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!

1940's antique, shabby-chic, white bedframe

As promised, here is another installment of furniture that will be available at the Beeton Honey & Garden festival (find their website here).  This is a beautiful bedframe that came as part of a 1940's bedroom set.  The woodwork on this bed is lovely; and since most good furniture in the 40's was made from solid wood, this piece is no exception.  

The head and footboard have been chalk-painted a pretty antique white, lightly distressed, and finished with a smooth all-natural wax to protect and seal the wood and paint.  I think it turned out very nicely, and I hope the previous owner's parents would enjoy their "wedding set" bedframe now as much as they did in the 40's. :)

All photos copyright, Sage & Balm, 2015

Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com if you would like to place a custom order for refinished furniture or photography prints, and I'll be happy to assist you.  You can also Follow Sage & Balm on Facebook for updates and new photos!

Architectural photos/buildings

Here are some prints that will be available online as well as at the Honey Fest (Honey Fest website). You can also follow Sage & Balm on Facebook for updates and new photos! Enjoy :)

St.Patrick's cathedral, downtown Manhattan, NYC.

A hauntingly beautiful "castle" near Ottawa's Parliament buildings.

A long abandoned fisherman's cabin, Cape Spear, Newfoundland.

The Guelph basilica in downtown Guelph, Ontario.

A few black & white photo prints

In a previous post, I mentioned that I'd like to add some of my amateur photography prints to my blog to round out items for purchase.  Frankly though, I really just like to share my work and show you all another side of me.  I truly enjoy taking photos and exploring the world through a camera lens.  Sometimes the ordinary world has hidden surprises where beauty lurks...and only if you seek it out, you'll find it!  

Here are a few black & white prints that will be available at the Honey Fest this May (here's their website) and can also be ordered for purchase:

 Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com if you'd like to order a print or a custom furniture order.  I'll be more than happy to assist you in making your home more beautiful!!

Sage & Balm has gone GREEN!

Hi all!  Sage & Balm has finally made the transition to all eco-friendly, water-based, non-toxic products!!  I'm so relieved that these products exist and that they are still specifically designed for furniture AND they live up to their promises of long-lasting, durable finishes!  I am a huge advocate for using chalk-paints as they are beautiful for painting; but now that there are fantastic water-based sealers like waxes and polyurethanes, I will never feel guilty about finishing a piece again!

See this guy?  Avoiding harsh chemicals just saved his life. :)

So not only is up-cycling older furniture a great way to keep these pieces out of our landfills, the materials used to spruce them up are much safer for you, your family, children, pets, the air we breathe, and our environment (not to mention my poor lungs too!).  YAY!

Shabby French "driftwood/bleached wood" table

This has been a busy month, so I haven't posted in a while; but I've been working hard on refinishing a lot of pieces for the Beeton Honey Festival.  Some more pieces will be completed soon, along with a few custom orders as well (pictures to come!!)

This latest installment is a table that got a fun "French country" makeover.  It was a pretty table to begin with: beautiful lines and solid oak...very promising.  It just needed some serious TLC to take it from a homely and very ratty, orange varnished finish to something that I wanted to resemble driftwood.  Then a mix of stenciling and hand-painting, and a very matte sealant to keep that raw, bleachy driftwood look were added to make it a little more special. :)  Here's the final result which will appear in my booth at the festival:

This table definitely has gloriously beveled woodworking!

If you have some furniture at home (or perhaps you've stumbled across a piece at a garage sale or thrift store...), but you're not satisfied with its current state, contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com and consider a face-lift for your boring, drab or outdated items!

 I do custom orders of a wide range of furnishings and finishes so you can fall back in love with some of your old furniture, and at the same time, you're recycling: hooray!!

(YES: I use all eco-friendly products specifically designed for furniture!)  

New Items: antique side table and French blue chair

Since I returned from my trip, I have a few items finished and ready for the Beeton Honey & Garden Festival.  If you missed my last post, I have been accepted as a vendor at the festival, and my Sage & Balm booth will be up and running (and completely filled with new inventory!).  You can check out my last post for more details on the festival.

Here are two new items that will be there.  I decided to post my new items, even though they will only be for sale at the festival, just so I can still post some updates and keep this look-book going!  Both items are painted with chalk paint and finished with wax - as eco-friendly as I could make them!  Also, custom orders are welcome, still.  Contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com to place an order.

First, a simple, antique, French blue chair with tiny polka-dot hearts. 

 Second, a very pretty antique side table with a lovely stained top and a linen-coloured base.  The table is lightly distressed and the woodgrain on the top is made to look visually interesting.

News, updates, and new items coming soon!

We just got back from a trip to Florida.  The weather was gorgeous and we were all.....sick.  But, I happened to get back in one piece and hopped right back onto the refinishing trail, itching to get new items finished.   I also snapped some great pictures while I was there, and some of my favourites are floral photos.  Florida is bursting with incredible plants - even in February.  Here's one I snapped of a gorgeous yellow rose covered in raindrops.

Copyright: Jennifer Vander Veen, Sage and Balm, 2015

I have a few new items on the go at the moment, from a large custom order to dressers, to tiny "smalls" like picture frames.  I like to work on multiple projects at once as I find I work better that way!

Aside from my usual furniture flipping, I have been feverishly working on increasing my inventory; because...... I was accepted as a vendor for the Beeton Honey & Garden Festival!  HOORAY!! Here's a link to check it out: http://www.beetonhoneyandgardenfestival.com/.  This is why I'm working on "smalls" - smaller items that don't include furniture so I can round out my booth.

 Since I will be shifting my focus towards preparing for my booth, I won't be selling any items online until after that day.  BUT, custom orders are always welcome.  You can still contact me at sageandbalm@gmail.com to place an order.

I'm thrilled to be travelling back towards my hometown for a taste of the festival.  I'm very excited to be able to showcase my wares as a vendor and I also hope to meet some new people!  I'll keep posting about the progress for the festival as the date approaches (this year, it runs Saturday, May 23rd from 9am-4pm).  Come on out and see my Sage and Balm booth among the throng of other lovely crafty people at the festival!

One last bit of news:  I'm thinking about expanding my business to include my photography prints.  I'm an amateur, and I'm self-taught, but I adore taking pictures and sharing them.  I think I will start posting more photos on my blog and if one tickles your fancy, you can send me an email to place an order.  That's what I'm thinking so far....we'll see how it goes.

~ Jenn