pat's, stencils, and more (happy) tears

There's a really strange, but really awesome furniture store in North Park, San Diego called Pat's. You can click here to read a great review and learn a little more about it:) Behind Pat's is a yard that is something like a furniture graveyard. I got this weird little chair with mis-matched upholstery, but beautiful, detailed wood, for about $10.

And this coffee table for $25. I have big plans for both of these pieces!

I also got this pretty wood frame for $2

I used some burlap-ish cloth as a mat, drew a charcoal sketch version of this guy, and viola! Quick, free art:)

But back to furniture: I've been wanting to try my hand at painting a design on a table-top for a while, and this sad little end table that I found by a dumpster seemed like a good piece to experiment on.

I ripped off the weird leaf, resiny thing, patched up the holes, sanded it down, primed it, and gold-leafed it.

Then I added three stripes (in 3 different thicknesses), and used a box-cutter and stencil paper to create a stencil based on this art deco-looking design.

I'm actually not that pleased with how it turned out, but it was just a practice-run anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

And last but not least, here I am yesterday, dropping Lovely off at her residential program. I cried, (again!) but I'm very happy for her:) 

Hope everyone is having a great day!