*Drum Roll Please*........ THE STAIRS.

A while back my sister-in-law Marleen presented me with a project and asked for my help: she had been looking at images of decorated stairs on Pinterest and wanted to know if I could paint her stair risers to look like the covers of her favourite books.

COULD I?!

You damn betcha I could.  I like books.  I like painting.  And I even like stairs, now that I think about them.  This project was right up my alley.

Well it took a while (sorry Marn!) but it's finally done.  She sent me these pics yesterday of the boards all installed and pretty-looking.

I know it's hard to see the top ones but they are:

 - Gone With the Wind
 - Charlotte's Web
 - Outlander
 - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
 - Dracula

This was one of the most fun projects I've ever done and I love that they loved it enough to permanently install it in their home.  Biggest compliment EVER.

Now... back to work.

Love Shelley!

Very Pinteresting!

So you know when I'm quiet for a while, I'm clearly up to no good, right?  Well, I accepted a project that has been a ton of fun, and I've been working away at it like a good little elf.  (I'll report on the no-good stuff in a different post.  Heh.)

My sister-in-law found this idea on Pinterest, and asked if I could paint some stair risers for her basement like the ones she was admiring online.  I love painting and I love books, so I jumped on board without a second thought.  This life strategy usually makes me gnash my teeth with deep regret at my impulsiveness, and I don't really recommend it.  Luckily, this time it's been a really fun project all the way through and I don't even hate anybody yet.  She used leftover interior paint to base coat the planks, which is a great idea because now they'll match her house, regardless of what lettering I add to them.

Here's a pic of the whole set, with just the base coat of the lettering done.

And here's a closer shot of three that have the lettering detail done.

I have a couple more risers to detail, then they all need the shading/highlighting that will make them look more rounded, and not like flat pieces of plywood glued to the front of each step.  They might not be photo-realistic when I'm done, but I do hope the illusion will hold up if a viewer squints and has a kind heart.

More to follow...

Love Shelley!