Beautiful & airy hand-painted mirror

One of my friends placed a custom order for a dresser-turned-changetable a while back (you can see it here), but she had no need for the mirror it came with. 

What do you do with a stranded mirror that was meant for a dresser?  

HAVE FUN WITH IT!  

 I painted a scene with a few birds in a blossoming cherry tree (I know, it's very Portlandia!), then painted out the frame from a drab brown to a bright white.  A little shabby-ing up, and this mirror is ready to grace someone's home...anywhere, really!

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I forgot to take a "before photo" of the mirror, but essentially, it was all light brown and nothing was on the glass, of course.  Here is the final result:

To place a custom furniture order, please contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com and I'll be happy to assist you!  You can also follow Sage & Balm on Facebook!

Pretty French Provencal table with wood top and shelf

Here is another lovely side table ready for the Beeton Honey Fest this May.  It was a nice table to begin with, but I think you'll agree that a little TLC improved it!  Now it has a very unique look: the raw wood was exposed on top and sealed with tung oil to give it a beautiful sheen and the table was chalk-painted a pretty linen colour.  After distressing the table, I added some French stencil-work to make the table stand-out.  

Here's the before picture...

And here is the up-cycled version!

 Distressing and stenciled details.  The wood-grain on the table is very pretty.

To place a custom furniture order, please contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com and I'll be happy to assist you!  You can also follow Sage & Balm on Facebook!

A rainy day: part 2

If you didn't see the rainy day; part 1 photos, you can find them here, or just scroll through the blog to find them. :)   Here are some more rainy-day themed photos which are available online and at the Beeton Honey Fest.  Enjoy, and feel free to comment below!

A stunning geranium, beaded with raindrops.

A spider's web becomes otherworldly after a July rain.

A single drop held out by the "hand" of a columbine frond.

A rain-drop tenaciously clings to the florets of a Japanese Lilac.

About to slip and plummet to the ground, a drop of water reflects the purple clematis petals from which it hangs.

A showy collection of drops, condensed from an unlikely fog that swept through this past December.

A leaf of a bridal wreath shrub curls decadently around a rather plump rain-drop.

Drops of rain look lusciously saturated with colour while poised on a beautiful tea rose.

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Beautiful blue antique desk with French script

This desk is one of my favourite pieces!  It has such lovely lines and the solid wood construction and quality workmanship made it great to work with.  It is chalk-painted a very pretty dusky blue and the wooden desk-top was sanded down as I suspected it had a gorgeous natural colour and wood-grain underneath.  The inside of the drawers are painted out with a cream colour and everything is waxed and sealed to last.  I added the hand-painted French script for a little something special...this desk is now pretty and functional: why own anything that doesn't live up to those criteria? ;) 

Some of the accessories atop the desk are also for sale at the Beeton Honey Fest: 

the cafe sign, wooden box and its contents, and the mason jar pen-holder are all made/up-cycled/altered creations.  Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com if anything tickles your fancy, or you'd like to place a custom furniture order.  You can also Follow Sage & Balm on Facebook!

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Here's the before...(I had just started working on it and remembered to take a snapshot)

And here it is after!!

Inside the drawers...

A Rainy Day part 1

It's been raining all day today; so on that note, I thought I'd share some photo prints that I've taken after a rain passed through.  I really love taking macro shots, but macro shots following a rain? I can't get enough!  There's something magical about water drops that turns a fairly ordinary object into something more special.... 

Since I have so many water-drop themed photos, I broke this post into 2 parts. 

 Stay tuned for part 2!

A single drop adorns a Bridal Wreath leaf.

A leaf collects dew-drops.

The inside of a purple Morning Glory are made more interesting by a smattering of rain.

An English tea-rose wears a drop of water like a jewel.

A drop hangs precariously from the petals of a delphinium.

Morning dew on a sugar-maple leaf.

A single drop rests in the heart of a columbine leaf.

Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com to place an order for prints.  All photos will be available for purchase at the Beeton Honey Fest.  Follow Sage & Balm on Facebook!

Celebrating flight!

I've made a few recent posts showcasing some of my more dark and dramatic photography; however, it's time to break up the monotony for a bit with some colour.  Here is another group of photos that are available for purchase through sageandbalm@gmail.com, and they will also be at the Beeton Honey Festival, this May 23rd (their website).

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I thought I'd dedicate this post to my dad who just recently retired as an airline pilot...hence the title about celebrating flight.  Flight has been a big part of my life; and so I find it only natural to want to photograph things and creatures that can fly.  

Congrats, Dad, you have slipped the surly bonds of this earth!  

The "Pawnee".

A cheeky dragonfly perched and ready to take-off....I like the poster-like effect of the clouds.

A bee-mimic with wings outstretched.

A gorgeous white admiral (?) butterfly sipping on a butterfly bush plume.

A busy bee collects pollen from a bright orange cosmos flower.

A bumblebee gracefully alights on a marigold.

Follow Sage & Balm on Facebook for updates and new photos!

Ethereal and dramatic black and white prints

Continuing in the black and white series....a few more dramatic and/or ethereal examples of prints that are available for order anytime online and also at the Beeton Honey Festival this May 23rd (details about the festival can be found here). Enjoy!

The gorgeously carved wings of a statue of St.Michael from a Basilica near Orlando, FL.

Glowing orchids from their home by my window.

An intimate look at the centre of a Cosmos flower...looks a bit like the cosmos, doesn't it? (The "stars" are flecks of pollen floating away from the centre or settled on the petals.)

Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com to place a request for custom furniture refinishing or photography prints and I'll be happy to assist you!  You can also follow Sage & Balm on Facebook for updates and new photos!