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Running a Business

Reinforcements

As most of you know, I’ve been a busy girl lately. Today, reinforcements arrived at the Dulles Airport and I had my guest room all ready. My mom flew up to help for a few days in any way she can. Don’t you just love moms? On the drive up to PA, we stopped by Lucketts, so I could show off my space with Karen… …and we visited Lynette at Wild Rose. It was great getting to show her what her investment has grown into. For those of you who haven’t read the story of how my business began, you should know that my mom took me out for a day of shopping and bought everything I needed to start Mustard Seed Creations (now Mustard Seed Interiors LLC.) She also sat in the van with my two boys while I shopped my hand painted ornaments all over Gettysburg. She

February 10, 2011 55 Comments

The Process of Learning

First of all, one quick note about the glaze formula I shared yesterday. Apparently, some of the Home Depot paint counters out there won’t make my special glaze blend for you. My HD mixed it without question. If yours won’t, here is what I would suggest. Buy a quart of glaze and a test pot of Espresso Beans. mix the paint and glaze at a ratio of about one part paint to three or four parts glaze. Mix it in small batches as you use it, so you can make it weaker or stronger depending on the project. Hope that helps! You may read through my blog and think that all of my DIY attempts come out exactly as I want them to. That I just whip out my sewing machine, paint brush, staple gun and hot glue and everything looks perfect. Well, I hate to disappoint…or perhaps…you may be relieved

January 22, 2011 42 Comments

Union Jack Dresser

Well, some of you are so smart and you guessed right away what I was up to in my post yesterday. Yes. I painted a Union Jack dresser. The concept came about a few weeks ago when I was moving some furniture into Lucketts. Karen carries a wonderful line of British themed wrapping paper and suggested painting a union jack sign. That idea transformed into the thought of making a Union Jack dresser. I started hunting for a good candidate and found this one on Craig’s List. It was perfect. It was handy that this antique dresser was already painted blue, but it needed a fresh coat, anyway. I stripped the top to reveal the gorgeous (and very heavy) solid wood underneath. I almost always change out the hardware on furniture, but when I noticed a plastic bag with the original hardware in it, I removed the modern nickle hardware in

January 16, 2011 90 Comments

New Lenses

My new lenses finally arrived late Wednesday evening. It was after 7:00 pm and I was the last stop on the UPS route. I practically hugged the delivery guy. “I’ve been waiting for you ALL DAY LONG!!” He apologized and I grabbed the package, signed for it, dashed to the back of the house and sat on the floor to open the long-awaited package. It was really dark, which is not good for the kind of pictures I wanted to take. The lenses were so cold from sitting in the truck since 4 AM, so they fogged from the warmth of my house. I was not going to get to play with them right away, so I had to wait until morning. As soon as the sun broke the next day, I was snapping pictures. (I get to see a lot of sunrises with my 2 1/2 year old…) Anyway, I thought I would share

January 14, 2011 28 Comments

Don’t Be Afraid

I’m sure a lot of people out there are making resolutions about now. Lose weight (amen), exercise, train for a marathon, get a job, start a family, start a blog, stop smoking, no more coffee, etc. I think resolutions can be silly things. As human beings, if we want to do something, we do it. If we don’t we either: A.) don’t B.) wait until the new year, make a resolution, do it for two weeks and then stop C.) discipline ourselves to do it So, make whatever resolutions you’d like, but may I be so bold to propose just one? Don’t be afraid. Just make the resolution that you won’t let fear control you this year. I’m not talking about healthy fear…that’s a good thing and can keep you out of trouble. I’m not talking about anxiety issues. I’m talking about the fear that prevents you from doing good

January 1, 2011 61 Comments

A Desk, an Interview, a Photo Shoot & a Failure

That’s a lot to cover in one post and it’s a little bit of everything, so stick with me. I shared this desk in my post about becoming a vendor at Lucketts. It made its way into my possession on the day of the Junque Swap. I could hardly resist taking a piece of furniture. This one had a nice shape and was very sturdy. Like most pieces that follow me home, it just needed some love. My only fear about it was the dreaded red stain. Those of you who have tried painting a piece with this reddish stain on it knows the agony I went through to get this piece white. It involved two coats of primer, one coat of sealant and three coats of paint. When I was on the third coat, I realized I should have just painted it red. Oh well. I stripped the top

December 10, 2010 23 Comments

Two Dreams

My blog designer interviewed me in July and asked for some of my goals and dreams. One was to become a vendor at the Lucketts Store and the other was to be featured in a magazine. I figured these were “wishes” more than goals and I didn’t actively pursue either one. In August, one of the designers from the Lucketts Design House bought some of my signs, furniture and accessories to sell at Lucketts and I was so excited about it. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know how I feel about Lucketts. I only mention it here, here, here, here, here, and here…just to name a few. I’ve been shopping there for ten years and I have bought some of my favorite things there. I’m so happy to share that today I became a vendor at Lucketts. I am selling my furniture and signs in Karen’s room. She

December 8, 2010 56 Comments

An Accidental Entrepreneur

When I was a little girl, I never thought, “some day, I’m going to own my own business!” I wanted to be an actress on Broadway. I never took a business class in my life. I never thought of myself as having a good business sense. Yet, here I am. A business owner. Dare I say it…an entrepreneur? I assure you, I’m an accidental one at best. I toyed for years with selling pieces in an antique shop. I would imagine making things that people would want to buy. I dreamed of being featured in a magazine. The thing that prevented me from following those thoughts and dreams was the fear of owning and running a business. The fear of being an entrepreneur. I thought that people were either born entrepreneurs or they weren’t. I didn’t realize one could grow and bloom out of anyone. Do you think you have

December 5, 2010 32 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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