four lovely students (all at varying levels of experience) each brought a lamp base (3 brass, one ceramic) in for a re-vamp. they did a fantastic job, as evidenced below:

(patty, who swears she has never painted anything before, scored this great brass lamp at the oxford goodwill for $3.99 and put the coolest crusty weathered zinc finish on it, using graphite and louis blue chalk paint as a base.)

(lisa’s lamp was rescued from their flooded hunting camp. the brass finish was ruined, but she made it fabulous with annie sloan’s olive and old ochre, and pewter gilding wax.)

(jackie has had this ginger jar lamp since high school – it had been frighteningly bright and shiny, but she made it gleam like old polished plaster with country grey and old white under annie’s soft waxes.)

the group learned three different annie sloan chalk paint finishes, and chose one for their lamp. during “dry times” we chatted about fix-ups for shades, favorite places to flea, and alternate methods using metallics. it was a wonderful group – i can’t wait until they come back with pictures of their finished lamps in situ. gold stars for everyone!

(matt went for a mellow antiqued gold finish for his floor lamp, beginning with graphite. bravo!)

mrs. jones gets framed

April 11, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

my seeking a way to display samples of all of annie sloan’s 29 fabulous colors intersected directly with my friend chris garner‘s desire to try the chalk paint and to divest himself of some frames from the “scratch & dent” pile at his shop (from where, as you know, the most gorgeous frames and mirrors come.) it resulted in this happy situation on the walls at my studio:

now chalk paint shoppers can easily see, touch, and compare all the hues. there is lots of fabric-swatch-holding-up going on too, which is really fun to see.

(here is a “before” of my haul from his attic:)

and just wait until you see the gorgeous moldings chris is creating with some of annie’s colors, her waxes, and a little gilding. i can’t wait to show you.