HomeTutorialsHand PaintedTablescapes

Monday, February 20, 2012

French Garden Bench

I was a bad blogger this week and did not take before pictures.  I'll just describe the bench and you will get a clear picture.  Cute pine bench from the 1980's with a little storage space when you lift up the seat.  Now you have a visual.  Cute but needs updating; right?
 My very patient husband painted the bench with Rustoleum American Accents Blossom White.  This is suitable for outdoors should someone really want to make it a garden bench out in the yard.  Next I downloaded an image from the Graphics Fairy.  I used only her frame, not the printed words of the Graphic.  To make it larger than it was, I enlarged it by about 50 percent.  Then I cut the enlarged image in quarters.  I took each quarter and made another copy by enlarging the image 200 percent.  Are you following?  Now I performed my latest technique for the third week in a row.  (I think I'm addicted to wax paper.)  You got it, I did a transfer one quarter at a time with wax paper on my ink jet printer.  That's the perk of using wax paper.  You don't need the laser printer.  It was a little tricky and the original images had the printing on them, but I just couldn't get the letters to match up.  Ergo the extreme sanding in the middle of my frame.  Not to worry.  I love chippy and shabby anyway.  I adjusted the image once again, only smaller, so I could add a little something to the skirt of the bench.  Then I took my beautiful script stencil and stenciled Le Jardin in the middle.  Now the wax paper transfer image looks a little grayish and not black, so I used a medium gray acrylic paint and added a dash of black to darken my paint to do the lettering.  This gave a little contrast between the beautiful frame and the printed word.  For the smaller LJ, for Le Jardin of course, I used Martha Stewart's new script font.  It's a two-inch size.  Worked great.  When it was complete, I sealed it with Valspar Clear Flat which is also suitable for outdoors.
 Ever since I let Cindy be in last week's photo shoot of my Le Chien crate, she thinks she's my professional model.  Who am I to argue?  After all, she works for treats.  Isn't she cute?  She's the love of our lives.
Thanks for stopping by.  You're welcome in the garden any time.

As an afterthought, while this was scheduled to be posted, I forgot to mention that because the Rustoleum paint is a satin, be sure to sand it down before you apply the transfer image.  Just a light sanding will do it.  You don't have to get wild and crazy like I do.

Pin It














The Graphics Fairy
Furniture Feature FridaysFunky Junk's Sat Nite Special



Decorating Insanity




Photobucket

39 comments:

Bliss said...

Maggie that looks great! Where are you going to put it? And I like that extra bit of distressing in the graphic. Nice job lady!

~Bliss~

Karen The Graphics Fairy said...

Your bench looks fabulous!!! So chic! And your Dog is darling!

Angie said...

What an absolutely gorgeous bench!! You did a great job. I am a new linky follower~ Angie

Tonya said...

This is perfect!! I LOVE it!! :)

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

Beautiful! It looks terrific. I am very familiar with extreme sanding ;-)

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

That bench is just gorgeous and your puppy is adorable!

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

This is beautiful, Maggie, I love it! This would be so great in a mudroom or entryway.

Lins Artyblobs said...

Your bench looks great.

Shelly @Crafty Creative Studio said...

Muy excelente! (Don't know how to say in French!) It truly turned out perfectly -and as an added bonus, we get to see your puppy. :)

The Polka Dot Closet said...

I don't know how I missed this, but the garden bench is really breath taking...I know people will think I am crazy, but that is so me , shabby, French! I loved it, but...not as much as Cindy!! My cats are always nosing their ways in to my photo's

Carol

Rebecca Nelson said...

Be still my soul! I love it. MORE THAN LOVE IT!

xoRebecca

Barbara Jean said...

wonderful job on this bench. I love it!!

blessings
barbara jean

Evie said...

beautiful!

evie @ brown paper packages

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

All I can say is Stunning!!

Hugs,
Deb

Unknown said...

Great bench, love the doggy too!

Deco-Pasja said...

Świetna praca, otrzymuje mój głos :)
pozdrawiam
Marta

Linda said...

My first visit and I will be back, dear Maggie! Love your garden bench and The Graphics Fairy beautiful lady. It must be so rewarding for her to see her work re-created and living on in this way. Can't wait for warm weather to try this. I am so excited by your project...How perfect! You did good!
Linda at Beautiful Ideas

Kim @ French Country Antiques said...

This bench is awesome, Maggie!

Sandi said...

What a gorgeous bench Maggie! You did a wonderful job! I am vising from Faded Charm linky party.
Blessings~

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, love the look

c.w.frosting said...

Beautiful work! Visiting & following from the Linky hop!

-caroline @ c.w.frosting

Sandi~A Cottage Muse said...

Hi Maggie...so happy I stopped in, this is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Maggie, this is lovely! Wow! You did an amazing job!

Unknown said...

Oh my...how cute is this. Would absolutely love if you shared it over at
http://www.decoratinginsanity.com/2012/02/furniture-friday-6-and-link-party.html
xo...mONICa

Shabby chic Sandy said...

I love your bench--it is awesome! Your model is adorable.

Kim said...

Girl you are tal-en-ted!!! I'm loving those signs you made from cabinet doors. Perfection! I'm so happy I found your blog so I can follow you. Pop over for a visit sometime!
xoxo,
Kim

Cynthia said...

I love the bench. It is something I would like to have at my home.

Maria said...

Such a pretty bench, I love this style! Love the beautiful pink blanket and roses too, looks like a perfect place to relax!

Little Bit said...

It's beautiful, I can imagine the before...what a transformation! I'm now following you on LF...hope you'll follow me too! Little Bit from DecorateWithaLittleBit.com

kelly said...

Looks lovely. I love how the dog is featured in the photo.

Kelly

Shanon at Vintage Sparkle Chic said...

This piece is absolutely gorgeous! The French script really made all of the difference.
I am newly following your linky tool and google visiting from Faded Charm! I'm off to check out your archives!

~Shanon

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

So sweet and charming- I love it! Sharing it at this weeks party~thanks for linking up at Feathered Nest Friday!

Anonymous said...

Love your work~and your Dog~

Stacey said...

Adorable. And the dog as well :o)
Please stop over to my blog home and link this up to my Inspired Creations party happening NOW! I would love to have you there!
Stacey of Embracing Change
http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com

Stacey said...

Adorable. And the dog as well :o)
Please stop over to my blog home and link this up to my Inspired Creations party happening NOW! I would love to have you there!
Stacey of Embracing Change
http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com

Jacqueline said...

Just wonderful! Now I have to find myself a bench! I definitely pinned this one! You also did a masterful job with the staging of the photo! Could be featured in a magazine.

Heaven's Walk said...

What a beautiful bench now!!! I love the graphics you chose and the final vignette (including your sweet furbaby) is just awesome! Thanks for the tutorial! :)

xoxo laurie

Barbwire Pretty said...

Beautiful job!!! I love your bench and your tutorial is great.
thanks
Bernice

Stacey said...

That bench is utterly sweet! thanks for linking up to the Creative Inspirations linky party! Please come back Thursday to link up again - I would love to have you there!
Stacey of Embracing Change